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Combat Discipline or Shield Lore?


bhav

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I'm playing a Mystic Stormite elf alongside my TG. My build idea is:

 

Concentration (1 point only for 2 buffs)

Mystic Stormite Lore

Mystic Stormite Focus

Delphic Focus (just enough points for 3 ranks in the buff)

Ancient Magic

Armor Lore

Constitution

Riding (5 points only at first)

Enhanced Perception

 

Then Shield Lore or Combat Discipline?

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Combat Discipline will give you a fixed -10% regen bonus to all CAs that are placed in a combo, meaning you can have only one for instance and still benefit from said bonus. Shield Lore will allow you to unlock "chance to block" modifiers, which if you use a decent shield with "chance to block close combat" will prevent most of the melee damage that would be inflicted on you.

 

It all depends on how you play I guess, but if you ask me I'd say SL is much more important than CD. Why? With Crystal Skin and Grand Invigoration both modified for Mystic Stormite you won't need anything else to drop you regen times, and if you do just pump Concentration up. That's one less skill you spend for the same thing. I won't deny that in the early game CD will be more effective, but if you're going for the long run I'd say it isn't. Even more if you account for survivability, with you being a pure caster relying solely on Constitution probably won't make it. But having SL and Constitution is another thing. I always thought unique shields were the thing to use until I noticed a simple yellow shield's behaviour with around 60% "chance to block close combat". Bye bye Stalworth Safeguard, begone! ;)

 

Just my two cents.

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You're quite right, sorry about that. CD does increase the damage of all your CAs even though they're not in a combo.

 

Again we come to playing style then. I tend to search for a balance between survivability and damage output, I'm not a big fan of those builds were you deal so much damage that mobs can't even touch you (because if you're unlucky and they do you're toast). I prefer a bit more balance. But yeah, if that's what you're going for then CD should probably be your pick since it will stack with Mystic Stormite Lore and Ancient Magic for an insane amount of damage with low regen times.

 

There's one thing I was reading in the Wiki though, which has to do if you intend to use CD just to reap benefit from the added bonuses (-regen, +damage) or actually use combos. I'll quote the entry:

 

"Execution Speed

Combo execution speed is always determined by your Attack Speed (even if the only Combat Art in the combo is a "spell".) Because of this it is recommended to have a way to boost your attack speed if you want to use combos. The most simple way to do this is to use a weapon skill and equip the weapon of the skill of your choice (e.g. choose Sword Weapons and equip a sword or choose Dual Wield and equip 2 one-handed weapons). attack speed can also be boosted by some Combat Arts (e.g. Seraphim's Dashing Alacrity) and some pieces of equipment (notably rings and amulets)."
So unless I misread or understood it incorrectly you better not use combos because your HE CAs will always depend on execution speed except when in a combo, and then you'll be left with a big decrease in DPS due to not having a weapon skill. In short, you'll use CD just for the damage bonus and not the regen bonus.
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You don't necessarily have to choose between defense and offense when it comes to skills, because if you're overly strong in damage, that frees you up to make up defense with item modifiers. From my own experience I'd take Combat Discipline for the regen time and damage bonus.

 

But it works the other way too. What makes things interesting is the unlockable Shield Lore skills, as Androdion mentioned. If you're that well protected by skills and unlockable modifiers you might be able to focus on gearing towards pushing down regen time and damage bonuses instead.

 

 

 

There's one thing I was reading in the Wiki though, which has to do if you intend to use CD just to reap benefit from the added bonuses (-regen, +damage) or actually use combos. I'll quote the entry:

 

"Execution Speed

Combo execution speed is always determined by your Attack Speed (even if the only Combat Art in the combo is a "spell".) Because of this it is recommended to have a way to boost your attack speed if you want to use combos. The most simple way to do this is to use a weapon skill and equip the weapon of the skill of your choice (e.g. choose Sword Weapons and equip a sword or choose Dual Wield and equip 2 one-handed weapons). attack speed can also be boosted by some Combat Arts (e.g. Seraphim's Dashing Alacrity) and some pieces of equipment (notably rings and amulets)."

 

You misread. That applies to consoles only.

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Yea I really want to push my Glacial Thorns to the max, and from what I read shield lore is most beneficial with a yello shield with maximum block bonus, but by not taking it I can just use a Unique one with a 1h staff, or even a 2h staff with better caster bonuses.

 

And if I want to schange it, I have the character editor for that, so I think I'll try going glass cannon with my Helf, while my TG is being built for melee tanking (keeping them around the same level so my TG can shop and blacksmith for my Helf).

 

Theres also a lot of defense added from the Mystic Stormite buff too.

Edited by bhav
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