How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop?

[archest]

10 bow shots
or 8 blade strikes
or 3 spell shots with 10 second delay between them

to kill 1 monster

now solo that with a mob of 12 attackers on a dead server.
The mobs immune to 1/2 your spell shot damage types
the boss is immune to all your spell types and has elemental damage reductions with the 80% rage boost to damages against you.

and you complain they took 100 spell power from your spells and now its harder to solo reaper 10
this toon cant even get through same level normal solo

[janave]

10 bow shots
or 8 blade strikes
or 3 spell shots with 10 second delay between them

to kill 1 monster

now solo that with a mob of 12 attackers on a dead server.
The mobs immune to 1/2 your spell shot damage types

17 bow & arrow shots *if lucky.

[Weemadarthur]

10 bow shots
or 8 blade strikes
or 3 spell shots with 10 second delay between them

to kill 1 monster

now solo that with a mob of 12 attackers on a dead server.
The mobs immune to 1/2 your spell shot damage types
the boss is immune to all your spell types and has elemental damage reductions with the 80% rage boost to damages against you.

and you complain they took 100 spell power from your spells and now its harder to solo reaper 10
this toon cant even get through same level normal solo

If you actually go back and read most of the complaints about the caster nerfs you will see that the R10 and vet population agreed that these nerfs wouldn't effect them that badly. Those hardest hit had the build and game knowledge to work around the problem or just TR'd into something else. Most of the actual complaints were people voicing the valid concern that these nerfs would effect those at the bottom of the dps chain the worst. Your post seems to prove this was actually based in fact as my fire Alch is still 1 shotting everything between levels 16 and 20 (although at a slightly slower rate) but you seem to be having a lot of problems.

Now I'm sorry if that sounds a little smug as that's not my intent. I actually have a lot of sympathy for those caught in your position but the best I can offer here is if you give details on your build and gear maybe the collective community can come up with some ways to improve your build or recommend gear to farm that can alleviate your problems a bit. Without any context to what level you are playing and what resources you have at your disposal though its very hard to offer anything constructive.

[LightBear]

While OP is right partly, its also off by some margin.

Yes, not all spells are the same, that's part of their charme.
Yes, not all classes can achieve the same thing, that's part of their charme.
Yes, some builds can push out absurd numbers on a single mob, that's part of their charme.
Yes, some builds can dish out good numbers on a tightly clustered group of mobs, that's part of their charme.
Yes, some builds can flick out rapid numbers on line of conga dancers, that's part of their charme.
Yes, some builds can sniff some out of existence or back to their home plain with the twitch of their nose, that's part of their charme.
Yes, some builds can hold agro and soak up all the damage, that's part of their charme.
Yes, some builds are just there to hold your hand while you walk around in the park, that's part of their charme.

Wondering if the OP is a dex based rogue that is guessing why his sneak-attacks aren't landing when solo without bluff.

[Logicman69]

and you complain they took 100 spell power from your spells and now its harder to solo reaper 10
this toon cant even get through same level normal solo

I'm sorry.. but if you are having difficulty soloing a quest at level on normal, that sounds more like a build/player problem than a result of this nerf. I have taken first life characters through quests solo elite without too much of a hassle. You have to be prepared for the quest. Take the Sharn series. A pale master wizard throwing huge negative damage is going to walk through Sharn Welcome and Red Rain without breaking a sweat (mass hold, necrotic blast, necrotic bolt on the stragglers.. repeat)... but as soon as they hit that 3rd quest with the iron golems, it turns into a struggle. They are immune to your strongest spells and take half damage from everything else... so you prepare. Bring a construct beater, cast Tensers, blur, displacement, and haste and start swinging. Be prepared, use tactics (pull smaller groups, set traps to slow them down), constantly move.

[archest]

lol the build or the farm for the builds lol
The crafted personalized set of equipment I currently use is more efficient than any I can find.
If I wanted to copy a build I might as well just play a prerolled ncp.
every space ads a benefit to the toons needs nothing that is not usable.
the stats of the toon are fine.
its performs well for survivability.

better than others I've built in the past for sure.
really not the point the point is argo and power creep of mobs makes it virtually impossible to solo the quest 1st life at level normal.
I think if your going to put points into using a bow with multiweapon proficiency for a sword and shield as well within the eldritch knight enhancement tree.
pure wizard eldritch knight Elf.
BECAUSE ITS FUN TO PLAY IT.
still waiting on the bow tree.

[Weemadarthur]

lol the build or the farm for the builds lol
The crafted personalized set of equipment I currently use is more efficient than any I can find.
If I wanted to copy a build I might as well just play a prerolled ncp.
every space ads a benefit to the toons needs nothing that is not usable.
the stats of the toon are fine.
its performs well for survivability.

better than others I've built in the past for sure.
really not the point the point is argo and power creep of mobs makes it virtually impossible to solo the quest 1st life at level normal.
I think if your going to put points into using a bow with multiweapon proficiency for a sword and shield as well within the eldritch knight enhancement tree.
pure wizard eldritch knight Elf.
BECAUSE ITS FUN TO PLAY IT.
still waiting on the bow tree.

Just making sure I am understanding this right. You have made a build so bad it cant complete normal but when people offer to give help and advice you dont want/need it because power creep made you unable to to complete quests and it couldn't possibly be anything that you might be doing wrong?

I'm sorry but this is sounding almost like your trolling now as if you have nothing wrong with your toon and there is no room for improvement why are you complaining on the forums when an elf EK can be one of the most powerful builds in the game when built and played well?

[archest]

Just making sure I am understanding this right. You have made a build so bad it cant complete normal but when people offer to give help and advice you dont want/need it because power creep made you unable to to complete quests and it couldn't possibly be anything that you might be doing wrong?

I'm sorry but this is sounding almost like your trolling now as if you have nothing wrong with your toon and there is no room for improvement why are you complaining on the forums when an elf EK can be one of the most powerful builds in the game when built and played well?

got a little confused was talking about 2 different toons .
a level 13 wiz elf knight
and a level 21 artificer human

the build is fine just a little weak on damage equipment is low priority how it helps stuff.
but the weapons strength and critz are there for the build.
its level 13

was artificer epic normal.

[droid327]

10 bow shots
or 8 blade strikes
or 3 spell shots with 10 second delay between them

to kill 1 monster

now solo that with a mob of 12 attackers on a dead server.


To be fair, that's 10 bow shots against a single target (or maybe two if IPS lines up right). Or 8 blade strikes against 1-3 mobs, assuming you're THF, while you're also facetanking them.

Meanwhile you can hit all 12 mobs if they're bunched up right. And you should have more than 1 spell on your hotbar, too, so you can cycle through a couple big nukes while they're on cooldown.

Its all situational, and you have to know how best to play every situation. 77/202 spellpower should not be make-or-break for any build, where you cant even handle Normal without it :P

[KoobTheProud]

Elf Wizard EK is strong but Elf Wizard EK/PM is for solo play.

If you do the things the game system encourages you will get great results.

If you do the things you want to do but that are not particularly encouraged by the game system you will be disappointed with your results.

My Drow EK/PM solos Elite/EE/LE with very few problems. If I dropped the PM splash she would still be ok in Elite but she would not be doing EE easily and she would not be doing LE at all.

[archest]

To be fair, that's 10 bow shots against a single target (or maybe two if IPS lines up right). Or 8 blade strikes against 1-3 mobs, assuming you're THF, while you're also facetanking them.

Meanwhile you can hit all 12 mobs if they're bunched up right. And you should have more than 1 spell on your hotbar, too, so you can cycle through a couple big nukes while they're on cooldown.

Its all situational, and you have to know how best to play every situation. 77/202 spellpower should not be make-or-break for any build, where you cant even handle Normal without it :P

big nukes? what are they?
lol

cone of cold - 176
Fire Ball - 99 changes to 176 when I equip shield with combustion
Chain lightning - 99
Ball Lightning - 99
Lightning bolt -99
Frost lance - 176
Cold Ray - 176
Force Missiles - 205
enervation - 86

color spray and sonic blast ( dont use as much as I used too because its hard to switch over to them when switching over to melee)
thinking of micro managing them with the click to change weapons from bow to sword and shield would use with bow then switch to eldritch strike and arcane siphon for melee.
no two handed fighting feat.

http://countydeck.com/Bow.jpeg

Looks like I can use some magnetism, craft it in at 16 level.
If anything is not immune to electricity.
and rebuild weapons and shield and bow to 16
at the same time
sword is pretty much the same damages as the bow rated the same base damages 12.65
six different damages when the bow strikes average between 80 and 100 hp damage total per arrow
Maladroit 2 is for ranged weapons according to the shard but states on critz with a melee weapon ?

[LightBear]

Well, you're having fun, that's the most important thing to have in a game.

Part of the fun that I'm having is finding new ways to improve my character.

I usually do that in a few tr cycles, then I tend to hit the max on what I can find and do within the timeframe of those few tr cycles.
And simply move on to something new.

Keeps the game both fun and interesting.
Every now and then I come back to previous build of mine and see what the impact of the game changes have been.
Again, even more fun to tinker around with everything this way.

If I find that my char is falling behind in what I'm used to I tend to either grind things out quick or use an xp stone.
Either way I won't come back on that build until I've figured out how to play them.
Usually that means reading up on this forum and/or ask in game to players with a similar class/playstyle how they're pulling off their tricks.
Depending on the thread/player I get different results.
I don't copy and past from posted builds either, but there is enough inspiring info there to alter some things around.

Nr1 thing that works on all classes and races is focus.
Elemental nukers can have 1 element to specialize in and top that off with force.
DC casters can have 1 school to shine out in.
Combat can have one weapon type you focus in, counts for both melee and ranged.
Tanks are there to hold agro and soak up damage.
Support comes in a few flavors like picking locks, buffs and heals.

Not saying a character can only do one thing to be any good.
But picking melee feats on a wizard and then casting all types of damage spells won't get you anywhere.
Neither does picking up maximise and empower on a con based swashbuckling bard.

And yes, do swap out your weapon when you're dealing with oozes and rust monsters.
Yes, do swap in that spell absorb item when up against beholders.
Yes, do toggle things off or on when dealing with the end boss.
And yes, do cast web or glitterdust before engaging in a fight... just don't cast a fire spell right after.
Or a wall of fire and an Ice storm together as these two don't mix.
Wanna do ranged, good but make sure you are at the back of the group you're with and there is plenty of space between you and the mobs.
And yes, do target the furthest mob first when you have improved precise shot.

[Kaboom2112]

Have you tried not being terrible?

[Logicman69]

I am going to stand by my previous statement. The troubles you are having have less to do with the nerfs, and more to do with your build. An EK wizard trying to do both equal sword and bow damage, that alone will struggle. A wizard does not get enough feats to effectively do damage in both. We can help you adjust your build and get you to a better place, but we need to know what the build is.

Starting stats? Where did you spend your points?
What classes did you take and at what levels (Wiz is obvious, but did you multiclass with anything?)
What feats did you take?
What enhancements did you take?
Typical gear set up?

My initial advice without knowing the above, drop the bow and use the weapon exclusively. EK doesn't really benefit ranged as its is a melee focused tree. If you are set on using the bow, drop the EK line and go Arcane Archer. The problem with this though, is you need to spend a good chunk of points in the elf tree to get access to it, unless you splashed some ranger classes in there. You could do something like 5 Ranger/14 Wiz/1 Fighter.. Focusing on the Arcane Archer and Pale Master trees. This would give you some self healing from the PM tree, jump up the bow damage, and give you some extra feats (from the fighter level).

Just my 2 cents.

[Vish]

it takes 3 licks

so the correct answer would be C, casters
2 licks if your a sorc, and 1 lick if youre an alchemist

most fantasy mmos favor magery

it lazy and prone to cheats,
but easiest

now if you want challenge,
try a monk

flurry of blows to kill one thing,
and cheap one shots,
to keep you guessing

[janave]

AA is a terribly back loaded, complicated and bad cost to effect build, double that for the Elven version. The AA MC variant are top grind ceiling builds, that also require best-in-slot named bows to make it even remotely comparable to other ranged builds.

My advice would be to try front loaded, easy to play, and less gear intensive builds, post them on forums or discord, let people shred it apart for you, and add in more angles to consider before you go too deep into it.

[archest]

bottom line its a wizard.
with melee defensive capability.
To solo the melee capability needs to be stronger damages.
Wizards aren't really mob control like a warlock.

It is what it is.
if you can improve this build and not your own its not multiclass.
Multiclass is for completionists , I'm a premium player so will never really have a completionist toon.
or for those toons with the 2nd and 3rd class's completionism for the past life bonus of each additional class.
At least that is what I'm driving towards in order to make the multiclass as capable as it can be within each class Available to me.
will see what the new bow tree offers.

http://countydeck.com/enhance.jpeg
I just changed armor to another set but would prefer medium armored mithril no arcane failure and extra ac boost
http://countydeck.com/Armor.jpg this is current
I like fearsome cause they get a chance to runaway from fear when they hit me and stop attacking in melee

EK 4th core bottom : Subtle Force: gives -20% arcane failure (arcane fluidity)
As far as armored arcana I think there's an issue with armor check once I hit medium level armor so was looking medium armored mithril to drop it into light classification for armor check.
in which case I wouldn't need it since I'm not wearing medium armor.
something closer to this as i level and hope for another drop suit.
http://countydeck.com/Mithral.jpeg
Shield is definitely mithril for the reduction in arcane from shields
using the imbues but not from the archer tree, the EK 2nd core spellsword imbues an extra elemental power attack.
lose my shield proficiency if I use tensers transformation for melee because its gained from enhancements EK shield training tier 2 and somehow has a conflict with it.

Point Blank
Archers focus
Spell focus Evocation
Greater Spell focus Evocation
Spell focus Conjuration
Spell penetration
and a few more gained as passive to enhancements.

EQUIPTMENT needs improvement as its level 10 and stuff but the toon is only level 13 and i dont want to finalize equipment level until 16 or 20 or 16 and 20.
short on sonic resistance and magnetism

cone of cold - 176
Fire Ball - 99 changes to 176 when I equip shield with combustion
Chain lightning - 99
Ball Lightning - 99
Lightning bolt -99
Frost lance - 176
Cold Ray - 176
Force Missiles - 205
enervation - 86

color spray and sonic blast ( dont use as much as I used too because its hard to switch over to them when switching over to melee)
thinking of micro managing them with the click to change weapons from bow to sword and shield would use with bow then switch to eldritch strike and arcane siphon for melee.
no two handed fighting feat.

http://countydeck.com/Bow.jpeg

Looks like I can use some magnetism, craft it in at 16 level.
If anything is not immune to electricity.
and rebuild weapons and shield and bow to 16
at the same time
sword is pretty much the same damages as the bow rated the same base damages 12.65
six different damages when the bow strikes average between 80 and 100 hp damage total per arrow
Maladroit 2 is for ranged weapons according to the shard but states on critz with a melee weapon ?


Fortitude can be increased as well ......... as I level. I think at this point the changes need to be in gear. as i continue to work the enhancement trees to para arrow and spell penetration.
question spell penetration is it only for non damaging spell resistance or it is a precheck for any spell ?

[janave]

Ahhh, much clearer now after the images, this is a typical DDO-esque cascading effect we usually see more of on the high side, instead this happens now on the low side.

See, you take a build with very poor physical dps, bow as a combat is just lame bad (work in progress if we can believe it), then on top of that AA Elf cost to effect is stupid. Choosing T4-T5s in EK instead would make your melee performance dramatically better, or going into AA T5s would give acceptable imbue dps, but would cost most of your action points.

Add in that non-named bow profiles suck for DPS.

Crit Scaling:

19-20 * 3 (6) IC
19-20 * 4 (8) AA Shadow Arrows at LVL18 ( Compare this to Inquisitive @12 for 16-20*3 (15) ---almost double--- )
18-20 * 4 (12) With typical enhancements +1/+1
(A) 17-20 * 4 (16) Named bow with expanded crit chance
(B) 18-20 * 4 (12+2) Elastic Bow

[Logicman69]

bottom line its a wizard.
with melee defensive capability.
To solo the melee capability needs to be stronger damages.
Wizards aren't really mob control like a warlock.

It is what it is.
if you can improve this build and not your own its not multiclass.
Multiclass is for completionists , I'm a premium player so will never really have a completionist toon.
or for those toons with the 2nd and 3rd class's completionism for the past life bonus of each additional class.
At least that is what I'm driving towards in order to make the multiclass as capable as it can be within each class Available to me.
will see what the new bow tree offers.

http://countydeck.com/enhance.jpeg
I just changed armor to another set but would prefer medium armored mithril no arcane failure and extra ac boost
http://countydeck.com/Armor.jpg this is current
I like fearsome cause they get a chance to runaway from fear when they hit me and stop attacking in melee

EK 4th core bottom : Subtle Force: gives -20% arcane failure (arcane fluidity)
As far as armored arcana I think there's an issue with armor check once I hit medium level armor so was looking medium armored mithril to drop it into light classification for armor check.
in which case I wouldn't need it since I'm not wearing medium armor.
something closer to this as i level and hope for another drop suit.
http://countydeck.com/Mithral.jpeg
Shield is definitely mithril for the reduction in arcane from shields
using the imbues but not from the archer tree, the EK 2nd core spellsword imbues an extra elemental power attack.
lose my shield proficiency if I use tensers transformation for melee because its gained from enhancements EK shield training tier 2 and somehow has a conflict with it.

Point Blank
Archers focus
Spell focus Evocation
Greater Spell focus Evocation
Spell focus Conjuration
Spell penetration
and a few more gained as passive to enhancements.

EQUIPTMENT needs improvement as its level 10 and stuff but the toon is only level 13 and i dont want to finalize equipment level until 16 or 20 or 16 and 20.
short on sonic resistance and magnetism

cone of cold - 176
Fire Ball - 99 changes to 176 when I equip shield with combustion
Chain lightning - 99
Ball Lightning - 99
Lightning bolt -99
Frost lance - 176
Cold Ray - 176
Force Missiles - 205
enervation - 86

color spray and sonic blast ( dont use as much as I used too because its hard to switch over to them when switching over to melee)
thinking of micro managing them with the click to change weapons from bow to sword and shield would use with bow then switch to eldritch strike and arcane siphon for melee.
no two handed fighting feat.

http://countydeck.com/Bow.jpeg

Looks like I can use some magnetism, craft it in at 16 level.
If anything is not immune to electricity.
and rebuild weapons and shield and bow to 16
at the same time
sword is pretty much the same damages as the bow rated the same base damages 12.65
six different damages when the bow strikes average between 80 and 100 hp damage total per arrow
Maladroit 2 is for ranged weapons according to the shard but states on critz with a melee weapon ?


Fortitude can be increased as well ......... as I level. I think at this point the changes need to be in gear. as i continue to work the enhancement trees to para arrow and spell penetration.
question spell penetration is it only for non damaging spell resistance or it is a precheck for any spell ?

From what I am seeing, the build is all over the map. You are trying to split the feats between casting and archery, and then trying to split the enhancement between EK, AA, and racial (to get to the AA tree, which is 14 points in itself). You are trying to do too many things at once and that hurts any build.

My recommendation is drop the Arcane Archer tree and focus on melee. I would take a look at this build for ideas: https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/521620-Dread-Knight-A-Wizard-Champion-for-New-Players

Drop the Spell Focus Conjuration too. Its only giving you a +1 to your conjure arrows, I believe Not needed at all.

Also, multiclass is not for completionists. My 2nd character ever in DDO was a multiclass (18 ranger/2 rogue). Anyone can multiclass, as long as you have access to the class you want to multiclass into

[archest]

http://countydeck.com/Equiptment.jpeg

Changed the neckless and lost the protection =4 ac
+90 magnetism
insightful spot
diamond of spot +13
enchantment resistance

[archest]

Ahhh, much clearer now after the images, this is a typical DDO-esque cascading effect we usually see more of on the high side, instead this happens now on the low side.

See, you take a build with very poor physical dps, bow as a combat is just lame bad (work in progress if we can believe it), then on top of that AA Elf cost to effect is stupid. Choosing T4-T5s in EK instead would make your melee performance dramatically better, or going into AA T5s would give acceptable imbue dps, but would cost most of your action points.

Add in that non-named bow profiles suck for DPS.

Crit Scaling:

19-20 * 3 (6) IC
19-20 * 4 (8) AA Shadow Arrows at LVL18 ( Compare this to Inquisitive @12 for 16-20*3 (15) ---almost double--- )
18-20 * 4 (12) With typical enhancements +1/+1
(A) 17-20 * 4 (16) Named bow with expanded crit chance
(B) 18-20 * 4 (12+2) Elastic Bow

Bow is not the primary weapon type, I'm taking it as high as am able too and still use enhancement points effectively. .
bow is rays and arrows
Spells and then spells and Shield and Sword
spell point conservation
and my bow design while non named is ok against Skelton's
Thinking about it now maybe I need a bow change since I have the toggle for bludgeon now.

[archest]

The Elf enhancements are selected for the benefits they provide. yes I spent the 4 points on the AA tree because of natural elven proficiencies. which is Bow.

Racial Traits
+2 Dexterity, -2 Constitution
Immunity to sleep spells and effects
+2 saving throw bonus against enchantment spells or effects
+2 racial bonus on Listen, Search, and Spot checks.
Weapon Proficiency: Elves are automatically proficient with the longsword, rapier, longbow, composite longbow, shortbow, and composite shortbow.
sword and shield - long sword

[archest]

toon does fine in a group

[Cantor]

17 bow & arrow shots *if lucky.

I was gonna say...

also 2 different spells with separate cooldowns that clear the whole room.

[Weemadarthur]

Bow is not the primary weapon type, I'm taking it as high as am able too and still use enhancement points effectively. .

This here is your problem I'm afraid. By trying to do everything you are achieving nothing as you are not using your AP effectively.

My advice is to pick what you want to be 1st and foremost and pile your points into there. Specialization is key to playing any kind of successful caster class.

So be an actual caster and put points into that with the few left over to boost melee through EK (this will likely increase your casting dps)

Be an EK melee knight with PM casting to back it up (this will make you a strong melee with a few spells that will heal you and harm enemies simultaneously)

Or GO all in on archery and use EK to buff that (will make for poor dps atm but can still be fun to play).

Any of the options above should destroy normal difficulty but trying to do all 3 at once will just cripple all of them.

[fatherpirate]

solo reaper?
zero sympathy.

[archest]

This here is your problem I'm afraid. By trying to do everything you are achieving nothing as you are not using your AP effectively.

My advice is to pick what you want to be 1st and foremost and pile your points into there. Specialization is key to playing any kind of successful caster class.

So be an actual caster and put points into that with the few left over to boost melee through EK (this will likely increase your casting dps)

Be an EK melee knight with PM casting to back it up (this will make you a strong melee with a few spells that will heal you and harm enemies simultaneously)

Or GO all in on archery and use EK to buff that (will make for poor dps atm but can still be fun to play).

Any of the options above should destroy normal difficulty but trying to do all 3 at once will just cripple all of them.

I disagree.
http://countydeck.com/enhance.jpeg
enhancement points are being spent mostly in the EK tree
the points taken to gain the Archer abilities are taken from clickies < as a wizard I have plenty of clickies I dont really need any more. toggles are better unless its a heavy shot clickety
+20 to hit is fine but without damages to go with it .......I have intelligence to hit I dont need it, but a hurl to hell shot I would take.(not on the AA tree if you dont know its a warlock tree clicky)
taking other wiz tree enhancements changes the toon. doesnt mean i wont consider it i still have a few points left to earn at level 14
taking 2 or 3 shots are range with a bow doing as much damage as ray ranged spells saves spell point use.
it is not pointless to make this toon it is pointless to play solo with it since its not a mob stopper.
at one time before argo changes you could range the monsters and they would only charge at you if they were hit no others would follow to investigate.
in reaper they run further then in elite and don't time out like in elite, so they follow you to the end of your life chasing you into respawn areas and finally ending your existence.
if i wanted to play a half orc fighter barbarian i would.
I haven't played a pale wiz so I'm not sure if the double skill points placed in heal would be helpful as undead.
other is all magic spell use which has no melee help other than hope to kill everything before you die when they get too close.
DC or Penetration doesn't change the damage spell power does.
does universal spell power stack with combustion for instance? is it going to make more damage of i have +3 more universal spell power per enhancement points?
in addition when the new bow tree is out will that benefit me more than the arcane archer tree? in which case a simple reset

[janave]

I would personally start with this, taking the Controller T5 for better control spell landing chance.

https://i.imgur.com/AzaRiwc.png


1. Collect mobs into a pack
2. Color Spray or Sonic blast, Web, etc ( Ice Storm and Fog spells also work really well together with EK, for slowing down mobs )
3. Action Boost / Siphon
4. Eldritch Tempest

If a reaper or champion comes up, use the Radiant Forcefield SLA.

Timing Eldritch Tempest is the trickiest part, the cooldown is 30s.

https://i.imgur.com/QEoLvhz.png

[o2t4f]

I disagree.
http://countydeck.com/enhance.jpeg
enhancement points are being spent mostly in the EK tree
the points taken to gain the Archer abilities are taken from clickies < as a wizard I have plenty of clickies I dont really need any more. toggles are better unless its a heavy shot clickety
+20 to hit is fine but without damages to go with it .......I have intelligence to hit I dont need it, but a hurl to hell shot I would take.(not on the AA tree if you dont know its a warlock tree clicky)
taking other wiz tree enhancements changes the toon. doesnt mean i wont consider it i still have a few points left to earn at level 14
taking 2 or 3 shots are range with a bow doing as much damage as ray ranged spells saves spell point use.
it is not pointless to make this toon it is pointless to play solo with it since its not a mob stopper.
at one time before argo changes you could range the monsters and they would only charge at you if they were hit no others would follow to investigate.
in reaper they run further then in elite and don't time out like in elite, so they follow you to the end of your life chasing you into respawn areas and finally ending your existence.
if i wanted to play a half orc fighter barbarian i would.
I haven't played a pale wiz so I'm not sure if the double skill points placed in heal would be helpful as undead.
other is all magic spell use which has no melee help other than hope to kill everything before you die when they get too close.
DC or Penetration doesn't change the damage spell power does.
does universal spell power stack with combustion for instance? is it going to make more damage of i have +3 more universal spell power per enhancement points?
in addition when the new bow tree is out will that benefit me more than the arcane archer tree? in which case a simple reset

That's not accurate. You are level 13 and still haven't picked a t5 enhancement. So it is fair to say you are all over the place, not getting anything done well.

Also, what do you mean by clickies? I think it doesn't mean to you what it means to me. Those 15 points in Elf would have much better use in any of the other wizard trees.

As others have pointed out, a great idea would be to forget all about bows and focus on melee, getting rid of points in elf and AA, and focusing on EK and PM. You don't absolutely need the skill points in heal to make PM work.
You could make AA be somewhat efficient but it requires some more work, game knowledge and class knowledge.

[archest]

might stop at fearsome arrows toggle and see what's left after running the EK tree , after spell penetration in elf tree but
thinking now about that if its only for spells that do not cause damage, enchantment spells, I have none so they wouldn't be needed.
i believe I'll have more then 40 enhancement points for the ek tree as you have it setup.

as well he chose the clicky route up the middle of the tree I chose the passive route left side of tree
but hes finished as well I am not

I understand my resistance is only for those non damaging spells as a penetration check bonus and not for aoe or other damaging spells cast on me.
do i need to make a penetration check for damaging spells? if not then i dont need spell penetration bonus because i dont have any non damaging spells that are offensive.

Answer:

Spell Penetration check
Spell Resistance (SR) is a special anti-spell defense possessed by some creatures. Spell Resistance is an additional layer of defense against most non-damaging magical attacks, in that it adds an extra roll that the caster has to make for his magic to "land" on that target.
Spell Resistance only matters if the spell's creature actually has it, and the spell being cast is one that can be stopped by Spell Resistance. In DDO, spells that most purely cause damage ignore Spell Resistance.
Spell Penetration is the act of trying to penetrate that defense. Spell penetration roll is a caster level check, i.e. you roll 1d20 + caster level. This roll is modified by additional bonuses listed below.

ok it is subject to SR check so I do need spell penetration so terror arrows works better.

[o2t4f]

might stop at fearsome arrows toggle and see what's left after running the EK tree , after spell penetration in elf tree but
thinking now about that if its only for spells that do not cause damage, enchantment spells, I have none so they wouldn't be needed.
i believe I'll have more then 40 enhancement points for the ek tree as you have it setup.

as well he chose the clicky route up the middle of the tree I chose the passive route left side of tree
but hes finished as well I am not

I understand my resistance is only for those non damaging spells as a penetration check bonus and not for aoe or other damaging spells cast on me.
do i need to make a penetration check for damaging spells? if not then i dont need spell penetration bonus because i dont have any non damaging spells that are offensive.

Answer:

Spell Penetration check
Spell Resistance (SR) is a special anti-spell defense possessed by some creatures. Spell Resistance is an additional layer of defense against most non-damaging magical attacks, in that it adds an extra roll that the caster has to make for his magic to "land" on that target.
Spell Resistance only matters if the spell's creature actually has it, and the spell being cast is one that can be stopped by Spell Resistance. In DDO, spells that most purely cause damage ignore Spell Resistance.
Spell Penetration is the act of trying to penetrate that defense. Spell penetration roll is a caster level check, i.e. you roll 1d20 + caster level. This roll is modified by additional bonuses listed below.

ok it is subject to SR check so I do need spell penetration so terror arrows works better.


Terror arrows don't require spell penetration checks

[o2t4f]

Terror arrows don't require spell penetration checks

Spell penetration checks occur for most non-damaging spell casts. Terror arrows aren't an actual spell cast.

[archest]

Spell penetration checks occur for most non-damaging spell casts. Terror arrows aren't an actual spell cast.

Like spells, spell-like abilities are subject to spell resistance and to being dispelled by Dispel Magic. However, some spell-like abilities, such as bard songs or a "Light" Monk's Finishing Moves cannot be dispelled by spells such as Dispel Magic or Break Enchantment. These abilities are especially useful against creatures such as beholders, which have an anti-magic cone about them, removing most buffs within that zone. However, since Update 21, many SLAs cannot be used in antimagic field any longer.

Spells, magic items, and certain monsters can affect characters with fear. If a fear effect allows a saving throw, it is a Will save (DC depends on the exact spell or effect). All fear attacks are mind-affecting fear effects. A failed roll usually means that the character is shaken or panicked, though sometimes may result in more severe results.

Fear effects are designed to be cumulative. A shaken character who is made shaken again becomes frightened instead. A frightened character who saves against the effect may still be shaken. Note this doesn't always work in DDO however. Only certain fear effects function this way, such as the fear spell and a couple others.

Terror Arrows: Arcane Archer Imbue Toggle: You imbue your arrows with negative energy. On Hit: Target is feared. (Will DC 20 + Wisdom Modifier + Enchantment Bonuses negates.) On Vorpal: Target is subject to a Phantasmal Killer effect (Subject to save only, works through spell resistance). (Activation Cost: 20 SP. Cooldown: 10 seconds)

in this case i am assuming i am casting the spell the wisdom modifier being the monsters.

[SlowDM]

Please just stop.
I've played for about 9 years. I'm not uber. I have to solo a lot. I've tried multiclass 'my own design'. They simply don't work.
Only expert player posted multiclass builds work and even then you have to understand what they can DO, eg tank, heal, trap, support, dps, group or solo. Follow exactly everything they post. Good luck with all magic items they also must have, then 'ddo store items.

A ranger with bow imbues work well in a group BECAUSE the other players can kill the monsters the ranger weakens. Sorry but YOU only tickle the monsters.
If you group mostly. then just help weaken/slow/ paralize the monsters.
If you solo a lot and reading 'into' what you want to do/play/enjoy. I suggest Warforged (must pay for), Artificer (pay or unlock/play some specific quests for favor), Inquisitive-enhancement tree ( pay or unlock/play some specific quests for favor).

[archest]

this is not a multi class toon.

its a wizard.

[Logicman69]

this is not a multi class toon.

its a wizard.

You are one class, yes.. but you are trying to do too many things at once. Melee, spellcast, bow damage... Multiclass may be the wrong word. Multi-job would be more accurate.

Several of us have tried to tell you that you are spending points inefficiently and spreading yourself too thin. We offered suggestions to fix your build, and were to spend points to help you improve your ability to even SOLO NORMAL quests. Yet, you refuse to listen to anyone and blame either the equipment, the "nerfs", or some other excuse. At this point, its a YOU problem, not a game problem.

Go look at other posts in the forum. Someone just posted about getting their reaper wings on a first life toon.. no TR's, no completionist.... If they can do it, then you can. But not with this build as it stands. It is broken, and its not because of any nerfs to the game. Its because it was badly built from the beginning.

[janave]

https://i.ibb.co/PgGcSkP/N-vtelen.png

Here is the imbue user AA, must say the EK melee was much better :P

Had a few points to buy out core2 in EK too.

[archest]

https://i.ibb.co/PgGcSkP/N-vtelen.png

Here is the imbue user AA, must say the EK melee was much better :P

Had a few points to buy out core2 in EK too.

ill never put 34 points in arcane archer.
as I said its not the main weapon but it is a weapon and I've tried to make it as useful as it can be.
better then a clickie ill never use because i haven't a quick key for it.
I dont believe I have taken away as much as you seem to think I have.
while I may have started into the AA tree earlier than I could have and concentrated more on the main weapons. there are still perquisites for tiers.
path to the end may be made more capable but the build is sound.

[Weemadarthur]

ill never put 34 points in arcane archer.
as I said its not the main weapon but it is a weapon and I've tried to make it as useful as it can be.
better then a clickie ill never use because i haven't a quick key for it.
I dont believe I have taken away as much as you seem to think I have.
while I may have started into the AA tree earlier than I could have and concentrated more on the main weapons. there are still perquisites for tiers.
path to the end may be made more capable but the build is sound.

Sorry but if the build was sound you wouldn't be having any trouble at all in normal mode. Now people have offered advice and people have tried to help. You can take the help and advice, learn and improve or you complain that you cant complete normal but you cant do both. As stated already this is nothing to do with the current nerfs and all to do with how you have built your character. If your having fun fine but if your not then try listening to those that have better knowledge and experience than you do.

[archest]

Sorry but if the build was sound you wouldn't be having any trouble at all in normal mode. Now people have offered advice and people have tried to help. You can take the help and advice, learn and improve or you complain that you cant complete normal but you cant do both. As stated already this is nothing to do with the current nerfs and all to do with how you have built your character. If your having fun fine but if your not then try listening to those that have better knowledge and experience than you do.

elven eldritch knight w/archery proficiently
Elf Wizard

I do not think its trying to do too much.

[Logicman69]

elven eldritch knight w/archery proficiently
Elf Wizard

I do not think its trying to do too much.

But it is... numerous people have tried to tell you that you are trying to do too much, but yet you refuse to listen.

You say that bows are not your main weapon, but you spend WAY too many points to get into the arcane archer tree AND waste limited feats on archery feats. Why do that if its not your main weapon? It is a waste of resources on a class that doesn't have alot of feats or EP's to spend in the first place. If your main weapon is melee, then take some SWF or THF feats to boost that. Do you want to cast spells? Then take the feats that boost that up. But as everyone on this thread, but you, has said... this build is doing to many things at once. Try focusing on one thing and be good at that.

Or just run lower level quests

[Redtalktree]

But it is... numerous people have tried to tell you that you are trying to do too much, but yet you refuse to listen.

You say that bows are not your main weapon, but you spend WAY too many points to get into the arcane archer tree AND waste limited feats on archery feats. Why do that if its not your main weapon? It is a waste of resources on a class that doesn't have alot of feats or EP's to spend in the first place. If your main weapon is melee, then take some SWF or THF feats to boost that. Do you want to cast spells? Then take the feats that boost that up. But as everyone on this thread, but you, has said... this build is doing to many things at once. Try focusing on one thing and be good at that.

Or just run lower level quests

Yeah what he said.
Just forget it Ditch AA and if you can go INQ, you have more fun and less headache as INQ just blast through heroics, all YOU NEED is that Dang RATcatcher, AA is Meh regardless, and just about as useless, its a fallacy to think you spending 15 AP in just to unlock, just that 15 AP in INQ will outperform your whole AA tree.

[archest]

Yeah what he said.
Just forget it Ditch AA and if you can go INQ, you have more fun and less headache as INQ just blast through heroics, all YOU NEED is that Dang RATcatcher, AA is Meh regardless, and just about as useless, its a fallacy to think you spending 15 AP in just to unlock, just that 15 AP in INQ will outperform your whole AA tree.

you both seem to overlook that the elf tree offers enhancements that are valuable and you seem to devalue them as meaningless and waste of enhancement resources.
I do not i think those few points spent to get the aa and the few spent in aa is a value to ranged damage and spell conservation are lost.
hitting a few monsters from the mob with fear or para ( if I go that far up the tree to get para ) to break it up makes the task easier in mob defenses.)
Id rather not solo than to pike for reaper wings that's not playing.
not interested in another crossbow wielding rogue (INQ)

[archest]

changing up a quick shot key to color spray helps in crowd mob control close range solo.
had a quick change from bow to sword and shield, will have to toggle T and change weapons sets sooner rather then on the fly.

[janave]

Gaining additional Elemental Damage dice in the Arcane Archer tree increases Force Arrows dice.

You could reallocate points to trade the 3rd point of Force arrows (2d10 on crit) and some spell points in t1 for 2 more dices, 1d6 to 3d6 force. Buying the elemental dice 1 active and 2nd passive option.

https://i.imgur.com/kMFyRxh.png

[Hawkwier]

10 bow shots
or 8 blade strikes
or 3 spell shots with 10 second delay between them

to kill 1 monster

now solo that with a mob of 12 attackers on a dead server.
The mobs immune to 1/2 your spell shot damage types
the boss is immune to all your spell types and has elemental damage reductions with the 80% rage boost to damages against you.

and you complain they took 100 spell power from your spells and now its harder to solo reaper 10
this toon cant even get through same level normal solo

Just cast Everar... Oh sorry I thought I said "Locks"!

[archest]

You could reallocate points to trade the 3rd point of Force arrows (2d10 on crit) and some spell points in t1 for 2 more dices, 1d6 to 3d6 force. Buying the elemental dice 1 active and 2nd passive option.

https://i.imgur.com/kMFyRxh.png

not sure how this interacts with EK spellsword

Spellsword: You gain four elemental toggles that each imbue your weapon with elemental power. Only one may be active at a time, causing them to deal an additional 1d6 (element) damage on hit (Note: the damage doesn't proc on shield bash). You gain an additional 1d6 every 3 Wizard levels (at 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18). This damage scales with Spell Power. While active, your Eldritch Strike deals 1-2 additional (element) damage per Character Level which scales with Spell Power. While this is enabled, your weapon and shield attacks have Ghost Touch. Note: mutually exclusive with Poisoned Coating toggle (Vile Chemist).
Passive
+2% Doublestrike, +10 Universal Spell Power.
You also gain proficiency in Light Armor and Martial weapons.

[archest]

was surprised but grouping in Vale at level 14 /18 elite had no problems holding my own and more.
spell damage was what was expected and performed much better .

pushed spell resistance to +2 for terror arrow hits almost every shot has fear included.
which does what I wanted it to, make some of the mob runaway and slow the battle.
color spray stuns and blinds when it doesn't stun
which all together limits damages vs me.

[janave]

https://i.imgur.com/dYrs6I3.jpg

This is the fresh iconic rolled up yesterday, having both toggled.

[archest]

looks as if the damage is close to the same.
can both be toggled on at the same time?
it should add an additional damage type + if it can.
I have 7 different types on the bow now.
http://countydeck.com/bowDamage.jpeg

[o2t4f]

was surprised but grouping in Vale at level 14 /18 elite had no problems holding my own and more.
spell damage was what was expected and performed much better .

pushed spell resistance to +2 for terror arrow hits almost every shot has fear included.
which does what I wanted it to, make some of the mob runaway and slow the battle.
color spray stuns and blinds when it doesn't stun
which all together limits damages vs me.

Spell resistance? Do you mean spell penetration? And yet again, you don't need spell penetration for what you are doing. Terror arrows doesn't require a spell penetration check.

[Tuxedoman96]

not sure how this interacts with EK spellsword

Spellsword: You gain four elemental toggles that each imbue your weapon with elemental power. Only one may be active at a time, causing them to deal an additional 1d6 (element) damage on hit (Note: the damage doesn't proc on shield bash). You gain an additional 1d6 every 3 Wizard levels (at 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18). This damage scales with Spell Power. While active, your Eldritch Strike deals 1-2 additional (element) damage per Character Level which scales with Spell Power. While this is enabled, your weapon and shield attacks have Ghost Touch. Note: mutually exclusive with Poisoned Coating toggle (Vile Chemist).
Passive
+2% Doublestrike, +10 Universal Spell Power.
You also gain proficiency in Light Armor and Martial weapons.

You can have both the spellsword and the arrow imbues toggled at the same time. Both damage sources lack an Internal Cool Down (ICD).

[Tuxedoman96]

you both seem to overlook that the elf tree offers enhancements that are valuable and you seem to devalue them as meaningless and waste of enhancement resources.
I do not i think those few points spent to get the aa and the few spent in aa is a value to ranged damage and spell conservation are lost.
hitting a few monsters from the mob with fear or para ( if I go that far up the tree to get para ) to break it up makes the task easier in mob defenses.)
Id rather not solo than to pike for reaper wings that's not playing.
not interested in another crossbow wielding rogue (INQ)

It's not so much that the Elf tree doesn't offer valuable enhancements as it is that 14 AP out of you total 80 is a costly investment. Those points in addition to getting the capstone from AA (which would be another 41 points) leaves you with 25 AP left over if you don't have any racial AP. This means giving up on a lvl 18 core (if you are going 18 levels of more of one particular class) and at the very least having a harder time picking up some very valuable low-hanging fruit. The alternative of using a different ranged style that doesn't require this 14 AP tax means that the problem described above is less of an issue. I can't say that I disapprove of your build philosophy (and I have some elven AA builds myself), but I definitely notice a difference in power or survivability because of the tax without the racial AP.

[Tuxedoman96]

Like spells, spell-like abilities are subject to spell resistance and to being dispelled by Dispel Magic. However, some spell-like abilities, such as bard songs or a "Light" Monk's Finishing Moves cannot be dispelled by spells such as Dispel Magic or Break Enchantment. These abilities are especially useful against creatures such as beholders, which have an anti-magic cone about them, removing most buffs within that zone. However, since Update 21, many SLAs cannot be used in antimagic field any longer.

Spells, magic items, and certain monsters can affect characters with fear. If a fear effect allows a saving throw, it is a Will save (DC depends on the exact spell or effect). All fear attacks are mind-affecting fear effects. A failed roll usually means that the character is shaken or panicked, though sometimes may result in more severe results.

Fear effects are designed to be cumulative. A shaken character who is made shaken again becomes frightened instead. A frightened character who saves against the effect may still be shaken. Note this doesn't always work in DDO however. Only certain fear effects function this way, such as the fear spell and a couple others.

Terror Arrows: Arcane Archer Imbue Toggle: You imbue your arrows with negative energy. On Hit: Target is feared. (Will DC 20 + Wisdom Modifier + Enchantment Bonuses negates.) On Vorpal: Target is subject to a Phantasmal Killer effect (Subject to save only, works through spell resistance). (Activation Cost: 20 SP. Cooldown: 10 seconds)

in this case i am assuming i am casting the spell the wisdom modifier being the monsters.

No. the arrow imbue is considered a physical attack rather than a spell or SLA. Spell Resistance does not effect this.

[Tuxedoman96]

bottom line its a wizard.
with melee defensive capability.

I'm not even sure what that's supposed to mean. Please define what wizard means to you.


To solo the melee capability needs to be stronger damages.

You also need to make sure you are survivable. Are you using spells that increase your survivability like blur/displacement and taking enhancements that increase mitigation?


Wizards aren't really mob control like a warlock.

What?


It is what it is.
if you can improve this build and not your own its not multiclass.
Multiclass is for completionists , I'm a premium player so will never really have a completionist toon.
or for those toons with the 2nd and 3rd class's completionism for the past life bonus of each additional class.
At least that is what I'm driving towards in order to make the multiclass as capable as it can be within each class Available to me.
will see what the new bow tree offers.

Multiclass is definitely not just for completionists.


I like fearsome cause they get a chance to runaway from fear when they hit me and stop attacking in melee

Getting hit doesn't sound ideal. It'd probably just be better to use CC spells. On normal you'd definitely be able to land them.



EK 4th core bottom : Subtle Force: gives -20% arcane failure (arcane fluidity)
As far as armored arcana I think there's an issue with armor check once I hit medium level armor so was looking medium armored mithril to drop it into light classification for armor check.
in which case I wouldn't need it since I'm not wearing medium armor.
something closer to this as i level and hope for another drop suit.
http://countydeck.com/Mithral.jpeg
Shield is definitely mithril for the reduction in arcane from shields
using the imbues but not from the archer tree, the EK 2nd core spellsword imbues an extra elemental power attack.
lose my shield proficiency if I use tensers transformation for melee because its gained from enhancements EK shield training tier 2 and somehow has a conflict with it.

There's not really a point to having the extra -20% ASF if you're not using a tower shield and heavy armor. Tier 4 in EK gives you medium armor proficiency and no ASF in medium armor anyways. Are you using a tower shield? Heavy shields give up to 15% ASF (which is removed with the third EK core).



Point Blank
Archers focus
Spell focus Evocation
Greater Spell focus Evocation
Spell focus Conjuration
Spell penetration
and a few more gained as passive to enhancements.



You really don't need the ranged feats since you are not primarily a ranged character (at least in your own words in a different post). I'm not sure why you have conjuration focus when none of the spells you are using appear to be conjuration. You don't need spell pen for your arrows, and I'm not sure if you are using actual cc spells in the first place. You also seem to not have any metamagics. Quicken and Extend would be pretty helpful for your character. Quicken allows you to cast CC and damage spells, well, quickly (which means you can return to physical attacks faster). Extend reduces the spell point drain (especially with you are using shorter buff spells like tenser's and haste). Of course Extend only matters if you don't want to deal with scroll-casting.




cone of cold - 176
Fire Ball - 99 changes to 176 when I equip shield with combustion
Chain lightning - 99
Ball Lightning - 99
Lightning bolt -99
Frost lance - 176
Cold Ray - 176
Force Missiles - 205
enervation - 86


It would probably be better for you to stick to just AoE spells (instead of slotting in single-target spells like Cold Ray and Force Missiles). You primarily fight multiple enemies and you have at least one cleave lined up (you'd be striking multiple monsters anyways). Furthermore, using single-target spells obviously means you are using spellpoints, just like AoE spells, but with the added issue of them not being as spell-point efficient. Chain Lightning is definitely not a bad spell, but since it's limited both by distance and number of targets, you'd probably be better off with a different spell like Otiluke's Freezing Sphere. I would definitely suggest spherical spells and cone spells as you can soften up far more monsters that way. Speaking of spells, what buff and cc spells are you using?



color spray and sonic blast ( dont use as much as I used too because its hard to switch over to them when switching over to melee)
thinking of micro managing them with the click to change weapons from bow to sword and shield would use with bow then switch to eldritch strike and arcane siphon for melee.
no two handed fighting feat.

The lack of combat style feats is concerning, especially because you'd want them for extra hp later on (and of course they also help with damage).



Looks like I can use some magnetism, craft it in at 16 level.
If anything is not immune to electricity.
and rebuild weapons and shield and bow to 16
at the same time
sword is pretty much the same damages as the bow rated the same base damages 12.65
six different damages when the bow strikes average between 80 and 100 hp damage total per arrow



Don't just look at the base damage. You have to take into account the rate of attack and other modifiers such as doublestrike/doubleshot. In fact, you could actually get the sword to do more damage by taking Knight's Training if you really wanted to. That would give you an extra crit multiplier that stacks with what you'd get from EK (pushing it past bows). As for immunity to electricity, your spellswords offer you a lot of versatility for handling encounters.


Maladroit 2 is for ranged weapons according to the shard but states on critz with a melee weapon ?

You can put Maladroit on any random gen weapon, but the effect will only proc for melee crits. the Cannith Crafting system doesn't distinguish between melee weapons and ranged weapons.


All in all, I have several questions about this build.
First, what exactly are you trying to do? Are you a ranged character, a melee character, or DPS spellcaster?
Second, you mentioned a shield. What perks are you looking to gain from going Sword n' Board?
Third, what tree are you primarily focusing on? Do you want to get your capstone in EK? or are you trying to get your capstone in AA?
Fourth, how are you healing yourself?
Fifth, what non-damaging spells are you using? With the level that you are at you should have more spells than that.
Sixth, can you give a more detailed layout of your build? I didn't see any mention of skills or base ability scores. That information is important, even if you don't think it is.

[archest]

First, what exactly are you trying to do? Are you a ranged character, a melee character, or DPS spellcaster?
The character is 1st and foremost A Pure Wizard - Spell Caster ( Which I haven't mention mostly because the spell casting is fine now that I've added magnetism spell power)
Second, you mentioned a shield. What perks are you looking to gain from going Sword n' Board?
The shield increases PPR/MRR and Ac among any other effects I can add to assist in short ranged effects or in this case at the moment Combustion is store in the shield.
Sword because its better then a scepter to hit with.
Third, what tree are you primarily focusing on? Do you want to get your capstone in EK? or are you trying to get your capstone in AA?
Eldritch Knight.
Fourth, how are you healing yourself?
Pots/ shrines and hires. UMD has me at 30% for a cure critical wand or scroll maybe ill hit heal scroll by level 20. 10% for raise dead now.

Fifth, what non-damaging spells are you using? With the level that you are at you should have more spells than that.,
Greater Heroism, Protection from elements, night shield, shield , blur Improved Impact when i think about it but all the others as I buff.
I would like to use Tensers Transformation but it eliminates my shield proficiency until I relog its bugged hasn't been fixed.
lessor death aura once in a while
a few others I use rarely mass rage (2 min 30sec timer) can buff at start but have to keep buffing i dont think its worth using it that way but ,might if I'm not ambushed and know there's a fight ahead.
Sixth, can you give a more detailed layout of your build? I didn't see any mention of skills or base ability scores. That information is important, even if you don't think it is.
I did post an image of the ability scores at level 13 I think.(at 15 now).
really not much in the way of skill points as you know there are only 3 which take a full point the others are all .5 points.
http://countydeck.com/skills.jpeg
http://countydeck.com/Enhancments.jpeg (http://countydeck.com/Enhancments.jpeg)
I'm not planning on anymore points n the aa tree at this time.
2 more in spell resistance in the elf tree
going to run up the left side of EK tree after with the shield and improved shield and the 50% damaged reduction
Note: Conjuration : at the time was thinking it would help with Summoned spells.
haven't done the free change with Fred. can change it NP but want to make sure that's all it was .

[archest]

No. the arrow imbue is considered a physical attack rather than a spell or SLA. Spell Resistance does not effect this.

Terror Arrows: Arcane Archer Imbue Toggle: You imbue your arrows with negative energy. On Hit: Target is feared. (Will DC 20 + Wisdom Modifier + Enchantment Bonuses negates.) On Vorpal: Target is subject to a Phantasmal Killer effect (Subject to save only, works through spell resistance). (Activation Cost: 20 SP. Cooldown: 10 seconds)

did you not read this?
On Hit: Target is feared. (Will DC 20 + Wisdom Modifier + Enchantment Bonuses negates.)

I do see the vorpal works through spell resistance but doesn't say either way for feared.

[Tuxedoman96]

Terror Arrows: Arcane Archer Imbue Toggle: You imbue your arrows with negative energy. On Hit: Target is feared. (Will DC 20 + Wisdom Modifier + Enchantment Bonuses negates.) On Vorpal: Target is subject to a Phantasmal Killer effect (Subject to save only, works through spell resistance). (Activation Cost: 20 SP. Cooldown: 10 seconds)

did you not read this?
On Hit: Target is feared. (Will DC 20 + Wisdom Modifier + Enchantment Bonuses negates.)

I do see the vorpal works through spell resistance but doesn't say either way for feared.



You do read that it says on-hit, right? That means it's a physical attack, not a spell. By your logic the PK from the vorpal should be subject to SR as well because it applies a PK effect (which emulates the spell). You can even test whether or not the fear arrows bypass SR. Get rid of all your spell pen and shoot some Drow. You'll never see the blue shield pop up.

[Tuxedoman96]

First, what exactly are you trying to do? Are you a ranged character, a melee character, or DPS spellcaster?
The character is 1st and foremost A Pure Wizard - Spell Caster ( Which I haven't mention mostly because the spell casting is fine now that I've added magnetism spell power)

So you are primarily a spellcaster (i.e. deal damage via spells) but you don't have any metamagics for spells?


Second, you mentioned a shield. What perks are you looking to gain from going Sword n' Board?
The shield increases PPR/MRR and Ac among any other effects I can add to assist in short ranged effects or in this case at the moment Combustion is store in the shield.
Sword because its better then a scepter to hit with.

But you aren't really getting those benefits while using the bow. That's why I don't understand why you are investing so many points to get AA.


Third, what tree are you primarily focusing on? Do you want to get your capstone in EK? or are you trying to get your capstone in AA?
Eldritch Knight.

Having most of your points in EK would mean you should be primarily melee. Again, you don't really need the ranged feats if you are going to be primarily melee.


Fourth, how are you healing yourself?
Pots/ shrines and hires. UMD has me at 30% for a cure critical wand or scroll maybe ill hit heal scroll by level 20. 10% for raise dead now.

It might be better to just go undead for heals that would be guaranteed to hit you (instead of a 30% chance on a wand). That's not to say that you can't switch back by the time you have better chances with UMD.


Fifth, what non-damaging spells are you using? With the level that you are at you should have more spells than that.,
Greater Heroism, Protection from elements, night shield, shield , blur Improved Impact when i think about it but all the others as I buff.

Why do you have both shield and nightshield?


I would like to use Tensers Transformation but it eliminates my shield proficiency until I relog its bugged hasn't been fixed.

I believe Master's Touch allows you to retain your proficiency.


lessor death aura once in a while

Why would you use LDA if you aren't undead?


a few others I use rarely mass rage (2 min 30sec timer) can buff at start but have to keep buffing i dont think its worth using it that way but ,might if I'm not ambushed and know there's a fight ahead.

If you have Extend then that becomes less of an issue (since it would be 5 minutes a cast).


Sixth, can you give a more detailed layout of your build? I didn't see any mention of skills or base ability scores. That information is important, even if you don't think it is.
I did post an image of the ability scores at level 13 I think.(at 15 now).
really not much in the way of skill points as you know there are only 3 which take a full point the others are all .5 points.
http://countydeck.com/skills.jpeg
http://countydeck.com/Enhancments.jpeg (http://countydeck.com/Enhancments.jpeg)

You did not provide any images of ability scores. I checked twice and viewed each image (in case it was misnamed) just in case. That info would be helpful.


I'm not planning on anymore points n the aa tree at this time.
2 more in spell resistance in the elf tree

Literally everyone is telling you that the arrows aren't affected by spell resistance. Just test it on monsters that are known to have high SR (like drow).


going to run up the left side of EK tree after with the shield and improved shield and the 50% damaged reduction
Note: Conjuration : at the time was thinking it would help with Summoned spells.
haven't done the free change with Fred. can change it NP but want to make sure that's all it was .

I would honestly advise switching out at least 4 of those feats. The ranged feats aren't really gonna help you if you are primarily doing melee or spell damage. You don't need the conjuration focus if you aren't using conjuration spells (and from the sounds of it you now know that it doesn't help with summons) and spell pen isn't needed for the fear and paralyzing arrows if you do decide to keep them (rather than taking our word for it, go and test it).

[archest]

So you are primarily a spellcaster (i.e. deal damage via spells) but you don't have any metamagics for spells?

But you aren't really getting those benefits while using the bow.
That's why I don't understand why you are investing so many points to get AA.
Having most of your points in EK would mean you should be primarily melee.
Again, you don't really need the ranged feats if you are going to be primarily melee.

Possibly not but they help conserve spell points at range and takes advantage of elven bow and long sword natural proficiency.
again its spell caster primary with shield and sword as short ranged secondary with bow as 3rd but 1st shot long ranged with ray spells Spot Skill is high.



It might be better to just go undead for heals that would be guaranteed to hit you (instead of a 30% chance on a wand).
That's not to say that you can't switch back by the time you have better chances with UMD.

Changes the build from EK to pale master.



Why do you have both shield and nightshield?

Shield +4 AC and MM, night shield +3 to Saving throws and MM double dipping protection from magic missiles .


I believe Master's Touch allows you to retain your proficiency.
hadn't thought of that will look into it



Why would you use LDA if you aren't undead?
I use it for healing a summoned umbral worg.
as well i read it as causing negative level, when it doesn't its negative energy. I dont use it often .



If you have Extend then that becomes less of an issue (since it would be 5 minutes a cast).

The Idea is not to for sp conservation, meta magic is sp expensive. I run out now using them would run out sooner.




You did not provide any images of ability scores. I checked twice and viewed each image (in case it was misnamed) just in case. That info would be helpful.

http://countydeck.com/enhance.jpeg right side has ability scores.



Literally everyone is telling you that the arrows aren't affected by spell resistance.
Just test it on monsters that are known to have high SR (like drow).

I should test it would be like 6 or 4 points I can use in another tree.
depending on if I needed the 1st 2 to reach AA

I would honestly advise switching out at least 4 of those feats. The ranged feats aren't really gonna help you if you are primarily doing melee or spell damage.
You don't need the conjuration focus if you aren't using conjuration spells (and from the sounds of it you now know that it doesn't help with summons)
and spell pen isn't needed for the fear and paralyzing arrows if you do decide to keep them (rather than taking our word for it, go and test it).

I agree its something to look into but think the range feats *point blank +1 to hit +1w and Archers focus +5 stacking range power to 15 times help ranged attacks even if little, but penetration and conjuration focus niac's cold ray is conjuration as spells were acquired i found as you see its not the main theme .

[Tuxedoman96]

So you are primarily a spellcaster (i.e. deal damage via spells) but you don't have any metamagics for spells?

But you aren't really getting those benefits while using the bow.
That's why I don't understand why you are investing so many points to get AA.
Having most of your points in EK would mean you should be primarily melee.
Again, you don't really need the ranged feats if you are going to be primarily melee.

Possibly not but they help conserve spell points at range and takes advantage of elven bow and long sword natural proficiency.
again its spell caster primary with shield and sword as short ranged secondary with bow as 3rd but 1st shot long ranged with ray spells Spot Skill is high.

Aren't you conserving spell points just by using the weapons anyways? I'm not sure it warrants spending feats to improve that. Especially not PBS, since most of your damage on the bow is coming from the spellsword and arrow imbue. Furthermore, PBS requires that you are closer to the monsters, so you're getting less effect out of it (you'd be hitting them from as far away as possible I would think).


It might be better to just go undead for heals that would be guaranteed to hit you (instead of a 30% chance on a wand).
That's not to say that you can't switch back by the time you have better chances with UMD.

Changes the build from EK to pale master.

First, they are not mutually exclusive. Second, we're talking about survivability. Pots can only heal you so well, and some of the better ones, like the elixirs have a cooldown on them. Your wands have a 30% chance of activating, which aren't good odds. And the hirelings... are pretty bad. The negative healing is passive. You don't have to do anything while the aura is ticking to heal up. In fact, if you just had 6 pts in PM to get the undead shroud, you'd probably still be more survivable than you are now. If you take the capstone from EK that's 41 pts. With the 6 pts in PM for the shroud that's a total of 47. You have 33 pts to allocate as you so choose.


Why do you have both shield and nightshield?

Shield +4 AC and MM, night shield +3 to Saving throws and MM double dipping protection from magic missiles .

Neither of them stack with items. The +4 AC will help while you are not using a shield. As far as the +3 saving throws... you should honestly just find some resistance items. The greatest effect of the shield and nightshield spells is the immunity to magic missile, force missile, and chain missile.


Why would you use LDA if you aren't undead?
I use it for healing a summoned umbral worg.
as well i read it as causing negative level, when it doesn't its negative energy. I dont use it often .

Honestly the skelly would probably help you more. It increases in level with your wizard level and you don't have to keep summoning it every 10 minutes or less (and unlike the summons you can park your skelly somewhere if you don't want him to aggro everything in a particular area).


If you have Extend then that becomes less of an issue (since it would be 5 minutes a cast).

The Idea is not to for sp conservation, meta magic is sp expensive. I run out now using them would run out sooner.

Dude, it's math. If Tenser's costs 35 SP (which it does) and you cast it twice, that's 70 SP. Here you are casting it for double the duration (which is essentially the same as casting it twice) for 10 extra SP, or 45 SP. From the sounds of it, the only reason you aren't using Tenser's is because of the loss of the shield proficiency. If you are using it throughout the quest after that issue gets resolved then the less you have to spend for the duration the slower your SP will drain. That's true of any spell that costs more than 10 SP, to include Rage, Haste, and GH. That said, that's not an issue if you are scroll-casting. Are you buying Haste and Tenser's scrolls, etc. to use or are you just letting those spells take up spell slots?


You did not provide any images of ability scores. I checked twice and viewed each image (in case it was misnamed) just in case. That info would be helpful.

http://countydeck.com/enhance.jpeg right side has ability scores.

Fair enough. Failed a spot check I guess lol. The point of my request was to know what the base ability scores are (i.e. without enhancements or items), because that is what matters for feats.


Literally everyone is telling you that the arrows aren't affected by spell resistance.
Just test it on monsters that are known to have high SR (like drow).

I should test it would be like 6 or 4 points I can use in another tree.
depending on if I needed the 1st 2 to reach AA

It also means you can swap out the spell pen feat, since it sounds like you took that feat particularly for the arrows.


I would honestly advise switching out at least 4 of those feats. The ranged feats aren't really gonna help you if you are primarily doing melee or spell damage.
You don't need the conjuration focus if you aren't using conjuration spells (and from the sounds of it you now know that it doesn't help with summons)
and spell pen isn't needed for the fear and paralyzing arrows if you do decide to keep them (rather than taking our word for it, go and test it).

I agree its something to look into but think the range feats *point blank +1 to hit +1w and Archers focus +5 stacking range power to 15 times help ranged attacks even if little, but penetration and conjuration focus niac's cold ray is conjuration as spells were acquired i found as you see its not the main theme .

The key phrase here is "a little". It's better to take feats that help out a lot, especially because you have fewer of them than you do enhancements. Also, the Archers Focus requires you to stand still. Not exactly a winning strategy for staying alive most of the time, especially if you are soloing.

[TekkenDevil]

Bro nobody on this planet who is not mentally ill cares about Reaper balance.

[archest]

Bro nobody on this planet who is not mentally ill cares about Reaper balance.

reaper is balanced with reaper points. which are gained easily with groups .
I dont have many but the few that I have are in will save and MMR defenses.

[archest]

What happens to a pale master in shroud that stands to close to a cleric positive healing aura?
what happens to any positive healing items currently equipped, healing amplification
yes I see some stuff which is cool and the Skelton knight is intriguing.
Necromancy in particular.
but it changes the build .
maybe a tr will enter the realm of the shrouded undead and this toon may indeed multi-enhance into all three trees but for now I am choosing not to enter that domain and remain alive.
Pont blank makes since sine i rarely use it at close range but. since I've changed my quick link to change weapons to a color spray to control rushing mobs it tales more time to switch weapons sets.
eventually i would like to use the macro for this which increases the ability of the limited hot keys for battle.
3 buttons and all of tool bar 1.
ctrl 2 is an option but i dont like it lol

[Tuxedoman96]

What happens to a pale master in shroud that stands to close to a cleric positive healing aura?

You get half healing (i.e. you aren't damaged if that's what you're worried about)


what happens to any positive healing items currently equipped, healing amplification

Those still apply before the reduction. Wearing healing amp items will improve how much you heal with positive. You also have another way to heal too, so there's that.


yes I see some stuff which is cool and the Skelton knight is intriguing.
Necromancy in particular.
but it changes the build .

That's kinda the point of improvement. You improve a build by changing aspects of it. You still preserve the pts in EK. You're still casting spells. You still can have points in AA. So what you're saying is you specifically need/want to be a living wizard? Because that wasn't described in your initial presentation of the build.


maybe a tr will enter the realm of the shrouded undead and this toon may indeed multi-enhance into all three trees but for now I am choosing not to enter that domain and remain alive.
Pont blank makes since sine i rarely use it at close range but. since I've changed my quick link to change weapons to a color spray to control rushing mobs it tales more time to switch weapons sets.

Do you swap weapons before you activate Color Spray or after?

[archest]

Do you swap weapons before you activate Color Spray or after?

I have 3 quick set buttons and hot bar 1 for spells with #1 being healing pots.
armed with bow
button 1 is a melee strike and button 3 is a 2nd melee strike

I had the weapons change as #2 button.
and wasn't using color spray at all.
I have cold power and a cone I use as spell for 1st strike spells close range.
then I figured if I slowed down the quick transition to melee but a physical click I could use color spray on #2.
I could use color spray then cold of cone for 2 aoe attacks before i get into melee and start taking melee damages
so arrow strike and rays spells as the mob approaches to range for the color spray.
its the time between I need to switch weapons with a mouse click.
( I have page buttons but they aren't convenient to use)

[Logicman69]

Do you swap weapons before you activate Color Spray or after?

I have 3 quick set buttons and hot bar 1 for spells with #1 being healing pots.
armed with bow
button 1 is a melee strike and button 3 is a 2nd melee strike

I had the weapons change as #2 button.
and wasn't using color spray at all.
I have cold power and a cone I use as spell for 1st strike spells close range.
then I figured if I slowed down the quick transition to melee but a physical click I could use color spray on #2.
I could use color spray then cold of cone for 2 aoe attacks before i get into melee and start taking melee damages
so arrow strike and rays spells as the mob approaches to range for the color spray.
its the time between I need to switch weapons with a mouse click.
( I have page buttons but they aren't convenient to use)

I definitely thing you need some keymapping lessons. This is something that took me a LONG time to learn in DDO, and I am still working on efficient setups with different characters. w

Hotbars are your friend. I am currently running about 7-8 bars on my characters, depending on the need. I arrange them at the bottom of my screen. 4 across, 2 high.

I have my bars organized it sets. For my caster (pale master), all my main offensive spells and my main CC spell (mass hold monster) are on one bar. My buff spells are on another, weapons on a 3rd, Swappable items (trinket swaps for voice, items with clickies) on another, togglable feats on another... you get the idea.

Some of these bars are also keymapped for easy access. This is personal preference on what you want. I run a basic keyboard with a logitech G10 mouse (this has 12 buttons on the side, and 3 on top). This lets me map all my offensive spells on my thumb buttons and my weapon swaps on my keyboard. (keys 1 through 0). This lets me cycle through spells and swaps faster, because I don't have to move the mouse down to a bar and hunt for the right option to click. Anytime you can use a hot key rather than move your mouse, it will be more efficient. It takes some practice getting used to the set up, but it helps A LOT.

At the very least, I would add more bars and work on your mapping a bit. You can customize the keymapping for your own setup by clicking the options feature (hit ESC like you are going to logout, but then select "options"). You can map any key to any bar you want. I would keep the movement keys the same, but from there you can do whatever you want. Maybe you don't need to hit "M" to pull up the map, that can be your "melee weapon" key. You would just map the "M" key to whatever bar and slot your melee weapon is. Just remember to always put your melee weapon in the same slot.

Just some ideas. But adding some more quick keys will let you utilize more functions/spells/attacks in a quicker succession. (want to really have to plan your key mapping... play a monk)

[archest]

as well i have 5 ,5 and 2 far right
the ctrl jump to a different bar , I dont do that.
i only use bar 1 for hot key access 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
and the 3 mouse buttons described.

[o2t4f]

So you are primarily a spellcaster (i.e. deal damage via spells) but you don't have any metamagics for spells?

It might be better to just go undead for heals that would be guaranteed to hit you (instead of a 30% chance on a wand).
That's not to say that you can't switch back by the time you have better chances with UMD.

Changes the build from EK to pale master.



It is kinda funny that you consider putting a few points into PM would shift your build from EK, but at the same time, you put that many points into AA. Especially when you consider bows are your third option.


On another note: the fact that terror arrow has a DC doesn't mean it has a spell penetration check. They are different things that can occur separately. An effect might be subject to only a DC like most damaging spells or other non-spell things like Trip, for example (no SR check on that, obviously). Other things might be subject to only a spell resistance check, like otto's irresistible dance. And spells like hold monster are subject to both a DC and spell resistance check.
In the case of terror arrows, it is only a DC check. That formula tells you how high the DC will be.

[archest]

It is kinda funny that you consider putting a few points into PM would shift your build from EK, but at the same time, you put that many points into AA. Especially when you consider bows are your third option.


On another note: the fact that terror arrow has a DC doesn't mean it has a spell penetration check. They are different things that can occur separately. An effect might be subject to only a DC like most damaging spells or other non-spell things like Trip, for example (no SR check on that, obviously). Other things might be subject to only a spell resistance check, like otto's irresistible dance. And spells like hold monster are subject to both a DC and spell resistance check.
In the case of terror arrows, it is only a DC check. That formula tells you how high the DC will be.

Character is Elf , Elf has access to AA tree and is naturally proficient with both bow and long sword, so its not veering off the EK tree its assisting the Elf race natural abilities.
as I see there are some things I can change concerning feats and spell penetrations.
Since the spells aren't enchantment spells .

Pale mater would be a good build for necromancy I think.

ok i've reset all my enhancement points and removed spell penetration and moved those points to level 3 shield and improved mage armor.

I get point blank from an enhancement or somewhere as Fred doesn't allow me to select it to change it.
so ill have to suffer if its used with the extra damage it gives.
greater spell penetration I traded for insightful reflex so I can use intel bonus +11 instead of dex +6 for reflex saves.
have to wait 3 days to trade in spell penetration focus for something else.

I tested the toggle for aa imbue inclusive but not alot of damage even with spell power 20pts.
so decided not to use the points for it .
capped the EK tree - eldritch tempest will see if i need to replace healing pots hotbar #1 slot with color spray .
since its the 3rd melee and I have 3 buttons.

[Tuxedoman96]

Character is Elf , Elf has access to AA tree and is naturally proficient with both bow and long sword, so its not veering off the EK tree its assisting the Elf race natural abilities.
as I see there are some things I can change concerning feats and spell penetrations.
Since the spells aren't enchantment spells .

Pale mater would be a good build for necromancy I think.

We start getting into a Sorites Paradox. How many points invested in PM would you say is enough to change the build from an EK to a PM? Or maybe it's using the shroud? I still don't understand why you consider those aspects mutually exclusive. Being undead does not prevent you from being an EK.

[o2t4f]

Character is Elf , Elf has access to AA tree and is naturally proficient with both bow and long sword, so its not veering off the EK tree its assisting the Elf race natural abilities.
as I see there are some things I can change concerning feats and spell penetrations.
Since the spells aren't enchantment spells .

Pale mater would be a good build for necromancy I think.

Just because you have that proficiency, doesn't mean that spending that huge amount of points on something that goes against the initial idea of your build will help with anything. Pale master is great not just for necromancy focus, but it can also help survivability if you are going more EK focused.

If bows are really your third option, you should completely ignore AA and not spend any points in the elf tree (unless of course, you had the 14 racial points for free from tomes and PL's). That is just hurting your main build goals to the point that you don't do anything well, as you yourself mentioned.

A wiz EK/PM is such a nice, free build that you should give it a shot and build it right. Doesn't matter what race you are. Elves are not required to shoot bows. You aren't really helping your race natural abilities as much as you are hurting your class's natural abilities. Which, by the way, include longswords and longbows proficiencies in the second core of Eldritch Knight (Spellsword).

If you really want to go the AA route, you could do it. But in that case, it would be much better if bows were your first option, not your third.

Also, a long time has passed since your first post. How have things progressed thus far? Did anything change in your build?

[archest]

Just because you have that proficiency, doesn't mean that spending that huge amount of points on something that goes against the initial idea of your build will help with anything. Pale master is great not just for necromancy focus, but it can also help survivability if you are going more EK focused.

If bows are really your third option, you should completely ignore AA and not spend any points in the elf tree (unless of course, you had the 14 racial points for free from tomes and PL's). That is just hurting your main build goals to the point that you don't do anything well, as you yourself mentioned.

A wiz EK/PM is such a nice, free build that you should give it a shot and build it right. Doesn't matter what race you are. Elves are not required to shoot bows. You aren't really helping your race natural abilities as much as you are hurting your class's natural abilities. Which, by the way, include longswords and longbows proficiencies in the second core of Eldritch Knight (Spellsword).

If you really want to go the AA route, you could do it. But in that case, it would be much better if bows were your first option, not your third.

Also, a long time has passed since your first post. How have things progressed thus far? Did anything change in your build?

I have not yet caped the EK tree i missed a aa toggle for blunted arrows when I reset enhancement points so I'm stopped at Medium armor proficiency.

getting set to go to level 16 gear soon not quit at the moment have a set of medium mithril i need to craft at level for the extra ac

I tried using the Twisted willow long bow but the bow I have had more damage.

http://countydeck.com/03092021.jpeg

in order to gain 90 magnetism I had to lose 5 AC.