Treasures of the Sun New Abilities

[Doctor.Strange]

New abilities: Players are now able to attain mastery of the arcane through powerful new attack, defense and healing abilities.

 

Are there actually many new abilities or is it just those 3 "Ultimate abilities" from the shrines?

[leeloodallas]

Looks like three from the shrines from what I've seen so far. I've yet to come across anything else.

[leeloodallas]

Yes, just the three. One is defensive, one is healing, and one does damage. I only used the defensive ability, so I don't know what the others do.

[Seagloom]

Do they differ between characters or are they identical across the board?

[leeloodallas]

That's a good question. I'm not doing a second playthrough of the DLC until Friday when I install an aftermarket cooler. My FX-8120's stock cooler sounded like a Hoover going through the DLC, and Torchlight's about the only thing that's bearable. I can tell you that for Kat it was a massive heal, a shielding power, and a huge eruption of fire. Your companions also use whichever of the powers you've selected. They only unlock when you activate the relevant pillar in the game. You can change up by activating one of the pillars after you've finished the associated side quest.

Edited October 27, 2011 by leeloodallas

[FireMist]

I went with Lucas and the powers were also those you mentioned (column of fire, improved healing and a shield ability) so I guess they are the same for all 4 characters.

[Seagloom]

I see. That's a shame. I was hoping everyone got three new personalized powers. I shouldn't be surprised, though. The art and animation expense to pull that off would probably be unreasonable for a DLC project. I would likey take the healing power, then. Aside from Anjali, I don't think any of the characters will benefit much from another DPS boost.

Edited October 27, 2011 by Seagloom

[FireMist]

The flame power does huge damage (interestingly , you can score criticals with it - 6k+ if you have 4 full power spheres- don

[Seagloom]

Is it a damage over time effect like gears of annihilation? What about the healing and shield abilities? Is there anything unique to them or are they just a rehash of old abilities? I need to play this already. Darned busy mornings.

[FireMist]

Is it a damage over time effect like gears of annihilation? What about the healing and shield abilities? Is there anything unique to them or are they just a rehash of old abilities? I need to play this already. Darned busy mornings.

 

No, the fire damage is instantaneous, as well as the healing spell. Their power depends on the number of full Power Spheres you have avalilable when you activate them (they eat up all your spheres, though). I used the Shield special power for just a while, I don

[Sasha_Je]

My first play-trough on this DLC was on Normal with Lucas but to be honest the skills are pretty useless. First of all even at full sphere the duration of the shield is pretty low and the trade is not worth it in my opinion. The healing spell is the worst, full restore at the cost of all sphere, then what you do? Xeria's Fury deals pretty nice damage but most of the times you don't kill all enemies, therefor what you do next? The only good thing about this skills is that your companion are using them, and pretty often I can say...so overall the most useful skill for me was Xeria's Fury because some extra damage burst from your AI companion is pretty cool. I think Obsidian could make some more interesting skills because everything in the combat system is based on spheres, the most important is the healing spell and in order to release one of this skills you need to discard all your power and on Hardcore it's pretty risky and 99% of the time not worth it, I would rather have control over the battlefield by using Empowered Skills do deal extra damage+greater range+sometimes an extra static and of course healing.

[FireMist]

My first play-trough on this DLC was on Normal with Lucas but to be honest the skills are pretty useless. First of all even at full sphere the duration of the shield is pretty low and the trade is not worth it in my opinion. The healing spell is the worst, full restore at the cost of all sphere, then what you do? Xeria's Fury deals pretty nice damage but most of the times you don't kill all enemies, therefor what you do next? The only good thing about this skills is that your companion are using them, and pretty often I can say...so overall the most useful skill for me was Xeria's Fury because some extra damage burst from your AI companion is pretty cool. I think Obsidian could make some more interesting skills because everything in the combat system is based on spheres, the most important is the healing spell and in order to release one of this skills you need to discard all your power and on Hardcore it's pretty risky and 99% of the time not worth it, I would rather have control over the battlefield by using Empowered Skills do deal extra damage+greater range+sometimes an extra static and of course healing.

 

I used the special healing mostly as a " despair button" when my health was very low while being chased by hordes of undead. It also saved my companion's butt sometimes.

I agree with you though, the specials are a double-edged sword . With Lucas, especially, you can refill his health bar by using live by the sword + some heavy-hitting, multi-target skill , and in top of of it, kill a lot of mobs and refill his power orbs...and with more power orbs, he can activate his graceful repose again, and again...

Edited October 30, 2011 by FireMist

[Seagloom]

I haven't messed with these abilities yet, but I'd imagine the healing and fire would be handy with a late game Katarina. She builds power faster than it can be spent with a maxed out Thrill of the Hunt. Then again, if the abilities are substandard compared to existing options, I suppose it's moot.

[Heather Lehane]

They are not sustained. They take up 2 orbs to activate and the remaining 2-3 orbs as well. They are a major one time use thing until you rebuild your orbs back up to at least 2. Healing is good especially against the final boss of the DLC. Reminded me of the boss fight against Jeyne when you have to defeat all those waves of enemies in the tower. This boss fight is just as bad as that.

 

Anyhow the healing ability was very very useful in that final battle.

[Seagloom]

My friend and I finally reached the DLC content after clearing Glitterdelve. We're saving Stonebridge for last. The difficulty has jumped up several points. It seems like there's a boss encounter around every corner. My friend isn't happy with how Lucas has to get into melee range for his attacks and gets dropped with ease at the slightest tap. That's exacerbated further by what he sees of Katarina. Thrill of the Hunt is stupidly useful when paired with the first shrine's healing ability and Surprise Attack.

 

Katarina can roll through enemies, and the damage it does is enough to fill up her three orbs in seconds. After that, she can full heal. While it's still sort of balanced since bosses tend to drop her in one hit; it makes her survivability godlike in lesser encounters. I considered Thrill of the Hunt great before, but paired with this it's plain ridiculous.

Edited November 11, 2011 by Seagloom

[kalimeeri]

It's all in your character build and the equipment he's wearing. Tell your friend to beef up his stuff with essences, particularly retribution and doom. The only boss battle I had a problem with was early in the game against Ranjali .. she kept spamming spells left and right, and I only had Anjali for cover (she was doing a very good job of dying). But at Level 35 (using 2h and windshear all the way through) Lucas has around 600 attack and does massive criticals--Reinhart is basically unstoppable and barely gets a scratch. With that pair, I went straight from Glitterdelve to the desert, kicked Molocath's butt and then went looking for the rumored 'really tough' final boss ... only to find out I'd already killed it. Never even used the ultimate abilities, but they're too expensive anyway unless you kick on anything else you might need before you cast them, and then you'll die quickly unless you get to work refilling those orbs.

[Seagloom]

We haven't been fortunate in finding good equipment for him. Stuff for Katarina is dropping all over the place. I still think he's using the same Lescanzi Witchblade reward from Leona. Build wise, his Lucas is excellent. We discussed it last night; and having played Lucas before, I offered what pointers I could. About the only thing I think his build is lacking is ranks in the Death Defying talent. He's only just started working on that. It should be clarified we're nowhere near level 35. I don't think we're even at 25 yet. Honestly, I can't disagree with him on the melee thing. It doesn't feel like the game was balanced for hardcore, but rather normal difficulty. Lucas is at a serious disadvantage compared to Reinhart and Katarina. He lacks the former's AoE dominance and the latter's range.

 

Items and essences will surely help, but its patching a core problem with the character's mechanics. I don't think it's fair to compare an optimally equipped level 35 Lucas partnered with what may be the most overpowered character; to a Lucas that's sub level 25 with mediocre equipment.

Edited November 13, 2011 by Seagloom

[FireMist]

We haven't been fortunate in finding good equipment for him. Stuff for Katarina is dropping all over the place. I still think he's using the same Lescanzi Witchblade reward from Leona. Build wise, his Lucas is excellent. We discussed it last night; and having played Lucas before, I offered what pointers I could. About the only thing I think his build is lacking is ranks in the Death Defying talent. He's only just started working on that. It should be clarified we're nowhere near level 35. I don't think we're even at 25 yet. Honestly, I can't disagree with him on the melee thing. It doesn't feel like the game was balanced for hardcore, but rather normal difficulty. Lucas is at a serious disadvantage compared to Reinhart and Katarina. He lacks the former's AoE dominance and the latter's range.

 

Items and essences will surely help, but its patching a core problem with the character's mechanics. I don't think it's fair to compare an optimally equipped level 35 Lucas partnered with what may be the most overpowered character; to a Lucas that's sub level 25 with mediocre equipment.

 

 

SPOILERS!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the way, is Katarina the main char? If yes, that

[FireMist]

SPOILERS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The equipment mentioned above will always appear for Lucas even if he isn

[Seagloom]

I think we found Lion's Roar and the scimitar you describe. I'll mention those items so we can backtrack for them. The two of us respecced our characters and Lucas got some doom, retribution, and vampiric regeneration on his gear. He's performing better now. He is also the main character, by the way. Katarina is the tag along. It's odd that the equipment disparity has been so massive considering that.

 

Hopefully Lucas gets better random drops soon. We still have Stonebridge and the Spire left, so who knows. The way Kat is geared, she's set up for the rest of the game already. I've taken off over a third of a boss's life with a point blank empowered Heartseeking Shot. It's ridiculous. Not that I dislike playing Kat, of course. It just hurts my fun factor to know my friend is frustrated and I'm inadvertently not helping matters.

[FireMist]

Yeah, playing as Lucas requires a bit more strategy. He is more Focus-build rather than Power-build like Katarina. Being short on ranged attacks also requires more dodging/stunning strategies (and a good coordination when pressing PC/console buttons as well). But if one is patient and build him right, he

[FireMist]

Useful Hint

Save you game near any store. I recommend the savepoint at Abbey of St. Hiram because the vendor there sells high-level equipment (level 3 tier - in Lucas's case, full platemail/tower shields/greaves). If you don't like what he sells, just reload the game and try again.

Seems a bit cheesy, but it will certainly save you money, and I think one character gaining much more good equipment than the other isn't fair either

[Sasha_Je]

Indeed Lucas is a Focus based character but still with all the strategy's you will have a very, very hard life. Stun does not work vs bosses therefor it's an unreliable static, Block again does not work vs some mini bosses/bosses again it's something you can't actually rely on. And if you play Hardcore pff...you need massive damage to kill those bosses. I just did 2 complete games, one with Lucas on Normal and the second one with Katarina on Hardcore. I have to say that Trill of Hunt is damn OP. After you get that you simply spam Empowered Heart-seeking Shot and Game Over. Even Doom is kinda weird, I still did not figure out how it actually works...my end-game build was allmost 400 attack ( I think ) but I had over 1k Doom and I was simply rolling around and spaming Empowered Heart-seeking Shot, one after another because my main stat was Agility, I have over 60%. I never used any Ultimate Abilities, still think it's pointless...and my best damage was something like 5k+ on Hardcore vs the last Boss. Overall Hardcore with Katarina was more simple then Lucas on Normal...but I already knew what to do and after I reached level 30, that was in The Hall of Heroes I had no actual challenging...well if you consider being hit 7k by the last boss in the Vault then...So Lucas is a Focus character, in order to use Focus he needs to wait ( recharge by buff ) attack/take damage, now here comes the tricky part. This game is so in-balanced that a lot of things are not working properly. First of all Armor is something LOL, on Hardcore even if you have a high Armor value you would still receive an insane amount of damage, and even if you manage to stack Armor/Retribution at what purpose? In the end you will have to kill those monsters and if you don't have Attack/Agility/Will you will be dead. Theoreticly I think Reinhardt is the most OP character in this game because he has that Eureka Skill that acts like Trill of Hunt but at a lower rate ( 10% compared to 25% ) but he has a skill that converts 50% of his Agility as damage. That is damn OP, you build critical rate and damage at the same time + Focus recharge buff+ Stun/Slow Immunity + 25% Damage Reduce if you enchant the Healing Spell and clone that takes the heat from you and your companion. In my opinion this is sick but I just played with him a bit because mages are not my cup of tea. Lucas has nothing actually good...that Dash is pretty tricky, his most AOE skill is that Earth skill but the animation is so long that you need to tank so much damage and one skill will not be enough to kill them so in the end you will be dead. And his passive skills are mostly a joke compared to Katarina/Reinhart. o.O and don't make me start on Anjali, that poor thing...