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Post by woqued on Feb 10, 2018 17:44:22 GMT
It's not like PWK is mandatory for Abyss in non-lowman parties, if the party is aware you can't do it it's fine. Dispel is also more of a "oh, hey how nice that you can do that" or a run enabler for lowman Aboleths/Limbo rather than mandatory; PSK:Abj also mostly for super endgame bossfights. All of those things are something that is not expected of you when you are on your first or 2nd trip on the endgame tour, so no worries.
However, the point stands for conjuration; you are already contesting hard on spells emped 9 for orb => competing with emped claps and dbfb, weird, maximized spheres/cl, energy drain, pwk, (wail, sorta), mord, heck even meteors. Orbs are expensive spell-slot wise, so if you really want to go that way then sure. But in most cases other people have a reason to ask "why conjuration". If you really want to try orbs out and test it out, then go for it. But there really are reasons to be sceptical about them.
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Post by chirality on Feb 10, 2018 21:10:54 GMT
I agree that (psf)abj is primarily valued in endgame-runner circles for zomgleet special niche applications.
However I think it holds immense value for even a newbie, one barely touching hells+ even. Imo (arrogant claim incoming!): there is no reason to not take esf+ abj, with evo/nec/trans/illus, on a wizard.
In no particular order:
-saving precious short supply L9 slots by using dispel (or breach) instead of mords (more room for emped L7 nukes, weirds, ED; arranging L9 for wizard really sucks and only gets worse the deepwr u go). Wasting less time/efficiency than spamming scrolls all the time, too. This is handy for various LL runs even before fighting "endgame" worries like raks, abyss casters, and aboleths. Imo after dom "spawn buff" nerf this is even more useful than before. -Targeted casters: Toyshop/pom books, dulv marzanna/lyricist/boss, rona sephae, hive ettercap (no mords there at all so theyre virtually never dispelled in runs, unless shifter beholder; nbd, equally rare to ever regret, but it could be nice, theyre lot tankier than they should be, altho iirc they do often[always?] rebuff immediately) -Aoe "hit whole spawn" targets (due either annoying party aoe buffs or presence of multiple casters, or both): uro (shamans mass camo), loca, sissy. Ofc mords scrolls will get the job done fine, especially in LLs, but just pointing out an alternative option, trading lower-level spell slots for not wasting a round on a scroll (esp when 1 rarely gets job done satisfactorily for aoeing) and losing emped 7/weird/ed slots for extra mords (u rly need a solid amt "to be safe" cuz not having enuff prepped when u need sux, but then having too many sux cuz unlike a sorc they cant be spent on the fly for killing stufg)
-powerful EI not to be underestimated (not saying anyone did, that's aimed at OP i guess), especially for a poor(or at least "not rich") newer player. It's amazing imo; in hells "layer dmg type" is obvious choice, in LL runs huge help as well, especially when spending ringslot for mord/wb runs, even moreso underwater abyss (maybe harshest survival for wizards in entire game imo) +abo. Aside from making you way less fragile+gearing, ofc using it on partymates (esp "WIP" bards) is really awesome and makes run noticeably smoother usually. All just my opinion: when i levelled abj wizard thru hells/abyss i felt it was a superb choice and i would make the same decision again over alternatives.
-psf dispel is ofc super niche and i wouldnt expect newish player to get much mileage
-likewise, banish. But nonetheless, in odd chance they get invited/try start pug abo/ely, it transforms the toon from "worse hell sorc" into "still a worse sorc cuz its a wizard, but now its a worse abj sorc with evo", which is difference of being meh, im a mage vs hey im actually really useful niche role for this run
-MSD really sweet. Post too long already and 1/day so i wont delve into analysis/description, but imo it was awesome to have onhand both for extra reliable 1shot dispel/sr drop as well as conceal drop for bossfights (and hey sometimes both effects come in handy for the boss spawn)
Overall i think abj is great for newer/levelling wizard. I wouldnt value anything else higher, neither 2nd karsus nor any other school.
Db suggestion to take advantage of evo spec->2nd karsus/+1 feat is powerful, especially if you play extremely well and dont find much use for survival-boosting defensive buffs, but for normal-tier poor newbie, i wouldn't rate it over loss of div. Much like EI, imo premo makes a huge difference for survival as poor/levelling wizard.
Another (extremely situational, yet tangible) benefit from div that i think is worth having is assay resistance option. it didnt exist back then, so i cant speak for lowbie mages in LLs levelling up w/ it, but imo taking the extra time/slots to leverage it is a huge help in niche cases where it really matters, both in LLs (example dachy as lowbie, and db sr huge, even psp mage wearing fist weap w/bestow failing noticeable amt), and ofc leets in hell, niche case:crystal golems in ely (not that id expect OP to concerned about that)
Not to downtalk the suggestion, and hopefully just quick opinion while avoiding "value of specialization" can of worms debate...
Ppl have very different views on xp loss, so, again just my personal preference: i would rather build from the start a toon that doesnt need reinc to cast pwk, considering how important PL feats are and the crushing xp loss in mid-PL (aka 70ish) range, which is almost guaranteed to be the time when reinc is done (assuming player perseveres that long).
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