General Guidance for Universal Enhancement Trees

[bookmarked]

So all of the Universal Enhancements look like fun, but I'm not really sure when, where and how to make use of them. The wiki has all of the details on each enhancement, but I didn't see anything that looked like a guide. Is there some general guidance somewhere on using them? Not specific builds but something along the lines of:

Universal Enhancement X works well with classes A & B if you adjust them this way.
Universal Enhancement Y works well with almost any class with high attribute T if you put ## action points into it.
...

Just something that gives people a place to start.

Thanks.

[rabidfox]

Inquisitive works well for any class that you want good ranged damage on. It pairs better with certain classes where it syncs up well (rogue, arti, wiz, alch, pal, fvs... well, a lot of them). It's often also used as a "I don't want to play X class as X class so I'll just do a cookie cutter inquisitive build and grab an easy past life."

Harper Agent for when you want int to used for your stat to hit & damage

Falconry for when you want wis to used for your stat to hit & damage (plus extra damage vs helpless targets)

Feydark for when you want cha to used for your stat to hit & damage (plus a really good crowd control SLA- that being good for lives even when you don't want CHA to hit or damage but want awesome CC)

Vistani Knife Fighter pairs up with certain classes for various dagger builds.

That's the gist of them. It gets far more complicated to mix/max optimal builds by pairing with certain classes, but that's probably way more detail and complex than what you'd want to know as a new player.

[Pandjed]

So all of the Universal Enhancements look like fun, but I'm not really sure when, where and how to make use of them. The wiki has all of the details on each enhancement, but I didn't see anything that looked like a guide. Is there some general guidance somewhere on using them? Not specific builds but something along the lines of:

Universal Enhancement X works well with classes A & B if you adjust them this way.
Universal Enhancement Y works well with almost any class with high attribute T if you put ## action points into it.
...

Just something that gives people a place to start.

Thanks.

Most universal enhancement trees don't work well as main-trees, because they're either too weak (and therefore outdone by class-trees) or too specific in what they do (and therefore don't synergize well). Often both.

Remember, that all of these trees may be unlockable, but all but one are hidden behind an expansion, which favor you need to unlock it. So if you want to stay F2P, you won't get any of them, and buying them directly is kinda a waste, if you can get the expansions instead, that also offer the quests (and Ravenloft, Sharn, and Feywild also grant great gear).

Falconry, otoh, need a lot of adventurer packs to unlock and you even need to run the titan raid, which is seldom run. So this one, I'd just buy.

Harper: The only redeeming quality is the INT to hit and damage, and Know the Angles (a battle trance). Otherwise, this tree is way too weak and have no real direction.

Vistani: This is the best secondary tree for rogue assassins, throwing builds, and specific other niches (like Keeper of the Crimson Covenant [special weapon] paladins and such). If you have a bunch of points left, you can grab Haste boost here, the best action boost in the game.

Falconry: This tree is a nice secondary tree for wisdom based characters (such as monks, clerics, and some ranger builds) that want to do weapon damage. It comes with a lot of cool things up to T4 and T5 is certainly good, just usually not as good/fitting as most class T5s. But you can get WIS-to-hit/dmg, a wis-based battle trance, and +5% quality hit points. Add that to regular fortification bypass, +helpless damage and the debuffs that makes enemies helpless, this is a really stable tree. Probably the best balanced tree so far, and the best option for bow-focused monks imo.

Inquisitive: This is the only tree that works as main-tree and it's probably too good. As an universal tree, you can still get full benefits as a multiclass character (therefore many take 2 artificer levels to keep a runearm in the off-hand) and it just demolishes your enemies. Slap this on any class, and you get a great ranged DPS class out of it, plus whatever your class provides otherwise.

Illusionist: Here we have CHA to hit/dmg (no battle trance though), either for every weapon or by conjuring a shadow bladde (which can be helpful for tankbuilds while leveling, if they don't want to use a lesser heart instead to level up in a more offensive build). Core 3 gives a great crowd control. Overall, it's nice and stable, not really special, but until recently, it was the best friend for caster clerics (as cleric trees are bad, though with the updated damage of certain spells, divine disciple took off again), and it can still serve as a nice (though not great) offensive caster tree, if you want to play something that doesn't have a decent option you want to take,
But I personally see it just great for the cha-hit/dmg and the core 3 crowd control.

[bookmarked]

Inquisitive works well for any class that you want good ranged damage on. It pairs better with certain classes where it syncs up well (rogue, arti, wiz, alch, pal, fvs... well, a lot of them). It's often also used as a "I don't want to play X class as X class so I'll just do a cookie cutter inquisitive build and grab an easy past life."

Harper Agent for when you want int to used for your stat to hit & damage

Falconry for when you want wis to used for your stat to hit & damage (plus extra damage vs helpless targets)

Feydark for when you want cha to used for your stat to hit & damage (plus a really good crowd control SLA- that being good for lives even when you don't want CHA to hit or damage but want awesome CC)

Vistani Knife Fighter pairs up with certain classes for various dagger builds.

That's the gist of them. It gets far more complicated to mix/max optimal builds by pairing with certain classes, but that's probably way more detail and complex than what you'd want to know as a new player.

Most universal enhancement trees don't work well as main-trees, because they're either too weak (and therefore outdone by class-trees) or too specific in what they do (and therefore don't synergize well). Often both.

Remember, that all of these trees may be unlockable, but all but one are hidden behind an expansion, which favor you need to unlock it. So if you want to stay F2P, you won't get any of them, and buying them directly is kinda a waste, if you can get the expansions instead, that also offer the quests (and Ravenloft, Sharn, and Feywild also grant great gear).

Falconry, otoh, need a lot of adventurer packs to unlock and you even need to run the titan raid, which is seldom run. So this one, I'd just buy.

Harper: The only redeeming quality is the INT to hit and damage, and Know the Angles (a battle trance). Otherwise, this tree is way too weak and have no real direction.

Vistani: This is the best secondary tree for rogue assassins, throwing builds, and specific other niches (like Keeper of the Crimson Covenant [special weapon] paladins and such). If you have a bunch of points left, you can grab Haste boost here, the best action boost in the game.

Falconry: This tree is a nice secondary tree for wisdom based characters (such as monks, clerics, and some ranger builds) that want to do weapon damage. It comes with a lot of cool things up to T4 and T5 is certainly good, just usually not as good/fitting as most class T5s. But you can get WIS-to-hit/dmg, a wis-based battle trance, and +5% quality hit points. Add that to regular fortification bypass, +helpless damage and the debuffs that makes enemies helpless, this is a really stable tree. Probably the best balanced tree so far, and the best option for bow-focused monks imo.

Inquisitive: This is the only tree that works as main-tree and it's probably too good. As an universal tree, you can still get full benefits as a multiclass character (therefore many take 2 artificer levels to keep a runearm in the off-hand) and it just demolishes your enemies. Slap this on any class, and you get a great ranged DPS class out of it, plus whatever your class provides otherwise.

Illusionist: Here we have CHA to hit/dmg (no battle trance though), either for every weapon or by conjuring a shadow bladde (which can be helpful for tankbuilds while leveling, if they don't want to use a lesser heart instead to level up in a more offensive build). Core 3 gives a great crowd control. Overall, it's nice and stable, not really special, but until recently, it was the best friend for caster clerics (as cleric trees are bad, though with the updated damage of certain spells, divine disciple took off again), and it can still serve as a nice (though not great) offensive caster tree, if you want to play something that doesn't have a decent option you want to take,
But I personally see it just great for the cha-hit/dmg and the core 3 crowd control.

Perfect! This is exactly what I needed to decide if any of them are worth considering, though not any time real soon unless there's a good sale or I manage to get the necessary favor for a character that could work with one.

Thanks!

[Seph1roth5]

A lot of times I have a handful of points I don't need anywhere and dip into a universal tree a little.

Falconry - For wis-based chars: extra wis, bird is +2 spot, and the first bird attack is a nice single target trip that also makes them helpless (just make sure you take the right version)

feydark - for non-spellcasters: perma-shield, shadow blade imbues your weapon to be made of force so you can safely smack oozes/rusties. Not sure if it keeps them from taking damage if you die.

Ya I know you can umd shield wands or use shield clickies, but it saves you a TON of time to not have to do it a billion times a life. And it's pretty cheap.

[C-Dog]

Perfect! This is exactly what I needed to decide if any of them are worth considering...

They're all worth having.

Inquisitive is sorta the FotM right now, very strong ranged. Can't go wrong unless you hate ranged.

Tied w/ that (hence "sorta", above) is Feydark - a lot of strong current builds dip/dive heavily into that.

Harper is a great boost to any ranged Rogue or Arti, with crossbows of some stripe. Know the Angles also boosts Tactical Attack DCs (Trip/Stun/etc.), so can be useful there too.

Falconry is handy on a number of build types, anything that uses Wis (inc. some that don't have Wis as their primary stat). Also good for anything that can Stun (as Falconry can add significantly to attacks on any "helpless" target).

Vistani may be the bottom of the ladder, only good for daggers. Ymmv. <shrug>

[Neferai]

I bought the Feydark tree and the Inquisitve tree but I can't see them when I am playing... Is there something I am missing?
I understand that feydark requires magical training but even with caster builds I just can't seem to access it.
What am I missing?

[rabidfox]

I bought the Feydark tree and the Inquisitve tree but I can't see them when I am playing... Is there something I am missing?
I understand that feydark requires magical training but even with caster builds I just can't seem to access it.
What am I missing?

Check both the drop down arrow for the individual enhancements and the left/right arrows to move to additional trees you can have equipped; it'll be one or the other where you haven't check yet.

[Sulamnad]

Check both the drop down arrow for the individual enhancements and the left/right arrows to move to additional trees you can have equipped; it'll be one or the other where you haven't check yet.

thank you! I've spent hours looking how to find the falconry tree, and never saw the left/right arrows!

[bookmarked]

...
Falconry - For wis-based chars: extra wis, bird is +2 spot, and the first bird attack is a nice single target trip that also makes them helpless (just make sure you take the right version)
...

Okay, now that I have Falconry, the question is - which is "the right version"?
I think you're referring to the Diving Attack choice of
Diving Shot (Ranged Falconer Attack)
or
Diving Attack (Melee Falconer Attack)

If I'm reading the wiki right, I should choose Diving Attack if I plan on attacking enemies in melee combat or choose Diving Shot if I'm using ranged attacks, correct?

Does one work better than the other or is it situation dependent?

[Matuse]

Pick melee if you are using a melee weapon. Pick ranged if you have a ranged weapon.

The weapon you use has no effect on the actual bird attack. The melee bird attack has across-the-whole-map range.