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Necro Samuria vs Sampire

Which is the better PvM template Necro Samurai or Sampire?

  • Necro Samurai

    Votes: 3 25.0%
  • Sampire

    Votes: 9 75.0%

  • Total voters
    12

Zalan

Crazed Zealot
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
On the PvM side Necro Samuria or Sampire, which is the most effective for general PvM and spawns?

Sampire:
120 Sword
120 Parry
120 Bushido
120 Tactics
120 Anatomy
120 Chivalry
99 Necromancy

Necro Samuria:
120 Sword
120 Parry
120 Bushido
120 Tactics
120 Anatomy
105/120 Necromancy
120 Spirit Speak
(Midnight Bracers, Mark of Travesty, Bloodwood Spirit Totem, Ossian Grimiore +60 to skills imbued jewelry.)

120 Parry and Bushido for evasion and Parry Mastery heightned sense (depending on mana drain)
 

Lord GOD(GOD)

Certifiable
Stratics Veteran
Necro/Samurai if built well. Though you don't need 120 Necro and can't hold the Grimiore and a weapon at the same time. I wouldn't use any of that gear listed either. For many reasons but mainly the versatility of being able to use both Vamp & Wraith Form, Curse Weapon, Wither, Necro masteries and a few other things.
 

Tuan

Slightly Crazed
Stratics Veteran
How is Sammy the Necro better than the Sampire? I'm not quite sure I see what it's going to do that a Sampire can't. Without chiv you'll do half as much damage against non-slayer things. I suppose this forces you into a wraith form running Curse Weapon for healing, but you'll still have more or less all the same problems that a standard samp has, and you'll be taking more damage, since I believe wraith form prevents use of refinements, and also no swampy. Maybe if you went fencer in the 2nd for leaf blades you could feint all the time, but with SW you'd be stuck with bokutos if you wanted to feint... not exactly a hard hitter.
 

Zalan

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Alumni
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My thought was you have to think a bit outside the box for Necro Samurai. The Sampire would be fairly easy to run. Sampire seem to be more for spawn camping than anything. EoO, CW, and DF smack the same Mob over the head

Necro Samurai depending on build with or without skill items is a different play. You have alot of different options. Use 100% fire weapon and corpse skin. Wraith form and spam wither. Animate Corpse, Skeletal Dragons, run a pair of Bakes with Dark Wolf. I'm sure there are other things I haven't thought of.
 

ysolt

Seasoned Veteran
Both are basically the same build with only minor difference.

With chiv you can do more damage with mobs without slayer.

With SS you can cast more more necro spell's,but one has to think.are we playing this char as a caster with melee or a melee that can cast.
 

Tuan

Slightly Crazed
Stratics Veteran
Both are basically the same build with only minor difference.

With chiv you can do more damage with mobs without slayer.

With SS you can cast more more necro spell's,but one has to think.are we playing this char as a caster with melee or a melee that can cast.
This is not quite right. SS doesn't actually let you CAST any more necro spells. It makes some of them more effective.

The amount of mana vampired as part of Wraith form is also scaled directly to your SS. The problem is, whereas the mana leech of a weapon converts damage into mana, the mana vampire property of wraith form only works when your opponent has mana to vampire; so in a long fight wraith form becomes decreasingly effective.

I would call this a MAJOR difference, as swapping between a Vampiric Embrace based Sampire into a Necro Samaurai in wraith form means you need 2 different suits of armor. Maybe there's some overlap, but probably not a ton.

Necro Samurai depending on build with or without skill items is a different play. You have alot of different options. Use 100% fire weapon and corpse skin. Wraith form and spam wither. Animate Corpse, Skeletal Dragons, run a pair of Bakes with Dark Wolf. I'm sure there are other things I haven't thought of.
Ok, this is where I thought you were going. The problem with this plan, is that you can't do it in the way you mention. In order to use the necro mastery, you need 90 real skill. You're basing your suit on 85 real skill (20 from bracers, 10 from Ossian, 5 from bloodwood, and I'm assuming you've got a mark of travesty with 2 of the other skills), so you won't be able to use the necro mastery for the dragons.

Using the wolf and 2 bakes makes sense, but now you're basically a tamer, with no way to keep your pets alive. Wolf + 2 bakes = no swamp dragon, so in order to be doing melee damage against big bad stuff, you're going to want the bakes tanking. I guess between evasion and parry mastery, you're doing a good job of avoiding melee damage, but there's still spell damage to account for. In any event, I'm not sure WHY this works at all, given that Bake Kitsune literally translates into something like "shapeshifter fox" - and foxes are decidedly NOT wolves.

For clearing the spawn at a champ, a Sampire w/double axe is for sure faster than a wraith withering. Whether this is "boring" or not depends on how much you like doing mundane tasks, I suppose.

Using a 100% fire weapon and corpse skin is a good idea, especially when paired with a Level 3 swords onslaught. This has a pretty long duration, so you're likely best bet is to gather up all the +SS items you can (in theory you can wear at least +60 here), and just run off and swap into the jewelry to cast the spell every 35 or so seconds, but now you're not really in it for the Necro part... you're right back to being a sampire who is giving up some damage output (I'm assuming you'd run 60 anat and 60 SS) on the low end, to maximize the high end when you're using corpse skin.

Your templates both have some BOLD skill totals. I'm not sure where you're getting all those skills from. In your sampire you're at 820, and I'm just not seeing where you're fitting 100 skills on your items there. Putting it all on the jewelry isn't going to cut it, since you need space there for other things too, nor is wearing midnight bracers and bloodwood spirit likely to help you much. I suppose that the NecroSammy could really have like 2.5 or 3 sets of jewelry depending on the task at hand...

If your goal is to be different, then the necro samurai is definitely a different take. I'm not seeing how it's "better" though.
 

ysolt

Seasoned Veteran
This is not quite right. SS doesn't actually let you CAST any more necro spells. It makes some of them more effective. "Quoted by


You are right having SS make's spell's more effective.


I would call this a MAJOR difference, as swapping between a Vampiric Embrace based Sampire into a Necro Samaurai in wraith form means you need 2 different suits of armor. Maybe there's some overlap, but probably not a ton."Quoted by tuan"

It's not a major difference, if you have all important resist capped.Theres prob no difference at all if you have life leech and mana leech on wep EXCEPT you want to cast cursed wepon more often thus making you need lrc on suit or if you don't have room for lrc carry a little bit of pig iron(for cursed wep(life leech from wraith form).

YOU do not need to change an enitre suit for this.
 
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Zalan

Crazed Zealot
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Your templates both have some BOLD skill totals. I'm not sure where you're getting all those skills from. In your sampire you're at 820, and I'm just not seeing where you're fitting 100 skills on your items there. Putting it all on the jewelry isn't going to cut it, since you need space there for other things too, nor is wearing midnight bracers and bloodwood spirit likely to help you much. I suppose that the NecroSammy could really have like 2.5 or 3 sets of jewelry depending on the task at hand...

Its safe to say you can imbue +15 skill/+15 skill on a piece of jewelry *2 for 60 skill points +20 Necro from midnight bracer & +20 skill points from Mark of Travesty for 100 skill points, I've always viewed an extra 100 skill points more important than something like hci.
 

Tuan

Slightly Crazed
Stratics Veteran
Do you know anyone who's running a "true" 820, or even 819, point template? By which, I mean in their base suit has 820 skill points? If so, I'm quite interested to see how their armor all fits together to make it happen. I am actually somewhat surprised to see that the Mark of Travesty needed for your theoretical suit is for sale fairly cheaply...

I don't disagree that this is a theoretically possible way to go about a suit, I'm just not sure that it is actually possible.
 

Lord GOD(GOD)

Certifiable
Stratics Veteran
How is Sammy the Necro better than the Sampire? I'm not quite sure I see what it's going to do that a Sampire can't. Without chiv you'll do half as much damage against non-slayer things. I suppose this forces you into a wraith form running Curse Weapon for healing, but you'll still have more or less all the same problems that a standard samp has, and you'll be taking more damage, since I believe wraith form prevents use of refinements, and also no swampy. Maybe if you went fencer in the 2nd for leaf blades you could feint all the time, but with SW you'd be stuck with bokutos if you wanted to feint... not exactly a hard hitter.
Completely disagree. Not necessarily with the OP's template setups in mind, but you can easily run a Necro/Sampire with Chiv (in fact I do). You're not stuck with Bokutos for Feint, it is on the Daisho. But there'd be no point using Feint on a Wraith anyway, you'd want to utilize the mana for chaining AI, with Curse Weapon you'd be healing that much more life that the minimal effects of a Swampy and Refinements wouldn't matter.
 

Lord GOD(GOD)

Certifiable
Stratics Veteran
I would call this a MAJOR difference, as swapping between a Vampiric Embrace based Sampire into a Necro Samaurai in wraith form means you need 2 different suits of armor. Maybe there's some overlap, but probably not a ton.

For clearing the spawn at a champ, a Sampire w/double axe is for sure faster than a wraith withering. Whether this is "boring" or not depends on how much you like doing mundane tasks, I suppose.

If your goal is to be different, then the necro samurai is definitely a different take. I'm not seeing how it's "better" though.
Thing is, you don't HAVE to just use Wraith, it's not one or the other, you can use both and still with Curse Weapon, other Necro spells,
Swampys, Refinements etc. No reason for 2 suits either, all you would need to add is 5 energy resist to cover the Wraith penalty. You can quite easily Vamp Form/Swamp Dragon/Refinements/Curse Weapon/Wither/WW/Hit Area.

You can use Skeletal Dragons with 90 Necro.

You wouldn't have Bake's tanking when your character has Curse Weapon and endless mana, plus with the right control/commands you can have them dump from a distance, one of the main points of them is that they have a combined 800+ mana. Though on the subject of tanking they also have the second highest resists behind the Greater Dragon.

I find the assumption that Whirlwind is faster for mass spawn highly debatable, considering that it requires you to have everything on/around you for it to firstly get the bonus damage, and secondly have Hit Area reach. With Wither you don't need to spend time getting the spawn to surround you before hitting the kill it all button, you can just Wither twice and kill a 10x10 grid.

I agree that playing it just to add in Corpse Skin is a waste of time. If you're going to just Onslaught/DS then there's no need for Necro at all.

Another massive difference is that with Necro you can kill things at range. Take a spawn where you can't easily mass spawn to WW because of ledges/terrain, much quicker to kill it with spells than running around.
 

Tuan

Slightly Crazed
Stratics Veteran
With all the bosses having been buffed up in their melee abilities, making us get hit more and we hit them less, do you find that being in wraith (assume all 70s) vs 75s on a swamp dragon produces a higher variance template now?

If something hits me, against 75 resist on my armored swampy, for 50 damage, if you've only got 70 resist, you're taking 75 from the same hit. That's a lot harder to heal up from, esp since you'll definitely have quite a bit of stam loss etc.

I haven't tried this out, but I suspect it would lead to much higher variance.
 

Lord GOD(GOD)

Certifiable
Stratics Veteran
Being in Wraith Form has no effect on resistance caps/refinements (just tested). So you can still be all 75's in Wraith Form.

But to answer your question, no.

The original question was which is better for general PvM & spawns. The Necro/Samuari has way more tricks up it's sleeve/options so is the more versatile choice. Look at it in reverse, what benefit does the first template have that the second doesn't? Bearing in mind that 95% of the game is still pre-AOS level in difficulty (including demons/balrons/succubi etc) while endless enhancements to players power have been put in (reforging 100% elementals, single slayers, damgage modifiers etc.) In the majority of situations having a Swamp Dragon (which seems to be the only real argument against the latter) is insignificant because the monsters aren't that hard to begin with. Sure you CAN use an armoured Swamp Dragon to fight a Parragon Dragon, but do you actually need to? No. But conversely, are there situations where it'd be damn handy to be able to Strangle/Corpse/Pain/Omen/Wither/Wraith etc?... yes.
 
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Zalan

Crazed Zealot
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I wish I could pull up Lynk old posts. He had quite a few Sampire templates that were 810 and 820. Of course with the changes to Chivalry they wouldn't be as effective. I remember at on point you could have healing on Sampire template.

I guess next I need to look up why people run 60 Parry instead of 120. For one it seems that it would kill Evasion. I'd like to see how much Heightened Sense increase your chance to Parry. I remember when you use to be able to keep Evasion up 100% of the time.
 

Tabin

Seasoned Veteran
Stratics Veteran
It is hard to judge one template from the other without being specific on what PVM content you'll be doing. The best templates are always designed specifically around the PvM content in mind.
With the 2nd template, how do you plan on killing stuff with 200+ wrestling AND without a slayer vulnerability?
 

Lord GOD(GOD)

Certifiable
Stratics Veteran
The best templates are always designed specifically around the PvM content in mind.
With the 2nd template, how do you plan on killing stuff with 200+ wrestling AND without a slayer vulnerability?
Not to start an argument or anything but I strongly disagree with that first statement, but it depends how you define 'best', I would consider the best template one that works in any situation. Which would immediately rule out most of the commonly accepted 'power' templates out there like sampires. PvM is simple, it has a few more quirks than it used to, but it is essentially the same unthinking whack-a-mole AI that it's always been. That's why the new content they add is always so underwhelming (obvious example being the latest Eodon quest). To me the best templates always come from PvP, because PvP is understanding game mechanics to the highest degree, you rarely see a PvPer that can't handle spawn.

As for stuff with 200+ Wrestling and no Slayer, well he has Bushido for a start, combine with HLD, tank and use 2 Skeletal Dragons, even Blood Oath and let it kill itself? You wouldn't need Parry on the second one and could replace it with Chivalry anyway. Plus in terms of the Wrestling you'd have the same issue on either. Certainly more options on the second though.
 

Tabin

Seasoned Veteran
Stratics Veteran
Not to start an argument or anything but I strongly disagree with that first statement, but it depends how you define 'best', I would consider the best template one that works in any situation. Which would immediately rule out most of the commonly accepted 'power' templates out there like sampires. PvM is simple, it has a few more quirks than it used to, but it is essentially the same unthinking whack-a-mole AI that it's always been. That's why the new content they add is always so underwhelming (obvious example being the latest Eodon quest). To me the best templates always come from PvP, because PvP is understanding game mechanics to the highest degree, you rarely see a PvPer that can't handle spawn.

As for stuff with 200+ Wrestling and no Slayer, well he has Bushido for a start, combine with HLD, tank and use 2 Skeletal Dragons, even Blood Oath and let it kill itself? You wouldn't need Parry on the second one and could replace it with Chivalry anyway. Plus in terms of the Wrestling you'd have the same issue on either. Certainly more options on the second though.
How does the best PvM templates come from the best PvP templates? PvP templates don't care about slayers nor do they care about life leech....weapon specials/masteries are also balanced differently going from PvP to PvM. I'd argue that someone who spend more time PvMing would be better at PvM than a PvPer who doesn't PvM often at all...

Honor + HLD against something with 200+ wrestling still doesn't add much damage. You still whiff ~50% of the time. Bushido doesn't add much to this battle, IMO.

To the OP, I say build both templates and see which one you like better. Soulstone your skills and adjust accordingly to your preference. Find out which one you think is the "best" as that definition varies between players.
 
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Lord GOD(GOD)

Certifiable
Stratics Veteran
How does the best PvM templates come from the best PvP templates? PvP templates don't care about slayers nor do they care about life leech....weapon specials/masteries are also balanced differently going from PvP to PvM. I'd argue that someone who spend more time PvMing would be better at PvM than a PvPer who doesn't PvM often at all...

Honor + HLD against something with 200+ wrestling still doesn't add much damage. You still whiff ~50% of the time. Bushido doesn't add much to this battle, IMO.

To the OP, I say build both templates and see which one you like better. Soulstone your skills and adjust accordingly to your preference. Find out which one you think is the "best" as that definition varies between players.
Quite the opposite actually. PvPers have an understanding of game mechanics that PvMers do not (for the simple reason that they have played both aspects of the game). Your typical PvMer never questions why they died to something or how, never learns, and never improves and rarely thinks (this is evidenced in the endless posts in this forum where people come and ask why their sampire/Archer sucks when everyone else's can solo bosses, and why Tamers are so popular, even though most Tamers including 14+ year vets are still terrible players that die constantly), when you PvP you surround yourself with people who are optimizing constantly, that 'get' what attacks players/monsters do and when, and are always prepared, they know all their strengths and vulnerabilities. When PvPers raid a spawn and kill all the players they don't suddenly go oh crap I need to go time out and get on my PvMer, they just kill the champ.

If you build a PvM character, you can't just throw on a PvP weapon and compete (at best you can take out other PvMers). Yet a PvP built character can just throw on a HML/HLL/Slayer weapon and take down monsters.

Your argument about Honoor+HLD would apply equally to the first template, the only difference is Chivalry, and you could quite easily put Chivalry on the second template.

Most PvPers are extremely good at PvM.
 

Tabin

Seasoned Veteran
Stratics Veteran
Quite the opposite actually. PvPers have an understanding of game mechanics that PvMers do not (for the simple reason that they have played both aspects of the game). Your typical PvMer never questions why they died to something or how, never learns, and never improves and rarely thinks (this is evidenced in the endless posts in this forum where people come and ask why their sampire/Archer sucks when everyone else's can solo bosses, and why Tamers are so popular, even though most Tamers including 14+ year vets are still terrible players that die constantly), when you PvP you surround yourself with people who are optimizing constantly, that 'get' what attacks players/monsters do and when, and are always prepared, they know all their strengths and vulnerabilities. When PvPers raid a spawn and kill all the players they don't suddenly go oh crap I need to go time out and get on my PvMer, they just kill the champ.

If you build a PvM character, you can't just throw on a PvP weapon and compete (at best you can take out other PvMers). Yet a PvP built character can just throw on a HML/HLL/Slayer weapon and take down monsters.

Your argument about Honoor+HLD would apply equally to the first template, the only difference is Chivalry, and you could quite easily put Chivalry on the second template.

Most PvPers are extremely good at PvM.
You said the "best templates come from PVP". I read that as "The best PvM template (which is what the OP is asking for) come from PvP templates" I never stated PvPers can't PvM or don't know how to. I just said that people who dedicate more time at PvM would probably better at PvM than a PvPer. There are some PvM mechanics that can only be learned through trial and error from testing those PvM mechanics. I have spent hours testing PvM, which allows me to understand how to solo Travesty or roof. A PvPer can surely figure it out eventually with the same dedication and testing that I put forth, but to say he/she has a better understanding of game mechanics than PvMer like myself... is quite a bold statement....there will always be some PvPers who suck at PvM and vice versa. Making blanket statements about one player base being better (at understanding game mechanics) than another player base is flawed especially when PvM and PvP mechanics differ.

You suggested initially that bushido + SS + skeletal dragons would help him kill something with 200+ wrestling and no slayer vun. I simply pointed out that bushido doesn't help much in that scenario, so I'm not sure why you would even suggest it. Sampire defeats a 200+ wrestling/no slayer boss with Chivalry damage and life leech. Saying you can "add Chivalry to the 2nd template" is no longer comparing the two templates. I can just as easily say "Oh add SS to the first template, drop parry, therefore, the sampire template is better."
 

Lord GOD(GOD)

Certifiable
Stratics Veteran
You said the "best templates come from PVP". I read that as "The best PvM template (which is what the OP is asking for) come from PvP templates" I never stated PvPers can't PvM or don't know how to. I just said that people who dedicate more time at PvM would probably better at PvM than a PvPer. There are some PvM mechanics that can only be learned through trial and error from testing those PvM mechanics. I have spent hours testing PvM, which allows me to understand how to solo Travesty or roof. A PvPer can surely figure it out eventually with the same dedication and testing that I put forth, but to say he/she has a better understanding of game mechanics than PvMer like myself... is quite a bold statement....there will always be some PvPers who suck at PvM and vice versa. Making blanket statements about one player base being better (at understanding game mechanics) than another player base is flawed especially when PvM and PvP mechanics differ.
Replying to the bold parts specifically.

To clarify, what I'm saying is PvPers (that is, players who reach an ability level where they PvP in any kind of regular way, whether it's at the gate/spawns whatever) have a more fuller understanding of the game because they are fully immersed in it. Not one person who PvP's (no matter how much they BS to the contrary) started doing anything other than PvM, therefore it's not a bold statement at all, it's just logical progression. I've been playing long enough that I've started to forget when I actually started but it was 1999 or 2000, by the time AOS came out there was nothing in PvM that was a surprise to me, there has been no monster added to the game that I couldn't stand in front of and figure out it's attacks in about 5 minutes and then build something to deal with it. Some people just think that way. It's partly shaped by the people you play with/guilds you're in, but in the end it comes down to if you're the sort of person who takes in what is happening and adapts to it etc. All PvPers are.

It's a complete fallacy that people who spend more time PvMing are better at it than people who spend their time PvPing. It's a choice to spend your time PvPing, and bears no reflection on PvM ability. Also, PvPers generally speaking have the highest attainable gear/suits in the game, because they are bothered about every allocatable point in every attribute. They obviously didn't just buy all that gear (they wouldn't have had the money to in the first place) so it stands to reason that they farmed a lot of it.

PvPers that suck at PvM exist, sure, but only ones who bought their accounts/gold/suits for rl money just to hang with their buddies. From my experience that is a very small % of the PvPers player base.

The game mechanics don't differ, which is kind of my whole point, I've explained melee defence (as just one example) more times than I care to remember in the caster forum, it's the same mechanic in PvM as PvP. The only difference is caps.

You suggested initially that bushido + SS + skeletal dragons would help him kill something with 200+ wrestling and no slayer vun. I simply pointed out that bushido doesn't help much in that scenario, so I'm not sure why you would even suggest it. Sampire defeats a 200+ wrestling/no slayer boss with Chivalry damage and life leech. Saying you can "add Chivalry to the 2nd template" is no longer comparing the two templates. I can just as easily say "Oh add SS to the first template, drop parry, therefore, the sampire template is better."
The point was more that; you suggested that something with 200 Wrestling and no slayer would pose some greater problem for the latter template due to reduced damage and chance to hit, all I'm pointing out is that the former template would have the exact same issue, in fact it would have a harder time than the second template because it only has hitting as it's offense where as the latter template is more versatile and can adapt to an encounter where hitting is a less viable option.

...To further clarify, this isn't a view point based on Tram vs Fel, or PvP vs PvM, it's based on my entire observable experience of both PvPers and PvMers over all the time I have played. People that only do one or the other, and people that do both, I do/have done both. Currently I barely do either (which should hopefully also clarify that this isn't some sort of trolling that you'd normally see in gen chat) so don't care about the topic in that regard.
 
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Tabin

Seasoned Veteran
Stratics Veteran
I confused your definition of a PvPer. I was thinking of PvPers who do mostly PvP only, not players who do both or have done both. I agree, a "PvPer" who has done most of the PvM content is going to be good at PvM, that should be obvious. As for mechanics, I stand by my statement that PvM mechanics are different and just because a player is a PvPer and has done some PvM content, doesn't make that player an expert at PvM mecahnics. Little things like what causes spawn in roof, how Travesty copies gear and skill, how to get out of webs/frozen, how hit mana drain affects boss specials, how you have to dismount off swamp dragon to do more dmg against certain bosses...these are mechanics learned through PvM not PvP.

When I asked about how the 2nd template handles 200+ wrestling with no slayer vun, it was just an honest question about the best approach to it. I wasn't suggesting that it can't or anything. I asked to see if there was something I can learn from it. A build with Chivalry can handle it because EOO lets it do more dmg, therefore, leech more life and mana, which allows for chaining armor ignores. Healing more means tanking it easily. The same sampire can also go in with two skeletal dragons if needed. I'm surprised you think SS > Chiv for this encounter. I still don't understand why that is...
 

Lord GOD(GOD)

Certifiable
Stratics Veteran
I stand by my statement that PvM mechanics are different and just because a player is a PvPer and has done some PvM content, doesn't make that player an expert at PvM mecahnics. Little things like what causes spawn in roof, how Travesty copies gear and skill, how to get out of webs/frozen, how hit mana drain affects boss specials, how you have to dismount off swamp dragon to do more dmg against certain bosses...these are mechanics learned through PvM not PvP.
I disagree, usually by the time someone progresses to PvP they are an expert on PvM, or more accurately are sufficiently bored of it's predictability. I agree they are learned through PvM, but that's not quite the same thing as being learned by PvMers.

A build with Chivalry can handle it because EOO lets it do more dmg, therefore, leech more life and mana, which allows for chaining armor ignores. Healing more means tanking it easily. The same sampire can also go in with two skeletal dragons if needed. I'm surprised you think SS > Chiv for this encounter. I still don't understand why that is...
With or without Chivalry you are basing it around the character hitting for it's primary damage, you bought up 200+ Wrestling (presumably) for that reason that you would be hitting it less, having Chivalry doesn't change how doable that is you're still going to miss, and on a template that is wholly reliant on leeching it's still going to be harder than on a template with other options.

Your argument is;
The monster has 200+ Wrestling and no Slayer therefore you need Chivalry to do enough damage to sustain your leeches.

However, without Chivalry and with Necro/SS, in which you are still going to be hitting at exactly the same rate, you are leeching more life when you do hit from having an extra 50% from Curse Weapon (which you can still have on top of being in Vamp Form, and HLL if you want to), mana isn't going to be an issue because a) Wraith Form, b) Hit Mana Leech, c) Shadow Wisps and d) when you're hitting less as you would in this encounter you're less likely to need double mana cost for specials. On top of this, you have additional damage from Skeletal Dragons/Bakes which are meleeing/breath/mana dumping. You have additional damage from being able to Corpse Skin, Strangle, Omen, Pain Spike & Poison Strike. I'm surprised you think HLL/Vamp is easier to tank with than HLL/Vamp/Curse Weapon/SS/Vampire Bat, you clearly have more healing power on the second.

...also, I think you're focusing a bit too much on one encounter. If you're going to build for just one type of encounter that's fine but that's not what was being asked/discussed.
 
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Tabin

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I disagree, usually by the time someone progresses to PvP they are an expert on PvM, or more accurately are sufficiently bored of it's predictability. I agree they are learned through PvM, but that's not quite the same thing as being learned by PvMers.


With or without Chivalry you are basing it around the character hitting for it's primary damage, you bought up 200+ Wrestling (presumably) for that reason that you would be hitting it less, having Chivalry doesn't change how doable that is you're still going to miss, and on a template that is wholly reliant on leeching it's still going to be harder than on a template with other options.

Your argument is;
The monster has 200+ Wrestling and no Slayer therefore you need Chivalry to do enough damage to sustain your leeches.

However, without Chivalry and with Necro/SS, in which you are still going to be hitting at exactly the same rate, you are leeching more life when you do hit from having an extra 50% from Curse Weapon (which you can still have on top of being in Vamp Form, and HLL if you want to), mana isn't going to be an issue because a) Wraith Form, b) Hit Mana Leech, c) Shadow Wisps and d) when you're hitting less as you would in this encounter you're less likely to need double mana cost for specials. On top of this, you have additional damage from Skeletal Dragons/Bakes which are meleeing/breath/mana dumping. You have additional damage from being able to Corpse Skin, Strangle, Omen, Pain Spike & Poison Strike. I'm surprised you think HLL/Vamp is easier to tank with than HLL/Vamp/Curse Weapon/SS/Vampire Bat, you clearly have more healing power on the second.

...also, I think you're focusing a bit too much on one encounter. If you're going to build for just one type of encounter that's fine but that's not what was being asked/discussed.
I agree that probably most PvPers who are well experienced in PvM as well are great at PvM. I also agree that most PvPers are probably better than most PvMers just because a lot of new/returning players make up a good portion of PvMers.
Are they better than the best PvMers? I doubt that.

I asked my original question because I was honestly hearing alternative ways to achieve the same goal. I don't deny that both builds can handle PvM or tackle the same boss. I was just curious how the build with SS would handle a specific PvM situation.

The reason why I think Chiv is really powerful is because damage bonus from EOO and CW is 98% dmg modifier, you're getting almost double the life leech and mana leech from HLL/Vamp E and HML by doing near double dmg. Assuming both have the same HLL and Vamp form. Sampire is getting close to double life from HLL and Vamp form. SS build is getting the extra 50% from Curse Weapon and whatever life you get from the vampire bat. How does 50% + vampire bat life > double life leech?
 
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Zalan

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Command Undead
The necromancer has a chance to command the undead to do their bidding based on necromancy skill, spirit speak skill, mastery level, and creature barding difficulty while providing life leech to the target. Requires 2 follower slots.
 

Tabin

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when you're hitting less as you would in this encounter you're less likely to need double mana cost for specials
Can you elaborate on this? I don't see how missing more with either build mean needing double mana cost for specials.

EDIT: Misinterpreted the statement. I need to read better...
 
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Tabin

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Command Undead
The necromancer has a chance to command the undead to do their bidding based on necromancy skill, spirit speak skill, mastery level, and creature barding difficulty while providing life leech to the target. Requires 2 follower slots.
Skeletal dragons are fun sure. But without magery to cast gate or a second account to gate for you, you'll be walking them everywhere.
skeletal dragon.jpg
 
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CorwinXX

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To use Curse Weapon you need Protection so you get -35 skill points if you want to use Resisting Spells.

Strangle, Omen, Pain Spike & Poison Strike are pretty useless for a Dexxer. You don't swing while casting so casting those spells you loose a lot of damage (from your weapon) and get back only part of it (from your magic).

Corpse Skin is very good.

Wraith form means +25% damage (100 instead of 80 = +20 or 20/80 = +25%). Combined with low movement speed... you have more chances to die compared to VE. Course Weapon doesn't save you. Eventually you miss in improper moment and die (because can't run away fast enough). Since you take more damage you more often loose a big potion of stamina from one hit. I even tried metal suit, balanced Double Axe and ton of GR potions... still not enough against a serious enemy (like shimmering effusion, etc).

Skeletal Dragons are fun... but it is difficult (sometimes impossible) to bring them to place of fight. I don't know how fast they die but my RC against serious enemy dies almost as fast as I cast it.
 
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PlayerSkillFTW

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120 Swords/GM Tact/GM Necro/GM SS/GM Chiv/GM Bush/GM Resist or GM Parry is what i go with on Atlantic for my Whammy/Sampire. Can get 70% Hit Life Drain (which is 3.5x more than just Vamp Form alone) with Vamp Form+Curse Weapon, and laugh through Blood Oaths with the GM Resist along with it, or 50% Hit Life Drain (which is 2.5x more than just Vamp Form) and 20% Hit Mana Drain with Wraith Form+Curse Weapon, for infinite Mana against most bosses, which translates to never ending AIs or DS for high damage/life draining. Hit Life Leech on a wep is useless to me, since Curse Weapon is completely and utterly superior to it, freeing up a weapon imbue. Corpse Skin+Onslaught+DS is absolutely ridiculous.
 
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Lord GOD(GOD)

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The reason why I think Chiv is really powerful is because damage bonus from EOO and CW is 98% dmg modifier, you're getting almost double the life leech and mana leech from HLL/Vamp E and HML by doing near double dmg. Assuming both have the same HLL and Vamp form. Sampire is getting close to double life from HLL and Vamp form. SS build is getting the extra 50% from Curse Weapon and whatever life you get from the vampire bat. How does 50% + vampire bat life > double life leech?
You're not getting double life leech. You get a continuous 20 or 30% from Vamp whatever it is, and a chance of whatever it is from HLL.

For arguments sake, let's suppose the second option has no Chivalry, and is doing exactly 1/2 the damage, however, you are 'capable of' (meaning using your judgement on whether/when/where it's necessary) 20-30% ACTUAL leech from Vamp, 50% ACTUAL leech from Curse Weapon, plus the chance of whatever you get from HLL. Even without being in Vamp Form, say you use Wraith, Curse Weappon is always going to be > Vamp Form.
 

Lord GOD(GOD)

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Can you elaborate on this? I don't see how missing more with either build mean needing double mana cost for specials.
It doesn't. I'm saying that because in the 200 Wrestling encounter you suggested you are hitting less frequently, there is a longer gap between special moves, therefore double mana cost for specials comes in to play less often so mana is a non issue on either template.
 

Lord GOD(GOD)

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To use Curse Weapon you need Protection so you get -35 skill points if you want to use Resisting Spells.
No you don't. It's cast speed is easily fast enough to time between any attack.

Strangle, Omen, Pain Spike & Poison Strike are pretty useless for a Dexxer. You don't swing while casting so casting those spells you loose a lot of damage (from your weapon) and get back only part of it (from your magic).
Only if you don't know how to play a caster. You don't need to swing while casting. The whole point of a caster/dexxer hybrid is that they have more versatility than just one or the other. Putting casting ability on a dexxer and then complaining it's not as effective at being a dexxer as it would be without the casting really misses the entire point of playing a hybrid.

Wraith form means +25% damage (100 instead of 80 = +20 or 20/80 = +25%). Combined with low movement speed... you have more chances to die compared to VE. Course Weapon doesn't save you. Eventually you miss in improper moment and die (because can't run away fast enough). Since you take more damage you more often loose a big potion of mana from one hit. I even tried metal suit, balanced Double Axe and ton of GR potions... still not enough against a serious enemy (like shimmering effusion, etc).
Completely disagree. For a start Shimmering was first solod by a wammy, seconded by a Ninja/wammy, followed by a sampire. Movement speed is only a factor if you are running away, running away on any template that relies on hitting to leech is going to give the same chance of death (pretty much no monsters other than Parragons are faster than players on foot, and you can still hit Evade on either template). You can still Curse Weapon in Vamp Form, and even without it Curse Weapon is always superior. Taking a big hit has no effect on mana (assuming you meant Stamina...) this has never been an issue because of HSL.

Skeletal Dragons are fun... but it is difficult (sometimes impossible) to bring them to place of fight. I don't know how fast they die but my RC against serious enemy dies almost as fast as I cast it.
Your RC would obviously last longer with you tanking as is being discussed here.
 

CorwinXX

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No you don't. It's cast speed is easily fast enough to time between any attack
Sometimes I fail few times in a row... especially when I have 1-2 dot on me (poison, bleed, strangle, ...) or boss has minions. I try to cast, take damage and fail. It takes me some time to get know that I failed and press the button again. And there is good chance that I get damage again. I can increase my chance by pressing shortkey several time without waiting for results of first casting but in this case I guaranteed lose time casting spell two times when I needn't. While I am casting I don't swing and therefor don't heal. Spending 3 seconds to cast CW and another 1.25 seconds to hit can lead to death.

Only if you don't know how to play a caster.
Be concrete. Tell me how I can increase my damage by casting those spells (instead of staying and hacking enemy with my weapon).

For a start Shimmering was first solod by a wammy
Using Feint?
I know there were times when you did low damage and wasn't able to chain AI without mana drain from Wraith form. What does it proof?

pretty much no monsters other than Parragons are faster than players
Their spells usually are faster than walking speed. Without a mount you are not able to walk away even from Dreadhorn. And there are faster monsters in the game.

you can still hit Evade
yes. hit Evade and prey you'll be lucky this time...

Taking a big hit has no effect on mana (assuming you meant Stamina...)
Yes, it was a typo. Thank you.

this has never been an issue because of HSL
You take 50 damage hit and drop to 140 stamina. 1 second later you take another 50 damage hit and drop to 60 stamina. You swing speed become 2+ sec. And it is pretty usual when you hit few times and don't leach stamina (because your chance to leach are not 100%).
Do you think I dreamed up situation you quoted? Would I need all those "metal suit, balanced Double Axe and ton of GR potions" if HSL was able to keep my stamina full?
 

Lord GOD(GOD)

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Sometimes I fail few times in a row... especially when I have 1-2 dot on me (poison, bleed, strangle, ...) or boss has minions. I try to cast, take damage and fail. It takes me some time to get know that I failed and press the button again. And there is good chance that I get damage again. I can increase my chance by pressing shortkey several time without waiting for results of first casting but in this case I guaranteed lose time casting spell two times when I needn't. While I am casting I don't swing and therefor don't heal. Spending 3 seconds to cast CW and another 1.25 seconds to hit can lead to death.
You wouldn't have Strangle/Bleed/Poison on you because you'd either be immune from Vamp Form/Petals/Pots or remove it with Remove Curse/Apples, Bleed can be removed but again you can easily cast through Bleed ticks.

Be concrete. Tell me how I can increase my damage by casting those spells (instead of staying and hacking enemy with my weapon).
Well for a start Omen works on hits. But in relation to what I actually said, which was a reply to you saying they are completely useless on a dexxer, you can kill mass spawn, and at range with spells.

Using Feint?
I know there were times when you did low damage and wasn't able to chain AI without mana drain from Wraith form. What does it proof?
It proves that it isn't necessary to run away vs Shimmering which is what you said, which is what I was replying to.

Their spells usually are faster than walking speed. Without a mount you are not able to walk away even from Dreadhorn. And there are faster monsters in the game.
Spells by monsters are dumped in waves 2 at a time for magic only, and up to 4 at a time for Necro, this is plenty of time to get out of range if necessary while on foot from Shimmering. What's faster?

yes. hit Evade and prey you'll be lucky this time...
Which is no different from if you did it on a sampire, so what's your point?

You take 50 damage hit and drop to 140 stamina. 1 second later you take another 50 damage hit and drop to 60 stamina. You swing speed become 2+ sec. And it is pretty usual when you hit few times and don't leach stamina (because your chance to leach are not 100%).
Do you think I dreamed up situation you quoted? Would I need all those "metal suit, balanced Double Axe and ton of GR potions" if HSL was able to keep my stamina full?
Your hypothetical example is rather one sided and unlikely. We're talking about characters with 120 Bushido/Parry and probably 75 all resists, what is hitting you for 50 damage every second and causing you to not swing over the same time period? Aside from which there's a really obvious solution if this is a problem you face: use a bigger stamina buffer/faster weapon. Do I think you dreamed it up, on inspection yes I do. Everything was solod long before reforging, legendaries, all 75's, even before SA, it worked then yet you believe it doesn't/wouldn't still work now?
 

Tabin

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You're not getting double life leech. You get a continuous 20 or 30% from Vamp whatever it is, and a chance of whatever it is from HLL.

For arguments sake, let's suppose the second option has no Chivalry, and is doing exactly 1/2 the damage, however, you are 'capable of' (meaning using your judgement on whether/when/where it's necessary) 20-30% ACTUAL leech from Vamp, 50% ACTUAL leech from Curse Weapon, plus the chance of whatever you get from HLL. Even without being in Vamp Form, say you use Wraith, Curse Weappon is always going to be > Vamp Form.
Omg. I'm such an idiot. You're right. I messed up the simple math. I was multiplying 50% curse weapon buff to the .20% Vamp Embrace thinking it increases your life leech by 50%, when its 50% life leech per dmg. :wall: Apologies! Must have been frustrating replying to my dumb comments lol.

Regarding the double mana comment. I didn't read that right...fail.
 

Lord GOD(GOD)

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I think (and not anyone's deliberate fault) that this thread has gone off topic. The original question being asked "which is the most effective for general PvM and spawns?" is not reflected in the hypothetical discussions which have largely been answers to "what is the fastest/highest damage template, and best for killing boss level monsters"

The reason my answer was (and still is) Necro/SS (not necessarily with the original posted template) is that both templates can be played as a dexxer for exactly the same effect, the only difference is that the Necro/SS template has the option (where it is useful) to use ranged attacks that are spells rather than swings which in some instances is preferable.

To look at it another way, what can the first template do that the second can't? Compared to what can the second do that the first can't?
 

Tabin

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For starters, an easy one is to ask yourself if you plan to play in a small party of friends and do you want to keep them happy? Being able to resurrect a dead partner :stretcher:is the difference between failing a boss encounter and completing a boss encounter as a team. You can be a jerk and finish soloing it without them. Or tell them to farm spirituality and see what their reaction is...Also, with Chiv, you can save them with heals at a pinch or save them with a timely dispel when a revenant is kicking their mage butt. People remember that (at least I do) and more often than not, they are happy to party with you in the future. If none of that matters to you, then definitely compare both builds and see which one comes out on top for your personal play style preference.
 

CorwinXX

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what is hitting you for 50 damage every second and causing you to not swing over the same time period
Is my English so bad that you is not able to see difference between hitting two times and hitting every second? Please show me where I wrote that some monster hits me every second. Monster have a chance to hit you in different ways - melee, magic, fire breath. And sometimes you take two such hits within one-two second.
If there is a (real) chance that something happens then it happens from time to time. How often it happens depends on monsters you fight. And I don't wanna die at all.

Everything was solod long before reforging, legendaries, all 75's, even before SA, it worked then yet you believe it doesn't/wouldn't still work now?
1. First of all this is not true. For example, The Roof wasn't soloed before reforging.
2. It was soloed with another template (and with weapon that was nerfed)
3. I didn't speak about being to able to solo something. I spoke about killing stuff without dying.

Which is no different from if you did it on a sampire, so what's your point?
My point was "Evasion doesn't save you every time". I believe it was pretty obvious from my words.

It proves that it isn't necessary to run away vs Shimmering
You state that the fact that Shimmiring was soloed by Wraith proves that Wraith never need ran away from Shimmiring. Don't you find this conclusion is wrong?

Well for a start Omen works on hits.
Just compare how much damage per time you do when:
1. chaining AI
2. casting Omen before every AI

You wouldn't have Strangle/Bleed/Poison on you because you'd either be immune from Vamp Form/Petals/Pots or remove it with Remove Curse/Apples, Bleed can be removed but again you can easily cast through Bleed ticks.
Apples have timeout.
Remove Course need time to cast. It is very bad idea to cast it every time when you coursed.
Vamp Form/petals don't make you immune to poison.
Yes, you may cast CW without Protection. But you may fail too. It depends on luck. And when you are very unlucky you fail when you very need hp (and instead of hitting and leaching life you will stand casting spells). As a result without Protection you have relatively high chance to die even against such weak monster like Night Terror.
 

Lord GOD(GOD)

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Is my English so bad that you is not able to see difference between hitting two times and hitting every second? Please show me where I wrote that some monster hits me every second. Monster have a chance to hit you in different ways - melee, magic, fire breath. And sometimes you take two such hits within one-two second.
If there is a (real) chance that something happens then it happens from time to time. How often it happens depends on monsters you fight. And I don't wanna die at all.
Yes. You wrote that you were dropped to 140, then 60 Stamina in 2 hits, this has never happened to me without me leeching either Life, Stamina or both by the third hit (of which there would be one because I have more than 100 hp). Also as it has never happened to me, I can't in any good consciousness treat it as there being a real chance of it happening, and regard it as hypothetical.

1. First of all this is not true. For example, The Roof wasn't soloed before reforging.
2. It was soloed with another template (and with weapon that was nerfed)
3. I didn't speak about being to able to solo something. I spoke about killing stuff without dying.
You weren't talking about Roof you bought up Shimmering. All peerless were soloable as far back as AOS. The absurd arguments trotted out in this thread so far are that those encounters are some how no longer possible with the old methods, and they are. The point being, reforging is not needed. This isn't a debate on chronologically when things were released, as obviously things weren't used to solo something before they were out, however, Roof is soloable without reforged gear, refined armour etc.
Killing stuff without dying is the definition I have for soloing.

My point was "Evasion doesn't save you every time". I believe it was pretty obvious from my words.
Yes, literally it is obvious, however, what isn't obvious is why you think it adds any weight to your argument or weight against mine when it would apply equally in either case.

You state that the fact that Shimmiring was soloed by Wraith proves that Wraith never need ran away from Shimmiring. Don't you find this conclusion is wrong?
No, I find this conclusion 100% accurate. However it isn't what you said that I was responding to. You were talking about a Wraith having less mobility being an issue compared to being on a mount, and it isn't for several reasons which include the Wraith not being at risk of dying, there being a gate in the encounter to behind a safe wall with an Ankh, and various other situational factors that make your bringing it up a complete non issue.

Just compare how much damage per time you do when:
1. chaining AI
2. casting Omen before every AI
Again, this is not a topic of which does more damage. You stated that the ability to cast certain spells on a dexxer is completely useless, and it isn't, there are many uses for all of the spells.

Apples have timeout.
Remove Course need time to cast. It is very bad idea to cast it every time when you coursed.
Vamp Form/petals don't make you immune to poison.
Yes, you may cast CW without Protection. But you may fail too. It depends on luck. And when you are very unlucky you fail when you very need hp (and instead of hitting and leaching life you will stand casting spells). As a result without Protection you have relatively high chance to die even against such weak monster like Night Terror.
The cooldown on apples is 30s.
It is a very good idea to Remove Curse when it is something that has an effect likely to kill you such as Clumsey, Mind Rot, Blood Oath, DOT effects. Between this and apples there is no good reason to be sitting there suffering any effects likely to kill you.
Ok, Vamp Form/Petals don't make you immune in the sense of being unable to be poisoned, however, they do make the first poison tick auto cure itself which does not interrupt spell casting which is what was being addressed.
It does not depend on luck it depends on timing.
 

CorwinXX

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Also as it has never happened to me, I can't in any good consciousness treat it as there being a real chance of it happening, and regard it as hypothetical.
I can show you video where I lose 100 stamina from one hit. Before the hit I had (full) 150 hp. When you damaged you lose more stamina. Do you still think it is impossible to lose 120 stamina from two hits? (And you are not at full hp when you getting the second hit).

You weren't talking about Roof you bought up Shimmering.
You said "Everything was solod long before reforging". Does your "everything" means "Shimmering" or may be "all except Roof"?

The point being, reforging is not needed.
No. Your point was "you can't get two 50+ hits within one second".
I asked ~"do you think i dreamed this?" and you answered: ~"on inspection yes I do. Everything was solod long before reforging"

Yes, literally it is obvious, however, what isn't obvious is why you think it adds any weight to your argument or weight against mine when it would apply equally in either case.
Try to keep in your mind the whole discussion, not just the last words.
I said that one off wraith drawback is slow movement.
You said it's not drawback because you have life leach.
I said even with LL you sometimes need to ran away. And monster may finish you using spells if you move too slow.
You said you can use Evasion.
I said than Evasion doesn't block every time.
Do you understand now why it adds any weight against your argument? You may ran away and survive, or you may stay, cast evasion and die if you failed to evade a spell.

they do make the first poison tick auto cure itself
Do I need to show to you how VE with 100 hp dies from poison with no any enemy near it... just because poison ticks and ticks doing damage?

Between this and apples there is no good reason to be sitting there suffering any effects likely to kill you.
Some monsters apply DOT with every hit. Some monsters cast spells on you every few seconds. If you try to remove curse every time you'll find yourself casting half of time instead of killing monster. This effects doesn't kill you because you leach life back. The only problem that it may interrupt you spell casting if you haven't Protection on.

You stated that the ability to cast certain spells on a dexxer is completely useless, and it isn't, there are many uses for all of the spells.
Well, tell me what is use of casting Omen by dexxer? Especially if you use Despicable Quiver.
 
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PlayerSkillFTW

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I can show you video where I lose 100 stamina from one hit. Before the hit I had (full) 150 hp. When you damaged you lose more stamina. Do you still think it is impossible to lose 120 stamina from two hits? (And you are not at full hp when you getting the second hit).
60 damage Firebreath immediately followed by a 40+ damage melee hit can do 100+ damage within a second. Greater Dragons can do this, especially Paragon version. However, what type of Armor are you using? If you're using Woodland Armor, then that explains the extreme Stamina loss.

Do I need to show to you how VE with 100 hp dies from poison with no any enemy near it... just because poison ticks and ticks doing damage?
That's one reason why i like the Necro+SS build. You can use Spirit Speak itself to heal through Poison, Bleed and Mortal, even with no enemies around. If there are any corpses around, then it doesn't cost Mana to do so.

Well, tell me what is use of casting Omen by dexxer? Especially if you use Despicable Quiver.
I use Evil Omen+Corpse Skin, in order to halve the victim's Resist and make Corpse Skin last a lot longer. Evil Omen+Blood Oath is fun as well.
 
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Lord GOD(GOD)

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I can show you video where I lose 100 stamina from one hit. Before the hit I had (full) 150 hp. When you damaged you lose more stamina. Do you still think it is impossible to lose 120 stamina from two hits? (And you are not at full hp when you getting the second hit).
I think you're arguing over the semantics of many things that are entirely irrelevant to this thread. You are debating from the point of view of single encounters, mostly boss level monsters, which this thread is not about.

I didn't say it's impossible, I said it hasn't happened to me, literally never.

You are stating "you are not at full hp when you get the second hit" on a hypothetical situation, how do you know what my HP is on the second hit? You don't, because as it is a hypothetical event any number of actions could have been taken.

You said "Everything was solod long before reforging". Does your "everything" means "Shimmering" or may be "all except Roof"?
It means that the templates being discussed, solod everything that was available at the time they came out, meaning that things that have came out since such as reforging are clearly not necessary to solo them.

No. Your point was "you can't get two 50+ hits within one second".
I asked ~"do you think i dreamed this?" and you answered: ~"on inspection yes I do. Everything was solod long before reforging"
When you quote someone, it's important to quote things they actually said. (In relation to the first line.)

And no that wasn't my point. I wasn't making a point, I was stating that if getting hit in any kind of regular way for 50 damage, I either a) woudln't be standing there taking it, or b) if I was, it would be on a template that is doing something to counter act that kind of incoming damage and Stamina loss. Your hypothetical situation of standing there being beaten down to low/no stamina while doing nothing except waiting to die isn't one I'd ever put myself in, which begs the question why you think it's a valid argument for anything, as I'm sure no one else would either.

And again, you're replying to a thread about best for general PvM and spawns with only single or boss level encounters in mind.

In relation to what I think you 'dreamed up' was the situation in which you are taking massive hits while doing nothing about it.

Try to keep in your mind the whole discussion, not just the last words.
I said that one off wraith drawback is slow movement.
You said it's not drawback because you have life leach.
I said even with LL you sometimes need to ran away. And monster may finish you using spells if you move too slow.
You said you can use Evasion.
I said than Evasion doesn't block every time.
Do you understand now why it adds any weight against your argument? You may ran away and survive, or you may stay, cast evasion and die if you failed to evade a spell.
I have the whole discussion in mind.

You are stating that two templates that both survive by hitting/leeching occasionally need to run away. As both templates would be affected the same by spells landing while moving away (regardless of Evasion which is a chance factor) it is clearly not a drawback exclusive to the second template, therefore adds no weight against it.

Do I need to show to you how VE with 100 hp dies from poison with no any enemy near it... just because poison ticks and ticks doing damage?
We are discussing poison in the context of it potentially interrupting the casting of Curse Weapon (which has a near instant cast time), the poisons that are not auto cured by Vamp/Petals are the higher poisons and the ticks for those poisons are slower and further apart. It is easy to cast Curse Weapon between those ticks and the melee ticks and the spells of monsters.

Some monsters apply DOT with every hit.
Such as?

Some monsters cast spells on you every few seconds. If you try to remove curse every time you'll find yourself casting half of time instead of killing monster. This effects doesn't kill you because you leach life back. The only problem that it may interrupt you spell casting if you haven't Protection on.
It doesn't matter. Even if you have to Remove Curse a dozen times in a battle what does it cost you? A few Tithing Points. What does it cost you if you don't and die? Potentially the whole fight if you can't get res'd, get back, get kicked from whatever it is. Again, the topic isn't what can do it faster, it's what is best for general PvM and spawns. Having full Necro is hugely more beneficial because of the variety of ways it can be used.

Well, tell me what is use of casting Omen by dexxer? Especially if you use Despicable Quiver.
Omen + any curse type effect = longer duration.
Omen + Parra/Nerve = longer duration. (good for example for helping Mages Efield a target)
Omen + Conduit = Mass debuff/SDI.

I have no idea what you mean by the Despicable Quiver reference, how does the use of that make Evil Omen less good?
 

CorwinXX

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60 damage Firebreath immediately followed by a 40+ damage melee hit can do 100+ damage within a second. Greater Dragons can do this, especially Paragon version. However, what type of Armor are you using? If you're using Woodland Armor, then that explains the extreme Stamina loss.
It's an old video I don't remember now but it definitely was not woodland armor.
I also was poisoned so formally I took two hits... but poison did only about 15 damage I believe I lost just few stamina from the poison tick.
 

Lord GOD(GOD)

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60 damage Firebreath immediately followed by a 40+ damage melee hit can do 100+ damage within a second. Greater Dragons can do this, especially Paragon version. However, what type of Armor are you using? If you're using Woodland Armor, then that explains the extreme Stamina loss.
True, however, such a situation (specifically the breath part) is so clockwork it is easily avoidable/counterable by breaking LOS, Evading, Fire Eater, pots, pre-casting, and in the situation that you are on foot vs a Parragon for example, you would simply use Feint. Combined with HSL and TR.
 

Lord GOD(GOD)

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I'm seeing lots of people give reasons against Necro/SS, that largely are either thinking of it in a single context/encounter, or show a lack of understanding of the caster side... but not any reasons why the first template - the plain jane samp - is actually better in any way... what can it actually do that you can't do with the hybrid? (Not necessarily either of the exact templates above, as there are a million versions of each, but sampire vs Necro/SS.)
 

CorwinXX

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Stratics Veteran
I didn't say it's impossible, I said it hasn't happened to me, literally never.
You said you think I dreamed this situation (= that it has been never happened with me)

You are stating "you are not at full hp when you get the second hit" on a hypothetical situation, how do you know what my HP is on the second hit?
When you get two hits within one second you usually are damaged when you get the second hit, don't you? What is hypothetic here?

Your hypothetical situation of standing there being beaten down to low/no stamina while doing nothing except waiting to die isn't one I'd ever put myself in, which begs the question why you think it's a valid argument for anything, as I'm sure no one else would either.
Who said "doing nothing except waiting to die"? Within one second. This means there was less than one second between the first and the second hit. What do you usually do after getting a hit with a Wraith that has Curse Weapon on? You stay and hope that you hit and leach back life and stamina. But there is 1.25 seconds between your swings so sometimes you take another hit before you swing. Does it means "doing nothing except waiting to die"?

What does it cost you if you don't and die?
Who said you die if you don't? Is there any player in UO who remove every DOT immediately after it was applied? I know you suggest me to do so because you want me dying. You suggest me to stand near monster and cast spells instead of hitting it to leach life back.

Omen + any curse type effect = longer duration.
What is profit of casting Omen + Corpse Skin compared to casting Omen twice (one - now, another - when it over)?
What is profit of casting Omen before any other useless curse?

I have no idea what you mean by the Despicable Quiver reference, how does the use of that make Evil Omen less good?
There are a good chance that you just double reflected damage.

For example, Assassin
 

Tabin

Seasoned Veteran
Stratics Veteran
I said that one off wraith drawback is slow movement.
Very true. Running at wraith form speed is a draw back. The time it takes to get off casting distance/archery distance is critical to survival. Plus there are also mobs that run at near horse speed.

60 damage Firebreath immediately followed by a 40+ damage melee hit can do 100+ damage within a second. Greater Dragons can do this, especially Paragon version. However, what type of Armor are you using? If you're using Woodland Armor, then that explains the extreme Stamina loss.
Damn Belfry and his crazy 60 point damage fireball + insanely high wrestling + 40 dmg melee hits....my life and stam gets wrecked by fireball + hit combo. Luckily I found a way around that...;)

You are debating from the point of view of single encounters, mostly boss level monsters, which this thread is not about.
I don't see whats wrong with discussing scenarios in general boss encounters. When comparing two builds, you want to compare how they would do in difficult situations where one build might excel and the other build might not. PvM is all about boss encounters! Even bad PvM templates can solo non-boss encounter PvM content.
 

Zalan

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I was trying to see if anyone had any out of the box strategy or suggestions. I have a Paladin that runs in VE form. I may just convert him to Sampire easy enough. I'm hitting a bit of a road block on the Necro Samurai. The way I want is a 120 x 8 build (2nd template in first post).. Imbued Jewelry can have a total of 104 skull points with nothing else on it. A few other skill items can be used, but like someone else pointed out eats up alot of mod spaces. Any suggestions?
 

Lord GOD(GOD)

Certifiable
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You said you think I dreamed this situation (= that it has been never happened with me)

When you get two hits within one second you usually are damaged when you get the second hit, don't you? What is hypothetic here?
You didn't specify a monster doing the hitting, you didn't specify which hits were landing, against any specific template, who's playing the character, whether they are solo or anything else. In fact your orginal words quoted from above were "You take 50 damage hit and drop to 140 stamina. 1 second later you take another 50 damage hit and drop to 60 stamina." You later and since changed this to getting hit twice by different means such as melee+breath in 1 second. The first thing you wrote, is different from the second thing, which means it isn't a specific situation that you were thinking of, therefore completely hypothetical, and as your argument is completely hypothetical, my reply can involve absoloutely anything as a counter measure including having 20 people casting Heal on my character.

As I *think, you may have said or indicated before* that English is not your native language... This is known as reducto absurdum. I have taken your made up scenario and shown (by being deliberately ridiculous) that if your argument involves situations that are made up to prove a point so can the retort, and therefore is meaningless as an argument for/against anything.

Who said "doing nothing except waiting to die"? Within one second. This means there was less than one second between the first and the second hit. What do you usually do after getting a hit with a Wraith that has Curse Weapon on? You stay and hope that you hit and leach back life and stamina. But there is 1.25 seconds between your swings so sometimes you take another hit before you swing. Does it means "doing nothing except waiting to die"?
Is it within one second? Or is it what you originally said?

Either way it's avoidable, and not a drawback inherent to either template.

Who said you die if you don't? Is there any player in UO who remove every DOT immediately after it was applied? I know you suggest me to do so because you want me dying. You suggest me to stand near monster and cast spells instead of hitting it to leach life back.
You're the person who seemed to think the DOT's would lead to death if relying on Curse Weapon without Protection?... So you're not really making any sense here. You, personally, I don't care what you do. However, if you're going to misinform people about a template you should at least know how to play it, which you clearly don't.

What is profit of casting Omen + Corpse Skin compared to casting Omen twice (one - now, another - when it over)?
What is profit of casting Omen before any other useless curse?
The point of casting Omen + Corpse Skin is it increases the duration. The second part of the question makes no sense, why would you cast Omen when a fight is over?
No curse is useless, even less so combined with Omen. For example you made a thread yourself, making a big song and dance about Hit Mana Drain and how wonderful it is, you could equally apply Omen + Mind Rot to get the target out of mana.
However, this isn't the correct forum for teaching you how to play a Necro, if you want to learn ask in the caster forum.

There are a good chance that you just double reflected damage.
Still have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. The Despicable Quiver has 5 RPD, and has no effect on any spells including Omen, and can't say I've ever used one as it's much better to use the 5 SSI cloak.


For example, Assassin
Any other or is that it? They're not exactly general PvM or spawns are they. =/
 
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Lord GOD(GOD)

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When comparing two builds, you want to compare how they would do in difficult situations where one build might excel and the other build might not.
I agree. Yet so far no one has indicated any way in which the first excels over the second. Yet there are ways in which the second excels over the first. Such as being able to kill things at range, apply mass Curses/debuffs and damage boosts.

For example, you/Corwin have said that Wraith Form is a drawback because of dismounted mobility speed... however, a) you've chosen to ignore the benefits of it (especially compared to Vamp Form), such as giving + to overall resists compared to a -, and Mana Drain. b) you're also overlooking the fact that playing in Wraith isn't a compulsory requirement of the Necro/SS template. So you can still use a Swamp Dragon and Curse Weapon and with or without Vamp Form all at once if you chose to, and in doing so surpass (by quite a huge margin) the sampire's ability to heal. (Unless either of you is seriously suggesting that 14 SR is your proposed counter to the alleged redlining of stamina.)
 

Lord GOD(GOD)

Certifiable
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Any suggestions?
Yeah, completely re-think the skill point distribution, and the way you're actually going to play the character.

For example Bush+Parry, are you actually going to be toggling Counter Attack on at any point considering Onslaught/Specials/Bushido/Chiv/Necro spells... realistically I'd say no.

I'd start from a base of:
100 Swords (120 Captain John's Hat)
60 Parry
100 Bushido
110 Tactics (120 Solider's Medal)
120 Anatomy
100 Necro
100 SS
That leaves 30 real in Chivalry, meaning you only really need 40 on jewellery to make it viable.

Realistically I'd think of it in terms of maximizing damage, Corpse Skin, Onslaught and Double Strike. I'd say Parry could be left off altogether considering the damage output you'll have, but do what you can with whatever skill jewellery you can find. You're going to have room on weapons for SSI because of Necro, while still out damaging templates without the option of -15'ing those resists. You can even utilize the damage bonus from Horrific Beast.
 
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