Othello, V.2
1. General concept.
Those who frequent these forums, are probably familiar by now with my concept of elemental setup. In short, for those who are not: a non-mage character takes advantage of mage-oriented +X% elemental damage gear by sacrificing at least two of the slots (Ring of the Ferryman and Robes of Cleanliness) to boost his damage output using elemental weapons (preferably, fire or electricity-based). Technically, it means damage calculation will use an additional multiplier (for example, Damage_Fire_Bonus_Factor) on top of any other bonuses, both additive and multiplicative.
Rogues benefit greatly from going elemental, since their enormous Damage_Critical_Bonus_Factor gets effectively multiplied by a very significant value they can achieve in elemental damage bonus factor. Warriors, on the other hand, are considerably weaker in terms of critical damage factor, but have a whole arsenal of great damage boosting talents at their disposal (Blood Frenzy/Veneer of Calm, Sacrificial Frenzy, Cleave, Adrenaline, to name the major ones).
2. S&S experiment.
The main issue with top-quality elemental builds is they are only possible late game (Act III). The idea behind the experiment was to build a very early game elemental S&S warrior. Why S&S and not 2H? Three reasons, actually:
(a) While it's true 2H has early access to Anderfel Cleaver as opposed to S&S' Desdemona's Blade, it is important to remember Acts I & II are literally dominated by Qunari, Shades, Mercenaries and Darkspawn, who are all weak to nature. Anderfel is a superior option during certain side-quests, sure enough, but in principle, I find Desdemona far more viable. You also have a great freebie auto-scaling alt weapon (Fadeshear) vs fire-immunes, while Anderfel build will have a tough time vs those Qunari without a respec.
(
I wanted my build to take full advantage of animation speed bonuses, and going 2H is hardly the optimal route to achieve that. © Everyone and their grandmother plays 2H. Seriously, Youtube is full of beefy 2H Reavers auto-attacking the hell out of poor enemies.
3. Custom rules.
No mabari this time, but I use a party of buff/debuff/RoF bots (tactics disabled, set on Passive, Hold Position -- if possible, behind closed doors), mainly to test Animation_Speed_Modifier limitations and DISORIENT CCCs that appear extremely unpopular.
I also decided to exploit newest RoF findings by SuicidalBaby, Akodin, et al. instead of just resorting to runscript addmoney. The good news in this respect: it is possible to buy all the Tomes/Elixirs (except the Arcane ones) and the Fallen Star (albeit very late into the Act), if you take Friends in Low Places route and let Dougal invest in the expedition.
4. The build: Act I.
The idea is to get Desdemona's, coat it with Deathroot Toxin, then enchant it with Nature + Frost runes. Even with all +attribute gear, some investment into Mag and Wil must be made (not too much, about 2 levels worth of attribute points) to get Rune-Covered Gloves and Boots of the Elder. This (or, actually, half of this) is quite beneficial for the first build spec: Berserker.
Key talents: Bravery, Barrage, Control, Cleave, Destroyer.
Key party buffs: Haste, Thumbs Up.
In case you wonder why Bravery is mentioned first. Technically, it is very similar to DAO talent bearing the same name, only the numerical values of bonuses are different:
int nEnemies = Max(0,GetArraySize(GetCreaturesInMeleeRing(oAttacker,0.0, 359.99f,TRUE,0))-2);
fCriticalHitModifier += nEnemies * 3.5f;
In other words, your critical chance and damage vs multiple opponents in melee distance will be extremely high. The idea is to complement this with as high attack animation speed as possible, and, of course, with such staples as Cleave and Destroyer. Note I also prefer Control to Might at this stage of character development to make my criticals somewhat consistent.
4a. Short demonstration video.
Shepherding Wolves, final fight.
I was actually asked several times how to beat this one solo. I replied that it is a long, but easy fight for a solo archer, yet I can see why mages and, especially, warriors should consider this one difficult. Well, it's not really difficult, as you can see (granted, it's quasi-solo, but still -- closer to solo than to party formation).
In my opinion, one of the most interesting parts of playing S&S is precise targeting. It's a new mechanic for me, in fact. Rogues are single-target, so it's out of question; 2H warriors have such a huge arc (especially with Giant's Reach), that no aiming judgment is required. With one-handers, you need to aim correctly to be able to hit 2-3 opponents simultaneously, and that does involve some non-trivial decisions sometimes.
I show my gear in the video. I'm very late into Act I here (you can judge by my level), only Deep Roads Expedition remains.
5. The build: Act II.
Desdemona is an amazingly long-term investment. This weapon holds its own, and more than that, until the very end of Act II, provided you enchant it with 2 Runes of Striking (+8% critical chance). Surprisingly enough, I have not found either Fade's Fury or Windsong Axe overly useful. Both perform reasonably well, but you can stick with your trusty Fadeshear as alt weapon.
In general, your gear priorities during Act II should be, in order of preference: (1) +X% nature dmg; (2) +X% crit chance; (3) +X% attack speed.
The second spec should be, of course, Reaver. Also, invest talent points into upgraded Barrage (+10s duration), and either upgraded Cleave or upgraded Adrenalin -- whatever suits your playstyle better. Personally, I find Adrenalin quite tricky and time-consuming to use, but it's hard to say no to the (potentially) infinitely stacking buff.
New key talents: Blood Frenzy, Sacrificial Frenzy, Fervor.
5a. Short demonstration video.
Demands of the Qun, pre-Arishok fight.
Just to show the amazing potential of Striking-enchanted Desdemona vs higher level Qunari.
6. The build: Act III.
Things get pretty simple now. Recommended gear: Sataareth, Volcanic Shield, Dura's Blue Flame, Robes of Cleanliness, Ring of the Ferryman, Tevinter Enchanter's Cap, The Magister's Ring, Gauntlets [High Dragon]. With Reaver spec bonus, that accounts for +93% fire damage.
The only talent I can recommend at this stage is Assail. I also suggest replacing Control with Might as you main modal ability at this point. You can invest into the Sword & Shield tree, if you are so inclined, but it's hardly necessary, unless you cannot live without CCCs: you will kill everything with auto-attacks in a matter of seconds, anyway.
Later into the Act, you might want to grab Glandivalis to deal with fire-immune creatures, but it's not mandatory. You should be fine with Fadeshear vs those Rage and Pride Demons.
6a. Short demonstration video.
Pride Unbound, Hybris fight.
This video demonstrates how ridiculously powerful a Sataareth S&S setup is at +105-135% animation speed. It also shows how to use Adrenaline properly: it's not a pre-buff, it's a mid-attack buff. It does not cancel attack animation, the delay is due to nominal cooldown only. Practically, it means that if you use the pause function (and you really should), it's a semi-permanent +64% damage buff. However, if you decide to play with no pauses, this talent is, by and large, inefficient and not worth upgrading.
Modifié par IN1, 02 avril 2011 - 06:37 .
Retour en haut
