Boltslingers discussion/journal

I like this aggressive build on level or maybe a little above. I have been thinking about trying more conservative attire because I am just getting pounded, but I think it might be worse if I couldn't easily take any out. I am taking out some mobs, getting a few drops and actually sort of cleared a cave. It's a bandit's grotto that is stupid easy with the power I have; just walk around with an angel and shoot the ones that some close enough. It was very rare that one managed to touch me. I am in over my head and not really convinced that I would last any longer if I went less aggressive. I think I am about to head back to things closer to on level. Even the chickens are lv 75 here.

 

sorry but what build are you using now?

 

I did make it to the house I saw, killing several mobs along the way, and it was safe there, but got killed over the next rise. I made it to the bandit grotto and slayed a bunch of them, then got killed around the corner from it. I made it down to the bridge on the north and took out several and then got killed when a mob slipped around the rock I was behind. I survived the aborted attempt at the tower cave out front, so there's that.

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A howitzer with cardboard shielding...

https://hppeng-wynn.github.io/build...L0O0H0Q0K0w01000BM1005eG010005Azz++++-Vp+epI1

I just have to swap boots to get over 1000 more hp but the power of the bow would be halved.

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I am going back to Gelibord. This is a very cool city and I am glad I came and checked it out, but I am not going to progress much. What drops I get are gear I can't use, mostly lv 70+. Someone posted a scarlet veil for 21,000 and it appears to be gone. I paid about 1200 for mine.

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I got killed on the way back and respawned in Eflim. That's odd because I have never been here before. I thought you respawned in the nearest town or village you have visited before.

 

that build is BUSTED

 

If you go up a bit, you will find a video of using it in worse shape (without the good leggings) in a cave in Troms. It's hard to give up the power that comes from the boots. The helmet also adds some and it turns the fast bow into a very fast bow. I am in Gelibord. I went north of here and died in a cave. Heading SE to a cave beside the river that I think is over halfway to Bucie. There is a second one across the river from it that I cleared a day or two ago, so getting back closer to on level.

I do also have all the pieces to put back together a more conservative build.

https://hppeng-wynn.github.io/build...0U0O0w10000A1004BM1005eG010005Azz++++-Vp+epI1

edit - minor adjustment made

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and I might. but I so love a very fast or super fast bow. and being able to cut down almost anything *if* I get it before it gets me.

 

I found thanos on my way to qira hive
and then I proceeded to fail to kill qira
4 times in a row

 

after all that hand wringing, I decided it was time to go back to only level and maybe go more conservative again. So I hopped on the horse and rode back to Llevigar to decide what to do next. It will be nice to get to the level where Cintras is a good base. I really like that town. Troms is now a distant second for me.

 

Btw the quest Realm of Light I: Worm Holes is worth doing, as it unlocks mastery tomes, which will boost your damage, EHP, and xp gain by a good bit.

 

Going to try this tomorrow; pretty close to what I had before

https://hppeng-wynn.github.io/build...0U0I0w1000E41004BM1005eG010005Azz++++-Vp+epI1

but I really like a faster than fast bow. Stashing the other gear. It could be sooner rather than later that I use it again. I don't think I could do the full on assault cave run in Troms with the conservative gear.

 

I died in there at the end (what I think/hope is the end anyway) dodging the debris the grootslang is spitting. I need to go back and finish it. If it's a pain for me to do the last stage to get to the fight, I usually don't redo it right away.

Spoiler: long and rambling

At first, I thought I could go side to side with a potion, switching sides in the gaps between bursts, but then the spiders showed up. The last instruction flashed up in large letters was "SURVIVE" and the elf encouraged me to let the grootslang live. I think I will watch a video before doing it again to see if I am supposed to attack it anyway. The last bit was a pain, especially the perfect route/timing run and jump and run and jump. It's a short little piece that probably barely registers with most players. The one redeeming feature there was that it lets you do it over and over until you make it, restarting you like it does for a parkour. It is one of the annoying ones where I have to look up the coordinates in the wiki because redoing the last step just tells you to meet at the worm hole without coordinates, which is okay the first time, but when I come back to a quest like some time later that I need a beacon.

Also Iron Heart I has no late step beacon. I did that one pretty much without issue until I needed to stick the slimes in the portal. I had to switch things around in inventory to get them in hand and got killed while doing that. Like an idiot, later I couldn't remember what they were for and got rid of them. I have a page in my bank where I put untradable items and usually divide it correctly with stuff I still need at the top and stuff to get rid of at the bottom. Troms had chests inside the gates and I took the opportunity to clear out untradable items in bulk. I fill up my inventory with them, and then put them in the loot chest before I close it.

A lot of my mistakes are mental/emotional. When I get flustered, I screw up. I mentioned earlier that I needed to get my mojo back. When I clear caves at or above level and when I was navigating the trails around Troms without too much trouble, I was not tentative at all. You saw that in the video; the only reason I died at the point I did in the cave was because in my standard health potion sequence of 2-Rclick-1, I missed the 1 and was charging into a mass of mobs trying to cast angel with a potion bottle. I would have died just around the corner where there are ranged weapons - I did exactly that in a later attempt - but I was on my game playing the style I enjoy most. In Gelibord and Cintras, I was not. I got timid and tentative, using cover too long and having mobs I had sniped with bombs respawn behind me. Near Cintras one of the mobs respawns almost immediately.[/SPOILER}

 

Like the elf said, don't kill the grootslang. When I did the quest, I just got on my horse and rode it in circles. After you complete the quest, I can try to find a group to carry you through the raid that gets unlocked, and get you some mastery tomes.

 

Wow - thanks! I will do the same. Did you wear galloping spurs and keep a spell up for the spiders? I may have ruined myself using the aggressive setup. I had to actually shoot some orcs on the trails. Also the difference between casting a spell in a second versus a half second requires more of an adjustment to my play style than you might think.

I just hopped on for a few minutes and finished Iron Quest Part I. An angel and a storm took out the golem. Leveled me up to 59. I killed it twice when there was no pickup the first time; I couldn't remember if I needed evidence. I also killed the slimes way too many times trying to clear a path and then not realizing the portal opened at fist. It's small, up some blocks and slightly obscured. I think I will try Part II, which is pretty much on level, next. It may be a good test of build versus build if I die on the conservative attempt.

 

Spoiler: Iron Heart II isn't a good build test

I guess you know this if you remember it. The little bit of fighting was not hard. There was fire in one part of it that I didn't dodge very effectively but it did little damage. Maybe a slight nod toward the conservative build for that but I don't think the aggressive one would have been in danger either. But then at the end there was a slight nod toward the aggressive build. I suck at parkour and there was a timed one that also included the closest thing to a boss fight that the quest had. A golem that was a little harder to take down than the others was part of the timed sequence, so after I made it through the parkour with not a lot of time left, I had to kill it, pick up a key, open a door and walk through it. The golem survived a storm and over half the arrows hit him. He then jumps and I had to locate it again and I hit it with a bomb shot while a ways from me and a storm when we closed the gap. That did it. I suspect just the second storm would have done it with that build. But it took me 3 tries to kill it with enough time to get through the door. I think I would have killed him in 1 second with the aggressive build.

Spoiler: Potential new variations make build even more complex

I did the honorable thing at the end and got the Greaves of Honor leggings. They add 1050 hp while my current leggings add 1000. The Honors have no skill requirements while the Kratkes require 10 in every category, which is not a problem unless you have something that requires very uneven distribution. But the Kratkes add 3 points to every skill. They have defense in every element with the values ranging from 32 to 71. It adds 3 or 4% to damage for every element, 11% to spell damage and 4% to main attack. It gives bonus damage for mana used. Every single number is green and 1000 hp is pretty good, even if the Honor is slightly higher. Zero tradeoffs. Worth using even though the hp is 50 less? Probably.

However, the Honor leggings have a few pluses and the ones that stands out are +34% xp bonus and +9% health regen. These are grinding pants. Also has nothing but positive numbers; just fewer of them. Also less powder slots; 3 on the Kratkes and 2 on the Honors.

They are both lv 58, so it doesn't seem very likely I will come across anything better in the near future. The easy answer is to keep both and wear the Honors when I don't expect too much trouble but will get some mobs with value. The xp and health regen are really the only bonuses, but they're big ones. Powders will give it a little defense also, but nothing like the Kratkes. If I use the veil helmet, I think the honors make more sense as the Kratkes elemental protection is going to be largely wiped out. If I use just the Broken Balance boots the the Kratkes might make more sense, to get the defense so maybe the lower hp will hold up better.

Mix and match...

 

in the grootslang part i just rode my horse like he said.

it might be hard as archer especially with low ehp because archer has a low defense in the first place

 

Well I did it with Shaman with outleveled gear. Almost died a couple of times, but was able to do it first try with a brown horse.

 

That's what I will do then. I just finished Zight for something different. I swam for a while at Mario Peaks when I got lost. that place is crazy. I am a 60 now; testing different builds around Olux did that. The Honor leggings along with a trinket or two giving bonus xp adds up quicker. Going to do the lv 60 slay and then maybe try finishing up with the grootslang.

 

I still didn't make it back over to the grootslang. I did more adjustments and testing/grinding using gear that had xp bonuses and the next thing you know I am levelling up again and grabbing stuff and putting it together. So...
https://hppeng-wynn.github.io/build...D0Q0t0P0K0+1000EG01005eG010005Azz++++-Vp+ehb2
WynnBuilder build:
> Call of the Void
> Mail of the Sweltering
> Kratke
> Philophobia
> Mirror
> Marble
> Great Brace
> Wolf Crest
> Clairvoyance [t4t4]

The chest plate and boots don't have powder yet. I am holding off on powders as I am not yet sure whether these are choices to commit to. Pretty sure about the bow and it uses so many points up on intelligence that to some degree it drives the other choices. I can swap the Grieves of Honor in for the Kratkes for the xp boost grinding and 50 extra hp, But while subjective, I seemed to be able to take more abuse as shown. Health regen is strong also. I can run out of potion and escape then find a place to hide. I am using it for now. It seems like the best mix of power and safety. The real power is in arrow storm. Besides taking out high level mobs, it creates space, pushing me and the mobs in different directions. I feel good about this for trying to survive the grootslang and maybe go back to the boss altar at Iboju.

 

That worked. I did have to sip more than a little health potion. But I got access and the runes. And the emeralds and xp. Between that and getting killed a couple of time in anew quest (Reclaiming the Camp) and running around trying to find them with an occasional diversion, I am about 2/3 of the way to 63. Not really much point in trying to purposefully grind right now, though I do have a Millennium chest plate for 63, which is a reason not waste powders on the sweltering one. Realm of Light is a little confusing to complete when you die at the end. Lari is not at the site or at home. You have to go down the entryway used earlier instead of her magical safe fall, go into the worm hole and you are there. I died the first time on horseback getting stuck against the invisible barrier and not realizing what was going on.
Thanks again!

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I think next up is Order of the Grook on Mage Island for something different...
Puzzles and more puzzles. No thanks. I will finish Master Piece, or try to. I did the first cave and didn't find anything. wiki peak time...

 

order of the grook if fun tho lol and it gives good stuff, if you want arrow bomb reduction bracelet get the dragon wand, i think the phoenix wand gives guard angel reduction necklace and the others give arrow storm and escape reduction ring

 

So, yeah, finishing a couple of quests, cleared a dark forest cave and running around a little and all of a sudden I am lv 63. Oh, and I found better boots.

This time I might actually be serious about not worrying about upgrades unless something amazing falls in my lap.

https://hppeng-wynn.github.io/build...-1000EG10072A1005eG10002S10005Azz++++-Vp+ehb2
WynnBuilder build:
> Call of the Void
> Millennium
> Kratke
> Marsh Runner
> Mirror
> Marble
> Great Brace
> Wolf Crest
> Clairvoyance [t4t4]