Curse

ubermancer · Jun 28, 2006, 05:09 PM // 17:09

I bring you today a build 'totally' useless as a whole, but disgustingly tanky with even a few skills.

The concept is to stack as much freakin armor/absorption on yourself as you can with just one person, and use a stance too.

W/E

16 (12+1+3) Strength
4 (3+1) Tactics
12 Earth Magic

Armor of Earth (53 AL)
Kinetic Armor (68 AL)
Watch Yourself (7 seconds)
Dolyak Signet (42 AL, 21 seconds)
Wary Stance (7 seconds)
"On Your Knees!"
Whirlwind (15 dmg!)
Teinai's Wind (15 dmg!)

Armor of Earth buffs you by 53 armor, and Kinetic Armor adds a hefty 68 armor onto that. Dolyak Signet represents 42 armor itself, while "Watch Yourself!" gives another 20. Combining this with a +5 armor (enchanted) longsword of defense (presearing item) and a -2 -2 shield, you will have 209 armor over base, as well as 4 points of universal absorption, and 5 points of attack absorption.

Assuming Sentinel's Armor (just because its all one number then) you would have 309 armor. Aatxes hit my 80 AL Necromancer for 200 even on a non-skill crit, meaning that their sword has a damage range of ?-200. Now the question is, how much would an unweakened Aatxe hit against this? Well every 40 points the amount of base damage you take is reduced by 1/2. Since Aatxes are level 28 and very likely to crit against a PC, I will use 80 AL and 200 damage as the baseline.

Going from 80 AL to 280 is a 200 point increase, which means that Aatxes will deal one thirty second of their normal damage [2^(200/40)]. That means they will hit for around 6 damage [200/32=100/16=50/8=25/4=6.25]. Before absorption. After absorption, Aatxes hit for 0 against you. Zero. None, nada, and without you even having to keep Watch Yourself up.

I am unsure of the base damage of the Leviathan and Thorn Wolves, but Wild Strike hit my 236 armor Elementalist for -77, and the Leviathan has a habbit of one shot killing 60 AL targets with around -600. The Thorn Wolves will likely hit around -15, and the Leviathan would hit for -20. Assuming, of course, that you can somehow keep your enchants up around the Leviathan! (those figures are largely speculative, but I am sure on the Aatxe)

Of course keeping Kinetic Armor up on a Warrior is a bit of a tricky matter. Thats where the bottom skills come in, you use Wary Stance to fuel your spellcasting. Normally this a poor idea, but Wary Stance and the Factions skill On Your Knees combo beautifully, as Wary Stance will give you 35 points of adrenalin per block, and On Your Knees only needs 150 points to charge, and connecting with an attack gives you 25. Also, Wary Stance gives you 5 energy each time it procs.

It is very important to note that it only procs on attack skills, and triggers 100% of the time. Of course, its also important to realize that On Your Knees requires an adjacent KD'd enemy to trigger, so you have to find some way to regularly knock your enemies down... double Whirlwinds are the ideal method, as a KD'd enemy isnt attacking you, and I guess thats a form of defense, and thats kinda what Im going for here. Alternatives include Counter Blow, Stoning/Weaken, etc. But double whirlwinds will (eventually) kill everything around you, and at the same time (you hope).

This is key, as this build, for all of its absurd power when working properly, is very easily rendered pointless. As it uses alot of energy and adrenalin but has a very conditional energy management / adrenalin gaining source, a lack of enemies, or lack of enemies using attack skills, can quickly cause energy to become a problem. Also, it requires you to be positioned adjacent to an attacking foe.

Possible teamplay variants would likely drop Kinetic Armor and include Sliver Armor. Sliver Armor does a linear amount of damage according to how often you are being hit, and all to the same target. Comboing with EOE and Putrid Explosion can quickly cause a group of enemies to suffer from a severe case of death.

Aftershock also works well with Whirlwind, should a space for it become available.

Additionally, a partner casting a Balthazar's Spirit on you will help make the build more resilient to a lack of foes.

It may also be unfeasible or less then ideal to try to keep Wary Stance up. Use other powerful stances that are limited by their recharge times (Gladiator's Defense, Shield Stance, etc) and combo them with On Your Knees.

Should knocking down a foe regularly become too inconveniant, try using Renewing Smash (20 second recharge) to recharge your Warrior-only stances... but be sure it does not miss.

Also, if you use multiple stances, be sure to protect your more crucial skills with the 100% block chance of Wary Stance.

BanaXX · Jun 28, 2006, 11:26 PM // 23:26

beautiful build,

Downfall is... have u ever tried it yet?

lilnate22 · Jun 29, 2006, 01:36 AM // 01:36

its kinda pointless to have that much armor.... all u need is like a w/me fow solo build and ull be fine

ubermancer · Jun 29, 2006, 03:34 AM // 03:34

Yes Ive tried it. The significant downfall is that it requires you have ALOT of things attacking you, because you have to make sure you have at least one attack skill used against you every second... and depending on what sort of enemies you fight, this may take ALOT of doing.

Yes, I know its pointless to have that much armor. BUT, the thing is, I kinda admitted that in the first sentence. And, I want to actually tank Thorn Wolves rather then just trap them. Theres something about having a full-strength pack of Thorn Wolves barreling down on my Warrior, and him surviving, which I find attractive.

Or having the Leviathan only suceed at tickling me. (granted my teammates would have to take care of the disenchants)

CKaz · Jun 30, 2006, 02:33 PM // 14:33

I found the read interesting (as all your builds).
Sorry to see you're leaving GW, though I understand the move.