Voodoo Dryad (black magic woman)

[Zeus331 0]

Hey Karrupted, great build!

 

A friend and I are about to give it a shot on the xbox 360- only question I have tho is does the effects stack if we're both casting VD? I'm sure it does but don't think I've seen anyone mention multiplayer madness in this thread so far, so just figured I'd ask and get it cleared up once n for all..

 

Hopefully we can both make the same char and just blaze through the areas even faster

 

Also, I'm hoping my friend gets experience as well even if he's not a Dryad... just because my plague would be doing all the killing, doesn't mean I'd be the only one getting xp from it if we're grouped.. right?!

 

Cheers

 

As a former Xbox 360 Sacred Player, If it is two Voodoo Dryads only one can cast the Viperish Disease.

 

As far as any other characters playing with the Voodoo Dryad, yes they will get the experience. as long as they are close by you and in your party (Free World Games). Just be careful when it becomes laggy stop running stand still and start killing everything around you drink a experience. potion and watch the experience roll on in, because you maybe on one of the sand dunes and your party memeber may appear they are right next to you when in fact they are off your screen.

[karruptedkat 0]

Thats cool. Yet another way to level really fast.Tag team. With a duo the ability of what 2 could do would be endless. one could be the shopper and the other the killer or both the same or or or. Wow Xboxxing it out would be nice. Someone mentioned that they werent able to get on the internet that may be in your favor becuase if your following the guide then you are getting the true potential of this build w/o the added patches.downsidee you get less drops but im not even sure if that is true. becuase before my last ascaron patch. I could walk in an area and just collect gear and money that was on the ground for who knows how long. The timers seemed to activate only when I got so close w/ in range of them.

Edited April 13, 2010 by karruptedkat

[LastLivinSoul 0]

I am very new to this game.. Just bought it. Played 6 hours and only level 12. I guess I couldn't expect very much as a first timer

 

I was just wondering if you could have a video up of how you gain levels as fast as you say in your comments? Maybe I'm just doing it wrong.

[Zeus331 0]

I am very new to this game.. Just bought it. Played 6 hours and only level 12. I guess I couldn't expect very much as a first timer

 

I was just wondering if you could have a video up of how you gain levels as fast as you say in your comments? Maybe I'm just doing it wrong.

 

I dont know if there is a video for the Kolbolds but there is one for other areas but I will try to explain what you should be doing at this point.

 

1st at level 12 you should have chosen at least these three skills Nature Lore or Focus or Both and Voodoo Lore along with concentration.

 

2nd Voodoo Lore and either Nature Lore or Focus should be at your level meaning 12 points into each. As you level you continue to put points into these skills this allows you to mod the Combat Arts along with reducing Regen Times etc.

 

3rd At your current level and if you placed your points right you should have Viperish Disease and Ancient Bark fully modded. Make sure you picked the right ones for Viperish Disease.

 

4th You should have picked up a barbarian head from the kolbolds. If you did you must equipt the head. How Viperish Dease works is based upon you having the correct head you have active.

 

5th Make sure you have read 5 runes of Viperish Disease, As many as runes to keep you pets level 2x higher than yours and as many runes as you want the more the better in Ancient Bark.

 

6th In town you should have activated the Kolbold Chieftain quest. Leave town and once you have crossed the bridge turn slight left (puts you off the road onto some grass) continue to head north slightly west. There is another bridge you cross another bridge (by this time you seen a bunch of kolbolds and will continue to see them). You will see a road that allows you to go east or west. East will take your towards the Chieftain. You want to go west this will take you to a portal, activate this portal. Now the fun begins, from the portal you have two options which ever you pick it does not matter. From the portal if you head east cast Viperish Disease everytime you are able until you reach the area of the Chieftain. If you modded right half way to him all of the littel kolbolds and everything else some be contaminated glowing green. Once you have reached the area around the chieftain kill everything also dont forget to cast Morbid Anumis (your pet) it will help kill the koldbolds. Once you start killing them you will see the experience rolling. You can now then teleport back to the Portal you activated and run up the path north repeating what you just did by cast the Viperish Disease. The only exception here is when you get close to the top of the path you will see the becon that you can activate (STOP RIGHT THERE). If you run any further there is a town dont go up there it will stop the Viperish Disease. Also at the becon if you go west there is an open field a boss is located there "White Griffon". After you have completed these two runs you can repeat this suggested to make a new game.

 

Hope this helps you can post your skills and combat art mods and further questions and I will try to give you as much as advice that I can.

[karruptedkat 0]

Thank you yet again to all of you who answered question to all our new members.

 

below is the link to the section of this forumn that has some low level videos.

 

http://darkmatters.org/forums/index.php?Spectral Hand...p;#entry6877382://http://darkmatters.org/forums/index...p;#entry6877382

Edited April 14, 2010 by karruptedkat

[LastLivinSoul 0]

I am very new to this game.. Just bought it. Played 6 hours and only level 12. I guess I couldn't expect very much as a first timer

 

I was just wondering if you could have a video up of how you gain levels as fast as you say in your comments? Maybe I'm just doing it wrong.

 

I dont know if there is a video for the Kolbolds but there is one for other areas but I will try to explain what you should be doing at this point.

 

1st at level 12 you should have chosen at least these three skills Nature Lore or Focus or Both and Voodoo Lore along with concentration.

 

2nd Voodoo Lore and either Nature Lore or Focus should be at your level meaning 12 points into each. As you level you continue to put points into these skills this allows you to mod the Combat Arts along with reducing Regen Times etc.

 

3rd At your current level and if you placed your points right you should have Viperish Disease and Ancient Bark fully modded. Make sure you picked the right ones for Viperish Disease.

 

4th You should have picked up a barbarian head from the kolbolds. If you did you must equipt the head. How Viperish Dease works is based upon you having the correct head you have active.

 

5th Make sure you have read 5 runes of Viperish Disease, As many as runes to keep you pets level 2x higher than yours and as many runes as you want the more the better in Ancient Bark.

 

6th In town you should have activated the Kolbold Chieftain quest. Leave town and once you have crossed the bridge turn slight left (puts you off the road onto some grass) continue to head north slightly west. There is another bridge you cross another bridge (by this time you seen a bunch of kolbolds and will continue to see them). You will see a road that allows you to go east or west. East will take your towards the Chieftain. You want to go west this will take you to a portal, activate this portal. Now the fun begins, from the portal you have two options which ever you pick it does not matter. From the portal if you head east cast Viperish Disease everytime you are able until you reach the area of the Chieftain. If you modded right half way to him all of the littel kolbolds and everything else some be contaminated glowing green. Once you have reached the area around the chieftain kill everything also dont forget to cast Morbid Anumis (your pet) it will help kill the koldbolds. Once you start killing them you will see the experience rolling. You can now then teleport back to the Portal you activated and run up the path north repeating what you just did by cast the Viperish Disease. The only exception here is when you get close to the top of the path you will see the becon that you can activate (STOP RIGHT THERE). If you run any further there is a town dont go up there it will stop the Viperish Disease. Also at the becon if you go west there is an open field a boss is located there "White Griffon". After you have completed these two runs you can repeat this suggested to make a new game.

 

Hope this helps you can post your skills and combat art mods and further questions and I will try to give you as much as advice that I can.

 

Thanks that helps a lot!

Actually I got it to work but not leveling every 30 seconds like I was told ahaha

I was also playing co-op and the experience wasn't all that great.

[karruptedkat 0]

It will happen trust me. It will not happen every level but you will see it more often as you get stronger.

Edited April 17, 2010 by karruptedkat

[Zeus331 0]

Still cannot figure out a good regen time level for vines, I dont have any RpH. Any ideas, I really want to pump up the vine damage.

[essjayehm 58]

Still cannot figure out a good regen time level for vines, I dont have any RpH. Any ideas, I really want to pump up the vine damage.

 

Nature Weaver Lore? Acute Mind will also increase vine damage.

 

My advice is not to use vines for damage. Wonderful immobilizing and status-inflicting combat art, but not good damage at all. May I suggest Ephadic Lances? Soooo good when the enemy cannot move!

 

I keep vines regen time slightly lower than duration, so that I can stand back from the dangerous bosses, and spam vines/black curse (combo) and Lances. Sometimes I have to use a second Acute Mind to get the job done in a long battle (60 secs).

(I am melee Dryad so RpH is not used for those fights.)

[FlyingPig 0]

I'm on a long vacation right now.

But I did get the dryad to 42 before the vacation. I'm 0 for 5 vs the kobold chief.

He can't touch me......but I can't touch him either. He heals faster than I can damage him still.

I think I tried him every 10 levels or so.

[karruptedkat 0]

@ Zeus the vines are only to hold the mob into place so keep there level pretty low besides + combat art gear to bosst them. Your main supply of damage is edelphic lances. Try and keep them at a 2 to 3 second recast time w/ acute mind on.

 

@ Pig please give me a detailed overlook of your character cause something is missing. at level 42 you should be able to kill every boss w/ in 2 spams with all this active. Acute mind> black curse> tangled vines> edelphic lances. tell me your strategy in t6rying to kill him so I can help you there. also along w/ black curse being on him spam Viperish Disease on him as well since it is percentage based it alon would kill him after the 1st spam of the above combo. his regen isnt that strong.

[karruptedkat 0]

Tip of the day!

 

 

 

Another way to get this character to level extremely fast is having 2 sets of gear. when you start getting alot of money laying around build to sets of gear 1 your experience gear and one for killing bosses.

 

The experience gear should have + experience points + run speed + skill Defensive bonusses and Spell intensity.

 

The boss killer take off the plus experience and add in damage modifiers also you can take off the run speed dont need to run from bosses since they will die in seconds.

 

 

P.S. Ive gathered the videos from throughout this thread and moved them to the beginning of the thread so that you can find them easier. happy hunting.

[mainerunr 0]

man, this is a great build, thanks. Still only level 18 with it so far but thats because I keep stopping to shop every so often and I'll probably do the main quest line soon since I want to get to gold somewhere between level 40 and 50 (thinking there should be better rings/amulets in gold than silver at any given level).

[Zeus331 0]

Can someone tell me what the difference for the following Combat Art's mods:

 

Ancient Bark: Slippery vs Rugged

 

Golden Glade Touch: Bandage vs Flow

[karruptedkat 0]

There about the same and personal preference. I've done this build w. both choices. One boost the values that are apparent in your gear the other boost defense so depends on how you build her since you have armore lore I'd go armor boost. On the Golden Glade Touch not sure.

 

 

 

Ty Maine I try and keep this post fresh with ideas.

[Zinsho 0]

@re:Ancient Bark...

 

Slippery increases Defense. Defense only works vs melee and ranged attacks that are not Combat Arts (and some of the fancier melee animations are spells). High defense means you're less likely to be hit by an enemy, however Evasion + Reflect will do the exact same thing, and often with lower investment.

 

Rugged increases armor. Roughly speaking armor works as follows:

 

Damage Received = Damage Dealt * (Damage Dealt / Armor)

That for each element being dealt. Mitigation comes into play before that but Dryads don't have easy sources of high mitigation the way some classes do.

 

In my opinion Rugged will always win out because it is impossible to ensure you will never be hit by anything whatsoever. I'd prefer to be hit but know that I can shrug off more damage, than gamble on when that unlucky hit will land.

 

 

@re: Goldenglade Touch

 

Bandage is a spike heal at the start of the cast (or appears to be)

Flow increases the HP/s during the cast.

[essjayehm 58]

man, this is a great build, thanks. Still only level 18 with it so far but thats because I keep stopping to shop every so often and I'll probably do the main quest line soon since I want to get to gold somewhere between level 40 and 50 (thinking there should be better rings/amulets in gold than silver at any given level).

 

This is true all the way up thru the difficulties. Niob>Platinum>Gold>Silver>Bronze for all stats at the same level.

 

Level 40-50 is perfect for moving into Gold! The minimum levels of the enemies in Gold are level 40, so no real need to go there before that point, for most toons.

[chattius 2,526]

Damage Received = Damage Dealt * (Damage Dealt / Armor)

Well it is a bit shifted so that at armour=0 a division by zero is prevented. I have a function of the damage to armour formula somewhere.

 

Damage function

 

I did it in a thread in the GSF. Schaden= damage, Rüstung= armour

 

To understand the graph:

We had always the same beast bashing on us. Last kill showed that it had a damage of 224. Then we varied our armour. At around 1750 armour it was dealing 224 damage. I defined this as Fix-Point-Armour (FPA). The amount of armour which is needed to receive the same damage than the enemy is actually dealing. FPA varies with damage, difficulty, level..... But I wanted the formula easy so I invented FPA. I than did calculations with the new term FPA for a fix level, a fix diffulty and a fix damage to reduce the number of variables.

The result is the function you see in the link. If an enemy is dealing 224 damage in niob, it shows how much damage you receive at your armour class. At 0 armour it is 744. Less than a division by zero, but more than a factor of 3. In silver the damage multiplier at zero is close to 1.5.

The full discussion you find in Dobri's thread how to become a demi-god.

 

Because the Graph of the function accelerates quickly the closer you are to zero I always have an artamark star socketed in niob. To prevent that an enemy hits me with a damagetype I have no armour in. Close to zero a single artamark can reduce the damage by half or more if it is boosted by some +x% armour from barkskin.

 

Hope it was not to mathematically.

Edited April 21, 2010 by chattius

[karruptedkat 0]

Since were on the subject I have a question I always add both of these in my builds but which is Better. Ill give you an exact instance to work with. Okay on Dryad she has a chestplate of time which has a lot of defensive value and some resistance built in it. Here what I need to know. To best boost her defense(Before mods to her natural skills) would adding a ring or Amy w. Plus defensive value be the best so that she takes less damage. Or a ring or Amy that boost direct resistance like Armor:40 Physical . Which would best mitigate physical damage the boost in defensive value or boost to physical:40 percent.

Edited April 24, 2010 by karruptedkat

[Zeus331 0]

since were on the subject I have a question I always add both of these in my builds but which is Better. Ill give you an exact instance to work with. Okay on. Dryad she has a chewtplate of time which has a lot of defensive value and some resistance built in it. Here what I need to know. To best boost her defense would adding a ring or Amy w. Plus defensive value be the best so that she takes less damage. Or a ring or Amy that boost direct resistance like plus fourty to physical damge armor aspect. Which would best mitigate physical damage the boost in defensive value or boost to physical:40 percent.

 

It will depend on what skills and mods you have taken already. I would not stick anything in that armor unless it is a really nice Atamark Star (All damage mitigation) other than that all skills something of that nature.

 

Now lets look at what skills you have taken. Did you take Armor Lore? Did you take Shield lore? A very nice high level glacial defender with a Atamerk star in it works out some good mitigation.

 

Now onto modding for Ancient Bark did you take Rugged? It is a must if you want to shrug off some damage.

[karruptedkat 0]

Ty for the quick response zeus but not the answer I needed. Im looking before any boost to her natural skills. Basically trying to see if it would be better to remove one or the other or boost one or the other instead of having both forged in my gear. If one is the obvious better choice I could add more of that one and nix the other.

[chattius 2,526]

The question what is best comes very quickly down to the question if you play hardcore or not.

Without hardcore you can argue with statistics that it is not very probably that you will be hit at 99% evade, 99% blocking and 99% parry. The chance that you are hit would just be 1:1000000.

But hardcore you start with this 1 hit in one million cases. Sooner or later you will be hit. And to survive this hits, you need armour and hitpoints. So I normally do a 3 hits design. The character should be able to survive 3 of the hardest hits of an enemy or 3 of his own hits reflected back..

 

But this can fail at demon mage champs and or having x% life leech reflected from a boss. But it works well against 99% of the beasts.

 

Your build is for the console. You can have 6 relicts but can't quickly change them like the 4*3 on a PC. So you can do 4 relicts, one of each type to have no damagetype without a protection and can use the other 2 tocounter the main damage types in your hunting area. But honestly, I haven't played console yet, and I have no play experience if the 6 relicts can replace the socketing of an artamark.

[essjayehm 58]

Since were on the subject I have a question I always add both of these in my builds but which is Better. Ill give you an exact instance to work with. Okay on Dryad she has a chestplate of time which has a lot of defensive value and some resistance built in it. Here what I need to know. To best boost her defense(Before mods to her natural skills) would adding a ring or Amy w. Plus defensive value be the best so that she takes less damage. Or a ring or Amy that boost direct resistance like Armor:40 Physical . Which would best mitigate physical damage the boost in defensive value or boost to physical:40 percent.

 

Hey, KK, I think I may know exactly what you want...

 

Like Chattius said, we're going to get hit. PERIOD. So we ensure we can take X amount of damage, from any source. This is where Atamark's comes in, as it gives all 5 types of armour ( because damage in Niob is at least tripled if no resistance). You use Chestplate of time, that also has all 5 armourtypes. So you are OK with that aspect.

 

If you studied the graph Chattius linked, we see there is diminishing returns by boosting armour value too much, so you must account for where you have armour value coming from.

 

For a Dryad that has the RUGGED modification on Ancient Bark, AND Armour Lore, there should be no need ever to add more armour value, just concentrate on defense value. Maybe 1 Anneal, but no more.

 

If you take the SLIPPERY mod for Ancient Bark, and still having armour lore,

OR, you are missing armour lore (Should have Rugged on Ancient Bark), then you have to balance things a little. There will never be a need for defense value %, just the base def.value jewellery. Probably Chestplate of Time AND an Atamark's would be desireable (I only have Chestplate, and I'm OK). And then balancing your relics, 3 Fire (because of Sensitivity to Fire from Ancient Bark), and 1 each of the other, or omit poison relic because Ancient Bark gives poison armour.

[mgm187 0]

Ok this is working very well ..My few questions are (I use xbox 360)

 

1. whats the deal with bargaining I have always found better equip from drops than in shops ( sets included) does Bargaining increase the quality of items in the shops compared to in the world (sets as well) or does it just give you better prices on what they have

 

2. In your original post you have shield lore but on one of your videos you have dual weapon how do you work that in can you break down 1-10 what skills you use in the dual weapons build and what mods are in the one cause it doesn't seem to be exactly like original post ( I hate shields )

 

3 lets just say after getting your answer about the bargaining skill I dont want to make her a shopper that will leave me 2 open slots what would you suggest I put there to totally max out her destructive ability?

[Zeus331 0]

Ok this is working very well ..My few questions are (I use xbox 360)

 

1. whats the deal with bargaining I have always found better equip from drops than in shops ( sets included) does Bargaining increase the quality of items in the shops compared to in the world (sets as well) or does it just give you better prices on what they have

 

2. In your original post you have shield lore but on one of your videos you have dual weapon how do you work that in can you break down 1-10 what skills you use in the dual weapons build and what mods are in the one cause it doesn't seem to be exactly like original post ( I hate shields )

 

3 lets just say after getting your answer about the bargaining skill I dont want to make her a shopper that will leave me 2 open slots what would you suggest I put there to totally max out her destructive ability?

 

1 Bargaining allows you to shop from the merchants. It is not really the armor you are looking at it will be the jewlery. Example if you dont have bargining you wont be able to by the + All Skills with excellent 2nd or 3 mods. Like +4 All skills with 30% Deathblow.

 

2nd You can not buy sets from merchants. The sets you will find by having taken Enhanced Perception so when you kill Mini Bosses (White Griffon, Boar, etc.) Elites they have better chances to drop set items. I have Enhanced Perception maxed at 75 and sometimes I open chest and set items drop out.

 

3rd here is a build with no shield, with or without Bargining. I always recomend taking Enhanced Perception. So it is only 1 free skill.

 

Nature Weaver Lore

Cabalistic Voodoo Focus

Nature Weaver Focus

Enhanced Perception - Gives us a better chance of finding gear, if not to equip, then to sell for money. Also unlocks accessories with Chance to Find Valuables and experience per Kill modifiers. Keep it at either 1 if you go with Combat Discipline, if not keep pumping, need 5 to unlock Bargaining.

Combat Discipline -OR- Bargaining

Concentration

Combat Reflexes - Needs 5 points to unlock Armor Lore.

Armor Lore

Tactics Lore - Need 5 points in this to unlock Dual Wield.

Dual Wield - Can leave this at 1 point.

 

Hope this helps

Edited April 27, 2010 by Zeus331