Is channel worth it at higher levels?

[Tgo01]

If I'm understanding Krakiipedia (http://www.krakiipedia.org/wiki/CHANNEL_%28verb%29) right then if I were to channel certain attack spells in offensive stance with one open hand then it basically adds 20 to warding roll failure. If my character isn't uber enough to risk taking a hit or two in offensive stance and the warding failures end up being 200+ then is it really worth it? Sounds like something that is more useful at lower levels where the warding rolls aren't that high.

[Kastrel]

I've never seen any concrete research to show the exact warding benefit gained by channeling, however, the spell in question and weapon build probably matters as well. At the very least, channeling from guarded is always stronger than casting, so unless you simply cannot spare the hard RT for some reason, channeling is always worth it.

For instance, in the case of mana disruption, channeling from guarded virtually guarantees that the two weakest possible results will never occur. Mana Disruption will do better stuns and damage even from defensive channel, and the benefits gradually increase as you shift to more offensive stances.

As for being at risk, one option is to incapacitate the target through web, stun, bind, etc, and then empty hands, stance off, and unleash.

Other spells are different, so I guess it would partially depend on the spell in question.

[Tgo01]

I went ahead and did some quick testing with Wither and I think you're right, there seems to be more to it than Krakiipedia is letting on. Sometimes I could hardly notice a difference at all from channeling in offense stance compared to casting from guarded stance but most of the time there was quite a huge noticeable difference. My damage went from 5's and 15's with cast to 15's, 20's and 50's with channel. I didn't try stowing my runestaff first though, think I'll try that out a bit later.

[Buckwheet]

Here is a problem I have with measuring the impact of channeling. These first two casts are open handed offensive stance. A negative difference of 4 on the second shot should not have made such a large difference in outcome. I can't explain why the second shot to the back on a lower end roll did almost double the damage. The third shot is a guarded shot with a runestaff which should have close to the same end result as the offensive channeled open hands. But it clearly does significantly more damage. I think it will be hard to track because it will really depend on the random selection of body parts you hit and then a seemingly random selection of how much damage the spell will do to the body part.

All three casts here should be within the same margins based on the Krakii article and all three casts did the same initial damage followed by the same body damage placement. If there was not some kind of strange random element here I would have expected all three casts to do a high enough critical to the back that all three should have been one cast kills.

These are three different seers. This was the opening cast done on each so there was no additional damage done prior to the casts.

You channel at an Ithzir seer.
You concentrate intently on an Ithzir seer, and a pulse of pearlescent energy ripples toward her!
CS: +508 - TD: +408 + CvA: +19 + d100: +10 == +129
Warding failed!
The Ithzir seer shudders with sporadic convulsions as pearlescent ripples envelop her body.
The Ithzir seer is smashed for 50 points of damage!
... 35 points of damage!
Hard blow to the Ithzir seer's back causes her to cry out in pain!
... 35 points of damage!
Massive blow removes the Ithzir seer's left forearm at the elbow!
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.

You channel at an Ithzir seer.
You concentrate intently on an Ithzir seer, and a pulse of pearlescent energy ripples toward her!
CS: +508 - TD: +411 + CvA: +19 + d100: +9 == +125
Warding failed!
The Ithzir seer shudders with sporadic convulsions as pearlescent ripples envelop her body.
The Ithzir seer is smashed for 50 points of damage!
... 60 points of damage!
Blow to back crushes spinal column.
Talk about no backbone!
The Ithzir seer falls to the ground in a crumpled heap.
The opalescent aura fades from around an Ithzir seer.
The deep blue glow leaves an Ithzir seer.
The Ithzir seer no longer bristles with energy.
The dim aura fades from around an Ithzir seer.
An Ithzir seer seems to lose an aura of confidence.
The light blue glow leaves an Ithzir seer.
The powerful look leaves an Ithzir seer.
The guiding force leaves an Ithzir seer.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
Roundtime: 3 sec.

You channel at an Ithzir seer.
You concentrate intently on an Ithzir seer, and a pulse of pearlescent energy ripples toward her!
CS: +508 - TD: +399 + CvA: +19 + d100: +22 == +150
Warding failed!
The Ithzir seer shudders with sporadic convulsions as pearlescent ripples envelop her body.
The Ithzir seer is crushed for 50 points of damage!
... 70 points of damage!
Blow to back removes the spinal column!
The Ithzir seer falls to the ground in a crumpled heap.
The opalescent aura fades from around an Ithzir seer.
The deep blue glow leaves an Ithzir seer.
The Ithzir seer no longer bristles with energy.
The dim aura fades from around an Ithzir seer.
An Ithzir seer seems to lose an aura of confidence.
The light blue glow leaves an Ithzir seer.
The powerful look leaves an Ithzir seer.
The guiding force leaves an Ithzir seer.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
Roundtime: 3 sec.

Basically a rank 6 followed by a rank 8 and a rank 9.

[Buckwheet]

Here is yet another oddity with them. First shot based on the other end rolls certainly had enough to kill it. Offensive open handed channel.

You channel at an Ithzir adept.
You concentrate intently on an Ithzir adept, and a pulse of pearlescent energy ripples toward her!
CS: +508 - TD: +395 + CvA: +19 + d100: +40 == +172
Warding failed!
The Ithzir adept shudders with severe convulsions as pearlescent ripples envelop her body.
The Ithzir adept is crushed for 50 points of damage!
... 35 points of damage!
Strong blow to left hand!
The Ithzir adept is stunned!
... 30 points of damage!
Good blow to chest!
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
Roundtime: 3 sec

So then I said well wait, maybe you can't get a good death crit on the second crit. That would appear to match what happened above with the seer. But then I got this gem being guarded with a runestaff:

You channel at an Ithzir herald.
You concentrate intently on an Ithzir herald, and a pulse of pearlescent energy ripples toward her!
CS: +508 - TD: +361 + CvA: +9 + d100: +60 == +216
Warding failed!
The Ithzir herald shudders with severe convulsions as pearlescent ripples envelop her body.
The Ithzir herald is crushed for 50 points of damage!
... 50 points of damage!
Left leg collapses as the bones turn to dust!
An Ithzir herald falls to the ground grasping her mangled left leg!
The Ithzir herald is stunned!
... 60 points of damage!
Blow to back crushes spinal column.
Talk about no backbone!
The Ithzir herald vainly struggles to rise, then goes still.
The tingling sensation and sense of security leaves an Ithzir herald.
The brilliant luminescence fades from around an Ithzir herald.
The silvery luminescence fades from around an Ithzir herald.
The bright luminescence fades from around an Ithzir herald.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
Roundtime: 3 sec.

So you can get a death crit from the second targeted area.

[Smythe]

Do yerself a favor. In upper levels, channel from guarded is 'bout as good as channel from offensive. An' channel wit' one open hand (runestaff users) is 'bout as good as channel wit' two open hands.

Try it, an' like it. Safer, too!

- Smythe

[Kastrel]

I can't account for spells like Boneshatter or Wither, but I can definitely say there is a noticable difference between guarded/one hand/channel and offensive/two hand/channel for Mana Disruption. Unfortunately, the spell is still weak as hell either way, but you can be nearly guaranteed high damage tiers and some of the more significant crit levels by doing so. Meanwhile, Mana Disruption simply cast normally takes 300+ endrolls to become really powerful.

[everan]

I generally use 240 when I hunt, I never channel and I don't have much trouble killing most things with 2 casts. I'm not a numbers person, so if the numbers say to do it, then do it, but I like to be safe behind my runestaff in guarded. I also tend to snipe, so I'm not staying in the room with those angry creatures either. When I hunt in groups I switch up between 317 and 302 and drop 240 so as not to do too much damage.

[Drakefang]

I can't speak for being high level. At level 45 I notice the most difference with 302. I get generally higher damage/crit results with two open hands from offensive stance. My cleric does train in brawling to provide some DS using uac gloves and the basic brawling skill DS. Also went ahead and got the single rank of twc to provide a touch more minimal DS. I've seen some posts regarding primarily 302 and being open handed. The gist I got from it was that it's noticeably more damaging but your overall safety shrinks almost as rapidly. I might attempt it at higher levels if a creature in the area disarmed with regularity or cast itchy curse. Otherwise, I presume you are, at the very least, marginally safer casting from a less offensive stance or with a runestaff in one hand. I think the trick to this is that there are points between guarded with a runestaff and fully offensive with two open hands.

I guess the last thing to consider in all this is how important it is to be able to cast and still be in soft rt? There may come a point as a pure (which I've not reached yet) where it's ultimately safer to be able to cast and move versus cast and wait for a possible response.