FrostElfGuard
05-09-2006, 01:50 PM
BattleMage Guide: Niobium Bound: The Wanderer in the Valley of Tears by
Heikkinen
translated by Frost
1. Introduction
2. Attributes
3. Skills
4. Spells
5. Playstyle
6. Recommended Equipment
7. Conclusion
1. Introduction
In the German release 2.25 (before Oct 2005), the Hell Golems in the Valley of Tears gained a huge damage bonus in Platinum: ignore resistance. Also, the Golems speed up--similar to the dwarf combat art BattleRage.
This guide was made in reaction to the increase danger... and recognizing that Valley of Tears is the pre-eminant place to get experience. It was recognized that leveling in Platinum under these conditions was suicidal.
So, an old strategy was reworked for the BattleMage. The Air-Ground Mage.
2. Attributes
Only Mental one and Physical Regeneration are applicable. Mental Regeneration is most important, but hit points provide a cushion...so only only levels divisible by 5 are points put
into PR, other levels, points go into MR.
3. Skills
Default skills of Magic Lore and Meditation are taken.
Stage 1: Magic Lore
Keep at Char level until 130 points. Boost with equipment at all times above char level.
Stage 1: Meditation
Increase to 130 also. Meditation is paramount.. you spell regen depends on it.
Stage 3: Air magic
Our main spell is Gust of Wind (GoW). GoW is most effective at range against the Golems since their Poison Resistance is their lowest resistance. Secondly, GoW has knockback, which means the Golems will not be able to melee with the Mage. Regen times should be short for your GoW, and cast times too... so regen time is more important than high damage! Aim for a 0.9 second regen for your GoW. Top end: 140 to 150 points.
Stage 6: Agility
We need Agility to survive the lower levels, and it will have some us later as well. We will be taking Parry later, but for now, take this. Invest no more than 40 points in Agility.
Stage 12: Earth magic
Our second and last charm school. Since this is predominantly consulted for the support, we assign here only points as required, until the cast time animation is minimum. (see below)
Stage 20: Constitution
Life insurance. Golems hit for > 17,000 points of life in Platinum. We have to survive at least one hit. So we need approximately 190% life increase, which translates to 130 to
140 skill points.
Stage 30: Trade
We will need Trade when we are in platinum, but not so much before. In Plat, it must be boosted well over character level to get us the equipment we need. We'll need regen spells, pluses to Gust of Wind, on all our armour. To get there, make sure you use pieces from Mammons Treaures set, Gorthar's Dark Plans (hat), and anything with +Trade. With a base of 40 Trade coming into Plat, we should have over 200 (with item boost) in Trade.
Stage 50: Parry
Take 64 points in Parry. The Sakkara demons and one other species (probably Cerebropods or Shadow Guards) are stun immune. Thus, you will be hit in VoT. With Parry, (and a shield equipped) you should be OK.
4. Spells
4,1 Gust of Wind (GoW)
Main spell. Very imporant, I'll say again: regen time under 1 second. I read only one rune until character level 135. Regen time is king over damage. Period.
4,2 Meteor Storm (MS)
Use to tickle (draw enemies to you). Goo d against ranged attackers. Keep the regen under >2 seconds. Use Earth magic to adjust times (combined with, of course, your regen spells equipment!)
4,3 Circle of Fear (CoF)
Cast of Circle of Fear before attacking monsters. The Circle to be effective must be high enough a level. If too low, monsters simply cross it and attack us. Create a combo
suit, store it in your chest, and use it to make a combo for this spell. Cast the spell from combo to avoid damaging our normal spell timer. Keep concentration potions on you to regen it. Note: Casting a new Circle of Fear before the old one disappears is useful...since the overlap of the spells will provide infinitely better protection. Thanks to Luisiana for this information.
4,4 WaterForm (WF)
Use this to enter Valley of Tears from the Underground portal. Guarentees you will not be mobbed upon arrival in VoT. Also, you can position yourself for your first volley before the monsters react. Read every rune of it your encounter.
4.5 freely provably
Circle of Fear works against dragons! CoF is also good in caves where space is tight, you can use it to squeeze opponents against walls.
I made my Mage with Ghost Meadow (GM). You, of course, can take it. :)
If you do take GM, then you can have more powerful spells, and you should always have it on. Again, put it in a combo...since you need your GoW timer AS REQUIRED...not after a regen post GM!
I avoided WhirlWind (WW) because of eye fatigue. Further, in VoT there are no ranged fighters, so I did not want to take such protection.
In short: Ghost Meadow, WhirlWind, StoneSkin, Petrify, ShieldWall are all useful, but not necessary. The last two are particularly useful. (Frost writes: presumes that Petrify is used on the odd creature than is trapped inside the Circle of Fear with you.--Just petrify them...
move and recast CoF.)
5. Playstyle
Do grow your Mage to level 40 before venturing to VoT. The Frost Giants are particularly fun to play with while we're growing up. :)
When ready to go to VoT:
1) Prepare WaterForm just before using underground portal rooms at Haven Isle.
2) Line up your targets, and blow them away! :)
3) Keep initiative.
4) Never fight mixed groups if you can--lure away members using Meteor Storm. You don't want to be fixed in place, zapped (timers stopped by Cerebropods), and beaten to a pulp...all at the same time from multiple targets!
5) Flee when your timer is stopped.
6) Clear areas so you have an area to run back into that is safe. Do not leave your backtrail dirty!
6. Recommended Equipment
Use the complete German named set: Klingsor, in English: Amarris' Secret---because of its bonus on Magic Lore, Meditation and Magic Lore. The build becomes more powerful with the secret damage (unresistable damage) provided by the complete set.
Since the set lacks arms, items with spell regen are recommended.
At higher levels, you should use Lara Aime's Book of Magic (an unique BM weapon) as your primary weapon.
Also recommended is: "das Buch der Magie und der Metallschild der Gilde", which translates (poorly) as: "that metal shield of the Guild".
You want to have 25% life leech, regen spells (by then 40% regen should be available), crit--as much as possible, ELV(frost's note!! ELV???) (8% is safe), +20% poison damage (1 ring is enough), experience gain, and resistance: particularly magic reistance if you go to VoT.
And: NO SPLIT. I repeat NO SPLIT. (Frost extrapolates:Split monsters would appear right next to you...and in the case of Platinum Golems...hit you for 17,000 damage..and start
speeding up 'cause they hit you...)
7. Conclusion
Sodele wanted to continue leveling beyond VoT in Plat, and thus this guide was built. It still is versatile enough to work everywhere. Stick to the guide to survive the Plat 2.25 Golems... See the Guide not as dogma, but take you out that, which can need you and informs me about errors or possibilities for improvement.
Have fun!!!
Heikkinen
translated by Frost
1. Introduction
2. Attributes
3. Skills
4. Spells
5. Playstyle
6. Recommended Equipment
7. Conclusion
1. Introduction
In the German release 2.25 (before Oct 2005), the Hell Golems in the Valley of Tears gained a huge damage bonus in Platinum: ignore resistance. Also, the Golems speed up--similar to the dwarf combat art BattleRage.
This guide was made in reaction to the increase danger... and recognizing that Valley of Tears is the pre-eminant place to get experience. It was recognized that leveling in Platinum under these conditions was suicidal.
So, an old strategy was reworked for the BattleMage. The Air-Ground Mage.
2. Attributes
Only Mental one and Physical Regeneration are applicable. Mental Regeneration is most important, but hit points provide a cushion...so only only levels divisible by 5 are points put
into PR, other levels, points go into MR.
3. Skills
Default skills of Magic Lore and Meditation are taken.
Stage 1: Magic Lore
Keep at Char level until 130 points. Boost with equipment at all times above char level.
Stage 1: Meditation
Increase to 130 also. Meditation is paramount.. you spell regen depends on it.
Stage 3: Air magic
Our main spell is Gust of Wind (GoW). GoW is most effective at range against the Golems since their Poison Resistance is their lowest resistance. Secondly, GoW has knockback, which means the Golems will not be able to melee with the Mage. Regen times should be short for your GoW, and cast times too... so regen time is more important than high damage! Aim for a 0.9 second regen for your GoW. Top end: 140 to 150 points.
Stage 6: Agility
We need Agility to survive the lower levels, and it will have some us later as well. We will be taking Parry later, but for now, take this. Invest no more than 40 points in Agility.
Stage 12: Earth magic
Our second and last charm school. Since this is predominantly consulted for the support, we assign here only points as required, until the cast time animation is minimum. (see below)
Stage 20: Constitution
Life insurance. Golems hit for > 17,000 points of life in Platinum. We have to survive at least one hit. So we need approximately 190% life increase, which translates to 130 to
140 skill points.
Stage 30: Trade
We will need Trade when we are in platinum, but not so much before. In Plat, it must be boosted well over character level to get us the equipment we need. We'll need regen spells, pluses to Gust of Wind, on all our armour. To get there, make sure you use pieces from Mammons Treaures set, Gorthar's Dark Plans (hat), and anything with +Trade. With a base of 40 Trade coming into Plat, we should have over 200 (with item boost) in Trade.
Stage 50: Parry
Take 64 points in Parry. The Sakkara demons and one other species (probably Cerebropods or Shadow Guards) are stun immune. Thus, you will be hit in VoT. With Parry, (and a shield equipped) you should be OK.
4. Spells
4,1 Gust of Wind (GoW)
Main spell. Very imporant, I'll say again: regen time under 1 second. I read only one rune until character level 135. Regen time is king over damage. Period.
4,2 Meteor Storm (MS)
Use to tickle (draw enemies to you). Goo d against ranged attackers. Keep the regen under >2 seconds. Use Earth magic to adjust times (combined with, of course, your regen spells equipment!)
4,3 Circle of Fear (CoF)
Cast of Circle of Fear before attacking monsters. The Circle to be effective must be high enough a level. If too low, monsters simply cross it and attack us. Create a combo
suit, store it in your chest, and use it to make a combo for this spell. Cast the spell from combo to avoid damaging our normal spell timer. Keep concentration potions on you to regen it. Note: Casting a new Circle of Fear before the old one disappears is useful...since the overlap of the spells will provide infinitely better protection. Thanks to Luisiana for this information.
4,4 WaterForm (WF)
Use this to enter Valley of Tears from the Underground portal. Guarentees you will not be mobbed upon arrival in VoT. Also, you can position yourself for your first volley before the monsters react. Read every rune of it your encounter.
4.5 freely provably
Circle of Fear works against dragons! CoF is also good in caves where space is tight, you can use it to squeeze opponents against walls.
I made my Mage with Ghost Meadow (GM). You, of course, can take it. :)
If you do take GM, then you can have more powerful spells, and you should always have it on. Again, put it in a combo...since you need your GoW timer AS REQUIRED...not after a regen post GM!
I avoided WhirlWind (WW) because of eye fatigue. Further, in VoT there are no ranged fighters, so I did not want to take such protection.
In short: Ghost Meadow, WhirlWind, StoneSkin, Petrify, ShieldWall are all useful, but not necessary. The last two are particularly useful. (Frost writes: presumes that Petrify is used on the odd creature than is trapped inside the Circle of Fear with you.--Just petrify them...
move and recast CoF.)
5. Playstyle
Do grow your Mage to level 40 before venturing to VoT. The Frost Giants are particularly fun to play with while we're growing up. :)
When ready to go to VoT:
1) Prepare WaterForm just before using underground portal rooms at Haven Isle.
2) Line up your targets, and blow them away! :)
3) Keep initiative.
4) Never fight mixed groups if you can--lure away members using Meteor Storm. You don't want to be fixed in place, zapped (timers stopped by Cerebropods), and beaten to a pulp...all at the same time from multiple targets!
5) Flee when your timer is stopped.
6) Clear areas so you have an area to run back into that is safe. Do not leave your backtrail dirty!
6. Recommended Equipment
Use the complete German named set: Klingsor, in English: Amarris' Secret---because of its bonus on Magic Lore, Meditation and Magic Lore. The build becomes more powerful with the secret damage (unresistable damage) provided by the complete set.
Since the set lacks arms, items with spell regen are recommended.
At higher levels, you should use Lara Aime's Book of Magic (an unique BM weapon) as your primary weapon.
Also recommended is: "das Buch der Magie und der Metallschild der Gilde", which translates (poorly) as: "that metal shield of the Guild".
You want to have 25% life leech, regen spells (by then 40% regen should be available), crit--as much as possible, ELV(frost's note!! ELV???) (8% is safe), +20% poison damage (1 ring is enough), experience gain, and resistance: particularly magic reistance if you go to VoT.
And: NO SPLIT. I repeat NO SPLIT. (Frost extrapolates:Split monsters would appear right next to you...and in the case of Platinum Golems...hit you for 17,000 damage..and start
speeding up 'cause they hit you...)
7. Conclusion
Sodele wanted to continue leveling beyond VoT in Plat, and thus this guide was built. It still is versatile enough to work everywhere. Stick to the guide to survive the Plat 2.25 Golems... See the Guide not as dogma, but take you out that, which can need you and informs me about errors or possibilities for improvement.
Have fun!!!