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Post by fragment on Nov 14, 2007 22:18:56 GMT
My Negatai took epic reflex instead of lightning/legendary reflex feats and combat casting and then improved combat casting as a bonus feat. ICC at the cost of some reflex so that it's only 58 (I think).
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Post by Egg on Nov 24, 2007 17:04:10 GMT
Hi folks
I have decided to have a go at pm myself - being fresh-faced to the server, and not having built a caster before this, I was just wondering if anyone has any advice with spells particularly for a pm (or a link to another thread)?
My pm is currently lvl 15, so it has lvl 6 still spells but no more. I'm finding it hard to be a 'worthwhile' party member. Casting firebrands is about all the spells I really can damage monsters with. I'm quite frustrated really as i have on occasions been more of a medic, invis and rezzing, than a specialised death caster.
Now I realise FOD and wail will become my specialities but at the moment i dont have access to these. As far as necromancy spells go, I have only vamp touch, being pretty low dmg currently, and neg energy. Should I be asking nicely for higher lvl friends to scribe scrolls for me for the time being? I also haven't been updating my equipment as I lvl so my ac is only 32 or something - another reason I'm scared of using vamps.
Any advice would be much appreciated. Egg
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Post by chirikov on Nov 24, 2007 18:51:57 GMT
when i was leveling my pm, i also realized the lack of good damage spells so i focused on crowd control type stuff, mostly horror and color spray. horror is especially nice, kept my party from wiping in frost orcs several times. neg energy burst is somewhat useful, not much damage but the str drain helps
make sure to grab undead to death while leveling as wiz, as itll be your spell of choice in pow and tower ruins. phantasmal killer is a decent instakill option when you can use it, but it wasnt very successful when i tried (though i forgot to grab it early)
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Post by ilovedietpepsi on Nov 24, 2007 22:28:58 GMT
Phantasmal Killer works good on the banidts other than the mages in east road if you started as thid/illusionist even as low as high teens. Just team up with some tanks you can "snipe" the bandits using phantasmal. this spell becoming less useful as you going to higher level areas. Make sure you wear int equipments or buffs to max your int at all time, the dc is the most important thing for a pm. When east road xp becoming obsolete well you just have to improvise, the big stuff like FoD and level 9 spell comes relatively late for a PM (at about 26 or so i believe), once you get that just team up with some tanks and you can mob the floor with all the xp area at your level. Zhentarium is an awesome place for high 20s, and low 30s cuz you immune to sneak and critical and almost everyone there are pretty weak vs death magic. After Immo, finding a good bard to party with is very important. Since monster saves start to get really high. Sssithrak is a good run to go to for xp since most things can be wailed/weirded. but at low level your dc wont be able to kill them that frequently without a bard. When you reach 50+ thid run is the best xp for you to level you to 60, you just need a bard in the party however.
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Post by fragment on Nov 24, 2007 23:11:54 GMT
Hi egg, many character builds have such a time where they aren't very useful and are stuck, indeed, doing support for the party. Wizzes or sorcs aren't much more than scroll readers for some levels at the beginning of their carreer. Dexers aren't any good until they get weapon finesse, which may be a long time until, if they want WM levels too, and even then they're dependent on a good weapon which isn't available until the 20s. The quasiclasses are effectively broken character builds for 10-30 levels. And so on. If your character does not work very well for 10 levels or so, the situation is well known and nobody will call you on it. Around level 26, things will indeed change *dramatically*, when you're suddenly the main caster, and the main tank of the party, at once. Then, pay them back Don't be afraid to use second chance packs on the tanks. They love it.
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Post by Egg on Nov 25, 2007 9:00:50 GMT
Well cheers for the quick responses all, I guess im doing the right thing but i just hate being 'useless', and i use this term lightly, in certain areas. Now Phantasmal Killer sounds good but where do I get this spell from? Being pretty new to the server I am still finding out good spells to use in x etc. On the old server I used to play I wouldnt have dreamed of using some so forgive my n00bish questions Likewise, a few of you mention undeath to death, is there a place I can aquire this spell or will I have to merely wait until i can learn it progressively? Finally, if I am reading this correctly, I should be maxing my int through equipment and not worrying too much about ac. Note to self, 'I am NOT a tank!' At least til lvl 30ish when my pm ac bonus begins to kick in. Thanks all.
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Post by ilovedietpepsi on Nov 25, 2007 11:01:44 GMT
if u r new to this server just remmeber its extremely party oriented, dont expect to be able to solo stuff too much. Get in a party and make the party as big as possible. You shouldnt worry about your ac until much later. However PM will get a pretty decent AC at legendary level (with decent equipments)
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Post by chirikov on Nov 25, 2007 13:45:05 GMT
phantasmal killer is a spell that is best obtained through a wiz level, which i forgot to do myself early on. otherwise, your best bet would be to find someone else to scribe a copy for you; i ended up using an old unfinished wiz to scribe various scrolls for my pm
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Post by johannhowitzer on Nov 29, 2007 9:54:12 GMT
Undeath to Death and Shades can't be scribed by mages, though U2D might be able to be scribed by clerics... however, how many clerics do you expect would have taken Scribe Scroll?
Here's an easy way to get those two spells in your arsenal without having to hunt down the scrolls in the module. Take levels 1-8 Wizard, then splash three levels of PM. Your 12th level will be the last Wizard level, and as the three levels of PM count as two casterlevels (PM grants casterlevels on ODD class levels), the Wizard level at 12 counts as casterlevel 11, allowing you to select 6th-level spells while leveling! In other words, you will be able to grab U2D and Shades that way. I've tested this in the test chamber, it works.
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Post by Hercules on Nov 29, 2007 10:31:47 GMT
Well Egg i was there in that split second you got youre wails for the first time..
That rocks big time.You changes from a inv mage wetting his pants in sight of foe, to a fully grown wizzy/ PM dropping foes like flies with youre wail..
keep it up !
Hercules (you may kow me as the useless bard, Leafblade, which indeed resses, heals, invisible all the time, cursing my throat soar. lmao
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Post by gren on Jan 4, 2008 7:57:59 GMT
Just got my Alhoon to level 27 and you guys weren't kidding about being not much better than a leech for a while! Between about level 10 and level 25 I was pretty useless and this lasted longer than normal after having to delevel twice due to taking the wrong feats or feats at the wrong points. A big thank you to the parties that dragged me round now its time to repay that debt
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Post by uncanny on Jan 4, 2008 16:37:08 GMT
A little late now (you're almost out of leach central ), but what I did with my previous PM (and my current one) is to carry around a wadload of scrolls, and wear only AC gear (full armor and shield as soon as I got the feats). You cannot cast really well anyway (I think it is lvl20 that your PM levels kick in - until then you're casting is based solely on your wizard levels), so you might as well use scrolls and tank up. It's a bit rough if it's your first toon at all, as it's expensive to make all them scrolls; but it's worth the effort so that you can at least help out until you hit the magic 30. You're about to really enjoy your build, make sure you have lvl9 scrolls on you when you hit it.. also, if you don't have them already, now is a good time to start investigating the method to become a true lich .
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Post by gren on Jan 4, 2008 19:02:42 GMT
All good advice and did use some scrolls. It wasn't my first toon (see sig) but it is my first wiz based toon so my only sources of scrolls were shops and a couple of loot spots (tower, tower ruins etc).
Luckily one player from a party I was in had a PM that scribed me the scrolls I needed just before those all important lvl 9 spells became available.
Build is now at 30 and is awesome in all areas (wails most things and can tank as well - Auto stills will kick in at 32 so will only get better) except undead filled ones - Darn! I forgot Undeath to Death ......now somebody said such a scroll existed in the mod somewhere......crypts?
Re. the lich.....I have the book and have seen the wand in auction and I think I know where to get it.....may just be lazy and buy though. hey hum!
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Post by uncanny on Jan 4, 2008 20:03:53 GMT
Still missing at least one item from the recipe there gren... look up any of my toons (they start with Uncanny), if you need any help
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Post by gren on Jan 5, 2008 14:18:33 GMT
If its the phylactery (think that's what mentioned in the book) then I'm pretty sure I know where to find it......a red gem?
Need to pay that fella a visit anyway to see if he has any scrolls to give me. Have been that way once or twice and a couple of my other toons can cope with him easily.
Then again I could be on completely the wrong track but it's always fun learning and exploring. Thanks for the offer Uncanny, I'll look out for you if only to send a 'thanks' for the help.
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