Haplok

So yeah, it is pretty nice. Don't even have Deathblows yet. Doubtful whether it translates to more damage then 10% universal corrode lash on Blightheart (except vs large numbers of weak enemies), but the healing effect is kinda neat, even moreso for a Blood Mage Spellblade... who often cannot be targeted, even by friendly healing. Plus it has a pretty high coolness factor. aaand there is the unintented synergy with Soul Hunger debuffing Might (among others) at the beginning of the combat - when you self buff and use Blood Sacrifice a lot to recover these slots - and then buffs Might (and Con, Dex) after 1st kill.

Spell choice depends greatly on your future grimoire choice and preferred playstyle. I can say that for damage dealing in Turn Based the ray spells and later Ningauths Freezing Pillar really stand out. Wall of Fire is also pretty decent (although has poor Penetration). For nuking Ningauths Teachings grimoire is excellent. Has most direct damage spells, including TWO fantastic unique spells - in Turn Based Ninagauth's Death Ray from spell level 3 is your best damage spell till spell level 6; Ningauths Shadowflame from spell level 4 is an upgraded Fireball that does cold damage AND paralyses enemies. To get it, you need to raid Arkemyrs Manor in Neketaka and reach his valut (can be done stealthily). Another very interesting choice is Grimoire of Vaporous Wizardry from his Dark Cupboard shop (that actually belongs to Arkemyr... and is conveniently located next to his manor). Lets you cast +1 spell from every level in every encounter... But you'll probably need Rekvus Helm from Delvers Row in Neketaka Gullet to mitigate its disadvantage (any damage taken interrupts casting). Need the helm and self - mutilation to carry one Injury that will trigger the helm special - for example with Necrotic Lance spell. Free cast buffs are VERY good, but they will compete with more offensive spells for spell slots, particularly at early levels.

Not without some serious sheningans, no. But, as I already wrote, I'm not currently looking for a weapon to smack people with. Instead I'm looking for something to hold that will do cool stuff as my character casts his deadly spells.

Well, I don't deny it's a good weapon. Personally I'm also quite fond of Eager Blade for melee combat. But Engoliero has the advantage that it triggers passively on kill, not just on weapon attacks.

Yeah, now I'm rushing Engoliero for the 3rd time already.... Although the 2nd time I barely used it (wasn't that great at generating Focus fast on combat start... and for an Ascendant initial tempo is critical). Will see how useful it is for a Spellblade nuker.

I do believe Flagellant's Path was triggering both my melee rapier and offhand Thunderous Report implement - blunderbuss.

Retraining is still bugged, sadly. If you have any ability upgrade, you'll probably loose ability points. Some other things might be lost also. Nowadays I simply use the Unity Console to alter abilities to my liking. Just need to manually keep track of ability balance to keep it fair - that you give up same number/same or higher level as you add.

Well, no progress with the Slippers. But yesterday I experienced something new and fun for a Turn Based Assasin Spellblade. After getting Rapid Spell (and stacking the Spellcasting Action Speed with Alacricity, I guess), some ray spells seemed to resolve their second tick (out of 2/3) BEFORE my character's next round - still Invisible from Shadowing Beyond and with Assasinate active! And those can do 150-230-ish Assasinate damage on crit per target, per tick. Over 200-300 with Takedown Combo. This makes such a build really strong - A LOT stronger then Real Time. Well, I'm just a little xp short of Freezing Pillar and will see if that works also. Also need to test further if that might only apply to spells with shorter cast time rays, like Ray of Fire (Ninagauth's spells tend to have long casts).

Maybe it would work if you used a Full Attack ability at point blank (Stunning Blow/Surge or one of the rogue skills?). Or a Mobility Full Attack ability, such as Flagellant's Path.

Thank you, Ontarah. I'm pretty sure I completed that quest. I even had an option to give the complete book to Tayn (but didn't).

Hmm, that might be how I killed Bekarna indeed. But regarding God seed, I'm pretty sure I returned the compiled book to Llengrath and did what she asked at the Collections. Still, the Godseed quest never triggered.

Blood Mage / Assasin Spellblade is pretty cool, particularly in Turn Based mode, where the ray spells are considerably stronger. Nuking from stealth with large bonuses for your spells. And some nice passives. Otherwise Cipher multiclasses are cool, particularly Ascendant or maybe Beguiler with Monk Helwalker Transcendent or maybe Ranger/Cipher. SoulBlade / Trickster works as well. Fighter Black Jacket is also pretty fun, you get to fast switch and use a lot more of the shiny toys you find. Could go well with Cipher, Blood Mage or Rogue.

I didn't get the invitation (guess wasn't fully prepped, certainly finished Ashen Maw), and went there manually. Missed some content, though. Bekarna was dead, so missed all quests from her. Also despite clearly siding with one of the mages, never got the quest from them to collect these items that can be used to enchant something to Mythic.

That's nice, but I'm looking for a good stat stick to empower nukes and/or trigger effects passively while nuking. And basically never to attack with.

Thank you Boeroer. That's pretty interesting. But not quite what I had in mind. As I play in Turn Based, I don't like to "waste" any rounds attacking. Hmm... so far it seems to me that.. once again... Engoliero de Espirs might be my stat-stick/force multiplier of choice. So far I'm using Blightheart and its not bad. Sometimes Sun&Moon with Magran's favor... but usually I'm not casting that many Fire spells. Less then 40%. Seems to me that if I could trigger aoe kill chains, Engoliero (with sneak attacks and Deathblows) could outperform the Blightheart's 10% lash. And heal my Bloodmage char to boot!

I have a question to the knowledgeable Gentlemen here. Does the Eye of Wael Invisibility chance on crit only proc from scepter attacks? Or possibly any hit rolls (thinking spells)?

As I don't have Ooblit or even Strand of Favor yet, I cannot test this properly myself (Maria Cruda food and Cabalist Gambeson alone are definitely not enough). But trying the Assasin Slippers again, I've found a use case for them on a caster assasin at least. IF the 1st kill happens on a ray or aoe spell with a lasting effect before it runs out (and the main target is still alive in case of rays to keep them ticking), the Slippers will enable Stealth and Assasinate will trigger on the next spell tick - at the beginning of your next round. Good thing rays have very high base damage in Turn Based mode. Well, at least it works like this for rays. But I imagine it should also work for lasting aoe spells like Ninagauth's Freezing Pillar.

Only loosely related, as I play in Turn based and with a Spellblade Assasin... but does anybody know if the stealth effect from Assasin Slippers has a fixed duration or can it be extended? Perhaps with Ooblit or other means mentioned here? It kinda sucks that you can't complete any "Cast" actions under this effect, as it expires immediately after your next turn happens (therefore before spellcasts are resolved). Very few spells are "Standard" actions.

Well, in real time a Nuker Assasin simply focuses on 1-off aoe spells: Fan of Flames, Necrotic Lance, Fireball, Ninagauth's Shadowflame, Torrent of Flame, Blast of Frost, Death Ring, Minoletta's Precisely Piercing Burst, Ninagauth's Killing Bolt. Of course, as a Blood Mage, nothing is stopping you from using all the other good spells (while an Evoker would have serious limitations there).

Well, currently my Eder is using... well... Tuotilo's Palm, obviously. Plus Rust's/Kapana/Stargrazer/Grave Calling, depending on mood and enemy type. The modal is indeed nice for Ripostes. He crits a lot. Of course, in Turn Based an Initiative penalty is much less painful then a Recovery penalty in real-time... And I like that the light Shield does not debuff his Accuracy. I think it even has it's own riposte property? Haven't seen it get much use.

Should you have interest in Turn Based mode, the persistant aoe spells and in particular Ray spells have undergone an interesting translation into rounds - they used to last 10-15 seconds and tick every second, but now they only last 1-2 rounds and dump all their damage in 2-3 ticks. That makes these rays really attractive for an Assasin nuker. For example at level 10 you can:

Mages also pair well with Assasin IMO. +25 Accuracy, +4 PEN and +50% Critical damage is huge! Although Assasinate for spells is a bit sketchy and doesn't always register for some reason and you have to wait for Shadowing Beyond to do it more then once per fight, its still good synergy. The mobility from Evasion/Shadowing Beyond is also great for someone who like to explode in the middle of enemy ranks with stuff like Torrent of Flame, Death Ring and Mineletta's Piercing Burst. Passives are also good: Dirty Trick for +10% Crit conversion, Immune to Mind afflictions when Bloodied (as a Blood Mage you tend to spend a lot of time under that status, particularly if human or Death Godlike), Reflex Grazes converted to Misses. Not entirely sure if its worth giving up PL 8 and 9 spells, but its certainly a fun playstyle. Best multiclass for a mage that wants to focus on nuking trough offensive magic IMO (and not on gish-style fighting or CC). And I read that for a Blood Mage its tricky to recover PL 8 & 9 spells anyway (maybe you don't need to recover them after one cast, though...)

That sounds like a really nice weapon for my Sorcerer Fassina. Never even considered that upgrade or thought about that interaction. Thanks!

Note Instruments of Pain is a late game solution. But sure. I was a bit dissapointed it didn't want to work with my rapier + blunderbuss combo (for melee attack speed + Thunderous Report openings). Needed to dual wield (or single-wield) melee weapons to use Instruments. In the end it wasn't such a big deal for me... at that point it was fun to cross the battlefield with Flagellant's Path.

Its certainly the typical approach. My experience was that I could offtank a bit when I donned heavier armor. Spent the middle of the game in "middle range" with Grave Calling, typically starting the combat by Thunderous Report from Kitchen Stove, then casting - taking a break to kill my herald's skeletons (first softened by a Fireball/Ningauth's Shadowflame when mixed with enemies) and creating foe only blinding, paralyzing Chillfogs - that even provide Focus trough their aoe ticks. Late game I had the Seeker's Fang rapier and was zig-zaging trough the battlefield with Flagellant's Path, applying deadly DOTs to most enemies between casting Disintegrates on priority targets (also DOT btw.).