[X] My Assistant

Does Ether Theft proc only on hitting enemies with the staff directly, and if so, does that mean you usually whack an enemy when low on MP until you trigger it, then fire away with magic? I have a 36% 3 (2) turn Ether Theft staff from hitokiri, but the proc isn't much use if I don't use it correctly.

Or is the case that people just don't give a crap about Channeling/Ether Theft, and we're just talking "Get Coalesced Mana, enjoy half-off MP cost"?

Yeah, pretty much. I facepalmed when I first learnt that was how it worked. So if after you AOE there's a few mobs left and you can safely whack on one until he pops Ether Theft, free mana. Some things to remember: you can't drain mana off mobs which have no mana left, stronger enemies (minibosses, same level mobs) yield slightly more mana, you get an extra drain tick from the staff description (so 2 turns of Ether Theft on the staff means 3 'ticks').

Also if you spam Weaken/Bewilder on a mob with Ether Theft (cheapest deprecating spell, won't kill the mob so you can get the proc) you have the same chance (as Ether Theft) to proc Channelling, and we all love mystic gems. You'll pretty much be using this for free buff spells, since you'll have to quickly beat the mob to death with your stick if you want to save the proc to AOE the next round.

And the Coalesced Mana chance comes from your Staff proficiency (and INT & WIS), unrelated to the Ether Theft proc rate, so that should be a relief. I think.


This post has been edited by Ballistic9: Mar 5 2011, 12:37

Yeah, pretty much. I facepalmed when I first learnt that was how it worked. So if after you AOE there's a few mobs left and you can safely whack on one until he pops Ether Theft, free mana. Some things to remember: you can't drain mana off mobs which have no mana left, stronger enemies (minibosses, same level mobs) yield slightly more mana, you get an extra drain tick from the staff description (so 2 turns of Ether Theft on the staff means 3 'ticks').

Also if you spam Weaken/Bewilder on a mob with Ether Theft (cheapest deprecating spell, won't kill the mob so you can get the proc) you have the same chance (as Ether Theft) to proc Channelling, and we all love mystic gems. You'll pretty much be using this for free buff spells, since you'll have to quickly beat the mob to death with your stick if you want to save the proc to AOE the next round.

Alright, sweet. So AOE to trigger CM, Look for stragglers at the end of the carnage, whack them or use Weaken for Ether Theft (or Channeling if that's happening already), and if get Channeling, use for Shield/Regen/Cure. Makes sense to me!

And the Coalesced Mana chance comes from your Staff proficiency (and INT & WIS), unrelated to the Ether Theft proc rate, so that should be a relief. I think.

>Looks at Staff Proficiency
>2.03

Shit.

Alright, sweet. So AOE to trigger CM, Look for stragglers at the end of the carnage, whack them or use Weaken for Ether Theft (or Channeling if that's happening already), and if get Channeling, use for Shield/Regen/Cure. Makes sense to me!

Kinda:
AOE > 1 mob up with CM > hit with stick > procs Ether Theft > cast Weaken > procs Channeling (Ether Theft still up on mob) > cast free buff spell > cast Weaken again (or Bewilder if it uses magic) > proc Channeling again (yay more buffs) > ...

Having Slow up on mob means more chances to proc Channeling. Also note that once Ether Theft is up you lose the -50% off mana cost bonus from Coalesced Mana. (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

>Looks at Staff Proficiency
>2.03

Shit.

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

Does Ether Theft proc only on hitting enemies with the staff directly, and if so, does that mean you usually whack an enemy when low on MP until you trigger it, then fire away with magic? I have a 36% 3 (2) turn Ether Theft staff from hitokiri, but the proc isn't much use if I don't use it correctly.

Or is the case that people just don't give a crap about Channeling/Ether Theft, and we're just talking "Get Coalesced Mana, enjoy half-off MP cost"?

You need to cast spells on your opponents to proc CM first. Afterwards, hit the enemy with CM with a staff until Ether Theft procs. Once ET procs, you need to cast spells on the enemy with ET to proc Channeling on yourself.

You will almost never be purposely trying to proc channeling unless you're fighting bosses or you're in the late-game stages of maging (even that I'm not so sure). Your main problem will stem from the fact your AoEs are going to cripple, if not outright kill, any enemies you encounter. Thus if CM does proc, hitting them with a staff will probably kill them. Thanks to some of the monster lab creations, some races of monsters are quite a bit more resistant to physical attacks. But to keep things simple for yourself, you'll most likely just depend on CM for half MP costs and rush through your fights anyway.

Ironically, I get the most use out of ET and Channeling when I'm grinding staff proficiency with an earth-walker set.

1) When you say T1 and 2 of the spells, does this also include maxing out the 3rd block of each skill that increases the Damage Rating by 2% per AP?

Oh definitely get them for the elements you'll be constantly using, namely elec and fire. I went and grabbed the rating boosts for T2 Ice and Holy but that one I'm regretting a little since it turns out I never really use those two unless I'm fighting a boss, and that 10% extra damage there doesn't really make or break the fight. That'd be your little bit of future advice when you do branch out to other elements.



ahh, I see Ballistic answered your question about ET, but I'll leave my paragraph up there anyways. One minor correction though: Channeling has the same proc chance as your CM, not ET.

Ah, thanks for catching that ^^

But yeah, to echo what dkplee's said, ET's more useful when you're starting out in grindfest/itemworld where the mob's +1% damage boost per round isn't yet at levels where they can cripple you (so you can have multiple ETs running at once). Handy if you jump into an itemworld at say, half mana right after the last one. Also saves mana before you hit round 25, where you start getting 9 mobs per round and you get more damage for your mana. Deeper in you'll have to Weaken them first before hitting them to be safe, but eventually that too will be too risky. I'm kinda stingy with the mana, I save all my pots for proficiency grinding and it never seems enough.

I see I see. Seems I'll still need to learn a bit about getting a handle on deciding when to just CM-abuse and when to go for Ether theft and Channeling (especially since the times I'll usually want Ether Theft after probably as I run low on MP), but that will just come with time and experience.

In any case, the info you've both given me is stupendous, so I'll go and Reset my AP now to reallocate it, probably according to dkplee's build. I'll edit this post with a pic afterwards to confirm it's done right.

EDIT:

Ability Table linked below

[img198.imageshack.us] Updated Abilities Page

As you can see, I decided to forego the T2 spells for now in favor of getting some extra HP, but am holding onto my remaining AP until I can max out the T2 Fire. I may put 1 in Poison (per Ballistic's suggestion) for use on bosses/stronger monsters, but in the meantime Haste is the only non-curative spell with any AP in it. I'll do my best to reference these last two pages as I need to down the line, and when I finally manage to earn some Credits for spending, I'll put them to use on the Ability Boost perk.

This post has been edited by PommyN64: Mar 5 2011, 13:29

Looking good. Lack of T2s might mean arenas will require a bit more mana, but as long as you step into the last round of each arena with full HP and keep all your buffs up, you should be able to squeeze in a cure in between each AoE to survive that way. Just pop some low quality mana potions during arenas until you get the needed AP.

Anyway, enjoy your speed grinding (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

This post has been edited by dkplee: Mar 5 2011, 15:07

A quick question, what's the bazaar's sale price on scrolls of life?
I ran out and there are none in the bazaar so I can't check (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

Free blast of karma for a speedy response

This post has been edited by (Cheater) KamuiSeph: Mar 5 2011, 20:27

A quick question, what's the bazaar's sale price on scrolls of life?
I ran out and there are none in the bazaar so I can't check (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

Free blast of karma for a speedy response

200C

Karma Delivered xD Thanks!

ZZC,

I also melee and I am about the same level as you. I mostly only have to use 1-2 health pots for the hardest current arena to complete it.

I also went sword and board like you for the first few levels, but since I seem to rarely be hit by spells having the shield and extra mitigation just wasn't worth it since I couldn't kill anything in a reasonable amount of time. I switched to dual wield and saw a vast decrease in difficulty.

I tried a rapier main hand and a high parry dagger off hand first, but that didn't really work out to well since I only really did damage when I had the penetrated armor proc up and I if I missed during it, I lost a lot of damage. I currently use a high bleed 1h axe with the same high parry dagger in my off hand. I kill things pretty quickly and I still have 20% parry so I don't get hit as often.

Honestly I think the best way to make it as a melee is to level up both the dual wield and two hand skill up as much as possible and then switch to the Niten Ichiryu style, which requires both. The style still gets a decent amount of parry from the off hand even without the 50% bonus and the two-handed ability to cleave multiple enemies is probably going to be required for later arenas.

OR! Just switch to mage, since it seems that a mage-type is vastly superior to warrior-type for this game and your life will be filled with rainbows and ponies, rather than continually beating your head against the wall trying to figure out how to win as a melee.

I for one like melee and am going to stick with it.

OR! Just switch to mage, since it seems that a mage-type is vastly superior to warrior-type for this game and your life will be filled with rainbows and ponies, rather than continually beating your head against the wall trying to figure out how to win as a melee.

I for one like melee and am going to stick with it.

I was melee up until I was lvl 130
After about ~90 I was gaining consistently about 1lvl per day. That was going into all Item worlds on crude/easy (the only difficulty I could go past 200 rounds at the time) all arenas (could only go up to Endgame in normal using either 2 mana pots, or ~5-8 godly mana pots) and later on as my experience requirements for level up's grew higher, some grindfesting.
All that effort and only 1 lvl per day.

I'm a mage now.
Yesterday I was at lvl 150
I'm now 157, that was going into 10 rounds of exquisite IW on hard, going up to round 295 every time. All arenas all the way up to Sealed Power (with two bosses) on heroic and no grindfesting. Also, through all of the arenas, I use up only 10 godly mana pots. None if I'm lucky with gems and get a bunch of mystic ones.
Moreover, whereas meleeing required a shit load of time pressing 1111111222222333333444445555space111111etc
With maging I can go through a round in either alt+4 1, or alt+4 1 alt+5 2 Boom, done. On to the next round.
I would seriously urge you switch to maging as soon as you get your first tier 3 spell (lvl 110) and keep up your maging proficiencies nonetheless while you melee.

Life is fucking awesome in HV right now as a mage.
Fucking, AWESOME.

This post has been edited by (Cheater) KamuiSeph: Mar 5 2011, 21:57

Yesterday I was at lvl 150

So the day before yesterday, you had a life.
Or maybe you still do, and you're still botting.
Anyways, my advice is that you don't need to level that fast. But you should do your arenas since most of (my) credits come from there.

This post has been edited by Golden Sun: Mar 5 2011, 22:08

So the day before yesterday, you had a life.

Dude, SPRING BREAK (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)
Fuck life, it's HV time xD

And no, I am not botting (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/sleep.gif)

P.s. I just noticed I passed you Sun xD
MWAHAHA!
Also, why not level that fast? Granted, I'll be stuck with prof grinding, but higher lvls - more creds. More creds - moar EVERYTHING

P.p.s. also, yesterday before the dawn of the new day I was lvl 150.
It took me 1day to get 7 lvls, not 2 (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/happy.gif)

This post has been edited by (Cheater) KamuiSeph: Mar 5 2011, 22:20

higher lvls - more creds

You mean same credits. Tenb-nerfed. Just more access to arenas.

You mean same credits. Tenb-nerfed. Just more access to arenas.

Wat??? @_@
Lies! Shun the nonbeliever o_o

This post has been edited by (Cheater) KamuiSeph: Mar 5 2011, 22:22

- The formula for credit drops from monsters has been revised. Monsters now drop a random amount of credits determined by their class (common/rare/legendary/usw), but with no additional modifiers for level or stats.

Aw for fuck's sake >_>'

Looking good. Lack of T2s might mean arenas will require a bit more mana, but as long as you step into the last round of each arena with full HP and keep all your buffs up, you should be able to squeeze in a cure in between each AoE to survive that way. Just pop some low quality mana potions during arenas until you get the needed AP.

Anyway, enjoy your speed grinding (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I will!....Just as soon as my elemental/Staff Proficiences aren't in the single digits. Crude/Cake IW fest for now!

want to ask question about niten ichiryuu style
how can i calculate the HIT proc / Duration / Damage of my 2 weapons?
(Main hand + Off hand)÷ 2 ?