'The Archangel' Seraphim build

[Barristan 14]

CURRENT build level 160 (testing completed)

 

Looking for a very versatile character? One that makes use of everything the Seraphim has to offer. Using all three aspects effectively. Is a mass-mob killer, but also capable of doing humongous single-target damage both magic and melee-wise. Prone to being invincible at players choice. Then this kind of build could just be what you are looking for. The 'Archangel'-Seraphim build! Sounds good? Well... keep reading....

 

When I first started playing Sacred 2 - Fallen Angel, I was immediately drawn towards the Seraphim.... I still am for that matter.

 

Problem was, that there were so many opportunities, skills and Combat Arts to the Seraphim, that I was never able to combine them all, into the build that was perfect for me. The Combat Arts were spread along all 3 aspects, which posed a challenge. Following skills/Combat Arts needed to be in my allround build

-Dual Wielding

-Divine Protection

-Flaring Nova

-Radiant Pillar

-Hallowed Restoration (regen modded)

-Pelting Strikes

-Soul Hammer

-Dashing Alacricity (+casting AND +attack speed... for a Hybrid? are you kidding me! )

-Archangel's Wrath

 

Now, however, I think I have found a way. Main reasoning behind this:

-Armor lore mastery

-Tougness mastery

 

All in order to get as much Damage Mitigation as possible. This will ensure that we do NOT need another defensive skill such as Combat Reflexes or Spell Resistance.

 

#1 Skill Choices

#1.1 Mastering Skills

#2 Stat Allocation

#3 CA Modification

#3.1 Rune reading

#4 Playstyle

#5 Gear Setup

 

Smoke rises from the battlefield. Debris strewn across battered remains. Out of the smoke steps an angelic figure. Surveying the carnage, she speaks softly to herself:"Beware all thou who respresent evil, for the Archangel now walks the plains of Ancaria!"

 

***The Archangel*** Semi-buffer, All purpose Seraphim build

 

#1

 

***Skill choices***

 

1. Tactics Lore (75+)

2. Exalted Warrior Focus (75)

3. Dual Wield (75)

4. Celestial Magic Focus (75)

5. Armor Lore (75+)

6. Constitution (75)

7. Revered Technology Lore (75)

8. Revered Technology Focus (75)

9. Toughness (75)

10. Celestial Magic Lore (75)

+ means a skill I would pump after mastering all others

 

NB. A note on survivablity in Ice & Blood.

At the moment I am still confident that she will be fine after resocketing gear. Should that not be the case, rebuild could be done with changing Celestial Lore. Damage done by the Pillar IS nice, but it's the effects we're after primarily. Choices that come to mind with the expansion:

- Ancient Magic

-Combat Discipline

-Extra defensive skill

 

Mastering Skills

 

At level 75, it is important to have at least some masteries. Revered Technology Lore is a primary example, for your nova is one of the main sources for damage. At least for me it is, you could use any skill from any tree as your main damage, act accordingly. Besides RTL, I would go for armor lore Mastery and Toughness Mastery asap. They are your main line of defense, untill your semi-buffer combo is useable.

 

From there (75 - 200), you can easily build out other skills. Leave Celestial for last. It's damage turned out to be quite nice, but has least priority. Also, if you're thinking of another skill, this would be the one to replace.

 

#2

 

***Stat Allocation***

 

level 1-50 Went all out Vitality

level 50-60 All Intelligence

level 60-90 75% Intelligence/25% strenght

level 90-130 50% Vit 50% Stamina.

level 130-200 25% strenght, 25% Intelligence, 50% Stamina

 

#3

 

***CA modification***

 

The Exalted Warrior Tree

 

-Battle Stance: main, and only real, Buff

Bronze: Premonition; Further increase attack value. (12.5% + 2.5% per CA level increase)

Silver: Drill; Reduces the energy cost of Battle Stance. (1-1/(1+(50+1*calvl)/1000) percent reduced; ~5% at CA-level 1, ~6% at CA-level 10, ~9% at CA-level 50)

Gold: Retaliation; Small chance to reflect close combat damage. (~20% chance, increases slightly with each CA level)

 

-Soul Hammer

Bronze: Aim - Increases the chance to land critical hits. (19.8% + 0.2% per CA level)

Silver: Battering - Temporarily reduces the target's armor class. (100 + 1.5 per CA level decrease (guess))

Gold: ?

 

-Pelting Strikes

Bronze: Succession - Chance for double hit. (20% chance)

Silver: Focus - Reduces the cost for this CA

Gold: Precision - Increases the chance to land critical hits. (9.9% + 0.1% per CA level chance)

 

-Dashing Alacricity

Bronze: Bloodlust - Further increases attack (AND casting) speed. (10% + 0.3% per CA level)

Silver: Delay - Increase the duration of Dashing Alacrity. (50% increase)

Gold: Impatience - Reduces the cooldown of Dashing Alacrity. (33.3% decrease)

 

***The Celestial Magic Tree***

 

-Radiant Pillar

Bronze: Delude or Hypnosis - Both seem viable, with Hypnosis a probable winner at higher level grinding

Silver: Brightness - Increases the area of effect. (33.3% increase)

Gold: Magnify - Increase damage of Radiant Pillar. (35.7% increase (guess))

 

-Hallowed Restoration

Bronze: Recuperation - Temporarily increases the hitpoint regeneration effect. (20hp/s + 40hp/s per CA level healed)

Silver: Master Healer - Decreases the regeneration time of this spell. (1-1/(1+(500+10*calvl)/1000) percent decrease; ~34% at CA-level 1, ~38% at CA-level 10, 50% at CA-level 50)

Gold: Antidote - Reduces the duration of all impediment and wound effects. (1-1/(1+(200+5*calvl)/1000) percent decrease; ~17% at CA-level 1, 20% at CA-level 10, ~31% at CA-level 50)

 

***The Revered Technology Tree***

 

-Divine Protection

Bronze: Capacity - Divine Protection lasts 50% longer. (50% increase)

Silver: Boost - Reduces shield's recharge(cooldown) time. (50% + 1% per CA level decrease)

Gold: Improved Mirror - Increases the chance to reflect spell damage. (50% + 1% per CA level chance)

 

-Flaring Nova

Bronze: Impulse - Sends out two pulses, but reduces strength and area of effect. (+1 pulse. -30% damage reduction)

Silver: Stun - Chance to stun opponents within range. (19.8% + 0.2% per CA level chance)

Gold: Flux - Damage increase

 

-Archangels Wrath

Bronze: Salvo - Fires two successive bolts, each with slightly reduced damage. (+1 projectile)

Silver: Lock - The fire bolts will seek their targets

Gold: Vulnerable - Increases the chance to land critical hits. (19.8% + 0.2% per CA level chance)

While the animation on firing AW while dual wielding looks nice, the better option is to have a non-lore two-hander in the second weapon slot, to bring down them bosses, or use the cookie-cutter BFG weapon.

 

Rune reading

 

You cannot read too much runes into Battle Stance, Dashing Alacricity or Divine Protection. The more, the merrier Being your buffs and semi buffs. At level 161, I think I have some 500 runes into BS, and 600 into DP, and 300 into DA. I would advise to keep the Combat Arts at 1 rune read, untill the regen time of the combo drops below ~2,5 seconds. At level 161, I don't think I have over 25 runes in any combat CA. Their lvls being close to 100 from gear anyway.

 

#4

 

***Playstyle***

 

***Combo's***

 

Buffer-combo

Divine Protection > Dashing Alacricity

A few notes are needed. In order to call these two Combat Arts semi-buffs, the duration needs to exceed the cooldown time. As far as I can see, this will happen at ~CA level 75. After this, chain casting this combo will greatly enhance this seraphim's capability and defense. A big bonus to this combo is, that you can start reading all the runes you want. Semi-buffs do not increase regen times for other Combat Arts

 

If you wonder why this combo, or Dashing alone for that matter is important? It enhances both the melee and the casting speed! A Hybrid seraphim, boosted by this skill is an awesome speed-killing-machine.

 

Pre-attack Combo

Radiant Pillar > Hallowed Restoration

Having this combo as 'pre-attack' makes the seraphim pretty much invulnerable the first 50 lvls. (need more lvls to test even further) The HP-regen is so fast, that atm it seems comparable to the Dryad's Goldenglade. Minor drawback is the short duration. This however can be easily helped, by keeping combo regen under ~3 seconds. After launching the Flaring combo, simply recast.

 

N.B. There are certain situations where Hallowed just won't cut it. It is all great and fine for grinding. Don't put your toon in the balance and think it will save you anywhere, anytime. DP should also be kept up.

 

Attack/Crowd Control-Combo

Flaring Nova > Pelting Strikes Keep regen. under ~3 seconds

 

Alternative..... solo Flaring Nova

 

Boss fights

Bring out a non-lore two-hander and blast away!

- Best option sofar is Lorgar's sword

 

#5

 

Gear Setup

 

Using all four CA slots:

1. Nova>Pelting

2. Pillar>Hallowed

3. DP>Dashing

4. Boss-killing slot.... either AW or SH>Pelting, depending on how to best exploit the boss' weakness.

 

Weapon Slots:

1. Nr 1 choice... Dual Kal'durs... socket with some nice Dblow and other stats of your choice... It's the native stats and gold slots on these that make em so great and versatile!

2. Dual Nlovae's Mystery For increasing the CA range on Nova and -regen time

3. Lorgar's sword, the AW boomstick-replacement

4. Booster Slot

 

Armor:

-Rare armor with stacked damage mitigation

-Holy Protection (I always use the Holy Protection, I love this armor )

Shoulders:

-Rare shoulders with stacked damage mitigation

-Niokastes Shoulders

-Shoulders of the Seraish

Wings:

-Endijian's Wings

Bracers

Wristguards of the Dusk

Legguards

Sofia's Protection

Sash

Sofia's Benevolence/Endijian's set

Boots:

Endijian's boots

 

Or read here and go one of the other paths http://darkmatters.org/forums/index.php?sh...c=12144&hl=

 

There are two unique Amulets that can provide some further Damage Mitigation, them being:

-Darwargon's Circlet

-Tanit's Collar

(you can use these, the extra DM is not that much.... choose other socketing options when you do not need more DM)

 

Overall... it is very possible to get 100% Damage Mitigation. The real question is... Do you want to?

Test yourself: http://darkmatters.org/forums/index.php?sh...c=12139&hl= Dobri's Celeste; test for full DM

 

Greetz

Edited June 19, 2010 by Barristan

[soldats 0]

not sure if sh benefits from the offhand weapon, as aw does not

 

it would be best to bring out a non lore 2h weapon to blast away with aw, unless you plan on using the cookie cutter bfg

 

I had originally planned on making a build identical to this one, only subbing out dw for polearms and using only 'spear' type weapons, to benefit aw.

 

the spear part was so I could make a proper 'valkyrie,' using bs with chain and melee aspect, but this was before my research on toughness, so I was out another two skills, making the build impossible

 

I think it is entirely possible now, as giving up combat r. and spell r. in lieu of toughness makes it possible.

 

and I think you meant to say celestial magic lore for your 10th pick.

 

so in short: yes this build can work. tested it myself on a 200 tester, but now dw. melee aspect shouldn't matter too much, only that you'll only gain the damage boost for aw from your mainhand weapon.

[Chareos Rantras 0]

Nice pre-guide , hope to see some pictures soon =)

I rly like the way you're going, implementing 3 trees & dual wielding is not an easy thing but I suppose it'll turn alright with your experienced hand .

 

 

Atm still at small band internet so I'll just start up a singleplayer Sacred 2 session -.-

2 days to go then I'm back at silver servers with my Reborn Rantras SW

 

 

cheers!

Chareos Rantras

[soldats 0]

might I add that since you're not taking wel, you'll need all the mitigation you can get..and since the seraphim is the only character[and tg, actually] that can get access to THREE pieces of mitigation gear, try out endijian's wings. they are ugly as all hell, but I guess compromises must be made.

 

not sure if there's a non wel unlockable for +max shield energy, but if you plan on using we, your shields are going to be low until you can chain cast dp

[Dobri 55]

You put celestial focus twice But still, it is an interesting 3-focused build. Soldat's analysis proved that Armor lore + Toughness based on damage mitigation equipment can do wonders along with Warding energy. Still, you may miss the warding energy lore skill. It also provides certain damage absorption, which is important

 

Although it is a great all-round build, you really need to decide how will you do the fighting and where most skill points will go. The basic idea is to decide on a primary aspect. If you decide to go with the exalted focus, you will need to mod pillar for "detrimental effects" - like delude (reduces attack values), flaring nova for radius+stun (so that it encompass more enemies) rather than 2 pulses + stun, things like this

 

Another thing that may help this build is +CA stuff rather than leveling up the Combat Arts with runes. This will keep the regen times somewhat low even if you don't pick level the other 2 aspects that much

[Ryanrocker 200]

SKILLS

1. Tactics Lore

2. Exalted Warrior Focus

3. Dual Wield

4. Celestial Magic Focus

5. Armor Lore

6. Constitution

7. Revered Technology Lore

8. Revered Technology Focus

9. Toughness

10. Celestial Magic Focus (I might have to go for CR, but this IS the first and best choice)

 

Great build and looks solid. Antitrust hooked me back on the seraphim and I've been looking at multiple builds. I've always liked dual wield and using all three aspects in all of my builds so this one came up just in time. Just some questions

 

Question #1: Are you picking celestial magic focus or lore first because skill 4 and skill 10 are the same lol

Question #2: This build seems to lack defensively a bit. I know divine protection absorbs a lot of damage when turned on but would you recommend any defensive skills in place of rev tech lore or celestial lore?

Suggestion: Maybe add the modifications as you choose them also so people know what works best.

[Barristan 14]

Heya,

 

lol... changed the dual Focus. I was going for über regen times

 

On the lack of defense.... the only thing that makes this possible is armor/toughness combined with Damage Mitigation... as Dobri said, there is a great write-up of this by Soldats, who does a better job in explaining the value of that. http://darkmatters.org/forums/index.php?sh...mp;hl=toughness

I also want to look into Block chance. It is not the same as Absorption, but who knows, it might be a sub. However, I don't think that works without a shield.

 

Second, and I'm not that far into testing, but the health regeneration on Hallowed works wonders sofar.

 

Mods are coming up... I actually know most mods already, it's just that this was a pre-build as Chareos nicely said. I will be expanding this, and who knows, it might turn into a build/guide eventually.

 

@Soldats, yes, the Mitigation part is essential. So far I found two set parts with the bonus. Ah well, looking good is not the goal with this build eh So for I have had no need for WE. I had not planned it either. As I had hoped, the HP regen on Hallowed keeps her more than safe. I'll just have to see, if that will last to chain casting DP+DA, but my guess so far, is that it will.

 

So far.... I am most amazed Updating main post again.

 

Greetz

Edited July 31, 2009 by Barristan

[Barristan 14]

Heya,

 

going for some levels again, after I get my coffee

 

@RyanRocker, most of the mods have been updated. IF you want an extra defensive skill, take it at the cost of Celestial Lore. Your Pillar may suffer damage-wise, but will still have some nice effects. Taking the focus would also mean that you can 'upgrade' pillar with runes. Watch the regen times in that case. For the moment I would say to keep it under 4 seconds. I would not advise to skip RevTech Lore, the Combat Arts we're using in that aspect are more 'structural' to the build, and need to do all de damage they possibly can. Atm I am unsure if it affects the DP too, as for example happens with Ancient Bark and its lore.

 

Cya on servers.

 

Greetz

Edited July 30, 2009 by Barristan

[gogoblender 3,305]

I see the words Archangel's Wrath, which I think is one of the best looking Combat Arts in the game and I'm already a drool I know that I'll go at a Seraphim again one day, and nice to see something substantial like this posted. Got any cool pix to show off the build?

 

 

gogo

[Barristan 14]

Got any cool pix to show off the build?

gogo

 

Dawn's first fotoshoot.... she's far from shy actually Quality of pics isn't that great.... I decided to convert to JPG, instread of the Targa files. Didn't turn out too bad, but could've been better. Enjoy!

 

http://i599.photobucket.com/albums/tt73/Ba...an/big_0014.jpg

Looking good in Grunwald 5 points awarded per correctly guessed equipped item. As you can see, only BS, too bad the health bar doesn't show. Using Hallowed with regen mod, has made her quite invulnerable up till now. Even a dozen nice little red scorps and green champs were not doing any harm

.

http://i599.photobucket.com/albums/tt73/Ba...an/big_0049.jpg

Desert fun! Here you can see the casting of Hallowed in combo with Pillar.

 

http://i599.photobucket.com/albums/tt73/Ba...an/big_0076.jpg

Griffin down! Poor thing never knew what hit him

 

http://i599.photobucket.com/albums/tt73/Ba...an/big_0087.jpg

Gahanka was a great sport Dropped me two level 20 Holy Protections and a level 20 Helmet of the Halo for my Bargainer seraphim level 15. Just look at the crit... right in tha face!

 

Now working on modding Archangels Wrath, and getting the Buffer combo (DP+DA) up. I will post some more screens when this is done.

Edited July 31, 2009 by Barristan

[Chareos Rantras 0]

Wooooo nice pics mate , rly the one with the griffin is the best,

the effect of the pillar + his wings make for a perfect art work

 

 

 

 

cheers!

Chareos Rantras

[Barristan 14]

Heya,

 

@Chareos: Rather nice pic eh

 

Have been getting some levels on the 'Archangel'. Level 132 now.

 

Using all four CA slots:

1. Nova>Pelting

2. Pillar>Hallowed

3. DP>Dashing

4. Boss-killing slot.... either AW or SH>Pelting, depending on how to best exploit the boss' weakness.

 

Weapon Slots:

1. Nr 1 choice... Stradals Hammer and Nadji's Splitter... socket with some nice Dblow and other stats of your choice... It's the native stats on these that make em so great.

2. Dual Nlovae's Mystery For increasing the CA range on Nova and -regen time

3. Optimus Minimus, the AW boomstick-replacement

4. Booster Slot

 

Still very fun to play... tho I reduced the DM to about 40%... keeps me alert With Hallowed.. the minor HP loss is insignificant.

 

Greetz and cya on servers

Edited September 29, 2009 by Barristan

[gogoblender 3,305]

After speaking to you ingame, ran over here to check out the pix. Pretty well done, you've got an eye for the camera mate. And after seeing the build in action with you in Niobium...

 

Folks this one's a winner

 

 

gogo

[Barristan 14]

Heya,

 

thanx for the kind words Gogo, they are well appreciated. We did have lots of fun creating mayhem and destruction in Niob eh!

 

Will be updating with some new pictures soon... just have to find/shoot the right ones.

 

 

N.B, If anyone ever has question about the build, please ask, and I will answer asap. I might even have some gear stored here and there, in case someone wants to try it out.

 

Greetz

[Gamertron 0]

This may seem like a silly question, but in what order did you learn the skills? And could you clarify into which CAs you put modifications?

[Barristan 14]

Heya,

 

Order of skills is order mentioned To make it easier... here they are again, in the order I prefer to take em.

 

1. Tactics Lore

2. Exalted Warrior Focus

3. Dual Wield

4. Celestial Magic Focus

5. Armor Lore

6. Constitution

7. Revered Technology Lore

8. Revered Technology Focus

9. Toughness

10. Celestial Magic Lore

 

There are tons af variations to this.... do you want to use your Nova fast? Place RTL instead of CMF et voilá, you can use and mod Nova better. The first levels (and skills) come so fast, that you could go for any setup really. Just make sure you don't forget Armor.

 

Look for CA modification under #3 in the guide.

 

I would suggest following order of modification

1. Radiant Pillar, regeneration

2. Battle stance (fully mod)

3. Flaring Nova (impulse-stun)

4. Dashing Alacricity and Divine Protection... remember that these are no semi-buffs, untill modded for extended duration and shorter regen. Eventually duration will exceed cooldown and voilá, there is your semi-buff slot.

5. Spend points where you need them most, the rest is mostly player choice.

 

Hope this helps you out at least somewhat. If I missed any part of your question... feel free to ask for specific parts.

 

Greetz

Edited October 7, 2009 by Barristan

[ka243 3]

Sounds like a great build. I'm lazy though and I don't like having to recast temporary buffs like dashing alacrity and divine protection. Would rather have permabuffs. If you don't mind casting dashing alacrity and divine protection all the time, this seems very powerful indeed.

 

I want to try a build like soldat's seraphim caster build but that build is highly dependant on combos and combat discipline and my combos will execute so darn slowly because combo execution speed requires high attack speed which requires a weapon skill on the X360 ARGH.....

Edited October 7, 2009 by ka243

[Barristan 14]

Heya

 

well.... Ka, this might still be a good build then

 

Times I cast the semi-buff combo at character level 161 are very, very limited.

 

- to break root

- to bash some boss

- Guardians

- a 'better safe than sorry' situation

 

I think that 90% of the time I run around with only BS

 

It is a very fun and allround character, and a powerhouse indeed.

 

HF and TC

 

Greetz

[Gamertron 0]

Heya,

 

Order of skills is order mentioned To make it easier... here they are again, in the order I prefer to take em.

 

1. Tactics Lore

2. Exalted Warrior Focus

3. Dual Wield

4. Celestial Magic Focus

5. Armor Lore

6. Constitution

7. Revered Technology Lore

8. Revered Technology Focus

9. Toughness

10. Celestial Magic Lore

 

There are tons af variations to this.... do you want to use your Nova fast? Place RTL instead of CMF et voilá, you can use and mod Nova better. The first levels (and skills) come so fast, that you could go for any setup really. Just make sure you don't forget Armor.

 

Look for CA modification under #3 in the guide.

 

I would suggest following order of modification

1. Radiant Pillar, regeneration

2. Battle stance (fully mod)

3. Flaring Nova (impulse-stun)

4. Dashing Alacricity and Divine Protection... remember that these are no semi-buffs, untill modded for extended duration and shorter regen. Eventually duration will exceed cooldown and voilá, there is your semi-buff slot.

5. Spend points where you need them most, the rest is mostly player choice.

 

Hope this helps you out at least somewhat. If I missed any part of your question... feel free to ask for specific parts.

 

Greetz

 

So you are suggesting I get tactics lore to 75, THEN move on to exalted warrior focus until it is 75, THEN dual wield, etc etc? Also with the CAs, what level do you recommend I eat runes to? Maximum level of return? I've seen some places recommend swallowing just one rune for each skill and leaving them there.

 

This build seems nice in the end though - I'm working towards it now. There's such a steep learning curve to the game!

Edited October 7, 2009 by Gamertron

[Barristan 14]

Heya,

 

actually, no...

 

At level 75, it is important to have some masteries.... RTL is a good example, for your nova is one of the main sources for damage. Besides RTL, I would go for armor lore Mastery and Toughness Mastery asap. They are your main line of defense, untill your semi-buffer combo is useable.

 

From there (75 - 200), you can easily build out other skills. Leave Celestial for last. It's damage turned out to be quite nice, but has least priority.

 

The numbers I mentioned behind the skills, are minimum end numbers.... Saying that I would at least master them... from there you can spend points where you need em most.

 

You cannot read too much runes into Battle Stance, Dashing Alacricity or Divine Protection. The more, the merrier Being your buffs and semi buffs. At level 161, I think I have some 500 runes into BS, and 600 into DP, and 300 into DA. I would advise you to keep the Combat Arts at 1 rune read, untill the regen time of the combo drops below ~2,5 seconds. At level 161, I don't think I have over 25 runes in any combat CA. Their lvls being close to 100 from gear anyway.

 

I see now what you meant.... When I have some more time, I will update the guide with some more specific information.

 

Don't worry on the learning curve too much... you'll get a hang of it soon enough

 

HF and TC,

 

Greetz

Edited October 11, 2009 by Barristan

[Gamertron 0]

Thanks, that's very helpful.

[Dunaria 0]

Missing one info on this

Which GOD do you suggest to take between Lumen / Kybele / Forens ?

 

CURRENT build level 160 (testing completed)

 

Looking for a very versatile character? One that makes use of everything the Seraphim has to offer. Using all three aspects effectively. Is a mass-mob killer, but also capable of doing humongous single-target damage both magic and melee-wise. Prone to being invincible at players choice. Then this kind of build could just be what you are looking for. The 'Archangel'-Seraphim build! Sounds good? Well... keep reading....

 

When I first started playing Sacred 2 - Fallen Angel, I was immediately drawn towards the Seraphim.... I still am for that matter.

 

Problem was, that there were so many opportunities, skills and Combat Art's to the Seraphim, that I was never able to combine them all, into the build that was perfect for me. The Combat Art's were spread along all 3 aspects, which posed a challenge. Following skills/Combat Art's needed to be in my allround build

-Dual Wielding

-Divine Protection

-Flaring Nova

-Radiant Pillar

-Hallowed Restoration (regen modded)

-Pelting Strikes

-Soul Hammer

-Dashing Alacricity (+casting AND +attack speed... for a Hybrid? are you kidding me! )

-Archangel's Wrath

 

Now, however, I think I have found a way. Main reasoning behind this:

-Armor lore mastery

-Tougness mastery

 

All in order to get as much Damage Mitigation as possible. This will ensure that we do NOT need another defensive skill such as Combat Reflexes or Spell Resistance.

 

#1 Skill Choices

#1.1 Mastering Skills

#2 Stat Allocation

#3 Combat Art Modification

#3.1 Rune reading

#4 Playstyle

#5 Gear Setup

 

Smoke rises from the battlefield. Debris strewn across battered remains. Out of the smoke steps an angelic figure. Surveying the carnage, she speaks softly to herself:"Beware all thou who respresent evil, for the Archangel now walks the plains of Ancaria!"

 

***The Archangel*** Semi-buffer, All purpose Seraphim build

 

#1

 

***Skill choices***

 

1. Tactics Lore (75+)

2. Exalted Warrior Focus (75)

3. Dual Wield (75)

4. Celestial Magic Focus (75)

5. Armor Lore (75+)

6. Constitution (75)

7. Revered Technology Lore (75)

8. Revered Technology Focus (75)

9. Toughness (75)

10. Celestial Magic Lore (75)

+ means a skill I would pump after mastering all others

 

NB. A note on survivablity in Ice & Blood.

At the moment I am still confident that she will be fine after resocketing gear. Should that not be the case, rebuild could be done with changing Celestial Lore. Damage done by the Pillar IS nice, but it's the effects we're after primarily. Choices that come to mind with the expansion:

- Ancient Magic

-Combat Discipline

-Extra defensive skill

 

Mastering Skills

 

At level 75, it is important to have at least some masteries. Revered Technology Lore is a primary example, for your nova is one of the main sources for damage. At least for me it is, you could use any skill from any tree as your main damage, act accordingly. Besides RTL, I would go for armor lore Mastery and Toughness Mastery asap. They are your main line of defense, untill your semi-buffer combo is useable.

 

From there (75 - 200), you can easily build out other skills. Leave Celestial for last. It's damage turned out to be quite nice, but has least priority. Also, if you're thinking of another skill, this would be the one to replace.

 

#2

 

***Stat Allocation***

 

level 1-50 Went all out Vitality

level 50-60 All Intelligence

level 60-90 75% Intelligence/25% strenght

level 90-130 50% Vit 50% Stamina.

level 130-200 25% strenght, 25% Intelligence, 50% Stamina

 

#3

 

***Combat Art modification***

 

The Exalted Warrior Tree

 

-Battle Stance: main, and only real, Buff

Bronze: Premonition; Further increase attack value. (12.5% + 2.5% per Combat Art level increase)

Silver: Drill; Reduces the energy cost of Battle Stance. (1-1/(1+(50+1*calvl)/1000) percent reduced; ~5% at Combat Art-level 1, ~6% at Combat Art-level 10, ~9% at Combat Art-level 50)

Gold: Retaliation; Small chance to reflect close combat damage. (~20% chance, increases slightly with each Combat Art level)

 

-Soul Hammer

Bronze: Aim - Increases the chance to land critical hits. (19.8% + 0.2% per Combat Art level)

Silver: Battering - Temporarily reduces the target's armor class. (100 + 1.5 per Combat Art level decrease (guess))

Gold: ?

 

-Pelting Strikes

Bronze: Succession - Chance for double hit. (20% chance)

Silver: Focus - Reduces the cost for this Combat Art

Gold: Precision - Increases the chance to land critical hits. (9.9% + 0.1% per Combat Art level chance)

 

-Dashing Alacricity

Bronze: Bloodlust - Further increases attack (AND casting) speed. (10% + 0.3% per Combat Art level)

Silver: Delay - Increase the duration of Dashing Alacrity. (50% increase)

Gold: Impatience - Reduces the cooldown of Dashing Alacrity. (33.3% decrease)

 

***The Celestial Magic Tree***

 

-Radiant Pillar

Bronze: Delude or Hypnosis - Both seem viable, with Hypnosis a probable winner at higher level grinding

Silver: Brightness - Increases the area of effect. (33.3% increase)

Gold: Magnify - Increase damage of Radiant Pillar. (35.7% increase (guess))

 

-Hallowed Restoration

Bronze: Recuperation - Temporarily increases the hitpoint regeneration effect. (20hp/s + 40hp/s per Combat Art level healed)

Silver: Master Healer - Decreases the regeneration time of this spell. (1-1/(1+(500+10*calvl)/1000) percent decrease; ~34% at Combat Art-level 1, ~38% at Combat Art-level 10, 50% at Combat Art-level 50)

Gold: Antidote - Reduces the duration of all impediment and wound effects. (1-1/(1+(200+5*calvl)/1000) percent decrease; ~17% at Combat Art-level 1, 20% at Combat Art-level 10, ~31% at Combat Art-level 50)

 

***The Revered Technology Tree***

 

-Divine Protection

Bronze: Capacity - Divine Protection lasts 50% longer. (50% increase)

Silver: Boost - Reduces shield's recharge(cooldown) time. (50% + 1% per Combat Art level decrease)

Gold: Improved Mirror - Increases the chance to reflect spell damage. (50% + 1% per Combat Art level chance)

 

-Flaring Nova

Bronze: Impulse - Sends out two pulses, but reduces strength and area of effect. (+1 pulse. -30% damage reduction)

Silver: Stun - Chance to stun opponents within range. (19.8% + 0.2% per Combat Art level chance)

Gold: Flux - Damage increase

 

-Archangels Wrath

Bronze: Salvo - Fires two successive bolts, each with slightly reduced damage. (+1 projectile)

Silver: Lock - The fire bolts will seek their targets

Gold: Vulnerable - Increases the chance to land critical hits. (19.8% + 0.2% per Combat Art level chance)

While the animation on firing AW while dual wielding looks nice, the better option is to have a non-lore two-hander in the second weapon slot, to bring down them bosses, or use the cookie-cutter BFG weapon.

 

Rune reading

 

You cannot read too much runes into Battle Stance, Dashing Alacricity or Divine Protection. The more, the merrier Being your buffs and semi buffs. At level 161, I think I have some 500 runes into BS, and 600 into DP, and 300 into DA. I would advise to keep the Combat Art's at 1 rune read, untill the regen time of the combo drops below ~2,5 seconds. At level 161, I don't think I have over 25 runes in any combat Combat Art. Their lvls being close to 100 from gear anyway.

 

#4

 

***Playstyle***

 

***Combo's***

 

Buffer-combo

Divine Protection > Dashing Alacricity

A few notes are needed. In order to call these two Combat Art's semi-buffs, the duration needs to exceed the cooldown time. As far as I can see, this will happen at ~Combat Art level 75. After this, chain casting this combo will greatly enhance this seraphim's capability and defense. A big bonus to this combo is, that you can start reading all the runes you want. Semi-buffs do not increase regen times for other Combat Art's

 

If you wonder why this combo, or Dashing alone for that matter is important? It enhances both the melee and the casting speed! A Hybrid seraphim, boosted by this skill is an awesome speed-killing-machine.

 

Pre-attack Combo

Radiant Pillar > Hallowed Restoration

Having this combo as 'pre-attack' makes the seraphim pretty much invulnerable the first 50 lvls. (need more lvls to test even further) The HP-regen is so fast, that atm it seems comparable to the Dryad's Goldenglade. Minor drawback is the short duration. This however can be easily helped, by keeping combo regen under ~3 seconds. After launching the Flaring combo, simply recast.

 

N.B. There are certain situations where Hallowed just won't cut it. It is all great and fine for grinding. Don't put your toon in the balance and think it will save you anywhere, anytime. DP should also be kept up.

 

Attack/Crowd Control-Combo

Flaring Nova > Pelting Strikes Keep regen. under ~3 seconds

 

Alternative..... solo Flaring Nova

 

Boss fights

Bring out a non-lore two-hander and blast away!

- Best option sofar is Lorgar's sword

 

#5

 

Gear Setup

 

Using all four Combat Art slots:

1. Nova>Pelting

2. Pillar>Hallowed

3. DP>Dashing

4. Boss-killing slot.... either AW or SH>Pelting, depending on how to best exploit the boss' weakness.

 

Weapon Slots:

1. Nr 1 choice... Stradals Hammer and Nadji's Splitter... socket with some nice Dblow and other stats of your choice... It's the native stats and gold slots on these that make em so great and versatile!

2. Dual Nlovae's Mystery For increasing the Combat Art range on Nova and -regen time

3. Lorgar's sword, the AW boomstick-replacement

4. Booster Slot

 

Armor:

-Rare armor with stacked damage mitigation

-Holy Protection (I always use the Holy Protection, I love this armor )

Shoulders:

-Rare shoulders with stacked damage mitigation

-Niokastes Shoulders

-Shoulders of the Seraish

Wings:

-Endijian's Wings

Bracers

Wristguards of the Dusk

Legguards

Sofia's Protection

Sash

Sofia's Benevolence/Endijian's set

Boots:

Endijian's boots

 

Or read here and go one of the other paths http://darkmatters.org/forums/index.php?sh...c=12144&hl=

 

There are two unique Amulets that can provide some further Damage Mitigation, them being:

-Darwargon's Circlet

-Tanit's Collar

(you can use these, the extra DM is not that much.... choose other socketing options when you do not need more DM)

 

Overall... it is very possible to get 100% Damage Mitigation. The real question is... Do you want to?

Test yourself: http://darkmatters.org/forums/index.php?sh...c=12139&hl= Dobri's Celeste; test for full DM

 

Greetz

[Barristan 14]

Heya,

 

sorry for my very late reply.

 

The reason in did not mention it, is because the build doesn't use godpowers. She has an abundance of killing opportunities/power as it is. There is also more than enough shielding power and reflect. None of the godpowers really 'added' to the build.

 

I think, in the end, I took Lumen for no reason.

 

Greetz

[SpiritThief 0]

I just decided to go with this. I have a similar start but with tech lore taking the lead. I didn't know about the semi buffs I like that.

 

Will I need to have my focus skills for those buffs up to help the regen or will just pumping them up be enough with mods? So far DA looks like it might work even with a low focus.

 

Going to drop the last lore in favor of EP haven't run one yet.

[Barristan 14]

Heya,

 

you could indeed spare points, DA works fine. I just wanted as high a battle stance as possible.

 

Dropping the last lore is a good choice Pillar will be fine... read some runes, get some RpH. It all goes!

 

If you ever have questions, ask away. This build was pre-Ice and Blood, but does fine in Ice and Blood too. Tried that myself with a slightly different build

 

Greetz