Curse

Captain Robo · Jul 24, 2006, 05:26 PM // 17:26

I will be the first to say that playing Ritualist is perhaps my least favorite thing to do in this game. It's extremely boring, and I feel kind of cheated that a character that does nothing significant to further your team's ability to deal damage can have such a profound effect on the game. In fact, the Ritualist is the sole instance of a keeps-you-from-losing effect that can actually influence the game in a proactive manner.

With that said, I've experimented around in order to find the best possible medium for Spawning vs. Communing which gives the best spirits. For a while I relied on a method I called "Hat-Switching", where I used a +4 Communing Hat in conjunction with a +4 Spawning Power hat, and switched off between them when I was using Ritual Lord or casting Spirits. Here are my findings

For example, this is the skillbar I prefer:

12+3+1 Spawning Power
12+1 Communing

Boon of Creation
Ritual Lord
Shelter
Union
Displacement
Soothing
Signet of Creation*
Resurrection Signet

An alternative build can be:

11+3+1 Spawning Power
11+1 Communing
8 Inspiration/Illusion

Substitute Signet of Creation for MoR, MoC, or Distortion

But it really, doesn't matter.

If you will recall, the equation for the Health of a Spirit is

(50 + (Spirit Level * 20)) * (1 + Spawning Power * .04)

Therefore, a Spirit summoned with 13 Communing and 16 Spawning Power will have the following health

(50 + (7*20)) * (1+ (16*.04)) = 311.6 Health

Ritual Lord Recharge = 79% (12.6 Seconds for a 60 Second Recharge Spirit)

A Shelter with that much health will take 34 Damage per hit, netting

Shelter = 10 Hits
Union = 21 Hits
Displacement (A level 9 spirit at 13, with 377.3 Health) = 7 Hits

Now let's switch up the attributes... at

12+3+1 Communing
12+1 Spawning Power

Ritual Lord Recharge = 67% (22.2 Seconds for a 60 Second Recharge Spirit)

(50 + (8*20)) * (1+ (13*.04)) = 319.2

Not a huge difference in health, this mere 8 points, but it does affect the life of Shelter, who now takes 28 Damage per hit

At this attribute setting:

Shelter: 12 Hits
Union: 22 hits
Displacement (A level 11 Spirit at 16 Communing with 410.4 Health): 7 Hits

Conclusion: A higher spawning power Ritualist leads to a more user friendly Spirit Spamming. The benefit of having a higher communing only affects one spirit, Shelter, by giving it a mere two more hits.

The difference in Ritual Lord percentages says it all. At 16 Spawning Power, your spirits will recharge a full 10 seconds faster than they would if you had 13 spawning power. The additional 2 hits that higher Communing would give Shelter are effectively negligible given that you have 10 free seconds to cast it again.

Higher Spawning Power lets you cast virtually the same spirits, more often. The verdict is clear. Use a ritualist with a full 16 Spawning - 13 Communing, or 15 Spawning, 12 Communing, 8 Whatever

*Signet of Creation is an excellent little tool that extends the life of Shelter, Union, and Displacement, by a great deal. It gives Displacement 2-3 more hits, provided that it doesn't die by the time you use the signet, and it makes Shelter and Union practically invincible for a full thirty seconds.

DieInBasra · Jul 24, 2006, 06:36 PM // 18:36

14 is the breakpoint for lvl 8 displacement, union and shelter, so whever I roll a pure rit it's alwasy 15/14, useing two major's and the hat. That's 336 health per spirit, more then either of yours, with only a 4% loss on rit lord vs 16/13, 4 more damage per shelter, and 3 more damage per displacement then a 13/16. I think that's the best option.

Captain Robo · Jul 24, 2006, 06:47 PM // 18:47

That's certainly intriguing.

And you'd still have 5 more health than if you used just a superior rune.