[X] My Assistant

Bleed, however, is unaffected by resistance.

is Searing Skin unaffected by resistance as well?

is Searing Skin unaffected by resistance as well?

Searing Skin hits Fire Fox for 1901 damage.
Searing Skin hits Fire Fox for 2331 damage.
Searing Skin hits Fire Fox for 2509 damage.
Searing Skin hits Cookie Monster for 2116 damage.
Searing Skin hits Cockatrice for 2559 damage.

generally speaking, is it better to completely focus on magic or is it wiser to also use some melee?

the reason i'm asking is because i'm trying to decide between a Battlecaster Scythe (which would be great to make several monsters bleed copiously with a single attack, AND that same bleed damage would be very helpful against legendaries and above) or a Willow Staff of Destruction (which would boost my elemental proficiency even further along with my deprecating proficiency)

You still need to hit things as a mage, but I would never suggest that someone use a Scythe, even if it is a battlecaster one.

what would you suggest then? i know the Axe+Rapier combo works wonders but i'm going for a more original set up, plus, i don't like Poison as much as i used to

focusing on magic sounds really tempting though

Original set ups are almost prohibited by equipment limitations.

I would be interested in seeing the stats of the battlecaster scythe. It doesn't have to suck, you know...

Does anybody use sword Chucks? Do they ever get bleeds near axe levels? and how useful is their high crit chance anyway and would it warrant having no accuracy boost?

I see these 17% crit level 150 sword chucks in the shop and I'm curious.
In case the shop eats it, it has 163 bleed damage (by sword chuck standards is that high?) over 4 turns at level 151.

Fine sapphire Sword Chucks of the Ox

This post has been edited by PsychoticSoul: Oct 25 2010, 15:09

Don't buy them. These aren't good.
Bleed... well let me put it this way. The highest axe bleed I've seen is 20 BASE bleed (= at level 0). And as far as I'm concerened it's the highest roll until someone shows me a better one.
And the highest bleed on sword chucks I've seen is also 20 BASE bleed. So regardless if this is the best possible bleed, both weapon types have similar bleed procs.

So if they have the same bleed procs as Axes, what crit level (if any) would be neccessary for them to warrant replacing axes as mainhands against legendaries/gods? I've heard a crit is an automatic mainhand proc, so what kind of crit would sword chucks need to balance the accuracy loss/?

I don't see how to calculate crit chance in the wiki (Taking into account weapon stats). Is an equipment's +crit stat simply added to the attack crit chance stat, or is the calculation similar to how attack chance to hit is calculated?

When would it be considered too late to change your character from a pure magic to a pure physical?

For now I think I'm pretty set was a pure mage, but I may attempt hybrid, as crazy as that may sound.

When would it be considered too late to change your character from a pure magic to a pure physical?

For now I think I'm pretty set was a pure mage, but I may attempt hybrid, as crazy as that may sound.

Considering the fact that you're generally advised to keep all your stats fairly balanced, everyone is basically a hybrid. Even the stats you would normally lag behind (INT as a melee, STR/DEX as a mage), are cheap to keep about 10-15 points back, which is more than enough once you reach a decently high level.

I'm a mage 99.99% of the time now, but I can easily swap into my Axe/Rapier equipment set and go kill IPU or FSM or whatever.

So it's never too late, and being a hybrid is natural.

So if they have the same bleed procs as Axes, what crit level (if any) would be neccessary for them to warrant replacing axes as mainhands against legendaries/gods? I've heard a crit is an automatic mainhand proc, so what kind of crit would sword chucks need to balance the accuracy loss/?

I don't see how to calculate crit chance in the wiki (Taking into account weapon stats). Is an equipment's +crit stat simply added to the attack crit chance stat, or is the calculation similar to how attack chance to hit is calculated?

To replace an axe vs Gods/Legendaries, all you need is high bleed, and being able to hit things without any accuracy bonus. The automatic crit proc is pointless when it comes to bleed, since with any decent bleed axe + slow/haste taken into account, you should never have problems keeping bleed proc'd.

I believe sword chucks, if used at all, are usually used as an offhand with a high ADM mainhand to take advantage of crit damage. I could be wrong though.

This post has been edited by Conquest101: Oct 25 2010, 17:46

Considering the fact that you're generally advised to keep all your stats fairly balanced, everyone is basically a hybrid. Even the stats you would normally lag behind (INT as a melee, STR/DEX as a mage), are cheap to keep about 10-15 points back, which is more than enough once you reach a decently high level.

I'm a mage 99.99% of the time now, but I can easily swap into my Axe/Rapier equipment set and go kill IPU or FSM or whatever.

So it's never too late, and being a hybrid is natural.

So should I invest a ton of money into multiple equipment outfits as well?

Currently I'm still too low level to do Legendaries, though I have tackled a few bosses I've found in IW as pure mage.

So should I invest a ton of money into multiple equipment outfits as well?

Currently I'm still too low level to do Legendaries, though I have tackled a few bosses I've found in IW as pure mage.

You don't have to obviously. And unless you're trying to acquire top-of-the-line equipment, it won't really be "a ton" of money anyway.

You can acquire equipment sets as you need them. Elementalist stuff now, evade stuff/melee stuff for Legendaries, special mitigation gear for gods, etc. Technically, it is possible to clear Legendaries/Gods as a mage, but it's rather tedious. That's up to you of course.

Keep in mind that the Bosses you encounter in Grindfests/IW are significantly easier than their Ring of Blood counterparts.

Don't buy them. These aren't good.
Bleed... well let me put it this way. The highest axe bleed I've seen is 20 BASE bleed (= at level 0). And as far as I'm concerened it's the highest roll until someone shows me a better one.

Blade's is slightly better, scaling to 23 at lv 0

if Block chance affects damage avoidance (which is the same as evasion right?) then, would a Battlecaster Kite shield be better for an evasion mage than a Barrier Buckler shield?

i mean, do the burden and suffix balance each other out?

Blade's is slightly better, scaling to 23 at lv 0

That's pre-nerfed. Axes like that don't drop anymore (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

The highest axe bleed I've seen is 20 BASE bleed (= at level 0). And as far as I'm concerened it's the highest roll until someone shows me a better one.

Blade's is slightly better, scaling to 23 at lv 0

I prefer 28.

I prefer 28.

Weak, I prefer 110 (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

I believe sword chucks, if used at all, are usually used as an offhand with a high ADM mainhand to take advantage of crit damage. I could be wrong though.

I used a Rapier-Chucks combo to down FSM.