Feat selection for offensive caster Divines

[Fefnir_2011]

I have a bit of a conundrum. I have two toons, a pure cleric and a pure favored soul, both completely devoted to offensive casting and healing. And I'm stumped as to what epic feats to take, and what heroic feats to go along with them. Here's their selections as of now:

*Empower Healing
*Heighten
*Maximize
*Quicken

*Spell Focus: Evocation
*Greater Spell Focus: Evocation
*Spell Penetration

*Toughness
*Shield Mastery

*Empower
*Maximize
*Heighten
*Quicken

*Spell Focus: Evocation
*Greater Spell Focus: Evocation
*Spell Penetration

*Toughness

Neither of them have past lives that are very notable for casting, which is part of my problem. Really, I just want to keep them being good at soloing and healing raid groups through the toughest content for as long as possible before I get the time to do some wizard PLs.

With 1 Epic feat left on Bazongas and 2 coming up on Honkin, I'd really like to squeeze in Epic Spell Penetration since I think that will be the most bang for my buck. Is it a good idea to drop GSF: Evocation on my cleric so that I can pick up GSP and ESP? Similarly, should I drop GSF on my favored soul in order to pick up GSP, ESP, and Shield Mastery? What will be best for a divine caster who solos and raids in guild?

Looking forward to other people's thoughts on the matter, and seeing what others are doing in similar situations.

[Dragbon]

I would suggest dropping shield mastery because its not nearly as useful as it was before the update. That will mean that you can pick up the rest of the feats you want.

[Gorbadoc]

I would suggest dropping shield mastery because its not nearly as useful as it was before the update.

Um. Clarify, please? All the evidence I've seen tells me U14 made Shield Mastery dramatically better. It's not even just about the feat; Sword and Board is just more practical, both in terms of DPS and in terms of survivability.

If I ever get around to TRing my favored soul, I plan to go tin can optimized for light and healing damage:
Moderate strength
Low dex
Moderate to high con
Low int
Dumped wisdom
Enough charisma to cast

Feats:
Maximize
Empower
Empower Healing
Quicken
Toughness
Shield Mastery
Improved Shield Mastery

Some combination of:
Epic Toughness
Imp Crit
Improved Shield Bashing (I already have a Vengeful Protector, and I have a hunch more shields like it will be coming in future updates-- slightly less protection in return for decent secondary-bash damage).

I just need to make sure I take UMD so I can use Master's Touch scrolls on any tower shield I decide to use.

[LafoMamone]

Um. Clarify, please? All the evidence I've seen tells me U14 made Shield Mastery dramatically better.

Please feel free to post the evidence. Maybe this is the case for tanks who pile on a ton of DR and physical resistance, but for an offensive caster divine, not nearly so.

Only 6% physical resistance for tower shields as opposed to pre-U14's 20%. Swapped it out for Greater SF: Evocation and never looked back.

[Matuse]

The thing which is still unclear to me is the relationship between PPR and DR. How that works exactly has a fairly large influence on the virtue of Shield Mastery.

The other thing I wonder about is whether the 9/Cold Iron DR you can get from Shiradi Champion will stack with the 10/Cold Iron you can get from Sovereign Host/Undying Court. 19/Cold Iron sounds preeeeeeeeetty good to me.

[LafoMamone]

The thing which is still unclear to me is the relationship between PPR and DR. How that works exactly has a fairly large influence on the virtue of Shield Mastery.

I don't have the numerical data to back it up, but I did notice an increase in damage taken compared to pre-U14. It is possible that carrying a shield and SM/ISM works well in conjunction with heavy armor and other sources of AC/damage mitigation, but for a caster-oriented divine, equipment slots and feats will be too limited to follow the path of a tank in that regard.

The other thing I wonder about is whether the 9/Cold Iron DR you can get from Shiradi Champion will stack with the 10/Cold Iron you can get from Sovereign Host/Undying Court. 19/Cold Iron sounds preeeeeeeeetty good to me.

I was very curious about that as well, and asked about it on the Lama ExAngel thread during beta. No dev response on that one (and dev input in general was very scarce in that thread, which was noted by a lot of people).

I would guess that it should stack, following the example of LoB capstone + addy body + WF DR enhancements, giving a total of DR 15/addy, which is fairly close, though with a bit more investment.

[Gorbadoc]

I don't have the numerical data to back it up, but I did notice an increase in damage taken compared to pre-U14. It is possible that carrying a shield and SM/ISM works well in conjunction with heavy armor and other sources of AC/damage mitigation, but for a caster-oriented divine, equipment slots and feats will be too limited to follow the path of a tank in that regard.

See, that's a point of confusion for me. I just checked the wiki, and here's what it says:

Formula for Calculating Soak-% from Physical Resistance Rating

(1 – (0.99^PRR)) × 0.65
Every 1 point of PRR reduces the amount of physical damage you would otherwise be taking by 0.65%.
1 PRR takes 0.65% less damage than 0 PRR.
2 PRR takes 0.65% less damage than 1 PRR and 1.29% less damage than 0 PRR.

To my credit, I'm good a plotting graphs in my head. To my discredit, I am capable of making errors.

At a glance, this set of claims is inconsistent: The equation listed faces diminishing returns with a horizontal asymptote at Soak=65% as Physical Resistance approaches +infinity. For the next two lines to be true, though, the asymptote would have to be at Soak=100% as Physical Resistance approaches +infinity.

So, yeah, I have a hunch that physical resistance represents an increase in effective hit points but with diminishing returns, but I haven't the foggiest idea what the *real* numbers might be.

I was very curious about that as well, and asked about it on the Lama ExAngel thread during beta. No dev response on that one (and dev input in general was very scarce in that thread, which was noted by a lot of people).

I would guess that it should stack, following the example of LoB capstone + addy body + WF DR enhancements, giving a total of DR 15/addy, which is fairly close, though with a bit more investment.

It could go the other way: The Sovereign Host DR is Silver or Cold Iron, which might be tracked as something distinct from DR/ Cold Iron. I would hope that DR/ Cold Iron would stack with DR/ Cold Iron, particularly given how otherwise lousy the Undying Court is; however, there's no guarantee either way.

[AylinIsAwesome]

See, that's a point of confusion for me. I just checked the wiki, and here's what it says:

To my credit, I'm good a plotting graphs in my head. To my discredit, I am capable of making errors.

At a glance, this set of claims is inconsistent: The equation listed faces diminishing returns with a horizontal asymptote at Soak=65% as Physical Resistance approaches +infinity. For the next two lines to be true, though, the asymptote would have to be at Soak=100% as Physical Resistance approaches +infinity.

So, yeah, I have a hunch that physical resistance represents an increase in effective hit points but with diminishing returns, but I haven't the foggiest idea what the *real* numbers might be.

You're right, it does have a horizontal asymptote at 65%.





However, there is still a legitimate benefit for PRR up to a value of 150.




Though to be honest, right now I'm not sure what levels of PRR are standard for for what sort of characters.

[LafoMamone]

See, that's a point of confusion for me. I just checked the wiki, and here's what it says:

To my credit, I'm good a plotting graphs in my head. To my discredit, I am capable of making errors.

At a glance, this set of claims is inconsistent: The equation listed faces diminishing returns with a horizontal asymptote at Soak=65% as Physical Resistance approaches +infinity. For the next two lines to be true, though, the asymptote would have to be at Soak=100% as Physical Resistance approaches +infinity.

So, yeah, I have a hunch that physical resistance represents an increase in effective hit points but with diminishing returns, but I haven't the foggiest idea what the *real* numbers might be.

Hover the cursor over the physical resistance icon in your character sheet. It will say: "Physical Resistance Rating: This rating will cause you to take xxx % less damage from bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing attacks."

If you are wearing a Robe/Outfit and a tower shield with Shield Mastery, the xxx value will be around 6%, which is way below what it used to be pre-U14.

[Fefnir_2011]

The thing which is still unclear to me is the relationship between PPR and DR. How that works exactly has a fairly large influence on the virtue of Shield Mastery.

For what it's worth, I have 15 PRR on my Favored Soul (no SM) and 25 on my Cleric. According to the mouseover, it's a different of roughly 8% versus 16%. However, the amount of physical damage they take *feels* about the same, thanks to the DR 10. Based on that, it might be more worth it on a Cleric than a Favored Soul, especially if the DR from Shiradi stacks.

Will 1 point of DC still matter as significantly in EE? Even with the ability to twist in Evocation is it gonna make or break it do you think? And will 1 point of DC matter more than the PRR?

[Bergie]

Hey,

Just reading all these posts about the physical resistance, DR, shield mastery etc.

I have a 2nd life FvS. Before U14 I went full evo spec.

I am capped now at lvl 25, and maxed out exalted angel and unyielding sentinel, working on GM of flowers now

Anyway, so far, my favourite, BY FAR, is unyielding sentinel! And yes, I agree with one of the above posters that sheild mastery is still super viable.

My FVS sits with a 36 con, 44 wis, 30 cha. Saves are 49/38/51. AC is 92, PRR 61 (equates to ~30% damage reduction) and a DR of 34 when I sheild block - These are my basic, self sustained avg values using unyielding sentinel.

So, imo, if you want to do epic elites, for a FVS, unless you are 9-12th life with SUPER high Spel pen and DC's, you HAVE to go for max dmage mitigation.

To test this build, I took him in to solo hard VoD...granted, not the toughest test, but hey It was a breeze...took like zero dmg...when i needed SP i swapped armour/sheild so I could torc and continued...

Anyway, just though i would share my experience so far...if you are a 1st/2nd life FvS with low evo/necro DC's in the 36-40 range, my recomendation is the route I followed...but each to his own I guess...

This way you can still solo elite epics (granted, takes a bit longer) but still very doable and near unkillable...