Divinity: Original Sin 2

Divinity: Original Sin 2

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ummaya 1/dez./2019 às 23:16
Two Wands Mages or One Wand and Shield Mages?
Hello,

I am using Fort Joy to experiment with different playstyles, to find which one I prefer and have more fun with. For this purpose, I switch playing between two parties; one is a Full Physical party and the second a Half Physical and Half Magical party.

My question is about the mages of my Half Physical and Half Magical party which is composed of: 

1 Shadowblade  (Main)
1 Ranger
1 Mage Pyro/Geo/Necro
1 Mage Hydro/Aero/Necro

By the way, could, for example, a Cleric be a good basis for a Warrior/Mage(Hydro/Necro) build, be a good option for the Hydro based Mage?

I haven't decided yet if to go with Two Wands Mages or One Wand and Shield Mages? What are the pros and cons of each?

Thank you very much
Última edição por ummaya; 1/dez./2019 às 23:57
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Exibindo comentários 1630 de 38
Chaoslink 2/dez./2019 às 11:35 
Escrito originalmente por Blindfhire:
1 Wand and the Inquisitor's Sword in Offhand from Act 3 is where it's at.
Yeah, pretty much any form of stat stick focus works. Mages really shouldn’t ever use their weapons.
Chaoslink 2/dez./2019 às 11:39 
Escrito originalmente por Aliceskysareblue:
Escrito originalmente por Chaoslink:
Wand and shield. The only important con of either is the lack of a shield for dual wands. Mages really shouldn't use their weapons unless specifically built for that using staves.

Also, having both an Aero/hydro and Pyro/geo is inefficient compared to running two of the same, they can still focus the opposite element to keep an identity, but you're better off with overall matching mages.

Clerics are kinda eh until later game when you can really flesh out your stats.
its perfectly valid but you will run into issues with hydro and fire countering the status effects, I would recommend making one a healer with aerothuarge being offensive
Never really said it isn’t valid. It’s just that you’re still not using two mages of the same complimentary elements at that point. You don’t have two cooldowns of every spell nor the ability to focus both on fire damage. It isn’t that it isn’t viable, it’s just that there’s little difference between pyro/Aero and Geo/Hydro or Pyro/Geo and Aero/Hydro. You’re just shifting them around without getting the extra benefits of both mages being a full compliment to the other. Sure, you won’t end up with one being completely useless if a resisted fight, but neither will be at full effectiveness either. It works, but as I said before, it really isn’t the best idea either. Two Pyro/Geo would perform better.
Azgardis 2/dez./2019 às 11:58 
How summoner and mage team going on in comparison with 2 mages team? In my opinion playing two similar mages a bit annoying and boring.

Isnt summoner give much more flexebility for mixed damage partys? How summoner now in endgame after buffs in DE?
Última edição por Azgardis; 2/dez./2019 às 11:59
Chaoslink 2/dez./2019 às 12:06 
Escrito originalmente por Azgardis:
How summoner and mage team going on in comparison with 2 mages team? In my opinion playing two similar mages a bit annoying and boring.

Isnt summoner give much more flexebility for mixed damage partys? How summoner now in endgame after buffs in DE?
Summoning still underperforms in the endgame compared to other builds. It just takes a few extra levels to reach that point. A gift bag mod potentially changes that though if you don’t mind disabling achievements or having to download the mod that reenables them. Summoning sacrifices effectiveness for versatility, but the trade off really doesn’t balance out. The versatility isn’t useful enough to offset that loss in effective performance. At least when maximizing your efficiency.
Lethan 2/dez./2019 às 18:24 
Summoners strength is ideal for party of 4 compositions, it falls flat to any other Lonewolf builds. Sadly.

Double wands benefits Dwarven mages the most, due to racial benefits from dodge, but it's a niche mix. Shield or stat boosting is where it's at.
Chaoslink 2/dez./2019 às 18:27 
Yeah, the only wand build I find worth using is a Geo/Pyro mage that uses poison wands with undead in the party. You can use the wands to heal your undead or cast them on burning enemies for both the poison damage and the explosion of the poison it tries to create. Even then, there’s other things you could be doing that are more efficient.
baggybaf 2/dez./2019 às 22:38 
Escrito originalmente por Chaoslink:
Escrito originalmente por Aliceskysareblue:
its perfectly valid but you will run into issues with hydro and fire countering the status effects, I would recommend making one a healer with aerothuarge being offensive
Never really said it isn’t valid. It’s just that you’re still not using two mages of the same complimentary elements at that point. You don’t have two cooldowns of every spell nor the ability to focus both on fire damage. It isn’t that it isn’t viable, it’s just that there’s little difference between pyro/Aero and Geo/Hydro or Pyro/Geo and Aero/Hydro. You’re just shifting them around without getting the extra benefits of both mages being a full compliment to the other. Sure, you won’t end up with one being completely useless if a resisted fight, but neither will be at full effectiveness either. It works, but as I said before, it really isn’t the best idea either. Two Pyro/Geo would perform better.

you want so much to be right, genius, that you end up saying anything
as usual when we leave your hydro / aero we are on the theory but I see that you have not practiced much this type of combination

questions: what is the best against aertera: 2 mage hydro / aero or 1 mage geo / aero + pyro / hydro?

who is the strongest against harbinger 2 mage pyro / geo or 1 mage geo / aero + pyro / hydro?

who is the most effective against shallow man and his resistance changes?

against abomination, against isbeil? I continue if you want.

yes it's always better to have two mages with synergy but it means that to be effective throughout the game you adapt your spells to the opponent. in this case it is rather two mages multi schools. or your advice is to watch the resistances of ennemies, go to the mirror and do the right thing.but that's not what I read

I know that you are expressing yourself to use the posts of others to answer me. You probably get fed up with it, I show you that there is a whole part of the game you know at least.
do not give bad advice when you do not know it. it is a very good alternative, and it allows you to touch all the spells and several combinations.
Última edição por baggybaf; 2/dez./2019 às 22:39
Qwesar 2/dez./2019 às 22:45 
Pyro does the most damage but the spells are awkward and lack cc. Just go with Hydro + Geo + few aero spells. I find hydro/geo to be really reliable. Freeze enemy archers and slow/ensnare melee with geo. Plus you will be specialized in some healing and armor restoration.
Última edição por Qwesar; 2/dez./2019 às 22:47
Chaoslink 2/dez./2019 às 23:15 
Escrito originalmente por baggybaf:

you want so much to be right, genius, that you end up saying anything
as usual when we leave your hydro / aero we are on the theory but I see that you have not practiced much this type of combination

yes it's always better to have two mages with synergy but it means that to be effective throughout the game you adapt your spells to the opponent. in this case it is rather two mages multi schools. or your advice is to watch the resistances of ennemies, go to the mirror and do the right thing.but that's not what I read

I know that you are expressing yourself to use the posts of others to answer me. You probably get fed up with it, I show you that there is a whole part of the game you know at least.
do not give bad advice when you do not know it. it is a very good alternative, and it allows you to touch all the spells and several combinations.
(For most everyone here, pardon this little... rant)

I'll admit, I do get fed up with it. I actively don't respond to you because it is mentally draining and going through every detail you push on me to state just how inaccurate you generally are (not to mention arrogant) would take more time than I would be willing to spend on doing so, especially as 60-70% of the time that I read your comments I'm in positions to only type using my phone or a single hand on a mouse using the on-screen keyboard.

I am right. It is inferior. Is. You even admit it to me. "yes it's always better to have two mages with synergy" Right there. See it? I do. Because you follow it with... "but it means that to be effective throughout the game you adapt your spells to the opponent." which isn't nearly as true. You don't have to constantly go back to the mirror to respec your mages to a better element, because your mages don't have to go killing the big bad resistant bosses in all the fights where that's relevant.

Offhand, I don't know all the resistances of each boss in each fight. What I do know, is that in every case, none of them have physical resistance. See, the thing you do that annoys me so much, is brag about killing such and such or so and so with a solo, non lone wolf character with some amount of level scaling. So in this case, you're looking at just what two mages and their elements would be doing against these enemies. Guess what? Solo... duo... doesn't really matter when you're only bringing half your team to the fight eh? This is exactly why you run mixed damage teams using physical and magic together, the exact reason. Because the enemies that always have that super high resistance or immunity? Bosses. Single target enemies. They usually have adds that don't have nearly as much resistance. So your mages go kill those. Aetera? The wolves. The Harbinger? The zombie magisters. Sallow Man? Whatever black ring fools you find in there. Abomination? His wolf pack. Isbeil? Her dwarf minions. Every. Single. Fight. There's adds. Those are what your mages focus. With their focused elements. Guess what does much better against single entities? Physical damage. I'd assume you know that. Which is why it drives me nuts when you post something like you just did.

I don't pay attention to solo runs. I don't (usually) pay attention to lone wolf runs. Why? Because (unless lone wolf is specifically stated) most people play a 4 man team. That's what's relevant. Sure, I could play a solo run and do just fine. I don't, won't and have no interest in it. Why? Not because its hard to do, but because its both tedious and pointless. It proves pretty much nothing but to show the power of an individual build and makes things take significantly longer because you have much less firepower at your disposal. That, and bragging that you have a lot more time to kill than other people really isn't something I consider worth investing in.

So, what does that all have to do with my point? Simple.

When you stack two mages of respective elements like two Pryo/Geo, you have twice the amount of synergized spells at your disposal, increasing your potential to completely dominate everything in front of you. When you try to compromise and run Pyro/Hydro and Geo/Aero or whatever combo you choose, you remove half those spells and reduce your potential. Sure, you can use Skin Graft to reset cooldowns or use scrolls... but so can the focused mages as well to just as devastating an effect.

However, having both mages run those same elements doesn't end up being a problem, because you don't just have two mages at your disposal. You have two other characters. Those two can focus down whatever big baddie you have to deal with while the mages keep the adds (that are always present, I can't think of a single boss fight without adds off the top of my head) busy or locked down, leaving your other characters safe to fight the boss. By using your entire team instead of just focusing on the mages, you bypass the issues you face with resistances by using damage that doesn't have resistances to face off against.

In the end, gimping your mages' potentials by trying to incorporate every element into their rotation isn't as effective as focusing both on the same two elements and letting the rest of the team handle whatever the mages aren't effective against. Mages are kings of AoE. This makes them ideal for taking down entire rooms of enemies, like all the adds you get in boss fights. Physical damage dealers are best used when you need single target focus, especially those resistant to magic. Like the bosses themselves.

That isn't to say taking all the elements isn't effective. Just that it isn't nearly as effective as focusing them, and doesn't hold enough advantages to offset the loss of focusing your elements. It works, but focusing works better. With your team.

Four. Man. Teams. They're all I play with and all I consider when offering advice (except when specifically stated otherwise). You can run around with your solo guys all you want. I don't care, nor am I impressed. It really doesn't prove anything, nor does it have any relevance towards effective team builds.

(Again, sorry for the rant. This had been building awhile)
Última edição por Chaoslink; 2/dez./2019 às 23:28
Chaoslink 2/dez./2019 às 23:22 
Escrito originalmente por Qwesar:
Pyro does the most damage but the spells are awkward and lack cc. Just go with Hydro + Geo + few aero spells. I find hydro/geo to be really reliable. Freeze enemy archers and slow/ensnare melee with geo. Plus you will be specialized in some healing and armor restoration.
Yes, but Pyro does have some synergy spells that work well with it. Personally, I find Pyro a great option for a melee mage, often paired with Aero for all the close range spells that offers. Best part, you can make a melee Pyromage work pretty well with things like Hydro/Aero as long as you're not attacking wet targets and use the non-fire-setting spells that remove it. Its still a stretch and is better to avoid mixing in the Hydromage, but it can be made to prevent the constant fire everywhere. Though personally, I'd just use Pyro alongside heavy use of Medusa head. you lose the burning damage boost when enemies are petrified, but with enough petrify going around, those enemies probably aren't getting a turn again anyways, making it a moot point really.
ummaya 2/dez./2019 às 23:35 
After reading your suggestions my new mixed starting party is

Fane - Rogue (Main)
Ifan -  Ranger 
Red Prince - Mage Hydro/Aero (more focussed on Hydro) 
Lohse -  Mage Aero/Hydro (more focussed on Aero) 

Later I will add some Necro to my mages

Soon after I started to play with this team, I realized that one of the innate Skills of the Red Prince is Dragon's Blaze (6- 7 Fire damage)  What is the best way to use this skill without interfering with his Hydro/Aero skills?

Chaoslink 2/dez./2019 às 23:43 
You probably won't use his blaze ability much, but when you know you're going to cast another rain to make enemies wet, you can cast this first. Hit an enemy with it who is both standing in water and in the area the rain is going to be cast. The fire will combine with water into steam and the second rain replaces the water on the ground. This gives you the steam over water scenario. Enemies in this will take a shock from a shock spell and one of the two (water or steam) but leave a shock intact. This leaves you with an electrified charge that'll get absorbed when their stun ends and next turn starts. If you successfully have the non-shocked bit shocked again, this leads to an instant stun. I've actually set up auto-stun bits before where a lightning totem just shocks both the steam and water and stunlocks an enemy for the totem's duration.

Niche, but it can be useful if you get creative. Move of an advanced technique, but potent nonetheless.
ummaya 3/dez./2019 às 0:23 
Escrito originalmente por Chaoslink:
Niche, but it can be useful if you get creative. Move of an advanced technique, but potent nonetheless.

Thanks for the creative idea!
Última edição por ummaya; 3/dez./2019 às 0:23
baggybaf 3/dez./2019 às 8:24 
I took the time to read your book so good read

Escrito originalmente por Chaoslink:

because your mages don't have to go killing the big bad resistant bosses in all the fights where that's relevant.[/i]

that's your rule ... the mages being more powerful especially with the source spells it's stupid to say that as a rule. It's like when you tell us that hydro / aero is the best and when we show you the opposite you say : “ but I don’t use source spells ... it's no good to use source spells so I'm right“... What !!!
And when I say "it is always better to have two mages in synergy" it must not be at the expense of resistance ... Because if you use 2X more spells to do the same damage, I don’t call it optimization.

Escrito originalmente por Chaoslink:

Offhand, I don't know all the resistances of each boss in each fight. What I do know, is that in every case, none of them have physical resistance………. See, the thing you do that annoys me so much, is brag about killing such and such or so and so with a solo, non lone wolf character with some amount of level scaling. I'd assume you know that. Which is why it drives me nuts when you post something like you just did.

"I do not put everything too long"

yes I admit it: I boast like you when you say you can kill harbinger level 9 (with cheesing) and that you explain to us that that's why your way of playing is the best… do you want me to show you how to kill him with one hit with cheesing (+ 8 level)?

Yes you don’t know resistances… you don’t know bosses initiative etc…but you always give good advice on optimization without knowing that.

Escrito originalmente por Chaoslink:

I don't pay attention to solo runs. I don't (usually) pay attention to lone wolf runs. Why? Because (unless lone wolf is specifically stated) most people play a 4 man team. That's what's relevant. Sure, I could play a solo run and do just fine. I don't, won't and have no interest in it. Why? Not because its hard to do, but because its both tedious and pointless. It proves pretty much nothing but to show the power of an individual build and makes things take significantly longer because you have much less firepower at your disposal. That, and bragging that you have a lot more time to kill than other people really isn't something I consider worth investing in.

You know why I did solo?

1/ Because I'm bored with a team, otherwise I like this game. The solo no lone wolf with my rules teaches you a lot of things and allows you to compare mainly schools.

2/ Because it requires an interesting choice in terms of spells (you are limited in memory if you want good initiative and good damage) and good management of spells and cooldowns (mordus fight is a good exemple)

3/ no damage taken strategy

It’s fun, and very informative and few people do it but of course i'm stronger with a team.

There is “no glory” and no fun for me to finish the game (tactician or honor) with a team without increasing enemies level (same with lone wolf) : too easy and I'm not the only one who thinks this.

I have a lot of videos with a team but I publish them when I find them interesting (ex: black pits, aetera) and it's not often.

On the other hand, I bet that my vidéos with my solo no lone wolf with no placement before fight, no pre buff, increasing level of enemies (+2 => +9) for all the enemies of the game, impress more people than your team with two mages hydro/aero and your cheesing (and without videos of course).so i don’t care that it doesn’t impress you and it’s not because I do solo that I don’t know how to play with a the team (if you think I spent 1500h doing solo ...) and I'm still waiting for your videos to evaluate your genius.

and for “the waste of time”, just look at the time you spend on this forum rather than doing something else.

Escrito originalmente por Chaoslink:

When you stack two mages of respective elements like two Pryo/Geo, you have twice the amount of synergized spells at your disposal, increasing your potential to completely dominate everything in front of you. When you try to compromise and run Pyro/Hydro and Geo/Aero or whatever combo you choose, you remove half those spells and reduce your potential. Sure, you can use Skin Graft to reset cooldowns or use scrolls... but so can the focused mages as well to just as devastating an effect.

I do synergized spells and the Number depend of your memory right? So i let you think on the rest...
And in one case (yours), the resistances don’t matter, because you can use the physical damage to compensate and in the other case (my proposal), its inefficient because less devastating effect while I can also compensate

So if i don’t use memory you remove half those spells? Because I can use other schools if needed or switch more easily to another element combination (pyro => hydro or hydro => pyro for exemple) with my ranger or using a spell with a another DD?? I'm just saying that the advantage: you can adapt magic damages because you always have the good elements (without going to the mirror) and if you need (no need if you do the job) you can complete with the less adapted school or with your physical DD. You're saying nonsense. you speak "team” when it suits you in fact.

Sometimes it's worse than two mages with the same schools but you're never (less) born by the resistances. So it’s a good alternative if you don’t want to adapt your mages for each fight and play with all scholls.

Escrito originalmente por Chaoslink:

However, having both mages run those same elements doesn't end up being a problem, because you don't just have two mages at your disposal. You have two other characters. Those two can focus down whatever big baddie you have to deal with while the mages keep the adds (that are always present, I can't think of a single boss fight without adds off the top of my head) busy or locked down, leaving your other characters safe to fight the boss. By using your entire team instead of just focusing on the mages, you bypass the issues you face with resistances by using damage that doesn't have resistances to face off


1/ it's your way of playing. it's good but it's not the only one. you just find one way to play effectively. Congratulations!

2/ yes and you can do the same thing with a team with Pyro/hydro and geo/Aero: you really show that you've never played like that and you absolutely want to be right

except the bosses, the enemies don’t have often lot of resistances and to say that you will not have enough spells to kill them is wrong (especially with skin graft) unless you're stupid enough to never move enemies for AOE and/or immobilize them.

You would know it if you had done at least the whole game once with this type of combination. If we talk about optimization and if you need 3 turns to kill a boss + others with magic spells it's because you don’t know how to play effectively.

ah yes it's true: you don’t use source spells ... the best to kill bosses...

It's like the blood mage debate (I didn’t even need to argue on the subject): for you the physical DD have no good and several AOE.

People: eh! chaoslink and the blood mage?
Chaoslink: the blood mage does not count in a physical team because it’s boring to play and it's only effective with the source spells (true but What!!!: the assertion that DDs don’t have good and several AOE is just false)

Or when you claimed that geo didn’t have many distance spells…

Or you didn’t understand why I had a Metamorph at 10 against Harbinger and you gave me tips rotten...you thought it was for the damage ...I'm laughing

you know a lot of things but you say a lot of nonsense .

Escrito originalmente por Chaoslink:

In the end, gimping your mages' potentials by trying to incorporate every element into their rotation isn't as effective as focusing both on the same two elements and letting the rest of the team handle whatever the mages aren't effective against.

Depend of resistances. Often it’s better to do combined damage with two characters that follow each other than damage combined on 2 characters with spells that are resisted.

ex: aetera (I like because it's representative): I can do more damage with 1 geo than with two hydro/aero. Now compare if i add a pyro behind and not need 10 spells to kill her.

Your opinion is based on your way of playing but it's not necessarily the best and when i see you have to do cheesing to kill harbinger at level 9 I ask myself questions to your real level.

Escrito originalmente por Chaoslink:

Mages are kings of AoE. This makes them ideal for taking down entire rooms of enemies, like all the adds you get in boss fights. Physical damage dealers are best used when you need single target focus, especially those resistant to magic. Like the bosses themselves.

Not always is you use source spells and if use a good magic spells. You must do that because you use 2 mages with the same schools.

With a team, if i play favoring magic spells, the physical DDs can only serve me to finish small enemies (or isolated enemy) who hang out and most of the time, i don’t even need them (DD 3e and 4e position if no ranger). everything depends if you put on your magic to initiate the damage or not.

Once again it’s YOUR rule not the best for all.

Escrito originalmente por Chaoslink:

That isn't to say taking all the elements isn't effective. Just that it isn't nearly as effective as focusing them, and doesn't hold enough advantages to offset the loss of focusing your elements. It works, but focusing works better. With your team.

but it's wrong: It depends how you play, the enemies resistances and what you want to do. give me a fight to do : I take few best spells and I show you. (it's a commitment you'll never make: at least I show what I say)

Escrito originalmente por Chaoslink:
Four. Man. Teams. They're all I play with and all I consider when offering advice (except when specifically stated otherwise). You can run around with your solo guys all you want. I don't care, nor am I impressed. It really doesn't prove anything, nor does it have any relevance towards effective team

solo = initiator (almost) in a team so you learn a lot of things that you use for your team to put the other characters in the best conditions (with the constraints of the initiative and damage) for all bosses.

You’re behind your screen to give advice (often good for beginners) but as soon as it comes out of your way to play or things you don’t like you, all proposals are rotten or not effective and you criticize everything you don’t know how to do.

Yes the guy will probably take 2 mages hydro/aero and as it works and it's easy to play so he will think it's the most effective (like you actually). all I'm saying is that the other alternative is working too, and like your proposal, there are pros and cons.
Última edição por baggybaf; 3/dez./2019 às 8:41
Chaoslink 3/dez./2019 às 9:05 
And again, I just don't even want to bother arguing back. Not because I have nothing to say, but because it will take a long time and arguing with you is just so tedious. Rereading all the self-superior nonsense and arrogance just makes it tedious and unmotivating. Last person I worked with that was like that, had a party thrown just to celebrate the idea that they were gone. Its that unpleasant to be around.

You also assume so much about me based on things I've said. I've used source, and will occasionally. But the spells are so strong that it feels like cheesing the game to use them. Its boring, as boring as using them pre-DE Pre-source nerfs lone wolf where one source spell would end fights instantly because they were able to deal 9k+ to everything in sight, without even maximizing them. If your strats use them heavily then of course you can show that its effective. Source is OP. Its a fact. I know what it can do, I just choose to not overuse it so I don't have to crank enemy levels to +9 or more just to find things interesting.

I'd sit and discuss it with you, but the tone you take and the personal attacks you throw at me while doing it... You're just not worth my time.
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