Team: Two Tanks and a Wasp

[dagger]

Yes, I'm very pleasantly surprised with how well these guys are doing in the Storm Bastion. I mean, they are literally built to have "two tanks" but I'm not even getting hit, let alone threatened. The occasional arrow sneaks through for maybe 40 damage and that's all I'm dealing with. One half of the Storm Bros task is complete; on to the next. I'm also looting some pretty good armor here so crafting will improve things even more. Assuming I finish the Storm Bastion without dying, this will be only the third time I will be entering the City of the Dead since I started playing this game last winter. I'm pretty sure I've only made it out once so.....starting to get into virgin territory for me. I'll be careful but I really do have this team built (and geared) right. I'm cautiously optimistic that I can take them to the end of the current content and probably unrealistically optimistic that by the time I get there, the TB's will have the final update out. I think it's actually going to be close because I'm so busy in real life right now that I'm just creeping along as I can on the game. If you go back to the OP, I started this team on April 22nd so......I'm about 1 Episode per month at this point. :-) I've got a couple golf weekends coming up, and family stuff on a couple more so it will probably be end of August before I get to the end of current content. That's a LOT of time for these guys to get things done. Hopefully it happens.... My next update will be heading into the CoD....which is actually happening faster than I thought it would....

[dagger]

Into the City of the Dead I go....

Vraes has been a true tank, barely getting hit and, when he does, for minimal damage. I've maxed both Stoneskin and Phalanx and now it's time to start working on Natural Mastery. I might throw another point or two in Berserkers along the way but we'll see how damage comes along. I've got him geared with a little accuracy, lots of dodge and parry, and SP drain gear. His armor is the Articulated Bone Plate (92 Armor, -1 Evasion) crafted with 240 SP, +16 dmg, +12 All resists, and 5% SP drain. I've got the Leather & Pauldrons in reserve with +2 dodge and parry and 140 HP in case he starts getting hit. The armor is only 78 so we'll see what the numbers are on his dmg and decide if I'm better off having the extra miss potential. I'd like to keep him in heavy armor for role-playing's sake. He is, after all, supposed to be an Outlander but....stats are stats so we'll see.

Kjartan is still running up Pureflame. Getting close. I bought him some armor at the Storm Bastion so his accuracy is up some more. His Immolation is definitely hitting more. Still not a ton of dmg but the crit buff is definitely paying dividends.

Fyona put a second point in Reckoning. Damage is slowly growing. I really wish I had about 6 more points to spend right now but....slow and steady. She's really been a great second tank. She's hardly getting hit either, especially after I get one whack in with Consecrated Defense. My next point will go into that, Zealous Strikes, or Reckoning. Depends on how the first few battles in the CoD go.

Tamilin is really starting to come online now. Her crit is up to 14% with the Throwing Knives and that gets bumped to 20% on Immo'd targets. Just going to run Deadly Intuition for a while and then finish off Blacknight and Torrent.

Not a ton different from my last update so....short and sweet. See you on the other side...hopefully.


Well, so much for not getting hit.  Those stupid archers pack a wallop.  Change of plans for Fyona.  I took point number seven in Righteous Fervor because I need the extra hit points.  I think I'll go to 8 next and then probably 2 more points in Consecrated Defense.  Vraes is getting hit pretty good too so I switched him back to the Defenders Shield with the 400HP just to be safe.

[matrim]

dagger Careful of the skeletal obelisks in there. 9 range and 550 damage with some elemental damage thrown in and 2 AP. They come in pairs and can gun down even a Vraes if they get the chance.

[contributor]

And they can very easily kill one of the squishies if you don't know they're lurking in the fog somewhere. dagger have you invested in Tamilin's scouting talent at all? I find the extra range of level 3 (I think) to be very helpful in the COD. I'm going to guess that the guy above you Foolycooly died somewhere in the COD. I very nearly lost my team there too.

[dagger]

matrim Yes, I was made very aware, very quickly about how lethal those things can be. The first couple I ran into in the Haunted (?) took a pretty good chunk out of both Vraes and Fyona before I tracked them down. Easy to kill once you figure out where they are but, you're right, they can hurt.

@contributor I have not invested anything into the scouting talent. I really view those as wasted points but, I can see that if it keeps me from getting dead, then probably not a waste. I've never actually taken an extra point in any of the characters sight talents so....probably should do that. I lost my Brutal ironman team in the first tower a few months ago so maybe I'll re-spec someone there and see how that talent works. Right now I've got 9AP/MP on Vraes and 12 on Tamilin (thinking of taking that to 14--3 extra for Blacknight, 1 for throwing knives and 1 for armor right now. I can get 2 more from boots). Tam is leading, then Vraes. I trigger battle, run Tam forward 3 or 4, then run Vraes in the direction of the enemy to open up the sightlines, then run Tam in to -AP curse, open more daylight, and get back behind Vraes...or all the way out of danger...then decide whether to have Vraes hit something or fall back to draw them closer. The mobility is really the key to everything. I can see how one step too far could get me killed though so...I'm not going to re-spec this team so I'll have to be extremely careful until I get another talent point or two but I'll definitely consider it.

[crimsonking]

I thought for a long time that points into Farsight are wasted but as I was finished pushing my relevant talents and put some points into it I learned I was wrong. Farsight 4 is really worth the points as you can scout your whole surroundings for 0 AP on the surprise round. Combine that with some extra MP and you can locate those long range attackers and summoners, curse some enemies and still move into ideal tactical positions.

[dagger]

Well, all three of you can't be wrong.  I guess I know my next couple points for Tam.  Or should I do KJ?  

[anrdaemon]

My preferred way of dealing with the towers is to outrange them, kill their support, then rush Vraes to them and block their ranged attacks. From this point it's just a matter of finishing them off.
Assuming no chain pull from that trip.

[anrdaemon]

Jun 30, 2018 6:34:54 GMT -5 dagger said:

Well, all three of you can't be wrong.  I guess I know my next couple points for Tam.  Or should I do KJ?  

I have Farsight 4, but I think 3 is enough.
Stealth is more important unless you were lucky to get the neck early.

[dagger]

What is the "neck"?

[anrdaemon]

Darkness Amulet (+12 Stealth)
Drops in the CoD proper.
If you manage to score it early, the rest of CoD is a breeze. You can spend most of your talents to combat and postpone stealth leveling until Ep.4. (That, assuming you lead with Tamilin.)

[crimsonking]

The +Stealth talents offer valuable +MP and other extras on both characters. I wouldn't postpone them that long for any of the two.

[dagger]

I've got Blacknight 8 and am currently running at 41 Stealth.  I've got the Mantle of Shadow cloak with +9 Dodge, +9 Stealth, and +9 Security.  The security is overkill obviously, but the 9 Stealth/ 9 Dodge is something I wouldn't give up for 12 Stealth.  My boots have 3 Dodge, 3 Stealth, 3 Armor, 1 MP so I think I'm okay without the neck.  I'm not worried about the Stealth as much as the Dodge at this point.  With the high dmg numbers things are doing I need to make sure Tam doesn't get hit at all if possible.  Done with the Haunted Crypts, SE Road, and East Wheel Road so far.  Just about to enter tower number one, which is where I lost my last ironman run due to not cursing a necro......

[anrdaemon]

Curses!
(pun intended)