I actually used a normal 1-handed weapon and a shield; the extra armour really makes a huge difference. I think colossal weapons are just too weak in the game, as the damage boost doesn't really negate the loss in tankiness (and if you want pure damage, I believe 2 weapons does more). It wasn't the fastest killer, but I could pretty stand in the stick of enemies and watch myself heal faster than the foes could damage me. I did make a barbarian that went battlemage for mana strike though. It had great synergy with whirlwind.
It's 22. Wayward Souls is 11 and has been out longer. So even in the recent history it's not setting a record there. Both great games though.
Colossal weapon's value comes from the "sweep" effect (hits the 3 enemies in front of you). Against single targets, if you're not using Reckless Blow, you will feel really inadequate (even compared to a sword + board build) because of the slower attack rate (it seems to me weapons have different base attack speeds not tracked in the character sheet stats - colossal's are slow compared to a single weapon and fist weapons are the fastest, even faster than dual wield). Frenzy is vital for colossal weapons, it helps a lot to bring up your attack speed that much. If you can you should also use Victory Banner (Knight 2nd last skill), then again most melee builds should use Victory Banner. My barbarian/battlemage used Whirlwind, Mana Strike (with Flame Sword), Savage Pounce, and Wrath to destroy groups of enemies as a group of enemies. I used Ghost Hand to drag ranged enemies into the fray, and to stun the teleporting healers (to both stop their teleporting, and healing- of course you can only lock one down with Ghost Hand so 3 or 4 becomes a problem). Aura of Light for healing (I also had the witch passive Life Leech) and Premeditation to keep the party going. Finally, Frenzy and I had a solid build. Basic strategy was group the enemies in front, Premed + Whirlwind, Whirlwind, Mana Strike, Frenzy, Wrath then wait for the Wrath to wear off before repeating. Pepper in Aura of Light and Ghost Hand as needed (Savage Pounce could be replaced with another healing skill, Song of Vigor or Spirit Trace as you prefer, or Smoke Bomb or Victory Banner - I, personally, like the mobility and AoE but it's not necessary). It could get to 120 kills in arena (albeit slowly) with consistency (which is enough for me, I strive to crack 100 every time, and every kill past that is just gravy). Is my current Dagger + Sword build better? Well, it's faster, does more damage and gets farther so yes. But, the barbarian "AoE" definitely *works* (and that same build was used to beat the boss of the game with one tweak, Ghost Hand was removed for Reckless Blow)
Quite enlightening. How did you balance out reckless blow with the loss of life? I guess I didn't stick long enough with barbarian to unleash its full potential then.
With Reckless Blow, I only used it when Aura of Light was active and at least one of my trinkets was a life leech (% damage heal) trinket. Also, getting the legendary armour that gives you 5% life leech helps a lot. In fact, with Aura active and life leech gear, when you're low enough life Reckless Blow can *heal* you (not much, because you lose a bunch of life for using it, but then heal a bunch based on the damage you deal - if it is a critical hit that can be an net positive exchange). I was also very careful about when I used Reckless Blow (it was reserved for hammering healers in arena dead, or the occasional solid hit on a boss). I'm sure I didn't explore all of the colossal weapon options either, I went for a "Whirlwind" themed build and fiddled from there. Now that I think about it, Mass Hysteria may be a good crowd control option, but that's an aside.
I've been plugging around with this and I am finding that, while Wrath is active, I don't even get 50% KD chance against my primary target (let alone those wrath chains to). Makes me a bit sad, I am really enjoying Frenzy/Wrath but if the KD doesn't chain then I think it's better to go with swords (or, use Savage Pounce and Blade Rush instead of Wrath for AoE Knock Down Mayhem!).
end game does everyone on else have the endgame boss quest icon still there even tho they beat the boss is me
advice i am a level 35 wizard witch necromancer my build is a staller dps build to get rid of bosses and groups of enemies quick i have mordoth doomplate and the shadowmancers garb which one should i use experienced help pls thanks knollboss
This game has completely taken over my freetime lately. I'm neither a big dungeon-crawl or rpg fan, but I love action-adventures generally, and this has to be one of the most satisfying I've played in a while. I have three characters currently, but am struggling to make one of them work well: my Wizard/Battlemage. Anyone tried this combo and have tips? I've been focusing on rising my spell-power stat, and use dual-wield to increase my melee damage. But she dies awfully fast, and doesn't seem to deal enough damage to make up for it.
The battlemage is probably one of the weakest characters as of now, the melee and magic combo just isn't balanced enough. You'll find yourself having to be a higher level than usual to complete a dungeon. I believe it'll get a buff in a future update, but I am not certain. I would recommend switching over to strictly wizard, or if you're patient enough grind some levels for some HP. I would also focus on spells or melee, not both
I see, thanks. I've thought about switching her back to Barbarian/Battlemage. The elemental weapons worked pretty well for her colossal weapon earlier on before I tried more spell casting.
I have a lv42 Monk that can clear 200 kills in arena (the first 150 or so are routine). And by Monk, I mean uses Fist Weapons. At this point, with the character, her arena kills will only improve as she gains more levels and increases stats, so I consider her "high level". From what I can tell, the advantage to fist weapons is higher base attack speed (which is not reflected in the character stat sheet). Which is to say, auto-attacks often result in 3-4 hits in quick succession (where dual wielding attacks result in 2-3 hits in quick succession). Also, both Dex and Str contribute to melee damage, which means you can improve Dex for damage and Dodge chance. My build is organized around this feature. The two primary attack skills I use are Ki Blast and 1,000 Palms Technique. Palms is very good against a single target (7x damage divided evenly amongst one target is a huge spike) and still useful for wearing down a hoard when there are no healers. I use Victory Banner, Smoke Bomb and Aura of Light (all three of which I keep constantly active with skill recharge accelerated by Impending Doom) to bring my life on hit, critical rate and dodge chance up (also to make ranged enemies move to me). Ghost Hand provides a useful stun effect and is primarily used to drag back the skeleton healers when they teleport and, at the beginning of a wave, to isolate one and hit it with a full power 1,000 Palm. My final skill is Premeditate, which when facing a single foe, I use to get multiple Palm attacks, and when starting a wave I use to trigger Ki Blast twice in a row (which usually kills of the weaker enemies, even by wave 25 or so). Passives are Counter Strike (high dodge chance and smoke bomb forcing enemies to attack in melee result in lots of damage to enemies passively), Impending Doom (for obvious reasons), +10% crit with unarmed (can't remember the passive's name), 50% knock down on crit (can't remember passive's name, it's from Monk) and the 5% life leech passive (can't remember the name, from the Witch). The knock down passive isn't necessary (but nice, especially with 1,000 palms on larger groups as it knocks down a few enemies) and I could see it replaced with something else as suits your preferences (+50% damage on crit from Ninja, for example). Weapon: Feung's (The Legendary Fist Weapon) Armor: Doomplate (added armour is a huge boost to survivability, and the +5% life leech is a nice touch) it hasn't dropped for me, but I can see it working just as well with the Red Cowl (+5% crit, +50% crit damage).
