Colin, Halfling Shadowblade

[greycat]

Farthest I've gotten with a Shadowblade. 15b.

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

Sex              : Male         STR:  25
Race             : Halfling     DEX:  80
Class            : Shadowblade  MAG:  35
Level            : 32           WIL:  29
Exp              : 84%          CUN:  38
Gold             : 678.25       CON:  36

Attack(Main Hand):  62          Life             :     -86/877  Encumbrance      : 79/85
Damage(Main Hand):  96          Stamina          :     211/211  Difficulty       : Normal
APR   (Main Hand):   9          Mana             :     136/151
Crit  (Main Hand):  20%         
Speed (Main Hand): 1.00         
                                
                                Equilibrium      :     0

Killed in the dragon/orc pride. I had done the undead/orc pride already, but none of the other three seemed like a great choice. I lacked elemental resistances, so didn't want to do Vor. I've had some really nasty experiences with Grushnak. So I tried Gorbat....

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  [Last Messages]

Greater multi-hued wyrm hits Colin for 80.83 fire damage.
Colin casts Rune: Shielding.
A shield forms around Colin.
Colin casts Phase Door.
The spell fizzles!
Greater multi-hued wyrm hits fire drake hatchling for 0.00 fire damage.
Fire drake hatchling misses Colin.
Fire drake hatchling misses Colin.
Greater multi-hued wyrm uses Silence.
Colin is silenced!
Greater multi-hued wyrm hits Colin for 80.83 fire damage.
Greater multi-hued wyrm hits fire drake hatchling for 0.00 fire damage.
Fire drake hatchling misses Colin.
Fire drake hatchling misses Colin.
Greater multi-hued wyrm uses Devouring Flame.
Colin stops burning.
Colin is silenced and cannot use Infusion: Wild.
Colin hits fire drake hatchling for 150.00 physical damage.
Colin hits fire drake hatchling for 10.80 cold damage.
Fire drake hatchling resists!
Fire drake hatchling hits Colin for 4.00 fire damage.
Colin hits fire drake hatchling for 115.20 physical damage.
Colin hits fire drake hatchling for 16.44 darkness damage.
Colin killed fire drake hatchling!
Fire drake hatchling hits Colin for 4.00 fire damage.
Greater multi-hued wyrm hits fire drake hatchling for 0.00 fire damage.
Greater multi-hued wyrm hits fire drake hatchling for 0.00 fire damage.
Greater multi-hued wyrm hits Colin for 80.40 fire damage.
The burst of heat destroys your strength infusion!
Talent Infusion: Regeneration is ready to use.
Colin hits fire drake hatchling for 138.00 physical damage.
Colin killed fire drake hatchling!
Fire drake hatchling hits Colin for 6.00 fire damage.
Fire drake hatchling hits Colin for 6.00 fire damage.
Greater multi-hued wyrm breathes lightning!
Greater multi-hued wyrm hits fire drake hatchling for 481.67 lightning damage.
Greater multi-hued wyrm hits Colin for 481.67 lightning damage.
Your shield crumbles under the damage!
The shield around Colin crumbles.
Greater multi-hued wyrm killed Colin!

Apparently the phase door "fizzle" can also happen when you're attempting to target someone else; not just yourself. That's good to know (it wasn't stated clearly).

I also didn't know dragons could cast silence. Being silenced means I couldn't use my regen infusion (I still claim this is a BUG), and was directly responsible for my demise.

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Attack (Off Hand):  62
Damage (Off Hand):  90
APR    (Off Hand):  15
Crit   (Off Hand):  17%
Speed  (Off Hand): 1.00

Fatigue          : 26%          Spellpower       : 42.182
Armor            : 21           Spell Crit       : 10.9%
Defense          : 78.5         Spell Speed      : 1
Ranged Defense   : 78.5         

Physical damage  : 20%
Cold damage      : 8%
Darkness damage  : 5%

Physical Save    : 15.875
Spell Save       : 16.625
Mental Save      : 17.375

All Resists:   0%
Physical Resist(cap):   5%( 70%)
Cold Resist(cap):  65%( 70%)
Nature Resist(cap):  40%( 70%)
Blight Resist(cap):  55%( 70%)
Confusion Resistance:  30%
Blind Resistance:  30%
Stun Resistance: 100%
Knockback Resistance:  70%
Teleport Resistance:  50%

Number of NPC killed: 3042
Most killed NPC: wolf (117)

See, not a smidgeon of lightning or fire resistance. Guess I should've farmed the undead/orc pride or something... hope Grushnak's ring drops randomly (I've seen that happen before). That would have given me some stun resist that wasn't from body armor, allowing me to swap in the elemental-resisting body armor I'd been carrying around but unable to equip.

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  [Talents Chart]

 - Technique / Dual wielding          (mastery 1.20)
    Dual Weapon Training (class)      5/5
    Dual Weapon Defense (class)       5/5
    Precision (class)                 0/5
    Momentum (class)                  0/5
 - Technique / Dual wielding          (mastery 1.20)
    Dual Strike (class)               2/5
    Flurry (class)                    1/5
    Sweep (class)                     1/5
    Whirlwind (class)                 1/5
 - Technique / Combat techniques      (mastery 1.30)
    Precise Strikes (class)           1/5
    Rush (class)                      1/5
    Perfect Strike (class)            0/5
    Blinding Speed (class)            0/5
 - Technique / Combat techniques      (mastery 1.30)
    Quick Recovery (class)            1/5
    Fast Metabolism (class)           1/5
    Spell Shield (class)              0/5
    Unending Frenzy (class)           0/5
 - Technique / Combat training        (mastery 1.20)
    Heavy Armour Training (generic)   1/5
    Massive Armour Training (generic) 1/5
    Health (generic)                  2/5
    Weapon Combat (generic)           3/10
    Weapons Mastery (generic)         0/10
    Knife Mastery (generic)           5/10
 - Cunning / Dirty fighting           (mastery 1.30)
    Dirty Fighting (class)            2/5
    Backstab (class)                  1/5
    Switch Place (class)              0/5
    Cripple (class)                   0/5
 - Cunning / Lethality                (mastery 1.30)
    Lethality (class)                 1/5
    Deadly Strikes (class)            1/5
    Willful Combat (class)            1/5
    Snap (class)                      2/5
 - Cunning / Shadow magic             (mastery 1.30)
    Shadow Combat (class)             1/5
    Shadow Cunning (class)            1/5
    Shadow Feed (class)               1/5
    Shadowstep (class)                0/5
 - Cunning / Survival                 (mastery 1.10)
    Trap Detection (generic)          1/5
    Heightened Senses (generic)       1/5
    Trap Disarm (generic)             3/5
    Evasion (generic)                 1/5
 - Spell / Temporal                   (mastery 1.00)
    Time Prison (class)               1/5
    Congeal Time (class)              1/5
    Essence of Speed (class)          5/5
    Time Shield (class)               0/5
 - Spell / Phantasm                   (mastery 1.00)
    Illuminate (class)                1/5
    Blur Sight (class)                5/5
    Phantasmal Shield (class)         0/5
    Invisibility (class)              0/5
 - Spell / Conveyance                 (mastery 1.00)
    Phase Door (generic)              5/5
    Teleport (generic)                5/5
    Displacement Shield (generic)     0/5
    Probability Travel (generic)      0/5

  [Current Effects]

- Hymn of Perseverance
- Chant of Fortress
- Shadow Feed
- Essence of Speed
+ Silenced

  *snip*
Investigate the bastions of the Pride.
   * You have destroyed Rak'shor.   
   * Vor Pride, in the north east.   
   * Grushnak Pride, near a small mountain range in the north west.   
   * Gorbat Pride, in a mountain range in the southern desert.   

  [Character Equipment]

 In main hand
a) icy stralite dagger of massacre (28-36.4 power, 9 apr)
   Type: weapon / dagger
28 Power [Range 1.30] (+45% Dexterity,+45% Strength), 0 Attack, 9 Armor Penetration, Crit 8%
Damage type: physical
Damage on strike(melee): 10 ice.
When wielded/worn:
Increases damage type: 20% physical.

   Dropped by crimson ooze
 In off hand
b) Moon (24-31.2 power, 15 apr)
   Type: weapon / dagger
24 Power [Range 1.30] (+45% Dexterity,+45% Strength), 0 Attack, 15 Armor Penetration, Crit 5%
Damage type: physical
Damage on strike(melee): 20 darkness.
When wielded/worn:
Increases damage type: 5% darkness.
Light radius -1

   Dropped by cutpurse
 On fingers
c) Vargh Redemption
   Type: jewelry / ring
When wielded/worn:
Increases stats: 4 Willpower,3 Constitution.
Increases resistances: 25% cold,10% nature.
Maximum mana 20
Maximum stamina 20
It can be used to summon a tidal wave, costing 60 power out of 60/60.
d) onyx ring
   Type: jewelry / ring
When wielded/worn:
Increases stats: 3 Constitution,3 Dexterity,3 Magic,3 Strength,3 Willpower,3 Cunning.

 Around neck
e) steel amulet of teleportation
   Type: jewelry / amulet
When wielded/worn:
It can be used to teleport you anywhere on the level, randomly, costing 60 power out of 120/120.
 Light source
f) Summertide Phial
   Type: lite / lite
When wielded/worn:
Light radius 4
It can be used to call light, costing 10 power out of 15/15.
   Dropped by forest troll
 Main armor
g) Rogue Plight (6 def, 7 armor)
   Type: armor / light
When wielded/worn:
Armor 7, Defense 6, Ranged Defense 0
Fatigue 7%
Increases stats: 5 Willpower,4 Constitution.
Increases resistances: 35% blight.
Increases stun immunity: 70%.
Increases knockback immunity: 70%.

   Dropped by orc grand master assassin
 Cloak
h) plush linen cloak of Eldoral (1 def, 6 armor)
   Type: armor / cloak
When wielded/worn:
Armor 6, Defense 1, Ranged Defense 0
Increases stats: 2 Dexterity,2 Cunning.

   Dropped by Minotaur of the Labyrinth
 On head
i) shaloran voratun helm of dexterity (+5) (0 def, 5 armor)
   Type: armor / head
When wielded/worn:
Armor 5, Defense 0, Ranged Defense 0
Fatigue 5%
Increases stats: 5 Dexterity,2 Willpower.
Increases stun immunity: 20%.

 Around waist
j) Girdle of the Calm Waters
   Type: armor / belt
When wielded/worn:
Increases stats: 3 Willpower.
Increases resistances: 20% blight,20% cold,20% nature.
Increases all healing by 30%

 On hands
k) polar iron gauntlets of dexterity (+3) (0 def, 1 armor)
   Type: armor / hands
When wielded/worn:
Armor 1, Defense 0, Ranged Defense 0
Increases stats: 3 Dexterity.
Increases damage type: 3% cold.

   Dropped by Bill the Stone Troll
 On feet
l) Frost Treads (1 def, 2 armor)
   Type: armor / feet
When wielded/worn:
Armor 2, Defense 1, Ranged Defense 0
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
m) iron pickaxe (dig speed 37 turns)
   Type: tool / digger
It can be used to dig a wall, cut a tree, ..., costing 1 power out of 1/1.
 Quiver

  [Player Achievements]

'A dangerous secret' was achieved for Found the mysterious staff and told Last Hope about it. At 2010-12-11 11:29:26
'Arachnophobia' was achieved for Destroyed the spydric menace. At 2010-12-11 20:00:56
'Brave new world' was achieved for Gone to the Far East and took side in the war. At 2010-12-11 18:06:58
'Destroyer's bane' was achieved for Killed Golbug the Destroyer. At 2010-12-11 17:56:20
'Exterminator' was achieved for Killed 1000 creatures At 2010-12-10 18:50:44
'Eye of the storm' was achieved for Freed Derth from the onslaught of the mad Tempest, Urkis. At 2010-12-11 09:01:36
'Level 10' was achieved for Got a character to level 10. At 2010-12-09 23:27:21
'Level 20' was achieved for Got a character to level 20. At 2010-12-11 09:01:36
'Level 30' was achieved for Got a character to level 30. At 2010-12-11 19:43:26
'Rescuer of the lost' was achieved for Rescued the merchant from the assassin lord. At 2010-12-09 23:03:20
'Sliders' was achieved for Activated a portal using the Orb of Many Ways. At 2010-12-11 17:59:47
'The secret city' was achieved for Discovered the truth about mages. At 2010-12-09 23:22:14
'Vampire crusher' was achieved for Destroyed the Master in its lair of Tol Falas. At 2010-12-11 11:20:43

  [Character Inventory]

*snip*
e) Orb of Many Ways
g) Orb of Undeath (Orb of Command)
   Type: jewelry / orb
When carried:
Increases stats: 6 Dexterity.
It can be used to use the orb, costing 1 power out of 1/1.
   Dropped by Rak'shor, Grand Necromancer of the Pride
h) Ring of the War Master
k) gold ring of acid resistance (+25%)
l) gold ring of fire resistance (+27%)
o) quartz ring
p) steel ring of accuracy (8 attack, 0 apr, 0 power)
q) steel ring of cold resistance (+24%)
r) steel ring of fire resistance (+22%)
s) steel ring of mana (+0.20/turn)
t) Silent Blade (25-32.5 power, 10 apr)
   Type: weapon / dagger
25 Power [Range 1.30] (+55% Dexterity,+35% Cunning), 15 Attack, 10 Armor Penetration, Crit 8%
Damage type: physical
When used from stealth a simple attack with it will not break stealth.
Damage on strike(melee): 10 % chance to silence target.

u) slime-covered stralite dagger of accuracy (27-35.1 power, 9 apr)
   Type: weapon / dagger
27 Power [Range 1.30] (+45% Dexterity,+45% Strength), 12 Attack, 9 Armor Penetration, Crit 8%
Damage type: physical
Damage on strike(melee): 21 slime.

   Dropped by orc grand master assassin
v) stralite dagger of massacre (28-36.4 power, 9 apr)
   Type: weapon / dagger
28 Power [Range 1.30] (+45% Dexterity,+45% Strength), 0 Attack, 9 Armor Penetration, Crit 8%
Damage type: physical
When wielded/worn:
Increases damage type: 21% physical.

   Dropped by assassin
z) Black Robe (6 def, 0 armor)
   Dropped by orc blood mage
{) Spider-Silk Robe of Spydr?« (10 def, 10 armor)
   Type: armor / cloth
When wielded/worn:
Armor 10, Defense 10, Ranged Defense 0
Increases stats: 4 Constitution,-2 Willpower.
Damage when hit: 20 poison.
Increases resistances: 30% nature.
Increases physical save: 10.
Increases spell save: 10.

   Dropped by Ungol?«

I don't really understand what the point of that artifact is. I guess 10 armor from a robe is good, and 4 Con is good, but... the rest is rather "meh" as they say.

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|) shimmering cashmere robe of lightning resistance (2 def, 0 armor)
   Type: armor / cloth
When wielded/worn:
Armor 0, Defense 2, Ranged Defense 0
Increases resistances: 28% lightning.
Maximum mana 37

   Dropped by snow giant chieftain
}) Eden's Guile (2 def, 1 armor)
   Type: armor / feet
When wielded/worn:
Armor 1, Defense 2, Ranged Defense 0
Fatigue 2%
Increases stats: 3 Cunning.
Increases talent masteries: 0.20 Cunning / Survival.
It can be used to boost speed, costing 50 power out of 50/50.
~) Polille the pair of rough leather boots (0 def, 1 armor)
   Type: armor / feet
When wielded/worn:
Armor 1, Defense 0, Ranged Defense 0
Fatigue 1%
Increases stats: 4 Magic.
Increases mental save: 6.
Spellpower 18, Spell Crit 0%

) hardened leather gloves 'Dourrazor' (0 def, 2 armor)
   Type: armor / hands
When wielded/worn:
Armor 2, Defense 0, Ranged Defense 0
Increases resistances: 18% lightning,12% darkness,6% blight.
Increases cut immunity: 10%.
See invisible: 9

?) shaloran dwarven-steel helm of constitution (+2) (0 def, 4 armor)
   Type: armor / head
When wielded/worn:
Armor 4, Defense 0, Ranged Defense 0
Fatigue 4%
Increases stats: 2 Willpower,5 Constitution.
Increases stun immunity: 20%.

?) shaloran dwarven-steel helm of strength (+5) (0 def, 4 armor)
   Type: armor / head
When wielded/worn:
Armor 4, Defense 0, Ranged Defense 0
Fatigue 4%
Increases stats: 5 Strength,2 Willpower.
Increases stun immunity: 20%.

   Dropped by Ungol?«
?) shimmering cashmere wizard hat of magic (+7) (2 def, 0 armor)
   Type: armor / head
When wielded/worn:
Armor 0, Defense 2, Ranged Defense 0
Increases stats: 7 Magic.
Maximum mana 43

?) insulating hardened leather armour of the sky (3 def, 6 armor)
   Type: armor / light
When wielded/worn:
Armor 6, Defense 3, Ranged Defense 0
Fatigue 8%
Increases stats: 4 Dexterity.
Increases resistances: 10% lightning,8% acid,18% cold,16% fire.

Would've worn that if I had a way to cover stun immunity without Rogue Plight. Also, I would've done Vor first, as that's generally less hostile to me than a screen and a half full of dragon hatchlings, which is what Gorbat likes to do to me. Swap in a fire resistance ring... it might have been enough for Vor.

[Sirrocco]

I'll admit I'm a bit perplexed as to some of your choices.

- You didn't max flurry
- you burned the category point to unlock the Quick Recovery/Fast Metabolism tree, and then didn't bother putting more than one point each into them
- You maxxed Dual Weapon Training
- You grabbed one point in Rush - presumably for the mobility - but then ignored both Switch Place and Shadowstep
- You didn't take illuminate to 3 for the blind effect
- You climbed the Cunning/Lethality tree all the way up to Snap, but didn't max out any of the boosted attack powers

As you seem to know what you're doing (and have, by now, gotten noticeably farther than I ever have) I assume you have reasons for these things. As I'm currently trying to figure out my way around the Shadowblade, I'm curious as to what those reasons are.

[greycat]

I would have dumped more points into things like Flurry when I was higher level. At this point, I was spread quite thin, since there are so many desirable skills, but only a finite number of skill points. I had just opened up some of those higher talents quite recently, and hadn't even had a chance to use a lot of them yet. (E.g. I had never actually used Rush yet at the time of my death.)

Maxing dual weapon training gives me extra damage every time I attack. Sure, not a HUGE amount, but it's on every single attack, unless the main-hand weapon already killed the monster. Why wouldn't I want that? Flurry is great, certainly, but I only used it on bosses or tough opponents. Most of what I'd been facing was going down just fine with a single point in Flurry.

Do people really find it helpful to put more than 1 point into HP regen? Compared to a regen infusion, the amount of health I get back from the skill seems fairly small. I like having a point in it, though. It seems to work for me. I would have put more points into the stamina regen skill later, if needed. At this point, I wasn't using a huge number of stamina talents on a frequent basis, so I was getting by with just 1 skill point there.

Switch Place - I've never used that. If I'm reading the tooltip correctly, it says the range is "personal/melee", so I guess I would switch places with an adjacent monster...? The only point of that seems to be the daze effect, and the possibility of a couple turns of evasion, and that sounded pretty weak to me. Maybe the tooltip is just wrong.

Shadowstep - I haven't used that one either. Sounds good, but since I hadn't even used Rush yet, I didn't need another mobility skill just yet. Probably would have bought it later when I had more skill points available.

I guess it's just a matter of development style. If there's a skill I absolutely MUST have maxed immediately (like a stun resistance skill), I'll drive that one up to its max ASAP. But if not, then I tend to spread myself thin at first (getting a bunch of talents at low level), and then boost them up later. The primary reason for this is that a bunch of low-level talents gives me a bunch of individual cooldown periods, while a single high-level talent gives me one big punch with a cooldown, and then... nothing. I prefer having a bunch of tricks up my sleeve.

You may also be overestimating my skill as a player. I haven't actually won the game (with any class, let alone this one, which I'm still learning).

Also, on further review of the inventory, I think I should've swapped out Moon for the slimy stralite dagger. It wouldn't have kept me alive when the big D breathed on me, though.

[Sirrocco]

I'm not faulting you for only putting one each in the health and stamina regens - I'm just surprised that you cranked a category point in there at all if that was all you were going to do.

The point of Swich Place is to be able to get out/move around when surrounded. You swap places with an adjacent monster and your evasion cranks way up. The shadowblade isn't really designed to be happy when surrounded.