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Topics - botebote77

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76
Farming Runs / Some of my playthroughs
« on: 09 January 2018, 03:42:49 »
I'm new to this video recording/sharing but might as well try.. These are just 2nd and 3rd of my recorded videos.. The 1st one has no sound :)

Epic regular playthrough


Legendary xmax x3


I shared the link of this site at each of the descriptions (is that ok?)
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVzC_wOlfRHyQRXAYZFTrGA?view_as=subscriber


I also disabled comments so if anyone who sees it has questions or anything to say, they sign up here  ::)

77
General Discussion / Diary of a Mage Lover
« on: 28 December 2017, 12:33:07 »
Hello fellow TQ lovers of the overworld, botebote77 here, a nobody and a self-proclaimed mage lover. Nobody knows me because i never registered in the old forums because of internet connection issues that time. But God knows how many times I've scourged that forum, and so, despite people not knowing me, some old TQ forum members are familiar to me. I have played this game from the old original TQ game, to TQIT, to UL/SV, and now to TQAE and TQ:R. Over 1000 hours in total.

Now to start, I am aware of the fact that mages are unpopular in this game probably because of the 80% CDR cap nerf. I am also aware that this will not change the fact that mages will remain unpopular even after i write this open letter. Still, there might be new or even long time players wanting to try a mage but just need a little help. I hope to be that help. Or one of those helps. Or if you're like me who likes to try things myself and likes to try things anyway despite of what other people say, let me be one of those few voices that say "just go for it".

Despite mages being unpopular, this has never stopped me from finding mage builds that work on all three difficulties. Also being a mage lover, the general consensus that mages are weaker than melees and ranged builds has never stopped me from trying to make mages as powerful or even stronger than most weapon users. I have played mages in TQIT and TQ:AE/R self-found or not. When i started playing TQAE, i have lost all my saves from TQIT so i had to play self-found again.

To be of help, i have to point out what i usually do and what i think about casters. I think the mind-sets for most gamers are: str is for warriors, int is for casters and shields are for warriors, staves for casters. I never saw it that way. For stats, i never saw it necessary to go all int. Sure you'll deal more damage but you'll also make your character as fragile as it can be. That makes you hit less because you'll spend some of your time running instead of attacking. Some like to mix it int and dex for defensive ability. But 1 DA per 1 dex? And DA doesn't even work on ranged and AoE attacks. A shield will give you better protection not just because of the block chance but also because most shields give lots of resists, and in some cases, give casters needed attributes, like in the case of pelaron or moon disc. Deimos is also a shield that can help casters not just because of the all skills but also because of %physical damage (more on that later). But i admit not all of my casters invest in strength. My favorite character is still my dex/int sorcerer but still, i made her wear a shield: santa's shield. I didn't want to hamper her using a staff and having one less item slot. (very late edit: i don't mean DA is now bad. i just mean to not overlook str. there are workarounds to low DA. and in cases where DA seems the only solution, having a good shield often leads to good balance which often lead to good DA from items)

But going high strength limits our damaging capabilities, right? Not necessarily. The devs have gifted us in TQAE one key change that helps a caster immensely:

+ Physical damage from abilities and item bonuses now scales with Strength (10% per 65)

This is why i said %physical from Deimos helps. I take advantage of it with Distortion Wave from dream. That and:

+ Elemental Damage % bonuses now also boost fire, cold and lightning DoTs

Sweet. Physical damage from spells has been buffed. Elemental DoT has been buffed. Cooldown reduced to 4 secs. Sweet. Earth also deals mix physical and elemental. Having flat physical from items/skills and using throwing knives also work, as in the case of assassin for example, using battle standard to boost knives and traps. Traps are pets in AE and benefit from pet bonuses. The boost to Traps and Throwing knife are the main reasons why rogue is my favorite mastery in TQ:AE/R. Yes i think throwing knife has been buffed in TQAE despite the 10% chance (you'll see if you continue reading, you've gone far enough so why not continue :) ).

Some of the changes in TQAE I've explored are:

+Bleeding Damage now increases by 10% per 50 dexterity

+ Poison damages now increase by 10% per 50 dexterity

I'm sure the new vit int scaling also helps. I think also the pierce from items and abilities now scaling with dex.

I think you see now why i think throwing knife has been buffed in AE. Those changes and the fact that you won't be hostaged by recharge items anymore, allowing you to get necessary attributes like resists and life/mana steal from other items.

So i guess what I'm saying is, adapt and look for changes that help instead of changes that weaken us. Don't just limit yourselves to skills like ice shards because it's one of the few spells with zero cooldown. Look for new synergies like static charge now boosting both lightning and electrical burn. DoTs have been buffed in AE so a prophet focusing on lightning and EBD is still very much viable. Earth deals mix fire, burn and physical. And burn and physical from spells have been buffed in AE. Why not mix it with strength instead of going all int? You also have the option to wear a shield so you don't have to hide in stone all day making you attack more often, like in the case of hybrid melee int/str spamming eruption. Or a caster using core dweller to tank and spamming eruption and volcanic orb.

Now there's no way I'm talking mages and not talk about reduced resistances. Those always go hand in hand. Some people don't realize that, that's why they say mages fall short late game. It really doesn't if you get reduced resistances. One of the reasons why warfare is so good is because it has skills that reduce armor and physical resistances. It's just the same with mages. You need to reduce enemy resistances to be effective. So if you're playing mage and you have nature, hunting or storm, be sure to get susceptibility, flush out or squall. Spreading knives or ternion to reduce resistances is also very good. But actually, I'm still hesitant to call a ternion user a caster.

Ok, so now to close this, i still remember the few times I've played mage sorcerer in multiplayer. Several people asking me: "What build is that?" and me asking them when they portal to town: "Can you buy me mana pots?" lol   Adios

my favorite character


a str/int caster


My nephew's. If it was mine i would've made it wear a shield.. probably

but it's good as it is.. Toxeus is a puppy

a str/dex melee assassin that can also go caster


a caster dreamkiller? why not?


78
Runemaster AE / Skinchanger Petmaster
« on: 22 December 2017, 01:11:26 »
Skinchanger Petmaster

Update: finally able to turn this to a guide.. it turned out well and something different

https://titanquestfans.net/index.php?topic=477.0


Like Medea's Trickster thread, this is also more like a journal than a guide because i don't know how good this will be in the long run. But the journey's no fun if you know where you're going so I'll go with this anyway. I'm planning on playing petmaster skinchanger. My love for unconventional builds has led me to this. I admit i was originally planning for a more unconventional build in dual wield melee soothsayer. But when i tested the MI sword einherjar's fate, the granted skill reckless offense just doesn't work. It wouldn't allow me to equip two weapons. This bug has killed another 1 of my planned builds: the dual wield iceshard sage or dual wield ice shard druid. i was planning on equipping einherjar's fate and persephone's caress.

Ok, now back to the skinchanger, there are 3 reasons why I'm planning to play this:

1) Rune seems to offer very little for petmasters

2) My belief that any combination can work

3) My motto in this game being never trash a skill

I haven't played much rune yet but so far my least favorite skills are runic mines and menhirs. So, what better way to play than a skinchanger focusing on pets, runic mines, and menhirs :)  . This will be an accomplished hero because i want to progress to later difficulties asap. I'm not trying to prove anyone wrong. Rather, I'm trying to find good use for those skills.

If you can think of synergies or weaknesses i might have missed, feel free to comment below.

Now, if i can just think of a good name for my skinchanger..

79
General Discussion / Flashy Builds
« on: 19 December 2017, 03:05:13 »
What is your flashiest build? i'm not talking about strongest most optimal builds but most awesome, fun to watch builds.. currently, i think mine would be my melee caster dual throwing thunderer.. i'm focusing on CDR so i spam lightning bolt and thunder strike.

What are some of your flashiest builds?

80
Gaming / Mysteries of gaming
« on: 18 December 2017, 07:36:35 »
Don't you find it weird that when gaming, your hands have no problem finding the right hotkeys.. but when typing, your hands somehow forget where the letters are and you still look at the keyboard?

81
Runemaster AE / Rune Mastery Test Observations
« on: 08 December 2017, 01:41:50 »
alright finally got to some testing.. here are my observations:

note: these tests are done with the help of defiler.. all are only personal observations so i have no way of saying all are 100% correct

the 2 menhir skills are completely different skills in that you cast each separately.. that is so not TQ-like (it was present in mods but never in vanilla)

thunder strike shoots extra lightning to nearby enemies if you use melee weapons.. but if you use projectile weapons, it shoots 5 projectiles instead of the lightning strike (shoots 10 if you use 2 throwing weapons)

runeword: feather affects strength requirements for shields

now onto elemental conversion:

note: I did not trust my DPS from these tests so all of these are pure observations from repeated testing

onslaught is better than rune weapon for strength based chars.. however getting int allows us to reach 80% CDR much easier

onslaught dissipates faster than rune weapon

%physical from onslaught does not seem to boost rune weapon with maxed transmutation (99% converted to elemental).. which leads me to believe that %physical happens AFTER the conversion to elemental.. and if so, any %physical from skills or items has no effect on maxed transmutation

rune weapon with maxed transmutation (99% converted to elemental) does not seem to crit (or if it does, the 1% damage not converted is negligible)

very high strength seems useless if you have maxed transmutation (which kind of validates my theory that %physical happens after the conversion).. DPS stat sheet says increase in damage but observation says otherwise.. i tried hitting satyrs in legendary with very low str/int/dex.. damage is of course puny.. i increased my str to 1k+, damage is still puny.. i tried very low str and 1k+ int, damage is good

i tried to test pierce conversion but i just can't see any noticeable difference.. increasing dex says increased damage in DPS stat sheet, but i can't see any noticeable difference from observation, even when i put my dex at 1k+.. the weird thing is i also can't see any noticeable difference when i put transmutation at lvl 0.. so i can't make any conclusion regarding pierce conversion (but a wild guess would be that even the pierce gets converted to elemental)

edit: a dev answered this question on steam

https://steamcommunity.com/app/475150/discussions/0/1499000547486549440/

so, what I'm taking is if you have 99% converted to elemental, and you use a spear with 25% pierce, only 25% of the remaining 1% gets converted to pierce

82
General Discussion / Challenge: Theorycrafting alternative builds
« on: 07 December 2017, 12:26:04 »
One of the best features of this game has always been the option to choose two masteries and it has resulted in us players of thinking of different skills that goes well together regardless of the focus a mastery gives.

This has sometimes led to alternative builds like the melee elementalist or the OP petmaster spellbreaker from TQIT (100% CDR). And now, for the sake of nothing other than fun, i am challenging anyone interested to craft their own alternative builds. I am not saying we start from scratch and make a toon and play it. This is just for fun theorizing alternative builds that maybe could work, xmax or not.

Like "Elementalist, and how not to build it ...  .... hmm wait maybe we could build it like so?"

So, anyone up for this?

The petmaster champion passes this from my POV

Right now I'm thinking of a melee/bow soothsayer with wolves. Deathchill aura, strength of the pack, unearthly power, plague, briar ward with sanctuary, HoO. Why not?

For like one month i have been thinking of a vitality damage dealing pets warlock. Vitality damage wraithlord's rings, Unearthly Power, and Circle of Power to boost traps. But this feels wrong because pierce from traps are weak against undeads and constructs, and vitality damage doesn't address that. Maybe ternion would but meh it wouldn't feel like an alternative build.

Several months back i have thought of an int based brigand focusing on pet enhancers and cooldown reduction. Bonus to pets items and permanent call of the hunt to boost traps. But somehow i couldn't complete this theoretical build. I always felt it would be worlds weaker than a regular brigand. So this doesn't pass the test imo.. unless someone can think of a way to make this great and complete my theoretical build.

Doesn't matter if it's gear dependant or not, this is just theorycrafting anyways. Any mastery combination is welcome as long as the route to building is not the obvious choice.

For ragnarok i can think of a throwing weapon user conqueror or elementalist. But that is only for ragnarok. Maybe archer for elementalist

gasconron's 70% int Thane/Battlemage counts imo :)

The dual-wield Persephone's Caress ice shard Thane also counts (damn it still hasn't lost its coolness up to this day)

Anyone care to share their ideas?

83
Guides AE / Physical Damage Ternion
« on: 11 November 2017, 13:48:03 »

that was dangerous facing machae archers while taking a screen shot  ;D

note: this toon and any unusual builds from here on out are created from blank characters. right now while I'm still waiting for the deities mod :)  ,  I'll just be on a quest to find the most absurd builds that surprisingly work. this is a joke build. i don't recommend this to anyone except those crazy enough looking for ridiculous builds  >:D
[update: my journey for ridiculous builds will be put on hold because of TQ:Ragnarok.. looks like it's just this one.. the HYPE is real]

Physical damage ternion (spirit/warfare)

As you might have guessed, this is a spellbreaker. Spirit so we'll have ternion, and warfare for the physical damage. Where do we get the physical damage? Battle standard

Battle standard (at ultimate max level) gives us 274 flat physical damage, just about on par with most legendary weapons. With 80%CDR, we can get battle standard and unearthly power up at all times. We can also spam war horn for CC and reduced armor. This might be one of the tankiest ternion users because of deathchill aura and permanent battle standard, as well as the high armor items we can wear because of high strength. Problem is we don't really hit and run because battle standard is stationary. As a result, attack damage converted to health becomes a necessity.

I actually find this difficult to equip probably because i can't wear a shield so that's one less item. Aside from the life steal, 80% CDR is also necessary as well as attack speed. Luckily, the two masteries we have can actually help with gear itemization. Battle Standard gives +1 to all skills so we can settle for just +3 to all skills from items. Spirit has circle of power and can help get our CDR to 80%. Circle of power is often ignored because of its small radius and it's also stationary. Well, this is a stationary ternion user because of battle standard. Of course we can still run if we have to escape certain death but most of the time when fighting, this is a stationary ternion user.

One downside of this is we often kill monsters before battle standard can be cast again. So what i do is get to the next mob, run back to battle standard, then fight again. Problem is i also leave circle of power. That makes getting CDR to at least 60% necessary in my opinion. This might've been a whole lot easier if i have tracker's hood. But i don't so circle of power to the rescue.

OK, i think you got this pictured out now. My skills:

https://www.kirmiziperfect.com/titancalc-anniversary-edition/TitanCalc4005.html?mastery=Spellbreaker&master1=2&master2=3&sa=0&m1=32-6-0-12-8-0-1-0-6-16-0-6-8-1-1-8-1-1-1-1-0-0&m2=32-0-0-0-0-8-0-10-0-0-10-0-0-0-0-6-0-6-0-0-1-0

Lots of unused skills i actually don't know where to put. Maybe Lich damage? But it could also easily go to ancestral warriors and/or outsider. Remember with 80% CDR, we could summon both more often.

Stat distribution is of course int and strength. Not much choice because staves have high int requirements and strength based armors have high strength requirements. Why do we need strength? Because we deal physical damage even though we use a staff. %Physical damage also helps and we mostly get that from strength based gears.

This is harder to make than the usual melee spellbreaker. Also much harder to equip than the mage haruspex (that was easy to equip). I can't even get my resists high so i had to keep other items like crosier of osiris and rings with high res for emergencies. Really gear dependant and stat distribution is tricky. But i will go on record and say that if done right, this is even more powerful than the melee version.

items i used:

weapon: leeching night mistress clutch of devouring enhanced with incarnation of valor of achilles (35% attack speed bonus)

helm: hallowed wreath enhanced with epic crystal of Erebus (15% pierce, elem, poison, vit res bonus)

ring 1: Socrates jewel of immortality enhanced with incarnation of monkey kings trickery (26% pierce res bonus)

ring 2: chirons loop

chest: cestus

arms: archmages clasp

amulet : sacred pendant enhanced with legendary raptor tooth (15% attack speed bonus)

artifact: symbol of the polymath with stun res bonus

greaves: athenas battle greaves


note: As with most ternion users, this is a great build to spread resistance reduction. Problem is because this is hard to equip, i can only settle for monkey kings trickery and the 6% chance from archmages clasp. Still does the job though.

update for ragnarok:

I made this pre-ragnarok meant as a half joke. But when i got my first physical damage staff in ragnarok (carnyx staff), i actually felt proud. I feel as though i foresaw it all lol. Now looking up at https://www.tq-db.net/ , i see there are 2? more physical damage staves. The base physical alone opens up more mastery choices. Also when trying carnyx staff, i found out it has a hidden attribute. Every attack is AoE and has 100% chance to pass through enemies. Now that sounds interesting for a ternion user. I haven’t found the other physical damage staves yet so i have no way of trying for now

Also, i’m sure anyone who’ve spent an ample time in act 5 has found at least 1 staff of the chosen. Notice the flat pierce and poison damage? (cough *apollo’s will* cough). lol I have no interest in trying new ternion users for now but hey anything’s possible

84
General Discussion / Archers Without Hunting
« on: 06 November 2017, 11:10:55 »
(sorry and thank you for borrowing your title psych, i just think it's catchy)

Yes it's very possible to make a still good archer build even if you don't have hunting.. I have first hand experience with my illusionist.. other archer builds without hunting I'd like to try are dreamkiller and (all hell break loose) elementalist.. Core Dweller is tankier now and eruption would benefit from high strength.. %total damage and resistance reduction would also shine with multiple types of damages.. I'm picturing symbol of the polymath for this build.. i also like to try hybrid archer sage since monster lure is also tankier now and the RR from study prey and squall would stack.. but that is with hunting and should be in another thread

But really, i just want to use this thread to talk about some of the changes in AE regarding archers in general

Calculated Strike:
+ Empowered arrows pierce through all targets

Onslaught:
+ Now also increases arrow speed by 15-114%

Scatter Shot Arrows:
+ Now do 80% of their damage as Bleeding over 3 seconds

With changes to calculated strike and onslaught, it's like the devs are almost encouraging you to try archers without hunting.. the nerf to scatter shot also really hurts.. not much because bleed now scales with dex and it still deals the same amount of damage, just DoT now right? wrong

i actually experimented on this with a test cheat char in legendary, scaling dex with a few points first and then gradually increasing it to see how much dex you need for the damage to be noticeable.. well, i got it to 2000 dex and bleed is still pitiable.. not to mention totally useless against undeads and constructs.. with scatter shot maxed.. i didn't put too much points in strength because i want to concentrate on just bleed damage (this is a test char anyway).. it becomes a little more noticeable with study prey but still pitiful

with this i actually wondered if poison is better than bleed since i deal very good damage with my knifethrower.. a friend had a good explanation for this.. he said it's not about this or that.. the problem is it's DoT and would not stack with other DoTs of the same type.. yes i accept that logic.. if it's pierce it would easily stack with other pierce.. but with DoT, nope

i might be wrong here (especially since i haven't played TQIT in years and I've lost all my saves in that) but i believe against mobs, it's possible to hit a monster with more than 1 fragment especially with maxed puncture shot and volley.. now if that was pierce, the damage would easily stack.. it might be one of the reasons why scatter shot was so overpowered in TQIT.. but now it's bleed and would not stack with other bleeds

Another explanation i have is maybe certain monsters have reduction in bleed duration.. that is asides from their bleed res.. i tested this against different monsters from rhodes to soronis by the way.. Personally i think it should be about 50% bleed instead of 80%

Don't get me wrong, i still like hunting for archers.. getting CotH permanent is almost always worth it in most hunting toons.. btw, if anyone is wondering how to get permanent CotH, you need around 65% CDR.. refresh from nature is a shortcut.. Also, volley and study prey are just too valuable for archers.. but if i am to make a brigand in AE, i would seriously consider getting calculated strike instead of marksmanship especially since if volley procs on an empowered hit, it would theoretically deal massive damage.. maybe the same for an archer slayer but onslaught has no chance to pass through enemies so im not sure

This is not a rant although it might seem so :)  ..  This is just an attempt at offering a possible explanation on why scatter shot feels so underpowered now

Sssooo, anyone with an archer toon without hunting? please share your experience in this thread.. Or if you think I'm just making things up, criticizing is also welcome :)

85
Guides AE / House of Flying Daggers Build
« on: 27 October 2017, 04:39:53 »


This is a guide for the TQAE version of the bladeflinger build.

I think most pros already know of this but i just haven't found a guide for the AE version yet so i decided to just make 1 (this is different from the TQIT version).

This is a guide for those who have reached at least epic difficulty. Beginners can also do this but it'll take much longer for your character to take shape.

Ok let's start. A knifethrower is a rogue who uses throwing knives as main attack. You can have earth or storm as your 2nd mastery for some elemental damage (your a caster anyway). Many players don't know it yet but rogue is actually a very good caster. For my char i chose storm but I'm sure you can go with earth as well

Pros: Kills really fast and every attack is AOE/CC

Cons: energy probs and you're a glass cannon so don't get too close to mobs

Your very first target is to reach lvl 25 with whatever you have by just pumping dex (no strength). That's doable, right? you can add int so your staff (if you decide to go with staff) can do more damage but what you really need to pump is dex. You need 297 dex by lvl 25. You'll need to pre-farm SB cuffs (epic version) and an amulet that gives +2 to rogue (merchants sell it). Both items have a char lvl requirement of 25.. you need 297 dex to wear epic SB cuffs.

By lvl 25, your char should look like this:

https://www.kirmiziperfect.com/titancalc-anniversary-edition/TitanCalc9128.html?mastery=Sorcerer&master1=6&master2=8&sa=0&m1=32-0-0-1-12-1-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-1-1-1-0-0-6-0&m2=4-0-1-0-0-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

That's just lvl 21 but you get the idea. You should max throwing knives and flurry of knives as early as possible.

When you get to lvl 25, the fun finally starts. You'll be a true knifethrower. Your throwing knives will have zero recharge. Set it as your RMB and you can just spam it. You'll need lots of energy pots but that's not really a problem. You can enhance your amulet with spectral matter to help a little bit with your energy probs. By epic, most monsters have energy so you can leech energy and you don't have to carry much energy pots. You'll eventually want to max mandrake and nightshade so your attack itself is a CC. Storm nimbus tree or earth enchantment tree (whichever 2nd mastery you want) for some elemental damage. After pumping dex, you need to pump int. Storm Nimbus only gives puny elemental damage.. for one knife projectile that is. We're talking lots and lots of projectiles here. Trust me, it's worth it for this build. Endgame your char should look like this:

https://www.kirmiziperfect.com/titancalc-anniversary-edition/TitanCalc9128.html?mastery=Sorcerer&master1=6&master2=8&sa=0&m1=32-0-0-12-12-1-8-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-12-8-8-0-0-6-0-0&m2=32-0-10-1-0-8-1-0-12-0-0-0-6-12-0-0-1-1-0-8-0-0

or

https://www.kirmiziperfect.com/titancalc-anniversary-edition/TitanCalc85ef.html?mastery=Magician&master1=6&master2=1&sa=0&m1=32-0-0-12-12-1-8-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-12-8-8-0-0-6-0-0-0&m2=32-12-0-8-1-0-0-1-0-0-10-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-12-0-12-0-0

You'll eventually want to replace your epic SB cuffs with the legendary version (385 dex). You need int and dex for damage of course. Disarm traps is a good 1 point wonder skill to have here. Traps and constructs are immune to bleed and poison. Disarm traps take care of that and with your gear it becomes lvl 5. Definitely a good 1 point wonder

There you have it. Very easy to make and very easy to farm gear. You'll be surprised that it actually kills fast

notes: you need 120 str to wear epic SB cuffs and 144 for legendary.. just wear items that give some + to str.. casting speed from items is also good for this build.. you can also add a few points to strength to open more options for your other items but in my case i never needed to.. rogue mastery gives +56 to str anyways so that's 106 str with no items.. resistance reduction not from a weapon (like Polaris or monkey kings trickery) is gold for this build (actually it's a must in legendary).. also, see that attack damage converted to health from elemental rage? that would take you a long way.. but it must not be from a weapon


Now this is only for the mage version. I have also tried this with a knifethrower assassin and illusionist. Though for those builds, throwing knife is only used to reduce resistances and to proc granted skills. See here for a knifethrower Illusionist. For a knifethrower assassin, you have to stack CDR so you'll be able to spam battle standard. Traps deal really good damage with battle standard. You also have to wear Key of Elysium (2 KOEs if you have) to summon ancestral warriors. It procs with knives and the recharge is only 6 seconds so you can summon multiple warriors. Now wear a mbutis advocate on secondary to proc study prey (it also procs with knives). It's like an assassin version of the petmaster champion. It's more gear intensive and harder to make but it's also more powerful imo

update for ragnarok:

Dex requirement for epic SB cuffs has been raised to 307 and 425 for legendary version. Str requirement likewise has been raised to 132 for epic and 170 for legendary. Doesn’t really mean much because lvl requirement is still the same. Just have to focus on dex and str more. Ragnarok also have Eitr charms which gives flat elemental damage and it is confirmed by at least 1 user that 2x Eitr on rings is worth for this build (credit to Gautrec).

This is actually playable self-found even for new players but a different route is needed. New players start with int instead of dex and become an ice-sharder. Of course storm would be the first mastery to take. When you finally have +4 to all skills or at least to rogue, start putting points in dex and eventually respec to throwing knives. You can also put some points in dex earlier like late normal or early epic for preparation for epic SB cuffs.

What does throwing knives offer that ice shards doesn’t? Better damage, confusion, higher DA because of dex, ability to life/mana steal, and access to spear or throwing weapons again because of dex

video link
Spoiler for Hiden:

86
Guides AE / Illusionist Build
« on: 27 October 2017, 03:21:08 »


A somewhat unpopular combination?

Just want to share my experience on my 2nd favorite char in TQAE (Nature/Rogue). Whichever mastery you start with doesn't really matter but i suggest you focus on 2 wolves and traps early game. This is a petmaster/trapper/X build. Mine is a petmaster/trapper/archer/knifethrower build but the archer and knifethrower part may differ depending on your gamestyle preference.

The skills you would want are:

Rogue: Traps (max), flash powder and however you want to attack. I chose envenom tree (max nightshade and mandrake), calculated strike and lethal strike. You can also choose max knives and no calculated or lethal strike if that's your preference. Heck, i wouldn't fault you if you go PGB or none at all except traps and flash powder. A knifer is very good if you have resistance reduction not from weapon.. like Polaris or monkey kings trickery.. or in my case a mbutis advocate on secondary (the study prey procs with knives).

Nature: I suggest you put at least 1 skill point in every skill here.. All are good if you stack up + to all skills items (which you should).

My build (with +6 all skills):

https://www.kirmiziperfect.com/titancalc-anniversary-edition/TitanCalce491.html?mastery=Illusionist&master1=4&master2=6&sa=0&m1=32-4-14-10-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-4-10-1-1-1-1-1-0&m2=32-6-0-1-7-1-6-6-4-1-14-0-10-6-1-1-6-0-1-1-6-0

Now you might think traps and strength of the pack don't synergize well because traps deal pierce damage and strength of the pack enhance physical. The solution is simple: a wraithlord's ring (the type that gives bonus physical to pets). 2 wraithlord's rings would be yummy. I wear a wraithlord's ring of immortality with demon's blood. I don't think you should sacrifice your amulet for another wraithlord's but well if you have a wraithlord's amulet of convocation then oof (i don't have that).

This is somewhat safe to play if you let the traps do the aggros first. You still get hit so flash powder, briar ward, regrowth (a 2nd source of healing while your pots are on recharge) and of course HoO is important here. I'm still in act 3 legendary and having no real problems (zero deaths in legendary so far). Frankly, i don't see myself dying if i play careful enough. I have finished the game several times so i have a pretty good feel for the game. I did die once in epic though when i wasn't totally focused on playing (bad Elton John).

Now you might notice i didn't include stat and gear optimization here. Basically because i leave it up to you. Go int and stack up CDR and bonus to pets (spamming briar ward and plague). str and dex and go melee. Use a bow just like me. It really depends on your preferred game style. I do suggest you stack up all skills though (at least + 4) and the mentioned wraithlord's (at least 1). A good place to farm mbutis advocate is from the frogmen just outside rhodes before the first rebirth fountain.. and also soronis (that lampido's potion quest). The free study prey is very valuable especially if you have the physical wraithlord's.


additional info:

looking at tq-db:

beastcaller's ring - lvl 3 (req lvl)

spiritcaller's - lvl 14

summoner's - lvl 28

invoker's - lvl 35

ritualist's - lvl 42

wraithlord's - lvl 53

all can be bought from merchants

update for ragnarok:

i found wolves to be extra squishy in ragnarok with this build. Still, with the new XP scaling and with all those bonus skill points in act 5, you should have enough skill points to add to survival instinct. Also, there is a new prefix (Allfather’s) that gives an even higher boost to pets than wraithlord’s but has lvl 68 requirement.

here is how my illusionist looks like optimized for ragnarok:



start   :  surtr
6:00    :  muspelheim
17:00   :  loki
20:24   :  Olympus portal to Typhon

throwing knife is good for spreading CC and reducing resistances
a fair amount of cast speed is needed for traps and knives

87
Guides AE / Mage Haruspex Build
« on: 27 October 2017, 02:16:15 »


mage haruspex build (hunting/dream)

whoah what?

Many of us have read (or played) about the immortal haruspex build and as we all know by now, it's not so immortal in AE anymore. Sure we can still make a viable bow/spear haruspex but why make one when there are arguably better builds like a warden or brigand perhaps for a spear melee or ranger or again brigand for archers. And yeah, we all don't like the nerfing of scatter shot.

So haruspex toons are no good now? Nah! Let's make it good again with some imagination. Let's take advantage of two of the often overlooked but not forgotten changes in TQAE:

+ Physical damage from abilities and item bonuses now scales with Strength (10% per 65)

and

+ Elemental Damage % bonuses now also boost fire, cold and lightning DoTs

So with that, let's proceed with this crazy mage haruspex build.

pros: main attack is an AOE and provides slow for a little CC. has access to both str based items and int based items (oh yeah we all like to wear those items)

cons: energy probs (well, we can't have everything)

core skills are:

Hunting: study prey, flush out, monster lure

Dream: distortion wave, lucid dream, temporal flux, trance of convalescence

How does it work? Study prey reduces physical resist, and flush out reduces elemental resist. Distortion wave deals mix physical damage and electrical burn damage. Plus the two changes mentioned above makes DW even stronger. The lure is there to keep the monsters busy. This is like a ranged physical/EBD damager wearing a shield. neat huh?

Gameplay is cast monster lure to draw aggro, step back a little, cast study prey, then cast as many DW as you have to. Remember DW is part physical part DoT so you don't necessarily have to spam it (DW has 0.8sec cooldown with 80% CDR). You can put DW in your LMB slot if you like. Against Bosses, monster lure don't work but most bosses don't move a lot so it's just the same. Just cast study prey and DW repeatedly.

stats: just enough dex for archmages clasp (159) so maybe 5pts, the rest int and str. I suggest going int first then after about 350, go str

Things you should look for from items: cooldown reduction, + to all skills, cast speed, resists, %elem damage, %phys damage. Quite a lot but again, you have access to both str and int items so you can actually get all of those. Item selections are so many i can only think of 2 BiS items: Lykaion Malleus and Archmage's Clasp. I also suggest you look at occult rings and socrates rings. Both can easily be bought from merchants. Those two alone take care of elem damage, cast speed, as well as provide extra int.. Use demons blood on at least 1 for vit res. A Boreas staff on secondary or just a staff of the betrayer with shen-nongs would be well worth here. And oh yeah, also look for some form of reduced energy cost or energy regen. I have never found a Lykaion Malleus so sorry i can't help you with the best farming spot for it. Chances are you'll be wearing a club or an axe because those have high str req and low dex

my suggested buid:

https://www.kirmiziperfect.com/titancalc-anniversary-edition/TitanCalc3f1e.html?mastery=Haruspex&master1=7&master2=9&sa=0&m1=32-0-0-0-0-1-1-0-0-0-6-8-0-0-8-0-6-1-6-0-0-0&m2=32-1-0-12-0-8-0-6-1-0-0-8-12-8-8-0-6-12-0-1-0-0

I suggest going dream first, putting only 1 point on all necessary skills and rushing to unlock psionic immolation. Max it and then max distortion wave and chaotic resonance. Then go hunting and also rush to unlock flush out, putting only 1 point on the necessary skills. Max flush out, then study prey.

Just enough points on trail blazing to get maxed run speed (166?). Only max premonition and distortion field late in the game. Come legendary you'll have lots of "where do i put all these skill points at?" . That's your problem, not mine :) . Maybe distort reality for extra vit damage (EBD from temporal rift does not stack with EBD from DW)

If you're wondering about the damage, DW with study prey is just enough to one-shot legendary machae archers and melee machaes (not the yellow ones) with about 600str and 400+ int. Of course it's part DoT so you might want to 2 two-shot them. It's also AOE so if you hit all of them, they can all die in one shot

This can also serve as a blueprint for other similar builds like an avenger, summoner, or ritualist (strength of the pack boosts the physical in VO, eruption and DW). Maybe even throw warfare and other masteries into the mix

so that's it.. till next time and happy crazy playing :)

update for ragnarok:

With the release of new weapons in ragnarok especially throwing weapons, i’m not sure if Lykaion Malleus is Bis weapon for this anymore. I now use Neith’s Will. The dex requirement is not so high(270), has recharge, %total damage, and much needed resists. I don’t necessarily use it to attack range. The damage just doesn’t compare to distortion wave but throwing weapons allows me to have more DA with wood lore. But, only put more points in dex after you have raised your strength and int to about 400+. You would need more points in strength but if you found a good throwing weapon you want to wear, you can put some in dex but not too high.

Some new players have asked me if this is playable self-found. The answer is yes. Long-time TQ players have always known distortion wave to be a massive mob clearer early game. AE made it so that it’s still strong late game. I have been seeing recharge items in act 5 normal without even farming. Distortion wave alone can get you there if you stat correctly. I did say focus on int first that is because early recharge items have high int requirements but if you want to wear some good stuff strength based gear, putting some in strength won’t hurt. If you focus on dream first, you can unlock psionic immolation at lvl 10 or 11 and the cooldown will be reduced to 4 seconds. Just line ’em up and watch them die in one shot.

video link
Spoiler for Hiden:

88
General Discussion / Physical DoT
« on: 27 October 2017, 02:14:46 »
from the changelog:

+ Physical DoT now increases by 10% per 50 intelligence

What is physical DoT? i don't think I've seen one from skills or items.. I don't think the physical damage from eruption is DoT.. it's not listed as such and it's damage per hit so it should scale with strength, right?

+ Physical damage from abilities and item bonuses now scales with Strength (10% per 65)

same for distortion wave

anyone ever seen physical DoT from skills or items?

89
General Discussion / few questions
« on: 27 October 2017, 00:08:01 »
aloha.. first off thank you for this new forum.. i just have few starter questions.. how does this forum work? like can i post guides and questions here? do you allow bumping of threads? i see this forum has moderators, i just hope you're not as strict as the steam moderators?

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