Energy Shields and Life Leech in the AddOn

[chattius 2,533]

My second daughter started to play at a youth club which has its own server. She had to do a new character without the support of our family characters. So we discussed a bit and she decided to play a seraphim, a class she didn't play before and I played only to level 25. She played her customized shield maiden and a dragon mage, sohei with bargaining, as her only characters so far. So we decided to do a melee range serafim which would be close to her older characters in playstyle:

 

archangel's wrath modified to do 2 exploding fireballs with criticals and it is mainly used in melee combat, not ranged

 

She gathers a group and fires the wrath into the group and hopes for 2 explosions. Each hit at a boss is a doublehit with 2 times life leech from a x% life leech weapon. It has equal Area of Effect damage to a nova Serafim but adds the x% life leech versus Bosses. I will do a thread about this character, which is currently level 46, started 2 days ago.

 

The biggest danger to her build in my eyes are life leech attacks. She will have one skill at 65 to counter this.

 

In brakets the skillpoints at level 35

02 god (5)

03 armour (1)

05 bargaining (35)

08 concentration (13)

12 warrior focus (9)

18 technic lore (35)

25 technic focus (1)

35 celestial focus (9 for pillar to bundle mobs and fire wrath into groups at close distance)

50 celestial lore (planed to have restoration counter DoT's)

 

65 constitution - more hitpoints

65 ancient magic - more damage, so being less time under fire. AM works not on archangel's wrath

65 energy shield lore- to have a bigger energy shield to eat the life leech damage

 

We are very close to decide in favour of the better energy shield, but there is one question left:

 

If the very big life leech from the enemies is fixed life leech than putting points into vitaliy to counter the missing constitution skill would be wise.

BUT if it is x% life leech then more hitpoints are more life leech damage and as said: life leech is what we fear the most.

 

It sounds stupid, but:

 

Are less hitpoints better than high hitpoints if you have an energy shield?

Edited November 30, 2009 by chattius

[ka243 3]

I am almost sure that life leech is not stopped by energy shields. Since it bypasses damage mitigation it would seem logical for it to bypass energy shields too. So, more life is always good. I remember my health being depleted on console version in the niob swamp via life leech even with my divine protection up and running.

Edited November 30, 2009 by ka243

[Llama8 8]

That's my understanding, leach (of any flavour) isn't resisted by anything, so the only counter to it would be leach of your own, or preventing them from hitting in the first place. After all, if they don't hit you, they can't leach from you.

[chattius 2,533]

So in your theory the clay golem with its energy shield should take no shield damage if I throw with the lowest life leech shuriken I have?

I seem to remove the shield first with my life leech weapons.

I always saw life leech as a 6th damage type which has no resists and mitigation, but works the same as the other 5 damage channels in energy shields. But if I would be sure I wouldn't ask.

 

If it works on shields, then a 20% life leech attack (other damage types done to you are low because of mitigation) and the energy shield taking 80% of the damage :

 

player 5000hp, 1000 damage, 200 to life 800 to shield, 4% of your total life, 25 hits to remove all your hp

player 8000hp, 1600 damage, 320 to life 1280 to shield, 4% of your total life, 25 hits to remove all your hp

 

So if the shield is up all the time, then in both cases your enemy needs 25 hits. But if the shield falls then it falls way quicker if you have more hitpoints.

 

The other possible defense against life leech is healing faster than they can damage you. Again your healing from your own life leech, or hp-regen from spells is fixed. You are more quickly back to full health if you have less hitpoints obviously.

 

So if these big life leech amounts are really x% life leech and if I can handle all the other dangers, then having less hitpoint, as funny it sounds, would be better.

[Schot 407]

From what I've seen so far, fixed amount Life Leech isn't really anything to worry about since it is often a fairly low amount. As for % Life Leech I can only recall it being inflicted in the form of a pink-ish lightening bolt and by Demons only. Specifically a Demon Champion or mage, Demonic Eye and Draconic Dragonfly seem to have the Life Leech lightening combat art. Demonic eye and Draconic Dragonfly lightening attacks are combat arts since my HE can reflect their Life Leech but the Demon lightening attacks I've never tested against. All this to say that Reflect: combat arts x% is probably the best defense.

 

P.s.

Or Chance to Block: combat arts...

[ka243 3]

player 5000hp, 1000 damage, 200 to life 800 to shield, 4% of your total life, 25 hits to remove all your hp

player 8000hp, 1600 damage, 320 to life 1280 to shield, 4% of your total life, 25 hits to remove all your hp

 

Life leech and % life leech will deal damage directly to your HP, bypassing your shield completely.

 

4% lifeleech should do 2000 damage to a player with 50 000 hp 0 to shield. (4% of 50 000 = 2000)

[Slevin 10]

If your energy shield has 100% absorbtion, the life leech dmg doesn't hits your life, only your shield energy.

[ka243 3]

If your energy shield has 100% absorbtion, the life leech dmg doesn't hits your life, only your shield energy.

 

Are you certain about that? Divine protection has 100% absorption and I remember life leech bypassing my shield (the lost souls in the swamp). Perhaps its a difference between console and PC (I play console) but this would surprise me...?

Edited December 1, 2009 by ka243

[Slevin 10]

If your energy shield has 100% absorbtion, the life leech dmg doesn't hits your life, only your shield energy.

 

Are you certain about that?

 

Yes I am. I was in the cursed forest with my Temple Guardian most of the time and theese purple eyes and dragonflies never hit my life with they life leech attack. It is the same effect as you to % life leech dmg to an enemy (Gar'Colossus, Guardinas). When you hit them, you don't attack their life until the shield energy isn't down.

[chattius 2,533]

So with not 80% instead 100% absorb my calculations would be at least a bit not false.

[ka243 3]

If your energy shield has 100% absorbtion, the life leech dmg doesn't hits your life, only your shield energy.

 

Are you certain about that?

 

Yes I am. I was in the cursed forest with my Temple Guardian most of the time and theese purple eyes and dragonflies never hit my life with they life leech attack. It is the same effect as you to % life leech dmg to an enemy (Gar'Colossus, Guardinas). When you hit them, you don't attack their life until the shield energy isn't down.

 

Odd.... Llama seemed to agree with me too. I wonder if this is different between different versions of the game? Perhaps it does not work like this in console or in versions older than ice & blood...

[gogoblender 3,071]

This is really interesting Slevin. I'll update the wiki asap regarding this. Is this the leech only being stopped by shielding in Ice and Blood... or before this patch was it being stopped by shielding as well?

 

Also, is there any thing else in the game that you've discovered that will shop the % Leech?

 

 

gogo

[Slevin 10]

If your energy shield has 100% absorbtion, the life leech dmg doesn't hits your life, only your shield energy.

 

Are you certain about that?

 

Yes I am. I was in the cursed forest with my Temple Guardian most of the time and theese purple eyes and dragonflies never hit my life with they life leech attack. It is the same effect as you to % life leech dmg to an enemy (Gar'Colossus, Guardinas). When you hit them, you don't attack their life until the shield energy isn't down.

 

Odd.... Llama seemed to agree with me too. I wonder if this is different between different versions of the game? Perhaps it does not work like this in console or in versions older than ice & blood...

 

...hm PC Ice & Blood closed HC...

 

 

 

 

Edit:

Is this the leech only being stopped by shielding in Ice and Blood... or before this patch was it being stopped by shielding as well?

 

I never noticed that any enemy does % life leech before the add-on, so I didn't test it.

 

Also, is there any thing else in the game that you've discovered that will shop the % Leech?

 

The chance that the life leech dmg hits can be reduced by "block chance: combat arts". There must be anything what affects the dmg of the life leech, bcause its much different by several players/chars, but I didn't find out what it is yet.

Edited December 1, 2009 by Slevin

[Spunky 16]

400K Shield Energy, that's huge, do you ever take HP damage?

[chattius 2,533]

If it is different life leech damage, perhaps it is because it is x% life leech dependant on the character's hit points. Perhaps do a test gear with lot of +life points stuff and see if you get more damage.

 

Would be another proof for my weird theory that in this case - x% life leech and a good energy shield - less hitpoints would be better.

 

Another thing someone with a lot of spare time can test:

 

If you have gear, buffs or stand in expulse magic circle (dustdevil,....) with blockchance (combat arts) then this blockchance can be carried to your spells. If you check the combat art for special damage an block chance spells will appear. I am not sure what that exactly is. But if it is like a weapon effect than perhaps the enemies spells are blocked for a short time?

 

I was kinda puzzled that my sohei dragon mage was not debuffed in niob yet and found that his mind strikes had a block combat art effect because of his buff. But as in all tests, it could have been pure luck, quick killing, ....

 

Tests of my daughter said that she was hit by spells, very very rarely. So perhaps even the chance is listed as above 100% in combat art screen, the really used formula prevents 100% block. But it could be that the hits came from unseen mages not hit by her attacks already.

Edited December 2, 2009 by chattius

[Slevin 10]

400K Shield Energy, that's huge, do you ever take HP damage?

 

No, not when the shield is active.