01-27-2004, 07:39 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-28-2004, 10:23 PM by LemmingofGlory.)
I think that cheating players with 255 charge apoc staves and nova as a skill have unfairly given the apoc or nova mage a bad name. I've heard people say that apoc is no fun. Not so--it is cheating that's no fun. The fun in playing a legit apoc mage is in finding the bountiful staves, balancing your other gear, and learning how to round up the monsters so that you get the most out of your limited charges.
I've had the first multiplayer mage I ever played for 5 years, and he's gone through many changes of strategy and gear along the way to level 45. He's a little bit shrine-****ed and a lot worse for wear. At different times he's been an arty, a naked mage, a tank, even a melee fighter (just for the hell of it). Most recently he was a tank with the standard tank equip - RC, SS, DF, and a saintly fpm of sorc. (All except the rings, because I can't find good rings to save my life.)
This worked out okay but I like to be different from the norm. I found out from Jarulf's guide that, if I remember correctly, apoc damage is not based on spell level, but solely on char level. I figure that now that he is level 45, my mage's apoc will be a lot more fun. A friend bought me a bountiful apoc at Adria (30 ch), but unfortunately even 30 apoc charges is not enough to stay down for any reasonable period of time. I traded someone else for an additional plentiful apoc (24 charges) and shopped Adria myself for months until I found another plent/apoc (18 charges). With 1 apoc staff in hand, and 2 in reserve, I have enough apoc to cause a real ruckus, but still enough pack space to pick up the occaisional item drop. If I want to be goofy, I can also pack the bount/nova (75 ch) that I found when I was shopping for apoc.
Wielding a staff means that I can't wield DF (lose 110 mp!), nor can I wield SS (lose all blocking, 10 str, and 40 AC). But, I still want to tank. I still want to be able to teleport into a dozen knights and live to tell about it. So I made a bold move--I decided to drop my expectations of any kind of suffix on on my fpm, and just go all out for armor class. I traded another friend to obtain an awesome fpm on a 74 base, no suffix. Now, with RC on I still have about >234 armor class. This allows me to play pied piper on hell/hell and lead monsters into a group without them stunlocking me.
If you're looking to clear out 15 & 16 in a hell difficulty game, you want me around. Sure, my mana is a bit low for a mage of my level (781 mp), I can't quite wade into things like a true tank (although I can make a darn good showing!), and my fireball may not be as powerful as an arty's, but there's nothing quite like going into a game and having a level 47 character warn me "don't take my tp there's too many soul burners!" and I say "Oh, really?"
Edit: Fixed swear filter bypass. -Lem
I've had the first multiplayer mage I ever played for 5 years, and he's gone through many changes of strategy and gear along the way to level 45. He's a little bit shrine-****ed and a lot worse for wear. At different times he's been an arty, a naked mage, a tank, even a melee fighter (just for the hell of it). Most recently he was a tank with the standard tank equip - RC, SS, DF, and a saintly fpm of sorc. (All except the rings, because I can't find good rings to save my life.)
This worked out okay but I like to be different from the norm. I found out from Jarulf's guide that, if I remember correctly, apoc damage is not based on spell level, but solely on char level. I figure that now that he is level 45, my mage's apoc will be a lot more fun. A friend bought me a bountiful apoc at Adria (30 ch), but unfortunately even 30 apoc charges is not enough to stay down for any reasonable period of time. I traded someone else for an additional plentiful apoc (24 charges) and shopped Adria myself for months until I found another plent/apoc (18 charges). With 1 apoc staff in hand, and 2 in reserve, I have enough apoc to cause a real ruckus, but still enough pack space to pick up the occaisional item drop. If I want to be goofy, I can also pack the bount/nova (75 ch) that I found when I was shopping for apoc.
Wielding a staff means that I can't wield DF (lose 110 mp!), nor can I wield SS (lose all blocking, 10 str, and 40 AC). But, I still want to tank. I still want to be able to teleport into a dozen knights and live to tell about it. So I made a bold move--I decided to drop my expectations of any kind of suffix on on my fpm, and just go all out for armor class. I traded another friend to obtain an awesome fpm on a 74 base, no suffix. Now, with RC on I still have about >234 armor class. This allows me to play pied piper on hell/hell and lead monsters into a group without them stunlocking me.
If you're looking to clear out 15 & 16 in a hell difficulty game, you want me around. Sure, my mana is a bit low for a mage of my level (781 mp), I can't quite wade into things like a true tank (although I can make a darn good showing!), and my fireball may not be as powerful as an arty's, but there's nothing quite like going into a game and having a level 47 character warn me "don't take my tp there's too many soul burners!" and I say "Oh, really?"
Edit: Fixed swear filter bypass. -Lem
