ToME: the Tales of Maj'Eyal

So I'm trying a no-Shadows Doomed run, because I've tried just about everything else. Things are going okay so far.

I used my first category point to unlock Fears (because without Shadows, I'm eventually going to have to do so, in order to have enough places to spend Class points.

What's the best way to invest in this tree? I'm 1/1/1/0 right now (at level 11), and trying to figure out how to use it. Anything needs to be maxed? Anything needs to be left as low as possible?

I know that the general consensus is that Fears is fairly lackluster, but I figure if you're not doing Shadows, you're sort of stuck with it.

4/4/0/0 is generally enough to max out the debuffs at endgame (when you have high mindpower) and gets you the best fears. I would remove the 0/0/1/0 point you placed if you can.

I can still remove all three if I need to.

Are you saying the third talent introduces worse fears, so not having that talent means a higher chance for better fears?

Depends on playstyle. If you want to, e.g, smite things from afar from behind darkness, then tormentors are a always a welcome distraction. Ditto Panic (when it works, it may turn you effectively invisible, depending on where your darkness lands.) If you're more a Gestures/Reproach guy, then you can go without either.

While I grapple with the thing about Fears, let me ask another question here, rather than making another thread.

I've been messing with Gestures for the first real time on this run. (Previously, I've floated points into the first talent for a few levels, then pulled them into Mindstar Mastery and other stuff.) Right now, I am 1/1/5 in Gestures, for the mindpower boosts in Gesture of Power. Still not sure whether or not that was a good investment of 7 points, but hey.

I floated a few points into Gesture of Guarding, and... I'm not impressed. I can block three or four damage per turn, of melee damage only? I have a single-digit-percent chance to counterattack with a gesture attack? Does this ever get better, maybe with endgame stats? At this point, I can't imagine actually investing anything in Gesture of Guarding, let alone the 5 points it seems you'd need to produce any kind of measurable effect.

Not a Gestures fan, but I know you can get at least 70 deflection from Gesture of Guarding when maxed, eventually (I know, because I did that on an adventurer build - a weird but effective Bone Shield/Gesture of Guarding combo.)

Yes it's they are pretty pointless even at high mindpower.

Ehh, Tyrant can be useful. The generated apparitions can be a useful distraction. Bosses often spend a few turns attacking the apparitions instead of you and the extra mindpower means you can actually make the boss afraid.