Class Guides — Aetolia's Forums

Bashing as Vampire: A Comprehensive Guide to Praenomen PVE

Tetchta — Fri, 16 Oct 2020 15:31:51 +0000

Hello! Those of you who talk to me know I probably get a little too into bashing mechanics in Aet and am on a constant quest to min/max any class I bash in to squeeze out its maximum capabilities. I was always fairly dismissive of the Praenomen class as a viable bashing class because it just seemed to lag behind in every area. DPS was mediocre and they were too squishy. I initially switched the Carnifex because, with zero artifacts, I was outperforming a fully-artied Praenomen. However, right before I took a break from the game, I discovered a couple mechanics in the Praenomen class that completely flipped the script in my book, and took Prae from a class that I absolutely generally hated into one that, quite honestly, competes with Carnifex for my affection now. After discussing things with veterans of both the game and the class, I also discovered that I wasn’t the only person who was in the dark about the potential of this class, so I’m going to do my best to concisely summarize how to get the most out of PVE with the Praenomen class. This guide will presume that you already understand the very basics of bashing in general, but I also see folk sleep on a lot of this stuff so I might as well put it here:

Get a ring with all four elemental resists - these will beef up your resistance to really damaging stuff.
Trans your miniskills - PVE damage used to be tied to how much you’d learned in the specific skill tree, but it’s now tied to how far you’ve advanced in HUNTING, so once you have all the skills you need in order to def up properly, if you’re primarily interested in PVE, you’re going to want to dump all extra lessons into your miniskills to further increase your audit tankiness (and reduce your endurance/willpower drain). For PVE Praenomen, I would say the order of importance would be roughly as follows: Fitness, Thermology, Galvanism, Frost, and then all the rest are kinda equal.
Avoidance - this skill is incredibly helpful for reducing your average damage taken over time. DIVERT and DODGE (and later you can do both at the same time) make a huge difference. DIVERT decreases incoming damage, DODGE completely negates it. Almost all PVE attacks are MELEE, so DODGE/DIVERT MELEE should be part of your defup This skill is very worth transing out.
Vigor - vigor is a fairly expensive elixir you can drink that will give you a small boost to your health whenever you achieve a critical. It’s useless pretty much below level 80, and Praenomen see minimal returns from it, being a single-hit class, but it can still be that tiny bit of an edge you need, especially if you use the vigor-boosting orbs and/or artifacts.
Amulets and Orbs - both amulets and orbs are fairly expensive gold-and-effort-wise, and are a bit too much to get into comprehensively here, but both red orbs and red amulets stack with each other AND artifacts, so they’re a great way to boost your DPS. Personally I think all the orbs are worth using while bashing, but I only use a couple of the amulets, but if you’re not an artiwhale like me, they’re definitely worth looking into, and bashing gold can actually start to cover your costs if you do it fast enough.
Chocolates - chocolates good, chocolates expensive. That’s all I have to say about that.

NOTE: I’ve decided to put the tl;dr on what you should be doing here, since the explanations for the mechanics are fairly long-winded, and if anybody is here that just wants the quick explanation to how to bash vamp and doesn’t care about why it works, I want it to be readily accessible without scrolling too far. WHAT YOU SHOULD BE DOING TO BASH AS VAMP PRIMARY ATTACK: Frenzy (Corpus, 0 Lessons) - scales with strength, uses balance DEFENCES

Shield (buy a shield, and don’t forget to WIELD it)
Scale Armor (buy it, wear it)
Fortify (Corpus, 215 lessons)
Ward (Corpus, 600 lessons)
Potence [strength, unless str is 21, then Constitution. If both are 21 somehow, do Dexterity. If all three are 21, I’m issuing you for hacking] (Corpus, 1289 lessons)
BLOOD CONCENTRATION (Sanguis, 910 lessons) - will reduce the blood you use by 20%. Means you can get several more mends and deluges in before you need to top up.
Elusion On (Corpus, 16 lessons)
Celerity (Corpus, 289 Lessons)
Lifevision (Mentis, 0 Lessons) - not technically necessary but nice to have.

SUPPORT SKILLS

Mend (corpus, 481 lessons) - heals you for a decent amount at a pretty heavy balance recovery cost
BLOOD DELUGE (Sanguis, 1625 lessons) - will prevent you from dying for a short period of time. I’m not adept at using it yet, but it can really save your donkey if you utilize it properly.
PATH (Sanguis, 1289 lessons) - necessary for maximum blood level bonuses mentioned below, you must path into Phreneses with BLOOD PATH PHRENESES

BLOOD LEVEL spec into Phreneses to see maximum pve benefit with BLOOD PATH PHRENESES Under 10%. This will give you +2 strength and reduce your balance and incoming elemental damage dramatically. Grab something sharp, think about the state of America right now, and SLIT WRISTS until you’re under 10% blood. Choose your statpack accordingly (powerful can get a base str of 18 using this + potence.) EXCEPTION: If you’re going to bashing somewhere you know will have fire damage, might be best to top up, since the fire resistance really tanks at low blood. When I was experimenting (without artifacts), I could HANDILY autobash Xanhaal (with orbs and amulets anybody can buy with tokens/gold), except when it came to the mobs that did fire damage. They either require lucky crits, or very smart use of deluge/mend. Mausoleum and Xanhaal then are areas where you'll likely want to top up with blood, otherwise you're going to be getting hit with 2k+ fire damage. ENHANCEMENTS PVP and PVE vamp enhancements are a bit at odds, but here are my recommendations for PVE Vamp Enhancements:

ENHANCE STATS 2: 1 strength, 1 constitution
ENHANCE SPEED: Balance
ENHANCE RESISTANCE: statpack dependent. I choose cutting with Athletic, blunt with powerful
ENHANCE RESISTANCE: FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE

AUGMETIC ENHANCEMENTS I don’t actually have suggestions, the most heated arguments I’ve been apart of have all been about augmetic enhancements. The only thing we know for certain is that Crit Strength is absolutely garbage and should be the absolute last ones you get ever. Okay, now onto the mechanic explanations, and specifically the two skills that are slept on by most people playing the class, and how to best utilize them: ENRAGE and SANGUINE. ENRAGE is specific to Phreneses, and SANGUINE, kind of hilariously for how overlooked it is, is the very first skill in the SANGUIS tree, and both of them work as follows: With ENRAGE, as your blood levels (%) drop, your balance and equilibrium time will go down slightly. With SANGUINE, as your blood levels (%) drop, your strength will increase and your overall resistances will increase. There is a cost, however, in that your resistance to fire will decrease, as will your intelligence. What does this mean in real terms? It means as your blood levels drop, you’ll hit certain thresholds. At those thresholds, your balance will decrease and your audit resistances will increase. At two thresholds, your stats will also swap around, to a maximum of +2 strength and -2 intelligence. **NOTE: because of a classlead change, ENRAGE is no longer passive, and is a defense you must put up, so don't forget it! But What Blood Level is best? Don’t worry! I did the testing so you don’t have to! You get the most out of your stat bonuses at around 20% blood, but your audit and your balance will continue to improve all the way down to 10% blood, with balance capping out at 2.93 seconds (this is with the endgame balance enhancement), down from 3.16 seconds, a 7% improvement to your balance, which in turn is a 7% improvement to DPS. That may not sound like a lot, but combined with everything else, this is absolutely huge. As far as Audits go, this is what mine looks like (keep in mind that I’m a whale and I have an artie shield with fire resist): 100% BLOOD

        Cutting |  61% 
          Blunt |  54%
          Magic |  58%
           Fire |  51% 
           Cold |  47%     
       Electric | 39%         
         Poison |  39%             
        Psychic |  32% 
       Asphyxiation |  32%        
         Spirit |  10%     
         Shadow |  20%

10% BLOOD

        Cutting | 61%         
          Blunt |  54%    
          Magic |  58%         
           Fire |  20% 
           Cold |  62%     
       Electric |  54%         
         Poison |  54%             
        Psychic | 32% 
       Asphyxiation |  47%
         Spirit |  10%
         Shadow |  20%

As you can see, overall across the board there’s a huge increase in your tankiness, with the exception of fire damage (which is, frankly, a pretty rare damage source in PVE save for a few zones). Vampires are exempt from the low-blood penalties of other classes like reduced healing, making this prospect a no-brainer, imo. Low blood, all the time while PVEing. I used to top up when I was bashing during daytime, but honestly the sun doesn’t hurt that much and hasn’t made a significant difference in my experience. But what about mending and deluge? These actually aren’t that big of a deal, especially at endgame. At 5% blood, I still have ~1200 blood points. Deluge only uses 500, so even at really low levels of blood percent, you can afford both mend and deluge. I recommend if you get to about 3-4% that you feed on something (you’re bashing after all) and then slit your wrists back down to under 10% again. Here’s a quick shot for proof:

H:7700 M:3706 E:100% W:102% B:4% [b eb]blood deluge
You grow pale as the last of your life force flows from your body.
As you unleash your sanguine reserves, blood surges through you in a wild deluge
and its boundless power renders you temporarily among the ranks of the immortal.
You have gained the deluge defence.
H:7700 M:3505 E:100% W:101% B:3% [b eb]
As the lifeblood is consumed, you start to feel rather cold.
Your deluge defence has been stripped.
H:7700 M:3706 E:100% W:101% B:3% [b eb]feed nazetu
With a lustful grin you drive your fangs into a vein of the corpse of a Nazetu
crossbowman and, slurping greedily, draw out its still-warm blood from the wound
in long, deep, sucking pulls. The fluid replenishes and invigorates you.
Satisfied, you casually discard the corpse.
Balance Used: 4.28 seconds
H:7700 M:3706 E:100% W:93% B:35% [b e-]
You have recovered balance on all limbs.

BLOOD LEVEL MAINTENANCE This is a sticking point for some people, but I discovered if you keep an animal or some other creature that doesn't give a ton of blood (anything that give the message "you grimace and feel debased as you feed from the thing you disgusting person I will kinkshame you for this") is a great thing to keep in your inventory while you're bashing, as when you get to ~2% blood, you can feed and get back up to 7% or whatever. I use spiders from Luzith's since I hit it bashing endgame anyway, but any low-blood-level creature will do. CONCLUSION With all these minor adjustments, Praenomen becomes one of the best bashing classes in the game. Reasonably tanky (not the best), decent health recovery (not the best, but pretty good!), and REALLY good DPS. I can break 900 dps without resorting to caramel chocolates (at 21 str, hunting 3, and knuckles 3), which is a really tough line for a lot of classes to pass over. Here is a spreadsheet to mess with for vamps specifically. You’ll need to make a copy to use the dropdowns (I think), but it illustrates all these points a lot more concisely than this post, but I kinda wanted to make it for people who bash as Praenomen, since it seems like an underutilized class. Let me know if I missed something and I’ll add it in.

Newbie Class Guide: Wayfarers

Iatan — Wed, 31 Oct 2018 15:13:59 +0000

First of all, don't spend your lessons on useless crap. Focus on the big three, and Survival. Ya gotta figure out how ta clot yer bleedin', or else yer gonna bleed. Get really good armor, and really fast axes. Wayfarers are usually a speed character, hit 'm fast and run. Poisons are really great, too, but have a backup plan if they have the cure to your poison. ANYONE WHO HAS ANY EXPERIENCE AS A WAYFARER SHOULD WRITE STUFF HERE

Newbie Class Guide: Sentinels

Gretel — Sat, 12 Jul 2014 22:57:45 +0000

THE SENTINELS PRIDE IN THE HUNT

Description A savage group of woodland warriors, the Sentinel Pride's roots date back to ancient times, first gathered together from the woodsman and trackers of the forests to fight in an epic defence of the Wilds during the Ankyrean age. Their mastery of woodlore ensures they are at home in the wilderness, training them to silently stalk prey, erect temporary shelters and call upon animal companions to assist them in hunting and battle. Using tracking, they are able to lay traps to ambush their target, before pelting them with shots from wrist-mounted crossbows and igniting resins for deadly effect. Their main weapon, a dhurive, is a handheld staff with obsidian blades, perfect for performing an array of slashing, stabbing and thrusting attacks at enemies to painfully deliver venoms. Combat Sentinel combat is heavily focused upon venom delivery and affliction management, with loyal animals augmenting the active, two-hit attack with the dhurive. Crossbows and traps allow the Sentinel to create moments of opportunity to exploit, helping push the enemy behind enough to disable their legs and slice their spine, killing them instantly. Roleplay Sentinel roleplay centers primarily on relationships to the wild, but there is a high amount of diversity within this role. Some Sentinels are feral and rugged, spending the majority of their time in the forests, running with their animal companions, while others focus on nurturing the land, exploring distant wild areas and reporting back about any unnatural disruptions. The savage nature of Sentinel combat appeals to some, creating brutal fighters who harshly cut down the Undead and Vampires, whom they view as abominations against the Rhythm of nature. The Sentinels also highlight tradition and history, with sacraments serving as ritualistic ways to honor their ancestors, settle conflict or welcome new members to their Pride.

______________________________________________________________________________________ ALIGNMENT

Tether: Spirit Starting City: Duiran Outlook: The Sentinels are focused on the wilderness and nature - while this typically means a more "good" role, there is plenty of room for neutrality here. Sentinels have been known to make morally ambiguous choices to fight for the wilds.

______________________________________________________________________________________ LOCATION

Guildhall:The Sentinel guildhall mirrors the guild's symbiotic relationship to the wilds, with their buildings built within the trunk of Duiran's Great Oak itself. Low impact and intertwined with nature, the chambers are rugged and feral, with lush gardens, crude furnishings and a shrine, at the very heart, to the ancestral spirits of hallowed Dendara. Entrance: Before a vine-covered trapdoor, in Duiran (room number 44033) Directions from Portals: out, e, w, ne, e, nw, n Special entry: HEARTBEAT MINSJA

______________________________________________________________________________________ GUILD NPCs

Inesse Tutor - You can LEARN # LESSONS FROM INESSE to study skills Merchant - ASK INESSE WARES to see what she sells! Found at: Within a warm library in a wooden nook (room number 6873) Directions from entrance: d, d, w Atala Combat Trainer - GHELP ATALA explains how she can help you practice. Found at: Amidst broken columns of obsidian (room number 15524) Directions from entrance: d, d, in

______________________________________________________________________________________ BASIC HUNTING

Dhurive You can use a variety of attacks with your dhurive against NPCs: DHURIV COMBO (target) BLIND THRUST -OR- DHURIV COMBO (target) SLASH STAB -OR- DHURIV COMBO (target) STRIKE THRUST -OR- DHURIV COMBO (target) STRIKE HEARTBREAKER REFRESH BODY: This will grant you a temporary bonus to both your strength and constitution. VITALITY: This defence will restore a surge of life to you, should you fall below 25% health. SUMMON NIGHTINGALE: This animal companion will passively heal your health and mana.

______________________________________________________________________________________ STARTING EQUIPMENT

Armor - Chainmail Weapons - Dhurive: AB DHURIVE COLLECT and AB DHURIV ASSEMBLE explain how to assemble your own dhurive from natural components. - Crossbow Gear - Crossbow gauntlet: Ask INESSE WARES to purchase a crossbow gauntlet - Quiver - Arrows - Resins: AB TRACKING RESINS explains how to prepare these

______________________________________________________________________________________ SKILLSETS

Woodlore: Encompassing the Sentinels' core relationship to the wilderness, woodlore is probably the most engaging and thematic of the Sentinel skills. Key abilities that focus on how the Sentinel moves through and utilizes nature can be found here, such as track, which lets you chase down a target, and wildmark and signal, which let you communicate to other Sentinels through trail markings and birdcalls. Through woodlore, Sentinels can even erect customizable tents and create campsites to carve out their own little niche in a forest. Perhaps most importantly, the skillset also allows you to summon animal companions, ranging from the wily weasel who will shred enemy defences to the cunning crocodile whose very bite can afflict enemies. You can even use some of the creatures as a mount, riding the mighty elk or the lumbering bear through the forests. Tracking: Used almost exclusively for player-versus-player combat, this skillset is all about opportunities - natural or created. Using crossbows and traps, a Sentinel fighter can use their own keen reflexes and quick thinking to set up situations where enemies are overwhelmed by venoms. Timing and insight is key here, making the skillset a brutally efficient weapon in the right hands. In group combat, the ability to snipe from treetops and lay out traps to help control the area comes in very handy, making a Sentinel a strong asset to his or her team. Dhuriv: The core bread-and-butter of the Sentinel offense, this skillset teaches you how to create a weapon from natural materials, and then use it for savage, two-hit attacks. Opening attacks feature brutal moves like reaving apart enemy defences, ambushing from adjacent rooms or crushing a target's throat, while follow-up attacks include abilities such as stabbing, disarming and even piercing a foe's heart.

______________________________________________________________________________________ CORE SENTINEL DEFENCES

Defence: Flexibility Message: Your flexibility allows you to unentangle more easily. Purpose: Quicken your writhing time out of entanglements. Source: Dhuriv flexibility Use/Priority: Combat (moderate) Defence: Barkskin Message: Your skin is hard and tough, like the bark of an oak tree. Purpose: Increase your resistance to physical attacks. Source: Woodlore barksin Use/Priority: Hunting (high), Combat (high) Defence: Concealed Message: You have the concealed defence. Purpose: Mask you name when you enter/exit rooms. Source: Woodlore conceal Use/Priority: Combat (moderate) Defence: Hardiness Message: You are hardened against the cold. Purpose: Increase your resistance to cold and poison damage. Source: Woodlore hardiness Use/Priority: Hunting (high), Combat (high) Defence: Foreststride Message: You are striding through the forests with ease. Purpose: Move quicker outdoors, especially in forests. Source: Woodlore foreststriding Use/Priority: Hunting (moderate), Utility (high) Defence: Lifesap Message: You are sapping the life energy of others. Purpose: Heal yourself when you make targets bleed. Source: Woodlore lifesap. Use/Priority: Hunting (high), Combat (high) Defence: Vitality Message: You will call upon your fortitude in need. Purpose: Heals you if you fall below 25% health. Source: Woodlore vitality. Use/Priority: Hunting (high), Combat (high) Defence: Refreshed Message: You are feeling refreshed. Purpose: Temporarily boost strength and constitution, restore endurance. Source: Woodlore refresh Use/Priority: Hunting (high), Combat (high)

______________________________________________________________________________________ ADVANCED INFORMATION

Information for fighters interested in learning about the intricacies of Sentinel combat: - Links to class guides [none so far] - Links to logs [none so far] Sentinel Roleplay: Example logs showing roleplay from the guild: - A guild novice interview - Sentinels and Shamans out hiking

______________________________________________________________________________________ Feel free to post any questions you have about the Sentinel class in this thread for the forum community to answer! ______________________________________________________________________________________

Newbie Class Guide: Ascendril

Gretel — Fri, 20 Sep 2013 12:48:26 +0000

THE ASCENDRIL MAGES

SPELLWEAVERS OF SPIRIT

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OVERVIEW

Description

The undisputed masters of the magical arts for the side of life, the Ascendril are a scholarly guild focused on education and discovery. Students in the guild can expect a rigorous course of study, training them in the intricate ways of the arcane. Through the skillset of Elemancy, Ascendril channel the elements of fire, water and spirit to cast a variety of spells to both help and harm. Crystalism teaches the mages how to spin intricate vibrations out of the air, allowing them to attack an entire room of enemies at once, while mastery of Enchantment gives the guild a way to craft magical items for others to use, assisting allies from behind the frontlines.

Combat
Ascendril are amazingly helpful for team combat, with their vibrations attacking entire rooms of enemies. They can also cast active abilities which attack multiple enemies at once, or heal allies. Be warned, however - this sort of power comes at a cost, as mages are prime targets in group engagements, due to their potency. Ascendril kill primarily through heavy damage, or by hindering their foes and setting up a series of channeled brands which can be unleashed for instant death.

Roleplay

Ascendrils have a diverse range of options for roleplay - the guild's focus on scholasticism and discovery opens the door for a wide variety of character types, all included under the umbrella of "magical" sorts. Both fighters and pacifists can find a home in the Ascendril, with heavy encouragement given those interested in studying the magical forces found in Aetolia.

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ALIGNMENT

Tether: Spirit

Starting City: Enorian

Outlook: The Ascendril are fairly archetypically "good" in their outlook, although their role as scholars leaves some room for neutrality in the pursuit of knowledge. They firmly support life and guard the elemental realm of Spirit from the forces of Undeath.

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LOCATION

Guildhall: A bastion to knowledge, the Hall of Elements is located in the central park of Enorian. A tower rising into the sky, the building is home to arcane knowledge and tools of magic, wielded by the Ascendril to control and shape the elements. Fonts infused with fire, water and spirit serve as nodes of power, while the center of the tower houses an immense master crystal, used by the mages to transform pearls into delicate, mystical crystals used for spinning their ethereal vibrations.

Entrance: Before the Hall of the Elements (room number 44303) in Enorian.
Directions from Portals: in, n, e, ne, nw, n, ne, se, s, w, nw, ne, s

Special entry: BOW KAARDEL

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GUILD NPCs

Iernos

Tutor - you can LEARN # LESSONS FROM IERNOS to study skills

Found at: 44309

Directions from entrance: n, u, s

Balam Agab, the ogre archmage

This Ascendril scholar is stationed in the Grand Aetolian Library in the Putoran Monastery. He teaches Aetolians the ogre language.

Found at: 11236

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BASIC HUNTING

CHANNEL FIRE/WATER/SPIRIT: Open a conduit to the elemental channels

CAST BEAM: Deals a moderate amount of damage

STAFFCAST LIGHTNING AT : If a member of Duiran (Duiran does extra lightning damage)

STAFFCAST SCINTILLA AT : If a member of Enorian (Enorian does extra fire damage)

Staffcast is a far stronger attack than beam, so obtain a staff as soon as you can - it has a heavy mana cost, so you may have to wait until around level 10 to have enough mana to summon one.

CAST ARCBLAZE AT AND AND : This attack lets you hit up to three different targets at once.

CAST REFLECTION ME: This creates a magical reflection that will intercept an attack directed against you, for a rather quick equilibrium cost

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STARTING EQUIPMENT

Armor: Tower shield

Weapons: Aetherstaff

- AB ELEMANCY AETHERSTAFF covers how to get one

Clothing: No uniforms

Gear: Crystals for vibrations

- AB CRYSTALISM REFINE covers this process

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SKILLSETS

Crystalism: This skillset is primarily focused on PvP skills, with a unique form of Area of Effect (AoE) spells. Ascendril can spin vibrations, which then affect every enemy in the room, making them very potent in a team fight. These vibes are prepared in advance and then passively attack enemies over the course of a battle, dealing out a variety of afflictions, wounding targets, draining their mana reserves, causing enemies to flee or even slowing time itself. Some vibrations also heal and help allies, further augmenting the Ascendril's role of a core team anchor.

Enchantment: Enchantment is a trade skill which allows you to create a variety of useful magical items. These items are needed by all players, so it can be a good way to make money. The skillset lets an Ascendril make goods which can increase resistance to elemental forces, craft useful sigils to protect houses or weapons, or even create miniature elementals to assist in hunting down vermin.

Elemancy: Elemancy is the core of an Ascendril's active offense and defence, with skills in this skillset focused on using magic to deflect attacks, augment vibrations and hinder foes. Ascendril can unleash timed explosions of magical energy called holocausts which affect everyone in the room, either healing or harming them, based on which element is channeled. By tapping into fire, water and spirit, an Ascendril can weave defences to strengthen their body, cure afflictions, transfix their foe and even steal their abilities to use against them. The most adept of the mages can even twist the elemental forces to inflict brands upon their target, which they can then unleash to rip their soul from their body.

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CORE ASCENDRIL DEFENCES

Defence: Veil

Message: You are protected by a veil of fire.

Purpose: Reduces damage taken.

Source: Elemancy veil

Use/Priority: Hunting (high), Combat (high)

Defence: Waterward

Message: A thin layer of water ripples over your body.

Purpose: Gives you a chance to resist being afflicted by a venom.

Source: Elemancy waterward

Use/Priority: Combat (High), Hunting (moderate)

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Feel free to post any questions you have about the Ascendril class in this thread for the forum community to answer!

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Newbie Class Guide: Sentaari

Gretel — Fri, 20 Sep 2013 11:15:40 +0000

THE SENTAARI MONASTARY

BALANCE OF MIND, BODY AND SPIRIT

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OVERVIEW

Description

The Sentaari guild is a monastery nestled in the forestal city of Duiran, focused on achieving balance in all things. Do not be fooled by their outward tranquil and calm appearance, however, for the Sentaari are a group of highly disciplined monks, with their bodies, minds and even spirits honed to preserve the ways of Life. Using the skill of Tekura, they study martial arts, mastering a variety of deadly and precise kicks and punches. Their training in Kaido teaches their minds to push their bodies to stunning levels of physical effort, while they can even use their meditative studies to tap into Telepathy, a powerful skill which can be used to heal and soothe allies, or to harm those who disrupt the balance in Sapience.

Combat
Monk combat focuses almost exclusively on limb attacks, with rotating damage done to the target's arms, legs, head and torso stacking up to create an overwhelming combination of broken bones. These attacks are augmented by telepathic attacks and the use of kai, which grants the Sentaari kai energy when they are hit - this energy can then be unleashed for powerful abilities. Monks provide good support to teams, with their abilities to attack from afar, and can even use their minds to wrench enemies to their location. While some of this may sound complicated, monks are actually very easy to learn for newcomers.

Roleplay

Sentaari have ties to the natural world, due to their place in Duiran, but can be just as comfortable in a city. Members are varied, from the outgoing to the reserved, the shy to the boisterous, while the guild itself focuses on achieving serenity and enlightenment - expect calm reflection and philosophical discussions alongside the rigours of physical training! The skill of Telepathy allows a lot of unique roleplay opportunities, with monks able to project illusions directly into the minds of others, opening the door to some very creative interaction possibilities.

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ALIGNMENT

Tether: Spirit

Starting City: Duiran

Outlook: Sentaari are focused on seeking balance and harmony in the land, and they view the Undead as anathema to this goal. Some may take a zealous stance on this, but it's far more common for the monks to have a more gentle hand, leading those who have fallen into darkness back to the side of Spirit to find peace.

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LOCATION

Guildhall: The Sentaari monastery lies in the southeastern part of Duiran, its walls tucked amidst the lush forest of the Heartwood. A tranquil and placid place, the architecture is refined and simple, with an emphasis on clean lines to encourage an easy pursuit of inner peace. Lush gardens surround the buildings, with elegant statuary and even an exotic creature or two, such as a stunning phoenix who prowls the grounds.
Entrance: Before a serene wall with a sloped overhang, in Duiran (room number 43795)

Directions from Portals:out, s, e, e, e, e, ne, se, e, se, se, s

Special entry: TOUCH STATUE

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GUILD NPCs

Brother Shinobou

Tutor - you can LEARN # LESSONS FROM Shinobou to study skills

Merchant - ASK SHINOBOU WARES to see what he sells!

Found at: The training pagoda (room number 39050)

Directions from entrance: s, sw

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BASIC HUNTING

COMBO SCS UCP UCP: This will put you into scorpion stance, followed by two punches. A good initial opening attack.

COMBO SDK UCP UCP: This will kick a target, followed by two punches. Good for once you are already stanced.

REGENERATION ON: At the cost of willpower, you will passively heal damage.

TRANSMUTE MANA # FOR HEALTH: Turns part of your mana into health to heal you

NUMB: Delays the damage you take for a short time. Be warned! This damage will be delivered after a short time, all at once!

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STARTING EQUIPMENT

Armor: Leather

Weapons: Your fists!!

- See AB TEKURA COMBO for quick ways to combo attacks.

Clothing: Guild uniform of robe and pants (purchase from Shinobou)

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SKILLSETS

Kaido: A stunning study in discipline, Kaido trains monks mastery over their body itself, allowing them to achieve impressive feats of self-control beyond the scope of most mortals. Many utility and defensive skills can be found in this skillset, such as abilities to regenerate health, clot bleeding, resist damage and heal limbs through force of will. Kaido also gives access to a unique mechanic called kai - the more a monk is hit, the more kai he generates, which can then be spent on powerful abilities such as self-heals, remotely choking a foe's windpipe, or even the power to banish someone from the current timestream.

Tekura: The core of a monk's skills, Tekura teaches monks a vast array of punches and kicks. Abilities such as the hammerfist, roundhouse and even a flying jumpkick can all be combined for deadly use against a foe. Various stances, such as the rat, phoenix and tiger, give different benefits, opening the door to tactical choices not only in limb strikes, but in combat stance, while the lessons themselves follow a traditional martial arts progression of demonstration for a superior to earn belts.

Telepathy: A result of honing their minds themselves into weapons, monks can telepathically assault or assist others, even over a distance. Once a mindlock has been formed, a monk can perform a variety of actions on their target, such as healing them, moving them, forcing afflictions onto them, or even completely destroying them in a radiant, deadly strike. This skillset is excellent for ranged situations, making the monk an asset in a team combat situation, both for harming or helping others.

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CORE SENTAARI DEFENCES

Defence: Toughness

Message: Your skin is toughened.

Purpose: Reduces damage you take from physical attacks.

Source: Kaido toughness

Use/Priority: Hunting (high), Combat (high)

Defence: Vitality

Message: You will call upon your fortitude in need.

Purpose: If your health drops below a certain level, you will receive a surge of health

Source: Kaido vitality

Use/Priority: Hunting (high), Combat (high)

Defence: Resistance

Message: You are resisting magical damage.

Purpose: Reduces damage you take from magical attacks.

Source: Kaido resistance

Use/Priority: Hunting (high), Combat (high)

Defence: Fitness

Message: You are utilising your bodily control to make yourself more fit.

Purpose: Blocks the first hit of asthma, cures asthma (active use)

Source: Kaido fitness

Use/Priority: Combat (high), Hunting (low)

Defence: Nightsight

Message: Your vision is heightened to see in the dark.

Purpose: Lets you see in the dark.

Source: Kaido nightsight

Use/Priority: Utility (moderate)

Defence: Constitution

Message: You are using your superior constitution to prevent nausea.

Purpose: Prevents vomiting from nausea

Source: Kaido constitution

Use/Priority: Hunting (low), Combat (low)

Defence: Immunity

Message: Your blood is steeled against poisons.

Purpose: Blocks a single venom application (you will then need to reapply the defence)

Source: Kaido immunity

Use/Priority: Hunting (moderate), Combat (high)

Defence: Split mind

Message: Your mind is split, allowing constant meditation.

Purpose: Regenerates mana and reduces the mana cost of skills

Source: Kaido splitting

Use/Priority: Hunting (high), Combat (high)

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Feel free to post any questions you have about the Sentaari class in this thread for the forum community to answer!

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Newbie Class Guide: Shamans

Gretel — Thu, 19 Sep 2013 11:34:35 +0000

THE SHAMANS

PRAADI AN-KIAR

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OVERVIEW

Description

Oathed to the Guardians in the bestial spiritworld of Dendara, the Shamans are a sect of forestal guardians who use ethereal and mystical powers to commune with the land itself in deep, mysterious ways. Through the skill of Shamanism they can summon a spiritual familiar and channel powers through crude fetishes strung upon the end of their quarterstaves, while their studies into Primality give them mastery over the elements themselves. Finally, through the art of Naturalism, the shamans can command the very forests to aid them, ensnaring foes in vines or sending forth tangled surges of rapidly-growing plantlife to commune with the land.

Combat

Shamans provide excellent supporting roles in team fights. Their ability to create overgrowth helps a team lock down an area, dragging enemies in to the fight, as well as shielding a room from hostile attacks. Shamans can also moderately heal allies and attack multiple enemies at once. In solo combat, shamans use quick reflexes to capitalize on conditional effects on a target. They focus on damage kills or prepared instant kills.

Roleplay

Shaman roleplay tends to be heavily tied to a wild or spiritual role, with many members of the guild focusing on primal lifestyles, or spiritual connections to nature, akin to the archetypical druids of other fantasy games. The guild's link to the spirit realm of Dendara has a lot of potential for players to explore more creative spins on a traditional druidic role, with room for things such as prophecy and the control of spirits, alongside the more traditional concept of a warden of the wilds.

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ALIGNMENT

Tether: Spirit

Starting City: Duiran

Outlook: With their focus on the wilds and nature, the Shamans offer a range of outlooks on morality. Some members may be classically good, while others may be far more grey in their view of the world, with a harsh drive to protect the forests allowing justification of darker actions.

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LOCATION

Guildhall: The Shamans' guildhall can be found in the heart of Duiran, in the depths of the stone caverns beneath the Heartwood. Grottos and subterranean caves surround the area, with the hall itself an immense cavern at the depths of Duiran. A serene pool sits in its center, while runic carvings adorn the chambers.

Entrance: In the midst of a great stone circle (room number 43675)

Directions from Portals: out, s, n, n, n, e, d, s, w, s

Special entry: STAFFRAISE IVARYEN

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GUILD NPCs

Elder Oranis, Shaman of the Praadi

Tutor - you can LEARN # LESSONS FROM ORANIS to study skills

Found at: A serene pool in the center of the cavern (room number 47439)

Directions from entrance: ne, nw, n

Spiritwalker Besram

Prepares plants for visions

Found at: 47441

Directions from entrance: ne, nw, nw, sw

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BASIC HUNTING

COMMUNE LIGHTING : Shoots lightning at your target

COMMUNE BOOST: Use this before your attack to increase your attack rate

DEFENDING: Ensure that you re-activate lifebloom after it is consumed and you resummon your spirit if it gets killed. The spiritbond defence does not fade until you take another hit so you can quickly summon the spirit and maintain the defence!

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STARTING EQUIPMENT

Armor: Ringmail

Weapons: Quarterstaff

Clothing: No uniform

Gear: Fetishes (AB SHAMANISM FETISHES) and a spiritmask (AB SHAMANISM SPIRITMASK)

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SKILLSETS

Primality: Primality harnesses the skills of the elements, letting the Shaman unleash the very energy of nature upon their foes. This skillset is the core of a Shaman's offense, with a unique mechanic of "boosting" - skills in primality generate energy, which can then be used to heighten the effects of skills, making them quicker and adding secondary effects to the abilities, giving Shamans a potent build-up and momentum over the course of a fight. Primality also lets a Shaman summon their core weapon: a powerful quarterstaff, used to channel natural energy.

Shamanism : Shamanism provides a good deal of utility skills, defences and ways to augment your attacks. The fetish sub-tree lets you pick fetishes which will passively create different effects, while the familiar sub-tree lets you pick from a range of spiritual familiars to hinder your foes in various ways. Shamanism also includes a powerful travel skill known as songlines, which lets you send yourself or others to villages through Sapience as quickly as it takes to murmur a song.

Naturalism: This skillset is heavily focused on PvP skills, with the core of group combat and area control abilities found here. The groves sub-tree lets you bond with a single room in the forest, giving you a variety of ways to interact with the land itself, while the overgrowth ability lets you direct plants to overtake an area to attack foes from afar. Some utility and roleplay skills can also be found here, such as abilities to nourish plant growth or link your groves to others across the land.

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CORE SHAMAN DEFENCES

Defence: Shaman protection
Purpose: Decrease the damage you take from physical attacks.
Message: A protective rune guards you from harm.

Source: Shamanism protection

Use/Priority: Hunting (high), Combat (high)

Defence: Spiritmask

Purpose: Decrease the damage you take from magical attacks

Source: Shamanism spiritmask

Use/Priority: Hunting (high), Combat (high)

Defence: Lifebloom

Purpose: Restores a surge of health if you drop low in health

Source: Primality lifebloom

Message: You have been gifted with the bloom of life.

Use/Priority: Hunting (high), Combat (high)

Defence: Horn fetish

Purpose: Restores mana

Source: Shamanism horn

Use/Priority: Hunting (moderate), Combat (moderate)

Defence: Tooth fetish

Purpose: Lets you use primality skills with broken arms

Source: Shamanism tooth

Use/Priority: Hunting (moderate), Combat (moderate)

Defence: Bark fetish

Purpose: Reduces damage you take

Source: Shamanism bark

Use/Priority: Hunting (high), Combat (high)

Defence: Durdalis oath

Purpose: Grants high resistances to magical types of attacks

Source: Shamanism oaths

Message: You have enacted the Oath of the Durdalis.

Use/Priority: Hunting (high), Combat (high)

Defence: Nature's Blade oath

Purpose: Boosting has a chance to not consume energy

Source: Shamanism oaths

Message: You have enacted the Oath of Nature's Blade.

Use/Priority: Hunting (moderate), Combat (high)

Defence: Familiar spiritbond

Purpose: Reduces damage taken

Source: Shamanism spiritbond

Message: You share a deepened bond with your familiar.

Use/Priority: Hunting (high), Combat (high)

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ADVANCED INFORMATION

Information for fighters interested in learning about the intricacies of Shaman combat.

- Shaman PK guide

Shaman Roleplay: Example logs showing roleplay from the guild.
- A discussion with one of the Dendaric spirits

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Feel free to post any questions you have about the Shaman class in this thread for the forum community to answer!

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Newbie Class Guide: Carnifex

Gretel — Mon, 22 Jul 2013 12:03:18 +0000

THE CARNIFEX KNIGHTS

IN STRENGTH

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OVERVIEW

Description

The Carnifex are a militant guild of savage knights, based in a fortress in the icy Tarean mountains known as the Shadow Keep. Wielding hammers and polearms, they use the skills of Savagery to attack their foes, while also commanding hounds through the use of Warhounds to aid them in battle. More than simple soldiers, though, the Carnifex also practice dark magic and ritual, draining the very souls from their victims for a variety of brutal uses. This guild is a dark-aligned knight guild, with magical aspects of Deathlore and soul control.

Combat
The class is suited towards those who enjoy physical combat and weapon attacks. PvP focuses on venom afflictions and limb damage. You can command loyal hounds to attack your enemies in battle, or to aid you in hunting. Magical abilities are primarily utility and augment the physical weapon attacks. Carnifex have a unique momentum mechanic - the more you attack, the more damaging assaults you can unleash, so 1v1 combat gives them a build-up of momentum over the course of a fight. The class puts out high damage and are the main "DPS" in a team combat situation, with the majority of their skills focused on dishing out pain.

Roleplay

The roleplay tends to be dark and brutal, with a heavy emphasis on military structure, compared by many to boot camp - you will likely find yourself shouted at and even attacked or killed by the guild's leadership in order to "train" you to become a strong soldier. Inspections of gear and behavior are common events. Despite this harsh training (or perhaps because of it), there is also a strong sense of camaraderie among the soldiers, with rowdy drinking a popular pasttime among many of the Knights. Members can also branch into magic and dark rituals with their captured souls, giving a unique roleplay opportunity of physical fighter combined with magic wielder.

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ALIGNMENT

Tether: Shadow

Starting City: Bloodloch

Outlook: The Carnifex are generally considered to be an "evil" guild, as they slaughter innocents and capture souls. Their focus is primarily on strength in battle, however, which can be played as a more neutral/grey moral stance.

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LOCATION

Guildhall: The Shadow Keep can be found at the very top of Mount Gallows, a windy, exposed peak in the northwestern Tarean mountain range. The Keep is a cold, rugged place, with a foreboding appearance and heavy battlements to ensure security against any who may assault it - staunchly independent, the fortress features many of the amenities of a city proper, with barracks, a mess hall, stables, forges and even a warhorn which can heard echoing every now and then over the mountaintops to call the Carnifex to battle.

Entrance: Plateau of Mount Gallows, in the Tarean Mountains (room number 18485)
Directions from Portals: in, n, e, ne, nw, n, ne, se, s, w, nw, ne, s

Special entry: PULL AXE

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GUILD NPCs

Wraithlord Gruxmal

Tutor - You can LEARN # LESSONS FROM GRUXMAL to study skills
Found at: A shadowy training yard (room number 36877)

Directions from entrance: w, n

Tarhiya Rheat
Merchant - ASK TARHIYA WARES to see what he sells!
Found at: A simple workshop (room number 38761)
Directions from entrance: w, n, w

Medeya
Gatewarden (alerts the Keep to intruders or calls to arms)

Found at: Between the portcullises (room number 36872)

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BASIC HUNTING

Hammer
BASH - Basic damage
GUTCHECK - More damage

BATTER - Most damage

Polearm
CARVE - Masic damage
HACK - More damage
SPINNING - Most damage, but slightly slower. Two hits, making it ideal for higher level players, once they begin seeing a high number of critical hits.

Magic
SOUL BARRAGE - Fairly high damage attack, but a bit slower than weapon attacks. At lower levels, or for those with high intellect/quick equilibrium, this can be potent.

Defending
SOUL CONSUME FOR HEALTH - This will heal you.

SOUL SHIELD - This will create a shield to deflect incoming attacks, akin to the shield tattoo.

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STARTING EQUIPMENT

Armor: Fullplate

Weapons: Bardiche, hammer

- AB DEATHLORE CLEAVER covers how to create a weapon for basic hunting.
- For hunting, ignore the penetration stat on weapons!

Clothing: Guild uniform (GHELP UNIFORMS)

Gear: Soulstone (TOUCH SOULSTONE in room number 36877)

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SKILLSETS

Deathlore: This skillset covers the manipulation of souls and magical attacks. The skills in here are primarily focused on utility and augment the main attacks in Savagery. Defences to make you take less damage, ways to heal yourself and even skills to revive allies are in this skillset. The core mechanic of the Carnifex class is included in this skillset - the capture of souls: Carnifex draw souls into their soul stones which they then use for certain attacks. They also temporary eat away at an opponent's soul through an ability known as soulthirst, which empowers their attacks to make them faster and stronger.

Savagery: Weapon attacks can be found in this skillset, with the skills branching into the hammer and polearms sub-trees. This skillset is the primary source of Carnifex attacks. Higher training in Savagery will increase the amount of damage you do. Polearms can be used to slice at a foe to make them bleed, trip people to the ground, hack into an opponent for damage or even skewer someone to the ground and wrench at their guts, while hammers let you swat people from room to room, deal heavy damage and batter exposed limbs.. Savagery even lets you channel your brute strength to smash past the enemy's parry or recklessly ignore hindering afflictions for a short time.

Warhounds: This is a tertiary skill to augment your basic offense. Hounds provide useful extra attacks, and also have utility purposes, such as the delivery of objects to other players, interception of attacks, and the ability to sniff out NPCs in an area. The guild has a kennel where members may request new hounds, while wild hounds exist throughout Sapience which an intrepid Carnifex may hunt down and wrestle into submission, brutally forcing the beast to be a dominated, loyal creature. Hounds can be trained through training sessions to teach them abilities, increase their strength or make them speedier in their attacks.

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CORE CARNIFEX DEFENCES

Defence: Soulthirst
Message: Your weapons thirst for the souls of your enemies.
Purpose: Allows you to gather soul from your victim when you hit them
Source: Deathlore soulthirst
Use/Priority: Combat (high)

Defence: Soulharvest
Message: You are harvesting the souls of your victims.
Purpose: Lets you automatically gather souls from those you slay
Source: Deathlore harvest
Use/Priority: Hunting (moderate)

Defence: Spiritsight
Message: You are seeking the souls of the hidden.
Purpose: Lets you see who is hidden in your room
Source: Deathlore spiritsight
Use/Priority: Utility (high), Combat (high)

Defence: Fitness
Message: You are utilising your bodily control to make yourself more fit.
Purpose: Blocks the first hit of asthma, cures asthma (active use)
Source: Savagery fitness
Use/Priority: Combat (high), Hunting (low)

Defence: Gripping
Message: Your hands are gripping your wielded items tightly.
Purpose: Stops wielded weapons from being knocked away or dropped if arms break
Source: Savagery gripping.
Use/Priority: Combat (high), Hunting (high)
Note that gripping STOPS you from throwing stuff. Use FIST SIGILS instead whenever possible!

Defence: Embedweapon
Message: none
Purpose: Increases the damage your weapon does
Source: Deathlore embedweapon
Use/Priority: Hunting (high), Combat (high)

Defence: Embedarmor
Message: none
Purpose: Increases resistance to magic/fire/cold/electric by 10%
Source: Deathlore embedarmor
Use/Priority: Hunting (high), Combat (high)

Defence: Substitute
Message: You will substitute your soul with another upon dying.
Purpose: Returns you instantly to life if you die
Source: Deathlore substitute
Use/Priority: Hunting (high), Combat (high)

Defence: Soulfortify
Message: Your soul has been fortified.
Purpose: Increases your constitution by +1
Source: Deathlore fortify

Use/Priority: Hunting (high), Combat (high)

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ADVANCED INFORMATION

Information for fighters interested in learning about the intricacies of Carnifex combat.

Carnifex Roleplay: Example logs showing roleplay from the guild.

- A guild novice interview

- The Purging, a trial for a returned Knight
- A large guild event, where a gate is opened to the Abyss

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Feel free to post any questions you have about the Carnifex class in this thread for the forum community to answer!

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