Outlander, MP, and MP Steal

[Cannonaire]

I'm about to start leveling my first Outlander since the game came out. I have heard that MP tends to be a problem for them, and after some testing I have found that neither MP Stolen with Skull (Umbarmun) nor MP Stolen on armor (Unearthly Hauberk) works with Rapid Fire, which I intend to use as my main attack.

Is there any form of MP steal that works with Rapid Fire?

Should I focus on weapons which deal primarily elemental damage and mitigate MP problems by enchanting a ton of focus? (After the 999 STR bonus, of course.)

Are skill-using Outlanders just doomed to always have MP problems?

I appreciate any answers from people more knowledgeable about this than I.

[steffire3]

Originally posted by Cannonaire:

I'm about to start leveling my first Outlander since the game came out. I have heard that MP tends to be a problem for them, and after some testing I have found that neither MP Stolen with Skull (Umbarmun) nor MP Stolen on armor (Unearthly Hauberk) works with Rapid Fire, which I intend to use as my main attack.

Is there any form of MP steal that works with Rapid Fire?

Should I focus on weapons which deal primarily elemental damage and mitigate MP problems by enchanting a ton of focus? (After the 999 STR bonus, of course.)

Are skill-using Outlanders just doomed to always have MP problems?

I appreciate any answers from people more knowledgeable about this than I. :NAYU_SUZU:

Very few vanilla (unmodded) skills activate Health / Mana Steal.
Rune Vault is one of few skills that does at a certain Tier.
What most vanilla TL2 players do is to take a moment to shoot enemies with a ranged weapon to activate the Health / Mana Steal to instantly regain the lost Mana.
Even 1% Mana Stolen or a flat amount helps greatly on weapon strike.
Then return to the skill cycles to deal greater damage.
And repeat the process until the enemy target is destroyed.

Lots of Focus will help. Boris for the random Focus when available.

[Cannonaire]

STR+FOC Outlander build seems a bit difficult for choosing weapons. Tri-force Catalyst would be perfect if it didn't have chaotic rift. Right now I'm looking at that or The Clonus Horror, and then my second set would have a Pistol + Shield, likely a Netherrealm Pistol with Umbarmun for regaining MP.

[ADEC Inc]

Poison Burst could potentially get you some mana steal. Tri-force Catalyst is an excellent choice of weapon.

[Cannonaire]

Thankfully I already have the equipment I need.

Does Poison Burst activate from kills by other skills (say, Rapid Fire), or only from auto-attacks?

[steffire3]

Originally posted by Cannonaire:

Thankfully I already have the equipment I need.

Does Poison Burst activate from kills by other skills (say, Rapid Fire), or only from auto-attacks?

From this Reddit post; it appears that it requires the Weapon itself or a Dps skill to activate:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Torchlight/comments/13w3zu/how_does_the_outlanders_poison_burst_really_work/?rdt=53844

[Cannonaire]

Drat. It really does seem useless. At least my character was only level 20. Time to remake!

[HiFive]

I usually put some points into Poison Burst. In the vanilla game, the Outlander can be an OP poisoner. If you level up the passive "Master of the Elements" skill, you'll notice that it always increases poison damage twice as much as the other elemental damages. Weapons that already have poison damage equipped will benefit greatly from this, and you can add poison damage gems and enchants, as well.

I don't recall ever being bothered by the MP drain, but I usually put gems on all of my characters that increase mana and health recovery, and I look for gear that does the same When your mana runs out, the game automatically fires your weapon instead, which is when the Poison Burst would be very helpful.

[Cannonaire]

I'm hoping that a ton of FOC and Concentration VI spell will be enough. I'm planning a build for soloing Tarroch's Tomb on Elite (not HC), which means all of my armor sockets will be filled with Limoany (up top 75%) and Riechliu skulls.

[Nakos]

Originally posted by HiFive:

I don't recall ever being bothered by the MP drain, but I usually put gems on all of my characters that increase mana and health recovery, and I look for gear that does the same When your mana runs out, the game automatically fires your weapon instead, which is when the Poison Burst would be very helpful.

Yeah, that's what I usually do too.

[Cannonaire]

Originally posted by ADEC Inc:

Poison Burst could potentially get you some mana steal. Tri-force Catalyst is an excellent choice of weapon.

I've been using Tri-force Catalyst, and even though it does by far the most damage for a STR+FOC build, it is borderline unusable because it keeps teleporting enemies to random locations, including bosses. I'm open to any other suggestions.

On the bright side, it seems like lots of FOC helps a ton with MP and Rapid Fire, making MP steal unnecessary.

*EDIT*
I never expected to like Bloom's Margin, but I really appreciate the immobilization. It more than makes up for the flee effect on enemies, which is already not nearly as bad as enemies randomly appearing behind me.