Construct Essence

[wetlandsnj]

What is the general impression of this feat? Do many take it? Is it worthwhile? How does it fair toward end game? thanks

[rebelxzar]

What is the general impression of this feat? Do many take it? Is it worthwhile? How does it fair toward end game? thanks

It has its uses. Reconstruct scrolls were great until I got to no-fail heal scrolls, and the L3 repair spell worked pretty well also. I will probably swap it out now that I can cast no-fail heals, but it was definitely useful for levelling. Mana was rarely an issue for me in the low and mid levels, so that mana was well spent on mediocre heals.

[Calebro]

[Jinpo]

I know a lot of people think that it is a trap I was of that mindset too for the longest time. I've got heal scrolls why would i want to waste a feat. Well, I've changed my mind a little bit. It's still not great, but I find it usefull soloing epic challenges. When I'm backwards kiting mobs in and out of a blade barrier, I find it more efficient to cast a reconstruct instead of putting a scroll in my hand. Plus, I've got to find some use for that T3 Epic Master Artificer Ring. Heh, wrt that ring though, the regen doesnt work on a fleshie who has construct essence. The other stuff does though.

[djsonar919]

I had the feat when my Arti was a human. I couldn't recommend it enough. The way I looked at it was this: I had a one button press that prevented me from dieing. If I scroll healed, (Which i did on occassions. Usually out of combat, or to help other party members.) Then I had to press one button to select the scroll, another button to begin using the scroll, and then press one final button to get back to my crossbow then watching the reloading animation when it's first equipped. Now there were times I failed to use a heal scroll even when I had a 135% chance to activate it. So that wastes even more time. That's time you don't have when you're soloing Sins of Attrition on elite or the boss in A New Invasion. So the feat worked wonderfully for me. Wished the repair systems on the Arti ring would work with it.

[FooWonk]

Rather than getting a feat that is not very SP efficient, consider:

Increasing your concentration

23 Ranks
06 Constitution Skills bonus on Shroud HP item
15 Inner Focus
01 Skill Mastery
10 Get your constitution to 30
04 Improved Concentration IV
04 Heroism
02 Luck
03 Skill Focus: Concentration

With 68 concentration, you scroll casting will be uninterruptible for any damage less than 53 HP. Any DR you have will increase the effectiveness of your concentration skill. When you need to cast spells without interruption: Stone Skin & Radiant Forcefield means 130+ damage before you can possibly be interrupted.

Using the artificers fleshy healing abilities

° Max-emp CSW admixture heal for 100 HP for 52 SP.
° It's a lot easier to increase healing amp, my helf heals for 135 HP.
° CSW pots can be drank when you can't cast or use items!

° I have never had a wand whip interrupted! From my experience wand usage is not spell casting; it is item usage.
° My CCW wands heal 80+ HP more with good healing amp.

° My heal scrolls heal for 300+ HP
° Again, healing amp is easy to increase; my scrolls hit for 345 HP on my helf artificer.

Consider using diplomacy before scroll casting! You can't be interrupted if you aren't being attacked. If you're soloing, a summons or the dog can take the aggro. Be careful in parties that you don't shed your aggro to someone that can't handle it.

--------

If you still prefer Construct Essence, have at it.

[Kilnedric]

Bottom line is that it's a preference thing. It shows good feat design when the field is split on whether to take it. We all hate the cookie-cutter answers, right? So, maybe take it, see if you think it's worth it, and swap it out if not.

FWIW, I take it. But, I also take Evasion, which many consider another "trap".

[djsonar919]

^ This is a concentration failure.

Rather than getting a feat that is not very SP efficient, consider:

Increasing your concentration

23 Ranks
06 Constitution Skills bonus on Shroud HP item
15 Inner Focus
01 Skill Mastery
10 Get your constitution to 30
04 Improved Concentration IV
04 Heroism
02 Luck
03 Skill Focus: Concentration

With 68 concentration, you scroll casting will be uninterruptible for any damage less than 53 HP. Any DR you have will increase the effectiveness of your concentration skill. When you need to cast spells without interruption: Stone Skin & Radiant Forcefield means 130+ damage before you can possibly be interrupted.

Using the artificers fleshy healing abilities

° Max-emp CSW admixture heal for 100 HP for 52 SP.
° It's a lot easier to increase healing amp, my helf heals for 135 HP.
° CSW pots can be drank when you can't cast or use items!

° I have never had a wand whip interrupted! From my experience wand usage is not spell casting; it is item usage.
° My CCW wands heal 80+ HP more with good healing amp.

° My heal scrolls heal for 300+ HP
° Again, healing amp is easy to increase; my scrolls hit for 345 HP on my helf artificer.

Consider using diplomacy before scroll casting! You can't be interrupted if you aren't being attacked. If you're soloing, a summons or the dog can take the aggro. Be careful in parties that you don't shed your aggro to someone that can't handle it.

--------

If you still prefer Construct Essence, have at it.

I didn't know standing around, after combat, not fighting anything required a concentration check. But thanks for that break down. You basically confirmed everything that I knew almost 4 years prior to you joining the game.

[Missing_Minds]

I didn't know standing around, after combat, not fighting anything required a concentration check. But thanks for that break down. You basically confirmed everything that I knew almost 4 years prior to you joining the game.

Actually, if I recall reading the different threads correctly, there is a visual error saying you have a better chance of success than what you actually have, but the correct calculation for UMD is being done.

[FooWonk]

Now there were times I failed to use a heal scroll even when I had a 135% chance to activate it. So that wastes even more time. That's time you don't have when you're soloing Sins of Attrition on elite or the boss in A New Invasion. So the feat worked wonderfully for me. Wished the repair systems on the Arti ring would work with it.

I didn't know standing around, after combat, not fighting anything required a concentration check.

^ This is a consistency check failure.

Is it that:
...you're worried about lost time when you're standing around, after combat, not fighting anything?

Or:
...are fighting Barnzidu and have a heal scroll fail?

[Talon_Moonshadow]

It allows my Human Arty to use her own SP to heal with. Which is a heck of a lot cheaper than potions! (or wands)

I can't heal as much as I like with it. End up using all my SP for self heals. (amittedly my dog gets some of that SP too)

And it lowers the amount of healing I get from Clerics. (as if that could get any lower with a PUG Cleric. )


Do you trust your Cleric?
Don't take it.

Other than that it becomes an issue between what is more important to you, effective healing or cheap healing.

When I reach a point to reliably UMD Heal scrolls, I will conisider swapping it for something else.

I am not recommending it to others. I understand why some players think it is a trap.

But I prefer to be able to use my SP to heal myself. (for now)

[Osma77]

Another thing to consider is your personal efficiency at multi-tasking. I personally suck at it, so switching to a scroll, using said scroll, and switching back usually doesn't happen in battle because i am already dead. However, clicking the mouse one less time while i hit the 1 or 2 button works just fine and keeps me alive long enough to loose aggro or duck around a door. And since i rarely use enough mana to run out (only using it for hp, some buffs, and BB) there isn't a real problem with mana efficiency.

[wax_on_wax_off]

I think the biggest issue for me is that I don't have 9 or more action points to spend on self healing. I'm currently playing almost the perfect character to take the feat: Human, Cannith Dragonmarked, melee. It'd be great to have no fail self heals but the idea of finding as much as 19 action points (for 7/1/1 in reconstruct lines and improved recovery II and III so I can be healed normally in raids) would totally gimp my character in other ways.

I don't see that it's necessary on a crossbow build, kiting and weaving leaves lots of opportunity for self healing, just keep displacement and stoneskin up, max out concentration (I'm over 60 now) and the feat, action points and healing penalty really aren't worth it.

[Jaid314]

I think the biggest issue for me is that I don't have 9 or more action points to spend on self healing. I'm currently playing almost the perfect character to take the feat: Human, Cannith Dragonmarked, melee. It'd be great to have no fail self heals but the idea of finding as much as 19 action points (for 7/1/1 in reconstruct lines and improved recovery II and III so I can be healed normally in raids) would totally gimp my character in other ways.

I don't see that it's necessary on a crossbow build, kiting and weaving leaves lots of opportunity for self healing, just keep displacement and stoneskin up, max out concentration (I'm over 60 now) and the feat, action points and healing penalty really aren't worth it.

why would you bother with 7/1/1 in the line?

with 1 point and nothing more in it, and a superior mending VI clicky, you'd be looking at 150 * (1.00 + 0.20 + 0.75) = 292 HP, then take half of that and you're getting 146 HP. as a panic button, that really ought to be enough.

out of combat, you can probably do just fine with scrolls either way (probably heal scrolls will hit you for more).

the main reason not to take it is simply that you don't need it. at lower levels, potions are plenty. you can easily build your AC high enough to take little damage, and when you throw ablative armor on top of that, most of that damage gets absorbed (at least, if you keep mobile). combine that with resists and maybe protection from energy, and you should be just fine.

by the time you reach the portion of the game where potions begin to be not enough, you're probably going to be really close to being able to no-fail UMD on a heal scroll. you'll definitely be able to use CMW/CSW wands, which will hit for just over 50 in most cases (and are better than potions as well as being cheaper) if you don't take construct essence.

at higher levels, you'll still have your easy access to scroll healing, your ability to use potion-spell heals for a bunch, and on top of that the guy who can use reconstruct also has to worry about getting hit with deconstruct if you run the house C quests. this may or may not be a concern, but in the long run... it simply isn't very worthwhile to spend a feat so that you can get very little benefit and a potential drawback.

it won't cripple you. you can afford to lose a feat on an artificer. but there are better uses for the feat, imo. that's the main reason to avoid it.

[Postumus]

I think the biggest issue for me is that I don't have 9 or more action points to spend on self healing. I'm currently playing almost the perfect character to take the feat: Human, Cannith Dragonmarked, melee. It'd be great to have no fail self heals but the idea of finding as much as 19 action points (for 7/1/1 in reconstruct lines and improved recovery II and III so I can be healed normally in raids) would totally gimp my character in other ways.

Why would you spend more than one action point in the reconstruct line? With the 20% bonus from one rank of reconstruct combined with clickies and lore items, I got more than enough healing from the repair spells until I was using heal scrolls. With one rank of improved recovery and the ship buff, I was getting 90% from regular healing pots/wands/scrolls - more when I used Tira's Splendor.

I think construct essence is most valuable at low levels (esp if you solo or PUG), nice to have at mid levels, and an afterthought at top levels (when you can swap it for something else if you want). As Jaid points out you don't NEED construct essence, but I didn't see any other feats that I thought were more beneficial than the ability to heal myself using my own spell points. Plus it does make the dragonmarks more useful.

[yawumpus]

It's a trap!

It is only a trap if you keep it longer than you can afford to swap it out or fail to have a feat available to swap it back in.

Do you:
Always run with a cleric who will always heal you right up?
Always play with a huge stack of CSW pots?
Burn through your arty's blue bar regularly?

If so, don't take it. Personally, I think it is one of the most important feats I have. I also haven't found much use for any other spell to use up my blue bar (arty is holding at level 5 while leveling up crafting, so I expect it to have competition after a few levels).

As far as having a cleric with you, that is nice but arty's are sufficiently overpowered at levels where Fred is cheap that they are an afterthought. You certainly don't need a cleric hireling getting in your way. Drag any old class along in your wake and keep construct essences to for those few boo-boos.

There is a strong argument for CSW pots. But if your play style has ever included self-healing builds, or if you blew your plat leveling up in crafting: construct essence is likely for you (at least until you can reliably use heal scrolls).

[smeggy1384]

What is the general impression of this feat? Do many take it? Is it worthwhile? How does it fair toward end game? thanks

Kind of torn on it, had it through my arti's first life, until 18 or so when i swapped it out. As i a TR i took skill focus UMD early and skipped the feat. I do keep a hireling around, but really a wand plus the wand mastery enhances would have taken anyway are usually enough, even solo in elites. Few times it might have saved me from a death, but usually so would being more careful.

[goodspeed]

Basically I don't see it. It's ok but heres the thing. My arti is a helf. He uses umd to no fail heal scrolls. With his mastery he heals himself for im thinking like 350 or a bit more. And that to could go up. Hell if they made a wand of heal he'd be invincible.

His hp is I think 495 with no rage or yugo just ship buffs. Now im not saying that in a pinch you will survive always. I play em just like my human sorc. It's basically like a game of gears of war battle duck and scroll. Sometimes he dies but not to often.

Now the use of going wf is that arti's can use their mana for reconstructs. And in a pinch when everything is going wrong or your solo tanking something kiting it around that's good. Makes you a great deal more survivable. But this feat cuts that repairing in half. It also takes that 350 heal or more and turns it to 175. So while you do have a fail save be it however small in repairing yourself, it's also a double edged coin when your in all the other situations as well. All of a sudden you need 2 scrolls instead of 1.

And ive seen robots kite using their mana for BB and repairs. Down in the kite quest in the devil battlefield. Let me tell ya ur mana is no where near as efficient at it as the favored. And it runs out quick. Prolly have a better time of chuggn those neg 10 pots.

Actually that's a good comparison. That feat is like a neg 10 pot. Only after 30 seconds you get the stats back and keep the benefit. That feats forever until you change it.

Now ive heard rumor that they might improve on the feat and make it full metal where you basically become a wf while being a fleshy. If that were to happen then i'd say probably ya id be worth it near end game. But then the question would also be as im sure it would not come just free. Would it be worth it to take 2 feats for it? Would it be worth it to expend extra ap on an already airtight class?

With an arti you can never just gain something. Everything is far to tight for something not to be given up in exchange.

[Chai]

Basically I don't see it. It's ok but heres the thing. My arti is a helf. He uses umd to no fail heal scrolls. With his mastery he heals himself for im thinking like 350 or a bit more. And that to could go up. Hell if they made a wand of heal he'd be invincible.

His hp is I think 495 with no rage or yugo just ship buffs. Now im not saying that in a pinch you will survive always. I play em just like my human sorc. It's basically like a game of gears of war battle duck and scroll. Sometimes he dies but not to often.

Now the use of going wf is that arti's can use their mana for reconstructs. And in a pinch when everything is going wrong or your solo tanking something kiting it around that's good. Makes you a great deal more survivable. But this feat cuts that repairing in half. It also takes that 350 heal or more and turns it to 175. So while you do have a fail save be it however small in repairing yourself, it's also a double edged coin when your in all the other situations as well. All of a sudden you need 2 scrolls instead of 1.

And ive seen robots kite using their mana for BB and repairs. Down in the kite quest in the devil battlefield. Let me tell ya ur mana is no where near as efficient at it as the favored. And it runs out quick. Prolly have a better time of chuggn those neg 10 pots.

Actually that's a good comparison. That feat is like a neg 10 pot. Only after 30 seconds you get the stats back and keep the benefit. That feats forever until you change it.

Now ive heard rumor that they might improve on the feat and make it full metal where you basically become a wf while being a fleshy. If that were to happen then i'd say probably ya id be worth it near end game. But then the question would also be as im sure it would not come just free. Would it be worth it to take 2 feats for it? Would it be worth it to expend extra ap on an already airtight class?

With an arti you can never just gain something. Everything is far to tight for something not to be given up in exchange.

Arti gets enough feats where they can spend 2 and be WF if they so choose.

Keep in mind that in a situation where only an un-interruptable heal will save you, not having the feat = death, even if that repair is smaller.

It does not take a 350 heal and turn it into 175. Its not a 50 / 50 trade. You get 50% repairs for -25% heals and cures. On a helf with improved recovery 1 and 2, youre almost back to normal on the heal. You can still have well over 100% heals and 50% repairs.

[FooWonk]

Admixture: Cure Serious Wound


An CCW wand whip that can't be interrupted!


A heal scroll can be interrupted...


...but with decent concentration, it rarely is:


I'll get a pic of fully buffed concentration some day...it's in the mid 70's.

------ edit below -------

I can't see any reason to take a feat to heal yourself, when artificers are already one of the most capable self-healing classes in the game.

The argument for ConEss are that folks want an alternative to admixtures & heal scrolls that can't be interrupted.

Why not wands?
You can whip it once per second...
reconstruct has a 5 second cooldown...
An artificers can wand heal themselves for 450 HP without using SP...
Or with two feats, you can heal yourself for 149 HP with SP in the same time.

If you don't like switching between items, WHY ARE YOU PLAYING AN ARTIFICER?

The classes primary advantage over any other class isn't it's crossbow prowess. Repeater Kensei are better. Mechanics are better.

The primary feature of the class is that it gets more bonuses to item usage than any other class:

1.) Artificer Knowledge: scrolls
2.) Artificer Knowledge: potions
3.) Artificer Knowledge: wands
4.) Artificer Knowledge: arms and armor
5.) Artificer Knowledge: wondrous items
6.) Retain Essence

That's six feats no other class has access to. That is the defining feature of the class.
If you're not using a lot of items, you're neglecting the class in a seriously way.

Forget ConEss...it's a trap.
Get a wand or toss a pot.