Near-Invincible Ice Elf Build - Console

[BlackJAC 3]

Having only ever used the Pyro tree and dabbled a little with the DA aspects, I can safely say my experience with Mystic Sormite amounted to no more than surviving the early rounds using Glacial Throns as and when my pryo skills were recharging.

 

This is by no means a unique build, nor is there any hybridness to it, but I thought I'd share the build that got me through Niob without a death to my name. In fact, I can safely say that after level 18, I didn't come close to dying once - well, except at around level 100, when the phone rang and I had no choice but to let her test the true worth of Crystal Skin for a few minutes whilst I took the call. Btw she was stood in the orc cave having 4 angry champion Orcs beating down on her (on platinum difficulty) when I had to take that call. No damage mitigation, just an obscene amount of armour that eventually reaches over 60k. For a caster she's solid and can eventually go toe to toe the the toughest enemies the game can throw at you. Hell, get bored fighting mobs - just go make yourself a cup of tea in mid battle and come back and finish them off.

 

Attribute points

 

1-50 - Stamina

51-200 - Stamina /Vitality 50/50

 

Skills (in order)

 

Mystic Stormite Lore - Character level - 1st Mastery

 

Armor Lore - 4th Mastery

 

Mystic Stormite Focus - Character level - 2nd Mastery

 

Riding - Nothing special here merely add 5 points to enable EP

 

Delphic Arcania Focus - Just add points to mod GI and to increase penalty level

 

Concentration - 1 point is all that's required as to run two buffs

 

Enhanced Perception - Character level - 3rd Mastery. After reaching mastery I only add points once in awhile and let relics and magic find jewels do the rest

 

Ancient Magic - Whilst it took me awhile to master this, don't underestimate the power of this little gem.

 

Shield Lore - I left this at 1 point and let the +all skills do the rest

 

Constitution - I have to admit after swearing by this skill with previous builds, I never felt the need to unduly pump points into this on this occasion. If at any time I felt I needed a little more hit points, I added points, but never felt any urgency to master it with this build.

 

CAs;

 

Crystal Skin : Mirror-Cold-Expertise

 

Glacial Thorns : Fusillade-Pierce-Fusillade

 

Raging Nimbus : Hurricane-Momentum-Cyclone

 

Cascading Shroud : Mist-Inconspicuous-Facileness

 

I simply modded Crystal Skin first, then fully modded GT second as I felt I was doing enough damage early on but like all HE's, felt the toon was somewhat fragile, so I went for defence first and attack second.

 

I fully modded RN at level 35 and I have to admit, this little beauty makes mince meat of mobs. I think it is actually just as potent as Blazing Tempest when it comes to mobs tbh. The only difference being, champions don't go down quickly. But hey, that's what GT is for.

 

Grand Invigoration : Storm experience-Replenish-Resillience

 

With the rest DA aspects just mod them as and when you add points and because they really don't come into play all that often, I'll leave you to decide on how to mod Shadow Step et al.

 

Eating Runes

 

I ate an insane amount of GI runes and kept my CS rune munching at penalty level. Around level 60 I managed to get the regen time of both RN and GT down to 0.0 (yeah you read that correctly) so I just necked those particular runes until my regen times went back up to 0.3. I wouldn't advise eating any more than 1 GT and RN runes until you have your regen time firmly under control for obvious reasons.

 

Early doors play-style:

 

By God whatever you do do not go running head first into groups of undead as they'll cabbage you in no time at all and it will be game over before you can say BAST....!

 

For the hunting grounds and giving any undead a wide berth until later on, I used the road between Sloeford and Thylysium (Kat's pyro route). Alternatively, you can go across the Gold coast and make your way up to the White Griffin (don't fight it - low level ice damage against decent ice armour doesn't bode well for the player. It ain't big and it certainly isn't clever to do so). Hunting grounds at or around level 20ish, just head to the Orc cave and give those bad boys some of that pent up ire.

 

 

Weapons and armour

 

I'll be honest here and I know a lot of people won't agree with me here, but something I always got frustrated about when I was new to the game and when reading these guides was how heavily most authors focused on specific gear, + skill rings and hard to find weapons. We wouldn't be reading these guides if we had those fancy weapons and +12 all skill rings etc, because if you have those things at hand, the chances are you'd already know enough about the game to be making your own builds.

 

Aye, Tinwora's Curse is a nice little weapon to have on a caster, but it's not easily available, so until you have your EP up and running on full, just equip any weapon and armour that has sockets (or A socket), visit a blacksmith and get those armour and defence enhancements nailed on to your gear.

 

As the game progresses and you come across +ice damage rings etc, just replace some of that defence for damage as Crystal Skin will be up and running by now so you can do away with some of those defensive goodies from earlier. Evasion rings and amulets are very handy too.

 

Why did I choose EP over Bargaining?

 

Simple. Unless you already have a shopper, shopping ain't fun as you bought this game to kill things, not to go spend 30 hours playing a shopping sim. EP rewards you for playing the game in the manner in which most of us enjoy playing it - killing everything in sight or opening shiny chests and crates et al. Shiny is good and EP makes shiny objects even more gooder than gooder itself.

 

I used EP for the first time on my previous character and vowed from then on I was never going back to Bargaining as the amount of gear and weapons to be had from having EP up and running is nothing short of insane.

 

After spending a few hours in the orc cave I had accumulated 3 Ice flashes, 2 Tinwora's, 4 blood of the Dryads and more set pieces than my chest could hold. It really is that powerful. Granted you won't get dozens of +skill rings, but you'll have the gear, the weapons and a not too shabby cache of decent rings and amulets.

 

EP= Bargaining with a lot less effort and time imo.

 

In a nutshell

 

As McFly once sang - It's all about the Buffs, folks. THE BUFFS!! Don't leave home without them.

[SolomonGrundy 1]

great post! I cold not agree more on gear. there are too many players with with big chests full of great gear giving advice to new players with no gear.

 

Some questions about your Mod choices: I went with "Frosty Breeze" with Crystal Skin. Now I am considering the firt mod on Raging Nimbus, and I was thinking "Wrath" rather than 'Hurricane' (for the synergy with feel cold).

 

I also notice on consoles (well x360 anyway) the duration of RN does not seem to go up. Does this happen for you too?

 

You do not use Frost Flare? It is my main attack modded Spell Flow/Frost/Icy Circle. The DoT damage stacks with multiple casts, and coupled with the slow leaves me very mobile.

 

I also do not use cascading shroud much. I am...wary of the fire vulnerability (and fire traps). You chose "facileness" - so how do you deal with root effects, then the subsequent (inevitable) fire trap?

[BlackJAC 3]

I'll be honest, FL was never used as I found RN very powerful. After a while I actually enjoyed going toe to toe with enemies and to slow them down would have meant more time approaching them rather than letting them come to me quickly.

 

 

I chose hurricane as it hits more frequently and I found it takes down undead a lot quicker than the increased ice mod. The swamp suddenly became a lot more bearable. I'm already doing enough ice damage with GT. That said, it does have a draw back insofar it hits more often which in turn gives you more crits, so the game tends to lag a little or quite a bit if you have more than 1 RN going at the same time in different areas.

 

Before I chose to increase the duration, I was having to cast RN twice, afterwards the duration was enough to kill most mobs. I'm 99.9% sure I noticed an increased duration.

 

By the time I modded CS roots were a nuisance rather than a problem if you get my meaning. I was never in any danger whilst rooted as most crits and mobs were only doing superficial damage rather than depleting my hit points. More often than not I was still able to spam RN or GT.

Edited September 30, 2009 by BlackJAC

[ka243 3]

Very nice guide! The reason I leaned toward fire elves generally on console is that shards requires you to manage the distance you are away from the target to manage the spread. Otherwise, you have no way to control it. On the pc, you just click further or closer to manage the shard spread.

 

I was actually thinking about taking ice focus as the last skill on a pyro elf and using ice skin instead of fire skin for nameless guardian fights and the great machine in general because temple guardians use so much magic stuff.

Edited October 1, 2009 by ka243

[BlackJAC 3]

Very nice guide! The reason I leaned toward fire elves generally on console is that shards requires you to manage the distance you are away from the target to manage the spread. Otherwise, you have no way to control it. On the pc, you just click further or closer to manage the shard spread.

 

I was actually thinking about taking ice focus as the last skill on a pyro elf and using ice skin instead of fire skin for nameless guardian fights and the great machine in general because temple guardians use so much magic stuff.

 

Yeah, I quickly realised the issues with GT before I started to use RN. Another problem which is every bit as annoying is the automatic targeting system. More often than not it would lock onto a target that posed no immediate danger whilst totally ignoring some angry orc or legionnaire that was beating my ass to a bloody pulp. Even moving to face the opponent made no difference at times. Not really an issue when your Crystal Skin has fully kicked in, but during the early levels, it can pose a serious problem.

 

Against bosses, in the orc cave and roaming champs, it's awesome as it quickly despatches these foes in a matter of seconds. On Niob, I killed all but 1 guardian within 3 casts and the last one went down after 4, so I can't really complain.

 

Used as a sweeping up tool after casting RN, it more than does the job I need it for out in the open.

 

Edit: Forgot to add; Crystal Skin coupled with armour mastery is just an insane combination and you'll be able to go away and do something else mid boss fight and return to find you character in the same condition as you left her in. So it's worth picking up stormite focus for that alone.

Edited October 1, 2009 by BlackJAC

[ka243 3]

Cool. What level did you finish niobium by the way? I just got to niob with my pyro elf at level 84 and I'm taking a lot of damage, a regular hit from some mobs does like 3K damage sometimes.

 

How long does it take you to kill a mob with raging nimbus? How many times did you usually have to cast it? Can you cast one on a mob and then just keep going or do you have to stay put?

[RyanKO14 0]

could you also replace riding and Ep for CD and Bargaining/DA Lore for a more offensive focused elf

[BlackJAC 3]

Cool. What level did you finish niobium by the way? I just got to niob with my pyro elf at level 84 and I'm taking a lot of damage, a regular hit from some mobs does like 3K damage sometimes.

 

How long does it take you to kill a mob with raging nimbus? How many times did you usually have to cast it? Can you cast one on a mob and then just keep going or do you have to stay put?

 

Around 150.

 

Depends on the mob. Orcs tend to go down pretty fast, whilst undead usually need 2 blasts. Yeah it can be cast in two different locations, but I thought the lag got a tad problematic once I had two storms raging, so I only ever cast it twice for this very reason.

 

@ RyanKO14:

 

Absolutley, mate. Like any general skills, EP and Riding aren't important and can be easily swapped for something else. I just prefer EP over bargaining as the latter is just no fun at all, especially as you progress as it requires more time and effort to keep it fully optimised.

 

The only problem I can foresee using DA lore is it would require a good few number of points to make it worthwhile. Points that are better spent elsewhere imo. Remember you'd have to pump points into focus too as to make the spells remotely useful in the first place.

[RyanKO14 0]

I can see your point about DA Lore but my friend knows how to dupe things so he gave me an officers saber thatys level 20 with 102 +all skills so points arent a problem for me as I can use it as soon as I get it level 15. I also like to EP and think its better than bargaining but I dont think its worth using up another slot just to get it and if you get a high enough survival bonus then uniques are easy to come by as my lv 55 has a survival bonus of over 75% so I almost always get uniques from killing the white griffin.

 

Its also good to see another scottish person online 2. BTW do you play on the xbox?

[ka243 3]

About niob - Let me rephrase the question - what is the lowest level you think you could beat niob with this build?

 

About raging nimbus, why did you choose momentum instead of roar - Is it to keep the mobs stuck in the nimbus as long as possible? Do you use this against bosses? I think the other mod might be more useful if you are looking for a boss debuffer - which probably is not your case.

Edited October 8, 2009 by ka243

[BlackJAC 3]

I can see your point about DA Lore but my friend knows how to dupe things so he gave me an officers saber thatys level 20 with 102 +all skills so points arent a problem for me as I can use it as soon as I get it level 15. I also like to EP and think its better than bargaining but I dont think its worth using up another slot just to get it and if you get a high enough survival bonus then uniques are easy to come by as my lv 55 has a survival bonus of over 75% so I almost always get uniques from killing the white griffin.

 

Its also good to see another scottish person online 2. BTW do you play on the xbox?

 

 

Yeah uniques aren't too difficult to come by, but I can only go on my experience and since incorporating EP into my builds I have found the harder to find uniques a lot easier to come by such as Romuil's tears, 4 Ice flashes, umpteen Blood of the Dryads, 7 Tinwora's Curses, Bull's-eye etc etc and more +skill rings and amulets than I care to count. When EP was into the 100's, I got my first legendary drop in the Orc cave (albeit it was a Boneslicer, but it dropped outside the legion quest). This just doesn't happen with a high survival bonus, or at least in my experience it hasn't. None of these items dropped from a boss, they were all accumulated whilst doing quests or grinding the Orc cave.

 

like you touched upon, the only downside to having EP on certain builds is you're inevitably gonna have to waste a skill slot to get it.

 

Xbox indeed.

 

About niob - Let me rephrase the question - what is the lowest level you think you could beat niob with this build?

 

About raging nimbus, why did you choose momentum instead of roar - Is it to keep the mobs stuck in the nimbus as long as possible? Do you use this against bosses? I think the other mod might be more useful if you are looking for a boss debuffer - which probably is not your case.

 

Depends really. If you don't mind dying here and there I suppose it could be done fairly early on, but I like to have no deaths, so I was a lot more conservative with how I progressed. Haven't run into the end bosses at level 90 with this toon, so I'm not really in a position to give you a valid answer.

 

When I initially modded RN, it was intended for crowd control purposes rather than being a mob killer. it was to soften them up as quickly as possible (hence the lightening mod) However, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw just how powerful RN actually is once it gets going. This was all considered and implemented before I was going toe to toe with most enemies. It was modded for survival in the early rounds rather than a killer.

 

only use GT against bosses and I sometimes use Expulsive Magic when fighting them too and that more than does the job.

Edited October 8, 2009 by BlackJAC

[ka243 3]

Hmmm, for orc cave I wonder if slowing the orcs or lowering their attack value is better. Maybe you don't even need it and just shard away protected by your buffs .

[BlackJAC 3]

Hmmm, for orc cave I wonder if slowing the orcs or lowering their attack value is better. Maybe you don't even need it and just shard away protected by your buffs .

 

 

I suspect with most characters common sense tells you to lower their attack value, but they only do insane physical damage and physical damage was something I was well protected from.

 

Had RN proven fruitless in the Orc cave, then I wouldn't have used it, but that wasn't the case.

[RyanKO14 0]

ok whats you're live name and we can play together if you want

 

I see what your saying about EP and I agree completely about its usefullness but to me the game is more killing which is odd for me as I prefer the more defensive route but this game you can go all out but the difficulty jump from gold to platinum is massive indeed so even if your character is killing things and taking little damage in gold doesnt mean it will do the same in platinum so thats my main reason for going more offensive generally because I think that the best defense is a good offense.

[Sarcolemming 8]

Great guide, I have to agree ten fold on the bargain vs EP note.

 

As a quick aside did you know if you jiggle your left analog(on ps3 its the move stick on xbox?) while holding down the cast button you'll swap targets, the down motion usually gets me to the closest enemy. IF you still have issues with that try it sometime and maybe it'll help without it targeting is a pain at best. I look forward to building one of these ice mages as my shopper mage is killing me, literally, no more shop sim for me.

[vieira 0]

I'm trying this build on X360.

 

Thanks for the guide.

Edited November 5, 2009 by vieira

[JoePa82 0]

Eating Runes

 

I ate an insane amount of GI runes and kept my CS rune munching at penalty level. Around level 60 I managed to get the regen time of both RN and GT down to 0.0 (yeah you read that correctly) so I just necked those particular runes until my regen times went back up to 0.3. I wouldn't advise eating any more than 1 GT and RN runes until you have your regen time firmly under control for obvious reasons.

 

Can anyone please tell me what this means? Especially the "at penalty level" part?

[Spunky 16]

At penalty level is when a combat art exceeds the maximum level on your focus skill, if the combat art is over the penalty level it's required to invest more then 1 rune to get a new level on your combat art.

[JoePa82 0]

At penalty level is when a combat art exceeds the maximum level on your focus skill, if the combat art is over the penalty level it's required to invest more then 1 rune to get a new level on your combat art.

 

Well I think I get that. Thank you.

[dreeft 9]

Interesting. I'm thinking about doing an Ice HE Shopper, this build seems solid.

 

I'd probably just take Bargaining over Riding and pump them a bit more.

[icantfindaname 0]

Hi everyone, I just started using this build and its working pretty good, im taking out the riding and EP and putting in CD, not sure about what to use instead of riding. Wouldn't the critical hit mod on GT be better than the pierce one:)

 

 

Thanks for this awesome build BlackJAC

[Hillmei ter 0]

I'm sort of confused do you mean your first 1-50 attribute points you only spend on stamina and then after that 51-200 stamina and to 50 on that other thing? Sorry if its a dumb question just sort of confused.

 

Also for the skills are you saying you master the first one first before you even learn the 2nd one or what exactly.

Edited November 19, 2009 by Hillmei ter

[confusedxx 0]

A couple of noobish questions for you.

 

1. Why put so much in stamina rather than in magic? I thought a mage needs more magic to do more damage?

 

2. How do you play this char (is it Area of Effect)? What do you do when lots of mobs run up on the mage?

[Spunky 16]

1 - I put all into stamina so I can boost the Combat Arts higher without getting high regens.

 

2 - Already answered in another thread...

[confusedxx 0]

Great so far this is fun build. What spells can an Ice mage use from a horse? I know from melee and archers that most Combat Arts cannot be used from a mount

 

Where do you suggest hunting for xp during the first 20 levels? Should I just go along and do the main quest line or is there something like THYLYSIUM Pyromancer HIGH ELF HUNTING GROUND for lower level mages?