[Electric Dyslexic]--Scroll Spamming Thaumaturge of Wael

[Hulk'O'Saurus]

'God does not play dice with the Universe... Wael does.'

 

***

 

 'Captain, what do you think about this here fish... looks bad to me.'

 

 The Watcher with four base Perception practically buried his face in the barrel. His muffled voice reached the sailor's ear:

 

 'I can't really tell...' he put his head out, one fish with visibly bloated belly slid down. 'Clearly the rational thing to do is to throw these away... but Wael be dammed if we do that! Nope... put it together with all the rest of the food.'

 

 'And go sick for the third time?'

 

 'Yes... for the fourth time, actually.'

 

***

 As the sailors were enjoying their ale the door suddenly cracked open by an energetic kick. 

 

 An old man came in and threw a bucket full of dice on the floor:

 

 'Every one hundred here means all of you are dead!'

 

 'What if there ain't no hundreds?' a toothless pirate asked with a smile.

 

 'Well... you see, the ninety nines also mean you're all dead...'

 

***

 

 

Might - 10

Constitution - 10

Dexterity - 18

Perception - 3

Intellect - 18

Resolve - 16

 

Race - Wood Elf

 

Culture - Deadfire Archipelago

 

Background - Raider

 

Focus - Arcana and History

 

Favorite Food - Captain's Banquet and Crusted Swordfish

 

No Rest Buffs - Nature's Resolve, Constanten's Boon, Dawnstar's Blessing, Adriatic Glow, Adra Potion, Magran's Blessing

 

Weapons - Sun and Moon, Magran's Favour

 

Helm - Deltro's Cage Helm

 

Armour - High Harbinger's Robes

 

Neck - Charm of Bones

 

Cape - The Giftbearer's Cloth

 

Grimoire - Ninagauth's Teachings/Iron-clasped/Any Grimoire with a lot of Shock based skills

 

Gloves - Firethrower's Gloves

 

Rings - Ring of Focused Flame, Kauru's Prize

 

Boots - Footprints of Ahu-Taka

 

Belt - Upright Captain's Belt

 

Pet - Pozzi, Flame Naga Hatchling, Von Killian the Cat(name?)

 

Used a Solo Set-up from the first game, no pledge to any of the Gods, no sacrifice, bound the souls at Durgan's to the cannons to get the special ship gun--the rest were rather chaotic, to be honest. 

 

Skill Trees:

 

 

 

In a nutshell, the build tries to self-empower by taking in the absolute highest lightning damage it can generate through use of Maelstrom Scrolls. It is shown simply in this picture here:

 

 

The first time the build takes Shock damage, it will generate a Shock lash through Deltro's Cage Helm. Any subsequent Shock damage won't upgrade or change the lash, so it is very important to get as much as you can from the get go. 

 

 

The High Harbinger's Robes are absolutely the most ideal piece of equipment you can get for this build. Low armour, increased damage taken, increased damage dealt and increased Recovery Speed as your health goes down. You can further improve on that by injuring yourself with Shock damage for a System Shock wound, and, if you feel like really min-maxing, find a way to reduce your Reflex through a wound, as well.

 

The damage the build will generate will be astonishing, so nothing else than Barring Death's Door is sufficient. Few points arise from that:

 

*It needs absolutely the highest amount of Dexterity and Intelligence it can get.

 

*It must prepare for enemy Arcane Dampeners by having a way to increase it's Will defense to the point they always fail. 

 

*It can use Perception as a dump stat as it lowers its Reflex defense, and Perceptions doesn't buff scroll Accuracy.

 

Despite the low starting Perception, the build can still nuke very well--using Sun and Moon plus Magran's Favour, and together with Nature's Resolve, Ring of Focused Flames and Devotion of the Faithful, the Accuracy is staying consistently high. So the small battles are quite enjoyable. 

 

To prepare for enemy Arcane Dampeners, simply withdraw as soon as combat starts, buff up, then run in and cast scroll of Circle of Protection. For more Will, use Von Killian the Cat(+1 Int, +5 Will). Magnera's Chain is available, if you want to further increase the defense, and in case you want to really be safe, just drain your health with Deleterious Alacrity of Motion and use Llengrath's Safeguard, though you won't generate lashes as big as without. Wearing the Giftbearer's Cloth you can easily exceed 200 Will, though you need only about 195 to become immune to the Fampyr's Arcane Dampeners. Here it needs to be said that because of that, the build actually plays better on Berath's Challenge. Having the freedom to Withdraw during combat at a distant location, buff up and then come back makes a number of the fights really enjoyable... and rather easy, too. 

 

The build has a good consumption rate of scrolls. I didn't need to wait a lot at Cuitztli's to regain materials. I still have about 70 Primal Fires left at the end of the game. The fact that all your nukes essentially almost triple in damage is helping a ton with that. 

 

Despite the initial excitement at the high damages the build can generate, it isn't very newbie-friendly. Please, I am not using the word in any derogatory sense. 

 

First, you won't be able to see any traps. For me that's not a problem, because as soon as I enter an area, I can remember where the traps are. Also, most of the traps are actually shown to you with their small muzzles and such, so if you're careful, you'll do well. In the beginning, pacifist stages of the game, you can still use the Captain's Cabin from Dunnage for +3 Per and eat your Ripple Sponges as well as have pieces of Per equipment, so it isn't as bad as it may seem. Still, once you hop into battle gear you will need to mind that a lot. 

 

Second, the build is strong during short period of times, mostly during your Barring Death's Door and active lashes, but you can always keep a stack of scrolls to top up. I did play with Skaen's Challenge on, and it can be annoying, but it is doable. 

 

Third, the build must sneak from the first island and that's not very fun. 

 

Fourth, the build needs to hunt down most, if not all ship bounties and do as much as possible in pacifists mode to prepare for the fun stages.

 

Five, Fire Immune enemies may come across as annoying, but to me they're actually a ton of fun to play against. You have to get creative with your scrolls and lash.  

 

To end, I will leave you with three boss battles . 

 

 

 

 

EDIT: Reuploaded images. Sorry about that.

Edited November 11, 2018 by Hulk'O'Saurus

[Boeroer]

Hm... why Wizard of you are using scrolls anyway? Combo of Barring Death's Door + Salvation + Draining Wall? Or just for the shock based self damage?

[thelee]

what a zany build, i love it.

 

(the deltro build i had seen on boeroer's list had been deprecated, so glad to see it's still going strong)

[Boeroer]

Yes, since you can't stack the lashes on the helmet anymore you need to damage yourself with a really big amount of shock damage.

 

Since I loathe potions and scrolls in their current form this is not for me, but nice idea indeed.

[AndreaColombo]

Since I loathe potions and scrolls in their current form this is not for me, but nice idea indeed.

(Ok, I must do this) Not *all* scrolls and potions!

[Boeroer]

No, not the ones that don't mimic the abilites of classes. But since lots of potions and scrolls do that I ignore both completely. I think it's a bit lazy design work to just copy existing stuff and put it into consumables. I can't see one positive thing about it.

[Hulk'O'Saurus]

No, not the ones that don't mimic the abilites of classes. But since lots of potions and scrolls do that I ignore both completely. I think it's a bit lazy design work to just copy existing stuff and put it into consumables. I can't see one positive thing about it.

 

I don't disagree. I've already expressed my opinion on the overall Deadfire design in another thread... the build is just for fun. But here goes anyways: Too many bullet sponges in the game and less tactics.

 

 

Hm... why Wizard of you are using scrolls anyway? Combo of Barring Death's Door + Salvation + Draining Wall? Or just for the shock based self damage?

 

Overall best quality of life, in my opinion. You can damage yourself easily with shock. Wizard makes the small battles smooth and fun. With Wizard you get a fast +5 on every stat and another long lasting hit to crit. It starts with one more Arcana, because I want to be a Raider for the one extra Stealth... for you know where. I mention that despite the big numbers coming from scrolls, you can still nuke very well. Also, if you want to get everything with scrolls... well, that's just going to increase your consumption rate by a ton, and that's not very fun. You can still get interesting results by mixing with other classes . I just like Wizzie best. Nice catch with the Wall of Draining, btw. I didn't use it, but it is still very viable.

PS:A round of small edits to add a few details.

Edited October 4, 2018 by Hulk'O'Saurus

[Boeroer]

Cool, got it.

[mant2si]

Min/Max suggestion for late game:

Helwalker (instead of Wizard): +50% additional damage will give you higher lash, +5 to int will give you longer BDD and +20% fire lash on top of that is pretty good
Eng game gear with immunities for all 6x affliction you check my previous build https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/105553-build-servant-of-death/ (it will cost you +4 DEX and 20% action speed), but you can do no-rest run after level 10 (you don't need to change your food)
New DLC introduce AXE that upgrade MIG inspiration and make your crits interrupt bosses 
 

Edited October 4, 2018 by mant2si

[Hulk'O'Saurus]

Hey, not bad suggestions at all! Cheers!

 

Using Helwalker and withdrawing aside to give yourself 10 wounds with Mortification of the Soul is a good way to max out on the wounds. It is true you will do more damage to yourself that way from the Maelstrom. The fire lash won't add on top, sadly. It's only for melee attacks. If you're using a human, the Fighting Spirit's 15 % damage done will add on top, so that's good. And I think the +7 Accuracy stacks with everything as well. There's also shenanigans to make yourself almost immune to enemy status effects, so that's always nice when talking Monk. All in all, I think you will be able to easily surpass 1000 single target damage like that. 

 

Extra Int is moreish and I'm up for that. Not too excited about loosing the Harbinger's Robes--all that recovery pushes a lot of extra casts. It is true you won't be immune to Might Afflictions, but I think you'll just be able to blast them before you incur the debuffing effect. Having Thunderous Blows on the side will always be a nice backup.

 

Using the sandals of the Waterlilly is actually a great tip for Belranga x). That one is good not only for this toon, but for everybody, though it needs to be said that the extra defense penalty is very apropos for this particular style of play.  

 

My thing about not using a Wizard is mainly that the scroll consumption will go up by quite a bit. Rerolling the shops for primals is never fun and a wizard paces better for me. But hey, be my guest. 1k+ single target damage coming in.   

[baldurs_gate_2]

Perception dump is disgusting. I know, because maelstrom targets reflex, but ugh, you can not really see traps, so less xp in the beginning (the traps at nemnoks lair are worth 300-500 xp each).

[Hulk'O'Saurus]

Tit for tat. Instead you can do the whole Nemnok thing at 16 xD. 

 

But hey... nothing is written in stone... you can very well play with high Perception and still do the same. 

[baldurs_gate_2]

Tit for tat. Instead you can do the whole Nemnok thing at 16 xD. 

 

But hey... nothing is written in stone... you can very well play with high Perception and still do the same. 

And why so much dexterity? Because you want to be able to cast the next spell quick enough?

[Hulk'O'Saurus]

More or less, yeah.

 

It increases reaction time. If you watch that Guardian fight, for example, I am able to withdraw as the projectile is flying towards me. 

 

Another thing is the icredible increase in dps as you reduce recovery further and further. Or stacking cc. 

[thelee]

 

 

Another thing is the icredible increase in dps as you reduce recovery further and further.

 

(trying not to shout this, deep breath) dexterity has linear returns to your dps.

[Boeroer]

Huh? Was he saying something different?

[thelee]

Huh? Was he saying something different?

 

the way he phrased it made it sound like he was talking about exponential returns

[Boeroer]

That would be PoE1.

[Hulk'O'Saurus]

Quicker just makes me happy .

 

Still... the quicker you cast, the shorter the combat. The shorter the combat, the less time you have. The less time you have, the more spells you need to cast. The more spells you need to cast, the quicker you need to be... and you're trying to get as many as you can in a short amount of time, as well. 

 

Wael logic, don't ask. 

Edited October 16, 2018 by Hulk'O'Saurus

[Verde]

Haha that portrait is amazing. Riveting intro.

[baldurs_gate_2]

Withdraw is just better than smoke veil, because it never happened, that the fight did not stop after you cast it and the enemies went out of sight. But with smoke veil, sometimes you really have to wait a couple of seconds for the fight to end.

[Hulk'O'Saurus]

I do mention that it's better to play Berath's Challange with this . 

 

And I do play on Berath's Challange... though I don't think I show that anywhere . 

[baldurs_gate_2]

Well, arcane dampener is really a pain. I was level 14 and tried that area under sacred stairs. I had 121 will, but AD always hit. Only when you run around like crazy, it always misses. And i don't know, how much one hit from the maelstrom nets you for deltros. One time i had around 180%, but sometimes only 32%. Just don't wear any armor or only robes i guess, so you don't get any shock armor.

[Hulk'O'Saurus]

121 Will is way too little. What equipment are you using? That's why the build plays better under Berath's Challenge. You can run away, Withdraw, buff up, then run in and cast scroll of Circle of Protection. If I rememeber correctly, the bone mages have 91 accuracy on AD at best. Add 75 and you get 165 Will. You have to work towards that number. And you will need 195 for the fampyrs. Another thing you can do is have potions of Major Recovery, because AD always grazes you for less than 10s. At worse, you can always just cast a normal Maelstrom on top of them. They are rather fragile. 

 

Never forget about Slicken and Chill Fog. 

 

If you will be buffing through Deltro's avoid using any Hit to Graze conversions, especially from Llengrath's Displaced Image. If you double check my vids, you will see me doing exactly that. Check your equipment to see if you have got anything of that kind, as well. Use Llengrath's if you will be doing normal combat, which is very doable under Sacred Stairs, btw. With Focused Flames, Devotion and Nature's Resolve your accuracy will always be enough to give yourself a hit. 

 

You can easily do the early fight at the BoW dlc, so you can get the Harbinger's Robes right now. That is much better for you than going naked. You can also use the Deltro's Cage for that +2 Lightning power level to buff up Maelstroms and just nuke regularly in the smaller fights. 

 

Another tip I can give you for doing small combat is to use Llengrath's Safeguard before the combat start. Again, that's if you'll not be using Deltro's Helm. That way Llengrath's will go at half health without you having to cast it during combat and will likely stay on for the next combat. 

[baldurs_gate_2]

121 Will is way too little. What equipment are you using? That's why the build plays better under Berath's Challenge. You can run away, Withdraw, buff up, then run in and cast scroll of Circle of Protection. If I rememeber correctly, the bone mages have 91 accuracy on AD at best. Add 75 and you get 165 Will. You have to work towards that number. And you will need 195 for the fampyrs. Another thing you can do is have potions of Major Recovery, because AD always grazes you for less than 10s. At worse, you can always just cast a normal Maelstrom on top of them. They are rather fragile. 

 

Never forget about Slicken and Chill Fog. 

 

If you will be buffing through Deltro's avoid using any Hit to Graze conversions, especially from Llengrath's Displaced Image. If you double check my vids, you will see me doing exactly that. Check your equipment to see if you have got anything of that kind, as well. Use Llengrath's if you will be doing normal combat, which is very doable under Sacred Stairs, btw. With Focused Flames, Devotion and Nature's Resolve your accuracy will always be enough to give yourself a hit. 

 

You can easily do the early fight at the BoW dlc, so you can get the Harbinger's Robes right now. That is much better for you than going naked. You can also use the Deltro's Cage for that +2 Lightning power level to buff up Maelstroms and just nuke regularly in the smaller fights. 

 

Another tip I can give you for doing small combat is to use Llengrath's Safeguard before the combat start. Again, that's if you'll not be using Deltro's Helm. That way Llengrath's will go at half health without you having to cast it during combat and will likely stay on for the next combat. 

But you have to kill Vatnir for it or?