<<I know this is probably a dumb question, but I don't understand why we have all three spells unless it's just for a little variety? 1106 seems a little more powerful than 1110 and a lot more powerful than 1115. From my own playing around, I'm finding 1115 to be very weak in general actually and I don't understand why anyone would use it considering it's mana costs. Are there certain enemies that are more vulnerable to 1110 and 1115 than 1106? Could you share some examples? Thank you for enlightening me! :)>>

I'd posted a while back concerning empath attack spell tactics, so I'll paste what I'd written back then.

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- 1106: Bone shatter is the big gun in our arsenal, and even with my tactics, it's often the first spell I'll pull out when meeting an unfamiliar critter. Bone shatter's damage is boosted if you channel it, if you're in a more offensive stance, and if you have one or both hands open. As I gained levels, however, I found that the damage from the spell tends to be rather front-loaded, meaning that you'll max out the damage on each round pretty quickly and the boosts you get for channeling, stance and open hands tend to be unnecessary if you're using all three. Play around with the spell as you gain levels to check out the difference each makes and see if you think it's worth it. Once I hit my 50's, I channeled with one open hand (runestaff in the other) from guarded stance and never felt like I was missing anything.

- 1110: Empathic assault is often overlooked, but I use it a lot depending on the creature. I often used it on living creatures with a lot of HP, that I can't crit kill, that might wander off, that is in the middle of a swarm, that can't muster the AS to worry me while I'm in guarded, that I want to skin, that has been webbed, or any combination of the above. If the initial bolt hits, the target's defense against the CS attacks will decrease during those attacks. If you land another bolt on the same target while the CS attacks are in progress, you'll refresh the CS attacks and their defense will continue to decrease. In addition, the CS attacks continue even if the creature is in another room, though it is a bit more difficult to continue from a distance. It'll even work on a roa'ter after it's burrowed. Another favorite tactic is if a critter is in a swarm. I'll dart in, hit it with an empathic assault, and run out. The CS attacks will continue to damage it while I stay safely out of the way. Lastly, since webs drastically reduce a critter's DS against bolts, but fire spirit burns the webbing away, I like to pair web bolt with empathic assault to chip away at particularly tough critters while they're helplessly webbed to the ground. Keep in mind that the CS attacks don't work on undead, but the bolt still hits just as hard.

- 1115: Wither is expensive at 15 mana per cast, but it packs a punch few spells can match. Unlike most spells, wither likes to keep hitting the same body location in the same cast until it's obliterated, where other spells randomly pick their locations for each round of damage. If it destroys that location in the middle of the damage rounds, it will move on to another and continue to happily harass the poor sap that got in my way. For this reason, I like to use wither on critters that can be crit killed but aren't easily incapacitated through stuns, or for whatever reason just need to be killed immediately. Bone shatter is fantastic for inducing stuns, but not every critter stuns easily and those stuns are often what keeps you alive. If wither hits a vulnerable spot, it can easily kill a critter in one shot, for 3 seconds of RT, where it may take three casts of bone shatter, 9 seconds of RT and 3 more mana.

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Gretchen

Meeting Nilandia: http://gsguide.wikia.com/wiki/Nilandia
Nilandia's GS4 Info Repository: http://www.nilandia.com
AIM: Lady Nilandia

1106 is your staple attack spell but ... 1115 can hit critters that have no bones, including non-corporal undead. 1110 can have several cyelces of damage with the appropriate lore training, and these will hit the target even if they leave the room. You may even find use for spirit fire if you have spell aiming.

The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me

I agree, 111 is far more effective against some foes. Cold critters obviously (glaciers), and I find it more effective against lich qyn'arj and beings in OTF. 1 rank of MOC assures a splash, and the splash can be helpful in swarms of things that stun. I also use web bolt (118) constantly, which is only 9 mana when bolted. I 1x SL:Summoning, which gives it a better chance of webbing. So try everything in your arsenal when you enter a new area. Whichever kills/disables fastest is the bestest. ;)

~Lyradie
>With a startled yelp, a young elven child suddenly tumbles from somewhere above you, landing gracelessly in a pile of refuse!