Random questions

104. I could swear I've asked this before but I can't seem to find the answer - if I equip two one-handed weapons and use them to train up Offhand Attack, Offhand Defense and Offhand Power and then switch back to a two-handed weapon, will the "bonuses" for those 3 offhand skills apply at all to the two-handed weapon's damage and/or defense?

 

No.

 

To answer this in more detail, and help you find the answer yourself next time, if you look at the skills Tooltip (Yes I know TTs arent always accurate, they are for this), There is a "Required Equiped" line that tells you what you need to be weilding to be able to use, or benefit from the skill.

 

Thanks Violet - I felt like at one point a long time ago you told me to train that up regardless, but it might have been because that was online when I was using a spear and shield instead of a halberd.

Out of curiosity have you ever experimented with comparing dual-wielded spears with the Offhand skills trained up vs. a halberd (or any other two-handed polearm if there even ARE any)? Spoiler: I may play around with that myself.

 

From my experience, dual wield is much better for single/two target fights, it is usually a much more aggressive playstyle, and with the ability to use Offhand attack, it is much better used in a dynamic deck.

Meanwhile halberds will allow for hitting a few more targets (on auto attacks, not skills. Skills have a limited amount of targets themselves), and usually pack a bigger punch per ability use (and a higher strength modifier, so for those higg Strength builds its impact is a bit more noted.

Dual wielding also allows for the use of 2 handles, in the case of Mossy and Savage handles, this is a bonus you don't want to ignore when you're looking for an increase in power or want to start maxing (you also need to roll the same MW/Enchants on 2 items instead of one, so you're gonna do more rolls usually).

And a final note, anyone using Tactics spec should definitely consider Dual wield over Two handed simply because Tactics spec offers some decent bonuses to dual wielding.

 

105. I'm thinking about playing around with a fire mage build. Any suggestions will be appreciated. Is Fire Specialization recommended for a fire mage? Any suggestions for a secondary specialization? And is it next to impossible to survive solo unless you have a pet who can tank?

 

If your goal is to be a fire mage primarily, yes, take Fire Spec, it is one of those "Just too good" specs that you'd be needing to want something specific not to take it.

Flame fist, Fire Arrow, Ring of Fire all 3 get extra Fire Resistance debuff on targets thanks to the specialization. This is very good, especially in boss fights. Stacking or charging them increases the potency, and all they stack multiple times on enemies hit. Fist and Arrow are especially strong against bosses. Fireball is super strong, and landing 3 different casts of 6 to 5 to 4 stacks will not only hurt a ton, but also deal damage over time with all 3 stacks at the same time, this melts groups.

It is very dependent, but Life Spec is the first choice, it increases the potency and speed of the life spells a ton, and makes Banish Undead super strong against undead.

Sun spec Enlightenment gets a 6th stack which makes the int bonus considerable but you get Spell Critical chance from spec, and Fireball is one of the spells that can crit on contact and deal tons of damage.

These aren't the only options but I would consider them the best 2 choices for people just getting into fire mage builds, life spec first. The other choices are a bit more advanced and I would only consider them when looking for a challenge.

Making sure you have a decent health pool, and consider using a shield , with the right gear setup you won't even fear a fizzle while giving yourself a huge defensive boost. Life spec is one of those spec choices that will help your survivability a ton.

Good luck by the way! I would consider practicing to fight trolls a ton, and then attempt Troll Dungeons!

 

Just to add to that, the Potion of the Master Fire Mage recipe is (rather unfairly) one of the easiest to get.

 

Yeah I agree. I don’t get why the Air one was made entirely utterly difficult to get, but the Fire one was way too easy. The fire one should have been put on the Fire Elemental in The Breach.

 

If you're a fire mage, your pet won't be able to catch much aggro from mobs because 1: your DPS and 2: fire damage boosts aggro, meaning you'll do all the tanking.

 

Even if it was transferred to the boss fire elemental in The Breach, it would still be way easier to get than the Potion of the Master Air Mage recipe or the Potion of the Master Water Mage recipe.

 

106. Is there anything special in Spindleskog? I just explored it and all I found were ghost spiders, ghost panthers, ghosts, spiders, massive crocodiles and a spindleskog rune. Asking because I could swear I remember others talking about it like it's the holy grail of spamming XP, so wondering if there was a nook or cranny I missed.

 

If you found the teleporters in the scene, they take you to Hard and Extreme mode. (Teleporter to Hard is in Normal, teleporter to Extreme is in Hard.) That's where the big xp is.

Otherwise, no, not much there yet. Shadow creatures drop shadow essences and some shadow potion recipes. Some lunar magic recipes drop there as well (also from shadow creatures) like the Shrine and Master Mage potion.

Presumably it will eventually have quests related to episode 2.

 

The shadow creatures drop shadow essence, which is used for shadow potions and poison.

 

Spindelskog Normal is actually good to get XP if you can defeat the mobs quickly. Hard and Extreme yield XP faster though.
Try to farm the ghosts for XP in Spindelskog Hard, if you can kill them without much trouble it'll probably be a viable way to get XP. If not, soloing the Normal mode should be almost as good.

 

107. Is Hardened Augmented Leather armor better for fire mages (or any other light-armor mage for that matter) than Hardened Leather armor? Seems like a no-brainer that it would be but thought I'd ask.

 

In fact, you would want Cloth or Chain, nothing else.

 

Chain counts as light armor and doesn't significantly affect a mage's fizzle chance?

 

Chain is heavy armor, and will affect a mages fizzle chance yes, but you can still usually manage to wear a chain chest if you've trained your skills high enough to balance it out, otherwise, it is full cloth!

 

I clearly have a lot to learn on that side of the spectrum.

Carapacian Cloth I assume? And why would carapacian cloth be better than hardened leather?