CMAN or not to CMAN

[Insodus]

I'm looking into retraining my wizard/cleric hunting team.

Currently wizard is shield/brawl. The offensive DS is nice and I love not being able to get disarmed/weapon fired. Cleric is runestaff and I want to get him into an open hand too.

Some people tell me for a cleric, since the spirit spells give good bolt DS, to skip shield, and go brawl/cman. But that seems silly to me. They say cman training will help defend against maneuvers, but I thought having lots of PF ranks did that too.

So anyway, my question is, which really is better for a cleric, shield/brawl or brawl/cman?

And if cman is really nice, should I be trying to work that into my wizard training too?

They both already have good physical fitness.

[Askip]

I got three ranks of CMAN DISARM for my capped mage because I was tired of picking up my runestaff in OTF. Other than that I've seen no need.

:D

[Fallen]

For the cleric, I would recommend getting the shield. Unless you are trying to do a hell of a lot with those points..which I can't see them all being dumped into CMANS being worth, it is a fine investment of points. And as an aside, Spirit servant does wonders for item loss in terms of disarm for the cleric.

For the wizard, that is a tough call, but I think in OTF if you are going to hunt it pre-cap, I would recommend getting some disarm training as a runestaffer. You could likely wear enough spells to keep you safe most of the time, even if disarmed. However, the RT gets annoying, and a timely disarm can make an already bit of shitty luck even worse. Griffin swats can give upwards of 24..even 32? on a rare failure. Add another 15 for a decent disarm and you might as well go read a book.

For other CMANs for pures, I can't say as they are worth it outside of CvC. Rheisia had 5 ranks of trip and said it sucked. Feint looks to be the only other viable option.

Edited to add, Seers can bolt upwards of 550 when they are high gen, even higher with their rare telekenic throw, and can get into the 600's with Spirit Strike. Scouts are always hurling their weapons at you, often from hiding. You will be facing a lot of nasty bolt/ranged attacks.

[Tea & Strumpets]

They say cman training will help defend against maneuvers, but I thought having lots of PF ranks did that too.


CMAN's are a separate category from maneuver attacks.

I don't think physical fitness helps your defense against CMAN's, but I know combat maneuver ranks do. Physical fitness helps against maneuver attacks.

[TheEschaton]

For the cleric, go shield/brawl, and cast 218 any time you go into an area like OTF where shit disarms. Spirit Servants AUTOMATICALLY pick up your weapon/runestaff/whatever when you're disarmed, even if you yourself are in RT.

-TheE-

[Insodus]

Ah wonderful advice!

So PF is still good to have for maneuver attacks, but since I'm MA and can pick up each others weapons if disarmed CMANs are pretty much pointless.

I guess shield/brawl for both of them.

And out of curiosity, I 1x in first aid on the cleric already for tending, if I just picked up say .5x survival, would I be able to skin around my level? (I havent been able to skin much so far only 1x'ing)

[TheEschaton]

Spirit Servant is spell 218. It creates a familiar which will automatically picks up your runestaff if disarmed. No need to MA.

-TheE-

[fallenSaint]

Runestaff for t3h lames.. Dump brawling and shield training and use a shield and toss your points into something more magical.

[Insodus]

So use a shield and open hand but don't train for it? that sounds silly. if i'm going to put that much into magical stuffs my runestaff DS is going to skyrocket.