dgray62

I think Essence Interrupter is fixed. I've used it extensively lately and haven't noticed any loot disappearing. I was looking out for this bug, but haven't encountered it, fortunately.

Thanks—I didn't realize that Rust's is limited to 1/rest. I also hate 1/rest effects as I almost never use them.

Thanks for the tips, Haplok. Do you take Secrets of Rime for the extra penetration with your Ninagauth's Shadowflame? Or is this not necessary, since assassination already gives you +4 PEN? I guess you don't need Rymgrands Enervating Terror for the same reason you don't need Persistent Distraction. Do you keep Rust's Poignard in an offhand for an extra shadowing beyond use?

Thanks, Haplok. I presume that you took some of the passive rogue skills, such as persistent distraction, deep wounds, and so forth? Also, did you primarily rely on grimoires, or did you pick spells when leveling up?

Haplok, what are the base stats on your spellblade? Did you keep STR relatively low and DEX, PER and INT high? Also, did you take backstab?

Thanks for the clarification, Kaylon.

How do you get the Muse of Mystery enchantment? I understand you can get it in the Forgotten Sanctum, but I do not see much information about this online.

And I presume you'd want Griffin's Blade in your offhand for the extra 10% damage boost for both spells and invocations. Also, if the +5 PL boost from empowering an invocation with Sasha's singing scimitar stacks with the Bellower PL boost, that would be incredible. But then one would have to do a Bellower/vanilla wizard multiclass, since Bloodmage blocks all empowered attacks.

Thanks for sharing this observation. It's increasingly clear that Imagined Pain, with the right equipment, is an amazing ability!

Thanks for the quick and detailed reply, Boeroer. I was under the false impression that Kitchen Stove was a mortar too, but checking I see that it is not, thanks!

Boeroer, I've never played a dual mortar build, and was thinking trying a SC Helwalker per your recommendation. Which mortars do you use, and which upgrades do you apply to them?

How do you get 35 dex? I think you can get DEX to 22 with an elf or godlike MC and Berath's blessing and deadfire background. Swift flurry will bring you up to 27. You could get over 30 with equipment. Drugs and food don't stack with inspirations, right?

Heartgrave, a steel garrote/bloodmage is an arcane knight. An arcane knight is a multiclass of paladin and wizard. Steel garrote and bloodmage are subclasses of paladin and wizard, respectively.

MC is short for "main character." Since I am using this build for my main character, it has certain benefits, like Berath's blessings and the Watcher abilities, that companions, sidekicks and hirelings lack.

I am not aware of a build posted for this multiclass. But you can look at some of the arcane knight builds posted on this web site and make some adaptations. I am playing an MC with this multiclass with stats of 16 STR/12 CON/18 DEX/18 PER/18 INT/8 RES, with Berath's Blessing. Generally you want to take Paladin abilities at level up, since you can get wizard spells you need from grimoires. This is what I have done. PL 1: P (Paladin)-Garrote (automatic), Flames of Devotion, Deep Faith, Sworn Enmity; W (Wizard)-chill fog PL 2: P-Zealous Aura, Inspiring Triumph, Two Weapon Style; W-Concelhaut's Corrosive Syphon PL 3: P-Sworn Rival, Eternal Devotion, Lay on Hands; W-Combat Focus PL 4: P-Exalted Endurance, Glorious Beacon; W-Scion of Flames, Spirit of Decay PL 5: P-Uncanny Luck, Practiced Healer; W-Rapid Casting, Far Casting PL 6: P-Improved Critical, Virtuous Triumph; for the other two, pick a Wizard spell of your choice, and another ability of your choice. Maybe Divine Purpose? PL 7: Stoic Steel, Inspired Beacon; W-spell of your choice This is just what I would do. I'm sure others will have different suggestions.

I think Boeroer resolved my quandary. For a steel garrote/bloodmage, it's probably best to dual wield, with your best weapons in your main weapon slot. But in your second weapon slot, keep the main hand empty and put a club in the offhand with the club modal on. Switch to this weapon slot when you cast Draining Touch, for the reasons Boeroer indicated.

There is great synergy in a steel garrote/bloodmage build. While it is probably one of the best builds for solo runs, you can have fun with it in a party too. I'd recommend that you focus on spells that cause afflictions, such as Chill Fog; you cast spells, and then strike out in melee to the afflicted foes, and drain health from them. It's a lot of fun. Generally I'd recommend that you mainly take Paladin talents, since you can get all the spells you need from grimoires. You can buff up at the start of battle with Llengrath's Martial Masteries and then switch to other grimoires, like Ironclasped, as needed. You can also cast Concelhaut's Draining Touch from a grimoire, and then immediately switch grimoires. If you do this, you can attack with Concelhaut's Draining Touch for the rest of the battle, weakening them and draining health from them. It's a fun build, if not the most optimal, DPS wise, for party play. But there is great synergy between the two classes. Steel garrote compensates for the weaknesses of the bloodmage, through boosted defenses and constant healing. Also, Flames of Devotion (FoD) is one of the best attack skills, since it scales nicely as you gain power levels, and can be also boosted by items or pets that give you bonuses to fire abilities, like Otto star cat, Magran's favor and Sun & Moon. Or you can go with two handed weapons, and use Weapons like the Whispers of the Endless Paths, which when upgraded will retaliate when missed and daze the opponent, setting them up for health draining, And later you can summon Citzal's Lance. Here it's great to cast Pull of Eora, web & chill fog on a group of foes, and then hit them FoD strikes that will devastate them and heal you massively. One of my biggest quandaries with this build is whether it's best to go the dual wield or two-handed route. The latter seems much stronger with FoD, since it's a full attack, but once you get Citzal's you'll want to stick with two-handed. Be prepared for an evil play through. You'll need to avoid the "nice" dialogue options to maximize the Deep Faith defensive bonus.

This looks like a very fun build, Powerotti. Somehow I imagine the rumbling boar as a dwarf rather than an elf, however. Given the need for crits, wouldn't Hearth Orlan be optimal?

If playing with a Sage, would Deltro's Cage Helmet's lash stack with Lightning Strikes' lash?

I think I understand the rationale for Ooblit. It's to extend the invisibility of WotW to cover you while you are recasting the ability, right? That's a great idea.

Thanks for the detailed answer, Kaylon. I see that a Nature Godlike Helwalker monk would be ideal, as mepp22 suggested, to max out might and PL. How would Ooblit protect you during the casting phase? It adds 3 seconds to beneficial effect duration and +10 def to disengagement attacks. Do the wound ticks in Dance of Death count as hits? If so, that's strange, since you're not actually taking any damage.

Thanks for the detailed reply. I'm glad to hear that Keeper of the Flame's Religion scaling is decent. And I don't think that I'll build around Inner Death, as I do not like builds that require frequent resting,

While I presume that you would want to maximize religion with Keeper of the Flame, does anyone know how it scales with this skill. The base damage of 2 is pretty low. How big does it get if you have, say, a religion skill of 10 or 20?

Thanks for the advice on the build, mepp22.

I'm thinking of trying this, and I see that WotW and Imagined Pain are required for this build. I suppose that Prestige would be the logical third PL9 ability? While it pains me to not get Inner Death, I gather that these three would be the best PL9 choices.