[Focus] Is focus useless?

[Boogieman]

I'm a veteran-gone-noob player who just returned to the game (went off before the samurai/ninja introduction).

Now browsing the forums I see a lot of templates that doesn't have focus but still use a load of special moves to deal out damage.

What's the deal - how do get all the mana nessecary - and the stamina ??

 

[5% Luck]

If ya spend enough time/gold finding a great mana leech weapon you wont need any focus at all. I still carry some as my template has a few extra points(40). This way my mana regen and stamina regen doesnt get hit with the diminishing returns quite as hard.

Its not needed with the proper weapon.

 

[Out of Date]

Like luck said, you jut have to find a good weapon to provide you with your mana.
If you can stand the horrid graphic on an elf it's more mana since they have a bonus to their mana pool wich makes them a better character.

I have 75+ HML on all my weapons and I do just fine with 40 int and no other mana regen skills.

 

[Diomedes Artega]

The deal is most dexxers load up on a lot of the arties and or library goodies to make a good suit. From a few of those you can get 30 dexterity or so. Isn't really difficult to make a half descent dexxer these days.

My personal book is focus or meditation in a dexxer template = waste.
If you can shoot for high strength, around 60 mana or more, and 140 dexterity...you're basically set. Just get armor with capped stamina on each piece and MR2 and you're good. Fill out your jewels with fcr3/fc1 and HCI/DCI on them and you're set.

Get a weapon with some DI on it, a little SSI, 40 mana and stamina leech OR better and there you go.

 

[Farsight]

But until you find those weapons, focus can be a good thing. I use focus on ALL of my in-training characters. It's especially useful on my not-quite-complete archer, as the big damage enemies don't hit very often and swing speed is vital to success.

But none of my end-templates include focus. There are just so many more useful skills to use that can't be duplicated by armor or items.

 

[hawkeye_pike]

Focus is a very useful skill. Having 100 Focus really regenerates your mana and stamina fast. Mana, as we all know, is useful for special moves or special abilities (Ninjitsu, Bushido, Chivalry etc.). Stamina is VERY important for your damage output over time.

Of course, you can try to find equipment to solve those issues. However, equipment with those mods will limit your equipment choices (and thus will limit you if you require other mods). And, you will be forced to use such high-end equipment, which can put some pressure upon you and cause a lot of costs.

However, in many warrior templates it is difficult to make room for 100 Focus points, and people tend to drop Focus first (that's what I am doing).

 

[Boogieman]

Thanks to everybody for the input

I guess the conclusion is: Your char needs some way to re-gain mana and stamina. The cheap way is focus. The expensive way is artefacts.

One question remains though - well two actually. Is the bushido 'confidence' enough to compensate for focus? Is it only efficient with parry + bushido?

 

[Farsight]

Confidence is not a good substitute for focus. In fact, the best use of confidence is to pull yourself from a fight and cast confidence, regaining hit points at a very fast rate, but costing mana in the process.

Likewise, divine fury is not a good substitute for focus, as you'll regain stamina, but will cost a lot of mana in the process. If you're fighting something big, you'll wind up using more mana than you have in order to keep your stamina up.

Stamina (red) potions ARE a good substitute for focus on the stamina side, as they are relatively cheap and keep your stamina up. You still have to find a way to regenerate mana quickly (MR items, mana leech weapon).

Mana leech weapons and stamina leech weapons are the most realistic substitue for focus, but Pike already mentioned the weakness of those items, namely the price and availability.

 

[GFY]

Thanks to everybody for the input

I guess the conclusion is: Your char needs some way to re-gain mana and stamina. The cheap way is focus. The expensive way is artefacts.

One question remains though - well two actually. Is the bushido 'confidence' enough to compensate for focus? Is it only efficient with parry + bushido?

I don't have focus on any of my dexer type templates. IMHO it is a waist of points. You can put together a mana regen armor suit very easily and mana leech weapons are fairly easy to find. I may have to wait a second or 2 to cast a mana intensive spell but I almost always have mana available when I need it.

Confidence works just fine without parry. My Bushido archer uses it very well and quite often.

If you decide to drop focus, you'll need to think about 2 things. Focus regens both mana and stamina. You can use a mana leech weapon and mana regen items to make up for the mana part. Using the chivalry spell divine fury will max out your stamina, making up for the stamina regen portion of focus.

 

[Boogieman]

Personally I can't make divine fury work very well as a stamina regenerator. Sure the spell works, but my scenarios are usually: Fight the monster, get whacked to low stamina, run away a bit and cast DF, then I go back to the monster and get whacked with an extra umpf because divine fury lovers my defense - and I'm back to stamina loss. It's like a downwards spiral costing me mana and gold.

 

[GFY]

It really depends on how your template is set up and how you play it. If you have an archer you don't want to stand too close to monsters, it's a BAD thing trust me. If you have a dexer that needs to get close you need things help that prevent damage, like Bushido, parry, & high DCI.

You can also boost your stamina and use faster type weapons that don't require max stamina to have max swing speed. This way you can take a few hits with out losing swing speed so you don't have to EOO as often.

Lastly don't forget total refresh potions. These max out your stamina and don't cost you any mana.

 

[Taylor]

For PvM:

In short, Yes. Focus = slow mana regen and stam regen. Med = fast mana regen. Divide Furry = instant stam regen. Hence, Med + Divide Focus = perfection.

Of course, mediation means that you'll have to wear medable armor, but let's face it, most good armor is medable anyway these days (re: barbed runic kits).

Focus is useless. Meditation, on the other hand, could be indispensable.

 

[Connor_Graham]

Personally I can't make divine fury work very well as a stamina regenerator. Sure the spell works, but my scenarios are usually: Fight the monster, get whacked to low stamina, run away a bit and cast DF, then I go back to the monster and get whacked with an extra umpf because divine fury lovers my defense - and I'm back to stamina loss. It's like a downwards spiral costing me mana and gold.

The answer to this is simple. Incorporate Mana Regen into your suit, and only use weapons that have both Mana Leech and Stamina Leech. When you get hit several times in a row and SL doesn't go off due to a bad roll of the RNG, cast Evasion then Divine Fury and you'll be good until the leeches pick back up again.

 

[Taylor]

What Connor said.