Wyrmic breath based "caster" guide

[Effigy]

Elemental Fury is probably a decent choice, but if you find a better ring I don't think it's needed. Anything that buffs multiple element damage and/or resist penetration will be helpful though.

[anathema]

Yeah, its decent, not great. Personally i focused entirely on defensive stats on all gear, and i had no problem killing anything.
Here are the offensive stats on my gear put together:
+39% fire dmg
+25% fire penetration
+10% physical penetration
+8% physical dmg
+15% lightning penetration
+74 strength
Most of the fire stuff is from my weapon, the rest, except the str, is from random pieces i wore for their defensive stats. You can see which attribute i focused on getting, and really, i think its the most efficient and easiest to get by far. Str will buff the damage of all your breaths across the board, on all enemies, always, whereas % elemental modifiers only buff 1 breath each, which in the long run hardly makes a difference. % penetration is nice if its convenient (so on an item you would wear even without the penetration), but it only does something if the enemy has that particular resistance, in addition, since you already get 20% penetrations from chromatic fury, immunities are broken already, and you need a lot on top to actually make a noticeable difference from there. All in all, getting penetration is just horribly inefficient for a build that uses 6 different damage types. I would only get penetration if its very high, or if the item has several penetration types. % elemental damage can be good, since the str bonus is flat and will then be multiplied, but again, only noticeable if you have a decent amount and only on one breath. Again, get it if its convenient or if it applies to several elements, or there is a lot of a single element, otherwise it wont make a practical difference.
Also remember, if you are thalore, the wrath of the woods will buff breaths by a percentage amount across the board, and with heroism on top, you wont be needing for damage. You could have zero offensive bonuses besides str, and still have no problem with the final boss fight damage wise. I will say that my fire breath did considerably more damage than the rest, but across a 6 or 7 turn period, it makes no real difference

Strength is just so incredibly efficient for this build. With a high base str, str based heroism, wrath of the woods, as well as the 10% elemental dmg bonus from chromatic fury, you dont need any more boosts for your damage. Not on normal anyway.

Of course, thats just how i chose to play You could surely do it differently and be effective too, but i do attribute the ease with which i won to having maxed resists, 100% stun and confusion resistance, as well as 2k hp.

[nintura]

I just can't seem to make it to the end in this one. I was doing excellent, no deaths, got all the way to the armory in the east. Get down to the main room and BAM, 20+ models, getting frozen every round, couldn't seem to make a save to save my life. Clean the frozen off, get it right back... died way to many times, got a bit disgusted.

[anathema]

yeah they can be really nasty, i get how frustrating they can get. Stun resistance really helps there.

[malboro_urchin]

So I finally downloaded the latest 1.3 beta (b4) because I wanted to give this build a shot. I'm just shy of entering Lake Nur, and I love it! I grabbed the Sand & Corrosive breaths as my first two.

I was reading through the guide and wondering though, why is it recommended to take I Can Carry The World at lv 42 instead of lv 36?

[anathema]

i think my thought process was that, at level 30 irresistible sun (or meteor) will make a much bigger difference in kill speed, and i can carry the world only really shines once you get enough things that are actually boosted by it (breaths, sun, infusions), which you have fewer of earlier on. That said i guess the two prodigy points arent that far apart, and you could probably switch them around no problem.

Glad you like it, interested to hear how it works out in 1.3 with the cooldown reduction

[Effigy]

Sand is one of the best overall. Fire used to be garbage, but in 1.3 it can stun so I'd say it's pretty decent now.

[malboro_urchin]

i think my thought process was that, at level 30 irresistible sun (or meteor) will make a much bigger difference in kill speed, and i can carry the world only really shines once you get enough things that are actually boosted by it (breaths, sun, infusions), which you have fewer of earlier on. That said i guess the two prodigy points arent that far apart, and you could probably switch them around no problem.

Glad you like it, interested to hear how it works out in 1.3 with the cooldown reduction

Thanks for responding to everyone in the thread!

The cooldown reduction is super-nifty, because of that I prioritized that ability (Wyrmic Guile iirc) over putting more points in Insiduous Breath. My char got wrecked in Dreadfell, so I'm going to try again, with a Yeek this time. More levels = more breaths hopefully.

Update: Expect the Yeek start in 1.3 to be significantly more difficult, because Wyrmics in 1.3 no longer start with Bellowing Roar; it's a lv 4 skill now, and Wing Buffet (initally 3 area cone dealing a % of your weapon damage to all enemies within the cone; passively gives +4 phys pwr & accuracy per talent point spent)

[Dracos]

Thoughts from about midway through a Breath Caster run:

If you get Chromatic Mail, 6 breaths is kind of a waste of points, since you need 3-4 to ensure a reliable rotation. It'd probably be more advantageous to abandon the other two and use the spare points to boost up things like ice wall, or starter talents with their big bonuses (Definitely the +12 percent crit and +12 percent speed options are big options).

[anathema]

Yeah i agree, havent done a run yet but thats definitely a change i will make in the guide. Even without the chromatic armor i would skip one breath simply because you will usually have decent ways to spend turns besides breaths, irresitible sun for one.

[GlassGo]

What are the two breaths least useful for lategame?
Is Ogre-Wirmic viable build for Nightmare, especially for last two bosses?
They smash my Ogre Time Warden like I have no words how, while I breezed through entire game without difficulties, even through Dark Crypt.

[Mordy]

IIRC, Chromatic Harness doesn't improve the CD of one breath : the unlockable one. Venomous breath right?

Good first candidate to not improve.

[GlassGo]

Well, tough build.
Cleared DC on Nightmare without difficulties.
Was killed by Walking Worm from vault in Dreadfell.
One of the most dangerous foe. Can deal a HUGE dmg burst in 2-3 turn.

[anathema]

What are the two breaths least useful for lategame?
Is Ogre-Wirmic viable build for Nightmare, especially for last two bosses?
They smash my Ogre Time Warden like I have no words how, while I breezed through entire game without difficulties, even through Dark Crypt.

Ive been thinking about ogre a bit, and they do seem quite strong on paper. Grisly construction and Writ Large are just great for the boost to infusions; i was already planning using one with nature to keep wild infusions up permanently, and they make that easier as well as stronger. I do think Thalore is still a bit stronger since you can already have wild infusions up for quite a while without being ogre, and you can stack wrath of the woods on top for critical situations.

Not sure about least useful breaths, probably ice breath for one, since if you hit an ice block that kinda sucks, 2nd would probably be lightning breath.

[Kuroto]

IIRC, Chromatic Harness doesn't improve the CD of one breath : the unlockable one. Venomous breath right?

Venomous Breath is more or less the best breath even without the CDR, the % chance to fail actions is an incredibly strong effect. The main problem with it is that the entire breath can be resisted, unlike the others.