Curse

Nooch Aweblade · Sep 17, 2005, 01:31 AM // 01:31

Ive been using this build for a while now. if anyone can give me a few pointers to improve it, i'd really appreciate it.

Warrior/Elementalist Lvl 20
Health: 469 (major rune)
Energy: 20

Attributes:
Earth Magic:11
Strength:9 (minor rune)
Swordsmanship:13(superior rune)

Skills:
Galrath Slash (+35 dmg)
Final Thrust (+35 dmg, +70dmg if under 50% health)
Sever Artery (22 seconds bleeding)
Shield Bash (Next attack blocked, knock down if it was a skill)
Sprint (12 seconds +25% speed boost)
Armor of Earth (30 seconds +50 armor, -24% speed)
Aftershock (80 dmg to adjacent, 130 dmg if knocked down)
Obsidian Flame (88 dmg, never missses, ignores armor, causes exhaustion)

Thanks for helping me out.

entropy · Sep 17, 2005, 03:16 AM // 03:16

no obs flame on a war its a big nono... I'm guessing this is for pve? well armor of earth is fine then. Take out shield bash for something longer bonnetis cause it runs on adrenaline.

Deathlord · Sep 17, 2005, 04:23 AM // 04:23

Your overall build seems okay, but theres some key points that you can definetly improve on.

Aftershock is a VERY costly skill that should only be used by a warrior if its full potential is unlocked which happens when the opponent is knocked down.
Obsidian flame is a decent skill for a geomancer but you don't have enough energy to afford exhaustion.
Sprint is a useful skill for chasing down opponents, unfortunately, the effects are somewhat negated if you use it with armor of earth.

Shield bash if keepable if you like using it, but the entire earth branch in terms of PVP is extreamly hazy if combined with sword. There is a decent PvE build that can probably go with it but you'd require a energy management skills such as bonettis while wearing gladiator armor or something to raise your max energy.

PvE Earth/Sword.

11 Earth
9 Tactics
13 Swords.

1. Galrath
2. Final Thrust
3. Sever Artery
4. Watch Yourself
5. Earthquake
6. Aftershock
7. Armor of Earth
8. Bonettis Defense

If you possess a few decent healers on your team, you can probably round up (Don't go aggro crazy) a few mobs and do a EQ + AS combo (Keep in mind if you want to do it close to each other it'll require 35 energy which would probably require a energy offhand + Gladiator to use. You possess 3 defense skills, but theres no actual self-healing so don't plan on soloing too much unless the monsters are doing 0 dmg. As for PVP, I'd highly recommend you find another secondary element or find a way to spam/keep up wards.

Nooch Aweblade · Sep 17, 2005, 01:41 PM // 13:41

Im not sure if i want to raise my tactics so much. besides, i prefer the wyvern set to gladiators. This build im probably going to use for PvE only. ill consider using bonettis, but with 0 tactics it only lasts 5 seconds. i cant take any more away from strength because my shield needs 9. i guess i can take out obsidian flame. i would take out shied bash, but i cant find anyother way to knock down opponents without having to boost my energy or switch to hammers. with 11 earth magic, armor of earth is my main way of staying alive in PvE so im going to keep that up there. I like having a little bit in strength, but if i can find a shield that requires 7, i'll put those extra points into doing more damage. as for aftershock, im going to keep it up there because its saved my life a few times when i was trapped in a crowd of mobs. it does a good deal of damage to everything around you, even if they arent knocked down. i also want to get myself a superior vigor to bring up my health some more. i just wish it wasnt so expensive.

striderkaaru · Sep 17, 2005, 01:54 PM // 13:54

i play a w/e as well, so i can hopefully give you a few tips.

first of all, as mentioned before, aftershock is a high cost spell that is only extremely effective when the opponent is knocked down. the sword line doesn't have many choices in terms of knockdown, so you should probably go hammer if you want to use aftershock.

also, obsidian flame isn't very good since you never want exhaustion as a warrior.

i can understand that you want to have armor of earth to survive longer, but it seems like you're set up for damage dealing rather than tanking.

why don't you take a look at the water line? slap on an icy hilt and a pommel of enchanting on your sword. use conjure frost and armor of mist for extra damage, extra armor, and extra speed. armor of mist doesn't give as much armor and doesn't last as long as earth, but it's still extra armor and actually gives you a speed boost. that way, you can replace sprint too.

rii · Sep 17, 2005, 03:58 PM // 15:58

As a possible solution to sword knockdown, try bulls strike. Its a melee attack that knocks down moving foes. Not really as secure as a hammer, but its some nice added damage as well, and kiting is big.... so slam the sprint and try this.

Nightsorrow · Sep 17, 2005, 04:23 PM // 16:23

I'd say sub out Obsidian Flame and take Whirlwind - Bang, you have AoE Knockdown to use your Aftershock with

Quite energy intensive though sadly.

I'd also say to take out Sprint and go capture BattleRage - I LOVE it on Swordies. You can hit Battlerage as soon as you get the Adrenaline, charge up to 10 Adrenaline, pull of Sever->Galrath->Gash->Final Thrust, and still gain enough energy to renew BattleRage before it expires. Try it

Nooch Aweblade · Sep 17, 2005, 04:47 PM // 16:47

im not all that far into the game. ive just gotten into the crystal desert, so i dont think im far enough to capture any elites.

Nooch Aweblade · Sep 17, 2005, 04:55 PM // 16:55

ill look into getting bulls strike, but until then i guess whirlwind is ok. itll tkae all of my energy to use the knockdown/aftershock combo though...

Nooch Aweblade · Sep 17, 2005, 06:16 PM // 18:16

ok i tried this out. its just too difficult to use both whirlwind and aftershock while keeping armor of earth on me. i would need to either exchange my shield for an artifact or get gladiators armor which i really hate. i also considered using gale, but it causes exhaustion and has 50%chance to miss....i need to get bulls strike...

Nightsorrow · Sep 17, 2005, 10:11 PM // 22:11

Remember Bulls Strike will only knock down a fleeing foe, whereas Whirlwind knocks down adjacent attacking foes - in PvE I believe the latter will be more common.

Consuming all of your energy will be a pain, I know, but you could always consider carrying an artifact and equipping that as your second weapon set. Hit Whirlwind + Aftershock in your first set, switch to second set for a quick energy boost to cast Armour of Earth, then back to first weapon set as soon as it's been cast. Just a thought

As for the Elite - my apologies, I didn't realise you were in the Crystal Desert. It's not TOO far away to get BattleRage, so maybe a consideration for the future

Nooch Aweblade · Sep 18, 2005, 05:56 PM // 17:56

kind of a complicated strategy, but i guess it will be alright to consider. as for using bulls stirke, does it work on an enemy that is charging at you as well as one that is running away? if so, i could hit sprint, rush the mob and bulls strike him, then use aftershock.
by the way, i got a new shield that requires 7 strength, so i took two points off, and im wondering whether to use them on earth or swords. which would be better for me?

Nightsorrow · Sep 18, 2005, 08:50 PM // 20:50

Consdiering your energy issues, I would think Sword would be a better place to use your spare points. But try using them on Sword for a bit, then on Earth for a bit, see which you prefer

In order for Bulls Strike to activate, it has to hit a "fleeing opponent" - so sadly they must be running away from you (I.e they have to be moving + you hit them in their Back), so sadly you won't knock them down if they charge at you.

Nooch Aweblade · Sep 18, 2005, 09:24 PM // 21:24

ok i put hte attribute points onto swords. actually, i also took one off of earth and added some tactics, then put bonnetis in my skill bar. i now have 10 earth, 7 strength, 15 swords, and 4 tacts.

Nightsorrow · Sep 19, 2005, 11:13 AM // 11:13

If you're going down a Tactics line, you could even consider draining all of your Strength attribute and taking a collector shield with Tactics requirement.

Nice idea with Bonetti's though, I hadn't thought of it in terms of renewing your energy pile after using it all up with spells. Good job

Charcoal Ann · Sep 19, 2005, 11:18 AM // 11:18

i'd suggest Earth Shaker {elite} and aftershock.
cuts down energy cost a lot. and earth shaker will only be ready near the end of a fight when enemies are at low health. a knockout blow.

Nightsorrow · Sep 19, 2005, 11:43 AM // 11:43

He's only in the desert, so he can't get that Elite, also he's using a Sword, not a Hammer.

Charcoal Ann · Sep 19, 2005, 11:47 AM // 11:47

you only need to have 4 hammer mastery for it to work at max efficiency. and i'm fairly sure Wielding a Hammer is not required. not sure where earth shaker is to be found though....

anyway if you plan on using aftershock really you want to be a hammer warrior (or have some other cheap and effective way of knocking people down)

another idea is simply to go for wards and armor bonuses with the earth line. you will take little to no dmg from most sources.

Nightsorrow · Sep 19, 2005, 11:53 AM // 11:53

Earth Shaker is a Hammer Attack, so you have to have a Hammer equipped for it to work. It's situated at the very top of Snake Dance, so not one of the more pleasant ones to cap anyway.

rii · Sep 19, 2005, 03:30 PM // 15:30

I tried bulls strike with aftershock. Worked great, cept somtimes the knockdown didnt trigger. At it seems that by 'fleeing', 'moving' pretty much works.