FM's Thoughts & Ramblings

[yufra]

I agree with FM that if the archmage is assumed to be a base class then it should have lower masteries than the specialist mages. I don't think they should be dropped to 1.0 and put them even with Arcane Blade, but I wouldn't be opposed to it either. My assumption has always been that they are ARCHmages, and therefore assumed to be more powerful than any other class in the game. I believe it has been pointed out elsewhere that inter-class balance is not really a goal in ToME4, and that people can select their desired difficulty through both difficulty level and class selection.

I do understand the desire for inter-class balance, though, and wouldn't mind it in the game. Maybe people could test their own version of the mastery distribution and report back to how it actually plays? As a module developer and occasional T-Engine contributor I find that designing new code and content is much more exciting than balancing, and since this is a hobby I would prefer to do what I enjoy. It may be the same for DG, and I think he has stated that if you write and test something he is much more likely to include the changes than if he has to write it himself.

[Kemsha]

I agree, this is not a moorpg where class balance is an issue because of PvP (and because people pay for it)
We can discuss some classes if they feel too weak or strong but we probably should compare them to the different challenges of the game itself

I as player really prefer that DG spends his time creating new dungeons, classes and quests rather than wondering if this class should have 1.1 or 1.2 on a tree

I do understand the desire for inter-class balance, though, and wouldn't mind it in the game. Maybe people could test their own version of the mastery distribution and report back to how it actually plays? As a module developer and occasional T-Engine contributor I find that designing new code and content is much more exciting than balancing, and since this is a hobby I would prefer to do what I enjoy. It may be the same for DG, and I think he has stated that if you write and test something he is much more likely to include the changes than if he has to write it himself.

[Grey]

Again, let me point out that I understand that all player submitted ideas, such as artifacts, egos, talents, classes, npcs, and graphics are being proposed and submitted between beta development; and that they are not planned for, balanced, coded, or tested in most every case. I know that it takes a lot of time to introduce them to the game, and I know that the people developing tome have busy lives that are much more important than a video game. I simply believe that there is a bit of a lack of artifacts in each release in comparison to other things in the game. The same applies to egos, classes, races, ect.

I think there are too many ego items in the game now. Regular items feel worthless, and seem to be rarer than ones with egos. Whatever happened to being happy you found a higher damage sword? Now it's worthless without an ego.

As for artifacts, it's good that they still have a special quality to them. If they're as common as muck they won't be appreciated. Still, the only way to get more artifacts is to suggest them in the appropriate thread.

More classes could be nice, but there's obviously a fair amount of preparation going into making some. There's already quite a big variety, and we've had a few new ones recently. Races... well, they're all about the same to be honest. The difference between races feels very trivial. I'd rather see more differences made between the current races before new ones are added.

[madmonk]

I think there are too many ego items in the game now. Regular items feel worthless, and seem to be rarer than ones with egos. Whatever happened to being happy you found a higher damage sword? Now it's worthless without an ego.

I agree, this is a real problem, currently if I am after money then I routinely scum for ego stuff (more money) on the way through this means I usually end up with 'good' equipment as a bonus...

So I will be bold... For every 10,000 standard items, you should find an Ego item... for every 500 Ego items you should find an Artifact.

Maybe this does not go far enough?

[Final Master]

Some coded ideas by me.
Artifacts:

A Massive Plate Armor

Code: Select all

newEntity{ base = "BASE_MASSIVE_ARMOR",
	unique = true,
	name = "Adamantine Plate",
	unided_name = "Green glinted armor",
	desc = [[Strapping this massively heavy armor to your body makes you feel more impenetrable than any fortress ever made, even Angband itself!]],
	level_range = {40, 50},
	rarity = 300,
	cost = 450,
	require = { stat = { str=60 con=30 }, },
	material_level = 5,
	wielder = {
		combat_def = 12,
		combat_armor = 20,
		fatigue = 35,
		stun_immune = 0.5,
		knockback_immune = 0.5,
		max_life=resolvers.mbonus_material(100, 10, function(e, v) return v * 0.1 end),
		resists={[DamageType.PHYSICAL] = 10},
	},
}

I would want it to have sunder armor resistance instead of stun resistance but I can't seem to find anything flagged like that so I don't know how I should code that out.

A Knife of Darkness

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newEntity{ base = "BASE_KNIFE",
	unique = true,
	name = "Moon",
	unided_name = "Crescent Blade",
	desc = [[A viciously curved blade that devours the light around it.]],
	level_range = {20, 30},
	rarity = 200,
	require = { stat = { dex=28 cun=20 }, },
	cost = 300,
	material_level = 3,
	combat = {
		dam = 24,
		apr = 15,
		physcrit = 5,
		dammod = {dex=0.45,str=0.45},
	},
	wielder = {
		lite = -1,
		inc_damage={
			[DamageType.DARKNESS] = 5,
		},
		melee_project={[DamageType.DARKNESS] = 20},
	},
}

A Knife of Light

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newEntity{ base = "BASE_KNIFE",
	unique = true,
	name = "Star",
	unided_name = "Jagged Blade",
	desc = [[A bright blade with more teeth than the most savage troll.]],
	level_range = {20, 30},
	rarity = 200,
	require = { stat = { dex=20 cun=28 }, },
	cost = 300,
	material_level = 3,
	combat = {
		dam = 22,
		apr = 7,
		physcrit = 13,
		dammod = {dex=0.45,str=0.45},
	},
	wielder = {
		lite = 1,
		inc_damage={
			[DamageType.LIGHT] = 5,
		},
		melee_project={[DamageType.LIGHT] = 20},
	},
}

A War Axe of Ice

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newEntity{ base = "BASE_WARAXE",
	unique = true,
	name = "Blood-Letter",
	unided_name = "Glacial Hatchet",
	desc = [[A hand axe carved out of the most frozen parts of the helcaraxe.]],
	level_range = {25, 35},
	rarity = 235,
	require = { stat = { str=40 dex=24 }, },
	cost = 330,
	material_level = 4,
	combat = {
		dam = 33,
		apr = 4.5,
		physcrit = 7,
		dammod = {str=1},
	},
	wielder = {
		inc_damage={
		combat={atk = resolvers.mbonus_material(20, 2, function(e, v) return v * 0.3 end)},
		},
		melee_project={[DamageType.COLD] = 25},
	},
}

Body prefix "Sturdy"

Code: Select all

newEntity{
	name = "Sturdy ", prefix=true, instant_resolve=true,
	level_range = {10, 50},
	rarity = 4,
	cost = 6,
	wielder = {
		resists={[DamageType.PHYSICAL] = resolvers.mbonus_material(20, 10, function(e, v) return v * 0.15 end)},
	},
}

Footwear suffix "of Stability"

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newEntity{
	name = " of stability", suffix=true, instant_resolve=true,
	level_range = {10, 50},
	rarity = 7,
	cost = 6,
	wielder = {
		stun_immune = 0.2,
		knockback_immune = 0.2,
	},
}

I HAVE NOT tested these out, and I am not finished with these. I don't know how to code durations of talents as I think I have a flag would be appropriate for such a feat. I also don't know the code flag for disarm resistance as this is what I would want another ego to do. I'm wanting to make one for increased duration of your summons, but I don't know how to code that up either.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Egos:

I too, would agree that the egos are too frequent and should be rarer. With the stuff that I have above me I just plugged in rarity values of other artifacts that I think are of similar power/usability, because I'm not sure how the rarity field is checked when it comes to item generation.

I believe though that there are not enough egos yet. There are many game mechanics that are either not supported at all or are very marginally supported by egos. I feel that there should be many more egos, but that all egos should be much much rarer than they are now.

The issue that I have though, is that currently I feel that the egos are really needed in about this capacity currently because there is one major aspect of T4 that doesn't exist that is in most other rogue-likes. In most other rogue-likes such as T2, Angband, ect. items can be 'enchanted' and not egoed to have higher defensive values, to-hit increases and bonuses to damage. T4 does not have this currently, and with the way that the items are designed now I don't think we will (which is perfectly fine, I actually kind of like it more so this way). If the egos did become much more rare, then we really would end up with a pile of almost identical equipment, also making it just as worthless as if everything had an ego flag. IF non ego bonuses to armor/def, attack and damage were created to give more variety amongst vanilla items then I would completely agree with madmonk's item distribution rate; however, there isn't. So I don't. The only thing that is really effected currently is the amount of money you pull out (because you hold egos instead of vanillas).

An aside ~ How do I highlight on the forum? I've seen some posts where words are highlighted but the text is still black. It would perhaps prove useful to me, so anyone that knows, help please?

I have more I want to talk about obviously, and again I still have some things to address here as per your responses and discussions but that will be for a later time. Again, I have held off the moldy cheese, which will come soon.

Thank you for your time, and if anyone would care to share their opinion on the items I have posted above, or are able to help me code the proper flag (or point out errors in the coding), please do so.

FM

[yufra]

I would want it to have sunder armor resistance instead of stun resistance but I can't seem to find anything flagged like that so I don't know how I should code that out.

Sunder armour checks your physical resistance (look at tome/data/talents/techniques/2hweapon.lua, lines 242-245 in my code but pasted below for clarity) as well as your stun resistance, so you could raise both if you wanted.

Code: Select all

			if target:checkHit(self:combatAttackStr(weapon.combat), target:combatPhysicalResist(), 0, 95, 10 - self:getTalentLevel(t) / 2) and target:canBe("stun") then
				target:setEffect(target.EFF_SUNDER_ARMOUR, 4 + self:getTalentLevel(t), {power=5*self:getTalentLevel(t)})
			else
				game.logSeen(target, "%s resists the sundering!", target.name:capitalize())
			end

[edge2054]

Final Master....

Dude there's a whole thread for new artifacts. There's a whole subforum for bugs. There's another one for ideas.

Do you really think DG wants to comb through every thread posted on these boards just to find artifact ideas when it comes time to add them to the game?!?

Can you please use the appropriate threads and subthreads for this stuff?!?

It's great that you're trying to help out and actually doing it in a way that'll be easy to add to the game but come on...

[teachu2die]

I think there are too many ego items in the game now. Regular items feel worthless, and seem to be rarer than ones with egos. Whatever happened to being happy you found a higher damage sword? Now it's worthless without an ego.

As for artifacts, it's good that they still have a special quality to them. If they're as common as muck they won't be appreciated. Still, the only way to get more artifacts is to suggest them in the appropriate thread.

More classes could be nice, but there's obviously a fair amount of preparation going into making some. There's already quite a big variety, and we've had a few new ones recently. Races... well, they're all about the same to be honest. The difference between races feels very trivial. I'd rather see more differences made between the current races before new ones are added.

basic egos are fairly common, could be a little rarer, i suppose. the more desirable egos are rare enough (i've never found an elemental weapon, only saw 1-2 in shops). and i will still almost invariably wield a plain non-ego galvorn longsword over an ego dwarven steel sword. i dont' think there's any need to make egos as anywhere nearly so rare as 1 in 10,000 items - that means you would find about 2 egos per game, and never ever find an artifact.

regarding races, i would like to see more differences, too, but because the game mechanics are so heavily stat based, its difficult. the best solutions i could come up with were
A)to have different races have stats that the received extra bonus points for investing in - ie: hobbits got an extra point of dex or cunnign for every 5 points they invested in the respective stat, dwarves and extra point of str/con, etc. probably not an ideal solution for a variety of reasons, but perhaps a good starting point for further brainstorming...
B) to have new races that have appealing bonuses to certain skills and skill modifiers, inherent resists, and adjusted regeneration rates (i thought it would be cool for instance, if druedain could regenerate equilibrium naturally, if dark elves had a .1 mana regen rate inherently, etc)...certainly the existing races could be modified to have some of these kinds of features...

[darkgod]

Egos seems coomon because usualy the game will refuse to drop non ego stuff at all when a monster dies, to prevent useless clutter.

FM: your code was quite good, only one error in the requirements:

Code: Select all

str=40 dex=24

, you need a comma between the fields.

I have added most of those! Thanks, getting the code along the idea does indeed increases the odds of addition

[Final Master]

Alright, back again to share some more. I think today I'll talk about my new favorite class, the Reaver. I recently unlocked them, and they are exactly what I was hoping the Cursed class was going to be, and then some. Currently there are a couple of good discussions on them; in particular in this thread: http://forums.te4.org/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=22442 and this thread: http://forums.te4.org/viewtopic.php?f=4 ... it=Reavers

This will all be colored out as to avoid spoilerage to those that haven't seen anything about them yet.

In the first thread there I've already went in depth on all the new talent trees that the Reaver class brings so I won't do that again. If you want to see what I had to say then go there. Now, however, after playing about 10 or so of them and getting 'em off the ground a bit I do have some ideas on how to tweak and change them a bit.

First is definitely Drain from the Sanguisuge tree. It's got a range of 2 actually and is listed in the description as a bolt. This is odd and really kind of makes it rather useless outside of straight damage; which it is good at. I've got a few ideas on how to make it actually useful. 1) Make it's range extend by 1 more for each talent point put in to make it useful as a ranged assault spell as well (which is what I think it was originally planned as). 2) Give it a flat range of about 5 and nerf the damage it deals a bit, but let it regen 25/30% Vim to make up for the loss of damage vs regen ratio. 3) Make it a melee talent (kind of like Rend/Dark Surprise) so that you can get all your extra little damage tacked on and lower the actual damage that Drain does by maybe 25%. 4) Make it a sustain that is similar to Absorb Life, draining Vim as you go, but upping Blight damage and regain Vim as you kill/disease/do Blight damage. I feel any one of those are inherently better and would make dropping more than a single point into Drain worthwhile.

Next is Corrupted Strength from Reaving Combat. It's basically Dual Weapon Training but it (I didn't think that this part was required) lets you dual wield axes, swords and maces. If Corrupted Strength is the only way to dual wield things other than knives, that's fine. You start out with a point in it, and the initial point is all that you really want right now, because only ups the damage the second handed weapon deals. I don't really know how to fix it and make it worth dumping points into other than maybe increase crit/apr chance as well? Right now it's only worth is that it's free and opens up Bloodlust and Acid Blood later.

Cyst Burst: Make the radius go up with points invested. At 1 it's just not useful when trying to combo it with Catalepsy and Virulent Disease which I assume it is meant to do. The damage it deals and the way it deals that damage is fine, but the real meat & potatoes of it is the spread. Increase the radius spread by 1 every raw talent level and we'll really have a true cloud of disease.

Epidemic: Now that I've invested points into it and tried it out in various ways I still can't figure it out really. It's not classified as a disease as far as Cyst Burst and Catalepsy is concerned, I haven't seen it spread as much as I thought it would (you know, medium/large radius, maybe 3+?).

Curse of Defenselessness: It's fine as it is actually, my comments on it in the thread were stupid because I didn't see that it lowered defense as well. It's a 4/5 now.

All the hexes seriously need some retooling though. I tried them out instead of diseases and curses and they didn't seem like an effective strategy at any point.

The bones tree I still see no point in investing any points into except for bone shield (thanks for the heads up edge!). And it really shouldn't be that way.

Now that that's out of the way, why I love em. First, they are completely unique amongst the classes in rogue-likes that I've come across. They are a PURE DOT class. You can cause damage/effects now, and they persist. I love love love that it's disease and not poison too, more flavor, better damage type, less resistance to the damage type and status effect. The Plauge tree IS the Reaver class, unpure and all. I've been waiting for a debuffer in games for ages. In fact, my favorite class in most P&P's is a Hexblade (D&D 3.5) style class that has unique talents that only lower the abilities of the enemy. They (talking about all classes like this) are weak themselves, but with the power to weaken their enemy to new born sheep level, do it well, and laugh while in the act is cool. Sure, buffing yourself (especially in games like TOME) is way way more efficient, but it's just now nearly as fun as watching a Boulder Thrower Giant drop 20 points in str/dex/con, be poisoned/blinded/slowed/bleeding/diseasedx3 and still try and check a boulder. I LOVE the fact that outside of possibly archmages they have access to the most damage types, as it really helps them get around the resistance problems you may run into; especially sense it is small amounts of damage to begin with. But like all things small, it adds up. I've sat down and worked some figures while playing medium (20 or so) leveled Reavers and I noticed a very good thing. When attacking, I'm doing about 100 damage because of my weapons. That's fine, it's low for some one that high. BUT I'm doing 10 from poison, 20 from bleeding, 20-60 from disease(s), maybe even 20 or so acid, and 60+ blight from Ruin. That's all in one turn too. Now, given this general series of numbers, I am doing FAR more damage from strategy and using a wide range of resources than I am because I poked something with the sharp end of a metal stick; and that just feels amazing. And the fact that the damage IS DOT means that you can just sling some form of DOT and walk away, waiting for your talent(s) to recharge and you are still hampering the enemy. The idea of debuff and single target control has translated very very well into Reavers and T4.

Now for something else entirely. I've some topics here that have sprung up some rather large amounts of discussion lately and I'd like to share them with you. *First it's one of my new favorite threads that madmonk made, and it's a challenge thread. I believe it's the first for T4 and it's located here http://forums.te4.org/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=22936 . The challenge in a nut shell is this: Be a human, don't use shops in any capacity. It seems simple, but from the character dumps it is apparently really tough.*

Second is one made by vstat here http://forums.te4.org/viewtopic.php?f=4 ... 08&start=0 that began with asking what everyone considered was the halfway point in the game. However it has now turned into a bit of discussion of a few talents and classes in regards to balance. If you're interested in this at all, and interested in how it relates to phase door in particular, the second page is very worth reading.

And last is the Random Boss thread located here http://forums.te4.org/viewtopic.php?f=3 ... 0&start=15 . So far we don't have too many good candidates up but I plan to add in a few myself soon (along with those city guards). If you have any ideas or would like to contribute in any capacity, do so. It's nice to be heard.

Now, onto the Cheese! I'm saddened that there are so few molds. :( Molds along with kobolds and orcs have been probably the most popular npcs in rogue-likes in ever. I'm fine without kobolds/goblins, and there are a fair number of orcs and they are a plenty and flavored/varied well. However, our poor smelly cheese is lacking dangerously in population. Currently there are 4 molds, and there should be many more. The grey and brown molds are almost identical, but the shining and green molds have some powers and I like that. I can't wait until we get our luminescent, confusion spore releasing, mind blanking, phasing, acid drenched, invisible, cheese molds back in the normal capacity. I mean, they will win the world, eventually, they just need to have the chance. ;) If there are no current plans for making more molds and more are wanted, I may have some time to devout coding a few of them up if anyone is interested in checking them over.

Even though that this is a realative short entry, I feel I've said enough for now. Next time I'll try to throw in how I go about making my idea of a proper Fighter, Cryomancer, Summoner, and now Reaver!

[edge2054]

Some Reaver stuff.

I think all of the hexes would be more useful if they hit a spread (radius 1 at TL 3, Radius 2 at TL 5) and had the duration increase as you invested more talent points. Burning Hex might need a bit of love, keep the fire damage but give it either a stun or something that jacks with the next talent used. Empathic Hex I had originally written as a combination damage nerf and self damaging effect to give it some variance between itself and martyr but this may be a hassle to code.

As to the rest of your points I agree, though I'd go with a 2, 3 radius on Cyst Burst (3 and 5 respectively) and have the damage on Catalepsy increase with talent level. Maybe I'll tweak the talents a bit and present them to DG.

Anyway I'm glad you're enjoying the class

[madmonk]

Now for something else entirely. I've some topics here that have sprung up some rather large amounts of discussion lately and I'd like to share them with you. *First it's one of my new favorite threads that madmonk made, and it's a challenge thread. I believe it's the first for T4 and it's located here http://forums.te4.org/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=22936 . The challenge in a nut shell is this: Be a human, don't use shops in any capacity. It seems simple, but from the character dumps it is apparently really tough.*

My fan!

[Final Master]

With the release of beta13, and a whole butt load of new game play on content (YAY Tempests!!!), comes a new post here. First off, let me say, this is probably the most impressive beta by far, and the greatest jump in completeness and stability between betas [except for possibly the jump from beta6 to beta7 IIRC]. With a hoard of new egos and artifacts, a few new quests, changes in zones [I'm looking at you Old Forest :D ], and new classes and class tweaks, this is what the next beta will be measured against. So, thank you DG and Team Tome, you have outdone yourselves again.

Some stuff I like:
The Old Forest weather addition. It's nice, if a bit superficial. It creates something new, and again, something I haven't seen done in other 'modern' rogue-likes. It also sets it even further apart from standard woodsy dungeons and grants it more uniqueness.

All the new artifacts. Because there are so many more now [including some of my own ideas!], the chances of finding one are better, which is good. And because there is such a variety of them with different powers and abilities, and for different slots, the chances of finding something wearable & useful have increased greatly. Which is even better.

The new system that separates egos/double-egos from super-egos. Seeing as there's only maybe 3 or 4 of these egos right now it might not be noticeable, but if you have a new blue item or see one in a shop, it really draws your attention to it. Just need a few more now, possibly a *Defender* style?

The Bree quest. I died easily the first time I triggered it, but the second and subsequent times have been a sufficient but doable challenge.

The condensed weapon masteries. Now it makes using random loot still be a playbale strategy, when compared to focusing on axes and all you find are good. maces and swords.

SPOILERS
But there is an issue with the killing of the Tempest. If you don't have a means of teleportation, and you don't know what the wand does that he drops, and you use the stairs to go back up/down, you WILL die due to suffocation, because it deposits you in rock. I started with 48 Air and if I would have done anything other than phase, I'm sure I would have died.

The improvements to the passive combat technique tree. Finally made it useful and worth putting points into, even though it's still a bit underwhelming. The guaranteed 1 hp a turn on my fighter however was nice.

The quicker menus. It finally feels streamlined. Sometimes they cut off the bottom of your item descriptions, concerning the abilities, but I guess it's fine when most of the new stuff is pretty short in description.

Some stuff I don't like:
SPOILERS
My most anticipated class, Tempests, are underwhelming. Focusing around the effect of Daze, which is weak to begin with, is okay. However, having only 2 spells that actually cause the status effect (when it appears all but Flameshock in the fire series can cause burning and most every cold damage spell in the cryomancer ways can cause freezing) doesn't help a whole lot. I know that lightning has a chance to Daze, or at least it did but I've only seen it once, and probably five or so betas ago. I know it's to kep in the theme of pyro/cryomancers, but it doesn't feel like it works too well here. Along with that, I would love to try out the spell that is effected by Daze, which is Whirlwind in a greater scope, and see if the extra damage is really worth putting points into. The problem I see with this is that the Daze status would break once the whirlwind is in effect, as it's dealing damage, right? So I just cast a spell, really hoping to just get a side effect in place, so that I can make this second spell do damage. It's a bit of a work around, unlike the burning of the pyromancer, which is actively doing something, and the freezing of the cryomancer, which is sort of passivly-active doing something; nor is it a real combo-able type series like the Reaver abilities. I don't really have any suggestions on any changes yet, but I might soon.

The reintroduction of bizarre slowdown, probably due to the weather in the Old Forest. It only occurred there, and only after spending a good amount of time there. So I guess it's tolerable again, but it did add in probably 10 minutes of extra play time with all the waiting and lag.

I know, I was one of the people from a very very long time ago that complained a bit about the lack of money drops (or the amounts), but now it just feels like it is in great excess. Sure, it's only about a 30% increase in the actual amount dropped, but now it seems like almost everything is dropping money, instead of just dragons and thieves. It may just be my imagination, but I've never had over 500 gold until almost the very end of the game (being dropping off certain objects in a certain tunnel) until yesterday. I think I'd only completed the Maze, Carn Dum, Old Forest, Amon Sul and a few side quests, and I came out with 532 gold. That is an INSANE amount compared to the 80 or so I usually have at that point. I was able to buy and make two gold rings of onyx, purchase an artifact, several double egos, shooting, probably 20 phase door, teleport, healing, and 15 speed potions, at I still had almost 40 gold. And then I built my reserves back up to well into the 200's before the character died shortly there after, but it is a great amount of excess now.

Oh, and it really wasn't from selling super-ego's either. I think I found 1 x of T and it didn't really sell for much by any standards. It really was from all the gold drops.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've got some ideas for super-egos and random bosses, but I'm not too sure about some of them yet. I want to make sure they are about even power wise when compared to the others, but with so few to follow by I don't want to make an ass out of myself.

And that's all I have time for now folks. I know it's short, and it didn't really cover much, but more will be posted later.

Again, thanks for reading!

FM

[Final Master]

I will start cross posting my posts in here with my blog on the site - so that none of you can escape my word. :D

[Final Master]

This will turn into a multi-part series of character builds covering specific race/class combinations. First, I will cover Dwarf Fighters - one of my best and favorite.

Today I will be talking about how I build my fighters, why I choose dwarf fighters in particular, talent choices, when to raise what talents and stats, combat tactics, egos and artifacts to look for, dungeon completion order, and what to not do.

First, let me give a bit of a background on myself when it comes to dwarf fighters. As of this writing, I've made 42 Dwarf Fighters after profiles were created - and I've had 4 make it to the Far East, and 1 to the Final Battle. They are easily in my top three best played race/class combination, one of my favorites, and to me, the absolute easiest race/class combination to play.

Now then, why a dwarf when playing fighters? Well, for several reasons - they are naturally inclined to be fighters in the world of T4 - with good starting hp, along with strength and constitution bonuses, they cover two of the three more important stats for a fighter. Their racial in particular is probably the best for a fighter, as it will raise your armor [scaling very very nicely, about thirty or so armor], and huge boosts to two saves [something like sixty or so (however saves as of beta15b don't exactly do much - this is slated to change in beta16)]. Their penalty to magic doesn't matter at all anymore as scrolls/potions have been removed, and runes/infusions can scale off of any of the three stats you will most likely max.

I like to max out strength, dexterity and constitution, this will leave about fifteen or so points left after raising those three stats to the natural maximum of sixty. They go to either willpower or cunning, depending on the kit that I have available - and because I should be about level forty-five at this point, it's probably my final kit. I will raise the stats in particular by maxing out strength first, and once I start to reach the 'max per level' cap, the extra points will be going to constitution. Not only will this raise my hp [and allow me to get health], but it will also help the dwarf racial scale, and it scales very well.

My level fifty talent point distribution looks like this:

Class Lvl
Shield Pummel 4
Resposte 5
Overpower 1
Assault 5
Shield Wall 5
Shield Expertise5
Last Stand 5
Shattering Shout5
Second Wind 5
Battle Shout 5
Precise Strikes 1
Rush 5
Quick Recovery 5
Fast Metabolism 5

Generic Lvl
Disengage 5
Track 5
Massive Armor 5
Health 5
Weapon Combat 9
Weapon Mastery 10

Shield Pummel should be maxed because the stun duration is based off of the tlvl of Shield Pummel. Riposte now scales the counter hit chance better with points, and Assault is maxed out of pure lack of good things to put points in. Shield Wall should be your first priority to max out as it's your class defining talent, as should Shield Expertise as it directly effects Shield Pummel, Overpower and Assault. I really like Shattering Shout, especially for fighters as it's a massive cone of damage, and fighters lack AOE attacks entirely outside of this ability. It starts out at a low AOE, but I believe at lvl 5 it's radius caps at 5 - quite large, believe me. Second Wind is also useful for that quick boost to your stamina as at times you will run out stamina in cases that you would prefer not to. Battle Shout is useful for a quick boost to survivability as well. Disengage is your quick escape option, and is also very useful for dashing multiple tiles during the Mount Doom Dash - as is Rush. Rush is also important for chasing down those blasted mages - orc mages in particular. Track is your version of sense - sure it's not passive as Heightened Senses is, but it effects a greater area and scales with a stat you'll be raising anyway. And, of course you'll be maxing Massive Armor, Health, Weapon Combat and Weapon Mastery, because ... well, you're a FIGHTER. Some people will argue that 10 points in both weapon mastery and weapon combat is too much, and, they’re right. It is too many points, as both talents scale horribly with additional points. HOWEVER, other than if you somehow get a good amount of cunning, or you REALLY want to use the field control tree for some reason, there’s no other good options for generic point use. If you do wish to invest in these other tree’s further, take away from weapon mastery, not weapon combat. Attack is scaled off of both strength and dexterity evenly, so as a fighter you will have high attack, but you absolutely want to make sure that you can hit everything all the time. At lvl 50 and fighting things that are level 70/80/90, you WILL NEED attack as high as 200 to make certain that you will hit.

- Class Talents -
I like to save up class points so that I can raise each new class talent level at the same time, and so that I can max out shield wall as soon as possible. After that, I go for shield expertise, then shield pummel and the two regenerative talents.

- Generic Talents -
I put a point into Massive Armor so that I can wear it, and then raise weapon combat and disengage/track going back and forth. Health takes priority over this if I can raise it however. There's no real urgency to get any specific generic talents with fighters.

- Dungeons -
I like to do The Maze, Old Forest, Trollshaws, Kor’pul, Sandworm Lair, Daikara, Tol Falas, Iron Throne, Unknown Cavern, Underwater Cave [amulet of the fish required], Spider Lair, Grushnak, Rak'sor, Gorbat then Vor.

I like to do the maze first because it’s almost entirely 1v1 fighting with things that don’t hit very hard [only minotaurs, and you’ll probably fight only four or five of those]. Also, it doesn’t have escorts, and escorts level off of your level, so it will make doing all future escorts easier. If you would like to pretty much ensure all your escorts will live, after doing the maze, you could do the sandworm lair, but I find that that is unnecessary. OF I like to do second because it’s the next least frustrating and easier of the dungeons for a fighter, also, you might luck out and get some good escorts. Following the initial two dungeons, it’s pretty open actually as you should/could be at about level 12 now, which means you have shield wall and shield expertise maxed or close to it – and that means that you are pretty well settled.

Regarding the order of the prides – it’s mostly for the ease to do them/artifact you acquire. You really want the Glory of the Pride as it makes everything else much easier, thus, Grushnak first – and it’s also you against people built like you, so understanding what you’re up against is a nice thing. Grushnak also has a unique layout that really helps as a fighter, no mass open arena levels like the other prides. I like to save Vor for last as Vor can be one of the easiest or most dangerous depending on how you have your kit and what resists you have. If you have really good cold/fire/lightning resists then you could do Vor earlier. Rak’sor is also the same, it can be either pretty quick death or a relative walk in the park. With Rak’sor however, you’ll want poison/disease/hex/curse resistance/curing, along with blight/darkness/fire resistance. The specific status resistance will be hard/impossible to get, or get high, so a good temporary wild infusion will be fine here.

For the side quests, I would recommend doing them when you feel comfortable with them. Personally, I always do the merchant quest, save the Elven Ruins for right before the Iron Throne [be careful, you WILL be about eight levels under what you are supposed to be to come here], do the cursed once I’m about level 15, and the tempest quest at about level 15 as well, or once I have 50% lightning and cold resist constantly, along with about 500/600 hp. I do the heading back west quest after I do the Unknown Cave, Spider Lair and Underwater Cave mostly. Sometimes I put it off until after I’ve done Grushnak, but not always. Once back west, I do the dungeons again in the same order that I did them the first time.

In this next section, I won’t be using what material or item type because it doesn’t really matter that much as in beta15b and betas before it, egos don’t scale well, if at all, with what material level they are on. This is scheduled to change in beta16 however.
- Specific Egos and Artifacts -
Amulet:
Greater Telepathy
Teleportation
Vitalizing
Daneth's Neckguard
Garkul's Teeth
Choker of Dread

Ring:
Vargh Redemption
Ring of the Dead
Ring of the War Master
Glory of the Pride
Shield:

* element* of deflection

Fire Dragon Shield
Lunar Shield

Digger:
Delving

Cloak:
Thick/Oiled of fog
Serpentine Cloak
Ureslak's Molted Scales

Belt:
Blurring of the titan/life/resilience
Girdle of Preservation
Girdle of the Calm Waters

Gloves:
Powerful of iron grip
Gloves of the Firm Hand
Stone Gauntlets of Harkor'Zun

Lite:
Scorching of Elbereth
Eldritch Pearl
Wintertide Phial

Helm:
Prismatic/Shalorn of greater telepathy/precognition
Helm of the Dwarven Kings
Runed Skull
Crown of the Elements

Boots:
Stealthy/none of almost any
Shifting Boots
Frost Treads

Weapon:
Elemental of rage
Razorblade, the Cursed Waraxe
Wintertide
Malediction

Armor:
Impenetrable of the dragon
Radiant/Fortifying/Hardened of x
Behemoth Hide
Scale Mail of Kroltar
Plate Armor of the King

The reason that I like these egos/artifacts in particular [not counting the zone artifacts, I’ll add those in later], is because they help with survival the most. Trust me, you aren’t meant to deal damage, you are meant to absorb as much of it as possible. This makes fighters and sun paladins very similar, however, in my opinion, sun paladins have a much easier time. I like to go with as much resistance to as wide of damage types as possible – magic WILL kill you [unlike with paladins]. Your armor will soak up a vast majority of the physical attacks, so you don’t need to worry too much about that. Unlike sun paladins who have to fight back because of using active or triggered talents, fighters survivability is almost entirely non drain inducing sustains, and passives. Fighters simply outlive their opponents, and in order to do that, you need as much resistance and hp as possible.

This will probably be rewritten or at least reformatted as I go into more and more class builds; and decide on the best approach to display and write them. Thank you for your time, and you can expect a write up again in probably a week or two. I hope this helps, if you have any questions or comments, feel free and again, I’ll post another one up soon.

FM