Leafiara (prime)/Mechanical Musings/Pre-Ascension Stopping Points: Difference between revisions
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{{player-guide |
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|title = Pre-Ascension Stopping Points |
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|topic = Ascension, Training |
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|author = Leafiara |
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|author-displayed = Leafiara |
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|date = 2021-07-11 |
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|updated = 2022-09-25 |
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}} |
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<div class="mw-customtoggle-bard mw-customtoggle-empath mw-customtoggle-monk mw-customtoggle-paladin mw-customtoggle-ranger mw-customtoggle-rogue mw-customtoggle-sorcerer mw-customtoggle-warrior mw-customtoggle-wizard1 mw-customtoggle-wizard2" style="color:#0000FF">'''(click here to open all collapsed sections on this page)'''</div> |
<div class="mw-customtoggle-bard mw-customtoggle-empath mw-customtoggle-monk mw-customtoggle-paladin mw-customtoggle-ranger mw-customtoggle-rogue mw-customtoggle-sorcerer mw-customtoggle-warrior mw-customtoggle-wizard1 mw-customtoggle-wizard2" style="color:#0000FF">'''(click here to open all collapsed sections on this page)'''</div> |
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'''Last Revised |
'''Last Revised September 25, 2022''' |
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=Bard ( |
=Bard (Current)= |
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Skill Name | Current Current |
Skill Name | Current Current |
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Line 19: | Line 28: | ||
Elemental Mana Control.............| 201 101 |
Elemental Mana Control.............| 201 101 |
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Mental Mana Control................| 201 101 |
Mental Mana Control................| 201 101 |
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Elemental Lore - Air...............| |
Elemental Lore - Air...............| 178 78 |
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⚫ | |||
Mental Lore - Manipulation.........| 160 60 |
Mental Lore - Manipulation.........| 160 60 |
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Mental Lore - Telepathy............| 141 41 |
Mental Lore - Telepathy............| 141 41 |
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Line 44: | Line 54: | ||
==Explanation== |
==Explanation== |
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Far enough post-cap, '''bards do everything''' and mine is no exception. The main unconventional play here is that mine wears robes, at least for now, for improved DS and maneuver offense compared to a conventional augmented chain bard. Almost every skill trained here is straightforward to boost offense, defense, or longevity. |
Far enough post-cap, '''bards do everything''' and mine is no exception. The main unconventional play here is that mine wears robes, at least for now, for improved DS and maneuver offense compared to a conventional augmented chain bard. Almost every skill trained here is straightforward to boost offense, defense, or longevity. First Aid and Survival are for the Hinterwilds, as the skinning there is excellent. 78 Air lore is a breakpoint for the passive Dodging bonus from Song of Tonis, then the remaining 23 lore ranks went to Water to improve Elemental Wave's success rate against overleveled creatures. |
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I'll note that only base skills are shown. By using Ascension, her real Manipulation and Telepathy numbers are 75 and 46 respectively, so ''yes,'' of course she has a full-powered Song of Sonic Disruption! |
I'll note that only base skills are shown. By using Ascension, her real Manipulation and Telepathy numbers are 75 and 46 respectively, so ''yes,'' of course she has a full-powered Song of Sonic Disruption! |
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Much about bards is up in the air with an impending review |
Much about bards is up in the air with an impending review, so these plans are playing it safe and only training things that I think will be necessary regardless of what changes. |
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==Negotiable Skills== |
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* 25 Earth lore is an option for the Elemental Defense III benefit. |
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* 26 Water lore is an option for the Elemental Wave benefit (and minor perks for locksmithing). |
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</div> |
</div> |
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Line 116: | Line 121: | ||
</div> |
</div> |
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=Monk ( |
=Monk (Current)= |
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Skill Name | Current Current |
Skill Name | Current Current |
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Line 154: | Line 159: | ||
==Explanation== |
==Explanation== |
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Compared to most professions, monks finish every majorly important skill pretty early--not long after 2x cap. That said, the Hinterwilds |
Compared to most professions, monks finish every majorly important skill pretty early--not long after 2x cap. That said, the Hinterwilds are threatening enough that I instead settled on a build that needed roughly 3x cap. Conventional brawling monks are exceptional at killing individual enemies with focused mstrikes or Spin Kick, so my driving philosophy here was to improve her ability to battle swarms by training katars so she can rotate between Clash and Whirling Blade without having to sacrifice Spin Kick. It's more of a forward-looking idea, though, as monk AS isn't particularly high without going the Mental Acuity route. I'm hoping Ascension archetypes might open that up more in the future. It does work even now when grouping with AS-boosting professions like paladins and bards, though. |
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Most of her skills should be self-explanatory since monks are very straightforward, but just to touch on the few that might not be: |
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* 15 Transformation lore lands a capped Dragonscale Skin monk at -6 CvA, which is a boon. |
* 15 Transformation lore lands a capped Dragonscale Skin monk at -6 CvA, which is a boon. |
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* 50 Minor Mental is partly for better CS, but also in case I ever want to make use of Shroud of Deception. |
* 50 Minor Mental is partly for better CS, but also in case I ever want to make use of Shroud of Deception. |
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* 40 Minor Spiritual is for Wall of Force. |
* 40 Minor Spiritual is for Wall of Force--or, at least, it was before Divergence introduced hard cooldowns. I would no longer recommend learning Wall of Force on a monk and only have it because I already learned it before that happened. DS is no problem for monks in any hunting scenario other than the Hinterwilds, where I still don't cast Wall of Force because I consider it a bad habit to rely on something that can only have 33% uptime. |
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==Negotiable Skills== |
==Negotiable Skills== |
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* Training Ranged Weapons--not Ambush, just Ranged Weapons--to have Volley is an option for enemies that are hard to kill with AS or UAF-based |
* Training Ranged Weapons--not Ambush, just Ranged Weapons--to have Volley is an option for enemies that are hard to kill with AS or UAF-based attacks alike, but so far I can't find any that are resilient to both. |
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</div> |
</div> |
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* Spell Aiming is even more frivolous, but I figure that the dev team wouldn't have opened it up for semis if they hadn't at least considered the possibility of doing more with it in the future. My true goal for my paladin is actually to have her be very magic-heavy relative to other paladins, but that's not exactly a viable option at the moment. I hope that one day it will be. |
* Spell Aiming is even more frivolous, but I figure that the dev team wouldn't have opened it up for semis if they hadn't at least considered the possibility of doing more with it in the future. My true goal for my paladin is actually to have her be very magic-heavy relative to other paladins, but that's not exactly a viable option at the moment. I hope that one day it will be. |
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* Minimum 150 Religion lore is crucial so that Divine Incarnation - Smite has a 100% chance of a double strike. Even though it can only be used ten times per ten minutes, it's a near-guaranteed kill on anything and an amazing ace to pull out when needed. From there, going to 153 Religion hit a threshold for Zealot. |
* Minimum 150 Religion lore is crucial so that Divine Incarnation - Smite has a 100% chance of a double strike. Even though it can only be used ten times per ten minutes, it's a near-guaranteed kill on anything and an amazing ace to pull out when needed. From there, going to 153 Religion hit a threshold for Zealot. |
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* Shield Use is something I wanted to have in my pocket as an option, but |
* Shield Use is something I wanted to have in my pocket as an option, but in the relatively few places where I wish I had extra DS, I've not found using a shield to be __enough__ extra DS to offset weaker offense. Still, there might be a future area where I'd need the extra defensive benefits--now referring to block rate too, not just DS--enough to outweigh my preference. |
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==Negotiable Skills== |
==Negotiable Skills== |
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</div> |
</div> |
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=Ranger ( |
=Ranger (Current)= |
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Skill Name | Current Current |
Skill Name | Current Current |
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| Bonus Ranks |
| Bonus Ranks |
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Two Weapon Combat..................| 302 202 |
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⚫ | |||
Combat Maneuvers...................| 302 202 |
Combat Maneuvers...................| 302 202 |
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Edged Weapons......................| 302 202 |
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⚫ | |||
Multi Opponent Combat..............| 201 101 |
Multi Opponent Combat..............| 201 101 |
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Physical Fitness...................| 302 202 |
Physical Fitness...................| 302 202 |
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Dodging............................| 302 202 |
Dodging............................| 302 202 |
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Magic Item Use.....................| 201 101 |
Magic Item Use.....................| 201 101 |
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⚫ | |||
Harness Power......................| 302 202 |
Harness Power......................| 302 202 |
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Spirit Mana Control................| 201 101 |
Spirit Mana Control................| 201 101 |
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Spiritual Lore - Blessings.........| |
Spiritual Lore - Blessings.........| 54 11 |
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Spiritual Lore - Summoning.........| |
Spiritual Lore - Summoning.........| 190 90 |
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Survival...........................| 403 303 |
Survival...........................| 403 303 |
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Perception.........................| 302 202 |
Perception.........................| 302 202 |
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<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-ranger"> |
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-ranger"> |
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(skills with no ranks are: |
(skills with no ranks are: Shield Use, Edged Weapons, Two-Handed Weapons, Thrown Weapons, Polearm Weapons, Ranged Weapons, Brawling, Arcane Symbols, Elemental Mana Control, Mental Mana Control, all four Elemental Lores, Spiritual Lore - Religion, both Sorcerous Lores, all five Mental Lores, Disarming Traps, Picking Locks, Stalking and Hiding, and Pickpocketing) |
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==Explanation== |
==Explanation== |
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Rangers don't have exceptional offense but do have exceptional defense, so my main concept here is to '''make use of flexibility'''. |
Rangers don't have exceptional offense but do have exceptional defense, so my main concept here is to '''make use of flexibility'''. Nearly all enemies are highly vulnerable to ranger magic, but the few that aren't tend to have trouble against melee. |
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Key points to note: |
Key points to note: |
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⚫ | |||
* Magic Item Use is currently planned to contribute to Resist; otherwise I'd forego it. I still might, but it depends on how much players value the service and how much this skill contributes. |
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* Pushing Ranger Base so high is for Spike Thorn and Resist Nature. Even before Divergence, Wall of Force was relatively frivolous to rangers as a very high DS profession with probably the best set of disablers in the game, so after the changes go game-wide, it'll be even more frivolous with 33% uptime. There's a case for Spirit Guide, but my ranger is in Voln, so Symbol of Return suffices there. |
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* Spell Aiming isn't extraordinarily useful yet outside of trolls in warcamps, since the SMR version of Moonbeam is frankly stronger than the bolt version, but I have hopes that Ascension will do more on this front. |
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⚫ | |||
* Pushing Ranger Base so high is for Spike Thorn and, eventually, Resist. If I find that I need Wall of Force, I can always fixskill! |
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==Negotiable Skills== |
==Negotiable Skills== |
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A lot will depend on what Ascension brings to the table for rangers. |
A lot will depend on what Ascension brings to the table for rangers. I'm in a holding pattern for now, though I'm ready to train Brawling at the drop of a hat for katars if need be. Still, who knows? Spell Aiming or learning Call Lightning could become appealing. They could push an archery path that would make me pick that back up again. Plenty of scenarios are possible! |
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</div> |
</div> |
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=Rogue ( |
=Rogue (Current)= |
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Skill Name | Current Current |
Skill Name | Current Current |
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Ranged Weapons.....................| 302 202 |
Ranged Weapons.....................| 302 202 |
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Brawling...........................| 302 202 |
Brawling...........................| 302 202 |
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Ambush.............................| 302 202 |
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Multi Opponent Combat..............| 201 101 |
Multi Opponent Combat..............| 201 101 |
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Physical Fitness...................| 302 202 |
Physical Fitness...................| 302 202 |
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Dodging............................| 403 303 |
Dodging............................| 403 303 |
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Arcane Symbols.....................| |
Arcane Symbols.....................| 105 25 |
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Magic Item Use.....................| 201 101 |
Magic Item Use.....................| 201 101 |
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Harness Power......................| 201 101 |
Harness Power......................| 201 101 |
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Elemental Mana Control.............| 105 25 |
Elemental Mana Control.............| 105 25 |
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Spirit Mana Control................| |
Spirit Mana Control................| 105 25 |
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Elemental Lore - Water.............| 191 91 |
Elemental Lore - Water.............| 191 91 |
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Survival...........................| 302 202 |
Survival...........................| 302 202 |
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<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-rogue"> |
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-rogue"> |
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(skills with no ranks are: Shield Use, Blunt Weapons, Two-Handed Weapons, Thrown Weapons, Polearm Weapons, Ambush, Spell Aiming, Mental Mana Control, all other Elemental Lores, all three Spiritual Lores, both Sorcerous Lores, all five Mental Lores, Stalking and Hiding, First Aid |
(skills with no ranks are: Shield Use, Blunt Weapons, Two-Handed Weapons, Thrown Weapons, Polearm Weapons, Ambush, Spell Aiming, Mental Mana Control, all other Elemental Lores, all three Spiritual Lores, both Sorcerous Lores, all five Mental Lores, Stalking and Hiding, and First Aid) |
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==Explanation== |
==Explanation== |
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* 100 Armor Use is to learn maxed armor evasion. |
* 100 Armor Use is to learn maxed armor evasion. |
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* 101 Multi Opponent Combat plus three ranks from Ascension allows Volley to hit up to seven enemies with rogues' 50% benefit for crossbows. |
* 101 Multi Opponent Combat plus three ranks from Ascension allows Volley to hit up to seven enemies with rogues' 50% benefit for crossbows. |
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* As far as I can tell, 15 Arcane Symbols is always enough to disarm scarabs. I went for |
* As far as I can tell, 15 Arcane Symbols is always enough to disarm scarabs. I went for 25 in case I ever decide to use things scrolls with 20th level spells, though. |
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⚫ | |||
* Magic Item Use is for spellburst. |
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⚫ | |||
==Negotiable Skills== |
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* Rogues wearing robes end up with significantly higher DS than monks these days due to Light Armor Specialization, so for now I don't feel a need to learn Wall of Force at the expense of AS and elemental TD. Still, monks' robes aren't really robes when they ''do'' take a hit whereas rogues' robes ''are'', so maybe I'll change my mind later if this doesn't work in practice. |
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</div> |
</div> |
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=Sorcerer ( |
=Sorcerer (Future)= |
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Skill Name | Current Current |
Skill Name | Current Current |
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Magic Item Use.....................| 302 202 |
Magic Item Use.....................| 302 202 |
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Spell Aiming.......................| 302 202 |
Spell Aiming.......................| 302 202 |
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Harness Power......................| |
Harness Power......................| 403 303 |
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Elemental Mana Control.............| 302 202 |
Elemental Mana Control.............| 302 202 |
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Spirit Mana Control................| 302 202 |
Spirit Mana Control................| 302 202 |
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Elemental Lore - Air...............| |
Elemental Lore - Air...............| 150 50 |
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Elemental Lore - Earth.............| |
Elemental Lore - Earth.............| 150 50 |
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Elemental Lore - Fire..............| |
Elemental Lore - Fire..............| 150 50 |
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Elemental Lore - Water.............| |
Elemental Lore - Water.............| 152 52 |
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Sorcerous Lore - Demonology........| 20 4 |
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Survival...........................| 302 202 |
Survival...........................| 302 202 |
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Perception.........................| 302 202 |
Perception.........................| 302 202 |
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<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-sorcerer"> |
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-sorcerer"> |
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(skills with no ranks are: Two Weapon Combat, Shield Use, Edged Weapons, Blunt Weapons, Two-Handed Weapons, Ranged Weapons, Thrown Weapons, Polearm Weapons, Brawling, Ambush, Mental Mana Control, all three Spiritual Lores, all five Mental Lores, |
(skills with no ranks are: Two Weapon Combat, Shield Use, Edged Weapons, Blunt Weapons, Two-Handed Weapons, Ranged Weapons, Thrown Weapons, Polearm Weapons, Brawling, Ambush, Mental Mana Control, all three Spiritual Lores, all five Mental Lores, Necromancy, Disarming Traps, Picking Locks, Stalking and Hiding, and Pickpocketing) |
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==Explanation== |
==Explanation== |
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* 20 Armor Use is to wear leather breastplate, which gives a noticeable increase in survivability over double leathers or especially full leathers. |
* 20 Armor Use is to wear leather breastplate, which gives a noticeable increase in survivability over double leathers or especially full leathers. |
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* The meager 2 ranks of Multi Opponent Combat and Demonology lore are both for increasing the number of splash targets for Balefire. Frankly, Balefire isn't worth using at the moment for any reason other than fun flavor, but I'm hoping that the sorcerer review or Ascension will turn that around. |
* The meager 2 ranks of Multi Opponent Combat and Demonology lore are both for increasing the number of splash targets for Balefire. Frankly, Balefire isn't worth using at the moment for any reason other than fun flavor, but I'm hoping that the sorcerer review or Ascension will turn that around. |
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* After getting 50 of each elemental lore for Dark Catalyst, the spare points go into Water to very slightly improve Elemental Wave. |
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* I don't feel that maxed Harness Power is necessary given the sheer power of Dark Catalyst and its mana return. |
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* Compared to more conventional sorcerer spell splits, this one sacrifices 2 CS for somewhere between +16 and +27 power for Ensorcell. |
* Compared to more conventional sorcerer spell splits, this one sacrifices 2 CS for somewhere between +16 and +27 power for Ensorcell. |
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The lack of sorcerous lores |
The current lack of sorcerous lores is because of the pending sorcerer review, as I don't know where I'll settle. |
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==Negotiable Skills== |
==Negotiable Skills== |
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</div> |
</div> |
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=Warrior ( |
=Warrior (Far, Far Future)= |
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Skill Name | Current Current |
Skill Name | Current Current |
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Combat Maneuvers...................| 302 202 |
Combat Maneuvers...................| 302 202 |
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Edged Weapons......................| 302 202 |
Edged Weapons......................| 302 202 |
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Blunt Weapons......................| 302 202 |
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Polearm Weapons....................| 302 202 |
Polearm Weapons....................| 302 202 |
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Brawling...........................| 302 202 |
Brawling...........................| 302 202 |
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Multi Opponent Combat..............| |
Multi Opponent Combat..............| 302 202 |
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Physical Fitness...................| 403 303 |
Physical Fitness...................| 403 303 |
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Dodging............................| 403 303 |
Dodging............................| 403 303 |
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Line 421: | Line 420: | ||
Spell Lists |
Spell Lists |
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Minor Elemental....................| |
Minor Elemental....................| 76 |
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Spell Lists |
Spell Lists |
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<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-warrior"> |
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-warrior"> |
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(skills with no ranks are: Two Weapon Combat, Shield Use, |
(skills with no ranks are: Two Weapon Combat, Shield Use, Ranged Weapons, Two-Handed Weapons, Thrown Weapons, Ambush, Arcane Symbls, Spell Aiming, Mental Mana Control, all four Elemental Lores, all three Spiritual Lores, both Sorcerous Lores, all five Mental Lores, Disarming Traps, Picking Locks, Stalking and Hiding, and Pickpocketing) |
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==Explanation== |
==Explanation== |
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* 200 Armor Use so she can handle at least two different fittings. |
* 200 Armor Use so she can handle at least two different fittings. |
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⚫ | |||
* Brawling and Polearms have reaction techniques based on evading, making them a natural fit. They also complement each other in that it's rare to find an enemy who's simultaneously difficult to kill with ''both'' attack forms. |
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* For enemies who ''are'' difficult to kill with AS or UAF, Ranged Weapons are a backup since Volley is maneuver-based damage. I don't need Ambush because I don't intend to use conventional AS-based archery at all. |
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⚫ | |||
==Negotiable Skills== |
==Negotiable Skills== |
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</div> |
</div> |
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=Wizard 1 ( |
=Wizard 1 (Current)= |
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Skill Name | Current Current |
Skill Name | Current Current |
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==Negotiable Skills== |
==Negotiable Skills== |
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I don't see training anything else unless wizards can eventually learn weapon techniques, in which case I'll re-evaluate. |
I don't see training anything else unless wizards can eventually learn weapon techniques, in which case I'll re-evaluate. I'm fairly invested in her sledgehammer, though, and since assault and AoE techniques stop Celerity, I'd only be using Overpower even then, which means I wouldn't need more MOC. |
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</div> |
</div> |
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=Wizard 2 ( |
=Wizard 2 (Far Future)= |
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Skill Name | Current Current |
Skill Name | Current Current |
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| Bonus Ranks |
| Bonus Ranks |
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Two Weapon Combat..................| 5 1 |
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Combat Maneuvers...................| 201 101 |
Combat Maneuvers...................| 201 101 |
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Brawling...........................| 201 101 |
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Physical Fitness...................| 201 101 |
Physical Fitness...................| 201 101 |
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Dodging............................| 201 101 |
Dodging............................| 201 101 |
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<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-wizard2"> |
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-wizard2"> |
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(skills with no ranks are: |
(skills with no ranks are: Armor Use, Shield Use, all weapon types except Brawling, Ambush, Multi Opponent Combat, Mental Mana Control, Spirit Mana Control, Elemental Lore - Earth, all three Spiritual Lores, both Sorcerous Lores, all five Mental Lores, Disarming Traps, Picking Locks, Stalking and Hiding, and Pickpocketing) |
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==Explanation== |
==Explanation== |
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There's little to explain here since she's largely a '''straightforward, traditional wizard'''. Some key points, though: |
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* Brawling is a rarely-used backup option for creatures that are difficult to hit with either Earthen Fury or AS attacks. |
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* Combat Maneuvers and Perception are strictly for maneuver defense. |
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* I don't see going beyond 2x Harness Power as necessary or especially beneficial on a wizard thanks to Mana Leech. My warmage trained those things only because she leveled that far before Ascension existed. |
* I don't see going beyond 2x Harness Power as necessary or especially beneficial on a wizard thanks to Mana Leech. My warmage trained those things only because she leveled that far before Ascension existed. |
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* Going for 2x or even 1x lores also seems unnecessary for conventional hunting. The lores here are only to unlock things like Cone of Elements Lightning and Minor Steam. |
* Going for 2x or even 1x lores also seems unnecessary for conventional hunting. The lores here are only to unlock things like Cone of Elements Lightning and Minor Steam. |
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⚫ | |||
==Negotiable Skills== |
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* Brawling is a possibility depending on what happens with warmage archetypes. |
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[[Category:Guides]] |
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⚫ |
Latest revision as of 17:59, 26 November 2024
Title: Pre-Ascension Stopping Points
Author: Leafiara
Date Published: 2021-07-11
Updated: 2022-09-25
Last Revised September 25, 2022
Bard (Current)
Skill Name | Current Current | Bonus Ranks Two Weapon Combat..................| 302 202 Combat Maneuvers...................| 302 202 Edged Weapons......................| 302 202 Polearm Weapons....................| 302 202 Multi Opponent Combat..............| 201 101 Physical Fitness...................| 302 202 Dodging............................| 302 202 Arcane Symbols.....................| 70 15 Magic Item Use.....................| 302 202 Harness Power......................| 302 202 Elemental Mana Control.............| 201 101 Mental Mana Control................| 201 101 Elemental Lore - Air...............| 178 78 Elemental Lore - Water.............| 99 23 Mental Lore - Manipulation.........| 160 60 Mental Lore - Telepathy............| 141 41 Survival...........................| 302 202 Disarming Traps....................| 150 50 Picking Locks......................| 150 50 Perception.........................| 302 202 Climbing...........................| 160 60 Swimming...........................| 140 40 First Aid..........................| 302 202 Trading............................| 302 202 Spell Lists Minor Elemental....................| 75 Spell Lists Bard...............................| 127
(skills with no ranks are: Armor Use, Shield Use, Blunt Weapons, Two-Handed Weapons, Ranged Weapons, Thrown Weapons, Brawling, Ambush, Spell Aiming, Spirit Mana Control, all three unlisted Elemental Lores (Earth, Fire, Water), all three Spiritual Lores, both Sorcerous Lores, all three unlisted Mental Lores (Divination, Transference, Transformation), Stalking and Hiding, Pickpocketing)
Explanation
Far enough post-cap, bards do everything and mine is no exception. The main unconventional play here is that mine wears robes, at least for now, for improved DS and maneuver offense compared to a conventional augmented chain bard. Almost every skill trained here is straightforward to boost offense, defense, or longevity. First Aid and Survival are for the Hinterwilds, as the skinning there is excellent. 78 Air lore is a breakpoint for the passive Dodging bonus from Song of Tonis, then the remaining 23 lore ranks went to Water to improve Elemental Wave's success rate against overleveled creatures.
I'll note that only base skills are shown. By using Ascension, her real Manipulation and Telepathy numbers are 75 and 46 respectively, so yes, of course she has a full-powered Song of Sonic Disruption!
Much about bards is up in the air with an impending review, so these plans are playing it safe and only training things that I think will be necessary regardless of what changes.
Empath (Current)
Armor Use..........................| 150 50 Combat Maneuvers...................| 201 101 Two-Handed Weapons.................| 201 101 Multi Opponent Combat..............| 201 101 Physical Fitness...................| 403 303 Dodging............................| 201 101 Arcane Symbols.....................| 140 40 Magic Item Use.....................| 302 202 Spell Aiming.......................| 302 202 Harness Power......................| 403 303 Mental Mana Control................| 302 202 Spirit Mana Control................| 302 202 Spiritual Lore - Blessings.........| 232 132 Spiritual Lore - Summoning.........| 170 70 Mental Lore - Telepathy............| 245 145 Mental Lore - Transformation.......| 157 57 Survival...........................| 302 202 Perception.........................| 302 202 Climbing...........................| 201 101 Swimming...........................| 140 40 First Aid..........................| 403 303 Trading............................| 302 202 Spell Lists Major Spiritual....................| 67 Spell Lists Minor Spiritual....................| 67 Spell Lists Empath.............................| 166
(skills with no ranks are: Two Weapon Combat, Shield Use, Edged Weapons, Blunt Weapons, Ranged Weapons, Thrown Weapons, Polearm Weapons, Brawling, Ambush, Elemental Mana Control, all four Elemental Lores, Spiritual Lore - Religion, both Sorcerous Lores, all three unlisted Mental Lores (Divination, Manipulation, Transference), Disarming Traps, Picking Locks, Stalking and Hiding, and Pickpocketing)
Explanation
Empaths are arguably the most versatile pure along with wizards, but using all of their talents means they have a very long way to go with conventional exp before everything is "done" and it's definitely time for Ascension. The above build is a touch over 5x cap and arguably even that isn't complete.
In any case, this is my omni-style empath who does a bit of everything. Empathic Link is the glue to make it work, since neither bolts nor melee are especially impressive on their own at cap, but suddenly become so when you can turn single-target strikes into AoE strikes. In some contexts, warpaths at the high end are actually stronger than warmages when it comes to melee power.
- 50 Armor Use is for wearing chain mail with minimum spell hindrance, compensating for warpaths taking more hits than casting empaths.
- Dodging is a grind of over five million experience, but in the long run it's a must when giving up Spirit Barrier to make use of an empath's physical prowess.
- I consider 3x Harness Power unnecessary for wizards and sorcerers due to mana returns from Mana Leech and Dark Catalyst. I wouldn't quite call it unnecessary on clerics at cap, but I could at least see the argument because of Ethereal Censer. For empaths, though, I think it's absolutely worthwhile since Empathic Link is extremely mana-intensive while also being core to their offense. Guardians of Sunfist empaths can potentially make do with 2x Harness Power and 65 Blessings lore for Adrenal Surge, though.
- High Blessings lore is for a strong chance of auto-healing scars since, again, a warpath will take more hits than a casting empath.
- Likewise, 57 Transformation lore is for no hard RT when healing.
- High Telepathy lore is for Empathic Link, which simply improves everything an empath does.
Negotiable Skills
- You can get 4 more DS out of training Minor Spiritual to 70 and about 2 more DS out of training Armor Use to 85, but 6 DS is almost never the difference between life and death when wearing chain mail. Even if it were, I could instead train Dodging ranks and Agility in Ascension for slightly lower DS gains that also offer maneuver defense.
- I'll finish Empath Base if empaths ever get a profession service that requires ranks of it.
Monk (Current)
Skill Name | Current Current | Bonus Ranks Two Weapon Combat..................| 302 202 Combat Maneuvers...................| 302 202 Edged Weapons......................| 302 202 Brawling...........................| 302 202 Multi Opponent Combat..............| 290 190 Physical Fitness...................| 403 303 Dodging............................| 403 303 Magic Item Use.....................| 201 101 Harness Power......................| 201 101 Elemental Mana Control.............| 25 5 Mental Mana Control................| 105 25 Spirit Mana Control................| 105 25 Mental Lore - Telepathy............| 120 30 Mental Lore - Transformation.......| 70 15 Survival...........................| 302 202 Perception.........................| 302 202 Climbing...........................| 160 60 Swimming...........................| 140 40 First Aid..........................| 302 202 Trading............................| 302 202 Spell Lists Minor Spiritual....................| 40 Spell Lists Minor Mental.......................| 50
(skills with no ranks are: Armor Use, Shield Use, Blunt Weapons, Two-Handed Weapons, Ranged Weapons, Thrown Weapons, Polearm Weapons, Ambush, Arcane Symbols, Spell Aiming, all four Elemental Lores, all three Spiritual Lores, both Sorcerous Lores, all three unlisted Mental Lores (Divination, Manipulation, Transference), Disarming Traps, Picking Locks, Stalking and Hiding, and Pickpocketing)
Explanation
Compared to most professions, monks finish every majorly important skill pretty early--not long after 2x cap. That said, the Hinterwilds are threatening enough that I instead settled on a build that needed roughly 3x cap. Conventional brawling monks are exceptional at killing individual enemies with focused mstrikes or Spin Kick, so my driving philosophy here was to improve her ability to battle swarms by training katars so she can rotate between Clash and Whirling Blade without having to sacrifice Spin Kick. It's more of a forward-looking idea, though, as monk AS isn't particularly high without going the Mental Acuity route. I'm hoping Ascension archetypes might open that up more in the future. It does work even now when grouping with AS-boosting professions like paladins and bards, though.
Most of her skills should be self-explanatory since monks are very straightforward, but just to touch on the few that might not be:
- 15 Transformation lore lands a capped Dragonscale Skin monk at -6 CvA, which is a boon.
- 50 Minor Mental is partly for better CS, but also in case I ever want to make use of Shroud of Deception.
- 40 Minor Spiritual is for Wall of Force--or, at least, it was before Divergence introduced hard cooldowns. I would no longer recommend learning Wall of Force on a monk and only have it because I already learned it before that happened. DS is no problem for monks in any hunting scenario other than the Hinterwilds, where I still don't cast Wall of Force because I consider it a bad habit to rely on something that can only have 33% uptime.
Negotiable Skills
- Training Ranged Weapons--not Ambush, just Ranged Weapons--to have Volley is an option for enemies that are hard to kill with AS or UAF-based attacks alike, but so far I can't find any that are resilient to both.
Paladin (Current)
Skill Name | Actual Actual | Bonus Ranks Goals In-Game Time to Goal Two Weapon Combat..................| 302 202 202 Armor Use..........................| 320 220 220 Shield Use.........................| 302 202 202 Combat Maneuvers...................| 302 202 202 Edged Weapons......................| 302 202 202 Blunt Weapons......................| 302 202 202 Multi Opponent Combat..............| 201 101 101 Physical Fitness...................| 302 202 202 Dodging............................| 302 202 202 Arcane Symbols.....................| 201 101 101 Magic Item Use.....................| 201 101 101 Spell Aiming.......................| 302 202 202 Harness Power......................| 302 202 202 Elemental Mana Control.............| 50 10 10 Spirit Mana Control................| 201 101 101 Spiritual Lore - Blessings.........| 93 21 21 Spiritual Lore - Religion..........| 253 153 153 Spiritual Lore - Summoning.........| 114 28 28 Survival...........................| 302 202 202 Disarming Traps....................| 201 101 101 Picking Locks......................| 201 101 101 Perception.........................| 302 202 202 Climbing...........................| 201 101 101 Swimming...........................| 201 101 101 First Aid..........................| 302 202 202 Trading............................| 302 202 202 Spell Lists Minor Spiritual....................| 40 40 Spell Lists Paladin............................| 162 162
(skills with no ranks are: Two-Handed Weapons, Ranged Weapons, Thrown Weapons, Polearm Weapons, Brawling, Ambush, Mental Mana Control, all four Elemental Lores, both Sorcerous Lores, all five Mental Lores, Stalking and Hiding, and Pickpocketing)
Explanation
My paladin is my second highest exp character and the heart of my vision for her is strong anti-swarm abilities with two weapons trained, allowing steady rotation between Pulverize, Whirling Blade, and Judgment as her AoE abilities. She also wears metal breastplate, so Judgment has no hindrance. That said, she's giving up significant defense both in her armor choice and by not using a shield, but that's what Ascension and simply striking faster than the enemy are for.
- 220 Armor Use reduces metal breastplate armor penalty to its minimum while allowing her to fully train two armor specializations.
- Blunt Weapons are primary and Edged Weapons are a backup to keep the AoE and assault technique trains rolling when the others are in cooldown.
- Arcane Symbols ranks are a little frivolous on this build since so many of her attacks aren't coming from her bonded weapon, nor am I even good about maintaining a scroll supply to infuse anyway, but since I had them trained before Ascension was released, I decided to keep them. I hold out hope that something more will be done with the skill in the future!
- Spell Aiming is even more frivolous, but I figure that the dev team wouldn't have opened it up for semis if they hadn't at least considered the possibility of doing more with it in the future. My true goal for my paladin is actually to have her be very magic-heavy relative to other paladins, but that's not exactly a viable option at the moment. I hope that one day it will be.
- Minimum 150 Religion lore is crucial so that Divine Incarnation - Smite has a 100% chance of a double strike. Even though it can only be used ten times per ten minutes, it's a near-guaranteed kill on anything and an amazing ace to pull out when needed. From there, going to 153 Religion hit a threshold for Zealot.
- Shield Use is something I wanted to have in my pocket as an option, but in the relatively few places where I wish I had extra DS, I've not found using a shield to be __enough__ extra DS to offset weaker offense. Still, there might be a future area where I'd need the extra defensive benefits--now referring to block rate too, not just DS--enough to outweigh my preference.
Negotiable Skills
- Training 175 Ranged Weapons for access to Volley is a solid AoE option, though an expensive one. I could see myself wanting it one day, but for now I'm content with 37,747,500 exp looking like a pretty number.
Ranger (Current)
Skill Name | Current Current | Bonus Ranks Two Weapon Combat..................| 302 202 Armor Use..........................| 235 135 Combat Maneuvers...................| 302 202 Edged Weapons......................| 302 202 Multi Opponent Combat..............| 201 101 Physical Fitness...................| 302 202 Dodging............................| 302 202 Magic Item Use.....................| 201 101 Harness Power......................| 302 202 Spirit Mana Control................| 201 101 Spiritual Lore - Blessings.........| 54 11 Spiritual Lore - Summoning.........| 190 90 Survival...........................| 403 303 Perception.........................| 302 202 Climbing...........................| 160 60 Swimming...........................| 140 40 First Aid..........................| 302 202 Trading............................| 302 202 Spell Lists Minor Spiritual....................| 20 Spell Lists Ranger.............................| 182
(skills with no ranks are: Shield Use, Edged Weapons, Two-Handed Weapons, Thrown Weapons, Polearm Weapons, Ranged Weapons, Brawling, Arcane Symbols, Elemental Mana Control, Mental Mana Control, all four Elemental Lores, Spiritual Lore - Religion, both Sorcerous Lores, all five Mental Lores, Disarming Traps, Picking Locks, Stalking and Hiding, and Pickpocketing)
Explanation
Rangers don't have exceptional offense but do have exceptional defense, so my main concept here is to make use of flexibility. Nearly all enemies are highly vulnerable to ranger magic, but the few that aren't tend to have trouble against melee.
Key points to note:
- 10 Blessings are for Tangleweed. I'm only listing base skills here, but Summoning lore also hits 100 through ATPs to guarantee an extra cycle on Nature's Fury.
- Pushing Ranger Base so high is for Spike Thorn and Resist Nature. Even before Divergence, Wall of Force was relatively frivolous to rangers as a very high DS profession with probably the best set of disablers in the game, so after the changes go game-wide, it'll be even more frivolous with 33% uptime. There's a case for Spirit Guide, but my ranger is in Voln, so Symbol of Return suffices there.
Negotiable Skills
A lot will depend on what Ascension brings to the table for rangers. I'm in a holding pattern for now, though I'm ready to train Brawling at the drop of a hat for katars if need be. Still, who knows? Spell Aiming or learning Call Lightning could become appealing. They could push an archery path that would make me pick that back up again. Plenty of scenarios are possible!
Rogue (Current)
Skill Name | Current Current | Bonus Ranks Two Weapon Combat..................| 302 202 Armor Use..........................| 200 100 Combat Maneuvers...................| 302 202 Edged Weapons......................| 302 202 Ranged Weapons.....................| 302 202 Brawling...........................| 302 202 Ambush.............................| 302 202 Multi Opponent Combat..............| 201 101 Physical Fitness...................| 302 202 Dodging............................| 403 303 Arcane Symbols.....................| 105 25 Magic Item Use.....................| 201 101 Harness Power......................| 201 101 Elemental Mana Control.............| 105 25 Spirit Mana Control................| 105 25 Elemental Lore - Water.............| 191 91 Survival...........................| 302 202 Disarming Traps....................| 403 303 Picking Locks......................| 403 303 Perception.........................| 302 202 Climbing...........................| 201 101 Swimming...........................| 140 40 First Aid..........................| 302 202 Trading............................| 302 202 Pickpocketing......................| 302 202 Spell Lists Minor Elemental....................| 76 Spell Lists Minor Spiritual....................| 20
(skills with no ranks are: Shield Use, Blunt Weapons, Two-Handed Weapons, Thrown Weapons, Polearm Weapons, Ambush, Spell Aiming, Mental Mana Control, all other Elemental Lores, all three Spiritual Lores, both Sorcerous Lores, all five Mental Lores, Stalking and Hiding, and First Aid)
Explanation
A triple weapon build with maxed Elemental Targeting is reasonably achievable for rogues compared to warriors trying to accomplish the same.
The core idea is an agile, evasive, lightly armored rogue. She'll primarily swing katars and keep Evasiveness active from either Whirling Blade or Light Armor Proficiency procs, Spin Kick as she can, and supplement crowd control with Elemental Wave and Volley--the latter being additionally backed up by a rogue's phantom Multi Opponent Combat ranks.
Rogues are very multifaceted, so some key points are:
- 100 Armor Use is to learn maxed armor evasion.
- 101 Multi Opponent Combat plus three ranks from Ascension allows Volley to hit up to seven enemies with rogues' 50% benefit for crossbows.
- As far as I can tell, 15 Arcane Symbols is always enough to disarm scarabs. I went for 25 in case I ever decide to use things scrolls with 20th level spells, though.
- The mana controls for multicasting are sheer quality of life.
Sorcerer (Future)
Skill Name | Current Current | Bonus Ranks Armor Use..........................| 90 20 Combat Maneuvers...................| 201 101 Multi Opponent Combat..............| 10 2 Physical Fitness...................| 201 101 Dodging............................| 201 101 Arcane Symbols.....................| 302 202 Magic Item Use.....................| 302 202 Spell Aiming.......................| 302 202 Harness Power......................| 403 303 Elemental Mana Control.............| 302 202 Spirit Mana Control................| 302 202 Elemental Lore - Air...............| 150 50 Elemental Lore - Earth.............| 150 50 Elemental Lore - Fire..............| 150 50 Elemental Lore - Water.............| 152 52 Sorcerous Lore - Demonology........| 20 4 Survival...........................| 302 202 Perception.........................| 302 202 Climbing...........................| 160 60 Swimming...........................| 140 40 First Aid..........................| 302 202 Trading............................| 302 202 Spell Lists Minor Elemental....................| 77 Spell Lists Minor Spiritual....................| 40 Spell Lists Sorcerer...........................| 186
(skills with no ranks are: Two Weapon Combat, Shield Use, Edged Weapons, Blunt Weapons, Two-Handed Weapons, Ranged Weapons, Thrown Weapons, Polearm Weapons, Brawling, Ambush, Mental Mana Control, all three Spiritual Lores, all five Mental Lores, Necromancy, Disarming Traps, Picking Locks, Stalking and Hiding, and Pickpocketing)
Explanation
Basically an archetypical sorcerer; there's not much leeway for going off the beaten path sans extraordinary gear. Most of my planned skills for her should be self-explanatory, but the more unusual ones include:
- 20 Armor Use is to wear leather breastplate, which gives a noticeable increase in survivability over double leathers or especially full leathers.
- The meager 2 ranks of Multi Opponent Combat and Demonology lore are both for increasing the number of splash targets for Balefire. Frankly, Balefire isn't worth using at the moment for any reason other than fun flavor, but I'm hoping that the sorcerer review or Ascension will turn that around.
- After getting 50 of each elemental lore for Dark Catalyst, the spare points go into Water to very slightly improve Elemental Wave.
- Compared to more conventional sorcerer spell splits, this one sacrifices 2 CS for somewhere between +16 and +27 power for Ensorcell.
The current lack of sorcerous lores is because of the pending sorcerer review, as I don't know where I'll settle.
Negotiable Skills
If sorcerers get a way to learn weapon techniques, she'll pick up Polearm Weapons to use their sheer power to compensate for her lacking AS.
Warrior (Far, Far Future)
Skill Name | Current Current | Bonus Ranks Armor Use..........................| 300 200 Combat Maneuvers...................| 302 202 Edged Weapons......................| 302 202 Blunt Weapons......................| 302 202 Polearm Weapons....................| 302 202 Brawling...........................| 302 202 Multi Opponent Combat..............| 302 202 Physical Fitness...................| 403 303 Dodging............................| 403 303 Magic Item Use.....................| 201 101 Harness Power......................| 201 101 Elemental Mana Control.............| 105 25 Spirit Mana Control................| 105 25 Survival...........................| 302 202 Perception.........................| 302 202 Climbing...........................| 160 60 Swimming...........................| 140 40 First Aid..........................| 302 202 Trading............................| 302 202 Spell Lists Minor Elemental....................| 76 Spell Lists Minor Spiritual....................| 20
(skills with no ranks are: Two Weapon Combat, Shield Use, Ranged Weapons, Two-Handed Weapons, Thrown Weapons, Ambush, Arcane Symbls, Spell Aiming, Mental Mana Control, all four Elemental Lores, all three Spiritual Lores, both Sorcerous Lores, all five Mental Lores, Disarming Traps, Picking Locks, Stalking and Hiding, and Pickpocketing)
Explanation
This is looking so extremely far into the future that I don't want to check the math on how post-cap it is, but nonetheless here's the plan!
The core of this is being an untouchable light armor warrior and capitalizing on her ability to have an excellent 40% evasion rate (against like-level enemies): 15% from Dodging ranks, 10% from Light Armor Proficiency, and 15% from Evade Specialization. Opting for light armor impacts nearly every other training decision:
- 200 Armor Use so she can handle at least two different fittings.
- Near-maxing spells is for extra AS and, more importantly, extra DS and TD. In light armor she'll also have no spell hindrance, which means she can let Elemental Wave or even Major Elemental Wave fly.
Negotiable Skills
- I could see stopping at 35 Minor Elemental ranks if the grind is too much to bear, but that's a lot of AS lost.
- Stopping mana controls at 7 ranks each for sharing purposes (that's perfect sharing with 200 rank characters) is an option rather than going for the multicast for quality of life reasons.
Wizard 1 (Current)
Skill Name | Current Current | Bonus Ranks Armor Use..........................| 111 27 Combat Maneuvers...................| 201 101 Two-Handed Weapons.................| 201 101 Multi Opponent Combat..............| 5 1 Physical Fitness...................| 201 101 Dodging............................| 201 101 Arcane Symbols.....................| 302 202 Magic Item Use.....................| 302 202 Spell Aiming.......................| 302 202 Harness Power......................| 403 303 Elemental Mana Control.............| 403 303 Spirit Mana Control................| 50 10 Elemental Lore - Air...............| 167 67 Elemental Lore - Earth.............| 235 135 Survival...........................| 302 202 Perception.........................| 302 202 Climbing...........................| 201 101 Swimming...........................| 140 40 First Aid..........................| 302 202 Trading............................| 302 202 Spell Lists Major Elemental....................| 100 Spell Lists Minor Elemental....................| 75 Spell Lists Wizard.............................| 128
(skills with no ranks are: Two Weapon Combat, Shield Use, Edged Weapons, Blunt Weapons, Ranged Weapons, Thrown Weapons, Polearm Weapons, Brawling, Ambush, Mental Mana Control, Elemental Lore - Fire, Elemental Lore - Water, all three Spiritual Lores, both Sorcerous Lores, all five Mental Lores, Disarming Traps, Picking Locks, Stalking and Hiding, and Pickpocketing)
Explanation
This is my archetypical warmage. Key points:
- 27 Armor Use is for leather breastplate, which is a pretty noticeable increase in survivability over full leathers. Brigandine would be even better with guaranteed access to armored casting, which I do have, but isn't what I envision the character wearing.
- 135 Earth lore is for three Core Taps per minute, which is only especially useful in the arena--but I always take her to the arena, so I just leave it in place to avoid needing to fixskill in and out. A Pending Core Tap nerf will likely have me dropping to 102 Earth lore and 100 Air lore to max out Haste, though.
- 3x Harness Power is a bit extraneous, but she was leveled before Ascension existed, so it's there to stay now. Having that much mana is also why she doesn't have 20 Fire lore for Minor Steam.
Negotiable Skills
I don't see training anything else unless wizards can eventually learn weapon techniques, in which case I'll re-evaluate. I'm fairly invested in her sledgehammer, though, and since assault and AoE techniques stop Celerity, I'd only be using Overpower even then, which means I wouldn't need more MOC.
Wizard 2 (Far Future)
Skill Name | Current Current | Bonus Ranks Two Weapon Combat..................| 5 1 Combat Maneuvers...................| 201 101 Brawling...........................| 201 101 Physical Fitness...................| 201 101 Dodging............................| 201 101 Arcane Symbols.....................| 302 202 Magic Item Use.....................| 302 202 Spell Aiming.......................| 302 202 Harness Power......................| 302 202 Elemental Mana Control.............| 403 303 Elemental Lore - Air...............| 91 21 Elemental Lore - Fire..............| 90 20 Elemental Lore - Water.............| 50 10 Survival...........................| 302 202 Perception.........................| 302 202 Climbing...........................| 160 60 Swimming...........................| 140 40 First Aid..........................| 302 202 Trading............................| 302 202 Spell Lists Major Elemental....................| 100 Spell Lists Minor Elemental....................| 75 Spell Lists Wizard.............................| 128
(skills with no ranks are: Armor Use, Shield Use, all weapon types except Brawling, Ambush, Multi Opponent Combat, Mental Mana Control, Spirit Mana Control, Elemental Lore - Earth, all three Spiritual Lores, both Sorcerous Lores, all five Mental Lores, Disarming Traps, Picking Locks, Stalking and Hiding, and Pickpocketing)
Explanation
There's little to explain here since she's largely a straightforward, traditional wizard. Some key points, though:
- Brawling is a rarely-used backup option for creatures that are difficult to hit with either Earthen Fury or AS attacks.
- I don't see going beyond 2x Harness Power as necessary or especially beneficial on a wizard thanks to Mana Leech. My warmage trained those things only because she leveled that far before Ascension existed.
- Going for 2x or even 1x lores also seems unnecessary for conventional hunting. The lores here are only to unlock things like Cone of Elements Lightning and Minor Steam.