[b43] Deth, Skeleton Reaver Winner (roguelike)

[supermini]

http://te4.org/characters/13640/tome/37 ... 15bc277972

I don't really like Reavers all that much, and yet, here we are. My second roguelike winner, fifth overall. This started as a mix of me wanting to play skeleton and trying to see how good the reavers are (hint: they are very very strong).

I had one death in Dreadfell due from a unique demon that had arcane blade talents...yes, it's the corrupted strength proccing more than once bug. That wasted my reassemble, but it turns out I didn't need it.

Those points in celestial light were completely wasted, as I only used providence once in the whole game. As for the rest, I would have put 0 points in the plague tree. Not that diseases are bad, far from it, it's just that couldn't be bothered to use them.

If someone has any specific questions about the build I'll be happy to answer them. I'm off to see if I can down Atamathon.

EDIT: Nope. I knew it was going to be extremely hard without a way to dispel reflective skin. (not a single pair of gloves of dispersion dropped the entire game). I got killed by a backlash from my own hit. I probably should have been more careful with the dps...Oh well.

[Frumple]

... burning hex? You get good use from that?

I like/am amused that your melee attacks completely lack physical damage

[supermini]

... burning hex? You get good use from that?

It is situational, but in long fights burning hex is a lifesaver. Most things don't live long enough but Elandar for one was way easier. 1+65% longer cooldown on Freeze, what's not to like.

I like/am amused that your melee attacks completely lack physical damage

Yeah, I have to say I really like that crystal weapon + crystal armor combo, and it's only the second time I've ever managed to put it together. For say, bulwarks, there are way better options, but for reavers/arcane blades it's the perfect combo. That bone is an awesome weapon as well.

[MisiuPysiu]

Hey,

Congrats for the winner!
a few questions of course
- how did You deal with status effects?
- How good is bone shield?
- What was Your build order?
- Typical fight?

Cheers

[Fhtagn]

That femur looks amazing with its 30% global speed...
How did you handle magic users early on? Did you just blast them with spells?
Edit: never mind. Bone shield.

[supermini]

Hey,

Congrats for the winner!

Thank you!

a few questions of course
- how did You deal with status effects?

Getting chant of fortitude from a sun paladin helped a lot, since it pushed both my physical and spell saves to where I can resist most statuses (both of those are my strong saves anyway). For mental I used wintertide vial, I was lucky enough to get it. Even without it, 5 levels in the third talent of the skeleton tree (the one that reduces duration of status effects) will protect you well against confusion because it's generally a short duration debuff.

Having 2 teleports was also very helpful, since the chance of stun putting both on cooldown is very low.

Later on I even took the light tree in order to take providence but it was an overkill (I only used it once and I didn't have to). I had enough saves and immunities by that time that I didn't need to worry.

- How good is bone shield?

I think it's great. Between the bone shield, 2 shield runes and the skeleton shield, I didn't have a lot of close calls.

- What was Your build order?

Early on, maxed corrupted strength, 1 point in Rend, max Ruin, 1 point in acid strike and dark surprise, 1 point in Bone grab as soon as possible, some points in drain for vim. Went for 3 points of Bone Shield (didn't want to invest more stat points into mag at that point). 1 point in Bloodlust and 3 in Acid blood. I decided to do Dark Crypt, so I maxed Carrier from levels 21-24. After that went for 1 points in vimsense and leech, then maxed vimsense, maxed leech, finished bone shield, maxed bloodlust and soul rot.

I played around with diseases but because I went heavy on con in the early to mid game I neglected my spellpower and they were resisted all the time. I didn't get into the habit of using them, so I didn't. That doesn't mean that they are bad - they just didn't fit into how I was building my character.

As for generics, I went with combat stuff and skeleton stuff first, followed by celestial/light (which was unnecessary), and then burning hex at the end because it's useful for some bosses in the end game. Investing in alchemist imbue tree would have payed off much more, but I didn't get that escort. Cursed gear would have been good but I didn't get cursed in the graveyard. That limited my options.

- Typical fight?

Um, I dunno. Vimsense + leech + bloodlust works against large groups of mobs, for most single
targets just bumping them kills them fast enough. You can inflict blind with dark surprise, and a lot of 1h weapons can inflict status conditions as well (lightning daze, curse, torment, etc).

The biggest issue is the casters, and I handled those with a combination of movement speed bonus, telekinetic leap from boots, bone grab, dark portal and controlled phase door. And lots of shields, of course. If I couldn't handle something, I teleported away, always leaving one shield as a backup to use after teleporting, if necessary.

[supermini]

That femur looks amazing with its 30% global speed...
How did you handle magic users early on? Did you just blast them with spells?
Edit: never mind. Bone shield.

Bone shield helps with opening blasts, but you have to get yourself as much mobility as you can. Bone grab remains one of the best abilities you have. If you don't mind losing damage, skeletal claw whip is built for reavers early on. Boots of speed/feathersteel amulet/ring of speed/eden's guile are also good early options. You might want to go for dark portal, and use it as a very imprecise, but still controlled, phase door.

[Aerach]

This build still works beautifully as of the RCs, my second character in the east got all the way to the end though i discovered you pay dearly for having poor resists in the final encounter no matter how shieldy you feel till then. Better in fact, as flexible combat at 30 is a thing of beauty.