Cross Platform Nightmare Ironman

[Kanly]

I do the same thing. Just rotating killing blows on the big baddies keeps things even. It can get annoying to try to get the killing blow on a buff character, pure heals, or pure tank. So many wasted turns ending in *whiff*

[carthaginians]

I have CA and flanking utility. Easiest party yet for hitting those killing blows. Also my party was all lv4 by the end of the escape. I think it makes a big difference.

[carthaginians]

End of ep1. 146m.

[carthaginians]

Ky party dies at 207 to my phone being unlocked in pocket....

[fallen]

May 28, 2015 19:03:55 GMT -5 carthaginians said:

Ky party dies at 207 to my phone being unlocked in pocket....

Oh no ... come on ... the shame. Gah, what terrible news..

[CdrPlatypus]

carthaginians Brutal. my condolences.

[Kanly]

Back in the saddle with my NMI group after taking a break to play the alpha and 4x for a while. In the CoD headed into the second tower.

I nearly lost my group because I was used to BF movement rules, so I ran all the way up to a wraith and couldn't debuff him. It took me a minute to realize what I had done. Kincaid took both hits of sure parry, an additional melee hit and three arrows but managed to escape with less than 50hp left. That'll teach me to mix TB games.

[phaze]

And finished all the current content (to my knowledge) in Episode 4 with no deaths on nightmare and a current score of 2,090,188,980. I am a bit unsure as to which 5 dungeons are referred to in Ep. 4 (two leaving CoD, Overland Pass, Ironwood Range, and I think the Darkmoss Swamp for darkmoon blossoms). I am using Kincaid, Kyera, Selen, and Kjartan. If I get time later, I can do a bit of a write-up on choices and strategy.

The party is strong and other than some harrowing points in the game, most of the challenges were handled well. The absolute worst areas were the Torrent Swamps with Krete in the mid to upper 30s and CoD. However the Krete are spawned in the Torrent Swamps, they reduce Kincaid to a pincushion as he seems to lose nearly all dodging capacity due to their accuracy. I also accidentally triggered the trolls at the southern edge of the fort leading to some crazy footwork to position everyone while the Krete were still rushing in. The CoD also had some close calls due to the sheer amount of ranged damage capable of being inflicted by necromancers, bowman, and the skeletal towers. Again, in the later levels of CoD, Kincaid's ability to dodge decreases modestly. When many enemies are flinging 400+ damage per attack, a few bad rolls can take Kincaid out quick. In one bonus area, I did not realize I triggered two battles at once, leading to two skeletal towers spawning out of my awareness but able to hit my party. They could have annihilated Kjartan had they targeted him, so waiting for that turn to finish was nail biting.

I dreaded Ep 4 based on the difficulty at the end of Ep 3, but the enemies seemed more manageable. The necromancers did not seem to spawn the high damage dealing kind, only the lower 200 damage kind, taking the panic out of the fights. Controlling ranged damage is absolutely vital to the no death status.

Ep. 4 was a real treat to play so far, and I eagerly await the next set of content to decide which route to go moving forward. I am not sure if I missed some content with the Pale Walker, as I stumbled into that dialogue rather than being told by anyone at the Braey's camp. Access to new equipment (especially weapons) is eagerly anticipated. The enemies HP is steadily advancing, and my damage dealing capacity will hit limits soon as talents max out, making fights longer.

Great job all around on the game!

[fallen]

phaze - thanks for the great write up. The next content chunk is going to be bigger and will open up the dungeons you can delve. Sounds like the new start on E4 was a lot of fun, but the harrowing times are certainly coming

Can't wait to share the bucket of new monster types and some all new abilities!

[matrim]

Grats on the score! I am 3rd on there at 1.7 something. Not quite finished all the ep 4 content but I am close. I think the big score hit for me was spending all my money at Wyatt. I dropped 250m ish points there if I remember...but those Ele damage necklaces with strickening are just so awesome. I have also only camped to level since but at 10,000 points a camp (I think) when scores are in the billions it just does not make a difference.

[phaze]

Thanks! I saw you right behind in the top and wondered how much of Ep 4 you had left. You definitely had a score to aim for.

Wyatt is a splendid way to take a score hit. I couldn't resist the dodge/parry items and SP drain items. As a party without Strickening, elemental damage +all is generally less useful.

I was very strict with minimal camping through Ep 2, somewhere into 3, but after a while, I just sorta lose track of discipline. Certainly, once I got SP drain items, Kincaid and Selen crush enemies all day long without stopping. Kyera and Kjartan cannot. Sacrifice extends the play time quite a bit, and I definitely was able to clear entire maps in one shot with a potion or two to Kyera. Clearing Ep 4, my efficiency decreased as I decided to max EA. While this reduces my number of battles per camping ratio, the ability to neutralize entire groups of enemies will pay dividends in the game finale I think. After all, even one death is one too many. With enemies that can potentially summon ranged attackers, having the ability to reduce enemy AC is immensely valuable.

My score also took a bit of a hit at the potions shop in Storm Bastion. Those books will be invaluable for pumping accuracy in the late game for the party. I LOATH misses as they are so detrimental to damage output, especially for area attacks.

---
For my party:
Kincaid= max Cunning Footwork, Flanking Unity to 8 (and eventually max), Sure Parry to absorb 3 hits, 1 in Storm of Steel, and then testing Flashing Blades for added accuracy and critical hit chance. Kincaid avoids the majority of damage of nearly all enemy attacks. I also maxed Con and Dex with a sprinkling into Will to reduce curse chances. For equipment, I tended to max dodge and parry as a priority but also value HP/armor for sturdiness. For example, getting to Granthorn, the armor with +120 HP is chosen over Evasion armors since the added Armor and HP reduces squishiness due to bad dodge rolls. The Wavecrash Cloak from Wyatt is a great purchase.

Kjartan = max Choking Ashes, some Pure Flame Shield, some Burning Blades, Firestorm at 5, and Meteoric Shockwave at 2 upon reaching level 12 in early game. Choking Ash increases damage out tremendously due to reducing misses and also armor. -26 armor doesn't sound like a lot, especially when enemies HP extend over a 1000 regularly, but improving damage by 13-26 per hit adds up when enemies need multiple hits to take down anyways. The MS was crucial for the -4 accuracy in the early game portion in key battles like pincers or when you need to provide extra support to support tanks. If I can't kill an enemy fast, neutralizing its attacks is critical (like for trolls). This especially synergizes with EA to stack -accuracy. At this point in the game, I can throw on -11 accuracy to pacify enemies. Pure Flame shield is raised in tandem with Piety to raise resistance such that I generally can eliminate the bonus damage of enemies that have all elemental and holy damage. The added armor also raises effective HP for all characters. I maxed Con early and now mixing Knowledge and Int. I always have one HP item on him due to his low HP. At this point in the game, Kj has sporting around 80 armor throughout Ep 3/4 with 700+ HP. With ranged enemies doing 400-500, he has to survive AT LEAST one stray hit and up to 2 is very desirable. Burning blades will be maxed to increase damage output of critical hits and added fire damage and as an excellent complement for the entire party damage rate.

Kyera = support tank early game while maxing Warder's shield, 2 in Sacrifice, MT to 2, EA at 1 through most of Ep 2 for on the spot attack reduction, than to 6 for - 2 AP and neutralizing ranged enemies with more than 1 attack, and Piety raised in tandem with Pureflame Shield to neutralize enemies that have elemental all attacks, and Smiting Blow to 3 for accuracy. To succeed in Ep 1/2, I maxed Con immediately along with hammers and prioritized parry/dodge equipment to be of use in pincer attacks and other tank roles when enemies slipped by Kincaid. This is where MS played an important role early in the game. I just finished maxing EA and am now eyeing added support to Smiting Blow and Piety as needed. I have found Ky to be a reasonable tank into Ep 4 with the right skills and equipment choices. She avoids attacks reasonably well though should never be too long in direct attacks. The Oaken Leather is a great armor to add armor and HP, increasing durability. Sacrifice actually is playing less of a role in my games since Kincaid and Selen have SP drain. I am almost tempted to respec and play with Holy Banishment or Holy Retribution for select situations given I have high accuracy (FU) and reduced enemy dodge and parry (CA, PS, EA). Sacrifice is great for increasing one's score (less camping over the game) but is also talent and skill points that are not being used in combat. Combined with CA and Pinning Shot, she still hits regularly and is a good damage dealer for enemies that move past Kincaid.

Selen = Death from afar and my main damage dealer. Max Dance of Shadows for Crit and Stealth, Pinning Shot 8 for -AP, -Dodge, -Parry, and area of attack followed by maxing Quicksilver defense. Pinning Shot was raised to 8 once I got SP drain equipment. Until then, I left it at 5. I always use one item to raise Crit % and then use items to raise damage and accuracy as equipment allows. Burning blades really helps her out. I play her as a stealth character first, prioritizing stealth to nearly guarantee first attack. Dance of Shadows is a priority after raising PS to 5. Maxing Stealth and DoS allows one to not use equipment slots on stealth items as they almost never have added damage. At the end game, I am close to maxing QD making her a valuable support tank though not quite as good as Ky. With enemy summoners, sometimes there are so many enemies that being able to quickly reposition characters to protect Kj is important. With the right equipment, I can usually have a good chance of picking off ranged attackers. Using the Thieve's Bracers from Wyatt effectively lets me use high level Pinning shot all day long as long as I let Selen recover her SP with critical hits. While this strategy would also work with Tamilin (even better as Tamilin is better at ranged offense), the added durability of Selen is important in nightmare.

I do not play overly offensively, letting enemies come towards me to control ranged damage that is incoming. However, the combined criticals of Kincaid and Selen with Ky and Kj to soften enemies can quickly clear hordes of skeletons fairly efficiently. This set-up allows me to control battles in multiple ways. If Kincaid can sufficiently avoid attacks, I let him lead and draw enemies out and play more aggressively. If he cannot, I let enemies come to me more so and use -accuracy talents and -AP talents to increase safety. I frequently do not use EA or MS, but I am glad they are there for tricky situations.

[Kanly]

Just bit it near the end of E3, at just under 1.7 billion. Bleh. I got sloppy after taking a long BF break and didn't retreat when I got surrounded. Stinkin Kincaid couldn't dodge an arrow to save his freakin life.

On one hand the pressure is off, but I got so far! I'll do a writeup of my comp later.

[CdrPlatypus]

Team OG 3.5 has completed the storerooms NMI with a score of 146,767,930. I was wondering if anyone has a score comparison for this point?

[CdrPlatypus]

OG 3.5 has cleared rivers edge and orc in caverns. Score of 232,252,150

Not running as efficient as I would like anymore. Had to blow through potions taking out the Orcin. I'm hoping this is just a slump I'll be able to get over with some lvling.

Ferocity is my main dmg dealer. It's still only at 1. I mat end up lvling that instead of going into juggernaut. Undecided atm

[CdrPlatypus]

Well damn. Kyera died on an accidental double pull on the long trail. Do I Keep This group for testing or start over?