Post by buddhamind on Dec 2, 2011 15:07:24 GMT
It's Always Sunny in Cania
Herald of Storms (18 Sorc / 21 Druid / 1 Monk)
Runner-up in the Higher Ground 2011/2012 Open Subrace Build Contest
For a list of sorcerer spells, and some possible alternates, see Spells.
Read the Additional Information for a discussion of some of the build choices and other info.
For some play strategies, see Playing Your Herald of Storms.
This build requires Higher Ground Enhanced. To get it, see HG Enhanced.
A description of the Herald of Storms quasiclass, and its requirements and benefits, can be found here: Herald of Storms.
Shown at level 40:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
What is a Herald of Storms?
Herald of Storms is a quasiclass-- certain unique blends of classes (that would not otherwise be useable) get special benefits on Higher Ground to allow them to succeed in all areas of the mod. The Herald of Storms quasiclass is a blend of Sorcerer and Druid, that is a master of area-of-effect (AoE) clouds. Unlike other casters, their clouds have special properties, including ability drains, damage infliction, and a kind of vampiric regeneration. They are also able to control multiple damage clouds simultaneously, where other casters are limited to only one. Besides AoE clouds, they also excel at crowd-control spells from the Enchantment school, and at conjuring Orbs (a series of custom spells on Higher Ground). They are also able to summon some of the most powerful custom pets in Higher Ground. In addition, there are several custom party buffs that are only available to Heralds. All these customized features are a great way to experience the full depth and intensity of HG. However, you must download HG Enhanced for everything to work properly.
Why a Herald of Storms?
A Herald of Storms is, in my opinion, a great choice for an open subrace build. Heralds are able to deal massive amounts of damage from a distance, while their pets do the meleeing. Using clouds enables them to conserve spells, so their gear can be optimized to maximize defenses. In addition, they can use either sorc or druid gear, which makes them flexible for the player with a limited bank supply. Many of their better spells are not DC-dependent, so they are not as handicapped by the open subrace as other caster classes. And the spells that are DC spells are from the Enchantment school, which they get a bonus to.
Where will it be effective?
This is still to be determined, as I am still progressing through the Legendary Levels with this build. I expect that it will be effective in all areas, from Pre-LL to deep abyss. How many times have you gotten all the way to the boss, only to not have enough damage output to make the final kill? How many times have you gotten overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of creatures that should be easily killed? The Herald of Storms can help. However, they are a supplement to, NOT a replacement for, a traditional sorcerer and druid in end-game areas. They get none of the custom Higher Ground Epic spells. They are also unable to handle certain end-game creatures that a traditional Arcane caster would be able to kill, like Rakshasa, Machines, and Fumes.
I think this build will be incredibly fun and I have started playing it myself. I reincarnated an old level 33 Druid to this build, and have tried out some stuff as I was taking my levels. Hopefully what I learned, combined with the knowledge of the friendly and helpful people of Higher Ground, will make this a solid build.
Enjoy!
Level 1: Creation
Half-Elf: Nereidkin
Choose Half-Elf as your Race, then click the Subrace button and type in Nereidkin. You will receive your subrace bonuses when you first log in to a HG server.
Class: Sorcerer
Alignment: Neutral Evil
You need to be Neutral for Druid, and Evil for the better summons.
Abilities
The goal is to get as much Wisdom as possible with just enough Charisma for level 9 Sorcerer spells.
Packages: None
Select Configure Packages, then click OK. You can save the skill points for later.
Select Feats
Select Spells
You can't get the good spells at creation, so just pick whatever you want.
Select Familiar
You can pick any that you like. I recommend getting the pixie for opening locks, especially if you are starting at level 1.
Log In
When you first log in, you should see a floaty text message over your head that says Subrace Edits Applied! Check your character sheet.
Your abilities should now be:
Play!
For some play strategies, see Playing Your Herald of Storms. Your first stop should be the Rowan's Guardian, in the middle of the Town of Ascension. He will give you an extra two levels for free. After that, check out some of the shops around town. When playing your character, consider completing some of the Pre-LL Accomplishments, which give skill and resistance bonuses. If you complete them all, you get a very nice bonus of +2 physical damage, +2% spell damage, and +5% XP. Also consider completing some of the Quests, which give XP and occasionally item bonuses. You can access the quests by speaking with the NPCs in the Silver Moon Inn and the Sooty Crow Tavern.
Leveling Up
*Green spells are considered critical. See Spells. Note that in early levels it doesn't make much of a difference which Sorcerer spells you choose, and you could pick something else if you wanted. However, you will be unable to change your selection after level 34, so make sure your decision is finalized by then.
Abilities at Level 40:
Legendary Levels
To take a legendary level, type !level into the chat box. All levels will be Druid levels.
Optional Skill Choice
Choose Animal Empathy or Heal. Animal Empathy will let you dominate certain critters in the game, making them fight on your side. This both helps your party and effectively eliminates one hostile threat. Heal, on the other hand, will boost your healing spells, which is also very useful to the party. Both skills are useful, but you should pick one and maximize it.
Read Transmutation Tome
After you take Level 41, you will need to find a particular book that will grant you Epic Spell Focus: Transmutation. Ask in-game for its secret location. Although other books are available, transmutation is recommended because it will boost the DC of some useful Druid spells, and it will allow you to cast Keen Edge on bludgeoning and piercing weapons.
Get the Storm Sprite
After you take Level 41, visit the Druid Grove north of town to acquire a Storm Sprite pet. This special summon lasts one round per Herald level and cannot be killed. The Sprite will pick up any knocked down party members in its vicinity, and will blast enemies with thunder and lightning when it is not assisting the party.
Abilities at Level 60:
Saving Throws at Level 60, Geared and Buffed:
Defenses at Level 60, Geared and Buffed:
Herald of Storms (18 Sorc / 21 Druid / 1 Monk)
Runner-up in the Higher Ground 2011/2012 Open Subrace Build Contest
For a list of sorcerer spells, and some possible alternates, see Spells.
Read the Additional Information for a discussion of some of the build choices and other info.
For some play strategies, see Playing Your Herald of Storms.
This build requires Higher Ground Enhanced. To get it, see HG Enhanced.
A description of the Herald of Storms quasiclass, and its requirements and benefits, can be found here: Herald of Storms.
Shown at level 40:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
What is a Herald of Storms?
Herald of Storms is a quasiclass-- certain unique blends of classes (that would not otherwise be useable) get special benefits on Higher Ground to allow them to succeed in all areas of the mod. The Herald of Storms quasiclass is a blend of Sorcerer and Druid, that is a master of area-of-effect (AoE) clouds. Unlike other casters, their clouds have special properties, including ability drains, damage infliction, and a kind of vampiric regeneration. They are also able to control multiple damage clouds simultaneously, where other casters are limited to only one. Besides AoE clouds, they also excel at crowd-control spells from the Enchantment school, and at conjuring Orbs (a series of custom spells on Higher Ground). They are also able to summon some of the most powerful custom pets in Higher Ground. In addition, there are several custom party buffs that are only available to Heralds. All these customized features are a great way to experience the full depth and intensity of HG. However, you must download HG Enhanced for everything to work properly.
Why a Herald of Storms?
A Herald of Storms is, in my opinion, a great choice for an open subrace build. Heralds are able to deal massive amounts of damage from a distance, while their pets do the meleeing. Using clouds enables them to conserve spells, so their gear can be optimized to maximize defenses. In addition, they can use either sorc or druid gear, which makes them flexible for the player with a limited bank supply. Many of their better spells are not DC-dependent, so they are not as handicapped by the open subrace as other caster classes. And the spells that are DC spells are from the Enchantment school, which they get a bonus to.
Where will it be effective?
This is still to be determined, as I am still progressing through the Legendary Levels with this build. I expect that it will be effective in all areas, from Pre-LL to deep abyss. How many times have you gotten all the way to the boss, only to not have enough damage output to make the final kill? How many times have you gotten overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of creatures that should be easily killed? The Herald of Storms can help. However, they are a supplement to, NOT a replacement for, a traditional sorcerer and druid in end-game areas. They get none of the custom Higher Ground Epic spells. They are also unable to handle certain end-game creatures that a traditional Arcane caster would be able to kill, like Rakshasa, Machines, and Fumes.
I think this build will be incredibly fun and I have started playing it myself. I reincarnated an old level 33 Druid to this build, and have tried out some stuff as I was taking my levels. Hopefully what I learned, combined with the knowledge of the friendly and helpful people of Higher Ground, will make this a solid build.
Enjoy!
Level 1: Creation
Half-Elf: Nereidkin
Choose Half-Elf as your Race, then click the Subrace button and type in Nereidkin. You will receive your subrace bonuses when you first log in to a HG server.
- Str -1, Int -2, Cha +2
- Breathes Water
- FC: Any
- Medium size
- +1 skill point per level
- LSA: Spot and Listen available in LL
- Immune to Sleep
Class: Sorcerer
Alignment: Neutral Evil
You need to be Neutral for Druid, and Evil for the better summons.
Abilities
The goal is to get as much Wisdom as possible with just enough Charisma for level 9 Sorcerer spells.
STR 8 DEX 8 CON 14 WIS 16 INT 12 CHA 16
Packages: None
Select Configure Packages, then click OK. You can save the skill points for later.
Select Feats
Lightning Reflexes
Select Spells
You can't get the good spells at creation, so just pick whatever you want.
Level 0: Any four
Level 1: Any two
Select Familiar
You can pick any that you like. I recommend getting the pixie for opening locks, especially if you are starting at level 1.
Log In
When you first log in, you should see a floaty text message over your head that says Subrace Edits Applied! Check your character sheet.
Your abilities should now be:
STR 7 DEX 8 CON 14 WIS 16 INT 10 CHA 18
Play!
For some play strategies, see Playing Your Herald of Storms. Your first stop should be the Rowan's Guardian, in the middle of the Town of Ascension. He will give you an extra two levels for free. After that, check out some of the shops around town. When playing your character, consider completing some of the Pre-LL Accomplishments, which give skill and resistance bonuses. If you complete them all, you get a very nice bonus of +2 physical damage, +2% spell damage, and +5% XP. Also consider completing some of the Quests, which give XP and occasionally item bonuses. You can access the quests by speaking with the NPCs in the Silver Moon Inn and the Sooty Crow Tavern.
Leveling Up
*Green spells are considered critical. See Spells. Note that in early levels it doesn't make much of a difference which Sorcerer spells you choose, and you could pick something else if you wanted. However, you will be unable to change your selection after level 34, so make sure your decision is finalized by then.
Level | Class | Abilities | Skills | Feats | Recommended Sorc Spells* |
2 | Sorcerer | Max Concentration Save Remaining | Level 0: Any Level 1: Drop starting spells Level 1: Lesser Orbs of Acid and Cold | ||
3 | Sorcerer | Max Concentration Save Remaining | Spell Focus: Conjuration | Level 1: Lesser Orb of Electricity | |
4 | Sorcerer | Wisdom +1 | Max Concentration Save Remaining | Level 0: Any Level 2: Web | |
5 | Sorcerer | Max Concentration Save Remaining | Level 1: Lesser Orb of Fire Level 2: Flame Weapon | ||
6 | Sorcerer | Max Concentration Save Remaining | Spell Focus: Enchantment | Level 0: Any Level 3: Stinking Cloud [Herald AoE] | |
7 | Sorcerer | Max Concentration Save Remaining | Level 1: Lesser Orb of Sound Level 2: Snowball Swarm Level 3: Mestil's Acid Breath | ||
8 | Sorcerer | Wisdom +1 | Max Concentration Save Remaining | Level 4: Evard's Black Tentacles | |
9 | Sorcerer | Max Concentration Save Remaining | Greater Spell Focus: Conjuration | Level 2: Melf's Acid Arrow Level 3: Flame Arrow Level 4: Orb of Electricity | |
10 | Sorcerer | Max Concentration Save Remaining | Level 5: Cloudkill [Herald AoE] | ||
11 | Sorcerer | Max Concentration Save Remaining | Level 2: Vocalize Level 3: Keen Edge Level 4: Orb of Sound Level 5: Freezing Fog [Herald AoE] | ||
12 | Sorcerer | Wisdom +1 | Max Concentration Save Remaining | Greater Spell Focus: Enchantment | Level 6: Acid Fog [Herald AoE] |
13 | Sorcerer | Max Concentration Save Remaining | Level 4: Confusion Level 5: Mind Fog [Herald AoE] Level 6: Planar Binding | ||
14 | Sorcerer | Max Concentration Save Remaining | Level 7: Static Field [Herald AoE] | ||
15 | Sorcerer | Max Concentration Save Remaining | Metamagic: Extend Spell | Level 5: Vitriolic Sphere Level 6: Legend Lore Level 7: Rebuke | |
16 | Sorcerer | Wisdom +1 | Max Concentration Save Remaining | Level 8: Greater Sanctuary | |
17 | Druid (1) | Max Concentration Save Remaining | |||
18 | Druid (2) | Max Concentration Save Remaining | Metamagic: Empower Spell | ||
19 | Druid (3) | Max Concentration Save Remaining | |||
20 | Druid (4) | Wisdom +1 | Max Concentration Save Remaining | ||
21 | Druid (5) | Max Concentration Save Remaining | Metamagic: Maximize Spell | ||
22 | Druid (6) | Max Concentration Save Remaining | |||
23 | Druid (7) | Max Concentration Save Remaining | |||
24 | Druid (8) | Wisdom +1 | Max Concentration Save Remaining | Epic Reflexes | |
25 | Druid (9) | Max Concentration Save Remaining | |||
26 | Druid (10) | Max Concentration Save Remaining | |||
27 | Druid (11) | Max Concentration Save Remaining | Armor Skin | ||
28 | Druid (12) | Wisdom +1 | Max Concentration Save Remaining | ||
29 | Druid (13) | Max Concentration Save Remaining | |||
30 | Druid (14) | Max Concentration Save Remaining | Epic Fortitude | ||
31 | Druid (15) | Max Concentration Save Remaining | |||
32 | Druid (16) | Wisdom +1 Constitution -4 | Max Concentration Save Remaining | Free Feats: Great Wisdom I Great Wisdom II Great Charisma I Great Charisma II Epic Spell Penetration Epic Spell Focus: Conjuration Epic Spell Focus: Enchantment Extra Spell Focus: Conjuration, Enchantment | You are now a Herald of Storms! |
33 | Sorcerer (17) | Max Concentration Save Remaining | Great Wisdom III | Level 7: Greater Orb of Fire Level 8: Greater Planar Binding | |
34 | Sorcerer (18) | Max Concentration Save Remaining | Level 9: Dominate Monster (Maze) Last Chance to Change Sorc Spells | ||
35 | Druid (17) | Max Concentration Save Remaining | |||
36 | Druid (18) | Wisdom +1 | Max Concentration Save Remaining | Great Wisdom IV | |
37 | Druid (19) | Max Concentration Save Remaining | |||
38 | Druid (20) | Max Concentration Save Remaining | |||
39 | Druid (21) | Max Concentration Save Remaining | Great Wisdom V | ||
40 | Monk (1) | Wisdom +1 | Skill Dump Max Concentration Max Tumble Max Discipline Remaining to Lore | To take this level, you need to change your alignment to Lawful. Ask in-game to find out how. |
Abilities at Level 40:
Naked Geared (+12) STR 7 19DEX 8 20CON 10 22WIS 31 43INT 10 22CHA 20 32
Legendary Levels
To take a legendary level, type !level into the chat box. All levels will be Druid levels.
Optional Skill Choice
Choose Animal Empathy or Heal. Animal Empathy will let you dominate certain critters in the game, making them fight on your side. This both helps your party and effectively eliminates one hostile threat. Heal, on the other hand, will boost your healing spells, which is also very useful to the party. Both skills are useful, but you should pick one and maximize it.
Read Transmutation Tome
After you take Level 41, you will need to find a particular book that will grant you Epic Spell Focus: Transmutation. Ask in-game for its secret location. Although other books are available, transmutation is recommended because it will boost the DC of some useful Druid spells, and it will allow you to cast Keen Edge on bludgeoning and piercing weapons.
Get the Storm Sprite
After you take Level 41, visit the Druid Grove north of town to acquire a Storm Sprite pet. This special summon lasts one round per Herald level and cannot be killed. The Sprite will pick up any knocked down party members in its vicinity, and will blast enemies with thunder and lightning when it is not assisting the party.
Level | Skills | Feats | Abilities |
41 | Max Concentration Max Lore Max Optional Skill | ||
42 | Max Concentration Max Lore Max Optional Skill | Legendary Spell Focus: Conjuration | Wisdom +1 |
43 | Max Concentration Max Lore Max Optional Skill | ||
44 | Max Concentration Max Lore Max Optional Skill | Wisdom +1 | |
45 | Max Concentration Max Lore Max Optional Skill | Legendary Spell Focus: Enchantment | |
46 | Max Concentration Max Lore Max Optional Skill | Wisdom +1 | |
47 | Max Concentration Max Lore Max Optional Skill | ||
48 | Max Concentration Max Lore Max Optional Skill | Legendary Reflexes | Wisdom +1 |
49 | Max Concentration Max Lore Max Optional Skill | ||
50 | Max Concentration Max Lore Max Optional Skill | Wisdom +1 | |
51 | Max Concentration Max Lore Max Optional Skill | Legendary Spell Penetration | |
52 | Max Concentration Max Lore Max Optional Skill | Wisdom +1 | |
53 | Max Concentration Max Lore Max Optional Skill | ||
54 | Max Concentration Max Lore Max Optional Skill | Great Wisdom VI | Wisdom +1 |
55 | Max Concentration Max Lore Max Optional Skill | ||
56 | Max Concentration Max Lore Max Optional Skill | Wisdom +1 | |
57 | Max Concentration Max Lore Max Optional Skill | Great Wisdom VII | |
58 | Max Concentration Max Lore Max Optional Skill | Wisdom +1 | |
59 | Max Concentration Max Lore Max Optional Skill | ||
60 | Max Concentration Max Lore Max Optional Skill | Great Wisdom VIII | Wisdom +1 |
Abilities at Level 60:
Naked Geared (+14) STR 7 21DEX 8 22CON 10 24WIS 44 58INT 10 24CHA 20 34
Saving Throws at Level 60, Geared and Buffed:
Fortitude 60Reflex 60Will 68
Defenses at Level 60, Geared and Buffed:
Approx. 115 AC
63% Concealment from Mass Camouflage
Premonition
Evasion
688 HP (not including Cloudkill temp. HP)