[X] My Assistant

Using this staff (from isekai Peerless voucher):
Peerless Arctic Willow Staff of Destruction

Theoretically given armor pieces of similar quality, which would be faster to clear schoolgirl arenas? (what route should I take?),
cold mage or dark mage?

if your main goal is to quickly complete sg arenas, then radiants of niflheim

PAWD is the best cold staff for GF, but no, definitely it works worse than dark with same staff and same quality dark cloth in SG arena.
it will works worse than dark even if it has the same cold and dark EDB, not to even say it have higher dark EDB than cold.

but again, you can't easily buy similar quality cloth on dark and cold, as least can't with same price

This post has been edited by what_is_name: Nov 2 2024, 17:38

Using this staff (from isekai Peerless voucher):
Peerless Arctic Willow Staff of Destruction

Theoretically given armor pieces of similar quality, which would be faster to clear schoolgirl arenas? (what route should I take?),
cold mage or dark mage?

With this staff: COLD!
With just 2 perfect sets compared, including a PDWD: Dark.

Congrats, great staff!

This post has been edited by Noni: Nov 2 2024, 18:10

I do get that this staff is perfect for a cold mage (well maybe 2nd best for arena), but I'm not interested in doing grindfest, and right now I don't even do the schoolgirl arena too often, because I'm poor and I only have a 1H build which is not optimized, so even they take too long.
Since the School Girls have High elemental mitigation, and the staff still seem pretty good for a dark mage (no mitigations for SGs), I wanted to know if trying to put together a Dark build might be better.

In the end, if the difference is not much, I'm likely going to try to get a ice build, because it might be cheaper.
In either cases, staff aside, I'll be starting from nothing

I was also considering saving all my credits to try and get a gold star, but unless I can borrow quite a few millions and get a spot in Kaguya's shop in December, it's a pipe dream. I still can't quite let go of it though...

Edit: Anyway, thank you all for the replies. I am leaning more heavily toward ice for now.

This post has been edited by Wivers: Nov 2 2024, 19:06

Does anyone know when exactly the "early bird" (extra gear drops) period ends in isekai? Wiki's "~week" is kinda vague on account of the "~".

Also I can't believe my first isekai Legendary weapon drop is an Ethereal Axe of Slaughter a second time in a row now.

Does anyone know when exactly the "early bird" (extra gear drops) period ends in isekai? Wiki's "~week" is kinda vague on account of the "~".

Also I can't believe my first isekai Legendary weapon drop is an Ethereal Axe of Slaughter a second time in a row now.

See the schedule.

are 2H or DW inferior to 1H in the current meta?

i bought an equipment for 10000 credits thinking it was really special and must have something special in it since it costs so much (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/anime_cry.gif)
i wasted my credits! i suspect stuff you sell costs 10000 credits no matter what when you rebuy

are 2H or DW inferior to 1H in the current meta?

Not sure if inferior, but probably harder/riskier to use well. 2H obviously don't have parry/block or a shield slot (Though they get some parry from their abilities), so they give up a lot of defense for more damage. DW can get great parry, but they miss out on the shield slot that can offer additional mitigations guaranteed, especially when you consider IW improvements (Shields can get Juggernaut and additional ele resist, while weapons can't).

I think the main meta issue is probably that if people are willing to give up defense for more damage, why not just go Mage at that point? They're pretty clearly the best AoE. DW and 2H are kind of in the middle of the two extreme playstyles, but they seem kind of niche to me. At least DW is a crit focused build which stands out a bit. 2H seems way too vulnerable to me for what it appears to offer. More risk than 1Hand, less damage than Mage, weird option to take meta wise. Who thinks "I want more damage than 1Hand, let's go with the 2nd best damage option", lol. Some people might choose it for playstyle of course, just don't think it'll ever be in the meta as long as it's inferior to Mage. The combat in this game is a bit too simple for so many playstyle options to all be competitive without extreme balancing (And then the playstyles would likely end up even more similar).

Again, not an expert on 2H or DW, but maybe some others will chime in. I'd like to know more about them as well.

This post has been edited by FruitSmoothie: Nov 3 2024, 07:05

(Shields can get Juggernaut and additional ele resist, while weapons can't).

Would you IW until Juggernaut 5 my shield for 10M? (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Would you IW until Juggernaut 5 my shield for 10M? (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Oh whoops, made a mistake lol.

are 2H or DW inferior to 1H in the current meta?

DW is actually a great style. The Frenzied Blows help you survive any round that has more than 6 monsters in it. Can be a lot faster than 1h in tower: mathl33t, one of the true experts of HV, reached floor 100 last season with a DW build. Very close to 1h mage even.

i bought an equipment for 10000 credits thinking it was really special and must have something special in it since it costs so much (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/anime_cry.gif)
i wasted my credits! i suspect stuff you sell costs 10000 credits no matter what when you rebuy

no really a question? But it's true.

From HV wiki I understood that in the Niten Ichiryu style, the parameter Parry Chance, not counted. But what about Counter-parry? Is it also not counted, or it still work? It is important to know, because this parameter is added when leveling up in Item World,

From HV wiki I understood that in the Niten Ichiryu style, the parameter Parry Chance, not counted. But what about Counter-parry? Is it also not counted, or it still work? It is important to know, because this parameter is added when leveling up in Item World,

the parry chance is count iirc, it just not have +50% bonus like the DW.
and yes the counter-parry in both hand are count and important.

Not sure if inferior, but probably harder/riskier to use well. 2H obviously don't have parry/block or a shield slot (Though they get some parry from their abilities), so they give up a lot of defense for more damage. DW can get great parry, but they miss out on the shield slot that can offer additional mitigations guaranteed, especially when you consider IW improvements (Shields can get Juggernaut and additional ele resist, while weapons can't).

I think the main meta issue is probably that if people are willing to give up defense for more damage, why not just go Mage at that point? They're pretty clearly the best AoE. DW and 2H are kind of in the middle of the two extreme playstyles, but they seem kind of niche to me. At least DW is a crit focused build which stands out a bit. 2H seems way too vulnerable to me for what it appears to offer. More risk than 1Hand, less damage than Mage, weird option to take meta wise. Who thinks "I want more damage than 1Hand, let's go with the 2nd best damage option", lol. Some people might choose it for playstyle of course, just don't think it'll ever be in the meta as long as it's inferior to Mage. The combat in this game is a bit too simple for so many playstyle options to all be competitive without extreme balancing (And then the playstyles would likely end up even more similar).

Again, not an expert on 2H or DW, but maybe some others will chime in. I'd like to know more about them as well.

DW is actually a great style. The Frenzied Blows help you survive any round that has more than 6 monsters in it. Can be a lot faster than 1h in tower: mathl33t, one of the true experts of HV, reached floor 100 last season with a DW build. Very close to 1h mage even.

thank you.

i assume DW is best coupled with shade armor, correct?
i kinda want to try.

isekai question:

i was thinking that staying above 60 stamina in the early bird period is actually bad.
sure, exp is nice but i believe it's better to farm more content at <60 for the extra drops as long as they last. i will be able to catch up in exp later.

is my reasoning valid or am i missing something?

Not sure if inferior, but probably harder/riskier to use well. 2H obviously don't have parry/block or a shield slot (Though they get some parry from their abilities), so they give up a lot of defense for more damage. DW can get great parry, but they miss out on the shield slot that can offer additional mitigations guaranteed, especially when you consider IW improvements (Shields can get Juggernaut and additional ele resist, while weapons can't).

I think the main meta issue is probably that if people are willing to give up defense for more damage, why not just go Mage at that point? They're pretty clearly the best AoE. DW and 2H are kind of in the middle of the two extreme playstyles, but they seem kind of niche to me. At least DW is a crit focused build which stands out a bit. 2H seems way too vulnerable to me for what it appears to offer. More risk than 1Hand, less damage than Mage, weird option to take meta wise. Who thinks "I want more damage than 1Hand, let's go with the 2nd best damage option", lol. Some people might choose it for playstyle of course, just don't think it'll ever be in the meta as long as it's inferior to Mage. The combat in this game is a bit too simple for so many playstyle options to all be competitive without extreme balancing (And then the playstyles would likely end up even more similar).

Again, not an expert on 2H or DW, but maybe some others will chime in. I'd like to know more about them as well.

Played well, DW is approximately comparable to (or slightly faster than!) 1H in performance in arenas and IWs, and the primary difference in speed in grindfests is mostly due to increased cures towards the end. It requires more active involvement, toggling Spirit Stance, choices between Frenzied Blows, OFC and FRD, and managing overcharge predictively. I definitely prefer the playstyle to 1H, but it is considerably less safe, and I think that is the primary factor in choice (and expert recommendations) for less experienced players & long-timers getting lazy from burnout.

I do agree that the combat simplicity is why the playstyles are limited in diversity (and therefore competing for the same optimization goals), though while it may take a very long time, Tenboro's discussed expansions to the combat engine before in terms of stat overhauls, terrain complexities and monster rebalancing. It may not be a hopeless future for 2H and Niten necessarily because all styles compete over two axes currently - safety and speed - and I also think you should note that besides 1H (as the champion of safety) and mage (as the champion of speed), 1H mage is commonly used as an excellent compromise between the two, as well as the third factor of equipment specificity (where melee styles are nearly always capable of rushing to PFUDOR by the mid-200s on self-dropped equipment, good luck self-dropping matching mage gear).

i assume DW is best coupled with shade armor, correct?

Shade armor is easier to learn with, but power armor offers more damage at end-game.

isekai question:

i was thinking that staying above 60 stamina in the early bird period is actually bad.
sure, exp is nice but i believe it's better to farm more content at <60 for the extra drops as long as they last. i will be able to catch up in exp later.

is my reasoning valid or am i missing something?

It's valid reasoning, but nobody can give you a confident 'best' answer - you are weighing the reliability of exp against the RNG of good equipment drops. (My opinion is that if you're only aiming to rush floor 50, exp in the early phase probably saves more work later.)

To Isekai (mostly): From which level are you usually able to clear Arenas without investment of a lot resources (potions, scrools) in PFUDOR? I am around lvl 200 now and I try to play in IWBTH, but I have to use cure often and the gameplay has slow flow.

To Isekai (mostly): From which level are you usually able to clear Arenas without investment of a lot resources (potions, scrools) in PFUDOR? I am around lvl 200 now and I try to play in IWBTH, but I have to use cure often and the gameplay has slow flow.

200 is the lowest level you should try because that's when you get Spirit Shield and the first ability buff for it, then it's mostly about the equipment and small survivability spikes you get with ability buffs: 220 and 240 for Spirit Shield, 215 for Silence and 250 for Weaken, then the next big survivability spike is at level 250 when you get the 1H Block chance raising ability. Full-Cure spell you get at level 220 is also useful.

200 is the lowest level you should try because that's when you get Spirit Shield and the first ability buff for it, then it's mostly about the equipment and small survivability spikes you get with ability buffs: 220 and 240 for Spirit Shield, 215 for Silence and 250 for Weaken, then the next big survivability spike is at level 250 when you get the 1H Block chance raising ability. Full-Cure spell you get at level 220 is also useful.

Wait, Weaken and Silence are useful? On Persistent at least I never see a need for them for 1H.