Roguelike Cornac Arcane Blade Winner [b21]

[Hirumakai]

This is a character report on a winning Cornac Arcane Blade named Hiruma Ryu on Roguelike difficulty. He properly should be called Hiruma Ryu III as there were two previous incarnations which died.

In addition, this is my 3rd Arcane blade to make it to the end fight (the first having failed in the Charred Scar and having let Aeryn die but still killing the two sorcers, the second dead in the last fight). My previous comments on those two can be found in this sub-forum.

Commentary:
Quests and Progression:
For an Arcane blade, which has access to 2 stunning methods (and more if they choose to go cunning) and high damage, very early game was fairly easy. Early-mid game (20ish) saw the death of 2 previous incarnations, mostly due to being careless though. The situations could have been avoided if I had been thinking clearly.

Did the Melinda quest successfully. Was still duly terrified of it, but the combination of movement infusions and the new timer seemed to make the last level possible. Also, not getting it until 25 and later feels about right. Most other quests just didn't feel that dangerous. Of course, I was taking full advantage of Probability travel and movement infusions, and generally being higher level than DG probably intended. Didn't start down to fight the master until after level 30 for example.

Late game was fairly easy, except for Limmir's quest and the final fight. In the Limmir fight, I had to use 3 of the 4 healing charges from my healing wand (of which it was my only one at the time) on Limmir. I also put Blood Frenzy to good use there, ending with 1104 attack power at the end of the fight. Even the orc ambushes didn't feel that bad in the 40's, with one having me forgotten that I had my Chronomancer's staff equipped. Went through about 80% of that fight wondering why I was doing so little damage, and watching mage friendly fire kill off more than I was. Eventually switched weapons, but I was surviving just fine.

In the final fight I had to use up 8 healing charges on Aeryn to keep her up, and also 1 on myself as a safety precaution. I tried phase dooring 1st turn, found it didn't work, and started going around to the portals the traditional way (with Movement infusion!) and turning them off. Still got a couple summoning dragons and had to keep Aeryn up while swarmed by about 20 d's and D's. Actually used blood fury there and got up to about 600 attack power before switching to the 1st of the two sorcerers (Mister melee). Then went to finishing off the ranged striking one. Overall the movement + regen + shield was enough to keep me up against their onslaught. The resistances I had also didn't hurt.


Shopping:
I'm not sure what to think about the new and improved stores. Certainly it makes it much easier to get the correct kit for your character type. You amass gold, and buy that 2 hander you need, rather than that 1 handed longsword that you found. It also cuts out late game running a few levels, going to the stores, running a few levels, going to the stores, looking for Voratun rings or other magic items.

On the other hand, it leads to a bit of griding when you see a couple of pieces which are distinct upgrades at the low levels. You avoid killing a boss and go up and down levels a few times to be able to afford it. It also means trekking to all the towns every time you kill 2 bosses so you don't miss a refresh.

Its definitely a break from traditional rogue-likes where the best equipment is virtually always found as drops.

Equipment

From 1-20ish I was using a store bought weapon until I found Gnarg's Murderblade in my twenties. Its still my switch weapon even though it may not show up in the character sheet, and wasn't replaced until just before diving into the final dungeon. It was replaced by a found plain Voratun Greatsword and a store bought Arcane Focus crystal, found in the last store refresh in Derth.

Virtually all my armor from about 10-40 was store bought. I bought the Girdle of Calm Waters for example, along with boots of speed, and armor of stability. Rings were mostly gem rings. Then I started getting quest rewards like Limmir's Rings, the Eldritch Pearl, Crown of the Elements from a boss drop, Girdle of Preservation, and the Hardened Voratun Plate Armor of the Dragon from a vault. The invigorating boots of speed were store bought at 50, along with the Mystic Voratun Greatsword of Ruin (although I never actually used it). The Arcane Focus was store bought and used to make my end game Crystalline Voratun Greatsword.

Early infusions were Manasurge/Regen/Wild, plus either Regen, Shield, or Movement. At 30 with all 5 slots I was running Manasurge/Regen/Wild/Shield/Movement. About half were store bought and half found.

I definitely noticed a greater abundance of stunning resist items, which was good since the Anthoril reward had been changed (although I like the options that replaced the Hymns).

Talents
I had 7 Class talent points and 6 Generic talent points unspent at the end of the game.

Two Handed Maiming:
1. Stunning Blow was used virtually constantly. Great skill.
2. I started using Sunder Armor as a 20%-ish damage boosts, although Sunder Armor maybe better now for high damage classes since armor is % based instead of flat value. 27 APR at 5/5 Sunder armor is something like a 24% damage increase, assuming they have that much armor. I still kept it at 1/5 though.
3. Sunder Arms was also used as a 20%-ish damage boost, although I'm not sure if the 16 Attack reduction is even noticable.
4. Blood Frenzy I used, activating when starting Vaults and the like. On some big vaults I was hitting over 1000 listed damage. I also tried using at the very start of the last dungeon and seeing if I could get to the end bosses with it still up, but found myself running out of stamina after 2-3 levels and only keeping up about 600 damage rating (compared to about 440-ish without). It was also key to the Limmir quest.

Combat Technique:
1. Precise Strikes was never used, as I wasn't going for a crit build, and I had plenty of generic points so I just maxed Weapon Combat.
2. Rush was maxed and used constantly. Great skill now with the reduced cooldown.
3. Perfect Strike never used.
4. Blinding Speed was left unselected as I realized I didn't really need it. In previous runs I got it and used it as a "sure, it doesn't hurt", but I was never in a situation where I felt I needed those extra 1.5 turns *right now*. Also only 5 turns out of every 55 means you tend to save it until you need it. But if you don't really need it...

Combat Veteran:
1. Quick Recovery was maxed so I could try out more of the maiming tree more often. Solid skill.
2. Fast Metabolism has a good effect, but mostly its a stepping stone.
3. Spell Shield. I probably should look at how effective saves are these days, but mostly I didn't notice it.
4. Unending Frenzy. This makes Blood Frenzy possible, and doesn't hurt when using Rush and stunning blow heavily.

Combat Training:
Solid generic tree. No complaints.

Magical Combat:
1. Because Arcane Combat was bugged to have a 200% chance to go off, I chose not to use it for most of the game. Otherwise it is a solid piece of the Arcane Blade style.
2. Arcane Dexterity got 1 point as a stepping stone. For a dex-based duel-wield style it probably would be better.
3. Arcane Feed got 1 point as a stepping stone, although even with that 1 point I generally left it on. Good skill, I just didn't feel it needed more for my playstyle.
4. Arcane Destruction. This skill makes Arcane Blades go. 103 physical damage increase...

Fire:
1. Flame I didn't max because I wasn't using Arcane Combat. If I had been, this would be maxed.
2. Flame shock. Solid AoE stun. Max and love it.
3. Fireflash. Its a solid AoE and if I were playing more mage-like I'd max it, but this was more melee.
4. Inferno. A single action for about 1000 fire damage in a huge area? Yes please. It combines very strongly with probability travel.

Air:
1. I wasn't using Arcane Combat so no need to get this. I prefer flame for better average damage in any case.
2. Chain Lightning just feels inferior to Inferno and Fireflash. Didn't use or put points in.
3. Feather Wind never seemed to affect many traps, and I didn't need more carrying capacity or missile defense.
4. Thunderstorm. Its much harder I find to get the mana regen to keep it up, and the damage doesn't seem to be all that great compared to normal swings or inferno.

Enhancement:
1. Fiery Hands. Stepping stone and possibly useful if going a full fire build. 1 point gets you about half the damage of 5 points. So 1 point definitely worth it, less clear if 5 are.
2. Earthen Barrier. Used very occassionally. I had plenty of physical resist at the end so no need for more than 1 point.
3. Frost Hands. Very good skill, but doesn't need more than 1 point to get the freezing effect. Similar to fiery hands in that the 1st point gets the most damage and 5/5 only doubles it.
4. Inner power. Late game and at 5/5 it adds +11 to all stats. Thats like 10% more strength (and thus 10% more damage) along with more spell power (which adds more damage), plus other benefits. Just plain good.

Conveyance:
1. Phase Door. Great power and well worth it to take it to 5/5.
2. Teleport. Great get out of jail free power. Useful even at 1. 5/5 provides an extra level of safety.
3. Displacement Shield. Didn't use, although in principle it shouldn't be that bad, its just a long cooldown fairly hefty cost for an effect already handled by infusions and swinging my sword.
4. Probability Travel. Incredibly powerful even with a single point. Used most of the time except in Vaults and in the end fight (well, it was on for the end fight, but its effect didin't work...).

I also had 1 point in Heighten Senses from a quest, and 1 point in Vision and Premonition Shield from quests. Those all were quite useful.

Thanks again to Dark God for a great game.

[madmonk]

Well done! I have always had trouble with Arcane Blades - not really my play style. So it is really good to see a winner.

[martinuzz]

Nice win!
Good to see an Arcane Blade amongst the winners.
Also, interesting build, not using arcane combat.

I would have gotten Flame to 5/5 though, if only to turn it into a beam. Did you not use the spell at all?

[Hirumakai]

I used Flame at the very beginning, however once I realized that Arcane combat was bugged, I didn't really have much use for it. Between Probability Travel, 5/5 Phase door, Rush, and a movement infusion, getting up close and personal was very easy. And a swing does alot more damage than flame.

If Arcane combat was not bugged, I'd probably max Flame and use it, and I did have 7 class points left over, so I certainly could have.

As it was, I think I was doing 300-500ish damage a hit to the end bosses. 5/5 Flame probably would have added 100-150 extra per hit when Arcane Combat goes off (after resistances). So even with 1/5 Arcane combat would have been adding 5-10% extra damage to a single target, and more with higher Arcane Combat.

And I really didn't need more AoE than Flame Shock + Inferno. Stun a group with Flame shock, toss an Inferno, watch as they sit helplessly and burn. Or just toss the Inferno and get out of LOS.

[Grey]

Fiery Hands gets fairly decent when maxed and with high spellpower - around +50% fire damage. Even the added fire damage to hits is quite nice.

[Hirumakai]

Fiery Hands gets fairly decent when maxed and with high spellpower - around +50% fire damage. Even the added fire damage to hits is quite nice.

What do you consider "high spellpower"? Hiruma Ryu has 143 spellpower and when I temporarily dump 5/5 into fiery hands, it says 16% increased fire damage and 49.24 fire damage per hit. Is there a text bug I'm unaware of? With 1 point its 8% increased fire and 24-ish damage.