Post by John Robinson on Apr 27, 2014 13:45:19 GMT -5
My current game is named Blade Muse. I created a plan. Using my double sided printer I keep the plan next to my PC
and just using a pencil make check marks as each character progresses. So far I'm having allot of fun with this group and
find myself less dependent on choke points, or retreating in the face of the enemy.
What you choose to level is just as important as when you do it. This plan helps me visualize how to interlock each
Characters Talents, Skills and Attributes to provide the best synergy. Level 9 is one example of character coordination.
Notice how Vincent, Vraes and Selen each arrive at +2 MP at the same time. I use the SP column to remind me of how
to budget SP usage. There is often a sweet spot where the cost in SP can produce diminishing returns. As each character
progresses they can afford to spend more SP or choose a different talent.
I've only completed the first 20 levels of the game so will need to add entries as I discover how many Talent, Attribute and Skill points are awarded.
Vincent Recap: After completing EP2 A1 what would I have done differently?
Design: Vincent's primary goal is to Curse enemies secondary to raise party accuracy with Thundering Blades.
I should not have worried about his dealing damage. He can't have it both ways.
This also means when he is practically immune to being cursed because it does not affect his ability to cast curses and buff the party.
There are no enemy curses that reduce MP at this time.
Biggest Mistake was spending 2 talent points on Energy Storm(2) at level 17 and level 19. Then spending 5 skill points raising Sorcery(9).
Possible Alternatives:
1) Add +1 to Frigid Air at levels 17 and 19 would have reached the 5 x 5 cloud much sooner than Level 22.
Spending 4 Skill points in Conjuration at levels 14, 15, 17 and 18 would have raised it to 13 to support the 5 x 5 cloud required to hit
all 13 targets, and extend the number of turns for TB. This would have left 1 more skill point to add to Lore raising the number
of turns Charged Speed would last instead of wasting them on Sorcery.
2) Spending another talent point in Charged Speed from 3 to 4 would have given Vincent a +3 MP instead of 2.
3) Spending a point in Thundering Blades(1) would increase Accuracy for the entire party by +1 when
they needed it most at levels higher than 20. This would set the stage for EP2 A2 adding 2 more talent points to TB(3) would provide
a cross shape vs single target with a +3 Accuracy bonus and +9 lightning damage.
Best Alternatives:
1) Spend 4 skill points in Conjuration and 1 in Lore instead of wasting 5 in Sorcery.
2) Add +1 for Charged Speed(4) to get the MP 3 because he often needed just one more MP to be able to cast both curses
and retreat to a safe distance. Take Frigid Air to 10 very cost effective and will yield -13 Ranged, -72 damage.
Raise Thundering Blades if party accuracy becomes a big problem but if possible leave that as a long term goal Frigid Air is more important.
3) If he is forced to fight melee there are some good combat staves, but those that give +SP are far more valuable even though they cost less.
These small changes will transform Vincent from a rare gem to a finely cut highly polished diamond.
Vincent Plan
Mission: Enemy suppression. Reduce Number of attacks. Neutralize Archer Accuracy
EP1 Level 17 Totals: 8 Attributes, 14 Skills, 11 Talents
Allocation: +8 Int(14). +6 Conjur(9). +8 lore(10)
+6 Flash Freeze(6). +2 Frigid Air(3). +2 Charged Speed(2).
Duration: Flash Freeze 17 turns. Frigid Air 17 Turns. Charged Speed 9 turns.
Checklist:
Keep adding to Sorcery and get Energy Storm(5) 38-70 Dmg. +10 Acc. 3 AP. 30 SP
Kyera Recap: Keeping in mind she had never been beyond level 19, by the time I reached the end of EP2 A1 she had reached Level 25
and you can see the choices I made below.
Design: I was very pleased with the way she turned out and would only consider a few changes.
Critically Important: Until Kyera can get a +1 MP piece of equipment she will always slow this group down as
Vraes, Selen and Vincent all have +MP talents. She has to stay farther back and wait for the enemy to get closer,
with more MP she is able to use her Holy Retribution and Banishment more often.
What would I do differently?
Skills: I nearly forgot to raise Conjuration to 9 in time to take advantage of the Block AOE you get at Banishment(4).
Going into EP2 A2 she has Banishment(6) with Conjuration(10). At Banishment(7) you get a 5 x 5 cloud effect and she will need to have
a Conjuration(13) to hit all the targets. There lies the rub. Should she still take Invocation to 16 or leave both Conj and Invoc at 13?
At level 22 and 24 she added +1 to Knowledge raising it to 8 is that enough to compensate for not taking Invocation all the way to 16?
I hope so, because of the increased accuracy that has been added to HR and Banishment. It is more than likely that Level 26 will not award
another talent point and Conjuration might be able to wait a level.
EP2 A2: Banishment(7) is the sweet spot don't raise it any higher, even though rank 10 creates a 7 x 7 cloud,
I think the cost is too high for everyday usage.
The best alternative would be to keep increasing Warders Shield. My experience so far tells me Dodge has been much more important than
Resistance you get from Piety Ward. Warders Shield can be compared to Parry for magic damage.
Piety Ward can be compared to Armor as a soak for magic damage after you have been hit.
It is far better at higher levels to not be hit at all and Vincent's Frigid Air does a better job of reducing all types of damage.
I believe Dodge is critical for the success of the party and has much to do with monsters not getting hit.
Kyera Plan
Mission: Banish Evil. Heal protect party. With improved monster stats many are showing a weakness to holy damage.
Because she can get Holy Retribution at level 3 and accuracy has been much improved it's time to finally kick some booty
EP1 Level 17 Totals: 8 Attributes, 14 Skills, 11 Talents
Allocation: +8 Int(14). +11 Invocation(14). +3 Conjuration.
+3 Warders Shield(3). +2 Myshana's Tears(3). +3 Holy Retribution(4). +2 Myshana's Tears(3). +1 Purifying Breeze(1). +1 Bank for Banishment. @lvl 17
Duration: Warders Shield 17 turns.
Checklist
Keep adding to get Banishment(4) to get Block AOE 32-86 Dmg. +13 Acc. 4 AP. 43 SP. Always try to use it after Flash Freeze curse.
After Conjur(9) for block Banishment continue putting points into Invocation.
Selen Recap: What would I do differently? Answer is there anything she can do wrong? Joking aside I was very pleased with this build.
Stats at level 25. Dex 16. Dodge 12. Con 7. Toughness 7. 557 HP. 320 SP. 50 Armor. +5 Parry, +6 Dodge Bonus from Quicksilver(1) and
Warders Shield(3) combined effect. Keeping in mind she had never been beyond level 20 you can see the choices I made below.
What I didn't know: The Bone Finger Ring gets awarded after rescuing young Braeys from captivity.
It provides +1 Accuracy. +8 damage, and +5% Critical Hit what a fantastic reward and perfect for Selen to use.
Weakness: She really needed to raise her Armor above 50. But because SP must come first for Selen to succeed, my equipment slots were
filled with High SP relatively low Armor items. She spent most of her time on the front line and killed the majority of bosses.
When hit she did take allot of damage, but had the depth of hit points and toughness to sustain the damage and dodge bonuses helped a great deal.
Strengths: Melee combat is the best use of her talents. By the time she reached level 25, Dance of Shadows(7), Frenzied Blows(5)
Punishing Blows(4), plus the Bone finger ring and one other piece of equipment.
Every successful melee attack had a 23% chance of being a critical hit.
For the majority of the game Vraes played the "off tank" role. She was the main killer averaged around 2,000 XP above all the other characters
in the party. Sometimes I let her fight a boss alone while the others were engaged with the rest of the enemies. She was very good at
running to hot spots at the rear of the party, and even flanked enemies at long distances from the main group. The reason I allowed her to get
so far ahead in XP is because if you study when she gets here talent points awarded you will find at critical moments in her development, when
other characters are getting a talent point she isn't. Just because they all end up with 16 Talent points at the end, is not nearly as important
as the timing of when they get them. So she usually leveled first and that compensated for the staggered talent awards.
I used 2 1H blades. This reduced the number of attacks to 3 from 7 but she also had a +2 MP to compensate. A critical hit with one
blade does quite a bit less damage than 2 blades. Further more the blade in the main hand had a high accuracy,
the off hand a parry of 6. You will not find both qualities in a single blade.
I did try the Cutlass a single 2AP weapon but found it much less effective and returned to my 2 blade combo.
What did I wish I had? On more rank of Punishing Blades to get to 6. Reducing Armor and damage of the enemy is a top synergy goal to win
the game when combined with Vincent's Frigid Air and Fyona's Reckoning (Level 18). Got that hint from a very reliable source.
In fact when I get around to playing Fyona, my design will be from the top down focusing all her talents on how they will relate
to Reckoning when she gets to lvl 18
EP2 A2 Going into the next act. Dance of shadows leveled to 10 will pack on another 8% Critical for total 16% for lore based turns
and eventually should be raised to level 10. It is very cost effective, and would raise the current build to 31% Critical on every attack.
Dance does not raise accuracy so Frenzied Blows should also be raised. Enemy armor we grow to ridiculous levels without Kjartan's choking ash,
Punishing Blades would need to be increased. BUT I never before understood the true value of "Steel and Shadow".
You really cannot determine exactly when a critical hit will occur. There are many times you really really need a critical hit to finish off an opponent.
Steel and Shadow was designed to solve this problem. Steel and Shadow(1) will add another 20% chance of a critical hit when used as a melee
attack and only costs 5 SP. Right now my Frenzied Blows provides an 8% chance switching to Steel and Shadows gets 20%.
But Frenzied Blows(5) uses +8 accuracy, and SS(1) a +3 Accuracy. At SS(5) you will get +7 Acc +15 dmg +44% Crit at a cost of 21 SP.
So there is a trade off and you probably would not use it as a main attack but there is no harm in trying. Back to the example:
Current build for Selen has a 23% chance of Critical. If SS(1) is used instead of Frenzied Blows(5) that rises to 35%.
SS(3) will raise it to 41% So you can see the possibility of using it when you really need a better control of a kill. Keep in mind
Steel and Shadows will always have a much lower melee accuracy than Frenzied Blows or Punishing Blades and only works when you
win a stealth roll.
Best Alternatives:
1. Leave everything the way it is with one change. Swap Quicksilver Defense(1) taking it a level 19 instead of 22
move Dance of Shadows(5) to level 22. Then move on to EP2 A2 with the following 2 goals.
2. Keep Alternating until Frenzied Blows reaches 7 for +11 Acc, +24 Dmg 10 SP,
and Punishing Blades reaches 6 for +10 Acc, -18 dmg, -22 Armor, 14 SP.
3. After that raise Dance of Shadows to 10.
Selen Plan
Mission: Fast Melee Fighter. Critical Hit Specialist. Dual Wield 2 1H Blades, or (1H + 2AP) Blades.
Main Attack: Punishing Blades followed by Frenzied Blows. Enhanced by Dance of Shadows(3) +2 MP.
Preferred Weapons: 2 1H Sai Blades
EP1 Level 17 Totals: 8 Attributes, 14 Skills, 11 Talents
Allocation: +6 Dexterity(12). +2 Constitution(7). Note Results in: Dodge(12). Toughness(7) +42 HP.
Talents: +4 Frenzied Blows(5). +5 Dance of Shadows(4). +3 Punishing Blades(3). @ Lvl 17.
Skills: +13 Blades(15). +2 Lore(4).
Duration: Dance of Shadows(5) 13 Turns. @ Lvl 20
Checklist
Add +1 Blades(16)
Keep raising Lore and raise Dance of Shadows(10) combined with Frenzied Blows(5) gives a 24% Chance of Critical on every attack.
Dance of Shadows(10) +3 MP. +16% Critical. +11 Stealth. 3 AP. 48 SP. ( the +3 MP starts at DoS(7) )
Vraes Recap: I think this was a pretty standard build some what simple in design.
How did he perform? As he progressed beyond level 20 taking him to level 6 Stone Skin was too much. Between 5 and 6
he is adding only 4 more armor and 30 HP the Earth magic resistance Stone Skin provides is negligible and should be increased to a
higher number to more effective.
His buffs Stone Skin, Burst of Speed and Natural Mastery are cost effective with a +60 SP piece of equipment.
At level 25 he has 998 HP, 274 SP. After buffing 182 SP remainder to use for 5 SP Crushing Blow(4) +2 Acc +32 dmg.
His armor is 98 leaving him at Stone Skine 5 instead of 6, would reduce the armor to 88 and HP to 968 no harm done and frees up
one more Talent point to use elsewhere. Constitution 13 is nice for the extra hit points but where it really shines is by raising Toughness.
I never really realized just how effective toughness can be. His other 3 Attribute points went into Strength to help attack accuracy,
and plan for future weapons they may require a higher number.
What would I do differently? That is hard to answer. He always seems to be plagued by not hitting enough with a two handed weapon and
when I needed him to get a big hit to finish off a tough opponent he too often failed to do so. So he would spend allot of time blocking until
Selen could finish combat with another foe come over to his side and finish his off. With a Polearm skill of 16(22), +2 Acc Crushing Blow,
+6 Acc equipment carrying a +6 Acc spear I ask myself what is it going to take to get a consistent number of hits.
Perhaps spending one more point in Natural Master to bring it to 6 instead of spending it on Stone Skin?
I hope as Vincent begins to spend points in Thundering Blades his accuracy will become better.
In the matter of damage to target it simply was not enough when landing a hit. A good solid hit would be around 100 to 110 pts of damage,
even after a target was hit with Selen's punishing blades to reduce armor soak. His spear was rated at 52 to 92 pts, with +32 from Crushing blow.
He usually landed a hit in the 60 to 80 range, and missed enough that overall damage gets cut to low. If you have 2 3AP attacks and miss 1
that is a 50% reduction on average damage over the length of the entire game. (he also had additional equipment that increased Acc and dmg)
Experiment? Berserk Rage doesn't look like a good option the percent critical is too low to justify the negative impact on his armor and Parry.
I'll have to double check but I think the armor/parry penalties apply to him not the target and will last Leardership turns. But his build
is geared towards Lore so it is better not to split the skill points up.
Ferocity Has grown in popularity but requires Kyera to spend points in Sacrifice for him to sustain it. Never the less Ferocity(1)
provides a +2 Acc +32 Dmg but costs 16 SP. Ferocity(3) +4 Acc, +64 dmg and costs 28 SP. If you miss that's allot of wasted SP.
This would also ruin my Kyera design she is based on attack/invocation Holy Retribution and Banishment.
Juggernaut Looks like a very interesting Talent but only activates on a Kill.
Best Alternatives: Basically use the same plan but swap Savage Sweep(4) +7 Accuracy +16 dmg for Crushing Blow(4) +2 Acc +32 dmg.
They both cost 5 SP. Use a one handed Sword and shield, getting three attacks at higher accuracy lower damage will cause more damage
over the length of the game than missing too many times with a 2H weapon. Be sure to pick up the +7 Parry shield in Bruenhold.
Decrease Stone Skin by one leaving it at 5, increase Natural Mastery by 1 to level 6, or better yet put the point in Burst of Speed.
The sword has a more narrow damage range than a 1H hammer.
Don't bother with Phalanx shield it will take too long to raise and only effects Parry and Armor.
Going into EP2 A2: You can continue increasing Natural Mastery, But taking Burst of Speed to higher levels not only increases MP but
far more importantly will raise Dodge to a high number. Be sure to keep putting points in Lore to increase duration.
For example Burst of Speed(5) grants +3 MP and +5 Dodge at a cost of 42 SP. I cannot stress enough the importance of the role Dodge plays in HoS.
Vraes Plan
Mission: Fast High Accuracy Melee Fighter.
Preferred Weapons: Any 2H Spear.
Primary Attack: Strike, or Crushing Blow(3)
EP1 Level 17 Totals: 8 Attributes, 15 Skills, 11 Talents.
Allocation: +2 Int(5). +4 Con(10) +2 Str(9)
Skills: +9 Pole(12). +5 Lore(7)
Talents: +3 Stone Skin(4). +4 Natural Mastery(4). +3 Burst of Speed(3) @ Lvl 19
Duration: Natural Mastery(4) 15 Turns. Stone Skin(4) 15 Turns. Burst of Speed(3) 10 Turns. @ Lvl 17.
Add +2 Pole(16) Then pump lore to extend Natural Mastery(4) and increase to Stone Skin(7)
Result Pole(16) +5 Melee = 21 dice. Stone Skin(7) +200 HP, +24 Arm, +8 Earth 8(Lore) Turns 3 AP, 42 SP.
and just using a pencil make check marks as each character progresses. So far I'm having allot of fun with this group and
find myself less dependent on choke points, or retreating in the face of the enemy.
What you choose to level is just as important as when you do it. This plan helps me visualize how to interlock each
Characters Talents, Skills and Attributes to provide the best synergy. Level 9 is one example of character coordination.
Notice how Vincent, Vraes and Selen each arrive at +2 MP at the same time. I use the SP column to remind me of how
to budget SP usage. There is often a sweet spot where the cost in SP can produce diminishing returns. As each character
progresses they can afford to spend more SP or choose a different talent.
I've only completed the first 20 levels of the game so will need to add entries as I discover how many Talent, Attribute and Skill points are awarded.
Vincent Recap: After completing EP2 A1 what would I have done differently?
Design: Vincent's primary goal is to Curse enemies secondary to raise party accuracy with Thundering Blades.
I should not have worried about his dealing damage. He can't have it both ways.
This also means when he is practically immune to being cursed because it does not affect his ability to cast curses and buff the party.
There are no enemy curses that reduce MP at this time.
Biggest Mistake was spending 2 talent points on Energy Storm(2) at level 17 and level 19. Then spending 5 skill points raising Sorcery(9).
Possible Alternatives:
1) Add +1 to Frigid Air at levels 17 and 19 would have reached the 5 x 5 cloud much sooner than Level 22.
Spending 4 Skill points in Conjuration at levels 14, 15, 17 and 18 would have raised it to 13 to support the 5 x 5 cloud required to hit
all 13 targets, and extend the number of turns for TB. This would have left 1 more skill point to add to Lore raising the number
of turns Charged Speed would last instead of wasting them on Sorcery.
2) Spending another talent point in Charged Speed from 3 to 4 would have given Vincent a +3 MP instead of 2.
3) Spending a point in Thundering Blades(1) would increase Accuracy for the entire party by +1 when
they needed it most at levels higher than 20. This would set the stage for EP2 A2 adding 2 more talent points to TB(3) would provide
a cross shape vs single target with a +3 Accuracy bonus and +9 lightning damage.
Best Alternatives:
1) Spend 4 skill points in Conjuration and 1 in Lore instead of wasting 5 in Sorcery.
2) Add +1 for Charged Speed(4) to get the MP 3 because he often needed just one more MP to be able to cast both curses
and retreat to a safe distance. Take Frigid Air to 10 very cost effective and will yield -13 Ranged, -72 damage.
Raise Thundering Blades if party accuracy becomes a big problem but if possible leave that as a long term goal Frigid Air is more important.
3) If he is forced to fight melee there are some good combat staves, but those that give +SP are far more valuable even though they cost less.
These small changes will transform Vincent from a rare gem to a finely cut highly polished diamond.
Vincent Plan
Mission: Enemy suppression. Reduce Number of attacks. Neutralize Archer Accuracy
EP1 Level 17 Totals: 8 Attributes, 14 Skills, 11 Talents
Allocation: +8 Int(14). +6 Conjur(9). +8 lore(10)
+6 Flash Freeze(6). +2 Frigid Air(3). +2 Charged Speed(2).
Duration: Flash Freeze 17 turns. Frigid Air 17 Turns. Charged Speed 9 turns.
Checklist:
| Lvl @ | Lvl | Attrb | Skill | Talents | SP |
| 60 | 3 | __ +2 Int(8) | __ +1 Conj(5) | __ +1 Flash Freeze(1) -1AP. -2 Dod. 1 Tar | 10 |
| 168 | 4 | 0 | __ +1 Conj(6) | __ +1 Flash Freeze(2) -1AP. -3 Dod. Cross | 18 |
| 360 | 5 | __ +1 Int(9) | __ +1 Conj(7) | __ +1 Frigid Air(2) -4 Acc. -12 Dmg. Cross | 9 |
| 660 | 6 | 0 | __ +1 Conj(8) | __ +1 Frigid Air(3) -5 Acc. -16 Dmg. Block | 13 |
| 1,092 | 7 | 0 | 0 | __ +1 Charged Speed(1) +1 MP. +1 Dodge | 10 |
| 1,680 | 8 | __ +1 Int(10) | __ +1 Conj(9) | 0 | |
| 2,448 | 9 | 0 | __ +1 Lore(3) | __ +1 Charged Speed(2) +2 MP. +2 Dodge | 18 |
| 3,420 | 10 | __ +1 Int(11) | __ +1 Lore(4) | 0 | |
| 4,620 | 11 | 0 | __ +1 Lore(5) | __ +1 Flash Freeze(3) -1AP. -4 Dod. Cross | 26 |
| 6,072 | 12 | __ +1 Int(12) | __ +1 Lore(6) | 0 | |
| 7,800 | 13 | __ +1 Int(13) | 0 | __ +1 Flash Freeze(4) -1AP. -5 Dodge | 34 |
| 9,828 | 14 | 0 | __ +1 Sorc(4) | __ +1 Flash Freeze(5) -1AP. -6 Dod. Block | 42 |
| 12,180 | 15 | 0 | __ +2 Sorc(6) | __ +1 Flash Freeze(6) -2AP. -7 Dod. Block | 50 |
| 14,880 | 16 | __ +1 Int(14) | 0 | 0 | |
| 17,952 | 17 | 0 | __ +1 Sorc(7) | __ +1 Energy Stm(1) 10-20 D. +6 Ac. R4 Block | 8 |
| 21,420 | 18 | __+1 Int(15) | __+1 Sorc(8) | 0 | |
| 25,308 | 19 | 0 | __+1 Sorc(9) | __+1 Energy Storm(2) 16-30 D. +8 Acc | 12 |
| 29,640 | 20 | __+1 Int(16) | 0 | 0 | |
| 34,440 | 21 | __+1 Con(5) | __+1 Lore(7) | __+1 Frigid Air(5) -7 Acc, -26 dmg Block Aoe | |
| 39,372 | 22 | 0 | __+1 Conj(10) | __+1 Frigid Air(6) -8 Acc, -32 dmg | 25 |
| 45,540 | 23 | 0 | __+1 Conj(11) | __+1 Charged Spd(3) +2 MP | 26 |
| 51,888 | 24 | __+1 Dex(5) | __+1 Conj(12) | 0 | |
| 58,800 | 25 | 0 | 0 | __+1 Thunder Bld(1) +1 Acc +6 Light dmg | 9 |
Keep adding to Sorcery and get Energy Storm(5) 38-70 Dmg. +10 Acc. 3 AP. 30 SP
Kyera Recap: Keeping in mind she had never been beyond level 19, by the time I reached the end of EP2 A1 she had reached Level 25
and you can see the choices I made below.
Design: I was very pleased with the way she turned out and would only consider a few changes.
Critically Important: Until Kyera can get a +1 MP piece of equipment she will always slow this group down as
Vraes, Selen and Vincent all have +MP talents. She has to stay farther back and wait for the enemy to get closer,
with more MP she is able to use her Holy Retribution and Banishment more often.
What would I do differently?
Skills: I nearly forgot to raise Conjuration to 9 in time to take advantage of the Block AOE you get at Banishment(4).
Going into EP2 A2 she has Banishment(6) with Conjuration(10). At Banishment(7) you get a 5 x 5 cloud effect and she will need to have
a Conjuration(13) to hit all the targets. There lies the rub. Should she still take Invocation to 16 or leave both Conj and Invoc at 13?
At level 22 and 24 she added +1 to Knowledge raising it to 8 is that enough to compensate for not taking Invocation all the way to 16?
I hope so, because of the increased accuracy that has been added to HR and Banishment. It is more than likely that Level 26 will not award
another talent point and Conjuration might be able to wait a level.
EP2 A2: Banishment(7) is the sweet spot don't raise it any higher, even though rank 10 creates a 7 x 7 cloud,
I think the cost is too high for everyday usage.
The best alternative would be to keep increasing Warders Shield. My experience so far tells me Dodge has been much more important than
Resistance you get from Piety Ward. Warders Shield can be compared to Parry for magic damage.
Piety Ward can be compared to Armor as a soak for magic damage after you have been hit.
It is far better at higher levels to not be hit at all and Vincent's Frigid Air does a better job of reducing all types of damage.
I believe Dodge is critical for the success of the party and has much to do with monsters not getting hit.
Kyera Plan
Mission: Banish Evil. Heal protect party. With improved monster stats many are showing a weakness to holy damage.
Because she can get Holy Retribution at level 3 and accuracy has been much improved it's time to finally kick some booty
EP1 Level 17 Totals: 8 Attributes, 14 Skills, 11 Talents
Allocation: +8 Int(14). +11 Invocation(14). +3 Conjuration.
+3 Warders Shield(3). +2 Myshana's Tears(3). +3 Holy Retribution(4). +2 Myshana's Tears(3). +1 Purifying Breeze(1). +1 Bank for Banishment. @lvl 17
Duration: Warders Shield 17 turns.
Checklist
| Lvl @ | Lvl | Attrb | Skill | Talents | SP |
| 60 | 3 | __ +2 Int(8) | __ +2 Invoc(5) | __ +1 Holy Retribution(1) 12-24 Dmg. +6 Acc. | 6 |
| 168 | 4 | 0 | __ +1 Invoc(6) | __ +1 Myshana's Tears(2) 70 HP | 12 |
| 360 | 5 | 0 | __ +1 Conjr(4) | __ +1 Holy Retribution(2) 16-40 Dmg. +8 Acc. | 10 |
| 660 | 6 | __ +1 Int(9) | __ +1 Invoc(7) | __ +1 Purifying Breeze(1) Cross Curse Cure | 10 |
| 1,092 | 7 | 0 | 0 | __ +1 Holy Retribution(3) 20-50 Dmg. +9 Acc. | 14 |
| 1,680 | 8 | __ +1 Int(10) | __ +1 Conjr(5) | 0 | |
| 2,448 | 9 | 0 | __ +1 Invoc(8) | __ +1 Holy Retribution(4) 24-69 Dmg +10 Acc | 18 |
| 3,420 | 10 | __ +1 Int(11) | __ +1 Conjr(6) | 0 | |
| 4,620 | 11 | 0 | __ +1 Invoc(9) | __ +1 Myshana's Tears(3) + 130 HP | 18 |
| 6,072 | 12 | __ +1 Int(12) | __ +1 Invoc(10) | 0 | |
| 7,800 | 13 | 0 | 0 | __ +1 Warders(1) +1 Par,Dodge 8+conj Cross R 6 | 8 |
| 9,828 | 14 | __ +1 Int(13) | __ +1 Invoc(11) | __ +1 Warders(2) +2 Par, +2 Dodge | 12 |
| 12,180 | 15 | 0 | __ +2 Invoc(12) | __ +1 Warders(3) +2 Par, +3 Dodge Block | 18 |
| 14,880 | 16 | __ +1 Int(14) | 0 | 0 | |
| 17,952 | 17 | 0 | __ +1 Conjr(7) | __ +1 Bank for Banishment | NA |
| 21,420 | 18 | __+1 Int(15) | __+1 Conjr(8) | __+1 Banishment(1) 20-52 Dmg. +11 Acc. R 6 Cros | 16 |
| 25,308 | 19 | 0 | __+1 Conjr(9) | __+1 Banishment(2) 24-64 Dmg. +11 Acc | 25 |
| 29,640 | 20 | __+1 Int(16) | 0 | 0 | |
| 34,440 | 21 | 0 | __+1 Invoc(14) | __+1 Banishment(3) 29-76 H dmg +12 Acc | 35 |
| 39,372 | 22 | __+1 Know(7) | __+1 Invoc(15) | __+1 Banish(4) 33-86 dmg +13 Acc Block | 43 |
| 45,540 | 23 | 0 | __+1 Invoc(16) | __+1 Banish(5) 39-104 dmg +14 Acc | 52 |
| 51,888 | 24 | __+1 Know(8) | __+1 Conj(10) | 0 | |
| 58,800 | 25 | 0 | 0 | __+1 Banish(6) 45-118 dmg +15 Accuracy | 61 |
Keep adding to get Banishment(4) to get Block AOE 32-86 Dmg. +13 Acc. 4 AP. 43 SP. Always try to use it after Flash Freeze curse.
After Conjur(9) for block Banishment continue putting points into Invocation.
Selen Recap: What would I do differently? Answer is there anything she can do wrong? Joking aside I was very pleased with this build.
Stats at level 25. Dex 16. Dodge 12. Con 7. Toughness 7. 557 HP. 320 SP. 50 Armor. +5 Parry, +6 Dodge Bonus from Quicksilver(1) and
Warders Shield(3) combined effect. Keeping in mind she had never been beyond level 20 you can see the choices I made below.
What I didn't know: The Bone Finger Ring gets awarded after rescuing young Braeys from captivity.
It provides +1 Accuracy. +8 damage, and +5% Critical Hit what a fantastic reward and perfect for Selen to use.
Weakness: She really needed to raise her Armor above 50. But because SP must come first for Selen to succeed, my equipment slots were
filled with High SP relatively low Armor items. She spent most of her time on the front line and killed the majority of bosses.
When hit she did take allot of damage, but had the depth of hit points and toughness to sustain the damage and dodge bonuses helped a great deal.
Strengths: Melee combat is the best use of her talents. By the time she reached level 25, Dance of Shadows(7), Frenzied Blows(5)
Punishing Blows(4), plus the Bone finger ring and one other piece of equipment.
Every successful melee attack had a 23% chance of being a critical hit.
For the majority of the game Vraes played the "off tank" role. She was the main killer averaged around 2,000 XP above all the other characters
in the party. Sometimes I let her fight a boss alone while the others were engaged with the rest of the enemies. She was very good at
running to hot spots at the rear of the party, and even flanked enemies at long distances from the main group. The reason I allowed her to get
so far ahead in XP is because if you study when she gets here talent points awarded you will find at critical moments in her development, when
other characters are getting a talent point she isn't. Just because they all end up with 16 Talent points at the end, is not nearly as important
as the timing of when they get them. So she usually leveled first and that compensated for the staggered talent awards.
I used 2 1H blades. This reduced the number of attacks to 3 from 7 but she also had a +2 MP to compensate. A critical hit with one
blade does quite a bit less damage than 2 blades. Further more the blade in the main hand had a high accuracy,
the off hand a parry of 6. You will not find both qualities in a single blade.
I did try the Cutlass a single 2AP weapon but found it much less effective and returned to my 2 blade combo.
What did I wish I had? On more rank of Punishing Blades to get to 6. Reducing Armor and damage of the enemy is a top synergy goal to win
the game when combined with Vincent's Frigid Air and Fyona's Reckoning (Level 18). Got that hint from a very reliable source.
In fact when I get around to playing Fyona, my design will be from the top down focusing all her talents on how they will relate
to Reckoning when she gets to lvl 18
EP2 A2 Going into the next act. Dance of shadows leveled to 10 will pack on another 8% Critical for total 16% for lore based turns
and eventually should be raised to level 10. It is very cost effective, and would raise the current build to 31% Critical on every attack.
Dance does not raise accuracy so Frenzied Blows should also be raised. Enemy armor we grow to ridiculous levels without Kjartan's choking ash,
Punishing Blades would need to be increased. BUT I never before understood the true value of "Steel and Shadow".
You really cannot determine exactly when a critical hit will occur. There are many times you really really need a critical hit to finish off an opponent.
Steel and Shadow was designed to solve this problem. Steel and Shadow(1) will add another 20% chance of a critical hit when used as a melee
attack and only costs 5 SP. Right now my Frenzied Blows provides an 8% chance switching to Steel and Shadows gets 20%.
But Frenzied Blows(5) uses +8 accuracy, and SS(1) a +3 Accuracy. At SS(5) you will get +7 Acc +15 dmg +44% Crit at a cost of 21 SP.
So there is a trade off and you probably would not use it as a main attack but there is no harm in trying. Back to the example:
Current build for Selen has a 23% chance of Critical. If SS(1) is used instead of Frenzied Blows(5) that rises to 35%.
SS(3) will raise it to 41% So you can see the possibility of using it when you really need a better control of a kill. Keep in mind
Steel and Shadows will always have a much lower melee accuracy than Frenzied Blows or Punishing Blades and only works when you
win a stealth roll.
Best Alternatives:
1. Leave everything the way it is with one change. Swap Quicksilver Defense(1) taking it a level 19 instead of 22
move Dance of Shadows(5) to level 22. Then move on to EP2 A2 with the following 2 goals.
2. Keep Alternating until Frenzied Blows reaches 7 for +11 Acc, +24 Dmg 10 SP,
and Punishing Blades reaches 6 for +10 Acc, -18 dmg, -22 Armor, 14 SP.
3. After that raise Dance of Shadows to 10.
Selen Plan
Mission: Fast Melee Fighter. Critical Hit Specialist. Dual Wield 2 1H Blades, or (1H + 2AP) Blades.
Main Attack: Punishing Blades followed by Frenzied Blows. Enhanced by Dance of Shadows(3) +2 MP.
Preferred Weapons: 2 1H Sai Blades
EP1 Level 17 Totals: 8 Attributes, 14 Skills, 11 Talents
Allocation: +6 Dexterity(12). +2 Constitution(7). Note Results in: Dodge(12). Toughness(7) +42 HP.
Talents: +4 Frenzied Blows(5). +5 Dance of Shadows(4). +3 Punishing Blades(3). @ Lvl 17.
Skills: +13 Blades(15). +2 Lore(4).
Duration: Dance of Shadows(5) 13 Turns. @ Lvl 20
Checklist
| Lvl @ | Lvl | Attrb | Skills | Talents | SP |
| 60 | 3 | __+2 Dex(8) | __+2 Blades(5) | __ +1 Punishing Blades(1) +3 Acc. -6 Arm 3 turns | 3 |
| 168 | 4 | 0 | __+1 Blades(6) | __ +1 Frenzied Blows(2) +6 Dmg. +5 Acc. +4% C | 3 |
| 360 | 5 | 0 | __+1 Blades(7) | __ +1 Punishing Blades(2) +4 Acc. -9 Arm | 5 |
| 660 | 6 | __+1 Con(6) | __+1 Blades(8) | __ +1 Dance of Shad(1) +1 MP. +2% C. +2 Stl 8-L | 6 |
| 1,092 | 7 | 0 | 0 | __ +1 Dance of Shadows(2) +3% Crit. +3 Stl | 10 |
| 1,680 | 8 | __+1 Dex(9) | __+1 Blades(9) | 0 | |
| 2,448 | 9 | 0 | __+1 Blades(10) | __+1 Dance of Shad(3) +2 MP. 4% Crit. +4 Stl 8-L | 14 |
| 3,420 | 10 | __+1 Con(7) | __+1 Blades(11) | 0 | |
| 4,620 | 11 | 0 | __+1 Blades(12) | __ +1 Frenzied Blows(3) +9 Dmg. +6 Acc. 6% C | 4 |
| 6,072 | 12 | __+1 Dex(10) | __+1 Blades(13) | 0 | |
| 7,800 | 13 | 0 | 0 | __ +1 Frenzied Blows(4) +12 Dmg +7 Acc +7% C | 5 |
| 9,828 | 14 | __+1 Dex(11) | __+1 Blades(14) | __ +1 Punishing Blades(3) +5 Acc. -9 Dmg. -12 Arm | 7 |
| 12,180 | 15 | 0 | __+2 Blades(16) | 0 | |
| 14,880 | 16 | __+1 Dex(12) | 0 | __ +1 Frenzied Blows(5) +15 Dmg. +8 Ac. +8% C | 6 |
| 17,952 | 17 | 0 | __+1 Lore(3) | __ +1 Punishing Blades(4) +7 Ac. -12 Dmg. -15 Ar. | 10 |
| 21,420 | 18 | __+ Dex(13) | __+1 Lore(4) | 0 | |
| 25,308 | 19 | 0 | __+1 Lore(5) | __+1 Dance of Shad(4) +2 MP. 5% Crit. +5 Stl | 18 |
| 29,640 | 20 | __+1 Dex(14) | 0 | __+1 Dance of Shad(5) +2 MP. 6% Crit. +6 Stl | 23 |
| 34,440 | 21 | 0 | __+1 Lore(6) | 0 | |
| 39,372 | 22 | __+1 Dex(15) | __+1 Lore(7) | __+1 Quicksilver Defense(1) +3 Parry +3 Dodge | 8 |
| 45,540 | 23 | 0 | __+1 Lore(8) | __+1 Dance of Shad(6) +2MP 7% Crit 7 Stl | 28 |
| 51,888 | 24 | __+1 Dex(16) | __+1 Lore(9) | 0 | |
| 58,800 | 25 | 0 | 0 | __+1 Dance of Shad(7) +3Mp 8% Crit 8 Stl | 34 |
| 66,300 | 26 | Not reached |
Add +1 Blades(16)
Keep raising Lore and raise Dance of Shadows(10) combined with Frenzied Blows(5) gives a 24% Chance of Critical on every attack.
Dance of Shadows(10) +3 MP. +16% Critical. +11 Stealth. 3 AP. 48 SP. ( the +3 MP starts at DoS(7) )
Vraes Recap: I think this was a pretty standard build some what simple in design.
How did he perform? As he progressed beyond level 20 taking him to level 6 Stone Skin was too much. Between 5 and 6
he is adding only 4 more armor and 30 HP the Earth magic resistance Stone Skin provides is negligible and should be increased to a
higher number to more effective.
His buffs Stone Skin, Burst of Speed and Natural Mastery are cost effective with a +60 SP piece of equipment.
At level 25 he has 998 HP, 274 SP. After buffing 182 SP remainder to use for 5 SP Crushing Blow(4) +2 Acc +32 dmg.
His armor is 98 leaving him at Stone Skine 5 instead of 6, would reduce the armor to 88 and HP to 968 no harm done and frees up
one more Talent point to use elsewhere. Constitution 13 is nice for the extra hit points but where it really shines is by raising Toughness.
I never really realized just how effective toughness can be. His other 3 Attribute points went into Strength to help attack accuracy,
and plan for future weapons they may require a higher number.
What would I do differently? That is hard to answer. He always seems to be plagued by not hitting enough with a two handed weapon and
when I needed him to get a big hit to finish off a tough opponent he too often failed to do so. So he would spend allot of time blocking until
Selen could finish combat with another foe come over to his side and finish his off. With a Polearm skill of 16(22), +2 Acc Crushing Blow,
+6 Acc equipment carrying a +6 Acc spear I ask myself what is it going to take to get a consistent number of hits.
Perhaps spending one more point in Natural Master to bring it to 6 instead of spending it on Stone Skin?
I hope as Vincent begins to spend points in Thundering Blades his accuracy will become better.
In the matter of damage to target it simply was not enough when landing a hit. A good solid hit would be around 100 to 110 pts of damage,
even after a target was hit with Selen's punishing blades to reduce armor soak. His spear was rated at 52 to 92 pts, with +32 from Crushing blow.
He usually landed a hit in the 60 to 80 range, and missed enough that overall damage gets cut to low. If you have 2 3AP attacks and miss 1
that is a 50% reduction on average damage over the length of the entire game. (he also had additional equipment that increased Acc and dmg)
Experiment? Berserk Rage doesn't look like a good option the percent critical is too low to justify the negative impact on his armor and Parry.
I'll have to double check but I think the armor/parry penalties apply to him not the target and will last Leardership turns. But his build
is geared towards Lore so it is better not to split the skill points up.
Ferocity Has grown in popularity but requires Kyera to spend points in Sacrifice for him to sustain it. Never the less Ferocity(1)
provides a +2 Acc +32 Dmg but costs 16 SP. Ferocity(3) +4 Acc, +64 dmg and costs 28 SP. If you miss that's allot of wasted SP.
This would also ruin my Kyera design she is based on attack/invocation Holy Retribution and Banishment.
Juggernaut Looks like a very interesting Talent but only activates on a Kill.
Best Alternatives: Basically use the same plan but swap Savage Sweep(4) +7 Accuracy +16 dmg for Crushing Blow(4) +2 Acc +32 dmg.
They both cost 5 SP. Use a one handed Sword and shield, getting three attacks at higher accuracy lower damage will cause more damage
over the length of the game than missing too many times with a 2H weapon. Be sure to pick up the +7 Parry shield in Bruenhold.
Decrease Stone Skin by one leaving it at 5, increase Natural Mastery by 1 to level 6, or better yet put the point in Burst of Speed.
The sword has a more narrow damage range than a 1H hammer.
Don't bother with Phalanx shield it will take too long to raise and only effects Parry and Armor.
Going into EP2 A2: You can continue increasing Natural Mastery, But taking Burst of Speed to higher levels not only increases MP but
far more importantly will raise Dodge to a high number. Be sure to keep putting points in Lore to increase duration.
For example Burst of Speed(5) grants +3 MP and +5 Dodge at a cost of 42 SP. I cannot stress enough the importance of the role Dodge plays in HoS.
Vraes Plan
Mission: Fast High Accuracy Melee Fighter.
Preferred Weapons: Any 2H Spear.
Primary Attack: Strike, or Crushing Blow(3)
EP1 Level 17 Totals: 8 Attributes, 15 Skills, 11 Talents.
Allocation: +2 Int(5). +4 Con(10) +2 Str(9)
Skills: +9 Pole(12). +5 Lore(7)
Talents: +3 Stone Skin(4). +4 Natural Mastery(4). +3 Burst of Speed(3) @ Lvl 19
Duration: Natural Mastery(4) 15 Turns. Stone Skin(4) 15 Turns. Burst of Speed(3) 10 Turns. @ Lvl 17.
| Lvl @ | Lvl | Attrb | Skill | Talents | SP |
| 60 | 3 | __ +2 Int(5) | __ +2 Pole(5) | __ +1 Natural Mastery(1) +2 Melee Skill | 8 |
| 168 | 4 | 0 | __ +1 Pole(6) | __ +1 Burst of Speed(1) +1 MP +1 Dod 3+L | 10 |
| 360 | 5 | 0 | __ +1 Lore(3) | __ +1 Stone Skin(2) +36 HP +5 Arm | 12 |
| 660 | 6 | __ +1 STR(8) | __ +1 Pole(7) | __ +1 Burst of Speed(2) +1 MP +2 Dod | 18 |
| 1,092 | 7 | 0 | 0 | __ +1 Stone Skin(3) +80 HP. +8 Arm | 18 |
| 1,680 | 8 | __ +1 Con(7) | __ +1 Lore(4) | 0 | |
| 2,448 | 9 | 0 | __ +1 Pole(8) | __ +1 Burst of Speed(3) +2 MP +3 Dodge | 26 |
| 3,420 | 10 | __ +1 STR(9) | __ +1 Lore(5) | 0 | |
| 4,620 | 11 | 0 | __ +1 Pole(9) | __ +1 Stone Skin(4) +120 HP +12 Arm 2Er | 24 |
| 6,072 | 12 | __ +1 Con(8) | __ +1 Lore(6) | 0 | |
| 7,800 | 13 | 0 | 0 | __ +1 Natural Mastery(2) +3 Melee Skill | 12 |
| 9,828 | 14 | __ +1 Con(9) | __ +1 Pole(10) | __ +1 Crushing Blow(2) +16 Dmg | 3 |
| 12,180 | 15 | 0 | __ +2 Pole(12) | __ +1 Natural Mastery(3) +4 Melee Skill | 18 |
| 14,880 | 16 | __ +1 Con(10) | 0 | 0 | |
| 17,952 | 17 | 0 | __ +1 Lore(7) | __ +1 Crushing Blow(3) +24 Dmg +1 Acc | 4 |
| 21,420 | 18 | __+1 Con(11) | __ +1 Pole(13) | 0 | |
| 25,308 | 19 | 0 | __+1 Pole(14) | __+1 Natural Mastery(4) +5 Melee Skill | 24 |
| 29,640 | 20 | __+1 Con(12) | 0 | 0 | |
| 34,440 | 21 | 0 | __+1 Pole(15) | __+1 Stone Skin(5) 150 HP. 16 A. 4 E res | 30 |
| 39,372 | 22 | __+1 Con(13) | __+1 Pole(16) | __+1 Crush Blow(4) +2 Acc. +32 Dmg | 5 |
| 45,540 | 23 | 0 | __+1 Lore(8) | __+1 St Skin(6) 180 HP. +20 Arm. 6 E res | 36 |
| 51,888 | 24 | __+1 Str(10) | __+1 Lore(9) | 0 | |
| 58,800 | 25 | 0 | 0 | __+1 Nat Mastery(5) +6 All melee skills | 30 |
| 66,300 | 26 | Not reached |
Add +2 Pole(16) Then pump lore to extend Natural Mastery(4) and increase to Stone Skin(7)
Result Pole(16) +5 Melee = 21 dice. Stone Skin(7) +200 HP, +24 Arm, +8 Earth 8(Lore) Turns 3 AP, 42 SP.
