10-20-2003, 06:09 PM
Generally, a Warrior has two defensive options: go for a high Armor Class, or resort to Perfect Blocking with a Shield.
High AC requires two things: good Strength (and the Warrior gets that naturally) and quality armor pieces with high base AC and good AC boosting modifiers (Awesome Plates or Saintly Full Plates, for instance).
Perfect Blocking for a Warrior requires some 100 points of Dexterity beyond what he can attain naturally, and a sturdy shield with high Durability (or Indestructibiity).
In the case of a Magic-casting Turtle Mage, the option to for a high AC is generally the better course than trying for Perfect Blocking. There's one important yet overlooked aspect about magical attacks in the game: the ToHit% of a magic spell attack is determined by the character's Magic statistic, not by the straight ToHit% displayed on the Character screen. A Warrior who goes for low AC and Perfect Blocking can get a large Mana pool by the use of Dragons' rings and amulets, but the ToHit% of those cast spells is not as good as that of a Sorceror or a dedicated Warrior in the Turtle mode.
The only way to get a decent Turtle Mage is through items that have suffixes increasing the Magic stat. A Warrior trying to attain Perfect Blocking has to fill in Dexterity, too, which would only cramp into the Magic addiction the guy is trying to feed. So, a defense option that is filled in by a prefix slot, such as Armor Class, becomes a more reliable option. Body armor and a shield with a high AC base and boosters should be the primary mode of defense. The fellow is being called a Turtle Mage for a reason.
Next big thing: Resistances to enemy magic. Resist All, of course, is the most sought form of elemental protection. Jade and Obsidian (and in very rare form, Emerald) items are the means by which Resistances are met. It would take about three Jade items, two Obsidian items, or a Jade and an Emerald item to fill in the 75% resistance limit. Emerald can only appear on shields and weapons sold by Wirtâ that is a rare and specially sought item if you're trying to fill in these Resist needs. However, not even one perfect Emerald (+50% Resist All) will supply all your maximum Resistances. You'd still need a second item to fill in the remainder. That said, it's generally much better to fill in your Resists through two high quality Obsidian items (both delivering +35% Resist All or higher) than through one Emerald shield or weapon.
Question is, where to have them? Three places to get Obsidian: the weapon, the armor, and the jewels.
You have three armor pieces delivering your AC and Resists: the body armor, the shield, and the helm. The body armor can deliver as much as 75 base AC, the shield can deliver 20 AC, and the helm can bring a max of 15 AC. You might see where I'm getting at with this. Of the three armor pieces you can afford giving up an AC boosting stat for an Obsidian prefix, the helmet is the best choice. With an Obsidian helm and one piece of Obsidian jewelry, you will fill most, if not all, of your Resistances. With this route you can opt for high AC armor in your two other pieces (body and shield) and go for two jewels that will fill both Mana and Magic boosts.
A second course is to go for high AC all around, and this case usually means acquiring and wearing the Royal Circlet. The prime attraction of the RC is the stat and Mana boost you'll get. It is a decent item, but it does not offer you good Resists. Your Resistances would then have to be filed elesewhere. This almost invariably means two jewels. Since two Obsidian jewels will supply Resists, this leaves only one jewel slot open for a prefix that offers a straight Mana boost. This is in consideration, of course, of whether or not (and you should) be wielding Dreamflange.
Dreamflange. This mace will, in most Turtle Mage styles, make or break your Warrior as a spellcaster. With Dreamflange in use, you can afford to give up two jewel slots for those Resistancesâ Dreamflange will supply the defecit Mana instead. But there is another option: a weapon with a +Resist All prefix. Something with Obsidian. Or even Emerald. An Emerald Dagger would go quite a ways, given that this means another jewel or armor slot is freed up to do their best at delivering high AC or high Mana.
There's something to consider here: a Turtle Mage relies on using magical attacks to inflict damage on his enemies. Part of it is through style, but part of it is through simple fact: the weaponry that complements a Turtle Mage the best ain't all that hot as a physical attack weapon. Dreamflange is, in all physical combat terms, no better than the plain-Jane maces you'll scoop up in dungeon level 3. An Emerald or Obsidian weapon isn't going to be much better in a melee attack. A kickass killer wep is not in a Turtle Mage's best interests, so the weapon should at least deliver some strong supporting roles. Best case scenario, the weapon is directly affecting your Magical attacks (Wizardspike or Dreamflange) or offering defensive powers through Resistances.
High AC requires two things: good Strength (and the Warrior gets that naturally) and quality armor pieces with high base AC and good AC boosting modifiers (Awesome Plates or Saintly Full Plates, for instance).
Perfect Blocking for a Warrior requires some 100 points of Dexterity beyond what he can attain naturally, and a sturdy shield with high Durability (or Indestructibiity).
In the case of a Magic-casting Turtle Mage, the option to for a high AC is generally the better course than trying for Perfect Blocking. There's one important yet overlooked aspect about magical attacks in the game: the ToHit% of a magic spell attack is determined by the character's Magic statistic, not by the straight ToHit% displayed on the Character screen. A Warrior who goes for low AC and Perfect Blocking can get a large Mana pool by the use of Dragons' rings and amulets, but the ToHit% of those cast spells is not as good as that of a Sorceror or a dedicated Warrior in the Turtle mode.
The only way to get a decent Turtle Mage is through items that have suffixes increasing the Magic stat. A Warrior trying to attain Perfect Blocking has to fill in Dexterity, too, which would only cramp into the Magic addiction the guy is trying to feed. So, a defense option that is filled in by a prefix slot, such as Armor Class, becomes a more reliable option. Body armor and a shield with a high AC base and boosters should be the primary mode of defense. The fellow is being called a Turtle Mage for a reason.
Next big thing: Resistances to enemy magic. Resist All, of course, is the most sought form of elemental protection. Jade and Obsidian (and in very rare form, Emerald) items are the means by which Resistances are met. It would take about three Jade items, two Obsidian items, or a Jade and an Emerald item to fill in the 75% resistance limit. Emerald can only appear on shields and weapons sold by Wirtâ that is a rare and specially sought item if you're trying to fill in these Resist needs. However, not even one perfect Emerald (+50% Resist All) will supply all your maximum Resistances. You'd still need a second item to fill in the remainder. That said, it's generally much better to fill in your Resists through two high quality Obsidian items (both delivering +35% Resist All or higher) than through one Emerald shield or weapon.
Question is, where to have them? Three places to get Obsidian: the weapon, the armor, and the jewels.
You have three armor pieces delivering your AC and Resists: the body armor, the shield, and the helm. The body armor can deliver as much as 75 base AC, the shield can deliver 20 AC, and the helm can bring a max of 15 AC. You might see where I'm getting at with this. Of the three armor pieces you can afford giving up an AC boosting stat for an Obsidian prefix, the helmet is the best choice. With an Obsidian helm and one piece of Obsidian jewelry, you will fill most, if not all, of your Resistances. With this route you can opt for high AC armor in your two other pieces (body and shield) and go for two jewels that will fill both Mana and Magic boosts.
A second course is to go for high AC all around, and this case usually means acquiring and wearing the Royal Circlet. The prime attraction of the RC is the stat and Mana boost you'll get. It is a decent item, but it does not offer you good Resists. Your Resistances would then have to be filed elesewhere. This almost invariably means two jewels. Since two Obsidian jewels will supply Resists, this leaves only one jewel slot open for a prefix that offers a straight Mana boost. This is in consideration, of course, of whether or not (and you should) be wielding Dreamflange.
Dreamflange. This mace will, in most Turtle Mage styles, make or break your Warrior as a spellcaster. With Dreamflange in use, you can afford to give up two jewel slots for those Resistancesâ Dreamflange will supply the defecit Mana instead. But there is another option: a weapon with a +Resist All prefix. Something with Obsidian. Or even Emerald. An Emerald Dagger would go quite a ways, given that this means another jewel or armor slot is freed up to do their best at delivering high AC or high Mana.
There's something to consider here: a Turtle Mage relies on using magical attacks to inflict damage on his enemies. Part of it is through style, but part of it is through simple fact: the weaponry that complements a Turtle Mage the best ain't all that hot as a physical attack weapon. Dreamflange is, in all physical combat terms, no better than the plain-Jane maces you'll scoop up in dungeon level 3. An Emerald or Obsidian weapon isn't going to be much better in a melee attack. A kickass killer wep is not in a Turtle Mage's best interests, so the weapon should at least deliver some strong supporting roles. Best case scenario, the weapon is directly affecting your Magical attacks (Wizardspike or Dreamflange) or offering defensive powers through Resistances.
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