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Post by CdrPlatypus on Sept 27, 2016 19:29:08 GMT -5
It's been a long time since I've put some serious play time into HOS. I was inspired on my recent train ride back home and came up with an idea for a new group using the original 4 characters that explore their new talents and changes. I got the name as well as the general theme while watching the first episode of the new season of agents of Shield: " They say when the Rider burns you he burns your soul and souls never heal" En1gma Your thoughts appreciated as always. This build is still in the formative stages I have a framework that I am trying as I play it. If it's succesful enough I will post a full breakdown later. Vraes I will be using my go to base build for him with some later tweaks. Very boring in the early game, but a rock solid proven build. Primary Talents: Phalanx Shield Burst of Speed Berserk Rage Juggernaut Primary Attributes: CON, Strg (*note first 2 points do go into INT) Weapon 1-handed sword Primary Skills: Blades Leadership Kjartan The keystone of this groups theme Primary Talents: Choking Ash Immolation Burning Blades Primary Attribute CON Primary Skills Conjuring up to 9 Sorcery up to 16 eventually secondary skill: Polearms Kyera: Honestly she has always been the hardest character for me to build out, but I think I've got a good plan now with the game fleshed out and more levels She Starts out as support only until lvl 18 with banishment Early LvL build Alternate CON and INT Keeping roughly even Skills Lore, then Invocation later Early Game Talents: Warder's Sheild Sacrafice Purifying Breeze (A special note here I intend to make this her Primary Healing talent) Later Banishment and I may flesh out EA if I feel the need Tamlin Alternate CON and DEX Skills: Thrown to 16, then a bit of lore to extend DI then Bows Primary Talents Black Night Torrent of Steel Deadly Intuition Undecided maybe later talents: A point or 2 in Volley? A point in Silent Stalker For Kicks? Stealth crits are always fun Gear: 1 AP TK with a 2AP as back up when needed and a Heavy Bow Some Analysis: Choking Ash and higher levls of Immolation curse with -Armor, and If Tam graps Silent stalker later that also strips off some armor Torrent of Steel curses, -AP, -dodge, - Resistance making it a perfect cocktail when combined with Immolation and Burning Blades Berserk Rage, DI, Burning Blades and Immolation = Crit City Kyeras Support to help every body stay alive and stay in combat with sacrifice. Then Banishment gives the team access to holy damage which is invaluable in EP3 and although it doesn't have any direct crit boost aoe and crit are a match made in heaven. I've only got this group to lvl 7 and haven't decided on an exact leveling path yet so I'm not going to post what to take when yet. Comments/Criticisms welcome.
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Post by fallen on Sept 27, 2016 19:57:27 GMT -5
CdrPlatypus - it looks very good to me, great synergy between Torrent of Steel, Choking Ash, Immolation and Burning Blades -- as you said, the cornerstone of the build. Burn them baby!
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Post by En1gma on Sept 27, 2016 21:05:38 GMT -5
The only issue (if you can even call it that) I can find is with Kyera, CdrPlatypus . Sacrifice is great as always, but for this group, and any group with KJ/Tam/Kyera, Kyera will need to be a striker methinks for this one-- go Sacrifice later. Vraes needs a second. My thinking: -- You will have more than enough AoE between Immolation, Torrent, and Onslaught, I don't think Banishment will be as useful. -- If you want her to be more utilitarian, perhaps build her as the team vampire. Warder's 10, Breeze to where you like it, then Smiting 2 or 3. Give her all the SP Drain you can find. Once she finds herself capable in combat, and making good returns with SP Drain, you'll find it time to start Sacrifice. -- Going this route will provide you with a front line fighter who makes enough SP through combat to power the others with Sacrifice... -- Split Hammers and Lore, or go 2:1 Hammers to give her decent amounts of acc/defense, while still building Lore for Breeze Great synergy, and looks nearly identical to one I started today but used Kincaid to abuse Footwork, DS, and Storm of Steel for dual AoE for the crit engine.
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Post by anrdaemon on Sept 28, 2016 10:22:03 GMT -5
EA is paramount for slow moving/low damage characters. IMO.
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Post by En1gma on Sept 28, 2016 10:47:17 GMT -5
EA is always good, but between ToS and EA 1, there should be more than enough AP removed to make it through E1 into E2.
Until this group starts cranking out high amounts of ranged damage, Kyera will be doling out plenty of damage with her Hammers, so while she's a slow mover, she can still hit like a truck when done correctly.
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Post by CdrPlatypus on Sept 28, 2016 12:24:48 GMT -5
En1gma I thought about going with a Hammer and Shield Kyera, but I intend for Tam to be my Skirmisher. She's wearing all tank gear and Maxing thrown first. After the first round she needs to be close anyways. And I want Banishment for E3 So, Consider it an experiment in madness! anrdaemon EA is most certainly powerful, but it is not a necessity especially in the early game. A lot can be done with battlefield tactics. Unit placement and movement. This is not a stand an hold ground group. Tam will be weaving in and out at close range, Vraes will be running a pain train after he gets Juggernaut and KJ and Kyera will be just at the edge of engagement range raining destruction and support.
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Post by En1gma on Sept 28, 2016 14:01:51 GMT -5
Good luck with that-- hopefully she can stand against some of the nastier pincers, especially nearing the Orcin stronghold.
Keep me updated!
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Post by anrdaemon on Sept 29, 2016 5:17:31 GMT -5
In that range, I'd agree that ToS and EA1 should cover most enemies. There's only 1 or 2 types with 4 AP and they are rare. Later on, Ep3 especially, you'd want full curse with no excuses.
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Post by crimsonking on Sept 29, 2016 6:24:24 GMT -5
In that range, I'd agree that ToS and EA1 should cover most enemies. There's only 1 or 2 types with 4 AP and they are rare. Later on, Ep3 especially, you'd want full curse with no excuses. Especcially since at times you won't be able to use all of your characters.
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Post by anrdaemon on Sept 29, 2016 7:23:38 GMT -5
Said that, narrow passages of the cultists' underhouse coming to mind. As well as storerooms.
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Post by CdrPlatypus on Sept 29, 2016 13:55:42 GMT -5
In that range, I'd agree that ToS and EA1 should cover most enemies. There's only 1 or 2 types with 4 AP and they are rare. Later on, Ep3 especially, you'd want full curse with no excuses. Especcially since at times you won't be able to use all of your characters. That fight is obnoxious. EA 6 should be enough to cakewalk it though.
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Post by Gr8Scott on Jul 13, 2017 14:16:32 GMT -5
The only issue (if you can even call it that) I can find is with Kyera, CdrPlatypus . Sacrifice is great as always, but for this group, and any group with KJ/Tam/Kyera, Kyera will need to be a striker methinks for this one-- go Sacrifice later. Vraes needs a second. My thinking: -- You will have more than enough AoE between Immolation, Torrent, and Onslaught, I don't think Banishment will be as useful. -- If you want her to be more utilitarian, perhaps build her as the team vampire. Warder's 10, Breeze to where you like it, then Smiting 2 or 3. Give her all the SP Drain you can find. Once she finds herself capable in combat, and making good returns with SP Drain, you'll find it time to start Sacrifice. -- Going this route will provide you with a front line fighter who makes enough SP through combat to power the others with Sacrifice... -- Split Hammers and Lore, or go 2:1 Hammers to give her decent amounts of acc/defense, while still building Lore for Breeze Great synergy, and looks nearly identical to one I started today but used Kincaid to abuse Footwork, DS, and Storm of Steel for dual AoE for the crit engine. Kyera Ep 3 and beyond: Banishment, Smiting Blow or a balance of both? I am working an A Team run and wondered about Kyera as a striker only. With KJ'S C. Ash & Immolation. Vraes with P. Shield & B. Rage (critical) , Tami using B. Night, Toss and D. Int (critical) later. Which is better for Kyera later in the game: Banishment, S. Blow or a Mix? Is it worth it to raise S. Blow past lv 3 to get 3 attacks on single targets? Or is Holy Damage AOE Worth lower accuracy since she ends up being your Off Tank parry person in larger groups? Thoughts?
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Post by fallen on Jul 13, 2017 14:27:00 GMT -5
A lot of E3 and beyond is facing off against enemies that have -Holy Res, so that is one reason I always look toward Banishment in the later game. However, with the high AP cost, you've got to pair it with another Talent or two that lets you get your full AP spend the way you want every turn.
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Post by En1gma on Jul 13, 2017 15:29:22 GMT -5
For your group I like Vampire Kyera...
Look at Juggernaut for Vraes' attack, or FEROCITY even, just to give him some high SP cost attacks. I like Jugg in a crit boosting build because it gives him great chances to stomp his way across the battle, especially once they're softened up by Immo/ToS/Ash/Ranged Onslaught.
Kyera gets Warder's to 10, a healing talent up high, Smiting Blow 2 (4, then 8 as your damage and SP drain increases), Anguish 10, then Sacrifice until she's comfortable. This gives you a front line warrior who can hold an entire flank if needed. She gets all the HP gear, SP gear, and Parry/Dodge gear you can give her (priority in that order). She will be able to deal great damage to crippled enemies and gain a ton of SP from her drain equipment, which can then be funneled into Vraes/Tam/KJ to fuel their high cost attacks.
End game Vampire Kyera can make your group literally never need to camp or use potions, so long as she can connect and is making a surplus of SP per round from her attacks.
If you have points to spare, Banishment is a great talent and will smack some undead around, but like everything in this game it requires a predetermined place in your strategy and is hard to make fit without accommodations.
Good luck!!
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Nathan
Consul
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Posts: 146
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Post by Nathan on Jul 14, 2017 12:18:51 GMT -5
I’m actually going to attempt a build quite similar to that… I avoid using int for any character For Vraes: I liked starting as a dex build then switch to str -> max Dex, then 2 points into Con, then 3 into Will to resist curses, then max Str Skills would be leadership/Lore until your buffs last as long as you like, then Blades as it is the weapon for both dex and str Talents one point into Palanx shield, Natural mastery, and BoS, then all Phalanx until it’s maxed except for a point into Berserk Rage when it’s available. Then 2 points into BoS for the additional move - I find movement isn’t an issue with Juggernaut, so I don’t raise it beyond that (but the dodge/parry bonus at the end is tempting). How early you max Juggernaut will depend on whether you keep the heartbeat of summer as this provides Vraes with the SP spike he needs to max Jug earlier. If you don’t keep it, it would turn into balancing Berserk Rage and Jug growth to match his SP growth and SP+/SP drain item acquisition. After switching to Str weapon mix in a little more Natural Mastery to increase melee accuracy, minimum damage and defence to counter the -parry from BRage, but the priority would be Jug, BRage, then NM. For Kjartan: I’ve never tried a Con focused build, but I did find that maxing his Dex greatly improved his survivability.. I just figured that the HP bonus from sinking points into Con wasn’t worth it. Ultimately if he gets hit twice he’s finished. Same talent set as you, but I only put a single point into Immolation (as soon as it was available), before maxing Burning Blades and Choking Ash, then Immolation. For Kyera: I’ve only tried it once, but I like building her as support then attack mage Warders Shield 10 EA 6 (4 before returning to Red Hill then 6 before Gholla, but build in jumps, not gradually[save 3 points, then jump to 4 for AoE; save 2 points then jump to 6 for -2AP]) Banishment 10 Holy Retribution… leaving the healing to potions and elixirs has worked for me so far The Vampire Kyera that En1gma described would probable be a better fit for the group that you are building because I'm not sure Tamlin can hold the secondary front or a mage Kyera with Tamlin for that matter... would be risky. That's why I plan to use Selen instead of Tamlin, but if you do try, I'd love to hear the results. For Tamlin: At level 18 I had - Black Night 6; Torrent of Steel 3 (for AoE); Deadly Intuition 1; Ranged Onslaught 1 After that I max Blacknight and DI, then mix between ToS and RO. I prioritize DI over the actual skills because I find boosting Critical% is more effective in raising her damage output than raising the actual skills. The reason for the early focus on Black Night is opening doors... in my first playthrough I was unfortunate enough to have a Deathkin on the other side of a door... the throws for stealth and dodge when opening that door could have saved me..
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