[X] My Assistant

also at queirel arcane focus is at level 130 not 150.

And not that I'm complaining but I believe that heartseeker and arcane focus should switch spots. Its usually better to melee first.

oh yeah. thanks. well, 130 then. regen ii at 150, also very useful (for channeling anyway). heartseeker means i may put off mage for a long time

They're lasting 100 rounds, so I'm almost there =/

I tried switching to Heavy Armor + Scythe instead of Light Armor + DW (I was trying to raise my Prof, sue me >.>) and I managed to clear 74 floors on Normal. Will try it on 100 rounds tomorrow once my stamina recovers, or maybe tonight.

So... still haven't gotten a Artifact from all those clears. Where they hiding at TT.TT. I trained a bit in Archaelogist and everything.

i was around level 100 before i got one. then lots at once (about 10 in 20 levels), then very rare again. very random but should balance out (hopefully). they give 100 elem crystals about half the time (in my experience) which you can buy for 2,500c in bazaar. not missing much, believe me.

How easy is it to switch between melee and mage? I've been rolling straight melee from the start, switched from DW to twohanded to one handed + shield, now back to two handed, but I've seen that higher level players seem to have no problems switching from mage to melee and back. Is it advisable to do this? Is a mage build or melee build stronger at levels? Some kind of hybrid?

hybrid setups:

eth DW + phase/gossamer = you get 1 shotted on normal often.

I don't have a eth 2H so I can't really say if it works with phase/gossamer.

melee armor + staff = your wasting too much mana, you will not be doing much damage whacking either, double negative there.

you would have to have a focus staff with something like 75%+ (I don't think that exists) mana conservation just to negate what your armor adds to the cost of your spells.

This game isn't setup in any feasible way for hybrid setups, your melee or a mage and thats mostly it. You want to switch back and forth to up your prof in whatever is low.

This post has been edited by trikon000: Mar 5 2012, 09:42

How easy is it to switch between melee and mage? I've been rolling straight melee from the start, switched from DW to twohanded to one handed + shield, now back to two handed, but I've seen that higher level players seem to have no problems switching from mage to melee and back. Is it advisable to do this? Is a mage build or melee build stronger at levels? Some kind of hybrid?

High level players can switch between maging and meleeing mainly because they have enough APs to get both OC (melee) and spells (mages). They can also have more balanced primary stats.

As for switching, it's easily to switch from mage to melee (though almost nobody did that). Problem of switching from melee to mage is that equipments are more important for mages. You really need some better equipments in order to survive.

If anyone really want to switch, I would advise them to prepare appropriate equipments first.
Switching stats/APs isn't that difficult now.

Hybrid doesn't work most of the time. At least nobody has found the appropriate equipments yet.

You got multiple artifacts at your level? Man, some people get all the luck.

You mean I'm not supposed to? I'm tracking my drop rates, and they seem about right, according to the wiki (0.1%).
I was previously at 0.06%, and now it's only 0.03%.

You mean I'm not supposed to?

You are. Just like everyone else.

It's just that sometimes the time span between two drops seems endless...


BTW, I just got a Smart Bomb. There's a typo in the description. The question is: how/where can I notify it?

The reason high levels can switch quite easily is the number of surplus high-level gear they get.

I feel that having good gear is much more important compared to how you handle your stats. Just having your stats balanced is already enough to both melee and mage.

But good gear is paramount for any success, trust me. I roll 2H heavy/mage/DW full shade when I'm bored so I know a little bit about meleeing.

Surprisingly, melees are about the same as mage now when it comes to round count. However, playing melee is *exceedingly* boring. It's so boring I've killed myself accidentally twice trying to kill FSM because I held the key for too long LOL.

I am also considering mage, i probably will switch at level 130.

Having a very hard time clearing 50+ rounds on normal with meelee as i just take too much damage, even with 57/48% meelee mit. So i expect a mage will clear those rounds easier than meelee.

Also i will go with 5 pieces of Mjolnir gear. And only max out 2 AoE skills.
1 lightning and 1 holy. I hope this is good way to start?

Which tier elec (3 or 8) and holy (5 or 10) should i pick?

I am also considering mage, i probably will switch at level 130.

Having a very hard time clearing 50+ rounds on normal with meelee as i just take too much damage, even with 57/48% meelee mit. So i expect a mage will clear those rounds easier than meelee.

Also i will go with 5 pieces of Mjolnir gear. And only max out 2 AoE skills.
1 lightning and 1 holy. I hope this is good way to start?

Which tier elec (3 or 8) and holy (5 or 10) should i pick?

If you can't clear 50 round on normal with melee, you're probably doing it the wrong way. At least not melee's problem.

And if you want to try maging, you probably want to pick some complement spells (elec + wind or fire). That will give you extra damage through elemental explosion.
You'll also need other AOE spells against different bosses (fire, ice, elec, holy).
Probably you will choose (if you choose mjolnir) elec 2 + wind 1 or fire 1, then holy 2, ice 2 and fire 3.

^I can clear it just barely with 80- stamina. Sometimes i have to blow all my hp pots to clear it. And with 60 rounds, luck would be the deciding factor. The problem's not my equipment (mace+kev), i have no idea just what i am doing wrong. Keeping Haste up through the rounds is all i can do with 0 points in mana tanks.

I'll try tier 8 elec with tier 1 fire then. Also what would you suggest for equipment? 5 Mjolnir pieces with high MDB will do, right?

Also, thank you :3

^I can clear it just barely with 80- stamina. Sometimes i have to blow all my hp pots to clear it. And with 60 rounds, luck would be the deciding factor. The problem's not my equipment (mace+kev), i have no idea just what i am doing wrong. Keeping Haste up through the rounds is all i can do with 0 points in mana tanks.

I'll try tier 8 elec with tier 1 fire then. Also what would you suggest for equipment? 5 Mjolnir pieces with high MDB will do, right?

Also, thank you :3

No mana tanks @ Level 125 = WHAT. Get as many AP in those as possible without compromising on AP sent on HP or spells that you need.

Also, have a few MP potions. You'll want to progressively switch to more and more Mana Potions and less HP Potions.

Well, not all people are rich, i'm poor, HP pot = 10c, mana pot = 40c? lol
[imageshack.us] Ability
As you can i see, i think i can switch all my points from spirit, OC and maybe evade (rarely use it) to mana tank

^I can clear it just barely with 80- stamina. Sometimes i have to blow all my hp pots to clear it. And with 60 rounds, luck would be the deciding factor. The problem's not my equipment (mace+kev), i have no idea just what i am doing wrong. Keeping Haste up through the rounds is all i can do with 0 points in mana tanks.

I'll try tier 8 elec with tier 1 fire then. Also what would you suggest for equipment? 5 Mjolnir pieces with high MDB will do, right?

Also, thank you :3

You can pick some mana tanks to help you, though those things don't count in the base MP when you're using the restoratives.
I have received some conflicting opinions on MP tank; some said not to take any, some said take as much as possible.
My suggestion? take a few of those tanks, it won't hurt. Don't put all your AP in though.

kevlar goes better with protection (experience from other melees), haste is also a good spell.
HaliZorat is correct: at your level you can no longer bring 0 mana potions into battle as a melee.

If you really want to convert to maging though, try to collect a whole set of EDB phases with the same suffix (mjolnir for elec, surtr for fire, etc).
The more important thing is to get a good staff though. Do you have one now? What staff you're planning to use?

Well, not all people are rich, i'm poor, HP pot = 10c, mana pot = 40c? lol
[imageshack.us] Ability
As you can i see, i think i can switch all my points from spirit, OC and maybe evade (rarely use it) to mana tank

You should switch some from EXP tanks. It's not like you're going to miss some of the extra EXP bonus.
And things starts to get harder when you progress; mindless leveling won't work that easily now without appropriate equipments.

This post has been edited by varst: Mar 5 2012, 17:18

^Sadly, this is the only Staff in my possession. I have yet to start collecting my mage EQ.
I will do so after i sell my other loots/equips, i bought a Shade set in hope to clear rounds faster, but with barely any defense and 20% evade, it's way to squishy imo. Way less effective than Kevlar at my level.


And yes, i think i will switch my SP and OC to mana, train up some ability points. That will get 7-8 tanks filled, which should be enough. :3

This post has been edited by Oversoul: Mar 5 2012, 17:22

Try to collect some better equipments before converting then. Mages are even more dependent on reasonable equipments. At least you can use your melee suits to collect credits now.

Better to start with a ebony staff of destruction with at least 32 EDB and some elementalist clothes (in you want to save some credits).

Or you can start with katalox staff of destruction with at least 32 EDB and some demon-fiend/heaven-sent clothes if you want to convert to holy/dark mages

This post has been edited by varst: Mar 5 2012, 17:24

Yup, planning to do so, will open an auction this week to get rid of my extra equips, which should give me 100k or 200k C to buy my mage gear.

Well, not all people are rich, i'm poor, HP pot = 10c, mana pot = 40c? lol
[imageshack.us] Ability
As you can i see, i think i can switch all my points from spirit, OC and maybe evade (rarely use it) to mana tank

Invest all OC AP into Mana Tanks. Maybe all the Spirit Tanks as well. And (arguably) some of the EXP Tanks as well, considering this patch's Random Encounters and Dawn of the Day makes it so absurdly easy to level up, but this is up to you. Spells look fine.

I personally haven't seen a post talking about the lack of necessity of MP Tanks, but if you want to go by varst's words, I would alternatively have only tier 1's Spirit and OC Tanks filled (for 110% OC to be used for Spirit Stance Shatter Strike), with the rest of the Spirit and OC Tanks being put into MP, along with maybe a couple of the EXP Tank APs.

Oh, and maybe train Ability Boost a few times if you haven't already and can afford it.

This post has been edited by HaliZorat: Mar 5 2012, 17:26

hybrid setups:

eth DW + phase/gossamer = you get 1 shotted on normal often.

I don't have a eth 2H so I can't really say if it works with phase/gossamer.

melee armor + staff = your wasting too much mana, you will not be doing much damage whacking either, double negative there.

you would have to have a focus staff with something like 75%+ (I don't think that exists) mana conservation just to negate what your armor adds to the cost of your spells.

This game isn't setup in any feasible way for hybrid setups, your melee or a mage and thats mostly it. You want to switch back and forth to up your prof in whatever is low.

High level players can switch between maging and meleeing mainly because they have enough APs to get both OC (melee) and spells (mages). They can also have more balanced primary stats.

As for switching, it's easily to switch from mage to melee (though almost nobody did that). Problem of switching from melee to mage is that equipments are more important for mages. You really need some better equipments in order to survive.

If anyone really want to switch, I would advise them to prepare appropriate equipments first.
Switching stats/APs isn't that difficult now.

Hybrid doesn't work most of the time. At least nobody has found the appropriate equipments yet.

The reason high levels can switch quite easily is the number of surplus high-level gear they get.

I feel that having good gear is much more important compared to how you handle your stats. Just having your stats balanced is already enough to both melee and mage.

But good gear is paramount for any success, trust me. I roll 2H heavy/mage/DW full shade when I'm bored so I know a little bit about meleeing.

Surprisingly, melees are about the same as mage now when it comes to round count. However, playing melee is *exceedingly* boring. It's so boring I've killed myself accidentally twice trying to kill FSM because I held the key for too long LOL.

Ok guys thanks for all the help. Also, just a quick question about magic terminology. You guys say fire 1, ice 2, etc but what are those referring to? Is is like fire 1 = first fire spell, fire 2 = first aoe fire spell, fire 3 = second tier fire spell, and so forth, or are you only referring to the aoe spells, or something different altogether.

In terms of equipment, it seems that snowflake loves to troll me. I have got a full set of fine phase lol (not the same suffix at lest) and a 4 pieces of power armor but only a single kevlar and shade drop.

And yeah melee is very boring, which is one of the reasons why I'm switching. Looks like for maging you actually have to consider damage types and stuff, but melee = cast buffs, attack, repeat since theres no switching weapons in battle. Also, I'm easily doing 50 rounds on hard already, 80 rounds if I go all out with potions so you must be doing something wrong.

This post has been edited by Kaosumx: Mar 5 2012, 17:29

Fire 1= first tier fire spells, fire 2=second tier, fire 3= third and last tier of fire spells (level 100 or 110 can't remember).

@HaliZorat

I've seen some arguments around melees picking MP tanks in some other forums. The problem of all-in MP tank investment (which I agree) is that you need extra potions to recover them. It isn't like the time when arena will recover your MP.
However, picking none would mean that you're missing some extra MP at the start of battles, and you're also taking some risk of mana overflow.
That's why I said it can be conflicting.

@Kaosumx

Fire 1 = the first tier of fire AOE spells, fire 2 = second tier of fire AOE spells, etc. We rarely mention the single-target version because they're seldom used. (at least that's my convention)

This post has been edited by varst: Mar 5 2012, 17:33