Are trap skills needed to Solo? Heal/Recon?

[Darkstar1996]

Ive been testing builds to do a solo run with a elite than reaper 1 run and wondering how needed trap skills are? Or could the evasion/jump skills/high hp counter act not having it?

Ive narrowed it down to 3 classes, (4 but still trying to figure out a flame blade druid caster).

1. Pure Monk Henshin Qstaff Human (Evasion and Saves to take care of traps)

2. Pure Warlock Pick/Hammer Dwarf (Saves/Aura's/Health)

3. Pure Arti Melee WF (Heal/Trap Skills)

Than for healing wise, do I need a Heal/Recon? Or could the Heal skill (Monk) Auras (Lock) be good enough. I know the Arti will have Recon and Druid will have Vigor and Heal. But I feel with the saves and dodges should be good to get away with those and pots/clicks.

Lastly, what class would you recommend since Ive never really played one past 8 and wont take a flop at endgame and leave me hanging DPS wise.

[jscott457]

Lots of questions here, so I'll try my best:

In regards to trap skills:
-Evasion is amazing. If you invest into reflex save (through dexterity, items, possibly enhancements) traps aren't too big of a problem in most content.
-All of the builds you have put here will be fine against traps, either because you can disarm, evade, or simply have enough HP to get through
-If you do go the artificer route, be sure to invest in the spot skill. While not technically needed to find traps, it makes life easier by giving you notifications of where they are located.

In regards to healing:
-Mostly depends on your playstyle, i.e. will you be using a hireling? With a hireling, little to no investment into self healing is needed, maybe a little healing amplification. Without one, being able to heal (even through scrolls or wands) or repair will be of critical importance. Although hirelings take up space in parties, are somewhat flaky/annoying, and die frequently, they are a great solution for healing and are excellent for soloing.
-You mention the heal skill. The heal skill doesn't provide a method of healing on its own(besides the seldom used stabilize dead), but instead increases your positive spellpower when you are casting healing spells. So for a monk, the use of this skill is somewhat limited (it would make more sense for a cleric, for example). One additional small benefit of the skill is that you will heal more when resting at a rest shrine.
-I'd give different healing recommendations for each build you are considering. The artificer should cast repair and reconstruct spells, invest in the repair skill, and wear a repair spellpower item for strong self healing. The warlock can use temporary hitpoints from the auras and the shining through ability as a form of healing, and can also increase the UMD skill high enough to use heal scrolls and cure wounds wands for healing. Although the monk can self heal with the fists of light and healing ki abilities, these are quite limited so a hireling would be almost a must.
-Overall, elite and reaper enemies can pack on damage, even for a character with high AC/Saves/Dodge/PRR/MRR, so some extra healing can't hurt. Also note that reaper difficulty reduces the amount you can heal yourself significantly, but doesn't reduce the amount that another character or hireling can heal you.

In regards to class choice, you should play whatever sounds the best to you. Both a Quarterstaff monk and a melee artificer will do enough melee damage for elite and R1. The warlock doesn't have great abilities for melee, but the bursts and aura (although recently nerfed) are quite strong. I'd say the monk is a little bit stronger, but you will have fun with any of these three.

Good Luck and Have Fun!

[Darkstar1996]

Lots of questions here, so I'll try my best:

In regards to trap skills:
-Evasion is amazing. If you invest into reflex save (through dexterity, items, possibly enhancements) traps aren't too big of a problem in most content.
-All of the builds you have put here will be fine against traps, either because you can disarm, evade, or simply have enough HP to get through
-If you do go the artificer route, be sure to invest in the spot skill. While not technically needed to find traps, it makes life easier by giving you notifications of where they are located.

In regards to healing:
-Mostly depends on your playstyle, i.e. will you be using a hireling? With a hireling, little to no investment into self healing is needed, maybe a little healing amplification. Without one, being able to heal (even through scrolls or wands) or repair will be of critical importance. Although hirelings take up space in parties, are somewhat flaky/annoying, and die frequently, they are a great solution for healing and are excellent for soloing.
-You mention the heal skill. The heal skill doesn't provide a method of healing on its own(besides the seldom used stabilize dead), but instead increases your positive spellpower when you are casting healing spells. So for a monk, the use of this skill is somewhat limited (it would make more sense for a cleric, for example). One additional small benefit of the skill is that you will heal more when resting at a rest shrine.
-I'd give different healing recommendations for each build you are considering. The artificer should cast repair and reconstruct spells, invest in the repair skill, and wear a repair spellpower item for strong self healing. The warlock can use temporary hitpoints from the auras and the shining through ability as a form of healing, and can also increase the UMD skill high enough to use heal scrolls and cure wounds wands for healing. Although the monk can self heal with the fists of light and healing ki abilities, these are quite limited so a hireling would be almost a must.
-Overall, elite and reaper enemies can pack on damage, even for a character with high AC/Saves/Dodge/PRR/MRR, so some extra healing can't hurt. Also note that reaper difficulty reduces the amount you can heal yourself significantly, but doesn't reduce the amount that another character or hireling can heal you.

In regards to class choice, you should play whatever sounds the best to you. Both a Quarterstaff monk and a melee artificer will do enough melee damage for elite and R1. The warlock doesn't have great abilities for melee, but the bursts and aura (although recently nerfed) are quite strong. I'd say the monk is a little bit stronger, but you will have fun with any of these three.

Good Luck and Have Fun!


Thank you for all the info! Yeah I was always worried about traps so that was my biggest concern, now that I know I can basically tank, dodge, or disarm them no problem is better.

The healing wise I mean heal skill as in the spell heal. I know a quickan heal or recon is good, any other ways of making a monks healing better? Multiclass options? They are decent with wisdom so possibly druid?

Now speaking of druid and monk, would weilding a staff but using flame blasde count as using the staff? Would I get all the bonuses from henshjn? Lastly, are there any good druid spellblade builds (casting spells while using flameblade)

Thank you!

[cdbd3rd]

Another consideration in your trap-handling decision is the extra 10-30% XP bonus for disabling:

[Enoach]

Trapping on a Solo build...

Benefits
1. Bonus XP option
There are many quests where the additional XP out weighs the additional time

2. Minimize Trap Self Risk
Disabling the traps also minimizes the damage possibility - Not all traps are reflex saves.

3. Minimize Trap Hireling Risk
Disabling the traps also helps prevent your hirelings from dying in them.

Additionally, going with trapping usually opens up Open Locks skill for investment. This can open up optional areas

--
Just going the Evasion route you can avoid the majority of traps and it works well if speed is more your thing.


Healing - Self healing is powerful for Elite Solo. It gets dicey with Reaper with the Self-Healing debuff. You can make up for part of it with Positive spell power and healing amplification. But Temporary Hit Points are much more powerful in Reaper then self-healing.

[jscott457]

Now speaking of druid and monk, would weilding a staff but using flame blasde count as using the staff? Would I get all the bonuses from henshjn? Lastly, are there any good druid spellblade builds (casting spells while using flameblade)

Thank you!

The flame blade spell creates weapons (Scimitars, either one or two) that you can use. So you wouldn't be able to use a quarterstaff at the same time, and you would lose those bonuses. However you can remain centered while using flame blades, even though scimitars aren't normally monk weapons. Besides the ability to use wisdom to hit/damage, flame blades aren't particularly strong, and you would likely be using spells for most of your damage. I'd recommend Gingerspyce's Druid Build ( https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/427398-Gingerspyce-s-caster-healer-quasi-tank-build ) for a solid caster druid that is good at all levels. For melee druids, winter wolf form is definitely the way to go, but what works and does not work in wolf form is confusing and includes some possibly not WAI mechanics, so I'll defer to those with more expertise on that subject.

[EllisDee37]

One thing to note is that if you're human, half-elf, or PDK you can take Saves Boost which gives you "don't auto-fail when you a roll a 1" for 20 seconds along with its +4 to all saves. So traps are even less dangerous if you run those three races.