I plotted my 'path up 30. He's there now.
Skill Name | Actual Actual
| Bonus Ranks Goals In-Game Time to Goal
Armor Use..........................| 40 8 8
Physical Fitness...................| 162 62 62
Arcane Symbols.....................| 122 31 31
Magic Item Use.....................| 122 31 31
Harness Power......................| 120 30 30
Spirit Mana Control................| 122 31 31
Perception.........................| 122 31 31
Climbing...........................| 74 16 16
Swimming...........................| 50 10 10
First Aid..........................| 160 60 60
Spell Lists
Major Spiritual....................| 19 19
Spell Lists
Minor Spiritual....................| 14 14
Spell Lists
Empath.............................| 51 51
Now that I'm at X + 21 for empath base, I'm not sure where I should go from here. More spells? Lores? Should I keep First Aid?
BOBCATDRAGON
OM1E5GA
Re: Hmm. Now What?
01/31/2018 04:34 PM CST
I'm assuming you hunt mainly with 1106 given your training, but even so, it seems you've sacrificed quite a bit for proficiency in it... and limited yourself to just that spell and 1115 in the process.
First Aid doesn't really do much for empaths unless they make a lot of silvers skinning. If you're not skinning your kills or hunting a lot of things that can't be skinned, I wouldn't keep it.
One thing I'd def do is get 120 before you even think of going higher then level+21 in the empath circle. If maximizing your CS is your goal, you'll want to have both Spirit Circles at .6X before going higher in the Empath Circle anyway.
As for other things you can do:
-Mental Mana Control up to 1x to increase mana regen and allow more use of MANA PULSE and MANA SPELLUP
-Mental Lore, Manipulation since you're already making heavy use of 1106/1115 you might as well save some mana occasionally with insta kills
-Get 2X Spell Aim to diversify your arsenal. 1110 and 111 aren't anything to laugh at against the right targets and not everything is a good choice for CS spells.
-Spiritual Lore, Summoning ranks to get extra damage cycles from 1115 (also helps with 111 if you pick up Spell Aim)
Starchitin
A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.
First Aid doesn't really do much for empaths unless they make a lot of silvers skinning. If you're not skinning your kills or hunting a lot of things that can't be skinned, I wouldn't keep it.
One thing I'd def do is get 120 before you even think of going higher then level+21 in the empath circle. If maximizing your CS is your goal, you'll want to have both Spirit Circles at .6X before going higher in the Empath Circle anyway.
As for other things you can do:
-Mental Mana Control up to 1x to increase mana regen and allow more use of MANA PULSE and MANA SPELLUP
-Mental Lore, Manipulation since you're already making heavy use of 1106/1115 you might as well save some mana occasionally with insta kills
-Get 2X Spell Aim to diversify your arsenal. 1110 and 111 aren't anything to laugh at against the right targets and not everything is a good choice for CS spells.
-Spiritual Lore, Summoning ranks to get extra damage cycles from 1115 (also helps with 111 if you pick up Spell Aim)
Starchitin
A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.
BOBCATDRAGON
Re: Hmm. Now What?
01/31/2018 05:28 PM CST
Thanks. Some follow-up questions:
>-Mental Mana Control up to 1x to increase mana regen and allow more use of MANA PULSE and MANA SPELLUP
This is in addition to SMC?
>-Mental Lore, Manipulation since you're already making heavy use of 1106/1115 you might as well save some mana occasionally with insta kills
>-Spiritual Lore, Summoning ranks to get extra damage cycles from 1115 (also helps with 111 if you pick up Spell Aim)
Is there a threshold to aim for here?
>-Mental Mana Control up to 1x to increase mana regen and allow more use of MANA PULSE and MANA SPELLUP
This is in addition to SMC?
>-Mental Lore, Manipulation since you're already making heavy use of 1106/1115 you might as well save some mana occasionally with insta kills
>-Spiritual Lore, Summoning ranks to get extra damage cycles from 1115 (also helps with 111 if you pick up Spell Aim)
Is there a threshold to aim for here?
OM1E5GA
Re: Hmm. Now What?
01/31/2018 06:34 PM CST
<This is in addition to SMC?>
Yes
<Is there a threshold to aim for here?>
That depends on how many TPs you can/are willing to commit to it. The various thresholds are listed on the Wiki on the various spell's pages. I'll note that both of them affect other spells as well, the ones I listed would be the main reasons for training in them.
Starchitin
A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.
Yes
<Is there a threshold to aim for here?>
That depends on how many TPs you can/are willing to commit to it. The various thresholds are listed on the Wiki on the various spell's pages. I'll note that both of them affect other spells as well, the ones I listed would be the main reasons for training in them.
Starchitin
A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.
KRAKII
Re: Hmm. Now What?
02/01/2018 09:19 AM CST
Both Mana Controls help, but the one you have fewer ranks of counts only half. (I run into this with the Bard.)
Say you at 50th level have 50 & 50, one counts as "highest" and the other one doesn't (== 50/2 == 25), giving you 75 effective ranks, precisely what you need for that third daily 'mana spellup'.
Likewise, when you have 80 ranks of one Realm, and 40 ranks of the other Realm.
The 80 counts full [most], the 40 only count half [fewer]; you have a net of 100 effective ranks.
This means that instead of being 5 ranks over your third 'mana spellup' (with 80 ranks), you are exactly at what you need for the fourth 'mana spellup' in a day.
Say you at 50th level have 50 & 50, one counts as "highest" and the other one doesn't (== 50/2 == 25), giving you 75 effective ranks, precisely what you need for that third daily 'mana spellup'.
Likewise, when you have 80 ranks of one Realm, and 40 ranks of the other Realm.
The 80 counts full [most], the 40 only count half [fewer]; you have a net of 100 effective ranks.
This means that instead of being 5 ranks over your third 'mana spellup' (with 80 ranks), you are exactly at what you need for the fourth 'mana spellup' in a day.
LEAFIARA
Re: Hmm. Now What?
02/01/2018 11:45 AM CST
Just want to add that 20 Summoning lore is the threshold that unlocks bolt Web if you have any interest in using that.
https://gswiki.play.net/Leafiara
https://gswiki.play.net/Leafiara
ZHOUY1
Re: Hmm. Now What?
02/01/2018 11:08 PM CST
2x First Aid skill also gives you an easy category of bounty task completions, so I feel it is very much worth keeping. For a pure caster (especially a non-bolter) who has almost no need of physical training points, I would even say that 3x is very reasonable to aim for. Anecdotally it seems like moving up from 2x to 3x of combined FA+Survival, skinning tasks can be completed about twice as quickly because that many more skins will be at a bounty-acceptable quality.
If you often find yourself short on mana, the best returns are from overtraining Harness Power instead of mana controls. As a hybrid spiritual/mentalist, the secondary mana control only gives you +1 mana per pulse per 20 ranks. That's 60 MTP. Or you could train 7 extra Harness Power for 56 MTP, that gives you 7 mana up front, and you also get +1 per pulse because of the larger base pool. Mana controls do have other benefits, of course. Extra targets on Empathic Link is excellent, though you need a lot more mana and some Telepathy lore to take advantage of it.
Lores depend on playing style, but generally I think:
- 1x Mental Lore, Telepathy OR Manipulation for hunting
- If you like healing and spend a lot of time doing it, then pick up some Transformation as needed
- Skip Spiritual Lores for now, or go up to 20 ranks Spiritual Lore, Summoning if you train for aimed bolts, can gradually train more for better damage factors
- Fixskill into 100+ Spiritual Lore, Summoning when you are high enough level to use Wither as a primary attack
Other than that, pick up some Combat Maneuvers for defensive purposes when you can.
If you often find yourself short on mana, the best returns are from overtraining Harness Power instead of mana controls. As a hybrid spiritual/mentalist, the secondary mana control only gives you +1 mana per pulse per 20 ranks. That's 60 MTP. Or you could train 7 extra Harness Power for 56 MTP, that gives you 7 mana up front, and you also get +1 per pulse because of the larger base pool. Mana controls do have other benefits, of course. Extra targets on Empathic Link is excellent, though you need a lot more mana and some Telepathy lore to take advantage of it.
Lores depend on playing style, but generally I think:
- 1x Mental Lore, Telepathy OR Manipulation for hunting
- If you like healing and spend a lot of time doing it, then pick up some Transformation as needed
- Skip Spiritual Lores for now, or go up to 20 ranks Spiritual Lore, Summoning if you train for aimed bolts, can gradually train more for better damage factors
- Fixskill into 100+ Spiritual Lore, Summoning when you are high enough level to use Wither as a primary attack
Other than that, pick up some Combat Maneuvers for defensive purposes when you can.
BOBCATDRAGON
Re: Hmm. Now What?
02/03/2018 03:37 AM CST
Thanks for the replies. I don't intend on bolting for the foreseeable future and have no interest in skinning tasks. Good point on the HP!
Defensive CMANs... what should I be going for?
Defensive CMANs... what should I be going for?
THROGG
Re: Hmm. Now What?
02/04/2018 05:55 AM CST
Take up THWs and grab a nice 7x maul. Train full 1x in CMan and grab disarm and feint. Pick up MOC a bit at a time; aim for 30 ranks by 95 trains for that sweet focused MStrike. Ignore lores entirely; they can become an almost bottomless TP sinkhole.
Just wanted to toss in a bit of a different path; Empaths can make fearsome weapon users.
.
Just wanted to toss in a bit of a different path; Empaths can make fearsome weapon users.
.
BOBCATDRAGON
BOBCATDRAGON
Re: Hmm. Now What?
02/05/2018 01:04 AM CST
>- Fixskill into 100+ Spiritual Lore, Summoning when you are high enough level to use Wither as a primary attack
Is that cap?
Is that cap?
ZHOUY1
Re: Hmm. Now What?
02/05/2018 03:09 PM CST
>>- Fixskill into 100+ Spiritual Lore, Summoning when you are high enough level to use Wither as a primary attack
>Is that cap?
It will be earlier for pure CS casters, probably around level 70, though you can stick with Bone Shatter longer if you like it and don't have to hunt ghosts and insects. If you are in Guardians of Sunfist you will also need 65 ranks in Spiritual Lore, Blessings for Adrenal Surge, so you might delay Summoning to get those first.
For CMANs, Cunning Defense is useful everywhere. Side by Side is good if you hunt with melee partners. Other maneuvers will depend on the hunting area. For example, bandits like to Subdual Strike, but no other creatures use it (that I know of), so take it if you frequently do bandit tasks. Disarm and Feint are likewise very good defensively in certain areas but useless in others.
>Is that cap?
It will be earlier for pure CS casters, probably around level 70, though you can stick with Bone Shatter longer if you like it and don't have to hunt ghosts and insects. If you are in Guardians of Sunfist you will also need 65 ranks in Spiritual Lore, Blessings for Adrenal Surge, so you might delay Summoning to get those first.
For CMANs, Cunning Defense is useful everywhere. Side by Side is good if you hunt with melee partners. Other maneuvers will depend on the hunting area. For example, bandits like to Subdual Strike, but no other creatures use it (that I know of), so take it if you frequently do bandit tasks. Disarm and Feint are likewise very good defensively in certain areas but useless in others.
