[X] My Assistant

I only use Defend when
- Spark of Life has triggered
- Regen did not kick in this turn (eg. due to fast action speed or because I did not caste it)
- Cure and Full Cure on cooldown
- No HP pots available
- I have at least 10% overcharge

With so many conditions, you'd think it'd never happen. But it happens to me a couple of times a day on random encounters when I do not cast Regen. The worst part is that I'd never have that 10% overcharge while doing random encounters, so I just die (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/happy.gif)

I tried substituting one HP pot, but that reduces how far I can go on GF, and I'm lazy to keep swapping battle items. So now I just cast Regen for random encounters.

This post has been edited by mozilla browser: Apr 28 2015, 04:09

when I do not cast Regen.

But why wouldn't you cast regen? (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/huh.gif)

I tried substituting one HP pot, but that reduces how far I can go on GF, and I'm lazy to keep swapping battle items. So now I just cast Regen for random encounters.

I have an arena ( / random encounter) equipment set and a GF equipment set. Everything is the same except for battle items. Set Collector is a bit useful after all.

But why wouldn't you cast regen? (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/huh.gif)

Sometimes it expires right before I really need it, and I don't feel I can spare a turn, so it's inactive. Also, as melee, I used to try to avoid casting Regen in high difficulty DwD for the sake of mana conservation (since SG standard attack does nearly nothing), only casting after health gets somewhat low. (but in that situation, I'd have to be feeling very safe if I avoid casting it). If I ever do high difficulty melee DwD again maybe I should try lowering my Regen AP because the additional health / turn isn't worth the cost since health stays capped 80% of the time...

- Spark of Life has triggered
- Regen did not kick in this turn (eg. due to fast action speed or because I did not caste it)
- Cure and Full Cure on cooldown
- No HP pots available
- I have at least 10% overcharge

I've been thinking... in the occasional circumstances that I find Spark triggered when Cure and Fullcure is on CD (and I don't have any gems or OC or pots), the best thing to do would be to take an action with the least amount of action speed possible. If 1 hit kills, get to the next turn as quickly as possible and hope that everything is evaded. "Defend" is not good because it takes a full turn. Unfortunately the wiki doesn't seem to be very trustworthy on this issue.

This post has been edited by Superlatanium: Apr 28 2015, 04:07

Maybe i should had quote bit more. Because mozilla had said this.

But it happens to me a couple of times a day on random encounters when I do not cast Regen.

And i cant see any reason not to cast regen in a RE.

If you don't click on the random encounter when it appears in your browser, it goes away and I'm pretty sure counts towards the 24 limit. It also fizzles if you click the link while already in battle. It's a bit annoying. I don't see arena completion having anything to do with it.

If you don't click on the random encounter, it does not count towards the 24 limit.

I'm not sure about the case where you click the random encounter and it fizzles (already in battle, or this random encounter has expired, or ...). But I would hazard a guess that it does not count towards the 24 limit.

But why wouldn't you cast regen? (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/huh.gif)

Well, as a mage, it's a balance between spending a few turns casting buffs/debuffs or simply going at it to reduce the damage I take early on. My idea was that in a random encounter, I don't really need many turns of Regen since the single round should be over quickly. But in practice, this was what often happened:
- Imperil on Mob2
- Imperil on Mob5
- Imperil on Mob8
- Full Cure
- T3 on Mob1
- Cure
- T2 on somebody
- I'm dead (becuase SoL triggered and cure is on cooldown)

This post has been edited by mozilla browser: Apr 28 2015, 05:31

So just imperil everyone and kill them with two attacks? Well thats quick.

So just imperil everyone and kill them with two attacks? Well thats quick.

10turns RE. (IA Haste/SV/SS/SOL)

1. cast protection
2. imperil 2
3. imperil 5
4. Cure
5. T3
6. T2
7-8. imperil 8 (or whomever still not-imperil)
9. T2
10. T3

I've heard that mages usually go without Spirit Shield, but I've found surviving to be very difficult without it. It requires an extra spirit pot or two on arenas, but the large bursts of damage prevented means less time wasted on Cure (and less risk of Spark or dying due to both Cure and Fullcure being on CD). Without SS, I'm not infrequently taking more damage than I heal on the turn I Cure, and dying is much more frequent. Even with SS, I still feel too fragile, and die occasionally despite mostly L- evade and EDB. Maybe I need some Elementalist so I don't have to take so much time with Imperil? Maybe I need more levels for more scaling?
Maybe it's just not safe enough without heavy forging?

Mage without Spirit Shield is from the older version.
When GF can go forever on normal. Mage just need to one-shot monster every round. (Spells can hit all target at that time).
After round 2000 or so, any monster(s) evaded/resisted the first spell would one-shot you anyway, SS would only burn extra spirit. In addition, SoL would recover 25%? (I forgot the exact value) of HP and gave 3 turn of high mitigation when triggered.

I believe most of the mage in the current patch need to use Spirit shield to lower the heal frequency.

This post has been edited by Colman: Apr 28 2015, 04:17

- Imperil on Mob2
- Imperil on Mob5
- Imperil on Mob8
- Full Cure
- T3 on Mob1
- Cure
- T2 on somebody
- dead

Sounds like Regen is necessary after all - even if not so much for the heal amount over time, but for allowing Spark to work again even if you don't use a Cure that turn.

What do you think about using Cure first? Cure-Fullcure cooldown determines whether you live or die. Unless you're at exactly 1 HP and Cure is on CD, might as well save Fullcure for later just in case you absolutely need it to survive later (eg. next turn, or the turn after). Sure, if you heal from 1k to 8k out of 18k, there's a moderate chance of the monsters taking that away in the next turn, but there's also a moderate chance of you evading most attacks and not absolutely requiring more healing (staying above 1 HP). Being able to cast to heal from 1k to 18k at once is tempting, but I doubt it's worth using up your only degree of freedom for survival after Cure.

Haha. I meant that *I* am dead because SoL proc'ed and both cures are on cooldown.

With all the other battle modes, there is a slow start so that fragile mages have time to do all their buffs. But with random encounters, you get 10 monsters who are hitting me hard with normal attacks from the first turn and with their SP attacks firing in turns 4 and above. I already had Haste, Shadow Veil, SoL on at the start and when I picked up IA4 I thought putting Protection or Spirit Shield on IA would make a difference. But when 10 monsters appear, I just have to expect that SoL will trigger and I had better have some curative abilities when that happens.

The other way is that when I'm already low on HP, instead of casting Cure and possibly having SoL still trigger in the next turn, I might as well do some damage and cast Cure in the next turn.

I've heard that mages usually go without Spirit Shield, but I've found surviving to be very difficult without it. It requires an extra spirit pot or two on arenas, but the large bursts of damage prevented means less time wasted on Cure (and less risk of Spark or dying due to both Cure and Fullcure being on CD). Without SS, I'm not infrequently taking more damage than I heal on the turn I Cure, and dying is much more frequent. Even with SS, I still feel too fragile, and die occasionally despite mostly L- evade and EDB. Maybe I need some Elementalist so I don't have to take so much time with Imperil? Maybe I need more levels for more scaling?
Maybe it's just not safe enough without heavy forging?

Wow, your mage gear is M+ / L- evade and EDB? Then it's better than mine (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/happy.gif)

I only use Defend when
- Spark of Life has triggered

How does this work? I'm trying to picture it in my mind and this is what I get:

>Spark of Life triggers. You're left with either 1 HP plus whatever Regen restores, or just 1 HP because Regen didn't tick on that turn.
>IA recasts Spark of Life right away, assuming you have it in an IA slot.
>You Defend, but because you have critically-low health, most of the time Spark of Life triggers again.

>You Defend, but because you have critically-low health, most of the time Spark of Life triggers again.

Better than dying, and it means that that next turn you might have a Cure that comes off of CD.

Being almost sure of Spark activating again is annoying, but in RE it's not like spirit pots are in short supply (though obviously you have to avoid having it activate too frequently or there won't be enough in pool). The real sticking point is Cure cooldowns...?

Wow, your mage gear is M+ / L- evade and EDB? Then it's better than mine

Maybe, but I'm unsure that the effective difference is all that noticeable. The real increase comes once you're rich enough to start forging, and M - .2 can turn into P + 5 or something.

This post has been edited by Superlatanium: Apr 28 2015, 04:37

How does this work? I'm trying to picture it in my mind and this is what I get:

>Spark of Life triggers. You're left with either 1 HP plus whatever Regen restores, or just 1 HP because Regen didn't tick on that turn.
>IA recasts Spark of Life right away, assuming you have it in an IA slot.
>You Defend, but because you have critically-low health, most of the time Spark of Life triggers again.

With all of those conditions, I have 1 hp left and no other curative options left. In arena/IW/GF I might have some overcharge from tapping so I would use Defend to convert 10% overcharge to 10% HP, which lets me survive another round. By the next round, Cure should be available again. Else i would need to Defend again (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/anime_cry.gif)

With all of those conditions, I have 1 hp left and no other curative options left. In arena/IW/GF I might have some overcharge from tapping so I would use Defend to convert 10% overcharge to 10% HP, which lets me survive another round. By the next round, Cure should be available again. Else i would need to Defend again (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/anime_cry.gif)

Oh, my mistake: I misunderstood your initial post, by assuming that each point described an individual condition under which you'd use Defend.

10turns RE. (IA Haste/SV/SS/SOL)

1. cast protection
2. imperil 2
3. imperil 5
4. Cure
5. T3
6. T2
7-8. imperil 8 (or whomever still not-imperil)
9. T2
10. T3

I guess that this works because your defenses are better than mine? May I know your defense please?

Mine's at:
56.1% physical mitigation
59.8% magical mitigation
45.3% evade chance
0% block chance
18.4% parry chance
51.2% resist chance

With all of those conditions, I have 1 hp left and no other curative options left. In arena/IW/GF I might have some overcharge from tapping so I would use Defend to convert 10% overcharge to 10% HP, which lets me survive another round. By the next round, Cure should be available again. Else i would need to Defend again (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/anime_cry.gif)

Hmm, what about 'Scroll of the Gods'?

On second thoughts this might not be entirely applicable to your situation? I use it to start IWBTH encounters because it adds absorb to SoL along with shadow veil, then I put up haste/spirit shield+heal and toss a sleep and slow on the ones with the highest mana/skill points before I finish up with heartseek and protection then start pumping overcharge/stun. Most the time this is enough to survive, but in some situations there's just not much to be done. (Like when three/four/five skills/spells go off in the first or second round and mess me up for like 20k hp) (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/cry.gif)

edit: oh wait, you are both ~400, never mind, I was thinking outside this specific situation/context (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

This post has been edited by trutta: Apr 28 2015, 05:56

I guess that this works because your defenses are better than mine? May I know your defense please?

Mine's at:
56.1% physical mitigation
59.8% magical mitigation
45.3% evade chance
0% block chance
18.4% parry chance
51.2% resist chance

not better, if shit happens, i'll just let SOL proc. though, holy has a much better cure. (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/heh.gif)

52.8 % physical mitigation
57.8 % magical mitigation
39.6 % evade chance
0 % block chance
17 % parry chance
46.7 % resist chance

This post has been edited by malkatmp: Apr 28 2015, 05:47

Hmm, what about 'Scroll of the Gods'?

On second thoughts this might not be entirely applicable to your situation? I use it to start IWBTH encounters because it adds absorb to SoL along with shadow veil, then I put up haste/spirit shield+heal and toss a sleep and slow on the ones with the highest mana/skill points before I finish up with heartseek and protection then start pumping overcharge/stun. Most the time this is enough to survive, but in some situations there's just not much to be done. (Like when three/four/five skills/spells go off in the first or second round and mess me up for like 20k hp) (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/cry.gif)

The problem is the fragility of mage. Melee can comfortably buff everything and then kill everything, occasionally healing along the way (or not, if Regen is sufficient), but for mage, every extra turn spent is one more turn each monster has to gain SP and MP - and if any SP or any MP attack connects, you'll take quite a lot of damage. It's even worse on PF since monsters can sometimes attack twice in one turn. Unlike melee, mage has nearly no parry, no shield, and no stun.

Having Spark on IA is essential for Spark to reactivate (hopefully on same turn Regen kicks in), saving a turn, which mage desperately needs - so that part of the scroll would be useless. Absorb is not useful either, since physical attacks are the overwhelming majority of attacks taken, and since mage will already have enough resist to make most magical attacks ignorable. The last, Shadow Veil, can just be put on IA as well. (or one could just manually cast it in the same turn one would use scroll)

I guess that this works because your defenses are better than mine? May I know your defense please?

I have the same problem you have on RE, and all my stats are nearly identical except for 50.4% evade.

Maybe HV is telling us to get another IA slot? (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

This post has been edited by Superlatanium: Apr 28 2015, 06:35

Scav 40 LotD 21 Quarter 14 Arch 6

What should i train next and why? I was thinking about just train another Scav, because it is the cheapest and all of them benefit from a higher dropchance, particularly to get my Cryst II running. But then i was thinging, maybe it would be better if i would save enough up to get another LotD and hope that i got some stuff that is worth an auction. But i get allready Leg Stuff, that is just worth salvaging for the mat. So, what would you say?

Scav 40 LotD 21 Quarter 14 Arch 6

What should i train next and why? I was thinking about just train another Scav, because it is the cheapest and all of them benefit from a higher dropchance, particularly to get my Cryst II running. But then i was thinging, maybe it would be better if i would save enough up to get another LotD and hope that i got some stuff that is worth an auction. But i get allready Leg Stuff, that is just worth salvaging for the mat. So, what would you say?

depend on what you doing , arena or GF (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

If you playing more GF than arena , than upgrading scav is better choice (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

Arena , than upgrade your LoTD (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)
But remind you , after upgrading LoTD your regular drop will became worse first than slowly get better/ or not (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/heh.gif)

Your weapon alone worth 10m+ (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)
Maybe 20m+.

That come from my past fund (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

now I'm poor with 40~50k daily (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/cry.gif)

His collections are really something. (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/faint.gif)

Maybe he will begin peerless collections someday (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

This post has been edited by nobody_xxx: Apr 28 2015, 07:16