Vzenaan the Dwarven Pyromancing Arcane Blade killed in Pride

[orange<]

Vzenaan... How about that random name generator?



I wanted to go for a pyromancing arcane blade build.

As the fire spell is DoT, the glass cannon approach of traditional ABs seemed like a bad idea.

I hoped to use the Dwarven racials and HP to increase my survivability.
As well as this, getting early Step Up for escape/attack options.
Choosing shields felt like a good idea. For the increased armor, as well as Blocking and Assault abuse.

I felt the build has 2 glaring weaknesses.
- Crowds in open space
- Luminous horrors (seriously, these things were a nightmare!)

Crowds in corridors are the nicest thing to happen to this build. Dreadfell was easy because of this.
Crowds in open spaces got me killed. I was hoping Arcane Destruction would be enough to deal with this, maybe it would be at higher crit rate.
Getting Flameshock really helped with this weakness. I should have invested in it earlier. I'll also consider the later flame skills on my next run.

Luminous horrors were impossible until I put point into Bleeding Edge. At which point they became just very hard, but the Shield Offense and crits helped out here.
EDIT: Just realised luminous horrors may have fire affinity. I should have turned off Arcane Combat while fighting them.

http://te4.org/characters/40136/tome/2f ... 8d1f7ac816


Talents

I maxed the fire spell as soon as possible, cheesing points (or featuring points, depending on how you look at it) in/out of lightning for the first dungeon.

After getting out of the first dungeon, I transitioned into a casting-melee hybrid, spreading points between Str, Con, and Mag with the aim to have 28 Str at level 8 for Arcane Feed, which was maxed at level 12.

Points were put into Arcane Combat (maxed soon), Arcane Cunning and Rush (both of which were maxed by early 30s).

Putting 2 in Str, 1 in Con I aimed for 36 Str at level 12 for Arcane Destruction (1 point). After this, 2 Mag, 1 Con.

Level 10 category was spent on battle tactics. Step Up was maxed as soon as possible.
Arcane Combat was turned on around level 14.

Level 20 category was spent on Shield Offense, 2 points were saved to get assault immediately.

Shock hands was bought late 20s, and sustained for the 25% chance to daze.
Points were moved out of Fiery Hands when I realised they weren't being too helpful, and I really needed some crowd control.
Inner power was maxed mid-late twenties, though maybe the points, and manner, would have been better spent somewhere else.

Points were put into Flameshock after Dreadfell


Generics

Generics were spend on Thick Skin when Con allowed and Dwarven Saves were maxed as soon as possible.
Phase Door and Teleport were bought immediately.

Arcane Shield sustain was bought as soon as the manner was available for sustaining it.
The healing spell was maxed when points allowed.

I maxed Armor Training, which was useless as I preferred the +20% res pen light armor artifact I found to any heavy armor I came across.


Infusions

Picked up a nice Regen.
Kept the Mana, it wasn't used often, but I was glad of it's presence when it was. I may try replacing it on my next run.
The Wild was replaced early Dreafell (mid twenties) as my saves were high, and I picked up 2 shurg off stun talents from a warrior escort.


Prodigy

Had no idea what I was doing.
Picked the only shield on available.

Thanks for reading.
Of course, I'd love to hear any comments.

[supermini]

You did very well to get that far, but there is room for improvement.

You really want to use the Aegis tree to its potential, it's one of the most powerful trees in the game. Combine Arcane Shielding with heal infusions and arcane reconstruction to make powerful damage shields. Shielding talent from the same tree adds to the power of all your shield runes and damage shields. That means dumping regen for a heal, and investing more points into aegis.

You don't want to keep your only escape (teleport) at a low level. That is one of the most important abilities you have! Targeted teleport can get you anywhere you want on the level, getting you away from danger.

You seem to be too low level to be fighting the prides at all. Did you go back west first? You want to talk to Zemekys, who is in the house north of Aeryn. He'll give you a quest to visit the Vor Armoury which eventually leads you back west. After handling the backup guardians there and the quest to go back east, you might be ready to face the prides.

Prodigy selection is poor imo. Pick Eternal Guard only if you want to block a lot...Not something that I would say is crucial for arcane blades. You aren't using the right shield for Rak'Shor anyway (where you died). Blocking physical and fire damage isn't going to do much for you there.

Last but not least, it's not just AB that suffers from fighting a bunch of casters in open space - everyone does. That's why repositioning yourself to a better location is very important. I would dump battle tactics and get a movement infusion instead. You were only using it for step up anyway (step up is decent, but it doesn't beat a movement infusion).

Hope that helps.

[Faeryan]

First, well done. I've never been that successful with an AB.
Second, and the only thing I have something constructive to say about is that wild infusion. Your saves are nowhere near good enough to replace the infusion, especially with that kind of stun resist.

Just as a reference I think my physical save on my recent Cursed winner was 70 with hefty resistances (100% stun for example) yet I only replaced my starter infusion right before the last bosses and even then the new one was physical/magical. I even used it in the fight I think.

What I'm trying to say is wild infusion is one of your three best friends, along with movement infusion and reliable means of teleporting.

[orange<]

Thank you both for your input. ( :

Mayfair,

I wasn't finding stun a problem. Though maybe I'd hit a sweet spot, and it would become a problem if I had survived just a little longer.

As well as the resist and save, I had a 20%+ chance to shrug off stun every turn.
Though, I'll consider keeping that infusion for longer on my next Dwarf AB.


Supermini,

My experience in the East is limited. I'll be sure not to tackle the prides as soon as I get there, next time.

I'll try to find some more points for the Aegis tree. I'm going to try a skeleton run, next, and abuse the Aegis/racial synergy.
Though I'm not sure whether to concentrate on the Decrease Bad Effect Racial Skill early, to deal with stuns, or get nice Healing / Thick Skin.

Generics feel thin.

I learnt the power of movement infusion when playing Cursed. I'm going to stick with Step Up for my next run through, but I'll consider the change. The leap ability from wanderers rest really helped me out, perhaps without it Step Up wouldn't be enough as far as repositioning.

I should mention, though, when I say crowds in open space, I was referring more to being surrounded in melee. While the teleport usually fixed this, a couple of times pressing it did nothing but make me skip a turn (no teleport zone, or area too small, perhaps.) Step Up usually made quick work of dispersed casters - UNTIL THE PRIDE, THAT WAS.

I really don't know what to do when it comes to prodigies.
Are there any generally good ones?

[supermini]

Generally good ones (in my opinion) for AB would be Cauterize, Temporal Form, Draconic Will, Flexible Combat, in no particular order. What to go for really depends on your build. You might also want to look at past AB winners, different people have different ideas.

[orange<]

Thanks, Supermini.
See you in game.