18 réponses à ce sujet

[krsboss]

With only a choice of small & large crystals, there's not too much choice...but then each of the 5 elements (nature, lightning, fire, spirit & ice)....each with it's own benefits and potential downfalls.

For instance, using a small fire crystal against rage daemons won't give you anywhere near the success of using small ice crystal...similarly, attacking a revenant with a small ice crystal is made of fail!

I find myself using a small (brilliant when available) lightning crystal with a large nature crystal as I find the benefits of this combination work best for my play-style!

It should be of note that when you equip two crystals of the same element, the character sheet says that you gain a set bonus, though I cannot see that there are actually any +es to it!

...as for levelling Shale, I generally take con & str both to 38, putting the rest into dexterity (38 con is required to equip a large brilliant crystal though this can be faked by using a small brilliant nature crystal if you have enough strength & 32 con!). As for talents, they seem mostly pointless as when I use Shale she's permanently in the Pulverizing Blows tree (though I do see the benefits of the other trees)!

....I know she's not really a popular companion choice, but hey, it sure saves on equipment costs if one of your party only uses crystals!

...any thoughts?!

[JPCamden]

Why does everyone call Shale a she? Is that something I figure out later? If so, nevermind. Just a typo.

[dkjestrup]

Do her companion quest... Shayle of house Cadash....

[SusanStoHelit]

We call her a she because she is. Didn't you wonder why she asked if the crystals made her look too broad - and could tell her they were slimming? And why she wantted to glitter from ear to ear? And so on. Obvious long before her quest. But I shall avoid any and all details, lol.

And I love her for a companion. She's not always in my party - but she often is. And she's very versatile - tank, ranged, party buffs, and so on. She'll work in almost any group - and she's funny too.

Edit: I go for the 38 strength and constitution as well. But seldom put any in dex; I do put some points into willpower (up to 20 maybe). The rest is straight strength. Works for me.

Modifié par SusanStoHelit, 23 janvier 2010 - 01:34 .

[x-president]

I usually just jacked up up strength and constitution, but I'm starting to put more in dexterity now.

I've tried many of the abilities and recently ahve just used the Stoneheart line for the buffs and taunts.  Also the Stone Aura line maxxed out can be very effective if used right.  I used that the entire Broodmother fight and it worked out great.

The Rock Mastery line I haven't used all that much but it is good.  The only problem I find is the FF it can cause.


I used Shale pretty much my entire game in my current playthrough.  As the OP pointed out not many equipment chocies or worries, but that also means he is kinda isolated in the resistance area.  I generally uses Fire crystals for both attack and defense.

[JetB]

Shale makes an excellent tank.

[kasanza]

I just found out that Shale is actually a beast! I always had her in Pulv. Blows mode and she would go down so quick I'd laugh. So, on my fourth playthrough Cadash (which is about the only place I've taken her) I used StoneHeart and Precise Striking, and my god what a difference! No more misses (even on Nightmare), her armor is higher and she can stun and damage multiple enemies without friendly fire! Suddenly I love her, but I didn't try this until my main was level 19 and on my fourth playthrough so I'm quite saddened. I will probably use her on the DLC and expansion now that she can tank like Alistair (because that mode increases her threat) and AOE melee like Oghren at the same time!

Modifié par kasanza, 23 janvier 2010 - 07:04 .

[Treason1]

I've found that, in my recent play throughs, she hasn't been as tankish as Alistair. She's a load of hp, 'tis true, but her armor value is far worse than a Sword and Board carrier. She tends to go down rather fast. Note that I'm playing on nightmare mode. Even with decent support, she's actually more squishy than the supposed fleshingly she complains about.

One of the reasons I've started turning her into the party buffer, with the Stone Aura activated. On Nightmare, I've noticed that the enemies are far more..persistent..in taking out the party mages and supporters, first. Hell, I remember the Ogre fight at the top of the Tower of Ishal, during all my nightmare runs..I'll I had to due was cast a few support and healing abilities with my mage Protagonist, and the Ogre followed her around for the whole battle, inspite of whatever else was thrown at it, from the rest.

Modifié par Treason1, 23 janvier 2010 - 07:15 .

[zereke]

Why not bring wynne if you want a party buffer?

Stone aura seem to draw a lot of aggro.

[dkjestrup]

I personally think Shale is very overrated. As a tank, Alistar is miles better. He can get 100% spell resist, he is immune to knockdowns (I usually use Shield Defense, but you should always switch to wall against Ogres and the like), he has much more and better equipment to wear (Lifegiver, Blood Gouged Amulet (or Spellward for mages), Howe's Shield, Key to the City/Harvest/Warrior/Ages).



Shale is only better at drawing Aggro. As far as party buffs, you have Bards, Mages, or Champions to do that for you.



Shale, for damage dealing, is also rubbish compared to say, Sten or Ohgren.

[Ecael]

dkjestrup wrote...

I personally think Shale is very overrated. As a tank, Alistar is miles better. He can get 100% spell resist, he is immune to knockdowns (I usually use Shield Defense, but you should always switch to wall against Ogres and the like), he has much more and better equipment to wear (Lifegiver, Blood Gouged Amulet (or Spellward for mages), Howe's Shield, Key to the City/Harvest/Warrior/Ages).

Shale is only better at drawing Aggro. As far as party buffs, you have Bards, Mages, or Champions to do that for you.

Shale, for damage dealing, is also rubbish compared to say, Sten or Ohgren.

At the same time, Shale is immune to dragon/ogre grabs and overwhelm, both of which are extremely annoying anti-tank abilities.

[dkjestrup]

Really? I never knew that lol!



Generally I just use forcefield on my tank when that happens though.

[x-president]

With Stone Wall I don't think you can be grabbed.  My last game I was Sword & Shield warrior and the Ogres couldn't touch me.

Everytime they'd do that charge they couldn't move me or knock me down.  With a successful Shield Bash you can knock people free from the Ogre grab too.  I saved Wynne doing that.

[Silensfurtim]

I use shale as a Tank/Buffer. So I just pump her STR and CON to reach like 600+ HP. Then I equip her with Brilliant Green Crystals.

[Treason1]

zereke wrote...

Why not bring wynne if you want a party buffer?
Stone aura seem to draw a lot of aggro.

That's the whole point.  I get a nice regen and bonuse aura that keeps my guys alive, Shale draws aggro away from them, and since I usually play Mage characters, I just pop a forcefield on her.  On Nightmare setting, the enemy is persistant to the point of stupidity (even more so, than other lower difficulty settings, it seems to me), and they'll continue to wack away at anyone that's done a debuff on them, or is a competent supporter, despite the damage being done to them from other sources.

[soteria]

Isn't strength the bonus shale gets from Influence? I think so. I've never had to raise strength all the way to 38 to equip the flawless crystals. She's not bad. Kinda handy against the werewolves, since she can't be overwhelmed, but in general I think Alistair makes a better tank.

[dkjestrup]

^ I believe 38 strength is for Brilliant crystals, not Flawless.

[Illwillsam]

Alistair (or however his name is spelled) is better at end game but I think Shale is better at low levels. It takes a while for Alistair to get many of the talents that make him an excellent tank, so at the start hes rather lackluster.



IMHO etc. etc.

[Pubknight]

I think Shale lends herself more to an autopilot approach.  The Stoneheart line, with good tactics set up, let's you run Shale pretty much hands off.
Alistair could very well be more effective with more involvement/micro.  For me, I spent most of my time microing my PC mage, so Shale was a better option.
As for the crystals, I kept a few different types, and would switch them out on the fly depending on the enemy.
And for attributes, I would do a 3 level up rotation: 2 str, 1 con || 1 str 2 con || 1 str 1 dex 1 con.  Shales primary role for me was a damage sponge tank while my other characters handled the dps.
During the Flemeth and High Dragon fights, Shale barely took any damage at all. 

Modifié par Pubknight, 25 janvier 2010 - 05:28 .