Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - CrocMagnum

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 8
1
Hi, kalimon! It was a joy to read your Spirit Guide.

This is some of the best rundown I’ve read on the subject. 

This truly deserves to be included in the All Masteries Compendium.

Ahem! Humble request @botebote77, I guess. Where is that lazy boy? ^^

2
Around the world / Re: A short fantasy story written by me...
« on: 23 April 2023, 15:37:41 »
This beautiful tale was touching and very well written.

Do you have more short stories under your belt? I genuinely can’t wait to read them.

I have zero knowledge about Slavic legends but if these are as good, I’m gonna look for some more.

A thousand thanks for the very pleasant read nargil66.

3
Holy Hell! That's some crazy news!

The changelog is promising, the devs seem to have modding in mind which is good news.

El Greco is doing a Stream on Twitch, right now. Ugh! The page refuses to load. ^^

https://www.twitch.tv/thelineofepicheroes 

4
Guides AE / Re: Rune Skills for Beginners V2 [Ragnarök Guide]
« on: 18 October 2018, 12:14:03 »
@botebote77: Well! Those are legitimate concerns I must admit. So:

- I’ve added your observation about the Guardian Stones,
- I’ve added your 2 videos about the Thunderer Spellcaster variant,
- Edit: I've also corrected the link to your Skinchanger Petmaster Guide,

Finally I also had to rework the "Hall of Contributors" section since you’re credited for so much stuff now. I hope you’ll like it. ^^

Note: I hope that you'll comment your awesome videos one day, that would be even more useful:
Spoiler for Hiden:
than listening to ABBA, you know. :P (I'm talking about his Thunderer vs Hades Video; )

5
Guides AE / Re: Rune Skills for Beginners V2 [Ragnarök Guide]
« on: 17 October 2018, 16:47:29 »
RESERVED ('cos you never know ^^)

Rune Skill Guide V2 what has changed:

- updated Skill "Reckless Offense",

- updated Skill "Menhir Wall",

- updated section "Build Compendium",

- arranged the "Build Compendium" by alphabetical order for ease of use,

- updated section "Hall of Contributors" accordingly. So big kiss to the new heroes:

 mammoth_hunter x2 :P, Tauceti, Billy_pilgrim, AnnaLusia and wolpak.

Note: please do tell if I something escaped my notice, like a Guide or something. ::)


6
Guides AE / Re: Rune Skills for Beginners V2 [Ragnarök Guide]
« on: 17 October 2018, 16:47:03 »
POST RUNE 2/2

Runeword: Absorb

"Enchant a shield or a staff with the ability to absorb the energy of enemy…"

Effects: -% Shield Recovery Time / % Absorption of Spell / Energy Leech Retaliation per Second (flat damage)

Thanks to Veteran Vio the use of this Skill has been finally understood:

Quote
Vio: Runeword: Absorb is the tanky alternative to Reckless Offense. It gives you Energy when you get hit, which in turn fuels the Energy-hungry shield. So it is quite good in combination with other damage mitigation or/and -% Energy Cost.

Seal of Fate > Aftershock

Seal of Fate: 3.0 Second Duration / 4.0 Meter Radius / Elemental Damage (flat) / % Reduction to Enemy's Health / 2.0 second(s) of Stun / +100% Damage to Devices

Aftershock: 4.0 Meter Radius / 4 Second Duration / Bleeding Damage / Reduced Armor / Reduced Resistances / % Chance of Impaired Aim / 4.0 second(s) of Skill Disruption / 20% Slow

Seal of Fate: the main skill is a decent debuff against Monsters. Good but doesn’t hold a candle to its lovely synergy,

Aftershock: now we’re talking! This beauty debuffs Monsters hard, it reduces their Resistances. Also the % Chance of Impaired Aim is a boon against Archers!

The only real drawback of "Seal of Fate > Aftershock" is the relatively limited area of the debuff (4 meters). The debuff zone does NOT increase not matter how many Skills Points you put into the skills. So this is mostly single target (Bosses, Heroic Monsters, dense mobs, etc). Even so you’ll be happy to have it because Monsters go down noticeably faster when they are under the effect of “Seal of Fate > Aftershock”.

Energy Armor

An aura that buffs you and your Allies (Familiars too). 5 Meter Radius / 25 Seconds cooldown. After a certain threshold of Damage is absorbed "Energy Armor" will vanish.

Effects: Damage Absorption (flat number but very high when the skill is maxed!) / Resistance to Physical-Piercing-Bleeding-Stun!!

A worthy skill. Some might complain that you have to cast it regularly but honestly this no big deal. Because those Resists are a Godsend. Personally I always cast "Energy Armor" and "Rune of Life" at the same time. When both are up I feel safe.

Now when Energy Armor is taken down by Monsters (which will happen I can assure you) then I can narrow down what kind of Damage I’m taking. This skill, like Rune of Life, is invaluable.

The casting radius of Energy Armor is limited to 5 meters, but from the moment you've cast it on your nearby Familiars -it works on them too- the Spell will latch on to them even when they rush afar to kill stuff in Aggressive Mode. The Spell will also vanish after the listed Damage has been sustained.

CriticalEdit: You can’t possibly talk about Energy Armor without bringing up its "terrifying"^^ Energy Cost Progression. Beginners might not realize this when Energy Armor is only Level 1. But from the moment you've raised the Skill, you'll have one nasty surprise:

LV1 Energy Armor: 40 Energy Cost
LV8 Energy Armor: 684 Energy Cost
LV10 Energy Armor: 1538 Energy Cost!
LV12 Energy Armor: 3460 Energy Cost!!!

So what does that mean? It implies that if you raise this Skill, you'll usually won’t have the required Energy Pool to cast it! How to counter this serious limitation? There are actually a few ways to make this skill work for you:

1) Green Items

some of them are dedicated to increase your Energy Pool in %. Look especially for greens like Plato’s Rings and later Socrates Rings,

2) Blues/Purples

Credits goes to Firebrand for the majority of the following list, thanks for the help, mate! ^-^:

# Cartouche Ring: is an easy drop from Normal, -10% Energy Cost Reduction,

# Seal of the High Priest (ring): drop in Act II Epic and Act II Legendary, -30% Energy Cost Reduction,

# Polaris (amulet): a super item overall, it is listed here for its -15% Energy Cost Reduction,

# Golden Shield of Pelaron: -20% Energy Cost, around 250 Energy Bonus (random), +10 Energy Regen/second

# Chakram of the Moon: +300 Energy Bonus,

# Völva's Hardened Wraps: DO NOT miss these boots! They are very good, even more so if you're a Runemaster (+1 to all skills in Rune Mastery!), -20% Energy Cost,

# Arcadion Judgement (mace): -20% Energy Cost,

# Lykaion Malleus (mace): -15% Energy Cost,

# Nubian Spear: -15% Energy Cost,

# Spear of tuthmosis III: -15% Energy Cost,

3) Relic

There's one Relic which reduces Energy Cost in %:

# Essence of The Golden Fleece: reduces Energy Cost in %,

4) Artifacts

They are lots of Artifacts which reduce Energy Cost. Here's one which is easy to get and easy to wear too (low level requirement):

# Tooch of The Fool: easy drop from Normal, "-15% Energy Cost" Reduction (LV15 Requirement)

5) Skills

Depending on your Mastery, some Skills are dedicated to reduce Energy Cost, here are some:

a. Nature

# Nature: by itself Nature gives you the most Energy of all Masteries: 512 Energy (if you climb up the Mastery to Max LV32),

# Tranquility of Water: gives you a chance to benefit from a "-50% Energy Cost" Reduction,

# Sanctuary: when Briar Ward is up, Sanctuary -the last synergy of Briar Ward- grants you a guaranteed "Energy Cost" Reduction which varies depending on the level of Sanctuary (LV1: -10% / LV8: -24%,

b. Warfare

# Battle Standard: when your Battle Standard is up you benefit from guaranteed "-50% Energy Cost" Reduction!,

6) Energy Attribute: investing directly into the Energy Attribute is a solid choice too. Indeed since the Anniversary Edition putting a single point into Energy (or Health) nets you 40 Points (by comparison it was 25 Points in original Titan Quest). So unlike good old Diablo 2 where putting points into Energy was a big no-no (for most builds), assigning 10 points into Energy (or more) is a solid option in Titan Quest AE.

EDIT: here's a thoughtfull post about Energy Armor made by Firebrand:

Quote
Firebrand: A few words about the energy cost of Energy Armor.

You can have a few items in your inventory dedicated to casting Energy Armor; those included the list in the post above. However, personally I found a method that I think is much less of a hassle and works more seamlessly.

With my Stonespeaker, I use my secondary weapon set for Energy Armor. My primary is two Chakrams of the Sun; when Energy Armor goes down, after battle's over, I switch to secondary, wait for energy to recharge, use Energy Armor, and switch back to primary. Due to the inherent energy gained from investing skill points into Earth, I didn't need to put attribute points into it at all (in fairness, though, I use a few more items with energy cost reduction, but if you're using Rune, both Völva's Foot Leather and Polaris are excellent choices even not counting the cost reduction).

The obvious choice is the Golden Shield of Pelaron. Other than the massive energy cost reduction and energy bonus, this also boosts your energy regeneration, so it might be a good choice to switch to in the breaks between battles to save some energy potions if you're not finding enough (plus you can cast Energy Shield sooner). The weapon I use currently for this task is Chakram of the Moon for its fixed +300 energy bonus, but I believe there might be better alternatives (Arcadion Judgement, Iris, Lykaion Malleus, Nubian Spear, and Spear of Tuthmosis III are the only five one-handed weapons with energy cost reduction, and the spears are usually less plausible for a Rune character for the lack of dexterity).

Overall, it's my preferred method - no need to keep extra items in your inventory, to enter the character screen and switch them around. Just switch weapons, wait a bit (or drink a potion if you're impatient), apply Energy Armor and go back to fight. (If you're using a throwing weapon or are brave enough with a melee one, you can attack some enemies with your backup to take advantage of Rune Weapon's massive energy leech to fill up your energy bar as well.)

V] Rune Build Compendium

- [Rune+Defense] Runesmith Build Advice started by Hal900x

- [Rune+Earth] Runic Elemental Shotgun Guide by Firebrand

- [Rune+Hunting] Dragon Hunter is the best Rune class? by AnnaLusia

- [Rune+Hunting] Rune Weapon Dragon Hunter Build showcase by mammoth_hunter

- [Rune+Nature] Skinchanger Petmaster by botebote77

- [Rune+Rogue] Tempet Tricks’ Trickster journal by MedeaFleecestealer

- [Rune+Rogue] Poison and bleed trickster with traps by mammoth_hunter

- [Rune+Rogue] Trickster, Transmutation, and stats started by CircularReason

- [Rune+Storm] [VIDEO] Thunderer Spellcaster vs x3 Typhon Legendary by botebote77

- [Rune+Storm] [VIDEO] Thunderer vs Hades xmax x3 Legendary by botebote77

- [Rune+Warfare] Berserker build guide by Billy_pilgrim


VI] Hall of Contributors

- Firebrand for his sharp comment on "Thunder Strike" and his very insightful Runic Elemental Shotgun Guide,

- Malgardian for his clarification on "Runeword: Burn" and the fact that it works with bows! Thank you, wise guy!  8)

- Firebrand (again ^^) for explaining the multiple synergies available with the "Runeword: Burn" Skill,

- Vio for figuring out Reckless Offense/Runeword: Explode /Runeword: Absorb. Hats off to you, Mister Number Cruncher! ;D

- Firebrand good things always come in 3! ;D For detailing his way to counter the high cost of "Energy Armor",

- botebote77 for a myriad of contributions in this thread. And also because this guy eats mana for breakfast for crying out loud.^^:

# for his info about how "Transmutation" changed since update 1.54,
# that "Energy Drain" has an impact on "Throwing Knives",
# that the tooltip of"Rune of Life" has been corrected on the Ragnarök Calculator,
# his comment on the Guardian Stones,
# his 2 videos dedicated to the a high level Thunderer (Spellcaster style),
# finally for his in-depth Skinchanger Petmaster Guide,

- Tauceti: for observing that the number of Stones of the "Menhir Wall" increases with higher Levels. Good catch, mate!,

- AnnaLusia: for taking the time to go in detail about the Dragon Hunter Class in such a short time, that's what I call motivation. Kudos!,

- mammoth_hunter: for his two excellent guides, one about the Trickster and the other about the Dragon Hunter. Dear mammoth_hunter! You did your part all right! ^^,

- Billy_pilgrim: for his very concise but full of insight guide about the Berserker. No doubt about it, this guy smells "seasoned hack 'n' slash player". ^^,

- wolpak: about the mechanics of the skills "Reckless Offense", "Runeword:Explode" and "Runeword: Burn". You have eagle eyes wolpak, I give you that! ; D,

- the good people at kirmiziperfect for their Titan Quest Ragnarök Calculator available at: Titan Quest AE + Ragnarök Calculator

VII] Conclusion

I sincerely hope the guide helped. I felt Beginners who might want a basic rundown of the Rune Mastery might need a faq like this one. Rune Mastery is still relatively undocumented right now. I humbly hope you enjoyed the read. 

Finally thank you Reader for taking the time to browse the whole Guide, The Croc says you deserve a little something, what about a Haïku Poem? ^-^ :

Rune Dissected
Mighty Winter Spells Ragnarök
Big Tears to The Croc

7
Guides AE / Rune Skills for Beginners V2 [Ragnarök Guide]
« on: 17 October 2018, 16:46:49 »
POST RUNE 1/2

Titan Quest Ragnarök: Rune Skills for Beginners V2

Content

I] Intro
II] Rune Presentation
III] Rune Class Combinations
IV] Rune Skills
V] Rune Build Compendium
VI] Hall of Contributors
VII] Conclusion

I] Intro

Finally the Croc has come back to Sparta! 8)

Hello, dear Community! I felt compelled to write this guide since I couldn't find a faq on the Net giving a simple rundown of the Rune Skills. It's high time. I know I can count on the dedicated players of this friendly Community (Edit: Oh Yeah! They did answer the call^^). So when needed I will edit this thread and credit you, folks. If you smell what the Croc is cooking…

II] Rune Presentation

Rune, the new Mastery available with the Ragnarök DLC, is like no other. It is a beautiful breath of fresh air in Titan Quest. But Rune being so original, you might sometimes scratch your head trying to figure out the use of some skills. Fear not, friend! This is what this guide is all about.

What makes Rune stand out from other Masteries?

- Rune is the only class that grants you bonuses to Strength, Intelligence, Dexterity and Health. When the Mastery is maxed (32 Skill Points) you earn:

# 32 STR
# 64 INT
# 48 DEX
# 640 HEALTH

- Rune gives you NO bonus to Energy,

- Rune has no Energy Reserved Skills. This may be a choice in game design to address the fact that Rune does not increase your Energy Stat (when climbing up your Mastery),

- Despite what I said above, Rune is a surprisingly efficient Mastery as far as Energy Consumption goes, go figure,

- Runemasters have no living Familiars, but they have Summons: friggin' Stones!

Yeah! Me too I miss the good old Familiar that you could rub behind the ears. But last I checked sane people don’t speak to stones nor do they play fetch with them. ^^ Unless you:

- Croc: "Go fetch my Olive Branch, Menhir! Go!"
- Menhir: "BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM!!!"
- Croc: "Well done, Menhir! You’re a good puppy!"

Joke aside read my comment below about the 2 Stone skills. They’re quite unusual.

III] Rune Class Combinations

First there is a Titan Quest Ragnarök Calculator available at kirmiziperfect: Titan Quest AE + Ragnarök Calculator

- Runemaster (Single Class)
- Rune + Defense = Runesmith
- Rune + Earth = Stonespeaker
- Rune + Rogue = Trickster
- Rune + Storm = Thunderer
- Rune + Warfare = Berserker
- Rune + Nature = Skinchanger
- Rune + Spirit = Shaman
- Rune + Hunting = Dragon Hunter
- Rune + Dream = Seidr Worker

IV] Rune Skills

Rune Weapon > Magical Charge > Energy Drain > Transmutation

Rune Weapon: this skill tree is a charge type ability that you can assign to your LMB (left mouse Button) or RMB. It works like Onslaught from Warfare Mastery. As a whole Rune Weapon is an essential skill tree.

Magical Charge: increases your Elemental Damage and Damage Retaliation in flat numbers (not %),

Energy Drain: grants you Energy Leech (in flat) / Attack Damage converted to Health in % (Yummy!) / Reduced Offensive Ability (debuffs Monsters in % too) / Slows Monsters (in %). 

Transmutation: converts a % of your Weapon Damage into Elemental Damage. This is a one of kind new skill in Titan Quest. Transmutation is also a game-changer, on Normal just putting 1 point into this skill will increase your damage noticeably. EDIT: since Update 1.54 Transmutation is now permanently active (but still requires Rune Weapon).

Note: Rune Weapon does NOT work with Staves.

Sacred Rage > Frightening Power

Sacred Rage: % Damage Absorption / +Energy Regen / +10% Total Speed / -% Recharge / 50% Slow Resistance!
Frightening Power: % Reduction to Enemy's Health / % Reduced Damage for 3.0 Seconds / Chance of Fear

Sacred Rage is a kind of panic passive skill that triggers when your Health dips below 40%. The main skill buffs you, while Frightening Power -its synergy- debuffs Monsters.

From experience this skill can save your life, and sometimes it won’t (and will die miserably ^^).

Note that the synergy creates a visible red circle around you when it activates: this a good indication that you should drink a red potion or leave the area immediately. ^^

Runeword: Feather

This is a passive that increases your Offensive Ability (in flat numbers) and most importantly reduces the Strength Requirement for All Weapon in %. SHIELDS INCLUDED!!!

This is a very good passive. Also do not mistake this skill with Armor Handling from Defense Mastery, the latter reduces Strength Requirement for Armors and Shields! In other words "Runeword: Feather" does NOT reduce Requirement for Armors!

Rune of Life

% Bleeding Resistance / % Vitality Resistance / +% Strength / +% movement Speed

Rune of Life is an active aura that buffs you or your Allies (Familiars too) for a whopping 10 minutes (600 seconds) regardless of level. This is a solid buff because all the granted bonuses are in %:

Not only Rune of Life is awesome but it stays on like forever. Remember that “the movement Speed” is great when farming or trying to reach distant areas.

Rune of Life has no cooldown! You can cast it liberally on you and your Familiars.

Thunder Strike > Unleash

Rogues have Knives, now Runemasters have Thunder Strike and it’s natsy! You fire 5 projectiles in an arc that deal Elemental Damage and Stun. The Synergy -Unleash- adds Electrical Burn Damage, Skill Disruption and has a chance to confuse Monsters.

Here’s what Firebrand -a Titan Quest Fellow Member- said about Thunder Strike in his Runic Elemental Shotgun Guide

Quote
Thunder Strike. It is incredibly good against hordes, and just as incredibly good against bosses, who are likely to get hit by most if not all projectiles, provided you're close enough. Combine it with Seal of Fate [note: a Debuff] (and don't forget to warm up with a few Runic Weapon shots) and you'll one-shot virtually anything that's not a final boss.
 …
Now Thunder Strike shoots five projectiles, as its description says. However, if you're dual-wielding thrown weapons, it will net you five projectiles for each weapon you're holding! That's a lot of daggers or axes at the same time. And Reckless Offense [note: this skill allows Runemasters to dual wield weapons] itself pays off as well, I found.

Like many of the skills of Rune Mastery, Thunder Strike only show its worth when you unlock its synergy, Unleash.

You cannot reduce the cooldown -fixed 7 seconds- of Thunderstrike no matter how many Skill Points you pour into the Skill. So “- Recharge” from items/artifacts are your best friends.

Note: since Titan Quest Anniversary Edition, "- Recharge" is capped at 80%.

Runic Mines > Freezing Mines

Runic Mines: Cooldown: 9 seconds / Duration: 10 seconds / Effect: Elemental Damage (flat)
Freezing Mine: Frostburn Damage (flat) / chance of Freeze / Slow

Runic Mines is a curious Spell which you will learn to love or hate depending on your play-style and the Monsters you’re facing.

The base skill, Runic Mines, surrounds you with a few booby traps which stay on the spot for a few seconds. You cannot choose where to throw them, they emerge just around you.

Without investing into its synergy -Freezing Mines- this skill is underwhelming. Freezing Mines ads some welcome: Frostburn Damage, Slow and a chance of Freeze.
 
The trick to use this skill effectively is to lead your targets into your traps. Some Monsters are very likely to fall for that ruse, especially those nasty melee Monsters who hunt you down.

Ex: Automatoi (golden constructs) are easy prey for your Runic Mines, just dance them around to lead them to your minefield.

Menhir Wall > Guardian Stones

By watching at the skill tree you might think Guardian Stones is just the synergy (an enhancement) of Menhir Wall, well this is quite far from the truth. When unlocked, both skills have their own Icons and can be summoned independently. So you can have both Menhir Wall and Guardian Stones at the same time on the Battlefield!
 
So why did developers put it like it was a synergy? Maybe because both skills are Stones? Or maybe because it is more pretty on the skill tree? :P Anyways the visual aspect is anecdotal, what counts is how those Skills work and if they are any good for us:

Menhir Wall

Lifetime 10 sec / 150 Health (LV1) / 25% chance of 1 Second of Stun (regardless of Level)

This is a summon designed to distract Monsters. It deals no damage but has a chance to Stun Monsters (25% chance to Stun).

The Stun chance only triggers when Monsters try to hit the Menhir Wall! So if Monsters aim at you then the Stun won’t work, which is a bummer.

When you cast the Menhir Wall between you and Monsters (recommended), your arrows and other projectiles can go through this wall and hit enemies.

You can obstruct terrains with Menhir Wall (at choke points, doors, etc)

Note: you can also cast Menhir Wall through various terrains (for what it's worth)

Edit: an astute member noticed that the number of Menhirs varies depending on Skill Level. The more points your put into this skill the more Menhirs you can get. Thanks to Tauceti for noticing this.

Guardian Stones

Summons 3 Stones which last for 45 sec / They deal damage every 4 seconds / 4 minute cooldown (Ouch!)

LV1: 200 Elemental Damage! / they have 1000 HP! / deal Stun / deal 33% Reduction to Enemy Health!

Guardian Stones are multi-target! (2 targets)

First Guardian Stones -unlike Menhir Wall- CANNOT go through terrain. Also be watchful when you cast it in enclosed areas (doors and choke points): if badly cast you can possibly summon 2 Stones instead of the normal 3. So in order to avoid this always throw them in the middle of a room.

This is one monster of a skill that has only one drawback but a serious one: the cooldown of this skill is 4 minutes (240 sec)! Apart from that the damage output of these 3 stones is surreal, those who never tried this skill have no idea:

- The Giant Limos (Act I Side Quest "Trapped in the Ruins"): I killed that Limos in less than 10 seconds!! With just Guardian Stones and a few knives thrown into the mix. Without charms, relics nor Debuffs whatsoever.  Between you and me: that was TOO fast. ^^

The 3 Gorgons: same deal. If you lead them near the Guardian Stones, they will fall in no time,

And if you add the Runic Mines into the equation (see above) it gets even more crazy.

Conclusion: do not underestimate Guardian Stones! To give you another perspective for this Skill just remember that Guardian Stones are as powerful as the Outsider from the Spirit Mastery! Both Summons have actually a lot in common:

# both are unlocked at the highest level of their respective Mastery (LV32),
# both are temporary Summons,
# both deal Elemental Damage and Health Reduction in %. This is what makes those Summons so devastating,
# both have a very long cooldown (Outsider: 6 min / Guardian Stones: 4 min)

The only real difference is that Guardian Stones are static whereas the Outsider is a walking apocalypse.

Since Cooldown Reduction now caps at 80% you can expect to reduce the cooldown of Guardian Stones from "4 minutes" to "48 seconds" at best. Edit:

Quote
botebote77:one thing about guardian stones...flat damage bonus to pet don't apply to them.. possible explanation is because they don't use a weapon.. but % ele damage should affect them.

Runeword: Explode > Runeword: Burn

Runeword: Explode: 120° Arc of Attack / 2.5 Meter Radius / Damage (flat) / Fire Damage (flat) / Stun
Runeword: Burn: 2.5 Meter Radius / Multiple Fragments / Burn Damage over 3.0 Seconds

Note: the chance to trigger increases with Level

I don’t understand this skill...Seriously I need the opinion of the Community on this one.

EDIT: Veterans heeded my plea. ^^ Here's what Malgardian, Firebrand, Vio, botebote77 and wolpak said about "Runeword: Explode" and its synergy. My Goodness! This is actually a pretty good Skill:

Quote
Malgardian: I personally like Runeword: Explode on my Elemental Archer as it's a nice replacement for Scattershot if you're not using hunting. At least in normal its damage is quite good, so that you can kill a few enemies at once.

Firebrand:There's one thing I'd point out about Runeword: Burn, and that is that it has an area of effect whenever it triggers. All damage it and its synergy deal indeed work well together with Earth, but personally I think the real deal is that it makes your attack (and yes, that includes every property of your attack) affect multiple enemies.

And that's an incredibly useful bonus, even if the extra physical, fire, and burn damages are negligible. You have attack damage converted to health? Neat, now you heal double or triple the amount. You have energy leech? Say hello to a full energy bar! Flat elemental damage? Flat elemental explosion, more like. What's a better thing than slowing melee monsters charging at you? The answer is slowing a whole group of melee enemies charging at you! (Hint: You can have all four of those of those just from the Rune Weapon tree.)

Another little thing is its subtle synergy with Reckless Offense: the chance for Runeword: Explode to trigger applies to both projectiles shot by Reckless Offense. And I think it's a nice touch.

Vio: And yes, Runeword: Explode makes your main attack an AoE much like Ternion's Arcane Lore does.

botebote77: runeword:explode also works on melee...it's effective actually because at melee range, mobs gather around you closely and when it procs, you hit multiple monsters... there are no projectiles on melee weapons though so there are also no fragments

wolpak: Did some testing with Runeword:Explode and Burn as well as Thunderstrike. Both work with staff attacks.  That's definitely interesting and Thunderstrike looks pretty cool as it's a ternion attack with 5 projectiles.  Sadly, Runeword:Explode does not work with Ternion which would make Shaman a pretty sick, Gandalf like staff user.

Also, Runeword: Explode and Burn work nicely with scattershot.

Reckless Offense

Effects: Allows Dual Wield / % chance to hit with both weapons / +100% Total Damage

This is a passive skill that allows you to dual wield weapons. Take note that this skill is not limited to throwing knives or darts, you can dual wield swords, maces or axes too.

When the skill activates you also get the following bonus: +100% Total Damage. Vio, Bless his Soul ^^, added this:

Quote
Vio: Reckless Offense, like other Dual Wield skills, gives a chance to use a special animation (throwing three projectiles quickly or doing four hits in melee) while also granting its damage bonus. The bonus only applies when the attack triggers. As always, really.

You will need to invest a few Skill Points and have +Skills (granted by items) to really benefit from this excellent skill.

Edit: Recently wolpak discovered something new about Reckless Offense:

Quote
wolpak: I noticed that Reckless Offense appears to sometimes proc two attacks and sometimes proc three attacks.  It seems like each attack is checking to see if there is a proc.  And since procs can only happen once per attack, it seems like your first attack is proccing a second attack and then your second attack is proccing your first attack.

8
Guides AE / Re: Rune Skills for Beginners [Ragnarök Guide]
« on: 17 October 2018, 16:39:35 »
Thank you for your quality input, wolpak!

You know! Your comment is 1 of the 4 reasons ^^ justifying a V2 of the Rune Skill Guide. :P

Since Sir efko just gave me the go-ahead, a thousand thanks by the way, I'm going to do it shortly.

What needs to be done:

- further comment about Menhir Wall (credits Tauceti),

- further comment about Reckless Offense (credits wolpak),

- Update the Build Compendium,

- Update the Hall of Contributors obviously.

That's a good start. ^^








9
Ideas and Suggestions / Re: Version 2 Development LOC
« on: 15 October 2018, 14:20:29 »
If anyone has any good ideas about Runemastery, I could use the help.

I've tried to play as a caster and it isn't going very well. I don't play melee if I can avoid it.

Anyone have any specific criticisms of the mastery that could use improvement?

I have already replaced the menhir stones with the Jotunn giant summon, and I buffed  the damage output for mines and that big delayed mine, I forget what it's called.

Seal of Fate > Aftershock

Seal of Fate and Aftershock (the debuff) might benefit from an "increase in radius" depending on Level. This would put them on a par with other debuffs like "Squall" for instance (which DOES increase in radius with Level),

Runic Mines > Freezing Mines

Is it possible with the tools provided to make the Mines a "Homing Device"? I mean when Monsters would approach the trap zone, mines could leap on nearby targets, this would make the Mines much more reliable,

Menhir Wall

The Stun chance only triggers when Monsters try to hit the Menhir Wall. So if Monsters aim at you then the Stun doesn't work, which makes the skill deadweight. So:

- why not make the Stun permanent?

or

- you could downright substitute Menhir Wall for a better Skill (like you plan to do with Guardian Stones ^^),

10
New Members Introduction / Re: after all these years...
« on: 28 August 2018, 13:27:27 »
Welcome back, kalimon! I'll never forget your "Side Quest Guide". It was that good. :)

The fact that you wrote it when you were only 14, unknown to me ^^, makes it a even better. 

11
Gaming / Re: Who says you're too old to play video games?
« on: 28 August 2018, 13:17:10 »
Much obliged for bringing this up, MedeaFleacestealer. ;D This is quite topical subject, maybe more than some people might think.^^

On this matter, Warren Spector, the famous developer behind Deus Ex, talked about this in his keynote speech at the the DICE Summit in 2013. A very insightful discussion about the fact that Gamers are getting older. Here's the vid, I encourage people to listen to it:

Warren Spector "Growth of Adult Gaming" - Full Keynote Speech - D.I.C.E. SUMMIT 2013 (Youtube)

Here’s what I said, somewhere else, about this subject a few years ago:

"Two weeks ago Warren Spector, the guy behind Deus Ex, made a very interesting speech.  As always Spector is verbose, but I found many of his comments fascinating:

1) The Graying of Gaming

Gamers got older. The average age of gamers is arounds 30 nowadays (33 in France, 30 in the US) [Edit: in 2013]. When you hit the 30's life takes it toll on you. If everything goes smoothly you have a job, a partner and even kids maybe. It's very hard to devote 100 hours/month for a game, here's what Warren Spector said:

Quote
So you know we’ve lived through the transition from Geek Entertainment to almost Mainstream Medium anyway. But there is something that’s different: We’re different !...We are getting older…As a young gamer I needed 100 hours of gaming. I needed it, you know…I could ditch anything in my life and focus on games…20s and 30s and 40s something not so much. All of a sudden there’s competition for your time…I got to the point where a 20 hour game: perfect…You just don’t have the time anymore…But there’s more just that the time…It’s about the content…(4 :33 min)

2) Adult Content

Seeing we got older, he’s encouraging Developpers and Publishers to make games for a somewhat Senior audience. More mature games. To illustrate his point his mentioned 2 games which made a big impression on him: Heavy Rain and The Walking Dead. By the way I never played these, so if anyone of you played them I’d gladly hear their opinion, Warren Spector said:

Quote
I want content that is relevant to my life, that is relevant to me, that is set in the real world…If we’re gonna reach a broader audience, we have to stop thinking about that audience strictly in terms of teenage boys, or even teenage girls. We need to think about things that are relevant to normal humans.(9:22)
...
But the really cool thing, the thing that blew my mind about those two games [Heavy Rain and The Walking Dead] was that they weren’t just about, you know, ideal Nordic bodybuilding heroes and they weren’t about like big events. They celebrated the ordinary, the quotidian,  the everyday, they made a dinner compelling, they made a hug compelling, they made playing with the kid compelling,…when you can make every day activities as compelling and cool and as fun as a firefight I think you’ve really accomplished something…They kinda changed the way I think…obviously these games are in my design real house…(9:50 min)"

Edit CrocMagnum: what can I add in 2018:

- if the average age of gamers was around 30 years in 2013, maybe we can extrapolate to 2018; an average age of 35?,

- consequently most gamers have financial autonomy nowadays. In the past it was usually the Family who bought games for their kids,

- from a developer perspective, when you sell games to players around 35 or more, you can expect most of these customers to have "Political Views". Compared to 25 years ago this is quite new. But that's a whole different subject.^^

12
Feel free to delete. Is meant as a salute to CrocMagnum for a job well done a long time ago

Thank you kindly oldage! :) Compliments coming from dedicated players sincerely mean the world to me.

It also means I didn’t write this interminable guide for nothing. ^^

On a sidenote the newer version of the guide is somewhat more thorough:

Avenger: A Hybrid Study (Updated to Anniversary Edition)

Still I’ll have to edit even the above version too (some Earth / Hunting skills have changed quite a bit, Secret Passage in Anniversary Edition has changed too,...)

Thank you for digging this up

Quote
- Stone Form is a life-saviour when I’m cornered. At least when used properly. 2 Rules concerning Stone Form:

# Never use it if you haven’t a good casting speed. How many times did I die when trying to cast it? Countless times! At least if you have 0 casting speed cast it in advance, never at the last second, ‘cos you’ll regret it I can assure you,

I had ignored casting speed, assumed the split second delay was keyboard lag, or something. But lately, I have something with reduced casting speed on it, and stone form is cooperating with my reflexes better (such as they are)

Yes in Immortal Throne Molten Rock, the Synergy of Stone Form, blocked you for a split second. Fortunately in the Anniversary Edition the synergy has been retimed.

Still even in AE you still need some decent Casting Speed to use Stone Form which is a major skill for glass-cannon characters (and even for other Earth-based Classes). Some great items to look for are:

- Hood of the Magi (Act I, your best bet is to fight Satyrs to get it) 

- Cartouche Ring (Act II, III, IV Normal; especially Acty II) 

Those early items grant awesome bonus to Casting Speed and thus makes your Spells, especially Stone Form, finally practical.

13
Runemaster AE / Re: Berserker build guide
« on: 24 August 2018, 16:34:49 »
...For sustain the most important is having ADCTH on your weapons, as my artifact I used soul wrath (?) something like that a, low level artifact which gives adcth through the whole game...

More like Soul Shiver, yeah this Artifacts is quite good, its "% of Attack damage converted to Health" scales well with difficulties.

I see you've put points in Reckless Offense very late game, so my question is:

Do the Dual Wield tree and Reckless Offense go well together? In other words does it raise your DPS through the roof? ^^


14
Hi! Tigrius! Like WNG said the icons of those skills are still visible. To know if a skill is active or not your best bet is to take a look at upper left corner of the screen (le coin supérieur gauche de l'écran): your passive skills are always listed there. :)


15
New Projects / Re: Hamunaptra Mod - Development
« on: 19 August 2018, 13:49:33 »
...hehe this made me chuckle a bit, only because to me it is fairly obvious that the Undead are the predominant monster type in Hamunaptra. But yeah Croc this is good and I think adding "dmg to Undead monster type" will be appropriate and sought after  :P

Argh! I should have thought about this, it's so obvious when I think about it now. ^^

(about Shadow Miasma aura)+Vitality dmg, %Health reduction on hit and maybe % chance reduced resists for blade, vitality decay per second for the aura. I'm also for chance to fumble for aura as Croc. Or reduced physical/total damage. At least thats how imagine a wraith blade and aura  >:D

I think you're so right on the money, nargil66:

Words are important here. The definition of Miasma in Greek Mythology says "a contagious power that has an independent life of its own", coming back to Titan Quest this totally sounds like the Plague tree from Nature Mastery. So yeah Health Reduction seems appropriate. Finely observed, friend. :)

By the way I forgot, seeing how Shadowstalkers sweep down so fast on you, I would add a Movement Speed bonus to Miasma. So to sum up Miasma aura:

- Evade [%Dodge Attacks + % Chance to Avoid Projectiles?],
- Movement Speed,
- Chance to Fumble,
- Health Reduction in % [could it spread to nearby enemies? Err maybe that's overkill?  :P],
...

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 8

SimplePortal 2.3.7 © 2008-2024, SimplePortal