[X] My Assistant

just wondering, did you slot tanks and potions abilities?

my general abilities
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FSM? Never occurred to me since I used to do it in Normal. Only recently I've started to do it in PFUDOR. But didn't notice since I silence FSM while in PFUDOR.

Try PF and you will see. And btw, it isn't so difficult (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

my general abilities
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Slot 'better regen' and use that spell, you will save more mana if compared with cure. Also, fire spike shield isn't a good choice for mage since it only lower incoming damage. Try one of the other ones

Slot 'better regen' and use that spell, you will save more mana if compared with cure. Also, fire spike shield isn't a good choice for mage since it only lower incoming damage. Try one of the other ones

i use fire so i can pump my freeze dmg, but if i really have to change it, mind to tell me which one?

also, don't start RE with spark: it's a buff that doesn't actively do anything for you. better to try with protection, which will passively reduce the damage you take and will give you enough time to cast two spells in a row without one of the two being necessarily cure.
lastly, is a staff of focus really so important to you or was it only the best you could find? in case you can't afford an arctic of niflehim/destruction you may also want to consider something like hallowed of niflehim/arctic of heimdall for cure bonus

I used to think the same - no need to start RE with Spark if I can cast something useful first and then cast Spark - but after dying on the first turn of a 9 or 10 monster RE 3 times in a row I decided Spark was actually essential to cast first. And he's a mage, even more vulnerable than I was with Leather (when I was around level 150).

i use fire so i can pump my freeze dmg, but if i really have to change it, mind to tell me which one?

Wind can boost mobs' miss chance, and elec lowers mobs' resist. I'm a melee so i can't really say which one is the best, but since you have survivability problems you may consider to switch to one of these two

I used to think the same - no need to start RE with Spark if I can cast something useful first and then cast Spark - but after dying on the first turn of a 9 or 10 monster RE 3 times in a row I decided Spark was actually essential to cast first. And he's a mage, even more vulnerable than I was with Leather (when I was around level 150).

is it good to use a leather sets in early level of mage? if so, then i would love to try it and maybe some suggestions on which kind of leather i should change into.

is it good to use a leather sets in early level of mage? if so, then i would love to try it and maybe some suggestions on which kind of leather i should change into.

Leather is for melee. Mages are less or more condamned to use cloths. Maybe shade of arcanist, but still...

Wind can boost mobs' miss chance, and elec lowers mobs' resist. I'm a melee so i can't really say which one is the best, but since you have survivability problems you may consider to switch to one of these two

He might also consider switching out one or two Phase for a Cotton of Protection for more defense and more proficiency, if he wants it - since he already has a lot of EDB. I wouldn't think even a good Cotton of Protection would be sellable for more than 20k or so.

Melee is based on "Hit a monster until it dies, repeat" - they're built to be able to withstand hits while slowly killing monster after monster until all are dead. Mage is different - they AOE many monsters at a time, and can put out significantly more (average) damage, but are much more vulnerable when attacked.

So with this in mind, if Nintendo is too much, it's perfectly fine to go down to Hell or something; less damage taken, fewer Cures, more damage done per turn (even level 400+ mages often play on Hell because higher can take too long). If you have to concentrate to survive, then your experience and credits per minute will probably go up if you reduce the difficulty.

is it good to use a leather sets in early level of mage? if so, then i would love to try it and maybe some suggestions on which kind of leather i should change into.

Your EDB would go down dramatically and your mana costs would rise significantly. Though Shade of Arcanist exists, at that point you might as well just switch to melee instead because spells just won't do enough damage... except maybe on Normal.

Mage, especially high difficulty mage, is quite a challenge, which requires high level AP investment to be a practical choice once you start running into higher PL monsters. Most wait until after level 300~ to wade into it. I'm just starting mage myself even though I'm 360 something.

He might also consider switching out one or two Phase for a Cotton of Protection for more defense and more proficiency, if he wants it - since he already has a lot of EDB. I wouldn't think even a good Cotton of Protection would be sellable for more than 20k or so.

cotton of protection may actually be useful? (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/huh.gif)

cotton of protection may actually be useful?

I'm not completely sure. I seem to remember a few people mentioning it as an option, though I didn't try it myself when I was low enough to possibly appreciate it. Since no one at higher level would ever use it, even Legs should be dirt cheap.

If he's having trouble surviving and already has 5 phase, going from 5 to 4 phase (at his level) probably won't have a significant noticeable negative impact, but could improve pmit from 3 to 9 or so... might help him avoid getting nearly one-shotted on the first turn?

Just an idea I heard. Maybe he is willing to be the guinea pig?

I'm not completely sure. I seem to remember a few people mentioning it as an option, though I didn't try it myself when I was low enough to possibly appreciate it. Since no one at higher level would ever use it, even Legs should be dirt cheap.

If he's having trouble surviving and already has 5 phase, going from 5 to 4 phase (at his level) probably won't have a significant noticeable negative impact, but could improve pmit from 3 to 9 or so... might help him avoid getting nearly one-shotted on the first turn?

Just an idea I heard. Maybe he is willing to be the guinea pig?

can't find leg cotton of protection on this week auctions. i guess they won't be exactly cheap. even though they should

[edit]: found these ones:
Legendary Cobalt Cotton Gloves of Protection (dunno whether it's for sell or not)
Legendary Charged Cotton Cap of Warding (warding, but LMax PMI. still dunno etc etc)
Legendary Jade Cotton Pants of Protection (on FS, so subjected to restrictions. but free if he didn't ask any other leg before)

This post has been edited by Scremaz: Mar 7 2015, 01:21

Interesting. But why Stoneskin? It has no benefits. (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/huh.gif)
Well, Evade in Leather is very low, even in Peerless pieces. Full Leather is more of a Tank-Build.
We already know how useful "Full Agile Leather Build" is (Thanks to Dead-ed). (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)
Only if we could know if "Full Reinforced Leather Build" is better or not.
Or even Agile/Reinforced Mix...

don't take me as reference.
I use it with niten to fight against duration (lesser damage applied on more pa turns).
Can't afford agile fleet yet.

With attack speed bonuses (light armor instead of heavy), you take more turns before it expires, so it's significantly easier to keep active while also casting a spell every so often.

I actually am using light armor at the moment, because...well because I'm stupid I guess.
I originally started with DW, but didn't like it much.

I swapped to 1H early on and retained the light armor, figuring that stacking evade on top of block/parry/resist should make me more or less immortal. I hoped attack speed would serve triple duty by keeping Overwhelming Strikes up, generating more counterattacks by inserting more player turns between enemy attacks, and just plain improving DPS. It's also why i'm mainhanding a wakizashi at the moment rather than a rapier - looking at the combat formulas, it looks like vastly more damage comes from your base stats + proficiency rather than the weapon itself. This was all before I learned about power-type heavy armor, though.

Plus, a mere exquisite rapiers with solid stats seem to go for almost the exact same price on WTS as a legendary wakizashi which is oozing with higher bonuses. PA alone seems to be the redeeming factor for rapiers.

But man, my proficiency is so bad in everything (been using light armor since day 1, and it's 50 levels below cap) that I feel like I'm locked into the choices I made.

This post has been edited by thraycount: Mar 7 2015, 02:15

PA alone seems to be the redeeming factor for rapiers.

After 3 stacks of PA, my regular attacks are doing 3x-4x more damage compared to no PA. (usefulness depends on the monster type, though.) It's well worth it unless you're playing on low difficulty and killing everything in 3 hits or less.

Yes, pure weapon damage isn't the biggest factor, so if you get a weapon with 20% less ADB you might not notice it much (at your level)... but you certainly would notice being able to kill schoolgirls/FSM/giants in less than half the time it would take compared to using a non-rapier.

Now I've been reading a few of the replies and I have a few questions:

What's wrong with 2H? The lack of defense? Does 1H have something that somehow negates that?

I've been told that buying assimilator training is useless, but isn't getting more proficiency a good thing? I figure getting 0.3 points over 0.1 points means you become three times more effective over the same period of time. Or is there something else I'm missing? I mean, it took ages to reach 100+ in a single weapon skill as it is.

Is it possible to clear the Dance with dragon to battletoad difficulty?

What's wrong with 2H? The lack of defense? Does 1H have something that somehow negates that?

Yes and Yes. 2H depend on armor for defense, its parry bonus is not enough. 1H have block. Block chance itself is big boost, but combined with counterattack that oft result on stun, it's huge!

I've been told that buying assimilator training is useless, but isn't getting more proficiency a good thing? I figure getting 0.3 points over 0.1 points means you become three times more effective over the same period of time. Or is there something else I'm missing? I mean, it took ages to reach 100+ in a single weapon skill as it is.

At later levels, leveling up is tough. proficiency will catch up even when you don't specifically play to grind it.

yes.
next time use Ask the Experts! thread pls.

Now I've been reading a few of the replies and I have a few questions:

What's wrong with 2H? The lack of defense? Does 1H have something that somehow negates that?

I've been told that buying assimilator training is useless, but isn't getting more proficiency a good thing? I figure getting 0.3 points over 0.1 points means you become three times more effective over the same period of time. Or is there something else I'm missing? I mean, it took ages to reach 100+ in a single weapon skill as it is.

Assimilator only increases the chance of a proficiency gain. It has no bearing on whether the gain is 0.1, 0.2, or 0.3.

But like clarkiest explained, Assimilator isn't recommended because proficiency catches up naturally. I wouldn't even recommend it at later levels; mine is still at 0.