Two-handed Seraphim, is it a valid option?

[Kasumi Tani 0]

I am currently considering trying playing with a Seraphim, and would like to ask for advice regarding the build. I know, there are a lot of Serpahim guides here, but all of them seem to favor duel-wield (those that don’t involve BFG), and I would like to use Blind Guardian two-handed “sword” for role-playing purpose. However, I am wondering, is using a two-handed weapon a valid option for a Seraphim, or it just won’t work?

 

Regarding skills, I am considering following skills (advice here is appreciated too, of course):

 

Offensive/CA:

* Tactics Lore

* Sword Weapons

* Speed Lore

* Exalted Warrior Focus

 

Defensive:

* Armor Lore

* Toughness

* Spell Resistance

* Constitution

 

General:

* Enhanced Perception

* Bargaining

 

Among combat arts, I mainly plan to rely on Soul Hammer/Pelting Strikes, using only Hallowed Restoration and Divine Protection from other Aspects, so I felt I can safely get Enhanced Perception and Bargaining for the sake of getting better items. I am not sure I will actually need Bargaining, though, since I am going to use Blind Guardian as my weapon and hope to be able to rely on finding Set Armor (and I have other characters to shop for jewelry). But if I leave out Bargaining, I am not sure what other 10th skill I could use instead ^_^;

[Dragon Brother 619]

Firstly, remember that the blind guardian quest can only be completed once per difficulty which means you will have a fairly limited supply of it to rely upon (unless you use other toons to get it collect the item for your seraphim too).

 

If you don't take bargaining...well...combat discipline for a tiny bit of damage + regen, alchemy for the longer potions, unlocked consumables, concentration would allow you to take warding energy but that wouldn't be quite so effective without warding energy lore (if you wanted both the skill I would suggest dropping is speed lore). Combat reflexes couldn't hurt either...evade is always nice.

 

So all in all, looks like you are spoilt for choice Only thing I would suggest is getting attack speed up asap because 2hand weapons can be fairly slow without it. 2Hand swords gives you the option of a %LL sword for bosses too which will be useful.

[Kasumi Tani 0]

Thank you again for replying, Dragon Brother ^_^ (What do you mean by “spoilt for choice”, though? Sorry, English is not my native language.)

 

Anyway, I take it that you consider a two-handed sword a valid choice of a weapon for a Seraphim, right?

 

And, another question I would like to ask, what bronze mod would you suggest for Pelting Strikes? Most (all?) guides I have seen seem to favor Succession, but I wonder if consistent 16.7% damage increase (Thrust) might be preferable for me, since it will increase my chances of consistently one-hit normal monsters/champions?

[lujate 574]

A 2H build would be a lot like a polearm build. For reference here is a recent polearm build that I tried (I lost her at 90 in Niob because I pushed her too fast):

-Tactics Lore (1)

-Enhanced Perception

-Polearms

-Armor Lore (2)

-Toghness

-Exalted Warrior Focus (4)

-Spell Resistance

-Constitution (3)

-Combat Discipline

-Alchemy

 

I will probably never take Alchemy again.

 

I normally take the Thrust mod for Pelting Strikes.

[Dragon Brother 619]

Thank you again for replying, Dragon Brother ^_^ (What do you mean by "spoilt for choice", though? Sorry, English is not my native language.)

 

Anyway, I take it that you consider a two-handed sword a valid choice of a weapon for a Seraphim, right?

 

And, another question I would like to ask, what bronze mod would you suggest for Pelting Strikes? Most (all?) guides I have seen seem to favor Succession, but I wonder if consistent 16.7% damage increase (Thrust) might be preferable for me, since it will increase my chances of consistently one-hit normal monsters/champions?

 

Yes, 2 hand swords are definitely valid. Sorry about the phrase, it means that you have so many options to choose from, kind of like a child who's parents buy them everything they want. And no need to apologise, your english is very impressive.

 

As to the mod...well...succession is definitely more useful when paired with %LL against bosses. Thrust...the damage increase isn't that great, but then succession is only a 20% chance to double hit... You're probably right in that it succession is more likely to be helpful against mobs, I would say that's the one to pick.

[Kasumi Tani 0]

Thank both of you for your replies, Dragon Brother, Lujate.

 

Yes, 2 hand swords are definitely valid. Sorry about the phrase, it means that you have so many options to choose from, kind of like a child who's parents buy them everything they want. And no need to apologise, your english is very impressive.

 

As to the mod...well...succession is definitely more useful when paired with %LL against bosses. Thrust...the damage increase isn't that great, but then succession is only a 20% chance to double hit... You're probably right in that it succession is more likely to be helpful against mobs, I would say that's the one to pick.

 

Thank you for the compliment, and there is no need to apologize either; at least I’ve learned a new phrase today ^_^

 

And thanks for confirming that two-handed build will be valid for a Seraphim. It looks like it will be a hard choice between Thrust and Succession for Pelting Strikes, though. I understand, Thrust would be better against regular monsters, and Succession would work better against bosses, right?

 

A 2H build would be a lot like a polearm build. For reference here is a recent polearm build that I tried (I lost her at 90 in Niob because I pushed her too fast):

-Tactics Lore (1)

-Enhanced Perception

-Polearms

-Armor Lore (2)

-Toghness

-Exalted Warrior Focus (4)

-Spell Resistance

-Constitution (3)

-Combat Discipline

-Alchemy

 

I will probably never take Alchemy again.

 

I normally take the Thrust mod for Pelting Strikes.

 

Thank you for sharing your build, Lujate.

 

I would like to ask a question, though: why did you choose Combat Discipline over Combat Reflexes? To me, advantage of Combat Discipline to an Exalted Warrior Seraphim seems kind of small, comparing to an advantage of extra evasion (which, I understand, directly subtracts from opponents’ chance to hit).

[lujate 574]

Combat Discipline and Alchemy were picked on a whim because I thought I had enough defense. If I did it again, I would pick Combat Reflexes instead of Alchemy but keep Combat Discipline. I use Pelting Strikes 100% of the time and Combat Discipline improves damage and regen, as well as allowing a Assailing Somersault/Soul Hammer/Pelting Strikes combo.

[Kasumi Tani 0]

I see, thank you for explaination, Lujate.

 

What do you (and everyone else) think of adding Revered Technology Focus to the build, replacing either Combat Reflexes or Combat Discipline? It would allow to modify Divine Protection and to keep it active all the time in the end. Would it be effective, or Divine Protection doesn't help enough without Warding Energy Lore to warrant getting Revered Technology Focus for its sake?

[DaveO 88]

From what I understand about Divine Protection, you can't have active all of the time with either just Fallen Angel or with Ice & Blood. To me, DP seems most useful for boss fights or for areas where more damage resistance could be useful(Swamps comes to mind with the Damage Over Time from Spiders).

[lujate 574]

I think DaveO is correct about Divine Protection. It is only chain castable on the consoles or very early S2FA builds. If you play console, go for it, otherwise I would not bother.

[Kasumi Tani 0]

Thank you for clarifying about Divine Protection, Dave 0, Lujate.

 

I guess this pretty much exhausts the topic, unless anyone has any more suggestions for two-handed Seraphim.