[X] My Assistant

Thanks for the fix, Ballistic. (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I've been wondering about the drop rates too. Did they get changed in the recent patch? I spend my time doing arena rounds, but I rarely get drops. I've got my training levels at 28/12/6/5. Should I just do more IW/Cakefest? I think I should be doing a little better then just getting average/great potions....

IW or Grindfest for drops if you can go far enough inside. Don't go below Normal if you want decent quality drops. It doesn't affect your drop rate, but it will severely hinder quality if you go Cake (0.2x bonus) or Easy (0.5x bonus). Choosing items with weaker prefixes also works if you have trouble keeping up with the damage since that won't affect loot quality and will possibly allow you to go deeper in with more rounds of capped quality bonus. It will also be easier to get decent stuff once you hit 200 since the PL limit on customs will be lifted. (Don't be fooled into thinking fighting three PL 1340 Ultimates on BT/IWBTH has a very high chance of netting you a Magnificent, though, because that doesn't work yet.)

Arenas hold a minimal number of monsters at earlier rounds and don't last long, so that might explain why you are getting less loot.

This post has been edited by Mika Kurogane: Aug 5 2011, 13:02

I think I've been misunderstanding this change to Channeling the whole time after just rereading the first post.

So, let me get this straight. Spells that cost less MP have a smaller chance of causing Channeling because they use a smaller percentage of your base mana?

I'm not sure of the growth rate of the base mana and cost of the spell, but does base mana rise fast enough as you level up so that the chances of getting Channeling with the same spell becomes lower and lower as you level up?

I guess I've been lucky over the last two days, since I was used to getting 3-5 Channeling procs in the longer arenas like Twisted Plots and Longest Journey, while today I got only one (and ended up losing). I had originally thought that the more a spell cost compared to its base cost, the higher the chance, so I (kinda) spam Cure in hopes of getting Channeling so I can Regen.

As a side question, was Cure's base cost always 20? Could have sworn I had Cure cost less than 20 when I first got it.

EDIT: Just did Learning Curves on Nightmare and I got Channeling twice after maybe 3-4 casts of Cure? Curse my luck.

This post has been edited by HaliZorat: Aug 6 2011, 03:36

As I understand it, the cost of spells is a percentage of your current level, so it goes up as you level. Cure is still 15 at my level. When I first got it, it was a single digit number.

How that compares to your base mana as you level, I don't know. That would depends, at least partly, on individuals' stats.

I think I've been misunderstanding this change to Channeling the whole time after just rereading the first post.

So, let me get this straight. Spells that cost less MP have a smaller chance of causing Channeling because they use a smaller percentage of your base mana?

I'm not sure of the growth rate of the base mana and cost of the spell, but does base mana rise fast enough as you level up so that the chances of getting Channeling with the same spell becomes lower and lower as you level up?

I guess I've been lucky over the last two days, since I was used to getting 3-5 Channeling procs in the longer arenas like Twisted Plots and Longest Journey, while today I got only one (and ended up losing). I had originally thought that the more a spell cost compared to its base cost, the higher the chance, so I (kinda) spam Cure in hopes of getting Channeling so I can Regen.

As a side question, was Cure's base cost always 20? Could have sworn I had Cure cost less than 20 when I first got it.

EDIT: Just did Learning Curves on Nightmare and I got Channeling twice after maybe 3-4 casts of Cure? Curse my luck.

Don't bother spamming Cure in order to get a free Regen. It's a total waste of mana. Regen is superior to Cure, even with the higher mana cost, so you should just cast it straight away, plain and simple.

For that matter, good as Regen is, Shield is even better. So don't worry about not having anything to cast if you get Channeling when you've already cast Regen without it. Just put it back into Shield, or I dunno something like Absorb if you've still got a significant duration on both of them.

Don't bother spamming Cure in order to get a free Regen. It's a total waste of mana. Regen is superior to Cure, even with the higher mana cost, so you should just cast it straight away, plain and simple.

For that matter, good as Regen is, Shield is even better. So don't worry about not having anything to cast if you get Channeling when you've already cast Regen without it. Just put it back into Shield, or I dunno something like Absorb if you've still got a significant duration on both of them.

By the later rounds, I feel like Regen alone doesn't heal me enough to survive. I usually take a few hundred damage per turn (I think), while Regen heals for 105 per turn so far. I usually cast Regen instead of Cure in the earlier rounds though.

Usually by later rounds it goes like this for me:
- At low health, heal with Cure.
- If I get Channeling, cast Regen.
- If I get to low health again while still in Regen, cast Cure.
- If I get Channeling again, cast Shield.

I know Shield and Regen are great, but I'm not sure if I can survive withing casting those instead of Cure when I have less than 25% of my health.

By the later rounds, I feel like Regen alone doesn't heal me enough to survive. I usually take a few hundred damage per turn (I think), while Regen heals for 105 per turn so far. I usually cast Regen instead of Cure in the earlier rounds though.

Usually by later rounds it goes like this for me:
- At low health, heal with Cure.
- If I get Channeling, cast Regen.
- If I get to low health again while still in Regen, cast Cure.
- If I get Channeling again, cast Shield.

I know Shield and Regen are great, but I'm not sure if I can survive withing casting those instead of Cure when I have less than 25% of my health.

Fair enough. I pretty much keep Shield and Regen constantly active when I get that deep though, so I only have to cast cure when it's absolutely necessary.

Short answer - assuming it's not an offensive spell or that you have the same amount of points in it, the chance of scoring Channeling from a specific spell is the same at level 1 as at level 300.

I am having a blast with this game. Just feel stupid i have been playing all night, but have evenly leveled my character. I need to focus more on certain attributes.

Edit. Trying to read the wiki to understand how to play better. I was randomly assigning skill points not knowing what they went to.LOL. thank god poison is now maxed

This post has been edited by 315: Aug 6 2011, 12:06

I am having a blast with this game. Just feel stupid i have been playing all night, but have evenly leveled my character. I need to focus more on certain attributes.

Edit. Trying to read the wiki to understand how to play better. I was randomly assigning skill points not knowing what they went to.LOL. thank god poison is now maxed

what combat style do you want to use?

why did Freezing Limbs explodes make higher damage than Storm of Njord Spells?

29 4 Freezing Limbs explodes for 7152 cold damage
29 3 White Bunneh gains the effect Turbulent Air.
29 2 Storm of Njord hits White Bunneh for 5840 wind damage.
29 1 You cast Storm of Njord.

This post has been edited by purng: Aug 7 2011, 05:43

White Bunneh is weak to cold, and FL explodes in Cold.

what combat style do you want to use?

Normally I am a brute. Just physical attacks. But I learned in games like Knights of the Old Republic that having some magic to back you up is nice. So I am trying to raise my strength high. And kinda evenly distribute the rest. But i am finding my magic lacking. The poison thing is godly. Helps a lot. But magic missle and fireball rarely hit. :-( so I am finding my points spent towards magic wasted. Unless the poison thing is cconsidered magic. I never cast anything. Enemies just randoly take damage and are stunned/paralyzed. Love that.

Supportive proficiency is good for melee types that want to cast some magic. But I would forget about MM/Fireball/etc at this point. Complex strategies involving Battlecaster equipment help, but it's for higher leveled players.

Normally I am a brute. Just physical attacks. But I learned in games like Knights of the Old Republic that having some magic to back you up is nice. So I am trying to raise my strength high. And kinda evenly distribute the rest. But i am finding my magic lacking. The poison thing is godly. Helps a lot. But magic missle and fireball rarely hit. :-( so I am finding my points spent towards magic wasted. Unless the poison thing is cconsidered magic. I never cast anything. Enemies just randoly take damage and are stunned/paralyzed. Love that.

evenly distributing your stats wont help you, you will spread yourself too thin. been there, done that. if you want to mage then keep your end and agi even with your current level or 1 point higher, keep int and wis within 2 or 3 points of current level and put the rest, whatever that may be, into str and dex. others might recommend slightly diff fine tuning but thats how i get by. many people here are gonna recommend mage though because melee is damn near impossible for beginners. this, i also learned the hard way.

next question is what gear are you using if any? you know the saying "the clothes dont make the man" well this doesnt hold true for HV, you need the right gear for your combat style. you dont wanna bring a knife to a gun fight right?

Q: is there any penalty or backlash for turning off hourlies?

This post has been edited by PSPhreak: Aug 7 2011, 14:53

I'm pretty brute too:I focus mainly on Str and Dex to hit hard and often, and Agility to act faster.And since I use Dual-Wield (and thus have to kill enemies 1 at time) I spent some points on healing and protective spells to make up for the lack of a shield, and also Weaken and Sleep to better deal with boss groups.

Q: is there any penalty or backlash for turning off hourlies?

No.

Q: is there any penalty or backlash for turning off hourlies?

Besides losing out on the easy XP, none.

Q: A confused monster is supposed to be silenced as well?
Because they won't cast any special or spirit attack when they're confused.