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The self-sufficient High Elf - it's all about performance!


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I understand why you took globe + explosion. If I, personally, see 3 or more opponents, I immediately hit "2" for the tempest and hit them all. They're down, that's it :drunkards:

 

As for the shower... It's so cool. Bosses down in 7-10 seconds. Nothing is more rewarding than that :thumbsup: And, of course, dropping champions. I do shower... He's down. Period.

 

As for bargaining, the only thing that it helps is trading and those cool rares with good sockets and +all skills amulets and rings. As for the sets and legendaries - Enhanced perception will be the thing to help, as well as the Survival bonus. It's main reason I think this is the best combination for pretty much any char. + All skills stuffs obtained by taking bargaining can easily substitute a skill one may refrain from picking.

 

Well, Kahlan is 65 now, rushing Platinum and with shield lore she boosts some amazing defense, pretty close to 10 000, with over 10000 HP as well. And EP + the Survival bonus (at about 90% now) nets me some nice set items. Not many uniques, but the set items do indeed drop easier (as stated in the patch resume).

 

I'm beginning to understand why that pyro HE is fun. Almost any boss drops in 2-3 showers (even in gold, we'll see in platinum), any champion drops in a shower, rounding off numerous enemies for a big kill for over 50K XP... It is now that I realize why this build is so much fun. I am really pleased with how it feels and turns out.

Edited by Dobri
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Sometimes I think that the HE's pyro aspect is too strong. Tempest in particular.

 

Honestly, it would be disappointing but understandable if the makers redid Tempest to, say, be blocked by opponents it hits (cf. Glacial Thorns w/o pierce).

THEN the spell would require a mentionable amount of tactic to apply effectively.

 

But, I figure, as long as my char keeps dying I can't complain.

 

Up till now:

Gold: I've got Xanthiar 11 sec / 4 x Shower; Carnach 15 sec / 6 x Shower.

Silver: Nameless Guardian 4: 31 sec; 15 x Shower. (CharLvl 56 - 60)

 

Thank GOD for deathblow!

 

nat

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I'd have to say all skills is better than deathblow. With all skills at +115-116 now (at level 65), I have maxed fireball/tempest/shower/skin CAs (over CA level 72 I think), as well as maxed invigoration. With this I have regen times:

0.7s on fireball

1.9s on tempest

2.0s on shower

 

this is pretty much enough to recast like crazy and kill a boss in a few seconds. The poor boss can barely move in for a swing or buff, or something else :) Actually, the only bosses that I can't kill in 10 seconds are Gahanka (both phys and fire resitant), Gar'Colosus (Because of the T-Energy shield) and the Nameless guardian (same reason). Now on platinum the boss kill times don't seem to have changed a lot but hey... There are still 135 levels to go :o

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So far I've aways gone for the +all CAs and only read one rune lest my regens get out of control.

From what I gather you read in all/most of the runes you find and outweigh the regen with the +Concentration +Focus from your +all Skills armor?

 

Worth a try..

 

Small side note on the Energy Shield: In silver Expulse Magic worked on Gar'Colossus but not on the Guardians: That poor clay giant never saw it coming. He stepped into the ring and his shield disappeared. He still chased me around with his projectile double shots. That second stone I've always felt I had to dodge since the time it one-hitted my Inquisitor. :P

 

Your numbers make me twitch with anticipation... I can only imagine what kind of damage level 72 CAs do with +Ancient Magic +Lore (and in my case +Combat Discipline).

 

Thanks for the tip,

 

nat

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I'll give it a shot at your tip and use expulse magic at the collosus while I get to him in platinum - and we'll see what happens.

 

As for the runes, I was extremely careful till char level 50. A lot of things can unbalance a HE. I lucked out though - I found a robe of innocence at level 20 and used it till level 63 (178 def) by just switching to better rings and amulets in the sockets. In the end of gold difficulty I managed to luck out the velaria's armor from the nameless guardian (3 gold sockets, 658 def) and I guess I'll be using it for a long, long time. In addition to that I'm using an officer's saber (level 30 or 35, can't remember), just for the 3 gold sockets. All of this is giving me a lot of space to slap + all skills items - and with maxed Incandescent skin and Grand invigoration, the regen times are simply plummeting down. I even feel like I can eat over 20 more runes and still have my main Combat Arts well under the value I was thinking of (the 2-3-5 fireball-tempest-shower).

 

Actually, as one can guess, the best equipment for the pyro HE is the one with the most silver and gold sockets :) I don't care about sets... just give me the sockets. The more, the better... and the merrier :P

 

BTW, as you said, death blow is great. With a lot of luck and high bargaining skill, it is very much possible to manage to shop some +all skills/+death blow rings and amulets. It is then that the HE will shine like a star :gun2:

Edited by Dobri
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I decided to go with my +Skills armor and read in all the runes I could in order to keep the regens at civil durations. My times have not changed (1sec for Fireball, 2sec for Shower and Tempest) and the damage has quadrupled: Fireball is at 10k and Tempest at 2k and 3.2k DoT. The damage on top of the defense bonuses.

I couldn't agree with you more on the sockets. All I'm looking for at the moment is a shield with three sockets (silver+) if such an item even exists.

 

My other HE decided to donate her Velaria's Armor (and her Stalworth Safeguard shield) to my Bargaining HE. Sockets AND high end resistences, what more could an elf need? Apart from finally getting out of Gold and into Platinum to get some quality gear.

 

One little habit I picked up while looking into Shadow Step's Area of Effect Explosion: I picked Vanish as my silver mod. It's a fantastic getaway if ever necessary and it's how I get mobile Bosses to hold still while I shoot them with Showers. Prime example: Kral. Couldn't hit him with Tempest, let alone with Shower. Once I vanished, he stopped looking for me. Done. 2-3 Showers in 6 sec.

 

Deathblow is pretty useful. I decided to stock up on rings to easily finish off bosses. I noticed that deathblow probably stacks below 100%, because I had 30% in a sword, 20% from a socketed ring and 4 other 20% rings equipped. All that gave me a total of about 65%. Hard to get over 70% but that and a good +crit chance will kill off a boss even more efficiently.

And it also seemed to work on energy shields:

I had to Shower past the Nameless Guardian's Shields and the last one he put up at about 10% life I plowed through in 2 hits. This was before I did my +all skills makeover.

 

anyway,

 

nat

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Hi

 

I use to play mele chars but would like to try the more magic type.

 

So have been reading up here. Lot of info here, but I fail in finding any thoughts about attributes.

 

What would the primary attribute be to level up, and what is the second one?

 

As mele I use to place my points in vitality, strength and dex. But have a feeling that is not the way to go with a magic char.

 

Thanks in advance

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I, personally, like to add Intelligence all the time. When I get to have 2 attribute picks per level, I start adding 1 point in intelligence and 1 point in Vitality.

 

Why is that?

 

Intelligence increases the spell intensity and improves the combat art damage slightly. Since I'm counting on +all skills, pyro focus, concentration (it's still at level 1 at clvl 65), armor lore and both buffs to reduce the regen times for me, Stamina is actually not needed. At char level 65, I have maxed Combat Arts and with constitution (constantly adding points each level since I picked it), I have over 10K HP, which I consider a good value for a magic-oriented char.

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Small note on Fire Demon.

 

When active the buff gives an (additive, despite being listed separately) increase in fire damage. Roughly +125% at roughly level 60.

And additive in the sense +p +q fire damage additively is a factor of (1+p+q)*fire damage. Multiplicative would amount to +p +q translating as (1+p)*(1+q)*fire damage.

Which would have been amazing combined with my current >+400%. ^^

 

I figure since I didn't know probably neither did others.

 

I have to get my HE to 100 to fully mod the demon (for the regeneration times) and then I'll see if the benefits outweigh the annoying distractions and the fireballs that diminish before hitting the opponents and even get redirected away from them. (what is that?) Will report later if necessary.

 

 

As of yet, my HE:

 

level 73 at Dragonmaw Pass in Niob difficulty (opp. level 116). >+120 all skills and then some (+skill, + skill category).

I'm at a point where Shadow Step has been incorporated into my tactics. Necessarily. I had modded my SS with Vanish and the Vanish time at level 100 is at ca 7 sec (regardless of what the wiki says). I use this invisibility actively when dealing with mobs: The "point" at which I am is that my kill speed and that of my opponents is roughly the same. Meaning if I don't kill them fast, they will kill me. Fast.

And I've died twice since end of platinum (Act VII). Statistically because I didn't take shield lore. :music:

 

Still fun, though.

 

 

Little off topic question on skills and hard points:

 

I've noticed that some skills can be mastered by armor bonuses. Such as Concentration (3 buffs), Combat Discipline (4 CA combo, -20% regtime). Does this go for all skills?

If not, then for which?

I have no +180 MF, so I guess not Enhanced Perception.

From Dobri's formulation I gather not Constitution.

 

Any leads?

 

Thanks in advance,

nat

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I think +all skills stuff gives you temporary mastery as long as you go over 75. I have noticed that at 1 hard point in concentration, with all those + all skills I can use 3 buffs and my HP do recover in combat (although I don't have 75 hard points in constitution). So I guess this goes pretty much for everything?

 

I'm not sure whether the bonus shows up though. Maybe it will when you get the required number of hard points in the skill?

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BUILD UPDATED.

 

Fixed a serious misunderstanding concerning the Incandescent skin buff. At first I thought that it affects the regen time of all combat arts, pyro tree included. I was proven wrong by the game :) Incandescent skin does increase the regen times of the other 2 aspects, but the Pyro aspect works independently as long as Incandescent skin is concerned and benefits only from the reduction in regen times.

 

For example:

 

My HE is level 60 now, rushing gold difficulty. She has maxed Fireball, Tempest and Shower. I had skin at level 7 (only about 7% increase in Combat Arts regen times). I ate a rune and the Pyro regen times did not increase. So I ate 5 more runes and noticed that Shower actually reduced it's regen time by 0.1s. So I got confident and ate 40 more runes. The result was:

Fireball (level 59.7) went from 1.1s ot 0.8s

Tempest (level 59.4) went from 2.6s to 2.4s

Shower (level 59.5) went from 2.8s to 2.6s

 

(my cap for combat art levels is 59 at present based on Pyro focus with the account of +101 all skills added)

 

The level 11 Cobalt strike went from 0.2s to 0.8s. Shadow step went from 14.7s to 15.3s.

 

This undoubtedly shows that incandescent skin DOES NOT increase regen times for its own aspect. This means that pure pyro build may benefit from it all the time. So keep it maxed as well :)

 

Based on that I will conduct a similar test on Fire demon, as soon as I manage to mod it with the last mod that significantly reduces the regen times for the aspect as long as the demon is up and running. If it proves to do the same (reduce regen times for pyro without the account of +% regen time for all combat arts), I may consider getting Concentration up to 75 and get Demon as a third buff, since it's usefulness will be more than evident. We'll see.

 

Stay tuned :P

 

 

I think Incandescent skin is not working as you think it does. For my low level character, I have noticed that

a) if I use Incandescent skin by itself - my regen time for Tempest changes slightly - forget if it gets better or worse.

b) if I use Incandescent skin while Grand invigoration is running, my Tempest recharge time Increases slightly.

 

I'm not sure why the two buffs conflict. Maybe when you have the modification for Incandescent skin for better regen time, the two stack better. But for low level players, pay attention, you may be hurting yourself.

 

Of course, maybe someone else is messing up my numbers, this is my first character, and I'm only level 12.

 

I notice that Grand Invigoration helps a lot. I just haven't noticed good returns on Incadescent skin. Maybe a patch changed the balance some ?

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Do you have any mods on the buffs? If you have incandescent skin without mods it will actually increase the regen times rather than decrease them, even for pyro.

 

Maybe I should add that one should start slapping runes as soon as he/she mods both buffs. Otherwise the buffs may prove to be debuffs :P

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Do you have any mods on the buffs? If you have incandescent skin without mods it will actually increase the regen times rather than decrease them, even for pyro.

 

Maybe I should add that one should start slapping runes as soon as he/she mods both buffs. Otherwise the buffs may prove to be debuffs :D

 

I didn't have the mod before.. now I do, and it does help the regen times.

 

Of course, I'm still learning the game/playing the easiest difficulty level.

 

Some things I've noticed - I can't seem to up tempest blast yet - the regen time is still too high

my stats are...

level 17

tempest level 4 , 5.8s recharge

shower level 3, 4.1 s recharge

fireball level 2, 1.3 s recharge (not currently using)

 

I think the long time for tempest to cast is slowing me down. In the earlier levels, one blast would kill most/all creatures, so I could line them up and fry them. Now it seems I need 2+ to kill most npcs, and always need shower to kill champions.

 

I do wonder though - if I left tempest at level 1 - would it do enough damage to be meaningful at this level ?

 

I also wonder if things are going to get easier for me when I get Armor lore.

 

I have no clue how you are getting bargaining to 2X/3X your level. I've only found a few things to add to that skill, and it is currently level 9. Guess it is better items/ect at the higher levels ?

 

I'm wondering if I should hold off on bargaining until level 25 the next time I try a new character.. I've seen a few things to buy in the shops.. and I do have extra money, but so far, I have not spotted anything that seems to be a 'game changer'. Maybe I'm just blind and not seeing the right items that will help the most for my level.

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The problems with regen times will disappear when you start purchasing + all skills equipment. HE has 2 buffs that reduce the regen time (unlike the Celestial magic oriented Seraphim I'm trying out now) which are the pinnacle of your development.

 

The problems with bargaining are solved in 2 ways: buy + all skills stuff or buy + bargaining/general skills stuff. Make a set that increases only this skill and before you start shopping, change the equipment. When you're done, equip your normal gear. The next thing is to get 3 relics that improve Bargaining. This is the best way to maximize bargaining and get the best stuff.

 

The best equipment for a HE is something with a lot of silver and gold sockets. Use them to add + all skills rings and amulets. If you see such an item, buy it, regardless of the fact whether it has better or worse mods than the one you have. The + all skills gear will pay off big time.

 

As for the regen times, I think you should sit back a bit and leave them as they are for now. Concentrate on modding Incandescent skin and Grand invigoration with Pyro expertise. If you have an item with a bronze socket, add enhance rune there to reduce the regen time.

 

That should do it, for now :D

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I was wondering about the runes, How many should I eat of each one? I've noticed the more runes you eat the higher the regen time is. I'm have a hard time getting my time down past 5 on BT and Fire ball down below 1.5 Any suggestions? Character level only at 10

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From the beginning, eat as much as you need to keep the regen times within playable limits. When you manage to mod incandescent skin, grand invigoration, get some + all skills items, you will see that the regen times are starting to decline rapidly. Then you can eat more runes freely :drinks:

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From the beginning, eat as much as you need to keep the regen times within playable limits. When you manage to mod incandescent skin, grand invigoration, get some + all skills items, you will see that the regen times are starting to decline rapidly. Then you can eat more runes freely :drinks:

thanks, I've been holding off on the rune consumption because of the jump in regen time. My problem is I haven't visited the runemaster yet and don't have incandescent skin. I may just say screw it and start over, level 10 isn't hard to get. Would you recomend the special mount for the HE?

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For the build I'm proposing - no. We don't have a free pick for it. I'd rather add fleetness on grand invigoration for speed and use good set of pantaloons and/or boots for some speed (which I'm doing and it works great).

 

However, if you want a mount, substitute Enhanced perception for riding, get yourself a pyro-based mount. If leveled up properly, it should further decrease the regen times of the Combat Arts.

 

As for Incandescent skin, you should probably do the runemaster quest in Sloeford and trade for it. Make sure you mod it quickly (2 times for reduction of regen of Pyro Combat Arts) and the regen times will be significantly reduced.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Quick question Dobri.

In your first post you mention putting skill points into Bargaining at the ratio

your level *2 at start/ your level*3 later on.

 

Just to clarify......do you mean your level x 2 at start/ your level x 3 later on?

 

For example; at character level 5 I should have 10 points in Bargaining and at level 50 I should have 150 points in Bargaining.

 

Sorry for question,,,,,,, I just wasn't sure what the "*" referred to :)

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To answer your question :)

 

For example; at character level 5 I should have 10 points in Bargaining and at level 50 I should have 150 points in Bargaining.

-> My point, exactly. The more bargaining you have, the better items will appear. However, based on that build, it's expected to stop adding points in bargaining at about level 50, because you will need constitution up to 75 by level 75, which means that from 50 to 75, the skill point distribution should be 1 in Arrant lore, 1 in Arrant focus, 3 in constitution (you have 25 levels, and 3x25=75, enough for mastery). If you have like 45-50 hard points in bargaining at level 50, you can compensate with + all skills items for the next 25 levels. For example, at level 72 I have 171 combined points in bargaining, which serve me well :) I'll be adding more as soon as I get 75 in constitution for the mastery (although I have a temporary one, the HE will never have enough HPs, because she's so frail).

Edited by Dobri
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  • 1 month later...

Thanks for posting this build dobri. :)

 

Since I bought Sacred 2 back late last year I have never been able to get an online HC toon past level 50.

A lot to do with my hopeless build ideas and also a lot to do with my rotten lag.

 

But by following this build I was able today to get my toon to level 75.

There have been some very anxious moments where I was hit so hard by the enemies that my mount died and I survived with just a dozen hit points.

And my space bar now has my finger prints firmly embedded in it.

But all that was due to me either rushing in to a fight or trying to type in chat in the middle of a battle. :)

 

This is a great build for HC and I highly recommend it to anyone suffering from lag.

That's because I always thought a defensive build would be best against lag. But as it turns out a very offensive build is far better.

Area of Effect and DOT type damage is perfect and that's what this build excels in with Blazing Tempest.

 

Its also a lot of fun to play.

The bargaining skill allows you to fine tune your character and makes trips to the merchants less tedious.

Adventuring is easy because of Shadow Step (great to jump rivers and down cliffs) and also gets you out of those frustrating root spells.

And with modifying Ancestral Fireball correctly you can play a ranger type character when you tire of just rounding up enemies with Blazing Tempest.

Incendiary Shower is perfect for bosses too.

 

Thanks again :cow_white:

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You're very welcome :)

 

The build is even more fun if you already have a shopper. Then you can take only EP as a utility skill and select CD or Riding to boost your attack or HP/def values. Gets even more powerful :cow_white:

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The build is even more fun if you already have a shopper.

 

That would require building a separate toon up to the same level as your main :cow_white:

.......not enough gaming time and besides, my toons are death prone :)

 

Besides, this is a build to cover all bases.....which it does achieve pretty well. :)

 

It would be nice to have the riding skill though. ;)

Edited by stubbie
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Hey Dobri! excellent guide btw! this is my first HE and I wasn't sure how to play it, but I decided

to go with your guide and I must say it's pretty much perfect :) currently I'm level 41 with + 45 to all skills..

BT is just tearing through mobs and even champions! it's amazing and this is my first char. with bargaining too

I LOVE IT!! anyways I had a few questions though..I read all the replies to make sure I'm not repeating..but

you were saying you can kill bosses in 2 incendiary showers! That's crazy and I don't doubt it..but im not getting

those kinds of results... currently im killing grunwald dragon and griffin in silver mode...and it takes a lot of

incendiary showers to kill them and I have to constantly use pots, but I'm getting lots of greens so it's cool

but I was just wondering how you got it to that point! currently my IS is at level 9 742 dmg, I modded it

exactly like you said to.. and it has a regen time of 1.6 seconds - how can I two shot bosses?

 

secondly (sorry for all the questions!) I got the unique mount b/c it's so much faster to round up mobs

on a mount for me then just running - but I got the mount that gives -33.5% to arrant pyromancer regen times

but when I get on my mount my regen times INCREASE...is that a bug? what's goin on there...b/c on my shadow

warrior when I get on my mount with -33.5% malevolent champion, those skills reduce in regen time....anyways

thanks for takin the time to read this hope to hear from ya soon!

thx again for guide

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Welcome to FDM Maxbrickem. To help you with your questions.

1. level 9 IS on a 41lv HE is way way to low thats why you are not killing with 1 shots

2. Regen time going up when you are on a mount is not a bug its upsolutly normal even when you use a Pyro mount in your case. So dont worry about it plan your builds regen time with that in mind.

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