Paladin question

[Gryndeon]

I'm now outfitted as a str Mage, level 34. Besides the ability to cast spells, what's the difference between a str Mage and a warrior? Seems like I can take more damage than I did as a pure int or a dex Mage, but does the warrior have an advantage over a Mage dressed up like one? I think I put in 120 into str and the rest into dex after getting int up to 11 (to get mana regen to 1).

[Royce]

Bears get a starting health pool of 300, while elves get only 200. Bears also have skills (ironblood, evasion, taunt (sort of), stun skills) that allow them to avoid more damage than the elf's magic shield and BOV. So a paladin is a less effective damage taker and tank (also no beckon like bears have). But your heal, AOE, etc. means you can play a slightly different role, though you will be most effective paired with a real tank.

[Gryndeon]

Royce, thanks for the explanation. I do have to ask: what are AOE and DPS? I thought I'd figure those out by now but I'm still flummoxed.

Also, should I put less into my str ( just enough to get the weapon I want) and put the rest into dex, or put all into str?

Thanks again.

[Royce]

Royce, thanks for the explanation. I do have to ask: what are AOE and DPS? I thought I'd figure those out by now but I'm still flummoxed.

DPS=Damage Per Second
AOE=Area of Effect (as opposed to single target)

Also, should I put less into my str ( just enough to get the weapon I want) and put the rest into dex, or put all into str?

Yes, generally you want to see what the best Str gear at a given level requires and then meet that and spend the rest on Dex.

[Nightarcher]

Paladins can take a lot of damage with full Thoth and mana shield and blessings juicing up their armor... but still come in second to bears for farming and tanking all of Plasma Pyramid. They're vital to the team with their healing which also negates break armor (huge tank-killer), but Ursans still are made for it from the start.

I'm making a Bear so I'll have both.

[Gryndeon]

Well, I made level 35 in the swamp with 100 str (120 with the gear), 11 int and the rest in dex. Five mages - a bowchantress, a couple paladins - were great in the early going, but ended up with just me and a couple of tanks. I didn't die as much as I did as pure or dex Mage, and I can go in to apply nightmare, weaken and drain life, then run like heck to recharge. Must have used up 300 mana pots for the entire swamp.

A few more questions/observations:

1. Why should I ever need health pots? I tried using them but I didn't see any difference in performance.

2. In picking an armor, is the armor stat the most important consideration? I want to get as little damage as possible when in a melée.

3. For the speed numbers in the weapons, is lower better, i.e .8 speed better than 1.6?

4. Between hit% and crit hit, which should have more weight?

5. Lastly what's the deal with people asking you to trade while the fight is in full swing? There may be a shortcut others know about, but when I pm somebody, I can't see what's going on in the game. I've ignored pretty much all messages like that, and I think they're not happy with me.

And why do people invite you to a game, then disappear when the going gets really tough? I think that's rude, but I may be expecting real world behavior that doesn't really apply in the virtual one.

Okay, the last two are really just rants.

Thanks for all the help. I'm officially addicted to the game.

[Royce]

A few more questions/observations:

1. Why should I ever need health pots? I tried using them but I didn't see any difference in performance.

2. In picking an armor, is the armor stat the most important consideration? I want to get as little damage as possible when in a melée.

3. For the speed numbers in the weapons, is lower better, i.e .8 speed better than 1.6?

4. Between hit% and crit hit, which should have more weight?

5. Lastly what's the deal with people asking you to trade while the fight is in full swing? There may be a shortcut others know about, but when I pm somebody, I can't see what's going on in the game. I've ignored pretty much all messages like that, and I think they're not happy with me.

And why do people invite you to a game, then disappear when the going gets really tough? I think that's rude, but I may be expecting real world behavior that doesn't really apply in the virtual one.

1. I'm not sure what you mean. The main time for an enchantress to use health pots is when you are fighting a boss, mana shield is off, and you can't heal fast enough to maintain health. Otherwise heal thyself, and just use mana pots, you should go through much more of them (until you hit level 40 and get Thothed out).

2. Well, most armor of any given level will have the same armor rating, and really what you will be looking at, especially when you hit level 40, is additional stat boosts (like regen, crit, dodge, etc.).

3. Think of it like a reload time. The bigger the number, the more time it takes between shots.

4. You want your hit% at 100% if you can (though higher is okay since it can be debuffed), while crit you just want to get as high as possible (basically your points in Dex should eventually take care of all your Hit% needs, and give you some Crit, which you can then supplement with Crit bonuses from gear and buffs.

5. Pay no attention to those people, or if you have a second to spare just message them something like "trade after", often that will work, and if you don't do it, often the person will not only keep messaging you, but also will not be helping you fight.

[Gryndeon]

Thanks again, Royce. I'm going to practice with the health pots in the lower levels to see if I get the hang of it. I'm frustrated that it takes too many swings to kill anyone (at least 4 with zombies). I watched some level 45 archers kill with pretty much one shot. The bears are a little harder to observe because they're usually covered with bodies.

My hit% is currently 114. I guess I'll start putting more consideration to crit when trying on similar gear.

[Royce]

I'm frustrated that it takes too many swings to kill anyone (at least 4 with zombies). I watched some level 45 archers kill with pretty much one shot. The bears are a little harder to observe because they're usually covered with bodies.

As a paladin your weapon damage will always be sub-par, though you can do serious damage for a short time if you combine BOM with Nightmare, particularly if you use an armor breaking weapon like a trident or spear. You will find that your skills are where the majority of your damage comes from (and it can be a considerable amount of damage ).

[Gryndeon]

As a paladin your weapon damage will always be sub-par, though you can do serious damage for a short time if you combine BOM with Nightmare, particularly if you use an armor breaking weapon like a trident or spear. You will find that your skills are where the majority of your damage comes from (and it can be a considerable amount of damage ).

Yup. I like that I can run in at the big boss, apply nightmare, drain life and whatever else i got, then run off to recharge without dying right away, which used to happen when I was a pure Mage. I also think that since I tap on the big boss as soon as we see him so I can auto attack, he always ends up running after me! When someone else attacks him before I do, then I just run behind the big boss and keep applying all my spells.

The most fun I had was still at the swamp when everyone had died and the crocodiles were swamping me (no pun intended), so I had to go with resurrect while doing nightmare, lightning and firestorm. I've survived that situation a few times. I don't think that would have been possible as a pure Mage.

It's almost embarrassing to have Frogmar chase me all over the swamp, though.

P.S. These campaigns are definitely not earning me enough money to pay for the potions so far. Good thing I accumulated a little bit from the earlier campaigns. Back when I absolutely had no idea what potions were for.

[Royce]

Yes, the thing about paladins is that they can basically act like Int mages if they want to, and without sacrificing any magic capability (just a smidge of natural regen and mana pool that Int would give you). And then on top of that, they are much more rugged. However, you should know they are coming out with a long awaited stat-driven skill update soon that will mean Int will cause enchantress spells to be more powerful (welcome back to the game Int mages, it's been a while ). Anyway, details are here: http://www.spacetimestudios.com/show...-Driven-Skills!

This will change everything for hybrids, but hopefully it will equalize things rather than favoring pures too much (but I suspect pure archers will become truly devastating).

As for the gold spent on pots, that's just the way it goes for paladins up to level 40 when you can wear Thoth gear. After that, you will not need to buy many pots. For now, try to wear Croc's gear if you can find it since each piece gives you 1 M/s.

[Gryndeon]

Almost level 40 now, and I'm looking forward to the better gear. I really like the paladin. I did a few more respecs, and I still ended up as a str Mage. I like that I can run around, apply the nightmare/weaken/drain life spells on the big bosses, and not get instantly killed.

It's ironic that I end up in the roll of support Mage after all. I initially wanted a more rugged avatar to be able to join the melée, but I'm more useful just healing/buffing/debuffing, etc.

One observation/question: I can't understand why anyone would want to put more than one skill point into shield. Self buff is only 4 to 12 for shield, while party buff (blessing of vitality?) gives you 8 to 32 for the same amount of time.

[Volksy]

You can combine the two defense buffs