Update Alpine Dragon down on current TC run. Smooth!

[Torm51]

Fought the Alpine Dragon at level 14 (Did not want to be WAY over powered for the fight just strong enough).  Probably the cleanest Alpine Dragon kill I have had.  Except I did it with 5 guys.

 

My party took an early AOE blind from the Dragon that unless I am mistaken is not listed on his abilities.  Its called Wing Buffet: Cone Freeze Damage plus blind vs Will I think or Fort (for the blind save). 

 

Kana took a Deathblow sneak attack early from the dragon and it hurt bad.  He had a stack of Dragon Thrashed on the adds though so they went down with that Chant and Sacred Immolation (Fire damage is uber in this fight.  Obviously).

 

Eder: Spirits were literally crushed by Eder's Charge.  Spirits tend to not have much HP and low Fort so Charge annihilates them (Durgans battery was equally a joke because of charge and the rest of the AOE damage).  All the spirits were dead in one charge save the stunning ranged guys.  The charge put Eder in great position for a hit knockdown and a graze (Disc Barrage and Marking from the Paladin.  It payed off @ Boeroer.  He was out of range for Devotions of the Faithful sadly)

 

Aloth picked them off the ranged stunning spirits that Eder didn't melt easily with Dangerous implement plus Kalkoth's Blights, buffed himself to oblivion at one point he had 200+ Deflection and saves at above 120 (a bunch of the defense spells Llengrath , mirror image, improved Arcane Veil and the Spell that gives does a huge AOE knockback if he gets below 50%) and had a clutch critical blind on the Dragon.  Thanks to the Dacrozzi Inpsiring Liberation, Zealous Focus, Devotions of the Faithful and Inspiring Radiance.  Every single point of accuracy counts in that fight.

 

PC Paladin:  Sworn Enemy plus Ring of the Changing Hart Crit the Alpine Dragon but my AOE had done most of the work on the adds lol.  Secondly, my Paladin had the most damage per hit on the dragon as Sworn Enemy plus Quick Switch Arbalest shots put a 120+ Crit and a 50+ Hit.  Very happy with the Quick Switch Alpha Strike Paladin builds.  He did is job on all ends.  Buffed the party, Alpha Striked and tanked the Dragon.

 

Durance:  Usual awesomeness.  Devotions of the Faithful for everyone except Eder who was out of range and Kana who was taking a dirt nap, Circle of Protection and the killing blow on the dragon with Cleansing Flame.

 

Hiravious:  Added to the buffs with the massive Elemental DR buff, plus putting down a Sunlance spell (forgot the name) that "Grazed" The dragon for close to 100 damage lol.  Also picked off a stunning ghost and two petrify slimes with a the blinding fire spell plus burst of summer flame.

 

Anyway I know there was a post about this somewhere but just wanted to share my tactic on one of the more difficult fights.  Still have a few more very tough fights to go.  I will update.

 

PS PS I did crit the alpine dragon with a dominate for 20 seconds but it ended early..was weird.  I didn't hit him either.  All adds were down so I took the time to buff.

Edited September 15, 2017 by Torm51

[Lampros]

Fought the Alpine Dragon at level 14 (Did not want to be WAY over powered for the fight just strong enough).  Probably the cleanest Alpine Dragon kill I have had.  Except I did it with 5 guys.

 

My party took an early AOE blind from the Dragon that unless I am mistaken is not listed on his abilities.  Its called Wing Buffet: Cone Freeze Damage plus blind vs Will I think or Fort (for the blind save). 

 

Kana took a Deathblow sneak attack early from the dragon and it hurt bad.  He had a stack of Dragon Thrashed on the adds though so they went down with that Chant and Sacred Immolation (Fire damage is uber in this fight.  Obviously).

 

Eder: Spirits were literally crushed by Eder's Charge.  Spirits tend to not have much HP and low Fort so Charge annihilates them (Durgans battery was equally a joke because of charge and the rest of the AOE damage).  All the spirits were dead in one charge save the stunning ranged guys.  The charge put Eder in great position for a hit knockdown and a graze (Disc Barrage and Marking from the Paladin.  It payed off @ Boeroer.  He was out of range for Devotions of the Faithful sadly)

 

Aloth picked them off the ranged stunning spirits that Eder didn't melt easily with Dangerous implement plus Kalkoth's Blights, buffed himself to oblivion at one point he had 200+ Deflection and saves at above 120 (a bunch of the defense spells Llengrath , mirror image, improved Arcane Veil and the Spell that gives does a huge AOE knockback if he gets below 50%) and had a clutch critical blind on the Dragon.  Thanks to the Dacrozzi Inpsiring Liberation, Zealous Focus, Devotions of the Faithful and Inspiring Radiance.  Every single point of accuracy counts in that fight.

 

PC Paladin:  Sworn Enemy plus Ring of the Changing Hart Crit the Alpine Dragon but my AOE had done most of the work on the adds lol.  Secondly, my Paladin had the most damage per hit on the dragon as Sworn Enemy plus Quick Switch Arbalest shots put a 120+ Crit and a 50+ Hit.  Very happy with the Quick Switch Alpha Strike Paladin builds.  He did is job on all ends.  Buffed the party, Alpha Striked and tanked the Dragon.

 

Durance:  Usual awesomeness.  Devotions of the Faithful for everyone except Eder who was out of range and Kana who was taking a dirt nap, Circle of Protection and the killing blow on the dragon with Cleansing Flame.

 

Hiravious:  Added to the buffs with the massive Elemental DR buff, plus putting down a Sunlance spell (forgot the name) that "Grazed" The dragon for close to 100 damage lol.  Also picked off a stunning ghost and two petrify slimes with a the blinding fire spell plus burst of summer flame.

 

Anyway I know there was a post about this somewhere but just wanted to share my tactic on one of the more difficult fights.  Still have a few more very tough fights to go.  I will update.

 

PS PS I did crit the alpine dragon with a dominate for 20 seconds but it ended early..was weird.  I didn't hit him either.  All adds were down so I took the time to buff.

 

Wait, Charge is an AoE?! Hmmm, may be worthwhile to take a Fighter after all...

[Torm51]

 

Fought the Alpine Dragon at level 14 (Did not want to be WAY over powered for the fight just strong enough).  Probably the cleanest Alpine Dragon kill I have had.  Except I did it with 5 guys.

 

My party took an early AOE blind from the Dragon that unless I am mistaken is not listed on his abilities.  Its called Wing Buffet: Cone Freeze Damage plus blind vs Will I think or Fort (for the blind save). 

 

Kana took a Deathblow sneak attack early from the dragon and it hurt bad.  He had a stack of Dragon Thrashed on the adds though so they went down with that Chant and Sacred Immolation (Fire damage is uber in this fight.  Obviously).

 

Eder: Spirits were literally crushed by Eder's Charge.  Spirits tend to not have much HP and low Fort so Charge annihilates them (Durgans battery was equally a joke because of charge and the rest of the AOE damage).  All the spirits were dead in one charge save the stunning ranged guys.  The charge put Eder in great position for a hit knockdown and a graze (Disc Barrage and Marking from the Paladin.  It payed off @ Boeroer.  He was out of range for Devotions of the Faithful sadly)

 

Aloth picked them off the ranged stunning spirits that Eder didn't melt easily with Dangerous implement plus Kalkoth's Blights, buffed himself to oblivion at one point he had 200+ Deflection and saves at above 120 (a bunch of the defense spells Llengrath , mirror image, improved Arcane Veil and the Spell that gives does a huge AOE knockback if he gets below 50%) and had a clutch critical blind on the Dragon.  Thanks to the Dacrozzi Inpsiring Liberation, Zealous Focus, Devotions of the Faithful and Inspiring Radiance.  Every single point of accuracy counts in that fight.

 

PC Paladin:  Sworn Enemy plus Ring of the Changing Hart Crit the Alpine Dragon but my AOE had done most of the work on the adds lol.  Secondly, my Paladin had the most damage per hit on the dragon as Sworn Enemy plus Quick Switch Arbalest shots put a 120+ Crit and a 50+ Hit.  Very happy with the Quick Switch Alpha Strike Paladin builds.  He did is job on all ends.  Buffed the party, Alpha Striked and tanked the Dragon.

 

Durance:  Usual awesomeness.  Devotions of the Faithful for everyone except Eder who was out of range and Kana who was taking a dirt nap, Circle of Protection and the killing blow on the dragon with Cleansing Flame.

 

Hiravious:  Added to the buffs with the massive Elemental DR buff, plus putting down a Sunlance spell (forgot the name) that "Grazed" The dragon for close to 100 damage lol.  Also picked off a stunning ghost and two petrify slimes with a the blinding fire spell plus burst of summer flame.

 

Anyway I know there was a post about this somewhere but just wanted to share my tactic on one of the more difficult fights.  Still have a few more very tough fights to go.  I will update.

 

PS PS I did crit the alpine dragon with a dominate for 20 seconds but it ended early..was weird.  I didn't hit him either.  All adds were down so I took the time to buff.

 

Wait, Charge is an AoE?! Hmmm, may be worthwhile to take a Fighter after all...

 

Well in a way.  The fighter charges in a straight line from where he is to the target.  Anything in the path gets hit for huge crush damage vs Fort.  So the spirits piled on Durance (switched to a shield with him and Circle of Protection so he tanked a bit) and I selected some frost blight across the map with charge.  Lined up the spirits and one shotted all of the wraiths and whatever ghostly thing was in there on the way.  The blight took no damage cause frost blights are immune to crush but who cares.  All the Wraiths were dead.  Blights got melted by fire AOE.

Edited September 15, 2017 by Torm51

[JerekKruger]

PS PS I did crit the alpine dragon with a dominate for 20 seconds but it ended early..was weird.  I didn't hit him either.  All adds were down so I took the time to buff.

 

I am not certain, but I think that charm effects end if there are no other enemies. I think the game notices that there are no enemies, so it ends combat and, hence, also ends most effects, this causes the charmed enemy to go aggressive again and combat immediately restarts.

 

This is just observation from my own games, I haven't tested it carefully or anything, so I might be completely wrong.

[Torm51]

 

PS PS I did crit the alpine dragon with a dominate for 20 seconds but it ended early..was weird.  I didn't hit him either.  All adds were down so I took the time to buff.

 

I am not certain, but I think that charm effects end if there are no other enemies. I think the game notices that there are no enemies, so it ends combat and, hence, also ends most effects, this causes the charmed enemy to go aggressive again and combat immediately restarts.

 

This is just observation from my own games, I haven't tested it carefully or anything, so I might be completely wrong.

 

That would make sense.

[Boeroer]

Dominate seems to be bugged atm and tends to stop prematurely.

 

Charm is not affected.

 

Charge is superawesome! Not only powerful but also lots of fun to use *zigg-zagg-boom*

[Lampros]

Dominate seems to be bugged atm and tends to stop prematurely.

 

Charm is not affected.

 

Charge is superawesome! Not only powerful but also lots of fun to use *zigg-zagg-boom*

 

Another reason not to bring a Cipher.

[Boeroer]

Why? You don't need to take the domination powers but pick charms and other effects instead. I never found the dominations to be extremely useful anyways.

[Torm51]

Why? You don't need to take the domination powers but pick charms and other effects instead. I never found the dominations to be extremely useful anyways.

Ya you can literally spam Tenuous Grasp (confuse) with its low focus cost and keep the dragon weird and inconsistent for a long time while you buff and kill adds.  Also Charm works just as well.  You just need the heat off of you while you kill adds.  Once the Dragon is a lone its easier to deal with.  Plus with the Crush Beam (Ecto something) or the Corrode Beam you have great room clearing pack killing ability.  Also LOADS of Raw damage Spells  With buffed accuracy the Cipher can put a huge hurt on Dragons.

 

Tenuous Grasp targets will so its very easy to hit the Dragon with it.

Edited September 15, 2017 by Torm51

[Boeroer]

I'll only say one word: "Disintegration"

[mosspit]

Another reason not to bring a Cipher.

It depends on your strategy. In one of my ToI playthroughs, I used stasis shell to trap Alpine Dragon after quickly getting the needed focus and buffing accuracy. The idea was to split the fight into 2 separate phases - one with the adds only and one with the dragon alone.

 

It worked extremely well. After all the adds were killed, Alpine still had more than 10secs left in its stasis. I chose stasis shell as it has decent base duration, and there is no immunity against it.

Edited September 15, 2017 by mosspit

[MasterCipher]

This is a fun 150 focus, boss combo: cast disintegrate then recall agony while the priest casts lvl 5 spell to speed up dots then cipher finishes with stasis (nothing is immune or gets resist bonus - all the pre-damage continues to apply - admittedly you could substitute any number of disables here or add a petrify at the front for more lethality)

[Lampros]

Why? You don't need to take the domination powers but pick charms and other effects instead. I never found the dominations to be extremely useful anyways.

 

It's not just Domination alone really. I just felt that it was faster and less micro-management heavy to simply burn enemies through AoE DPS rather than CC in general. Once I start playing harder difficulties I might change my mind and appreciate individual CC more. But right now it feels like I gain more by bringing another Chanter or even DPS Paladin than a Cipher, since they are sturdier and will do more DPS in most circumstances.

[Torm51]

Ciphers have hella AOE ability and yes individual CC I only use on extremely dangerous enemies. Alpine Dragon etc

Edited September 16, 2017 by Torm51

[Lampros]

Ciphers have hella AOE ability and yes individual CC I only use on extremely dangerous enemies. Alpine Dragon etc

 

I know but the Chanter AoE requires no extra button punching (unless you use Invocations), and the Paladin AoE is literally 1 button per fight - and does not need aim or positioning!

 

I am hella lazy!

Edited September 16, 2017 by Lampros