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New project: Getting a DW seraphim to Niob


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What confusion?! You said yourself that you entered Platinum with a level 39 toon.

A few things I can see from your screenshots:

  • Is Battle Stance maxed out at level 10 with the Focus skill at level 25? If not then raise it to the max level without penalty.
  • Why no love for Dashing Alacrity? That's like your best way to get buffed for tougher fights!
  • I assume you're waiting for RTF to pump it up, but you can keep Divine Protection at a higher level since all you keep adding to it in terms of regen penalty is the cast time, and since you need to wait for the cooldown anyway and already have RpH kicking in then that shouldn't be an issue.
  • I know it feels like I'm insisting too much on this matter but keeping DW at char level will not only increase the attack speed, and subsequently your DPS, but also increase the cast speed on PS, so it's actually very useful. Plus it also raises the attack value, which multiplies furthermore with Battle Stance, which makes melee strikes easier to hit so you get to kill things faster anyway. Bottom line is, you get to kill things faster with a higher DW value.
  • I'll keep saying as well that char level Constitution trumps CR any day of the week, as Constitution mastery beats evasion in terms of being able to stay alive.

Those are just my opinions on your build, nothing more. My main advice is to keep having fun with it. :D

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I use Toughness/Constitution/Speed Lore/Damage Lore/Dual Wield, with Blacksmithing and Enhanced Perception, and pay little attention to my CA's overall outside of the perm buff and Dashing Alacrity, because my crazy self will run in (high run speed is godly in this game) and just hack things (I have extremely high LL). Not sure if taking Sword Lore would be of any benefit or not for me due to item modifier unlocks. I also dump a higher percentage of my stat points into Willpower and Strength instead of Stamina and Vitality, so it looks more like 50% Willpower, 25% Str, 10% Vitality, 10% Stamina, the remaining 5% are just Dex dumps for the flat defense bonus.

What might help is if you put at lest one Atamark's into your gear in some place because it gives a very large armor bonus to several elements at once, followed by completing relic runewords instead of stacking lesser "plain" relics.

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Small update today (yes, a small one!).

 

I managed to get to level 40, just visited the Royal Honky Tonk and am heading out to Skooks Corner for the next leg of the class' personal quest.

No deaths so far, but I'm occasionally starting to see purple rings under the feet of my oponents. Funny thing is, they're ranging between 8 to 10 levels above me, also meaning the rings are orange, red or purple, depening a bit when and where I encounter the monsters. Usually the moment I enter a dungeon, I'll see the purple ones.

Encountered only one boss today, with was Telus, the undead general. Fight didn't last long, although I did get some damage. Yet, nothing to worry about for now.

 

Overall the current build looks a lot more balanced as my previous attempt. Although my 4 major skills are all 10 - 19 points below level - and most likely will remain that way for a while - the damage output, attackspeed, health regen and armor stats are high enough to give me low damage to my seraphim's HP for quite some time now. I'm currently changing the items I socketted in the armor into resistance and migitation amulets; which proof to be very useful.

Regen of my CA's, however, has been creeping up and if it wasn't forthe RpH rings I got socketed in some weapons, using them CA's would be very painful. I do hope I'm able to deal with this the moment I ge to level 50, where I've planned to  take Rev.Tech.Focus, plus also am getting a 5th skillpoint and 2nd atribute point, making it a bit easier to drop the regen of the CA's. But even after that, I'll intend to keep RpH rings in my weapons as they're very beneficial. :) 

 

 

Thorin :) 

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You should have a minimum of two crucial skill mastered by level 75. A third important skill should be mastered shortly afterward. Spreading out points among numerous skills is neither effective nor efficient and forging jewelry that has the All Skills +x% modifier will accomplish the same result as spreading points thinly. Mastery makes a tremendous boost to any skill and is a benefit that should not be disregarded. After a skill is mastered any additional points invested in that particular skill are much less effective and the points should go toward the mastery of another skill.

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There is, however a dispensation. If there is a secondary combat or a buff that one intends to level up in order to receive modification, then there is a sound reason and therefore, there exists an acceptable strategy. For example, the High Elf may wish to level up Grand Invigoration in order the gain "expertise," "life energy," and "resilience." Otherwise, the significant benefit from mastery is one not to be underestimated, in my opinion and experience. My comments are merely advice and should not be mistaken for an admonishment.

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I would add that it depends if you are self found character with no bargaining skill.  Then you don't have the high plus skills you could have with bargaining.  So that changes the dynamic a little bit.

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  • 5 weeks later...

Went back to my game after a break of about a month. The reason I had that break was twofold: 1) It became to feel like a job to level that Seraphim, instead of a hobby. Not to mention, when doing the same quests for the 4th time within a few weeks they get boring. And 2) I've been having problems with both my shoulders for quite some time now, usually when I've been doing long sessions of playing games I need to run around a lot. Main reason is  that I use a right-hand setup while being a left handed player. And although moving the keyboard to the right to get at least most of the keys at the right angle, I've always been forcing my shoulder too much to use those keys. Fortunately, I was able to replace the WASD setting we got in the last CM patch with the default cursor key settings, making life a bit easier.

 

Anyway, as said, I went back to the game today. Didn't do a long session, just went from the Royal Honky Tonk to Orcish Byway to kill Mudman. Gained one level and started with one skill and one atribute point which were most likely a leftover from my previous session. My guess is I got them from doing the Feed the Poor quest.

 

So what are my plans?

 

Well, first of all, to do some math. Or better said, I've already done  that. :) I got 4 skills I aim to master asap, also depending a bit at how the other skills are influencing the build. With my seraphim at level 41, those 4 skills are Tactics Lore (31), Armor Lore (31), Dual Wield (22) and Constitution (23). The next nine levels I will invest my skill points in those 4 skills, meaning at level 50 I'll end up at TL and AL at 40, DW at 31 and Const at 32. After level 50, I have five skill points to spend, meaning one for each of the four skills and a spare for one skill. Since it needs level 75 for mastery, I'll be able to have 25 spare skill points to spend. Getting both TL and AL equal to my level will take me 20 levels; leaving me with 5 spare skill points I can either drop in DW (57 when mastering first skill) and Const (58 at mastering first skill). Given I'm already facing monsters 8-9 levels above my skill, I will most likely spend most points in DW to unlock weapons equal to the monster's level; with the occasional point in Const to keep my health up. Meaning both will most likely be at level 60. Which means I could be able to master those two within 6 levels, IF I ignore the rest of my skills.

I haven't decided what to do after I've mastered my first two skills. Looking at how things went in previous games, I may keep AL equal to my level or perhaps drop a point in it every other level. Same with TL. By doing that, I would be able to increase the other two skills faster, but also could use the freed up skill points to level EWF, RTL, CR, Conc, RTF and WEL. 

 

Either way, the plans to master my first two skills are laid out. I don't think that'll be too much of a problem for me. :D

 

Thorin :) 

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2 hours ago, thejynxed said:

Out of curiosity, are you going to stack for shield and life leech, or no? Either way DW Seraphim is fun fun fun. You can pretend you're everything from Freddy Krueger to a blender.

I'm using Warding Energy shield right now and plan to combine it with Divine Protection as soon as I got that one with a regen that isn't 4 times the duration. Meaning it'll be a while before doing so.

Currently using the two Sereish blades as main weapon; which is ideal for fighting (most) bosses as they got an +X%LL modifier, while also boosting Flaring Nova, which is one of my main CA's when combined with Pelting Strikes.

 

Another thing I noticed is that you're technically able to run the entire map using only two kind of alternative damage types: fire and ice (makes me wonder if I should rename my seraphim into Denaerys.......). For some reason all monsters lack a resistance to either one of  these, while Magic and Poison are quite common as resistances.

 

Thorin :)

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3 hours ago, Thorin Oakshield said:

I'm using Warding Energy shield right now and plan to combine it with Divine Protection as soon as I got that one with a regen that isn't 4 times the duration. Meaning it'll be a while before doing so.

Currently using the two Sereish blades as main weapon; which is ideal for fighting (most) bosses as they got an +X%LL modifier, while also boosting Flaring Nova, which is one of my main CA's when combined with Pelting Strikes.

 

Another thing I noticed is that you're technically able to run the entire map using only two kind of alternative damage types: fire and ice (makes me wonder if I should rename my seraphim into Denaerys.......). For some reason all monsters lack a resistance to either one of  these, while Magic and Poison are quite common as resistances.

 

Thorin :)

Want to see something funny? Go fight NPCs that use poison attacks using a weapon with the poison fang insert, either resistances for the entire lot of them weren't applied properly and they are bugged, or having the very easy to get poison chance + poison damage bonus combo is OP, but I've had them instagib and simply explode into bloody piles before Pelting Strikes was even finished with it's animation. But yes, Fire + Ice is my go-to combo with a spare set of identically blacksmithed swords in Poison + Magic. My sword sets are Sneaking Demon/Sanguine Runeblade x2, a pair of Ancrid's Blades, Twinkle and Icingdeath, and then a pair of the lightsaber's that I swap in and out (Usually Disturbance in the Force and either Power of NIF or The Darkside).

Edited by thejynxed
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Small update today.

 

I managed to get to level 45, still haven't died a single time; which kinda shows in itself this build is quite solid. The Octo went tentacle-less within a  minute, although I had expected a hard fight, given he had a dark orange / near red ring.

Rest of the area was a piece of cake, the seraphim quest in Shum'zum was nice when doing a few Flaring Nova / Pelting Strikes combos in a row - Regen per hit FTW! - and although the ice monsters at the seraphim island were able to burn through my defences - and thus slowing my running speed down a lot! - even that area wasn't  that hard. Nor was the quick side-step to that cave north of Bluetonburry in which you encounter those Highlander reference mini-bosses. Again, Regen per hit ftw, giving me the opportunity to do a few FN / PS combo's.

 

One  thing I learned from this session is that picking Pulse over expanding as first modifier of FN was a very good choice. Yes, it does reduce the damage of a pulse; however since it sends out TWO pulses instead of one you still do about 50% more damage compared to the single pulse. Another reason it works so nicely, I picked Stun as another option, meaning all monsters in my direct vincinity are hit twice with magic damage, stunned and then turned into pork-chops, minced meat, sausages and t-bones stakes by the PS before the time of the stunning has expired.
Is it fair? Not at all. 
Is it efficient? Most certainly is. :D 

 

All in all, this means I have reached the Carnagh caves; probably the only location I dislike a lot. Those stone throwing monsters with their chance to stun you are anoying, but I can live with that. An AS / PS combe between them will finish most of them off pretty fast.

What I do hate about that area are the bugged young dragons. For some weird reason, the young dragons got an invisible barrier around them when they breathe in to release that fireball. Because of that you can't get to them and as a result you are always hit by said fireball.

Another thing I really hate is that they're all the sudden teleporting; or perhaps it's jumping / being knocked back; when you're fighting them; even if you don't have that knockback modifier in your gear. So the result is that you need to engage a young dragon twice, no matter how high your damage output is. In worst cases even trice.

 

Anyway, despite all that I managed to get to Loromir. And to do so I had the hardest fight so far: Xanthiar. It was a bit surprising for me, as the Octo was having the same level difference (10 levels) as that lizzard, yet the Octo went down pretty fast; while with Xanthiar I was drinking health potions faster as an alcoholic drinks beer in a "drink all you can" bar.

Then I realized the difference were the weapons. I fought the Octo using dual Sereish swords; both having 1.2%LL. And since that percentage is based upon the Maximum HP the opponent starts with, it's a lot when fighting bosses.

Xanthiar, however, was fought when using an Ysandrifa's Law and a Kaldur's axe. And the LL at the Ysandrifa's Law is a fixed number. I was able to increase it using a Demon's set amulet, but 1.2% LL is quite strong compared to 30-40-ish LL maximum.

Yet, Xanthiar went down - and so did my potions supply, but since I got a standard amount of 99 with me at all times, that wasn't too much of a problem - and I made it to Loromir. Soon (tm) I will venture through the rest of those caves, although I'm not looking forward to the fight with the Carnagh; as I will most likely have to use the same weapons again.

And to end it all: the victorious lady just after she had begun chopping that lizzard up:
NzNLPZT.png

 

 

Thorin :) 

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Minor correction regarding my previous post:

1) The Icy-weapon setup I use is Ysandrifa's Law having 32 fixed LL and Ragno's Slayer, having no LL at all.

I checked my stash and saw that Kal'Dur's Legacy (the legendary version) is having an +x% LL modifier. So while the stats were correct, I mixed up the name.

Nearest Kal'Dur's I got is level 60, meaning I will be able to use it after I encountered the Carnach. However, with some luck I will be able to use it in the desert or when fighting the Guardians. We'll see.

 

2) The total LL I'm doing with my Icy-weapon set is 66. Of that 32 is from Ysandrifa's Law, 9 is from the Inner Demon Amulet of the Smoke without fire set (CM only) and 25 is from Niokaste's Grace.

So in a way the "base" LL I got is 34, while the rest of what I leech is depending at the weapons I'm using. 

 

Thorin :)

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Made it to level 50 today, still without deaths and with some fights that were easier as expected.

 

To deal with the Carnach I decided to run the caves a few times, so I would gain enough XP to level up. With that, I could add more points to DW, hoping it would also increase the level to unlock weapons. Unfortunately it didn't, so I had to deal with the Carnach using the same weapons I had used on Xanthiar. Despite that and the Carnach being one level higher, I had less problems with it as with the dragon. Using my FN / PS combo to deal with the summoned fire elementals helped, especially when RpH helps to "free" my PS CA, so I could launch another attack the moment the first was finished.

 

9JRCRBd.png

 

The trip through  the marsh was a walk in the park, the moment I leveled up again and was able to use my new (level 60) Sereish swords as well as most of Niokaste's set of the same level. The desert was just as easy now I could use that level 60 Kal'Dur's axe and even the jungle didn't cause many problems, resulting in Kral going down fast as well. One thing I noticed - and I'm not sure if anyone knew this - is that Kral's sonic attack showed my shield for a brief moment; even after it was completely depleted. Making me wonder if that attack is set to deplete / destroy warding energy shields. Perhaps someone playing a TG knows more about it? The irony of all of it, was that I ran out of gold to smith new rings into my armor and then realizing I got a level 86 SW with blacksmith mastery in Gold as well. And all this time I have been saving money and selling off lots of stuff to get enough money for each upgrade. #facepalm

Made it to level 50 not long after defeating that winged demon, meaning I got my 5 skill points and two atribute points to work with now. I will start to use that extra point to bring TL up to level asap, followed by AL, so I will master both at the same time when getting to level 75. As soon as those skills are equal to my level, the extra spare point is used on DW and Const to bring that up as high as possible as well. But by then I'll be in platinum, as all that's left between me and the end of the game are a few hundred monsters and the four Guardians.

 

Thorin :) 

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Finished Gold at level 52 today after facing far higher opponents at both the Dryad Island as well as the Wastelands and Great Machine area. Level of last bosses were 66 and especially Nimomuil was a real challenge, who had me going through potions as no boss had done before. Not even Xanthiar. Yet, despite that, my seraphim still hasn't died, making her the first character who managed to get to platinum without dying. At least I got that personal achievement for now. She isn't the highest character that hasn't died yet; my level 86 Blacksmith SW got that. He's also the one with the highest SB; which is around 91% I think.

Back to the Seraphim, though.

 

Being in Platinum does make me wonder what to do next. I got the option to do a similar run in Gold; knowing I will face monsters being around 20+ levels above my level. And while I'm not that worried about the normal monsters or even the champions, I am wondering if I'm able to deal with the mini-bosses. As well as some of the bosses who'd already given me a headache - in both ways of speaking - in Gold.

 

The other option is to start exploring in Platinum. It won't get me to my goal of getting in Niob asap; however, by doing a full exploration I may increase my level, neutralize the level difference caused by both the difficulty and my SB for a bit - although it will most certainly increase that SB as well - and will probably make sure I will enter Niob with at least two and most likely 4 or even more skills mastered.

 

Of course there's also the option to do a bit of both; but I've already noticed that doing a bit of both won't work, as it always make you ask yourself, should I do this quest or shouldn't I do it because it's too long. So I don't see that as a valid option.

 

Guess it's time to think things through for a while. So for now, I'll end with a screenie of my seraphim's full skill and CA list, taken right before pushing the button:

3FfvSzS.png

 

 

Thorin :) 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Very small update this time.

Although I haven't done much with the Seraphim, I haven't neglected this game. Instead, I've been working to get my Blacksmithing SW up to Niob; which is something I hope to achieve without dying as that guy got a huge (it's really yuuuuuuuuuuuuuge, the yuuuuuugest ever, period!) Survival Bonus. So far things are going well. I decided to stop exploring in Gold and finish the main and personal quest, entered Plat and only did a few quests in there. In doing that, I managed to get him to level 93, having mastered blacksmithing, tactics, AL and Hafted weapons and currently wondering if I should level up the remaining skills, or focus at Constitution for a while, as in some of the last fights I had to use health pots for the first time in quite some time.

The main reason I'm leveling him instead of the seraphim is that I could use a Niob smith at some point for my other characters. I had in mind to have him being a supportive character, but with some of my characters in Niob, it's a good idea to have the supportive blacksmith in Niob as well.
When that's done, I'll concentrate at the seraphim again.

Unless I feel in the mood to dust off my Dryad......

 

 

Thorin :) 

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Managed to get the SW into Niob (so that's #2!) although it wasn't always easy. I guess over 92% SB does that to a character. Yet, he's got two more levels to go before he's a "centenial", so I still got some work to do.

 

Now that's done, I decided to dust off my Dryad. Changed a few things on her using the Character Editor before working my way through Platinum. I will post about that in the right part of the forum over time.

 

Thorin :)

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  • 1 month later...

Decided to dust off this project yesterday, but to say things went well.......... No, they didn't.

 

I ran into the same problem trice within the past two days, which is that the seraphim died while fighting some undead. Basically because at level 53 faving level 72 monsters and having the light health potions to help you as well as some low LL simply doesn't work the moment your char is used as a needle cushion by undead archers.

Doesn't work well when facing 6 angry buffed Centurion's either as well.

The third death was caused by an army of Kobolds combined with some pirates using magic in their weapons. And one of them was throwing a trap at me, which was just the push towards the wrong side of DoT.

 

So, what I did was jumping back to Sloeford, picking up quests there and doing those. It'll mean that my progress to Niob will be slowed down a lot, but the advantage of doing this is that the seraphim would be able to gather more XP and SB to close the gap between her level and the minimum Platinum level she's dealing with now. And at level 55 that's still 16 levels above her; while parts of her gear are still at Gold difficulty as well.

 

So my basic plan right now is to quest and grind, improving her gear when that's posible level wise; which won't be long as she's already able to equip level 70 items right now; and closing that level gap between her and the monsters.

It most likely means she'll hit Niob after level 60, but at the same time that'll give me the advantage to use slightly better potions. You know, healing up to 30% in Niob using the normal potions, compared to a very low amount using the light health potions.

 

No matter what happens, I will get this char into Niob and if it can't be done as close to my current level, it'll be done a bit later but she will get there.

Will post another update when she hits level 60, will update this post with some screenshots of her current stats tomorrow.

 

 

Thorin :)

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Managed to get the lady to level 60 today by doing lots of quests.
Sloeford and Twainbrook area are done now, I'm currently in Thylysium and doing quests there.

I noticed I got orange rings under the feet of my opponents the moment I had leveled up; meaning I'm not that far from getting the easier targets. Disadvantage is that the moment I encounter new spawns, they're having leveled up as well, resulting in purple rings under their feet again. Yet, with the slightly better equipment I'm able to use now - level 75 weapons and armor can be used - things are slowly improving.

 

As for stats:

RIgWTgT.png

 

 

Thorin :)

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One of the most efficient way to level up is to go to the Blood Forest in free play and do the 3-4 first quests (you stop when you reach the one with the Evil flying Eyes (I don't remember their exact names right now) which can be deadly). You have good xp from mobs and quests (and rewards too by quests and good loot too). But it's not very fun as the time is passing, I agree but it's one of the best and easiest spot to go (btw, I thank my friend oOFilthOo for this tip that I'm now sharing with you too).

Personnaly I love when enemies have their purple rings, that means the fights are interesting.

Good luck on your way :)

 

Edited by desm
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  • 2 weeks later...

Build looks pretty nice.

I am leveling a DW seraphim as well atm. Got to level 15 and got the same Skills like you with the exception, that I got combat reflexes instead of Revered Technology Lore as a fifth skill. Im planning one without the energyshield though and get more HP through Vitality instead. Someone told me, this build is not lacking damage at all, so no point in spending statpoints into strength. 70/30% for Vitality/Willpower he said.

 

Since im not very experienced in gearing, my question is: What stats do you look out for? Well except ofc more damage, some multi-resistant armor and maybe attackspeed and life leech.

A friend told me to get sword weapons just to unlock some cool bonus stats on endgame weapons (although im not sure what he is talking about). Is it correct that if I have dual wield skill, any other weapons skill like sword weapons dont apply their bonus stats like Attack?

 

Cheers.

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Thanks for the reply. I dont know about the new items in the Community Patch, I just installed it today :D Its pretty awesome and whoever made it deserves infinite respect and honor!

 

I havent picket sword weapons yet because Im just level 27 and I will take any big hitting weapon that drops LUL.

So far I´ve picked (in order): Tactics Lore, Armor Lore, Dual Wield, Exalted Warrior Focus, Combat Reflexes, Constitution, Thoughness. My plan for the last 3 points are Revered Technology Focus to get the weakening effect of shock pulse, but for the last 2 Im unsure what to pick. Maybe I could get Spell Resistance, Riding and I thought about sword weapons, because a friend said there would be nice bonus stats to unlock. I can maybe get another weapon skill? Who knows. Its a big thing not having to put more points into a 10th skill, because you could put them anywhere else. I guess at that point, its just arguing on a high level, because its such a straight forward build. Some like it this way, some like it the other way.

 

Thanks for the item advice and its great that im not the only one still playing this outdated game. 

 

Cheers

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I'm pretty sure you're not the only one playing this game, although not everyone is seeking advice here. Occasionally I'll see people asking for advice at the Steam forums as well, so there's still a player base. However, to call this game outdated...... Personally I think the only outdated thing of the game is the fact it's 32 bit. When looking at gameplay, environment and graphics, this game is still top-notch; meaning it's been ahead of time when it was released. And that was also one of its problems.

 

Anyway, I strongly advise you to download and install the CM patch, as it removes quite some bugs, add some other..... no wait, those are cm-patch quest related; add new items and even new quests.

It also makes it easier to download and use the items I got listed in my first post. The only "disadvantage" of doing so, you need to switch chests and start / safe your character quite a lot.

And speaking of saving, a little trick I use - and I'm not certain even some of the vet's here know it - is to use the save option (I think default is F7) before logging out. By doing so, you start at the spot you were when ending the game, instead at a resurrection monolith which is always "at the other side of the map".

 

And one piece of advice which was given to me as well not that long ago; try to keep Tactics, Armor, DW and Exalted Warrior equal to you level, so you're able to master those four as soon as you hit level 75.

Having them equal to your level also helps a lot with dealing damage and dealing with damage.

 

 

Thorin :)

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