Posts by Geistritter

Super Saiyan is good prior to level 3 Kaioken, but after that, Kaioken leaves Super Saiyan in the dust, especially in party play, where you're unlikely to come under attack. I do recommend picking up Super Saiyan for those early levels, and you should still level Kaioken on the side for the times you lose your transformation before its cooldown is up. Just don't get in the habit of only using Super Saiyan; the only time it's your best option after level 55 is when you expect to take a lot of damage, such as soloing a Boss enemy, and don't want to risk Kaioken indirectly killing you. If you've got a tank, though, or are good at wiping out enemies in two attacks or less when mobbing solo, Kaioken's your jam.

Being allowed to experiment with alternative builds relatively risk-free does nothing but good for the game. Some of the reason there are so many cookie-cutter builds isn't necessarily because they're better -- and a lot of them aren't -- but because it was too punishing to try anything else before. Getting into your late 50s - early 60s just to find out your character sucks is a waste of a ton of time.

There's already some good discussion going around in the class boards about trying some whacky stuff, and B4.DA.$$, for example, has already cracked the code to ease the misery of pre-42 Turtle Hermit through use of Spiritualist's Bleed skills, thanks to the admin's changes to how DoT skills work. There are great builds out there that have yet to be found, and this change can help players find them.

Not sure about dropping two points in Kaioken; kind of undermines what we're trying to accomplish with the Bleeds in the first place, and its drain is relatively low when maxed out, as a bonus. You really understand why people are talking about finding a way to make Super Saiyan competitive for someone other than Dodge Fighters when level 3 Kaioken is both barely scratching you and dealing more damage.

It may sound like heresy, but you could take a point from Speed Restrain, and in Spirit Rod, and be mostly fine; level 3 Restrain and Turtle Rod Strike still totally immobilize almost every enemy in the game. Strike's duration isn't as long, but it's still longer than its cooldown, and while those two fewer seconds of Speed Restrain may seem like an eternity, you're probably using RP on it to begin with, and even if not, you likely won't feel it too much if you start. I'd see how that feels, but it's worked for me, and the only real exceptions have been when I've panicked and failed to use another tool (hey there, Sudden Stun) to close the gap.

On the subject, Turtle Rod Impale is better than advertised for the same reasons; the fact that DoT damage is no longer static and scales means it can deal some considerable damage, and like other such skills, using RP for damage increases the damage of the DoT as well. It's a worthy addition to anyone's rotation when dealing with stuff that doesn't go down to your opening barrage. The DoT also doesn't break Hypnosis if it was in effect when you land the sleep, as far as I can tell, which is a plus when you're spamming Impale and run into an emergency, or just need to charge RP.

The Area Bleed tip is helpful for pretty much everyone because of how freakin' abysmal Turtle Hermit is prior to level 42. Even if you ditch it then and just go with the ol' Scatter Shot/Super Kamehameha combo, it's still a pain in the butt getting there because you're not good at single target or area damage before you get Super Kamehameha, unless you opted to max Rapid Shot or something. Wish I thought to try Area Bleed back when I was in that range.

I might even mess around with the Bleed skills now and see if they outdo a maxed Rapid Shot; may as well experiment while we have the chance. Solid Bleed does pretty high damage maxed, so even though it's expensive, one might be able to, say, drop Scatter Shot for it late in their career, since you can't max it until level 64 (!). It also raises the possibility of whacky crap like keeping Increase Persisted Damage, since that's a percentage modifier. 22% extra damage is a lot, even if only applied to two of your skills, assuming you also go with Impale, and you have no reason not to if you're going to take Increase Persisted Damage. It's worth checking out.

PvP isn't really my forte, so I'm not the best source, but I will say I've seen videos of a PvP Swordsman rocking Focused Energy Barrage solely for its ranged knockdown and using it to great effect, harrying an Ultimate Majin for a pretty comfortable win.

Worth considering!

Sure is nice that people who wanna PvP don't have to screw themselves over with a leveling build anymore, eh?

I'd agree that all those points in Penetrate is a waste.

Focused Kamehameha isn't that good, but it isn't that bad, either. Its AoE is surprisingly decent and it does okay damage if you're going to be Energy-slanted anyway. Focused Energy Barrage is arguably better, but it's also way more expensive to get.

Now that we're able to respec once a week, you may even be able to get away with trying a leveling build for the tougher grinds via opening with Burning Attack, and with good positioning, finishing them with a Focused Kamehameha. You might consider taking some points out of Increased Hitrate to accommodate something like that and see how it feels. May need to get lucky upgrading your gloves to ensure the two hit kill, though, or at the very least, pick on enemies with lower HP when mobbing. With the stakes so much lower, we're actually allowed to freakin' experiment with stuff we wouldn't normally without fear of ruining our damn characters.

Well, at least you own up to it.

But yeah, skill resets beyond Master Class used to require a donation to the server, so this change technically costs the server administrator whatever real money those skill reset books would have gotten them. It couldn't have been a lot, but it remains that this change is purely for the benefit of the players. Between this, permanent Flight Acceleration, and not losing gear on an upgrade break -- although the system is still god damn infuriating in its current state -- legitimate steps have been made to take the bullshit out of this game, and yes, we should be grateful.

Really appreciate this kind of guide; giving general thoughts on skills instead of just slapping in a build really lets you weigh your options and find what suits you best, and it's also appreciated that it's actually thorough and well-written.

It also made me think about investing into the surprisingly good Rapid Shot, as I realized I was still regularly using its level 1 incarnation even into my 50s, well after I'd gotten Turtle Hermit's full suite of toys. Turtle's got some mild cooldown issues in a prolonged battle, and Rapid Shot really helps you fill the gaps with value, even against bosses, when you spend more time juggling status skills.

Either way, big thanks to you and EchoSon for doing these. Required reading for anyone that wants to do the job right.

Really enjoy these and BlazingBarrager's Turtle Hermit guides; giving general input on the relative value of skills instead of just slapping in an image of a build and calling it a day gives you more opportunity to find what works for you, as this game is no fan of letting you find your own way without infuriating consequences. I particularly appreciate it dissuading me from taking the fricking terrible Burning Attack. The fact that it's actually well-written is also a welcome plus.