[X] My Assistant

Er, it appears that my question was the last post on the previous page, so I hope no one minds me asking again--

I don't have any Hath Perks, but I'm planning on starting out with the Spectral Auras and some of the Innate Arcanas. Any advice as to which of these to go for first? I'm leaning toward Innate Arcana I, but the 10% MP from the Black Aura and the increased regeneration rates from the Rainbow Aura both look tempting enough to save up for instead.

Nerf: It stacks with weaken/bewilder. Not sure if it stacks with silence. And nerf is useful, since it makes everything a bit better.

Yeah, I just tested this in an hourly. No problems stacking it with Silence, Slow, Blind, Poison, Bewilder, and Weaken (though Silence will cancel some of those, of course). No idea about Sleep and Confuse. I'm guessing X-Nerf is the only thing it doesn't stack with, but I can't test that. (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

The problem is: I tried to change to the mage build back @ lvl150 and it was plain bad. I could grind arena challenges on heroic like no problem as a 2H while I could not pass a single 110lvl challenge as a mage wasting all my mana potions. I dont get the Ether theft concept at all so I run out of mana VERY fast. Also I wonder if switching the element was a good idea (I used to poke Pestilence and then wipe out the whole round with Banish)

As I have said, you're not familiar with how mages play the game; You'll need good INT and WIS.
Either abandon melee and become a mage, or give up on maging.
If you want to become a mage, then switch your stat and try to do play on normal first, and raise the difficulty step by step.

i just noticed one thing

from when the interference of kevlar DOUBLED, without pumping their other stats?
it can be ok for shade items, which power acc and dmg
oh i noticed also that silk was removed....

how do you beat gods without low interference mixed kevlar-silk-gossamer armor? i hope that is not the only solution permastun them and click r for a week

well at least tenb didn't lose his habit to nerf good items ...
is meleeing still useless?

I'm sure it's easier to beat gods than before, ignoring the poison trick.
Melee is much better now. Kevlar has higher interference but much better physical mitigation.

Hm... maybe it was the Breached Defense debuff. If you were casting Banish > Ragnarok per round that might explain it. The Breached Defense (holy) and Blunted Attack (dark) debuffs lower the resistance of their opposite element (more damage) and your holy EDB improves the holy damage caused by the debuff explosion triggered by Ragnarok. Breached Defense also makes the target take more damage. And vice-versa for a Fenrir set, except the Blunted Attack reduces monster's attack damage dealt instead.

On Hard difficulty I'd be one-shotting with Purge spam, so mana usage should be relatively low. Above Hell I'd be casting Banish + Pestilence or Banish + Purge, so mana usage is pretty consistently first pot @ round 20, then 1 pot every ~10 turns after. Varies depending on gems.

Otherwise, perhaps grind proficiency and fix stat distribution. When I started my divine/forbidden prof was (current level - 10), and they capped pretty quickly. Staff and cloth profs were around 150+ (this takes forever, I've trained 5/10 Assimilator and don't bother with it). Staff MDM and auras might be a factor as well, can't tell. Great status and Arcane Focus should be up. IIRC my stat distribution at that level was (roughly):
STR & DEX: (current level - 40)
AGI & END: (current level)
INT: (current level + 30?)
WIS: (current level + 20?)

Try to answer your question here. (someday I will try to compare Fenrir, heimdall and surtr via playtest, but not now) (And no, I haven't tried Trio with Heimdall yet)
As a fenrir mage, my main weapon is actually pestilence when I'm playing through Trio (Nintendo) on great status. Then I will cast Purge to clear the round.
Two good things to note:
1. The cycle is Pestilence -> purge, so it saves a bit mana per round when compared to banish ->pestilence
2. Blunted Attack effectively decreases damage from monsters that Regen II can keep me alive.
The bad side is that sometimes purge can't kill all the monsters, especially those giants. Then another purge is needed.

So far the mana usage is about the same as you described: first pot @ round 20, then 1 pot every ~10 turns after.
Staff prof may have some effect, as it's around 80% of my level.
My stat
STR & DEX: 90% of current level (240)
AGI & END: 105% of current level (280)
WIS: 110% of current level (293)
INT: the rest exp goes here (312)

And I never use Ether Theft except on schoolgirl marathon. It just take way too long to get enough MP.

Er, it appears that my question was the last post on the previous page, so I hope no one minds me asking again--

I don't have any Hath Perks, but I'm planning on starting out with the Spectral Auras and some of the Innate Arcanas. Any advice as to which of these to go for first? I'm leaning toward Innate Arcana I, but the 10% MP from the Black Aura and the increased regeneration rates from the Rainbow Aura both look tempting enough to save up for instead.

I'm guessing X-Nerf is the only thing it doesn't stack with, but I can't test that. (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

Well, X-nerf = mass nerf on everyone in the same turn. It can still miss, of course.

I can only say that IA1 is pretty useless when used alone. You need IA2 to make it useful...as a mage.
I won't go for IA3 as a mage, as there's no good spells to put into the slot (besides haste and SV)
The situation may be different for a melee, but I'm not sure. You better ask Vasistas

This post has been edited by varst: Aug 28 2011, 13:38

I can only say that IA1 is pretty useless when used alone. You need IA2 to make it useful...as a mage.
I won't go for IA3 as a mage, as there's no good spells to put into the slot (besides haste and SV)
The situation may be different for a melee, but I'm not sure. You better ask Vasistas

I guess I'll grab IA3 instead of black or white aura. Shield+Spirit shield is a great combo for a Kevlar-user but with Shadow veil I will be literally unkillable.

Er, it appears that my question was the last post on the previous page, so I hope no one minds me asking again--

I don't have any Hath Perks, but I'm planning on starting out with the Spectral Auras and some of the Innate Arcanas. Any advice as to which of these to go for first? I'm leaning toward Innate Arcana I, but the 10% MP from the Black Aura and the increased regeneration rates from the Rainbow Aura both look tempting enough to save up for instead.

There is a pretty big difference in hath cost for the different perks.
Lvl 1 innate arcana costs only 50 hath while the black&white auras cost 200 each and rainbow costs 500....
But from my experience with Innate arcana lvl 1, it didn't really impress me.

As I said earlier, the only benefit was that you didn't have to spend every 20 or so rounds to recast it, but the cost/round was almost the same. So you save a round here and there, but you don't get any supportive proficiency.
At higher level innate arcana, the upkeep decreases, so then it might be getting worth it. And probably also when you start getting up in levels and proficiency starts to catch up with your level*.
The spectral auras give a whole other type of bonus, including a pretty big experience bonus (if it works, the exp tank doesn't but the postcount bonus does) as well as some other nifty bonuses.
The 10% to magic and health points ain't that big, that's just little more than 3 ability points into hp and mp tank and resistances and stats are a nice bonus. The rainbow regeneration bonus on the other hand, especially if it works while in combat, then that is a major advantage getting +50% mana regen.




*Does it do that? Or is it always lagging behind? Seems like going from 5.00 to 6.00 in a proficiency should be as hard as going from 156.00 to 157.00, but going from 5 to 6 in levels is way easier than going from level 156 to level 157.

As a HV player, my personal philosophy are...

1. I like the idea of having different thing complimenting each other, like 'combined arms' tactics in warfare for example...
2. Reliability > Performance

So, as a melee player, this is what I do...

- Push my stats toward attack (i.e. attack rating) as high as possible. So STR first, DEX second, using the optimum ratio that gives highest attack rating. This give me an innate 'strong' character as a base to build upon.
- Since I'm poor as shit and can't afford fancy hath perk... In order to further push my stats toward more and more attack and therefore enable the higher difficulty setting to be play at a reasonable time (albeit not exactly comfortable), wise use of supportive & curative spell is needed.
- Because of the above 2 things, its necessitate a strong defensive capabilities, yet light, from the armor I wear in order to not rendered my character to pulp in battle and too mana-hungry.
- Using DW and relate fighting style. It's more reliable to use. And the the high ADM it provided amplify the effect of 'strong' character.
- If battle end too quickly, increase difficulty level.
- If increase difficulty = You're dieing ... Increase END.


Just my 2 cent.

This post has been edited by buktore: Aug 28 2011, 18:26

Ah, thanks for the insight (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

My current stat distribution (@Lv290):
STR & DEX: (current level - 40)
AGI & END: (current level + 10)
INT: (current level + 50)
WIS: (current level + 40)
Currently rebuilding my Energy Drink supply, so I'm doing arena @ nintendo with normal status. Battletoads needs great status + backup Spirit Elixir.

For Bosses (Manbearpig etc), Konata & Trio I find it's just quicker to Soul Burst them to death rather than rotate elements (pretty much ignore Trio's absorption shield).

I got IA I & II before Rainbow Aura. Cheaper and keeps you alive. Really depends on how quickly you can gather hath though. IA3's pretty good, Haste+SV+Spirit Shield. Saves mana and more Mystic Gems for offensive spells instead of channelled buffs (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

So you save a round here and there, but you don't get any supportive proficiency.

Acutally you do. My supportive prof. increases pretty often with me not casting a single supportive spell.

Acutally you do. My supportive prof. increases pretty often with me not casting a single supportive spell.

Really?
So you get a random chance to get support proficiency from having a auto-cast spell going?

Gotta test that.

I got IA I & II before Rainbow Aura. Cheaper and keeps you alive. Really depends on how quickly you can gather hath though. IA3's pretty good, Haste+SV+Spirit Shield. Saves mana and more Mystic Gems for offensive spells instead of channelled buffs (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

(IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) My 46 Hath has been accumulating since the day I started playing HV regularly. I'll have to get around to buying it from WTB, but I'm kind of hoping the prices drop a bit first. Part of me wants to get Innate Arcana I and Innate Arcana II quickly just so I can remove Haste and Shadow Veil from my Quickbar. (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/happy.gif)

Anyway, thanks for the feedback everyone. I might do something like IA1 -> IA2 -> Rainbow Aura -> IA3 -> Black Aura, but I'll need to think a bit more about it. Spirit Shield is still quite a long way away so that third auto-cast slot won't be immediately useful.

Really?
So you get a random chance to get support proficiency from having a auto-cast spell going?

Gotta test that.

Confirmed, you do get support proficiency from having spells on auto-cast.
Dunno if you get more or less than you would by casting them manually (not counting spamming them at the end of an arena to use up remaining mana).

(IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) My 46 Hath has been accumulating since the day I started playing HV regularly. I'll have to get around to buying it from WTB, but I'm kind of hoping the prices drop a bit first. Part of me wants to get Innate Arcana I and Innate Arcana II quickly just so I can remove Haste and Shadow Veil from my Quickbar. (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/happy.gif)

Anyway, thanks for the feedback everyone. I might do something like IA1 -> IA2 -> Rainbow Aura -> IA3 -> Black Aura, but I'll need to think a bit more about it. Spirit Shield is still quite a long way away so that third auto-cast slot won't be immediately useful.

The shield spell is pretty nice one, that's the one I've got running all the time (auto-cast or no auto-cast).
Sure, I'm wearing kevlar now, but it made a difference even when I was in shade gear.

Currently rebuilding my Energy Drink supply, so I'm doing arena @ nintendo with normal status. Battletoads needs great status + backup Spirit Elixir.

For Bosses (Manbearpig etc), Konata & Trio I find it's just quicker to Soul Burst them to death rather than rotate elements (pretty much ignore Trio's absorption shield).

I got IA I & II before Rainbow Aura. Cheaper and keeps you alive. Really depends on how quickly you can gather hath though. IA3's pretty good, Haste+SV+Spirit Shield. Saves mana and more Mystic Gems for offensive spells instead of channelled buffs (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I can clear arenas up to crusade @ nintendo with normal status using Ragnarok. Mana consumption is always a problem to progress. I seem to suffer @ battletoads now, even with great status. Hope I can clear them when I progress in levels again. (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
Soul Burst is hell useful.
Don't think IA3's that good for mages. Spirit shield is not costly to cast, and unlike melees we have only 2-3 turns per round, so IA3 won't be that useful in terms of mana conservation. Besides, if you can blast through arenas without IA3, why you would bother to get that?

Dunno if you get more or less than you would by casting them manually (not counting spamming them at the end of an arena to use up remaining mana).

The chance depends on the upkeep cost of IA. So when you get more IA levels, you'll get less chance of gaining prof for individual spells. You may still gain more prof collectively, of course.

Ohmygod. I went to lvl220 arena with Nightmare up and made it to lvl50, then I was like WHAT?!
Seriously, 50 legendaries?

Ohmygod. I went to lvl220 arena with Nightmare up and made it to lvl50, then I was like WHAT?!
Seriously, 50 legendaries?

I think A Dance with Dragons has 150 schoolgirls, if that makes you feel any better. (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/duck.gif)

Ohmygod. I went to lvl220 arena with Nightmare up and made it to lvl50, then I was like WHAT?!
Seriously, 50 legendaries?

I don't know why everyone's so anxious to play EOD without any preparation (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

Buktore said this didn't exist D:

I don't know why everyone's so anxious to play EOD without any preparation (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

Wish I knew such shiet would happen >_<

What exactly do the Spirit Tank and Overcharge boost abilities do?

I suppose having a higher overcharge % makes your spirit attack hit harder? What is the point of spirit tank though? Does your spirit regen more quickly if you have a higher maximum? Both stats are completely drained when you use your spirit.

Buktore said this didn't exist D:

I meant that its not drop now. I know it exist, I have one myself, but such a thing is just not worth using nowadays... In fact, hardly any 'old' kevlar are worth using now, since the new one are usually better.

This post has been edited by buktore: Aug 28 2011, 17:52

I see. So what kind of kevlar would you recommend for grindfesting/arenas?

Given the same base stats, the only suffix that worth using is 'of Protection'.