[1.0.4] First winner - Halfling archmage

[mnkkill]

hello everybody

after one year I finally reached the end of this game, it was unexpected with an halfling archmage combination (first try) and wanted to share with you for any comment!!!! here the guy...
http://te4.org/characters/23130/tome/19 ... 9e6d3aedb7

I tried many times in the past with the (more common) Skeleton race, but I always had problems... especially with detrimental efects, I suffered the need of infusions

This playthrough was quite regular, with deaths mainly scattered around the mid-game (e.g., the grand corruptor)

The build was heaviliy focused on fire, with time mastery to support (mainly for gaining speed and having the excellent time shield) and manathrust as secondary beam (I thought mainly for early-mid game, but also in the late game I used it thanks to the fast cooldown)
The prodigies choosen where cuterize (AMAZING for a hp weak archmage) and meteor crash (good offense boost, but maybe not the best choice)
I got also the light heal and shield from the Anorithil Escort

The equipment was all focused on fire, and at the end I ended up with 110% resistance penetration

The very endgame was straightforward, with easy run on slime tunnels and high peak, and just one (avoidable) death in the final battle... and by the way, Atamathon was easly crushed afterward

[adamn]

Congrats! I'm surprised you didn't pick Lucky Day as a prodigy. That's the very reason I'd pick a halfling for an archmage. Why did you choose halfling, if you don't mind my asking?
Just so you know, the way people get away with a skeleton archmage is usually a Heat Beam rune. It gets rid of nasty physical effects just as well as a Wild infusion. I make an effort ASAP to get Heat Beam and replace Phase Door with it.
Oh, another question: How happy were you with Inferno? I haven't used it yet, but it seems to benifit less from the Wildfire tree and is pretty costly.

[Doctornull]

You did the Brotherhood of the Alchemists and helped the elf, it looks like? Did you get the Elixer of Invulnerability, and did you use it for anything in particular?

[mnkkill]

Congrats! I'm surprised you didn't pick Lucky Day as a prodigy. That's the very reason I'd pick a halfling for an archmage. Why did you choose halfling, if you don't mind my asking?
Just so you know, the way people get away with a skeleton archmage is usually a Heat Beam rune. It gets rid of nasty physical effects just as well as a Wild infusion. I make an effort ASAP to get Heat Beam and replace Phase Door with it.
Oh, another question: How happy were you with Inferno? I haven't used it yet, but it seems to benifit less from the Wildfire tree and is pretty costly.

Hi, regarding your questions

1. On the Halfling race - as said in the post the halfling choice was quite an 'experiment' (first try), I liked the high HP and the resistance to some detrimental effects... but not much more than that! Tried the Thalore few times before, but was quite unlucky...
2. On Inferno, not extremely happy, I dumped points there only at the very end when I had not many other choices. It was useful only on long and crowded fights (e.g., the final one), overall I did not used much, but still wanted to have one more fire options with more than 100% fire resistance penetration...

Thanks for the tip on the Skeleton race!

[mnkkill]

You did the Brotherhood of the Alchemists and helped the elf, it looks like? Did you get the Elixer of Invulnerability, and did you use it for anything in particular?

Yes, I used it on the final battle, when all the heals (and recovery spells/infusions) were on cooldown to keep on 'bombarding' the mages. It was ok because the Archmage can deal lot of damage in short time and few rounds can strongly change the outcome of the battle. After previous experiences with a summoner I was quite afraid of those 2 mages!!!!