Enlarge and Part 4 of the Shroud

[Spoonwelder]

I just put a ****ly little post into the Lets Talk:Shroud thread....but one thing i noted in there is that for divines one issue is you have to brave the blades at least somewhat since you need to heal from the get go of Harry coming down.

But a thought occurred to me - I don't need extend anymore at L18 if I swap it to enlarge will I be able to stand way back by the pillars which seem to be a safe spot?

I could use the enlarge on beholders as well anyway so it may be a nice addition to my bag of tricks while extend is usually off, except for prayer/holy aura which are situationally useful and in most cases don't need extend anyway.

[sweez]

If you're not in the center with melees and you don't have a seeker blade on you, on a divine you'll only get hit once by the blades - center mass heals on someone, stand halfway to the wall, throw heals, then when the ring of blades closes in just pass through them once (taking 50-100 dmg at most unless you lag out) and continue healing from the maximum non-enlarged mass heal distance.

Since you don't have to face the people you're healing to get a mass heal off, you could just target someone, then turn and face the blades to see exactly when they're coming in while still healing people.

Clerics are pretty screwed on feats as-is since they *have* to take empower healing.

[brentpatty1]

Yes it does work. but you don't wont to take enlarge just for that one moment

he still throws Meteors

[Spoonwelder]

As I said - I could use enlarge in many other instance - I can think of many time I see - your are out of range so I think it will come in handy- for shroud it would help immensely to be out of the blades entirely.

As for DBFs - I can take one on normal so that should be fine.

[EatSmart]

Yes you can, but the sp cost makes it pretty pointless unless you're extremely squishy.

My personal preference is to be in with the melee, targeted on 'arry. That way i'll be the aoe healing target and I wont lose half the party just because the person I had as my target ran away early. It also reduces the amount of mouseclicking you need to do to keep DP going on him.

If you are squishy (low hps or low reflex) then the best place to stand is just outside his melee reach until the blades have gone behind you twice, and then step further back in the giant gap that is in the ring of blades when they're out that far. You shouldnt be hit by anything with that method (including aoe that was sent at the melee) so you should be ok. Watch out for seeker blades, as they like to sneak up on divines.

If you have the UMD, fireshield (cold) from fireshield scrolls really helps if you're finding survival tricky.

[squirrl811]

I've found enlarge to be situationally useful on arcane casters and I imagine the same could be said for a divine caster. In particular, it is great for getting some first strikes against beholders before they can close in for the anti-magic effect. Of course, there are a lot of times where you don't have wide open areas where you can take advantage of this. I'd say enlarge is far from useless, but a lot of the benefit will depend on the quest and the player recognizing and taking advantage of the opportunities to make good use of it.

[moops]

Do you really encounter than many beholders?

This question can really only be answered by you, as you know the content that you play all the time, and the people you play with. Me? The only beholders I see are on the way to HOX, and I just kill them--if they are in a bunch I use Implosion and run right thru. If not I can usually zap them b4 Im noticed, or wait til melee turns them.

Enlarge won't keep you from getting hit by blades, or Meteor swarm, you just have to pay attention and move around, and if you move around you usually only take 1-2 ticks from the circular blades.

Try to get an ice cloak clickie, or you can go the Glacial bracers route but you will have to let a couple mobs hit you. Also fire storm greaves--I think my cleric rarely takes these off as she spends a fair amount of time in Lava & firery content.

[sirgog]

As for DBFs - I can take one on normal so that should be fine.

If you can take one on Normal, you can take one on Elite. Same damage, just the save DC is higher on E.

[Spoonwelder]

If you can take one on Normal, you can take one on Elite. Same damage, just the save DC is higher on E.

That is good to know.....never tracked the damage at different difficulties, just know that I survived all of the ones that hit me (except maybe my first two or three back on my first life gimp).

What I am getting from the responses is.

1. Yes enlarge will allow you to heal from outside the blades original spawn points so you can hide by the pillar.
2. Its a waste of SP though as there are better strategies.
3. BUT if my playstyle is exceptionally lazy OR exceptionally low risk it would get the results i wanted.
4. Enlarge isn't useful enough to waste a feat (though i do see more than 1-2 times per quest the 'you are out of range' for a whole range of spells so.....
5. Probably the best plan is when harry drops to be 10ft or so behind melees - aura on - heal from here for first 2-3 passes of blades then drop back through blades (hopefully in the gap) and then continue healing.


My only other thought would be to swap that extend feat for Shield Mastery get a fireshield or other fire dmg reduction item and go right up to Harry with the melee and shield block - aura/burst/heal on myself while dotting harry up.....hmmm getting to see more of Harry's bum up close sounds like a plan.

[MsEricka]

Blades are a non-issue for healers in part 4. Try standing in the safe spot and they NEVER hit you.

Shroud has only been out for a few days now. So it's no surprise that more people aren't aware of it.

[Spoonwelder]

Ou est le safe spot?

I have read what I could and could only find mention of by the pillars nearest the port in spot. But from there you are too far away to cast heals on the melees....unless you have enlarge?

[MsEricka]

Enlarge is not needed. Stand in the box in the north.