Help with The Master & beyond

[Zaive]

The thing is, I manage to reach The Master by level 13 by abusing freeze and tidal wave (Tidal wave pretty much destroys any enemy that doesn't have a ranged attack). Most of my mages are pure water (Why I want cyromancer so much) and the only spell I can damage most enemies in Carn'Dum with is Corrosive vapor, though I suppose if I used my level 1 fire and lightning it would go better.

[edge2054]

I'm pretty sure the master has a bunch of cold resist too (80% IIRC).

I'm a big fan of the cold tree myself, making heavy use of Corrosive Vapor and Ice Storm.

I'm going to give the Master another go with a mage and try the Corrosive Vapor + Inferno, Time Prison idea DG mentioned now that self-targeting is working again (at least I hope it's working again). I haven't picked up Inferno on any character yet so it'll be something new to play with.

Tidal Wave really should do split damage 50% cold and 50% physical or straight Physical Damage. I'll make that suggestion under ideas.

[darkgod]

I'm glad you like water mages I feared we all played fire ones

I'm more of a fire/lightning (with some arcane) mage

[bigfoot]

Not at all, if I play mages, I go for lightning/arcane.

[Gwai]

Definitely arcane/fire here. I'd always regarded water as fun but slightly too weak to depend on, honestly.

[edge2054]

Corrosive Vapor is pure awesome once you put the points into it, note that both the duration and the damage per turn go up, meaning the damage per cast gets really high.

Ice Storm scales in a similar way.

I can't say I'm a fan of the rest of the tree though.

Freeze is alright as a stun but I never put more then one point into it. If the stun duration goes up the tooltip doesn't let you know so I assumed it doesn't.

Tidal Wave is a decent defensive spell but I'd only put points into it if the radius increased. Again I assumed it doesn't by the tooltip. Offensively it's kinda meh unless you can trap a mob against a wall.

[Gwai]

Tidal wave does get wider as far as I can tell from my brief experimentation. However, agreed about freeze. The stun time may increase, but not enough and I don't test it much because it's resisted pretty durn often as one fights stronger monsters. I just don't want to spend a turn on a spell that seems to fail more than not when in a really tight situation.

[mirrizin]

For me, water spells are more supplemental than primary (far as damage-dealing goes.) I've gotten a lot of mileage out of freeze as a way to keep particular larger monsters at bay. Corrosive Vapor is more a "tenderizer" for crowds of monsters while Tidal Wave is a last ditch "get these things away from me!"

For simple damage. I generally max out flame and manathrust and go back and forth, using lightning as a finisher or weenie killer. I used to use flameshock, but found it inefficient and awkward.

Time prison is occasionally useful.

That's most of my frequent spell-use.

[Shoob]

if/when I play mages I am more of an arcane mage

And yeah, I found flameshock pretty paltry in the late game as it does little or no damage to the monsters (since they will often resist the stun) and arcane can pretty much handle anything even large groups of monsters if done right.

[Zaive]

The thing about tidal wave is that melee enemies will repeatedly run into it, resulting in 80 damage a turn for 10 turns (note it has an 8 turn cooldown) at level 5 and with a decent spell power. It'll probably kill, and if it doesn't, you have several turns to run and blast them with more spells. It pretty much makes any enemy that relies on close combat trivial, and it's one of my favorite spells. If it got any wider it would be overpowered.

Corrosive vapor absolutely destroys enemy nests though - cast it and the occasional fire and lightning bolts and they're all dead. Carn'dum was a gold mine because of this spell - I'd cast it, run, and see a ton of numbers and "kill" fly about.

My strategy is usually to cast corrosive vapor, then tidal wave, then run away (or phase) and watch as they die.

Freeze I leave at level 1. I really only use Ice storm to stack on more damage after tidal and corrosive.

I think I'm gonna take a break from mages, if not the entire game - my last one was instant killed by the mummy boss (Got frozen, kinda ironic because he was again a water mage) Got to level 16 too... highest level character I ever had. I think I forgot the room I was in wasn't lit.
I'm pretty bad at this game, aren't I? xD

On a different note, are tidal wave and ice storm going to get their own graphics? They just make things blue right now.

[edge2054]

I'm having a lot of success with Ice Storm + Time Prison. Ice Storm is only level 1 right now and I'm hesitant to put more points into it since my main obstacle is still The Master.

Now if Tidal Wave goes Physical/Cold next beta I could see putting more points into it.

Anyone had much success with Illuminate? My last mage (died early) I dumped 3 points into it and found the blind really effective at low levels. The radius is really high too (was 10 at Talent level 3 with a 5th level character).

[Patryn]

The mage I'm playing right now is a wild mix of arcane, fire and ice. I intend to use massive Inferno+Vapor combined with flameshock+freeze as stuns and Manathrust as nuker. But If I think about it, 1 point in Tidal Wave might be worth it to keep the mobs inside the AoE-area if Flameshock doesn't work (fire immunes).

Actually I'm pretty stunned by the sheer dmg this guy already does with lvl22. The Moriaboss and his henchlings didn't even leave the central room, yet touch me - and inferno is still only rank1 and vapor rank 3... *hah*

[edge2054]

Whelp... here was my last attempt.

I managed to get him to 500 health using Inferno out of LOS. Phase Doored twice. After the second Phase Door I rested up and prepared to take him to zero. Was planning to Phase Door again to finish off the second phase of the fight.

Got Frozen, Rushed, stunned, and yeah... -300 hit points from full. Not really sure what I'm doing wrong. I guess I should have hid around a corner instead of trying to freeze him and let Inferno keep working at him.

And 3/5 Illuminate was pretty much useless in Tol Fallos for blinding (still was good for illumination since I was rolling around with a base lantern).

I did learn from this attempt though that the Master does not have 80% cold resist like other vampires. So Tidal Wave and Ice Storm shouldn't have issues damaging him like I originally thought.

Code: Select all

  [Tome 4.00 @ www.te4.org Character Dump]

Sex              : Male         STR:  15
Race             : D??nadan     DEX:  20
Class            : Archmage     MAG:  50
Level            : 19           WIL:  34
Exp              : 20%          CUN:  20
Gold             : 87.61        CON:  10

Attack(Main Hand):   7          Life             :     -320/335 Encumbrance      : 44.6/67
Damage(Main Hand):  36                                          Difficulty       : Normal
APR   (Main Hand):   0          Mana             :     201/328
Crit  (Main Hand):   4%         
Speed (Main Hand): 1.00         

Fatigue          : 14%          Spellpower       : 73
Armor            : 2            Spell Crit       : 12%
Defense          : 5.5          Spell Speed      : 1
Ranged Defense   : 5.5          

Fire damage      : 4%
Cold damage      : 9%
Blight damage    : 4%
Lightning damage : 4%
Acid damage      : 4%

Physical Save    : 6.25
Spell Save       : 21
Mental Save      : 13.5

Fire Resist:  12%
Cold Resist:  20%
Nature Resist:  10%

Number of NPC killed: 815
Most killed NPC: snow giant (43)

  [Talents Chart]

 - Technique / Combat training        (mastery 1.00)
    Heavy Armour Training (class)     0/5
    Massive Armour Training (class)   0/5
    Health (class)                    0/5
    Weapon Combat (class)             0/10
    Sword Mastery (class)             0/10
    Axe Mastery (class)               0/10
    Mace Mastery (class)              0/10
    Knife Mastery (class)             0/10
 - Spell / Arcane                     (mastery 1.30)
    Arcane Power (class)              4/5
    Manathrust (class)                0/5
    Manaflow (class)                  0/5
    Disruption Shield (class)         0/5
 - Spell / Fire                       (mastery 1.30)
    Flame (class)                     1/5
    Flameshock (class)                1/5
    Fireflash (class)                 1/5
    Inferno (class)                   4/5
 - Spell / Earth                      (mastery 1.30)
    Stone Skin (class)                0/5
    Dig (class)                       0/5
    Strike (class)                    0/5
    Stone Wall (class)                0/5
 - Spell / Water                      (mastery 1.30)
    Corrosive Vapour (class)          5/5
    Freeze (class)                    1/5
    Tidal Wave (class)                1/5
    Ice Storm (class)                 1/5
 - Spell / Air                        (mastery 1.30)
    Lightning (class)                 1/5
    Chain Lightning (class)           0/5
    Feather Wind (class)              0/5
    Thunderstorm (class)              0/5
 - Spell / Conveyance                 (mastery 1.30)
    Phase Door (class)                5/5
    Teleport (class)                  1/5
    Displacement Shield (class)       3/5
    Probability Travel (class)        1/5
 - Spell / Nature                     (mastery 1.30)
    Regeneration (class)              0/5
    Heal (class)                      0/5
    Restoration (class)               0/5
    Nature's Call (class)             0/5
 - Spell / Divination                 (mastery 1.30)
    Sense (class)                     5/5
    Identify (class)                  1/5
    Vision (class)                    1/5
    Telepathy (class)                 0/5
 - Spell / Temporal                   (mastery 1.30)
    Time Prison (class)               3/5
    Congeal Time (class)              0/5
    Essence of Speed (class)          0/5
    Time Shield (class)               0/5
 - Spell / Phantasm                   (mastery 1.30)
    Illuminate (class)                3/5
    Blur Sight (class)                0/5
    Phantasmal Shield (class)         0/5
    Invisibility (class)              0/5

  [Current Effects]

- Arcane Power
+ Poisoned
+ Frozen
+ Stunned

  [Completed Quests]

 -- Trapped!
You heard a plea for help and decided to investigate...
Only to find yourself trapped inside an unknown tunnel complex.

  [Active Quests]

 -- Of trolls and damp caves
Explore the caves below the tower of Amon S?»l and the trollshaws in search of treasure and glory!

   * You have explored Amon S?»l and vanquished the Shade of Angmar.   
   * You must explore the Trollshaws and find out what lurks there and what treasures are to be gained!   
 -- Into the darkness
It is time to explore some new places dark, forgotten and dangerous ones.
The Old Forest is just south-west of the town of Bree.
The Maze is west of Bree.
The Sandworm is to the far west of Bree, near the sea.
Carn D?»m is to the north of Amon S?»l.
   * You have explored the Old Forest and vanquished the Old Man Willow.   
   * You must explore the Maze and find out what lurks there and what treasures are to be gained!   
   * You must explore the Sandworm Lair and find out what lurks there and what treasures are to be gained!   
   * You have explored Carn D?»m and vanquished the Dragon.   

  [Character Equipment]

 In main hand
a) Angmar's Fall (10-12 power, 0 apr, fire damage)
   Type: weapon / staff
    10 Power [Range 1.20] (+110% Magic), 0 Attack, 0 Armor Penetration, Crit 1%
    Damage type: fire
    
    Increases damage type: 4% fire,4% cold,4% blight,4% lightning,4% acid.
    Spellpower 7, Spell Crit 8%
    See invisible: 2
   Dropped by The Shade of Angmar
 In off hand
 On fingers
b) steel ring of mana (+0.20/turn)
   Type: jewelry / ring
    Regenerates 0.20 mana each turn.
c) copper ring of magic (+3)
   Type: jewelry / ring
    Increases stats: 3 Magic.
 Around neck
d) steel amulet of cunning (+4)
   Type: jewelry / amulet
    Increases stats: 4 Cunning.
 Light source
e) brass lantern
   Type: lite / lite
    Light radius 2
 Main armor
f) shimmering woollen robe of fire resistance (0 def, 0 armor)
   Type: armor / cloth
    Increases resistances: 12% fire.
    Maximum mana 32
   Dropped by Old Man Willow
 On head
g) linen wizard hat (1 def, 0 armor)
   Type: armor / head
    Armor 0, Defense 1
 On hands
 On feet
h) Frost Treads (1 def, 2 armor)
   Type: armor / feet
    Armor 2, Defense 1
    Fatigue 14%
    Increases stats: 4 Strength,4 Dexterity,4 Cunning.
    Increases resistances: 20% cold,10% nature.
    Increases damage type: 5% cold.
    Light radius 1
   Dropped by Rantha the Worm
 Tool
 Quiver

  [Player Achievments]

Level 10 Was Achieved for Got a character to level 10. At 2010-08-17 01:10:14

  [Character Inventory]

a) 2 giant potion of healing
   Type: potion / potion
    It can be used to heal a good part of your life.
b) potion of cure disease
   Type: potion / potion
    It can be used to cure poison.
c) 3 potion of cure poison
   Type: potion / potion
    It can be used to cure poison.
d) potion of healing
   Type: potion / potion
    It can be used to heal a good part of your life.
e) 9 potion of lesser healing
   Type: potion / potion
    It can be used to heal some life.
f) potion of lesser mana
   Type: potion / potion
    It can be used to restore some mana.
g) 3 potion of mana
   Type: potion / potion
    It can be used to restore a good part of your mana.
h) 2 potion of see invisible
   Type: potion / potion
    It can be used to sense invisible for a while.
i) fire-proof scroll of identify
   Type: scroll / scroll
    It can be used to identify one object (or all with high magic stat).
j) scroll of light
   Type: scroll / scroll
    It can be used to light up the surrounding area.
k) scroll of magic mapping
   Type: scroll / scroll
    It can be used to map the area directly around you.
   Dropped by green ooze
l) 4 scroll of phase door
   Type: scroll / scroll
    It can be used to teleport you randomly over a short distance.
m) steel ring of corrosion (+10%)
   Type: jewelry / ring
    Increases damage type: 10% acid.
n) steel ring of massacre (+7%)
   Type: jewelry / ring
    Increases damage type: 7% physical.
o) dwarven-steel longsword (24-33.6 power, 4 apr)
   Type: weapon / longsword
    24 Power [Range 1.40] (+100% Strength), 0 Attack, 4 Armor Penetration, Crit 3%
    Damage type: physical
    
p) steel mace (17-23.8 power, 3 apr)
   Type: weapon / mace
    17 Power [Range 1.40] (+100% Strength), 0 Attack, 3 Armor Penetration, Crit 1%
    Damage type: physical
    
   Dropped by ghast
q) acidic yew staff of might (21.5-25.8 power, 4 apr, darkness damage)
   Type: weapon / staff
    21 Power [Range 1.20] (+100% Magic), 0 Attack, 4 Armor Penetration, Crit 3%
    Damage type: darkness
    
    Increases damage type: 12% acid.
    Spellpower 3, Spell Crit 8%
r) dragonbone staff (36-43.2 power, 6 apr, darkness damage)
   Type: weapon / staff
    36 Power [Range 1.20] (+100% Magic), 0 Attack, 6 Armor Penetration, Crit 5%
    Damage type: darkness
    
    Spellpower 7, Spell Crit 5%
   Dropped by ghoul
s) acidic galvorn waraxe of accuracy (29-40.6 power, 5 apr)
   Type: weapon / waraxe
    29 Power [Range 1.40] (+100% Strength), 11 Attack, 5 Armor Penetration, Crit 6%
    Damage type: physical
    
    Damage on hit(melee): 9 acid.
t) steel waraxe (11.5-16.1 power, 3 apr)
   Type: weapon / waraxe
    11 Power [Range 1.40] (+100% Strength), 0 Attack, 3 Armor Penetration, Crit 4%
    Damage type: physical
    
u) slimy cashmere robe of lightning resistance (0 def, 0 armor)
   Type: armor / cloth
    Damage when hit: 5 slime.
    Increases resistances: 18% lightning.
   Dropped by ghoul
v) cashmere wizard hat (2 def, 0 armor)
   Type: armor / head
    Armor 0, Defense 2
   Dropped by grave wight

  [Last Messages]

Radagast starts to regenerating heath quickly.
Radagast quaffs a potion of lesser mana!
You have    2 potion of lesser mana   .
   Talent Inferno is ready to use.
   Talent Phase Door is ready to use.
Radagast quaffs a potion of lesser mana!
You have    potion of lesser mana   .
Radagast quaffs a potion of lesser healing!
You have    9 potion of lesser healing   .
Radagast casts Inferno.
Radagast hits The Master for    55.97 fire damage   .
Radagast casts Freeze.
Radagast hits The Master for    63.93 cold damage   .
The Master resists!
Radagast hits The Master for    55.97 fire damage   .
The Master casts Freeze.
The Master hits Radagast for    82.75 cold damage   .
Radagast is frozen!
Radagast stops regenerating health quickly.
Radagast hits The Master for    55.97 fire damage   .
The Master rushes out!
The Master hits Radagast for    170.40 physical damage   .
The Master hits Radagast for    0.90 nature damage   .
Radagast is poisoned!
The Master hits Radagast for    0.90 nature damage   .
Radagast hits The Master for    55.97 fire damage   .
The Master uses Perfect Strike.
The Master aims carefully.
The Master hits Radagast for    0.90 nature damage   .
Radagast hits The Master for    55.97 fire damage   .
The Master casts Strike.
The Master hits Radagast for    95.38 physical damage   .
Radagast is knocked back!
The Master hits Radagast for    0.90 nature damage   .
Radagast hits The Master for    55.97 fire damage   .
The Master uses Stunning Blow.
The Master performs a critical stike!
The Master hits Radagast for    326.70 physical damage   .
The Master killed Radagast!
Radagast is stunned!

[darkgod]

Hum The Master does really feel like a mid game boss! Good

As for illuminate, most undeads are immune to blindness so not much useful in tol falas but it's GREAT in other places (maybe even bordering overpowered)

[Gwai]

I tried Illuminate at 4 in one of the earlier betas and had very little luck with the blinding. I may try again, but one hates to spend so many points without good reason...