Character Optimization Contest (June 2010)

Character Optimization Contest Winners

Round One: Aracoix Scout - Winner: Debo

Creation Runes

• Fleet of Foot
• lucky
• Tough As Nails

In-game Runes

• 40 Dexterity Rune

Discipline Runes

• SkyDancer
• Gladiator
• Rune Caster
• Undead Hunter

Skydancer first because of damage and con buffs. Second Gladiator because removing bleed is a must to escape situations and to reduce damage plus giving you health recovery. Then Rune Caster for small heals and Undead Hunter is taken at 70 and is optional for this build.

Stats at 75

• Strength: 45
• Dexterity: 160
• Constitution: 100
• Intelligence: 83
• Spirit: 15

Skills and Powers at 75

Skills

• Wear Light Armor 141% (103 trains)
• Dodge 134% (90 trains)
• Running 150% (65 trains)
• Bow 134% (90 trains)
• Archery 134% (90 trains)

these percentages were based off of Arkanis/Jumbie Calculator

Powers

• Hide (8 trains)
• Sneak (40 trains)
• Detect Hidden (40 trains)
• Talon Dance (20 trains)
• Will of Skydancer (1 train)
• Consecrate Weapon (20 trains)
• Nyth Rune (20 trains)
• Beorc Rune (1 Train)

Equipment

• Head: Invincible Raptor Hood of Stoneskin
• Chest: Vogrim Auxiliary Vest
• Sleeves:Invincible Scout Leather Sleeves of Stoneskin
• Gloves: Invincible Scout Leather Gloves of Arnomus
• Pants: Invincible Scout Leather Leggings of Stoneskin
• Boots: Invincible Scout Leather Boots of Windlords

• Ring: Granite Moonstone Ring of the Thanes
• Ring: Granite Moonstone Ring of the Thanes
• Amulet: Granite Lunar Amulet of the Gods

• Left Hand: Peerless Horwathi Long Bow of (choose any proc that you like best)
• Right Hand:

Conclusion

What roles do you think your build fulfills well? Solo, Small Group, Big Groups, Banes any scout role would not be a problem to overcome.

Why did you choose that equipment? To have high defense with pierce resist and also to have a great amount of hp and hp recovery and a fast bow with a proc can do some nice damage.

Why did you choose those starting runes? I like to use Fleet of Foot because im putting trains into running and being faster than the enemy is very important for scouts. Speed Wins Fights! Lucky for the extra defense and Tough as Nails of extra 200 health with health regen.

Are you missing any crucial powers or are there any weaknesses you'd like to discuss or point out how to overcome? I didnt train precision because you should still have enough atr to hit everything

Describe how your build could best other scouts in 1v1 situations. What makes it so special?

Speed, High defense with high dodge and a lot of hit points plus your damage buff and heals should be all the tools you need i do suggest carrying stam pots but when it comes down to it player>the build knowing what to do in a specific situation is key!

this build should have everything you need depending on the situation you can always switch out your jewelry if you would like higher defense more resists.

Round Two: Templar - Winner: Allik

Race Human, since this build is created around defense I preferred the human's stat spread over half-giant.

Creation Runes

• -5 from all
• Born of the Irydnu
• Brilliant Mind
• Lucky

I took Born of the Irydnu because although you may not get the extra 5 intelligence from if you were to take Wizard's Apprentice, and it does cost 2 extra points, you will obtain the same maximum Intelligence and an extra 10% mana recovery without losing 5 base/max con and spirit.

In-game Runes

• Godly Intelligence
• Godly Constitution

Disciplines

• Dark Knight
• Bounty Hunter/Huntsman
• Undead Hunter
• at 70:Commander

Dark Knight is a must for the blind and stun.

Stats at 75

• Strength.............41/100
• Dexterity.............35/100
• Constitution.........140/140
• Intelligence..........160/160
• Spirit...................35/100

Skills and Powers at 75

Skills

• Heavy Armor........133%/90
• Thaumaturgy........153%/130
• Block...................133%/90
• Sword..................100%/57
• Sword Mastery.......70%/27

Powers

• Cleansing Flame.........40
• Purge Sin..................20
• Blessed Zeal..............40
• Sway the Balance.......40
• Saint Malorn's Wrath.....1
• Consume Wickedness..40
• Wings of Seraphim......30
• Dark Curse................20
• Knavery....................20
• Curse of the Sloth........1

Equipment

• Head: Invincible Templar Helm of Stoneskin (+9 Defense / +5 Pierce Resist)
• Chest: Invincible Templar Chest of Stoneskin (+9 Defense / +5 Pierce Resist)
• Sleeves: Invincible Templar Sleeves of Trueson (+9 Defense / +5 Slashing Resist)
• Gloves: Vogrim Legionnaire's Gloves (+9 Defense / +12 Strength)
• Pants: Invincible Templar Pants of Trueson (+9 Defense / +5 Slashing Resist)
• Boots: Vorgrim Legionnaire's Greaves (+9 Defense / +15% to Movement Speed)

• Ring: Hematite (ring) of Thaumaturgy (+12 Intelligence 35% Mana Recovery / +10 Thaumaturgy)
• Ring: Hematite (ring) of Thaumaturgy (+12 Intelligence 35% Mana Recovery / +10 Thaumaturgy)
• Necklace: Hermatite (neck) of the Gods (+12 Intelligence 35% Mana Recovery / +6 All stats)

• Hand: Peerless Burning Sword of the Vampyre (+165 Attack Rating -17% weapon speed/ Tier 3 Health Drain Proc)
• Shield: Vorgrim Legionnaire's Shield ((+26 defense / +3 Passive Defense)

Conclusion

In theory this build is optimal for solo pvp, but viable in group situations, while there are better options for bane/mine templar specs, you will still be able to use this build for smaller scale pvp like mines, guards, or open pvp.

The gear for this build is chosen solely around maxing defense and damage from your procs and DoTs. If you felt more health was needed you could simply go "of Thanes" on the rings instead of Thaumaturgy. The Vorgrim pieces as far as I remember have more defense than any crafted piece, so it's a better choice since it has the same stats you would use on a Templar piece. As far as what proc to use on the sword, I felt a health drain proc is the most efficient for outlasting your opponents, if you were looking for more damage output you could take an unholy proc or equivalent. The Vorgrim shield has 1 more defense and 2.5% more block chance than a normal 100% shield so it is necessary to use the Vorgrim shield over an normal 100% shield.

Like I explained above I chose the racial rune to bypass the penalty from Wizard's Apprentice which allowed me to apply Brilliant Mind and also have enough for lucky.

Although I prefer to take sway the balance for removing buffs, and in some situations debuffs like roots, it could be transfered into the AoE or Wings. As far as weaknesses are concerned, the fact that human doesn't get the same hp pool that a half-giant would, a human gets extra trains, and even with those extra trains I still struggled to get everything I needed. If I were to go half-giant I wouldn't be able to train toughness for one, and without the extra 58 trains I would have to sacrifice a decent amount of the important stats, like thaumaturgy which directly affects ATR and defense, stats very important to this build, that you would be able to maximize on as a human.

The build is efficient for the purpose, meaning that the fact that my points are spread efficiently allows me to have the ATR to hit rogues as well as the defense to force my opponent into precise stance. Though I don't know the exact amount of defense this build is capable of obtaining, I used the Arkanis' Creator to get a rough estimate and it showed 2099 with a conc pot in defensive stance, which to me seemed a bit over "realistic" I would think it would be more around 1900 which is a good aim for this build. If I didn't reach 1900 with my current stat spread I would either have taken points out of block to raise my heavy armor or split Thaumaturgy and Heavy armor to be 110 trains each instead of 90/130.

Round Three: Assassin - Winner: snowmaN

• Race: Vampire
• Class: Mage
• Profession: Assassin

Applied Runes

• Warlord's Page
• Tough as Nails
• Tough Hide
• Constitution of the Gods
• Exceptional Intelligence
• Battle Magus
• Gorgoi
• Traveller
• Wyrmslayer

Stats

• Strength: 30/120
• Dexterity: 40/115
• Constitution: 170/170
• Intelligence: 130/130
• Spirit: 25/60

Skills

• Bloodcraft 71% (10 trains)
• Sorcery 30% (2 trains)
• Warding 40% (7 trains)
• Shadowmastery 97% (61 trains)

Powers

• Shielding 40 (Grand Master)
• Enfeeblement 40 (Grand Master)
• Spectral Bonds 40 (Grand Master)
• Weakening 40 (Grand Master)
• Skirmish Counterspell 40 (Grand Master)
• Shadow Mantle 40 (Grand Master)
• Silence 40 (Grand Master)
• Blindness 40 (Grand Master)
• Chilling Shadows 40 (Grand Master)
• Steal Breath 40 (Grand Master)
• Counter Venom 40 (Grand Master)
• Cloak of Shadows 40 (Grand Master)
• Fade 20 (Journeyman)
• Invisibility 20 (Journeyman)
• Flame Ward 20 (Journeyman)
• Uncanny Fortitude 20 (Journeyman)
• Dark Fortitude 20 (Journeyman)
• Vampire's Kiss 1 (Untrained)
• The Blood is the Life 1 (Untrained)
• Demolishing Spell 1 (Untrained)
• Slayer's Focus 1 (Untrained)
• Shadow Touch 1 (Untrained)
• Recall to Runegate 5 (Beginner)
• Send to Runegate 5 (Beginner)
• Open Spirit Gate 5 (Beginner)
• Open Air Gate 5 (Beginner)
• Open Earth Gate 5 (Beginner)
• Open Water Gate 5 (Beginner)
• Open Fire Gate 5 (Beginner)

Equipment

• Head:Truewoven/Trueson Assassin Hood (5.5s/5s)
• Chest:Truewoven/Trueson Infernal Chest (5.5s/5s)
• Sleeves:Trueshaped/Stoneskin Infernal Sleeves (5.5p/5p)
• Gloves:Trueshaped/Stoneskin Black Cloth Gloves (5.5p/5p)
• Pants:Beasthide/Pillar Infernal Pants (5.5c/5c)
• Boots:Beasthide/Windlords Black Knee Boots (5.5c/15%speed)

• Ring:Apostates/Treant (30holy/15bleed)
• Ring:Apostates/Treant (30holy/15bleed)
• Amulet:Charmed/Treant (20f,l,c/15bleed)

• Left Hand:
• Right Hand:Apostates/Treant Staff (30holy/15bleed)

Conclusion

This section should cover the following points:

• What roles do you think your build fulfills well?

Best Bane Mantler, Debuffer, Melee Damage Reducer

• Why did you choose that equipment?

(61s/61p/56c) (20L/25F/45I) 65Holy 60Bleeding 50Poison ward. This is self buffed in normal stance.

• Why did you choose those starting runes?

For a vamp, this gives me max resists and max con. Should have 4500ish hp at end so anything under 450 will get through your fort. This means dual weilders and archers, but shouldnt be a problem as melee resists are still high w/o forts, and for casters, only Assassin nukes will get under but youll be resisted there as well. Maybe some Wizard nukes will get under which is the only hole in your resist spread. All 2h melee and all other nukers will still be hitting over your forts.

• Are you missing any crucial powers or are there any weaknesses you'd like to discuss or point out how to overcome?

Dual wielders can hit under your fort but you still have good resists against them. Assassins can nuke under your fort, but will have 79 total cold resist in Dstance. Wizards are you only weak spot, as they have a chance to hit under your fort, and only have +34% from Dstance. Remember that skirmish counterspell works vs magic as well.

• Explain how your build is an effective Assassin in GvG situation. What makes him better than other builds in this particular role?

This is by far the most resilient Assassin there is to be played. Massive resists coupled with both fortitudes means you take less then 100 damage from any damage type. Single target or focus fire, its still going to take too long to kill you, before your group can kill the enemy. If played in a group with bard and priests, you will most likely not need to stealth as you have constant heals to replenish you, bard chants, and debuff removes and can focus all attention to debuffing, alac stripping, and mantling. If played outside of group, you still have high survivability, two insta stealths to stay hidden if one is on cool down, and flight can make it harder to spot you from the air. If you are out of group you should be doing your job from behind and to the side of the enemy and in the air.