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Eye of the Storm v2.0


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Mission Statement

 

This is an evolution of my original "Eye of the Storm" hybrid inquisitor build. I play "console HC" (on PS3), meaning if the character dies, I'd delete it, and all their gear goes with them; dying is not an option. As such, defenses are prioritized to the point where I can survive reliably at all difficulties, but it is not my intent to make an indestructible or immortal build; if you stop paying attention or allow a horde of enemies to beat on you for a while, your Inquisitor can die while using this build, but the defensive capabilities are more than adequate once you learn how best to play it.

 

This is a 3-tree build that utilizes as many Combat Arts as possible. The main focus is slanted towards the Astute Supremacy tree, providing amazingly strong Area of Effect capabilities. The investments in the Gruesome Inquisition tree serve both to enhance the AS combat arts and to provide powerful melee capability. The Nefarious Netherworld tree is used primarily to support the other two trees, not for damage in its own right. Prior to level 75, the build uses the Purifying Chastisement and Reverse Polarity Buffs, adding Soul Reaver after that point; Zealous Doppelganger is kept as a cast-able spell.

 

The main difference between this build and the original EotS is the exclusion of Bargaining here. This allowed me to include Toughness, which couldn't be fit in before, which resulted in a bit of a domino effect on other skills and mod choices. The net result is a build with much more powerful offensive capabilities than the original build that simultaneously meets and ultimately exceeds the defensive capabilities of the original. At any rate, inquisitors benefit greatly from bargaining due to their 4 ring slots and 1 amulet slot, so having a shopper in place to supply jewelry and socketables is recommended, although you could likely get by without one. It is NOT essential to have a Niob bargainer; I am leveling my supporting shopper and this character together, so the shopper is never more than 10 or so levels or a single difficulty stage ahead. I intentionally avoided using smith arts from higher difficulties or socketing much higher level items into gear so that I could more accurately assess the build's performance, but obviously things would be even smoother if such tactics were utilized.

 

 

Stats

 

I've boosted 100% Vitality.png Vitality. First of all, this is a HC build, and surviving is ultimately priority #1, so more HP are always welcome. Second, while the build doesn't revolve around intentionally taking damage or staying at lower HP to take advantage of the "damage of enraged players" damage boost from PC, the fact is that you'll always take some damage, and even at 90% HP or so, that bonus grows quite large as PC's level increases. Having more HP provides a bit of indirect offensive boost by these means to go along with the defensive boost of more max HP.

 

Ultimately though, I don't believe stat point allocation will make or break the build in any meaningful way. Feel free to place stat points in whatever way you choose, either compensating for perceived weaknesses or accentuating strengths.

 

 

Skills

 

This is the order I picked the skills in; they could certainly be shuffled a bit if you prefer, but things may develop somewhat differently than how I've experienced. The numbers next to each skill represent the minimum recommended skill point investment (by level 200). I'll also provide notes on the recommended order of skill mastery along with early level goals that help get the build up and running as quickly as possible. What I won't provide is a full breakdown of skill points by level; not only does that take any decision making away from you, IMO it takes away from the fun of gaining levels, so please don't ask.

 

Concentration.png Concentration - 75 - This allows us to use 2 buffs right away, and 3 when mastered. Its vital to the build, but there's no need to continue putting points here after 75. This is one of the skills that should be mastered right when you hit level 75. Either keep it at your level as you go, or save enough points to catch it up later.

 

Constitution.png Constitution - 75 - This skill provides a ton of extra HP, and at mastery provides the very potent benefit of full HP regeneration in combat, which will severely cut down on the number of potions you'll need from there on out. The secondary benefit to having more HP is that you can make better use of the WIDD bonus from PC without getting yourself killed (I still don't recommend running around at half health or anything though). Keep this skill at character level after catching it up ad have it mastered by level 75.

 

Toughness.png Toughness - 75 - Here we continue with the defensive theme of recent levels. This skill provides decent all channel damage mitigation and also provides a bit of all channel armor, which in turn is boosted by Armor Lore. For those wishing to further optimize defense from I've done here, note that this bonus stacks with Inure, the gold mod on PC, but in this build it simply replaces the mitigation provided by Inure (which was included in the original EotS). You can't likely manage to master this skill by level 75, but its not vital to do so. Just put points here when you can, and make sure its mastered before getting into Niob. At higher levels, boosting it higher than 75 is also not a bad idea.

 

Astute Supremacy Focus.png Astute Supremacy Focus - 100 - This gets us more modification points for the AS tree, reduces regen times of all Combat Arts in that tree, and allows for higher leveled Reverse Polarity and Zealous Doppelganger. RP is our main defensive buff and keeping it leveled up will provide better melee, ranged, and spell/Combat Art reflect along with better mitigation as long as the Doppelganger or IS minions are around. Since we're leaving ZD as a spell, cranking its level up has no downside, and he will become very powerful later on due to his high level.

 

Nefarious Netherworld Focus.png Nefarious Netherworld Focus - 55 - This gets us modification points for the NN tree, reduces regen times of all Combat Arts in that tree, and allows for higher leveled Soul Reaver and Paralyzing Dread. You can adjust the points allocated here up or down depending on how many modifications you want from the tree. Since you'll start using SR at level 75, it would probably be best to have 2 or 3 of its modifications in place by then, but otherwise, put points here as you like.

 

 

Combat Art Modifications

 

Callous Execution.png Callous Execution - Tenacity, Lacerate, Judgement - This is our main melee attack, and primary boss killer. The regen from tenacity is small, but so is the bleed damage provided by that mod, either one is fine. I used stun in my last build and found it very unnecessary. Its okay, but 'Deep Wounds', which is inflicted by lacerate is very powerful and provides a noticeable offensive boost to the Combat Art, especially against bosses. The life-leech gold mod is not desired here because its a small static value that's boosted by Tactics Lore, and we don't even have that skill. Crits are always welcome, especially on a Combat Art that hits this hard.

 

Ruthless Mutilation.png Ruthless Mutilation - Ire, Petrify, Frenzy - The primary purpose of this Combat Art is to quickly recharge combos via 'regen on hit'. None of these mods are particularly vital; you can leave this Combat Art unmodded for a long time.

 

Mortifying Pillory.png Mortifying Pillory - Disgrace - You can use this Combat Art stand alone or in a debuff chain to boost melee damage vs. non-poison resistant enemies. Its not actually very clear whether this mod works at all since we can't see debuffs applied to enemies in game. I'm probably boosting GIF anyway, so I'll have to choose something here, but it can wait indefinitely.

 

Frenetic Fervor.png Frenetic Fervor - Faith, Resolve, Relentless - At higher levels, attack speed and run speed can be capped fairly easily without those mods, and the cast speed bonus is helpful for quickly applying debuffs in boss fights or to simply speed up Area of Effect execution. Its tempting to grab the dodge chance silver mod, which is something that the defensive optimizer may want to look at, but the attack bonus provided by resolve is simply too huge to ignore and dodge chance can be boosted by gear.

 

Purifying Chastisement.png Purifying Chastisement - Mystic, Eradicate, Hallow - This is our primary offensive buff. Mystic provides an 18% + 2% per Combat Art level boost to magic damage, which includes Levin Array and Inexorable Subjugation. Hallow provides the same scaling bonus to all types of damage, and it stacks with mystic for magic attacks. Eradicate boosts crit chance with all attacks by 9.9% + 0.1% per Combat Art level. The combination of eradicate and hallow scales at roughly the same rate that Aspect Lore skills do, effectively granting equivalent damage and crit bonuses as long as PC is kept at high levels. For aspects where you also have the Aspect Lore (AS), the bonuses stack. Finally, all three of these mods work at full capacity regardless of your HP; they work as well at 100% HP as they do at 1 HP. The inherent WIDD bonus from PC will also stack with these modifiers when you do get hurt though, further increasing damage. Someone desiring to maximize defense could choose Inure instead of Hallow if they were willing to deal with lower damage.

 

Levin Array.png Levin Array - Elongation, Hesitation, Dynamic - Mystic and Hallow really boost the damage of this Combat Art. I mean a lot. I didn't have hallow on the original EotS build, and it was all I could do to keep LA's damage up to useful levels. With hallow, its a killer, and boosting its damage also boosts the DoT damage inflicted (if anything survives the Area of Effect long enough to get affected). Elongation is to ensure it reaches all targets of the Area of Effect, or increases the odds it'll auto-target someone else if CM and RT get the job done themselves, and it allows you to initiate the Area of Effect combo from further away and maintain max effectiveness. I just think attack speed reduction is preferable to movement speed reduction, and again, I'm not a fan of the LL effects, but if you prefer either of those its by no means deal breaking.

 

Clustering Maelstrom.png Clustering Maelstrom - Chaos, Vortex, Vortex - This is what makes our Area of Effect "go". Increasing collision damage makes the Combat Art more effective as the number of targets increases. Getting both range boosting mods ensures we grab as many targets as possible, which boosts damage and speeds things up. Nothing really survives the Area of Effect long enough to bleed or get stunned, so I don't consider those useful for the application I'm seeking.

 

Raving Thrust.png Raving Thrust - Bedaze, Relay, Lesion - On the off chance something survives the Area of Effect, bedaze could stun them, and the extra range is not needed. Relay increases tumble damage by causing more targets to get knocked back, which dovetails nicely with CM. Lesion reduces max HP, making targets all the more likely to die in the combo, which is especially effective on champs. The combination of lesion and bedaze also means you can use this on bosses who have friends with the chance that the Boss will get affected while you clear things out and charge your SR.

 

Zealous Doppelganger.png Zealous Doppelganger - Incentive, Equal, Determination - Boosting his attack and defense will allow him to stand toe to toe with bosses and not die, giveing him the GI aspect encourages him to use those Combat Arts more often, and determination allows him to last considerably longer. In fact, even though he's not a buff you can have him up for the majority of the time at higher levels. Keeping him as a spell lets you boost his level through the stratosphere with no ill effects. Considering he'll be taking some of your damage due to the Exploit gold mod on RP, he still may die against bosses, but he'll last long enough to kill them. The HP regen bronze mod could potentially help with that, but then he'd probably just be killed directly by a boss if he were attacked. I dunno, I haven't tested that...

 

Reverse Polarity.png Reverse Polarity - Rebound, Counterblow, Exploit - This is our primary defensive buff. The first 2 provide magic (and Combat Art) reflect, as well as melee reflect to go along with the inherent projectile reflect, allowing you a chance to reflect all types of attacks. Exploit provides 4.9% + 0.1% per Combat Art level mitigation for each party member (which includes the Doppelganger and IS minions). This helps bridge the gap until you get toughness, and ultimately gives this build more mitigation than the original EotS, despite lacking Inure. At Combat Art level 100 that's 14.9% mitigation for having only the doppelganger out. Dragging even a single IS minion along to a boss fight to go with the Dopp can get you to the 25% cap pretty easily, even before then. Note that if you play with others in events like Kami, you may want to go with the straight +defense mod to avoid damaging or even killing your friends, but for solo play or if your party members are prepared for this, its a very powerful mod.

 

Dislodged Spirit.png Dislodged Spirit - Spite, Deprivation - This is our primary single target debuff. I've chosen mods to make it an even better debuff, since I don't use it for damage. If the stimulate gold mod worked, it would be incredible for lowering regens during boss fights, but it seems to be broken unfortunately.

 

Paralyzing Dread.png Paralyzing Dread - Panic, Decrepit, Confidence - Reducing attack value and further crippling attack speed of enemies while boosting your own attack values is pretty nice, especially when the Resolve mod from FF boosts your attack bonus even higher. Note that this Combat Art is reported to be bugged. It can actually cause modifiers from your gear to be applied to YOU instead of your enemies when you use it. Not such a big deal for things like knockback, but deep wounds/serious open wounds can get you killed. Anyways, I believe its doing this on PC, and I've recently been informed its happening on X360 as well. I've not noticed this phenomenon on PS3, but I could simply have been very lucky. It may be best to simply avoid using this Combat Art at all and mod something else with the NNF skill points.

 

Inexorable Subjugation.png Inexorable Subjugation - (Effort, Menace, Probation) - I put these in parentheses because you don't need to modify this Combat Art at all, but if I find extra points later on for NNF, these would be the mods I'd go with. Increasing the chances your enemies attack the minions is always a good thing from a defensive perspective, and since these guys provide us with mitigation, having them last longer is good too.

 

Eruptive Desecration.png Eruptive Desecration - unmodded - I don't like this Combat Art. Its damage is only okay and its targeting is unpredictable, so I simply don't use it. There are plenty of other tools to get the Area of Effect job done without it, but after mastering CD, putting this somewhere in the Area of Effect combo following CM could be a decent option if you want it. Using it after CM gets around its very limited range, and if you got the damage boosting mods it could actually do nice damage. Note that it will go off even if no targets are left alive though, which I find annoying.

 

Soul Reaver.png Soul Reaver - Zealot, Source, Soul Imbiber - Our third buff, this boosts both offense and defense. Boosting soul duration helps you keep those juicy bonuses longer, and source provides a real nice bonus to regens while you've got souls consumed. Choosing the second zealot mod is also an option if you want even longer duration, but I've been satisfied with how long it lasts and soul imbiber provides a nice little heal to keep me topped off as long as I keep killing stuff.

 

 

Combos and Regen Times

 

Regen times are not set in stone, so I won't provide specific values you should shoot for in seconds. However, regen times of Combat Arts within a combo should be matched to each other. That's easy for RM and CE because they start with the same regen time, but you'll need to eat runes periodically for the AS Combat Arts (LA, CM, and RT) to match them to one another. Anyway, for this build, desired regen times are directly related to the amount of 'regen on hit' you've got from gear, so I'll express what I think are the optimal regen times for these combos in terms of that value. For example, if you've got '0.8s regen on hit' from gear, and I recommend a regen time of 3X, I mean around 2.4 seconds. As you get more regen on hit, you can get away with longer regen times on your combos provided you keep your chance to hit at an acceptable level. If you find your combo regen times are still below these thresholds after getting your buffs to focus penalty level or above, feel free to boost Combat Art levels with +All Combat Art gear, +Aspect gear, or simply by reading runes. This is just a balance that's worked for me though; play with the timers yourself to find an optimal setup to match your personal playstyle.

 

Primary Area of Effect: Clustering Maelstrom.png Clustering Maelstrom --> Raving Thrust.png Raving Thrust --> Levin Array.png Levin Array

Regen time: 3X to 5X I like RM to be able to instantaneously recharge this combo if it hits around 4 targets. You can go higher if you prefer though.

I've played around with the order of these Combat Arts in this combo pretty extensively (see the original EotS post for details on 2 variants), and this is the setup I feel provides the most optimized order. First of all, it allows the fine tuned targeting that I prefer since CM is first and you can manually place the center of the vortex. When fired from close or intermediate ranges, CM begins to pull targets into the center, but since you follow immediately with RT, it actually does its damage first because CM waits until targets actually approach the center. This is fantastic because not only do you get to apply RT's lesion debuff first, it also hits far more targets because of CM's grouping effect! LA finishes off anyone who's left or auto-targets stragglers, and applies a DoT/weaken to boot. Used in this order, this combo is effective right out of the gate.

 

Melee DPS and Recharger: Ruthless Mutilation.png Ruthless Mutilation --> Callous Execution.png Callous Execution

Regen time: 2X Keeping the regen time at twice 'regen on hit' virtually guarantees you can spam this (or CE on its own).

This does very nice damage to small groups and bosses. Either use this or CE on its own for taking down bosses after you've applied the debuffs. Because RM hits multiple targets and CE attacks twice while dual wielding, 'regen on hit' provides incredibly nice synergy between melee and magic.

 

Debuffer and Ghost Raiser: Inexorable Subjugation.png Inexorable Subjugation --> Dislodged Spirit.png Dislodged Spirit --> Callous Execution.png Callous Execution

Regen time: 2.5X Sometimes its fun to quickly raise an army of ghosts (especially in the wastelands), so I keep the regen time on the lower side. You could certainly get away with a higher regen time (even a very high one) if you prefer never to play with IS in this manner. All you really need are 1-2 ghosts (which you can maintain easily even with higher regen time here) and I only use this once per boss fight anyway, so a higher regen time is certainly viable.

You could replace CE with MP if you prefer, or simply add MP before CE after CD mastery. I prefer to use MP separately as I choose to until CD mastery though rather than include it in the combo. I find CE is more reliable at killing the target to grant a quick ghost minion.

 

Boss or Big Battle (De)Buff: Frenetic Fervor.png Frenetic Fervor --> Zealous Doppelganger.png Zealous Doppelganger --> Paralyzing Dread.png Paralyzing Dread

Regen time: doesn't matter since we're dealing in minutes anyway; boost all 3 of these Combat Arts as high as you can get them to go.

You can keep ZD separate if you prefer, but I rarely use any of these Combat Arts outside of boss fights anyway, so I don't mind lumping them together, even though ZD impairs the availability of the other 2. I like leading with FF to boost casting speed, which significantly speeds up the execution of the combo and will also speed up the Debuffer combo above, which I tend to use directly following this one on bosses prior to beginning DPS. If you choose to play it safe and don't want to use PD, simply eliminate it from this combo and replace it with LA. The attack speed reduction from LA isn't as big, nor will it last as long, but its still significant, and will certainly avoid getting you killed if you're dealing with a bugged PD.

 

 

Equipment

 

I'm not going to go piece by piece to recommend specific pieces to match every slot; similarly to skill point allocation as you level, I think this takes too much fun out of it for you. Plus there, are just far too many gear setups which could be just as effective, especially when rare (non-set) socketed armors are taken into account. What I will do is give some pointers on certain mods to look for, and a few exceptional pieces to try and get. Obviously, try to get as many sockets as you can without gimping yourself in some way. In no particular order of importance:

 

1) %Deathblow - get at least 50% asap, and maintain it forever. Getting more is always a good thing if you can swing it, which isn't difficult later on.

 

2) +All Skills - This is a great mod, but don't chase it like the Holy Grail. If all you've got is all skills, I guarantee you won't last long. However, getting all skills jewelry with useful secondary effects as well, is the best of both worlds. Balance is key!

 

3) +X.X seconds Regen on Hit - I've talked about this already, but you don't need to devote a lot of gear choices to this. One is enough, two max. By that I mean 1-2 socketed/worn pieces of jewelry with the modifier or 1-2 pieces of armor with the modifier (like Ilgaard's Gloves, which have it in spades). As you get higher in level, the modifier shows up in increasingly larger amounts (like any mod), which is great because as you level your regen inherently decreases. This means you can have much higher levels on your attack Combat Arts and get away with the regen penalties.

 

4) +chance that enemy cannot evade, and -chance for enemy to evade are both great, and work nicely in conjunction. I try to maintain 20%-30% of "cannot evade" and another 10%-20% of "minus evade". If you've got more of one, you can have less of the other (even though they're not equivalent, they accomplish the same thing). This is very important, especially before you mod FF for attack rating and start using SR (or before you start boosting DW). You need your melee to hit reliably, both because you need to damage bosses, and because you want to recharge your combos, and these mods are how you accomplish that.

 

5) +%Mitigation - As much as possible, and all channel mitigation is preferable, but any is good. You'll see a good bit of this on rare AL mastery armors.

 

6) Everybody likes +%damage don't they? Not that you'll need it with hallow, but I wouldn't intentionally avoid more damage. :P

 

7) +%Run Speed starts showing up on higher level gear and set pieces in large amounts. Getting speed capped is always a good idea.

 

8) +Max HP is always welcome. We like more HP don't we?

 

9) +Aspect and +All Combat Art items are great for boosting Combat Art levels without as many negative regen penalties, but these mods aren't as important as in some other builds because of the reliance on 'regen on hit', which lets us get away with higher regen times than I'd want without that mod. Generally, I'll use this mod if it comes natively on the gear, but I'll usually just eat runes rather than socketing for higher Combat Art levels if I need to boost them. At much higher levels, I get back to socketing some of this when I'm trying to maximize the levels on my Combat Arts; its gotta have a desirable secondary effect on the piece though.

 

10) "Extra" Silver and/or Gold sockets, as well as all Bronze sockets should be filled with the +Armor/+Defense Blacksmith Art. These are even more effective when your armor has a high base armor value, especially if its "all channel" armor. A perfect example is the Cowl of Catharsis chest piece.

 

 

Which Mount? Deity? Odds and Ends

 

For those of you who are curious, I prefer the AS spider (and am really looking for an excuse to throw in my favorite emoticon: :spider: ) I'm mounted the majority of the time when I'm traveling above ground and when I'm grinding. As such, I want optimal performance from my Area of Effect, which is of course comprised of AS Combat Arts. I can live with longer regens for melee and debuffing while mounted because I simply don't need to use those as much outside of a boss fight. While grinding, melee is primarily for recharging my Area of Effect if I want to fire it again, and the debuffer is primarily for picking off a straggler or 2 after I've used the Area of Effect so I can get a ghost for company and mitigation. I dismount for almost every boss fight (save Miasma, which is an Area of Effect fight anyway), so the relevant timers are unaffected in those battles. Just don't use CM near your spider if you're not on it; it will die.

 

For Deity, the most powerful choice in a landslide, is Testa. It does good magic damage for 10 seconds while healing you and your allies. I think you see where this is going. Mystic boosts magic damage. Hallow also boosts the damage. If you're getting hurt, obviously WIDD applies as well. This divine gift is probably TOO powerful with this setup, and can kill bosses pretty much all on its own. If you're paranoid or just feel like being very cheesy, set this off and start spamming the debuffer combo to see just how powerful it can be. Boss stays locked down and gets killed in short order. Not all that fun IMO, but its good to have a panic button this powerful.

 

Anyway, if you've made it all the way through, thanks for reading! I hope this guide helps you to enjoy the Inquisitor class as much as I do. Until we speak again, kick some ass, take some names, and may the force be with you! ;)

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Stun on CE is more useful in most fights. Champs which take 5 secs to kill but have high damage, are better to be stunned (which means 0 dmg taken) than killed 0.5 secs faster. Deep wound has been fixed and does not stack anymore (on PC, console version are quite old). And wound is only like 8% of max hp which is not that great

And like always, I find AS lore unnecessary ;)

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Stun on CE is more useful in most fights. Champs which take 5 secs to kill but have high damage, are better to be stunned (which means 0 dmg taken) than killed 0.5 secs faster. Deep wound has been fixed and does not stack anymore (on PC, console version are quite old). And wound is only like 8% of max hp which is not that great

And like always, I find AS lore unnecessary :whistle:

 

Respectfully but strongly disagree on both counts. Champs die in my Area of Effect anyway because I gather enough mobs that damage is very high on CM/RT, so stunning is totally unnecessary. That leaves bosses, where 8% is a whole TON of HP. Yes, its relatively easy to maintain a stun-lock, but IMO not only is that very un-fun, its also a good way to get caught off guard when they do manage to break out and smack you. I'd rather stay on my toes while hitting harder. On consoles, Deep wounds is BY FAR more powerful, because it does still stack, but I'd prefer it even on PC, primarily because a boss that's not fighting back is very boring to me. Besides, if I need or want to lock a boss down, IS is still capable of that. It doesn't even need to do good damage if you use Testa's divine gift prior to initiating the IS lock (very cheap, yes, but very effective if someone were inclined to abuse this tactic).

 

AS Lore is important in a hybrid build where AS and Area of Effect optimization are the focal point. First off, you get everything modded much much sooner, which is nice; I want every mod in the AS tree, but there are several I can do without in the GI tree (MP and RM mods namely). Second, I've tried it both ways, and CM-RT-LA is just hands down more efficient than CM-RM for Area of Effect, unless you're dealing with very small groups (where melee is generally superior). I never deal with very small groups; I don't even slow down for 3 enemies until I find their 20-30 other friends on the way to where I'm going. Without the support of AS Lore though, the AS combo will be effective at first, but will lose a lot of steam as you progress into higher difficulties, and it would become hard to keep its damage high enough without severely crippling its regen. It may be more feasible to skip it in this build since it has hallow to keep damage up, but there's no other skill I'd rather have. Tactics would be the only real consideration, but I don't need to kill bosses in faster than 5 seconds.

 

Anyway, we've already established that our playstyles are quite different. Its not surprising we'd have different opinions on optimization.

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OK, let me tell you my story. I started a melee build, which was not supposed to use AS/NN focus spells for damage at all. And it worked, I had AS focus only for regen penalty/ca level without penalty. Before 75, I put 31 hard points for modding ZD and RP, and left it there. At about level 100, I wanted ZD higher leveled (each rune eaten gave no more than 1/5 of full ca level) so I started putting points into AS focus, again. This led to new mod point, even though I didn't need it, so I spent it on CM (chaos mod). So I was like "hay, let's see how weak it it without AS lore and no runes memorized", so I added RM to a combo, and went out there. Than I gathered some mobs around, wait till they come, casted the combo and... my eyeballs went out :oooo: even with absolutely no care about Area of Effect skills and runes, it was still very effective! so I put some runes in it, made it regen for about ~3 secs and now use it as crowd killer, in a pure melee build... this is why I keep saying AS lore is not necessary

The same trick would not work for melee seraphim or melee elf, where spells become weaker over time. And that's cool about Inqusitor :whistle:

Edited by Zonc1
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Okay maybe I'm not exactly disagreeing, just saying that for Area of Effect and AS mod optimization, its desirable. I feel the same way in reverse about having TL instead. Even with no real attention payed to it, melee is still very powerful for single targets and small groups. Since melee is already powerful enough for my tastes, I've decided to optimize the Area of Effect damage instead. I want to be able to use the AS Area of Effect to kill any sized group, champions included. They way its set up now, I can actually kill 2-3 normal mobs with it every time, and if a champ is involved, perhaps 5-6 are necessary to kill them all. Grabbing the rest of their friends is just for fun :whistle:

 

I spend most of my time grinding with a fair number of boss fights. I believe you spend your playtime going from boss to boss with very little grinding. It makes sense to optimize melee for the way you prefer to play while it makes sense to optimize Area of Effect for the way I play. That's all I'm tryin' to say.

Edited by MTCityHunter
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ok, now that I understand builds a lot better now, let me ask some intelligent

questions

 

1. What order do you mod in? You list # of points spent, but I believe the path to success lies in smart early modding. And you run out quickly...

 

2. Why now switch the order of Combat Discipline and Armor Lore? It's a small thing, but I'd rather unlock the powers of 6x peices of armor, than add 1 skill to a combo.

 

3. Why no mod PD to reduce resistances? Much of your damage comes from magic, and some from DoT. for boss fights (where resistacnes are high), you would get more benefit, no?)

 

4. how much damage does 'testa' really do? (yay, I picked testa!)

 

5. when you get all the reflects to 100% are you truly invulnerable? or am I missing something?

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ok, now that I understand builds a lot better now, let me ask some intelligent

questions

 

1. What order do you mod in? You list # of points spent, but I believe the path to success lies in smart early modding. And you run out quickly...

 

2. Why now switch the order of Combat Discipline and Armor Lore? It's a small thing, but I'd rather unlock the powers of 6x peices of armor, than add 1 skill to a combo.

 

3. Why no mod PD to reduce resistances? Much of your damage comes from magic, and some from DoT. for boss fights (where resistacnes are high), you would get more benefit, no?)

 

4. how much damage does 'testa' really do? (yay, I picked testa!)

 

5. when you get all the reflects to 100% are you truly invulnerable? or am I missing something?

 

 

1. You're right, the mods you pick early are very important because they need to hold you over for a long while, while you round out your defenses. Its important to get the critical ones, but perhaps as important is resisting the urge to get the less critical ones early since that will delay your defensive development and in a worst case scenario, get you killed. I didn't keep track level by level, but I got both GIF and ASL very early (levels 3 and 5) and started placing points in them right away. I kept them at character levels until I got to those values I mentioned. I always tend to mod Buffs 1st, then primary attack(s) second. For GI the order of early mods was mystic-->eradicate-->hallow-->tenacity-->lacerate. I actually also got Faith from FF, but its probably better to delay that and just go ahead and use those points for defense. For AS I deviated a bit to get CM working optimally sooner (and because I wanted to test exploit more thoroughly myself to ensure it was working properly before finalizing it. Anyway the order went: Rebound-->Counterblow-->Chaos-->Vortex-->Vortex-->Exploit. After that, it was a defensive focus for quite a while, and I don't get back to choosing more mods until Concentration, Constitution, and Armor Lore are mastered. Rather than dump all points into toughness after that, I'm leveling it more slowly while also raising GIF and ASL/F to get mods while I go. The critical ones are in place already though, so its more preference from here out IMO.

 

2. Its not a big deal. I just wanted to test whether I could get the AS combo working like I thought it could as soon as possible. At very early levels, before hallow starts providing huge bonuses, having LA in there as well helped to ensure everything was dying like it was supposed to. Its only 6 early levels though; really we're talking about an hour or two, give or take.

 

3. I've thought about that, but I've never tested it. I'm wary about mods that reduce resistances or armor (see MP). There's plenty of anecdotal evidence that they may not work at all. Regardless, I don't really use spells for damage on bosses; they get debuffed then receive a steady dose of CE. Besides, with PD misbehaving like it is, I wouldn't want to suggest that anyone rely on it for much.

 

4. A LOT. Seriously, try it out. It does good damage without Hallow, but with that in combination with mystic, look out. Plus, if its just you and the boss, its pretty trivial to let him hurt you a bit then initiate an IS lock to take advantage of WIDD (once you get the IS/debuff regen low enough that is). Its a heck of a panic button. Note that the WIDD thing will only partially work because the divine gift heals you as well (as will Con mastery after 75), but its not even necessary, as hallow/mystic are enough to make it absurd already.

 

5. Theoretically yes, except if the enemies you're fighting have "- chance for enemy to reflect melee/ranged/whatever". Remember that they can have most of the modifiers you see on gear as well. In practice, I don't think its actually possible to get to 100% reflect anyway though. Between diminishing returns and max level w/o penalty I've never approached 100%.

 

Peace out! Weekend baby!

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Reflection has very significant dimishing return at about ~70%. But even much sooner before this, each rune gives +0.4% chance or less (I got ~56% at RP level ~50)

But damage mitigation can reach 100%, which is a terrible idea from devs. Hopefully, not so easy to achieve with Inquisitor (if even possible). I mean elemental, physical is quite easy to reach 100%.

Edited by Zonc1
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Reflection has very significant dimishing return at about ~70%. But even much sooner before this, each rune gives +0.4% chance or less (I got ~56% at RP level ~50)

But damage mitigation can reach 100%, which is a terrible idea from devs. Hopefully, not so easy to achieve with Inquisitor (if even possible). I mean elemental, physical is quite easy to reach 100%.

 

well if you dump go with the PC mod that gives you 10% right off the bad you are off to a good start, right? The best part is, with high ranks of armor lore/amor, you don't need 100%, lower will do, jsut get damage down to manageable levels, and relfect will take care of the rest

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  • 2 weeks later...

ok!

 

I have working with a very slight variation of this build and I noticed a few things.

 

1) As a hybrid, you run out of skill points...FAST, there are too few skills for this build that only require a "1" (or low investment). that means you CANNOT simply add points here and there. Instead, you need to carefully plan how you'll allocate points up to, say...level 75. then feel more free to spend.

 

2) With no bargaining, or EP you **need** a supporting character. My biggest weakness right now is a lack of decent chest armor, which is making me VERY squishy.

 

3) The order of the skills is very very (very!) important. You get to 35 fast, 50 with a little work, but 65 can seem...long.

 

4) This character shines once a) combat discipline is taken - though I would wait until level 35 to take it. b) Modding Purifying Chastisement all the way, and level the buff a bit. So if it seems sluggish at first, fear not!

 

5) With a bargainer, you could wait for Con (level 50?) and use +HP items to tide you over. There are +400-500 Hp jewels in the shops in the level 25-40 range, and belts seem to favor the +hp power.

 

6) If you take NN focus earlier, you can put 9-14 points in it, and use RP+SR for walking around (that 10% heal "Soul Imbiber" is insane), then use PC+RP for boss fights.

 

7) For non hard core players (ie, all consoles): try putting points in INT, and STR. Dex Weapons are too limiting early game, and late game Frenetic Fervor (and Soul Reaver) will give you all the attack rating you'll ever need.

 

Hope that helps players using the build, which is excellent. if I were to recommend anyone change, it would be to find a way to put LESS points into one other skill, and let +all skills do the rest. My pick for MTs build would be AS Focus, which I would limit to 12-31 points (and again, +all skills will do the rest)

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Howdy. I was wondering where everyone was. I suppose the combination of school and football season (go Saints!) has been devouring free time. :thumbsup:

 

Thanks for the feedback! The more opinions from people who've actually used the build, the better. Those are all pretty solid observations and I don't really disagree with much you've said there; just to add a bit though, and offer my perspective on why I did it the way I did, I'll address them 1 by 1.

 

1) Yes, you will run out fast. I'm not a believer that "mis-allocating" a few points here or there can make or break any build, so if one were to place skills a bit differently, it would probably work out just fine. Worst case scenario is that is delays the build reaching its full potential for a quick fix somewhere else along the way. DW and CD can be left at 1 point indefinitely. NNF can be left at 5-14 points indefinitely. Either ASF or ASL can be left very low until you start to get extra points (after defenses get rounded out).

 

The only "mandatory" point allocations IMO are to master Concentration, Constitution, AL, and Toughness in that order, as soon as possible (can be done easily by about 80). Prior to that, you'll want about 5-6 mod points for both the GI (PC and CE) and AS (RP and CM) trees, which means 22-31 points invested in GIF and ASL/F after which you'll focus solely on defense for a while. That said, if you really want another mod earlier than this allows, delaying defenses isn't a death knell; just don't go into niob before you've mastered those skills.

 

2) Yes, very true, but its most important at lower levels. Later on, you'll be able to get all the sets and whatnot you really need just from drops. I said this up front in the build description, but you're right. Someone without a bargaining supporter may be better off using the original EotS build, even if its ultimately not quite as powerful. If you're willing to slog it out and have bad gear until later levels, a bargaining supporter is not strictly required, but it certainly helps.

 

3) It can be, but I wouldn't overstate this. The important bit is which 3 you decide to leave until last, especially the last 2. Choosing skills in the order I did allows you to run 2 fully modified buffs as early as possible, with the ability to use 3 CA combos very early as well. In effect, the "meat" is there by level 12, and from 18-75 you can focus on defenses more.

 

4) See above. That's why I chose CD so early, and also why I kept PC at character level early (until 31). Extra damage and 3 CA combos are very important. Choosing CD at level 35 would be fine too if you felt the need for more defenses off the bat or if you weren't as experienced with the class. Personally, I'd already played several inquisitors including 1 up to around 110 so I felt pretty comfortable surviving in early stages.

 

5) and 6) This is really the same topic, no? You could certainly do it that way, moving NNF up to use SR for grinding instead of RP. I chose not to, since RP+PC does the job adequately for my tastes and I prefer not to swap buffs. I like continuity, and I believe that using SR before you truly understand the class can lull you into a false sense of security w/r/t your attack and defense values. As long as you gear up ignoring performance under SR, it should be fine, but walking up to a boss expecting similar frequencies of hitting and being hit to what you see while grinding under SR will get you murdered. Regardless, its toughness I'd swap instead of Constitution. More HP is the best defense you can have IMO. Getting Con prior to 50 helps to ensure you've got it mastered by 75, which is highly recommended. Waiting until 65 for Con is definitely not something I'd advise, and 50 could be done, but is probably pushing it.

 

7) For the record, I'm on console and play HC. If a character dies, it gets deleted, gear and all. Its effectively HC mode unless you've got bad willpower. That's why I went Vitality. Still, even for non-HC, I'd go with Vitality. Someone who was willing to die a few times could afford to "ride the line" to take advantage of PC's WIDD, which is an absolutely monstrous bonus at higher PC levels. Having more HP makes that a bit easier to pull off. Stat point choices are ultimately pretty insignificant for the build's success though, so personal preference prevails.

 

With some planning, I managed to find all the points I needed, and masteries tend to be powerful, so I wouldn't necessarily just choose a skill to drop to 1. Like I said, DW, CD, and NNF can all be left at 1 or at least <10 for a long while if you wish, along with either ASF or ASL.

 

Keep on rockin'!

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I'm following this build pretty closely, only changing the 50% deathblow so I can use the bugged move Paralyzing Dread (I'm on 360 playing HC I aint taking the chance) to as much regen on hit as posible, which alowed me to pump my CA levels like madXD

but I mean dude this is insane!

Great Guide,

P.S I'm currently level 21(or somthing pretty close) still on Bronze. . .

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for 1 this isnt my build Im just following it, and ive only got it for 360, but I havent heard of it stuffing up on PS3, its only known on 360 and PC I think. but from what ive seen the changes I made I would do if PD didnt stuff up anyway, the amount ive been able to pump my CAs is just insane. . .

 

Currently my regen on hits is about 15%(a S**T LOAD) and recharge times are above 15.0s but I can still spam them to high hell ;P

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to MTCityHunter..

about a month ago I got the idea to give the inquisitor one last try --made 4 --all fail

so I looked on SacredWiki found most all the skills I wanted (hybrid Inquisitor As with some GI)

a few things I was stuck on --is SR so good I need NN focus & if so I don't have room for

tactics & combat dis (big IF --can't find a post on gameFAQs or sacredwiki about it)

on to MODs --I know if you pick the right one's they build on each other UGG!!

if I put the Inquisitor on hold for 2 weeks or so

so im back at it with 8 skills picked & the NNfocus, tactics, CD thing

I know most CAs I want just not most mods

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ill look on DarkMatters for a bit of help

hmm.. Eye of the Storm v2.0 --looks like what looking for

OHHHHH!! it is it is

you got every thing im looking for right here

so I want to thank you for taking the time to post your build

-------------

THANKYOU

-------------

I would like to ask about a few CA MODs (im playing on the 360)

RP you picked exploit.. if I don't use ZD & go it alone most of the time --I mod Evade ?

for RT is relay that much better than vehemence ?

for SR gold mod is soul imbiber worth it over zealot ?

 

--Shadekor

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Glad you guys are enjoying the guide!

 

@locolagarto:

Regarding PD on PS3, I'm not 100% sure whether its bugged on this platform as well. I've used it quite a lot (in conjunction with deep/deadly wounds on gear since I like that mod) and I've never noticed it reflecting effects back onto me. Its possible I'm simply lucky, and I don't open the stats window to check my HP and stats after every boss fight, but again, I've not noticed the phenomenon in my game.

 

Note that this is pure conjecture, but with regards to reflecting your own status effects, I've wondered if it matters where, in relation to the enemy, one fires off PD. I have it in a combo with ZD and FF, and tend to use it before I'm real close to bosses (to try to get the Dopp between them and me), so its possible they are out of PD's range most of the time I use it (in which case, in effect, all PD would be doing for me is boosting attack value). I've not tested the CA extensively, but if you think its reflecting in your game, I'd recommend simply discontinuing its use. Its a nice CA, but I don't even use it all the time any more; its not really game breaking to avoid using it.

 

 

 

@shadekor:

Without knowing the details of your build, its hard for em to say what I think is optimal for skill choices. That said, I think getting NNF to mod SR (and DS) is worth the skill slot, but I wouldn't go so far as to call it mandatory. I hardly use SR prior to level 75 anyway, so I really consider it "bonus", and you can still use SR to good effect unmodded regardless. Obviously, it'll last longer (with mods) and have a higher level cap with focus, but its probably a matter of preference. I really wanted a 3 tree build though, so NNF has gotta be there for me.

 

I picked the defense mod on RP for the original EotS build, and its okay. At higher levels, the defense it provides isn't all that huge, but it does synergize with SR nicely. I don't keep ZD out except for boss fights, but I still think exploit is probably superior for solo play. It provides a pretty sizable chunk of mitigation, which I value much more highly than +defense. At higher CA levels, with a single IS ghost and ZD out, you can easily achieve 25% mitigation from the exploit mod. The only time I'd be concerned about using exploit is for group play. If you party with other people, they'll take some of your damage, which could potentially suck for them if it gets them killed.

 

As for RT and vehemence vs. relay, my impression is that it comes down to what you want the CA to be better at. Relay is probably better for wiping out larger groups (since the tumble damage will go up very fast with many targets), but vehemence may be better for dealing with smaller groups of tougher enemies. I like to herd large groups and wipe them out all at once, so relay fit better, but if you prefer to fight enemies in small groups I think vehemence may be better. Note that I haven't tested vehemence very much to be sure, but it should probably work that way. I don't think either one is strictly superior to the other though.

 

For SR and soul imbiber vs. another zealot, its just preference. I just don't find it necessary to boost the duration further for my playstyle, but it couldn't hurt if you prefer that. The heal is nice, but its not game breaking or anything.

 

 

 

Have fun!

Edited by MTCityHunter
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One more note on PD. I'm now so paranoid I'm thinking PD is slowing down my attack speed from Frenetic Fervor. I'm not sure how to test it, but I'll try tonight. PDs is QUITE a good CA, slowing down enemies attacks while you wail away on them with (due to FF) sped up attacks. I'll be bummed if the PDs slow is affecting me too.

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One more note on PD. I'm now so paranoid I'm thinking PD is slowing down my attack speed from Frenetic Fervor. I'm not sure how to test it, but I'll try tonight. PDs is QUITE a good CA, slowing down enemies attacks while you wail away on them with (due to FF) sped up attacks. I'll be bummed if the PDs slow is affecting me too.

 

 

Test completed, and good news. PD does not slow down the casters attacks. Whew!

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oh, oh, oh!

 

New question!

 

So, I finally modded Ravaing Thrust with relay, and instead of being the huge increase in damage from all the enemies bumping each other, I got only a moderate damage increase by increasing the Lore by 9 points, and now targeting multiple opponents rather than a single opponent.

 

This is because most of the enemies you push back, get pushed back at the same rate of speed, so that they do not bump into one another (unless there was a second wave of enemies incoming, or something).

 

Do you have any advice or strategies for getting the enemies to bump?

 

I currently use CM+LA+RT

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oh, oh, oh!

 

New question!

 

So, I finally modded Ravaing Thrust with relay, and instead of being the huge increase in damage from all the enemies bumping each other, I got only a moderate damage increase by increasing the Lore by 9 points, and now targeting multiple opponents rather than a single opponent.

 

This is because most of the enemies you push back, get pushed back at the same rate of speed, so that they do not bump into one another (unless there was a second wave of enemies incoming, or something).

 

Do you have any advice or strategies for getting the enemies to bump?

 

I currently use CM+LA+RT

 

 

Well, that's interesting. On my game relay made a noticeable difference either when its the 1st CA or the second after CM. When its last like you have it, it should still work but I suspect the problem is that all survivors of the 1st 2 CAs are pretty much all in the same direction w/r/t you. If they're close enough together, they should still collide, but if not, they may just get pushed together w/o colliding like you're observing.

 

Try this: change the combo up to CM-RT-LA. The reason I like it in this order so much is because CM starts pulling everything in to the center, so there are enemies all moving in different directions (towards the center of the "circle"). Then, before they get to the center, RT fires off and collides with a bunch of them. Enemies are moving opposite to the direction RT collides with them, so it causes them to change their "flight path" to match RT's angle of impact. Now, many times they will bump into one another since CM has grouped everyone up rather nicely (and the angle of RT's impact will be slightly different for each target assuming they don't occupy the same space, and if they're close enough, that small difference causes collisions), but even when they don't they'll collide with enemies further out who haven't quite been pulled as far in by CM. LA is pretty much for mop up in this combo.

 

You've gotta get a feel for how far away to initiate the combo though. If you fire it from too far away, CM won't work efficiently enough at grouping to optimize RT's effect (in my experience, CM has a more powerful "pull" on targets closer to the targeting circle, so targets further away get pulled in slower, if they're in range at all), and RT will then knock targets out of LA's range. If you fire it too close (after you're surrounded), sometimes RT will fail to catch as many targets as it could. Once you get a good feel for it, its wonderful though. I'm also fairly sure that RT does its damage first if you get the timing/distance right, meaning you can apply lesion right away.

 

IF you're still in doubt about relay functioning properly, and have the option to go back and re-pick, vehemence is a safe bet as well. You can actually check its effect in the tool tips so its easier to believe it.

 

Good luck, hope this is of assistance!

Edited by MTCityHunter
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  • 2 weeks later...

Looks like an awesome build I tried to follow your eye of the storm v1 but failed badly. I have Had a couple of other Inquisitor's and im going to start a new one and stick to it this time. Following your build closely except for one thing. Concentration! is it needed? I will mainly be using two buffs Purifying chastisement and Reverse Polarity and do I need soul reaver:) I would rather use 74 points in dual wield for some more meele oriented fighting except when there is a large group of enemies. What are your thoughts on this?

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Looks like an awesome build I tried to follow your eye of the storm v1 but failed badly. I have Had a couple of other Inquisitor's and im going to start a new one and stick to it this time. Following your build closely except for one thing. Concentration! is it needed? I will mainly be using two buffs Purifying chastisement and Reverse Polarity and do I need soul reaver:) I would rather use 74 points in dual wield for some more meele oriented fighting except when there is a large group of enemies. What are your thoughts on this?

 

Thanks. Hope it works out for you better this time!

 

Anyway, I think concentration mastery is pretty important. I don't think SR is absolutely mandatory, but its awfully powerful to ignore IMO. I typically don't use it until level 75, so its certainly possible to play without it, but its ability to decrease the frequency you get hit is huge. That's going to be less of an issue early on since you should typically be able to survive a couple hits in quick succession. When you get into platinum and certainly niob, even though your defenses should be up to speed by then, stuff hits so hard, it can be dangerous to get hit as often as you will w/o SR active.

 

I don't rely on it at all for bosses anyway. Sure, later on you can usually manage to get SR active before engaging a boss but I rarely bother to, so ultimately it comes down to how safe you feel while grinding. SR makes grinding supreme easy mode (especially with the heal mod), and you'll rarely have to use potions with it active. If you don't mind paying attention and drinking potions (and I mean a lot of them), then you can do without SR; I just wouldn't want to.

 

I understand the desire to get double hit by boosting DW; that's very powerful as well. I think if you really want that though, it'd be better to shave points here and there from other skills you're taking past mastery like AS Lore/Focus and/or GIF to get DW to 75 rather than taking the 74 from Concentration. Just my view though...

 

Good Luck either way you go!

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Ok thanks for the info, I think ill play around with it a little bit and find out.

 

and one last question. Is the Player chance to hit good at later level's with dual wield only at 1:)

 

because at lower levels its really bad but ive never been high enough for it to improve by much

 

Its rare for me to have a hit rate higher than the monster im fighting does against me.

Edited by icantfindaname
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Ok thanks for the info, I think ill play around with it a little bit and find out.

 

and one last question. Is the Player chance to hit good at later level's with dual wield only at 1:)

 

because at lower levels its really bad but ive never been high enough for it to improve by much

 

Its rare for me to have a hit rate higher than the monster im fighting does against me.

 

For hit rate, I use gear with the modifiers "-chance for enemy to evade" and "+chance that enemy cannot evade". A good mix of those 2 takes pretty good care of you, even with DW at 1. SR can help some too, juts be careful about leaning on it too much or it could get you in trouble when the bonus isn't there.

 

At earlier levels, and especially if you're playing without the support of a bargaining character/network, it can be tough to find the gear you need to keep that hit rate reasonably high. Long term, that will even out, but its one reason I highly recommend some bargaining support for this build (along with the other desirable gear mods I mentioned in the description that are great to have as well). Still, -evade and +cannot evade are 2 of the more important mod choices around for this build, at least for fighting bosses where you can't fall back on spells.

 

Peace.

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