Not sure if this should go into this subforum, the warrior one or "dumb questions", but here seemed most fitting.
I can't win this game for the life of me. I really like sword and board Arcane Blade, but I don't have the far east figured out quite yet, and with my very limited playtime it's very annoying to put in the hours to get there in the first place.
Furthest I ever got was just after far east, and then I died to one of the new guardians.
That being said, could someone please have a look at my 4 highest characters, and tell me whether there are any obvious errors in character progression? I realize I need to tighten my gameplay as well, I die to stupid things because I usually play after long shifts, but even when I'm completely rested I make mistakes
Well, its been awhile since I took an Arcane blade all the way to end, but I think general advice is what you need.
First off, you always want the option to retreat if things get too dangerous.
So that means you need to be able to act. Which means you need both confusion and stun resistance. Ice blocks, Confusion failures, plus stuns preventing cooldowns will kill you. As an Arcane blade, by mid game your damage output is more than sufficient. My guess is you're dying when you get hit by too many debuffs and your healing can't keep up.
I'd suggest going with the Cornac build, open up the shield combat if thats your preference, then drop the level 10 and 20 category points in to rune/infusion slots. If you have trouble finding stunning/confusion/etc resistance gear (which your characters look like), prioritize both a wild physical and wild mental infusion. A shield rune and a heal/regen rune. Plus the manasurge rune you start with/improve over time as you find better. Arcane blade comes with conveyance so early on you can rely on that as your escape options. Late game you may want to swap a wild infusion for a movement infusion after you have a solid setup of immunities.
I usually go and make a quartz ring or two just to get 100% stun resistance by dreadfell (I hate skeleton warriors stunning me among other things). So prioritize those immunities, even if it seems like a sub-standard choice otherwise.
The characters where you have 5/5 Phase door is the way to go. Always get 1/5 Teleport at least. If you're still dying alot, try considering 5/5 Teleport as well. Controlled teleport on a level to already cleared areas can be a lifesaver. Then remember to use them. Consider withdrawing some times. Also, think about retreating before you're below half health. Keep a reserve of mana for that teleport/phase door. So you can survive a bad teleport or an unexpected enemy. Remember, you can also skip fights.
More points into your stun options, less points into raw damage for better early-mid game survival. Shield pummel should be higher than 1 for more duration, and consider leaving 1 point in dirty fighting. Its either a stun for 4 turns, or a instant hit with proc chance - its a win/win. Even 1 point in flame shock is good for AoE stunning.
Consider going down the earth tree for some points in stone wall. Its another take a breather talent/reset the fight. Although your character points are a bit tight still through 30, so it might be a late game option.
I'd tend to focus more on strength/magic, then late game pump up cunning. This allows better weapon/armor choices, more spellpower (magic is straight up better than cunning for spellpower even with Arcane Cunning 5/5). Which also means you can leave Arcane cunning lower until late game when you have significant cunning, and put those points elsewhere.
I think you might be too focused on damage to the exclusion of all else too early in the game. Do you find yourself one hitting most enemies? If so, you're probably doing enough damage and should focus on more varied talents, with more emphasis on defense. Also more emphasis on defensive equipment.
For example, I'd wear the Untouchable over the Firewalker armor on that one Cornac.
