HGL Evoker Creation 101
Catagory :
Evoker Creation 101
Building An Evoker From The Ground Up 101:
I started playing HG:L in Beta so while I do not have all the experience as some on these boards I do have some experience in creating Evoker builds. Mostly my experience revolves around the creation of my personal build for a spectral / poison based Evoker and as such my knowledge in some of the skill lines may be lacking to some degree. I have tried to supplement that lack of skill usage by reading the forums from posts that other people have written that have used those skills. Hopefully, by reading this you will have a better understanding of how to create an Evoker from the ground up and perhaps waste fewer points in skills that work just fine with few points allocated.
As Ive stated from time to time An Evoker is made BEFORE you roll him up. By this, I mean that if you do not have an understanding on how you will create AND play your Evoker before you even create him, then it will be a failed build. Is this always the case? No; and the reason is, once you have an understanding of what the skills do beyond just this is a cool damage skill so Ill get it over this skill then you can pretty much make your Evoker on the fly without referencing anything at all. You have a feel what you want to do and you will know what works and what dont work so you will select and place points wisely to create a build you will be happy with. Before you get to that point though, you need to read and re-read the skills and then read the forums for what other people say about those skills. Just because the game text says one thing does not mean that the skill is actually doing that or acting in a particular manner. The forums will be the best source of knowledge you will have access to. I recommend you read everything in the forums that may pertain to build creation and what people find out when they use a particular skill. If you do this then you will start making informed decisions on where to put your points and most importantly WHY you put that point where you did instead of somewhere else.
Lets get some basics out of the way right from the start shall we?
The Evoker is basically a mage from other systems that channels Demonic powers via the use of Foci. The Evoker does have access to a limited number of skills that do not require a Foci to use but for the most part the Evoker is defined by the Foci they use. Foci are what determines an Evokers damage potential modified by the type of modifications and enhancements that the Foci may have. Getting into number crunching is not the purpose of the paper so Im going to avoid that aspect all together. Suffice to say, that the more powerful the Foci the more powerful your skills will become. There are plenty of resources already in the forums that discuss the theory concerning how damage is calculated via use of Foci. Please use the Search feature and see if you can find them if your interested.
The two main Evoker build types:
I think the Evoker can be broken down into two different types: Generalist, Specialist. Each may have its own place in HG:L and where you would normally play it.
The Generalist build, allocates skill points into a wide array of skills to try to encompass as many new and different skills as possible. This build would be excellent for the novice Evoker trying out the skill system for the first time while obtaining an understanding of what the different skills are and what works best with what skill. The Generalist build can also be used by the experienced Evoker, creating a build that centers on the Jack of all Trades principle. While this build may be able to have little issues with HG:L Normal mode they may begin to suffer a bit in Nightmare mode. Since this build adhears to having a lot of different skills the skill point pool is watered pretty thinly over a host of skills and the build becomes non centralized.
The Specialist build, allocates points centered around just a few areas that the player wishes to concentrate in. This build can be very tedious to the novice player since this type of build may take some growing into before the build is fully appreciated for what it is. However, when the build begins to flesh out, this build begins to shine and becomes a power to enjoy. This build type normally will be diversified in that it will have more than one type of elemental attack form, some debuff skills and a way to mitigate damage in one form or another. But the central theme is to create a build that can stand up to anything that the game can throw at you. This will be the build type most people will adhear to when they start making serious builds for the harder modes of game play.
The two different types of Evoker previously mentioned can both be played and played either poorly or expertly by different people. The way one person approaches a build and understands the build may make that person play that build one way or another. That is the reason I dont like to give out specific information reguarding build specifics for I have no idea on your play-style unless you tell me up front. The individual must know his or her play-style and must design a build that complements that play-style. If I simply say: Take this build its good and you do take it and you cant play it; its not your fault nor my fault, but the fault lies in not understanding the build itself and the persons play-style it was built for.
The three parts that compose an Evoker build:
The Evoker build can be thought of as being composed in three parts: Offensive, Defensive, Support skills. The skills the individual Evoker selects will define him or her, so careful thought must be put in to the creation process before the Evoker is even rolled up. One must have an idea of what one is wanting to create before you know in what direction would best suit your idea. The builds idea is paramount to a successful build.
Now that being said, some skills can fall into more than one category and are thus doubly effective for the Evoker. One such example is Drain Life where you drain your enemies life away as it refills your own heal bar. Since this spell can be considered Offensive as well as Support since your both attacking and healing yourself at the same time. Putting points into skills like these give double benefit when used properly. However, putting to many or to few points into those skills can hurt your build as well since its a waste of points. For example: If you have few hit points and put in to few points into Drain Life then the skill may do you little good in that it may not heal you fast enough to compensate for the damage you are receiving. On the other hand, if you have few hit points and put to many points into Drain Life then you may be filling your hit point bar up extremely fast but cannot stop healing or the mobs will kill you quickly soon as you do. Having a Feel of what is right for you is what Ill be trying to get across here in this paper.
What is your play-style?
One of the tougher questions that you must ask yourself before you make your Evoker is: "What is my play-style?". While seemingly simplistic in nature it can be maddingly hard to define if you don't really know your self.
If your new to HG:L and working on your first Evoker then I would suggest not paying a bit of attention to anyone at all, not reading the forums for ideas and just cranking up the game and giving the Evoker class a go and see what you like and dislike about the class. This may take some time to do since a lot of newer people have a hard time with the Evoker class before level 10-15 at this time they begin to come into their own. All I ask of you is to at least give it your best shot, then do so again if you think you even MAY like to play this class. Try out different skills and see what you like about them and what you don't like about them and why.
If you've built an Evoker or two before and have had fun playing one, then you most likely know how you like to play your Evoker. You may not have liked the build you played for one reason or another and it may not have conformed to they way you were wanting him to be played, however, you did learn something in the process. You know your play-style. You know what you enjoyed doing and for what reasons. You know if you liked melee-ranged fighting or long ranged or AoE or what ever it was that grabed you and gave you that "thrill". You know or at least you have an idea of, the play-style you most crave.
What skills most closely follows my play-style?
Once the question of "What is my play-style?" is answered, then the next question to ask yourself is "What skills most closely follows my play-style?". Here we start getting into the meat of what makes an Evoker an Evoker and different than the Evoker next to him or her. The skills you select will define your character and the skill points you put in those same skills will further define you to make you unique. Even if two identical characters were created and points played exactly the same way; if those two characters were played by two different people, they would have different thoughts about the strengths and weaknesses of those exact same characters.
The skills set of an Evoker encompasses the skill sets of the Demons themselves. As Evokers we take and learn from the Demons and then turn that knowledge back upon them. That being the case, our skill set revolves around elemental forces and those forces of Life and Death. The Evoker skill set is very nicely presented by Blood-Doll's post entitled "More Detailed Skill Descriptions and Common Evoker Q&A . Please read and re-read that thread for it contains a lot of useful information concerning the skills we use everyday. But knowing what the skills ARE and what they DO are sometimes not quite enough. You have to USE the skill to have a better UNDERSTANDING of that skill and when that skill should and should not be used, and why. In the forums, I read and re-read posts by people asking for build advice and when I look at their proposed builds for a moment, I then know if they have played an Evoker before or not.
The biggest problem I see are where people put either way to many points into a skill or way to few points into a skill. They do not know, for they have NOT USED the skill to know how many points "are good enough for my build". This gets back to the several issues we have already covered. The number of points that should be allocated into a particular skill is entirely based upon your play-style. I really cannot stress that enough. Each person will have a different opinion on exactly how many points is "good enough" based entirely upon their own perspective on their own play-style. To simply ask what other people think concerning point placement may give you a good idea of what is best for them may not be well in truly best for you. If you understand WHY they tell you the number of points they suggest is better than another number, then if you think that's the way to go, then by all means take their advice. But remember, it's your build and you need to be able to be happy with what your creating.
What should be considered before, during and as as you play your Evoker build?
There are quite a few posts in the forums that are pointed at "what ifs" and "if this is better than that" issues. These questions can normally be answered by the person posted the questions quite easy enough if they took a bit of time and thought about the build they are currently working on as they are actually playing. A lot of people do not realise that a posted build is a living document in that it gives you a starting point and a direction in which you would like to travel, BUT it is not set in stone and can be modified on a whim if you find that the build is lacking in some quality that you think should be improved upon. The key to building a better build is not blindly following someone elses build but by understanding gameplay and your personal play-style, then building on what you've learned and modifying your build as required to "fit" the circumstances. Things to be considered are:
Time for point placement... or is it?
Ok I've pretty much covered most of the bases concerning the bare bones of what makes an Evoker but that still does not answer the prime question a lot of people constantly ask: "Where do I put my points? or perhaps a better question... "What skills should I select for my build and how should I allocate points to the best advantage for my play-style?". When you can ask that question and mean it then your well on your way of not needing this document at all. The reason I say that is simply; If you can ask that of your self then you can just as easily answer that same question and you'll know what to do to create the build you want. [This section will be moved to the area discussing point-placement in detail]
A brief overview of the Evoker skill Trees:
Now that we have an idea of the play-style you wish to persue we can then just jump in and start selecting tons of neat skills right? WRONG! It's now time to think about what skill trees you'll want to select from, but to do that you need to know a bit about them and what each of the trees offers you.
There are five elemental trees we as Evokers get to select skills from, and they are: Fire, Spectral, Lightning, Bone, Poison. Each of these trees has it's advantages and disadvantages and the careful Evoker will pick and choose with this in mind. Keep in mind as well that as your character grows and you start filling out your build, you'll have to keep up a nice power pool for him/her or you may soon be wishing you had more power or selected a different tree that used less power. Let's take a quick look at the different trees.
The Fire Tree: This Tree offers the Evoker a highly damaging skill set that causes the enemy to ignite and die quickly. This Tree's skill range varies from 8m to 28m depending upon the skill used. Which means, you'll be be either in medium or short range with most creatures when you use these skills. This Tree is also loves to drain your power pool. Many an Evoker has picked this Tree, loved it and complained that it took to much power to maintain it. Use this Tree as needed, support your power pool and back off as necessary to conserve power and you will love this tree.
The Spectral Tree: This Tree offers the Evoker the chance to kill their opponents from melee range up to 45m's. This Tree can be highly damaging or moderately damaging depending on the skill used This Tree does not take as much power to use as the Fire Tree but since you'll be constantly using it, it will drain your power none the less. This Tree causes Spectral damage and has a chance to "Phase" the enemy it was casted upon. The "Phased" enemy will do 50% less damage to you and will take 50% more damage from you.
The Lightning Tree: This Tree offers the Evoker yet a different method ot lay your opponents down in the dust by the power of Lightning. This Tree when used can be highly effective and many an Evoker really loves this Tree. This Tree is higly versatile and you can get pretty creative in finding different ways in using it.
The Bone Tree: This Tree uses physical damage to kill your enemies via skills revolving around the theme of Bones. This Tree is quite nice to do direct physical damage and also can stun your opponents. I have yet to see a good build centered primarily aound this Tree I think it could be done.
The Posion Tree: This Tree uses the theme of Poison to lay waste to your foes. This Tree seems to be the weakest in direct attacks, it does have it's place in the Evokers arsonal of skills and the wise Evoker will at least consider this Tree before choosing not to use this Tree at all.
The above descriptions were not ment to be an in depth description of each Tree but just a quick brush stroke giving the player an idea what each Tree does in general. I'll leave it up to the player to scratch a bit deeper for a more understanding of them. [More than likely I'll come back and revise them a bit for more content, but for now it get's what I want accross just fine.]
Besides the normal five elemental trees, we as Evokers have access to other skills that come from our Sister class of Summoners and some can be considered to be Cabalist orientated skills since they are shared by all Cabalists. These skills have a wide array of useage ranging from buffs, debuffs and curses. We will delve into these a bit later in this paper.
The five elemental trees combined with the Cabalist support skills make us who we are. Unique in every way and fashion since no two of us are or can be the same exact Evoker.
Build themes, what are they? Do I really need a theme for my build?
Build themes can be found in most games that require or suggest a concentration in one area of skill selections over another. i.e. A pure fire themed Evoker may not wish to utilize skills that seem to come from a different tree since it takes away part of the role-play of the image they are trying so hard to create. Themes help in that they force you to create a build to a specified pre-concieved pattern of play. They will allow you to discard all that is not part of your theme, and by doing so, allow you to center in and concentrate on aspects of your build you may have overlooked without it.
Do you need a theme to create a viable build? The quick answer here is no, you do not need a theme at all, but some times it does help depending on how well your aquainted with build construction and if your into role-playing or not.
In a way you could say that all specialized builds are theme based even though not-intentionally done so since they are based upon only a few of the skill trees available to Evokers.
To be continued...
One-Point-Wonders or are they?
When HG:L was in Beta a term was coined to state that only one point was good enough for a specific skill and you would never need to put any more in. That term was: One-Point-Wonder. But as HG:L went into retail and our knowledge of the game improved this term is becoming more grey than black and white and I think may fall out of usage soon. While it may still be true enough that one point will get you by for a certain skill, one point may not be all the points you want to place here for one reason or another. Each skill that is in the Evoker tree gives a description on what it does to some extent. Sometimes the description is vague or darn right confusing on what it does. But as time goes on and people use these skills more and more, we begin to see what these skill really do and their worth.
A couple of old One-Point-Wonders:
Dual Focus:
This skill in Beta used to be a true one-point-wonder since it was only used so the Evoker could utilize two Foci at the same time. The decrease Willpower Feed part of the skill, was never hardly looked at since at that time we could only go to level 22 and we never even seen Monument Station. Now that we are in retail and we can go to level 50, enter Nightmare mode and even the Elite modes, this skill begins to have more meaning. As Evokers grow to know their characters this skill soon falls short of the one-point-wonder category and into should I put 5, 6 or 7 points into this skill category. As Evokers get closer and closer to end game then I think more and more Evokers will be putting at the very least 6 points into this skill. Some Evokers may hold out on the 7th point so they can utilize the +1 To All Skills enhancement, if they can find one.
Demonspine:
This skill can be highly useful with only one point applied. The damage potential never increases beyond that of the initial one point placement. Only the stun portion of the skill increases as more and more points are placed in this skill. So Evokers wishing only for the damage portion can call this a one-point-wonder skill. But Evokers, wishing to utilize the stun aspect may see it differently and allocate more points so they can stun the mobs for a longer time giving time to the Evoker to regroup.
Concentrate Damage:
Another great one-point-wonder or is it? One point will net you a +25% increase in damage IF you are stationary. Each additional point will net you another 5% increase in damage. Since after the first point, you would have to sink in another 5 points to double your damage potential of Concentrate Damage. A lot of Evokers would tend just to place one point here and not look back. Others may be willing to put more to gain more benefit from Concentrate Damage.
Arcane Shield:
This skill for the most part can be a one-point-wonder if you do not rely on having too many shields. This skill is quite useful in the replenishment of your skills once they are down. Some Evokers may even take this skill to the full 10 points to gain the additional 495 shields offered. If you are going to rely on this skill then you might as well go for the full 10 points if your build can support it. If you are picking up this skill for a quick shield recharge then really only one point is needed.
As Evokers grow, our information concerning our class will grow, and as such our builds will reflect that understanding. Each Evoker will have an opinion why this build is better than that build, but really it all boils down to play-style and skill preference. The old-one-point wonders in our tree may even eventually fall by the way-side for most builds and in other builds may become a standard. Time will tell as new builds are created and tested as to which builds work and which will not.
How can you know exactly how many points to put into a particular skill?
Here lies the major topic of most of the posts currently seen in our forums. The problem here is not having a good grasp of the skill itself mainly due to not using the skill before or not testing the skill out completely on a "test Evoker" build. People want to jump right in with "the best build possible" and enjoy themselves; and who can blaim them? So here I'll attempt to answer the age old question "Is 7 points in Dual Focus ok?" and others.
I'll back track and reorder these in a better format once I get them down but until then I'm going to post the most glaring skills first and then the ones I see most asked in the forums next then I'll work on the more common ones that people usually don't have an issue with.
Dual Focus:
I've seen this asked or I've seen this in "critique my build" posts more often than I can count. The reason is people are not exactly sure what Dual Focus is or how it pertains to their build. Dual Focus is what distinguishes Evokers from Summoners in the Cabalist family. Dual Focus allows Evokers the ability to use two Foci at the same time and thereby reap the benifits of the enhancements and modification slots that can be gleaned from doing so.
But the big problem is that people do not know what happens when you put more points into Dual Focus. Putting more points into Dual Focus decreases your Willpower Feed. Ok I know I just lost some of you so I'll explain. Each and every piece of gear you put on has attribute requirements attached to it. The requirements look something like 2 Strength, 3 Willpower etc. Before going on I need to explain what and where you can see the Feeds for this to all make sense. If you press "I" and look at the left side of your screen you'll see your character attributes and blue bars extending from the left to the right side of that window. Those blue bars are the Feeds for that particular attribute. Once the blue Feed bars extend all the way from the left to the right side then your Feed is maxed and you can no longer add anymore Feed to it. Ok heres an example: You are an Evoker with 40 Willpower and you have 0 points in Dual Focus at this time. You are naked but have gear totaling 40 points of Willpower requirements in your bag and have 3 points that you will magically stick into Dual Focus at sometimes during this example. If you look at your Willpower feed it's currently all the way to the left side of the screen. Now if you put on your gear one at a time you'll see that the blue bar creeps to the right until you have maxed out all 40 points and the blue bar is totally to the right. At this point you cannot put on any new gear that requires Willpower Feed unless it's a clean swap or you reduce your existing Willpower Feed to allow you to equip mre Willpower equipment. Now that being said, if you now stick those 3 points we mentioned previously into Dual Focus then that will DECREASE your Willpower Feed by 36 points. You would notice that, that blue Willpower Feed line backed down a bit so you now have access to equip 36 additional points of equipment even though your still wearing the same stuff you were wearing a moment ago. So Dual Focus Decreases your Willpower Feed to allow Evokers the opportunity to equip more high demanding Willpower Feed items.
A lot I know and can be confusing. A lot of people have a problem understanding this skill so don't feel alone.
Now that you have an idea what Dual Focus does for you, you can see that under normal circumstances ONLY ONE POINT is really necessary in todays normal builds. That being said, I've found that in Elite Mode about in the middle of Act 4 when you start finding and using more and more Willpower dependent gear that your Willpower Feed bar will creep up a lot more than it did previously. When you start seeing this then it may be time to think about putting one or two additional points into Dual Focus to help out with the Feed issues you'll soon be having.
Listing of all 27 Evoker skills:
I am going to break down the skills used by Evokers as I did in the above section by elemental type then supplementary or supportive skills. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail as far as in depth description goes for Blood-Doll has made a very good post that does that already. However, I'll be using bits and pieces of Blood-Dolls descriptions to cover ground I wish to go over in this document. If I incorporated Blood-Dolls gathered information then this document would be quite lengthy indeed and perhaps out grow the three posts I've allocated for it. What I do intend to cover in this section is What the skills are and give an idea as to why one should not put the maximum number or for that matter minimum number of points into it. When you finish reading this section you should have an idea on point placement and some of the problems that a lot of people run into. It's not that they have bad ideas it's just people really don't understand the skills well enough to make an informed decision on where to place there points. Now granted, for each skill there will be it's advocators and nay-sayers but that's what makes this so great. No two builds can ever be the same even though they are. Think about that.
Without further adu...
The Fire Tree: Consists of three skills as do all the elemental trees. The skills that compose the Fire Tree are: FireStorm, FlameShards, HellFire.
to be continued.. got to go to work... try to some more on this today.
Ratero.
[Skipping a bit here to cover some different ground. I'll come back to the skills a bit later and fill them in.]
Does this build work? If not, Why not?
I mainly see this question asked by people who again, have not been playing very long and just want "quick answers". Some of the builds put forth are not that bad, but they truely do need a bit of work since the person posting the build (like most of us) have not played the entire content in the different modes to have a "feel" for what what is either "good" or "bad" . We can only go with what our current understanding of the game is at the time of the post. However, that being said, there are some builds in which the poster just picked up the game, went to the web page to create a build and then posted said build in the forums for a critique hopeing somone will tell them what they are doing wrong or right in that build.
Currently the tool-tips for our skills are either vague or down right confusing when you read them (If you read them). Coupled with the fact that how we actually calculate damage potential with all the variables that are in motion is mainly guesswork at this point and it's not very surprising to find that people are just plain confused on what is either "good" or "bad".
There are however certain skills we have that may or may-not be "good" or "bad" depending upon the build taken as a whole. When you look at a build you need to try to figure out what the builder had in mind when he created it. When you think you have an idea then you can see what his intent was and if he pulled it off or not. First clues to look for wheather if the build is "workable" or not are:
Is it possible to make a viable and deadly PvE and PvP build?
This is really a hard one to answer from a non PvP'er point of view. However, I'll try my best due to the number of people asking this question over and over again. Offhandedly, I would say that the two types of builds: PvE, PvP should be considered not mutually exclusive. The mind set of one will be different than the mind set of the other. However, if your going to PvP then you will have to level in PvE so that you can actually do the PvP itself.
Currently as things stand in the realm of HG:L, there are no respecifications to skill points at all. Since that is the case then the build you create to PvP will have to hold up for PvE as well. This is where the "give and take" comes into play.
If you make a build strictly for PvE then your all set and there is nothing to consider.
If you make a build strictly for PvP you may have issues surviving in PvE since your point allocation may be much different than what it may be if you were both PvE and PvP. In PvP your intent is to kill the other player and you'll create your build to take advantage of your classes strengths and know your own weaknesses. To that end, your skill makeup may encompass skills which you may not normally select if your build was both PvE and PvP. If you do select skills you may not normally take then your build may become watered down a bit to much and thus your build may suffer for it.
If you make a build for both PvP and PvE then I should think that while it may not be as strong as a pure PvE build it will not be as weak as a pure PvP build. Here you'll have to keep in mind both modes of play as your considering point usage not just one mode or the other. By PvP builds being weak, I mean that they may not hold up as well in PvE as a pure PvE would hold up. The different modes have different mind sets and thus the builds for one will not exactly be the same as for the other.
Just my two pallidum on this subject and you can take it for what it's worth. Please keep in mind I am not a PvP'er so my lack of experience here will mostly reflect this and my answer may not seem correct to a lot of PvP'ers who have created builds with this play-style in mind.
Things to keep in mind for different HG:L modes (Normal, Nightmare, Elite, Hardcore etc)
As Evokers we have a wide range of skills from which we can choose from. These skills may not quite work as intended as yet, but for the most part, they are working well enough for us to utilize them and work them into our builds. But what skills to choose? What skills should be overlooked and why? Is "this" skill "better" than "that" skill? Is "this" skill a core skill for Evokers? All of these questions are totally dependent upon what mode your intending to be playing.
For the most part, Normal mode is quite straight forward, easy enough to play and with a bit of forethought it's not hard to come up with a build that will eventually get you to the end-game. Granted, depending upon the skills you chose, getting to the end-game can be easier or harder. Also if you misplace a point or two it will not totally destroy your build as the game is a bit more forgiving in Normal mode.
I cannot offer to much help when it comes to Normal Nightmare mode. I never did play in this mode but I can guess that it should follow the same progression as Normal mode but a bit harder. Perhaps like a scaled down or near enough version to Elite Normal mode.
I have played through the Elite content and by doing so it has changed my view of Evokers and how they are created in general. Here your builds will be tested to the point of being broken. You will know if your build can hold up to the game in pretty short order and post-Monument will be the crucible in which you will know if youll make it to end game or not. By the time you hit Elite mode Monument Station, you will begin to think outside of your build, and you will consider more closely where you put your points for skill selection. Even if you have to rethink your current build and consider picking up new skills. When I got to this point I went through two more revisions of my build before I was ok with it and still may revise it a bit more for Elite Nightmare mode.
I am not a Hardcore player and never will be. For that Im sorry that I can not offer you some advice in this area. I could put my thoughts down but they would only be common sense issues and based off little Hardcore knowledge. Perhaps someone soon will create a Hardcore post and that will prove a good reference.
Attribute Point Placement Recommendations.
If youve ever done a search in these forums you will undoubtedly come across numerous posts that have recommendations on how and where to put your attribute points. Ill not get into who recommended what and why, but please find those other posts and read up on what others recommend and why.
To consider where you should place your attribute points you first must consider which mode your intending to play in. I really feel that depending upon that mode selection will determine where you put your attribute points in as you obtain them. There are four attributes for every character in HG:L and they are: Accuracy, Strength, Stamina, Willpower. Which of these attribute points is the most critical to your character is dependent upon a few factors: Your current level, Mode of Play. I could put down a few others but I think for the most part everything can be rolled up in those two items.
BTW if you consider putting points into Accuracy for a gun Evoker build just dont.
Normal Mode:
Here we have the basic game and the mobs are not quite so fast and do not have the same abilities as harder modes of play. Here, for the most part I think you will find that something like a 3:2 (Willpower:Stamina) split should be fine for the most part. Depending upon your level and where you are in the game, you may find gear that you would like to use but cannot use due to the lack of attribute requirements. To compensate for this you may wish to find what is commonly referred as +AA gear or + All Attribute gear. The +AA gear when equipped will boost all your attributes by a certain amount. The problem here is that if you use this gear then you may have to pass up another piece of gear which you would rather use due to the enhancements on that other piece of gear. Its problem youll have to face soon enough: Where do I put my points? Should I place them so I can handle the +AA gear only? Should I disreguard the +AA gear for gear with better enhancements and just put my points where I need them? Should I settle for a mix of +AA gear and normal enhanced gear?
Initially, placing attributes is quite easy stick everything in Willpower and a few in Stamina as you need them. This works fine for about the first 20 levels or so and then youll start wanting to wear better gear or find that your Feedbars are creeping up on you and you need to reduce them. At this point the attribute points begin to look more like little golden bars that once placed can never be touched again. You will consider each point a bit more before making your selections. As I said before, up to about level 20 I would recommend putting everything into Willpower and in Stamina only as you have the need for it. After around level 20ish youll most likely start putting in a 2:3 (Willpower:Stamina) ratio and perhaps a few points in Strength towards the end of Normal mode depending upon the gear you find.
If you take that character through Normal Nightmare mode, you may find that the attribute point allocation may eventually turn into something like 1:4 (Willpower:Stamina) or even 0:4 (Willpower:Stamina). Again, if you need to put points into Strength to wear some piece of gear you cannot live without then do so. But keep in mind that most gear is Stamina Hungry late in game and the more Stamina you have the better you will be.
Since it impinges directly on attribute points Ill put something here concerning Dual Focus. In Normal Mode it may be well and good to have only one point in Dual Focus depending on your build and your play-style. I completed Normal mode with only one point in Dual Focus so I know it can be done. If you take that same character to Normal Nightmare mode then you may need to think about placing in more than one point in Dual Focus to reduce your Willpower Feed, thereby allowing you to sink more points into Stamina and Strength as needed.
Elite Mode:
In the beginning I think you will find that this mode of play is only slightly more difficult to play than Normal mode. The mobs are a bit faster, the AI seems to be better and the mobs start using elemental attacks that hurt can hurt. Elite mode as in Normal Mode starts getting interesting when you first enter Monument Station. Here is where you will start to die 10-12 times just trying to break into a new area and begin to think you may never break in and just log out to reset the mobs so you can break in easier.
Again as in Normal mode I would use the 3:2 (Willpower:Stamina) ratio for splitting my attribute points. This will build up your power pool, start to give you a decent power recharge rate and at the same time give you enough Stamina to survive. Depending upon your build you could go 5:0 (Willpower:Stamina) to build up your power pool and power regen rate as fast as possible. Either choice is fine depending upon your build. After around level 20 or so when you reach Monument Station you will should have a decent power pool built up and though it may not recharge as fast as you would like its big enough for you to start considering to sink more and more of your points into Stamina.
In Elite mode you will want to wear the very best gear you can possibly wear. Depending upon your build this may mean one thing or another. If youre a melee Evoker then gear with lots of armor, shields, elemental resists and perhaps Thorns may be in order. If youre a long range Evoker then you may want to go with more shields than armor, go with power regen over some resists etc. Again it depends on what your intending to do and what suits your play-style more.
In either case, eventually you will come to a point that you will stop putting points into Willpower and start sinking them all into Stamina and perhaps some in Strength. At this point you should be thinking: How can I increase my power recharge rate enough so I can put more points into Stamina? An Evoker lives and dies by his power pool. If your out of power and are attacked well... its a nice run back from the Station. So the Elite Evoker has to play a delicate balancing act between when to stop placing points into Willpower and when to start putting points into Stamina and Strength.
At this time, you may wish to consider the Prism Foci. This Foci is what most Evokers will use towards the end game in Elite Normal and Elite Nightmare. The 4 mod slotted version combined with the ability to have three different Foci swap outs: F1, F2, F3 will give you enough flexability to come into your own. When you get to the point of putting points into Stamina then youll want to start looking for +Power Regeneration Mods and while your at it +Shield Penetration mods. A Prism kitted out with 4 power regen mods will go a long way in keeping you on your feet. You may even consider looking for +power regen gear and perhaps even putting one more power regen mod in your second 4 mod Prism. The +Shield Penetration mod that I previously mentioned will just bypass a mobs shields and youll be amazed how fast some previously annoying shielded mobs go down. You may even consider all 8 mod slots kitted out with power regen mods to reduce down time.
On your Foci swaps try to pick up Foci that can enhance your skill set and perhaps kit them out with mods for specific uses. Example: Your normal Foci have no Fire based attacks but your F2 swap does have a Fire skill, use your F2 swap to kill mobs that are more easily killed by Fire. Perhaps you want to kill bosses easier? If the boss is a Demon class then kit your Foci out with %increased damage to Demons etc. Use your imagination and come up with three foci swaps that will enhance your build.
to be continued....
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[Currently Copy and Pasted From Blood-Doll's post to make starting this section easier]
FIRESTORM
Descriptions: Conically shaped short stream AOE; last as long as you hold down the key/button
There is a chance to ignite that is attached to firestorm that increases as you add points to it.
Damage type:fire
Rate of use: continuous
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: high power cost, x/sec
Range: low, 8 meters
Benefit from skill addition: ignite chance increases (starts at 0 ends at 675%)
Other information:
-Increased rate of use mods adversely effect firestorm causing an extreme power drain discussion on this and another one
FLAMESHARDS
Descriptions: You click the key/button and your character throws shards out (the number varies on your skill level)
they spray out in a uniformly spaced fan shape and randomly embed in objects or enemies where they hit; the radius of damage is one meter but it is not expressed when the shards are embedded in a mob (see other information). once embedded, the shard will explode after one second.
Damage type:fire (can proc ignite with ignite attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: 1 second recast time
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: low-moderate
Range: midrange, 20 meters
Benefit from skill addition: number of shards increases (starts at 5 ends at 14)
Other information:
-multiple shards embedded in an enemy in one cast do only the damage of one shard (it is unknown if this is a bug or intended) thread about that
-shards embedded in the environment (walls/floor) or other enemies can do full damage to other enemies in range
HELLFIRE
Descriptions: You click and a beam comes out of your focus pointing towards the ground signifying the start of the cast; you are free to move around during this time but must not cast any additional skills. After 2 seconds a pentagram/circle shape materializes on the spot where the tip of your beam was last located, followed quickly by an eruption of fire from the ground that blankets a ~15m area around where the circle was; any enemies in this vicinity take direct fire damage from the eruption and then additional fire damage over time for 4 seconds.
Damage type:fire (can proc ignite with ignite attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use:No recast/cooldown
Cast Time: 2 seconds
Delay before another skill can be used: unknown
Power cost: high to mid (the more points you add to hellfire the lower the power cost)
Range: long range: 28 meters
Benefit from skill addition: power cost is lowered (at level 10 it is roughly half of the level 1 power cost)
Other information:
-you can change the position of where hellfire will emerge for as long as the beam is out; once the circle symbol is observed that is the spot where hellfire will be cast
-you can spam this skill (use it repeatedly) though the fields will not overlap with themselves or other aoe fields
SPECTRAL BOLT
Descriptions: You throw a single ball shaped projectile that (if it goes far enough) splits into several (up to 10?) bolts; the split occurs at around 15 meters. The balls do damage and have a chance to phase enemies; the chance goes up with spectral bolt's skill level.
Damage type: spectral
Rate of use: 1 second recast time
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: low-moderate
Range: long range, 28 meters
Benefit from skill addition: chance to phase is increased (100% at level 1, 1900% at level 10)
Other information:
-if spectral bolt hits before 15m then only 1 ball hit; there will be no split
-movement of the balls after the split is unpredictable
-with correct positioning you can get multiple balls to hit one target, each doing full damage
SPECTRAL LASH
Descriptions: A line appears that is attached to your focus weapon(s); it latches on to your target and does damage for as long as you hold down the key/button; the connection is not lost if you move or if the target moves. (but will be lost if you lose line of site)
Damage type: spectral (can proc phase with phase attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: continuous
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: low, x/sec
Range: midrange to very long range, 18m-45m(depends on skill level)
Benefit from skill addition: range increases from 18m at level 1 to 45m at level 10
Other information:
-it's "latching on" feature allows for a lot more movement and maneuverability
SPECTRAL LASH MASTERY
Descriptions: A passive skill that works with (and only with) spectral lash; it causes enemies killed by lash to explode; the explosion has lowish damage but the explosion also has a chance to phase enemies.
Damage type: spectral
Rate of use: n/a (see other information)
Cast Time: n/a
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: n/a
Range: n/a (range of explosion unknown)
Benefit from skill addition: increased chance for the explosions caused by mastery to phase (100% at level 1, 1900% at level 10)
Other information:
-lash mastery explosion/debuff can only occur every 2 seconds
-most people find that both the damage and chance to phase are too low thread about that
LIGHTNING FIELD
Descriptions: You throw a ball shaped projectile that can do a small amount of damage if it hits an enemy, but doesn't need a target (it can be thrown on the floor); either way the ball breaks upon impact and does an AOE around the floor of the landing point. The AOE area is determined by skill level and the area stays "electrified" for ~5 seconds.
Damage type: lightning (can proc shock with shock attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: no recast/cooldown
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: moderate
Range: long range, 30m
Benefit from skill addition: increased AOE area after the ball hits (14ish% to 126ish% at level 10)
Other information:
-lightning field and swarm AOEs cannot overlap (and 2 or more lightning fields cannot overlap on themselves)
TEMPEST
Descriptions: You cast (rising up with a cool animation and a lightning bolt coming from your hand to the sky) and an AOE cloud emerges overhead that does damage through lightning strikes; the lightning targets enemies under the cloud and the number of strikes is determined by tempest's skill level. The cloud lasts for over 20 seconds. (23?)
Damage type: lightning (can proc shock with shock attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: 20 seconds
Cast Time: 5 seconds
Delay before another skill can be used: unknown
Power cost: high
Range: low (30m straight UP!)
Benefit from skill addition: increased lightning strikes (20% at level 1, 180% at level 10)
Other information:
-it roots you for 3 seconds while you cast it
-luring or fearing enemies under the cloud is one way to use it
-discussion on Tempest's usefulness
-i've heard the clouds can overlap and stack but have not confirmed it myself
ARC LEGION
Descriptions: Another leash skill that works like a shorter range multi target lash; lines come out
from your focus, then seek out and attach themselves to enemies. If only one target is present only one line will attach;
if multiple enemies are around the stream and the damage of the stream is split.
Damage type: lightning (can proc shock with shock attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: continuous
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: low-moderate, x/sec
Range: low to midrange, range depends on skill: level 11-20 meters
Benefit from skill addition: increased range 11m at level 1, 20m at level 10
Other information:
-it has a feeling of building up strength when compared to lash (that is full strength and fully attached at start)
-damage to one target is substantially more than damage to several
VENOMOUS SPIRIT
Descriptions: Little ghosty guy shaped projectile comes out from your focus weapon and flies in a straight line on whatever plane you threw him on until he encounters an enemy; the spirit projectile acts like a homing device toward enemies, auto-targetting them. When he hits an enemy there is upfront damage that is inflicted and also the chance for poison damage and a chance to fear.
Damage type: toxic (can proc poison with poison attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: 1 second
Cast Time: negligable >.5 sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: low-moderate
Range: long range, 35m
Benefit from skill addition: increased chance of fear (20 at level 2, 180 at level 10)
Other information:
-some people find the speed of the projectile to be too slow, others use it's mechanics to hit a single target long range with 3 or more venomous spirits in conjunction with another skill used as the spirits hit to do high dps.
-fear does not work in pvp
-"The Spirit can also be used as a mob seeking missile. If you shoot the Spirit straight in front of you at an intersection or down a hallway and the Spirt swerves either left or right there is a mob there. The Spirit will auto-target mobs that are close by if you lob it in the general direction. Very handy to have if you want a bit of intel before getting ganked in a dark alley." -Ratero
VENOM ARMOR
Descriptions: You cast and your hands glow for a sec then you're surrounded by a circle of bugs that persists with you as you move. Your armor is increased by a set amount determined by two things: your character's level and Venom Armor's skill level. The bugs that surround you will attack anything that gets in close proximity doing damage over time for about 8 seconds regardless of the position of the infested enemy; (an enemy can get within 4m of you the bugs will attack it and continue to do so whether he remains at 4m or if he runs away to 30m.)
Damage type: toxic (can proc disease with disease attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: 60 seconds
Cast Time: instantly on
Delay before another skill can be used: 3 seconds
Power cost: moderate-high
Range: the bugs will attack anything that is within 4m or so of you; however they can also follow along the lines of skills or weapons that attach to a mob with a stream and so you can deliver Venon Armor's damage in a longer range in this manner. (the bugs may actually go after any mob that is agroed to you regardless of its distance away)
Benefit from skill addition: increased armor value (160 at level 1, 250 at level 10) and increased duration (20 seconds at level 1, 65 seconds at level 10)
Other information:
-armor value may scale differently (it is not known yet)
-an infection phenomenon is observable: bugs can spread from one enemy to a second upon the death of the first
-bugs can follow streams to attack enemies at further range
-venom armor can be casted as you run without stopping
-concentrate damage and arcane shield can be used during the 3s delay
SWARM
Descriptions: You throw a small circular projectile and where it lands there's this puddle effect animation (as if a stone dropped in water) and a field of bugs immediately rises from the ground; the field appears to be about 15m in diameter and lasts for about 8 seconds. Anything that crosses into the field will be attacked by bugs and take damage over time.
Damage type: toxic (can proc disease with disease attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: depends on skill level; lowered recast time at higher skill level
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: high
Range: long range, 30m
Benefit from skill addition: increased rate of use (20s rate of use at level 1, 7.1s rate of use at level 10)
Other information:
-lightning field and swarm fields cannot overlap (and swarm fields cannot overlap themselves either)
-enemies that leave the field will continue to take damage for 1 second
DEMONSPINE
Descriptions:You fire a projectile (shaped like a line about 1m long) at your target; both the delivery and speed of the projectile have the appearance and feel of going faster than other projectile skills. The projectile pierces through targets meaning that it doesn't stop when you hit your target, the projectile continues to move through any others behind the first within range. When it hits an object or enemy there is the appearance of a small impact explosion but it does not do damage to any adjacent enemies. Demonspine also has a chance to stun that increases with its level.
Damage type: physical
Rate of use: 1 second
Cast Time: negligable >.25sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: low
Range: midrange, 20m
Benefit from skill addition: increased chance to stun (1100% at level 1, 3800% at level 10)
Other information:
-you fire demonspine straight out from your focus weapon, you don't lob it (shift weight and lean back and arc it as you throw) how you do with other skills so this in part is why it seems faster
BONESHARDS
Descriptions: It is instantly casted as you push the key/button, a bunch of popcorn looking bone pieces fly outwards in a dome shape around your character. They damage enemies in range and have a chance to stun; the stun chance increases with its skill level.
Damage type: physical
Rate of use: 8 second recast
Cast Time: instantly casted
Delay before another skill can be used: 2 seconds
Power cost: low
Range: 10m in all directions
Benefit from skill addition: increased chance to stun (1200% at level 1, 5700% at level 10)
Other information:
-concentrate damage and arcane shield can be used during the 2s delay
-the bone pieces flying out can miss mobs that fall between them
-every other cast of boneshards will do no damage if you do not cast anything between the two boneshard casts
SKULLSPLITTER picture of use in open area and at skill level 1 (only a few fragments)
Descriptions: You throw a softball looking projectile that bounces once if it hits a surface at or under 10m then it impacts on it's next surface encounter; however, a fragment of the original, observable only by it's impact, continues onwards exploding either further forward or adjacent depending on the area; then another explosion after the second, and this continues for however many fragments your skill level grants. The impacts and explosions following the first occur in rapid succession.
The fragment explosions appear to continue on leaping forward like skipping stones if the area of the projectile's path is open; if there is no space to continue forward the fragments impact adjacent to the original provided that the area of impact is at 10m or greater; under 10m there will be only one impact and no fragments. If you throw it downwards at the floor within 10m it will bounce onwards or up to a wall if it cant go forward; if you throw it downwards at the floor beyond 10m it will impact. Enemies encountered along the first projectile's bouncing path are damaged. Upon impacts there are explosions appearing to be about 5m in diameter and damaging enemies within this range.
Alternate Description because mine is dumb:"You throw a softball-type projectile which goes a maximum of 20m, with some exceptions. The skull will go 10m bouncing one time, and one time only then it travels as far as it will go (max of 20m) until exploding. If the skull flies 10m in the air and then hits the ground, it explodes on impact. Once the skull explodes X amount of shards go flying in random directions, exploding on impact, creating a 2m radius explosion, which damages all enemies in its explosion. The skull will not explode into its shards if it hits an enemy directly"-virus
(maybe between the both of them it's understandable)
Damage type: physical (can proc stun with physical attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: 5 second recast
Cast Time: negligable >.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: moderate-high
Range: midrange, 20m
Benefit from skill addition: increased number of split fragments (4 at level 1, 13 at level 10)
Other information:
-the range of 20m may not always apply (i've gotten fragmented explosions to go much further)
-If a skullsplitter's original projectile "whizzes" by an enemy, the enemy will take damage.
-movement of the fragmented explosions is based on both the angle/direction of the inital projectile and on the terrain, but it also seems somewhat random and unpredictable.
ARCANE SHIELD
Descriptions:You click the button/key and arcane shield is immediately active; a hellgate symbol (circular slowly spinning and flickering) appears below your feet and your shields are healed to full and then an additional shield value (determined by the skill level) is applied on top. You are rooted for one second before you can move; once you move forwards or backwards or strafing, the additional value that was added to your base shield value is lost. (spinning the camera around and spinning yourself in one spot does not cause the spell to break. Unlike other skills the recast does not start counting down until after you have moved and broken the original cast; until then and while active the skill blinks red indicating that it is in use and cannot be reused.
Damage type: n/a
Rate of use: 13 second recast time
Cast Time: instantly on
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: low
Range: n/a
Benefit from skill addition: increased shield value
Other information:
-you are rooted for one second after casting arcane shield
-shield regeneration is determined by max shield value (the higher your shields the faster your regen)
-damage done to shields is calculated without regard to armor values (i think)
-shield overload increases the percentage damage done to shields
-shield penetration causes a percentage of damage to ignore shields
-there is an issue that shields seem a lot less useful in higher levels here's a thread on that
-because of the previous issue most people only put 1 point to arcane shield and use it as a shield heal skill only rather than relying on it to augment their shields to a level where it would mitigate most damage.
DRAIN POWER
Descriptions: A continuous stream skill: you click the key or push the button and a enemy seeking blue ray comes out from your focus. Once it connects it does no damage but your power regeneration (determined by skill level) is increased by a percentage for as long as you hold down the key/button, maintain line of sight, and stay in proper range; if there are two or more enemies in range and close enough together (about 5m apart) the stream will split to multiple enemies and you will regenerate the increased percentage of power for every enemy in the stream.
(more enemies drained = more power regenerated)
Damage type: n/a
Rate of use: continuous
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: n/a
Range: midrange, 21m
Benefit from skill addition: increased power regeneration (20% at level 2, 120% at level 10)
Other information:
-this is the only skill besides dual focus that does not require power
-some people say that it does not scale well at higher character levels
-power drain does not drain power from enemy players
DRAIN LIFE
Descriptions: A continuous stream skill: you click the key or push the button and an enemy seeking red ray comes out from your focus. Once it connects it does a slow amount of damage over time and you gain a set amount of life over time (determined by both skill level and character level) for as long as you hold down the key/button, have power, maintain line of sight, and stay in proper range; if there are two or more enemies in range and close enough together (about 5m apart) the stream will split to multiple enemies and does not appear to lose damage from this split; however, you will gain life from each mob that is in the stream and you will lose 13 power per second for every enemy in the stream.
(more enemies drained = more life gained = more power lost)
Damage type: n/a
Rate of use: continuous
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: low to high depending on the number of enemies being drained
Range: midrange, 21m
Benefit from skill addition: increased health gained
Other information:
-the damage is low about 1/3 or 1/4 the damage done by spectral lash
-some people say that it does not scale well at higher character levels, while other people are "addicted" to its use
ELEMENTAL DRAIN
Descriptions: Partially a continuous stream skill: you click the key or push the button and a enemy seeking red and blue ray comes out from your focus; you do not need to hold down the button/key though; the stream will maintain itself for 3 seconds provided that you do not lose line of sight or move out of range. After 3 seconds a sparkly kind of bubble effect appears over you and your target; the effect increases your resists by a set number and reduces your enemy's resists by a set number for 8 seconds; both your resist amount increased and the amount that is decreased on your enemy is determined by the skill level. (see other information) Unlike most other skills recast time does not start until the stream stops and the effect starts.
Damage type: n/a
Rate of use: 5 seconds
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec but stream must remain active for 3seconds before resist effects apply
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: moderate to high
Range: midrange, 21m
Benefit from skill addition: increases your resists gained, increases enemy resists lost (see other information)
Other information:
-the skill is bugged in that it says you gain a percentage resists and enemies lose a percentage resists but the actual resists that you gain are not percentile (when it says 60% it really means you gain 60 to all resists) - this is the same for your enemys resists (that it is only decreased by a set number and not a percent)
-you cannot maintain this skill on more than one enemy; if you can get the effect to go on two enemies at once it cancels on the first
-i have an an experience in pvp where my enemy GAINED the same amount of resists that i gained, but i have since tested it and this incident has not reoccured; in subsequent tests my enemy in pvp lost resists though they were less than they should have been (he lost 15 to all resists instead of the 25 suggested at level 1)
-the amount of resists gained or lost seems nearly negligable when considering the amount of resists at end game
-if the stream (that must remain up for 3 seconds before the effect becomes active) is broken before the 3 seconds, the skill's recast timer will begin and there will be no resist effects applied
-if a monster dies before the effect has worn off you still keep your side of the effect (the resists gained)
-the skill doesn't draw agro
-increased buff duration mods will increase the 8 seconds that elemental drain's effect is applied to your resists
-there is a bug i've noticed on many occasions where the skill will be red (indicating that it cannot be used) until an enemy is targetted regardless of the distance away (it can be substantially out of range) and then elemental drain will stop being "redded out" indicating that it can be used
Word of Fear
Dual Focus
Summon Ember
Blink
Concentrate Damage
Brom's Curse
Afterlife
Spectral Curse One-Point-Wonders or are they?
When HG:L was in Beta a term was coined to state that only one point was good enough for a specific skill and you would never need to put any more in. That term was: One-Point-Wonder. But as HG:L went into retail and our knowledge of the game improved this term is becoming more grey than black and white and I think may fall out of usage soon. While it may still be true enough that one point will get you by for a certain skill, one point may not be all the points you want to place here for one reason or another. Each skill that is in the Evoker tree gives a description on what it does to some extent. Sometimes the description is vague or darn right confusing on what it does. But as time goes on and people use these skills more and more, we begin to see what these skill really do and their worth.
A couple of old One-Point-Wonders:
Dual Focus:
This skill in Beta used to be a true one-point-wonder since it was only used so the Evoker could utilize two Foci at the same time. The decrease Willpower Feed part of the skill, was never hardly looked at since at that time we could only go to level 22 and we never even seen Monument Station. Now that we are in retail and we can go to level 50, enter Nightmare mode and even the Elite modes, this skill begins to have more meaning. As Evokers grow to know their characters this skill soon falls short of the one-point-wonder category and into should I put 5, 6 or 7 points into this skill category. As Evokers get closer and closer to end game then I think more and more Evokers will be putting at the very least 6 points into this skill. Some Evokers may hold out on the 7th point so they can utilize the +1 To All Skills enhancement, if they can find one.
Demonspine:
This skill can be highly useful with only one point applied. The damage potential never increases beyond that of the initial one point placement. Only the stun portion of the skill increases as more and more points are placed in this skill. So Evokers wishing only for the damage portion can call this a one-point-wonder skill. But Evokers, wishing to utilize the stun aspect may see it differently and allocate more points so they can stun the mobs for a longer time giving time to the Evoker to regroup.
Concentrate Damage:
Another great one-point-wonder or is it? One point will net you a +25% increase in damage IF you are stationary. Each additional point will net you another 5% increase in damage. Since after the first point, you would have to sink in another 5 points to double your damage potential of Concentrate Damage. A lot of Evokers would tend just to place one point here and not look back. Others may be willing to put more to gain more benefit from Concentrate Damage.
Arcane Shield:
This skill for the most part can be a one-point-wonder if you do not rely on having too many shields. This skill is quite useful in the replenishment of your skills once they are down. Some Evokers may even take this skill to the full 10 points to gain the additional 495 shields offered. If you are going to rely on this skill then you might as well go for the full 10 points if your build can support it. If you are picking up this skill for a quick shield recharge then really only one point is needed.
As Evokers grow, our information concerning our class will grow, and as such our builds will reflect that understanding. Each Evoker will have an opinion why this build is better than that build, but really it all boils down to play-style and skill preference. The old-one-point wonders in our tree may even eventually fall by the way-side for most builds and in other builds may become a standard. Time will tell as new builds are created and tested as to which builds work and which will not.
How can you know exactly how many points to put into a particular skill?
Here lies the major topic of most of the posts currently seen in our forums. The problem here is not having a good grasp of the skill itself mainly due to not using the skill before or not testing the skill out completely on a "test Evoker" build. People want to jump right in with "the best build possible" and enjoy themselves; and who can blaim them? So here I'll attempt to answer the age old question "Is 7 points in Dual Focus ok?" and others.
I'll back track and reorder these in a better format once I get them down but until then I'm going to post the most glaring skills first and then the ones I see most asked in the forums next then I'll work on the more common ones that people usually don't have an issue with.
Dual Focus:
I've seen this asked or I've seen this in "critique my build" posts more often than I can count. The reason is people are not exactly sure what Dual Focus is or how it pertains to their build. Dual Focus is what distinguishes Evokers from Summoners in the Cabalist family. Dual Focus allows Evokers the ability to use two Foci at the same time and thereby reap the benifits of the enhancements and modification slots that can be gleaned from doing so.
But the big problem is that people do not know what happens when you put more points into Dual Focus. Putting more points into Dual Focus decreases your Willpower Feed. Ok I know I just lost some of you so I'll explain. Each and every piece of gear you put on has attribute requirements attached to it. The requirements look something like 2 Strength, 3 Willpower etc. Before going on I need to explain what and where you can see the Feeds for this to all make sense. If you press "I" and look at the left side of your screen you'll see your character attributes and blue bars extending from the left to the right side of that window. Those blue bars are the Feeds for that particular attribute. Once the blue Feed bars extend all the way from the left to the right side then your Feed is maxed and you can no longer add anymore Feed to it. Ok heres an example: You are an Evoker with 40 Willpower and you have 0 points in Dual Focus at this time. You are naked but have gear totaling 40 points of Willpower requirements in your bag and have 3 points that you will magically stick into Dual Focus at sometimes during this example. If you look at your Willpower feed it's currently all the way to the left side of the screen. Now if you put on your gear one at a time you'll see that the blue bar creeps to the right until you have maxed out all 40 points and the blue bar is totally to the right. At this point you cannot put on any new gear that requires Willpower Feed unless it's a clean swap or you reduce your existing Willpower Feed to allow you to equip mre Willpower equipment. Now that being said, if you now stick those 3 points we mentioned previously into Dual Focus then that will DECREASE your Willpower Feed by 36 points. You would notice that, that blue Willpower Feed line backed down a bit so you now have access to equip 36 additional points of equipment even though your still wearing the same stuff you were wearing a moment ago. So Dual Focus Decreases your Willpower Feed to allow Evokers the opportunity to equip more high demanding Willpower Feed items.
A lot I know and can be confusing. A lot of people have a problem understanding this skill so don't feel alone.
Now that you have an idea what Dual Focus does for you, you can see that under normal circumstances ONLY ONE POINT is really necessary in todays normal builds. That being said, I've found that in Elite Mode about in the middle of Act 4 when you start finding and using more and more Willpower dependent gear that your Willpower Feed bar will creep up a lot more than it did previously. When you start seeing this then it may be time to think about putting one or two additional points into Dual Focus to help out with the Feed issues you'll soon be having.
Listing of all 27 Evoker skills:
I am going to break down the skills used by Evokers as I did in the above section by elemental type then supplementary or supportive skills. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail as far as in depth description goes for Blood-Doll has made a very good post that does that already. However, I'll be using bits and pieces of Blood-Dolls descriptions to cover ground I wish to go over in this document. If I incorporated Blood-Dolls gathered information then this document would be quite lengthy indeed and perhaps out grow the three posts I've allocated for it. What I do intend to cover in this section is What the skills are and give an idea as to why one should not put the maximum number or for that matter minimum number of points into it. When you finish reading this section you should have an idea on point placement and some of the problems that a lot of people run into. It's not that they have bad ideas it's just people really don't understand the skills well enough to make an informed decision on where to place there points. Now granted, for each skill there will be it's advocators and nay-sayers but that's what makes this so great. No two builds can ever be the same even though they are. Think about that.
Without further adu...
The Fire Tree: Consists of three skills as do all the elemental trees. The skills that compose the Fire Tree are: FireStorm, FlameShards, HellFire.
to be continued.. got to go to work... try to some more on this today.
Ratero.
[Skipping a bit here to cover some different ground. I'll come back to the skills a bit later and fill them in.]
Does this build work? If not, Why not?
I mainly see this question asked by people who again, have not been playing very long and just want "quick answers". Some of the builds put forth are not that bad, but they truely do need a bit of work since the person posting the build (like most of us) have not played the entire content in the different modes to have a "feel" for what what is either "good" or "bad" . We can only go with what our current understanding of the game is at the time of the post. However, that being said, there are some builds in which the poster just picked up the game, went to the web page to create a build and then posted said build in the forums for a critique hopeing somone will tell them what they are doing wrong or right in that build.
Currently the tool-tips for our skills are either vague or down right confusing when you read them (If you read them). Coupled with the fact that how we actually calculate damage potential with all the variables that are in motion is mainly guesswork at this point and it's not very surprising to find that people are just plain confused on what is either "good" or "bad".
There are however certain skills we have that may or may-not be "good" or "bad" depending upon the build taken as a whole. When you look at a build you need to try to figure out what the builder had in mind when he created it. When you think you have an idea then you can see what his intent was and if he pulled it off or not. First clues to look for wheather if the build is "workable" or not are:
Is it possible to make a viable and deadly PvE and PvP build?
This is really a hard one to answer from a non PvP'er point of view. However, I'll try my best due to the number of people asking this question over and over again. Offhandedly, I would say that the two types of builds: PvE, PvP should be considered not mutually exclusive. The mind set of one will be different than the mind set of the other. However, if your going to PvP then you will have to level in PvE so that you can actually do the PvP itself.
Currently as things stand in the realm of HG:L, there are no respecifications to skill points at all. Since that is the case then the build you create to PvP will have to hold up for PvE as well. This is where the "give and take" comes into play.
If you make a build strictly for PvE then your all set and there is nothing to consider.
If you make a build strictly for PvP you may have issues surviving in PvE since your point allocation may be much different than what it may be if you were both PvE and PvP. In PvP your intent is to kill the other player and you'll create your build to take advantage of your classes strengths and know your own weaknesses. To that end, your skill makeup may encompass skills which you may not normally select if your build was both PvE and PvP. If you do select skills you may not normally take then your build may become watered down a bit to much and thus your build may suffer for it.
If you make a build for both PvP and PvE then I should think that while it may not be as strong as a pure PvE build it will not be as weak as a pure PvP build. Here you'll have to keep in mind both modes of play as your considering point usage not just one mode or the other. By PvP builds being weak, I mean that they may not hold up as well in PvE as a pure PvE would hold up. The different modes have different mind sets and thus the builds for one will not exactly be the same as for the other.
Just my two pallidum on this subject and you can take it for what it's worth. Please keep in mind I am not a PvP'er so my lack of experience here will mostly reflect this and my answer may not seem correct to a lot of PvP'ers who have created builds with this play-style in mind.
Things to keep in mind for different HG:L modes (Normal, Nightmare, Elite, Hardcore etc)
As Evokers we have a wide range of skills from which we can choose from. These skills may not quite work as intended as yet, but for the most part, they are working well enough for us to utilize them and work them into our builds. But what skills to choose? What skills should be overlooked and why? Is "this" skill "better" than "that" skill? Is "this" skill a core skill for Evokers? All of these questions are totally dependent upon what mode your intending to be playing.
For the most part, Normal mode is quite straight forward, easy enough to play and with a bit of forethought it's not hard to come up with a build that will eventually get you to the end-game. Granted, depending upon the skills you chose, getting to the end-game can be easier or harder. Also if you misplace a point or two it will not totally destroy your build as the game is a bit more forgiving in Normal mode.
I cannot offer to much help when it comes to Normal Nightmare mode. I never did play in this mode but I can guess that it should follow the same progression as Normal mode but a bit harder. Perhaps like a scaled down or near enough version to Elite Normal mode.
I have played through the Elite content and by doing so it has changed my view of Evokers and how they are created in general. Here your builds will be tested to the point of being broken. You will know if your build can hold up to the game in pretty short order and post-Monument will be the crucible in which you will know if youll make it to end game or not. By the time you hit Elite mode Monument Station, you will begin to think outside of your build, and you will consider more closely where you put your points for skill selection. Even if you have to rethink your current build and consider picking up new skills. When I got to this point I went through two more revisions of my build before I was ok with it and still may revise it a bit more for Elite Nightmare mode.
I am not a Hardcore player and never will be. For that Im sorry that I can not offer you some advice in this area. I could put my thoughts down but they would only be common sense issues and based off little Hardcore knowledge. Perhaps someone soon will create a Hardcore post and that will prove a good reference.
Attribute Point Placement Recommendations.
If youve ever done a search in these forums you will undoubtedly come across numerous posts that have recommendations on how and where to put your attribute points. Ill not get into who recommended what and why, but please find those other posts and read up on what others recommend and why.
To consider where you should place your attribute points you first must consider which mode your intending to play in. I really feel that depending upon that mode selection will determine where you put your attribute points in as you obtain them. There are four attributes for every character in HG:L and they are: Accuracy, Strength, Stamina, Willpower. Which of these attribute points is the most critical to your character is dependent upon a few factors: Your current level, Mode of Play. I could put down a few others but I think for the most part everything can be rolled up in those two items.
BTW if you consider putting points into Accuracy for a gun Evoker buildjust dont.
Normal Mode:
Here we have the basic game and the mobs are not quite so fast and do not have the same abilities as harder modes of play. Here, for the most part I think you will find that something like a 3:2 (Willpower:Stamina) split should be fine for the most part. Depending upon your level and where you are in the game, you may find gear that you would like to use but cannot use due to the lack of attribute requirements. To compensate for this you may wish to find what is commonly referred as +AA gear or + All Attribute gear. The +AA gear when equipped will boost all your attributes by a certain amount. The problem here is that if you use this gear then you may have to pass up another piece of gear which you would rather use due to the enhancements on that other piece of gear. Its problem youll have to face soon enough: Where do I put my points? Should I place them so I can handle the +AA gear only? Should I disreguard the +AA gear for gear with better enhancements and just put my points where I need them? Should I settle for a mix of +AA gear and normal enhanced gear?
Initially, placing attributes is quite easystick everything in Willpower and a few in Stamina as you need them. This works fine for about the first 20 levels or so and then youll start wanting to wear better gear or find that your Feedbars are creeping up on you and you need to reduce them. At this point the attribute points begin to look more like little golden bars that once placed can never be touched again. You will consider each point a bit more before making your selections. As I said before, up to about level 20 I would recommend putting everything into Willpower and in Stamina only as you have the need for it. After around level 20ish youll most likely start putting in a 2:3 (Willpower:Stamina) ratio and perhaps a few points in Strength towards the end of Normal mode depending upon the gear you find.
If you take that character through Normal Nightmare mode, you may find that the attribute point allocation may eventually turn into something like 1:4 (Willpower:Stamina) or even 0:4 (Willpower:Stamina). Again, if you need to put points into Strength to wear some piece of gear you cannot live without then do so. But keep in mind that most gear is Stamina Hungry late in game and the more Stamina you have the better you will be.
Since it impinges directly on attribute points Ill put something here concerning Dual Focus. In Normal Mode it may be well and good to have only one point in Dual Focus depending on your build and your play-style. I completed Normal mode with only one point in Dual Focus so I know it can be done. If you take that same character to Normal Nightmare mode then you may need to think about placing in more than one point in Dual Focus to reduce your Willpower Feed, thereby allowing you to sink more points into Stamina and Strength as needed.
Elite Mode:
In the beginning I think you will find that this mode of play is only slightly more difficult to play than Normal mode. The mobs are a bit faster, the AI seems to be better and the mobs start using elemental attacks that hurt can hurt. Elite mode as in Normal Mode starts getting interesting when you first enter Monument Station. Here is where you will start to die 10-12 times just trying to break into a new area and begin to think you may never break in and just log out to reset the mobs so you can break in easier.
Again as in Normal mode I would use the 3:2 (Willpower:Stamina) ratio for splitting my attribute points. This will build up your power pool, start to give you a decent power recharge rate and at the same time give you enough Stamina to survive. Depending upon your build you could go 5:0 (Willpower:Stamina) to build up your power pool and power regen rate as fast as possible. Either choice is fine depending upon your build. After around level 20 or so when you reach Monument Station you will should have a decent power pool built up and though it may not recharge as fast as you would like its big enough for you to start considering to sink more and more of your points into Stamina.
In Elite mode you will want to wear the very best gear you can possibly wear. Depending upon your build this may mean one thing or another. If youre a melee Evoker then gear with lots of armor, shields, elemental resists and perhaps Thorns may be in order. If youre a long range Evoker then you may want to go with more shields than armor, go with power regen over some resists etc. Again it depends on what your intending to do and what suits your play-style more.
In either case, eventually you will come to a point that you will stop putting points into Willpower and start sinking them all into Stamina and perhaps some in Strength. At this point you should be thinking: How can I increase my power recharge rate enough so I can put more points into Stamina? An Evoker lives and dies by his power pool. If your out of power and are attackedwell... its a nice run back from the Station. So the Elite Evoker has to play a delicate balancing act between when to stop placing points into Willpower and when to start putting points into Stamina and Strength.
At this time, you may wish to consider the Prism Foci. This Foci is what most Evokers will use towards the end game in Elite Normal and Elite Nightmare. The 4 mod slotted version combined with the ability to have three different Foci swap outs: F1, F2, F3 will give you enough flexability to come into your own. When you get to the point of putting points into Stamina then youll want to start looking for +Power Regeneration Mods and while your at it +Shield Penetration mods. A Prism kitted out with 4 power regen mods will go a long way in keeping you on your feet. You may even consider looking for +power regen gear and perhaps even putting one more power regen mod in your second 4 mod Prism. The +Shield Penetration mod that I previously mentioned will just bypass a mobs shields and youll be amazed how fast some previously annoying shielded mobs go down. You may even consider all 8 mod slots kitted out with power regen mods to reduce down time.
On your Foci swaps try to pick up Foci that can enhance your skill set and perhaps kit them out with mods for specific uses. Example: Your normal Foci have no Fire based attacks but your F2 swap does have a Fire skill, use your F2 swap to kill mobs that are more easily killed by Fire. Perhaps you want to kill bosses easier? If the boss is a Demon class then kit your Foci out with %increased damage to Demons etc. Use your imagination and come up with three foci swaps that will enhance your build.
to be continued....
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[Currently Copy and Pasted From Blood-Doll's post to make starting this section easier]
FIRESTORM
Descriptions: Conically shaped short stream AOE; last as long as you hold down the key/button
There is a chance to ignite that is attached to firestorm that increases as you add points to it.
Damage type:fire
Rate of use: continuous
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: high power cost, x/sec
Range: low, 8 meters
Benefit from skill addition: ignite chance increases (starts at 0 ends at 675%)
Other information:
-Increased rate of use mods adversely effect firestorm causing an extreme power drain discussion on this and another one
FLAMESHARDS
Descriptions: You click the key/button and your character throws shards out (the number varies on your skill level)
they spray out in a uniformly spaced fan shape and randomly embed in objects or enemies where they hit; the radius of damage is one meter but it is not expressed when the shards are embedded in a mob (see other information). once embedded, the shard will explode after one second.
Damage type:fire (can proc ignite with ignite attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: 1 second recast time
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: low-moderate
Range: midrange, 20 meters
Benefit from skill addition: number of shards increases (starts at 5 ends at 14)
Other information:
-multiple shards embedded in an enemy in one cast do only the damage of one shard (it is unknown if this is a bug or intended) thread about that
-shards embedded in the environment (walls/floor) or other enemies can do full damage to other enemies in range
HELLFIRE
Descriptions: You click and a beam comes out of your focus pointing towards the ground signifying the start of the cast; you are free to move around during this time but must not cast any additional skills. After 2 seconds a pentagram/circle shape materializes on the spot where the tip of your beam was last located, followed quickly by an eruption of fire from the ground that blankets a ~15m area around where the circle was; any enemies in this vicinity take direct fire damage from the eruption and then additional fire damage over time for 4 seconds.
Damage type:fire (can proc ignite with ignite attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use:No recast/cooldown
Cast Time: 2 seconds
Delay before another skill can be used: unknown
Power cost: high to mid (the more points you add to hellfire the lower the power cost)
Range: long range: 28 meters
Benefit from skill addition: power cost is lowered (at level 10 it is roughly half of the level 1 power cost)
Other information:
-you can change the position of where hellfire will emerge for as long as the beam is out; once the circle symbol is observed that is the spot where hellfire will be cast
-you can spam this skill (use it repeatedly) though the fields will not overlap with themselves or other aoe fields
SPECTRAL BOLT
Descriptions: You throw a single ball shaped projectile that (if it goes far enough) splits into several (up to 10?) bolts; the split occurs at around 15 meters. The balls do damage and have a chance to phase enemies; the chance goes up with spectral bolt's skill level.
Damage type: spectral
Rate of use: 1 second recast time
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: low-moderate
Range: long range, 28 meters
Benefit from skill addition: chance to phase is increased (100% at level 1, 1900% at level 10)
Other information:
-if spectral bolt hits before 15m then only 1 ball hit; there will be no split
-movement of the balls after the split is unpredictable
-with correct positioning you can get multiple balls to hit one target, each doing full damage
SPECTRAL LASH
Descriptions: A line appears that is attached to your focus weapon(s); it latches on to your target and does damage for as long as you hold down the key/button; the connection is not lost if you move or if the target moves. (but will be lost if you lose line of site)
Damage type: spectral (can proc phase with phase attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: continuous
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: low, x/sec
Range: midrange to very long range, 18m-45m(depends on skill level)
Benefit from skill addition: range increases from 18m at level 1 to 45m at level 10
Other information:
-it's "latching on" feature allows for a lot more movement and maneuverability
SPECTRAL LASH MASTERY
Descriptions: A passive skill that works with (and only with) spectral lash; it causes enemies killed by lash to explode; the explosion has lowish damage but the explosion also has a chance to phase enemies.
Damage type: spectral
Rate of use: n/a (see other information)
Cast Time: n/a
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: n/a
Range: n/a (range of explosion unknown)
Benefit from skill addition: increased chance for the explosions caused by mastery to phase (100% at level 1, 1900% at level 10)
Other information:
-lash mastery explosion/debuff can only occur every 2 seconds
-most people find that both the damage and chance to phase are too low thread about that
LIGHTNING FIELD
Descriptions: You throw a ball shaped projectile that can do a small amount of damage if it hits an enemy, but doesn't need a target (it can be thrown on the floor); either way the ball breaks upon impact and does an AOE around the floor of the landing point. The AOE area is determined by skill level and the area stays "electrified" for ~5 seconds.
Damage type: lightning (can proc shock with shock attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: no recast/cooldown
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: moderate
Range: long range, 30m
Benefit from skill addition: increased AOE area after the ball hits (14ish% to 126ish% at level 10)
Other information:
-lightning field and swarm AOEs cannot overlap (and 2 or more lightning fields cannot overlap on themselves)
TEMPEST
Descriptions: You cast (rising up with a cool animation and a lightning bolt coming from your hand to the sky) and an AOE cloud emerges overhead that does damage through lightning strikes; the lightning targets enemies under the cloud and the number of strikes is determined by tempest's skill level. The cloud lasts for over 20 seconds. (23?)
Damage type: lightning (can proc shock with shock attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: 20 seconds
Cast Time: 5 seconds
Delay before another skill can be used: unknown
Power cost: high
Range: low (30m straight UP!)
Benefit from skill addition: increased lightning strikes (20% at level 1, 180% at level 10)
Other information:
-it roots you for 3 seconds while you cast it
-luring or fearing enemies under the cloud is one way to use it
-discussion on Tempest's usefulness
-i've heard the clouds can overlap and stack but have not confirmed it myself
ARC LEGION
Descriptions: Another leash skill that works like a shorter range multi target lash; lines come out
from your focus, then seek out and attach themselves to enemies. If only one target is present only one line will attach;
if multiple enemies are around the stream and the damage of the stream is split.
Damage type: lightning (can proc shock with shock attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: continuous
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: low-moderate, x/sec
Range: low to midrange, range depends on skill: level 11-20 meters
Benefit from skill addition: increased range 11m at level 1, 20m at level 10
Other information:
-it has a feeling of building up strength when compared to lash (that is full strength and fully attached at start)
-damage to one target is substantially more than damage to several
VENOMOUS SPIRIT
Descriptions: Little ghosty guy shaped projectile comes out from your focus weapon and flies in a straight line on whatever plane you threw him on until he encounters an enemy; the spirit projectile acts like a homing device toward enemies, auto-targetting them. When he hits an enemy there is upfront damage that is inflicted and also the chance for poison damage and a chance to fear.
Damage type: toxic (can proc poison with poison attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: 1 second
Cast Time: negligable >.5 sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: low-moderate
Range: long range, 35m
Benefit from skill addition: increased chance of fear (20 at level 2, 180 at level 10)
Other information:
-some people find the speed of the projectile to be too slow, others use it's mechanics to hit a single target long range with 3 or more venomous spirits in conjunction with another skill used as the spirits hit to do high dps.
-fear does not work in pvp
-"The Spirit can also be used as a mob seeking missile. If you shoot the Spirit straight in front of you at an intersection or down a hallway and the Spirt swerves either left or right there is a mob there. The Spirit will auto-target mobs that are close by if you lob it in the general direction. Very handy to have if you want a bit of intel before getting ganked in a dark alley." -Ratero
VENOM ARMOR
Descriptions: You cast and your hands glow for a sec then you're surrounded by a circle of bugs that persists with you as you move. Your armor is increased by a set amount determined by two things: your character's level and Venom Armor's skill level. The bugs that surround you will attack anything that gets in close proximity doing damage over time for about 8 seconds regardless of the position of the infested enemy; (an enemy can get within 4m of you the bugs will attack it and continue to do so whether he remains at 4m or if he runs away to 30m.)
Damage type: toxic (can proc disease with disease attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: 60 seconds
Cast Time: instantly on
Delay before another skill can be used: 3 seconds
Power cost: moderate-high
Range: the bugs will attack anything that is within 4m or so of you; however they can also follow along the lines of skills or weapons that attach to a mob with a stream and so you can deliver Venon Armor's damage in a longer range in this manner. (the bugs may actually go after any mob that is agroed to you regardless of its distance away)
Benefit from skill addition: increased armor value (160 at level 1, 250 at level 10) and increased duration (20 seconds at level 1, 65 seconds at level 10)
Other information:
-armor value may scale differently (it is not known yet)
-an infection phenomenon is observable: bugs can spread from one enemy to a second upon the death of the first
-bugs can follow streams to attack enemies at further range
-venom armor can be casted as you run without stopping
-concentrate damage and arcane shield can be used during the 3s delay
SWARM
Descriptions: You throw a small circular projectile and where it lands there's this puddle effect animation (as if a stone dropped in water) and a field of bugs immediately rises from the ground; the field appears to be about 15m in diameter and lasts for about 8 seconds. Anything that crosses into the field will be attacked by bugs and take damage over time.
Damage type: toxic (can proc disease with disease attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: depends on skill level; lowered recast time at higher skill level
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: high
Range: long range, 30m
Benefit from skill addition: increased rate of use (20s rate of use at level 1, 7.1s rate of use at level 10)
Other information:
-lightning field and swarm fields cannot overlap (and swarm fields cannot overlap themselves either)
-enemies that leave the field will continue to take damage for 1 second
DEMONSPINE
Descriptions:You fire a projectile (shaped like a line about 1m long) at your target; both the delivery and speed of the projectile have the appearance and feel of going faster than other projectile skills. The projectile pierces through targets meaning that it doesn't stop when you hit your target, the projectile continues to move through any others behind the first within range. When it hits an object or enemy there is the appearance of a small impact explosion but it does not do damage to any adjacent enemies. Demonspine also has a chance to stun that increases with its level.
Damage type: physical
Rate of use: 1 second
Cast Time: negligable >.25sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: low
Range: midrange, 20m
Benefit from skill addition: increased chance to stun (1100% at level 1, 3800% at level 10)
Other information:
-you fire demonspine straight out from your focus weapon, you don't lob it (shift weight and lean back and arc it as you throw) how you do with other skills so this in part is why it seems faster
BONESHARDS
Descriptions: It is instantly casted as you push the key/button, a bunch of popcorn looking bone pieces fly outwards in a dome shape around your character. They damage enemies in range and have a chance to stun; the stun chance increases with its skill level.
Damage type: physical
Rate of use: 8 second recast
Cast Time: instantly casted
Delay before another skill can be used: 2 seconds
Power cost: low
Range: 10m in all directions
Benefit from skill addition: increased chance to stun (1200% at level 1, 5700% at level 10)
Other information:
-concentrate damage and arcane shield can be used during the 2s delay
-the bone pieces flying out can miss mobs that fall between them
-every other cast of boneshards will do no damage if you do not cast anything between the two boneshard casts
SKULLSPLITTER picture of use in open area and at skill level 1 (only a few fragments)
Descriptions: You throw a softball looking projectile that bounces once if it hits a surface at or under 10m then it impacts on it's next surface encounter; however, a fragment of the original, observable only by it's impact, continues onwards exploding either further forward or adjacent depending on the area; then another explosion after the second, and this continues for however many fragments your skill level grants. The impacts and explosions following the first occur in rapid succession.
The fragment explosions appear to continue on leaping forward like skipping stones if the area of the projectile's path is open; if there is no space to continue forward the fragments impact adjacent to the original provided that the area of impact is at 10m or greater; under 10m there will be only one impact and no fragments. If you throw it downwards at the floor within 10m it will bounce onwards or up to a wall if it cant go forward; if you throw it downwards at the floor beyond 10m it will impact. Enemies encountered along the first projectile's bouncing path are damaged. Upon impacts there are explosions appearing to be about 5m in diameter and damaging enemies within this range.
Alternate Description because mine is dumb:"You throw a softball-type projectile which goes a maximum of 20m, with some exceptions. The skull will go 10m bouncing one time, and one time only then it travels as far as it will go (max of 20m) until exploding. If the skull flies 10m in the air and then hits the ground, it explodes on impact. Once the skull explodes X amount of shards go flying in random directions, exploding on impact, creating a 2m radius explosion, which damages all enemies in its explosion. The skull will not explode into its shards if it hits an enemy directly"-virus
(maybe between the both of them it's understandable)
Damage type: physical (can proc stun with physical attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: 5 second recast
Cast Time: negligable >.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: moderate-high
Range: midrange, 20m
Benefit from skill addition: increased number of split fragments (4 at level 1, 13 at level 10)
Other information:
-the range of 20m may not always apply (i've gotten fragmented explosions to go much further)
-If a skullsplitter's original projectile "whizzes" by an enemy, the enemy will take damage.
-movement of the fragmented explosions is based on both the angle/direction of the inital projectile and on the terrain, but it also seems somewhat random and unpredictable.
ARCANE SHIELD
Descriptions:You click the button/key and arcane shield is immediately active; a hellgate symbol (circular slowly spinning and flickering) appears below your feet and your shields are healed to full and then an additional shield value (determined by the skill level) is applied on top. You are rooted for one second before you can move; once you move forwards or backwards or strafing, the additional value that was added to your base shield value is lost. (spinning the camera around and spinning yourself in one spot does not cause the spell to break. Unlike other skills the recast does not start counting down until after you have moved and broken the original cast; until then and while active the skill blinks red indicating that it is in use and cannot be reused.
Damage type: n/a
Rate of use: 13 second recast time
Cast Time: instantly on
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: low
Range: n/a
Benefit from skill addition: increased shield value
Other information:
-you are rooted for one second after casting arcane shield
-shield regeneration is determined by max shield value (the higher your shields the faster your regen)
-damage done to shields is calculated without regard to armor values (i think)
-shield overload increases the percentage damage done to shields
-shield penetration causes a percentage of damage to ignore shields
-there is an issue that shields seem a lot less useful in higher levels here's a thread on that
-because of the previous issue most people only put 1 point to arcane shield and use it as a shield heal skill only rather than relying on it to augment their shields to a level where it would mitigate most damage.
DRAIN POWER
Descriptions: A continuous stream skill: you click the key or push the button and a enemy seeking blue ray comes out from your focus. Once it connects it does no damage but your power regeneration (determined by skill level) is increased by a percentage for as long as you hold down the key/button, maintain line of sight, and stay in proper range; if there are two or more enemies in range and close enough together (about 5m apart) the stream will split to multiple enemies and you will regenerate the increased percentage of power for every enemy in the stream.
(more enemies drained = more power regenerated)
Damage type: n/a
Rate of use: continuous
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: n/a
Range: midrange, 21m
Benefit from skill addition: increased power regeneration (20% at level 2, 120% at level 10)
Other information:
-this is the only skill besides dual focus that does not require power
-some people say that it does not scale well at higher character levels
-power drain does not drain power from enemy players
DRAIN LIFE
Descriptions: A continuous stream skill: you click the key or push the button and an enemy seeking red ray comes out from your focus. Once it connects it does a slow amount of damage over time and you gain a set amount of life over time (determined by both skill level and character level) for as long as you hold down the key/button, have power, maintain line of sight, and stay in proper range; if there are two or more enemies in range and close enough together (about 5m apart) the stream will split to multiple enemies and does not appear to lose damage from this split; however, you will gain life from each mob that is in the stream and you will lose 13 power per second for every enemy in the stream.
(more enemies drained = more life gained = more power lost)
Damage type: n/a
Rate of use: continuous
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: low to high depending on the number of enemies being drained
Range: midrange, 21m
Benefit from skill addition: increased health gained
Other information:
-the damage is low about 1/3 or 1/4 the damage done by spectral lash
-some people say that it does not scale well at higher character levels, while other people are "addicted" to its use
ELEMENTAL DRAIN
Descriptions: Partially a continuous stream skill: you click the key or push the button and a enemy seeking red and blue ray comes out from your focus; you do not need to hold down the button/key though; the stream will maintain itself for 3 seconds provided that you do not lose line of sight or move out of range. After 3 seconds a sparkly kind of bubble effect appears over you and your target; the effect increases your resists by a set number and reduces your enemy's resists by a set number for 8 seconds; both your resist amount increased and the amount that is decreased on your enemy is determined by the skill level. (see other information) Unlike most other skills recast time does not start until the stream stops and the effect starts.
Damage type: n/a
Rate of use: 5 seconds
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec but stream must remain active for 3seconds before resist effects apply
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: moderate to high
Range: midrange, 21m
Benefit from skill addition: increases your resists gained, increases enemy resists lost (see other information)
Other information:
-the skill is bugged in that it says you gain a percentage resists and enemies lose a percentage resists but the actual resists that you gain are not percentile (when it says 60% it really means you gain 60 to all resists) - this is the same for your enemys resists (that it is only decreased by a set number and not a percent)
-you cannot maintain this skill on more than one enemy; if you can get the effect to go on two enemies at once it cancels on the first
-i have an an experience in pvp where my enemy GAINED the same amount of resists that i gained, but i have since tested it and this incident has not reoccured; in subsequent tests my enemy in pvp lost resists though they were less than they should have been (he lost 15 to all resists instead of the 25 suggested at level 1)
-the amount of resists gained or lost seems nearly negligable when considering the amount of resists at end game
-if the stream (that must remain up for 3 seconds before the effect becomes active) is broken before the 3 seconds, the skill's recast timer will begin and there will be no resist effects applied
-if a monster dies before the effect has worn off you still keep your side of the effect (the resists gained)
-the skill doesn't draw agro
-increased buff duration mods will increase the 8 seconds that elemental drain's effect is applied to your resists
-there is a bug i've noticed on many occasions where the skill will be red (indicating that it cannot be used) until an enemy is targetted regardless of the distance away (it can be substantially out of range) and then elemental drain will stop being "redded out" indicating that it can be used
Word of Fear
Dual Focus
Summon Ember
Blink
Concentrate Damage
Brom's Curse
Afterlife
Spectral Curse
I started playing HG:L in Beta so while I do not have all the experience as some on these boards I do have some experience in creating Evoker builds. Mostly my experience revolves around the creation of my personal build for a spectral / poison based Evoker and as such my knowledge in some of the skill lines may be lacking to some degree. I have tried to supplement that lack of skill usage by reading the forums from posts that other people have written that have used those skills. Hopefully, by reading this you will have a better understanding of how to create an Evoker from the ground up and perhaps waste fewer points in skills that work just fine with few points allocated.
As Ive stated from time to time An Evoker is made BEFORE you roll him up. By this, I mean that if you do not have an understanding on how you will create AND play your Evoker before you even create him, then it will be a failed build. Is this always the case? No; and the reason is, once you have an understanding of what the skills do beyond just this is a cool damage skill so Ill get it over this skill then you can pretty much make your Evoker on the fly without referencing anything at all. You have a feel what you want to do and you will know what works and what dont work so you will select and place points wisely to create a build you will be happy with. Before you get to that point though, you need to read and re-read the skills and then read the forums for what other people say about those skills. Just because the game text says one thing does not mean that the skill is actually doing that or acting in a particular manner. The forums will be the best source of knowledge you will have access to. I recommend you read everything in the forums that may pertain to build creation and what people find out when they use a particular skill. If you do this then you will start making informed decisions on where to put your points and most importantly WHY you put that point where you did instead of somewhere else.
Lets get some basics out of the way right from the start shall we?
The Evoker is basically a mage from other systems that channels Demonic powers via the use of Foci. The Evoker does have access to a limited number of skills that do not require a Foci to use but for the most part the Evoker is defined by the Foci they use. Foci are what determines an Evokers damage potential modified by the type of modifications and enhancements that the Foci may have. Getting into number crunching is not the purpose of the paper so Im going to avoid that aspect all together. Suffice to say, that the more powerful the Foci the more powerful your skills will become. There are plenty of resources already in the forums that discuss the theory concerning how damage is calculated via use of Foci. Please use the Search feature and see if you can find them if your interested.
The two main Evoker build types:
I think the Evoker can be broken down into two different types: Generalist, Specialist. Each may have its own place in HG:L and where you would normally play it.
The Generalist build, allocates skill points into a wide array of skills to try to encompass as many new and different skills as possible. This build would be excellent for the novice Evoker trying out the skill system for the first time while obtaining an understanding of what the different skills are and what works best with what skill. The Generalist build can also be used by the experienced Evoker, creating a build that centers on the Jack of all Trades principle. While this build may be able to have little issues with HG:L Normal mode they may begin to suffer a bit in Nightmare mode. Since this build adhears to having a lot of different skills the skill point pool is watered pretty thinly over a host of skills and the build becomes non centralized.
The Specialist build, allocates points centered around just a few areas that the player wishes to concentrate in. This build can be very tedious to the novice player since this type of build may take some growing into before the build is fully appreciated for what it is. However, when the build begins to flesh out, this build begins to shine and becomes a power to enjoy. This build type normally will be diversified in that it will have more than one type of elemental attack form, some debuff skills and a way to mitigate damage in one form or another. But the central theme is to create a build that can stand up to anything that the game can throw at you. This will be the build type most people will adhear to when they start making serious builds for the harder modes of game play.
The two different types of Evoker previously mentioned can both be played and played either poorly or expertly by different people. The way one person approaches a build and understands the build may make that person play that build one way or another. That is the reason I dont like to give out specific information reguarding build specifics for I have no idea on your play-style unless you tell me up front. The individual must know his or her play-style and must design a build that complements that play-style. If I simply say: Take this build its good and you do take it and you cant play it; its not your fault nor my fault, but the fault lies in not understanding the build itself and the persons play-style it was built for.
The three parts that compose an Evoker build:
The Evoker build can be thought of as being composed in three parts: Offensive, Defensive, Support skills. The skills the individual Evoker selects will define him or her, so careful thought must be put in to the creation process before the Evoker is even rolled up. One must have an idea of what one is wanting to create before you know in what direction would best suit your idea. The builds idea is paramount to a successful build.
Now that being said, some skills can fall into more than one category and are thus doubly effective for the Evoker. One such example is Drain Life where you drain your enemies life away as it refills your own heal bar. Since this spell can be considered Offensive as well as Support since your both attacking and healing yourself at the same time. Putting points into skills like these give double benefit when used properly. However, putting to many or to few points into those skills can hurt your build as well since its a waste of points. For example: If you have few hit points and put in to few points into Drain Life then the skill may do you little good in that it may not heal you fast enough to compensate for the damage you are receiving. On the other hand, if you have few hit points and put to many points into Drain Life then you may be filling your hit point bar up extremely fast but cannot stop healing or the mobs will kill you quickly soon as you do. Having a Feel of what is right for you is what Ill be trying to get across here in this paper.
What is your play-style?
One of the tougher questions that you must ask yourself before you make your Evoker is: "What is my play-style?". While seemingly simplistic in nature it can be maddingly hard to define if you don't really know your self.
If your new to HG:L and working on your first Evoker then I would suggest not paying a bit of attention to anyone at all, not reading the forums for ideas and just cranking up the game and giving the Evoker class a go and see what you like and dislike about the class. This may take some time to do since a lot of newer people have a hard time with the Evoker class before level 10-15 at this time they begin to come into their own. All I ask of you is to at least give it your best shot, then do so again if you think you even MAY like to play this class. Try out different skills and see what you like about them and what you don't like about them and why.
If you've built an Evoker or two before and have had fun playing one, then you most likely know how you like to play your Evoker. You may not have liked the build you played for one reason or another and it may not have conformed to they way you were wanting him to be played, however, you did learn something in the process. You know your play-style. You know what you enjoyed doing and for what reasons. You know if you liked melee-ranged fighting or long ranged or AoE or what ever it was that grabed you and gave you that "thrill". You know or at least you have an idea of, the play-style you most crave.
What skills most closely follows my play-style?
Once the question of "What is my play-style?" is answered, then the next question to ask yourself is "What skills most closely follows my play-style?". Here we start getting into the meat of what makes an Evoker an Evoker and different than the Evoker next to him or her. The skills you select will define your character and the skill points you put in those same skills will further define you to make you unique. Even if two identical characters were created and points played exactly the same way; if those two characters were played by two different people, they would have different thoughts about the strengths and weaknesses of those exact same characters.
The skills set of an Evoker encompasses the skill sets of the Demons themselves. As Evokers we take and learn from the Demons and then turn that knowledge back upon them. That being the case, our skill set revolves around elemental forces and those forces of Life and Death. The Evoker skill set is very nicely presented by Blood-Doll's post entitled "More Detailed Skill Descriptions and Common Evoker Q&A . Please read and re-read that thread for it contains a lot of useful information concerning the skills we use everyday. But knowing what the skills ARE and what they DO are sometimes not quite enough. You have to USE the skill to have a better UNDERSTANDING of that skill and when that skill should and should not be used, and why. In the forums, I read and re-read posts by people asking for build advice and when I look at their proposed builds for a moment, I then know if they have played an Evoker before or not.
The biggest problem I see are where people put either way to many points into a skill or way to few points into a skill. They do not know, for they have NOT USED the skill to know how many points "are good enough for my build". This gets back to the several issues we have already covered. The number of points that should be allocated into a particular skill is entirely based upon your play-style. I really cannot stress that enough. Each person will have a different opinion on exactly how many points is "good enough" based entirely upon their own perspective on their own play-style. To simply ask what other people think concerning point placement may give you a good idea of what is best for them may not be well in truly best for you. If you understand WHY they tell you the number of points they suggest is better than another number, then if you think that's the way to go, then by all means take their advice. But remember, it's your build and you need to be able to be happy with what your creating.
What should be considered before, during and as as you play your Evoker build?
There are quite a few posts in the forums that are pointed at "what ifs" and "if this is better than that" issues. These questions can normally be answered by the person posted the questions quite easy enough if they took a bit of time and thought about the build they are currently working on as they are actually playing. A lot of people do not realise that a posted build is a living document in that it gives you a starting point and a direction in which you would like to travel, BUT it is not set in stone and can be modified on a whim if you find that the build is lacking in some quality that you think should be improved upon. The key to building a better build is not blindly following someone elses build but by understanding gameplay and your personal play-style, then building on what you've learned and modifying your build as required to "fit" the circumstances. Things to be considered are:
- When I killed that last mob, did it resist a bit to much for my taste? Should I perhaps put another point in that skill to shore it up more?
- Did that last mob seem resistant to my primary elemental attack? If so perhaps having a backup skill would be in order.
- Am I using the skills I selected to the fullest or do I keep forgetting to use a particular skill? If your not using a skill, either your not in the habit as yet to use it or its clearly non-useful in your build. Perhaps this would signal a core build change.
- Am I well rounded out with defense and offense skills so that I have an plan for any event?
- When I level next time, where would it be most advantagous to put my next skill point? Thinking ahead, forces you to think about your current build and play-style and offers a chance to consider the point placement prior to needing to event.
Time for point placement... or is it?
Ok I've pretty much covered most of the bases concerning the bare bones of what makes an Evoker but that still does not answer the prime question a lot of people constantly ask: "Where do I put my points? or perhaps a better question... "What skills should I select for my build and how should I allocate points to the best advantage for my play-style?". When you can ask that question and mean it then your well on your way of not needing this document at all. The reason I say that is simply; If you can ask that of your self then you can just as easily answer that same question and you'll know what to do to create the build you want. [This section will be moved to the area discussing point-placement in detail]
A brief overview of the Evoker skill Trees:
Now that we have an idea of the play-style you wish to persue we can then just jump in and start selecting tons of neat skills right? WRONG! It's now time to think about what skill trees you'll want to select from, but to do that you need to know a bit about them and what each of the trees offers you.
There are five elemental trees we as Evokers get to select skills from, and they are: Fire, Spectral, Lightning, Bone, Poison. Each of these trees has it's advantages and disadvantages and the careful Evoker will pick and choose with this in mind. Keep in mind as well that as your character grows and you start filling out your build, you'll have to keep up a nice power pool for him/her or you may soon be wishing you had more power or selected a different tree that used less power. Let's take a quick look at the different trees.
The Fire Tree: This Tree offers the Evoker a highly damaging skill set that causes the enemy to ignite and die quickly. This Tree's skill range varies from 8m to 28m depending upon the skill used. Which means, you'll be be either in medium or short range with most creatures when you use these skills. This Tree is also loves to drain your power pool. Many an Evoker has picked this Tree, loved it and complained that it took to much power to maintain it. Use this Tree as needed, support your power pool and back off as necessary to conserve power and you will love this tree.
The Spectral Tree: This Tree offers the Evoker the chance to kill their opponents from melee range up to 45m's. This Tree can be highly damaging or moderately damaging depending on the skill used This Tree does not take as much power to use as the Fire Tree but since you'll be constantly using it, it will drain your power none the less. This Tree causes Spectral damage and has a chance to "Phase" the enemy it was casted upon. The "Phased" enemy will do 50% less damage to you and will take 50% more damage from you.
The Lightning Tree: This Tree offers the Evoker yet a different method ot lay your opponents down in the dust by the power of Lightning. This Tree when used can be highly effective and many an Evoker really loves this Tree. This Tree is higly versatile and you can get pretty creative in finding different ways in using it.
The Bone Tree: This Tree uses physical damage to kill your enemies via skills revolving around the theme of Bones. This Tree is quite nice to do direct physical damage and also can stun your opponents. I have yet to see a good build centered primarily aound this Tree I think it could be done.
The Posion Tree: This Tree uses the theme of Poison to lay waste to your foes. This Tree seems to be the weakest in direct attacks, it does have it's place in the Evokers arsonal of skills and the wise Evoker will at least consider this Tree before choosing not to use this Tree at all.
The above descriptions were not ment to be an in depth description of each Tree but just a quick brush stroke giving the player an idea what each Tree does in general. I'll leave it up to the player to scratch a bit deeper for a more understanding of them. [More than likely I'll come back and revise them a bit for more content, but for now it get's what I want accross just fine.]
Besides the normal five elemental trees, we as Evokers have access to other skills that come from our Sister class of Summoners and some can be considered to be Cabalist orientated skills since they are shared by all Cabalists. These skills have a wide array of useage ranging from buffs, debuffs and curses. We will delve into these a bit later in this paper.
The five elemental trees combined with the Cabalist support skills make us who we are. Unique in every way and fashion since no two of us are or can be the same exact Evoker.
Build themes, what are they? Do I really need a theme for my build?
Build themes can be found in most games that require or suggest a concentration in one area of skill selections over another. i.e. A pure fire themed Evoker may not wish to utilize skills that seem to come from a different tree since it takes away part of the role-play of the image they are trying so hard to create. Themes help in that they force you to create a build to a specified pre-concieved pattern of play. They will allow you to discard all that is not part of your theme, and by doing so, allow you to center in and concentrate on aspects of your build you may have overlooked without it.
Do you need a theme to create a viable build? The quick answer here is no, you do not need a theme at all, but some times it does help depending on how well your aquainted with build construction and if your into role-playing or not.
In a way you could say that all specialized builds are theme based even though not-intentionally done so since they are based upon only a few of the skill trees available to Evokers.
To be continued...
One-Point-Wonders or are they?
When HG:L was in Beta a term was coined to state that only one point was good enough for a specific skill and you would never need to put any more in. That term was: One-Point-Wonder. But as HG:L went into retail and our knowledge of the game improved this term is becoming more grey than black and white and I think may fall out of usage soon. While it may still be true enough that one point will get you by for a certain skill, one point may not be all the points you want to place here for one reason or another. Each skill that is in the Evoker tree gives a description on what it does to some extent. Sometimes the description is vague or darn right confusing on what it does. But as time goes on and people use these skills more and more, we begin to see what these skill really do and their worth.
A couple of old One-Point-Wonders:
Dual Focus:
This skill in Beta used to be a true one-point-wonder since it was only used so the Evoker could utilize two Foci at the same time. The decrease Willpower Feed part of the skill, was never hardly looked at since at that time we could only go to level 22 and we never even seen Monument Station. Now that we are in retail and we can go to level 50, enter Nightmare mode and even the Elite modes, this skill begins to have more meaning. As Evokers grow to know their characters this skill soon falls short of the one-point-wonder category and into should I put 5, 6 or 7 points into this skill category. As Evokers get closer and closer to end game then I think more and more Evokers will be putting at the very least 6 points into this skill. Some Evokers may hold out on the 7th point so they can utilize the +1 To All Skills enhancement, if they can find one.
Demonspine:
This skill can be highly useful with only one point applied. The damage potential never increases beyond that of the initial one point placement. Only the stun portion of the skill increases as more and more points are placed in this skill. So Evokers wishing only for the damage portion can call this a one-point-wonder skill. But Evokers, wishing to utilize the stun aspect may see it differently and allocate more points so they can stun the mobs for a longer time giving time to the Evoker to regroup.
Concentrate Damage:
Another great one-point-wonder or is it? One point will net you a +25% increase in damage IF you are stationary. Each additional point will net you another 5% increase in damage. Since after the first point, you would have to sink in another 5 points to double your damage potential of Concentrate Damage. A lot of Evokers would tend just to place one point here and not look back. Others may be willing to put more to gain more benefit from Concentrate Damage.
Arcane Shield:
This skill for the most part can be a one-point-wonder if you do not rely on having too many shields. This skill is quite useful in the replenishment of your skills once they are down. Some Evokers may even take this skill to the full 10 points to gain the additional 495 shields offered. If you are going to rely on this skill then you might as well go for the full 10 points if your build can support it. If you are picking up this skill for a quick shield recharge then really only one point is needed.
As Evokers grow, our information concerning our class will grow, and as such our builds will reflect that understanding. Each Evoker will have an opinion why this build is better than that build, but really it all boils down to play-style and skill preference. The old-one-point wonders in our tree may even eventually fall by the way-side for most builds and in other builds may become a standard. Time will tell as new builds are created and tested as to which builds work and which will not.
How can you know exactly how many points to put into a particular skill?
Here lies the major topic of most of the posts currently seen in our forums. The problem here is not having a good grasp of the skill itself mainly due to not using the skill before or not testing the skill out completely on a "test Evoker" build. People want to jump right in with "the best build possible" and enjoy themselves; and who can blaim them? So here I'll attempt to answer the age old question "Is 7 points in Dual Focus ok?" and others.
I'll back track and reorder these in a better format once I get them down but until then I'm going to post the most glaring skills first and then the ones I see most asked in the forums next then I'll work on the more common ones that people usually don't have an issue with.
Dual Focus:
I've seen this asked or I've seen this in "critique my build" posts more often than I can count. The reason is people are not exactly sure what Dual Focus is or how it pertains to their build. Dual Focus is what distinguishes Evokers from Summoners in the Cabalist family. Dual Focus allows Evokers the ability to use two Foci at the same time and thereby reap the benifits of the enhancements and modification slots that can be gleaned from doing so.
But the big problem is that people do not know what happens when you put more points into Dual Focus. Putting more points into Dual Focus decreases your Willpower Feed. Ok I know I just lost some of you so I'll explain. Each and every piece of gear you put on has attribute requirements attached to it. The requirements look something like 2 Strength, 3 Willpower etc. Before going on I need to explain what and where you can see the Feeds for this to all make sense. If you press "I" and look at the left side of your screen you'll see your character attributes and blue bars extending from the left to the right side of that window. Those blue bars are the Feeds for that particular attribute. Once the blue Feed bars extend all the way from the left to the right side then your Feed is maxed and you can no longer add anymore Feed to it. Ok heres an example: You are an Evoker with 40 Willpower and you have 0 points in Dual Focus at this time. You are naked but have gear totaling 40 points of Willpower requirements in your bag and have 3 points that you will magically stick into Dual Focus at sometimes during this example. If you look at your Willpower feed it's currently all the way to the left side of the screen. Now if you put on your gear one at a time you'll see that the blue bar creeps to the right until you have maxed out all 40 points and the blue bar is totally to the right. At this point you cannot put on any new gear that requires Willpower Feed unless it's a clean swap or you reduce your existing Willpower Feed to allow you to equip mre Willpower equipment. Now that being said, if you now stick those 3 points we mentioned previously into Dual Focus then that will DECREASE your Willpower Feed by 36 points. You would notice that, that blue Willpower Feed line backed down a bit so you now have access to equip 36 additional points of equipment even though your still wearing the same stuff you were wearing a moment ago. So Dual Focus Decreases your Willpower Feed to allow Evokers the opportunity to equip more high demanding Willpower Feed items.
A lot I know and can be confusing. A lot of people have a problem understanding this skill so don't feel alone.
Now that you have an idea what Dual Focus does for you, you can see that under normal circumstances ONLY ONE POINT is really necessary in todays normal builds. That being said, I've found that in Elite Mode about in the middle of Act 4 when you start finding and using more and more Willpower dependent gear that your Willpower Feed bar will creep up a lot more than it did previously. When you start seeing this then it may be time to think about putting one or two additional points into Dual Focus to help out with the Feed issues you'll soon be having.
Listing of all 27 Evoker skills:
I am going to break down the skills used by Evokers as I did in the above section by elemental type then supplementary or supportive skills. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail as far as in depth description goes for Blood-Doll has made a very good post that does that already. However, I'll be using bits and pieces of Blood-Dolls descriptions to cover ground I wish to go over in this document. If I incorporated Blood-Dolls gathered information then this document would be quite lengthy indeed and perhaps out grow the three posts I've allocated for it. What I do intend to cover in this section is What the skills are and give an idea as to why one should not put the maximum number or for that matter minimum number of points into it. When you finish reading this section you should have an idea on point placement and some of the problems that a lot of people run into. It's not that they have bad ideas it's just people really don't understand the skills well enough to make an informed decision on where to place there points. Now granted, for each skill there will be it's advocators and nay-sayers but that's what makes this so great. No two builds can ever be the same even though they are. Think about that.
Without further adu...
The Fire Tree: Consists of three skills as do all the elemental trees. The skills that compose the Fire Tree are: FireStorm, FlameShards, HellFire.
to be continued.. got to go to work... try to some more on this today.
Ratero.
[Skipping a bit here to cover some different ground. I'll come back to the skills a bit later and fill them in.]
Does this build work? If not, Why not?
I mainly see this question asked by people who again, have not been playing very long and just want "quick answers". Some of the builds put forth are not that bad, but they truely do need a bit of work since the person posting the build (like most of us) have not played the entire content in the different modes to have a "feel" for what what is either "good" or "bad" . We can only go with what our current understanding of the game is at the time of the post. However, that being said, there are some builds in which the poster just picked up the game, went to the web page to create a build and then posted said build in the forums for a critique hopeing somone will tell them what they are doing wrong or right in that build.
Currently the tool-tips for our skills are either vague or down right confusing when you read them (If you read them). Coupled with the fact that how we actually calculate damage potential with all the variables that are in motion is mainly guesswork at this point and it's not very surprising to find that people are just plain confused on what is either "good" or "bad".
There are however certain skills we have that may or may-not be "good" or "bad" depending upon the build taken as a whole. When you look at a build you need to try to figure out what the builder had in mind when he created it. When you think you have an idea then you can see what his intent was and if he pulled it off or not. First clues to look for wheather if the build is "workable" or not are:
- Does the build have skills that "overlap" in functionality? i.e. skills with simular ranges, effect damage types that do not enhance but makes the build less flexable.
- Does the build have skills that are clearly overstated in points? Did the person creating the build have a feel for that skill and did he put to many points into it?
- Does the build have skills that are clearly understated in points? Did the person creating the build put to few points into a skill?
- Does the build "lack" critical skills that the author should have selected when he posted his intent on the build and the play-style?
- Does the build have enough flexability to handle different situations that the author may not have considered?
- What Mode is the build intended for? Normal, Nightmare, Elite, Hardcore, etc.
Is it possible to make a viable and deadly PvE and PvP build?
This is really a hard one to answer from a non PvP'er point of view. However, I'll try my best due to the number of people asking this question over and over again. Offhandedly, I would say that the two types of builds: PvE, PvP should be considered not mutually exclusive. The mind set of one will be different than the mind set of the other. However, if your going to PvP then you will have to level in PvE so that you can actually do the PvP itself.
Currently as things stand in the realm of HG:L, there are no respecifications to skill points at all. Since that is the case then the build you create to PvP will have to hold up for PvE as well. This is where the "give and take" comes into play.
If you make a build strictly for PvE then your all set and there is nothing to consider.
If you make a build strictly for PvP you may have issues surviving in PvE since your point allocation may be much different than what it may be if you were both PvE and PvP. In PvP your intent is to kill the other player and you'll create your build to take advantage of your classes strengths and know your own weaknesses. To that end, your skill makeup may encompass skills which you may not normally select if your build was both PvE and PvP. If you do select skills you may not normally take then your build may become watered down a bit to much and thus your build may suffer for it.
If you make a build for both PvP and PvE then I should think that while it may not be as strong as a pure PvE build it will not be as weak as a pure PvP build. Here you'll have to keep in mind both modes of play as your considering point usage not just one mode or the other. By PvP builds being weak, I mean that they may not hold up as well in PvE as a pure PvE would hold up. The different modes have different mind sets and thus the builds for one will not exactly be the same as for the other.
Just my two pallidum on this subject and you can take it for what it's worth. Please keep in mind I am not a PvP'er so my lack of experience here will mostly reflect this and my answer may not seem correct to a lot of PvP'ers who have created builds with this play-style in mind.
Things to keep in mind for different HG:L modes (Normal, Nightmare, Elite, Hardcore etc)
As Evokers we have a wide range of skills from which we can choose from. These skills may not quite work as intended as yet, but for the most part, they are working well enough for us to utilize them and work them into our builds. But what skills to choose? What skills should be overlooked and why? Is "this" skill "better" than "that" skill? Is "this" skill a core skill for Evokers? All of these questions are totally dependent upon what mode your intending to be playing.
For the most part, Normal mode is quite straight forward, easy enough to play and with a bit of forethought it's not hard to come up with a build that will eventually get you to the end-game. Granted, depending upon the skills you chose, getting to the end-game can be easier or harder. Also if you misplace a point or two it will not totally destroy your build as the game is a bit more forgiving in Normal mode.
I cannot offer to much help when it comes to Normal Nightmare mode. I never did play in this mode but I can guess that it should follow the same progression as Normal mode but a bit harder. Perhaps like a scaled down or near enough version to Elite Normal mode.
I have played through the Elite content and by doing so it has changed my view of Evokers and how they are created in general. Here your builds will be tested to the point of being broken. You will know if your build can hold up to the game in pretty short order and post-Monument will be the crucible in which you will know if youll make it to end game or not. By the time you hit Elite mode Monument Station, you will begin to think outside of your build, and you will consider more closely where you put your points for skill selection. Even if you have to rethink your current build and consider picking up new skills. When I got to this point I went through two more revisions of my build before I was ok with it and still may revise it a bit more for Elite Nightmare mode.
I am not a Hardcore player and never will be. For that Im sorry that I can not offer you some advice in this area. I could put my thoughts down but they would only be common sense issues and based off little Hardcore knowledge. Perhaps someone soon will create a Hardcore post and that will prove a good reference.
Attribute Point Placement Recommendations.
If youve ever done a search in these forums you will undoubtedly come across numerous posts that have recommendations on how and where to put your attribute points. Ill not get into who recommended what and why, but please find those other posts and read up on what others recommend and why.
To consider where you should place your attribute points you first must consider which mode your intending to play in. I really feel that depending upon that mode selection will determine where you put your attribute points in as you obtain them. There are four attributes for every character in HG:L and they are: Accuracy, Strength, Stamina, Willpower. Which of these attribute points is the most critical to your character is dependent upon a few factors: Your current level, Mode of Play. I could put down a few others but I think for the most part everything can be rolled up in those two items.
BTW if you consider putting points into Accuracy for a gun Evoker build just dont.
Normal Mode:
Here we have the basic game and the mobs are not quite so fast and do not have the same abilities as harder modes of play. Here, for the most part I think you will find that something like a 3:2 (Willpower:Stamina) split should be fine for the most part. Depending upon your level and where you are in the game, you may find gear that you would like to use but cannot use due to the lack of attribute requirements. To compensate for this you may wish to find what is commonly referred as +AA gear or + All Attribute gear. The +AA gear when equipped will boost all your attributes by a certain amount. The problem here is that if you use this gear then you may have to pass up another piece of gear which you would rather use due to the enhancements on that other piece of gear. Its problem youll have to face soon enough: Where do I put my points? Should I place them so I can handle the +AA gear only? Should I disreguard the +AA gear for gear with better enhancements and just put my points where I need them? Should I settle for a mix of +AA gear and normal enhanced gear?
Initially, placing attributes is quite easy stick everything in Willpower and a few in Stamina as you need them. This works fine for about the first 20 levels or so and then youll start wanting to wear better gear or find that your Feedbars are creeping up on you and you need to reduce them. At this point the attribute points begin to look more like little golden bars that once placed can never be touched again. You will consider each point a bit more before making your selections. As I said before, up to about level 20 I would recommend putting everything into Willpower and in Stamina only as you have the need for it. After around level 20ish youll most likely start putting in a 2:3 (Willpower:Stamina) ratio and perhaps a few points in Strength towards the end of Normal mode depending upon the gear you find.
If you take that character through Normal Nightmare mode, you may find that the attribute point allocation may eventually turn into something like 1:4 (Willpower:Stamina) or even 0:4 (Willpower:Stamina). Again, if you need to put points into Strength to wear some piece of gear you cannot live without then do so. But keep in mind that most gear is Stamina Hungry late in game and the more Stamina you have the better you will be.
Since it impinges directly on attribute points Ill put something here concerning Dual Focus. In Normal Mode it may be well and good to have only one point in Dual Focus depending on your build and your play-style. I completed Normal mode with only one point in Dual Focus so I know it can be done. If you take that same character to Normal Nightmare mode then you may need to think about placing in more than one point in Dual Focus to reduce your Willpower Feed, thereby allowing you to sink more points into Stamina and Strength as needed.
Elite Mode:
In the beginning I think you will find that this mode of play is only slightly more difficult to play than Normal mode. The mobs are a bit faster, the AI seems to be better and the mobs start using elemental attacks that hurt can hurt. Elite mode as in Normal Mode starts getting interesting when you first enter Monument Station. Here is where you will start to die 10-12 times just trying to break into a new area and begin to think you may never break in and just log out to reset the mobs so you can break in easier.
Again as in Normal mode I would use the 3:2 (Willpower:Stamina) ratio for splitting my attribute points. This will build up your power pool, start to give you a decent power recharge rate and at the same time give you enough Stamina to survive. Depending upon your build you could go 5:0 (Willpower:Stamina) to build up your power pool and power regen rate as fast as possible. Either choice is fine depending upon your build. After around level 20 or so when you reach Monument Station you will should have a decent power pool built up and though it may not recharge as fast as you would like its big enough for you to start considering to sink more and more of your points into Stamina.
In Elite mode you will want to wear the very best gear you can possibly wear. Depending upon your build this may mean one thing or another. If youre a melee Evoker then gear with lots of armor, shields, elemental resists and perhaps Thorns may be in order. If youre a long range Evoker then you may want to go with more shields than armor, go with power regen over some resists etc. Again it depends on what your intending to do and what suits your play-style more.
In either case, eventually you will come to a point that you will stop putting points into Willpower and start sinking them all into Stamina and perhaps some in Strength. At this point you should be thinking: How can I increase my power recharge rate enough so I can put more points into Stamina? An Evoker lives and dies by his power pool. If your out of power and are attacked well... its a nice run back from the Station. So the Elite Evoker has to play a delicate balancing act between when to stop placing points into Willpower and when to start putting points into Stamina and Strength.
At this time, you may wish to consider the Prism Foci. This Foci is what most Evokers will use towards the end game in Elite Normal and Elite Nightmare. The 4 mod slotted version combined with the ability to have three different Foci swap outs: F1, F2, F3 will give you enough flexability to come into your own. When you get to the point of putting points into Stamina then youll want to start looking for +Power Regeneration Mods and while your at it +Shield Penetration mods. A Prism kitted out with 4 power regen mods will go a long way in keeping you on your feet. You may even consider looking for +power regen gear and perhaps even putting one more power regen mod in your second 4 mod Prism. The +Shield Penetration mod that I previously mentioned will just bypass a mobs shields and youll be amazed how fast some previously annoying shielded mobs go down. You may even consider all 8 mod slots kitted out with power regen mods to reduce down time.
On your Foci swaps try to pick up Foci that can enhance your skill set and perhaps kit them out with mods for specific uses. Example: Your normal Foci have no Fire based attacks but your F2 swap does have a Fire skill, use your F2 swap to kill mobs that are more easily killed by Fire. Perhaps you want to kill bosses easier? If the boss is a Demon class then kit your Foci out with %increased damage to Demons etc. Use your imagination and come up with three foci swaps that will enhance your build.
to be continued....
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[Currently Copy and Pasted From Blood-Doll's post to make starting this section easier]
FIRESTORM
Descriptions: Conically shaped short stream AOE; last as long as you hold down the key/button
There is a chance to ignite that is attached to firestorm that increases as you add points to it.
Damage type:fire
Rate of use: continuous
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: high power cost, x/sec
Range: low, 8 meters
Benefit from skill addition: ignite chance increases (starts at 0 ends at 675%)
Other information:
-Increased rate of use mods adversely effect firestorm causing an extreme power drain discussion on this and another one
FLAMESHARDS
Descriptions: You click the key/button and your character throws shards out (the number varies on your skill level)
they spray out in a uniformly spaced fan shape and randomly embed in objects or enemies where they hit; the radius of damage is one meter but it is not expressed when the shards are embedded in a mob (see other information). once embedded, the shard will explode after one second.
Damage type:fire (can proc ignite with ignite attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: 1 second recast time
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: low-moderate
Range: midrange, 20 meters
Benefit from skill addition: number of shards increases (starts at 5 ends at 14)
Other information:
-multiple shards embedded in an enemy in one cast do only the damage of one shard (it is unknown if this is a bug or intended) thread about that
-shards embedded in the environment (walls/floor) or other enemies can do full damage to other enemies in range
HELLFIRE
Descriptions: You click and a beam comes out of your focus pointing towards the ground signifying the start of the cast; you are free to move around during this time but must not cast any additional skills. After 2 seconds a pentagram/circle shape materializes on the spot where the tip of your beam was last located, followed quickly by an eruption of fire from the ground that blankets a ~15m area around where the circle was; any enemies in this vicinity take direct fire damage from the eruption and then additional fire damage over time for 4 seconds.
Damage type:fire (can proc ignite with ignite attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use:No recast/cooldown
Cast Time: 2 seconds
Delay before another skill can be used: unknown
Power cost: high to mid (the more points you add to hellfire the lower the power cost)
Range: long range: 28 meters
Benefit from skill addition: power cost is lowered (at level 10 it is roughly half of the level 1 power cost)
Other information:
-you can change the position of where hellfire will emerge for as long as the beam is out; once the circle symbol is observed that is the spot where hellfire will be cast
-you can spam this skill (use it repeatedly) though the fields will not overlap with themselves or other aoe fields
SPECTRAL BOLT
Descriptions: You throw a single ball shaped projectile that (if it goes far enough) splits into several (up to 10?) bolts; the split occurs at around 15 meters. The balls do damage and have a chance to phase enemies; the chance goes up with spectral bolt's skill level.
Damage type: spectral
Rate of use: 1 second recast time
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: low-moderate
Range: long range, 28 meters
Benefit from skill addition: chance to phase is increased (100% at level 1, 1900% at level 10)
Other information:
-if spectral bolt hits before 15m then only 1 ball hit; there will be no split
-movement of the balls after the split is unpredictable
-with correct positioning you can get multiple balls to hit one target, each doing full damage
SPECTRAL LASH
Descriptions: A line appears that is attached to your focus weapon(s); it latches on to your target and does damage for as long as you hold down the key/button; the connection is not lost if you move or if the target moves. (but will be lost if you lose line of site)
Damage type: spectral (can proc phase with phase attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: continuous
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: low, x/sec
Range: midrange to very long range, 18m-45m(depends on skill level)
Benefit from skill addition: range increases from 18m at level 1 to 45m at level 10
Other information:
-it's "latching on" feature allows for a lot more movement and maneuverability
SPECTRAL LASH MASTERY
Descriptions: A passive skill that works with (and only with) spectral lash; it causes enemies killed by lash to explode; the explosion has lowish damage but the explosion also has a chance to phase enemies.
Damage type: spectral
Rate of use: n/a (see other information)
Cast Time: n/a
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: n/a
Range: n/a (range of explosion unknown)
Benefit from skill addition: increased chance for the explosions caused by mastery to phase (100% at level 1, 1900% at level 10)
Other information:
-lash mastery explosion/debuff can only occur every 2 seconds
-most people find that both the damage and chance to phase are too low thread about that
LIGHTNING FIELD
Descriptions: You throw a ball shaped projectile that can do a small amount of damage if it hits an enemy, but doesn't need a target (it can be thrown on the floor); either way the ball breaks upon impact and does an AOE around the floor of the landing point. The AOE area is determined by skill level and the area stays "electrified" for ~5 seconds.
Damage type: lightning (can proc shock with shock attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: no recast/cooldown
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: moderate
Range: long range, 30m
Benefit from skill addition: increased AOE area after the ball hits (14ish% to 126ish% at level 10)
Other information:
-lightning field and swarm AOEs cannot overlap (and 2 or more lightning fields cannot overlap on themselves)
TEMPEST
Descriptions: You cast (rising up with a cool animation and a lightning bolt coming from your hand to the sky) and an AOE cloud emerges overhead that does damage through lightning strikes; the lightning targets enemies under the cloud and the number of strikes is determined by tempest's skill level. The cloud lasts for over 20 seconds. (23?)
Damage type: lightning (can proc shock with shock attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: 20 seconds
Cast Time: 5 seconds
Delay before another skill can be used: unknown
Power cost: high
Range: low (30m straight UP!)
Benefit from skill addition: increased lightning strikes (20% at level 1, 180% at level 10)
Other information:
-it roots you for 3 seconds while you cast it
-luring or fearing enemies under the cloud is one way to use it
-discussion on Tempest's usefulness
-i've heard the clouds can overlap and stack but have not confirmed it myself
ARC LEGION
Descriptions: Another leash skill that works like a shorter range multi target lash; lines come out
from your focus, then seek out and attach themselves to enemies. If only one target is present only one line will attach;
if multiple enemies are around the stream and the damage of the stream is split.
Damage type: lightning (can proc shock with shock attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: continuous
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: low-moderate, x/sec
Range: low to midrange, range depends on skill: level 11-20 meters
Benefit from skill addition: increased range 11m at level 1, 20m at level 10
Other information:
-it has a feeling of building up strength when compared to lash (that is full strength and fully attached at start)
-damage to one target is substantially more than damage to several
VENOMOUS SPIRIT
Descriptions: Little ghosty guy shaped projectile comes out from your focus weapon and flies in a straight line on whatever plane you threw him on until he encounters an enemy; the spirit projectile acts like a homing device toward enemies, auto-targetting them. When he hits an enemy there is upfront damage that is inflicted and also the chance for poison damage and a chance to fear.
Damage type: toxic (can proc poison with poison attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: 1 second
Cast Time: negligable >.5 sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: low-moderate
Range: long range, 35m
Benefit from skill addition: increased chance of fear (20 at level 2, 180 at level 10)
Other information:
-some people find the speed of the projectile to be too slow, others use it's mechanics to hit a single target long range with 3 or more venomous spirits in conjunction with another skill used as the spirits hit to do high dps.
-fear does not work in pvp
-"The Spirit can also be used as a mob seeking missile. If you shoot the Spirit straight in front of you at an intersection or down a hallway and the Spirt swerves either left or right there is a mob there. The Spirit will auto-target mobs that are close by if you lob it in the general direction. Very handy to have if you want a bit of intel before getting ganked in a dark alley." -Ratero
VENOM ARMOR
Descriptions: You cast and your hands glow for a sec then you're surrounded by a circle of bugs that persists with you as you move. Your armor is increased by a set amount determined by two things: your character's level and Venom Armor's skill level. The bugs that surround you will attack anything that gets in close proximity doing damage over time for about 8 seconds regardless of the position of the infested enemy; (an enemy can get within 4m of you the bugs will attack it and continue to do so whether he remains at 4m or if he runs away to 30m.)
Damage type: toxic (can proc disease with disease attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: 60 seconds
Cast Time: instantly on
Delay before another skill can be used: 3 seconds
Power cost: moderate-high
Range: the bugs will attack anything that is within 4m or so of you; however they can also follow along the lines of skills or weapons that attach to a mob with a stream and so you can deliver Venon Armor's damage in a longer range in this manner. (the bugs may actually go after any mob that is agroed to you regardless of its distance away)
Benefit from skill addition: increased armor value (160 at level 1, 250 at level 10) and increased duration (20 seconds at level 1, 65 seconds at level 10)
Other information:
-armor value may scale differently (it is not known yet)
-an infection phenomenon is observable: bugs can spread from one enemy to a second upon the death of the first
-bugs can follow streams to attack enemies at further range
-venom armor can be casted as you run without stopping
-concentrate damage and arcane shield can be used during the 3s delay
SWARM
Descriptions: You throw a small circular projectile and where it lands there's this puddle effect animation (as if a stone dropped in water) and a field of bugs immediately rises from the ground; the field appears to be about 15m in diameter and lasts for about 8 seconds. Anything that crosses into the field will be attacked by bugs and take damage over time.
Damage type: toxic (can proc disease with disease attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: depends on skill level; lowered recast time at higher skill level
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: high
Range: long range, 30m
Benefit from skill addition: increased rate of use (20s rate of use at level 1, 7.1s rate of use at level 10)
Other information:
-lightning field and swarm fields cannot overlap (and swarm fields cannot overlap themselves either)
-enemies that leave the field will continue to take damage for 1 second
DEMONSPINE
Descriptions:You fire a projectile (shaped like a line about 1m long) at your target; both the delivery and speed of the projectile have the appearance and feel of going faster than other projectile skills. The projectile pierces through targets meaning that it doesn't stop when you hit your target, the projectile continues to move through any others behind the first within range. When it hits an object or enemy there is the appearance of a small impact explosion but it does not do damage to any adjacent enemies. Demonspine also has a chance to stun that increases with its level.
Damage type: physical
Rate of use: 1 second
Cast Time: negligable >.25sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: low
Range: midrange, 20m
Benefit from skill addition: increased chance to stun (1100% at level 1, 3800% at level 10)
Other information:
-you fire demonspine straight out from your focus weapon, you don't lob it (shift weight and lean back and arc it as you throw) how you do with other skills so this in part is why it seems faster
BONESHARDS
Descriptions: It is instantly casted as you push the key/button, a bunch of popcorn looking bone pieces fly outwards in a dome shape around your character. They damage enemies in range and have a chance to stun; the stun chance increases with its skill level.
Damage type: physical
Rate of use: 8 second recast
Cast Time: instantly casted
Delay before another skill can be used: 2 seconds
Power cost: low
Range: 10m in all directions
Benefit from skill addition: increased chance to stun (1200% at level 1, 5700% at level 10)
Other information:
-concentrate damage and arcane shield can be used during the 2s delay
-the bone pieces flying out can miss mobs that fall between them
-every other cast of boneshards will do no damage if you do not cast anything between the two boneshard casts
SKULLSPLITTER picture of use in open area and at skill level 1 (only a few fragments)
Descriptions: You throw a softball looking projectile that bounces once if it hits a surface at or under 10m then it impacts on it's next surface encounter; however, a fragment of the original, observable only by it's impact, continues onwards exploding either further forward or adjacent depending on the area; then another explosion after the second, and this continues for however many fragments your skill level grants. The impacts and explosions following the first occur in rapid succession.
The fragment explosions appear to continue on leaping forward like skipping stones if the area of the projectile's path is open; if there is no space to continue forward the fragments impact adjacent to the original provided that the area of impact is at 10m or greater; under 10m there will be only one impact and no fragments. If you throw it downwards at the floor within 10m it will bounce onwards or up to a wall if it cant go forward; if you throw it downwards at the floor beyond 10m it will impact. Enemies encountered along the first projectile's bouncing path are damaged. Upon impacts there are explosions appearing to be about 5m in diameter and damaging enemies within this range.
Alternate Description because mine is dumb:"You throw a softball-type projectile which goes a maximum of 20m, with some exceptions. The skull will go 10m bouncing one time, and one time only then it travels as far as it will go (max of 20m) until exploding. If the skull flies 10m in the air and then hits the ground, it explodes on impact. Once the skull explodes X amount of shards go flying in random directions, exploding on impact, creating a 2m radius explosion, which damages all enemies in its explosion. The skull will not explode into its shards if it hits an enemy directly"-virus
(maybe between the both of them it's understandable)
Damage type: physical (can proc stun with physical attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: 5 second recast
Cast Time: negligable >.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: moderate-high
Range: midrange, 20m
Benefit from skill addition: increased number of split fragments (4 at level 1, 13 at level 10)
Other information:
-the range of 20m may not always apply (i've gotten fragmented explosions to go much further)
-If a skullsplitter's original projectile "whizzes" by an enemy, the enemy will take damage.
-movement of the fragmented explosions is based on both the angle/direction of the inital projectile and on the terrain, but it also seems somewhat random and unpredictable.
ARCANE SHIELD
Descriptions:You click the button/key and arcane shield is immediately active; a hellgate symbol (circular slowly spinning and flickering) appears below your feet and your shields are healed to full and then an additional shield value (determined by the skill level) is applied on top. You are rooted for one second before you can move; once you move forwards or backwards or strafing, the additional value that was added to your base shield value is lost. (spinning the camera around and spinning yourself in one spot does not cause the spell to break. Unlike other skills the recast does not start counting down until after you have moved and broken the original cast; until then and while active the skill blinks red indicating that it is in use and cannot be reused.
Damage type: n/a
Rate of use: 13 second recast time
Cast Time: instantly on
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: low
Range: n/a
Benefit from skill addition: increased shield value
Other information:
-you are rooted for one second after casting arcane shield
-shield regeneration is determined by max shield value (the higher your shields the faster your regen)
-damage done to shields is calculated without regard to armor values (i think)
-shield overload increases the percentage damage done to shields
-shield penetration causes a percentage of damage to ignore shields
-there is an issue that shields seem a lot less useful in higher levels here's a thread on that
-because of the previous issue most people only put 1 point to arcane shield and use it as a shield heal skill only rather than relying on it to augment their shields to a level where it would mitigate most damage.
DRAIN POWER
Descriptions: A continuous stream skill: you click the key or push the button and a enemy seeking blue ray comes out from your focus. Once it connects it does no damage but your power regeneration (determined by skill level) is increased by a percentage for as long as you hold down the key/button, maintain line of sight, and stay in proper range; if there are two or more enemies in range and close enough together (about 5m apart) the stream will split to multiple enemies and you will regenerate the increased percentage of power for every enemy in the stream.
(more enemies drained = more power regenerated)
Damage type: n/a
Rate of use: continuous
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: n/a
Range: midrange, 21m
Benefit from skill addition: increased power regeneration (20% at level 2, 120% at level 10)
Other information:
-this is the only skill besides dual focus that does not require power
-some people say that it does not scale well at higher character levels
-power drain does not drain power from enemy players
DRAIN LIFE
Descriptions: A continuous stream skill: you click the key or push the button and an enemy seeking red ray comes out from your focus. Once it connects it does a slow amount of damage over time and you gain a set amount of life over time (determined by both skill level and character level) for as long as you hold down the key/button, have power, maintain line of sight, and stay in proper range; if there are two or more enemies in range and close enough together (about 5m apart) the stream will split to multiple enemies and does not appear to lose damage from this split; however, you will gain life from each mob that is in the stream and you will lose 13 power per second for every enemy in the stream.
(more enemies drained = more life gained = more power lost)
Damage type: n/a
Rate of use: continuous
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: low to high depending on the number of enemies being drained
Range: midrange, 21m
Benefit from skill addition: increased health gained
Other information:
-the damage is low about 1/3 or 1/4 the damage done by spectral lash
-some people say that it does not scale well at higher character levels, while other people are "addicted" to its use
ELEMENTAL DRAIN
Descriptions: Partially a continuous stream skill: you click the key or push the button and a enemy seeking red and blue ray comes out from your focus; you do not need to hold down the button/key though; the stream will maintain itself for 3 seconds provided that you do not lose line of sight or move out of range. After 3 seconds a sparkly kind of bubble effect appears over you and your target; the effect increases your resists by a set number and reduces your enemy's resists by a set number for 8 seconds; both your resist amount increased and the amount that is decreased on your enemy is determined by the skill level. (see other information) Unlike most other skills recast time does not start until the stream stops and the effect starts.
Damage type: n/a
Rate of use: 5 seconds
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec but stream must remain active for 3seconds before resist effects apply
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: moderate to high
Range: midrange, 21m
Benefit from skill addition: increases your resists gained, increases enemy resists lost (see other information)
Other information:
-the skill is bugged in that it says you gain a percentage resists and enemies lose a percentage resists but the actual resists that you gain are not percentile (when it says 60% it really means you gain 60 to all resists) - this is the same for your enemys resists (that it is only decreased by a set number and not a percent)
-you cannot maintain this skill on more than one enemy; if you can get the effect to go on two enemies at once it cancels on the first
-i have an an experience in pvp where my enemy GAINED the same amount of resists that i gained, but i have since tested it and this incident has not reoccured; in subsequent tests my enemy in pvp lost resists though they were less than they should have been (he lost 15 to all resists instead of the 25 suggested at level 1)
-the amount of resists gained or lost seems nearly negligable when considering the amount of resists at end game
-if the stream (that must remain up for 3 seconds before the effect becomes active) is broken before the 3 seconds, the skill's recast timer will begin and there will be no resist effects applied
-if a monster dies before the effect has worn off you still keep your side of the effect (the resists gained)
-the skill doesn't draw agro
-increased buff duration mods will increase the 8 seconds that elemental drain's effect is applied to your resists
-there is a bug i've noticed on many occasions where the skill will be red (indicating that it cannot be used) until an enemy is targetted regardless of the distance away (it can be substantially out of range) and then elemental drain will stop being "redded out" indicating that it can be used
Word of Fear
Dual Focus
Summon Ember
Blink
Concentrate Damage
Brom's Curse
Afterlife
Spectral Curse One-Point-Wonders or are they?
When HG:L was in Beta a term was coined to state that only one point was good enough for a specific skill and you would never need to put any more in. That term was: One-Point-Wonder. But as HG:L went into retail and our knowledge of the game improved this term is becoming more grey than black and white and I think may fall out of usage soon. While it may still be true enough that one point will get you by for a certain skill, one point may not be all the points you want to place here for one reason or another. Each skill that is in the Evoker tree gives a description on what it does to some extent. Sometimes the description is vague or darn right confusing on what it does. But as time goes on and people use these skills more and more, we begin to see what these skill really do and their worth.
A couple of old One-Point-Wonders:
Dual Focus:
This skill in Beta used to be a true one-point-wonder since it was only used so the Evoker could utilize two Foci at the same time. The decrease Willpower Feed part of the skill, was never hardly looked at since at that time we could only go to level 22 and we never even seen Monument Station. Now that we are in retail and we can go to level 50, enter Nightmare mode and even the Elite modes, this skill begins to have more meaning. As Evokers grow to know their characters this skill soon falls short of the one-point-wonder category and into should I put 5, 6 or 7 points into this skill category. As Evokers get closer and closer to end game then I think more and more Evokers will be putting at the very least 6 points into this skill. Some Evokers may hold out on the 7th point so they can utilize the +1 To All Skills enhancement, if they can find one.
Demonspine:
This skill can be highly useful with only one point applied. The damage potential never increases beyond that of the initial one point placement. Only the stun portion of the skill increases as more and more points are placed in this skill. So Evokers wishing only for the damage portion can call this a one-point-wonder skill. But Evokers, wishing to utilize the stun aspect may see it differently and allocate more points so they can stun the mobs for a longer time giving time to the Evoker to regroup.
Concentrate Damage:
Another great one-point-wonder or is it? One point will net you a +25% increase in damage IF you are stationary. Each additional point will net you another 5% increase in damage. Since after the first point, you would have to sink in another 5 points to double your damage potential of Concentrate Damage. A lot of Evokers would tend just to place one point here and not look back. Others may be willing to put more to gain more benefit from Concentrate Damage.
Arcane Shield:
This skill for the most part can be a one-point-wonder if you do not rely on having too many shields. This skill is quite useful in the replenishment of your skills once they are down. Some Evokers may even take this skill to the full 10 points to gain the additional 495 shields offered. If you are going to rely on this skill then you might as well go for the full 10 points if your build can support it. If you are picking up this skill for a quick shield recharge then really only one point is needed.
As Evokers grow, our information concerning our class will grow, and as such our builds will reflect that understanding. Each Evoker will have an opinion why this build is better than that build, but really it all boils down to play-style and skill preference. The old-one-point wonders in our tree may even eventually fall by the way-side for most builds and in other builds may become a standard. Time will tell as new builds are created and tested as to which builds work and which will not.
How can you know exactly how many points to put into a particular skill?
Here lies the major topic of most of the posts currently seen in our forums. The problem here is not having a good grasp of the skill itself mainly due to not using the skill before or not testing the skill out completely on a "test Evoker" build. People want to jump right in with "the best build possible" and enjoy themselves; and who can blaim them? So here I'll attempt to answer the age old question "Is 7 points in Dual Focus ok?" and others.
I'll back track and reorder these in a better format once I get them down but until then I'm going to post the most glaring skills first and then the ones I see most asked in the forums next then I'll work on the more common ones that people usually don't have an issue with.
Dual Focus:
I've seen this asked or I've seen this in "critique my build" posts more often than I can count. The reason is people are not exactly sure what Dual Focus is or how it pertains to their build. Dual Focus is what distinguishes Evokers from Summoners in the Cabalist family. Dual Focus allows Evokers the ability to use two Foci at the same time and thereby reap the benifits of the enhancements and modification slots that can be gleaned from doing so.
But the big problem is that people do not know what happens when you put more points into Dual Focus. Putting more points into Dual Focus decreases your Willpower Feed. Ok I know I just lost some of you so I'll explain. Each and every piece of gear you put on has attribute requirements attached to it. The requirements look something like 2 Strength, 3 Willpower etc. Before going on I need to explain what and where you can see the Feeds for this to all make sense. If you press "I" and look at the left side of your screen you'll see your character attributes and blue bars extending from the left to the right side of that window. Those blue bars are the Feeds for that particular attribute. Once the blue Feed bars extend all the way from the left to the right side then your Feed is maxed and you can no longer add anymore Feed to it. Ok heres an example: You are an Evoker with 40 Willpower and you have 0 points in Dual Focus at this time. You are naked but have gear totaling 40 points of Willpower requirements in your bag and have 3 points that you will magically stick into Dual Focus at sometimes during this example. If you look at your Willpower feed it's currently all the way to the left side of the screen. Now if you put on your gear one at a time you'll see that the blue bar creeps to the right until you have maxed out all 40 points and the blue bar is totally to the right. At this point you cannot put on any new gear that requires Willpower Feed unless it's a clean swap or you reduce your existing Willpower Feed to allow you to equip mre Willpower equipment. Now that being said, if you now stick those 3 points we mentioned previously into Dual Focus then that will DECREASE your Willpower Feed by 36 points. You would notice that, that blue Willpower Feed line backed down a bit so you now have access to equip 36 additional points of equipment even though your still wearing the same stuff you were wearing a moment ago. So Dual Focus Decreases your Willpower Feed to allow Evokers the opportunity to equip more high demanding Willpower Feed items.
A lot I know and can be confusing. A lot of people have a problem understanding this skill so don't feel alone.
Now that you have an idea what Dual Focus does for you, you can see that under normal circumstances ONLY ONE POINT is really necessary in todays normal builds. That being said, I've found that in Elite Mode about in the middle of Act 4 when you start finding and using more and more Willpower dependent gear that your Willpower Feed bar will creep up a lot more than it did previously. When you start seeing this then it may be time to think about putting one or two additional points into Dual Focus to help out with the Feed issues you'll soon be having.
Listing of all 27 Evoker skills:
I am going to break down the skills used by Evokers as I did in the above section by elemental type then supplementary or supportive skills. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail as far as in depth description goes for Blood-Doll has made a very good post that does that already. However, I'll be using bits and pieces of Blood-Dolls descriptions to cover ground I wish to go over in this document. If I incorporated Blood-Dolls gathered information then this document would be quite lengthy indeed and perhaps out grow the three posts I've allocated for it. What I do intend to cover in this section is What the skills are and give an idea as to why one should not put the maximum number or for that matter minimum number of points into it. When you finish reading this section you should have an idea on point placement and some of the problems that a lot of people run into. It's not that they have bad ideas it's just people really don't understand the skills well enough to make an informed decision on where to place there points. Now granted, for each skill there will be it's advocators and nay-sayers but that's what makes this so great. No two builds can ever be the same even though they are. Think about that.
Without further adu...
The Fire Tree: Consists of three skills as do all the elemental trees. The skills that compose the Fire Tree are: FireStorm, FlameShards, HellFire.
to be continued.. got to go to work... try to some more on this today.
Ratero.
[Skipping a bit here to cover some different ground. I'll come back to the skills a bit later and fill them in.]
Does this build work? If not, Why not?
I mainly see this question asked by people who again, have not been playing very long and just want "quick answers". Some of the builds put forth are not that bad, but they truely do need a bit of work since the person posting the build (like most of us) have not played the entire content in the different modes to have a "feel" for what what is either "good" or "bad" . We can only go with what our current understanding of the game is at the time of the post. However, that being said, there are some builds in which the poster just picked up the game, went to the web page to create a build and then posted said build in the forums for a critique hopeing somone will tell them what they are doing wrong or right in that build.
Currently the tool-tips for our skills are either vague or down right confusing when you read them (If you read them). Coupled with the fact that how we actually calculate damage potential with all the variables that are in motion is mainly guesswork at this point and it's not very surprising to find that people are just plain confused on what is either "good" or "bad".
There are however certain skills we have that may or may-not be "good" or "bad" depending upon the build taken as a whole. When you look at a build you need to try to figure out what the builder had in mind when he created it. When you think you have an idea then you can see what his intent was and if he pulled it off or not. First clues to look for wheather if the build is "workable" or not are:
- Does the build have skills that "overlap" in functionality? i.e. skills with simular ranges, effect damage types that do not enhance but makes the build less flexable.
- Does the build have skills that are clearly overstated in points? Did the person creating the build have a feel for that skill and did he put to many points into it?
- Does the build have skills that are clearly understated in points? Did the person creating the build put to few points into a skill?
- Does the build "lack" critical skills that the author should have selected when he posted his intent on the build and the play-style?
- Does the build have enough flexability to handle different situations that the author may not have considered?
- What Mode is the build intended for? Normal, Nightmare, Elite, Hardcore, etc.
Is it possible to make a viable and deadly PvE and PvP build?
This is really a hard one to answer from a non PvP'er point of view. However, I'll try my best due to the number of people asking this question over and over again. Offhandedly, I would say that the two types of builds: PvE, PvP should be considered not mutually exclusive. The mind set of one will be different than the mind set of the other. However, if your going to PvP then you will have to level in PvE so that you can actually do the PvP itself.
Currently as things stand in the realm of HG:L, there are no respecifications to skill points at all. Since that is the case then the build you create to PvP will have to hold up for PvE as well. This is where the "give and take" comes into play.
If you make a build strictly for PvE then your all set and there is nothing to consider.
If you make a build strictly for PvP you may have issues surviving in PvE since your point allocation may be much different than what it may be if you were both PvE and PvP. In PvP your intent is to kill the other player and you'll create your build to take advantage of your classes strengths and know your own weaknesses. To that end, your skill makeup may encompass skills which you may not normally select if your build was both PvE and PvP. If you do select skills you may not normally take then your build may become watered down a bit to much and thus your build may suffer for it.
If you make a build for both PvP and PvE then I should think that while it may not be as strong as a pure PvE build it will not be as weak as a pure PvP build. Here you'll have to keep in mind both modes of play as your considering point usage not just one mode or the other. By PvP builds being weak, I mean that they may not hold up as well in PvE as a pure PvE would hold up. The different modes have different mind sets and thus the builds for one will not exactly be the same as for the other.
Just my two pallidum on this subject and you can take it for what it's worth. Please keep in mind I am not a PvP'er so my lack of experience here will mostly reflect this and my answer may not seem correct to a lot of PvP'ers who have created builds with this play-style in mind.
Things to keep in mind for different HG:L modes (Normal, Nightmare, Elite, Hardcore etc)
As Evokers we have a wide range of skills from which we can choose from. These skills may not quite work as intended as yet, but for the most part, they are working well enough for us to utilize them and work them into our builds. But what skills to choose? What skills should be overlooked and why? Is "this" skill "better" than "that" skill? Is "this" skill a core skill for Evokers? All of these questions are totally dependent upon what mode your intending to be playing.
For the most part, Normal mode is quite straight forward, easy enough to play and with a bit of forethought it's not hard to come up with a build that will eventually get you to the end-game. Granted, depending upon the skills you chose, getting to the end-game can be easier or harder. Also if you misplace a point or two it will not totally destroy your build as the game is a bit more forgiving in Normal mode.
I cannot offer to much help when it comes to Normal Nightmare mode. I never did play in this mode but I can guess that it should follow the same progression as Normal mode but a bit harder. Perhaps like a scaled down or near enough version to Elite Normal mode.
I have played through the Elite content and by doing so it has changed my view of Evokers and how they are created in general. Here your builds will be tested to the point of being broken. You will know if your build can hold up to the game in pretty short order and post-Monument will be the crucible in which you will know if youll make it to end game or not. By the time you hit Elite mode Monument Station, you will begin to think outside of your build, and you will consider more closely where you put your points for skill selection. Even if you have to rethink your current build and consider picking up new skills. When I got to this point I went through two more revisions of my build before I was ok with it and still may revise it a bit more for Elite Nightmare mode.
I am not a Hardcore player and never will be. For that Im sorry that I can not offer you some advice in this area. I could put my thoughts down but they would only be common sense issues and based off little Hardcore knowledge. Perhaps someone soon will create a Hardcore post and that will prove a good reference.
Attribute Point Placement Recommendations.
If youve ever done a search in these forums you will undoubtedly come across numerous posts that have recommendations on how and where to put your attribute points. Ill not get into who recommended what and why, but please find those other posts and read up on what others recommend and why.
To consider where you should place your attribute points you first must consider which mode your intending to play in. I really feel that depending upon that mode selection will determine where you put your attribute points in as you obtain them. There are four attributes for every character in HG:L and they are: Accuracy, Strength, Stamina, Willpower. Which of these attribute points is the most critical to your character is dependent upon a few factors: Your current level, Mode of Play. I could put down a few others but I think for the most part everything can be rolled up in those two items.
BTW if you consider putting points into Accuracy for a gun Evoker buildjust dont.
Normal Mode:
Here we have the basic game and the mobs are not quite so fast and do not have the same abilities as harder modes of play. Here, for the most part I think you will find that something like a 3:2 (Willpower:Stamina) split should be fine for the most part. Depending upon your level and where you are in the game, you may find gear that you would like to use but cannot use due to the lack of attribute requirements. To compensate for this you may wish to find what is commonly referred as +AA gear or + All Attribute gear. The +AA gear when equipped will boost all your attributes by a certain amount. The problem here is that if you use this gear then you may have to pass up another piece of gear which you would rather use due to the enhancements on that other piece of gear. Its problem youll have to face soon enough: Where do I put my points? Should I place them so I can handle the +AA gear only? Should I disreguard the +AA gear for gear with better enhancements and just put my points where I need them? Should I settle for a mix of +AA gear and normal enhanced gear?
Initially, placing attributes is quite easystick everything in Willpower and a few in Stamina as you need them. This works fine for about the first 20 levels or so and then youll start wanting to wear better gear or find that your Feedbars are creeping up on you and you need to reduce them. At this point the attribute points begin to look more like little golden bars that once placed can never be touched again. You will consider each point a bit more before making your selections. As I said before, up to about level 20 I would recommend putting everything into Willpower and in Stamina only as you have the need for it. After around level 20ish youll most likely start putting in a 2:3 (Willpower:Stamina) ratio and perhaps a few points in Strength towards the end of Normal mode depending upon the gear you find.
If you take that character through Normal Nightmare mode, you may find that the attribute point allocation may eventually turn into something like 1:4 (Willpower:Stamina) or even 0:4 (Willpower:Stamina). Again, if you need to put points into Strength to wear some piece of gear you cannot live without then do so. But keep in mind that most gear is Stamina Hungry late in game and the more Stamina you have the better you will be.
Since it impinges directly on attribute points Ill put something here concerning Dual Focus. In Normal Mode it may be well and good to have only one point in Dual Focus depending on your build and your play-style. I completed Normal mode with only one point in Dual Focus so I know it can be done. If you take that same character to Normal Nightmare mode then you may need to think about placing in more than one point in Dual Focus to reduce your Willpower Feed, thereby allowing you to sink more points into Stamina and Strength as needed.
Elite Mode:
In the beginning I think you will find that this mode of play is only slightly more difficult to play than Normal mode. The mobs are a bit faster, the AI seems to be better and the mobs start using elemental attacks that hurt can hurt. Elite mode as in Normal Mode starts getting interesting when you first enter Monument Station. Here is where you will start to die 10-12 times just trying to break into a new area and begin to think you may never break in and just log out to reset the mobs so you can break in easier.
Again as in Normal mode I would use the 3:2 (Willpower:Stamina) ratio for splitting my attribute points. This will build up your power pool, start to give you a decent power recharge rate and at the same time give you enough Stamina to survive. Depending upon your build you could go 5:0 (Willpower:Stamina) to build up your power pool and power regen rate as fast as possible. Either choice is fine depending upon your build. After around level 20 or so when you reach Monument Station you will should have a decent power pool built up and though it may not recharge as fast as you would like its big enough for you to start considering to sink more and more of your points into Stamina.
In Elite mode you will want to wear the very best gear you can possibly wear. Depending upon your build this may mean one thing or another. If youre a melee Evoker then gear with lots of armor, shields, elemental resists and perhaps Thorns may be in order. If youre a long range Evoker then you may want to go with more shields than armor, go with power regen over some resists etc. Again it depends on what your intending to do and what suits your play-style more.
In either case, eventually you will come to a point that you will stop putting points into Willpower and start sinking them all into Stamina and perhaps some in Strength. At this point you should be thinking: How can I increase my power recharge rate enough so I can put more points into Stamina? An Evoker lives and dies by his power pool. If your out of power and are attackedwell... its a nice run back from the Station. So the Elite Evoker has to play a delicate balancing act between when to stop placing points into Willpower and when to start putting points into Stamina and Strength.
At this time, you may wish to consider the Prism Foci. This Foci is what most Evokers will use towards the end game in Elite Normal and Elite Nightmare. The 4 mod slotted version combined with the ability to have three different Foci swap outs: F1, F2, F3 will give you enough flexability to come into your own. When you get to the point of putting points into Stamina then youll want to start looking for +Power Regeneration Mods and while your at it +Shield Penetration mods. A Prism kitted out with 4 power regen mods will go a long way in keeping you on your feet. You may even consider looking for +power regen gear and perhaps even putting one more power regen mod in your second 4 mod Prism. The +Shield Penetration mod that I previously mentioned will just bypass a mobs shields and youll be amazed how fast some previously annoying shielded mobs go down. You may even consider all 8 mod slots kitted out with power regen mods to reduce down time.
On your Foci swaps try to pick up Foci that can enhance your skill set and perhaps kit them out with mods for specific uses. Example: Your normal Foci have no Fire based attacks but your F2 swap does have a Fire skill, use your F2 swap to kill mobs that are more easily killed by Fire. Perhaps you want to kill bosses easier? If the boss is a Demon class then kit your Foci out with %increased damage to Demons etc. Use your imagination and come up with three foci swaps that will enhance your build.
to be continued....
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[Currently Copy and Pasted From Blood-Doll's post to make starting this section easier]
FIRESTORM
Descriptions: Conically shaped short stream AOE; last as long as you hold down the key/button
There is a chance to ignite that is attached to firestorm that increases as you add points to it.
Damage type:fire
Rate of use: continuous
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: high power cost, x/sec
Range: low, 8 meters
Benefit from skill addition: ignite chance increases (starts at 0 ends at 675%)
Other information:
-Increased rate of use mods adversely effect firestorm causing an extreme power drain discussion on this and another one
FLAMESHARDS
Descriptions: You click the key/button and your character throws shards out (the number varies on your skill level)
they spray out in a uniformly spaced fan shape and randomly embed in objects or enemies where they hit; the radius of damage is one meter but it is not expressed when the shards are embedded in a mob (see other information). once embedded, the shard will explode after one second.
Damage type:fire (can proc ignite with ignite attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: 1 second recast time
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: low-moderate
Range: midrange, 20 meters
Benefit from skill addition: number of shards increases (starts at 5 ends at 14)
Other information:
-multiple shards embedded in an enemy in one cast do only the damage of one shard (it is unknown if this is a bug or intended) thread about that
-shards embedded in the environment (walls/floor) or other enemies can do full damage to other enemies in range
HELLFIRE
Descriptions: You click and a beam comes out of your focus pointing towards the ground signifying the start of the cast; you are free to move around during this time but must not cast any additional skills. After 2 seconds a pentagram/circle shape materializes on the spot where the tip of your beam was last located, followed quickly by an eruption of fire from the ground that blankets a ~15m area around where the circle was; any enemies in this vicinity take direct fire damage from the eruption and then additional fire damage over time for 4 seconds.
Damage type:fire (can proc ignite with ignite attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use:No recast/cooldown
Cast Time: 2 seconds
Delay before another skill can be used: unknown
Power cost: high to mid (the more points you add to hellfire the lower the power cost)
Range: long range: 28 meters
Benefit from skill addition: power cost is lowered (at level 10 it is roughly half of the level 1 power cost)
Other information:
-you can change the position of where hellfire will emerge for as long as the beam is out; once the circle symbol is observed that is the spot where hellfire will be cast
-you can spam this skill (use it repeatedly) though the fields will not overlap with themselves or other aoe fields
SPECTRAL BOLT
Descriptions: You throw a single ball shaped projectile that (if it goes far enough) splits into several (up to 10?) bolts; the split occurs at around 15 meters. The balls do damage and have a chance to phase enemies; the chance goes up with spectral bolt's skill level.
Damage type: spectral
Rate of use: 1 second recast time
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: low-moderate
Range: long range, 28 meters
Benefit from skill addition: chance to phase is increased (100% at level 1, 1900% at level 10)
Other information:
-if spectral bolt hits before 15m then only 1 ball hit; there will be no split
-movement of the balls after the split is unpredictable
-with correct positioning you can get multiple balls to hit one target, each doing full damage
SPECTRAL LASH
Descriptions: A line appears that is attached to your focus weapon(s); it latches on to your target and does damage for as long as you hold down the key/button; the connection is not lost if you move or if the target moves. (but will be lost if you lose line of site)
Damage type: spectral (can proc phase with phase attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: continuous
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: low, x/sec
Range: midrange to very long range, 18m-45m(depends on skill level)
Benefit from skill addition: range increases from 18m at level 1 to 45m at level 10
Other information:
-it's "latching on" feature allows for a lot more movement and maneuverability
SPECTRAL LASH MASTERY
Descriptions: A passive skill that works with (and only with) spectral lash; it causes enemies killed by lash to explode; the explosion has lowish damage but the explosion also has a chance to phase enemies.
Damage type: spectral
Rate of use: n/a (see other information)
Cast Time: n/a
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: n/a
Range: n/a (range of explosion unknown)
Benefit from skill addition: increased chance for the explosions caused by mastery to phase (100% at level 1, 1900% at level 10)
Other information:
-lash mastery explosion/debuff can only occur every 2 seconds
-most people find that both the damage and chance to phase are too low thread about that
LIGHTNING FIELD
Descriptions: You throw a ball shaped projectile that can do a small amount of damage if it hits an enemy, but doesn't need a target (it can be thrown on the floor); either way the ball breaks upon impact and does an AOE around the floor of the landing point. The AOE area is determined by skill level and the area stays "electrified" for ~5 seconds.
Damage type: lightning (can proc shock with shock attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: no recast/cooldown
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: moderate
Range: long range, 30m
Benefit from skill addition: increased AOE area after the ball hits (14ish% to 126ish% at level 10)
Other information:
-lightning field and swarm AOEs cannot overlap (and 2 or more lightning fields cannot overlap on themselves)
TEMPEST
Descriptions: You cast (rising up with a cool animation and a lightning bolt coming from your hand to the sky) and an AOE cloud emerges overhead that does damage through lightning strikes; the lightning targets enemies under the cloud and the number of strikes is determined by tempest's skill level. The cloud lasts for over 20 seconds. (23?)
Damage type: lightning (can proc shock with shock attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: 20 seconds
Cast Time: 5 seconds
Delay before another skill can be used: unknown
Power cost: high
Range: low (30m straight UP!)
Benefit from skill addition: increased lightning strikes (20% at level 1, 180% at level 10)
Other information:
-it roots you for 3 seconds while you cast it
-luring or fearing enemies under the cloud is one way to use it
-discussion on Tempest's usefulness
-i've heard the clouds can overlap and stack but have not confirmed it myself
ARC LEGION
Descriptions: Another leash skill that works like a shorter range multi target lash; lines come out
from your focus, then seek out and attach themselves to enemies. If only one target is present only one line will attach;
if multiple enemies are around the stream and the damage of the stream is split.
Damage type: lightning (can proc shock with shock attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: continuous
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: low-moderate, x/sec
Range: low to midrange, range depends on skill: level 11-20 meters
Benefit from skill addition: increased range 11m at level 1, 20m at level 10
Other information:
-it has a feeling of building up strength when compared to lash (that is full strength and fully attached at start)
-damage to one target is substantially more than damage to several
VENOMOUS SPIRIT
Descriptions: Little ghosty guy shaped projectile comes out from your focus weapon and flies in a straight line on whatever plane you threw him on until he encounters an enemy; the spirit projectile acts like a homing device toward enemies, auto-targetting them. When he hits an enemy there is upfront damage that is inflicted and also the chance for poison damage and a chance to fear.
Damage type: toxic (can proc poison with poison attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: 1 second
Cast Time: negligable >.5 sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: low-moderate
Range: long range, 35m
Benefit from skill addition: increased chance of fear (20 at level 2, 180 at level 10)
Other information:
-some people find the speed of the projectile to be too slow, others use it's mechanics to hit a single target long range with 3 or more venomous spirits in conjunction with another skill used as the spirits hit to do high dps.
-fear does not work in pvp
-"The Spirit can also be used as a mob seeking missile. If you shoot the Spirit straight in front of you at an intersection or down a hallway and the Spirt swerves either left or right there is a mob there. The Spirit will auto-target mobs that are close by if you lob it in the general direction. Very handy to have if you want a bit of intel before getting ganked in a dark alley." -Ratero
VENOM ARMOR
Descriptions: You cast and your hands glow for a sec then you're surrounded by a circle of bugs that persists with you as you move. Your armor is increased by a set amount determined by two things: your character's level and Venom Armor's skill level. The bugs that surround you will attack anything that gets in close proximity doing damage over time for about 8 seconds regardless of the position of the infested enemy; (an enemy can get within 4m of you the bugs will attack it and continue to do so whether he remains at 4m or if he runs away to 30m.)
Damage type: toxic (can proc disease with disease attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: 60 seconds
Cast Time: instantly on
Delay before another skill can be used: 3 seconds
Power cost: moderate-high
Range: the bugs will attack anything that is within 4m or so of you; however they can also follow along the lines of skills or weapons that attach to a mob with a stream and so you can deliver Venon Armor's damage in a longer range in this manner. (the bugs may actually go after any mob that is agroed to you regardless of its distance away)
Benefit from skill addition: increased armor value (160 at level 1, 250 at level 10) and increased duration (20 seconds at level 1, 65 seconds at level 10)
Other information:
-armor value may scale differently (it is not known yet)
-an infection phenomenon is observable: bugs can spread from one enemy to a second upon the death of the first
-bugs can follow streams to attack enemies at further range
-venom armor can be casted as you run without stopping
-concentrate damage and arcane shield can be used during the 3s delay
SWARM
Descriptions: You throw a small circular projectile and where it lands there's this puddle effect animation (as if a stone dropped in water) and a field of bugs immediately rises from the ground; the field appears to be about 15m in diameter and lasts for about 8 seconds. Anything that crosses into the field will be attacked by bugs and take damage over time.
Damage type: toxic (can proc disease with disease attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: depends on skill level; lowered recast time at higher skill level
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: high
Range: long range, 30m
Benefit from skill addition: increased rate of use (20s rate of use at level 1, 7.1s rate of use at level 10)
Other information:
-lightning field and swarm fields cannot overlap (and swarm fields cannot overlap themselves either)
-enemies that leave the field will continue to take damage for 1 second
DEMONSPINE
Descriptions:You fire a projectile (shaped like a line about 1m long) at your target; both the delivery and speed of the projectile have the appearance and feel of going faster than other projectile skills. The projectile pierces through targets meaning that it doesn't stop when you hit your target, the projectile continues to move through any others behind the first within range. When it hits an object or enemy there is the appearance of a small impact explosion but it does not do damage to any adjacent enemies. Demonspine also has a chance to stun that increases with its level.
Damage type: physical
Rate of use: 1 second
Cast Time: negligable >.25sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: low
Range: midrange, 20m
Benefit from skill addition: increased chance to stun (1100% at level 1, 3800% at level 10)
Other information:
-you fire demonspine straight out from your focus weapon, you don't lob it (shift weight and lean back and arc it as you throw) how you do with other skills so this in part is why it seems faster
BONESHARDS
Descriptions: It is instantly casted as you push the key/button, a bunch of popcorn looking bone pieces fly outwards in a dome shape around your character. They damage enemies in range and have a chance to stun; the stun chance increases with its skill level.
Damage type: physical
Rate of use: 8 second recast
Cast Time: instantly casted
Delay before another skill can be used: 2 seconds
Power cost: low
Range: 10m in all directions
Benefit from skill addition: increased chance to stun (1200% at level 1, 5700% at level 10)
Other information:
-concentrate damage and arcane shield can be used during the 2s delay
-the bone pieces flying out can miss mobs that fall between them
-every other cast of boneshards will do no damage if you do not cast anything between the two boneshard casts
SKULLSPLITTER picture of use in open area and at skill level 1 (only a few fragments)
Descriptions: You throw a softball looking projectile that bounces once if it hits a surface at or under 10m then it impacts on it's next surface encounter; however, a fragment of the original, observable only by it's impact, continues onwards exploding either further forward or adjacent depending on the area; then another explosion after the second, and this continues for however many fragments your skill level grants. The impacts and explosions following the first occur in rapid succession.
The fragment explosions appear to continue on leaping forward like skipping stones if the area of the projectile's path is open; if there is no space to continue forward the fragments impact adjacent to the original provided that the area of impact is at 10m or greater; under 10m there will be only one impact and no fragments. If you throw it downwards at the floor within 10m it will bounce onwards or up to a wall if it cant go forward; if you throw it downwards at the floor beyond 10m it will impact. Enemies encountered along the first projectile's bouncing path are damaged. Upon impacts there are explosions appearing to be about 5m in diameter and damaging enemies within this range.
Alternate Description because mine is dumb:"You throw a softball-type projectile which goes a maximum of 20m, with some exceptions. The skull will go 10m bouncing one time, and one time only then it travels as far as it will go (max of 20m) until exploding. If the skull flies 10m in the air and then hits the ground, it explodes on impact. Once the skull explodes X amount of shards go flying in random directions, exploding on impact, creating a 2m radius explosion, which damages all enemies in its explosion. The skull will not explode into its shards if it hits an enemy directly"-virus
(maybe between the both of them it's understandable)
Damage type: physical (can proc stun with physical attack strength or all element attack strength)
Rate of use: 5 second recast
Cast Time: negligable >.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: moderate-high
Range: midrange, 20m
Benefit from skill addition: increased number of split fragments (4 at level 1, 13 at level 10)
Other information:
-the range of 20m may not always apply (i've gotten fragmented explosions to go much further)
-If a skullsplitter's original projectile "whizzes" by an enemy, the enemy will take damage.
-movement of the fragmented explosions is based on both the angle/direction of the inital projectile and on the terrain, but it also seems somewhat random and unpredictable.
ARCANE SHIELD
Descriptions:You click the button/key and arcane shield is immediately active; a hellgate symbol (circular slowly spinning and flickering) appears below your feet and your shields are healed to full and then an additional shield value (determined by the skill level) is applied on top. You are rooted for one second before you can move; once you move forwards or backwards or strafing, the additional value that was added to your base shield value is lost. (spinning the camera around and spinning yourself in one spot does not cause the spell to break. Unlike other skills the recast does not start counting down until after you have moved and broken the original cast; until then and while active the skill blinks red indicating that it is in use and cannot be reused.
Damage type: n/a
Rate of use: 13 second recast time
Cast Time: instantly on
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: low
Range: n/a
Benefit from skill addition: increased shield value
Other information:
-you are rooted for one second after casting arcane shield
-shield regeneration is determined by max shield value (the higher your shields the faster your regen)
-damage done to shields is calculated without regard to armor values (i think)
-shield overload increases the percentage damage done to shields
-shield penetration causes a percentage of damage to ignore shields
-there is an issue that shields seem a lot less useful in higher levels here's a thread on that
-because of the previous issue most people only put 1 point to arcane shield and use it as a shield heal skill only rather than relying on it to augment their shields to a level where it would mitigate most damage.
DRAIN POWER
Descriptions: A continuous stream skill: you click the key or push the button and a enemy seeking blue ray comes out from your focus. Once it connects it does no damage but your power regeneration (determined by skill level) is increased by a percentage for as long as you hold down the key/button, maintain line of sight, and stay in proper range; if there are two or more enemies in range and close enough together (about 5m apart) the stream will split to multiple enemies and you will regenerate the increased percentage of power for every enemy in the stream.
(more enemies drained = more power regenerated)
Damage type: n/a
Rate of use: continuous
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: n/a
Range: midrange, 21m
Benefit from skill addition: increased power regeneration (20% at level 2, 120% at level 10)
Other information:
-this is the only skill besides dual focus that does not require power
-some people say that it does not scale well at higher character levels
-power drain does not drain power from enemy players
DRAIN LIFE
Descriptions: A continuous stream skill: you click the key or push the button and an enemy seeking red ray comes out from your focus. Once it connects it does a slow amount of damage over time and you gain a set amount of life over time (determined by both skill level and character level) for as long as you hold down the key/button, have power, maintain line of sight, and stay in proper range; if there are two or more enemies in range and close enough together (about 5m apart) the stream will split to multiple enemies and does not appear to lose damage from this split; however, you will gain life from each mob that is in the stream and you will lose 13 power per second for every enemy in the stream.
(more enemies drained = more life gained = more power lost)
Damage type: n/a
Rate of use: continuous
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: low to high depending on the number of enemies being drained
Range: midrange, 21m
Benefit from skill addition: increased health gained
Other information:
-the damage is low about 1/3 or 1/4 the damage done by spectral lash
-some people say that it does not scale well at higher character levels, while other people are "addicted" to its use
ELEMENTAL DRAIN
Descriptions: Partially a continuous stream skill: you click the key or push the button and a enemy seeking red and blue ray comes out from your focus; you do not need to hold down the button/key though; the stream will maintain itself for 3 seconds provided that you do not lose line of sight or move out of range. After 3 seconds a sparkly kind of bubble effect appears over you and your target; the effect increases your resists by a set number and reduces your enemy's resists by a set number for 8 seconds; both your resist amount increased and the amount that is decreased on your enemy is determined by the skill level. (see other information) Unlike most other skills recast time does not start until the stream stops and the effect starts.
Damage type: n/a
Rate of use: 5 seconds
Cast Time: negligable <.5sec but stream must remain active for 3seconds before resist effects apply
Delay before another skill can be used: none
Power cost: moderate to high
Range: midrange, 21m
Benefit from skill addition: increases your resists gained, increases enemy resists lost (see other information)
Other information:
-the skill is bugged in that it says you gain a percentage resists and enemies lose a percentage resists but the actual resists that you gain are not percentile (when it says 60% it really means you gain 60 to all resists) - this is the same for your enemys resists (that it is only decreased by a set number and not a percent)
-you cannot maintain this skill on more than one enemy; if you can get the effect to go on two enemies at once it cancels on the first
-i have an an experience in pvp where my enemy GAINED the same amount of resists that i gained, but i have since tested it and this incident has not reoccured; in subsequent tests my enemy in pvp lost resists though they were less than they should have been (he lost 15 to all resists instead of the 25 suggested at level 1)
-the amount of resists gained or lost seems nearly negligable when considering the amount of resists at end game
-if the stream (that must remain up for 3 seconds before the effect becomes active) is broken before the 3 seconds, the skill's recast timer will begin and there will be no resist effects applied
-if a monster dies before the effect has worn off you still keep your side of the effect (the resists gained)
-the skill doesn't draw agro
-increased buff duration mods will increase the 8 seconds that elemental drain's effect is applied to your resists
-there is a bug i've noticed on many occasions where the skill will be red (indicating that it cannot be used) until an enemy is targetted regardless of the distance away (it can be substantially out of range) and then elemental drain will stop being "redded out" indicating that it can be used
Word of Fear
Dual Focus
Summon Ember
Blink
Concentrate Damage
Brom's Curse
Afterlife
Spectral Curse
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