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Post by achilles73 on Dec 14, 2016 23:50:50 GMT -5
You're playing on Normal. Trust me when I say that resistance gear and talents on this difficulty are closer to being a waste than an asset. I *never* worry about Resistance on normal, and would suggest going for armor or avoidance over spending slots on res. Keep a good set or two of res gear on hand and only switch to it when going against enemies who have huge amounts of elemental damage (Krete) Ok, I was surprised with 60-ish hits a few times, so I panicked. It's good to know for future reference too though  |
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Post by wascalwywabbit on Dec 14, 2016 23:57:42 GMT -5
You're playing on Normal. Trust me when I say that resistance gear and talents on this difficulty are closer to being a waste than an asset. I *never* worry about Resistance on normal, and would suggest going for armor or avoidance over spending slots on res. Keep a good set or two of res gear on hand and only switch to it when going against enemies who have huge amounts of elemental damage (Krete) So you're saying the game needs more magical fire power from the enemies then? Got it. Oh, devs some new baddies with more magic please, En1gma sends his regards... |
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Post by wascalwywabbit on Dec 15, 2016 0:03:52 GMT -5
Piety Ward on Kyera. Also Pure Flame Shield, but you aren't running Kjartan right now AFAIK..? Got it. Will look to see if I can get some levels on Piety Ward. No, unfortunately, I am running with Vincent. LS is great, being able to fry up to a theoretical max of 30 baddies (or 10 3x over) with one talent is pretty sweet. Plus Vince is a bit more able to defend with Speed and Sundering along with FF and FA compared to Kjartan's PfS and MS. |
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matrim
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Post by matrim on Dec 15, 2016 0:29:05 GMT -5
The Dodge/Parry > Armour > resistance trend exists in nightmare too. The issue with resistance is that not everything does Magical damage but everything does physical. On nightmare especially you will never negate 100% of the physical damage of a hit from a Krete or anything that does Magical damage so armor always beats res. Dodge and parry trump both because you just can't afford to get hit in this game. Stack armor and res as much as you want, enemies just hit too hard and episode 2+ you will die constantly. You are better served by stacking parry/dodge against tough enemies like Krete, even they reach a point where they hardly ever hit (except for level 33+ Krete in episode 2, those guys will tear you a new one no matter what you put on).
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Post by tay on Dec 15, 2016 9:43:14 GMT -5
Thanks for that , i'd been using res items ahead of dodge/parry or armour,but that concise and tidy explanation has shown me the error of my ways....
Amazingly Good work getting to episode 2 without dying, I must have got through a good dozen deaths just fighting the first deathkin in the vermin lair on my first run.(total deaths to e4 146) Then I started reading the forum and learned many interesting things - like how I was doing Everything Wrong. I expect to clear ep1 now without dying but that's after about a dozen runs with different parties.....
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Post by achilles73 on Dec 15, 2016 9:51:16 GMT -5
The Dodge/Parry > Armour > resistance trend exists in nightmare too. The issue with resistance is that not everything does Magical damage but everything does physical. On nightmare especially you will never negate 100% of the physical damage of a hit from a Krete or anything that does Magical damage so armor always beats res. Dodge and parry trump both because you just can't afford to get hit in this game. Stack armor and res as much as you want, enemies just hit too hard and episode 2+ you will die constantly. You are better served by stacking parry/dodge against tough enemies like Krete, even they reach a point where they hardly ever hit (except for level 33+ Krete in episode 2, those guys will tear you a new one no matter what you put on). Got it. Progress resport so far: I have just beaten the Baron at the end of episode 1. Let me know if this sounds right. I am at around 18 1/4 level with about 2k gold, I think. I am spamming potions like crazy with the auto-buff thing, and I am using almost my entire cash on potions, rather than gear. I am a bit alarmed by my lack of cash, given that a veteran said that he had about 700k (!!!) at the end of his last game. Is there more money at later episodes? Or am I spamming potions too much? Further, I think I missed a few side fights and chests - especially at the Baron's, where I only had 1 or 2 fights before the Baron. (Darn it!) In terms of the group dynamic so far: At around level 12, I was having extreme difficulty by fights being so slow due to the lack of damage - especially ranged AoE damage - so I changed the Tap Dancers set-up a bit and decided to level up Lightning Spear on Vincent and turn him into a curser/nuker, rather than using him as a mage knight type of hybrid. As a compensation, I may have to level up Kyera's curse too, but I don't see that being a big deal. It just means that both Vincent and Kyera will share nuking and cursing, instead of one specializing at both. In fact, I think this is better, as some situations require 2 cursers on the same turn, and others will require 2 nukers on the same turn - rather than one of each. The other issue is that Selen was on the brink of death quite often - especially at Baron where she ate 2 170-ish hits from the Baron in the same turn. So in episode 2, I will likely focus on getting her defense talents up first. Some remaining questions: When will I start seeing the re-animating mobs, and what exactly are they called? I am terrified of them, because I've read so much about them. Also, what is the best way to kill them? Nuke from afar? Also, is it worth leveling Selen's ranged capacity? There are too many turns where the mobs are coming only from one direction of a narrow corridor, and Kincaid is the only one in a position to melee (and he's basically God as a tank). So Selen spends too much time sitting on her arse and not doing anything. On the other hand, I am a bit wary of spreading her too thin. |
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Post by achilles73 on Dec 15, 2016 9:54:36 GMT -5
Also, the Baron fight didn't even drop gear  |
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Post by achilles73 on Dec 15, 2016 10:05:20 GMT -5
One more on Kyera: Tap Dancers set-up levels both Holy Retribution and Banishment. Is there a reason to level both? Banishment does about the same damage but is an AoE (so more total damage), and it is about the same cost?
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Post by En1gma on Dec 15, 2016 10:22:02 GMT -5
If you're still in the Baron's area, you should be able to make it to the roof via a secret passage to the north and west, in an alcove. You should also do the Storeroom quest given by Barnett
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Post by En1gma on Dec 15, 2016 10:23:46 GMT -5
Banishment should be sufficient, but since you can only start it in E2, you could consider a Respec to put any points from Retribution into it, then focus on buffing/Anguish if that's what you were thinking.
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matrim
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Post by matrim on Dec 15, 2016 10:59:31 GMT -5
achilles73 The potion issue is real. You should probably be camping a bit more to try and conserve gold. Just from your write up I can see there is room to improve your damage reduction. Example, Baron should never have 2 AP at any point in the fight. I can tell you on nightmare he averages 225 damage about and a double shot on anyone but Vraes would kill them. All dangerous (read bosses and ranged) should be cursed with -AP right away, this is the most effective way to reduce damage. The storerooms are going to be tough. There is a noticeable jump in difficulty, keep refining your tactics and kick butt!
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Post by achilles73 on Dec 15, 2016 11:05:19 GMT -5
If you're still in the Baron's area, you should be able to make it to the roof via a secret passage to the north and west, in an alcove. You should also do the Storeroom quest given by Barnett I missed the secret passage I also know there was one rather large area unconnected by normal passages a few floors before, but I couldn't find how to get there. I am doing the Storeroom quest now though. |
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Post by achilles73 on Dec 15, 2016 11:05:56 GMT -5
Banishment should be sufficient, but since you can only start it in E2, you could consider a Respec to put any points from Retribution into it, then focus on buffing/Anguish if that's what you were thinking. Where and how do I respec? |
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Post by achilles73 on Dec 15, 2016 11:09:36 GMT -5
achilles73 The potion issue is real. You should probably be camping a bit more to try and conserve gold. Just from your write up I can see there is room to improve your damage reduction. Example, Baron should never have 2 AP at any point in the fight. I can tell you on nightmare he averages 225 damage about and a double shot on anyone but Vraes would kill them. All dangerous (read bosses and ranged) should be cursed with -AP right away, this is the most effective way to reduce damage. The storerooms are going to be tough. There is a noticeable jump in difficulty, keep refining your tactics and kick butt! 225 - yikes! So even Kincaid might not have survived that one. I retreated ASAP when I saw the Baron, because there were too many ranged enemies at once. So both Kyera and Vincent were way back - too far to curse the Baron. I will know better next time though. The biggest issue with the Storeroom fights at the moment is that it Selen is leading, and she gets surprised every time (low stealth). So she is caught in the middle and taking a number of hits before my turn comes. So far I haven't had any close calls yet though - unlike in the Baron Fight. |
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Post by achilles73 on Dec 15, 2016 11:10:36 GMT -5
I have 21 Moonstone Crystals and 2 Bloodstone Crystals - whatever they do.
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