help me understand Cursed Aura

[Brent Not Broken]

I have lots of questions, but first, what's up with the first talent? There are listed effects up to effective talent level 10, but I can only figure out how to get up to level 6 (and that requires a category point). How do you get to higher levels, and is it worth it?

Also: cursed aura basically means never buying curse-carrying gear in shops, since you get random curses you can't see until you've paid, right?

I assume it's common practice that, at lease for Doomed, Shrouds is king, Nightmares is second choice, and Misfortune is at least not awful?

[jaumito]

I have lots of questions, but first, what's up with the first talent? There are listed effects up to effective talent level 10, but I can only figure out how to get up to level 6 (and that requires a category point). How do you get to higher levels, and is it worth it?

If you play the Infinite Dungeon campaign, eventually you can get level 10 talents at about char level 100 (or earlier depending on mastery.)

Also: cursed aura basically means never buying curse-carrying gear in shops, since you get random curses you can't see until you've paid, right?

With decent investment in Cursed Aura, a cursed item is always better than no item at all, so go buy them if they're good. Although yes, it's still a bit of a gamble.

I assume it's common practice that, at lease for Doomed, Shrouds is king, Nightmares is second choice, and Misfortune is at least not awful?

Corpses isn't bad either, especially if you play a ghoul. With 6/6 in Cursed Aura, you can have 4 maxed curses anyway.

[Doctornull]

I have lots of questions, but first, what's up with the first talent? There are listed effects up to effective talent level 10, but I can only figure out how to get up to level 6 (and that requires a category point). How do you get to higher levels, and is it worth it?

What jaumito said about the ID is correct, plus you can also sometimes find amulets which grant +mastery bonus, and random artifacts with double that bonus (or more). It's very unlikely, but you could find an amulet which gave +0.20 Cursed Gear mastery and then you'd be up to talent level 7.

[OrionJAnderson]

Couldn't you blow 2 cat points and get 1.4?

EDIT: Looks like there's little point. Defiling Touch and Dark Gifts both get great bonuses at 6 and weak bonuses at 7.

[stinkstink]

Couldn't you blow 2 cat points and get 1.4?

EDIT: Looks like there's little point. Defiling Touch and Dark Gifts both get great bonuses at 6 and weak bonuses at 7.

There's also the fact that you can't boost a category with a point more than once.

[HousePet]

Might be allowed in ID?

[stinkstink]

Nope!

[Izawwlgood]

What's the consensus on these - generally good, or not worth the point investment longterm?

Just starting a Doomed, and wondering if I should maybe not take this perk.

[cttw]

I always take it but Doomed has a lot of choices for generic points. I max the curses (5/4/0/0 I believe, but you only need 8 points as you get one for free) before anything else. Shrouds plus whatever really, you usually can get some good constitution and critical chance and some gimmicks. If you put a cat point to max it, you can have the lvl 4 bonuses of multiple curses and those are often good.

Also the curses dont really max... At least not as far as I've pushed them. Shrouds lvl 4 gives 15% resist all for each of the conditions, but lvl 5 gives 20%, lvl 6 gives 25, and so on. I've gotten it up to shrouds lvl 8, but then it becomes advantageous to push more offensive curses as you are often near the resist cap just by taking a step.

You can usually aford to wear a couple cursed items regardless of their curse, if they are critical. Also being able to put 2 points in a curse of your choice and also adding +1 to all curses means you can be much less picky.

[Isotope-X]

I think if you're going Antimagic (which is not the worst possible choice for Doomed) then Cursed Aura is an automatic no. You'll just be too stretched on points, and you'll be restricting your equipment twice.

[OrionJAnderson]

After the latest buffs, Cursed Aura is in an excellent place, and I would definitely recommend it for all Doomed and many Cursed.