Hey guys,
I am running a mix of healer/hunter and currently fighting down in the bowels having a bit of a mixed time. I have primarily been hunting with shatter/wither and wanted to see what you all think of my current build. I just feel like I could do things a lot better, and improve my ability to dodge special attacks.
Thanks for your help guys.
Rhangath (at level 86), your base skill bonuses, ranks and goals are:
Skill Name | Actual Actual
| Bonus Ranks Goals In-Game Time to Goal
Armor Use..........................| 40 8 8
Physical Fitness...................| 330 230 230
Arcane Symbols.....................| 184 84 84
Magic Item Use.....................| 184 84 84
Harness Power......................| 260 160 160
Mental Mana Control................| 200 100 100
Spirit Mana Control................| 190 90 90
Spiritual Lore - Blessings.........| 70 15 15
Spiritual Lore - Religion..........| 0 0 0
Spiritual Lore - Summoning.........| 160 60 60
Mental Lore - Transformation.......| 169 69 69
Survival...........................| 180 80 80
Perception.........................| 150 50 50
Climbing...........................| 180 80 80
Swimming...........................| 150 50 50
First Aid..........................| 200 100 100
Spell Lists
Major Spiritual....................| 40 40
Spell Lists
Minor Spiritual....................| 50 50
Spell Lists
Empath.............................| 102 102
PERKINSJ1
THROGG
Re: Fixskill
07/15/2012 01:03 PM CDT
Hi Rhangath; Guenn here. We have met in passing on occasion.
You appear to be a pure caster (no CM or weapon skills), so why in the name of the Arkati don't you have any spell aiming? Especially hunting in the bowels! What the heck are you doing about the elementals? Running away? I used crystal and blue wands on the beggers, usually after holding them with 214 or knocking them down with 110. (That was in my prior "pure" incarnation; currently have returned to THW mode, so I dropped spell aiming entirely). Blue and crystal wands do a job on the elementals there.
Your PF ranks are actually greater than mine (I have 215 at level 98), which is good, but you could sacrifice some of those for spell aiming, which I consider necessary for a pure caster. There are just too many things that are immune to boneshatter/wither (elementals, contstructs and the like), and wielding wizard wands (not to mention using empathic assault, although I would advise against using this in the bowels) provide a nice supplementation to the CS based spells.
If you don't use spirit fire, what are you doing with all that summoning lore?
Dodge special attacks? Hard to do. Best advice? Don't let them get the attacks off! Hit them with sympathy.
Transformation lore ... why bother? OK it reduces the RT on your healing spells, but guess what? I have 200 ranks FA and use herbs to heal myself; the amount of FA you have reduces the RT from healing with herbs, and learning FA is actually cheaper than lore. I have never bothered with transformation lore. How about manipulation lore instead, to augment the power of boneshatter?
The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me
You appear to be a pure caster (no CM or weapon skills), so why in the name of the Arkati don't you have any spell aiming? Especially hunting in the bowels! What the heck are you doing about the elementals? Running away? I used crystal and blue wands on the beggers, usually after holding them with 214 or knocking them down with 110. (That was in my prior "pure" incarnation; currently have returned to THW mode, so I dropped spell aiming entirely). Blue and crystal wands do a job on the elementals there.
Your PF ranks are actually greater than mine (I have 215 at level 98), which is good, but you could sacrifice some of those for spell aiming, which I consider necessary for a pure caster. There are just too many things that are immune to boneshatter/wither (elementals, contstructs and the like), and wielding wizard wands (not to mention using empathic assault, although I would advise against using this in the bowels) provide a nice supplementation to the CS based spells.
If you don't use spirit fire, what are you doing with all that summoning lore?
Dodge special attacks? Hard to do. Best advice? Don't let them get the attacks off! Hit them with sympathy.
Transformation lore ... why bother? OK it reduces the RT on your healing spells, but guess what? I have 200 ranks FA and use herbs to heal myself; the amount of FA you have reduces the RT from healing with herbs, and learning FA is actually cheaper than lore. I have never bothered with transformation lore. How about manipulation lore instead, to augment the power of boneshatter?
The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me
PERKINSJ1
Re: Fixskill
07/15/2012 01:59 PM CDT
So been playing around with this possible new setup
Armor Use..........................| 8 ranks
Physical Fitness...................| 240 ranks
Arcane Symbols.....................| 50 ranks
Magic Item Use.....................| 60 ranks
Harness Power......................| 145 ranks
Spell aiming ......................| 176 Ranks
Mental Mana Control................| 80 ranks
Spirit Mana Control................| 80 ranks
Spiritual Lore - Summoning.........| 30 ranks
Mental Lore - Transformation.......| 60 ranks
Mental Lore - Telepath.......| 20 ranks
Survival...........................| 80 ranks
Perception.........................| 50 ranks
Climbing...........................| 50 ranks
Swimming...........................| 50 ranks
First Aid..........................| 100 ranks
Spell Lists
Major Spiritual....................| 40 ranks
Spell Lists
Minor Spiritual....................| 45 ranks
Spell Lists
Empath.............................| 109 ranks
Armor Use..........................| 8 ranks
Physical Fitness...................| 240 ranks
Arcane Symbols.....................| 50 ranks
Magic Item Use.....................| 60 ranks
Harness Power......................| 145 ranks
Spell aiming ......................| 176 Ranks
Mental Mana Control................| 80 ranks
Spirit Mana Control................| 80 ranks
Spiritual Lore - Summoning.........| 30 ranks
Mental Lore - Transformation.......| 60 ranks
Mental Lore - Telepath.......| 20 ranks
Survival...........................| 80 ranks
Perception.........................| 50 ranks
Climbing...........................| 50 ranks
Swimming...........................| 50 ranks
First Aid..........................| 100 ranks
Spell Lists
Major Spiritual....................| 40 ranks
Spell Lists
Minor Spiritual....................| 45 ranks
Spell Lists
Empath.............................| 109 ranks
THROGG
Re: Fixskill
07/15/2012 02:59 PM CDT
That looks better, with the spell aiming; I am still not happy with transformation lore but that's a personal choice. You have 30 ranks of summoning lore; I went with 20 ranks summoning lore, and got 10 ranks of MOC, both for the FoF benefits and for the effect on ball spells.
Is the survival skill for the effect on skinning? Unless you are in Ice Mule or travel to cold areas like Pinefar, you might consider exchanging those 80 ranks survival for more first aid. Rank for rank they have the same effect on skin quality, and the FA will drop the RT from using herbs, which survival won't.
The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me
Is the survival skill for the effect on skinning? Unless you are in Ice Mule or travel to cold areas like Pinefar, you might consider exchanging those 80 ranks survival for more first aid. Rank for rank they have the same effect on skin quality, and the FA will drop the RT from using herbs, which survival won't.
The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me
THROGG
Re: Fixskill
07/15/2012 03:07 PM CDT
To be more specific re the cost benefits of first aid vs survival: the first 100 ranks of FA cost me one PTP per rank, the next 100 cost me 2 PTP per rank. No MTPs are needed for FA skill, so this let me save the MTPs for spells and such. I have no survival at all, and getting even ONE rank of survival would cost me 3/2 TPs. Not cost efficient if skin quality is all you are interested in. However, as I said, if you are going to go someplace cold, some survival skill might be indicated.
The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me
The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me
ETANNIDOMHNAILL
Re: Fixskill
07/15/2012 10:28 PM CDT
Overall the build looks somewhat solid, thought I could suggest a few tweaks. The majority of my training advice, however, can be found earlier in this board: http://forums.play.net/forums/GemStone%20IV/Empaths/So%20You%20Want%20to%20be%20an%20Empath%3F/view/290 It gives a lot of in-depth thoughts on playing an empath, spell tactics and the like. It spells out a lot of what I could tell you, including the whys and wherefores for what I do recommend.
Since you're in the bowels, I will echo Guen's suggestion to pick up spell aim and use wands. You can also grab a bunch of summoning lore to web stuff in place for a time. I believe elementals will rip the webbing off, but it should stick with Illoke and possibly krynches. As I'm sure you're aware, you'll want to wear 207 in the bowels to keep from inhaling the gases. Avoid using fire spirit since it can ignite those gases to make for a rather unpleasant experience. Empathic assault, however, might be safe. It's been a while, so I can't recall for sure.
You my choose whether you want to use herbs or not. It is helpful, but it's not always viable or preferable. Transformation lore also has other benefits in addition to reducing healing RT, so you'll want to decide for yourself what you want to go with.
Above all, how you train is your choice. We all have differences in what we want to do with our characters, and you're the one who must be happy with the end result.
Gretchen
Meeting Nilandia: http://www.gsguide.net/index.php?title=Nilandia
Nilandia's GS4 Info Repository: http://www.nilandia.com
AIM: Lady Nilandia
Since you're in the bowels, I will echo Guen's suggestion to pick up spell aim and use wands. You can also grab a bunch of summoning lore to web stuff in place for a time. I believe elementals will rip the webbing off, but it should stick with Illoke and possibly krynches. As I'm sure you're aware, you'll want to wear 207 in the bowels to keep from inhaling the gases. Avoid using fire spirit since it can ignite those gases to make for a rather unpleasant experience. Empathic assault, however, might be safe. It's been a while, so I can't recall for sure.
You my choose whether you want to use herbs or not. It is helpful, but it's not always viable or preferable. Transformation lore also has other benefits in addition to reducing healing RT, so you'll want to decide for yourself what you want to go with.
Above all, how you train is your choice. We all have differences in what we want to do with our characters, and you're the one who must be happy with the end result.
Gretchen
Meeting Nilandia: http://www.gsguide.net/index.php?title=Nilandia
Nilandia's GS4 Info Repository: http://www.nilandia.com
AIM: Lady Nilandia
THROGG
Re: Fixskill
07/16/2012 11:13 AM CDT
Empathic assault is not safe in gas filled rooms. Best wands to grab are crystal and blue. Avoid spells based on fire, electricity, plasma, or anything even remotely hot. (If you see a criter waving around a feras or drake weapon, kill it immediately and grab the weapon!).
The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me
The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me
PERKINSJ1
Re: Fixskill
07/26/2012 09:00 PM CDT
So I decided to go a different way with my fixskill and training...
Rhangath (at level 89), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 40 8
Physical Fitness...................| 355 255
Arcane Symbols.....................| 191 91
Magic Item Use.....................| 191 91
Spell Aiming.......................| 50 10
Harness Power......................| 250 150
Mental Mana Control................| 230 130
Spirit Mana Control................| 191 91
Spiritual Lore - Blessings.........| 70 15
Spiritual Lore - Summoning.........| 120 30
Mental Lore - Manipulation.........| 105 25
Mental Lore - Transformation.......| 165 65
Survival...........................| 150 50
Perception.........................| 175 75
Climbing...........................| 167 67
Swimming...........................| 160 60
First Aid..........................| 190 90
Spell Lists
Major Spiritual....................| 40
Spell Lists
Minor Spiritual....................| 45
Spell Lists
Empath.............................| 115
Rhangath (at level 89), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 40 8
Physical Fitness...................| 355 255
Arcane Symbols.....................| 191 91
Magic Item Use.....................| 191 91
Spell Aiming.......................| 50 10
Harness Power......................| 250 150
Mental Mana Control................| 230 130
Spirit Mana Control................| 191 91
Spiritual Lore - Blessings.........| 70 15
Spiritual Lore - Summoning.........| 120 30
Mental Lore - Manipulation.........| 105 25
Mental Lore - Transformation.......| 165 65
Survival...........................| 150 50
Perception.........................| 175 75
Climbing...........................| 167 67
Swimming...........................| 160 60
First Aid..........................| 190 90
Spell Lists
Major Spiritual....................| 40
Spell Lists
Minor Spiritual....................| 45
Spell Lists
Empath.............................| 115
THROGG
Re: Fixskill
07/27/2012 11:16 AM CDT
Rhangath dear, what the heck are you thinking of? What on earth will you do with 10 ranks of spell aiming? Unless of course, it is a long term goal and you plan on picking up a few ranks every training and eventually getting fully 2x in it long after cap. If that's the case, ignore my comment; it's a valid, if long term, training plan.
You already know my thinking on survival skill vs first aid, and herbs vs transformation lore, so I won't belabor the point. On the plus side, aiming for 2x in HP is always good for a pure caster, and the more PF the better, so you are on the right track there in those two skills.
You really don't need that much perception; 0.75x won't let you spot a really skilled ambusher, and 30-40 ranks will let you find pretty much anything that is hidden and requires searching.
Impressive amount of MMC, btw. As Gretchen noted, SMC is probably not a terribly important skill to beef up on. OK, it will help you gain a bit more mana per pulse, but that's really not a big factor once you get 2x HP.
You don't need any more swimming, even for Nelemar (note: water walking spell helps there), and climbing probably can be stopped at 70 ranks. More might help navigating the Rift/Scatter, but personally, I would just avoid that area. I went there once, and no way are you going to get me back. Worst hunting area ever, as far as navigating around!
The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me
You already know my thinking on survival skill vs first aid, and herbs vs transformation lore, so I won't belabor the point. On the plus side, aiming for 2x in HP is always good for a pure caster, and the more PF the better, so you are on the right track there in those two skills.
You really don't need that much perception; 0.75x won't let you spot a really skilled ambusher, and 30-40 ranks will let you find pretty much anything that is hidden and requires searching.
Impressive amount of MMC, btw. As Gretchen noted, SMC is probably not a terribly important skill to beef up on. OK, it will help you gain a bit more mana per pulse, but that's really not a big factor once you get 2x HP.
You don't need any more swimming, even for Nelemar (note: water walking spell helps there), and climbing probably can be stopped at 70 ranks. More might help navigating the Rift/Scatter, but personally, I would just avoid that area. I went there once, and no way are you going to get me back. Worst hunting area ever, as far as navigating around!
The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me
NEPANTH
Re: Fixskill
07/27/2012 11:49 AM CDT
For the spell aiming it will be a long term goal and also going to drop some points into it for runestaff magic ranks.
Survival skill is for fast moving from landing to icemule, but I did reduce that.
I am adding ranks into perception for to help deal against certain creature maneuvers.
Survival skill is for fast moving from landing to icemule, but I did reduce that.
I am adding ranks into perception for to help deal against certain creature maneuvers.
JAKKAL
Re: Fixskill
07/27/2012 12:09 PM CDT
202 ranks of perception and I still step on Bandit traps. I do see every ranger walking around with Sneaking up though!
---Mirrami
---Mirrami
THROGG
Re: Fixskill
07/27/2012 12:43 PM CDT
>>Survival skill is for fast moving from landing to icemule, but I did reduce that.<<
OK, if you are going to spend any significant time in or around Ice Mule (or Pinefar), then survival is a helpful skill.
The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me
OK, if you are going to spend any significant time in or around Ice Mule (or Pinefar), then survival is a helpful skill.
The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me
TROUBLE13
Re: Fixskill
07/27/2012 06:46 PM CDT
>>202 ranks of perception and I still step on Bandit traps.
At least you step on less of them?
At least you step on less of them?
THROGG
Re: Fixskill
07/28/2012 01:37 PM CDT
>>At least you step on less of them?<<
Fewer of them.
(So says the self appointed forum grammar monitor)
Also, how would you know if you step on fewer of them?
The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me
Fewer of them.
(So says the self appointed forum grammar monitor)
Also, how would you know if you step on fewer of them?
The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me
KRAKII
Re: Fixskill
07/30/2012 08:19 AM CDT
"Also, how would you know if you step on fewer of them?" -- Throgg
See also 'Order of the Stick', panel #2 [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0003.html]
See also 'Order of the Stick', panel #2 [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0003.html]
THROGG
Re: Fixskill
07/30/2012 05:05 PM CDT
OHHH! Order of the Stick; a cute strip indeed.
Sometimes a plan is just
a list of things that
don't happen ...
Sometimes a plan is just
a list of things that
don't happen ...
KRAKII
Re: Fixskill
07/31/2012 08:35 AM CDT
Actually, given that we were talking about traps, I should probably have linked to this strip instead:
[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0036.html]
[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0036.html]
THROGG
Re: Fixskill
07/31/2012 04:07 PM CDT
For some reason, your links aren't working
Sometimes a plan is just a
list of things that don't happen.
Sometimes a plan is just a
list of things that don't happen.
TRAUB0069
Re: Fixskill
07/31/2012 04:50 PM CDT
>For some reason, your links aren't working
A space was needed to exclude the bracket from each address.
[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0036.html ]
[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0003.html ]
A space was needed to exclude the bracket from each address.
[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0036.html ]
[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0003.html ]
KRAKII
Re: Fixskill
08/01/2012 08:28 AM CDT
I'll try to remember to post them that way from now on; thanks, Elligon.
DVDMORSE
Re: Fixskill
08/08/2012 04:35 PM CDT
And thank you for posting it. For whatever reason, I had never seen these cartoons before. I just finished reading all 859 strips. Love them. Again, thanks for posting.
--David
"At a moment like this, I can't help but wonder, 'What would Jimmy Buffett do?'"
--David
"At a moment like this, I can't help but wonder, 'What would Jimmy Buffett do?'"
KRAKII
Re: Fixskill
08/09/2012 08:20 AM CDT
Happy to help, David!
And if you want to show support for Rich, although the Kickstarter project [http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/599092525/the-order-of-the-stick-reprint-drive ] is now closed, with some outrageous level of funding ($1.25M), the results of it are about to pay off: all of the books will be in print and available for purchase at the same time, for the first time.
(I've been picking them up as they came out, so it wasn't really a big deal for me to have them reprinted. But I can see where folks would like that. :)
And if you want to show support for Rich, although the Kickstarter project [http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/599092525/the-order-of-the-stick-reprint-drive ] is now closed, with some outrageous level of funding ($1.25M), the results of it are about to pay off: all of the books will be in print and available for purchase at the same time, for the first time.
(I've been picking them up as they came out, so it wasn't really a big deal for me to have them reprinted. But I can see where folks would like that. :)
DVDMORSE
Re: Fixskill
08/09/2012 04:08 PM CDT
>And if you want to show support for Rich, although the Kickstarter project [http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/599092525/the-order-of-the-stick-reprint-drive ] is now closed, with some outrageous level of funding ($1.25M), the results of it are about to pay off: all of the books will be in print and available for purchase at the same time, for the first time.
Sounds good. I was looking at the books on eBay, but this may be one of those times that buying from the source in order to support him is worth doing.
--David
"At a moment like this, I can't help but wonder, 'What would Jimmy Buffett do?'"
Sounds good. I was looking at the books on eBay, but this may be one of those times that buying from the source in order to support him is worth doing.
--David
"At a moment like this, I can't help but wonder, 'What would Jimmy Buffett do?'"
