http://te4.org/characters/46392/tome/34 ... d1948cdfc2
This is the first real character I made and got somewhere with. In another question I asked about vaults, "Effigy" said "(opening a vault) requires a judgment call regarding your character's relative strength for level, gear quality, and essential survival tools"
I realized I had little idea on all 3 of those points. Could you take a look at that character sheet and tell me if anything sticks out as DOING IT WRONG or WAY TO GO CHAMP?
I am more interested in generic tips, such as weapon, armor, infusions equipped etc., not necessarily Alchemist Class Talent point dispersal. Any thoughts on how I could have been a better alchemist would be real cool though.
What can you tell me about this character?
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Re: What can you tell me about this character?
Seems to me that the reason you died was because of lack of status cleanse. No physical wild, no mental wild. Just my two cents there.
A little bit of a starters guide written by yours truly here.
Re: What can you tell me about this character?
I agree, effect removal is critical in this game. At the very least you want a Wild(physical) infusion. A Wild(physical, mental) infusion is the gold standard, although you can one of each type if you can afford 2 inscription slots for that purpose.
Another good option is getting the Celestial/Light category from an Anorithil escort so you can get the Providence talent. It's very strong effect removal, plus the other talents in the category are great as well.
Another good option is getting the Celestial/Light category from an Anorithil escort so you can get the Providence talent. It's very strong effect removal, plus the other talents in the category are great as well.
Re: What can you tell me about this character?
Why are you not using Neira's Memory?????!?!??!?!?!!!!!?!!?!!!!!?!?!?!?!!!
But yeah, too many sources of healing. No effect curing.
But yeah, too many sources of healing. No effect curing.
My feedback meter decays into coding. Give me feedback and I make mods.
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Strongpoint
- Wyrmic
- Posts: 212
- Joined: Tue Apr 10, 2012 5:33 pm
Re: What can you tell me about this character?
Can't say that I am that good player with 5 wins on normal, but I will still give advices 
...
No status effect removal is a #1 problem.
Lack of manasurge is a #2 problem While alchemists are not mana-intensive class, you need that manasurge rune for emergency use of gem portal or lifetap
Another thing that I believe is a mistake is that constitution. I know that constitution offers earlier access to 5/5 thick skin and more hit points let you survive for longer but it is usually suboptimal to make it number 2 attribute. If you really want 5/5 thick skin as soon as possible, stop investing in con as soon as you got it and invest in something else.
Instead of carrying that conjuration wand you should have purchased a teleporting toeque(or is it totem?). Those are not always present, but it is one of the things you should check for in Thaloren city and Zigur
Neira's memory is one of the best belts that a high magic character can find. Use it. You replaced it with a very meh belt for a modest spellpower boost. BTW, don't be obsessed with core attribute boosting items. Another example is that pixie's ring look cool with its mag and spellpower bonus but bloodcaller could give you healed HP that could save you some lives.
...No status effect removal is a #1 problem.
Lack of manasurge is a #2 problem While alchemists are not mana-intensive class, you need that manasurge rune for emergency use of gem portal or lifetap
Another thing that I believe is a mistake is that constitution. I know that constitution offers earlier access to 5/5 thick skin and more hit points let you survive for longer but it is usually suboptimal to make it number 2 attribute. If you really want 5/5 thick skin as soon as possible, stop investing in con as soon as you got it and invest in something else.
Instead of carrying that conjuration wand you should have purchased a teleporting toeque(or is it totem?). Those are not always present, but it is one of the things you should check for in Thaloren city and Zigur
Neira's memory is one of the best belts that a high magic character can find. Use it. You replaced it with a very meh belt for a modest spellpower boost. BTW, don't be obsessed with core attribute boosting items. Another example is that pixie's ring look cool with its mag and spellpower bonus but bloodcaller could give you healed HP that could save you some lives.
Re: What can you tell me about this character?
... well, I don't feel like commenting much* on the infusions, other than saying the others have nailed it and that you probably want to be more proactive about teleporting, or equipment (other than echoing what's been said above, heh, and that you seriously should have been using the tier 4 alchemist bombs you had access to), but as talent investment goes...
... class points wise, you have points in shockwave bomb. More than one. D... don't have more than one. Probably don't have any. Shockwave bomb is honestly kinda' garbage -- low-ish damage, low-ish utility, not worth the mana or the talent points. There were several things you could have spent those points on to manage better survival -- smoke bomb, more talents that bumped your golem (note: Golem power is actually fairly useful, and it doesn't hurt to have 2-3 points in it just so the golem can hit things, preferably with a debuffing weapon of some sort), more points in something that bumped your damage so things died before they killed you. You maxed supercharge golem. Probably don't want to do that, either -- that talent's major feature is the relatively free golem resurrection, not the secondary effects, so one point is enough for a very, very long time. Runic golem is massively better than either of those talents, strictly because it lets you stick more runes on the golem (Do that, by the way, if you hadn't -- double shield, reflection shield if you can find it, probably offensive ones as well). Could also skimp on that and just get stuff from the specialist trees (the frost/fire/etc. alchemy trees) to net you better damage/utility/etc.
Generic wise, what the others said about Light was very applicable. If you had that, you could have easily put points in that instead of stone touch (honestly mostly useless, in my experience -- it doesn't seem to stick to anything you actually want to use it on. Others have had better luck with it, I think, but I don't bother) or defensive posture (the bonus amounts are junk, you don't have the defense from other sources to get much help out of that part, you don't have the hardiness to get much out of the armor... defensive posture is for staff using warriors running around in plate armor, and is usually a waste of mana even for them, even with the pittance it costs. It's a terrible, terrible talent.), and got a lot more utility out of it than another inscription slot. Channel staff and staff mastery also don't really need to be maxed out terribly soon, especially channel staff -- 2-3/5 in that will tide you over for a very long time. Between those you could free up 8-10 generics that could net you a lot of much nicer stuff.
Also yeah, echoing the sentiment about con -- cunning would probably have helped you considerably more, and maybe a bit of willpower if you were actually having mana problems. Alchemist, I tend to max magic, get ~base 30 will, then max cunning (sometimes less, depending on if I end up with a lot of +spellcrit items) and dump whatever's left into con, in that order. The golem should tank hard enough you don't terribly need the extra HP or thick skin until far into the game.
*I will note, however, that when I run alchies I often clear out the entirety of the west without actually using a wild infusion, or status cleaning in general (though I do usually have one, or the means for it). Golem soaks aggro and status effects, bombs blow everything up -- it's incredibly rare something actually targets an alchie if you're playing with a modicum of care (send in the golem first!), much less lives to do anything about it. You can probably get by with careful play instead of a means of status cleanse, for the first half or so of the game.
Also yeah, you can ignore manasurge, more likely than not. As noted above, if you have mana problems, get more willpower, maybe keep an item that restores mana on hand instead of using an inscription slot for it, or have a stock of the mana regen bombs to swap in. Most of the time an alchemist has absolutely zero resource management problems, even in emergency situations.
... class points wise, you have points in shockwave bomb. More than one. D... don't have more than one. Probably don't have any. Shockwave bomb is honestly kinda' garbage -- low-ish damage, low-ish utility, not worth the mana or the talent points. There were several things you could have spent those points on to manage better survival -- smoke bomb, more talents that bumped your golem (note: Golem power is actually fairly useful, and it doesn't hurt to have 2-3 points in it just so the golem can hit things, preferably with a debuffing weapon of some sort), more points in something that bumped your damage so things died before they killed you. You maxed supercharge golem. Probably don't want to do that, either -- that talent's major feature is the relatively free golem resurrection, not the secondary effects, so one point is enough for a very, very long time. Runic golem is massively better than either of those talents, strictly because it lets you stick more runes on the golem (Do that, by the way, if you hadn't -- double shield, reflection shield if you can find it, probably offensive ones as well). Could also skimp on that and just get stuff from the specialist trees (the frost/fire/etc. alchemy trees) to net you better damage/utility/etc.
Generic wise, what the others said about Light was very applicable. If you had that, you could have easily put points in that instead of stone touch (honestly mostly useless, in my experience -- it doesn't seem to stick to anything you actually want to use it on. Others have had better luck with it, I think, but I don't bother) or defensive posture (the bonus amounts are junk, you don't have the defense from other sources to get much help out of that part, you don't have the hardiness to get much out of the armor... defensive posture is for staff using warriors running around in plate armor, and is usually a waste of mana even for them, even with the pittance it costs. It's a terrible, terrible talent.), and got a lot more utility out of it than another inscription slot. Channel staff and staff mastery also don't really need to be maxed out terribly soon, especially channel staff -- 2-3/5 in that will tide you over for a very long time. Between those you could free up 8-10 generics that could net you a lot of much nicer stuff.
Also yeah, echoing the sentiment about con -- cunning would probably have helped you considerably more, and maybe a bit of willpower if you were actually having mana problems. Alchemist, I tend to max magic, get ~base 30 will, then max cunning (sometimes less, depending on if I end up with a lot of +spellcrit items) and dump whatever's left into con, in that order. The golem should tank hard enough you don't terribly need the extra HP or thick skin until far into the game.
*I will note, however, that when I run alchies I often clear out the entirety of the west without actually using a wild infusion, or status cleaning in general (though I do usually have one, or the means for it). Golem soaks aggro and status effects, bombs blow everything up -- it's incredibly rare something actually targets an alchie if you're playing with a modicum of care (send in the golem first!), much less lives to do anything about it. You can probably get by with careful play instead of a means of status cleanse, for the first half or so of the game.
Also yeah, you can ignore manasurge, more likely than not. As noted above, if you have mana problems, get more willpower, maybe keep an item that restores mana on hand instead of using an inscription slot for it, or have a stock of the mana regen bombs to swap in. Most of the time an alchemist has absolutely zero resource management problems, even in emergency situations.
Re: What can you tell me about this character?
Lots of sound advice already written there but would like to mention your other Totem that dispels darkness and detects creatures.
Whenever going to New areas and around corners you should activate it first. You can then switch to Ward Totem for protection.
As for the Runes and Infusions I'm not repeating the obvious but IF you can squeeze it in the Rune of The Rift is awesome boss/Elite tool. When the going gets tough just fire it at enemy and gain few turns to prepare. For Alchemist it works really well.
Whenever going to New areas and around corners you should activate it first. You can then switch to Ward Totem for protection.
As for the Runes and Infusions I'm not repeating the obvious but IF you can squeeze it in the Rune of The Rift is awesome boss/Elite tool. When the going gets tough just fire it at enemy and gain few turns to prepare. For Alchemist it works really well.
Stronk is a potent combatant with a terrifying appearance.
Re: What can you tell me about this character?
As general catchall if I can get one movement infusion and one wild(mental,physical) or wild(mental, magical) by say level 10 then I feel very good about a character. This is true for all difficulties up to Madness. For Insane+ I would say its essentially required for melee to have at least one movement in the early game.
Movements are great early on to prep most any fight (and for melee double as distance closer since they are instant) since so many things stun and daze and the immunity helps. I prefer them to the cleanse especially on Insane+. As for the cleanse you definitely want a mental. If you have a movement you can get by without the physical part (true on all difficulties including madness with support from build). How the physical cleanse is still always useful and magical cleanse is actually fairly rare especially early in the game. Eventually you need magical cleanse and most certainly against something like the Master, but I do not feel the need to have magical cleanse until level 20+ or more. As long as I have a movement infusion I feel fine either way with (mental,phys) or (mental,magic) however on the lower difficulties I would gravitate towards phys simply because without increased rare+ spawns the number of magic ailments is going to be very low.
As for getting a movement check Zigur and Lost Hope stores they often have one that is buyable (expesnsive but worth it.)
Secondarily you can use movements to run away, but using them preventitively is actually usually better for "normal" fighting. Getting two movements is even better because you can get longer immunity OR have shorter + plus movement. Movement is one of the top three most important aspects of the game never underestimate it.
Of a second movement is often problematic to get because you either want other things (heal/shield, heroism etc) or need more slots. I do not always get a second.
Movements are great early on to prep most any fight (and for melee double as distance closer since they are instant) since so many things stun and daze and the immunity helps. I prefer them to the cleanse especially on Insane+. As for the cleanse you definitely want a mental. If you have a movement you can get by without the physical part (true on all difficulties including madness with support from build). How the physical cleanse is still always useful and magical cleanse is actually fairly rare especially early in the game. Eventually you need magical cleanse and most certainly against something like the Master, but I do not feel the need to have magical cleanse until level 20+ or more. As long as I have a movement infusion I feel fine either way with (mental,phys) or (mental,magic) however on the lower difficulties I would gravitate towards phys simply because without increased rare+ spawns the number of magic ailments is going to be very low.
As for getting a movement check Zigur and Lost Hope stores they often have one that is buyable (expesnsive but worth it.)
Secondarily you can use movements to run away, but using them preventitively is actually usually better for "normal" fighting. Getting two movements is even better because you can get longer immunity OR have shorter + plus movement. Movement is one of the top three most important aspects of the game never underestimate it.
Of a second movement is often problematic to get because you either want other things (heal/shield, heroism etc) or need more slots. I do not always get a second.
Re: What can you tell me about this character?
This is correct but I wanted to actually go farther. Constitution is a bad stat to put points in on a large majority of builds and honestly the last two points in Thick Skin are rarely a big deal. You do not need to ever put points in constitution, you can do it, but its rarely a good idea. You can use equipment to boost it for any skills investment. Its HP contribution is very poor. Dex can be a better defensive stat due to crit reductions. The last 2 points in thick skin will give about 4% to res all which is very very very poor unless you are already close to the res cap. Compound that with the fact the res all is actually MULTIPLICATIVE with your actual specific resistance and its even worse. Increasing you res all by 4% may only increase, for example, your lightning resistance by adding 2-3% (as an absolute number). Unless you are overflowing with generics or a highly highly resistance specialize its a waste.Strongpoint wrote:Can't say that I am that good player with 5 wins on normal, but I will still give advices
No status effect removal is a #1 problem.
Lack of manasurge is a #2 problem While alchemists are not mana-intensive class, you need that manasurge rune for emergency use of gem portal or lifetap
Another thing that I believe is a mistake is that constitution. I know that constitution offers earlier access to 5/5 thick skin and more hit points let you survive for longer but it is usually suboptimal to make it number 2 attribute. If you really want 5/5 thick skin as soon as possible, stop investing in con as soon as you got it and invest in something else.
Instead of carrying that conjuration wand you should have purchased a teleporting toeque(or is it totem?). Those are not always present, but it is one of the things you should check for in Thaloren city and Zigur
Neira's memory is one of the best belts that a high magic character can find. Use it. You replaced it with a very meh belt for a modest spellpower boost. BTW, don't be obsessed with core attribute boosting items. Another example is that pixie's ring look cool with its mag and spellpower bonus but bloodcaller could give you healed HP that could save you some lives.
Compared to putting 2 generic points into basically any power in the Light tree Thick Skin's last 2 points 10 times worse bang for the buck if your resistances are lowish (say 30% or lower). And even good resistances (like 55%+) its not that much of a help. If you had all your resistances at like 5% away from your cap then it might be worth especially if you have raised the cap to something like 85% somehow (equipment or certain skills). Going from 80% to even 83% is a fairly large amount of defense, going from 30% to 33% is not. Still resistance can be reduced significantly by certain things, so even with very high res you need to be careful.
For something like an alchemist you might as well do Magic and Cunning and then something else as your main stat depending on what you are doing, or even split two others like will/dex as your third. Con is not actually a deal breaker build ruining third stat for alchemist, its just not that much help. But in the end your third stat is not a huge choice really as far as points. You get a lot of the your actual stats from equipment and those will probably line up more with your first two stat priorities anyway. When it comes to equipment you should almost always prefer straight HP boost items to Con stat. Going for HP boost items is not a bad thing and in fact in the early game its very strong. But i don't normally build people that way outside of the early game on Insane+.