by Rynn Sun Apr 22, 2012 3:13 amhttp://tinyurl.com/7kytkxd
Believe it or not, everything I'm wearing is for PvP here! I'd love to explain this, so let me start off by saying this is a pranksters build, nothing in this build is intended for fighting nicely, or in many cases, fairly!
First: The Dark Hand is being used as a shield, I'm generally not planning on blocking with it, instead intending to parry, but if I do block with it, I'll be using it to turtle with Ricards Rapier... why? Well, two reasons, the shield only weighs 0.5 pounds, so it saved me a lot of room for armor in the build, and, most importantly, the Dark Hand stops it's particle effect during a "poke" from a rapier, so it effectively looks like I'm not blocking, baiting my opponent into the grasp of my leo ring.
Second: The Oolacile Catalyst has 180 mag adj at a very low intellect cost, enabling me to spend more energy on attunement in order to receive everything I'm looking for in this cruel, abusive build.
Third: The Balder Side Sword is the backbone of my assault, it looks like a rapier, so my opponents are likely to presume I'm turtling and avoid combat with me, but when they finally do initiate combat, the fast swing/recoil rate will permit me to dance in and out of their range with surprising accuracy, a full attack/roll away takes less then 0.6 seconds with this weapon. If I'm feeling ambitious, the stabbit animation of it's R2 does 75% of the damage a backstab would do, and so it's an amazing followup after making 2 R1 swings (where an opponent then smashes parry, assuming I'll make a third R1 mash.), especially if the Leo Ring activates, which would cause it to do 105% of the damage of a Riposte.
Fourth: Ricards Rapier is the killer of the build, I plan on 2 handing it most of the time, after casting Strong magic weapon on it. The R2 attack is, IMO, one of the most deadly in the entire game, and it is surpringly efficient with any Imbue spell, as the additional magic damage is added to each swing in it's entirety, which (if I was built to use CMW) would enable one to receive an additional 412 magic damage on each stab. On a character built around exploiting that, I've registered 2,100 damage from the entire R2 combo hitting, or when blocking with a Crystal Ring shield, 210. It's not fun to have happen to you.
The evil part here, if I love Riposting, and then mashing R2 instead of using the riposte, because with the leo ring, I can rack up 1300 damage before you have control of your char again, and half my combo is left at this point, so I can finish it up to usually kill you.
Now let's get into the spells, and their PvP uses, shall we? Remember, this is a prankster build, and it fights dirty, as you'd expect a darkwraith to do.
In practical combat, this build held up pretty well, I have 50 vitality, so I can survive plenty of hits, and my weapons are surprisingly powerful for both being under 400 attack. My favorite combo is Ricards Rapier and a Riposte, if I 'take' the Riposte, I do 670 damage, however, if I instead use my leo ring and the R2 attack (especially if I switch to two hands first), I can easily rack up to 1000 damage from the same attack. The BSS gets 760 on a riposte, and 812 with an R2 attack.
I use Ricards Rapier until I run out of Great Magic Weapons, and then I switch to the BSS. Ricards Rapier, as previously mentioned, can do 150+ damage if a person attempts to guard the entire combo, and even more damage if I hit directly (bonus points for Leo Blows!). The Leo Ring increases Counter Damage by 40% (this includes the Great Magic Weapon Buff btw), and I already have 20% naturally. This causes my Counters to be 105% of the strength of a Riposte with the BBS, and 80% of the strength of a riposte with the Ricards Rapier... however, Ricards Rapier can hit 2-5 times during that counter box, raking in up to 400% of the normal damage accomplished by a Riposte.
I challenged myself to make a build that could hold up in fair combat, while also having all the tools to be a jerk, with the exception that I am not permitted to use any overpowered gear or spells. So no WoG, or DWGR, just me and my blade (and maybe a pack of rabid enemies) to rely on... A few of the more polite people I fought today said I'm one of the more interesting encounters they have had the honor of battling.
Comments? Questions? Any Concerns?
Believe it or not, everything I'm wearing is for PvP here! I'd love to explain this, so let me start off by saying this is a pranksters build, nothing in this build is intended for fighting nicely, or in many cases, fairly!
First: The Dark Hand is being used as a shield, I'm generally not planning on blocking with it, instead intending to parry, but if I do block with it, I'll be using it to turtle with Ricards Rapier... why? Well, two reasons, the shield only weighs 0.5 pounds, so it saved me a lot of room for armor in the build, and, most importantly, the Dark Hand stops it's particle effect during a "poke" from a rapier, so it effectively looks like I'm not blocking, baiting my opponent into the grasp of my leo ring.
Second: The Oolacile Catalyst has 180 mag adj at a very low intellect cost, enabling me to spend more energy on attunement in order to receive everything I'm looking for in this cruel, abusive build.
Third: The Balder Side Sword is the backbone of my assault, it looks like a rapier, so my opponents are likely to presume I'm turtling and avoid combat with me, but when they finally do initiate combat, the fast swing/recoil rate will permit me to dance in and out of their range with surprising accuracy, a full attack/roll away takes less then 0.6 seconds with this weapon. If I'm feeling ambitious, the stabbit animation of it's R2 does 75% of the damage a backstab would do, and so it's an amazing followup after making 2 R1 swings (where an opponent then smashes parry, assuming I'll make a third R1 mash.), especially if the Leo Ring activates, which would cause it to do 105% of the damage of a Riposte.
Fourth: Ricards Rapier is the killer of the build, I plan on 2 handing it most of the time, after casting Strong magic weapon on it. The R2 attack is, IMO, one of the most deadly in the entire game, and it is surpringly efficient with any Imbue spell, as the additional magic damage is added to each swing in it's entirety, which (if I was built to use CMW) would enable one to receive an additional 412 magic damage on each stab. On a character built around exploiting that, I've registered 2,100 damage from the entire R2 combo hitting, or when blocking with a Crystal Ring shield, 210. It's not fun to have happen to you.
The evil part here, if I love Riposting, and then mashing R2 instead of using the riposte, because with the leo ring, I can rack up 1300 damage before you have control of your char again, and half my combo is left at this point, so I can finish it up to usually kill you.
Now let's get into the spells, and their PvP uses, shall we? Remember, this is a prankster build, and it fights dirty, as you'd expect a darkwraith to do.
- Great Soul Arrow
This spell is explicitly on my spell roster to catch people off guard after all the other things I do. A spell that hurts? Who would have thought it? I often spam this spell 8-9 times in a row against a slower opponent to get them used to dodging, then switch to my -real- tactics mid-battle, since a lot of players are, sadly enough, not good at adjusting to complete changes of tactics in the middle of a fight. - Hidden Body
I plan to use this spell when I've -been- invaded, not when invading. I'll use this, then hide around a corner until someone passes my position, generally without having seen me, running up behind them and backstabbing them. In addition, a lot of the time, people don't see me cast the skill, and so they assume I have a ring of fog equipped, thusforth further underestimating me by not knowing my setup very well. - Fall Control
There is plenty of places in this game, that when invading you must suffer a bit of fall damage to continue moving, or at least to continue moving fast. And when you suffer this fall damage, your opponent knows where you are coming from... Well, screw that. - Hush
Read Hidden Body, it has the same application in most situations, except this time it's for when running away/towards an opponent. - Hidden Weapon
I hide my weapon entirely from view, making it very difficult to figure out my range, or how powerful my weapon likely is. The effect is doubled by how my weapon setup are both rapier shaped weapons, adding to the confusion when I attack in weird manners with both weapons. - Great Magic Weapon
Ricards Rapier + Magic Weapon of any quality is GODLY. Simply pumps on an extra 100-150 damage with each of it's 7 jabs, making it a terrifying weapon to even have waved in your direction. (If I had CMM and TCC at 50 int, I add an extra 280 damage to each jab, allowing me to use a +0 Ricards Rapier... and win). - Aural Decoy
You know those assholes who hide behind the mobs and wait for you to come to them? Well, I say, why wait? I'll bring them to you. I get 20 casts, and this spell can drag enemies across the entire map, so sometimes I'll look like a snake charmer, with 40+ enemies tailing me... all getting ready to kill you. This spell has gotten me 12 pieces of hatemail tonight.
In addition, Aural decoy is one of "those" skills, because a lot of people mistake it for an attack, and will dodge right out of my way to avoid the mystery spell. The "Dodging because What the ***" effect starts to wear off around level 90, where people are more likely to be up for competitive PvP, and as such, fully aware that even if it hurt, it's not a valuable spell or one to worry about... until the enemies run over and kill them of course. (Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring makes the AoE area where enemies are pulled from 3 times larger, lingering dragoncrest causes them to look at the spot you cast the spell at for longer.
In practical combat, this build held up pretty well, I have 50 vitality, so I can survive plenty of hits, and my weapons are surprisingly powerful for both being under 400 attack. My favorite combo is Ricards Rapier and a Riposte, if I 'take' the Riposte, I do 670 damage, however, if I instead use my leo ring and the R2 attack (especially if I switch to two hands first), I can easily rack up to 1000 damage from the same attack. The BSS gets 760 on a riposte, and 812 with an R2 attack.
I use Ricards Rapier until I run out of Great Magic Weapons, and then I switch to the BSS. Ricards Rapier, as previously mentioned, can do 150+ damage if a person attempts to guard the entire combo, and even more damage if I hit directly (bonus points for Leo Blows!). The Leo Ring increases Counter Damage by 40% (this includes the Great Magic Weapon Buff btw), and I already have 20% naturally. This causes my Counters to be 105% of the strength of a Riposte with the BBS, and 80% of the strength of a riposte with the Ricards Rapier... however, Ricards Rapier can hit 2-5 times during that counter box, raking in up to 400% of the normal damage accomplished by a Riposte.
I challenged myself to make a build that could hold up in fair combat, while also having all the tools to be a jerk, with the exception that I am not permitted to use any overpowered gear or spells. So no WoG, or DWGR, just me and my blade (and maybe a pack of rabid enemies) to rely on... A few of the more polite people I fought today said I'm one of the more interesting encounters they have had the honor of battling.
Comments? Questions? Any Concerns?
