Curse

Laughing_Man · Jan 09, 2007, 05:55 AM // 05:55

Anybody have anything good? I'm starting the character in Prophesies, then gonna jump over to FActions when I get to LA and get my armor.

I'd like to focus on damage, rather than the wards, but I'm not even sure which skills are worth anything atm

Cebe · Jan 09, 2007, 09:13 AM // 09:13

I use the following build, generally, when I go earth:
(before Nightfall came out...)

[skill]Earth Attunement[/skill][skill]Glyph of Lesser Energy[/skill][skill]Ward Against Melee[/skill][skill]Unsteady Ground[/skill][skill]Ash Blast[/skill][skill]Dragon's Stomp[/skill][skill]Churning Earth[/skill][skill]Eruption[/skill]

I change the Ward for whichever will be more useful...for example: Where there is a lot of melee I'll use Ward against Melee. In Raisu Palace I'll use Ward Against Elements. In the Southern Shiverpeaks I'll use Ward of Stability.

Enervating Charge + Stoning can also be fun. I guess you'll not be able to get the elite Unsteady Ground until you get part-way through Factions. I personally don't find energy an issue. If you get/can get to Elona I would use the elite Sandstorm instead, and consider using Stoneflesh Aura and/or Glowstone.

Note: Dragon's Stomp has an equivalent Prophecies skill called Earthquake. I just prefer the name Dragon's Stomp

[skill]Dragon's Stomp[/skill] = [skill]Earthquake[/skill]

Sorry if you can't get so some of these skills...I've never played prophecies from the beginning because I hate Ascalon (all my characters are Canthan / Elonian) so I'm not sure which skills are around before you get to LA.

Coloneh · Jan 09, 2007, 10:40 PM // 22:40

well, earth eles aren't usually centered around damage. alot of eles go for earth to have a balance of team protection and damage. wards are great, and you have some powerful AoE spells, but i would suggest elemental attunment as the elite. you can Dual attun and spam 25e spells all day without a worry.

Francis Crawford · Jan 10, 2007, 06:14 AM // 06:14

Earth Magic isn't good for damage except maybe if you have the Nightfall elite Sandstorm.

That said, when I have a warding build or something, Stone Daggers -- please stop coughing, guys -- contributes nicely to finishing off enemies.

Solo farming is a big exception to the above, of course. The problem is that most of the good Earth damage spells -- Aftershock, Crystal Wave, even Sliver Armor -- assume that the enemies are focusing their attacks on you. The other problem is that they aren't really all that good.

LightningHell · Jan 10, 2007, 08:11 AM // 08:11

If you're finishing off enemies, why not use Obsidian Flame? It ignores armor, which is great for, well, finishing off enemies, at high levels, when mobs have insane armor.

Otherwise I agree, Sandstorm is the only candidate for damage.

Cebe · Jan 10, 2007, 09:02 AM // 09:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coloneh

well, earth eles aren't usually centered around damage. alot of eles go for earth to have a balance of team protection and damage. wards are great, and you have some powerful AoE spells, but i would suggest elemental attunment as the elite. you can Dual attun and spam 25e spells all day without a worry.

Aye, Elemental Attunement would make a good Starter Elite for the build, along with Earth Attunement but I find with Earth Attunement and Glyph of Lesser Energy my energy rarely drops below 50%. This is partly due to the fact that the 25-energy spells are not spammable and have a fairly long cast time....all allowing you to get your energy back without much trouble.

Wards, I find, are boring and everyone moves out of them anyway. I much prefer earth over fire magic and it does pack a fair punch as far as damage output is concerned...what you have to remember is, some of the damage dealing skills can also be used to help protect the team...Think about the Jade Brotherhood Mages...They LOVE to use Dragon's Stomp as you're trying to cast a skill...which meand if you time your Dragon's Stomp well enough you could stop all enemies in their tracks from attacking/casting skills due to knockdown (something mantra of resolve, glyph of concentration etc.. can't overcome). Unsteady Ground is also fantastic for this...if they're attacking they fall over! Eruption Blinds if you can keep them in the area for 5 seconds with a strategically placed knock-down.

But as has been mentioned before....Sandstorm is "Teh Win"! It can't be stressed enough how awesome this skill is.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Francis Crawford

Earth Magic isn't good for damage except maybe if you have the Nightfall elite Sandstorm.

Hmmm..no Eruption + Dragon's Stomp = High damage + blinding.

Damage dealing, knockdown disruption AND team support! Just as good if not better than a ward imo.

Razorwood · Jan 10, 2007, 09:18 AM // 09:18

Ebon Hawk (weakness) and Glowstone (Gives energy when it hits a weaken foe) is quite a nice combo. Follow up with stoning to know the target down.

And if you want added defense don't forget about Kinetic armor gives over 80AL with 16 earth magic, and if you want to renew between fights because of the long recharge you can use aura of restoration.

$hade. · Jan 10, 2007, 10:22 PM // 22:22

I've got a simple one that i've been using in RA (It's only in the Shiverpeak arena right now though) and it's doing pretty good. Alot of exhaustion though if you spam too much.

Aurua of restoration, Earth Attutment, Earthquake/Dragon Stomp, Aftershock, Tenais Crystals/Crystal Wave, Obsidian Flame, Glyph of lesser energy, res sig.

You run up to someone after casting AoR and EA, mostly spellcasters cause of the low armor but i've killed off a couple of wars too

. Cast the Glyph and stand near the target and cast earthquake. If they're dumb enough to stay there they'll get knocked down. Proceed with aftershock which will cast a nice double damage. If they're still dumb enough to stay there cast Tenai's Crystals/Crystal Wave and they'll take some nice armor ignoring damage. If they're low on hp finish them off with obsidian flame.

Munanko Roha · Jan 11, 2007, 08:34 AM // 08:34

I think now no Earth build should avoid using Stoneflesh Aura if there aren't enchantments stripping foes.

This sayd, I would agree normally Earth is not the damage dealer of the elements, but with the above skill at maxed Earth + Glyph of Elemental Power you can really be the tank of your team and keep huge mobs aggroed; and at this point your point blank aoe skills really come in handy, things like Crystal Wave and Teinai's Crystals are 200+ damage dealt in 2 seconds and if you're targeted by a lot of mobs at the same time you can really spike things with your Sliver Armor.

Ozric · Jan 13, 2007, 06:15 AM // 06:15

[skill]Stone Daggers[/skill][skill]Obsidian Flame[/skill][skill]Unsteady Ground[/skill][skill]Aftershock[/skill][skill]Armor of Earth[/skill][skill]Aura of Restoration[/skill][skill]Earth Attunement[/skill][skill]Resurrect[/skill]