Kamina
Golden Boy
I just started Dwarf too. First i thought i'd ask around too about builds, but I just put my skills into things i use a lot. Like Power Bomb and Eagle Dive. I have not been disappointed of my choices so far.
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Dragon's Crown |OT| Knock down the crown
- Thread starter Caerith
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I just started Dwarf too. First i thought i'd ask around too about builds, but I just put my skills into things i use a lot. Like Power Bomb and Eagle Dive. I have not been disappointed of my choices so far.
Deified Data
Banned
Max out your power smash, your throws, your bomb stachel, and powder mastery.
Cosmic Forge
Member
A few things before I put down my build. One thing I noticed is that build needs change depending on difficulty. On normal, you can pretty much go full spazzoid on random upgrades and it won't hurt you. It's not until hard mode that you realize your mistakes. Don't worry, there's a skill respec potion (amnesia) that you can get once you unlock hard, and beat the 3rd floor of the new dungeon "Chaos labyrinth".
Once you hit infernal, those needs will probably change again. Just don't fret over skill choices, you'll get more chances to reset. For ex: going for an infernal build on normal will have a lot of your talents wasted, and vice versa.
Anyways, as of hard mode, this is what my goals are:
Power Bomb Lv10(MAX) DMG +150% to throws Shockwave range: 180%
Lethal Fists Lv10(MAX) Dealt damage +250% to barehanded attacks
Eagle Dive Lv5(MAX) 6 bombs, +90 dmg per bomb
Grand Smash Lv5(MAX) Power 180 Lightning Power 55 Number of Strikes 12
Frenzy Lv5(MAX) Power 60 Duration 4.0 s seconds
Magma Infusion Lv5(MAX) Usage Count 12 Duration 35 s Burn Rate 50% dmg
Powder Mastery Lv9 Power +80%
Trinket Maniac Lv1 HP Recovered 2
Rock Skin Lv1 Damage taken -20% during Pump Up.
Toughness Lv5(MAX) Resisted Damage 120
Vitality Boost Lv3 Max HP +50
Evasion Lv1 Number of evasions +1
Deep Pockets Lv3(MAX) Number of Bag slots: 10
Gameplay style, based on Grand Smash:
- Equip 2 sets of hammers in 1 bag
- Shortcut them with the < and > buttons
- Main rotation: Grand Smash > Swap Hammers > Grand Smash > Unarmed Frenzy combos > repeat
- Later on: pump points into Adroit Hands (take away from Frenzy/Magma) for faster rotation
- Eagle dive with upgrades is for misc situations (avoiding ground dangers, large bosses, waiting for hammers)
- Use throw to bowl over enemies, then jump in and finish with Grand Smash
- Grand Smash has invincibility frames starting on activation, use it to avoid attacks
- Grand Smash stuns enemies on the perimeter, giving you time to finish them off after
I personally don't use bomb satchel or fire barrels at this time, but I may change at some point. Here's the breakdown on usage:
(NOTE: Maintenance skill does NOT affect consumable skill items, only temporary weapons you pick up during dungeon runs, IE crossbows, etc)
Bombs
- Bomb + Square(or Circle) = throw a timed bomb nearby (1/4 screen distance)
- Bomb + Triangle(or down +Triangle) = drop it (no fuse, allows other chars to pick up)
- Bomb + Up + Triangle = Toss bomb high/far, will ricochet of screen edge
- Bomb + Forward + Triangle = Toss bomb straight (half screen distance)
- Bombs do high damage vs Golem Boss
- Bombs won't ignite on flooded/water levels
- Barrels stay where summoned, unless struck by something, then they roll a short range and explode
- Barrels will explode instantly from other sources, like other barrels or bombs. You can lay 3 barrels then toss a bomb into them for ex.
- Dwarf can pick up barrels with Up + Square just like enemies, will drop it after X seconds too (it rolls then explodes)
- Barrel + Square = toss barrel straight (covers whole screen unlike bombs)
- Barrel + Up + Square = toss barrel upwards with a high arc (half screen)
- Barrel + Jump > Square = jump then spike barrel (same as enemy)
- Barrel + Jump > Up + Square = jump then toss straight (same as enemy)
oh, nice. now I want one like that.Saw something neat on tumblr:
It's a cow eating grass!
Now I'm kind of tempted to create my own image-names.
CoachKevin
Member
Just started this on the Vita as the Amazon class and have a few questions.
Or basically, I am just looking for some protips for a beginner that hasn't played any Vanillaware games before.
I just finished the tutorial, and the first level. Died once.
Or basically, I am just looking for some protips for a beginner that hasn't played any Vanillaware games before.
I just finished the tutorial, and the first level. Died once.
Giolon
Member
OK, what sorts of questions? It's hard for me to know what kind of advice you're looking for. If you died 1 time on the first level, it doesn't sound like you're having extraordinary trouble. I died 2 or 3 times when playing as Sorceress on the first level at the boss XD
I do main Amazon though so I can run down what skills I think are good:
Deadly Revolution - critical for increasing your air damage.
Punisher - critical for increasing your chance to build a beserk stack and your ground damage.
Brandish - critical b/c it gives you invincibility during its animation
Beserk - critical b/c obvious
War Paint - Critical <--- this here is what turns your damage from great into ROFLMAO hilariously OP-seeming. Bosses will melt away
Iron Will - Critical, particularly when combined w/ War Paint. When you get knocked down, you lose your Beserk stacks. This stops you from getting knocked down at a cost of 5 health per second and limits all damage you take to 10. Pair this with an Invigorating Dram (regen potion) and laugh as all fall before your axe.
Parry - Conditionally critical. When you have no stacks of Beserk, the Amazon is incredibly slow. However, if you take 4 points in parry, Parrying a single attack gives you long enough to complete a 4-hit combo and get into Brandish invincibility. Some people only take 1 point though. You can alternately build Beserk stacks w/ unarmed attacks and deadly revolution in the air.
Evasion - Take at least 1 rank of this so you can dodge a second time to get away from larger unblockable attacks when necessary.
Deep Pockets - Take it all. Hold more stuff.
Outside of those, Stun Wave > Neck Splitter, tailor to your likings.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
Uh oh... I've spent quite a few points in her air skills but not Deadly Revolution...
I do use the Stun Waves etc. a lot and find them useful against mobs. I'm also fairly bad at timing parries, especially when the screen gets crowded, so while I spent 1 point in parry I rarely trigger it and when I do it's usually accidental. As for Deadly Revolution I'm not sure how it works, I was under the impression that I could already change direction in mid-air? I did spend points into adrenaline as I find that useful against finishing off some bosses, but I'm not sure at what HP level the adrenaline triggers. Is it when it's below 50%, 30%, 10%, or what?
So far (from memory) I've spent points in Stun Wave, Punisher, Berserk, Adrenaline, War Paint (I've yet to notice the "clones" appearing though... :S), and Iron Will. Common skills I got or plan to get are Evasion and Deep Pockets.
Did I grossly miscalculate?
Giolon
Member
Uh oh... I've spent quite a few points in her air skills but not Deadly Revolution...
I did spend points into adrenaline as I find that useful against finishing off some bosses, but I'm not sure at what HP level the adrenaline triggers. Is it when it's below 50%, 30%, 10%, or what?
So far (from memory) I've spent points in Stun Wave, Punisher, Berserk, Adrenaline, War Paint (I've yet to notice the "clones" appearing though... :S), and Iron Will. Common skills I got or plan to get are Evasion and Deep Pockets.
Did I grossly miscalculate?
Deadly Revolution increases air damage and also increases the number of times you can change directions in the air while spinning - basically letting you stay in the air longer to do damage.
Adrenaline triggers at 75%, 50%, and 25% health, increasing each time. This is why Vitality Boost is a pretty great skill for the Amazon.
War Paint "clones" was a bad term. It really creates after-images/shadows that do about 50% of your damage each. They're hard to see until you get to rank 3 and have two of them.
As far as Parry goes, 1 point is ok, I prefer 4 for the reasons stated in my previous post. It's something that takes practice and skill. But with as fast as the Amazon attacks, you can block practically on command, but you can also abuse the shit out of Brandish i-frames so that you won't have to block.
There are a limited number of respect potions, Amnesia Elixirs, available to characters via the Labyrinth of Chaos. They're granted on clearing floors 3, 6, 9 and 27 for the first time.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
Thanks for all the good info. I think I should be okay but if I feel gimped later I can always respec a bit. I mean I did spend points in Stun Wave and... uh, whatever the thing that increases damage of the Axe throw is called (I forgot to mention that one) but I do use them a lot, so it's not that wasted, right? Also I might try Brandish since I'm not very good at timing parries.
Another question about Adrenaline, do you know what is the damage gain at each of those breakpoints? The skill card says something like 30%, 40%, etc. damage increase per tier but it's unclear at which breakpoint it applies. I haven't done any testing but I assume it can be as good as hyper mode in Demon's Souls, though that could get stupidly strong when you stacked the Clever Rat Ring and the Morion Blade, haha. If Adrenaline gets as good as that I can imagine it being very powerful indeed.
Didn't think Vit boost was worthy anything considering how small the increments are. How much should be pumped into the HP boosts? Seems like it's costly before the gains are worthwhile.
I beat the game with the elf, but I have no idea what the Labyrinth of Chaos is yet. Glad to see there's more of the game I haven't seen yet. The new side-quests were just more of the same stuff as before.
CoachKevin
Member
Perfect. Just looking for general advice so I don't get stuck. Thanks!
Is there any mention for DLC? Like more dungeons etc?
I'm kinda done with this game and needs some incentives to play with those in EU in Oct.
Hawt.
I'm kinda done with this game and needs some incentives to play with those in EU in Oct.
Saw something neat on tumblr:
It's a cow eating grass!
Now I'm kind of tempted to create my own image-names.
Hawt.
Giolon
Member
Brandish is critical - you must have Brandish! It's too good not to take. And Punisher only makes it better. And War Paint =D My friends and I just start laughing when I get my Amazon going and boss health literally just starts melting away. XD
I didn't think the Vit boosts were worth very much either, until I started looking at how health scaling works in the game. Most characters start off with about 300 health (varies slightly per class I think). Each time you level up, you get 4 health (at least the Amazon does). That's it. 1 Point of Vitality Boost is worth 5 levels of health! Because the health thresholds of Adrenaline are percentage based, it means you don't need your health to get quite so precipitously low to take advantage of them. If you fully max out Vitality Boost by Level 99, you have approximately 28% more health than if you didn't any of it.
Personally I think it's worth it but I'm sure there are other opinions from other Amazon players.
Unfortunately, I don't know the exact size of the boosts that Adrenaline gives.
If you want to get to the Labyrinth of Chaos, just use the Stables after beating the game. You can go on any difficulty level.
Saw something neat on tumblr:
It's a cow eating grass!
Now I'm kind of tempted to create my own image-names.
Yeah I played with this guy last night, didn't know the meaning of the word stop, just dashed through floors in LOC(I kept missing food and arrow restocks)
Man I am terrible at the bosses and get wrecked every time I face a new one. I find it impossible to figure out what they actually want you to do to advance the boss fight for the first several encounters I have with them. The biggest issue I have is that the voice over and dialog instructions are happening when a bunch of other stuff is going on at the same time, so it's too hard to pay attention to both.
I got destroyed with the orange talisman and taking down the gate. Got there eventually, but not good enough to get the actual talisman. I didn't even see that there was a cannon to use until it was too late near the end. Normal dungeon playthrough I am fine as I think the readability for when new enemies arrive and where they are is done pretty well. Boss fights though with endless mobs and a bunch of effects on screen I generally find it very hard to understand what is happening.
Ah well, time to keep at it and keep grinding. I like the grinding aspect of it and getting more loot, just not the boss fights. Maybe I am attempting them at too low level and need to be a couple levels ahead of the actual boss level before trying.
I got destroyed with the orange talisman and taking down the gate. Got there eventually, but not good enough to get the actual talisman. I didn't even see that there was a cannon to use until it was too late near the end. Normal dungeon playthrough I am fine as I think the readability for when new enemies arrive and where they are is done pretty well. Boss fights though with endless mobs and a bunch of effects on screen I generally find it very hard to understand what is happening.
Ah well, time to keep at it and keep grinding. I like the grinding aspect of it and getting more loot, just not the boss fights. Maybe I am attempting them at too low level and need to be a couple levels ahead of the actual boss level before trying.
Sanctuary
Member
1. It's really easy with a Wizard. You don't really have to do it at the level you get the quest at either. You could simply wait until 60 - 65.
2. You can do this quest on normal by simply changing the difficulty back. Even though it states your abilities are capped as though they were level 35, you still retain your health, mana and concentration charge rate. Damage also seems to be higher if you're using a higher weapon (slightly), even if the game caps your INT score at level 35. Most of the solo, or timed events are MUCH easier to do on normal.
If you really want to do the quest on hard, you can. The easiest solution though is to simply do it on normal. You won't get the same experience for killing trash, but you'll get the same reward experience for turning it in.
I have almost no experience with the Amazon, so I'm not arguing anything; but isn't Incite Rage mostly used to force Adrenaline by lowering your health (or did I read it wrong)? I actually put off distributing any points into Incite yet, because my character can't really benefit from it at the level you get it at. Plus, I'd think you would want to have at least half of the levels in Vitality Boost before bothering with it.
Yes and no, depends on how you want to use incite rage. Adrenaline was the last of her skills that I maxed. If you're using incite rage whenever you like then yeah it's pretty much to kick in the adrenaline. I use it only when shit has hit the fan and my health won't take too big a hit after using it so adrenaline has already kicked in anyway.
For example if your health is 999 and you pop incite rage you'll be brought down to 300 health. But if you use it at 100 health where you're pretty much a one hit kill from a boss, you'll be left with 30, which isn't a horrible penalty like going to 300 from 999.
Sanctuary
Member
True, but on the other hand you could drop down to 300 much earlier to burst down the boss quicker and try not to get hit. You seem to prefer a slightly more defensive style with the Amazon though. Probably works better in LoC than simply trying to go bat shit crazy with damage all of the time.
The other thing is that it's not really there to trigger Adrenaline (that's just a positive side-effect), it's to trigger Berserk from the start.
Calcium
Banned
I finally beat this on my Dwarf the other day and I really enjoyed the game. At this point I've finished all the side quests and all that's left is beating it with the rest of the characters and tackling the higher difficulties. Overall I've really enjoyed my time with the game, hopefully it gets a sequel.
Add me to the Ultra Rare club.
High five. Now I will pour you something strong to wash the shame of the time we wasted.
KyanMehwulfe
Member
About 20 hours in and just finished the game with a Level 35 Dwarf. I grew up on Diablo I and II, and old fantasy arcade RPG side scrollers/beat'em ups like Wizards & Warriors and D&D Tower of Doom. I like the game a lot, and it's likely the most fun I've had item collecting outside an MMO since the second Blizzard hack & slash. But my favorite part are the beautiful art that reminds me of a blend of a AD&D theme with Yoshida's Ogre Battle Saga style. My most enjoyable part of the game is the feeling of going on an adventure campaign with the the linked battles -- especially the campfire cooking intermission. That campfire experience is what every AD&D tabletop gamer has wanted in MMOs for ages. The whole process of gathering your team in the tavern, quickly getting buffs or items, setting out from town into the wilderness, and setting a campfire before the next day really adds a nice touch of adventure atmosphere to an otherwise fun and beautiful game.
Deneb (Sorceress) Witch and her pumpkins from Ogre Battle Saga
Raistlin (Wizard) AD&D Dragon Lance
Sylvannas (Elf) Warcraft
Red Sonja (Amazon) Conan
Talamius (Warrior) Fighter from the old AD&D 1991 Card Game
Gotrek (Dwarf) Slayer from Warhammer
Deneb is my favorite because I've seen Deneb every time I've saw a Dragon's Crown preview for the last year or however long we've waited for the game. I couldn't unsee it. She is Deneb in my eyes. Main character is the Level 35 at the bottom. I actually like the Wizard and Sorceress more in terms of art and fitting the game art, but I prefer the melee gameplay of the Dwarf. I went from 16-31 in one marathon session. Think I had 20 or so S items and 26 As. Beat the game soon after, and I'll play it casually now as FF XIV starts tonight, but I think I'll play it regularly for a quick fight when I don't have time to log into ARR.
I did the same because ever since I saw the Mage and Witch, I mean Wizard and Sorceress, I couldn't see them as any other character. And, actually, I almost named my Dwarf to be Muradin but I thought the shirtless look made him more akin to a Warhammer Dwarfs army Slayer, and you'll recognize my Elf's name. Even the clothing colour, hair, and skin matches for all of them.I've named all my characters so far after video game stuff with the exception of the fighter. He's blonde so I named him after the Kingslayer.
Sorceress - Rydia from FFIV
Dwarf - Brann in honor of Brann Bronzebeard
Amazon - Alena from DQIV
Fighter - Jaime in honor of the Kingslayer
Elf - Chie because of those kicks
I did this for Etrian Odyssey IV too and it was really fun. Have not started a wizard yet so not sure what I'd name him. I could have also gone for Lulu for the sorceress in honor of FFX eventually coming out but Rydia will always be my favorite
About 35 hours or so into the game. I know I'll come back to it pretty hard soon enough.
Deneb (Sorceress) Witch and her pumpkins from Ogre Battle Saga
Raistlin (Wizard) AD&D Dragon Lance
Sylvannas (Elf) Warcraft
Red Sonja (Amazon) Conan
Talamius (Warrior) Fighter from the old AD&D 1991 Card Game
Gotrek (Dwarf) Slayer from Warhammer
Deneb is my favorite because I've seen Deneb every time I've saw a Dragon's Crown preview for the last year or however long we've waited for the game. I couldn't unsee it. She is Deneb in my eyes. Main character is the Level 35 at the bottom. I actually like the Wizard and Sorceress more in terms of art and fitting the game art, but I prefer the melee gameplay of the Dwarf. I went from 16-31 in one marathon session. Think I had 20 or so S items and 26 As. Beat the game soon after, and I'll play it casually now as FF XIV starts tonight, but I think I'll play it regularly for a quick fight when I don't have time to log into ARR.
The Mango Sentinel
Member
What are some of the wizards good spells. I got the lightning and I'm not really a fan of it.
Kamina
Golden Boy
Wow! Thanks for the effort of writing all this down. I'll save it for future reference.
I cant give you anything in return but take this:
Cosmic Forge
Member
Wow! Thanks for the effort of writing all this down. I'll save it for future reference.
I cant give you anything in return but take this:
Approved.
Sanctuary
Member
Heh, I played a level 27 and then started over (not realizing you could respec later). Got to 75 with my second, wasted my respec, was banging my head against level 5 in LoC so said fuck it and started over again. On my second build I tried to make Lightning work; but it just sucks all around. Flame Burst is good for trash, and it's "okay" for bosses, but there are better options. The build you use prior to playing in Infernal (especially LoC) would be different than your 99 build due to Extinction not really being needed until that point.
Anyway, this is my level 99 build:
Concentrate 10
Spirit Up 5
Blaze 5
Storm 7
Extinction 5
Slow 5
Levitate 3
Vitality Boost 10 < not needed if you "never" get hit, but good luck with that.
Adroit Hands 7
Deep Pockets 3
Nutritionist 1 < You end up with a single point, and +20% more health off of food is better than most other options, although you could place it anywhere.
About the only way it deviates from the "most common" Wizard build would be that I take Storm over Fire Gate. Fire Gate is awesome for bosses, and it's "okay" on trash if you're using a Fire rod all of the time (I preferred Fire until LoC, now it's all Ice, all the time if I can help it). It also allows you to use your Fire attacks in water. Depending in your group makeup, it can also be highly beneficial to Elves and anyone else using a Fire rod.
Storm on the other hand shits all over the screen, making it harder to see, and it also blocks the big spells of other casters--Meteor, Blizzard, another Storm--until it finishes (they all block each other). For soloing though it's awesome, and it does relatively good damage on bosses too. It's basically crowd control that does really good damage over time. It also works really good against fire resistant bosses (not that big of a deal since Fire Ward also increases the damage of those spells by 50% anyway). Taking Storm also gives you another attack spell option, while Fire Ward is mostly just used for Blaze/Elf on bosses. The other thing about Storm is that it's lightning damage. It really makes Thunderbolt pointless (its burst just does not compensate).
As far as my 99 build goes, you can replace Extinction with Flame Burst or even Fire Ward (if you took Storm)until later on. Flame Burst will kill the big stuff you would want to use Extinction on anyway, but it also works on bosses.
Evasion is also really neat on a Wizard/Sorceress, but I'm not sure it's worth it on the Wizard, and it's especially not worth taking it past rank 2. It basically makes your character stay under the ground longer if you hold R1. It lets you avoid stupid attacks like the Red Dragon's rock/coin crap, and also offers a safety net against things like the Warlock's Meteor. It would also be ridiculously good for the Demon Lord in LoC, but I haven't been able to justify giving up the extra health just for those few instances. Once I get the Amazon neck, I might reconsider.
In terms of progression, I wrote down what I thought would be the path of least resistance for the early levels on my third Wizard:
Lvl 5:
Nutritionist 1
Blaze 1
Storm 1
Slow 1
Concentrate 1
Levitate 1
Lvl 18:
Nutritionist 1
Blaze 3
Storm 3
Slow 3
Concentrate 4
Levitate 2
Spirit Up 2
Deep Pockets 1
Lvl 35:
Nutritionist 1
Blaze 5
Storm 5
Slow 5
Concentrate 6
Levitate 3
Spirit Up 3
Deep Pockets 2
Adroit Hands 4
Slow and Blaze are your priorities.
after I read about that food trophy I don't even think about getting the platinum in this game.
Add me to the Ultra Rare club.
anyway congrats!
Food trophy isn't nearly as bad as beating it with every character.
Exactly, I just have to beat it with the Sorceress, but I really don't like playing the casters so it's taking me forever.
Giolon
Member
The game does not end. It will transition to the next difficulty, but you can change back at the temple.
blitzcloud
Banned
Hated those little fuckers. They were such a pleasure to stomp.
Everytime I see a blue thief my mind plays this song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1ZfkrAb9MU
With the guide it's very easy. It just takes a little time.
Weltall Zero
Member
1) You have to have unlocked online (although you don't actually need to play online).
2) You need to go to one of three particular stages, namely, Ancient Temple Ruins, Old Capital, or Ghost Ship Cove.
3) You have to select "keep adventuring".
You don't actually need to select one of those stages as your first stage using the stables; anytime your current run leads you to one of these stages, and you continue on, you'll get the cooking minigame. Ingredients depend on the particular stage, with also special ingredients replacing select ones if you have beaten certain bosses in stages before those in the run (ex. if you run Forest A and then Ghost Ship Cove, you'll get
Gazer Eyes
Sanctuary
Member
Sorry if old (like a day and a half old):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=guLcjmB7O14#t=17
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=guLcjmB7O14#t=17
Velcro Fly
Member
Yeah there are really good guides out there for getting Gourmand. I grinded it out over the course of a day or so and maybe 3-4 hours.
Beating it with all characters is going to be rough. I just have to grit my teeth and plow through a few stages at a time with new characters. I really love the game but I have to be in the mood to go back and replay Normal mode again with a character. I sorta felt like I was burned out but it's mostly having to replay Normal mode again. I might just not do some sidequests unless I need the skill points because it takes forever.
NavyPharaoh
Member
Just bought a vita and I'm really thinking of selling my ps3 version for the vita version. It's easier to grind on a handheld IMO. I the lack of screen real estate that big a deal?
Rollo Lawson
Banned
No it's actually pretty clear.
Approaching 40 hours with this gem. I've got a lvl 75 elf in infernal right now. This is a great game and will definitely be in my Goty list come December.
I must have seen each area over a dozen times but I don't care. The environment is still so lovely to look at and the combat is oh so good.
Nothing much to say beyond that. Picking the game up and running through 5 or so dungeons online is one of my gaming highlights for this year.
I'd take an expansion pack in a heartbeat. Bravo vanillaware.
I must have seen each area over a dozen times but I don't care. The environment is still so lovely to look at and the combat is oh so good.
Nothing much to say beyond that. Picking the game up and running through 5 or so dungeons online is one of my gaming highlights for this year.
I'd take an expansion pack in a heartbeat. Bravo vanillaware.
Giolon
Member
Nope.
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