balefire splash question

[Orthin]

So I am having a hard time understanding the splash target portion of the WIKI for Balefire.

Do I need to have MOC AND Demonology or just demonology? I feel like I need at least 1 rank MOC and then however many demonology to get it rocking, but if I don't...woohoo!

[Avaia]

Both is best.

Given The number of targets is the smaller number of [First Roll + Lore Skill Modifier] and [Second Roll + MOC Ranks] if you only have one or the other one of the rolls for number of targets will be +0.

[Orthin]

okay so at minimum I would want 1 MOC for the effectiveness

[Maerit]

We should just petition Simu to make Balefire an AE CS spell. Sorcerers suck at bolting!

[Orthin]

We should just petition Simu to make Balefire an AE CS spell. Sorcerers suck at bolting!

That's what I am actually building my Sorc off of! 705 - 710 *good focused casting* - 713 - 720 *good focused casting*

[Maerit]

I just tested it out. Star Curse + 513 & 211 from scrolls. I have 202 spell aiming and 102 ranks in Demon lore. DE with 100 Dex (35 bonus) and my AS was only 439... Here's what it looked like:



You gesture at a pale scaled shaper.
You hurl a ball of greenish-black flame at a pale scaled shaper!
AS: +439 vs DS: +370 with AvD: +65 + d100 roll: +77 = +211
... and hit for 72 points of damage!
Intense beam of plasma shears away large chunks of the scaled shaper's forearm!
The ball of greenish-black flame strikes a pale scaled shaper, blossoming into a much larger sphere of flame upon impact.
... 15 points of damage!
The scaled shaper's hand blisters and bleeds from intense heat.

A burst of flame from your ball of greenish-black flame flies off and hits a lithe veiled sentinel.
... 20 points of damage!
Wreath of energy burns away the veiled sentinel's hair and leaves skin blackened!

A burst of flame from your ball of greenish-black flame flies off and hits a deathsworn fanatic.
... 30 points of damage!
Skin and muscle roasted away leaving the ribs exposed on the deathsworn fanatic's back!
The deathsworn fanatic is stunned!

A burst of flame from your ball of greenish-black flame flies off and hits a deathsworn fanatic.
... 15 points of damage!
The deathsworn fanatic's hand blisters and bleeds from intense heat.

A burst of flame from your ball of greenish-black flame flies off and hits a pale scaled shaper.
... 15 points of damage!
Plasma scorches a hole in the scaled shaper's shield arm!
The scaled shaper is stunned!

A burst of flame from your ball of greenish-black flame flies off and hits a pale scaled shaper.
... 15 points of damage!
Blistering bolt of energy causes the scaled shaper's eyelid to burn to a crisp!
The scaled shaper is stunned!
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.


So using outside spells + having to keep stupid Star Curse going and my AS is sad.

Instead, I just cast 719 at these things and 1-shot them, then move to the next target.


You gesture at a deathsworn fanatic.
CS: +560 - TD: +417 + CvA: +15 + d100: +80 == +238
Warding failed!
... and hits for 44 points of damage!
A deathsworn fanatic is suddenly engulfed in flames of pure essence!
... 55 points of damage!
Left arm incinerated. Unfortunate.
The deathsworn fanatic is stunned!
... 75 points of damage!
Belly is now a block of ice. So much for breakfast!
A deathsworn fanatic collapses to the floor in a susurrus of robes, crying out, "It is the end, but the moment has been prepared for!"
A shadow seems to detach itself from a deathsworn fanatic, swiftly dissipating into the air.
The silvery luminescence fades from around a deathsworn fanatic.
The bright luminescence fades from around a deathsworn fanatic.
The brilliant luminescence fades from around a deathsworn fanatic.
You feel 4 mana surge into you!
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.


Since Balefire is so inefficient at killing groups. All it is useful for is "tagging" things for contributing in a party, which you can do better with 709.

I always advocate dropping all spell aiming and focus on spell ranks until cap, and then it's worth getting only for 720. However, I can appreciate RP reasons for bolting and what have you, or "challenging" yourself. Not going to diminish you in any way for training however you like, only suggestions in case you're looking to have a more efficient / optimal hunting style.

It would be nice if bolting as a sorcerer really did work well, but right now we're no good.

[Avaia]

I just tested it out. Star Curse + 513 & 211 from scrolls. I have 202 spell aiming and 102 ranks in Demon lore. DE with 100 Dex (35 bonus) and my AS was only 439...

439 seems low. Avaias' AS with Star Curse, same Dex and less Demon Lore is 424. +20 from 513 and +15 from 211 would make it 459. Not that 459 is good but I am wondering why yours is 20 lower.

[Winter]

I just tested it out. Star Curse + 513 & 211 from scrolls. I have 202 spell aiming and 102 ranks in Demon lore. DE with 100 Dex (35 bonus) and my AS was only 439...

Is that including society bonuses because that seems a little bit low. On a side note I think it would be fantastic RPwise to see the Necromancers casting their own version of major cold and also a poison/disease bolt.

[Gelston]

I tried to make a bolting Sorc... It just suuuuuucks so bad. That spell should really be looked at, maybe as a CS spell, a SMR, or just have an innate AS increase attached to it.

[Maerit]

439 seems low. Avaias' AS with Star Curse, same Dex and less Demon Lore is 424. +20 from 513 and +15 from 211 would make it 459. Not that 459 is good but I am wondering why yours is 20 lower.

True, I actually don't use symbol of courage, so I did not use that +26AS. Unfortunately, having to rely on outside spells you need off a scroll alongside with a DF that is so low. Major Acid (1710) has much better DFs and is a 10th circle spell vs 713 at 13th circle.

And 705's DF is also sadface.

[Maerit]

I tried to make a bolting Sorc... It just suuuuuucks so bad. That spell should really be looked at, maybe as a CS spell, a SMR, or just have an innate AS increase attached to it.

Or make the summoned demon that empowers you give you bolt AS.

[Avaia]

True, I actually don't use symbol of courage, so I did not use that +26AS. Unfortunately, having to rely on outside spells you need off a scroll alongside with a DF that is so low. Major Acid (1710) has much better DFs and is a 10th circle spell vs 713 at 13th circle.

And 705's DF is also sadface.

Huh?

713 has a better DF than 1710 against Leather/Scale/Plate at its base. 102 Demon Lore would give it a better DF against Chain too. I didn't count Symbol of Courage either so that would make it 459+26=485.

[Xred]

713 is great for “tagging” and stunning bandits and groups of monsters post cap.

Often in groups, you have have to tag a number monsters to get credit. This is true of bandits or in reim. You can use 709 to tag but you usually won’t get exp credit.

If you 713 a group of mobs, with sufficient training, your explosion will hit all the monsters in the room, often stunning half of them. This makes it very group friendly and efficient. Especially for bandits.

Now, 713’s Damage ratio is about .295 for plate and only .310 for chain, so against bandits and other heavily armored monsters, that isn’t great or efficient. It should just be used for stunning and crowd control. The other half of bandits use chain and 705 bolt is very deadly against those bandits. Against chain, bolting 705 has a DF of .350. For chain, mana-wise, it’s one of the best in the game. Bolting 705 however, sucks against plate, it has a DF .197. So simply put, against chain 705 is great, better than 713 and sucks with plate. 713 is ok against plate but is inefficient. Against cloth and leather 705 outperforms 713 too. 713 is meant for the splash.

You can tell if a bandit is wearing plate, when you cast a warding spell at it it’s CvA is -10. Don’t Bolt it. Cast 705 as normal. If you see it’s CvA is +1 or 0, or -1, it’s wearing chain, and you’ll destroy it with bolting 705 especially with signs up and if it’s on the ground. I highlighted that CvA string and now it’s super easy to see it’s armor.

Also, if you have a demon, send it mana and with normal 1x mana control training it will attack with each 713 bolt about 40% of the time. They will usually add about 35 damage to the bolt. I think with full 2x mana control the demon will attack about 96%-ish percent of the time you bolt 713, which is amazing.

To me, the best hunting tactic is to 709 a bandit room, bolt 713 and tag everything, and stun half. And start pecking them down with 705 warding for plate bandits and 705 bolt with chain bandits. When you have extra mana send an other volley of 713 and all the bandits will be stunned or disabled.

I recommend spell aim post cap for bandits. Also several ranks of MoC, I just got my 5th so at a minimum the flares will strike five targets.

Demon ranks give you the max splash targets for 713. MoC sets the floor. So I recommend 11 ranks of demon to start as it gives you up to 5 splash targets and fits nicely with 90 ranks of necro. Next, I recommend getting two ranks of MoC, so you will hit a min of 2 bandits with the splash. With this when you bolt you will splash 2-5 each time you 713. After that, it’s up to you.

[Maerit]

709 should give you XP credit as well as tagging credit. It's how sorcerers do groups.

[Vishnell]

Yep. I tag with 709 to start and by the time i get my next two casts off, most everything already died to everyone else.

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