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Post by CdrPlatypus on Feb 26, 2015 13:34:13 GMT -5
Here is my new team...EnergizerRabbits "It's a monster!"
Just buried the great shaman.
Difficulty NMI
Current lvl 12 (at the start of the shaman fight only Kincaid and Selen were lvl 12...this was annoying anyways)
Current Score 47,964,985
Kincaid
Dex 13, Blades 13, Leadership 3, cunning footwork 6, flanking unity 1
Vincent
Knowledge 12, Sorcery 13, Energy Storm 3, Thundering Blades 3, Charged speed 1
Kyera
Int 12, Lore 12, Myshana's tears 2, Sacrifice 2, Purifying Breeze 1, warder's shield 3
Selen
Dex 12, Bows 9, Blades 6, Pinning Shot 5, quicksilver defense 1, dance of Shadows 1
I started planning out this team after my OG team died once. With them I got to the point early in EP 2 that I had to swig potions and camp after every battle...yes this is nightmare...but it just wasn't fun. I couldn't bring myself to play them anymore as it was a total slog. So, I decided to make a group with Kyera running sacrifice/lore. So far its working rather nicely.
Feedback welcome. What do you think/ where would you stick pts next?
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Post by En1gma on Mar 6, 2015 12:34:01 GMT -5
Neat group so far, how are they doing, CdrPlatypus? You need an off tank- DoS 3 and QsD 4 will help with that... have her be a switch hitter. Vrotta Dagger hits pretty hard still, unless you're already to Riven Field that is... Otherwise you could work on Kyera, more Warders and Smiting Blow could help, but I like Selen and you haven't put a single point into Hammers. What is your plan for Kincaid? Max out Footwork? Start developing Crippling/Lunge/Flashing? Flashing could be useful for this group imo- more accuracy and crit % never hurt anyone. |
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Post by En1gma on Mar 6, 2015 12:44:12 GMT -5
I'm still thinking up a way to revive the Iron Curtain build. I want Vraes to rush to at least Phalanx 8 after a point or two in Savage Sweep. Hammers of course. Fyona uses all SoC and Strickening up to 5 by the assault on the Keep. One point into Zealous Strikes for more Holy Damage. The two of them will exploit the gift Hammers from beating the Shaman- Vraes gets the 1H and Fyona the 2H. Also: I have yet to ever use Fervor, so because we don't have PfS, Fervor fits in perfectly The one issue I had was how long things would stand in front of/around me. KJ lacked any sort of useful offense. Ash was awesome, but I think I want to play an Energy Storm Vincent. Thundering Blades giving Accuracy and dual resistance curses will make up for not using Ash, and will eventually yield more damage, I think. Vincent goes for ES 5 and TB 5 as soon as he can, then brings himself up to +2 MP, then starts on maxing out ES and TB. Selen would be a little different this time around. I want at least 4 points into INT by the end of E1, the rest into DEX. She will bring Pinning Shot up to 8 for the upgraded AoE template, and so she can better utilize both TB and ES. This brings an entire new feel to Iron Curtain, and I think will be more fun to play ultimately... CdrPlatypus- you gotta admit- they did get a little repetitive. Blazingly effective and immovable, but pretty vanilla. What do you think? |
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Post by CdrPlatypus on Mar 7, 2015 2:30:04 GMT -5
En1gma I took the group through the storerooms with no deats. They are shelved for the moment though. No -armor curses = problem with with ROUS and the like. Kincaid went footwork to storm of steel, and kyera picked up banishment at lvl 18...lots of boom. I think Kyera would have been better going into hammers though (after lore 16) just for the added defense and low sp dmg. I think you new idea shall be christened the Disco Dome. So, from my experience with ES/TB you will definitely need Strickening for this build. ES/TB alone is not enough to carry the group by itself. For Selen I'm not sure about the timing for pinning shot 8. Fyona will need to focus on getting strickening up to 5 quick IMO so it matches the same pattern as ES. This means SOC won't be coming into play until later and you may want QSD on selen to turn her into an off tank. A long term goal PS 8 sounds great, but for a base build I think you need PS 5, DOS 3, QSD 1+ . I'm not a fan of skimping on Selen's dex until it hits 16 because it provides defense against archers, ups dodge, and acc... For Vincent I go ES -> 3, then TB -> 3, then CS ->2, then ES +1 :TB + 2 Vincent's lightening builds are SP hungry so without Kyera you are going to have to find a balance between con and int. Remember he is on the front line Back to Fyona: She is going to need INT as well, can't be a straight CON build when using HS, For Heals I would stick with BA on this group. Everyone except Selen is going to be on the front lines with this group Vraes is Going to be your main tank for a good while with this build so. SSW 2, BOS 1, then phalanx to 10 IMHO. Int +2, then CON -> 16, Hammers ->16 Anyways letting vincent's inner seer lord out to play is fun. Let me know how it works for you. This group will not be nearly as tanky as IC but looks fun.
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TeeWee
Hero
[ Star Traders 2 & Heroes Supporter ]
Posts: 247
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Post by TeeWee on Mar 9, 2015 5:10:17 GMT -5
From a long absence, I've returned (my phone battery got **** and had to send my phone back for replacement, resulting in factory reset. Lost a bit of motivation to continue. I've migrated to iPad version last week and back in business!)
New game: Kincaid, Kjartan, Kyera, Selen. I was going to run Tamilin, but that seemed way too squishy for me. Because I haven't had a good Kyera run yet, she was a must-have and I didn't feel like a melee-Vincent this time round, it had to be Selen.
Goals: Kincaid and Selen go in the front lines. Battle styles will be much more fluid than the old Vraes + Fyona front line I used to run. I'm picturing long running battles instead of slugfests here. Kyera and Kjartan are on support duty until late game talents start to become available.
I'm planning to have Kincaid and Selen be "untouchable" double wielders. Lots of parry and dodge-talents. Crit% is not an early goal, the early focus is cursing attacks. Crippling strikes and Punishing Blades are going to be the main attacks. On the defensive side, it's going to be Sure Parry and Quicksilver Defense. Both will need their +MP-buffs as well (Kincaid probably just takes 1 level, Selen should go at least until +2MP due to Stealth considerations anyway).
Kyera is augmenting this. Warden's Shield is her main ability. I'm debating what to do with Anguish. At the first level, it's a single target curse that's always useful, but AoE and -2AP are really nice things to have as well. Maybe it's going to be good enough at level 1, freeing up space for Sacrifice and late game Banishment. She is also an emergency meat shield for Kjartan.
Kjartan's main job is to curse, both for offense (Ashes) as well as for defense (Shockwave). A touch of Burning Blades, mainly in preparation when Kincaid goes Crit-style AoE melee. Late game, Firestorm will be a target.
I fully realize that AoE isn't in the picture until late game (High-level Crippling Strike, Storm of Steel, Banishment, Firestorm). That's just something I'll have to deal with. With Anguish plus Crippling Strike doing -AP curses, I hope to have enough crowd control to make things work, and with -Dmg from Shockwave and Punishing Blades, the damage input on bad dodge/parry rolls should be manageable.
Kincaid is difficult to balance: he can have so many jobs. I want him to be able to Parry/Dodge, Curse, have +1MP, AoE attack, Party-buff +ACC. That sounds like too many jobs to do effectively, but I haven't really decided which one to sacrifice. In my previous games, I missed having a party +ACC, so I guess that will have to stay. Concentrating on Sure Parry instead of splitting it with Cunning Footwork should do the trick, at least until I get Sure Parry 4 for blocking 2 hits.
Weapons: Kincaid is a dual-wielder: Sword + dagger. Selen is dual-wielding two daggers. I'm aware they are competing for the same resources, but that's life. Selen will be Stealth-mistress, not Kincaid, but less Stealth-focused than my Tamilin-builds. Selen can't focus on archery, her leading the line next to Kincaid is essential for this group. Kyera will be a Hammer-wielder. She doesn't have a big combat role, but should be able to step up now and again for a finishing move or to block a critter that slips away from Kincaid / Selen.
Current status: almost at Oskahold. This group is very different from my old group with Vraes, Fyona, Vincent and Tamilin. That one was all about solid lines and Tamilin sniping from safety; this one is all about fluid combat (well, not quite necessary yet at this point, but it's good to develop habits), working the terrain and smart movement, with the rare ranged attack to finish an enemy.
Updates to follow.
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Post by fallen on Mar 9, 2015 9:15:25 GMT -5
TeeWee - great to see you back! I hope you'll leave us a review on iTunes, it's so hard to get anything more than "No Reviews" there because we update too often.
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Post by contributor on Mar 9, 2015 10:19:30 GMT -5
From a long absence, I've returned (my phone battery got **** and had to send my phone back for replacement, resulting in factory reset. Lost a bit of motivation to continue. I've migrated to iPad version last week and back in business!) New game: Kincaid, Kjartan, Kyera, Selen. I was going to run Tamilin, but that seemed way too squishy for me. Because I haven't had a good Kyera run yet, she was a must-have and I didn't feel like a melee-Vincent this time round, it had to be Selen. Goals: Kincaid and Selen go in the front lines. Battle styles will be much more fluid than the old Vraes + Fyona front line I used to run. I'm picturing long running battles instead of slugfests here. Kyera and Kjartan are on support duty until late game talents start to become available. I'm planning to have Kincaid and Selen be "untouchable" double wielders. Lots of parry and dodge-talents. Crit% is not an early goal, the early focus is cursing attacks. Crippling strikes and Punishing Blades are going to be the main attacks. On the defensive side, it's going to be Sure Parry and Quicksilver Defense. Both will need their +MP-buffs as well (Kincaid probably just takes 1 level, Selen should go at least until +2MP due to Stealth considerations anyway). Kyera is augmenting this. Warden's Shield is her main ability. I'm debating what to do with Anguish. At the first level, it's a single target curse that's always useful, but AoE and -2AP are really nice things to have as well. Maybe it's going to be good enough at level 1, freeing up space for Sacrifice and late game Banishment. She is also an emergency meat shield for Kjartan. Kjartan's main job is to curse, both for offense (Ashes) as well as for defense (Shockwave). A touch of Burning Blades, mainly in preparation when Kincaid goes Crit-style AoE melee. Late game, Firestorm will be a target. I fully realize that AoE isn't in the picture until late game (High-level Crippling Strike, Storm of Steel, Banishment, Firestorm). That's just something I'll have to deal with. With Anguish plus Crippling Strike doing -AP curses, I hope to have enough crowd control to make things work, and with -Dmg from Shockwave and Punishing Blades, the damage input on bad dodge/parry rolls should be manageable. Kincaid is difficult to balance: he can have so many jobs. I want him to be able to Parry/Dodge, Curse, have +1MP, AoE attack, Party-buff +ACC. That sounds like too many jobs to do effectively, but I haven't really decided which one to sacrifice. In my previous games, I missed having a party +ACC, so I guess that will have to stay. Concentrating on Sure Parry instead of splitting it with Cunning Footwork should do the trick, at least until I get Sure Parry 4 for blocking 2 hits. Weapons: Kincaid is a dual-wielder: Sword + dagger. Selen is dual-wielding two daggers. I'm aware they are competing for the same resources, but that's life. Selen will be Stealth-mistress, not Kincaid, but less Stealth-focused than my Tamilin-builds. Selen can't focus on archery, her leading the line next to Kincaid is essential for this group. Kyera will be a Hammer-wielder. She doesn't have a big combat role, but should be able to step up now and again for a finishing move or to block a critter that slips away from Kincaid / Selen. Current status: almost at Oskahold. This group is very different from my old group with Vraes, Fyona, Vincent and Tamilin. That one was all about solid lines and Tamilin sniping from safety; this one is all about fluid combat (well, not quite necessary yet at this point, but it's good to develop habits), working the terrain and smart movement, with the rare ranged attack to finish an enemy. Updates to follow. That group sounds remarkably similar to my Withering Strikes team. It's very viable as I currently have that same group at almost 300 mil, on Nightmare Ironman. At level 22 I just topped out a lot of skills for the team. KJ hit Choking Ash 10, Kyera hit Warders 10 and Selen hit Qs Defense 10. Kincaid is close to Cunning Footwork 10 as well. Selen and Kincaid make an amazing frontline and interestingly don't really need to be mobile, because they can just stand up to the ugliest nasties once they've been tamed by KJ and Kyera. The big question for me now is where to go with Karjtan and Kyera in terms of developing some offense for them. I'm not sure, but I need to decide soon. |
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Post by En1gma on Mar 9, 2015 11:00:39 GMT -5
I've been thinking hard about how to really build a group around using Kincaid as the Stealth Lead, just because he is the only person other than Selen/Tamilin who can...
Kincaid I want to do something different/crazy with... I'm really challenging myself to step outside my comfort zone lately, and this is something I haven't tried yet. -I want a Footwork/Darting Steel/Crippling Strikes build. Since I will have him up front, this puts him in perfect position to pave the way for the remainder of the fight. All points into DEX, INT, and CON. Blades, and Stealth until maxed. I want him to have at least DS 4, CS 6, +2 MP, and he will end up maxing out Footwork. Ambitious? Yes. Will he die? Ask Ryethin. -Since the group will rely on Kincaid for initial debuffing, and will have no other Parry/Dodge curses, DS will be his go-to curse. If he has the chance, he will reach out and doink AP with CS, but this is a late game strategy. He will go 2:1 Footwork and DS until DS 4, then all points into CS until 6. +2 MP is a luxury, and will come after his defenses and curses are established.
Using him up front forces you to use Vincent as the mage- if Kincaid is up front, Vincent will automatically be right behind him. -Vincent can be used one of three ways here: 1) Lightning Spear domination- him being so close to the action allows him to fire off a full three volleys assuming he has a few +MP under his belt. The main drawback to this build is his fragility. Should Kincaid fail his roll, and a mob run past him, Vinnie boy will be slaughtered. 2) Full curse build- primarily Frigid Air and Flash Freeze, a few points into Charged Speed for emergency mobility. Thundering Blades for more group Accuracy. Or 3) What I'm leaning towards is a melee/Charged Speed/Thundering Blades/Storm Strike. Supporting points into either Frigid Air for ranged support or Flash Freeze for AP cursing. -Using Vincent as build 3 would really make for an interesting front line. I have yet to ever make a melee Vincent, only because Lightning Spear is so goddamn addicting and OP. I think I'll try him out for this and if I don't like it, I can always respec down the line.
Since Vincent isn't tank material, and Kincaid is going to be focused on other things. This leaves Fyona, naturally, to fill the gap. 1h and Shield for her this time, she will need the defenses. It works out having Kincaid up front, as it is only 2 MP to reach his side, and 3 MP to get out in front of him, allowing her 2 attacks on any enemies who make it too close to Kincaid. -She must bolster the team defense, first and foremost. Shield of Cortias, Blessed Aura, until the group is secured. After this, I'm thinking about starting on Strickening, in order to assist the damage dealers in breaking through enemy defenses. Once it reaches AoE, she can go back to SoC until maxed, then she can work on Reckoning to aid Kincaid in removing AP, or on Zealous Strikes to come into her own as a damage dealer as well as a tank. If she still isn't handling enemies as well as I should like, then Kincaid gets another point or two into DS and she starts on Consecrated Defense.
Finally we come to the sneak slot. Tamilin seems like a perfect fit here, and without needing to put ANY points into Stealth, she is free to reach new heights as the primary damage dealer of the group. -She puts a point into Blacknight, then two into Aimed Shot. Everything goes into Deadly Intuition until Silent Stalker. Once she gets SS up, she maxes out DI, then goes back to SS. One point into Ranged Onslaught for added impact, then back to SS. Aimed Shot tops out at 4-5, DI maxed, SS 5-6, RO2, Blacknight until +2MP.
WOOT- I have a level 12 group in Oskahold that I had given up on- RECPEC HERE I COME!
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Post by Blitz on Mar 9, 2015 17:25:41 GMT -5
So, I got till the beginning of Ep2 and then managed to delete my save file :P
On the bright side, I got my cards fixed and have all the characters now.
I want to start a new game on nightmare and wanted feedback on viability.
The cornerstone of my build would be a dexterity based Vraes ultra tank armed with a high parry light blade and shield. I'll be pumping dexterity first followed by alternating constitution and Knowledge. As far as skills go, I'll be maxing out blades and then split points between lore and leadership. First talent I'll be working on would be Phalanx shield, which I will max out, then split between BoS (maybe 1 point in before I max out PS) and Stone Skin. If I get that far, I'll pump up natural mastery and Crushing blow. I'm not too sure about gear yet. I might do dodge gear, but with heavy armor.
Idea is to stick him in front and let him get battered while everyone else fires of ranged attacks from behind him. Lots of parry because dexterity and light blades, lots of physical ranged defense because of dexterity and Phalanx shield and lots of HP because Vraes and Stones Skin. I don't need him to kill anything at all. I might try and give him a few killing blows to keep his exp up - which he should be able to make because huge dexterity and blades skill.
Everything else about the build is still fluid but...
I'm thinking of going with Kyera because 1. Lots of awesome single target heal, 2. Ethereal Anguish should further make it easy for Vraes to survive and and 3. Warder's shield is probably more important for Vraes as I think he'll need more dodge than parry and piety ward should be useful till Vraes gets his Knowledge up to acceptable levels. Oh and she can do damage from range. I have no idea how to build her though.
I don't know about the other two just yet. But they'll need to do damage. I'm thinking Tamilin because Range, and Ranged onslaught should be really useful to Clear out swathes of monsters clustering around Vraes but I'm not sure as Selen might make a better off tank and she can so some damage with a bow - and she gets pinning shot
Not sure about the mage at all. On one hand Vincent with Flash freeze and Lightning spear seems ideal as it'll help Vraes survive while dealing plenty of damage but on the other hand Kjartan might be good too with his longer range, immolation, pureflame shield and choking ash...
Tips, advice?
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Post by contributor on Mar 10, 2015 16:54:56 GMT -5
Kind of in a hurry here, but you should play into E2 a little before you make any big decisions. The enemy AI changes and archers won't attack just the closest person anymore. So that changes the "I'll just put Vraes out front and let everybody pound on him while the rest of my team kills them. Selen makes and awesome tank/off-tank with the right build. And I'm still a little leery of trying a Dex Vraes, but I haven't given it serious thought in awhile.
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Post by CdrPlatypus on Mar 10, 2015 23:28:07 GMT -5
Blitz I'm not a fan of dex vraes wither because he does not have much in the way of dodge boosting talents himself and you are wrong that you don't need him to kill anything at all. Tried that route...not sustainable. I would grab savage sweep 2, bos 1 fairly soon and besides that work on maxing Phalanx. First 2 attribute points into int and then Con ->16. Suggest 1 handed hammers. your choice of mage and stealth character are linked. if you pick vincent you will need to go with Selen so you have a character with a -armor talent. If you go with KJ you can bring either Selen or Tam. If you bing tam you will need to develop Kyera as an off tank/light striker. If you want to use Kyera of ranged I suggest following this team plan: startradersrpg.proboards.com/thread/10578/team-gallows-tap-dancers
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Post by Blitz on Mar 11, 2015 1:43:08 GMT -5
contributor, I noticed that in the storerooms. Do all enemy archers do that beyond that point? CdrPlatypus, hmm, I really want to try Dex Vraes though. I'm kinda building the party around him. Also, that group is interesting as there's neither Choking Ash or Pinning shot I started a new game with Selen and Vincent and am almost to Oskahold but I died once already in Red Hill, thanks to a failed stealth check and spiders taking out Selen. What's the right way to lead in nightmare? I might do a restart. How do I build Selen into an off Tank? Should I be spending 2AP switching out her bow for another Blade when she finishes with pinning shot? Or should I stick with a single Blade and do more attacks?
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Post by CdrPlatypus on Mar 11, 2015 2:27:16 GMT -5
Blitz So for nightmare do not stealth lead before your first opportunity to level up. Even then you may want to avoid stealth leading until Selen gets quicksilver defense. QSD and a Dex / blades build plus prioritizing tank gear instead of damage gear is how you develop Selen as an off tank. QSD becomes available at level 9. I would either dual wield with Selen or develop her for pinning shot. Don't try to do both by switching gear in combat. If you are using pinning shot I would suggest a 2 ap light blade like the voratta dagger for her off hand
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Post by Blitz on Mar 11, 2015 3:12:31 GMT -5
Blitz So for nightmare do not stealth lead before your first opportunity to level up. Even then you may want to avoid stealth leading until Selen gets quicksilver defense. QSD and a Dex / blades build plus prioritizing tank gear instead of damage gear is how you develop Selen as an off tank. QSD becomes available at level 9. I would either dual wield with Selen or develop her for pinning shot. Don't try to do both by switching gear in combat. If you are using pinning shot I would suggest a 2 ap light blade like the voratta dagger for her off hand Thanks. I think I'll do pinning shot with a 2AP bow. By the time I have to deal with attacks from two sides towards the end of Ep1, I should be able to have enough into defense by that point. It should then be okay to build Kyera into a ranged magical attacker. And develop Vincent into Flash freeze/Lightning spear |
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Post by En1gma on Mar 17, 2015 14:56:35 GMT -5
So for the life of me, I can't find where we were talking about how best to respec my Kinetic Energy build CdrPlatypus. I need to find a way to improve accuracy and have a better source of ranged damage, and I think you had suggested building Selen out for Pinning Shot instead of using TK with Kincaid. This seems like a solid idea, and I'm sure I'll be able to make that work. Do you think I can effectively make the switch from LS 10 to Energy Storm 10? I figure if I can switch to ES, the group can have a way to really break through enemy defenses. Right now they only have Punishing Blades for an armour debuff, so everything I throw at them takes a significant hit from various soaks. By switching to ES, overall damage would decrease from Vincent, but I think more targeted damage could work wonders for the group. Plus if I can put a few points into TB, both Selen and Kincaid will benefit from their new and improved AoE (since Kincaid makes the switch to CS 6) What do you think? |
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