To GoS or not to Gos? That is the ?

[OutlawJD]

Hey gang I am a re-returning GS3er who brought over my empath from the olden days. In spite of his age, he is only in his 30s. Currently, he is a CoL master, but I was considering changing to GoS for the Sigil of Power/1107 exploit. My question, can a level 30s pure caster manage GoS with a reasonable numbers of death? Is the SoP/117 exploit as good as it sounds?

A little about my empath. Currently, my empath is of the runestaff, 1106ing variety. I tried using spell-aim but I found that, at my level and race limitions (giantmen aren't the best bolters,) bolting didn't work for me. I've been focusing on over training empath and have a nice CS. I plan to switch to switch into some SA once bolts became more pratical with my mana pool.

I have a similar leveled GoS Wizzie. He had no problems mastering GoS since the warcamps are pretty easy at low levels and he was fortunate to find another pre-teen GoSer who was a warcamp fanatic! In spite of that, my Wizzie spent a fair amount of time slogging his way through warcamps solo. As he hit the 20s, he found it near impossible to solo the warcamps because of the nasty AoE spells and the increased CMAN usage of the Grimswarm. My Wizzie was constantly dying and subsequently has given them up.

I think GoS might have more utility for my empath than CoL. I don't, however, want to switch over if it means that I will never master because of never finding a party/partner and inability to complete camp missions. Has anyone carried a similarly leveled/built empath through GoS and how did you survive the war camps?

Oh, and cause I know someone will say, I will not re-skill as a swinger. My empath suffered through days when hunting was painful for an empath and once he got his spells, he hung up his falchion for good.

[Lumi]

I mastered GoS with a low level empath polearmer. It was utterly painful. I never knew that there was a level of Death's Sting called "Crushing!" until then =P

(Then I did it as a polearm warrior, and I have to say, it made all the difference in the world. MUCH easier.)

I have since converted the empath to a pure caster, and I can say without reservation that the 1107/SoP combo IS worth it. It's ludicrous how much mana you can produce, especially as a 3x PF giant.

A note about working through the ranks as a caster: get 111 and 2x Spell Aim, and whatever you need for splash damage (Summoning Lore, I think?). Then find troll camps, and let the fire do all the work for you.

Warcamp only with similarly leveled people (or someone a little below you, if you can keep them alive). Don't be afraid to run. Abuse the hut. Don't be afraid to get outside spells (alchemy has made this MUCH easier; check one of the PS sites to find a shop selling 401/406/414 potions) and use small statues like they're going out of style.

Alternatively, it is completely possible to master without killing more than a handful of Grim inside a warcamp. Grind on hated enemies, do tasks, rinse, repeat...it adds up pretty fast. You will have to raze some warcamps, but not many.

Is it tough? Yes, GoS is pretty much always tough, but it's absolutely doable. If you like healing, it's also pretty damn awesome to have the extra +15 HP recovery of Sigil of Mending on top of your Troll's Blood bonus and 3x PF. My empath recovers an insane amount of blood per round, I love it.