Reviews for IAP characters

[Outsider]

contributor your review of Selen finally sold me. My next group I'm going to use archer Selen with. In my current group with Fyona I decided to give Tami, for the first time since Selen came out, another go which made me wonder, has anyone given Silent Stalker a try? I get that you get a huge crit bonus but why take an attack that only works the first round of combat when talent points are so precious? I haven't tried it but at face value it doesn't seem worth it.

[johndramey]

I'd also be curious about that, Outsider. One paper it seems like it could be a really powerful skill, but then you think about a)rushing Selen out into a potentially dangerous spot and b)possibly missing that single (or possible 2) attack. Especially in HoS where enemies routinely (at the higher levels) hit for 70 damage, it seems way to risky to build around that kind of thing.

[Outsider]

Apr 16, 2014 19:07:00 GMT -5 johndramey said:

I'd also be curious about that, Outsider. One paper it seems like it could be a really powerful skill, but then you think about a)rushing Selen out into a potentially dangerous spot and b)possibly missing that single (or possible 2) attack. Especially in HoS where enemies routinely (at the higher levels) hit for 70 damage, it seems way to risky to build around that kind of thing.

Could you clarify johndramey? I made reference to a Tami talent and you seem to be talking about Selen. Sorry, I don't seem to be following.

[johndramey]

Outsider - Ah, yes, I meant Tami. Sorry, slip of the tongue (err... fingers) there.

[Outsider]

I decided to invest in the Blacknight talent (dodge/stealth) for Tami this time and have her leading my group for surprise. I'm strongly considering giving Silent Stalker a whirl this time. I just can't decide if it's worth passing on Ranged Onslaught and more ranks of Blacknight. I already have 7 ranks of Aimed Shot and only one rank of Blacknight atm. I'll need ranks of Precision Pick soon too...

[Deleted]

Rearick's review of Selen the Rogue

Class Slot Taken - Thief

One line summary - Incredible damage dealer and melee curse set up artist

My Review - Others here have done a fantastic job highlighting some of the different ways to play Selen either as primarily ranged or melee. However she ends up getting set up, for me the two talents that define her are Quicksilver Defense and Dance of Shadows.

Quicksilver Defense - this talent is incredible in adding Parry and Dodge to the point that when combined with skills and gear Selen is almost untouchable in different situations.

Dance of Shadows - this is the defining talent for me for Selen. Adding MP, crit %, and stealth? What more could anyone want in their thief character? This is game where you end up in situations where every AP counts, and every MP that you get from somewhere else is a step towards closing with your enemies and making them dead all that much sooner. All dead enemies have 0 AP.

Cursing attacks - Selen is set up with her cursing attacks to help the rest of the team deal maximum damage in melee. The curses on their own would be worth the SP cost but in addition to cursing your enemies you're also dealing significant damage.

Just a couple of quick illustrations: Attacking the fortress at the end of Episode 1, my recent melee specced Selen could regularly be set out as a soak for 8 or more enemies. With her high parry (14) and dodge (21) both ranged and melee opponents couldn't really hit her. The rest of my team gradually rolled up the enemy positions and took very few hits. Dealing with the ranged magic dealer boss at the end of Episode 1, I had my best run ever just by having Selen dodge all but one of his attacks for the whole battle as I closed with him to finish him off.

And nothing beats taking two steps towards a full health Orcin warboy and killing him in one 200+ crit strike with two daggers. I just stared at my screen for several seconds with a goofy grin on my face before moving off to dispatch more archers. Talk about efficiency!

Final Verdict - I could talk about how Selen fills gaps in a team or serves as an excellent off-tank, but really for me the reason to invest $1.99 in Selen is that she's so much fun!

Read more:
Selen the Rogue's Discussion thread
Selen's table

[Deleted]

Oh, all of my play and reviews for IAP characters are done in Hard difficulty.

[johndramey]

Thanks much for the review, @rearick! Added to the OP.

I like your style, too. Very easy to read and lays out a lot of info in a short space. Sometimes I feel that I'm too wordy

[contributor]

johndramey I will be reviewing Fyona when I get my two Fyona groups through episode 1 which might be as early as this weekend, depending on the 4x coming out. I was thinking though that it would be cool to add the one sentence summaries to the OP next to the review. That would give people the chance to see the particular focus of that review. Might make it too cluttered though to. I leave it up to your judgement.

[johndramey]

Apr 30, 2014 5:23:46 GMT -5 contributor said:

johndramey I will be reviewing Fyona when I get my two Fyona groups through episode 1 which might be as early as this weekend, depending on the 4x coming out. I was thinking though that it would be cool to add the one sentence summaries to the OP next to the review. That would give people the chance to see the particular focus of that review. Might make it too cluttered though to. I leave it up to your judgement.

Very good idea, I'll try to get the OP updated today at work

[contributor]

Lurker's review of Fyona the Paladin

Class Slot Taken - Healer/Cleric

One line summary - The self-centered multi-instrumentalist of melee mayhem.

My Review
I've just completed two play throughs of episode 1 with Fyona on Nightmare. The groups were played simultaneously through the Red Hill siege which was a unique opportunity to compare the two very different groups. One of the big things I discovered is that Fyona brings a lot of flexibility to your group. At first her unique talents seem difficult to get a good grasp on because they often have unique combos and unique deployment through cursing attacks.

One of the most interesting things about Fyona is that she doesn't have a good replacement for Kyera's Ethereal Anguish -AP curse. This is going to have a big impact on any groups that she is in and will require some careful thought about how to make up for that. This "weakness" may cause you to do some creative things, such as what I did with my more successful group. "Hammer Time" was my first group to have no -AP curse ability (until Fyona hit level 18 and got a level of Reckoning). The group also had no AoE attacks and featured Karjtan as a pure buff/curse wizard. I'd never tried anything like that and was doubtful of it at first, but it has turned out well and I'm thankful that Fyona "forced" me to try it. At level 17 Karjtan has lvl 5 Choking Ash (makes sure Fyona and Vraes can hit), lvl 5 Meteoric Shockwave (makes up for no -AP curses) and lvl 3 Pureflame Shield. I combined Pureflame Shield with Fyona's Righteous Fervor and going into the Baron Fight Fyona was carrying 68 armor when buffed.

My other group tried to combo Fyona's Holy Strickening with Karjtan's Burning Blades to create a group that was doing massive elemental damage. This group has definitely been the weaker of the two groups, but I still have hope that the strategy could pan out in episode 2. In that group I used Selen's Pinning shot to get -AP and some AoE. Oddly enough the group didn't find a single piece of +fire gear in all of episode 1. Once they are all able to add some more fire gear to Kjs already level 7 Burning Blades I think they stand a chance of becoming real killers. Both groups made it through episode 1 with 2 deaths, only one of which were really attributable to Fyona being on the team. So even my "weaker" group is not doing to badly.

However Fyona is developed, she obviously carries the burden of being the team healer. For me, both groups went with Blessed Aura (lvl 4 at end of E1). From there, it seems like there are 4 possible ways she could be developed. 1) Healer and all offense. Her unique attacks can make her formidable front line fighter. Putting all of her points into Zealous Strikes and Consecrated Defense could make her incredibly potent. 2) Healer/Buffer/Melee, this was what I did with my "Hammer Time" group. Fyona was balanced between Righteous Ferver (4), Blessed Aura (4), Zealous Strikes (3) and Consecrated Defense (2). Even splitting between 4 skills she seems to be able to effectively do three things when backed up by Kjs Choking Ash. 3) My other group was Fyona as Healer/Melee/Curser. Holy Strickening is a unique curse and coupled with the right strategy seems like it could be a potent weapon. Like I said, this group did not fair as well as the first, but, with lots of fire gear to add to Kjs Burning Blades they might become frightful yet. The last combo would be 4) Healer/Buffer/Curser. Even though the draw of Fyona is as a more melee centric religious, a build that focuses solely on her support roles is not unimaginable. Combining Cortias Shield with Righteous Fervor, or pushing one of those to extreme levels could be worth a try.

Final Verdict
You can see that Fyona brings a lot of options to the table. She is not as easy to build out as Selen and requires some thoughtful integration into your whole-team strategy, but she can be very rewarding to play. She will be particularly interesting to see in action once your team reaches the City of the Dead, where Holy Damage and Unholy Resistance promise to be critical. She is also a must if you want to try and go "all melee." There is simply no way that Kyera can hold a candle to this unique character when it comes to swinging a hammer.

[johndramey]

contributor - Very cool, thanks for the input! I totally agree with your review, by the way. Fyona is a character that, at first glance, seems daunting. With a little thought, however, she is a beast on the team. Added your review to the OP.