Reaver tactics

[XLambda]

First of all, I am very grateful that the Reaver class was buffed. I (just like many others) am a fan of the Defiler classes and it's good to see them getting some attention.
With that said, I'm still figuring out how to play Reavers. I have made a few observations and would appreciate it if the more experienced players could give their opinion.

- Disablers. This probably comes from playing other classes, where you have a plethora of disabling options - Stun, Daze, Confuse, Freeze, Pin etc. As far as I can see, Reavers have the diseases, curses and pacification hex to disable enemies. (I don't really count Bone Grab, since its purpose is somewhat different.) Diseases and curses are awesome, but in the early game there's a lack of options to keep the enemy from doing any relevant damage (or any damage at all). The only real option is Catalepsy, which comes in at Lv8, and is rather short-lived.

- Effect Recovery. Reavers have no native means to recover from said Disablers. They are not the only ones with that problem, though, and few external solutions are available. They don't get any effect resistance, either. Of course, wild infusions work, but in-universe it doesn't make any sense to use them. The only other way is specific gear, which may or may not be available.

- Health Recovery. Corruptors already don't have many regen options apart from Blood Grab, which is an awesome talent. Reavers don't get that, but neither do they get Fast Metabolism to increase their regen rate. Ruin does give some regen in-combat, though.

I'm not saying "Reavers need X", I'd like to know how people work around these problems, especially against casters.
Take for example a generic boss caster, say, the Shade. He has a disabler, Freeze. Reaver problem 1: How to get rid of the Freeze. He also has a high-power damage spell. Reaver problem 2: How to survive this and the next damage spike while simultaneously getting rid of the Freeze. This requires some form of either non-physical damage resistance or fast regen.

How are you playing your Reavers?

[donkatsu]

Bone Grab is actually one of the best disables out there. Here's how you use it:

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Lure your enemy around a corner and wait until they're in a position like this, then use Bone Grab. It will try to drag the enemy towards you, then fail because from their point of view there's a wall in the way. It does, however, still pin them for however long Bone Grab lasts (4 turns with one class point, and I think something like 8 turns when maxed). You're limited to using ranged attacks, but as long as they're pinned, your target has absolutely no means of fighting back so you're free to take as many potshots as you want, and it's not like Reavers are lacking in good ranged spells. Once the pin duration expires, just kite them into another corner and repeat.

As for effect recovery and health recovery, you just do what every other class does: use infusions. If you're undead, then I guess you're just boned (haha, get it?) but that applies to a lot of classes.

Also, Vimsense + Leech will provide more health than Fast Metabolism could ever hope to achieve.

[overgoat]

- Health Recovery. Corruptors already don't have many regen options apart from Blood Grab, which is an awesome talent. Reavers don't get that, but neither do they get Fast Metabolism to increase their regen rate. Ruin does give some regen in-combat, though.

I find a maxed out ruin does very well in acting as a regen buff. You do have to focus your stat points in magic to some extent, but many Reaver talents are magic based so it pays off pretty well. My skeleton reaver does quite well with just bone shield and ruin, both of which become available at 4th level.

For my own part, I would love to see Reavers get the two weapon combat tree or have it trainable. Double slash would give a needed stun and flurry with ruin act as an almost mini heal if enough hit.

[edge2054]

Ruin also gives you 2 extra bloodlust stacks per attack if both swings hit, which in turn increases Ruin damage and thus Ruin life regen.

[phantomglider]

For my own part, I would love to see Reavers get the two weapon combat tree or have it trainable. Double slash would give a needed stun and flurry with ruin act as an almost mini heal if enough hit.

The problem with giving Reavers the dual-weapon techniques tree is that its prerequisites are Dex, and the stun is applied using accuracy, neither of which reavers have in any great amount.