Group build feedback and advice thread

[achilles73]

Mar 14, 2016 16:48:20 GMT -5 En1gma said:

By SoS I meant Storm of Steel, xdesperado

I agree that CS could work very well here, since you are running KJ and not my boy Vinnie. Soak in this group would work just fine, especially since the option for KJ to run MS is available. By combining MS and CS, you could certainly get away with using gear to bolster Kincaid's defense.

I don't think Tam is better for this setup than Selen though... Fyona forgoing SoC and running only Strickening could leave her wide open and I don't think she could cut it as an off tank. In my group, she likely won't even see combat until E3, so she can have time to grab some gear and develop SoC.

What is Fyona doing if she is not even seeing combat until Episode 3? You are not spending every turn casting Strickening, are you?

[fallen]

Some of the best builds rely on constantly dropping curses. If everyone is attempting to attack, consider that you might be wasting AP to get subpar attacks from every team member, when you could better strategize to get some amazing attacks out of less heroes, but be far more effective.

[achilles73]

Dec 31, 2016 21:38:21 GMT -5 fallen said:

Some of the best builds rely on constantly dropping curses. If everyone is attempting to attack, consider that you might be wasting AP to get subpar attacks from every team member, when you could better strategize to get some amazing attacks out of less heroes, but be far more effective.

I know, but unless his fights are super-fast and end in 2-3 turns at tops, you'd even run out of targets to curse eventually. I guess I really have to try the build to see how fast the damage is indeed.

P.S. I am actually reading through the entire thread. So I am not trolling by replying to random posts

[En1gma]

When I mention seeing combat in this sense, I'm not meaning attacking enemies. Every team member has the opportunity to make attacks in any given combat, it is just a matter of when and how.

Front line fighters like Kincaid, Vraes, and others who are equipped to withstand the enemy attacks are meant to advance and bear the brunt of the assault while dealing heavy damage. Fyona typically fills this role, but not when she runs Strickening.

When she runs this mighty spell, she is far better spent making sure her first priority is spreading Strickening around. Once potential targets are affected, she can pick her battles and wade in and deal damage to aid in the fight. She is comfortable in a striking role here, but until she can withstand several enemy attacks per round she cannot and should not engage the first waves of combat.

[achilles73]

Dec 31, 2016 22:07:08 GMT -5 En1gma said:

When I mention seeing combat in this sense, I'm not meaning attacking enemies. Every team member has the opportunity to make attacks in any given combat, it is just a matter of when and how.

Front line fighters like Kincaid, Vraes, and others who are equipped to withstand the enemy attacks are meant to advance and bear the brunt of the assault while dealing heavy damage. Fyona typically fills this role, but not when she runs Strickening.

When she runs this mighty spell, she is far better spent making sure her first priority is spreading Strickening around. Once potential targets are affected, she can pick her battles and wade in and deal damage to aid in the fight. She is comfortable in a striking role here, but until she can withstand several enemy attacks per round she cannot and should not engage the first waves of combat.

Yup; I understood what you meant

I am so loath to give up the double 2-AP curse possibilities of Kyera's Ethereal Anguish and Vincent's Flash Freeze though. Could you or someone upload Strickening in action? I really want to see how fast the damage is before trying

[En1gma]

I've seen damage increases of 40-60 damage per attack  in some cases (at level 20ish) , due to the massive swing of positive into negative resistance, which is compounded by every different element added by talents or gear. I'll upload some pics later, but suffice it to say that it is substantial to the level of breaking the game in some cases.

[matrim]

Strickening will typically increase damage by 40 for every element of damage you have (barring any innate resists). So with the spell slots blade spell you are looking at 40 more damage, if you stack a second element then 80. By end episode 3 beginning episode 4 you can stack 30ish of every element including holy. This means every attack does 200+ whatever physical damage you do. Also crits affect all these rolls. It makes for consistent (because you are rolling 6 separate damage dice), high damage. Typical hits from Kincaid in episode 4 (my highest damage dealer) are 280 with 450-500 crits, 1 AP. Kincaid is able to kill 2-3 things solo (with single target attacks) every round, it is incredible. He can also AoE for a single talent point, when he does so he typically does 4000+ damage on 3+ targets if they can survive that long.

[achilles73]

Jan 1, 2017 12:23:16 GMT -5 En1gma said:

I've seen damage increases of 40-60 damage per attack  in some cases (at level 20ish) , due to the massive swing of positive into negative resistance, which is compounded by every different element added by talents or gear. I'll upload some pics later, but suffice it to say that it is substantial to the level of breaking the game in some cases.

"Per attack"? OMG. Ok, it is superior to Banishment - other than maybe in the City of the Dead in the early 30s perhaps

[achilles73]

Jan 1, 2017 13:04:46 GMT -5 matrim said:

Strickening will typically increase damage by 40 for every element of damage you have (barring any innate resists). So with the spell slots blade spell you are looking at 40 more damage, if you stack a second element then 80. By end episode 3 beginning episode 4 you can stack 30ish of every element including holy. This means every attack does 200+ whatever physical damage you do. Also crits affect all these rolls. It makes for consistent (because you are rolling 6 separate damage dice), high damage. Typical hits from Kincaid in episode 4 (my highest damage dealer) are 280 with 450-500 crits, 1 AP. Kincaid is able to kill 2-3 things solo (with single target attacks) every round, it is incredible. He can also AoE for a single talent point, when he does so he typically does 4000+ damage on 3+ targets if they can survive that long.

Wow. I was getting about 700-ish crits with a 1 AP mainhand and 2 AP off-hand on Kincaid with Flashing Blade around 8. And you are saying that Strickening gets me 500-ish with just a 1 AP?!!!

[En1gma]

Strickening is godly. Put it with Energy Storm, Thundering Blades, and cheap AoE and you have enough damage to take 95% of the mobs in the game down in one turn. (obviously not all at once) 

[En1gma]

Here's a screenshot of Strickening 10 and Energy Storm 7 affecting a great wolf.

Note each  - 16 for the  various elements. Each point of +damage in each one of them up to the  16 mark will be doubled,  for a maximum of +32 for each.  Should any character possess +34 lightning damage,  it doubles to +68.

Right here, if I had a 1 AP weapon with all those stats,  it would do potentially +200 elemental damage.
Per. One. AP. This is the power of Strickening. 

[achilles73]

Jan 2, 2017 21:43:57 GMT -5 En1gma said:

Here's a screenshot of Strickening 10 and Energy Storm 7 affecting a great wolf.

Note each  - 16 for the  various elements. Each point of +damage in each one of them up to the  16 mark will be doubled,  for a maximum of +32 for each.  Should any character possess +34 lightning damage,  it doubles to +68.

Right here, if I had a 1 AP weapon with all those stats,  it would do potentially +200 elemental damage.
Per. One. AP. This is the power of Strickening. 

Thanks for the screenshot!

[achilles73]

By the way, doesn't Strickening level off a bit in Episodes 3-4 when many mobs have 20-30 resistance?

[En1gma]

Strickening 10 gives -22 to base resistance... End game,  not counting damage landed by  - dodge/parry given by Ash, Strickening has the potential to deal far more damage in the long run, as you're factoring in weaknesses to *every* element. You've already made up the damage Ash would give in less than two of the resistances. 

[En1gma]

I'm such an idiot. I feel like I've been playing wrong for years now. Post incoming.