Another Returning Wizard

[Tenser]

I returned recently with Tenser. I hadn't played since late 2000 and only reactivated Tenser during the GS3 to GS4 conversion to retrain him (January 2004?). At the time I made some guesses about what skills would come in handy. So far I have been hunting in Maaghara Tower and doing fine, but there isn't too much threat there as far as environment or combat manuevers. Also at the time, constitution didn't do much so I tanked it instead of influence - which looks to be a mistake. Anyway, here's the skills and stats:

Name: Tenser I'daho Race: Half-Elf Profession: Wizard (shown as: Wizard)
Gender: Male Age: 125 Expr: 4700740 Level: 72
Normal (Bonus) ... Enhanced (Bonus)
Strength (STR): 94 (22) ... 94 (22)
Constitution (CON): 56 (3) ... 56 (3)
Dexterity (DEX): 98 (29) ... 98 (29)
Agility (AGI): 94 (32) ... 94 (32)
Discipline (DIS): 87 (13) ... 87 (13)
Aura (AUR): 100 (25) ... 105 (27)
Logic (LOG): 93 (21) ... 98 (24)
Intuition (INT): 93 (21) ... 93 (21)
Wisdom (WIS): 94 (22) ... 94 (22)
Influence (INF): 93 (26) ... 93 (26)



Tenser (at level 72), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 20 4
Physical Fitness...................| 122 31
Arcane Symbols.....................| 246 146
Magic Item Use.....................| 246 146
Spell Aiming.......................| 246 146
Harness Power......................| 172 72
Elemental Mana Control.............| 173 73
Spirit Mana Control................| 50 10
Elemental Lore - Air...............| 102 24
Perception.........................| 105 25
Climbing...........................| 105 25
Swimming...........................| 105 25

Spell Lists
Major Elemental....................| 72

Spell Lists
Minor Elemental....................| 54

Spell Lists
Wizard.............................| 72
Training Points: 60 Phy 0 Mnt (2410 Phy converted to Mnt)


At this point I need to decide whether to use a fixskill or just try to live with what I have. I think by level 76 I could have full 1x in perception and physical training and have 50 trainings each in climb and swim if I stop training in spells for those levels. Also, I could try and migrate my wizard spells downwards some, but I know that takes a long time. Could I migrate 1 wizard spell down each level? Do I fixskill?

Also, for those archer war mages out there, do you think that is a good way for me to go at this point? I spent all my early years as a sword swinging war mage and only retrained to a pure at the GS3 to GS4 conversion because the GMs were always talking down and threatening nerfs to haste and war mages in general. Looks like 16 years later they finally got around to tweaking haste and didn't really kill the war mage off while doing it.

[Hightower]

Welcome back, Tenser. I remember you!

If the archer mage is your thing, I recommend talking to Whirlin and/or reading his guide. I believe he's the foremost expert on the subject.

Also, you may be interested to know that Simucon is about to begin and the devs are promising this year will be good for wizards. I don't know if you've followed it, but last year at this time they announced the first major move on fleshing out elemental lore skills, which have remained incomplete and mostly irrelevant since the move to GS4. Unfortunately, they made some poor decisions during this process and the ELR was not received with universal praise, to say the least. So, here's hoping they make up for that! Keep an eye out the next week for some big announcements on the wizard class!

~Taverkin

[Tgo01]

Right off the bat I'd say 1x physical fitness should be a minimum for all classes, and since that's all wizards can do I'd just go ahead and keep that maxed.

Also perception is pretty cheap and is useful as well so I would recommend 1xing in that as well.

If you ever start hunting in areas where climbing is important I would 1x in that as well. I used to think just getting by with the bare minimum in climbing was good enough so my guys had like 30 or 40 ranks of climbing while hunting in the Rift. And for the most part this is okay, however if you're wounded you're going to want those extra climbing ranks to make sure you can, you know, climb shit.

And yeah CON can be pretty useful but if you already used your free fix stats after the conversion (and it sounds like you did) I wouldn't worry too much about it until you reach cap.

[Whirlin]

Also, for those archer war mages out there, do you think that is a good way for me to go at this point? I spent all my early years as a sword swinging war mage and only retrained to a pure at the GS3 to GS4 conversion because the GMs were always talking down and threatening nerfs to haste and war mages in general. Looks like 16 years later they finally got around to tweaking haste and didn't really kill the war mage off while doing it.

You can get away with hunting with your current build. While it's not super optimized, the difference would predominantly be felt in the CMAN defense realm. Offensively, you're not far off.

I recommend starting an enchanting project on a Longbow. Your objective is to take it up to 6x... which will be absolutely no problem under your current build as long as you don't derp up the enchanting process. Once that longbow is 6x, you'll have hunted enough to make an informed decision if you want to swap over to an Archer, or stick with a pure build. You'll either end up selling the bow for some yay silvers, or using it... Either way, not a bad place to be. It'll also give an opportunity for the dust to settle on whatever wizard stuff they're talking about at Simucon.

From there, you can spend your fixskills to optimize the pure build, or change things up and go an archer build... but you'll know what you're getting into.

[Tenser]

Some great responses here, so thank you guys.

For now I am going to concentrate on getting up physical training and perception while putting the rest of my skills on hold except for spell aiming and harness power. And then reassess in two or three months after the wizard changes have settled and I have more experience with hunting.

I really appreciate the advice about enchanting the longbow. I kept wavering on what to enchant and whether I would use the thing or not when I was done (and whether it would be worth anything if not).

You know what I've noticed more than anything? My spirit regeneration rate is much slower than it used to be. I thought it was just something that I had misremembered, but in my day I probably wracked 30,000 to 40,000 times mostly due to infuse enchanting and the regen rate seems painful now. So, I did some googling and found a post talking about spirit regen rates being adjusted to halflings and half-elfs (and some other race?). That really bites as one of my prime reasons for picking half-elf in the first place was the good spirit regen rate.

[bluecenterlight]

Go Team Gnome! (Great spirit Regen)

[Tenser]

A few more things:

Hey Taverkin.

Gnome? bah!

Would my current skillset allow me to enchant a bow with enhance bonuses? (or a bow with one or two fusion slots?)

[Whirlin]

You're about 10 ranks of MIU away from having a 100% success rate on Ayveneh potions, which are required pre-temper potions for enhanced gear. But, honestly, that's not too bad.

Fusion, you should be fine for 5x, I'd burn your Gift of Eonoke or whatever for your final 6x cast, but you should be fine... Enhanced, I think difficulty is correlated to the caliber of the enhancement, so it's a bit more subjective. I always recommend fusion, because it gives you the ability to improve over time, but fusion will eventually be changing, and prices are kind of hiked at the moment with the uncertainty of the future. Plus, orbs can be expensive.

[Tenser]

Thanks Whirlin. I see a few 'pale silvery ruic longbows' with 2 fusion slots for sale for around 750k. I think I'll buy one of those and give enchanting it up a try.

Last week I was reading about login rewards and thought Gift of Eonake looked like a crappy reward. Now I know better.

[Askip]

OMG it's Tenser, welcome back! I am still in your debt for the early work you did getting your website up, it was a great resource.

I am not aware of any spirit regen changes. Using 516 generates more than enough mana for a long hunt with plenty leftover, so he has not wracked in months.

Also, using MANA SPELLUP negates wating for more mana after a pre-hunt buff.

Good luck and have fun,
Askip

:D

[Tenser]

Hey Askip :)

Thanks for the MANA SPELLUP tip.

From my old wizard guide spirit regen rates:
On Node | Off Node
Human 1 per min | 1 per 2 min
Giantman 1 per min | 1 per 2 min
Half-Elf 1 per min | 1 per 2 min
Sylvankind 2 per 5 min | 1 per 5 min
Dark Elf 2 per 5 min | 1 per 5 min
Elf 2 per 5 min | 1 per 5 min
Dwarf 4 per 3 min | 2 per 3 min
Hafling 4 per 3 min | 2 per 3 min

Here is the current rates:
Race On-Node Off-Node
Forest Gnome 4/5 2/5
Dwarf 4/5 2/5
Halfling 4/5 2/5
Human 2/3 1/3
Giantman 2/3 1/3
Burghal Gnome 2/3 1/3
Half-Elf 2/4 1/4
Half-Krolvin 2/4 1/4
Sylvankind 2/4 1/4
Aelotoi 2/4 1/4
Erithian 2/4 1/4
Elf 2/5 1/5
Dark-Elf 2/5 1/5

Here is the post I found refering to it (nothing offical I could find):
http://forum.gsplayers.com/showthread.php?9571-SPIRIT-REGENERATION-RATES

My spirit regen has been cut in half!! Damn, I didn't think it was that bad. I used to regenerate spirit better than current day halflings do now. I would have demanded a race respec when this came out if I was playing at the time. It looks like half-elf is the only race that went down a 'category' and got slower regen rates than other races it used to regen equally with. Dark Elves and Elves dropped too, but the spirit regen is exactly as it was before the change.

In any case, so far I am having fun. Ta'Illistim is very friendly.

[Tenser]

More questions:

1) Where can I get a ayvenah potion? This part may kill my thoughts of enchanting an enhancive/fusion item
2) Is there a difficulty increase with an enhancive item compared to a fusion slotted item?
3) What is the cost to create a fusion orb? I assume it varies, but is there a general guideline depending on bonus amount?

[Whirlin]

More questions:

1) Where can I get a ayvenah potion? This part may kill my thoughts of enchanting an enhancive/fusion item
2) Is there a difficulty increase with an enhancive item compared to a fusion slotted item?
3) What is the cost to create a fusion orb? I assume it varies, but is there a general guideline depending on bonus amount?
1) Made through master alchemy, check player shops... I am sold out.
2) I believe so, but too much of the enchanting equation is unknown to say for certain.
3) Depends on orb... dunno if they're going to do it again, best get it after market at the moment

[Tenser]

Thanks Whirlin. I had thought there was an ongoing orb making merchant.

[Versin]

The fusion shaman will show up at Ebon's Gate, and that is about all anyone can say. The relative costs of creating orbs is similar to charging enhancive items - ranks are more expensive than bonus, some skills are cheaper than others, etc.

[Tenser]

Thanks Versin.

So...I bought a fusion bow and an ayvenah potion. Before I pour, is there a way to tell if I still have an outstanding project going on from long ago? I would like to not waste the Ayvenah potion if possible.

[Askip]

A long-ago project should have already lost the temper. Not sure of the exact timing but a couple of months should be the max.

:D

[Tenser]

Thanks Askip. I held my breath and poured and it worked, so my long-ago project probably did lose the temper.

[Askip]

Good to know!

:D

[Tenser]

Here I am at 74:
Tenser (at level 74), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 20 4
Physical Fitness...................| 175 75
Arcane Symbols.....................| 246 146
Magic Item Use.....................| 248 148
Spell Aiming.......................| 252 152
Harness Power......................| 174 74
Elemental Mana Control.............| 175 75
Spirit Mana Control................| 50 10
Elemental Lore - Air...............| 105 25
Perception.........................| 140 40
Climbing...........................| 105 25
Swimming...........................| 105 25

Spell Lists
Major Elemental....................| 72

Spell Lists
Minor Elemental....................| 54

Spell Lists
Wizard.............................| 70

My plan is to get perception up, then I'm not sure on priority. Either go back to spells, or get climb and swim up to 50 ranks each first.

[Candor]

Either go back to spells, or get climb and swim up to 50 ranks each first.

Welcome back.

Unless you are going to hunt Nelemar, I don't think you need to increase your swimming skill. But if you do want to hunt there, 50 ranks is bare bones - you probably want to get at least 70 ranks. The Wiki says you need 40 ranks to hunt the Bowels, but unless things have changed since I have hunted there, I believe this is an overstatement.

Unless you are going to hunt the mino maze area near WL, you can probably stop at 40 ranks on climbing skill - otherwise yeah go for 50 ranks.

Good luck.

[Tenser]

I am going to skip minotaurs, so 40 ranks in climb for now. I am not sure where I am going after Maaghara Tower. Is the Bowels a good next option? I was going to try the aquaducts in OTF next because the creature levels looks about right.

[Candor]

I am going to skip minotaurs, so 40 ranks in climb for now. I am not sure where I am going after Maaghara Tower. Is the Bowels a good next option? I was going to try the aquaducts in OTF next because the creature levels looks about right.

The aquaducts are good but you need to pass an area where there are higher level Ithzir to get there. Be careful and don't carry anything that you don't want to lose (the Ithzir can disarm and steal from your corpse).

After checking my notes, I am going to modify my previous post about the Bowels and say you need 40 ranks in swimming. I'm a rogue and I think agility and dexterity help me with the swimming check. Also if you are injured or encumbered, those factors figure into the calculation. Best to be safe.

[Askip]

You can ring from the OTF portal to the ducts and back, just need to be fast in case something is lurking right at the portal. Almost anyone would be glad to set a few rings for you.

:D

[Soulance]

And can leave your pet at the entrance to port back out just in case.

Bowels are tricky cause you can't use certain bolt spells. You'll ignight the place and blowbup. And the Illoke stonefist was a nightmare for me.

I skipped that place and went to EN. The tower was fairly easy as was the Aquaducts. I had trouble in the early 90s switching over to the Ithzir though. They were too swarming for my young Wizard. Now, piece of cake and a lot more fun options to kill things in there with. Actually, harder to fry now at Cap. I miss the mid-90s range. Easy to fry in OTF back then.

Getting to the ducts wasn't bad, but like Candor said, pack light. Easy enough to get a crappy runestaff and eblade it on the off chance you hit a web or something on the dash in. It didn't happen very often though.

[Candor]

Getting to the ducts wasn't bad, but like Candor said, pack light. Easy enough to get a crappy runestaff and eblade it on the off chance you hit a web or something on the dash in. It didn't happen very often though.

It doesn't happen too often but it does happen - one web can really ruin your day. I've also had occasional problems with griffins giving out flying lessons. Setting a ring is probably the best option.

[Tenser]

I have a few more levels before worrying about new hunting grounds, but I do use a 1x runestaff with eblade so not much worried about losing it. So can they take stuff that you are wearing off? Or just get lose stuff in your containers?

[Candor]

I have a few more levels before worrying about new hunting grounds, but I do use a 1x runestaff with eblade so not much worried about losing it. So can they take stuff that you are wearing off? Or just get lose stuff in your containers?

I have had stuff taken that I was wearing before someone found my corpse. I don't believe I have ever had an item taken from a container, but I am fairly certain it does happen.

Ithzir love most weapons and shields (there are some exceptions - I don't know the criteria), and in particular items imbedded with a spell.

BTW beware of janissaries - they can disarm you. It's nearly a sure thing the weapon will be picked up while you are in rt from the disarm.

[Soulance]

I have a few more levels before worrying about new hunting grounds, but I do use a 1x runestaff with eblade so not much worried about losing it. So can they take stuff that you are wearing off? Or just get lose stuff in your containers?
They will rifle through your stuff and even closed containers. I hear the trick is to put things into a container in a container and they can't get it.

Or get a Rogue to make a lock for your stuff I think I've heard.

Some of them are good at disarming you, sending you into a good RT, and then grabbing your weapon quickly. But a rank or two in the Disarm CMAN helps greatly from my experience.

The griffins screach for a nice 20 sec RT which is reduced with 535 but still locks you up long enough to pick you apart.

Oh, and another nod for learning some CMANs is the gremlocks. They like to jump on your back and garrote you. Nice to be able to grab them and send them flying.

[Tenser]

Just made 76, so an update:

Tenser (at level 76), your base skill bonuses, ranks and goals are:
Skill Name | Actual Actual
| Bonus Ranks Goals In-Game Time to Goal
Armor Use..........................| 20 4 4
Physical Fitness...................| 178 78 78
Arcane Symbols.....................| 246 146 146
Magic Item Use.....................| 250 150 150
Spell Aiming.......................| 256 156 156
Harness Power......................| 176 76 76
Elemental Mana Control.............| 177 77 77
Spirit Mana Control................| 50 10 10
Elemental Lore - Air...............| 105 25 25
Elemental Lore - Water.............| 5 1 1
Perception.........................| 178 78 78
Climbing...........................| 105 25 25
Swimming...........................| 105 25 25

Spell Lists
Major Elemental....................| 72 72

Spell Lists
Minor Elemental....................| 54 54

Spell Lists
Wizard.............................| 72 72
Training Points: 28 Phy 0 Mnt (2186 Phy converted to Mnt)

I put off swim and climb for one more level and picked up enhancives to get me 10 ranks in each.

Deaths so far: Two to lucky goleras shot, then corpse mutliation and second death by moulis babies. One to 100th level bandits hanging out and ambushing me. Three to deaths during Wehnimer's invasion. The tower is really easy, so I'm sure to have a wake up call when I move on to the next hunting grounds.

Enchanting: Failed on the fusion bow twice, once after step 3 when I forgot to have my familiar with me and once on step 4...just bad luck or I'm not quite ready for fusion, not sure which. Going to try one more time to get the bow from 4x to 5x.

Highlights: I love 950...wasting 6 bandits at once with that spell is awesome.

Lowlights: Attempting an enchant and typing 525 instead of 925...not sure how I lived through that one.

[Askip]

<< Lowlights: Attempting an enchant and typing 525 instead of 925...not sure how I lived through that one. >>


Heh, been there, also 525 for 425. 525 is now a bright red highlight.

Askip spends most of his time in Illistim, when you feel ready to try the Aquaducts just give me a thought.

:D

[Whirlin]

<< Lowlights: Attempting an enchant and typing 525 instead of 925...not sure how I lived through that one. >>


Heh, been there, also 525 for 425. 525 is now a bright red highlight.

Askip spends most of his time in Illistim, when you feel ready to try the Aquaducts just give me a thought.

:D
I did that with 425/525.. .... .. When the small park wasn't a thing, and I cast it in TSSW... which also hit TSC... which is where deaders from TSSW fogged to. GMs stepped in.

[SashaFierce]

As far as training goes, I'd work towards 1x MjE and MnE. They're your main source of AS.

[macgyver]

Your name is badass. I wonder if there is a Bigby and Morderainkainen(sp?) running around somewhere?

[Tenser]

When i created Tenser Bigby and Mordenkainen were taken, but Tenser was my first choice anyway :) I heard there was a name purge in the early 2000s though, so maybe they are available.

[macgyver]

Score! Just grabbed Vecna!

https://1d4chan.org/images/thumb/4/4c/Vecna4e.jpg/300px-Vecna4e.jpg

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...not!

[Tenser]

<< Lowlights: Attempting an enchant and typing 525 instead of 925...not sure how I lived through that one. >>


Heh, been there, also 525 for 425. 525 is now a bright red highlight.

Askip spends most of his time in Illistim, when you feel ready to try the Aquaducts just give me a thought.

:D

Will do Askip. I am only getting approximately 1 level a month and the tower is good for a bit more so it may be a few months.

[Tenser]

Just made 76, so an update:

Deaths so far: Two to lucky goleras shot, then corpse mutliation and second death by moulis babies. One to 100th level bandits hanging out and ambushing me. Three to deaths during Wehnimer's invasion. The tower is really easy, so I'm sure to have a wake up call when I move on to the next hunting grounds.



As as aside: In 1998 I had 199 deeds. I haven't bought another one since then and I'm at 96 deeds. Considering I took 16 years off, it appears I die, and used to die, fairly regularly.

[Tenser]

An update.

I made 78 this week and died 2 more times. Once to a major ewave from a shrickhen (I didn't even know they could cast the major version!) and once to forgetting to use 416 on a box when attempting to pop it and it had a nasty blood sucking scarab waiting for me.

Getting fried is taking a lot longer, so my goal of moving on from the tower at 80 and on to the aqueducts is looking like a good plan.

I was able to enchant the fusion longbow successful up to 5x and I'm on step 4 of 6x at this point.

Questions: Is it worth trying to find some good ranger resists for OTF hunting? If it's worth it, what resist should I go for?

[Soulance]

An update.

I made 78 this week and died 2 more times. Once to a major ewave from a shrickhen (I didn't even know they could cast the major version!) and once to forgetting to use 416 on a box when attempting to pop it and it had a nasty blood sucking scarab waiting for me.

Getting fried is taking a lot longer, so my goal of moving on from the tower at 80 and on to the aqueducts is looking like a good plan.

I was able to enchant the fusion longbow successful up to 5x and I'm on step 4 of 6x at this point.

Questions: Is it worth trying to find some good ranger resists for OTF hunting? If it's worth it, what resist should I go for?
Your real trick in OTF is getting past the Ithzir. They are quick, swarm, and occasionally throw out webs that you'll get stuck in.

But that doesn't happen very often. When it does, watch out though! They will start to steal your stuff. I actually did pretty good getting through for the most part though.

Bring a crappy weapon and just 411 it or use an ebladed runestaff. Also, train in some CM if you haven't already as the gremlocks like to jump on your back and cut your throat.

Ducts were easy though, IMO. It was that space where you can't really exp from the ducts, but trying Ithzir pretty much meant a death every third run or so. And that was before the rapid fire nerf. Only way I could do it was to RF my way in and out as quickly as possible.

[Tenser]

Train in CM? Ugh. When the gremlocks cut your throat do they instantly kill you? Or is it like the bandits throat slash where you can't cast?

[Soulance]

Train in CM? Ugh. When the gremlocks cut your throat do they instantly kill you? Or is it like the bandits throat slash where you can't cast?
Depends. Sometimes you can catch them in the act and throw them off. The other option that happens is that you get your hands sliced up pretty bad because you were able to block it, but you can still cast and stuff.

The last one...yea, instant death. Good news is, they only rifle through your stuff for silver and gems occasionally.

And if you stay in OTF you'll want that Disarm CM training because that seems like all those Ithzir do to you in the beginning. They slap your runestaff/weapon and put you into rt. Then they grab it right away and kill you with your own weapon. Good times!

[Whirlin]

Train in CM? Ugh. When the gremlocks cut your throat do they instantly kill you? Or is it like the bandits throat slash where you can't cast?
Crit success: Instant Death. Otherwise, T3/T2/T1 neck wound.

Best avoid them... The southern aqueducts are a little less spammy than the northern aqueducts.

To avoid critters in the old city, just set a ring at 11813 and the aqueducts and ring once you're within OTF's barrier.

[Askip]

I did not bother with CM until after getting 3x spells, just too pricey. I enchanted a bunch of plain runestaves to 4x and carried a spare, expecting to lose one.

The seers were the biggest headache, they can appear and insta-dispel. With the new 520-water it is not such a problem.

Just ensure you are not carrying anything you cannot afford to lose to corpse looting, or double bag it.

Stay fairly unencumbered and the gremlocks will not get you too often.

Askip is always on the global amunet channel, give him a thought and I will set some rings and give you a tour.

:D

[dez]

Did they ever give Wizards a fixskill or anything after all the changes?

[Viekn]

They did. I think your account had to be active though to get it.

[Tenser]

I'm going to skip CM and see how it goes...but still 2 more levels to go before I move on from the tower.

Askip, I will be getting a hold of you once I'm ready as it would be nice to be shown around before the training wheels come off.

[Tenser]

Oh, I almost forgot I had some questions that no one answered:

Is it worth trying to find some good ranger resists for OTF hunting? If it's worth it, what resist should I go for?

[BriarFox]

Lightning resistance is great in OTF but rangers are still getting screwed in not being able to offer it. Gimme some storm griffin feathers and a little GSL ...

[dez]

They did. I think your account had to be active though to get it.

When was that i didnt get mine :o(

[Viekn]

When was that i didnt get mine :o(

Looks to be Jan 19th of 2016...http://forum.gsplayers.com/showthread.php?100196-Fixskill-(19th-Jan)&highlight=fixskill

[dez]

Looks to be Jan 19th of 2016...http://forum.gsplayers.com/showthread.php?100196-Fixskill-(19th-Jan)&highlight=fixskill

Ahhh Thanks for the info that falls right in the time i took a before christmas to after new year break darn!

[Tenser]

Ya, bummer. That falls right in my break that happened from 2001 to 2016. :p

So, you took off less than a month and missed a fix skill? That stinks, but doesn't everyone get a fix skill every May anyway?

[Askip]

Not sure on the ranger armor help, never bothered.

Wearing the same vanilla 7x fulls I have been using for a decade.

:D

[myriad]

Ahhh Thanks for the info that falls right in the time i took a before christmas to after new year break darn!

If you were gone for years, you should have a fixskill. If you don't, you can assist for a GM and they'll probably give you one.

[dez]

the thing is i never played the wizard because of the changes i messed with the fixskill after the annual because i thought they would give one.

[Tenser]

Back in the day, if you messed with your skills you either sucked forever or re-rolled. It's not so bad to just have to wait until May.

[dez]

Thats seeing it half full... i think. I'll wait till may thanks folks

[Donquix]

if you can't wait you can buy a fixskill potion from a player for what...3 or 4m? or from the simucoin store for 4500 coins (around $45)

[Tenser]

I spent some time in the NW corner of the aqueducts of OTF last night. Here are my current skills:

Tenser (at level 80), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 20 4
Physical Fitness...................| 181 81
Arcane Symbols.....................| 246 146
Magic Item Use.....................| 250 150
Spell Aiming.......................| 266 166
Harness Power......................| 180 80
Elemental Mana Control.............| 180 80
Spirit Mana Control................| 50 10
Elemental Lore - Air...............| 155 55
Elemental Lore - Water...............| 5 1
Perception.........................| 181 81
Climbing...........................| 120 30
Swimming...........................| 105 25

Spell Lists
Major Elemental....................| 79

Spell Lists
Minor Elemental....................| 56

Spell Lists
Wizard.............................| 72


I did pretty well against the beings, taints, and gremlocks. The gremlocks and taints have a really HIGH bolt DS (sometimes at least..not sure why it varied so much) and they were difficult to bring down. I resorted to 505, followed by a tremors tap, followed by 917 and that did the trick. It worked so well I'm considering using that combo all of the time. Why is the DS so high on some of these critters? What do other wizards do against the high DS?

[Askip]

I do not remember if they stun, but with turtled Ithzir I now plink away with the new 502.

Have you tried Call Wind?

:D

[Tenser]

I tried it once on a single taint and still couldn't hit it with my fire bolt. I will try call wind on my next attempt to give it another shot.

[Askip]

So Tenser, how are the 'ducts treating you?

:D

[Donquix]

The taints sometimes put up wall of force, so kinda shit out of luck when they do. proning and stancing them with 912 will obviously help but, still sucks.

[Tenser]

So the last few times out my old trick of tap/fire bolt works sometimes, but then I run into the wall of force or a super dodgy gremock.

Instead, I have found using a quartz orb and leading with 505, followed by a tremor tap and earthen fury has a 90%+ kill rate. I only have issues when it gets swarmy. In those situations I use a core tap with 410, 505, 502, 502, 502, 917. That usually does the trick, but is rough on the mana pool.

The other night I lost my runestaff in a swarm but made it out alive. Ozzan retrieved the staff for me. I'm glad to have it back, but it's a low value one and all of my decent stuff is locked away while in Otf.

Tremors+Cone/Bolt seems to be more mana efficient, but not as reliable as 505/Tremors/917 and being on the lower level side of things I'd rather play it safer.

[gs4Pawn]

If you train as a sword and board, and just use the shield you net a bit more DS, you can eblade a weapon and come out ahead!

[Tenser]

If you train as a sword and board, and just use the shield you net a bit more DS, you can eblade a weapon and come out ahead!

Ahead of what?

[Tenser]

So, Tenser is closing in on 82 now. I've tried various strategies and the best seems to be 505/tap tremors/917. I use a heavy quartz orb to get my CS up to where I hardly fail a 505 stun or a 516 mana leech. As soon as it gets swarmy, I do a 950 Core Tap with 410, 505, 502, 502, 502, 917 or if I don't have the mana or I'm on 950 cool down I run away. Been working so far.

Also, I've stayed super light and only had one gremlock injure me with a garrote, which resulted in a minor wound. I usually try to incapacitate the gremlocks fast, so I've only had 4 or 5 garrote attempts on me so far.

[Tenser]

Here is Tenser at post cap (just over 10m XP).

Tenser (at level 100), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 20 4
Physical Fitness...................| 201 101
Arcane Symbols.....................| 302 202
Magic Item Use.....................| 302 202
Spell Aiming.......................| 302 202
Harness Power......................| 200 100
Elemental Mana Control.............| 302 202
Spirit Mana Control................| 50 10
Elemental Lore - Air...............| 155 55
Elemental Lore - Fire...............| 90 20
Elemental Lore - Water...............| 25 5
Perception.........................| 201 101
Climbing...........................| 150 50
Swimming...........................| 150 50

Spell Lists
Major Elemental....................| 100

Spell Lists
Minor Elemental....................| 75

Spell Lists
Wizard.............................| 100

Not sure where I'm going to go next. Maybe a little water lore (~30 ranks?) and then start getting harness power up. I'd love earth lore for the extra TIME STOP and/or CORE TAP, but 40 and 60 ranks is a lot. I could also resign myself to the 303 spell rank slog, but I'm not quite ready for that.

Between having crit padded armor, high air lore, and keeping encumbrance low I haven't had many issues with combat manuevers in OTF or the Sanctum. Also, I can solo bandits (but need to be careful). So, given that I don't feel the need for CM ranks at this point.

Hunting strategies: 909/917 works great still on softly armored opponents, otherwise I use 410 -> 510/518 or 515 -> 903 (steam) depending on the number of opponents in the room. I have almost no issue with mana (thanks to 516) so rarely wrack in the field anymore, but more mana would nevertheless be a nice thing.

Deaths: In October 2016 I had 96 deeds, now I'm at 69 deeds. That's 27 deaths in 33 months. The deaths have slowed down somewhat, but still almost a death a month on average. I'm sure it would be a lot worse if I were hunting in a more challenging area (instead of OTF).

Any thoughts on what to train in next?

[Lord Orbstar]

I’d get swimming to 70 to be nice and safe in nelemar

[Stumplicker]

I didn't realize I was reading a 3 year old thread until the recommendation was to talk to Whirlin about archery. D:

Have you maxed out or hit whatever lore breakpoint you want for 520? If not, that's my recommendation. Also my wizard isn't anywhere near capped. Also his training is stupid and I have no idea what I'm talking about. But listen to me anyway.

[Askip]

You seem to have the basics covered and then some.

Another 5 ranks of air lore will get you one more disk item.

The rest of your training boils down to personal choice. :D

[Tenser]

Fair enough, no obvious choices I suppose. I think I'll shoot for 28 water lore, then some harness power and see how things go.