Three Stars

I see I have you all enthralled. zzzzzzzzzzz I'm at level 45. I chose Combat Reflexes at 35. I plan on taking Rev Tech lore at 50, which will promote Nova to a primary damage skill and make my various energy shields more potent. The level 65 skill is going to be interesting. I'm halfway considering taking Exalted Warrior Focus for modding Dashing Alacrity. The increase in running speed is handy, and the mod that decreases all CA regen would be even more handy for a caster. I would go Sprout/Delay/Ardor. Tactics Lore would do the same as far as modding points, but it wouldn't impact the CA level penalty. I could also find a use for Battle Stance in this build. The only other skill I would consider is constitution, but I figure I've got WE and DP to act as temporary hit points in a pinch. I'm using a level 50 bargaining character that I've retired to load me up with +skill jewelry.

I totally agree about regen mods. You can get regen from so many different sources, but scaling damage and reflect are quite valuable for a rather squishy character. I have a fire HE at level 50, but I'm going to try remaking her once of these days. Fire HEs just don't seem to have the versatility of the ice HEs, especially since BT is useless on any kind of ground with water or obstacles. Plus, incendiary skin isn't really much of a defensive buff, even with reflect mod.

I've got a Celestial Caster. At level 33-ish, she looks like this: Celestial Lore Concentration Celestial Focus Warding Lore Armor lore Rev Tech Focus Combat Discipline (aka "ancient magic lite") The biggest problem with a Celestial caster is damage, so I've filled almost every available slot with the blacksmith art that gives +%Damage. I've got about +160% Damage on board. It's forcing me to keep my natural CA levels small, as regen is also a problem for any character that doesn't have Grand Invigoration. I'm going full stamina, at least for now, to help fight that limitation. I'm also using the "single CA combo" trick for the extra 10% regen it's giving me. All's fair in Seraphims and war. Of course, my main attack CAs are Baneful Smite (Laggard - Potential - Chain) for single/double kills and Radiant Pillar (Hypnosis - Brightness - Magnify) for Area of Effect. With that much +%damage on board, Baneful Smite is a one shot kill on most non-champion monsters. I prefer the increased Area of Effect over the duration for Pillar, since duration comes with increasing CA levels anyway. Cleansing Brilliance is my only buff at this moment (Distract - Purify so far), and in crowds of undead it's fun to watch the weaklings drop dead once they're in range. I'm likely to select the Illuminate mod so that the -Attack speed mod is spread over a wider area. The damage is basically a bonus. I have Divine Protection fully modded (Capacity - Boost - Mirror), so it will eventually be able to be up most of the time. The question is...where to go from here? The original plan was to stick Rev Tech Lore in there and have two Aspects worth of CAs to kill things with, but I'm not sold on the idea. There's still debate about if Archangel's Wrath requires attack rating to hit, and I'm certainly not building with that in mind, or at least not yet. It also seems a little redundant, given that Baneful Smite can give me a guaranteed hit on 1 or 2 monsters without the need for homing or travel time. Flaring Nova is certainly a nice CA, but it will need significant investment in Rev Tech Lore to be right up there with my Celestial CAs, and points are always tight with a fully dual aspect character. Warding Energy is kind of weak this early in the game, and I can't spare the regen malus. That may change over time. There's also a few fun possibilities in the Exalted Warrior Aspect for a caster, which make EW Focus a possibility. I have a few levels in Dashing Alacrity, which is like attaching rocket boosters to your feet. I'm 93.7% sure that it works when I'm on my tiger as well, and that's handy. Battle Stance could give chance to reflect. Assailing Somersault lets you look before and after you leap. I also feel the need to have Combat Reflexes (the DP shield will eventually block most spells, so no Spell Resistance). Constitution never hurts when you're a squishy caster. I see there's a movement towards adding dual wielding capability for damage potential, which would of course necessitate points in Tactics Lore. Then there's all the general skill wackiness (Riding? EP? Bargaining?), but I feel like this build needs too much help from Defensive and CA-based skills to devote 2 or more skill slots to general skills. So, that's 9 potential skills for 3 slots. My initial impulse is to go Rev Tech Lore, Combat Reflexes, and Constitution, but if someone in the crowd has a better idea, I'd like to hear it. (Sorry, wall of text )

I wanted to like Twisted Torment. I really did. We just don't get along. Too little damage too slowly to only one target. The double arrow mod for the SW's Skeletal Fortification is really what makes it effective (at least the way I play). It would be nice if the Totem had something similar. I guess that's why people have had success keeping their CA levels so low, so you can get as many Totems out at possible in a short time. With SF once you get two shots at once, it's like having two at the same time.

Glad to hear it. I, unfortunately, get interesting character ideas and then tend to abandon them, since I end up with too many characters at once. I do need to beat Platinum and Niobium with my Ice HE one of these days, after all, and then take my Nature Caster Dryad into Gold. Not to mention my Summoner/Skellie Fort SW in Silver. Then I need to fulfill my dream of a pure caster Seraphim, if I can ever get a magic damage character out of the early game without massive frustration. I eagerly await your updates.

Yup, all points in dexterity. Although it may be tempting to do so, I really don't want to have to rely on melee for anything. Killing Spree sounds kind of interesting, since as a thrower I'll be reasonably close to the fray anyway. Kill enough guys, and the rest go boom. It would add a bit of Area of Effect to the build, which would certainly be welcome. The wiki says that Frenzied Rampage doesn't work with ranged weapons. That's a bummer. The idea of double hitting bosses has a certain charm. Oh, and both Rousing Command and Killing Spree have modifications that add a big chunk to attack values.

I am interested in trying to make a throwing weapons SW using the Death Warrior and Malevolent Champion aspects. "Why not just make a Dryad?" - I already have a dryad, for one. Secondly, I kind of like the idea of a character who has two aspects that can support ranged attacks (SW) instead of one (Dryad), and can mod each of those aspects with a single skill (Tactics Lore). Hooray for efficiency. "Throwing weapons aren't as good as..." - Well, nobody said this build needed to be uber. My brief experience with the character shows that a SW has a little hitch in his delivery with bows, where he double clutches and winds up before firing. Throwing weapons seem to be tossed faster, and faster = generally better, although you lose something in the way of range. I'll be sticking close to my Augmenting Guidon anyway, so it remains to be seen how much range comes into it. Skills would be something like, in no particular order: DW Focus MC Focus Concentration - for Grim Resilience and Reflective Emanation Tactics Lore Ranged Weapons Armor Lore Constitution Combat Reflexes Then there's room for two more skills. CA-wise...from my Astral Lord SW I know that Augmenting Guidon is quite useful. Demonic Blow and Scything Sweep fill the roles of the single tough monster killer/multi target hitter. Belligerent Vault lets you bunny hop. The rest I have very little experience in, so I'm interested in hearing from the crowd about which of the remaining CAs are most useful and fun to kill things with for a ranged attacker.

Then maybe it's just my computer. I cleared my cache and the left menu is still at the very bottom of the screen.

More HE Combat Art uses, pros and cons. I also noticed that the Lores and Focuses were switched for the High Elf's skill listing. Focuses were listed as primary skills, which they are not, and the opposite for the Lores. I'm not sure why I never noticed that before, and the page hasn't been edited in a while. I switched them, but now I've noticed that the left side menu has shifted to the bottom of the screen. I did a simple cut and paste job, and a view of the history doesn't show any significant difference, so I don't know what got changed to cause that.

I've put in some usage strategies for the HE and Dryad Combat Arts that I know best. I've also put in an explanation about Ancient Magic mastery that is basically my best guess as it its function, considering how the words "resistance", "spell resistance", and "armor" are thrown around so interchangably. While I'm not 100% sure about it, it makes more sense (to me) to have the skill mastery decrease armor ("resistances") than the property "Spell Resistance".

I dunno about results. At this point I'd just like someone to reply. Might be too many long words.

Gogo has invited me to join the Wiki crew, for which I am honored and humbled! I do a lot of posting about caster characters. One of these days I'll get around to picking up a sword and stabbing monsters with it...but not today. Tomorrow's not looking good either. I've started adding some info about High Elf Stormite CAs. I'm trying not to put too much of my own point of view in there. I'm not a fan of regen mods. Now I'm pondering the effects of Ancient Magic mastery. I just posted a thread on the SIF about it, so we'll see what kind of discussion that brings. http://forum.sacredeng.ascaron-net.com/sho...ead.php?t=61282

I wish I spoke German. My answers are probably in this thread: http://forum.sacred-game.com/showthread.php?t=62169 Looks like he's testing the build for 2.40 and will repost about it.

I agree that it's hard to do both, but each aspect has a big flaw that the other aspect makes up for. Nature is great on single powerful large monsters with Vine/Lances, but there's nothing in there to work on mob killing. Ancient Bark's healing is significantly improved by Lore. Voodoo works well on groups with Totem and (until recently) Viperish, but there's nothing in there that works well on bosses. If they've improved Twisted Torment then that might do it. Black Curse is a nice debuff but it doesn't kill anything on its own. I guess if I want to do damage to as many monsters as possible, going Voodoo major/Nature minor is the way to go, since Edaphic Lances is so specialized. The problem is, the other 4 skills all deserve to be modded, and that's a lot of points to stuff into Nature Weaver Focus alone.

How do you have your Totem modded? The only mod that appears useless is the bronze level fear mod, which doesn't help you kill things at all. This may be a dumb question, but is Totem modified by Cabalistic Voodoo Lore, damagewise? How about weapon based skills like Tactics Lore? Has Twisted Torment improved at all with the new patch? I'm planning and considering a build that uses the Nature skills to take out strong single monsters and Voodoo skills to clear out trash mobs. Skills would be something like: Nature Lore and Focus. (Pretty much have to do both to maximize the usefulness of Ancient Bark, have Lances/Vine be effective, and have enough points to mod Acute Mind and Goldenglade.) Voodoo Lore and Focus. (For Totem, basically, with a touch of Black Curse. I'm not a fan of Viperish Disease. If Twisted Torment has become useful, that's a bonus.) Ancient Magic (Damage and eventually -resists.) Combat Reflexes (Evade and -crit, and to unlock...) Armor Lore (Gotta have it) Enhanced Perception (I already have a Bargainer) For the last two, I'm considering... Constitution (more health never hurts, but with Bark and Goldenglade, I may not need it.) Riding (since Dryads don't have Grand Invigoration to lower CA timers, and I do plan on buying a special mount) Shield Lore (more protection) Concentration (Amazing how I've gotten this far without it, but Ancient Bark is the only buff I really planned on using. A Moribund Animus pet might yet be useful.) I would use Vine and Lances in a combo, but otherwise I don't use a lot of combos.