squat
Bonebreaker
Posts: 33
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Post by squat on Dec 1, 2010 11:08:54 GMT
I'm coming to the end of the line for traits on my fighter, and I want to make sure I have no regrets since doing it over is out of the question. I'm satisfied with everything so far, but I have a bit of a dilemma.
I originally made Squat as a bash only character, however over time he's become my favorite to the point where I don't play any of my alts anymore. I'm bashing less than half the time I'm playing, and I've gotten fairly efficient solo.
I've spent quite a bit of time reading up on the traits and what people think of them, and I want to make sure I pick something that isn't going to become next to useless after a certain point(I.E. a level 32 with sturdy)
I'm not really going to go into my current traits much, but I am a level 27 Orc fighter. I can carry A LOT, but even with top of the line armour I need lots of heals and occasionally have to rest between big kills while soloing.
I have 9 traits used and 6 open slots. I am almost certain I will take exceptional, dex, str, and con, and pure soul. I am considering these traits for the last 2:
Glutton - At my current level having glutton 2 or 3 would make soloing much easier. I already can eat around 6 knuggets on an empty stomache, and this would make it so I constantly be wolfing them down and rarely have to break between large kills so I can eat and drink more.
I'm somewhat concerned that after passing level 30 and getting exc. con, I'll eventually be able to eat so much anyway that I'll almost never be completely stuffed in the first place, and in order to do so I'd have to be carrying so much food around that I wouldn't have room for anything else. This trait would be completely useless while bashing.
Clean Spirit - I don't use a ton of murkies, but I usually have 4 or 5 in my sack if I can't eat/drink any more while fighting and having 2 or 3 points in this would mean never needing a purge. I do occasionally find myself getting only 30ish healing per potion and since clerics are hard to get a hold of at times this would eliminate the search and downtime.
Of course if clerics are around and willing this skill serves no purpose. I also find that the more comfortable I get soloing the less I need to rely on potions.
racial hate - I already have human and orc, I suppose I could take dwarf or undead or something as well. This would be the most obvious choice if I only bashed, and would be useful soloing although not as much as the previous two.
Magic resistant? - Those spells do hit awful hard, 20+ more resistance would make a pretty big difference.
These seem to be the main ones Im considering since most other traits I would get almost no benefit from, but a few others I might consider if someone says they love it:
unnat memory relaxed mind(for fury? although I rarely use any sps as it is) exc int, wis?(not a main stat for fighters, but increases outflank chance and some other small bonuses, plus having higher stats always seems like a good idea) Insulated(same as magic resist, although seems less useful) drunkard(same as glutton, except I can't drink near as much so would be less or a bonus)
Thanks for your input, I'm about 5 mil XP from exc, dex right now, and I'd like to fill up another small trait spot soon!
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Post by sixclaw on Dec 1, 2010 16:10:25 GMT
Glutton is a really, really, really, really nice trait.
Clean spirit is really good if you use potions often (which it sounds like you don't).
I've never really seen the point in the magic resistance/insulated traits. To make any sort of difference against things that actually hurt (like Valdrath), you need more than a weak-ass +20 to your resistances. There's armor you can get that gives way more than that (rings, medallions, robes, among other things).
Dwarves are definitely making a come back in terms of population, so racial hate: dwarf has been tempting me (I have only one trait slot open myself and it was a tough decision on what I was going to spend it on). Racial hate: dragon is also another good choice for when you (inevitably) turn to collecting dragon scales. Plus dragons are worth really nice freaking experience. (Huge dragon, silver green dragon, ancient red dragon, Sydiemath, Valdrath, red dragon, fairy dragon, random thunt monsters).
Unnatural memory isn't worth it for a fighter in my opinion. If you're the type that gets really pissed when your character dies and slam your keyboard against the wall repeatedly, etc.. maybe you should get it.. otherwise, why bother? If anything, it's incentive to keep playing to get back to 1700.
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Post by Mani on Dec 2, 2010 20:15:01 GMT
I agree with Sixclaw on all his points. Maybe Glutton and Drunkard? They both are nice. have you considered weapon expert(could be off on the name.. the one that does extra damage with one type of weapon)? Calvin took it with rapier and i hear its been nice.
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squat
Bonebreaker
Posts: 33
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Post by squat on Dec 3, 2010 2:31:00 GMT
I think I'm sold on glutton and I'm not going to rush the last one. As far weapon expert I took that long ago, pretty much every trait not listed I either consider completely worthless or I already have it.
rapier *snicker*
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Post by Gromlakh on Dec 3, 2010 6:19:50 GMT
I suspect you wouldn't be snickering so much if you challenged CalviN in PK and were on the receiving end of a level 33-ish fighter in fury murderizing you with a crystal blade.
Although I bet with the introduction of the chain staff, Cal regretted his choice fairly quickly.
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Post by sixclaw on Dec 3, 2010 8:48:21 GMT
Crystal blade is a very good weapon Calvin also has exc str/dex if I remember correctly... so combining weapon expert: rapier, with the exc str/dex, with crystal blade and a ficer spellforged trillian rapier, with racial hates, with fury, with the fact a vast majority of armored NPCs are NOT more protected from piercing attacks (in fact I'm willing to bet none are), and some are even less protected from piercing attacks... you do the math not only will he hit practically every round (sometimes multiple hits), he's going to be BCing/massing nearly every hit..
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Post by Mani on Dec 3, 2010 14:04:11 GMT
this is somewhat random, but do you think many animals are armoured? curious if theres a specific damagetype that would help me get my ranger on better than another
also, I know what can outclaim chainstaff ;D
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squat
Bonebreaker
Posts: 33
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Post by squat on Dec 5, 2010 23:48:47 GMT
Interestingly enough, since I haven't died in ages, I had forgotten that the XP loss from death is capped at 10 mil!
knowing this, Im not sure I want to take pure soul at all. 10 mil XP is quite a bit sure, but its not that big of a deal. It's about 50 hours or so of serious play time for me, but think my trait may be better spent in another area. Especially since I wouldnt be taking more than pure soul 2 for quite a long time.
So here's the plan: Next boot I'll get enough xp to pick up exc. Dex. Then glutton 1 & 2 shortly after. Next start beefing up my damage with Racial hate human 2, orc 2, marksman 2, and wep expert 2.(seems like a lot, but its much less than I've already saved up for exc. stat... ahhhhhh patience pays off sometimes)
That will take me to level 29, and should be enough time to decide if I'm ready to commit to another new trait, keep advancing the ones I have, or start saving for exc. str. By then I'll also be at or close to 1700 skills so I can stop using all these garbage weapons and really start to see what a highish level fighter is capable of!
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Post by Iorek on Dec 7, 2010 11:21:44 GMT
Something to note Squat is that Pure Soul reduces the xp loss from the cap rather then from your total xp 10mil becomes 7mil 7mil becomes 4.9mil 4.9mil becomes 3.43mil Maybe not anymore attractive, but something to consider. It's like insurance, its a bitch to pay for, but nice if you ever need it Otherwise, your plan is solid, have a think about what you think you will be doing more of as you play, and trait towards that.
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squat
Bonebreaker
Posts: 33
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Post by squat on Dec 17, 2010 9:17:05 GMT
12 days later...
Being the proud new owner of another dex poin and both racial hates as planned, things are moving along quite nicely, I.E. playing more than any sane person should. I'm definitely enjoying how painfully obvious(no pun intended) it is when I'm fighting something Im racist towards as opposed to something else.
I also find it interesting how little trait discussion there is amoung players(even when I bring it up), as opposed to things like what gear to get. Especially since traits are, in my opinion, the most important thing that determines how effective your play style is.
Anyway, I'm strongly considering going the route of traits that benefit to throwing for the majority of the next chunk of XP. The only thing that's really holding me back at this point is the amount of extra effort to use throwing weapons. If I had another 8-10 bottles of carry capacity it would be different, but having to type aliases to get knife from sack, throw knife, and wield wield weapon every single round, on top of already having to type a number of aliases to refill pipe, disarm, eat, drink, read notebook, etc. etc. we're talking carpel tunnel after an hour of playing.
That also decreases the margin for error and likelihood that I'll die as a result of not being able to get to a heal fast enough.
Anyway, I guess I'll just start accumulating XP and if one of the traits I already took speaks to me I'll take level 2 or 3 and if not expect to see me with another strength point in a few months.
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squat
Bonebreaker
Posts: 33
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Post by squat on Jan 19, 2011 8:50:33 GMT
Just kind of a personal update. I am now less than 1 million XP from level 29.
Since the last update I've been throwing quite a bit more, mostly against spellcasters with low HP and also to get out gear. So as planned I grabbed that marksman 2 trait. A short while later I got to 30 traits and realized that I hadn't used longsword for quite awhile because I still needed a good 15 mil XP or so in other weapon skills, so no point in spending 30 traits on a skill I won't use, so I just stocked up on points.
A few days later after soloing, drinking beer, and getting pissed off that I needed purged every 2 hours, I finally broke down and took clean spirit 1 & 2. Fuck it, I doubt I'll ever regret that one too much anyway.
So since this first post I've gone from 6 traits open to only 3, two of which I know are going to strength and Constitution. So with that final, and most sacred free trait will sit in wait until I know for sure what will be most beneficial to high level Squat.
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Post by shin00bi on Jan 19, 2011 20:11:06 GMT
I tend to go for the more expensive traits at first. There's one character of mine that went +1 Dex and +1 Str before anything else. But it's still fun to list out traits that you plan for your character. I came up with a list of possible good traits for a mage. Let me know what you think if you can: 1. Pure Soul 2. Dodger * 3. Exceptional Constitution 4. Exceptional Dexterity 5. Exceptional Intelligence * 6. Exceptional Strength 7. relaxed mind (Sp regen trait) * 8. weapon expert: ?? 9. skill focus: ?? * 10. Hardskinned 11. Clean spirit 12. Glutton 13. Drunkard 14. Healthy (hp regen trait) 15. Racial Hate: Regarding exceptional con... Maybe it's just me, but I've made a ton of alts, to cover a lot of the races/class combos, and it seems like Constitution has a sort of hardskin trait built into it. Like my high-level helf with laughable con but pretty good HP, vs. Low level dwarf with high-con and same HP; against the same NPCs... seems like he can tank nekkid better than the helf. But in any case, con is like a combination of healthy/sturdy/drunkard/glutton at least, so it's worth it just for that. *For my fighter, I'd probably use the same list, but take out Int, Skill Focus, Dodger, Relaxed Mind, and distribute the rest towards more racism.
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squat
Bonebreaker
Posts: 33
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Post by squat on Jan 20, 2011 2:03:45 GMT
Looks like a pretty solid list, although theres a few things I would do different on a mage just based on personal preference.
One thing is pure soul, I view it as insurance that I'd just rather not have. Most skilled players die very rarely, especially at high levels, so I'd leave it out. Also skill focus, unless you want to dual wield exotic or something I just figure you'll get there eventually. Most mages prefer SoT for very good reason and it really doesn't take all that long to max staff skill(especially since you're dodging you won't have much actual armor).
Also, without those bonuses to resist you get from armor an insulated trait might come in handy. Even if you don't throw frequently you'll want boomer and maybe darts to lower opponents dex for those extra dodges, so deft hands might help since boomer can be hard to come by at times.
Other than that it depends on your play style, an orc battlemage I'd lean more towards racial hates and weapon experts where a spellfiring mage I'd just try to get SPs flowing and what not.
As far as con goes, yeah it's pretty much a must have since it cocktails with other traits & level bonuses all meshed into one, I'm almost tempted to take it before strength just so my ability to stay in battle will increase such a large amount by it
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Post by shin00bi on Jan 20, 2011 17:49:12 GMT
I see what you mean. For pure soul, I would be kind of saving it for last. I'd still want it eventually though. If you ever plan on going after Valdrath, it definitely pays to have pure soul.
As for resistance... even with dodging, I'd still rather make the resistance equipment-based, and save the trait-slots. I think a mage with DP, pipe, and a weapon that weighs no more than 4, can afford to wear a robe that weighs 1, and still dodge pretty well; especially the points in Dodger. Keep in mind, Chun took Dodger and he carries a bit more than most mages when he dodges.
Deft hands? I tend to live without boomerang/darts when they break. It's usually easy to get darts, and although they break a lot, you can usually buy a few, throw them all at one NPC to get rid of the duds, and be left over with a few darts that last almost as long as a boomerang (which also can be a dud sometimes).
The trait list is basically for a haste-melee mage. I don't have a character set up like that at the moment, except an elf that I don't use (outside of the occasional perm someone may need). The mage would most likely be a dwarf, just 'cause traits make that option somewhat viable now and it seems fun.
Con over Str? I'd say nah. I'm of a mind that 1 str goes a long way in shortening your battles.
Here's some food for thought. I have a Dwarf Ranger, and a Helf Ranger. The helf easily takes the cake as far as how easy it is to solo, because the Gigantic wolf is just that good... but I noticed if I bola say, an Orc Guard in Anasazi when they are seriously wounded, or that armored gambling knight in Andeli, there's a good chance they will cut the bola and stand up before they die. The helf has +1 Str and +1 Dex (for 15/16 total). The dwarf on the other hand, is kind of a lowbie (low skill, no major traits), has 17 str 14 dex naturally, and always finishes the NPCs off when I bola them at Seriously Wounded; that's with lower skill, -2 dex, and +2 str over the helf, plus a smaller wolf. When Rhynst said to wait to bola seriously wounded NPCs who can cut bolas, he had Orcs/Dwarfs and Humans in mind and not Helves/Elves.
So basically, knocking an NPC over is great, but the higher STR characters capitalize on it the most; I think for the helf, the bola mostly just helps with him and the wolf taking less damage, but not so much dishing it out. I'm inclined to think it helps in general a lot to have more Str.
For a solo'r without a pet to tank for them, I think Str = Con > Dex... so might as well go for the Str just because it'll actively help you in a few more areas. There's always the chance that Stretch will log on and tank for you. He's the only real somewhat-active tank left it seems like. I see other people tanking on occasion, but it's usually only a pair of friends or something.
I don't make the best tank, but Dan used to insist my helf ranger was still worth bashing for.
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Post by CalviN on Mar 10, 2011 6:11:11 GMT
I think I'm sold on glutton and I'm not going to rush the last one. As far weapon expert I took that long ago, pretty much every trait not listed I either consider completely worthless or I already have it. rapier *snicker* Hehehehehehe..... just ask some of the people that've been bashing for me when I'm tanking, or tanking for me when I'm bashin, and I've got, say, cblade in right, king's blade (doc weap as rapier) in left.... or cblade/vfine trillian rapier of excellence... or just cblade/vfine mithril rapier. The lvl 33 fury, 19str 19dex, +2 weap expert, +2 orc & human hate, pretty much means I hit like a freakin mac truck, rarely miss, and get a LOT of triple impales, skewer/impale/impale rounds, double skewer/impale... perf/impales... I even got a triple skewer round on Rold tonight, a lvl 19 npc. And what Sixclaw was saying was spot on. A lot of NPCs just plain don't got any defense against pierce attacks, compared to crush. Don't believe me, just ask me when ya see me, and I'll let ya follow me for a half hour. I also burn a CRAPLOAD of hungas when I'm soloing, and in the mood to get good exp. and when I do that...... I'm pulling down like 3-400k exp/hr. consistently... for several hours in a row. as a fighter. using dual rapiers. So yeah.... *snicker rapiers* all ya want. You didn't think I'd pick that just on a whim, didya? To each his own tho... there's several alternatives to rapier that I spent many many hours agonizing over, before I settled on rapier, that are just as good. (And just FYI, I turn down chain staff regularly if I have cblade/vfine ficer rapier, and everyone knows how much I love that thing. What's that tell ya?? )
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