Caster Mechanics Guide Wanted

[wraithking 1]

as the title says im in need of a guide/help with understanding casters,this is what I'd like to know-

 

1.what type of item mods to use to make a caster more powerful(ie deathblow,spell intensity,cast speed etc)?

2.what weapons are gonna aid casters better?

3.does life leech per hit work with spells?

4.if I read 150 runes in a ca how do I tackle the massive regen time I'd get?

 

basic questions I know but not everyone has caster experience,so I thought I'd ask just to fully understand

 

any help much appreciated

thanks

[BlackJAC 3]

as the title says im in need of a guide/help with understanding casters,this is what I'd like to know-

 

1.what type of item mods to use to make a caster more powerful(ie deathblow,spell intensity,cast speed etc)?

2.what weapons are gonna aid casters better?

3.does life leech per hit work with spells?

4.if I read 150 runes in a ca how do I tackle the massive regen time I'd get?

 

basic questions I know but not everyone has caster experience,so I thought I'd ask just to fully understand

 

any help much appreciated

thanks

 

1) I have ever only used Deathblow and if I've used the other two, then I haven't noticed a notable difference. Like with melee, deathblow is powerful, maybe too powerful. I think in Ice and Blood db no longer works with spell casters (I could be wrong).

 

2) Depends really. An all round good caster weapon is Tinwora's curse as it has + all combat arts, -regen time and + casting speed. Oh and it has two gold slots. Then there's weapons like ice flash that are quite good for an ice elf. I'm not entirely sure what the fire equivalent is as I only ever used TC when playing a pyro.

 

3) Not that I've seen. However, I've only ever used ice and fire Elves. Dunno about magic coup etc?

 

4) I find the best way to get incredibly powerful spells and still have decent regen times is to socket your gear with rings and amulets that have regen per hit. Those little beauties can make a 10 second regen time into a 1 second regen or below. That said, you've got to make sure you hit the target or you're stuffed. I usually socket - opponents chance to evade if I'm relying heavily on regen per hit to bring my regens down. it's also better to use spells that hit multiple targets if you're going to rely on regen per hit.

 

Other than that, just going with ca soft points and picking the usual skills and stamina is the way to lower regen times, but I'm assuming you already know that.

Edited October 10, 2009 by BlackJAC

[Barristan 14]

as the title says im in need of a guide/help with understanding casters,this is what I'd like to know-

 

1.what type of item mods to use to make a caster more powerful(ie deathblow,spell intensity,cast speed etc)?

2.what weapons are gonna aid casters better?

3.does life leech per hit work with spells?

4.if I read 150 runes in a ca how do I tackle the massive regen time I'd get?

 

basic questions I know but not everyone has caster experience,so I thought I'd ask just to fully understand

 

any help much appreciated

thanks

 

Heya,

 

1. DB works for the moment.... it will only work for ranged and melee in Ice and Blood afaik.

2. There are some nice weapons too, that increase CA range... for a CA like Flaring Nova, that is a nice stat. Also check spell intensity mods. For a fire HE fire damage helps, I assume this goes for ice damage for a ice HE, magic damage for a magic damage user.

3. I'm not sure.... but I dont see this working for spells like Radiant Pillar, Flaring Nova or Archangels Wrath.... I might be wrong tho.

4. Some classes are better equipped to allow this. The HE is the prime example... for she has many CA/Buff mods that shorten regen. For most other toons, it is still more advisible to use gear to up CA lvls. Niob smith arts and gear that reduces regen helps ALOT too. Lastly, you could pump your stamina, either by hard points or by stats on gear.

 

Hope this helps at least a bit, for now this is what I could think of.

 

TC and HF

 

Greetz

[wraithking 1]

thats great blackjac/barristan I've never totally understood casters but with this info

I will just have to make one for a nice change in gameplay,

 

one thing though,blackjac you mention rings/amulets with regen per hit is these the ones that say

-xx% regen time or is it something different?

[BlackJAC 3]

From wiki:

 

Regeneration per hit +X s - Every hit reduces the regeneration time of any CAs that are still on cooldown by this amount of time. Unknown which spell-like abilities work with this spell (HE glacial thorns is said to not trigger this mod, for instance).

 

Basically, if you socket enough rings and aim for something like 0.8 regen per hit or even 1 second, spells like Blazing Tempest or Raging Nimbus, that hit multiple targets, because remember each hit counts, can be made incredibly powerful. At later levels if you have a 10 second regen penalty and hit 10 targets, that will mean the spell will instantly regenerate.

 

I wouldn't go unduly pumping single target spells as it won't have the desired effect for obvious reasons. Unless of course the target receives more than one hit from that particular spell. It's all about striking a happy medium.

 

in a nutshell; Unlike -xx regen time, regen per hit it has no effect on regen times unless you hit a target. Hope this makes sense.

Edited October 11, 2009 by BlackJAC

[chattius 2,534]

Regeneration per Hit was only for weapon hits, at least for the PC. And even for weapons it was not with every combat art. Trollteeth from alchemy give reg per hit from like 1.5s in silver to 4.5s in niob. They would be ultimate boss boosters if they would work with every combat art

[wraithking 1]

thanks blackjac I've just picked up some of these rings,so chattius it doesn't work on all Combat Arts man thats bad,

im playing a dragonmage and using a combo of energy blaze and eternal fire but the cooldown and regen is causing me problems

at high lvls so need all the help I can get with solving this I can get the regen down quite descent but with the cooldown just not enough,

but I'll try anything regen per hit/-xx% regen time etc once I suppose at least I'll know,man casters are hard work for a newbie like me,I

should stick with melee toons I think

[BlackJAC 3]

Seems to work on some spells on the console.

 

Casters are generally slow starters, however, come later levels they tend to be much more powerful than melee characters when it comes to their offensive capabilities.

 

I know my Ice Elf is a lot better offensively than my seraphim and SW melee toons on platinum and niob, and that's considered a defensive build. The pyro Elf isn't a slouch either.

Have a little patience.

Edited October 12, 2009 by BlackJAC

[chattius 2,534]

Dragon mage is quite easy to start: Go elementalist and modify destroyers first, use gust of wind to keep enemies who come to close away. Gust of wind, even unmodified, is the best spell of a dragon mage in early levels. Mentalists and dragon tree is a lot tougher to play.

 

The trick at dragon mages is to use activ spells for defense: Gust of wind to stop an attacking horde and keep it at distance, magic walls to slow down and split up mobs so destroyers can do their job easier, mahlstrom at your place and let destroyers and whirlwinds do the killing at range, away from you.

 

Mentalism and dragon magic , without elementalism, is a bit tougher to play.

 

I made a fun build and did a melee-dragon mage, it reached Niob, hardcore, without having a magical lore, only the foci. Learned to use the spells for defending this way.

 

If you are used to fighters and want to play a caster: the shield maid from the high elf guide forum was custom made for my second daughter. It uses arcane and melee to start and around level 25 develops the magic part of the character.

The dragon mage is the only character who lacks a weapon based combat art, and the dragon/berserk forms are not a real replacement for melee.

Edited October 13, 2009 by chattius

[wraithking 1]

for my dragonmage I went pure dragon magic,im using dragon strike for large mobs and it works perfect(especially at a distance),but I lack

in dealing with up close and personal smaller groups/single enemies,I did take magic staffs and tatics lore to boost damage so I could try and deal

with enemies I miss with dragon strike but by the sounds of it I need something like gust of wind/destroyers to give me the edge thanks chattius,

I'll go back to the drawing board I think.