Author Topic: Discussions of a Mastery - Nature - Making Friends and Helping Out  (Read 19392 times)

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Offline legowarrior

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This is something I put together on Reddit (under Psychcaptain).  I thought I might fill up the forum a bit by placing it here as well.  All feedback is welcome.  This is just to get the ball rolling. 

Intellect – 80
Dexterity – 48
Strength – 0
Health – 640
Energy – 512

Active Skills –

Heart of the Oak (4th level) – Provides Health and Increased Speed to you and Allies and can be upgraded to provide reduced energy costs and elemental resistance (Tranquility of Water at 16 level, Permanence of Stone at 24th level)

Regrowth (1st Level)– Provides Rapid targeted healing, and can be upgraded allow for healing nearby allies and more frequent healing (Accelerated Growth at 4th level and Dissemination at 16th level)

Refresh (32th level) – Active ability that reduce the cool down of other active abilities

Briar Ward (10th level) – Creates a wall around you which can cause piercing retaliation damage to those attacking it. Can be upgraded to deal poison damage and increased protection/regeneration and reduced energy cost (Stinging Nettle at 16th level and Sanctuary at 32th level)

Call of the Wild (1st level) – Summons Wolves, and later on up to three wolves can be summoned with a bit of help of boosters. These wolves can be further boosted to deal extra piercing and bleeding damage, do increased damage when low on health, and the ability to boost nearby allies attack, speed and energy regeneration. (Maul at 4th level, Survival Instinct at 10th level and Strength of the Pack at 24th level)

Plague (4th level) – Spreads an affliction that deals poison damage and reduces the enemies’ total health. It can be upgraded to reduce the enemies attack and speed, and make them more susceptible to almost all damage (Fatigue at 10th level, and Susceptibility at 24th level)

Sylvan Nymph (16th level) – An archer for all your archer needs. At higher levels it can cast shields around allies, protecting them against attack and deal extra element damage (Overgrowth at 24th level and Nature’s Wrath at 32th level)
Discussion   ( edit )
Nature is considered a Caster Mastery, and it does provide you with both intelligence and energy, but there isn’t much about it that requires you to put any points into intelligence. A Wanderer would gravitate towards staffs and robes because of that bonus to intelligence, but none of the active abilities benefit from high intelligence, and none of the abilities benefits staffs, unlike Storm, Earth, or Spirit. The fact that Nature provides a melee pet that boosts physical damage at the highest level might be a reason to consider a bow over a staff.

The obvious reason to go with an elemental staff is that many staffs provide boosts to your pets, unlike melee weapons, shields or bows. It also allows you to attack at range, allowing you to seek cover behind your briar ward and wolves and giving you a chance to fire off plague before committing.

With Nature having so little impact on weapons and armor, Nature really seems to open up to a lot of masteries. That being said, the one offense ability that Nature does have (Plague) deals poison damage. Not a lot, but it does mean that Wanderers actually benefit more from Dexterity then it does from intelligence.

So, what does Nature offer?

Well, pets,, buffs and defense.

Pets - With both Wolves and Sylvan Nymphs allow easy area clearing without too much effort on your part. Both do physical damage. Both can benefit from Heart of the Oak, allowing them to move faster and increasing their health. With Heart of the Oak and Regrowth, both can survive most of the games, but without a lot of boosting, I would assume they would die in your boss battles.

Buffs/debuffs – Both your pets can buff nearby allies, but for extra help, you have Heart of the Oak, which increases allies attack rate (including traps!). For extra help, Plague will weaken whole groups, making them easy pickings. Finally, Refresh allows you a chance to recharge your abilities faster. This might be helpful if your pets are dying, or you need to throw out more briar wards/healing. It does cost energy though.

Defense – I wanted to separate this out even though most of your buffs of defensive. Briar Ward gives you a safe space to attack from and can even shelter your nymph and other ranged allies.


What you need –

As I said, Nature does not provide a lot of direct offensive power. Outside of plague, you won’t be dealing direct damage. Outside of the speed boost from Heart of the Oak, you won’t be buffing your standard attacks. Luckily most other Masteries can provide you with the perks you need, but it is something to keep in mind.

On the other hand, since Nature doesn’t boost any single avenue, it means that it is free to combine with any other mastery with little overlap. Jump in with Hunting , War or Rogue and get a solid boost to your attacks with swords, spears, bows or axes. Defense can provide you with more ways to boost your allies, allowing to survive longer and allowing you to get into the fray without worrying too much about your health.

Storm and Earth both provide you with some direct damage and a 3rd pet, although it does mean you have to step back. Spirit gives you access to several more pets, although it does tend to overlap in the survival department. Finally Dream lets you go in almost any direction you want, from pets to direct damage or weapons.

Personally, I’ve had some success with different types of illusionists.

So, is Nature as versatile as I think, or is it’s dabbling in pets and defense a snooze fest. Do you find yourself pulled in a particular direction with nature or is there a skill forever person? I am hoping that this post will start a jump off on how Nature can be used and combined in your game play.

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Offline Medea Fleecestealer

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Re: Discussions of a Mastery - Nature - Making Friends and Helping Out
« Reply #1 on: 18 January 2018, 19:38:10 »
Have you read Tyr's excellent Wanderer's Guide?

https://www.kirmiziperfect.com/titan-quest-wanderer-nature-mastery-guide-by-tyr/

He's updated it for the AE version and there are many examples of the different class options.  It's indeed a very versatile mastery.  I usually play it as a caster type, but I've taken a Guardian through most of Epic Xmax for the HC challenge before he died.  An Illusionist can also be good fun if you want to throw knives and traps around while wolves and Nymph do their thing.  :)

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Offline Typhon

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Re: Discussions of a Mastery - Nature - Making Friends and Helping Out
« Reply #2 on: 18 January 2018, 19:46:27 »
Most of my characters have Nature attached to them :P
Your inventory is full *Plays intense game of tetris*
Spoiler for Hiden:

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Offline Cleglaw

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Re: Discussions of a Mastery - Nature - Making Friends and Helping Out
« Reply #3 on: 18 January 2018, 20:03:56 »
Most of my characters have Nature attached to them :P
It sounds like it is second nature to you.  :)
The last dying words of Dominique Bouhours, French grammarian
"I am about to — or I am going to — die: either expression is correct."

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Offline botebote77

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Re: Discussions of a Mastery - Nature - Making Friends and Helping Out
« Reply #4 on: 19 January 2018, 00:06:31 »
i just have to see the title to know who it was :)

i think the post count is 10? before your posts get automatically accepted.. if it was me, I'll just set it to auto accept all your posts  :)

what if dlb was one of us? (in Joan Osborne's tune)

now I'll have to copy paste my rogue reply as well? later :))
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Offline legowarrior

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Re: Discussions of a Mastery - Nature - Making Friends and Helping Out
« Reply #5 on: 19 January 2018, 13:52:10 »
Yes, yes you do!


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Offline Typhon

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Re: Discussions of a Mastery - Nature - Making Friends and Helping Out
« Reply #6 on: 19 January 2018, 15:17:03 »
Most of my characters have Nature attached to them :P
It sounds like it is second nature to you.  :)
Sometimes it's first  ;D
Your inventory is full *Plays intense game of tetris*
Spoiler for Hiden:

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Offline botebote77

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Re: Discussions of a Mastery - Nature - Making Friends and Helping Out
« Reply #7 on: 21 January 2018, 14:33:55 »
alright here's my take on my favorite mastery: Rogue (I'm a sucker for CCs)

Rogue is really an allrounder and as such, it goes well with any mastery

calculated strike - a good substitute for marksmanship making the rogue an able archer.. obviously also good for melee

lethal strike - yeah obvious

knives make a rogue a ridiculously good caster.. of all my chars, my sorcerer clears mobs the fastest.. it also kills bosses the fastest i think.. also good for just spreading CC (see envenom below)

traps are considered pets in AE and also benefits from pet bonuses, making them the 3rd best pets in the game, behind only ancestral warriors and outsider.. really good with battle standard or scroll of stalwart alliance.. traps also are surprisingly good aggros

of course it's also an able melee fighter as in the case of assassin or corsair for example

envenom weapon tree - really good for any weapon and also knives.. a popular skill distribution is leaving envenom weapon at 1pt and maxing nightshade and mandrake.. for chars who like to spread poison, maxing everything is worth it.. as in the case of my knifethrower sorcerer

flash powder - a good panic skill and really good for those who don't want to get hit

disarm traps - a 1pt wonder.. it's a passive skill and 1pt wouldn't hurt

anatomy and open wound - only for those who deal bleed damage.. both are passives.. 1pt on each also wouldn't hurt.. i have anatomy maxed on my knifethrower sorcerer

blade honing - a passive skill (sort of) good for melee chars dealing pierce damage.. sadly, it doesn't work for bows

PGB - fun.. both are 3 letters
« Last Edit: 21 January 2018, 16:01:18 by botebote77 »
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Offline legowarrior

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Re: Discussions of a Mastery - Nature - Making Friends and Helping Out
« Reply #8 on: 22 January 2018, 00:25:16 »
Blade honing does work with throwing weapons, which is cool.

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Offline Medea Fleecestealer

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Re: Discussions of a Mastery - Nature - Making Friends and Helping Out
« Reply #9 on: 22 January 2018, 07:46:54 »
Oh good, another skill my Trickster can use.  ;D

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Offline botebote77

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Re: Discussions of a Mastery - Nature - Making Friends and Helping Out
« Reply #10 on: 22 January 2018, 13:57:51 »
Blade honing does work with throwing weapons, which is cool.
oh right.. well you know that was written pre-ragnarok :) but thanks for pointing that out

now i write about another mastery that's close to my heart: Storm.. this should be obvious because it's the most mage-y mastery in the game.. some masteries have their own signature skill that makes them the envy of other masteries (like shield attack procs for defense, battle standard for warfare, HoO for nature, etc).. storm has two of them.

squall and obscured visibility - early game this is a good mob kill.. late game it becomes the best damn skill in the game imo.. reduced damage, reduced resistances, 100% impaired aim.. the RR is not absolute but the increased damage you do is still very noticeable.. one of the most dangerous mobs in the game is a mob of archers.. squall is one of the best counter skills for that (if not the best).. the reduced damage also makes me feel safe most of the time.. and this has low cooldown.. with 80% CDR you could literally fill the whole screen with it.. every char with storm should get this

the other signature skill: spell breaker.. the difference is you cast squall all the time, this one is only situational.. when i cast this against bosses, i feel i deal better damage.. they dispel enemy buffs anyway as was explained here.. it also drains their mana.. a boss wouldn't be able to cast most of its boss skills without mana.. 2 to 3 cast against dactyl and you can safely facetank him.. but this is not only for bosses.. one of the most important secondary resistances for me is entrapment resistance (reduced entrapment duration) especially against heavy mobs.. if i have hunting, i simply ignore that because of trail blazing.. the other skill that can counter this is spell breaker.. cast this on yourself and you'll instantly be free.. i also use this to dispel study prey on me

Typhon's thorns gone 5 times at 00:14, 00:54, 01:15, 01:55, 02:15
Spoiler for Hiden:

Dactyl can't use his wave like thingy
Spoiler for Hiden:

now onto the other skills

lightning bolt and chain lightning - this is the reason why storm was my favorite mastery in TQIT.. if you have 90%+ CDR, you can beat all 3 difficulties with this skill alone.. now CDR is capped at 80% and rightly so.. game literally gets broken with 100% CDR.. lightning bolt caps at 2.4 secs now but it's still a good support kill skill.. this seems to have no range in that you can cast this to the edge of your screen.. this is a good LMB skill for casters

thunderball - i don't like this skill for casters because unlike lightning bolt, you have to get close to enemies to cast this.. worse is this oftentimes miss.. so i do think it's better suited for melee chars (yes storm can be used for melee chars as well)

storm nimbus tree - a popular skill distribution is leaving the base skill at 1 point and maxing either heart of frost or static charge.. but there are cases where maxing all 3 skills are worth it (like throwing knives and probably late game oracle ternion)

ice shards - one of the most popular early game caster skills.. this should be paired with squall and heart of frost.. mid to late game though i advise you switch to lightning bolt and another kill skill (ie distortion wave or distort reality if you have dream)

storm surge - for me 1 point should suffice mainly for the stun proc

energy shield - this is actually a good skill as well as it's upgrade (reflection).. this protects against cold and lightning but this does not give added resistance.. this provides absorption so even if you have 80% resist, this will still give added protection.. plus the reflection is helpful against mobs and bosses.. i recommend at least 1pt each

wisp - one of the best pet in the game.. you can leave this at level 1 and not worry about it dying even in legendary.. eye of the storm is a must have for mages

freezing blast - i seldom use this skill but this is a good panic skill.. i don't like the 70% damage absorption but this has actually saved my ass a few times in multiplayer.. yeah, my party saved me
« Last Edit: 22 January 2018, 23:59:53 by botebote77 »
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