[X] My Assistant

Please, correct me if I'm wrong.
At level 60, I'll be able to unlock all 7 auras. At level 40 and 3 ability points, I'll be able to use 3 auras at the same time. With a lot of credits, I can train to have 4 more aura slots and be able to use all 7 auras.

After level 60, I'll continue to get aura points without being able to spend?

Please, correct me if I'm wrong.
At level 60, I'll be able to unlock all 7 auras. At level 40 and 3 ability points, I'll be able to use 3 auras at the same time. With a lot of credits, I can train to have 4 more aura slots and be able to use all 7 auras.

After level 60, I'll continue to get aura points without being able to spend?

No. at level 60 you spent a AP in focused aura I ability which increase your max aura level to rank 2, so you can spend the next aura points you're gonna get, upgrading the respective auras.
at level 190 you get focused aura II increasing your max aura level to rank 3 ( not sure if it's at l190 but you can see on wiki)

This post has been edited by cmdct: Jan 24 2010, 02:58

Elaborating on cmdct's answer, here's what the various aura-related abilities and training do:

Aura Slot Ability: Unlocked at level 1, 20, and 40, these abilities lets you activate an additional aura at the same time.

Focused Aura Ability: Unlocked at level 60, 100, and 190, these abilities allow you to put additional Aura Points into individual auras, increasing their effect on your character.

Refined Aura Training: Unlocks more Aura Slots, enabling you to activate additional auras at the same time.

Once you're reached level 40, the only way to activate more than 3 Auras at the same time is by training Refined Aura. Once you reach level 60, you can start putting a second Aura Point into each of your auras.

This post has been edited by coredumperror: Jan 24 2010, 03:23

From EHWiki:

To release a Primary Aura, you need an Aura Point - which you earn at level 1 and every 10 levels afterward.

So when I get to level 190, I'll have 20 aura points to spend, but only 7 auras to unlock? Or you stop to gain aura points at lvl 60?

So when I get to level 190, I'll have 20 aura points to spend, but only 7 auras to unlock? Or you stop to gain aura points at lvl 60?

Remember, once you reach level 60, you unlock the Focused Aura ability, which lets you put a second Aura Point into each aura. At level 100, you can start putting 3 points into each aura, and at 190 you can get 4 points per aura.

From EHWiki:
So when I get to level 190, I'll have 20 aura points to spend, but only 7 auras to unlock? Or you stop to gain aura points at lvl 60?

You keep gaining Aura Points, since you can also increase Aura Levels which requires an Aura Point.

Remember, once you reach level 60, you unlock the Focused Aura ability, which lets you put a second Aura Point into each aura. At level 100, you can start putting 3 points into each aura, and at 190 you can get 4 points per aura.

Now I get it. I thought the Focused Aura was like an Aura Slot, but to upgrade just 1 aura.
Thanks to explain that to me.

I still have my solstice gift

Because I can't decide what to spend it on (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/cry.gif)

I got a fairly strong piece of equipment from mine. So, my suggestion would be to figure out which piece of gear you're most in need up an upgrade, and trade it in for that.

I got a fairly strong piece of equipment from mine. So, my suggestion would be to figure out which piece of gear you're most in need up an upgrade, and trade it in for that.

That would be my legs or chest, but I can't be that specific (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/happy.gif)

(IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/anime_cry.gif)

Maybe I should just go with a one handed...

Fine Ruby Rapier of Balance
Fine Titanium Rapier of Balance
Superior Phase Cap of Heimdall
Fine Platinum Plate Cuirass
Fair Phase Gloves of the Curse-weaver
Average Silk Pants of the Raccoon
Fine Phase Shoes of Surtr

I guess a superior raipier would be nice, or maybe a high parry high accuracy dagger for my offhand...

I don't want to trade for cloth armour and get some excellent cotton... Or Heavy armour and get a chainmail helmet.

Decisions decisions, goes around and around

Bah

Maybe I should just go with a one handed...

I agree. You're more likely to find a decent offhand upgrade by getting a 1H than you will be of getting an armor upgrade. It'd be really nice if we could choose which armor slot we wanted, but it is what it is.

Thank you for your advice!!!

Rolling the dice...

Hahahaha

Oh well

"Snowflake has blessed you with an item!
Received:
Fine Mithril Club of the Nimble"

Bawwwww

This post has been edited by nick321: Jan 24 2010, 13:32

"Snowflake has blessed you with an item!
Received:
Fine Mithril Club of the Nimble"

Bawwwww

D'oh!

I know I'm being bad for not throwing a screenie, but I refuse to use mspaint and, I don't have any fancy plugins on firefox, it's just a plain install with zero addons onto it.

So here's my question. I am a pure mage, and if I use full evasive gear I get about.

16% evade

18 burden and 0 interferance.

My stats are (after stat bonuses) 9str, 5dex, 24agi, 25 end, 40int, 21 wis.

Elemental prof is 25.

I've been noticing that either my luck is crap, or my enemies love to resist me extremely frequently. I've once entered an arena at normal difficulty only to see ALL four monsters RESIST my AOE spells for FOUR durations. Needless to say, I ended up getting clobbered (mana burns excessively).

Ethereal staff, so I don't have any burden there.

My question is, should I use double battlecaster daggers just for the parry protection until I get even more decent evasive clothing?

I am more or less fed up with being a pure mage, it's just so common to find a monster in a mob of 4-8 monsters, that is extremely resilent. And manages to resist me for 4-7 rounds and makes me do mana burn for nothing.

At your level, your base magic accuracy and bonus accuracy from gear is so low that it's not uncommon to see several resists in a row. That's why the mage build isn't as reliable as melee for lower levels players: a missed melee attack just costs you a turn, while a resisted spell costs a turn and the MP for the spell.

I'd say that your best bet is probably to switch to a more melee-centric build. However, you've given yourself a stat balance that doesn't lend itself well to a melee character, so you may find it difficult to transition.

You could try putting your next several levels' worth of EXP into STR and DEX, to work toward balancing them with your other stats. As a mage, even at my level, I attack with my staff quite often. The fact that I can deal a decent amount of damage (because my stats are balanced) means I save a lot of mana on those annoying monsters that are so resistant to magic (Manthras especially come to mind here).

You might also want to find a different staff. While it's nice that an ethereal weapon has no burden and interference, normal staffs already give 0 interference, and all ethereals tend to have significantly lower stats than equivalent non-ethereals. You wouldn't get a significant loss of speed from wielding a regular staff, and you'd get better offensive stats from it. I'd suggest trying to find an Ebony Staff of Focus, for the magic accuracy bonus. A very high level staff would probably be best, because +acc stats on gear scale down a very small amount, even when the item is far above your level. That would help you continue leveling as a mage until you can balance your stats out a bit, to give melee a serious try.

Also, I'd like to ask what your ability build is. One of the other disadvantages of being a mage at low level is that you don't have access to all 4 types of elemental spells, so you can't take full advantage of monster weaknesses. You may just have to bite the bullet and use paint to make a screenshot, though. It's really simple: with your ability page open, press Alt+PrintScreen, then open Paint and press Ctrl-V. Then press Ctrl-S, save it as a .png file (or .jpg; anything but the default .bmp), and you're done. You spent barely 5 seconds in paint (which I admit is an annoyingly terrible program), and managed to get a perfectly good screenshot. Then upload it to www.tinypic.com, or attach it to your post.

At your level, your base magic accuracy and bonus accuracy from gear is so low that it's not uncommon to see several resists in a row. That's why the mage build isn't as reliable as melee for lower levels players: a missed melee attack just costs you a turn, while a resisted spell costs a turn and the MP for the spell.

That is definitely true. I recall as a low level mage that I always took too much damage and got resisted quite a bit, and would have to worry about running out of MP. That was then. Just last night I beat Endgame as a mage for the first time, and in terms of everything but the boss, it was easier than when I beat it with a rapier and shield. Of course my new staff of Heimdall was a big part of that, but it wouldn't have made much of a difference without the stats to back it up.

I have access to AOE spells lightning, fire and ice, all maxed out. Wind spells have not been available for me. The three elements cover up most of the weaknesses I happen to have to pulverize.

9.9% mdamage
30.6% mhit chance.

I don't think it is easy to pull up the mhit without considerably lowering my evasion stat (good mhit gear has poor evasion, good evasion does not always give good mhit). However, what do you recommend of the dual dagger BC wielding? is the swap worth it? or should i stick to the good ol stick? (staff)

I generally suck a lot of mana, not because my AOE spells are costing me alot, but rather evading attacks doesn't work forever more. I get hit in the very end. And if 4 monsters hit me for 4 turns while resisting nearly all my spells, I'm pretty much game, as I fall back to consuming mana to cure myself back up. So basically what's killing my mana bar is the healing. I can only dodge and take hits for so long, in short, I normally rely on the first two turn to pulverize all the enemies down to only 1 or 2 monsters left. And if more than that survives, my cure does not outlast the damage I take, neither does my mana.

So my question is, dual wielding BC daggers instead of a staff, to trade off an extra 25% parry, more or less, ( To lengthen my survivability.) worth it or not?

PS: to not confuse anybody, I do not have a problem one hit k.o.ing most of the monsters I wish to hit. The problem is, most of the time, it DOES NOT HIT ANYTHING. IE. it misses completely. When I miss SEVERAL monsters in a row, that means I get MOBBED for several times in a row. That is when I suck too much damage to heal back up. What I am asking for is to whether to continue my current path as it is, or swap to double daggers to buy time until my atrocious enemies finally stop resisting my spells.

PPS: When I mean I "miss" something, it is not because I have heavy gear or whatnot on, I have zero interferance, and high INT for someone at my level. They are just resisting everything I throw at them. Although someone has brought to me the point that my mhit from my gear is possibly too low.

This post has been edited by hybras: Jan 26 2010, 19:38

If you're really gung ho about switching to a battle-mage style (DWing and using spells), you're best bet is to find a battlecaster rapier for your mainhand and a battlecaster dagger for your offhand. Having Penetrated Armor from your rapier would make a huge difference against minibosses, as well as giving you a strong melee attack mode to fall back on when you're low on mana.

However, I honestly think you'd be better off buying a high-level staff "of Focus", to pump your magic accuracy up. You could probably get 40-50% magic accuracy just from that, which would significantly reduce the monsters' resist chance. That kind of staff would also be a lot easier to find than battle-caster gear, since it's a very rare suffix.

coredump,

nono, I do not intend to hit anything with the daggers if that is what you mean. I intend to use them like a shield. To parry the attacks away. (Or am I plain wrong that I still recieve damage even if I parry it?)

Basically I would still fire spells like I used to, just using the extra 25% parry as a safety guard or something.

Battlecaster rapiers is rare yes, but neither do I intend to hit something with it. (PA will not proc, either way) However I do have two battlecaster daggers which I can switch to immediately. BC daggers are not that rare. However I cannot find two 10%+ parry BC daggers for the moment, the current ones are only averaging around 8% each.

coredump,

nono, I do not intend to hit anything with the daggers if that is what you mean. I intend to use them like a shield.

There is absolutely no way you can have enough mana to attack with magic every single turn if you are using AOEs. Tenb said he wanted it to be possible with single target spells, but I haven't tried it out to see if he accomplished it. The point is, you are going to need to hit enemies occasionally.