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Singleton Vs. Spellcaster


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I am interested in your strategies of using a singleton versus spellcasters. How do you build up spell resistance, fight multiple spell casters at once. I find it is fairly easy to handle melee combat as a singleton. I am running up against problems versus spell casters.

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Luck is also a good skill to invest in

 

EDIT: Rather than posting a new message I'd like to explain the benefits of luck in this post.

 

Each level of luck gives a 5% increase to elemental resistances, 5% dodge and hit chance, as well as a (?)% chance of escaping death. After 10 levels your character becomes powerful and by 20 you basically have a Juggernaut. What I mean is powerful spellcasters, like dragons, will only be doing 7 and below damage to your character with Arcane Blow, on Torment difficulty. If your character drops to 0 health the chances of him dying in the next few hits are low.

 

Unless you plan to make a singleton archer I'd avoid the skill altogether. With high luck, a couple points in priest spells for War Blessing and Healing, and good melee skills, your character should be able to handle almost any situation.

 

(Even if you don't want to invest in luck, I'd suggest 1-5 points, simply for minor resistance and lifesaving.)

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Quote:
Originally written by VCH:
If you have any archer ability, spell-casters can be shot down in short order.
Exactly; spellcasters make me wish I'd spent more in ranged attacks, which are not a bad investment for singletons.

With a warrior-priest singleton the tactics I have to use are pretty chancy: At least lvl 3 war blessing adds some resistance to their magic, wait to let everyone else move and see if you have enough AP to reach a spellcaster and still cast enough healing to counter the magic, then hit the caster with whatever AP you can get.

If they're accompanied by melee fighters it's rough as hell, because you have to let everyone have a whack at you while you race to snuff the caster. If you have your defensive skills up to advisable levels, they'll mostly miss or leave you with scratches, but one dervish-caliber fighter can make a formidable match with any caster. It's worse if the caster summons; they can build a wall of critters that costs much AP and SP to cut through while they fling magic attacks at you. And many times I've been able to dispatch the caster and found myself half-depleted and swamped by his companions and summonings.
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What kind of skills does your singleton have? It seems like most people go with an archer/priest for a singleton, which tends to be very effective. Archery in general is by far the easiest way to kill spellcasters, since they tend to have high magic resistances and stay out off melee range. In fact, the singletons I've made haven't had any melee or pole weapons skill at all, relying solely on archery and magic, and its worked out quite well. Who needs melee? The damage might be higher (unless you've played through canopy...), but being able to stay out of harm's way and picking your targets is a big advantage, especially vs. spellcasters.

 

As a singleton who uses primarily melee, I don't know if there is an easy way. Obviously war blessing is necessary, for the resistance and the extra AP, which you'll need to chase the buggers down. Those skills that raise magic resistances (hardiness, luck, resistance, magery, etc.) are crucial in my opinion, but some people seem to think they're a waste if you can get your resistances from radiant shield. These people are wrong. smile

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Any natural resistances you can get won't be wasted; SPs and APs are too precious to rely on Radiant Shield too heavily. In fact for ranged attacks, I agree missiles are a much better investment of AP's than magic, and saves those SP's. I built a melee-priest for the challenge, but a more effective solo fighter would go with missile, and train just enough melee to get the quick action skill.

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Here goes further questions about singletons.

1) Tool use strategy-- I don't buy much tool use and instead put it into strength-- for doorbusting. To open chests that are trapped I cast Enduring barrier beforehand then heal. What strategy do you use for trap busting.

 

2) One of the weaknesses of a singleton is the need to get open doors as a spellcaster. I am working towards putting 6 levels of spellcaster then open doors. I probably won't go beyond that because I can use piercing crytals to dispel barriers.

 

3) The other weakness is a lot of cleric spells are useless like mass healing, mass curing, raise dead. I think I may stop buying spell levels after level 12 in cleric. I am thinking 6 levels mage, 12 levels cleric, then upping my potion making until I get invulnerability elixir. Strategies anyone.

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Quote:
Originally written by Toasty Warm:
I am interested in your strategies of using a singleton versus spellcasters. How do you build up spell resistance, fight multiple spell casters at once. I find it is fairly easy to handle melee combat as a singleton. I am running up against problems versus spell casters.
I commonly use a singleton spellcaster... :p

Well, scratch that, not entirely true. I use a pair of characters, both spellcasters (one priest, one mage).
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Quote:
Originally written by Toasty Warm:
3) The other weakness is a lot of cleric spells are useless like mass healing, mass curing, raise dead. I think I may stop buying spell levels after level 12 in cleric. I am thinking 6 levels mage, 12 levels cleric, then upping my potion making until I get invulnerability elixir. Strategies anyone.
I suspect that if you don't build up enough priest levels for Divine Restoration, you'll eventually come to regret it. Healing is fine when you have one or two fighters and multiple priests to keep them healed, but when you only have one character acting every round you want to heal as quickly as possible.
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I don't have potions that high, but my luck is high enough to give me practical invincibility, which is much better to have than healing in too many situations. As a solo, you often have a lot of attacks concentrated on your one char, and too few action points to respond. The higher priest levels are great for resistances and spell points, but I find it much more useful to carry on eliminating enemies than to stop to heal.

 

So I agree with Toasty Warm on the 6 mage/12 priest levels, but leave potions relatively low and spend on luck instead. You can still find a use for herbs you come across without putting too much reliance on finding those herbs.

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