Epic failure's challenge!

[phaze]

A fair point, but for a party that doesn't run Strickening, the elemental weapons are less of an appeal. There are definitely good drops available but are mostly potions, scrolls, and books. Spider sacks and extra dark moon blossoms mean loads of extra experience. OwH has tremendous XP value from what I remember in the prior play through. A long dungeon but lots of chests, crystals, and enemies. Looking forward to it this week. My choice will be Tevensa for the dialogue.

At this point in the game, my main ways to increase damage involve increasing crit chance and damage combined with lower armor from Selen and Kjartan combined with equipment changes based on drops. I do think damage output decreases in this party relative to a Strickening one but the trade-off of using Kyera is having access to Sacrifice, Ethereal Anguish, and Banishment. Lvl 10 EA takes the fight out of most enemies and lvl 10 Banishment lets her deal damage from afar when the ranged damage output from enemies is just too much to risk getting near.

[phaze]

And done with OwH. Score at 1.92 billion. Still have Freeport and surrounding area to clear.

The OwH gave some great equipment. I need to look across all characters to rebalance soon as my party is reaching final maturation. At lvl 51, Kyera is actually accumulating spare talent points. Weighing sp drain levels, crit chance, damage, and accuracy needs a fresh look. When crafting is available, Kincaid and Kyera will get major weapons upgrades that should fill my weapon weak spots. Drops have not been good for hammers or blades in a long time.

Two handed weapons are dropping left and right sadly.

It will be interesting meeting tevensa again. Enjoyed the storyline.

[fallen]

Aug 17, 2016 10:04:44 GMT -5 phaze said:

At lvl 51, Kyera is actually accumulating spare talent points.

Really? Interesting. Why not spending?

[phaze]

I maxed what I needed to and my plan didn't go this far

With WS, EA, and Ban maxed, my choices left are smite, healing, or PW. I need to think through what is more optimal but none are essential, so I have a luxury to sit on a talent point or two. Raising smite has a drawback of increased sp. Healing is largely done with potions, and PW is marginal when I already have PfS maxed.

[fallen]

phaze - cool, thanks for the info!

[matrim]

Have you put a point into her AE heal? With new cursing attacks that might be a good idea. Maybe her single target holy attack for more versatile ranged attacks?

[fallen]

Aug 17, 2016 13:18:23 GMT -5 matrim said:

Have you put a point into her AE heal? With new cursing attacks that might be a good idea. Maybe her single target holy attack for more versatile ranged attacks?

Guess its a question of items vs. Talents. It is possible to do all of that with items, if you are really stocking lots of them, but if the curses are hitting hard enough, it is nice to have an AE talent that can heal & purge.

Makes me thing we should change dispel items to cost 2 AP.

[phaze]

I'll do a party write-up after finishing current content.

I do have area heal 1 pt and believe have relied exclusively on items in the past. I did 1 pt way late in Ep 4 and have a stockpile of 70 + scrolls and 57 books to remove curses. Curses at this point are not an issue to remove. Now, getting hit with them is another issue!

Depending on number of talent points left in the game, holy bolt might work but only at high enough levels. And with a 1000 sp, and high drain, dropping a banishment is always the best option as sp is not limiting.

I am keeping an eye on smite accuracy as Kyera is the most likely to start whiffing but wary of pumping it as it will slow down my sp battery effect. However, a high smite would pair well with max BB and immolation.

I have options but no challenges present that need a talent point.

Curse removal could be left at 1 ap for items as the damage is already done during the prior enemy attacks. Wouldn't that also penalize Fyona who only has a 4 ap curse removal on a single target?

[fallen]

Aug 17, 2016 13:56:44 GMT -5 phaze said:

Curse removal could be left at 1 ap for items as the damage is already done during the prior enemy attacks. Wouldn't that also penalize Fyona who only has a 4 ap curse removal on a single target?

Slowing down curse removal items would better emphasize the Talents. That 4 AP comes with a huge heal too, so its a mixed back.

Perhaps curse removal books should be set to 2 AP and let scrolls stay as 1 AP.

[phaze]

And done with current content. 1.95 billion. I wonder what matrim's final score was? A key question would be Vincent's extra map and how much xp is there? Gold is over 500k with some purchases. I believe I cleared all maps that repopulate, but it is difficult to tell as some story elements trigger different maps. Does Vincent's map also have a blood crystal by chance? I ended with 28. Party just cleared lvl 52.

One potential bug with the OwH is that the crystal summoners summon enemies that also give XP I think. Especially when the yellow specters appear. Might need further examination. I cleared as normal so didn't stick around waiting.

I'll try for a full write-up later if anyone is interested in party development, equipment, and strategy.

Overall, this is a very strong party defensively with high level offense as well. I suspect strong Strickening can kill quicker, but my offense is still growing due to immolation needing more talents yet. With current game mechanics with Kyera, I find a lvl 1 sacrifice and no added lore can still be very potent for efficiency and reducing camping.

[fallen]

phaze - would love to see the write up, always!

Fixed the bug with the summoned creatures have XP.

[phaze]

Ok, so the write-up starting with stats (fully buffed) and equipment with some strategy.

All characters are level 52.

Kincaid: HP 1385/SP 488, 16 dex, 16 con, 9 will, 20 blades, 10 thrown, 14 lore, 9 leadership, Darting Steel 8, Storm of Steel 1, Sure Parry 8, Cunning Footwork 10, Flanking Unity 8, Live by the Blade 1
armor 149, 49 strong dodge, 30 extra parry, elemental res 44, unholy 6
Main hand, Flambard 63-148 at 3 ap and 10 acc and 9 parry, off-hand, flash knives 1 ap at 37-68 with 10 acc
Charger Studded Leather: 114 armor, 3 evasion, 1 move point, 325 hp, 6% critical, 8% drain
Wise blood ring: 10% critical, 5 dodge/5 parry, 10 stealth, 10 security
Cloak of Names: 12 elemental damage, 12 dodge, 12 resistance
Ironsoul Boots: 8 parry/8 dodge, 12 resistance, 4% drain

Kjartan: 1052 HP/1540 SP, 16 con, 14 knowl, 10 int, 11 polearms, 20 sorcery, 9 conjuring, 5 immolation, 10 choking ash, 2 meteoric shockwave, 10 pure flame shield, 9 burning blades
Armor 96, 10 dodge, 6 parry
Main hand: staff of nahama 40 hp, 280 sp, 4 acc, 12 dam
Robes of the Fourth: 60 armor, 3 evasion, 1 move point, 88 sp, 3 ranged acc, 2% crit
Gauntlets of Song: 160 hp, 160 sp, 8% drain
Webbed Cloak: 180 hp/180 sp, 2% crit, 8% drain
Snake scale Boots: 1 move point, 4 ranged acc, 8 dam, 2% crit, 8 armor

Kyera: 1178 hp/ 1008 sp, 16 str, 16 con, 7 int, 8 knowledge, 20 hammers, 18 invocation, 9 conj, 6 lore, Banishment 10, Ethereal Anguish 10, 1 Sacrifice, Myshana's Tears 2, Purifying Breeze 1, Warder's Shield 10, Piety Ward 1, 1 extra talent
Armor 124, extra 14 dodge, extra 14 parry
Main hand: Keen Warhammer, 71-102 dam, 7 acc/5 parry
Off: Braeysguard, 9 parry, 120 hp, 3 melee acc, 12 dam, 2% crit
Edict Plate: 96 armor, -2 stealth, 150 hp/ 150 sp, 4 parry
Long claw Boots: 1 move, 4 parry/ 4 dodge, 4% drain
Pendant of Scrying: 260 sp, 4% crit, 12% drain
Right Fist of the Barbarian: 6 acc, 24 dam

Selen: 1064 HP/ 459 SP, 9 blades, 20 bows, 4 lore, 20 stealth, 8 Punishing Blades, 8 Pinning Shot, Sly Look 4, Dance of Shadows 10, Quicksilver 5
Armor 72 armor, 15 parry/ 18 dodge
Main: Keen Tulwar, 7 acc/ 8 parry, 36 - 51 dam
Off: Iceheart Bow 43 - 116 dam, 7 range, 13 acc, 24 ice dam, 5% crit
Novir Leathers: 44 armor, 8% drain
Hellfire Cloak: 24 fire dam, 4% crit, 4% drain
Ring of Danka: 16 dam, 7% crit
Torc of Dread: 3 acc, 24 dam

Kincaid's role: Avoid attacks at most any cost. Wasted enemy attacks cost 0 SP/potions to heal and 0 AP. Early game by Red Hill, Sure Parry to 8, CF as you can, 1 live by the for utility in early game, 1 FU for utility. Emphasize plus parry and dodge. With reasonable equipment drops, I usually can plop Kincaid down next to ranged enemies to guarantee attacks to him and not to the party. Use 1 AP/ 2 AP Blade combo for great damage and best stats. Red Hill or shortly after 1 Storm of Steel for area damage. Middle game, max CF for parry/dodge, crit, and acc. Add FU later up to 8 for acc/dam. Saved talents for Darting Steel. Raise slowly rest of the game to balance SP usage and drain. For most of the game, 1 AP/2 AP blades work very well for delivering damage. 1 SoS give area damage for much of the game. Late game. Raise Darting Steel to provide 1 AP area damage and extra minus parry/dodge. Raise to 9 eventually for 4x4 area with appropriate damage, crits, and drain to be self-sufficient for mass area damage. While lower damage, using Kjartan and Selen lowers armor such that low damage weapons with crit does massive damage.

Kjartan's role: Curser with damage added later. Early game by Red Hill Keep CA to 7 for keeping armor to 0 and hitting enemies. 2 Meteoric Shockwave for -4 acc and aiding avoidance attacks. This is very much key as as -4 acc allows Kyera to be a secondary tank for much of the early game, and helps ensure Kincaid's safety from accurate enemies. BB and PS added in at low levels. PS is a passive boost to survivability. Very useful in the Underforge for later game. Raising this is adding effective HP to the party by reducing incoming damage. The resists are useful to negate enemies that do +all damage. Mid game. Max CA. Raise PS and BB in a 1/2 fashion until advanced. By Ep 3, add three points to Immolation to give Kjartan some punch and added crit chance for the party. Late game. Finish maxing PS and raise Immo and BB to improve damage. Kjartan is a curser and defuffer most of the game. This maximizes the capacity of the other three characters to their best. Fireball 1 does a decent amount of damage to finish stragglers if you maximize equipment accordingly. Later game, immolation starts to take off as a damage dealer plus boosting party damage. Equipment that bolsters HP and SP is great as well as equipment that bolsters damage, acc, and especially movement to give Kjartan the greatest utility of curses and attacks.

Kyera's role: Holy warrior with hammers and SP drain to fuel the party's damage and decrease camping for score improvement coupled with EA to take away panic of assaulting enemies. Early game. Hammers all the way to increase parry ability. Max Con for survivability. Raise Myshana's tears to 2, focus on Warder's Shield for avoiding party damage. Above all, Kyera is used as a secondary tank at the Bridge and other pincers. WS, high hammers, a shield, and equipment that focuses on parry/dodge are utilities to survive pincers comfortably. Meteoric Shockwave is immensely useful for aiding Kyera. Absolutely use EA to reduce damage. Add 1 to Sacrifice. If you load Kyera up on % drain gear, she can often drain enough to supplement the other party members. Add 1 PW for managing the Baron if you do take damage. At lvl 1, EA is hugely useful to drop incoming damage to a manageable level as needed. Mid game. Finish maxing WS. Start developing Banishment. Not useful right now but will be so in CoD and Ep 3 to provide a ranged choice for Kyera. Raise to 7 for area of effect. After, raise EA to 6 for -2 AP. Being able to drop necromancers to 1 AP is a must! Then eventually max. Late game. Finish maxing Banishment. After that, I don't know, extra talent points to your desire.

Selen role: Stealth lead all game followed by ranged damage extraordinaire. Early game. Raise Pinning Shot to 5 and then focus on Dance of Shadows all the way to 10, maybe a point in Quicksilver Defense for safety during a failed stealth roll. Emphasize Stealth, usually having stealth armor and always try to raise stealth 1 pt per level whether through item, talent, or skill. Winning the first round ensures one can scout where enemies are and choose defensive territory to maximize survival. After that, PS is a cheap and effective way to increase hitting ability, do area damage, and most importantly strip 1 AP from groups of enemies. Between EA and PS, nearly all enemies will only have 1 AP. Secondly, stack acc/damage items on Selen, adding in Crit % and Drain % as feasible. In maxing damage options, Selen can effectively clear mobs of low armor enemies much of the game when you need to drop damage quick. As Selen only has a regular bow attach, acc is very important to her such that her regular attack is effective. Mid to late game. Improve scout talent to 4 for max area coverage and extra range. Continue the above strategy. Once Dance of Shadows is maxed, I started on a combination of Punishing Blades and QsD to my taste. PB will be maxed, and a modest level QsD allows a good chance to avoid the stray hit or two.

Overall battle strategy. Scout everything you can. Always identify where ranged damage is coming from and make a choice if Kincaid will tank it or move out of range to draw attackers out. Curse as needed for offense and defense. EA is your greatest asset for neutralizing enemies that can't be killed quickly and need to be made toothless. My absolute favorite talent in the game. EA 10 at 2 AP lets you blanket a field if needed and lowers acc by 7 to boot. Kjartan curses for offense reasons. CA is great for increasing consistent offensive output. I despise missing attacks. CA with PS with FU and late game DS pretty much means I never miss unless against very high defense enemies. Orcin warlords. Late game trolls and wolves (the level 60 stone trolls on the way to Freeport were a pain). Missed attacks are wasted AP and lowers damage output. Selen is my main damage dealer much of the game followed by Kincaid. CF allows him to tank but be reasonable in offense. 3 AP attacks hit heavy with SoS and help with high armor enemies. Kyera has great selective damage through her hammer swings. Usually focused on one enemy, I use her to take out the nearest enemy threatening us, allowing Kincaid to push the line of assault forward. With Kincaid being a major tank, the other three party members can shift around as needed on the battle scene. Late game strategies give more options, like when Kyera has Banishment as a choice, but by then you should be able to choose an optimum approach that balances offense (major SP usage of all talents) versus moderation that supports SP drain to kick in, extending time between camping.

[fallen]

phaze - absolutely awesome post and what a great run down for anyone looking for a PRO strategy. I especially like the notes on early-mid-late game, and how well you planned out the transitions between the different sections.

I picked out two points I love to see -- often it is said that Kyera can't play a good melee striker / back-up tanks, and I love to see how you planned the perfect team to make that a successful strategy! Really top notch.

Aug 19, 2016 6:51:34 GMT -5 phaze said:

.. 2 Meteoric Shockwave for -4 acc and aiding avoidance attacks. This is very much key as as -4 acc allows Kyera to be a secondary tank for much of the early game, and helps ensure Kincaid's safety from accurate enemies. BB and PS added in at low levels. PS is a passive boost to survivability. Very useful in the Underforge for later game. Raising this is adding effective HP to the party by reducing incoming damage. The resists are useful to negate enemies that do +all damage. Mid game. Max CA. Raise PS and BB in a 1/2 fashion until advanced. By Ep 3, add three points to Immolation to give Kjartan some punch and added crit chance for the party. Late game. Finish maxing PS and raise Immo and BB to improve damage. Kjartan is a curser and defuffer most of the game. This maximizes the capacity of the other three characters to their best. Fireball 1 does a decent amount of damage to finish stragglers if you maximize equipment accordingly. Later game, immolation starts to take off as a damage dealer plus boosting party damage. Equipment that bolsters HP and SP is great as well as equipment that bolsters damage, acc, and especially movement to give Kjartan the greatest utility of curses and attacks..

Aug 19, 2016 6:51:34 GMT -5 phaze said:

Kyera's role: Holy warrior with hammers and SP drain to fuel the party's damage and decrease camping for score improvement coupled with EA to take away panic of assaulting enemies. Early game. Hammers all the way to increase parry ability. Max Con for survivability. Raise Myshana's tears to 2, focus on Warder's Shield for avoiding party damage. Above all, Kyera is used as a secondary tank at the Bridge and other pincers. WS, high hammers, a shield, and equipment that focuses on parry/dodge are utilities to survive pincers comfortably. Meteoric Shockwave is immensely useful for aiding Kyera. Absolutely use EA to reduce damage. ..

[phaze]

Hurray. Just found the missing blood crystal in my inventory. It is back in red hill keep in the original cell areas.

[matrim]

phaze Arg! Kincaid down! 2 random Orcin just took both his sure parries procs down and then hit him for 200 and 240. 4 bad rolls and the gig is up...he had 28 parry and 25 dodge too...nothing was hitting him in the area. Regroup and retry, see you guys in about a month, hopefully with some weapon upgrades TB!?