dgray62

Is there an advantage to using shattered pillar rather than another monk subclass? I don't like using shattered pillar in my unmodded game due to the 5 wound limit. Would this work with FF, for example? A high RES build would yield more misses and ripostes, right?

I know. I realized this from this thread too. I had been buying the Spine and the Ring of Focused Flame almost every game until recently.

As far as I have been able to tell, Adriatic Glow does nothing for Ciphers or Chanters, unfortunately. You'd expect some bonus starting focus or phrases, the equivalent to a "1st level spell," but in my game at least this does not happen.

Thanks for the quick reply, thelee. It's great to know that shroud's boost stacks, which definitely makes it an even more powerful item than I realized. And as for action economy issue, the problem you describe, deciding when it is worth it and necessary to go all out with a build's bells and whistles, is common to most builds, I think.

thelee, does the 10% boost to spell casting speed from the shroud stack with other sources of action speed boost, such as the 20% boost from the Captain's Banquet?

Wizards have three spells with which they can inflict shock damage, I think. The reason I mentioned the wall is that using it to extend the boar shift and other buffs would also extend the lightning lash from the helm, I think. As for fury, personally I'd go with Lifegiver to get the boosted healing, since you can inflict lightning damage as a wizard starting right at level 1.

Ultimately, I think the Bloodmage/Lifegiver multiclass would be best for getting maximum use of the boar shift. This is because with wizard and Deltro's Cage Helm, you could also get a huge lightning lash that could be extended indefinitely with Wall of Draining.

Thanks for the clear explanation. My Helwalker/Shifter was doing incredible damage in boar form.

Yes, the combo with Helwalker is extremely strong at the start, but I would imagine it is outshined late game by this Bloodmage/Lifegiver combo late game. This sounds like a fun combo however, even early game. You'd have great healing which synergizes well with Bloodmage, and you could lay down some strong DoT or pulsing effects early (chillfog, Concelhaut's Corrosive Siphon, Touch of Rot) which would complement nicely the boar wounding, and all of which could trigger Combusting Wounds for some great damage.

Thanks. It would result in more damage overall right? Unless I am mistaken, I thought extending the length of DoTs led to more damage. But I must admit my understanding of game mechanics is limited.

I noticed while recently playing a Helwalker/Shifter that the wound base duration was very long, close to 30s with high INT. Is this a bad thing or a good thing?

That makes sense. The priest extends Ascended with SoT, and the cipher returns the favor with Ancestral Memory, allowing the priest to recast it endlessly. Thanks!

Yes, I tried the Debonaire yesterday, but didn't make it further than the Sea Caves. The Cowardice effect was much harsher than I anticipated. I didn't have to get very far from Eder to have it kick in. -10 ACC and DEF hurts a lot on PotD! I'm sure it would be easier to manage with a full party.

So you would want to have a party of at least three-another cipher (for mutual casts of Ancestral Memory) and a Priest, right?

Thanks, Boeroer. I plan on trying this build with Sungrazer.

Thanks for the clarification, Boeroer. I haven't yet used Sungrazer so I didn't realize that extinction event was foe-only. That makes it even better, IMO. So I gather that crit kills with soul annihilation while wielding Sungrazer will trigger extinction event? It's basically a primary attack with the raw lash from soul annihilation, right?

I know. This a big drawback to planning builds that would make good use of the Howling Blade.

AndreaColumbo, how would you build your melee oriented ghost heart/ascendant? Clearly you want high INT, as well as decent DEX, INT and STR, but I feel like I can't dump CON and RES completely on a melee character. Using the Howling Blade would be nice to keep enemies dazed, if you're lucky and proc the random encounter to get it early. Any thoughts or suggestions would be welcome.

That's an interesting idea. So you charm the enemy, and then crit it with Sungrazer, triggering extinction event if you kill it, right? Would it work better if you charmed a group with ringleader, then crit kill one of them, so that extinction event crits the rest?

Steel Garrote/Bloodmage is a very solid build. It's a great choice for PotD.

You're right. I've gotten that one very late too.

Yes, definitely great stuff. I have played an archer ghostheart/ ascendant seer before, but I personally prefer playing melee characters for my MC. Playing a melee stalker/beguiler wielding Willbreaker sounds like fun. The only problem is I love having Konstanten as a Willbreaker wielding Howler in my parties. I never tried a debonaire spellblade before, but that sounds like a great combo with a beguiler.

I guess I must have visited all the districts, then. Hard to keep the various games straight.

Thanks. Like you, I have gone through games without it ever triggering. I was wondering if there was a trigger about which I was unaware. I think the only precondition is meeting with the queen and faction figureheads in the Serpent's Crown palace. I recently had it trigger immediately after that before I had visited many of the Neketaka areas, and before repairing WotEP, unfortunately.

I usually like to have a priest and/or druid in my party, for extra healing, utility and some CC. You could have both for your fifth team member, using a build such as thelee's "Keeper" universalist multiclass. A fifth member like this will definitely make the early game easier; if you find the game too easy, you can always drop him/her from your roster.