Non WF Artis

[Dwarfo]

I hear there is a feat you can take so that you become half wf - half fleshy, and can be healed with repair spells, is this worth taking on a fleshy arti? I depise wf and would like to make an arti, but not a wf one.

[RedDragonScale]

I hear there is a feat you can take so that you become half wf - half fleshy, and can be healed with repair spells, is this worth taking on a fleshy arti? I depise wf and would like to make an arti, but not a wf one.

Hell no! Get your UMD high enough to use Heal scrolls (easy to do on an Arti)!

[thunir]

I ran with this when Arties first came out, and dumped it quickly. You end up spending to many Ap's on recon to achive decent heals, it kinda takes away from the rest of your build. Also -25% healing amp on a low HP toon is very noticable.

GL

[Forgeborn]

Not worth it, in my opinion at least.

• Repair efficiency is only 50%
• -25% penalty to positive healing
• costs a feat slot to take

On top of that, artificers have UMD as a class skill, and have enhancements to augment UMD, it's easy to no fail heal scrolls. having to use reconstruct, a spell you only get at level 15, to heal yourself, is rather sp inefficient, being only 112 points without the augment line. At that same time, a heal scroll will hit you got 150 points, if you have just base human heal amp and ignored the scroll mastery line.

However, if you want to do it...
The feat is called construct essence, and requires 3 levels of artificer, it is an artificer bonus feat, so you can grab it at level 4 if you so desire.

[domandi]

I have it on my human arti and I actually like it. Now, humans get the extra feat so it is easier to fit it in. Artis get so many feats tho that it isn't a big deal using it on a non human.

Many people talk about using a scroll, but there are plenty of times where you simply won't have the time to swap to a scroll to use it. I am talking about those oh-s*** moments. A quickened recon for even 120ish hp can be a life saver. Not to mention that in many raids, the arti isn't standing with the melees to get the mass heals/cures. When you are there as dps, any time saved is a good thing. To top yourself off with a quick recon and continue with the pew pew. Not to mention the sp you save the healers from using a spell on just you.

There is also the cooldown on heal scroll. If you are getting beat on, you can still use the heal scroll and pop yourself with a recon to very quickly top yourself off. This isn't easy to do when you are running with 500+ hp.

Now, is it necessary? No. I am sure there are many people that get by just fine without it. I like haveing the extra survivability.

[djsonar919]

I have it on my human arti and I actually like it. Now, humans get the extra feat so it is easier to fit it in. Artis get so many feats tho that it isn't a big deal using it on a non human.

Many people talk about using a scroll, but there are plenty of times where you simply won't have the time to swap to a scroll to use it. I am talking about those oh-s*** moments. A quickened recon for even 120ish hp can be a life saver. Not to mention that in many raids, the arti isn't standing with the melees to get the mass heals/cures. When you are there as dps, any time saved is a good thing. To top yourself off with a quick recon and continue with the pew pew. Not to mention the sp you save the healers from using a spell on just you.

There is also the cooldown on heal scroll. If you are getting beat on, you can still use the heal scroll and pop yourself with a recon to very quickly top yourself off. This isn't easy to do when you are running with 500+ hp.

Now, is it necessary? No. I am sure there are many people that get by just fine without it. I like haveing the extra survivability.

I'm right there with you. When I did an Arti life with a human, I had Construct Essence and couldn't recommend it enough. It's perfect for "Oh ****!" moments. I don't think there would have been a way for me to solo Sins of Attrition on Elite or A New Invasion without having to pop Reconstruct. If I was scroll healing and waiting for a cool down, I would have died for sure.

[Calebro]

I don't think there would have been a way for me to solo Sins of Attrition on Elite or A New Invasion without having to pop Reconstruct. If I was scroll healing and waiting for a cool down, I would have died for sure.

Even when that Heal scroll was hitting for 262 pre-amp value? That's 340 from one scroll with only 30% amp.
With some decent heal amp gear, it will literally fill you from almost dead to full HP with a single scroll.

Compare that to a heal scroll used on the same character with ConEss and he gets 196 and still gets amp.
Compare that to a Recon scroll used by that character with ConEss who gets 131 and gets no amp.
Compare that to a Quickened Recon which gets approximately 170 and gets no amp.
No matter how you look at it, ConEss reduces all incoming healing, but allows for more sources, which basically makes it useful for a Quickened Recon and nothing else. It's blue bar viable, but it's much less efficient.

Spending a feat and a bunch of AP so that you can cast a single semi-useful self-heal, while reducing all incoming healing and making you harder to heal from all of those sources seems like a huge trap to me.
Maybe useful while leveling, but next to useless at cap IMO.

[Chai]

Even when that Heal scroll was hitting for 262 pre-amp value? That's 340 from one scroll with only 30% amp.
With some decent heal amp gear, it will literally fill you from almost dead to full HP with a single scroll.

Compare that to a heal scroll used on the same character with ConEss and he gets 196 and still gets amp.
Compare that to a Recon scroll used by that character with ConEss who gets 131 and gets no amp.
Compare that to a Quickened Recon which gets approximately 170 and gets no amp.
No matter how you look at it, ConEss reduces all incoming healing, but allows for more sources, which basically makes it useful for a Quickened Recon and nothing else. It's blue bar viable, but it's much less efficient.

Spending a feat and a bunch of AP so that you can cast a single semi-useful self-heal, while reducing all incoming healing and making you harder to heal from all of those sources seems like a huge trap to me.
Maybe useful while leveling, but next to useless at cap IMO.

I disagree.

The only way a fleshy artificer will get a self cast interruptable heal that WILL LAND is by taking construct essence. Throwing potions and praying they hit you too, is for the birds.

My half elf has ~500 HP. Arty is a striker class. Im not trying to tank or constantly take damage on this toon.

100% *1.2 *1.1 *1.2 *.75 heal amp for 118.8% - more than enough for a 500 HP striker class.

50% repair *1.5 *1.5 *2.0 enhanced max/emp repair off the mana bar for 225%

Scrolls: Artificer level 1. Grants a +2 to UMD checks related to scroll use, and all scrolls used by the Artificer have their caster levels increased by 1. This caster level bonus increases by 1 at Artificer levels 4, 7, 10, and 13, and is capped by the Artificer's Intelligence Bonus.

Regular heal scroll starts at 110 - artificer heal scroll starts at 150. Add 75% scroll mastery to that.

Heal scroll: 150 *1.18 *1.75 = 309.75 on a 500 HP half elf artificer.
Reconstruct spell: 150 *2.25 = 337.5 on a max empowered quickened repair when needed, on a 500 HP artificer, not interruptable.

Construct essence is not needed for a constant source of healing. Its needed for that moment where nothing other than a un-interrupt-able heal will do. WHen you are cursed in TOD or VOD and have 20% of your HP left, a fleshy without the feat has to hit a curse pot, then arm a scroll, then hit the scroll, and pray they aint getting hit for damage or else they have to beat a concentration check. All I have to do is hit the repair button, done. Then I can deal with the curse after, when I have most or all of my HP back.

Trap? I dont think so.

[Calebro]

I disagree.

And you're welcome to. Don't think for a moment that I wasn't expecting you to pop in here and disagree with me.

[Lifespawn]

I disagree.

The only way a fleshy artificer will get a self cast interruptable heal that WILL LAND is by taking construct essence. Throwing potions and praying they hit you too, is for the birds.

My half elf has ~500 HP. Arty is a striker class. Im not trying to tank or constantly take damage on this toon.

100% *1.2 *1.1 *1.2 *.75 heal amp for 118.8% - more than enough for a 500 HP striker class.

50% repair *1.5 *1.5 *2.0 enhanced max/emp repair off the mana bar for 225%

Scrolls: Artificer level 1. Grants a +2 to UMD checks related to scroll use, and all scrolls used by the Artificer have their caster levels increased by 1. This caster level bonus increases by 1 at Artificer levels 4, 7, 10, and 13, and is capped by the Artificer's Intelligence Bonus.

Regular heal scroll starts at 110 - artificer heal scroll starts at 150. Add 75% scroll mastery to that.

Heal scroll: 150 *1.18 *1.75 = 309.75 on a 500 HP half elf artificer.
Reconstruct spell: 150 *2.25 = 337.5 on a max empowered quickened repair when needed, on a 500 HP artificer, not interruptable.

Construct essence is not needed for a constant source of healing. Its needed for that moment where nothing other than a un-interrupt-able heal will do. WHen you are cursed in TOD or VOD and have 20% of your HP left, a fleshy without the feat has to hit a curse pot, then arm a scroll, then hit the scroll, and pray they aint getting hit for damage or else they have to beat a concentration check. All I have to do is hit the repair button, done. Then I can deal with the curse after, when I have most or all of my HP back.

Trap? I dont think so.

umm you can't max and empower reconstruct...


maybe u have bad aim i hit myself with the potions 100% of the time for 130+

[FooWonk]

Here are the arguments I've heard for Construct Essence that make any sense:
° I don't like to click too many buttons to heal myself.

If this is your reason to use a feat, then have at it.

The reason this is a trap is that once you take Construct Essence, you have to care and feed it:

You'll need Quicken, because switching to a wand when you don't want a Reconstruct interrupted would also be [I]too many buttons[/].

You'll need Repair Manipulation I because pouring your blue bar into your red bar at a 2:1 HP to SP ratio will empty your blue bar very fast when you're playing at the big devil's table in Sins elite.

You'll want to make yourself a Ring of the Master Artificer. As it is a ring of archmagi, if you decide to dump Construct Essence and Quicken later on, you can use the ring for buffing SP at shrines then swap it out for something more useful.

...

[pSINNa]

My arti Batgirly on Ghallanda (feel free to check her out) is a human arti (i just didn't want to go WF for flavour and ascetic reasons, but i also don't want to build an anchor or dead weight gimp).

Construct essence - i'm often the last or near last one standing when things go south in a raid.

First life character with the basics in raid loot packing 460+hp and with quickened 130 odd hp self reconstructs is as survivable as a wf wizard.

Usually using the rune arm from the Garamol chest in the sub - has 20% heal amp build into it going a long way towards evening out incomeing divine heals - i usually only need to self repair/reconstruct when i'm in "save the situation" or "doing my own thing" mode.

A human arti has more then enough feats to go complete ranged and spell focused damage and keep this feat - my prismatic strike and lightning motes are great additions to damage on raid bosses with my lit2 heavy repeater / silver weapons from my rune arm (so i can still hit myself with an extra damage mod spell as well), with maximise/empower/quicken - and we all know what my force and storm maxxed enhancement make those spells, and blade barrier or course - ferocious damage.

With precise and improved precise shot - try a hall way in sins of attrition with a blade barrier and spraying bolts down the hallway for a quick clear! (stoneskinned/ umd displaced / with your 20 minute jump clicky and those quicked reconstructs for when u can't be bothered dropping a heal scroll with your 40+umd).

Really, why not. It works, you have a 1500+ sp pool on any medium un-gimp arti - are expected to burn about 350 of that on buffs in raids (silver/deadly/blah blah), and can keep churning out the dps while being completely survivable with it.

my two cents - the path less trodden! (lol)

Coit out~

[domandi]

Wow, FooWonk... way to miss the point completely.

It has nothing to do with the number of buttons to push. It has to do with the time it takes to get something off.

The people that are for Con Ess are simply saying that having an uninterruptable quick heal adds to thier playing style.

If you don't want it, dont' take it. But there is no good reason to call it a trap. No one is worse for taking it. It isn't Improved Fortification.

Yes, wands are quick. A quickened recon is faster. You can also maintain (albiet very slightly) more dps since there are no gear swaps needed.

Another question to ask is this... Is it so bad to invest one point into repair line? /anectode There have been many times when I have helped the group/raid by throwing a quickened recon on the wf tank or kiter /anectode off

I will concede that if you don't need recon to heal yourself then there isn't much of a need for quicken at end game. It is still my opinion that artificers get enough feats that it really isn't a stretch to put it in the build.

[domandi]

Yes, there is a tradeoff for taking the feat. I also agree that it doesn't fit into everyone's play style.

I also think that the 25% dip in divine healing really isn't that big of a deal. Arties(generally) don't need constant healing. Rarely are they the tank. I would never, ever, suggest a fighter/whatever get the feat(not that they could anyway). Also their hp are low enough that any heal from a dedicated healer in a group will more than top them off whether they have the feat or not.

[domandi]

That is a fantastic point FooWonk. I had forgotten about quick draw. Taking quickdraw over con ess seems like it could be a favorable tradeoff. I may have to play with that...

[goodspeed]

I never thought about quickdraw used like that. Ditto on play... Essense would be great if you gained the abilities of a metal man. Shrug off poison hold, all that ****. It could be enhanced to become full metal through ap.

Course then warforged might be ****ed as it would be possible to be WF without having to buy it as they had.

[domandi]

Well, not really. WF have many enhancements which are beneficial, not to mention the feat/ap needed to attain wf status. In the long run, it would prolly be better just to roll your toon as a WF.

[djsonar919]

Construct essence is not needed for a constant source of healing. Its needed for that moment where nothing other than a un-interrupt-able heal will do. WHen you are cursed in TOD or VOD and have 20% of your HP left, a fleshy without the feat has to hit a curse pot, then arm a scroll, then hit the scroll, and pray they aint getting hit for damage or else they have to beat a concentration check. All I have to do is hit the repair button, done. Then I can deal with the curse after, when I have most or all of my HP back.

Trap? I dont think so.

Good to find someone else who feels the same way that I do about Construct Essence. However, I must say, I TR'd my Arti back to WF. Just didn't like the handicaps of being a fleshie. Not looking for a flame war with that comment. Just simply stating that it's nice to be immune to practically every type of stat damager, have huge amount of hp, and my recons work at more than 100% of their value with the Ring of the Master Artifice.

[Lifespawn]

I'm right there with you. When I did an Arti life with a human, I had Construct Essence and couldn't recommend it enough. It's perfect for "Oh ****!" moments. I don't think there would have been a way for me to solo Sins of Attrition on Elite or A New Invasion without having to pop Reconstruct. If I was scroll healing and waiting for a cool down, I would have died for sure.

infusions can't be failed with quicken on and i hit myself for 100+ every time some crits in the 300's construct essence is a trap currently

[domandi]

See, I disagree with you. Lemme try to explain why.

Yes, the healing you get from others/yourself takes a small hit. In the grand scheme of things people are always overhealing anyway. At no point, during raiding/soloing/grouping have I thought "darn, I wish that heal hit me for more". What I HAVE thought on many occasions is "whew, good thing I was able to instantly recon myself so I didn't die before the healer could get to me."

I don't disagree with your numbers. That is a hard fact. What I am trying to say is it doesn't really matter. A decently geared Arti will have ~1400 sp. Very rarely do I go though that much before I need to shrine. Even if I do, there is bauble/ross or other ways to get sp back. It is no trouble throwing out a recon to keep yourself up. Where the sp does matter is on the healers. If you can save them from even on heal/clw/raise dead then it was a good choice. What I am talking about is helping the group/raid as a whole. If I didn't have Construct Essense, then there would have been many other times when the healer or my own heal scroll wouldn't have worked in time.

Some would say that I might just need to be a better player. Avoid the damage, etc etc. Sometimes you just can't. Sometimes lag kills the tank. Sometimes I pull aggro(hey it happens). Sometimes Harry decides to meteor swarm me over and over cause he is feeling like a jerk. I will not be in range of the melee to get hit by that mass heal. So it is up to me to stay alive until the healers realize I am getting beat on. Let's also not forget that heal scrolling still takes a conc check. A quickened recon doesn't.

Now you talk about using up a feat. As a human, you have feats to spare. Not everyone goes the crafting route. It is easy to fit it in and not feel like you are losing anything. As a non human(non wf) I still think there are enough feats to go around that it isn't lost.