Hitting a wall past The Master

[alsiaie]

Good info. Thanks. Is there a cap on Con before I need to worry about Cunning? What about golem behaviors? I leave it at the default Tank AI but I'm starting to think the 10 leash distance is too much.

[Micbran]

I've always liked mine at a leash of 5. If you're finding a distinct lack of hp+ gear then you can boost Con a little, but crits (from cunning) make your bombs even more "one-shotty", especially once you pick up a lot of dam%+ gear and +crit mult gear.

If you can, Arcane Eye can be a nifty pickup from an escort to help scout a little but it might be a little overkill considering alchemist bombs usually take up the whole room anyways.

But having a decent escape on hand might just save your life more than you think.

[grobblewobble]

I personally like to raise con to 32 and stop there, but it isn't super important. You could go all-out magic+cunning, or (recommended) pump strength some too for more armor options.

EDIT 3: Escort
Try to gain "Vitality" from warrior escort too. 1pt wonder.

I love to teach Vitality from a warrior escort to my golem. It greatly improves its durability.

What also really helps is to give your golem the Rune of the Rift. That can be a real lifesaver at times. Nothing is more hilarious than when a boss survives your bomb, only to be rifted forward in time by your golem.. and eat another bomb when he comes back.

What race do you play? A shalore alchemist really starts to kick into high gear just after the master, because timeless helps so much. Use it immediately after throwing a bomb to reset the cooldown to zero and throw a second bomb. It kills things dead.

One more thing, whatever element you are stacking, always get 5/5 Icy core. It is a very nice sustain for any alchemist, with the protection from crits. And 2/5 smoke bomb is good too, especially if you *don't* throw fire bombs. It protects you from enemy fire.

[alsiaie]

Is there a specific way to fine a Rune of Rift? I keep hearing about it but have only found one after nearly 100 hours.

[grobblewobble]

You don't find them randomly. It is a quest reward for the temporal rift in Daikara.

[alsiaie]

You don't find them randomly. It is a quest reward for the temporal rift in Daikara.

Ah thanks. The Wyrmic was my first go at rift. The last level was rough. Thanks for the info.

[grobblewobble]

I will link you a character I played today for fun: a shalore alchemist (normal roguelike, did not use vault). He just made it past Dreadfall and Reknor and went east, so I guess this is the part of the game where you struggled?

Randalf

Unfortunately golem stats are not shown. The golem has just enough magic for the magic skill tree (5/5 eye beam) and the rest went into strength for items. It is using the Rune of the Rift and two pretty nice shield runes.

Alchemists are great at rescuing escorts, I saved all nine. For that I got Vitality on my golem, two levels of Chant of Fortitude, Bathe in Light and especially good: some scouting ability with Precognition and Arcane Eye.

The latter two skills are really great, they let you scout when you need it and see enemies behind a smoke bomb.

I just reached level 30 and picked Temporal Form as my prodigy. A fight with a really tough boss monster that doesn't die easily will go like this:

1. Activate Shield, Temporal Form and Grace of the Eternals.
2. Bomb
3. Timeless to extend all buffs and reset bomb timer
4. Bomb
5. Smoke Bomb
6. Arcane Eye
7. Maybe activate regenerate or heal the golem (or thunderclap).
8. Bomb again

Note that I have both 5/5 Ice Core and 5/5 Living Lightning activated all the time now; both are very good sustain.

Item-wise, I am stacking lightning damage and critical hit rate for offense. For defense I have +life items and healmod from Girdle of Waters (and armor).

Hope this example helps, I think Alchemist is a great class. This is going to be an easy win, maybe I should try nightmare or even insane.

[Atarlost]

If you're hitting your wall in the Vor Armory you can probably unlock Sun Paladin if you haven't already. Shield builds of SP are very good at not dieing on normal. Just avoid radiant horrors. Your main tanking sustains will heal them and if you turn them off you're just a crappy bulwark.