Pure Caster... Seraphim?

[Dobri 55]

I got that inspired idea today. On paper she doesn't look so good, but the initial tests have proven her to be a rather fun char.

 

Pros:

- You have MUCH more survivability then the HE

- You have 2 types of damage - Phys + Fire and Phys + Magic, depending on the build

- Good all-round spells - both for crowd control, single opponent and mass killing

- Divine Protection will save your butt if you're outnumbered and outgunned

- I like how the celestial set looks on a Seraphim

- Damn, it's fun

 

Cons:

- No Ancient Magic skill

- Can pick few utility skills

- Buffs do not improve regen times of aspects like the HE

- Will require support from a shopper and smith

- I don't like the low armor values of the celestial set

- Few sets are useful for this build. Origins of the Seraish is cool with its +all skills bonus, but it adds a lot of + combat art skills, which can be a setback

 

The play style is all about personal preference, but I find it to be closer to that of an Inquisitor. Just as the Inquisitor you may spec in 1 or 2 magic spell trees - in our case Celestial magic, Revered Tech, or both. Tests have shown that Celestial + Revered complement each other nicely. Celestial has the wicked Radiant Pillar which is great. Round up some enemies (mod hypnotize in advance), and slap a pillar in the center. They die. If you're surrounded, flaring nova is your spell Depending on the mods, it can work just like Deathly spears of the TG. You also have 2 direct spells at your disposal - Baneful Smite (phys + magic damage) and Archangel's wrath (Fire + Phys damage). Sadly, Wrath doesn't work like HE's Fireball if you pick the Salvo mod (fires 2 successive bolts) since both always hit 1 target, but Baneful smite's chain mod (gold) easily strikes 2 targets even at low levels with full power (Combat Arts damage).

 

The build should look something like this:

 

OPTION 1: 2-specced

level 2 - Revered Lore (because you start with archangel's wrath rune and it's a shame not to improve it straight away)

level 3 - Concentration (Cleansing brilliance + Warding Energy should be the starting buffs, then we can add unmodded Battle Stance, as long as it doesn't cripple our regen times)

level 5 - Revered Focus

level 8 - Armor Lore

level 12 - Celestial Lore

level 18 - Celestial Focus

level 25 - Combat Discipline (to compensate for the lack of Ancient Magic)

level 35 - Constitution

level 50 - Shield Lore (more defense, just like the HE)

level 65 - Warding Energy Lore

 

Since it's a pure caster build, no tactics + ranged for the wickedly powerful BFG

 

Option 2: 1-specced - Celestial Magic, because it has better usefulness (Pillar can substitute Flaring nova and Baneful can substitute Wrath)

level 2 - Celestial Lore

level 3 - Concentration

level 5 - Celestial Focus

level 8 - Armor Lore

level 12 - Revered Focus (we must mod Warding Energy)

level 18 - Riding/Enhanced Perception - Riding may prove to be useful, since at higher levels a unique mount will improve the regen times of the combat arts)

level 25 - Combat Discipline

level 35 - Constitution

level 50 - Shield Lore

level 65 - Warding Energy Lore

 

On first glance, those builds look rather exotic. It will hardly outdamage most of the caster classes, but it is rather fun to play Or so it seems for 34 levels now... I wish Ascaron gave the Seraphim Ancient magic... Would've been much more fun.

 

EDIT: I'm not putting this in the builds section, because it's just an idea, that doesn't look so great on paper

Edited February 18, 2009 by Dobri

[claudius 104]

Option 2: 1-specced - Celestial Magic, because it has better usefulness (Pillar can substitute Flaring nova and Baneful can substitute Wrath)

level 2 - Celestial Lore

level 3 - Concentration

level 5 - Celestial Focus

level 8 - Armor Lore

level 12 - Revered Focus (we must mod Warding Energy)

level 18 - Riding/Enhanced Perception - Riding may prove to be useful, since at higher levels a unique mount will improve the regen times of the combat arts)

level 25 - Combat Discipline

level 35 - Constitution

level 50 - Shield Lore

level 65 - Warding Energy Lore

 

I'm building like option 2 with Ranged and Tactics instead of Constitution and Riding. I am hoping the modding of Divine Protection/Alacrity will allow me to keep those spells on me constantly. Which means I don't need Constitution because my shield is my HP. I may also take Exalted Warrior Focus or Revered Lore instead of Shield Lore.

[Dobri 55]

I think you will need constitution one way or another, because your shield will not regenerate in combat. In order to start regenerating you need to stay off combat for 5 seconds, which is sort of a problem... Constitution will force your HP to regen whether in or out of combat, which is a good bonus when you get among the tough baddies

 

BTW, are you sure it's not worth making a BFG seraphim if you're going to go ranged? Just a thought

Edited February 18, 2009 by Dobri

[Erling 3]

look on Stick Em's work here.

http://darkmatters.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=9100

you can maybe try to modify it or get some ideas from it

[Dobri 55]

Hmm. I wonder what's his reasoning to add exalted focus and leave concentration out of the build. Exalted will allow for some modding and that is it. It gives 20% + 0.1/0.2 on reflect/evade, so nothing wondrous here... I'd rather have concentration at level 1 (boosted by + all skills), have 2 buffs (warding + Cleansing) and add Battle stance at some point (for the def bonus).

 

Generally, you can switch Riding for exalted focus and get that battle stance, but I doubt it will do much good. I'm very much worried about the regen times. Stick_Em may have played it through, but I see very few things that will lower the regen time of the Combat Arts (only armor and Celestial focus). That was my basis for picking all of these - armor lore, celestial focus, concentration and riding. All of these will reduce the regen times of the aspect, allowing you to add more runes as the game wears on. This is not a HE... No incandescent skin and grand invigoration to drop the regen times drastically

Edited February 18, 2009 by Dobri

[Erling 3]

you seem to know your thing go ahead and try to make her own.. lol

[Dobri 55]

I'll try. It's just I do a lot of paperwork and analysis before trying out something... I'm almost out of paper, lol

 

EDIT: Owning doesn't work so far. Although she can do some nice crowd control with multiple pillars, the regen times remain quite high. It will be a real challenge to strike a good balance. Still, at level 32 I have only +20 all skills and level 10 Radiant pillar and baneful smite (3.6 and 2.1 secs regen times). Much worse than the HE at this level, but with good potential

 

EDIT 2: I was proven right by the game. Such build needs some outstanding investment in Celestial Focus, Armor Lore, Concentration and Riding in order to keep the regen times normal and the damage in a respectable value. I'm managing to strike some balance though Baneful smite (with chain gold mod) and Radiant pillar are working great.

 

EDIT 3: Al level 35, with 13 in both offensive Combat Arts and +36 all skills, that Seraphim is starting to show me some good time. So far, so good.

Edited February 20, 2009 by Dobri

[claudius 104]

Does a modded cleansing brilliance do anything to anyone besides undead/tmutants.....I tried to see the difference (in attack rates of enemies), but I couldn't see it at level one?

 

Also its tight on feats but instead of enhanced perception/riding (spec 2) I might take exalted. Then I can have Battle Stance modded with Sommersaults and Alacrity. The nice thing about exalted focus is you can manipulate your chance to hit and damage by taking higher levels of Battlestance buff and the combat arts..

 

Combos:

 

sommersalt-pillar-nova pelting-hammer divineprotection-alacrity (modded for duration/lowercooldown) archangel-CM ray skill(forgot)

[Dobri 55]

It will not do anything to the attack rate of the monsters... It may reduce the attack speed though. That is generally not a bad bonus for a close combat oriented seraphim... For a caster, it's best to avoid damage taking at all

 

This is the bronze mod for CB:

 

* Distract - Reduces opponents' attack speed within the area of effect. (20% + 0.2% per CA level decrease)

* Blind - Reduces opponents' defense values within the area of effect. (65 + 1 per CA level decrease)

 

Distract is rather good since you'll be taking a lot less damage based on the lesser number of swings against you from all mobs (that's what opponents means, generally). The second mod, however, is only t-energy or undead based.

 

* Purify - Increases damage against undead creatures. (66.7% increase)

* Cleanse - Increases fire damage against T-mutations. (66.7% increase)

 

The third mod is interesting.

 

* Eagerness - Increase damage per second. (50% increase in hits per second => 50% increased damage per second)

* Illuminate - Increase the area of effect. (26.7% increase)

 

It depends on what kind of char you're doing. Close combat chars may like illuminate a lot, since with illuminate, you may also encompass the ranged attackers on the screen, which will lower the hits you take even more. That's on of the things I'm considering to complement my seraphim build... For a caster, dps is always welcome

 

As for EP, although I'm a fervent fan of it, I would only take it if I'm going to use it and level it. As a caster seraphim unless I 2-spec (celestial+revered), I always take it. As a close combat seraphim, the one I'm building now, I may leave it out... YES, guys, you heard me right (I've been accused by some of always taking it ), I may leave it out.

 

I agree on everything you said about battle stance... Just be careful. The seraphim has limited options to reduce regen times for CAs and you may come to severe problems if you play with a 2-specced, respectively, 2-buff build, especially for a caster