Pale Master Guide

[Andoris]

Yes, I pretty much came to the same conclusion - gloves or belt. So the choice is between +2 con/8% dodge or 92 potency. Or between +45 HP, +6 con skills, existential stalemate and concordant opposition, and -10% SP cost. I'm leaning towards keeping my GS belt and running the Sage's Ring, though like you I really wish there were something better...would the Epic Ring of Elemental Essence do? It has a teeny bit of extra resistance on it... Maybe I could just switch between Sage's or con/dodge as the situation dictates? Hmm...

As for the Ring's wisdom and charisma, I believe the Deific Diadem will cover that concern.

Thank you for your excellent advice, as usual.

Doh... I keep forgetting that the Diadem is useful for other casting classes too Of course it has the other casting stats on it.

The ring of elemental essence is basically potency 90 for the elemental spell power.. only thing (that you care about) it is missing is force and nullification, which you have slotted elsewhere -- so, yes it is not a bad option. Swapping the ring can make sense, as you really only need the potency if you are going to dot up a mob.. you have Corrosion, Nullification, Combustion, and Force slotted elsewhere -- so using it as a swap can work.

[Eth]

Doh... I keep forgetting that the Diadem is useful for other classes too

Fixed.

I use that thing on my monkcher. 3 x +11 on stats that I use + 2 slots. Hell, yes.

[Andoris]

Fixed.

I use that thing on my monkcher. 3 x +11 on stats that I use + 2 slots. Hell, yes.

People still play Monkcher's? That is so 2013

[Eth]

People still play Monkcher's? That is so 2013

Well, someone has to, since everyone else changed to melee.

Just saying though, I wouldn't blame any non caster on rolling for a diadem. Not that it drops in the chest anyway.

[SynalonEtuul]

Did anyone ever determine whether or not Eternal Scorching Light stacks with Eternal Chilling Darkness (or with the Nether Orb's Energy Siphon for that matter)? I find the Nether Orb very useful in quests that use a lot of mana, and I'm planning an Eternal Chilling Darkness weapon - if Eternal Scorching Light were to stack, it wouldn't be much trouble to shoot off a scorching ray or firewall occasionally.

[SynalonEtuul]

If not, I'll be able to test with the Nether Orb at least when I finally give my bastard sword Eternal Chilling Darkness.

[Portalcat]

Did anyone ever determine whether or not Eternal Scorching Light stacks with Eternal Chilling Darkness (or with the Nether Orb's Energy Siphon for that matter)? I find the Nether Orb very useful in quests that use a lot of mana, and I'm planning an Eternal Chilling Darkness weapon - if Eternal Scorching Light were to stack, it wouldn't be much trouble to shoot off a scorching ray or firewall occasionally.

Don't know for sure about stacking with nether orb, but I would guess not. Eternal Chilling Darkness and Eternal Scorching Light do not stack, and they also do not stack with Fey Energy Tap.

I'm not sure on the exact interaction, but it seems as if they run in parallel with each other, so you are "topped up" whenever you trigger a buff larger than the one you currently have.

[Kirous]

Does it matter at all which which TF weapon type you create? If it is one handed and you don't care if its main hand only, isn't it then the best to go with a thrown weapon?
And if it is two handed, why not go with a great axe instead of a staff in the case you need to hit something.

[Eth]

Does it matter at all which which TF weapon type you create? If it is one handed and you don't care if its main hand only, isn't it then the best to go with a thrown weapon?
And if it is two handed, why not go with a great axe instead of a staff in the case you need to hit something.

Generally no, it doesn't matter. There are some things to consider though:
- Weapons that allow being centered (you never know, you may roll something with a monk split in the future)
- Quarterstaffs can add some spellpower through enhancements (Tier 1 AM)
- Proficiency - if you actually want to hit something, sure a GA does more damage, but don't forget to cast master's touch beforehand

[Kirous]

Generally no, it doesn't matter. There are some things to consider though:
- Weapons that allow being centered (you never know, you may roll something with a monk split in the future)
- Quarterstaffs can add some spellpower through enhancements (Tier 1 AM)
- Proficiency - if you actually want to hit something, sure a GA does more damage, but don't forget to cast master's touch beforehand

If I go with two one handed weapons for the flexibility, do you see any drawback in using a throwing dagger as the other weapon? I would see that beneficial in Shiradi for the Pin and procs.
Do you remember was there was any enhancement or something that would make a scepter a better choice for the second weapon than a club. They both are clubs as in weapon type so it looks like cosmetic only difference.

[Eth]

If I go with two one handed weapons for the flexibility, do you see any drawback in using a throwing dagger as the other weapon? I would see that beneficial in Shiradi for the Pin and procs.
Do you remember was there was any enhancement or something that would make a scepter a better choice for the second weapon than a club. They both are clubs as in weapon type so it looks like cosmetic only difference.

Same as with quarterstaffs mentioned:
Tier 1 AM: Traditionalist Caster: +3/+6/+10 Universal Spell Power when wielding an Orb or Staff.

It's not a must have, so won't break your build to go with something else. Throwers are indeed nice for shiradi lives.
As far as orbs go, keep in mind that an orb gives you a nice bonus to resistances and saves while actively blocking.

So for offhand an orb is a consideration. For mainhand I don't see any drawback to go with whatever you want.

[Kirous]

Thank you for the answers. I think I'll go with the throwing dagger since I still need an epic past life from Shiradi. I already have pretty good +5 nether orbs for the offhand plus one TF one-hander that can go in either hand. I can then mix and match those weapons depending on the situation what DC is needed and have a ranged possibility also.

[SynalonEtuul]

Does anyone see anything especially interesting for us in the first look at the Update 25 items? I don't personally see anything I really want for my PM (which I don't really mind, seeing as I still haven't got everything from other content).

[Andoris]

Does anyone see anything especially interesting for us in the first look at the Update 25 items? I don't personally see anything I really want for my PM (which I don't really mind, seeing as I still haven't got everything from other content).

Honestly, I don't see anything out of U25 loot that would be considered "End game gear" for any class/build.

Let's hope that No Worries throws in a bunch of new loot (or changed system) that hasn't been seen on Lamania yet or at least have the (sub-par) items in U25 have some cool new art so we can at least farm them for cosmetics.

[Andoris]

I wanted to capture some of the revelations Vargouille made in the last few weeks around Monster saves.

It can be as high as +28 to saves on the highest levels of Dungeon Alert. There are some straight saving throw boosts and some ability score boosts monsters receive with higher Dungeon Alert. It's much, much lower on low levels. Green alert is +4 (or +20%) to saves (+2 to saves and +4 to ability scores).

I looked Real Hard at some DCs and tested in various means and ways.

As far as I can tell, it is all exactly as we expected except there was something I was unaware of (and Temple of Elemental Evil is the first time I'm in charge of statting monsters, so we're getting through this together).

Monsters in Epic Elite get a special bonus to save against magic, and only magic, while they are healthy. This doesn't affect non-magical effects. There's a similar but smaller bonus on Epic Hard.

"Magic" in this case means all spells, and possibly some other abilities/effects that we've explicitly marked as magical over the years.

This starts at +6 to saves, drops to +4 once the monster is hurt at all, and then to +2 when between 50% and 75% health. Below 50% health they receive no bonus.

Is this affecting the whole game? And why oh why was this added? DC casters haven't been OP since 2011.

This was added in 2012, at the same time Epic got multiple difficulties.

Thanks for sharing that information Vargouille, it's appreciated. So both Dungeon Alert and health of the monster can affect their saving throws. Can you confirm if Dungeon Scaling currently changes monster saving throws in any way? When I tested a few years ago it didn't seem to and I recall Eladrin confirming that.

As far as I can discern, scaling with party size doesn't affect saving throws.

[Andoris]

..

On EE, without the special anti-magic (aka -6), Dretches, Hezrou, and Goristro have at least one save type below 50 (or even below 40 for the one with only one sub-50 save, or multiple saves below 50).

Kelno has a 53, Falrinth has pretty awful saves across the board (but is a Boss). Even Zuggtmoy has a below 50 save. These are all bosses who may have some other special stuff going on (especially the two end bosses).

These aren't all the same "weak save" type for each monster, and some of these are significant bosses that that we expect to provide some trouble.

Every human monster has at least one save at 53 or lower in Temple of Elemental Evil. (This was relatively easy to check since all humans are in one place.)

(Of course, this kind of detailed information isn't something we're going to normally spend much time giving out - we do want you guys to discover some of this on your own - but under the circumstances I wanted to spend some extra time looking at these guys to check for oddities.)

[Andoris]

Sharing is caring, some clarifying information on Dungeon Alert after looking more closely:

Monsters only get a buff to physical ability scores (STR, DEX, CON), which means that under Dungeon Alert they currently aren't getting Wisdom bonuses (nor INT, nor CHA), which further means their Will saves won't go up as much as Reflex or Fortitude. (And monster Casters generally aren't getting increased DCs for spells.)

Dungeon Alert monster buffs can include (at their strongest):

• STR, DEX, CON: Up to +24
• AC, To-Hit: Up to +16
• Fortification: Up to +100%
• Saving Throws: Up to +16 (not counting the indirect ability score buff to saves, which won't affect Will)
• Skills: Up to +24
• Movement speed: Up to +20%
• True Sight
• Immunity to certain triggered effects (I'm not 100% sure which things this affects)

..

[deredriel]

Is it a mistake i do or the golem heart proc (heal) hurt pm?

[Portalcat]

Is it a mistake i do or the golem heart proc (heal) hurt pm?

Golem's Heart heals PMs. It procs simultaneously as positive, negative, and repair healing, and the two that don't heal the character have no effect.

[Portalcat]

This starts at +6 to saves, drops to +4 once the monster is hurt at all, and then to +2 when between 50% and 75% health. Below 50% health they receive no bonus.

Thought experiment: does this mean PMs should be casting Chain Missiles prior to casting most multi-target DC-based spells?