10 réponses à ce sujet

[wanderon]

Hey ! I'm totally new to Nightmare (well except for the past few days) I've played most of my campaigns on Hard (occasionally backing down to normal for annoying fights like Ancient Rock Wraith or Coripheus if I did not prevail the first time) but I just finished a no mage game and am following that up with a mostly mage game and frankly on Hard I can just about sit back and watch them work and then direct them to the next battle so I decided to give Nightmare a shot and thus far it's been - difficult...(go figure!)

I do understand that playing on nightmare with 3 mages and Isabel is not the optimal party for CCCs but I"m not quite ready to abandon my plan just yet. 

I have printed out the elemental & non-elemental damage resistance/immunity sheets and mostly followed the More money ROF guide getting started (altho the benefits are now minimal without Aveline or Varrick in the group)

With that in mind whats your best tip and/or favorite guide for success on Nightmare with a group like this? (no mods or blatant exploits please)

For those with too much time on your hands perhaps you'd care to offer some details on how you might spec these characters - (Hawke, Merrill Anders & Isabel)

I'm planning on FM/SH Hawke - saving BM for another run-through - but I might be persuaded to change my mind...

Note I did respec Isabel giving her some additional con and boosting her cunning (for locks & traps) and currently the party is about level 10 in Act 1.

[caradoc2000]

wanderon wrote...

I have printed out the elemental & non-elemental damage resistance/immunity sheets and mostly followed the More money ROF guide getting started (altho the benefits are now minimal without Aveline or Varrick in the group)

These will get you started just fine.

The most significant element on NM is friendly fire. You need to adjust your strategy accordingly and be especially careful with the tactics settings.

If you really want a frustrating fight, I suggest you do Malvernis (Legacy hidden boss) on nightmare.

[ripstrawberry]

"Note I did respec Isabel giving her some additional con and boosting her cunning (for locks & traps) and currently the party is about level 10 in Act 1."

You are wasting points in con on Isabela. The only stats you should raise points in for a rogue is dex and cun. Make sure you've got 100% atk vs grunts and 100% crit then everything else into cun. Only level 50 rogue players should place points into con (because they'll max out cun and dex with points to spare and adding a few hp would help a little with survivability for a level 50 game.)

[wanderon]

ripstrawberry wrote...

"Note I did respec Isabel giving her some additional con and boosting her cunning (for locks & traps) and currently the party is about level 10 in Act 1."

You are wasting points in con on Isabela. The only stats you should raise points in for a rogue is dex and cun. Make sure you've got 100% atk vs grunts and 100% crit then everything else into cun. Only level 50 rogue players should place points into con (because they'll max out cun and dex with points to spare and adding a few hp would help a little with survivability for a level 50 game.)

While I would agree with that for a rogue in most parties (where there is a warrior available to take the brunt of enemy damage) - in this case she already spends too much time dead even with the extra hps and she doesn't contribute much lying on the ground looking pretty...

[ripstrawberry]

"While I would agree with that for a rogue in most parties (where there is a warrior available to take the brunt of enemy damage) - in this case she already spends too much time dead even with the extra hps and she doesn't contribute much lying on the ground looking pretty..."

See that's my point. The extra hp isn't high enough to do her any good. Increasing cun not only increases her dps but also increases her survivability (def). Then, increase her survivability more by giving her defensive buffs (barrier, arcane shield), defensive gear (more armor, more dmg/mag resistances) and to use CC spells that don't cause FF (glyphs, horror, tempest/chain lightning + high base dmg + force mage spec bonus = stun vs grunts and possibly elites). As I've noted there higher dmg=CC so all your FF spells, if they deal high enough dmg can work as CC vs the grunts.

[mr_afk]

I kinda mentioned it already in the other thread, but if you want to increase Isabela's survivability you're actually best off pumping dex (so you kill things faster) and manually jumping and repositioning so you only face one enemy at a time.

I can't really remember whether constitution was required in the post-patch game, but if you're going to use her to face the brunt of all the enemy threat having some health will be probably useful (mainly for arrows/prevent knockback).

Without a warrior in the team you probably should use the dog to soak most the threat. Just keep isabela near to the dog and drop threat with stealth or armistice (or a stun ability) - although there's a risk they'll attack your mages.

[ripstrawberry]

"I kinda mentioned it already in the other thread, but if you want to increase Isabela's survivability you're actually best off pumping dex (so you kill things faster) and manually jumping and repositioning so you only face one enemy at a time."

While I agree increasing dps is the way to go. I still think Isabela's better off with cun once you reach the 100% crit, 100% atk vs grunts point. O hand yeah her survival is better if she's controlled.

"I can't really remember whether constitution was required in the post-patch game, but if you're going to use her to face the brunt of all the enemy threat having some health will be probably useful (mainly for arrows/prevent knockback)."

It's not required post-patch (except maybe for blood mages) as far as I'm concerned because the benefit is too low. Immunity to knockback items are available and def is good for making archers miss while also increasing dps, unlike con. It's really best to take priority targets (archers) out ASAP then relying on CC effects to mitigate dmg. Supplement with armor, obscure + resistances.

"Without a warrior in the team you probably should use the dog to soak most the threat. Just keep isabela near to the dog and drop threat with stealth or armistice (or a stun ability) - although there's a risk they'll attack your mages."

Or Merill can function as the party tank if you've built her properly and use goad + other threat management skills (besides the ones mentioned above there's also evade, confusion and subtlety.)

[SuicidalBaby]

mr_afk wrote...

I kinda mentioned it already in the other thread, but if you want to increase Isabela's survivability you're actually best off pumping dex (so you kill things faster) and manually jumping and repositioning so you only face one enemy at a time.

I can't really remember whether constitution was required in the post-patch game, but if you're going to use her to face the brunt of all the enemy threat having some health will be probably useful (mainly for arrows/prevent knockback).

Without a warrior in the team you probably should use the dog to soak most the threat. Just keep isabela near to the dog and drop threat with stealth or armistice (or a stun ability) - although there's a risk they'll attack your mages.

to increase her survivability you keep her attacking targets that are not attacking her while using stealth and reposition to reduce threat.  Invisible friend + proper tactics.

compendium link in signature.

my favorite guides are in the signature.

my best tip is that you take the time to read them.

[wanderon]

SuicidialBaby wrote...

to increase her survivability you keep her attacking targets that are not attacking her while using stealth and reposition to reduce threat.  Invisible friend + proper tactics.

compendium link in signature.

my favorite guides are in the signature.

my best tip is that you take the time to read them.

Good advice - thx

I have looked through some of those before but perhaps I should take the time to give them another look before I get started on Act 2...

[wanderon]

Ok I am in Act 2 (early) and I just reloaded the bounty hunter cavern (Search & rescue from Mistress Selbys Board) about a half dozen times with my current mage heavy party on nightmare (Hawke mage, Anders & Merril with Isabela) -we were never able to take out more than one of the two assasins (nor the commander) before dying yet as soon as I dropped it to hard we pretty much wiped the floor with them and didn't lose a single team member.

This can't all be due to freindly fire issues and/or immunities - what else changes between nightmare and hard difficulty?

[SuicidalBaby]

wanderon wrote...

Ok I am in Act 2 (early) and I just reloaded the bounty hunter cavern (Search & rescue from Mistress Selbys Board) about a half dozen times with my current mage heavy party on nightmare (Hawke mage, Anders & Merril with Isabela) -we were never able to take out more than one of the two assasins (nor the commander) before dying yet as soon as I dropped it to hard we pretty much wiped the floor with them and didn't lose a single team member.

This can't all be due to freindly fire issues and/or immunities - what else changes between nightmare and hard difficulty?

the changes tend to dictate who you bring in the group more often than not as well as the abilities you choose to learn/use depending on your group make up.

your group should have the ability to synergize dependant on abilities other than just ccc.  your tactics should have them defending each other, not 1 defending 2 defending 1  but 1 defending 2 defending 3 defending 4 defending 1.

Merrill
enemy: attacking Anders: stonefist

Anders
enemy: attacking Varric: stonefist

Varric
enemy: attacking Merril: kickback
Anders: being attacked by melee: Armitice
Enemy: attacking Varric: use current condiition for next tactic
Anders: any: Invisible Friend

like that.