CiP: noob Arcane Blade

[smajdalf]

Hi, I began to play 2 days ago and this is character I managed to get the furthest.

http://te4.org/characters/181277/tome/1 ... 714e7d58d6

Obviously I have no idea how strong or viable the build I'm doing really is, so I thought I could ask for some tips. Maybe I'm missing some important talent, or I should invest more into some stat.

I just finished Sandworm Lair and last thing on the main quest list is Daikara, so thats most likely where I'm going next.
I'm mostly fighting in melee and I feel like I'm doing reasonable damage with the Lightning and Arcane Destruction procs, so maybe I should invest more into my defensive?
Right now I'm counting on the Healing and Regeneration infusion + Aegis tree to keep me alive, using heals to get some shields up. But at one point in the Sandworm Lair I lost about 2/3 of my life in one round due to some firebreath, so that scared me a little.

As I said I would appreciate any useful tips you might give me.

[dukereg]

(Disclaimer: I'm no expert. I only won normal twice, neither time with an Arcane Blade. I play mainly melee characters though, and I have abundant experience at getting killed. )

Mobility is important. Rush is a good closer, but 3 more generic points would give you controlled phase door as well which makes you more flexible. You also need to be able to deal with status effects so you don't get stuck in bad situations. That means wild infusions (or other inscriptions that deal damage but remove debuffs as a side effect). Also consider a movement infusion, to help solve both these problems at once. Manasurge is an obvious inscription to replace; you've got 2 mana regen talents and Highborn's Bloom, but nothing much to do with your mana (correct me if I'm wrong).

You always need defensive ability because the non-physical ranged damage increase as the game goes on. However, you're already mitigating it somewhat with damage shields. Thick Skin is also a good choice (so don't sell any of your +con gear unless you find something better for the same slot). It's getting stuck fighting a fight you can't win that will get you killed, so I'd worry about debuffs first. Even the tank classes die on normal if they are sufficiently debuffed and taking consistent damage.

Finally, have a plan for keeping damage output high, especially to lightning resistant enemies. Consider investing more in Weapons Mastery for weapon damage, and keep pumping cunning to keep your proc damage and crit chance high.

Edit: Oh man, almost forgot the most important piece of advice. Even if you don't want any spoilers, look up recommended zone orders! The names rarely give away what is going to happen inside, and the game does not give you much information to judge what order to do dungeons in. You will learn this through repeated, frustrating character deaths, or through other players advice, and I strongly recommend the latter.

[smajdalf]

Mobility is important. Rush is a good closer, but 3 more generic points would give you controlled phase door as well which makes you more flexible.

I didn't notice that phase door can be controlled on higher levels, that definitely sounds useful.

You also need to be able to deal with status effects so you don't get stuck in bad situations. That means wild infusions (or other inscriptions that deal damage but remove debuffs as a side effect). Also consider a movement infusion, to help solve both these problems at once. Manasurge is an obvious inscription to replace; you've got 2 mana regen talents and Highborn's Bloom, but nothing much to do with your mana (correct me if I'm wrong).

I actually still use Manasurge semi-regularly. With all the sustained abilities I have 112 mana to work with and I gain 0.89 mana each turn + 1.20 each hit right now. But Lightning takes 11 mana with each proc (63% chance) and I have a lot of "panic buttons" taking a lot of mana too (27.5 Arcane reconstruction, 11 Phase door, 22 Teleport, 49.5 Earthen barrier). Basically I would rather not get stuck somewhere without mana.
But I still have my category point, I just really didn't know how to use it. I could open Celestial / Light for more heals, but I already have a lot of uses for Generic Points, I guess I could use it to open another inscription slot.

You always need defensive ability because the non-physical ranged damage increase as the game goes on. However, you're already mitigating it somewhat with damage shields. Thick Skin is also a good choice (so don't sell any of your +con gear unless you find something better for the same slot). It's getting stuck fighting a fight you can't win that will get you killed, so I'd worry about debuffs first. Even the tank classes die on normal if they are sufficiently debuffed and taking consistent damage..

I took the thick skin on my last level up. I have barely enough Constitution to get the first level, do I actually lose it if my Constitution drops?

Finally, have a plan for keeping damage output high, especially to lightning resistant enemies. Consider investing more in Weapons Mastery for weapon damage, and keep pumping cunning to keep your proc damage and crit chance high.

Well I fought some some Tornados/Air elementals in Derth that seemed to be resistant to lightning, I still kept decent damage because Arcane Destruction can also deal Fire/Arcane damage. I was also using the gloves that give me AoE fire spell (I think its Flameshock from my Fire tree)

Oh man, almost forgot the most important piece of advice. Even if you don't want any spoilers, look up recommended zone orders! The names rarely give away what is going to happen inside, and the game does not give you much information to judge what order to do dungeons in. You will learn this through repeated, frustrating character deaths, or through other players advice, and I strongly recommend the latter.

I tried to google some zone order yesterday actually, I was using this one this one

[dukereg]

It looks like you have a decent handle on the game already.

I actually still use Manasurge semi-regularly. With all the sustained abilities I have 112 mana to work with and I gain 0.89 mana each turn + 1.20 each hit right now. But Lightning takes 11 mana with each proc (63% chance) and I have a lot of "panic buttons" taking a lot of mana too (27.5 Arcane reconstruction, 11 Phase door, 22 Teleport, 49.5 Earthen barrier). Basically I would rather not get stuck somewhere without mana.
But I still have my category point, I just really didn't know how to use it. I could open Celestial / Light for more heals, but I already have a lot of uses for Generic Points, I guess I could use it to open another inscription slot.

Ah, right, I forgot that the Lightning proc still costs mana.
I personally would be spending the cat point on another inscription. Movement infusion to avoid stuns, dazes and pins if you are the sort to prepare for fights, or Wild infusion: physical / Heat Beam rune to remove one physical effect if you are like me and don't prepare enough.

I took the thick skin on my last level up. I have barely enough Constitution to get the first level, do I actually lose it if my Constitution drops?

Once the point is in, you have it. It is common to hoard +stat items just to swap out at level up time to get points in talents, especially Thick Skin if you don't have points to spare for con.

[smajdalf]

By the way the first character I posted here died shortly after I did it
This is current character this time its Cormac with a shield. I just opened Sher'tul fortress for the first time.

Most if my characters died around this level, 16-18. I'm pretty sure its because I lack resistances and I get destroyed by status effects.