Luclin SK FAQ

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Pithy, Nov 16, 2018.

  1. Pithy

    Pithy I Feel Loved

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    I've gotten some questions about SK stuff in game recently. Figured I'd reply all here. Feel free to ask more questions or improve upon my answers. I may toss this up on the wiki someday.

    What spells should I use for aggro?

    The staple aggro spells are snares and AC taps. The best of these are fast-casting and low mana: Clinging Darkness (1.75 second cast, 20 mana) and Shadow Vortex (1.5 second cast, 40 mana). For non-damage aggro, swap out Clinging Darkness for Shroud of Pain (1.5 second cast, 75 mana).

    What's the best race?

    Ogre, because getting stunned sucks. Being huge also sucks, though. Ogres should box a shrinker, carry shrink potions, or hunt down Wand of Imperceptibility or Bracelet of the Shadow Hive.

    Gnomes are also good, because they can see through walls by smooshing their faces into them and sitting. (So can larger races, but only if they shrink.)

    The iksar AC bonus is nice.

    How should I spend my creation points?

    In the long run, the hardest stat to max is charisma. Charisma helps Divine Intervention fire more often when you tank raid bosses.

    The second hardest is agility. Agility influences your avoidance, or how often mobs whiff when they swing at you. The highest avoidance tier starts at 200 agility, a hard number for most races to hit even with full Luclin raid gear.

    Stamina is also nice -- 1 stamina gives 5 HP at level 60 -- but not too hard for most races to cap.

    How do I pull?

    Option 1: dark park. Snare the mob you want, run away, FD, let its friends go home, tag.

    Option 2: flop split. Aggro some mobs, run away, FD, let some go home, tag the rest.

    There are a million other techniques, but those are the basics.

    What AAs should I do?

    I suggest doing Run 3 and Metabolism 3 (or Regen 3), then the defensive AAs: Natural Durability 3, Combat Agility 3, Combat Stability 3 and Physical Enhancement. Beyond that, it's all pretty marginal. The best DPS increases probably come from Combat Fury and Spell Casting Fury. Plus, crits are fun.

    What stats should I look for on gear?

    In descending order of importance: AC, HP, MR, FR/CR. FT, attack and regen are also good, but are much harder to find.

    1 AC = X HP?

    When comparing gear in Luclin, I value 1 AC at about 3 HP. In PoP, when our returns on AC over the softcap will increase from 17% to 25%, I'll value 1 AC at about 5 HP.

    If your healer uses spot heals or HoTs, rather than CH, then AC is much more important.

    Two-hander or sword and board?

    I use three stances, depending on whether and what I'm tanking.

    Defensive: When tanking hard mobs, I use a shield and turn attack off so I don't eat ripostes. That's a big deal on raid mobs, who riposte about 5% of incoming attacks and often hit for 1k+. In defensive stance, the weapon is just for stats. Horn of Hsagra is a good thing to hold when tanking the Big Bad.

    Offensive: For DPS, I use the biggest baddest two-hander I can find. Goldenrod is the highest DPS option in Luclin, followed by The Sword of Ssraeshzra and Bloodied Berserker's Blade.

    Balanced: Sometimes I want to tank well and also deal damage. In those situations, I use a shield and a one-hander with a good ratio. Rancorous Skull of Szaldrezh and Primal Velium Knight's Sword are the best Luclin options. The skull has better stats, while the primal sword lets you skip swapping weapons around for avatar.

    A good one-hander will typically do 65-80% the DPS of a good two-hander.

    What's so good about shields?

    Shield AC doesn't get nerfed by the softcap. At level 60, that means 1 shield AC is worth 6 AC worn in any other slot. (In PoP, when our overcap returns increase, 1 shield AC will be worth 4 AC worn elsewhere.) In terms of survivability, putting on a 60 AC shield is about like getting a second Aego.
     
    Last edited: Nov 23, 2018
  2. thucydides

    thucydides I Feel Loved

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    Warrior FAQ

    What do?

    Turn on auto attack.
     
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  3. Draeko

    Draeko Active Member

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    3 HP regen > metabolism
     
  4. showstring

    showstring I Feel Loved

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    [​IMG]
     
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  5. Pithy

    Pithy I Feel Loved

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    Personal preference, I suppose! It's true that regen affects how many heals you need, while metabolism does not. I'm lazy and play a fat ogre, though, so I'll take buyin' less noms over an additional 300 HP every 10 minutes.

    I think if I didn't box a cleric, I'd pay more attention to regen.
     
  6. echofinder

    echofinder Member

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    Pithy,

    Thanks for sharing. That a great read for tank classes. Based on here say only no stats to back it up I have been hearing over 1400AC no real gains in more AC vs stacking HP's for raid encounters in Luclin to get HP as high as possible. Hence ND AA over all others until that is maxed. I like seeing AC numbers go up too.

    How do you feel about this over simplified approach of over 1400AC go HP and trade off some AC gains?
     
  7. Mokli

    Mokli I Feel Loved

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    Looks like I'm doing SKing right. I agree with all of that. I will say that its only pretty easy to max your STA at this point in our progression if you're an ogre. Starting stats can get you to 140ish vs if you are a DE (like me) you start out around 70ish. Not that I'm promoting more Ogres (eiiwww), but that's the reality. Saving a buff slot since you don't need an STA buff is actually more helpful than most think.

    3 regen vs metabolism depends what you box. I never really felt it necessary since I box a Druid, but eventually I'll go back and get it anyway. Its only 3 AA.
     
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  8. Pithy

    Pithy I Feel Loved

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    That's a good point, yeah. Buff slots are precious, especially as you accumulate clickies.

    Good question! The answer really depends on what you're tanking. For trash mobs, I think it's possible that tanks might start seeing diminishing returns on AC eventually. If you pile on enough AC, eventually most trash mobs will hit you for minimum most of the time.

    Raid bosses, on the other hand, tend to have much higher offense scores, and therefore to hit closer to max more often. If your goal is to tank hard-hitting raid bosses like AoW, I don't think you can ever get enough AC.

    Of course, you can never really get enough HP, either! When selecting gear, I'd use a rule of thumb like 1 AC = X HP, with X chosen to your personal taste. I think X = 3-4 ish is pretty reasonable for a Luclin warrior. In PoP, warriors' returns on AC over the softcap increase from 20% (Luclin) to 33% (PoP). For a PoP warrior, I'd use X = 5-6 ish.
     
    Last edited: Nov 17, 2018
  9. Bum

    Bum I Feel Loved

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    Your cha thing made me lulz
     
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  10. Pithy

    Pithy I Feel Loved

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    As an example of the 1 AC = X HP rule of thumb, btw, here's a comparison of Ebony Armguards (40 AC, 85 HP) vs. Yttrium Wrapped Sleeves (35 AC, 100 HP). Supposing I liked X = 3 for a raid-tankin' warrior, I'd score the AL arms at 205 effective HP:

    40 AC * 3 HP per AC + 85 HP = 205 effective HP

    The calculation for the LIS arms looks similar:

    35 AC * 3 HP per AC + 100 HP = 205 effective HP

    The pieces score the same, so I'd say they're equally good in terms of AC and HP. I'd probably go with the LIS arms for more AGI, DEX and resists.
     
    Last edited: Nov 17, 2018
  11. Bum

    Bum I Feel Loved

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    Not sure why you care so much for ac vs hp etc yet no where do you account for the graphics of such an item.

    Could score 500"hp" but if it had a unikitty graphic it would suck compared to a "30 hp" item with cool graphics
     
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  12. Sketchy

    Sketchy People Like Me

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    Great information on the SK class. Bum, the number one rule in Temerity is that "in order to fight good, you also must look good."
     
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  13. thucydides

    thucydides I Feel Loved

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    And yet we have several half elves...
     
  14. Sketchy

    Sketchy People Like Me

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    The gnomes are much more of a problem, since they live underground, they don't care about appearances. Whenever they slowly trundle near me I rapidly avert my gaze, because the sight of one can make my physically ill.
     
    Last edited: Nov 17, 2018
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  15. John Stark

    John Stark People Like Me

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    I'd like to hear some comment on troll and iksar regen with regards to choosing one of those races rather than ogre.

    Spells like the hp-for-mana spells Deathly Temptation and (eventually once we get PoP) Pact of Hate, while FD, etc. would benefit a lot from the high regen of trolls and iksars at level 60.

    I chose ogre for the no-frontal-stun ability, and love it and have no regrets.

    That being said, I am curious whether the innate hp brings its own advantages that should not be overlooked, or whether an SK's mana pool and spells really don't offer enough of an incentive to go troll or iksar other than preference.

    The innate regen of iksar and trolls appears to be almost enough to overcome hp loss from Deathly Temptation, and with a mere 5 mana cost to cast it, that is close to being free mana all the time that spell is on. (Toss in a regen from a shaman or druid and Deathly Temptation is free mana).

    Pact of Hate drains 32 hp per tick for 15 mana, which is essentially like walking around with KEI at the cost of some hp, mitigated by the standing regen of those races and by regen spells from shamans and druids (which is likely to be in play, given how popular 3-boxing is here).

    So, is the regen of the troll/iksar something to consider when selecting race versus choosing ogre for the no-frontal-stun? Are there other benefits to troll or iksar to consider before going ogre?

    My guess is most would say no because of how great not getting stunned is (it is great), but maybe anyone who plays a troll or iksar SK could chime in.
     
    Last edited: Nov 17, 2018
  16. Cadsuane

    Cadsuane People Like Me

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    Min/maxing leaves you only two options, really: Ogre for slam and stun immunity, or Iksar for AC boost and regen increase. Troll sacrifices either stun-immunity or AC, which are the 2 best racial traits.
    Same goes for Shaman choices (with the possible mitigating factor of an innoruk troll getting a Snare necklace).

    When you are getting hit for 200-800, regen doesn't matter much.

    If you don't care about 'absolute best' and just would enjoy a different race, go for it as you like.
     
    Last edited: Nov 17, 2018
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  17. Haynar

    Haynar Administrator

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    Gear choices:
    AC > ALL.

    Race choices:
    Front Stun immunity > Iksar > Troll > Gnome
     
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  18. John Stark

    John Stark People Like Me

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    Well trolls retain the slam, so in comparison with ogre they are losing frontal stun "only" when opting troll, and in troll vs. iksar, that slam ability to interrupt casters has some merit I'd think given that their regen rate is the same per-level.

    As far as getting hit and taking damage, an ogre is going to get hit for the same "200-800." For day-to-day grouping, I would imagine that standing regen of 12 at lvl 60 has its advantages that might at least mitigate whether one opts for ogre or troll at start.
     
  19. Ravenwing

    Ravenwing I Feel Loved

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    I thought the iksar ac bonus turned out to be worth basically nothing?
     
  20. Pithy

    Pithy I Feel Loved

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    I usually have KEI on, which doesn't stack with the SK lich-type spells, so I donno about this. 12 standing regen is 120 HP per minute, though, or about one Chloroblast every 4 minutes. It's not nothin', but it's very small compared to the healing cranked out by CH.

    If you solo, or if your healer is a shaman, then I think regen is more important.

    Last I checked, the iksar AC bonus was equivalent to about 26 item AC. It gets nerfed by the softcap, just like item AC. Its apparent impact on magelo and the in-game inventory display is bigger than its actual impact in the mitigation code.
     
  21. Cadsuane

    Cadsuane People Like Me

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    Oh my. so that really becomes almost useless toward the highend game.
     
  22. Pithy

    Pithy I Feel Loved

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    26 item AC is small, but not nothing! I think we'd all turn a 10 AC ring into a 36 AC ring if we could :p
     
  23. Ravenwing

    Ravenwing I Feel Loved

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    Got it! I was probably thinking as a monk. It's a hard habit to kick.
     
  24. John Stark

    John Stark People Like Me

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    I honestly did not remember that KEI doesn't stack with the SK lich spells (that sucks!), as its been since about 2004ish since my wife and I played regularly. My SK here is only 54 still, so it hasn't come up yet since Deathly Temptation is 58.

    I do remember I loved the SK skeleton illusion for the mana (especially since my wife's character was Shaman, so with her regen the hit point loss was negligible or completely mitigated), but also for the "shrink" effect the illusion gives an ogre which saved her from having to swamp out a spell for her shammy shrink (/wife faction).

    I appreciate your reply.
     
    Last edited: Nov 17, 2018
  25. Pithy

    Pithy I Feel Loved

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    Heh, yeah I used the skele illusion spell for a poor man's shrink for a long time.
     
  26. Torven

    Torven I Feel Loved

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    FYI: avoidance skills still function while stunned. (dodge, parry, riposte)
     
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  27. showstring

    showstring I Feel Loved

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    but the tank does not generate agro through melee swings and procs while stunned ;(
     
  28. Bum

    Bum I Feel Loved

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    Troll is best, Erudite is second, everything else doesn't matter, but gnome is worst.

    #facts
     
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  29. Mokli

    Mokli I Feel Loved

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    I don't get stunned enough to lose agro when I tank Dain. I think the stun immunity is over rated if you are a knight. More important if a War honestly. Ogre is like easy mode though when it comes to HP and this unstunnable thing.
     
    Last edited: Nov 17, 2018
  30. Pithy

    Pithy I Feel Loved

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    Yeah, idk, I don't think race makes or breaks anything. And for warriors, PoP AAs make everyone a bit more stun-resistant.