Spears are Amazing!! :-)

[danbjp]

Ok, so I watched my favourite youtuber and he said he'd never seen a good spear build.

Well, they're amazing. I bought one just because it had 14% crit ch as opposed to 10; and then I tried 'all in' and as I said on my last thread it has a larger aoe than a normal attack, but with a spear OMG - the aoe of all skills is HUGE!
(no cleave damage)

WW does massive area
Battle stomp has vastly improved range, like I can knockdown the edge of the screen LOL

So when I put one on my 2H 71% crit guy, he now does massive aoe.
Crippling blow has quite a small aoe but with a spear it's pretty big.

So F*** swords and maces TBH.

I love this new finesse build.
So for you 2H out there, forget swords and maces; get a spear and well, then go hunting.

Prob most players know this but I've been playing 2H through 2 tac runs and now honour and am constantly surprised how much you learn with each run.

Had to share coz I love my new toy!

[Astral Projection]

Was looking at Spears but noticed they use Finesse. So do you use a Warfare / Scoundrel build?

[danbjp]

Originally posted by Astral Projection:

Was looking at Spears but noticed they use Finesse. So do you use a Warfare / Scoundrel build?

I just switched all my str points to finesse; kept warfare and 2H levels the same; you don't need scoundrel for a spear 2H build - just finesse.

Coz, the dps is the same (a frac lower) but the range of the spear is absolutely massive compared to a 2H sword or axe. It's just you switch your str to finesse.

that's all I did.

Grab one quick - and you'll see why whirlwind is so powerful on a spear. I think cleave dps helps but, I'm a crit build with 75% crit chance at lvl 17 - I'll be 99% crit chance by lvl 21 (buffed with peace of mind)

You'll hit many more enemies!

GL

[Chaoslink]

Originally posted by Astral Projection:

Was looking at Spears but noticed they use Finesse. So do you use a Warfare / Scoundrel build?

Spears are exactly the same weapon build as other two handers, scoundrel has no direct relation just because its finesse based. Any thing you can build with a STR based 2H, a spear does (better). If I'm comparing builds from a purely effectiveness point of view, all finesse based builds are superior in nearly every case to their STR based counterparts. There is only one exception and I guarantee most people wouldn't guess it, being as niche as it is. Spears naturally do slightly less damage than other 2H weapons, but make up for that in so many ways, even to the extent of being capable of a higher overall damage output due to the extra hits possible with that range.

Oh, and I'm starting to question your use of the term aoe good buddy, not really sure its applicable to skills like "all in". Hesitant to include crippling blow too, but that ability actually can hit multiple targets for whatever reason, assuming they're clumped up. Never understood it.

[Chaoslink]

Originally posted by danbjp:

I think cleave dps helps but, I'm a crit build with 75% crit chance at lvl 17 - I'll be 99% crit chance by lvl 21 (buffed with peace of mind)

You'll hit many more enemies!

GL

Once you find one with 50% cleave... You'll be amazed at what they can do. They lose a small amount of DPS compared to other 2H weapons, but can easily make up for it with that extra area damage. They end up putting out more damage overall, though it does get spread out. They're even better for the Necro/Living armor combo as you'll have the larger magic armor cap with finesse armor so less gets wasted. Using uncanny dodge to make up for the lower physical armor works wonders too. From a purely efficiency sake, there really isn't a reason to go STR 2H over Spear 2H.

[Astral Projection]

Ahh ok I'll try it out. Main is Warfare/Necro 2-hand build. Just got to Arx.

[danbjp]

Originally posted by Chaoslink:

Originally posted by Astral Projection:

Was looking at Spears but noticed they use Finesse. So do you use a Warfare / Scoundrel build?

Spears are exactly the same weapon build as other two handers, scoundrel has no direct relation just because its finesse based. Any thing you can build with a STR based 2H, a spear does (better). If I'm comparing builds from a purely effectiveness point of view, all finesse based builds are superior in nearly every case to their STR based counterparts. There is only one exception and I guarantee most people wouldn't guess it, being as niche as it is. Spears naturally do slightly less damage than other 2H weapons, but make up for that in so many ways, even to the extent of being capable of a higher overall damage output due to the extra hits possible with that range.

Oh, and I'm starting to question your use of the term aoe good buddy, not really sure its applicable to skills like "all in". Hesitant to include crippling blow too, but that ability actually can hit multiple targets for whatever reason, assuming they're clumped up. Never understood it.

Doesn't aoe mean area of effect? So if WW does more area, it's an aoe effect; and with All in, if I can hit a target with greater range with a spear, doesn't that mean that the skill has greater aoe POTENTIAL, as it can hit more mobs in a certain radius from me?

IKN - you know tons bout this game, but that's what I meant by aoe.
Could be another term - area of potential damage - AOPT.

Jus' kidding.
What do you take aoe to mean in real terms?
(A also use dps - which is pretty dumb as there's no dps/ but it's quicker than typing damage LOL)

Dan

[Chaoslink]

I mean, maybe. I've always used aoe to refer to area of effect referencing skills that hit multiple targets by dealing damage over an area. Though I suppose I've never thought of it beyond that. Since All In is a single target ability, I generally would just use the term range to describe that since the larger range is allowing that extra potential targets. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[danbjp]

Originally posted by Chaoslink:

I mean, maybe. I've always used aoe to refer to area of effect referencing skills that hit multiple targets by dealing damage over an area. Though I suppose I've never thought of it beyond that. Since All In is a single target ability, I generally would just use the term range to describe that since the larger range is allowing that extra potential targets. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Yea, guess range would be ok to - - - ah, the details of RPG language use ;p

You were always one for spears, and now I can see why - but I love crit, so if I found a sword with 20% crit, I'd be tempted. Best hidden 2H is in Arx, hidden and yu can't see it with normal looking at ground key. it has IKN 20%CC 2 warfare 2 2H 3 strr etc. LVL 20.

But spears are really rare, esp with max crit+cleave, I guess

[Chaoslink]

They are rare. The one downside. Just wait until you use a root ability on an enemy melee then start smacking him with the spear while he's still out of range with his 2H. That's always a good feeling.

[Pyromus]

The spear range for opportunity attacks is insane too. And in mixed damage parties, the effectiveness of chloroform is a lot better than a str 2h build would get, which is really nice. I didn't realize battle stomp had its aoe changed with spears though, I usually just noticed the bigger whirlwind size.

[danbjp]

Yep, battle stomp has MASSIVE range - looks like 1.5 the distance; IKN exactly, but as BS is such a good skill, I love the extra range. It's awesome.
All attacks esp Crippling blow has decent range with a spear as with a sword it's very small.

[Astral Projection]

Yeah Battle Stomp is one the best abilities in the game. Knock down + erases ground effects.