CM!

[MaryJane]

Have any empaths tried to train in CM yet?!

[Miss X]

:lol: I wish! There is no way I have spare points to train in CM since I have a lot of lore training, and I 2x hp. I think I'm far more effective with bone shatter than I am with a weapon, I can get my AS to 330 ish but its not good enough for the places I hunt and the 5 seconds in offensive are enough to kill me.
Vx

[MaryJane]

How many trains are you? Where do you hunt? You kill solely with that?

All this talk about bone shatter is making me wonder, if I should try just that. But it seems that when the Phase two changes come out, I'll have no choice but to give up swinging, so maybe I should have the OHE fun while it lasts..

[Miss X]

I hunt ogres/vipers in the blighted forest around Illistim. All I hunt with is bone shatter, I 3x first aid and 2x manipulation lore to make it more effective, I also channel open handed. I have 214 mana and pulse quite high so I rarely run out.

I swing occasionaly, like if I go to the temple to kill something I couldnt ward with bone shatter but I do like half the damage with one swing, as I do with one cast of bone shatter.
Vx

[Czeska]

I hunt with bone shatter and wands. That's it. I kill lotsa stuff :)

[Mint]

Originally posted by MaryJane
How many trains are you? Where do you hunt? You kill solely with that?

All this talk about bone shatter is making me wonder, if I should try just that. But it seems that when the Phase two changes come out, I'll have no choice but to give up swinging, so maybe I should have the OHE fun while it lasts..


Eh? What about the phase two changes will effect swinging empaths? Youre scaring me since my empath swings.

[StrayRogue]

In Phase II Empaths are losing the Major Spirit Circle, ergo Heroism and Bravery.

[Mint]

But are they receiving something that will compensate for the loss? I have really been concentrating on the major circle to get 225. This sucks.

[StrayRogue]

Yeah. You are getting a new spell circle. Major or Minor (I forget) Mentalism.

[Xcalibur]

minor

Major will be only for savant as major spirit will be only for cleric as major elemental will be only for wizard

[Miss X]

If you read through the official forums, there will be a replacement for 225 in the minor mentalist circle apparently, but I won't believe it till I see it personally.
I think once phase 2 happens, a weapon swinging empath will be hard to manage.
I cant wait to get the new attack spells, hunting with just one spell gets a bit boring!
Vx

[MaryJane]

OK FINE you've talked me into it, I still have all of my reallocations left til I think.. the 18th. It's kinda imbedded into my head since I get that stupid like ATTENTION everytime I log in. SO what do your training plan look like?!

[Miss X]

Ok, this is my basic plan, feel free to IM me at GS3Chica if you wanna know anything else!
1x armor to 8 ranks
1x shield for life
1x blunt for life
1x perc for life
2x harness power for life
1.5x mental lore manipulation for life
2.5x first aid for life
.5x survival for life
1x physical fitness to 22 ranks
1x MIU to 25 ranks
1x Arcane Symbols to 25 ranks
1x mana control spirit to 24 ranks
1x climb to 25 ranks
1x swim to 25 ranks.

Forgot to add, spell wise I got up to 225 and 130, and everything else is in Empath to make my bone shatter CS the highest.

[Edited on 9-1-04 by Miss X]

[Mint]

I have done some research on empath stat placement but ended up more confused than when I started. I dont think I have my stats placed well because, although I swing okay I cant afford to train in much else and I am not too successful with bone shatter for some reason. My giant empath is 16 trains and I have fun with her so I really want her to be viable and around for a long time. Can you make some suggestions for the stats please? This is her current skill training:

30 Armor Use
82 Shield Use
82 Edged Weapons
111 Physical Fitness
111 Harness Power
50 Mental Mana Control
50 Spirit Mana Control
132 Mental Lore - Transformation
50 Climbing

And her current stat placement:


Statistic Bonus
Constitution (CON) : 75 ... 22
Dexterity (DEX) : 59 ... -1
Discipline (DIS) : 68 ... 9
Logic (LOG) : 68 ... 4
Intuition (INT) : 58 ... 4
Strength (STR) : 78 ... 29
Agility (AGL) : 59 ... -1
Influence (INF) : 85 ... 22
Wisdom (WIS) : 88 ... 19
Aura (AUR) : 81 ... 10

[MaryJane]

Does spell aiming effect Bone shatter?

[Miss X]

Nope, it affects 111. The only things that affect bone shatter are manipulation lore and first aid.
Vx

[MaryJane]

>skill
Lylonna (at level 41), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 130 35
Shield Use.........................| 142 42
Edged Weapons......................| 143 43
Physical Fitness...................| 114 28
Arcane Symbols.....................| 102 24
Magic Item Use.....................| 99 23
Harness Power......................| 184 84
Spiritual Lore - Summoning.........| 35 7
Mental Lore - Manipulation.........| 156 56
Survival...........................| 99 23
Perception.........................| 122 31
Climbing...........................| 62 13
Swimming...........................| 62 13
First Aid..........................| 183 83

Spell Lists
Major Spirit.......................| 25

Spell Lists
Minor Spirit.......................| 30

Spell Lists
Empath.............................| 28

And.. wait.. I just noticed, what's the spiritual lore summoning for? Edit - Oh, it's for summoning spirits. Does this have anything to do with the spirit servant spell?

[Edited on 1-10-2004 by MaryJane]

[Edited on 1-10-2004 by MaryJane]

[Miss X]

I would lower the armor a lot, since if your casting it will be a nightmare wearing brig. Get 8 and wear doubles. The rest looks pretty good, very simelar to how I have Chica trained.

Spiritual lore, summoning as far as I know increases the effects of unbalance and fire spirit. It also reduces the time it takes for the cloud to form when casting call lightening. It increases the time that the silence spell lasts, and also the duration of spirit servant as well as adding to the preservation that the servant can give you if you die. Pretty good but I prefer getting the odd rank in transformation to reduce healing RT. Its a personal choice though.
Vx

[MaryJane]

Thanks for all your help! I'm really going to cry giving up the padded brig.. but I'll try it.

[Miss X]

Well, if you can put up with the hinderance wearing brig then stick with it, I hate it though so I just wear 5x doubles. Since I stick in guarded stance while casting I rarely get hurt, and I think since GS4 I've died once while hunting and that was Faeroth poison!
Vx

[Snapp]

My empath trains in CM... but with only 1 CM manuever available to empaths right now.. it's solely for the AS bonus. I swing a weapon, and use spells.. I like the combo, rather then being a pure caster. Here are his skill placements:

(at level 39), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 40 8
Shield Use.........................| 141 41
Combat Maneuvers...................| 50 10
Blunt Weapons......................| 141 41
Physical Fitness...................| 111 27
Arcane Symbols.....................| 114 28
Magic Item Use.....................| 117 29
Spell Aiming.......................| 182 82
Harness Power......................| 141 41
Spirit Mana Control................| 114 28
Spiritual Lore - Summoning.........| 86 19
Mental Lore - Manipulation.........| 141 41
Survival...........................| 50 10
Perception.........................| 78 17
Climbing...........................| 50 10
Swimming...........................| 50 10
First Aid..........................| 182 82

[Edited on 1-11-2004 by Snapp]

[Zephyrius]

I also do CM, although I need two more ranks to improve on cmove.

I don't know what I'm doing when I get to enemies I can reliably hit with spells that are at my level. Personally, I have never seen one. My CS is always high enough to hit but low enough to miss more than I want. So I stick with the weapons. I do enjoy using Shatter, but I don't know how viable it'll be for the way my character has been constituted.

Anyway, CM was a big goal for me in GS3, and in GS4, not as much since it doesn't as DS up front anymore. But I intend to train it up to 10 at least, and any more as I get the points.

Zephyrius (at level 25), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 40 8
Shield Use.........................| 111 27
Combat Maneuvers...................| 40 8
Edged Weapons......................| 111 27
Physical Fitness...................| 108 26
Magic Item Use.....................| 90 20
Harness Power......................| 108 26
Mental Mana Control................| 108 26
Spirit Mana Control................| 108 26
Mental Lore - Manipulation.........| 58 12
Mental Lore - Transformation.......| 66 14
Survival...........................| 108 26
Perception.........................| 58 12
Climbing...........................| 58 12
Swimming...........................| 58 12
First Aid..........................| 168 68

Spell Lists
Major Spirit.......................| 15

Spell Lists
Minor Spirit.......................| 20

Spell Lists
Empath.............................| 20