MasterCipher

After reworking my party of 6 based on beta patch, I'm going with purgatory + TUB for rogue and using the mold to duel wield the fire saber for 6 deathblows fireballs/rest in my 2nd weapon slot.

I've seen other bounce spells hit the same target more than once, but not reliably. ie target A to target B back to target A I've been wondering for rogues, how TUB with a shield that procs damage on crit would compare to duel sabers.

Can rogue feign death be cancelled early ? This one really needs it.

Heart of Fury with spelltongue or salvation of time to extend the +25% damage boost is a nice prospect.

Bittercut vs. Purgatory. I almost went Bittercut for the versatility, but Rogues can always use an item or scroll to deal more damage than a wizard can casting the same spell . . . Purgatory with corrode lash enchantment (25) and corrode talent (20+5) and chanter fire lash chant (25) = +75% damage Purgatory with fire lash enchantment (25) and chanter fire lash chant (25) and scion of flame (5+5) + annihilation (50) = +110% damage The damage gap is wider than one would assume. Rogues have amazing weapon accuracy, which lets them apply blind and weaken to a single target very reliably. I have 81 at lvl 3 using an unenchanted club with weapon focus ruffian and passive pally aura. My priest always opens with +10 accuracy inspiring aura so effectively 91. Not using any food, potions, or other spell buffs yet and already 67% of hits are crits. The fighter in party with same weapon/talent/plate armor has 30 out of 32 crits (disciplined barrage + 20 > +8 reckless assault), but less than half the total damage. omg, I never thought about TUB with deathblows - looking forward to see if anyone has tested that. Wood elf racial and +5 accuracy gloves may help here with the accuracy problem Kaylon pointed out.

Hey Boerer, Do you know if deathblows works with fireball saber ?

For sheer, straightforward dps, IMHO best item to use mold is to clone purgatory saber after upgrading it to legendary. *IF* vent pick can call additional full FOD (+50% +20 accuracy) attacks back and forth at 15% with it's faster attack speed, this could be very potent on a paladin, barbarian, fighter, and rogue, but would need some testing. Cloning the charm proc bow would just be cruel, if you have 2 characters with high accuracy/crit chance. As for non-weapons, the frenzy proc BP is awesome and frees up a talent since an additional toon can skip outlander's frenzy. DEX is important to a lot of builds, and stats on a feet slot are rare, the 4 DEX boots are solid. Ultimately, it comes down to your party composition.

I only play on POTD and wish there was a higher difficulty or some slightly different design that situationally required tanking. Triple crown is only for solo toon right? I've soloed past Maerwald Rogue and Ranger, but got bored with it; it's just not my play style. I've a watched a successful proof of concept solo video of a Ranger soloing Alpine. Unless something has changed recently, this party can similarly stuck/hobble Alpine and ranged kill.

Priest has active radiant AoE aura for +10 accuracy fast cast. Paladin has the passive +6 acc aura. Paladin's liberating exhortation, single target, 2/enc +10 accuracy. All of these stack. I am guilty of not referring to the exact game name of things and often refer to the mechanical function.

I haven't done that fight yet.

I've played into WM1 with 3 CON/3 RES for entire party and haven't had to respec. Quick control is central to 6 member party design and enemies don't get a lot of actions off. Hard encounter tactics: Priest sets an AoE knockdown trap with lvl 2 spell before fight starts. Chanter can set an item trap. I don't use a wizard, but they can create chill fog pre-fight. **Start fight with confuse at max range because all the other enemies blow their initial actions beating on the poor confused target. **Throwing a figurine summons in front of party buys time for buffs - debuffs. ****Fighter uses disciplined barrage then scrolls - fighters have highest accuracy in the game, this is also why wood elf**** Cipher chain casts Prone/Paralyze/Stun/Charm/Dominate until nothing can fight back Fighter assists with Prones, think whack-a-mole. You're going to get hit and want to get hit, but you don't get hit a lot.

Thank you. Also removed the pierce DR enchantment from the soulbound BP.

v3.02.10008 WM2 Priest Skaen Wood Elf Old Valia Slave MIG 15 DEX 19 CON 3 INT 19 PER 19 RES 3 TALENTS inspiring radiance (+10 acc to party added to priest's fast cast aura) interdiction (huge AoE daze) weaken interdiction (adds weaken to interdiction) 2 stat 2 movement self (when using priest's radiant aura) outlander's frenzy marksman skaen talent (+10 acc that applies to soulbound scepter!) weapon focus ruffian (choose scepter if this accuracy doesn't stack with skaen talent + soulbound scepter) MASTERY Bless seal of repulsion* dire blessing devotions of the faithful *15 second AoE prone trap (cast before combat, mastery refreshes, trap stays and can recast during encounter) SKILLS Stealth 0 Athletics 9 (+1 class)(+1 background) Lore 0 (+2 class) Mechanics 0 Survival 9 (+1 background) Slot Item R Hand soulbound scepter 10% dominate L Hand n/a R Hand2 steadfast (sunlance for cleanup dps) L Hand2 vent pick (+15 haste) Armor 2 RES spell save robe Head 3 INT Neck 3 PER 1 stealth aura Hands 5 acc Waist 3 MIG Ring 1 overseeing ring Ring 2 3 DEX Feet boots of speed alt feet 1 patch boot 10s stun 1rest (maj adventure) alt feet 2 AoE if crit 1/enc 2 move 30 end/10s 2 rad (minor adventure) potion: alacrity for hard fights because the recovery helps spam spells figurine: wurm Rationale: Priest has great buffs and fast cast immunity spells for most situations. Solid melee dps modifiers and procs if anything is still alive after buffing. Common 6 1/enc sequence: fast radiant aura for acc, devotion of the faithful, dire blessing, interdiction, repulsion, bless Withdraw is usually more efficient at extending your spellbank than healing. Avatar for 8 MIG/DEX/PER and 20% weapon damage is good even if just used as an opener to speed up casting by 24%. Champion boon +10 MIG/PER to an ally is usually best on cipher. Crowns of faithful is terrific group buff for 6 INT/PER/25 RES (for rogue riposte, duration AoE acc boost) lvl 2 ice icon spell can bounce and is fast cast, not bad for AoE heal and damage. +6 total movement (boots 3, aura 2, food 1) makes for a good partner for cipher beam, and priest symbols have short range.

v3.02.10008 WM2 Paladin "Darcozzi Backward Observer?" Darcozzi Wood Elf Old Valia Colonist MIG 15 DEX 19 CON 3 INT 19 PER 19 RES 3 TALENTS marksmen crit aura (+5%) inspiring liberation weapon focus warbow/wand outlander's frenzy scion of lame apprentice sneak attack intense flames ABILITIES flame of devotion accuracy aura liberating exhortation coordinating attacks inspiring triumph (with bow very easy to pick off near death target) sworn enemy sacred immolation (party now has 4 passive healing auras! ) abjuration (delete a spirit from an encounter) SKILLS Stealth 8 (should be able to get close enough to FOD crit open on a low deflection target in the back for confusion implosion) Athletics 2 (+1 class) Lore 1 (+1 class)(+2 robe) Mechanics Survival 10 (+2 background) Slot Item R Hand confusion warbow L Hand N/A R Hand 2 marking/jolt touch wand L Hand 2 N/A Armor 2 INT 2 lore robe Head 2 PER Neck 6acc vs beast 10% range dam or 3 DEX Hands 5 ACC Waist 3 MIG watchful presence Ring 1 overseer ring Ring 2 combusting wounds Feet paladin aura boots Early gear: stun warbow, vile loner lance, outworn buckler figurine: shade Rationale: Haven't seen anyone else post this one yet: Coordinating attacks with a ranged weapon let's you stand next to Cipher and boost the acc of your controller! Higher acc compared to chanter, made more sense to have Paladin use bow for crit proc: FOD + Sworn Enemy = bow crit confuse at 12m. +15 acc vs chosen enemy type from 10 survival, or can choose 20% flank damage vs kith (12 survival) Also, the soulbound bp effect is better for chanter and you want your chanter close to front for blanket dragon slash. For high defense or pierce immune fights, whip out the jolt/mark wand and your cipher has +20 acc vs anything you laser point at. If enemy penetrates to cipher or priest, this guy can be the grenade and step in between to eat the hit - see you can still snipe with a bow and be a noble Darcozzi pally ?!

v3.02.10008 WM2 Cipher Wood Elf Old Valia Colonist MIG 15 DEX 19 CON 3 INT 19 PER 18 RES 3 TALENTS greater focus! drain whip bite whip bloody slaughter outlander's frenzy shock boost apprentice sneak attack weapon focus hunting bow ABILITIES mindwave, eyestrike confusion phantom foes, mental binding whisper of treason dominate, ectopsychic crush recall agony stunning scream, pain block go between tactical meld, wild leech borrowed instinct amplified wave, mind plague pain link detonate, speed steal stasis reaver blades, defensive mindweb antipathic field SKILLS Stealth 8 (+1) Athletics 3 Lore 0 (+1 class)(+3 boots) Mechanics 0 (+1 class) Surivival 10 (+2 background) Slot Item R Hand haste warbow L Hand n/a R Hand 2 stormcaller L Hand 2 n/a R Hand 3 twinsting for alacrity 1/rest then weapon switch L Hand 3 n/a Armor 2 PER mirror image robe Armor2 alacrity light armor 1/rest Head 4 MIG unbending Neck 2 INT focus Hands 5 acc Waist 5 acc under 50%, bonus movement above Ring 1 4 INT - AoE Daze under 80% end Ring 2 overseeing ring Feet 4 DEX scroll: ray of fire scroll: binding web potion: alacrity for hard fights because the recovery helps spam cipher abilities caro golan: 20% focus gain 10 deflect 20 reflex Rationale: Ciphers can do a lot of damage, especially if you set up the beams, but they are even better at neutralizing the enemy. They also have some unique buffs and debuffs; pain block, go between, phantom foes are superb. Build Choices, sequence matters: Contrary to description, greater focus gives +10 to starting focus! This allows you to open with higher level abilities. At lvl 16, you start with 55 focus instead of 45. A single bow shot from 12m and you can follow with amplified wave or mind plague. Stormcaller is even better on ciphers than rangers because duel damage types lets you reliably generate focus at range. However, haste durgan warbow is even better in terms of focus generation, so Stormcaller is the alt weapon for pierce immune. Pyschic thrust used to generate focus, but this was probably unintended and was nerfed. **Confusion is amazing! In addition to starting combat, you can set up free disengagement attacks when mob randomly runs around.** The brutal raw/AoE crush damage from detonate is/was fast way to fill your focus, but it can also wreck your party - given psychic thrust nerf, the focus gain on this could be nerfed too. The crush damage occurs when you kill an enemy with the raw damage that is already below 50% health. Reaver blades isn't acquired until lvl 15, but it's hard to use the focus faster than you get it. Blind mobs are easier to hit than prone. Stasis and speed steal are worth mentioning that there are no immunities to them, 30 second disable and -50%! recovery. Recall agony is effective on high HP, high DR boss types. Antipathic field has a buff component that boosts damage of ectopsychic crush by 20% and ray of fire scrolls. Wild leech is interesting but unreliable. -10 CON lowers mob max hp by 50%, MIG damage lowered by 30%, INT AoE 60%/duration 50% lower mob raise yours, DEX recovery 30%, 4 of the 6 possible stats can have a big impact. Defensive mindweb with fighter deflection boosts rogue deflection significantly for riposte.

MaxQuest pointed out that pets have -40% recovery penalty from armor. There are very limited options to buff: hastening exhortation, npc paladin (short duration), vengeful grief (high lvl and your ranger has to die first to trigger). You can boost pet recovery to -20% which is a long way from positive 100% haste that kith can get.

v3.02.10008 WM2 No longer Melee !! Chanter Dwarf Boreal Old Valia Laborer MIG 20 DEX 14 CON 4 INT 19 PER 18 RES 3 TALENTS heal chant heal chant 2 marksman weapon focus rod/wand outlander's frenzy apprentice sneak attack scion of flame dangerous implement ABILITIES drain, corpse bomb +1 movement, -10% slash debuff stun cone, -5 DR cone paralyze cone 25% group fire lash 12 DPS burn/slash chant 30 point group damage shield 20 acc 30% damage vs dragon chant SKILLS Stealth 0 Athletics 2 (+1 background) Lore 0 (+2 class) Mechanics 11 (+1 class)(+1 background)(+2 gloves) Survival 6 Slot Item R Hand distract/stun rod (primordial bane) L Hand N/A R Hand alt kd scepter (wilder bane) L Hand alt N/A Armor 2 PER robe Head n/a Neck 2 RES consecrated ground 1/enc Hands +5 acc Waist 2 DEX Ring 1 4 INT Ring 2 10% AoE (overseeing) Feet consecrated ground 1/enc early gear chant 20% aura neck trap: chaotic orb (cross fingers for petrify) figurine: adra beetle Rationale: Micro target switch to distract multiple enemies and on top of the usual excellent chants. Take full advantage of juicy Boreal accuracy bonus with 2 different on crit proc weapons. I haven't tested the final invocation options, but usually fights are long over before. Typically sub-optimal, but fastest way to use a lvl 7 invocation is to use 7 3 second chants (lvl 1), so 21 seconds. Someone headstarts the timer by pulling from far away and running back to party. 2 MIG is good for passive heal chant and dps chant. 15 acc vs wilder (lots in game) and primordial is nice for invocations. Build Choices, sequence matters: Dropped aspirant's mark because I use eyestrike for triple the modifiers. Primary chant = flame lash, dragon slash Hard fight chant = 30 point damage shield, flame lash, dragon slash Hide behind melees to cover as many enemies as possible with dragon slash - don't snipe at range.

Novel and nasty idea on force of anguish! Correct on the DPS of long pain > bow ranger in most situations even with pet. Fists are the highest dps ranged weapons in the game - solidly ahead of a warbow with annihilation. As for Ranger + pet damage, I think pet damage is a little overrated because the attack recovery is so low even; with slow, high 100 damage hits and damage gets wasted on low health mobs. Bow ranger + pet combo *can* still out dps somewhat if you ignore pet overkill, and melee ranger + pet *can* out dps solidly because have good modifiers only behind rogue. However, practical dps where time isn't wasted on positioning, especially coordinating with a pet to reap 50% from stalker link (which also eats an item slot). 12m duel wield is sick. I've plugged a lot weapon damage ranges to derive averages and added a lot of modifiers into excel formulas assuming 100% recovery, but I don't have clean data in a presentable format on the forum. Gonna close by saying dps isn't everything. I think the devs did a good job on itemizing lower dps items with valuable effects.

Deep wounds does 4 damage every 3 seconds for x seconds (dependent on INT). Doesn't that 4 damage re-occur at the beginning of each consecutive hit in addition to refreshing/updating the total duration?

v3.02.10008 WM2 Fighter "#1 Stunner" Pale elf Old Valia Colonist MIG 15 DEX 19 CON 3 INT 19 PER 19 RES 3 TALENTS weapon focus spear/hunt bow (peasant) bonus knockdown hold the line (increases engaged targets from 1 to 2) fast runner rapid recovery or scion of flame 1 hand style (15% hit to crit in beta atm) superior deflection apprentice sneak attack ABILITIES knockdown disciplined barrage overbearing guard **confusion and nearby ally with lower deflection sets up free disengagement attacks** into the fray vigorous defense take the hit sundering blow triggered immunity SKILLS Stealth 5 Athletics 2 (+1 class) Lore 7 (+1 class) Mechanics 0 Survival 9 (+1 class)(+2 background)(+2 platemail) Slot Item R Hand 1 MIG stun on crit w/+4acc when attacking same target as ally spear L Hand empty R Hand 2 soulbound hammer L Hand 2 N/A Armor 2 PER frenzy sanguine plate 3DR slash Head Sicken when hit (grand adventure) Neck 3DR pierce/crush retaliate Hiro mantle Hands 5 ACC Waist 2 CON stuck when hit (avg adventure) Ring 1 3 DEX 5 reflex 20 def stun-prone Ring 2 9 deflection Feet 3 consecrated ground boots Early/Alt Gear: Tallgrass maybe, cloak of comfort, soulbound bp, thought is 3 triggered immunities for dragon: pierce/slash/breath scroll: binding web (helps tackle hard encounters at earlier levels) scroll: paralysis (helps tackle hard encounters at earlier levels) figurine: wood beetle alacrity potion boosts recovery to 97% Rationale: Primary tank and secondary controller, all-around makes life very unpleasant for enemies High accuracy, high DR, high mobility, passive self heals, stun locker, passable dps, decent deflection (for cipher mindweb -> rogue riposte) 10DR cold/fire from pale if is very nice for a tank - getting to Maerwald is laughably easy. 14 survival lets you increase DR 3, healing received by 60% or accuracy vs enemy type by 15 I passed on the stun neck because I want +3DR for all melee and retaliate interrupts. Disciplined barrage + scrolls are intended to beeline to durgan steel/white march gear several levels earlier than normal. Build Choices, sequence matters: Knockdown: 7 sec prone on hits, 10 sec on crit, 3/enc + endless vs disengagers Into the fray: 5m pull and daze to put reposition enemies where you want them Fast runner: You will want to move around battlefield until all enemies are prone or otherwise disabled Rapid recovery: Scales with level and eventually doubles the healing of constant recovery, but scion boosts weapon damage mod by +10% with weapon and chanter lash Vigorous defense: Aside from the obvious +20 all defenses, enemy AI prefers lower defense targets. Overbearing guard when they try to run away Sundering blow: Highest DR debuff in game (eight DR bypass). Simultaneously deals damage and 2/enc Start combat with soulbound hammer equipped, switch to hammer and shield after the 4m radius 10 second 1/enc stun then switch to single target stun spear When enemies hit you, bad things happen to them and good things happen for party, notably stuck (-20 deflection, -20 reflex, -5 accuracy, AoE shock). Give an enemy a free disengagement attack to seek out another target to kd & it gets stuck in place & sickened(-10 will,-10 fort,-1 all stats) Was originally considering vent pick/TUB for is 15% chance of bonus +20acc full attack which includes another soulbound dagger hit with another 10% chance of firebug, but firebug is MUCH better on rogue with deathblows. Bloody Slaughter: If a knockdown or overbearing guard brings enemy below 10%, it can help upgrade the prone duration to a crit - still not worth it in this build. Not that this party will actually have to, but I think this guy can dragon tank with 3 con/3 res with painlink and debuffs - stats look squishy - gear/talents and party strat are not.

From MaxQuest's confirmation that Bloody Slaughter still triggers only under 10% endurance, I replaced with prestidigitator's missiles. Also added, *Rogues can alpha with blunderbuss and deep wounds x6 for an additional +24 raw damage.

Maxquest, thanks for looking into that! Under 10% is not useful for most builds

Last I read from 2015, bloody slaughter only kicks in below 10%, rightfully causing many to abandon it. However, I've seen in 2016 trigger above 10% more than once. Yesterday, I killed an enemy with ray of fire and the beam persisted for 8 seconds after death, tethered to the corpse. Naturally, I moved my paladin into the beam and it scored a bloody slaughter hit to crit when his endurance (formerly the word incorrectly typed as health, again) was around 75%. Anyone know what the health thresholds really are for bloody slaughter?

Corrected Health to Endurance. Thanks for pointing that out. Also worth pointing out that estimate of damage on Minelotta's scroll at 120 was *really* conservative. That was unbuffed and not adding deep wounds (+12). Chanter last boosts 25%, bless 10%, devotions of faithful 12%, survival camp bonus 30%, food 6%, brothel 6%, I wasn't fully geared, all said missing 92% in dam modifiers so far, and every hit didn't crit (missing another %40 in crit bonus dam modifers from helm and faction quest), and crits are plentiful. Acc for at lvl 16 = 30 base + 45 lvled + 10 from perception + 6 paladin aura + 20 devotions of faithful + 15 scroll = 126. There are situational factors that can pile on that like coordinating attacks, weapon of marking, inspiring exhortation, and typical debuffs like flank/prone/stun/stuck/blind. IF you don't naturally crit : hit to crit conversion with dirty fighting (10%), vicious fighting (10%), paladin aura (5%), dire blessing (20%) = 45% (possibly 65% depending on bloody slaughter). 200+ damage is a more realistic number, also making this an OP way to burn down casters/archers. I'll be surprised if a Ranger with a ranged weapon can out single target dps a chain scrolling rogue. Apologies in advance if this results in a nerf. Also added paragraph on pulling: Better Bottlenecking vs casters and archers I call it right angle pulling. When you hide your party just outside of line of sight next to a door, the all the enemies have to bunch at the choke point, including the ranged opponents, making them vulnerable to your AoEs and melees. I plan on posting the hireling builds for the rest of party over the next week. Reformatting build files to make them legible in forum takes time.

v3.02.10008 WM2 POTD hireling party posted on forums start with [Class Build] 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 respectively Rogue - Spellblade Assassin Aumua, Island The Living Lands Hunter MIG 21 DEX 18 CON 3 INT 15 PER 18 RES 3 TALENTS weapon focus ruffian outlander's frenzy penetrating shot shadowy beyond scion of flame backstab vulnerable attack ABILITIES blinding strike reckless assault deep wounds riposte weakening strike deathblows sap shadowstep SKILLS Stealth 7 (+1 bk) Athletics 2 (+1 Lyrinia brothel) Lore 5 (rite +3)(borrow lore robe +2 for maelstrom) Mechanics 0 (+2 class) Survival 8 (+1 background)(+2 neck)(+1 Skaen's boon) remainder 5 WEAPON RECOVERY 95% before Dex Mod Modded with dex mainhand swing every 0.71 seconds Offhand swing every 0.76 seconds Slot Item R Hand the unlabored blade (thank you forum elders for confirming firebug works with deathblows) L Hand purgatory (legendary 8, lifetap 2, fire lash 2, beast bane 2 = 14, fills all enchantment slots) R Hand2 nightshroud (shadowy 1/rest, then weapon switch!) L Hand2 fireball saber (3 fireballs/rest , could clone with mold for 6/rest, but cloning a 3rd DEX ring instead) R Hand3 fireball wand Alt Hand 4 alt: blizzard shield Armor 2 INT flank retaliate leather, 3 DR pierce Head 0.1 crit bonus Neck 4 PER 25 v Pois 2 Surv Hands 3 DR bypass 5 DR slash 5% miss to graze (chose over 10% melee for missile scrolls) Waist 1 DEX -1.5 second weapon switch Ring 1 3 MIG ring Ring 2 20% damage vs vessel and spirit Feet beam boots Alt gear: silver flash blunderbuss scroll: minelotta's minor missiles, fast 15m, works with penetrating shot, for slash immune enemies, or nuking dragons into the dirt scroll: ray of fire scroll: barrage of missiles Rationale: Rogues' easily achievable damage modifiers and accuracy make them prime candidates for main character and to spec a party around. Many classes have excellent damage potential, but I feel they generally offer other benefits that that outweigh sustained raw DPS. Original race was human, but party just not taking enough damage. Build Choices, sequence matters: Blinding strike before crippling strike because it debuffs vs Reflex and 1 additional 25% damage attack is less impactful. Deep wounds does +4 raw damage on first hit (good), 1 damage a second after (less useful the higher your lvl). Ranged weapons can't compete against melee weapon sustainable damage because of reload time and inability to duel wield. Sabers are damage chart toppers. Shadowstep - Teleport to a high priority target to apply stun/prone and dispatch quickly. Also useful for beam position skewering with cipher and boot proc. Minelotta's minor missiles scroll triggers deathblows and deep wounds, synergy with combusting wounds. 60 x 3 missles for only 100 copper. I dropped dirty fighting (acc is so high hit->crit conversion is of limited benefit) and prestidigitator's missiles (33% less damage than scroll) for backstab with upcoming changes that finally allow for stacking with strikes attacks. Also, if you are frugal and use the loot table spreadsheet on the forum, you can pick up 2 cloaks that let you use minelotta's missiles 3/rest each. Easy to stockpile multiple combusting rings and missile cloaks as well, so even though they're x/rest items, you have more than enough uses between rests. Having cipher cast confuse on enemies near rogue can lead to a free, nasty disengagement attack. Riposte will require buffs to realize benefit, but even if just one low roll from a blinded a enemy gives a free full attack every 4 encounters, it's more useful than than taking crippling strike. 12 Survival = 20% flank damage had to drop 18 survival to get lore and stealth for newly improved backstab Cipher easily applies flank with to large AoE No Companions: Hirelings: Fighter, Chanter, Paladin, Cipher, Priest Pallegina was the NPC that merited any party consideration on account of her unique group haste buff, but ultimately still falls short. Motivation: Maxquest's data on attack speed, recovery, and reload inspired me to revisit mechanically optimal build. Intend to post remaining hireling builds eventually. Background: Soloed bear cave and gilded vale wolves as lvl 2 cipher on potd and never want to do bear cave ever again. Acquired stronghold solo on ranger and rogue, but haven't actually completed a single playthrough on any toon. Have played RPGs and MMOs since childhood and called a rules lawyer, power gamer, munchkin, etc. Played EQ1 & EQ2 at a competitive level; a lot of people asked me for build direction. Some of my own guildmates accused me of cheating; responsible for multiple re-balancing patches. Method: I scour data from wikis and forums for synergies and tend to come up with different, sometimes contrary but ultimately effective options. More "sweet spot" than "numbers guy"; prefer practical over theoretical results. Control is the foundation for DPS and survivability: Inflict status early and often; accuracy and INT for duration/AoE are central to this strategy. Speed (Dex) and capitalizing on talents/abilities and itemization with passive or triggered effects gives your controller needed time. In order of preference: Paralyze/Stun/Prone/Dominate/Confuse/Charm/Stuck/Blind. Cipher can manage all of the above, thus makes ideal primary controller. Petrify is even better than paralyze, but not readily available every encounter. Blind and stuck are underrated. Blind is superior to terrify and stuck removes melee enemies from play until you're ready for them. Stealthed cipher starting combat with Confuse causes enemies to spend their opening attacks/afflictions/debuffs on the confused target (vessels are usually immune however) Doorway bottlenecking or protecting your flanks is pretty foundational. However, if you prone or stun the front enemies in the bottleneck and leave them alive while you range the enemies in the back, your tank isn't taking any damage. Bonus points when your tank switches to quarterstaff to beat on the enemy behind the prone victim. Engagement: This is a secondary form of control, but typical results in the tank accepting damage. Fighters have a new, unique, effective ability. Interrupt: Supplemental, tertiary control. This party doesn't use any .75 or 1 second weapons, but has high PER, low recovery, and crits often. Also, things that die quickly are perma CCed. Interrupts are sufficient as an extra without investing in interrupting blows. At low levels especially before your arsenal of control abilities is mature, it's hard for a single enemy to get off an action with 6 high perception toons weapon attacking it. Note that no one in this party is using a ranged weapon that requires reloading, except for alpha. Skills: Athletics - everyone needs 3 for combat Survivability now impacts combat so mechanics should be handled by a support toon like Chanter There are 2 impactful AoE scrolls with 20m (!) range needing 4 and 8 lore respectively: binding web (recurring stuck field) and paralysis They each offer +15 accuracy, which makes sense for casters with naturally low accuracy. However, when used by a wood elf fighter with naturally high accuracy and a +20 accuracy self-buff, they're devastating Micro Food: Every 5 minutes on combat maps, this is a cheap way to stat boost with 4 x 6 tedious mouseclicks. ruatai sweet pie 2 DEX 10 end farmers spread 2 MIG 1 move stalwart rabbit stew 2 PER 0.5 move (suppress) casita casserole 2 INT 10 end (suppress) Resting Bonus: Always choose INT because 18% AoE/15% duration for CC is overall more useful than 9% recovery. The stacking sequence is rest at stronghold/inn, camp with supplies for surivial bonus, then "talk" to a prostitute. Respec your main PC to 18 Dex and 18 Con when you have +1 gear that raises you to 19 or higher. Pay to have conversations with all the prostitutes and they refund you 100% immediately and in the future, even after speccing back. Buffs: Priest: inspiring radiance (10acc), devotions of the faithful (10acc 4 Mig), bless (10% dam) Paladin:accuracy aura(6acc, 5% crit),liberating exhortation(10acc),inspiring triumph(7 all def), 15 acc vs beast bp, coordinating attacks(10acc) Chanter: flame lash (25%), damage shield (30 points), 2 movement AoE(boots), dire blessing under 50%m marking spear(10acc) Cipher: go between (3 movement, soften incoming hits), pain block (10 DR) Major Debuffs: Priest: weaken + daze (painful interdiction, huge AoE), -10 might (devotion of the faithful) Cipher: blind (eyestrike), flank & frighten (phantom foes, large AoE) Priest + Cipher = Dr. Deathblows will see you now Chanter: distract (bow) Fighter: -8 DR to 2 enemies per encounter, sicken (helm), stuck (belt) Healing: Fighter: constant + rapid recovery (12 end/3s), AoE heal boots (14 end/1.4s) Chanter: heal chant talents(scales up to 7 end/second) Cipher: pain block (120 end/30s), unbending Paladin: sacred immolation (12 end/pulse) Rogue: heal chain 70 end (1 ally + 5 jumps) 2 per rest from TUB All: 2nd wind Priest: there if you need it, but usually don't Weapon Lash/Armor Proof Pierce is almost always preferred because ranged threats can hit anyone in party. Elemental weapon lash choice is generally minor, but if you have a chanter and scion of flame it boosts your weapon damage by (5% of 25%) x 2 = 10%. Just say no to CON and RES: The mechanics of this game feels like an evolutionary step forward inspired by the classic D20 system. However, with good build and reasonable execution, these stats are only useful pursuing triple crown or ultimate achievements. To make CON viable, you would need control immune encounters that force heavy tanking or AoEs you can't avoid/prevent. RES could be viable if it added some offensive utility (improves will attacks or spell recovery) and/or will immunity spells were removed. If you don't believe me, try it. You can always respec CON if consumable CON/end food/gear isn't enough. Alpha with Arbalests: Until you get the shiny gear, the chance of prone at a distance on crit gives everyone something useful to do with their 2ndary weapon slot. With 1 hand tied behind my back: Seriously do yourself a favor and use 1 handers until mid game for the +15 acc and stick to the weapons innate Accuracy 1 like spear, club, dagger, and rapier. You'll hit/crit and fighter knockdown and rogue blind consistently where 2 handers and duel wield miss a lot early game. You'll forget about the old days when the shade/phantom encounters seemed hard. Random alliance flip: Ranged damage may take a backseat to melee, but the unique charm/dominate/marking buff procs can greatly lower difficulty of an encounter. Stronghold is a goldmine Stronghold turns have a fixed or random chance to advance when quests are completed. The earlier you take the stronghold yields more quest rewards. Unless you have a rogue, I recommend binding the Maerwald's soul for the permanent prestige upgrade and prioritize prestige upgrades first. After the keep is upgraded, then start buying and upgrading gear for your party. Hiring henchman will sap your money, so I tend to avoid it. Get your stealth to 4 early, and it makes it easy to speed through (tutamon the smith quest without fighting, and pick up fine enchanted gear and items in Magran's fork and Black Meadow). Mahojer (sp?) Bridge has an easy +2 INT helm to snag for your cipher and fine hatchet. For overseeing rings: Gilded Vale and Eothas and 1 Rymgard's mantle - don't need to complete the entire dungeon. Visit Raedric Keep for gloves of accuracy and mechanics then you are more than ready for Maerwald at level 4 with lvl 3 hirelings. You'll be respeccing at the brothel anyway to unlock free time with the employees. Companion quests I still complete these for the experience and the dialogue points, sitting out the chanter. Afterword, I have NPC rogue go for a relaxing swim in the blood pool for +1 DEX and 1 DR bypass.