Buffs for Shroud

[Nanith]

Which buffs are useful for Shroud?

[Trillea]

Which buffs are useful for Shroud?

Merfolk's Blessing. I have never failed a shroud where I received it at the beginning.

[Rusty_Can]

Pt 2:
- Death Ward, if kobold is home;
- Fire resistance, if Fire Elemental is home;
- Freedom of Movement, if Earth Elemental is home.

Pt. 4 and 5:
- Neutralize Poison on all melee characters;
- Freedom of Movement;
- Fire Resistance;
- Fire Protection;
- Death Ward (only in pt 5, if Kobold is home).

Prayer and Recitation, which provide luck bonuses to AC, damage and attack rolls, can also help a bit during fights (i.e. during pt. 1, 2, 4 and 5).

Death Pact on yourself in part 5, but you shouldn't really need it .....

[Comegetsome]

Pt 2:
- Death Ward, if kobold is home;
- Fire resistance, if Fire Elemental is home;
- Freedom of Movement, if Earth Elemental is home.

Pt. 4 and 5:
- Neutralize Poison on all melee characters;
- Freedom of Movement;
- Fire Resistance;
- Fire Protection;
- Death Ward (only in pt 5, if Kobold is home).

Prayer and Recitation, which provide luck bonuses to AC, damage and attack rolls, can also help a bit during fights (i.e. during pt. 1, 2, 4 and 5).

Death Pact on yourself in part 5, but you shouldn't really need it .....

Just adding:
Death Ward because of Kasquick's vorpal
Poison because Harry applies a posion on his melee attacks
2 fail saves = death

[phalaeo]

Pt 2:
- Death Ward, if kobold is home;Because he has vorpals
- Fire resistance, if Fire Elemental is home;
- Freedom of Movement, if Earth Elemental is home.

Pt. 4 and 5:
- Neutralize Poison on all melee characters;
- Freedom of Movement;
- Fire Resistance;
- Fire Protection;
- Death Ward (only in pt 5, if Kobold is home).

Prayer and Recitation, which provide luck bonuses to AC, damage and attack rolls, can also help a bit during fights (i.e. during pt. 1, 2, 4 and 5).

Death Pact on yourself in part 5, but you shouldn't really need it .....

HJASTE!


Exactly this. I've done it with every buff under the sun, and have done it with only the above and maybe a GH--- the extra weird buffs aren't needed.

For Part 5, I ask if there is anybody (Rangers, Paladins, etc.) that can pass out Freedom of Movement and/or Fire Resists. Saves you from developing arthritis in your fingers from running in and out of the **** SP regen pool. When you come up, hit a Mass Protection from Elements and Deathward (if you had the Kobold).

I've had good results with tossing out a fresh Mass Prot on the melees when Harry goes berserk as it will mitigate the fire damage. If you're comfortable with doing both and have enough SP, hit it yourself - or, you can ask an Arcane to toss it a few times during the fight if they have the spell.

If you lose someone, hit them up with Fire and Poison first (then Freedom) before they go back in.

[Bloodhaven]

Pt 2:
- Death Ward, if kobold is home;
- Fire resistance, if Fire Elemental is home;
- Freedom of Movement, if Earth Elemental is home.

Pt. 4 and 5:
- Neutralize Poison on all melee characters;
- Freedom of Movement;
- Fire Resistance;
- Fire Protection;
- Death Ward (only in pt 5, if Kobold is home).

Prayer and Recitation, which provide luck bonuses to AC, damage and attack rolls, can also help a bit during fights (i.e. during pt. 1, 2, 4 and 5).

Also have one of the arcanes cast haste.
One of the arcanes should cast mass Prot on the meele group every 6-8 sec to help the healers, if they need the help.

This

[sirgog]

"Also have one of the arcanes cast haste.
One of the arcanes should cast mass Prot on the meele group every 6-8 sec to help the healers, if they need the help. "

Please do not do this! It adds to lag, the leading cause of wipes/deaths/ugly runs in the Shroud. In fact, if I was deliberately trying to cause a wipe in the Shroud, that would be one of the three things I would do (the others being to dispel people, or cast Master's Touch every cooldown).

For 4/5, the only really critical divine buffs are Resist Fire (cuts a Meteor Swarm where you fail all four saves from 400 to 280 damage) and Freedom of Movement. Haste is the only critical Arcane buff. After a death in part 5, rebuff with FoM first, then resist fire.

There are other buffs that are somewhat useful:

(Arcane) Greater Heroism: Cuts down Meteor Swarm/DBF damage on toons with a base Reflex save under 28. Less effective at mitigating damage than Fire Resist, but still worthwhile.
(Arcane) Blur/Displacement: Useful for reducing damage from trash mobs in Shroud 4. Has no effect against Harry, who sees through it. Sonic resistance also helps but is so minimal I never even bother casting it on myself.
(Divine) Recitation: Helps toons with an AC in the high 60s take less melee damage from Harry.
(Arcane) Rage: More HP, a tiny amount of extra damage, the loss of AC is irrelevant unless your AC is in the 65-71 range without Rage (then the spell should be avoided).
(Divine) Neutralize Poison: Used to be a must-have, as Harry's poison is pretty nasty. However, one Mass Heal spell per minute ensures that noone dies to poison, and you'll be casting Mass Heal for hitpoint recovery anyway, the curing of poison and disease is just a bonus.
(Both) Mass Protection from Elements: It's worth casting this between rounds. Never cast it during rounds, however.

[Quikster]

fom and anything that boosts dps. Everything else needed comes on pots. items. or wands and people can get themselves.

[phalaeo]

Mass Protection from Elements: It's worth casting this between rounds. Never cast it during rounds, however.

Why? Lag?
I do cast it during rounds and found it helps quite a bit, but I'm always willing to learn.

EDIT:
NVM- it's late, I'm sleepy, and I didn't see that you addressed that at the top of your post. On the subject of lag, however...
I've heard a few people get ****ed off at people who gag-buff useless spells like Merfolk's and Spawn Screen before Part 4, saying that just having the buffs running causes more lag. One time, we had a newer Cleric as the other healer and he got a sharp reply when he decided we needed every mass Divine buff that he had. Same reasoning-lag. And I don't mean throwing it on during the fight- just pre-fight buffage. I guess the timer on the buff is one more calculation being sent, but is this true?