THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR
Or
Experiments in Degeneracy |
| Must be my competitive side. I can't just play a game and have fun
with it. Its very important for me to be REALLY good at anything I
do. Be it Magic, or Writing, or goofing off - I try to do them all
really well. And that usually requires a lot of work. |
| Mare and I bought the Hint book for Asheron's Call, and that's cool
and all. But much like the manual, it just glazes the surface of the
things I really want to know. Like which is more important to a warrior?
Strength, Endurance, or Coordination? How much of an effect does a
high strength have on your character? We all know it affects damage
- but how much? Is it worth it to spend millions of exp to get your
strength to 200? Will this make you a TANK? |
| I also have to know a lot of other things. Like, what's it like
to play a character that is good at everything? Something like The
Seeker (aka Doria) who can fight, cast spells, pick locks and still
serve you dinner dressed in a French maid outfit. |
| These are the things that keep me up at night.. |
| I also want to make sure that I am playing the most broken character
I can make - while still having fun. By broken - I mean, most powerful.
It's a Magic slang term. |
| It became apparent to me even during Beta that Magic users were
insanely Broken. They seemed to have the edge on a lot of other classes,
and seemed to be able to dish out tons o damage in a very short amount
of time. Unarmed seemed pretty damn effective too. Man, those guys
serve up the beats in record time. They look like the flash they pound
things so hard and so fast. Super beatdown machines those guys. |
| Well, as everyone knows, I play Druss. But I really wanted to see
what the other classes had to offer. Here's my experimentation. |
| The first thing I did was make up an everyman type of character.
I thought it would be cool to be able to do everything, and not need
anyone. I had done some experimentation with various stats, and noticed
with Druss, that it really didn't matter. No matter what you start
with, by the time you are 30th level - all your stats will be over
a hundred anyway. |
| So I made up "Gilgaslan" (the name comes from a cross between Gilgamesh
and Aslan the lion) |
|
Gilgaslan
|
| Str |
55 |
End |
55 |
| Coord |
55 |
Quick |
55 |
| Focus |
55 |
Self |
55 |
| specialize: nothing |
| trained: War Magic, Life Magic, Melee Defense,
Unarmed |
Gilgaslan had Life Magic, War Magic, Melee Defense, and was Sho so
he had Hand to Hand. He was specialized in nothing, because I had
read numerous articles that said that specializing was barely worth
it. That the difference at twentieth level between trained and specialized
was 15 points. So my war magic would be 160 instead of 175? No big
deal - I don't care. That's fine by me, just so long as I can do everything.
And, since my stats are all going to be over a hundred eventually,
I'll just make them all even. I started with 55 in all stats. Talk
about a Fighter Mage! All I needed to do is take lock picking at level
7, and I can do everything. |
| Pluses - A real everyman. I could heal myself, I would eventually
take item so I could portal, I could fight if we went into a dungeon,
and no locked door was going to stop me. I could power level at the
Mattie cave because I had mage skills, and if I wanted to go into
the mite maze where Mages are pure meat, I could switch to hand to
hand and serve up the Bruce Lee Beats. |
| Minuses - Jack of all trades, master of none. While I could do everything,
I sucked at doing it all. At sixth level, I still only had 67's in
all my scores. Which mean that even Monounga hill was just a huge
challenge to me. It bugged the crap out of me not being able to just
WADE into things, and my magic wasn't powerful enough for me to be
able to power level like a real mage. I ran out of mana a lot, I fizzled
some times, and my hand to hand was increasing at a glacial pace.
|
| Overall - this guy was cool to play, and a nice character for some,
but not for me. Juggling components does nothing for me, and while
I liked being able to heal without so many failures, and be completely
self sufficient, I didn't like the fact that I was not a beatdown
guy. I like to beat things up. And I like having a big ol weapon to
do it. I don't like just using my fists. I like swords and clubs and
axes. I don't get a charge out of hitting fast. I get a charge out
of seeing "You jolt Banderling Captain for 69 points of Damage!" |
| The next guy I tried was Kimota. I don't remember his theme. More
on him if I remember. I think he was going to be my paladin character,
and he had a sword, but I don't remember why I deleted him. He had
a Strength of 100 and a Coordination of 100. |
|
The guy after that was Basherr. Basherr was my Mace guy. I saw
an Onyx CLUB with Blood Drinker III in the Dires, and I thought,
"That would be cool looking. A big ol shield and a big ass BAT to
hit people with. I never see anyone running around with a club.
I need to do that.
|
| And then I started to see other things that I wanted. Mace fighters
have a lot of options for weapons. Jitte's provide Melee Defense bonuses
(even the basic ones) and then there is also Clubs, and Maces, and
Morning Stars, and even Tofons. All of which look very different.
All of which no one is using. |
| And not only that, but Blunt weapons suck at lower levels, but are
really good at middle and higher levels. All golems hate blunt weapons,
and so do Olthoi. |
| So, I did the smart thing and bought Basherr a good Blood Drinker
II, Swift Killer II, Heart Seeker I Mace, and I brought it back to
Yanshi, gave it to Ginger and said "Give this to Basherr" and she
did. |
| Power leveling baby. Once you've don't it all, and seen some. Its
time to Power level. |
|
Basherr
|
| Str |
55 |
End |
50 |
| Coord |
100 |
Quick |
55 |
| Focus |
60 |
Self |
10 |
| specialize: Mace, Magic Defense |
| trained: Appraise Weapon |
I make Basherr with an eye to the Future. He is going to suck at
lower levels, but he is going to be GREAT at upper levels. He specializes
in Magic Defense, and he gets a 60 focus so that it ups his magic
defense, and he can power level just by ID ing things in town!!!
We all know how fast Mules go up - just by LOOKING AT STUFF!!! I
can use that to get Basherr up in levels, and - believe it or not
- you want Appraise Weapon SO BAD as a warrior in the Dires. You
really need to be able to see that that 25k Mace says at the bottom
"Must be a ruler level 6 to use" So you don't waste all your money
only to find out you can't use it.
|
| Basher is outfitted very nicely with Dillo hide, some reed shark
leggings, a buckler AL 36, and of course, that amazing Mace I found
in the Dires. |
| His stats are also with an eye to the future. 55 in most things,
100 in coordination, 60 in focus. He has a 100 in coordination because
as a warrior, its very important to HIT things that you are aiming
at. |
| Pros - I can ID a lot of stuff in town, and I gain a level doing
this. |
|
Cons - How dumb am I? Basherr is an ok fighter but he is not a
GREAT fighter. He levels fast, but I am already impatient. I don't
really see the horizon, or the fact that he was made to be good
later in levels. I see the fact that he is only o.k., not great
as a fighter. Also, I find out that Magic defense is based on Focus
and Self. Good - I have a 70 combined there. Hmm, Focus and Self
divided by TEN!!!! Divided by TEN??? Holy crap. That means if I
started with a 10, and a 10, I would have a Magic Defense of 2.
So, by wasting 50 points in Focus, I raised my magic defense by
5 points? That's NOTHING!!! I have 60 focus, for almost nothing.
|
| Wisdom - Finally |
| After all of my experimentations, I have learned some things that
I already knew. |
| I like being a TANK. I don't want to mess with wands, or mess with
magic ever. I don't want to be really good at avoiding magic at the
cost of not being able to stand toe to toe with a Rough Monounga.
I like wading into battle, like Druss, and just being the last one
standing. As an eye to the future, I need to look at what is going
to make my guy the best fighter ever. And I don't mean the best Item
Unarmed Fighter, or the best Item Bow Fighter, I mean the best melee
fighter that will never pick up a wand. Because, Miko has already
shown you the best way to make those. This is a formulae for those
who have no intention of ever being able to portal or cast swift killer.
|
|
Here are the stats for those of you interested in how to make the
best TANK ever.
100, 100, 100, 10, 10, 10
Yup. Pretty simple.
|
| Using this, you get maximum health, maximum damage, maximum starting
Sword, Axe, and Mace Skill, and you are slow as dirt and twice as
stupid. |
| Isn't that the point? |
|
HE WHO MUST NOT
BE NAMED
|
| Str |
100 |
End |
100 |
| Coord |
100 |
Quick |
10 |
| Focus |
10 |
Self |
10 |
| specialize: Axe, Melee Defense, Magic Defense |
| trained: Healing |
I make up "HE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED" with this formulae, and I
am disgusted with the amount of damage this guy can do.
I specialize in Axe, Melee Defense, and Magic Defense. I train
Healing. I don't even have enough points for Appraise Weapon, Appraise
Armor, Missile defense, or even Arcane Lore.
Since I am never going to hold a wand, what else am I going to
spend Skill credits on? Might as well specialize in the things I
love. Beatdown, and staying in the battle.
|
| At level 14, I do not even have arcane lore yet. ( I get it at 16)
|
|
Starting over? Follow the Miko plan for power leveling
1-6 - Yanshi Tunnels and Monounga Hill. Yanshi Tunnels have a
great spawn rate, and lower level characters can barely keep up.
Good place to rest right by the exit, and you can get a key to the
sword of lost light. Monounga hill is good treasure and a fun place
to clear off.
6-16 - Banderling Hill - the base and the top as you go up in
levels. Banderlings have great exp and drop healing kits. Less trips
to town. Get the top cleared off, kill everything that spawns. Near
14-16th level, head to the south between spawnings and the kill
the Banderling Raiders and Scouts down there. I made 20k in 2.5
hours last night. Not a bad job, but not the best.
|
| Pro's - I immediately left Yanshi Tunnels as they were not enough
of a challenge for he who cannot be named. I could kill everything
in there with one hit, and cleaned out the whole level at first level,
no trouble. I was level 3 in less than an hour and left. At level
14, I have 125 in all three of the first stats, then 45 quickness,
25 focus 25 self. I already have a 50 magic defense because it is
so cheap to train because it is specialized. I don't know who did
those formulae calculations, but 50 magic defense at level 14 seems
really good to me. Not just 15 points higher. |
| Cons - I can't use a LOT of good stuff because I have no Arcane
lore. But then, I don't really care. My super lightning axe doesn't
have any arcane lore requirements. I can use armor one and quickness
self one and that's about all. I run like a pig on a hot day in July.
But Druss started slow and at level 30 had no trouble bumping run
to 200, and even that's a little excessive. At the first few levels,
my focus was so low; I couldn't tell what basic weapons were in the
shops. Now that it is 25, I can tell what a sword does. But that's
about all. What does this guy do? He fights. He fights like nobodies
business, and much like the legend he emulates, he started out completely
amazing, and inspires awe in all who see him fight. Three stats in
the 120s at level 12 was sick, and they are just going to go up. |
| Hope you enjoyed it. |
|
Later
Jamie
C. Wakefield
Druss
Captain of the Axe
|
|
Swords are faster than axes - so axes do more damage.
|
|
But warriors do not do near as much damage in a short amount of
time as mages do. [Ed: unless the mage is nice and casts imperil
first :-)]
|
| Go fight outcast monoungas and drudge sneakers - put your power
to all the way to the right. Use your very best sword, fully charged.
Do you hit for 40, or kill them with one blow 2-3 out of ten times?
|
| Thats about right. |
| When Druss went to the dires for the first time - he would hit drudge
ravenors for 3 points with his best axe. |
| At home, he hits low level things for a lot more. |
| Al has a lot to do with this. |
|
Later
Jamie
|