Offbeat template

[Dizzy]

This template is offbeat and not a character I play often, and I'm not really looking for a way to retool. It's fun, using skills and spells that are unfamiliar. So I'm not concerned it's not an effective template.



Meditation is dropping and I'm not currently working Discord. I use RC, Peace and Provo with WoD, and it's very workable. But no defensive skills - if something turns on me, I'm nearly 1-hit killed.

On my mages, I use a mage weapon to help block some attacks. Is there a weapon or shield I can equip for better defense?

 

[Lord GOD(GOD)]

No.

It's a conundrum of a setup, having both tons of defence, while simultaneously none hehe. Between Stone Form, Healing Stone, Cleansing Wind, Spell Trigger Cleansing Wind, Gift Of Life, Attunement, Gift Of Renewal, Mana Shield, and the possible distraction of Summon Reaper, Peacemaking and Provocation. Yet you will still get hit 100% of the time by physical attacks.

Without changing the template the only option for melee defence would be to use Mysticism Mastery, which can make the weapon you're holding a Mystic Weapon with a skill penalty. I've got -5 in my head but could be completely wrong as I havent used it since beta.

 

[King Greg]

What lord god said, before going out switch to your mysticism mastery 3, cast mystic weapon for -5 Mystic weapon on a weapon of choice. I can't remember how long it lasts, but I know it was quite a while. The issue is you can't unequip it or you lose the -5 mystic weapon buff.

Don't underestimate the damage you can do either. A Magical shortbow on a human character with 100% Damage increase and 150 strength has a base damage of 32-43. That means with a specific slayer or double super slayer you can do 96-129 damage before resists are calculated. Since you can't take off the weapon without losing the Mystic weapon buff on it, this is a better option for you defensively than using a spell book with SDI, and you can still pump out damage without using Mana.

 

[Lord GOD(GOD)]

I do that with my Bard main when he's using his fullest suit it includes a Heavy Crossbow because of the high base damage.

6x120 Bard with Mage & Med.

 

[Dizzy]

Hmm. I hadn't thought about Masteries. I'm currently using the Spellweaving mastery but only to increase the arcane circle. I wasn't using the mana shield much anyway.

I can give that up and switch to Mysticism mastery. I don't have a lot of dex on this character so I'll probably find a 1-handed weapon (I presume I can't use 2-handed and use a healing stone).

I'll give it a shot, thanks.

I enjoy these offbeat templates. They're not my mains, tuned for damage. Just offbeat. Most don't have magery as that's the first skill I give up, then find out I have to rethink everything from transportation to fighting.

 

[King Greg]

Hmm. I hadn't thought about Masteries. I'm currently using the Spellweaving mastery but only to increase the arcane circle. I wasn't using the mana shield much anyway.

I can give that up and switch to Mysticism mastery. I don't have a lot of dex on this character so I'll probably find a 1-handed weapon (I presume I can't use 2-handed and use a healing stone).

I'll give it a shot, thanks.

I enjoy these offbeat templates. They're not my mains, tuned for damage. Just offbeat. Most don't have magery as that's the first skill I give up, then find out I have to rethink everything from transportation to fighting.

You can put balanced on a bow and still use a heal stone. Defensively it will be the same, I just like the ranged damage as opposed to up close and personal. Honestly on that template gargoyle would probably be the better route to go so you can stay at mount speed with your 5 slot summon out.

 

[Innoxicated]

Dont forget mass sleep on that list of defensive abilities. It works great at 120/120 even on bosses. Would be very handy while on peace cooldowns. God I miss that spell when I go back to a character without mysticism...

Defensively it will be the same

Is it true that having a bow equipped provides melee defense? I've never paid enough attention even though I play archers a lot, probably b/c I'm running my ass around kiting everything lol.

Heavy xbow would be great there to stack on damage after you've got everything peaced/provo'd or have the RC pounding on em! Super base damage, and the lack of specials wouldnt matter. Magical shortbow would be a great choice, too if you're needing to hop around to get shots in.

But dont neglect your bard masteries! Provo are a good way to beef up that already powerful 120/120 RC, and give yourself a very nice HP boost, as well as the HoT.

You might find discord to be a potent addition, if you can eventually bring yourself to bear training it. Help that RC get some hits in and boost his dmg against physical resist. Also makes provoing hard targets much more manageable, and helps those provo'd targets kill each other faster.

Just a few of the reasons mystic bards are such a blast too play, they have a lot of good synergies. Glad your having fun playing without too much concern about optimization, but who says you cant have a lil of both?? Haha

-edit- oh and the mystic mastery idea is a great suggestion, and if you cant get your hands on a mystic mastery 3 the 2 or even the 1 would work, at -10 and -15 skill, respectively. Just offset with +mystic on jewels

 

[Dizzy]

I collect those discarded masteries at the bank, and all my characters have +2 masteries in everything now.

If I use Mystic weapon, do I also need spell channeling on that weapon?

 

[Lord GOD(GOD)]

Melee defense works with bows (and any weapon) as long as you have either the correct corresponding weapon type, Mage Weapon, or Mystic Weapon. (Also Wrestling, and Defensive Wrestling, but their not weapons obviously).

I can't remember if you need Spell Channelling, but being a Mystic you can also use Enchant, that adds 60 Hit Spell of your choice (use Dispel if you don't want ticks/rubberbanding) and Spell Channelling -1 FC. So in theory you could get a Balanced Bow, Imbue it with a bunch of useful mods, then enhance it with Frostwood (for the 1 FC) and have a good Mystic/Enchant weapon.

Hop on TC and try it.

Edit, you will definitely need Spell Channelling. It became more obvious as I thought about it.

 

[Dizzy]

Not the best bow, I made something in a hurry -



But this was a huge improvement with Mystic weapon. Survivability was excellent. Casting RC, Provo, shooting stuff with arrows, and casing Essence of Wind and WoD clears out a room nicely. And with the bow, 1-hit deaths disappear.

That's was fun.

 

[King Greg]

Is it true that having a bow equipped provides melee defense? I've never paid enough attention even though I play archers a lot, probably b/c I'm running my ass around kiting everything lol.

As far as Defense Chance increase and block chance. Yes.

 

[Innoxicated]

Very nice! It's going to be a different kind of bow for sure, and I think HLD is a very good choice for a weapon property here. It will help you get hits in since it's unlikely you'll have much HCI, and help your RC and provo's hit, too. A quick shooter like the magical shortbow would keep em in the HLD status, too.

If you make a heavy xbow as a alternate weapon (you know those big thunky hits sound like fun!) you might want to try mana leech, especially since your dropping med. No specials means all that high base dmg mana just goes right back into your casting/channeling bard masteries. Another couple fun options might be hit fatigue/mana drain, esp on tough targets to help your RC live longer.

Enchant does add SC-1 and a nice intensity hit spell. It may seem annoying to cast it so often, but it's really no worse than a chiv user who relies on divine fury. Then again, once it wears off and you attempt to cast, itll disarm the bow and untoggle your mystic weapon. So perhaps having SC on the bow to begin with is a good idea.

I made a bow with FC1 to enchant and negate the penalty, but was unimpressed overall because FC1 has such a huge imbue weight. Enhancing with frostwood would be the perfect solution; the cold damage wouldnt break anything since it's only supplemental damage anyway. And everyone loves seeing too-many-properties on their equipment!!

That's awesome about archery providing melee defense and dci, I honesty thought any dci I had was going to waste. It probably explains how I'm able to get bandies in, so that does make a lot of sense. So would a bow count as a 2 handed weapon for JOAT parry during evasion?

 

[Lord GOD(GOD)]

No, you can't parry with a ranged weapon regardless.

Another thing you could do to this build is make the armour non-med for LMC bonus (up to 55) and Armour Refinement.

 

[Innoxicated]

Cool thanks for providing a quick,simple response (something I am clearly not talented in, myself). I do recall there being some sort of penalty involved with parry and throwing, so no parry on a bow makes sense.

I agree on the non-med, whether you do refinements or not. 55% LMC helps a lot when channeling 2 spellsongs, esp the discord ones or any of the others while still casting offensively. 55 LMC and a good thunky alternate bow with HML and I imagine you'll be sitting pretty peachy!