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So I am new to GS4 and am interested in playing a caster empath. I don't want to just sit around in town and heal people for xp and my husband plays with me so we go out and hunt together often. I am trying to get an idea of what I should do with my stats, especially since I am still in the time period of when I can change them around.
These are my current skills/stats. Any advice would greatly be appreciated. I do use a runestaff currently.
Race: Dark Elf Profession: Empath
Strength (STR): 56 (3) ... 56 (3)
Constitution (CON): 44 (-8) ... 44 (-8)
Dexterity (DEX): 72 (21) ... 72 (21)
Agility (AGI): 54 (7) ... 54 (7)
Discipline (DIS): 82 (6) ... 82 (6)
Aura (AUR): 82 (26) ... 82 (26)
Logic (LOG): 82 (16) ... 82 (16)
Intuition (INT): 54 (7) ... 54 (7)
Wisdom (WIS): 89 (24) ... 89 (24)
Influence (INF): 74 (7) ... 74 (7)
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 20 4
Physical Fitness...................| 45 9
Arcane Symbols.....................| 45 9
Magic Item Use.....................| 45 9
Spell Aiming.......................| 82 18
Harness Power......................| 82 18
Spirit Mana Control................| 45 9
Mental Lore - Manipulation.........| 45 9
Climbing...........................| 45 9
Swimming...........................| 45 9
Spell Lists
Major Spirit.......................| 5
Spell Lists
Minor Spirit.......................| 8
Spell Lists
Empath.............................| 9
You may want to add a weapon skill until your level 50 or so. It looks as if your planning to hunt using spells and your going to find that you lack the mana to do it very much. Spiritual & mental mana control improve your mana regen by 1 for every 10 Spiritual ranks and one for every 20 Mental ranks.
1x training Climbing & Swimming isn't really nessesary. I'd say to with 5 swimming and 10 climbing until you find you really begin to need it.
Your strength is low and will affect your characters carrying ability. Any bonus points received for high strength directly add to your AS. The Agility bonus for high agility add to your DS.
I've just returned from 10 yreas away with a few months here in '07. I played from '88 to '02 before that. I've been told my setup is a decent one for a casting empath. At level 34 I still use a weapon because much of his mana goes for maintaining AS/DS spells. His numbers are:
Gender: Male Age: 59 Expr: 1316472 Level: 34
Normal (Bonus) ... Enhanced (Bonus)
Strength (STR): 94 (22) ... 94 (22)
Constitution (CON): 57 (3) ... 53 (1)
Dexterity (DEX): 55 (7) ... 55 (7)
Agility (AGI): 96 (33) ... 96 (33)
Discipline (DIS): 81 (10) ... 81 (10)
Aura (AUR): 81 (15) ... 81 (15)
Logic (LOG): 65 (7) ... 65 (7)
Intuition (INT): 61 (5) ... 61 (5)
Wisdom (WIS): 97 (23) ... 97 (23)
Influence (INF): 98 (29) ... 98 (29)
Mana: 112 Silver: 500
Skills:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 50 10
Shield Use.........................| 96 22
Brawling...........................| 132 36
Multi Opponent Combat..............| 20 4
Physical Fitness...................| 132 36
Arcane Symbols.....................| 99 23
Magic Item Use.....................| 117 29
Spell Aiming.......................| 170 70
Harness Power......................| 132 36
Mental Mana Control................| 90 20
Spirit Mana Control................| 120 30
Spiritual Lore - Summoning.........| 134 37
Mental Lore - Manipulation.........| 90 20
Mental Lore - Telepathy............| 25 5
Perception.........................| 90 20
Climbing...........................| 54 11
First Aid..........................| 172 72
Spell Lists
Major Spirit.......................| 20
Spell Lists
Minor Spirit.......................| 20
Spell Lists
Empath.............................| 30
Places you can get game information outside Play.net are:
http://www.krakiipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
http://carabele.com/odds/LoreBenefits.htm
http://virilneus.com/
http://gemstone.kthanks.com/forage.php
http://shops.lichproject.org/
http://search.gsiv.net/
4:30 am. Time to admit it's late. :)
Oh, and lots of caster types use weapons for a variable amount of levels when they first start out. Using weapons for the long haul means a lot of dedication to certain skills. Pure casters are easier to play, and also safer.
What training are you? Looks like 7, 8 or 9 from your skills. If you play with someone all the time, it's easier to be a pure caster when young, since you will get experience from every critter that gets killed, provided you have actually damaged it. Hit it once or twice with 1101 and you are set when hubby nails it. Try hunting mostly animal types right now; these wear no armor and have no defensive spells, so it should be possible for you to ward them with CS spells fairly regularly.
Also, up your MIU skill a bit and you can use wizard wands to conserve mana; in fact, you can probably use silver/iron wands (check the pawn shop) right now. Same principle; inflict some damage with these and let your mate kill them.
The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me
What training are you? Looks like 7, 8 or 9 from your skills. If you play with someone all the time, it's easier to be a pure caster when young, since you will get experience from every critter that gets killed, provided you have actually damaged it. Hit it once or twice with 1101 and you are set when hubby nails it. Try hunting mostly animal types right now; these wear no armor and have no defensive spells, so it should be possible for you to ward them with CS spells fairly regularly.
Also, up your MIU skill a bit and you can use wizard wands to conserve mana; in fact, you can probably use silver/iron wands (check the pawn shop) right now. Same principle; inflict some damage with these and let your mate kill them.
The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me
What kind of casting empath do you want to be? You can use CS or bolts or both. My empath is a pure CS hunter just because there are times when I want to boneshatter things, if I want to bolt I can play a wizard. But, to each their own.
It is very possible to be a casting empath at your level and with a constant hunting partner it certainly is a lot easier.
For stats I would suggest these:
STR:88
CON:77
DEX:70
AGL:73
DIS:68
AUR:73
LOG:62
INT:38
WIS:49
INF:62
At cap they would look like this:
STR:100
CON:100
AGL:100
DEX:98
DIS:100
AUR:100
LOG:100
INT:79
WIS:100
INF:100
DEX doesn't get to 100 because you can't place more then four starting stats above 70, but it does get close and dark elves get a nice bonus to DEX as well.
During your 30 days you may want to move around your stats to max your LOG, WIS, and DIS. The LOG and DIS is to maximize your ability to gain exp while the WIS would be to max out your CS while you can before scaling things back more for growth.
http://home.mchsi.com/~cphillips73/StatCruncher/StatCruncher.html
That site will let you play around with your stats. If you are really knit picky about things you can also search for a copy of tsoran's spreadsheet trainer.
There are many ways to train an empath, it just depends on the areas you want to be effective in.
It is very possible to be a casting empath at your level and with a constant hunting partner it certainly is a lot easier.
For stats I would suggest these:
STR:88
CON:77
DEX:70
AGL:73
DIS:68
AUR:73
LOG:62
INT:38
WIS:49
INF:62
At cap they would look like this:
STR:100
CON:100
AGL:100
DEX:98
DIS:100
AUR:100
LOG:100
INT:79
WIS:100
INF:100
DEX doesn't get to 100 because you can't place more then four starting stats above 70, but it does get close and dark elves get a nice bonus to DEX as well.
During your 30 days you may want to move around your stats to max your LOG, WIS, and DIS. The LOG and DIS is to maximize your ability to gain exp while the WIS would be to max out your CS while you can before scaling things back more for growth.
http://home.mchsi.com/~cphillips73/StatCruncher/StatCruncher.html
That site will let you play around with your stats. If you are really knit picky about things you can also search for a copy of tsoran's spreadsheet trainer.
There are many ways to train an empath, it just depends on the areas you want to be effective in.
For elves of most types, you could also consider letting your AGI lag and putting the points elsewhere.
Elves get a nice AGI bonus which keeps them 'on-par' with the other races, even if they start out lower -- and DS is one of the more easily made up 'losses' in the game, with spells.
Doug
Elves get a nice AGI bonus which keeps them 'on-par' with the other races, even if they start out lower -- and DS is one of the more easily made up 'losses' in the game, with spells.
Doug
>Elves get a nice AGI bonus
Dark elves get +5 which is actually average to low compared to other races. Elves are the only race at +15, giants the only race at -5, and most of the rest are +10.
Don't use the last stat change to set WIS for growth. Try it out against a high setting. It will significantly hurt your ability to hunt at low level. Hunting at low level is easy for an experienced player and they can afford to make things twice as difficult as they otherwise would be. If you do try out a low WIS, make sure you leave a stat change to reverse it.
I'd recommend something more like this
STR:80
CON:50
DEX:73
AGL:73
DIS:68
AUR:73
LOG:62
INT:39
WIS:80
INF:62
Training wise, double MIU (until you have 30-40 ranks and can activate every wand with ease) Get MjS to 15 before taking MnS past fire spirit (if not before). Get mental mana control. If in doubt train more spells.
For tactics put \xsheathe\rstance off\rchannel target\r and \xstance off\rwave my wand at target\rstance guarded\r in a couple of macros for use in the field. Prep 1106, wait for the critter to act, and unload the channel on it. Don't forget to grab your runestaff and get back into defensive afterwards. If low on mana, put a wand in your left hand and hammer the waving macro. You can hold a wand without hurting your runestaff defense.
Meditate and use manna bread when resting. At level 9, 1109 is a serious drain of mana. Make sure to stack it long enough so you don't have to refresh in the field. The same goes for all stackable spells, but its 1109 in the levels after you first get it that will really make you feel short of mana. Meditation and manna bread make a huge difference to the mana you regain at low level, make good use of them. (With your posted stats and training it should be between double and triple your on node rate, something like 14 to 33)
Dark elves get +5 which is actually average to low compared to other races. Elves are the only race at +15, giants the only race at -5, and most of the rest are +10.
Don't use the last stat change to set WIS for growth. Try it out against a high setting. It will significantly hurt your ability to hunt at low level. Hunting at low level is easy for an experienced player and they can afford to make things twice as difficult as they otherwise would be. If you do try out a low WIS, make sure you leave a stat change to reverse it.
I'd recommend something more like this
STR:80
CON:50
DEX:73
AGL:73
DIS:68
AUR:73
LOG:62
INT:39
WIS:80
INF:62
Training wise, double MIU (until you have 30-40 ranks and can activate every wand with ease) Get MjS to 15 before taking MnS past fire spirit (if not before). Get mental mana control. If in doubt train more spells.
For tactics put \xsheathe\rstance off\rchannel target\r and \xstance off\rwave my wand at target\rstance guarded\r in a couple of macros for use in the field. Prep 1106, wait for the critter to act, and unload the channel on it. Don't forget to grab your runestaff and get back into defensive afterwards. If low on mana, put a wand in your left hand and hammer the waving macro. You can hold a wand without hurting your runestaff defense.
Meditate and use manna bread when resting. At level 9, 1109 is a serious drain of mana. Make sure to stack it long enough so you don't have to refresh in the field. The same goes for all stackable spells, but its 1109 in the levels after you first get it that will really make you feel short of mana. Meditation and manna bread make a huge difference to the mana you regain at low level, make good use of them. (With your posted stats and training it should be between double and triple your on node rate, something like 14 to 33)
>>My empath is a pure CS hunter just because there are times when I want to boneshatter things, if I want to bolt I can play a wizard.<<
I would like to point out here that one effective attack spell empaths have is empathic bolt, which is, needless to say, a bolt spell that require spell aiming. As does 111, spirit fire. Properly trained, empaths have the second highest bolt AS after wizards for a reason ...
I also would like to mention that later on you will encounter things that have no bones, are not alive, and are immune to boneshatter and wither alike. These include elementals, automatons, and constructs of various sorts. For those, I tend to use bind followed by high effect wizard wands (blue and crystal).
The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me
I would like to point out here that one effective attack spell empaths have is empathic bolt, which is, needless to say, a bolt spell that require spell aiming. As does 111, spirit fire. Properly trained, empaths have the second highest bolt AS after wizards for a reason ...
I also would like to mention that later on you will encounter things that have no bones, are not alive, and are immune to boneshatter and wither alike. These include elementals, automatons, and constructs of various sorts. For those, I tend to use bind followed by high effect wizard wands (blue and crystal).
The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me
>>If you do try out a low WIS, make sure you leave a stat change to reverse it.
I can agree with that, but why lower STR and CON to make that higher WIS possible? Dark Elves already take a rather large hit to CON and both those stats become important later on down the road with creature maneuvers. If anything I would suggest tanking INT all the way down to 20 and putting those points into WIS, starting it out at 68, they'd also have the stat increases from the levels past 0 that they gain and the dark elven WIS bonus to boost it further.
>>Training wise, double MIU (until you have 30-40 ranks and can activate every wand with ease)
I guess I must be weird, I've never liked using wands, even with my wizard characters where it would be more natural. And for bolting empaths you are forced to use a lot of wands because the cost of their available bolt spells is so high.
>>Get mental mana control.
Agreed, this is more helpful to an empath then spirit mana control with it affecting boneshatter and wither. At lower levels the spirit mana control is really only good for sharing with others who have it.
I'd make some other suggestions, drop the manipulation lore for now and just work on the basics until you have a better idea on what things do and what you want to do.
Also double up in PF, at least until you have full health. For my empath I am staying double in it because of its affect on avoiding creature maneuvers, it is also a very cheap skill to train in for empaths.
Another thing to do would be to try out other possible builds, like weapon swinging or pure CS. Find out what you have the most fun with.
I can agree with that, but why lower STR and CON to make that higher WIS possible? Dark Elves already take a rather large hit to CON and both those stats become important later on down the road with creature maneuvers. If anything I would suggest tanking INT all the way down to 20 and putting those points into WIS, starting it out at 68, they'd also have the stat increases from the levels past 0 that they gain and the dark elven WIS bonus to boost it further.
>>Training wise, double MIU (until you have 30-40 ranks and can activate every wand with ease)
I guess I must be weird, I've never liked using wands, even with my wizard characters where it would be more natural. And for bolting empaths you are forced to use a lot of wands because the cost of their available bolt spells is so high.
>>Get mental mana control.
Agreed, this is more helpful to an empath then spirit mana control with it affecting boneshatter and wither. At lower levels the spirit mana control is really only good for sharing with others who have it.
I'd make some other suggestions, drop the manipulation lore for now and just work on the basics until you have a better idea on what things do and what you want to do.
Also double up in PF, at least until you have full health. For my empath I am staying double in it because of its affect on avoiding creature maneuvers, it is also a very cheap skill to train in for empaths.
Another thing to do would be to try out other possible builds, like weapon swinging or pure CS. Find out what you have the most fun with.
A case in point
>> nw
[Thanatoph Bowels, South Lobe]
Stone flooring is cracked and tilted at odd angles, making the path more of a climbing traverse than an easy walk, and threatening to twist ankles along the way. Remnants of broken arrows and twisted bolts litter the ground, and slickened lichen clings to the crevices of exposed clay. You also see a greater earth elemental.
Obvious exits: southeast, northwest
>
You feel more refreshed.
> incant 214
You trace a sign while beseeching the spirits to empower you with the Bind spell...
Your spell is ready.
You gesture at a greater earth elemental.
The replenishing effect fades, but you are left with a feeling of wellbeing.
CS: +409 - TD: +340 + CvA: +25 + d100: +5 == +99
Warded off!
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
(Forcing stance down to guarded)
> incant 214
You trace a sign while beseeching the spirits to empower you with the Bind spell...
Your spell is ready.
You gesture at a greater earth elemental.
CS: +409 - TD: +340 + CvA: +25 + d100: +62 == +156
Warding failed!
A greater earth elemental suddenly stops all movement.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.<<
Ok, I know, lets hit it with wither!
>> incant 1115
You focus your thoughts while chanting the mystical phrase for Wither...
Your spell is ready.
You channel at a greater earth elemental.
A nebulous haze shimmers into view around a greater earth elemental. The haze pulses weakly, then disperses in an explosion of cloudy tendrils.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.<<
Oh no! It didn't work! Whatever will I do???
> get blue wand
You remove a slender blue wand from in your forest green backpack.
> stance offen
> wave left
> stance defen
You are now in an offensive stance.
>
You wave your blue wand at a greater earth elemental.
1d100: 34 + Modifiers: 176 == 210
The lesser spirits binding the elemental increase your advantage!
You hurl a chunk of ice at a greater earth elemental!
AS: +406 vs DS: +155 with AvD: +12 + d100 roll: +17 = +280
... and hit for 50 points of damage!
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
>
Cast Round Time in effect: Setting stance to guarded.
>
A greater earth elemental shudders and shakes but remains held fast!
> stance offen
> wave left
> stance defen
You are now in an offensive stance.
>
You wave your blue wand at a greater earth elemental.
1d100: 21 + Modifiers: 176 == 197
The lesser spirits binding the elemental increase your advantage!
You hurl a chunk of ice at a greater earth elemental!
AS: +406 vs DS: +155 with AvD: +12 + d100 roll: +83 = +346
... and hit for 71 points of damage!
The earth elemental falters as a chill blast of air strikes its left leg!
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
>
Cast Round Time in effect: Setting stance to guarded.
> stance offen
> wave left
> stance defen
You are now in an offensive stance.
>
You wave your blue wand at a greater earth elemental.
1d100: 99 + Modifiers: 176 == 275
You hurl a chunk of ice at a greater earth elemental!
AS: +406 vs DS: +147 with AvD: +12 + d100 roll: +51 = +322
... and hit for 56 points of damage!
The earth elemental's left hand turns an interesting shade of light blue.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
>
Cast Round Time in effect: Setting stance to guarded.
> stance offen
> wave left
> stance defen
You are now in an offensive stance.
>
You wave your blue wand at a greater earth elemental.
1d100: 57 + Modifiers: 176 == 233
You hurl a chunk of ice at a greater earth elemental!
AS: +406 vs DS: +137 with AvD: +12 + d100 roll: +51 = +332
... and hit for 70 points of damage!
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
Cast Round Time in effect: Setting stance to guarded.
> stance offen
> wave left
You are now in an offensive stance.
> stance defen
You wave your blue wand at a greater earth elemental.
1d100: 19 + Modifiers: 176 == 195
You hurl a chunk of ice at a greater earth elemental!
AS: +406 vs DS: +137 with AvD: +12 + d100 roll: +91 = +372
... and hit for 93 points of damage!
Strong blow to chest!
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
>
Cast roundtime in effect: setting stance to guarded
> stance offen
> wave left
> stance defen
You are now in an offensive stance.
>
You wave your blue wand at a greater earth elemental.
1d100: 74 + Modifiers: 176 == 250
You hurl a chunk of ice at a greater earth elemental!
AS: +406 vs DS: +128 with AvD: +12 + d100 roll: +31 = +321
... and hit for 75 points of damage!
Good blow to back!
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
>
Cast Round Time in effect: Setting stance to guarded.
> stance offen
> wave left
> stance defen
You are now in an offensive stance.
>
You wave your blue wand at a greater earth elemental.
1d100: 100 + Modifiers: 176 == 276
You hurl a chunk of ice at a greater earth elemental!
AS: +406 vs DS: +117 with AvD: +12 + d100 roll: +62 = +363
... and hit for 80 points of damage!
Near miss! Cool blast to the lower back and the earth elemental staggers.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
>
Cast Round Time in effect: Setting stance to guarded.
> stance offen
> wave left
> stance defen
You are now in an offensive stance.
>
You wave your blue wand at a greater earth elemental.
1d100: 9 + Modifiers: 176 == 185
You hurl a chunk of ice at a greater earth elemental!
AS: +406 vs DS: +117 with AvD: +12 + d100 roll: +9 = +310
... and hit for 72 points of damage!
Good blow to the abdomen!
The earth elemental topples to the ground motionless.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.<<
Hurrah! Blue wands and spell aiming save the day! Ok, I could in theory killed the wretched thing by repeated casts of unbalance, but it would likely have taken a lot of mana.
The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me
>> nw
[Thanatoph Bowels, South Lobe]
Stone flooring is cracked and tilted at odd angles, making the path more of a climbing traverse than an easy walk, and threatening to twist ankles along the way. Remnants of broken arrows and twisted bolts litter the ground, and slickened lichen clings to the crevices of exposed clay. You also see a greater earth elemental.
Obvious exits: southeast, northwest
>
You feel more refreshed.
> incant 214
You trace a sign while beseeching the spirits to empower you with the Bind spell...
Your spell is ready.
You gesture at a greater earth elemental.
The replenishing effect fades, but you are left with a feeling of wellbeing.
CS: +409 - TD: +340 + CvA: +25 + d100: +5 == +99
Warded off!
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
(Forcing stance down to guarded)
> incant 214
You trace a sign while beseeching the spirits to empower you with the Bind spell...
Your spell is ready.
You gesture at a greater earth elemental.
CS: +409 - TD: +340 + CvA: +25 + d100: +62 == +156
Warding failed!
A greater earth elemental suddenly stops all movement.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.<<
Ok, I know, lets hit it with wither!
>> incant 1115
You focus your thoughts while chanting the mystical phrase for Wither...
Your spell is ready.
You channel at a greater earth elemental.
A nebulous haze shimmers into view around a greater earth elemental. The haze pulses weakly, then disperses in an explosion of cloudy tendrils.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.<<
Oh no! It didn't work! Whatever will I do???
> get blue wand
You remove a slender blue wand from in your forest green backpack.
> stance offen
> wave left
> stance defen
You are now in an offensive stance.
>
You wave your blue wand at a greater earth elemental.
1d100: 34 + Modifiers: 176 == 210
The lesser spirits binding the elemental increase your advantage!
You hurl a chunk of ice at a greater earth elemental!
AS: +406 vs DS: +155 with AvD: +12 + d100 roll: +17 = +280
... and hit for 50 points of damage!
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
>
Cast Round Time in effect: Setting stance to guarded.
>
A greater earth elemental shudders and shakes but remains held fast!
> stance offen
> wave left
> stance defen
You are now in an offensive stance.
>
You wave your blue wand at a greater earth elemental.
1d100: 21 + Modifiers: 176 == 197
The lesser spirits binding the elemental increase your advantage!
You hurl a chunk of ice at a greater earth elemental!
AS: +406 vs DS: +155 with AvD: +12 + d100 roll: +83 = +346
... and hit for 71 points of damage!
The earth elemental falters as a chill blast of air strikes its left leg!
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
>
Cast Round Time in effect: Setting stance to guarded.
> stance offen
> wave left
> stance defen
You are now in an offensive stance.
>
You wave your blue wand at a greater earth elemental.
1d100: 99 + Modifiers: 176 == 275
You hurl a chunk of ice at a greater earth elemental!
AS: +406 vs DS: +147 with AvD: +12 + d100 roll: +51 = +322
... and hit for 56 points of damage!
The earth elemental's left hand turns an interesting shade of light blue.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
>
Cast Round Time in effect: Setting stance to guarded.
> stance offen
> wave left
> stance defen
You are now in an offensive stance.
>
You wave your blue wand at a greater earth elemental.
1d100: 57 + Modifiers: 176 == 233
You hurl a chunk of ice at a greater earth elemental!
AS: +406 vs DS: +137 with AvD: +12 + d100 roll: +51 = +332
... and hit for 70 points of damage!
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
Cast Round Time in effect: Setting stance to guarded.
> stance offen
> wave left
You are now in an offensive stance.
> stance defen
You wave your blue wand at a greater earth elemental.
1d100: 19 + Modifiers: 176 == 195
You hurl a chunk of ice at a greater earth elemental!
AS: +406 vs DS: +137 with AvD: +12 + d100 roll: +91 = +372
... and hit for 93 points of damage!
Strong blow to chest!
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
>
Cast roundtime in effect: setting stance to guarded
> stance offen
> wave left
> stance defen
You are now in an offensive stance.
>
You wave your blue wand at a greater earth elemental.
1d100: 74 + Modifiers: 176 == 250
You hurl a chunk of ice at a greater earth elemental!
AS: +406 vs DS: +128 with AvD: +12 + d100 roll: +31 = +321
... and hit for 75 points of damage!
Good blow to back!
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
>
Cast Round Time in effect: Setting stance to guarded.
> stance offen
> wave left
> stance defen
You are now in an offensive stance.
>
You wave your blue wand at a greater earth elemental.
1d100: 100 + Modifiers: 176 == 276
You hurl a chunk of ice at a greater earth elemental!
AS: +406 vs DS: +117 with AvD: +12 + d100 roll: +62 = +363
... and hit for 80 points of damage!
Near miss! Cool blast to the lower back and the earth elemental staggers.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
>
Cast Round Time in effect: Setting stance to guarded.
> stance offen
> wave left
> stance defen
You are now in an offensive stance.
>
You wave your blue wand at a greater earth elemental.
1d100: 9 + Modifiers: 176 == 185
You hurl a chunk of ice at a greater earth elemental!
AS: +406 vs DS: +117 with AvD: +12 + d100 roll: +9 = +310
... and hit for 72 points of damage!
Good blow to the abdomen!
The earth elemental topples to the ground motionless.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.<<
Hurrah! Blue wands and spell aiming save the day! Ok, I could in theory killed the wretched thing by repeated casts of unbalance, but it would likely have taken a lot of mana.
The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me
>I can agree with that, but why lower STR and CON to make that higher WIS possible? Dark Elves already take a rather large hit to CON and both those stats become important later on down the road with creature maneuvers. If anything I would suggest tanking INT all the way down to 20 and putting those points into WIS, starting it out at 68, they'd also have the stat increases from the levels past 0 that they gain and the dark elven WIS bonus to boost it further.
They are not directly relevant AFAIK. You just can't carry as much before you start taking penalties. The reason for dropping CON rather more is that it has the lesser effect on encumberance limit. Dark elves aren't particularly hard up for encumberance. I wouldn't have STR and CON getting to less than 100 at cap on any gnome or halfling though.
I regard 80 WIS as baseline. Why really hurt your pure abilities just so you can carry a bit more? If you are not going to play a pure, its not so important, but you lose CS, mana and mana regeneration in significant amounts by setting WIS for growth, as well as the lost training points.
I don't recommend taking anything completely unless you are really sure about what it affects and that you are not bothered by it. Its easy to find threads of people moaning about how this or that is impossibly difficult, and the reason they find it impossibly difficult is that they have tanked the stat that governs the activity.
I don't like making all the stat sacrifices in mental stats on a pure character.
I don't like tanking INT completely because I don't like RPing stupid. I'll tank DEX completely on a character that isn't interested in ever skinning or bolting because I don't mind RPing clumsy and if it turns out down the line there is something else the character isn't good at, then it fits the RP.
Pure empaths can't have everything, and thats the way I'd balance it today.
It isn't just carrying more though, its climbing/swimming/dragging/standing ect, and in the case of CON placing it at 50 it hits 82 by cap, leaving them nine health short of their possible max. Just about every pure I know who gets to a high level wants more STR and CON then what they placed when they started and end up spending the bps or silvers for a fixstat potion. And at the higher levels encumbrance becomes a huge part in being able to avoid maneuvers and there is no hunting ground without them, every little bit tends to count.
I've got a level 26 empath who uses just CS spells, he hunts just fine. Doesn't over hunt as well as he could with a higher WIS but I can live with that, part of character growth I think.
Over all I don't see why the mechanics of stats has to play a part in how you role play your character. The actions and words of your character would determine if people viewed them as smart or stupid or clumsy, ect. And if you don't plan to bolt or skin its simple enough not to train in the skills and your character will be terrible at them. Also intuition has nothing to do with how smart you are, that would likely more fall under logic. I can see how you would make the bridge between your characters stats and how you role play them but the two don't have to be linked in my minds eye.
I've got a level 26 empath who uses just CS spells, he hunts just fine. Doesn't over hunt as well as he could with a higher WIS but I can live with that, part of character growth I think.
Over all I don't see why the mechanics of stats has to play a part in how you role play your character. The actions and words of your character would determine if people viewed them as smart or stupid or clumsy, ect. And if you don't plan to bolt or skin its simple enough not to train in the skills and your character will be terrible at them. Also intuition has nothing to do with how smart you are, that would likely more fall under logic. I can see how you would make the bridge between your characters stats and how you role play them but the two don't have to be linked in my minds eye.
>It isn't just carrying more though, its climbing/swimming/dragging/standing ect,
If you are not encumbered, you are not taking penalties. If you use the extra TPs you get in the relevant skills, and avoid getting encumbered, you will be better at those activities.
>Just about every pure I know who gets to a high level wants more STR and CON then what they placed when they started and end up spending the bps or silvers for a fixstat potion.
Which is because just about every pure that starts out with their important stat low, finds the game too hard and rerolls or gives up playing altogether.
Adding 50% to the amount of mana you need to fry, while subtracting a third from the amount of mana you have available, is a massive handicap. If an experienced player reckons that can cope with that handicap, they are right. It will still be a lot less fun playing the character. For a new player, it will probably be unviable as well as unfun.
>Over all I don't see why the mechanics of stats has to play a part in how you role play your character.
Because its a role play game. The game will let you get away with it more than it will with physical stats. You can't RP strong with a tanked STR at all, but you can substitute your own charisma for that of a character with tanked INF most of the time.
>Also intuition has nothing to do with how smart you are, that would likely more fall under logic.
INTution is being smart without having to think about it. LOGic is being able to get there in the end. All mental stats are about how smart the character is in one way or another.
The game mechanics don't enforce it as much as they do with physical stats, so you can manage to play the game on the basis of your perceptiveness rather than your character's a lot of the time. Its almost always the player that determines whether the solution to a puzzle is immediately obvious rather than the INT of the character. There are times when you will set off a trap that you didn't know was there due to low INT, but its almost impossible to tell it happened because all perception rolls are hidden.
If you are not encumbered, you are not taking penalties. If you use the extra TPs you get in the relevant skills, and avoid getting encumbered, you will be better at those activities.
>Just about every pure I know who gets to a high level wants more STR and CON then what they placed when they started and end up spending the bps or silvers for a fixstat potion.
Which is because just about every pure that starts out with their important stat low, finds the game too hard and rerolls or gives up playing altogether.
Adding 50% to the amount of mana you need to fry, while subtracting a third from the amount of mana you have available, is a massive handicap. If an experienced player reckons that can cope with that handicap, they are right. It will still be a lot less fun playing the character. For a new player, it will probably be unviable as well as unfun.
>Over all I don't see why the mechanics of stats has to play a part in how you role play your character.
Because its a role play game. The game will let you get away with it more than it will with physical stats. You can't RP strong with a tanked STR at all, but you can substitute your own charisma for that of a character with tanked INF most of the time.
>Also intuition has nothing to do with how smart you are, that would likely more fall under logic.
INTution is being smart without having to think about it. LOGic is being able to get there in the end. All mental stats are about how smart the character is in one way or another.
The game mechanics don't enforce it as much as they do with physical stats, so you can manage to play the game on the basis of your perceptiveness rather than your character's a lot of the time. Its almost always the player that determines whether the solution to a puzzle is immediately obvious rather than the INT of the character. There are times when you will set off a trap that you didn't know was there due to low INT, but its almost impossible to tell it happened because all perception rolls are hidden.
>>Which is because just about every pure that starts out with their important stat low, finds the game too hard and rerolls or gives up playing altogether.
Most people I talk to just didn't know any better when they made the stats for their character.
>>If you are not encumbered, you are not taking penalties. If you use the extra TPs you get in the relevant skills, and avoid getting encumbered, you will be better at those activities.
All those extra tps only come out to 225 ptps at cap, or half that in mental points, which really isn't a lot. And in getting those tps you are sacrificing health and a bit of natural crit padding by lowering CON.
>>You can't RP strong with a tanked STR at all
Probably about the only thing you can't get away with. You could do the inverse though, have a high STR and role play yourself as weak.
My point has been this though, you may need your stats to align with the role play of your character but it doesn't mean the same holds true for everyone. Different strokes for different folks and all that.
Most people I talk to just didn't know any better when they made the stats for their character.
>>If you are not encumbered, you are not taking penalties. If you use the extra TPs you get in the relevant skills, and avoid getting encumbered, you will be better at those activities.
All those extra tps only come out to 225 ptps at cap, or half that in mental points, which really isn't a lot. And in getting those tps you are sacrificing health and a bit of natural crit padding by lowering CON.
>>You can't RP strong with a tanked STR at all
Probably about the only thing you can't get away with. You could do the inverse though, have a high STR and role play yourself as weak.
My point has been this though, you may need your stats to align with the role play of your character but it doesn't mean the same holds true for everyone. Different strokes for different folks and all that.
>>extra tps only come out to 225 ptps at cap, or half that in mental points, which really isn't a lot
This really needs to be emphasized. From what I can personally see, the upper range seems to be about 300 total points -- unless something exceedingly drastic is done. Which can equal as much as 100 ranks in some skills for some characters, or it might equal as little as 3 ranks in some skills for some characters.
This indicates to me that the training is the primary focal area. Training is far more likely to make or break a character than missing a point here or there in a stat is. Tanking, like extreme training, is an area to be avoided.
>>you may need your stats to align with the role play of your character but it doesn't mean the same holds true for everyone.
Also needs to be emphasized. I would argue it doesn't hold true (as a requirement) for anyone, anywhere. But I also get that what works for me might not work for another and am certainly willing to allow that latitude. For example, I portray a giantman with an enormous physical strength (obvious reasons and enhancives to max allowed) that appears at first glance as very weak. The giantman isn't weak, instead the giantman is very clumsy in the application of strength and is fearful of hurting someone. Therefore, everything except those activities of extreme rage / fear, has only half or less of the natural strength applied.
Roleplay isn't about the numbers, ever. The numbers are the guide to the player to explain results, not to live in the story. At least, to me. Perspectives may differ.
Doug
This really needs to be emphasized. From what I can personally see, the upper range seems to be about 300 total points -- unless something exceedingly drastic is done. Which can equal as much as 100 ranks in some skills for some characters, or it might equal as little as 3 ranks in some skills for some characters.
This indicates to me that the training is the primary focal area. Training is far more likely to make or break a character than missing a point here or there in a stat is. Tanking, like extreme training, is an area to be avoided.
>>you may need your stats to align with the role play of your character but it doesn't mean the same holds true for everyone.
Also needs to be emphasized. I would argue it doesn't hold true (as a requirement) for anyone, anywhere. But I also get that what works for me might not work for another and am certainly willing to allow that latitude. For example, I portray a giantman with an enormous physical strength (obvious reasons and enhancives to max allowed) that appears at first glance as very weak. The giantman isn't weak, instead the giantman is very clumsy in the application of strength and is fearful of hurting someone. Therefore, everything except those activities of extreme rage / fear, has only half or less of the natural strength applied.
Roleplay isn't about the numbers, ever. The numbers are the guide to the player to explain results, not to live in the story. At least, to me. Perspectives may differ.
Doug
That's RP that aligns with stats. It wouldn't align if you did the same thing with a gnome and tanked STR. And you couldn't because the game won't let gnomes with tanked STR carry around hundreds of pounds of gear without ill effect whatever the player may pretend they can do. However the game will let you do the equivalent cheat on mental stats a lot of the time. Just because you can cheat on mental stats doesn't make it good RP to do so, it makes it bad RP.
When the player has the character doing the pretending, and it makes sense that the pretense is possible, thats RP. When the player is pretending their character can do something well despite the relevant stat being tanked, that isn't RP, thats cheating.
When the player has the character doing the pretending, and it makes sense that the pretense is possible, thats RP. When the player is pretending their character can do something well despite the relevant stat being tanked, that isn't RP, thats cheating.
