[X] My Assistant

Ahh so it's when you fight another monster with a high power level that you get the exp boost.
I thought/was hoping you got an exp boost based on the PL of your own monster (even if you didn't see it in battle) (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

And since the system is favored to pick monsters whose PL is close to your level, then you don't really see the differences.
Except when you run into a non-PC, non-boss monster, and they give you much less experience than what you are used to from PC monsters.

How do you improve the amount of mana stolen from ET. Is it through staff prof? Right now I can only steal about 12 mana, not enough for casting chain lightning (18) or soul harvest (23). Or do I have to use the lower lvl 1 AoE lightning spell.

I am using this staff at the moment for leveling my prof in dark: here

How do you improve the amount of mana stolen from ET. Is it through staff prof? Right now I can only steal about 12 mana, not enough for casting chain lightning (18) or soul harvest (23). Or do I have to use the lower lvl 1 AoE lightning spell.

I am using this staff at the moment for leveling my prof in dark: here

don't quote me on this but i think ET depends on the monsters int/wis/max mp/level. i steal more from elementals(about 16-17) than other monsters such as giants(11-13)

How do mages survive when they can be hurt big time? I know I have to blast them before they kill me, but using up mana pots quickly stinks. Guess I need to raise prof in elem and staff to have a better chance of killing them.

High levels survive using Spirit Shield. Low levels rely on Spark. <- this is the last line of defense

All levels rely on heavy damage to kill before you are killed. Haste should let you use a potion *and* blast with a spell before they can do anything (if it doesn't, your AGI might need some help)

Some mages (if not all) rely on Shadow Veil/Evade

e: not sure but absorb might be a possible option as well? I haven't really experimented with it

This post has been edited by dcherry: Jan 15 2012, 00:57

So should I rely on spark right before my spirit shield fails or go straight out with spirit shield when I get it and use the scroll of life/gods that way.

At high levels I'd say S Shield is a necessity although I think some mages beg to differ. What you use depends on how much risk you like taking. It's not uncommon for a mage to be facemelted on any difficulty hard+ (normal it's a tad tougher to be pwned unless you're trying to clear rounds by whacking only)

My current IA - Haste/S Shield/Spark

I was kinda realizing that on heroic or higher it was going to be something like that with maging, aka rough equivalent of a paper mage in games like Knights Online.

Was wondering how useful if at all absorb can be for a melee user? And if it is useful, how to implement it.

I only use it so far when I proc channeling and I have nothing else I want to cast. And even then, I sometimes don't because most of the monsters aren't really using magical attacks. Because of this, I am more likely to use it in the arena where you have round after round of mini bosses. Was also thinking about using it for the ring of blood too.

If the overall concensus is that its useless, I'll still hold onto it until I do reset my ability tree. I'll just remove from my quickbar instead.

And are the elemental spikes useful for melee? If I had an ethereal worth using, than I would rather take the void damage. But until then, was wondering if it was worth investing in? I know some critters are going to be weak to it and strong to it, so its a normal trade off. But I like the idea of them getting burned from touching me. (but I figure this amount is so miniscule, it might not be worth it.).

So yea, mixed feelings about everything. Thanks in advance.

So is there a level or Dexterity/Agility limit that physical accuracy is 100% (or perhaps virtually 100%)? I've seen it thrown around a couple of times that not being able to hit things becomes less of a problem at higher levels, but I can't tell if that's because everyone there has better equipment or if it's an actual stat thing.
I saw the equation on the wiki
1 - (1 - base) * (1 - equip_bonus) * (1 - aura_bonus)
* (1 - prof_bonus) * (1 - DEX * 0.1%) * (1 - AGI * 0.05%)
but am not only not fantastic at math but also pretty mentally fried. Does anyone know when accuracy caps off?

Was wondering how useful if at all absorb can be for a melee user?

Absorb is only used nowadays for ROB and long Schoolgirl Marathons.

And are the elemental spikes useful for melee?

Elemental Spikes are the cheapest Supportive spell to spam and gain proficiency.
Use Frost Spike if you can't survive Ryouko's Spirit Attack.

Does anyone know when accuracy caps off?

The formula caps at 1 (1-[...]) or 100%. It wouldn't make much sense to have more than 100% Accuracy anyway.

not being able to hit things becomes less of a problem at higher levels, but I can't tell if that's because everyone there has better equipment or if it's an actual stat thing

That's because of Arcane Focus (unlocked at level 130) and Heartseeker (level 170), which boost magical and physical hit chance, respectively.

The formula caps at 1 (1-[...]) or 100%. It wouldn't make much sense to have more than 100% Accuracy anyway.

That's because of Arcane Focus (unlocked at level 130) and Heartseeker (level 170), which boost magical and physical hit chance, respectively.

Lol my question was not worded very well.
I meant, since it seems that physical accuracy (not necessarily hit chance) is only based on the character (and not the monster itself) there may be a value for a character to get (virtually if not completely) 100% accuracy.

If the accuracy gains are really based on getting Heartseeker and AF that's kind of a let down actually. Those are spells not passive bonuses, right?

Still, thanks for the help (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I guess you could try something with a full Balance set and by getting high DEX and AGI, but I don't think there's much of a point.

Elemental Spikes are the cheapest Supportive spell to spam and gain proficiency.
Use Frost Spike if you can't survive Ryouko's Spirit Attack.

Thanks for the input. Any other reason to use it besides for proficiency? I can't see myself fighting ryouko often enough to keep it for that. I don't really spam anything for exp. I usually just try to finish everything quick so I don't like wasting turns/mana. Also, ryouko isn't too much of a problem for me. But I guess I can keep elemental spikes in mind when I do try the rob on harder difficulties.

Also, the higher your proficiency, the higher your chance of getting a splash in the first place.

isn't 2H prof only about extra splash slot?
my domino strike chances is always at 49% even with raising prof

isn't 2H prof only about extra splash slot?
my domino strike chances is always at 49% even with raising prof

Domino Strike chance = 40 + (0.04 * STR + 0.02 * DEX) * (1 + 2H / 200)

There's a prof. factor, though it won't increase the chance by much.

This post has been edited by varst: Jan 15 2012, 14:38

There's a prof. factor, though it won't increase the chance by much.

Ow, it much like coalesced mana then. Does it has any max percentage too? like coalesced mana maxed at 25%.


EDIT:
nvm, I looked on wiki, it's capped at 80%

This post has been edited by aiwotorimodose: Jan 15 2012, 14:45

How do mages survive when they can be hurt big time? I know I have to blast them before they kill me, but using up mana pots quickly stinks. Guess I need to raise prof in elem and staff to have a better chance of killing them.

Spirit shield takes the sting out of the big hits. Also, mages can get higher curative proficiency, which makes regen last longer and heal for more and makes cure more effective. Especially if going holy damage, then cure I can heal you to full when you are almost dead.

High levels survive using Spirit Shield. Low levels rely on Spark. <- this is the last line of defense

Spark of life is good even at later levels, especialy if yo put it in an auto-cast slot.
Normally spark of life is used up when it activates, and you have to recast it, which makes it a costly spell. But with auto-cast, it just re-activates the round after it has been used, and there is no change in upkeep or cast cost, so the only cost for it to activate is the spirit cost.

Does wonders to take the edge out of those sudden crits and skill hits and means you don't ahve to worry as much, since even s pirit shield can be broken through if several mobs get in good hits in one round, but spark of life will always save you as long as you have spirit.

Was wondering how useful if at all absorb can be for a melee user? And if it is useful, how to implement it.

Not useful at all.
I tried it once, and it never once activated.
It only works on magical attacks, and the only player-created mosnters that has a magical attack is elementals.
Possibly that it could work if you are doing a lot of legendaries and gods, but IMO it was a waste of AP and mana.

Lol my question was not worded very well.
I meant, since it seems that physical accuracy (not necessarily hit chance) is only based on the character (and not the monster itself) there may be a value for a character to get (virtually if not completely) 100% accuracy.

If the accuracy gains are really based on getting Heartseeker and AF that's kind of a let down actually. Those are spells not passive bonuses, right?

Still, thanks for the help (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Accuracy and accuracy gains are applid multiplicatively, not additively.
So basically, think of it like this. Your base accuracy is 80% or something, which means your miss chance is 20%. All accuracy gains then affect the miss chance, and does it by percentage.
So heartseeker adds 50% accuracy. That means your miss chance of 20% gets cut in half, down to 10%.
And then your gear all add 40% accuracy (I think all pieces actually are counted individually, but to make it easier), now that remaining 10% miss chance gets reduced by 40% down to 6%.
Add in another huge accuracy bonus somewhere for another 50%, and the 6% gets cut down to 3%.

You are still "only" at 97% accuracy, despite accuracy bonuses of +50%, +40% and +50%.
Add in another accuracy bonus, this one at a whopping 66%, and your accuracy only actually increases by 2 percentagepoints to 99%.
Because of this, it is impossible to get to 100% accuracy, unless you have an accuracy bonus for at least 100% accuracy.

Not even going with several 99% accuracy bonuses would actually make your accuracy 100%.
It would make it so close to it that misses would be extremely uncommon, but they would still be there.

Also, monsters can evade your hits, which is shown as misses, so that also affects your total, which is applied after your attack has hit.

isn't 2H prof only about extra splash slot?
my domino strike chances is always at 49% even with raising prof

The chance is based on proficiency and on stats, and it increases very slowly. You got a base cance of 40%, and then it is dependant on your strength and dextererity, mulitplied by your proficiency, where you got a base multiplier of your str and dex of 1, which doubles at 200 proficiency.
Which means the big thing is almost stats. You probably have stats that give you a modest equivalent of 6%, which with 100 proficiency only gets multiplied by 1.5 to 9% (so 49% with the base of 40% tacked on). So even if your proficiency hit 200, that would mean your total chance would still be only 52%.
So you need to raise those stats....

is it possible to see some schoolgirls or gods in grinds/crys/IW? i've seen rare's a few times but not higher yet.