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Spectral servants are non-corp undead 712 wearing sorcs. My TD (at level 43 vs them at level 44) is short of what is needed to fend off retribution and UAC activates retribution a lot.
Any suggestions for TD boosters in addition to 1208, 101, 107, 401, 406, 414, 503 and symbol of protection? I really want about another 10 on top of that for normal servants, and preferably options for another 30 to allow for not all being available, and grizzled servants.
Any suggestions for evading retribution other than dispelling it off them (which is likely to take a full head of mana per critter)?
If I remember correctly from my experience of hunting them with other characters (my monk's not old enough for the Keep yet), their version of CoS isn't exactly 712. Since they're non-corporal they're rarely, if ever, stunned and it goes off anyway. I've also seen it go off in response to sorcerer spells. I can't remember if I've ever fired an arrow at one, but I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if that would set it off too.
My advice would normally be to kill them an the fewest number of hits possible, though as a monk that's probably still a fair amount of hits. So, I'd get a sorcerer to imbed whichever dispel works best to get that spell off them into ranger rods if you train in MIU.
If not, try to focus on the chimeras and snakes in the same area unless you're on a guild task and carry herbs for when you do have to fight servants. They might be a higher level, but they're probably easier for a monk then servants.
Starchitin
A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.
My advice would normally be to kill them an the fewest number of hits possible, though as a monk that's probably still a fair amount of hits. So, I'd get a sorcerer to imbed whichever dispel works best to get that spell off them into ranger rods if you train in MIU.
If not, try to focus on the chimeras and snakes in the same area unless you're on a guild task and carry herbs for when you do have to fight servants. They might be a higher level, but they're probably easier for a monk then servants.
Starchitin
A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.
>If I remember correctly from my experience of hunting them with other characters (my monk's not old enough for the Keep yet), their version of CoS isn't exactly 712. Since they're non-corporal they're rarely, if ever, stunned and it goes off anyway. I've also seen it go off in response to sorcerer spells. I can't remember if I've ever fired an arrow at one, but I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if that would set it off too.
Arrows set off 712. On other squares I used fu (which didn't) and 401 and 503 imbeds were enough for my swinging cleric (and those wouldn't be needed now since protection gives TD).
Its impossible to avoid stunning with the UCS. Rank 5, which is where decent caps, is a stun on every location. Hide + smite, repeated to excellent and then an aimed shot to kill would work for an ambusher, but I can't see how to avoid triggering it half a dozen times per critter for open UAC. They stun.
...
You have decent positioning against a gaunt spectral servant.
UAF: 266 vs UDF: 208 = 1.278 * MM: 113 + d100: 84 = 228
... and hit for 55 points of damage!
Wild swing heavily impacts right forearm, fracturing the bone!
The spectral servant is stunned!
Strike leaves foe vulnerable to a followup jab attack!
A dark shadowy tendril rises up from a gaunt spectral servant, writhes its way up a pair of yellow leather gloves clasped with a fire opal towards you and lashes out malevolently...
CS: +226 - TD: +185 + CvA: +15 + d100: +27 - +15 == +68
...
>If not, try to focus on the chimeras and snakes in the same area unless you're on a guild task and carry herbs for when you do have to fight servants. They might be a higher level, but they're probably easier for a monk then servants.
I really don't want to leave a bunch of critters that can one shot me floating around. CS is not as likely as a manoever spell/ability to one shot me (of the last 5 to hit me, its 1 minor, 1 long stun during which I was bled out, and 3 instant deaths), but I think a 185 TD (which was already heavily boosted) isn't high enough to rule out crit kills from servant casts and retributions.
Its the flesh golems I had the bounty on. I think I could have taken them self spelled, but glowing in an attempt to get a half decent TD, they were cake. I've yet to get a bounty for the other inhabitants. Snakes I suspect will kill me every time they hit me with a spit, but chimeras will probably be cake.
Arrows set off 712. On other squares I used fu (which didn't) and 401 and 503 imbeds were enough for my swinging cleric (and those wouldn't be needed now since protection gives TD).
Its impossible to avoid stunning with the UCS. Rank 5, which is where decent caps, is a stun on every location. Hide + smite, repeated to excellent and then an aimed shot to kill would work for an ambusher, but I can't see how to avoid triggering it half a dozen times per critter for open UAC. They stun.
...
You have decent positioning against a gaunt spectral servant.
UAF: 266 vs UDF: 208 = 1.278 * MM: 113 + d100: 84 = 228
... and hit for 55 points of damage!
Wild swing heavily impacts right forearm, fracturing the bone!
The spectral servant is stunned!
Strike leaves foe vulnerable to a followup jab attack!
A dark shadowy tendril rises up from a gaunt spectral servant, writhes its way up a pair of yellow leather gloves clasped with a fire opal towards you and lashes out malevolently...
CS: +226 - TD: +185 + CvA: +15 + d100: +27 - +15 == +68
...
>If not, try to focus on the chimeras and snakes in the same area unless you're on a guild task and carry herbs for when you do have to fight servants. They might be a higher level, but they're probably easier for a monk then servants.
I really don't want to leave a bunch of critters that can one shot me floating around. CS is not as likely as a manoever spell/ability to one shot me (of the last 5 to hit me, its 1 minor, 1 long stun during which I was bled out, and 3 instant deaths), but I think a 185 TD (which was already heavily boosted) isn't high enough to rule out crit kills from servant casts and retributions.
Its the flesh golems I had the bounty on. I think I could have taken them self spelled, but glowing in an attempt to get a half decent TD, they were cake. I've yet to get a bounty for the other inhabitants. Snakes I suspect will kill me every time they hit me with a spit, but chimeras will probably be cake.
<Its the flesh golems I had the bounty on.>
Then you could have avoided the servants all together by sticking to the dungeons of the Keep. Occasionally a servant will wander down there if there's someone else hunting in the upstairs areas, but that's not often. Maybe one hunt in 20 do I see a servant down in the dungeon, and they're easy to avoid when one does wander down there.
Of course, then you have to be able to ward necromancers.... but at least they don't use 712 and are easy to stun.
Starchitin
A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.
Then you could have avoided the servants all together by sticking to the dungeons of the Keep. Occasionally a servant will wander down there if there's someone else hunting in the upstairs areas, but that's not often. Maybe one hunt in 20 do I see a servant down in the dungeon, and they're easy to avoid when one does wander down there.
Of course, then you have to be able to ward necromancers.... but at least they don't use 712 and are easy to stun.
Starchitin
A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.
>Of course, then you have to be able to ward necromancers.... but at least they don't use 712 and are easy to stun.
Only from hiding. Otherwise you have to have a manoever that works on them to set them up first in order to be able to touch them in melee and I am about 8-10 levels short of that. Golems I asked for harder tasks in order to get bounties on a couple of levels earlier, but necromancers I'll probably turn down for a couple of levels after they become available at normal.
Only from hiding. Otherwise you have to have a manoever that works on them to set them up first in order to be able to touch them in melee and I am about 8-10 levels short of that. Golems I asked for harder tasks in order to get bounties on a couple of levels earlier, but necromancers I'll probably turn down for a couple of levels after they become available at normal.
>Thank goodness you have a racial TD bonus. Its going to be hard going for monks without'em.
The dwarf bonus doesn't do much more than compensate for poor racial TD stat bonuses. Dwarfs and dark elfs are about the same once stats are accounted for. You should be a halfling if you want significant TD advantage from race.
Warriors have an advantage of 30-40 in warding rolls, but monks beat warriors massively against SMR rolls. Monks are extremely weak against warding but post 1220 are extremely strong against other attack types. Monks have the better knockdown, warriors are better at stancing and giving RT. Monks are slower to set up a critter, but more reliable at crit killing once a critter is set up.
Servants could have been designed to be difficult for monks, since they have the obvious countermeasure to UAC (712 retribution) as well as 1207 immunity. Thats why I am interested in tactics for them, because the standard monk options don't work. Are monks a one-trick pony, or is there some other trick I am missing that I can pull out against 712 wearers?
The dwarf bonus doesn't do much more than compensate for poor racial TD stat bonuses. Dwarfs and dark elfs are about the same once stats are accounted for. You should be a halfling if you want significant TD advantage from race.
Warriors have an advantage of 30-40 in warding rolls, but monks beat warriors massively against SMR rolls. Monks are extremely weak against warding but post 1220 are extremely strong against other attack types. Monks have the better knockdown, warriors are better at stancing and giving RT. Monks are slower to set up a critter, but more reliable at crit killing once a critter is set up.
Servants could have been designed to be difficult for monks, since they have the obvious countermeasure to UAC (712 retribution) as well as 1207 immunity. Thats why I am interested in tactics for them, because the standard monk options don't work. Are monks a one-trick pony, or is there some other trick I am missing that I can pull out against 712 wearers?
>I don't know if you're in Voln or not, but have you tried Holiness, Transcendence, Disruption, or Turning?
Using smite and protection should be a bit of a giveaway on that front. ;)
Transcendance, I think I can make use of that to compensate for being a spell or two short of fully tanked, but I don't think it provides enough protection otherwise. I got massacred by tree boils just as effectively with it up as without it.
Holiness requires making a standard success check and when I tested it out my chances of making the check were rubbish (my INF is massively negative so that is expected). Its a possible way of burning through a lot of favor to take down a grizzly if they do get retribution. Does the no-stun property of grizzlies make the grizzled servants easier than the normal ones?
Turning is another one requiring a success check. I'll try to remember to test it, but I doubt it will be much use.
Disruption I've been meaning to try, since it hurts the critter CS, but haven't remembered to yet.
Using smite and protection should be a bit of a giveaway on that front. ;)
Transcendance, I think I can make use of that to compensate for being a spell or two short of fully tanked, but I don't think it provides enough protection otherwise. I got massacred by tree boils just as effectively with it up as without it.
Holiness requires making a standard success check and when I tested it out my chances of making the check were rubbish (my INF is massively negative so that is expected). Its a possible way of burning through a lot of favor to take down a grizzly if they do get retribution. Does the no-stun property of grizzlies make the grizzled servants easier than the normal ones?
Turning is another one requiring a success check. I'll try to remember to test it, but I doubt it will be much use.
Disruption I've been meaning to try, since it hurts the critter CS, but haven't remembered to yet.
<<I got massacred by tree boils just as effectively with it up as without it.>>
I know you're way past tree spirits, but I wanted to point out a possible strategy for dealing with them as a monk. I trained in ambush until I was somewhat reliable in aiming my strikes. Against tree spirits, I would quickly go up one or two tiers in my attacks, and then just keep punching its right leg while it was incorporeal. Hit hard enough and it falls over, and a tree spirit will spend its action simply standing up. Keep knocking it down, and it will only be able to repeatedly stand up, which means it can't attack or get a spell off. It takes a while to kill the things, but they rarely got a chance to boil me, much less hurt me with it.
Gretchen
Meeting Nilandia: http://www.gsguide.net/index.php?title=Nilandia
Nilandia's GS4 Info Repository: http://www.nilandia.com
AIM: Lady Nilandia
I know you're way past tree spirits, but I wanted to point out a possible strategy for dealing with them as a monk. I trained in ambush until I was somewhat reliable in aiming my strikes. Against tree spirits, I would quickly go up one or two tiers in my attacks, and then just keep punching its right leg while it was incorporeal. Hit hard enough and it falls over, and a tree spirit will spend its action simply standing up. Keep knocking it down, and it will only be able to repeatedly stand up, which means it can't attack or get a spell off. It takes a while to kill the things, but they rarely got a chance to boil me, much less hurt me with it.
Gretchen
Meeting Nilandia: http://www.gsguide.net/index.php?title=Nilandia
Nilandia's GS4 Info Repository: http://www.nilandia.com
AIM: Lady Nilandia
>Against tree spirits, I would quickly go up one or two tiers in my attacks, and then just keep punching its right leg while it was incorporeal.
I found I couldn't keep them down reliably enough until I had feint. They'd boil me before I got out of decent. Once I had feint I could use that to give me the time to tier, smite and leg them. Legged while corp, they don't do anything but lie there and moan until someone finishes them off. I'd have half a dozen legged elder trees strewn across the farm to keep them out of the way when working on farmhand or woodsmen bounties.
I found I couldn't keep them down reliably enough until I had feint. They'd boil me before I got out of decent. Once I had feint I could use that to give me the time to tier, smite and leg them. Legged while corp, they don't do anything but lie there and moan until someone finishes them off. I'd have half a dozen legged elder trees strewn across the farm to keep them out of the way when working on farmhand or woodsmen bounties.
True, the sorc TD bonus ends up being only +5 net (which is still better than most non DE/halfling races) but the elemental TD is a significant boost for dwarves. I guess I was just noting that in general and not for the particular case of 712. I looked at halflings but I just like to pick up too much treasure. I couldn't do it. :)
