Curse

Daeheru · Nov 04, 2010, 05:22 AM // 05:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aqrab

So would you guys run a defensive skill while running CA and Wota or no? I always get the feeling that I'm only getting half the benefit of the skill when running CA and Wota together.

I don't run any defensive skills on my bar. I took out Shadow Refuge and Crit Defenses for SY! and Asuran Scan. Leave the job of keeping you alive to heroes or other players that are set up for that role. If you find yourself needing a skill, look at what your heroes are doing and see what you can do about it.

I was using a monk hero and I noticed that sometimes I would die, not because I was taking too much damage but because I wasn't being healed. Turned out that even though every skill in my hero's bar cost 5 energy and he had GoLE, he was almost always at 5 or below energy. Tried switching him from UA to HB so he wouldn't have the degen from UA, he was better at keeping people alive but he still had energy problems. Finally got tired of him and switched him for N/Rt healer. Energy management and decent heals. If you find that the heals aren't enough, you can try to take out another hero for another healer (assuming you're also using a henchman healer) or you can try taking a Prot with you.

Just try to identify what the problem is and play around with your party until you get something that works. Currently I'm farming Secret Lair of the Snowmen on my sin, and I'll die (not wipe) 1-3 times per run because of their spikes. Having 10+ snowballs doing 50 damage each is not fun. I'm considering taking a prot if microing my heroes doesn't work. If for whatever reason that doesn't work (stupid henchmen

) I'll probably just run perma and tank the snowballs.

I just realized it's freakin snowballs that are killing me... what kind of snowballs are those snowmen using?

Anyways I guess the bottom line is that you should leave your heroes with the job of keeping you alive, and if you're having trouble staying alive without a defensive skill, it's probably your heroes. They aren't smart like humans. Take my monk hero for example; he's using a build that would be easy for me to manage energy with for an extended amount of time without waiting for energy between fights, but he runs out of energy after like 10 seconds.

Aqrab · Nov 06, 2010, 01:46 PM // 13:46

Good post, and I see what you mean. I run Sabway with mostly two other healer henchmen if I can. So they do a pretty good job at keeping me alive, I was curious about the defensive skill because it would provide that extra protection that would may be avoid you being killed from that spike. Some good setups would be as you said with CA and WotA

Jagged Strike
Fox Fangs
Death Blossom
Critical Eye
Critical Agility
Way of the Assassin
Save Yourselves
Dash

Jagged Strike
Fox Fangs
Death Blossom
Critical Eye
Critical Agility
Flashing Blades
Save Yourselves
Dash

Jagged Strike
Fox Fangs
Death Blossom
Critical Eye
Critical Defenses
Way of the Assassin
Save Yourselves
Dash

Axel Zinfandel · Nov 06, 2010, 05:57 PM // 17:57

The only other thing I can see Jagged being replaced with is Unsuspecting Strike, but I'd only use this if I had spare zealous daggers or using WotA or otherwise felt confident in my energy pool.

Anyway, Elite skills with the build are up in the air and vary. Although it looks like you're only getting half the benefits with WotA, It'd be very useful in case CA gets stripped or otherwise runs out (doesn't happen much, but it DOES happen)

Fox's Promise is good against a lot of blocking. On the flipside, Flashing Blades is good if you want to block a lot. I find you are targeted a lot as a frontline sin doing retarded damage, so it would be good.

For a blanket elite I'd say Flashing Blades or Way of the Assassin, as both are handy overall. Fox's Promise is good against blocking, but in most scenarios where blocking is a problem, you can be just as effective in ignoring them and choosing a different target (there are exceptions, like raptors, which although not too threatening, they annoy me to all HELL while running these types of builds).

Among the odd ones, Siphon Strength can be good against hard hitting bosses if you expect to fight them.

Overall, this is one of the few REALLY good builds where elite doesn't really matter.

Asuran scan, I have to point out, is only good in my experiences in HM and against bosses. Typically, I'm running with at least a hero with Strength of Honor, and my DPS is already so high that people drop like flies. Asuran scan is .75 seconds I could be using to kill everything lol.

But seriously, play around with what you like, cap skills as you go along, and don't worry. You already have a very effective build.

Shabalbah · Nov 12, 2010, 02:24 AM // 02:24

Quote:

I just realized it's freakin snowballs that are killing me... what kind of snowballs are those snowmen using?

The snowballs are actually spells, so what I do is not focus on dealing damage, but rather take SF and EVAS with an Asura summon and SY! and run spear/shield set (to fuel adrenaline) with minimal self enchants for healing.

That way, you're getting regular attacks from snowmen which hit for next to nothing, and you're still dealing damage through summons, and yo can draw aggro from the second you step into the range of snowmen, allowing nukers/spikers/what ever other heroes you're running to take out the snowmen.

Hope that helps

Tyris Requiem · Nov 12, 2010, 10:51 AM // 10:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Axel Zinfandel

Asuran scan, I have to point out, is only good in my experiences in HM and against bosses. Typically, I'm running with at least a hero with Strength of Honor, and my DPS is already so high that people drop like flies. Asuran scan is .75 seconds I could be using to kill everything lol.

Scan is absolutely worth its slot because it allows u to do decent burst damage to drop a key target in a couple of seconds if needed.

My sin typically runs:

Jagged
FF
DB
Scan
Flashing Blades
"SY!"
Crit Agility
Assassin's Remedy

I found "SY!" in particular to be absolutely indispensable in HM for mitagating damage. Flashing Blades is an oshit button to keep me alive in tough situations. It can also be pre used before aggroing mobs to allow u to tank a little and ball stuff up for Spinter, RoJ etc. Sins Remedy is handy to cast over Crit agility when u aggro. Gives you blind immunity and an extra cover for Crit agility when u first aggro. I sometimes switch this out for some other utility like Wild Blow or Crit Eye depending on the area though.

Aqrab · Nov 13, 2010, 08:52 PM // 20:52

I pretty much run the exact same build but I have Critical Eye instead of Assassin's Remedy. I agree with using Asuran Scan in HM, really does help out a lot, especially with the bosses.