Devoted: Chromoprismatic Quarterstaff

[omgFIREBALLS]

Multi-classed to paladin, obviously stacking metaphysics. Not solo.

 

Tell me some important fights where, from a damage dealing perspective, I will royally hate myself for it.

[MaxQuest]

Well, staves have 8 base PEN. So it will be: 8 + 2 (devout) + 4 (legendary) + 2 (food) = 16.

 

While the highest crush AR is held by Sea Dragon (17 on PotD). Followed by ooze megaboss and krakens (16 on PotD).

Also there are very few enemies immune to it; namely: few bog oozes and kraken tentacles.

 

That said, Chromoprismatic Quarterstaff is awesome with Clear Out vs multiple enemies. Although vs a single enemy a DW setup might produce a higher consistent dps with full-attacks.

 

P.S. This character might also be into scrolls/arcana as he has nice bonuses.

Edited April 23, 2019 by MaxQuest

[omgFIREBALLS]

Also there are very few enemies immune to it; namely: few bog oozes and kraken tentacles.

That's what I thought. You can't go wrong with blunt weapons in BG, IWD or PoE :D

[MaxQuest]

Yeap, noticed that too. Encounter designers seem to favor crush damage type.

 

And perhaps that is why there is no 13-19 one-handed crush weapon?)

[AndreaColombo]

Are there really more enemies that are immune to slash and pierce than there are enemies immune to crush? Going by memory since my last playthrough was ages ago but IIRC flat-out immunities to the three main damage types are relatively rare across the board.

[Boeroer]

Slash and pierce resistance (airport mean a lot more AR against those than against crush) is very common though.

[omgFIREBALLS]

Slash and pierce resistance (airport mean a lot more AR against those than against crush) is very common though.

Autocorrect, what did you just do?

[MaxQuest]

Are there really more enemies that are immune to slash and pierce than there are enemies immune to crush? Going by memory since my last playthrough was ages ago but IIRC flat-out immunities to the three main damage types are relatively rare across the board.

Oh yes.

 

Take a look: here

 

There are 17 creature types immune to pierce (mostly skeletons). And those not immune to it, have 8.26 pierce AR on average.

There are 3 creature types immune to slash (earth blights). And those not immune to it, have 7.73 pierce AR on average.

There are 5 creature types immune to crush (bog oozes and kraken tentacles). And those not immune to it, have 7.49 pierce AR on average.

 

But it's also worth noting that there are many sigils and obelisks immune to pierce AND slash.

Meanwhile crush is quite effective vs majority of bosses and numerous skeletons.

 

P.S. Although note: the spreadsheet includes only creature types. Not kith (with the exception of Auranic).

Edited April 24, 2019 by MaxQuest

[dunehunter]

 

Are there really more enemies that are immune to slash and pierce than there are enemies immune to crush? Going by memory since my last playthrough was ages ago but IIRC flat-out immunities to the three main damage types are relatively rare across the board.

Oh yes.

 

Take a look: here

 

There are 17 creature types immune to pierce (mostly skeletons). And those not immune to it, have 8.26 pierce AR on average.

There are 3 creature types immune to slash (earth blights). And those not immune to it, have 7.73 pierce AR on average.

There are 5 creature types immune to crush (bog oozes and kraken tentacles). And those not immune to it, have 7.49 pierce AR on average.

 

But it's also worth noting that there are many sigils and obelisks immune to pierce AND slash.

Meanwhile crush is quite effective vs majority of bosses and numerous skeletons.

 

 

Very nice sheet @MaxQuest, yeah it seems almost all MegaBoss has a weakness in crush damage type.

 

Edit: Ouch the hellfire ironclad has 13460 hp... How much more HP it has in PoTD? Btw if PoTD adds +2 AR to it, it should have +21 Slash AR right? But I read somewhere it has 22 Slash AR in the forum...

Edited April 24, 2019 by dunehunter

[MaxQuest]

Edit: Ouch the hellfire ironclad has 13460 hp... How much more HP it has in PoTD?

On PotD all HP are multiplied by 1.25.

So Dorudugan has 16825hp.

 

P.S. Funny thing: if you enable console commands, the "K" becomes a mouseover kill hotkey. But it can't kill Dorudugan and Auranic in one go, because it is programmed to deal 9999 raw damage only ^^

 

Btw if PoTD adds +2 AR to it, it should have +21 Slash AR right? But I read somewhere it has 22 Slash AR in the forum...

Yeap, 21 Slash AR. These are Dorudugan's armor and defense values on PotD:

 

 

He only has 22 Slash AR, if you are on PotD AND have scaling enabled AND spawn him via console, because in that case he gets erroneously upscaled from level 30 to level 34 (and gets: +1 AR, +12 defenses, +12 accuracy)

Here's a related bug report.

Edited April 24, 2019 by MaxQuest

[dunehunter]

 

Edit: Ouch the hellfire ironclad has 13460 hp... How much more HP it has in PoTD?

On PotD all HP are multiplied by 1.25.

So Dorudugan has 16825hp.

 

P.S. Funny thing: if you enable console commands, the "K" becomes a mouseover kill hotkey. But it can't kill Dorudugan and Auranic in one go, because it is programmed to deal 9999 raw damage only ^^

 

Btw if PoTD adds +2 AR to it, it should have +21 Slash AR right? But I read somewhere it has 22 Slash AR in the forum...

Yeap, 21 Slash AR. These are Dorudugan's armor and defense values on PotD:

 

 

He only has 22 Slash AR, if you are on PotD AND have scaling enabled AND spawn him via console, because in that case he gets erroneously upscaled from level 30 to level 34 (and gets: +1 AR, +12 defenses, +12 accuracy)

Here's a related bug report.

 

 

Interesting, that's explained why u need to around 700 layers of Resonant Touch stacks to kill it, assume u are a Helwalker and have 35 Might, each RT will do 26 raw damage so 16825/26 = 647 stacks!

[Yosharian]

On 4/23/2019 at 7:50 PM, MaxQuest said:

Well, staves have 8 base PEN. So it will be: 8 + 2 (devout) + 4 (legendary) + 2 (food) = 16.

 

While the highest crush AR is held by Sea Dragon (17 on PotD). Followed by ooze megaboss and krakens (16 on PotD).

Also there are very few enemies immune to it; namely: few bog oozes and kraken tentacles.

 

That said, Chromoprismatic Quarterstaff is awesome with Clear Out vs multiple enemies. Although vs a single enemy a DW setup might produce a higher consistent dps with full-attacks.

 

P.S. This character might also be into scrolls/arcana as he has nice bonuses.

Specifically what DW setup (with Devoted in mind) could produce a higher DPS?  Asking for turn-based mode btw

[MaxQuest]

Well,.. if it's devoted, both weapons need to be the same.
Also, it would be nice if weapons had the highest base damage, since it's turn based. And as I understood base attack times don't matter there?

These conditions leave us with: battle axes, sabres, spears, swords, pistols and blunderbusses.

Spears and pistols will have problems in dealing with skeletons.
While slash options will have problems with earth blights, which are far less numerous.
Unfortunately there are no 13-19+ crush dealing weapons.

That's why I would likely consider the following variants:

v1. main set: Slayer's Claw + Matakau (used vs single targets with Penetrating Strike)
    off set: Amra (used vs multiple targets with Clear Out) if you use Crimson Panoply
    off set: Oathbreaker's End (used vs multiple targets with Clear Out)
    
v2. main set: Beza / Tarn's Respite + Scordeo's Edge
    off set: Grave Calling + Scordeo's Edge (used vs vessels)
    off set: Grave Calling + Beza (used vs vessels with high AR; but non-high deflection)

v3. main set: Duskfall + Griffin's Blade
    off set: Watcher's Blade + Modwyr (used vs kith)
    
v4. main set: dual mortars | (the good thing is: they deal pierce/slash damage)
    off set: Xefa + Kitchen Stove (can open up with Thunderous Report, because -4 PEN from that cone Daze is really useful)

As for obelisks, just take:
- Resounding Call (warhammer) + some club (in offhand) | (if you want to quickly destroy them from melee)
- Essence Interrupter | (if you want to destroy them from stealth from 12 m distance)
Yes, you will suffer -10 accuracy malus, but obelisks have low deflection anyway.

P.S. But what kind of devoted are you building in the first place? A single-class Devout will be sturdy, reliable, but still... his damage dealt will unlikely appear stellar in comparison to wizards, monks, priests, maradeurs, psyblades...

Edited April 26, 2019 by MaxQuest

[Yosharian]

@MaxQuest
 

Quote

 

-=-Class: Battlemage [Devoted/Enchanter]
-=-Roles: damage, crits, spellcasting
-=-Race: Dwarf (-1 DEX, +2 MIG, +1 CON)
-=-Culture: Living Lands (+1 MIG)
-=-Attributes: MIG21-CON11-DEX05-PER18-INT18-RES05
-=-Final unbuffed attributes: MIG25-CON17-DEX07-PER22-INT22-RES07
-=-Skills: Athletics, Metaphysics
-=-Attribute bonus: Effigy's Resentment (Durance) - +1 CON, +5% max Health
-=-Attribute bonus: Gift from the Machine - +1 MIG, +5% max Health
-=-Attribute bonus: Berath's Blessing - +2 to all attributes
-=-Equipment:
Pet: Boras (!) (+1 History, +1 Metaphysics; Party: +5 Accuracy with Spells)
---[Forgotten Sanctum]
Grimoire: Zandethus' Dragon-Scaled Grimoire
---[Delvers' Row: Sold by The Spindle Man]
Head: The Maw of Ingimyrk (!) (+2 Perception, grants Alpha Wolf ability)
---[The Rite of Passage (Seeker, Slayer, Survivor quest)]
Neck: Strand of Favor (!) (+1 Intellect, -10% hostile effect +10% friendly effect durations)
---[Looted/Given by Sugaan during A Distant Light. It may also be pick pocketed.]
Cloak: Cloak of Greater Protection
---[Arkemyr's Manor: In the vault; Port Maje Harbor: Sold by Well-traveled Supplier (Berath's Blessing Vendor]
Armor: Nomad's Brigandine (!) (Superb, Immunity to Disengagement, +5 Deflection, +5 Deflection/20% hits to grazes)
---[Dropped by Beina in the jungle area on the small island south-west of Hasongo, during the quest Bounty - Beina.]
Hands: Gloves Of The Dungeon Warden (!) (+3 ACC, grants Lockdown ability [stasis for 15sec])
---[The Deck of Many Things: sold by Zidacco]
Ring1: Ring of Minor Protection (!) (+5 Will, +5 Reflex, +5 Fortitude)
---[Corpse in Sea Cave (Vilario's Rest - tutorial cave)]
Ring2: Chameleon's Touch (!) (+1 MIG, +1 Athletics, +1 INT, +1 Arcana)
---[Looted from Bounty - Nomu the Marauder]
Belt: Girdle of Eoten Constitution (!) (+3 CON)
---[Can be looted from Beina during Bounty - Beina]
Feet: Rakhan Field Boots (!) (+3 Corrode AR, grants No Quarter (Teleport to enemy attack))
---[Dropped by a Mercenary Paladin on the Spire of the Soul-Seers rooftop during the quest Skipping Ahead]
Weapon: Chromoprismatic Quarterstaff (!) (Damage)
---[In a chest below the Statue of Nemnok in the Sanctum of Drowned Barrows (at 8'35" 36'38"); accessible via Junvik Village.]
Weapon2: Fleetbreaker (12m range)
---[Acquired as a reward after completing a quest: A Shrewd Proposition(from Captain Furrante)]

Afflictions/Inspirations
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Might: Resistance (Body Control)
Constitution: Resistance (Mountain Dwarf), Tier1 (Infuse With Vital Essence)
Dexterity: Resistance (Unstoppable), Immunity 1/encounter (Free Action), Tier2 (Fleet Feet)
Perception: Tier3 (Disciplined Strikes)
Intellect: Tier1 (Infuse With Vital Essence)
Resolve: Resistance (Fearless), Tier2 (Unbending Shield)

Spells
-=-=-=-
Level 1: Concelhaut's Parasitic Staff (Cj), Fleet Feet (En)
Level 2: Infuse With Vital Essence (En)
Level 3: Fireball* (Ev)
Level 4: Ironskin (En), Flame Shield* (Ev)
Level 5: Llengrath's SG* (En)
Level 6: Arcane Reflection* (En)
Level 7: Zandethus' Draconic Fury* (En), Citzal's Martial Power (En)

Level progression
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
1: Disciplined Barrage, Fleet Feet
2: Concelhaut's Parasitic Staff
3: Fast Runner
4: Fighter Stances, Infuse With Vital Essence
5: Two-Handed Style
6: Confident Aim
7: Disciplined Strikes, Penetrating Strike
8: Combat Focus
9: Determination
10: Fearless, Ironskin
11: Body Control
12: Unstoppable
13: Conquerer Stance, Tough
14: Unbending
15: Armored Grace
16: Weapon Specialization, Spell Resistance
17: Reaping The Whirlwind
18: Overbearing Guard
19: Unbending Shield, Citzal's Martial Power
20: Unbreakable

 

WIP build, but that's the gist

Edited April 26, 2019 by Yosharian

[MaxQuest]

So it's a devoted/enchanter... 

And by giving up transmutation, I guess you are not interested in Combusting Wounds + Clear Out with AoE weapon (like WotEP or Citzal's Lance).

 

It's a quickly self-buffing, single-target, melee damage dealer who spams Penetrating Strike while he has discipline and starts auto-attacking afterwards.

I guess there are two routes then:

v1. battle axes, as their modal will prove useful during boss fights; while vs regular enemies you will be able to crit more often and get some returns from extra onCrit damage coefficients.

v4. blunderbusses, as they generally have more base damage and also provide some AoE option with mortars in off-set.

 

P.S. But be warned: there are not that many active abilities here, so it might get somewhat repetitive.

Also: wizard seem to provide only self buffs and fireball. Do these self buffs really out-weight what a paladin, rogue, or monk could bring to such a character?

Edited April 26, 2019 by MaxQuest

[Yosharian]

6 hours ago, MaxQuest said:

So it's a devoted/enchanter... 

And by giving up transmutation, I guess you are not interested in Combusting Wounds + Clear Out with AoE weapon (like WotEP or Citzal's Lance).

 

It's a quickly self-buffing, single-target, melee damage dealer who spams Penetrating Strike while he has discipline and starts auto-attacking afterwards.

I guess there are two routes then:

v1. battle axes, as their modal will prove useful during boss fights; while vs regular enemies you will be able to crit more often and get some returns from extra onCrit damage coefficients.

v4. blunderbusses, as they generally have more base damage and also provide some AoE option with mortars in off-set.

 

P.S. But be warned: there are not that many active abilities here, so it might get somewhat repetitive.

Also: wizard seem to provide only self buffs and fireball. Do these self buffs really out-weight what a paladin, rogue, or monk could bring to such a character?

I don't want to rely on a conjured weapon lategame.  I like the feel of 'I have this legendary weapon!'.  The itemization appeals to me.  Parasitic Staff is fine for early game, though.

I'm not interested in range for this character.  I want to be a melee attacker.  Battle Axes seem interesting, though I'm not sure which combination could really rival a fully-Metaphysic'd Chromoprismatic Quarterstaff!

The character is somewhat repetitive, but I derive sufficient satisfaction from watching things get destroyed by high damage

Wizard vs other classes: I am unsure.  I came to the conclusion that the Wizard multi offered the best in terms of Free Action buffs that grant great power.  If there's another multiclass option that provides far greater benefits, I've yet to see it, but I'm willing to be convinced!

[omgFIREBALLS]

I've now beaten most of the base game content, all of SSS, Belranga and Dorudugan (my first kill ever). I've been consistently happy with the performance of this character. The party is a bit less durable than I'm used to, but it's worth it.

The only real disappointment is that the extra attack range doesn't mean anything against some bosses, because they can reach me anyway. I set my eyes on this staff because I wanted to be safe from the annoyance of mobs simply targeting the lowest deflection character in range. At least the modal saw some use.

[MaxQuest]

On 4/27/2019 at 2:52 AM, Yosharian said:

Wizard vs other classes: I am unsure.  I came to the conclusion that the Wizard multi offered the best in terms of Free Action buffs that grant great power.  If there's another multiclass option that provides far greater benefits, I've yet to see it, but I'm willing to be convinced!

The main selling point in wizard for me would be Llengrath's safeguard and DAoM.

Can monk compensate for those with Iron Wheel/Blade Turning and Swift Flurry?

On 4/27/2019 at 2:52 AM, Yosharian said:

I'm not interested in range for this character.  I want to be a melee attacker.  Battle Axes seem interesting, though I'm not sure which combination could really rival a fully-Metaphysic'd Chromoprismatic Quarterstaff!

Then just go for the Chromostaff)

But I would advice to plan the strategy vs mega-bosses in advance.

[dunehunter]

Battle axe is definitely the most powerful weapon type as long as u can fully penetrate. Specially dual axe because of bleeding cut. Imagine if u attack right after each DoT tick, you double the total DoT damage, if u can do full attack right after each DoT, you triple the total DoT sum. Because every time u hit, a tick triggered at 0 sec.

So normally it’s DoT, 3 sec, DoT, 3 sec, DoT. Now it’s DoTx3, 3s, DoTx3, 3s if u are able to full attack every 3 sec.

Not to mention both Magran’s Favor and Slayer’s Claw has an AoE on kill effect which makes them good for killing multiple enemies too.

Honestly Chromostaff is not even close to 1/3 damage output of dual axe.

Edited April 28, 2019 by dunehunter

[Boeroer]

I also found that if you can curcumvent the recovery malus of bleeding cuts (eg. with Full Attacks while holding the axe in the main hand, Barbaric Retaliation, Riposte, Blood Thirst etc) there's not much else which is better. Barbaric Retialiation is best with Battle Axes even if you use non-unique ones. That's how good Bleeding Cut are.

[Yosharian]

6 hours ago, dunehunter said:

Battle axe is definitely the most powerful weapon type as long as u can fully penetrate. Specially dual axe because of bleeding cut. Imagine if u attack right after each DoT tick, you double the total DoT damage, if u can do full attack right after each DoT, you triple the total DoT sum. Because every time u hit, a tick triggered at 0 sec.

So normally it’s DoT, 3 sec, DoT, 3 sec, DoT. Now it’s DoTx3, 3s, DoTx3, 3s if u are able to full attack every 3 sec.

Not to mention both Magran’s Favor and Slayer’s Claw has an AoE on kill effect which makes them good for killing multiple enemies too.

Honestly Chromostaff is not even close to 1/3 damage output of dual axe.

I'm on turn-based, though

Also, Battle Axes only do Slashing damage, right?  So, they'll be rendered weak (higher armor) or useless (immunity) much more often.  So, I don't see them as a comparable choice to Chromoprismatic Quarterstaff, which has a much less resist/immune damage type.

Am I wrong here?

Chromoprismatic Quarterstaff:

- increased reach

- not commonly resisted damage type

- 12% multi-lash

- raw damage AOE every 5 hits

- X% increased damage (metaphysics scaling)

- +20 Deflection modal (initiative penalty does not matter)

Edited April 29, 2019 by Yosharian

[Yosharian]

2 hours ago, Boeroer said:

I also found that if you can curcumvent the recovery malus of bleeding cuts (eg. with Full Attacks while holding the axe in the main hand, Barbaric Retaliation, Riposte, Blood Thirst etc) there's not much else which is better. Barbaric Retialiation is best with Battle Axes even if you use non-unique ones. That's how good Bleeding Cut are.

I don't care at all about recovery malus because I'm playing on turn-based, my character already has low dex and wears plate armour

[omgFIREBALLS]

Another advantage of the staff is that you only "need" to make one weapon mythic instead of two.

About the raw damage AoE enchant however, I didn't find it very exciting. It seemed to be only about 15 damage, and judging from the description it takes five hits on the same target for it to trigger. My staffsmacker was very pimped up and generally things didn't survive five hits from her. The damage reduction however, is like 15% fully stacked with pumped metaphysics.

I only tested the AoE enchant very briefly (one fight on fampyr island), noting that it wasn't very exciting damage (five hits for over 100 and then a bonus hit for 15, yay?) while the damage reduction sure felt significant, especially considering, as I said, that the extra reach doesn't keep you safe against some bosses.

[Yosharian]

45 minutes ago, omgFIREBALLS said:

Another advantage of the staff is that you only "need" to make one weapon mythic instead of two.

About the raw damage AoE enchant however, I didn't find it very exciting. It seemed to be only about 15 damage, and judging from the description it takes five hits on the same target for it to trigger. My staffsmacker was very pimped up and generally things didn't survive five hits from her. The damage reduction however, is like 15% fully stacked with pumped metaphysics.

I only tested the AoE enchant very briefly (one fight on fampyr island), noting that it wasn't very exciting damage (five hits for over 100 and then a bonus hit for 15, yay?) while the damage reduction sure felt significant, especially considering, as I said, that the extra reach doesn't keep you safe against some bosses.

Hmm, cool, guess I'll go for the damage reduction enchant

[dunehunter]

6 hours ago, Yosharian said:

I'm on turn-based, though

Also, Battle Axes only do Slashing damage, right?  So, they'll be rendered weak (higher armor) or useless (immunity) much more often.  So, I don't see them as a comparable choice to Chromoprismatic Quarterstaff, which has a much less resist/immune damage type.

Forget you are on turn-based mode, sorry i have no insight on that mode, always play in RTWP  An my conclusion is only valid if u can fully penetrate as I said.

Edited April 29, 2019 by dunehunter