Pale Master Guide

[Teh_Troll]

. . .and maybe doing a pair of tier 2 one-handers for dealing with Drow while epic leveling (+6 necro DC and a +7 spell penetration) .

What's the min-level on said one-handers?

[Andoris]

What's the min-level on said one-handers?

Min Level is 26. So not so good now.. as you are (usually) past Drow content by then. Might be useful if we ever see spell resistant mobs in lvl 26+ content in the future

[Portalcat]

Terrible, terrible decision today for DC casters, but the gear grind got a lot easier.

I'm pretty sure that in U21, the only weapon worth farming out is a quarterstaff with 150 nullification, necro focus 6, and spell lore 17% at the 3 tiers, as suggested.


I wouldn't waste good philogistons on making a secondary weapon set right now for very marginal gains at best. I think we're better off banking them for now and seeing what gear comes out of the next few updates, so that we're prepared to re-craft our weapons accordingly.



It's a shame, really. The Thunderforged weapon choices are now more varied and exciting for my Shiradi sorc than my PM.

[Andoris]

Terrible, terrible decision today for DC casters, but the gear grind got a lot easier.

I'm pretty sure that in U21, the only thing worth farming out is a quarter staff with 150 nullification, necro focus 6, and spell lore 17% at the 3 tiers, as suggested.


I wouldn't waste good philogistons on making a secondary weapon set right now for very marginal gains at best. I think we're better off banking them for now and seeing what gear comes out of the next few updates, so that we're prepared to re-craft our weapons accordingly.



It's a shame, really. The Thunderforged weapon choices are now more varied and exciting for my Shiradi sorc than my PM.

I completely agree -- my one-hander suggestions were only tier 2 (no Philogiston's used) -- at least the grind became fairly trivial not to outfit with new items.

[EllisDee37]

It's conceivable they might go with the +2 profane to all stats simply because it's such a good idea. I wouldn't spend your phlogiston quite yet.

[Portalcat]

It's conceivable they might go with the +2 profane to all stats simply because it's such a good idea. I wouldn't spend your phlogiston quite yet.

1. Why do we have any reason to believe that they'd go for this?
2. Why does it matter? Higher DCs are still available by running a two-hander + litany instead. This wouldn't be a compelling change for us anyway.

[Portalcat]

Got to 30 shadow philogistons last night.

I've been looking for alternative ways to slot individual spell lores in hopes of taking eternal chilling darkness on the two-hander over spell lore. It looks possible to do it through some combination of epic Darkstorm Helm and a second GS item, but you can't get kinetic lore anywhere but Sage's Cuffs or on weapons, which is a problem if we want to take Ruin.

After playing around with Ruin this life, I think it's too good not to take. U21 made it into one of the best feats in the entire game.


I think the bottom line is that it's possible to take Eternal Chilling Darkness over spell lore 17%, but it would cost a lot, and requires perfect gearing to do so. It is a viable option though, if you either don't run Ruin or are willing to drop Dumathoin's bracers and probably other survivability gear.




I think for U21, I'm not willing to make one of those tradeoffs. I will be very anxious to recraft in U22+, however, if spell lore or kinetic lore becomes available in the ring, boot, necklace, or belt slots.

[Andoris]

Got to 30 shadow philogistons last night.

I've been looking for alternative ways to slot individual spell lores in hopes of taking eternal chilling darkness on the two-hander over spell lore. It looks possible to do it through some combination of epic Darkstorm Helm and a second GS item, but you can't get kinetic lore anywhere but Sage's Cuffs or on weapons, which is a problem if we want to take Ruin.

After playing around with Ruin this life, I think it's too good not to take. U21 made it into one of the best feats in the entire game.


I think the bottom line is that it's possible to take Eternal Chilling Darkness over spell lore 17%, but it would cost a lot, and requires perfect gearing to do so. It is a viable option though, if you either don't run Ruin or are willing to drop Dumathoin's bracers and probably other survivability gear.




I think for U21, I'm not willing to make one of those tradeoffs. I will be very anxious to recraft in U22+, however, if spell lore or kinetic lore becomes available in the ring, boot, necklace, or belt slots.

Personally I will be using the universal spell lore over chilling darkness. However if you are looking for ways slot lores, don't forget about cannith crafting and flexable shards.

[Portalcat]

Personally I will be using the universal spell lore over chilling darkness. However if you are looking for ways slot lores, don't forget about cannith crafting and flexable shards.

I've never used Cannith crafting but will have to look at it seriously now.

Eternal chilling darkness is a lot of sp/rest to ignore. If there's a way to get it by giving up a couple percentage points of spell crit and not much else of note, I'm interested. If not, then maybe next update with make it practical.



I am also inclined to believe that a weapon with eternal chilling darkness is more "futureproof" against a need to recraft given the relative likelihood that the needed lores become available elsewhere versus an effect like eternal chilling darkness becoming more readily slottable in future updates.

[SirValentine]

I am also inclined to believe that a weapon with eternal chilling darkness is more "futureproof" against a need to recraft given the relative likelihood that the needed lores become available elsewhere versus an effect like eternal chilling darkness becoming more readily slottable in future updates.

The future-proofing I'm doing is just not upgrading to Tier 3. Even though I'm not currently on an ER train, I do plan to ER at some point in future. Tier 2 weapons are useful during the latter part of an ER, while Tier 3 are not.

[Portalcat]

A proposed U21 Eternal Chilling Darkness gear layout (Updated with mobility crafted):


Trinket: Litany of the Dead (Alchemical Resistance Ritual)
Head: GS Water/Earth/Neg Cold Lore 13%, Acid Lore 14%, Void Lore 15%
Neck: GS Pos/Neg/Pos+Neg +10hp, +50sp, +150sp, +2 con skills, +4 int skills, +6 cha skills, +6 wisdom, +10 diplo, +10 haggle, ConOp
Goggles: EH Intricate Field Goggles +3 Int (Green: Greater Necromancy, Yellow: Conjuration +2)
Bracers: Dumathoin's Bracers (Blue: False Life +40)
Body: Shadowscale Robe: +1 Profane Spell DC's (Blue: Resistance 8, Green: 250 SP)
Cloak: Sage’s Mantle
Boots: Sage's Boots
Gloves: EE Master Illusionist (Yellow: Concentration +15)
Belt: Green Steel: Belt of the Seven Ideals (Green: Good Luck +2, Colorless: Globe of True Imperial Blood)
Ring: Health +9 Ring of Dodge 9% (Colorless: Insightful Con +2)
Ring: Crafted Mobile Ring of Kinetic Lore (Yellow: Greater Enchantment, Colorless: Spellcraft 15)
Quiver: Quiver of Alacrity
Main Hand: Wyrmcraft Quarterstaff +150 Negative, Necro Focus 6, Eternal Chilling Darkness (Orange: Meridian Fragment, Red: Corrosion +138, Colorless: Heal +15)


Swaps:

Cloak: Deathwyrm Cloak, Prismatic Cloak Red Resistance 10, Jeweled Cloak
Boots: Kundarak Delving Boots
Neck: Beholder Optic Nerves, Archivist's Necklace, Torc
Gloves: Vile Blashempy
Bracers: Aquatic Bracers
Ring: Ring of Djinn, Ring of Deceit, Circle of Hatred, Ring of Spell Storing, Epic Seal of the Earth
Weapons: Epic Flameward (Purple: Insightful Charisma +2) + Res/Raise Scrolls



It is tight on augment slots, requires essentially perfect slotting with lots of raid gear, but it squeezes in Necro, Enchant, and Conjuration focuses, augments, key spell lores, and key survivability stats.

[EllisDee37]

I think for U21, I'm not willing to make one of those tradeoffs. I will be very anxious to recraft in U22+, however, if spell lore or kinetic lore becomes available in the ring, boot, necklace, or belt slots.

Cannith crafting at the highest levels (130+, can't be made unbound so you'd need your own high level crafter) can put any lore @ 15% on the following slots:

Ring, Trinket, Necklace, Weapon/Shield, Armor/Robe/Docent

It's tough to find a quality prefix to go with the lore, but surely something could be found that isn't completely useless. As a cannith crafted item you also get your choice of a green slot or a yellow + colorless. Or a guild augment, but the newer style augments are stronger. (Crafted trinkets get no augments of either kind.)

[Portalcat]

Cannith crafting at the highest levels (130+, can't be made unbound so you'd need your own high level crafter) can put any lore @ 15% on the following slots:

Ring, Trinket, Necklace, Weapon/Shield, Armor/Robe/Docent

It's tough to find a quality prefix to go with the lore, but surely something could be found that isn't completely useless. As a cannith crafted item you also get your choice of a green slot or a yellow + colorless. Or a guild augment, but the newer style augments are stronger. (Crafted trinkets get no augments of either kind.)

It appears that flexible kinetic lore shards are available for 14% at level 110 and 15% at level 142.

It's doable on the ring slot. I think the yellow + colorless setup is necessary to slot as many augments as I'd like to.

About the best prefix I can find is blindness immunity.

[EllisDee37]

14% at level 110

Nice! Totally spaced the lower level flexible version. (My crafter has been essentially capped for a while.) That's a fine placeholder if you don't have max crafting levels, and 100 is way easier to get to than 132.

About the best prefix I can find is blindness immunity.

The only prefixes I see of any value at all, sorted roughly in order of usefuleness:

Mobility (dodge % never hurt anybody)
Proof Against Poison +10 (should be useless for pale masters, but sadly is not)
Strength +6 (free up a colorless somewhere?)
Charisma +6 (for umd if you don't otherwise slot a cha item?)
Blindness Immunity
Feather Falling
+2 DC to any one off-school (equipment bonus, doesn't stack with spell focus mastery)
Lesser Arcane Casting Dexterity (-5%; almost certainly useless)

[Portalcat]

The only prefixes I see of any value at all, sorted roughly in order of usefuleness:

Mobility (dodge % never hurt anybody)
Proof Against Poison +10 (should be useless for pale masters, but sadly is not)
Strength +6 (free up a colorless somewhere?)
Charisma +6 (for umd if you don't otherwise slot a cha item?)
Blindness Immunity
Feather Falling
+2 DC to any one off-school (equipment bonus, doesn't stack with spell focus mastery)
Lesser Arcane Casting Dexterity (-5%; almost certainly useless)

I'm thinking mobility is the way to go here.

[Andoris]

A proposed U21 Eternal Chilling Darkness gear layout (Updated with mobility crafted):


Trinket: Litany of the Dead (Alchemical Resistance Ritual)
Head: GS Water/Earth/Neg Cold Lore 13%, Acid Lore 14%, Void Lore 15%
Neck: GS Pos/Neg/Pos+Neg +10hp, +50sp, +150sp, +2 con skills, +4 int skills, +6 cha skills, +6 wisdom, +10 diplo, +10 haggle, ConOp
Goggles: EH Intricate Field Goggles +3 Int (Green: Greater Necromancy, Yellow: Conjuration +2)
Bracers: Dumathoin's Bracers (Blue: False Life +40)
Body: Shadowscale Robe: +1 Profane Spell DC's (Blue: Resistance 8, Green: 250 SP)
Cloak: Sage’s Mantle
Boots: Sage's Boots
Gloves: EE Master Illusionist (Yellow: Concentration +15)
Belt: Green Steel: Belt of the Seven Ideals (Green: Good Luck +2, Colorless: Globe of True Imperial Blood)
Ring: Health +9 Ring of Dodge 9% (Colorless: Insightful Con +2)
Ring: Crafted Mobile Ring of Kinetic Lore (Yellow: Greater Enchantment, Colorless: Spellcraft 15)
Quiver: Quiver of Alacrity
Main Hand: Wyrmcraft Quarterstaff +150 Negative, Necro Focus 6, Eternal Chilling Darkness (Orange: Meridian Fragment, Red: Corrosion +138, Colorless: Heal +15)


Swaps:

Cloak: Deathwyrm Cloak, Prismatic Cloak Red Resistance 10, Jeweled Cloak
Boots: Kundarak Delving Boots
Neck: Beholder Optic Nerves, Archivist's Necklace, Torc
Gloves: Vile Blashempy
Bracers: Aquatic Bracers
Ring: Ring of Djinn, Ring of Deceit, Circle of Hatred, Ring of Spell Storing, Epic Seal of the Earth
Weapons: Epic Flameward (Purple: Insightful Charisma +2) + Res/Raise Scrolls



It is tight on augment slots, requires essentially perfect slotting with lots of raid gear, but it squeezes in Necro, Enchant, and Conjuration focuses, augments, key spell lores, and key survivability stats.

It's tight.. but it works.

On your crafted ring +2 evocation focus can be nice as well.. however, there is nothing wrong with +2% dodge. I would also set yourself up with a pair of tier 2 thunderforged sticks for nuking (if you are going to spend the sp on casting Ruin... you really should be able to slot 150 spell power for it).

Good work

[Wipey]

I would be interested to see what someone's results were with sunburst at EE with evocation DCs in the low 60s, slotting evo focus 5, the augment, and having sorc past lives. There may be content were it's worth the effort to slot the augment and use the locket as a swap item.

Just did first EE on cleric this evening.
Even on EE Sunburst melts the shadows, I would come to Shadow side to clear trash, then go back to dragon fight and assist there. That's with 70 evocation.

I would really recommend trying to work on evo and getting Sunburst for Deathwyrm even for arcane with possible 65 or so DC.
Just for the Shadow clearing.
You have of course much better necro Undead to Death but it has really long cooldown.

[Portalcat]

Just did first EE on cleric this evening.
Even on EE Sunburst melts the shadows, I would come to Shadow side to clear trash, then go back to dragon fight and assist there. That's with 70 evocation.

I would really recommend trying to work on evo and getting Sunburst for Deathwyrm even for arcane with possible 65 or so DC.
Just for the Shadow clearing.
You have of course much better necro Undead to Death but it has really long cooldown.

This is good to know.

A tier 2 swap weapon with 150 radiance, evocation focus 6, and slotted evocation augment may be useful for this task.

One could probably use Wyrmcraft to make a variety of useful swap weapons; it's just a matter of farming the ingredients. Tier 2 is nontrivial to farm but not horribly impractical for a good swap.




Undeath to Death is good but it does have a 30s cooldown and hits a capped number of targets. Almost more useful in this raid has been the halt undead SLA.

[Eth]

This is good to know.

A tier 2 swap weapon with 150 radiance, evocation focus 6, and slotted evocation augment may be useful for this task.

One could probably use Wyrmcraft to make a variety of useful swap weapons; it's just a matter of farming the ingredients. Tier 2 is nontrivial to farm but not horribly impractical for a good swap.




Undeath to Death is good but it does have a 30s cooldown and hits a capped number of targets. Almost more useful in this raid has been the halt undead SLA.

Why not use the lantern ring for radiance + lore? The extra damage proc is also pretty nice.

I would come to Shadow side to clear trash, then go back to dragon fight and let Eth die there.

Fixed.

[Portalcat]

Why not use the lantern ring for radiance + lore? The extra damage proc is also pretty nice.



Fixed.

You could do this - I'm just not a fan of swapping multiple pieces of gear mid-battle for a swap. This is probably just a playstyle difference.