Blood Veils for mages

[Pebble]

So I kinda completed the hntire game on my Mind build and I feel okay, but it became very boring for me, so I swithced codes and veil to be a Willpower-boi with as much of that sweet dark gift power as I could get. But I've noticed that despite it being fun and all, I've died quite a lot, even for a non-tank (I guess that veil has "Suicide" in it's name for a reason, duh), and I began to lookf or alternative. What are your ideas for Willpower-oriented Veils?

[Sabaithal]

Beyond stats, you technique matters a lot. I say this because my primary is a black mage (dark user, whatever).

For one thing, you have to be prepared to get into melee combat if necessary. Everyone, regardless of intention, needs to. BUT since you are a mage, you don't need to focus as much on killing the enemy with melee weapons. With that in mind, 1h swords, or bayonets are very reliable weapons. The latter especially so, as with the right blood veils allows you to quick evade, which is useful no matter the class, but especially viable to ranged classes.

With that in mind, once you pick your preferred melee weapon of choice (something small and quick is ideal) you should transform that weapon. You could enhance its damage with something, its gift scaling, but I give it a drain enhancement. The enhancement slightly nerfs damage, but increases the drain rating, meaning you are gaining more ichor per melee hit on any given enemy, which you can then use to power your attacks.

Transforming a blood veil to drain is also a good idea, in fact most of them benefit much more from it. More ichor = more mage attacks. Otherwise, if your load is too heavy, consider transforming either your blood veil or your weapon (or both) with alleviation. It does nerf your damage, but not that much. Being able to quick evade is much more valuable than that little bit of damage you lose.

As far as actual combat behavior goes, well it depends on what you are fighting. But generally keep your distance if possible. If it is not, be prepared to evade, counter for 1-3 hits, then evade again. Then cast an offensive skill to finish off the enemy. Backstabs are usually reliable, and get back a lot of ichor. Parrying is reliable once you get the windows down, but only versus one opponent at once.

As for suicide spur, or any thorn type veils, use the drain ability before getting into combat. Thorn type veils can extend the range of your drain attack for a surprisingly long distance before releasing, has decent knockdown, and can potentially hit multiple targets at once. But the suicide spur is the best, stat wise, out of any blood veil I've seen for people who primarily utilize dark skills.

Oh, and practice combat drains! It doesn't get you back as much ichor as regular drains, but they are very quick and do still get you some ichor, making them very useful in a melee. Claws types are the fastest, spear types get you the most ichor but are prone to missing, and thorn types cover a wider area and have knockdown. Haven't tried the wolves.

[Uzkniso o.o]

I use Ivory Grace and it's color variants. I recommend it too. That's because it has both mind and willpower scaling, so you can use any type of spell, and deal good damage. And it is the easiest blood veil to get quick dodge with. The weight is only 12, after all.

Your Suicide Spur looks better lol, but it takes away the best dodge from you, and a bit of light spell power. It does have better dark spell power, but at what cost?

Another alternative might be Blackblood Liberator, but it has no DEX scaling. I don't like that. And STR scaling is only D.

Either way, try out Ivory Grace with quick dodges. I can't play this game without it lol.

[Sabaithal]

Ivory grace, suicide spur, and night thorn are my ideal picks. They are all lightweight, and have thorn type drain attacks.

Blackblood liberator has good scaling with willpower too, but not as good as suicide spur, and its much heavier.

Raven fatigues is good if for some reason you cannot wear the other veils, but only with lightweight bayonets.

[Aegis Runestone]

Originally posted by Sabaithal:

Beyond stats, you technique matters a lot. I say this because my primary is a black mage (dark user, whatever).

For one thing, you have to be prepared to get into melee combat if necessary. Everyone, regardless of intention, needs to. BUT since you are a mage, you don't need to focus as much on killing the enemy with melee weapons. With that in mind, 1h swords, or bayonets are very reliable weapons. The latter especially so, as with the right blood veils allows you to quick evade, which is useful no matter the class, but especially viable to ranged classes.

With that in mind, once you pick your preferred melee weapon of choice (something small and quick is ideal) you should transform that weapon. You could enhance its damage with something, its gift scaling, but I give it a drain enhancement. The enhancement slightly nerfs damage, but increases the drain rating, meaning you are gaining more ichor per melee hit on any given enemy, which you can then use to power your attacks.

Transforming a blood veil to drain is also a good idea, in fact most of them benefit much more from it. More ichor = more mage attacks. Otherwise, if your load is too heavy, consider transforming either your blood veil or your weapon (or both) with alleviation. It does nerf your damage, but not that much. Being able to quick evade is much more valuable than that little bit of damage you lose.

As far as actual combat behavior goes, well it depends on what you are fighting. But generally keep your distance if possible. If it is not, be prepared to evade, counter for 1-3 hits, then evade again. Then cast an offensive skill to finish off the enemy. Backstabs are usually reliable, and get back a lot of ichor. Parrying is reliable once you get the windows down, but only versus one opponent at once.

As for suicide spur, or any thorn type veils, use the drain ability before getting into combat. Thorn type veils can extend the range of your drain attack for a surprisingly long distance before releasing, has decent knockdown, and can potentially hit multiple targets at once. But the suicide spur is the best, stat wise, out of any blood veil I've seen for people who primarily utilize dark skills.

Oh, and practice combat drains! It doesn't get you back as much ichor as regular drains, but they are very quick and do still get you some ichor, making them very useful in a melee. Claws types are the fastest, spear types get you the most ichor but are prone to missing, and thorn types cover a wider area and have knockdown. Haven't tried the wolves.

I need to save your post since I'm going mage (especially as soon as I get Isis).

[Sabaithal]

Originally posted by Aegis Runestone:

Originally posted by Sabaithal:

Beyond stats, you technique matters a lot. I say this because my primary is a black mage (dark user, whatever).

For one thing, you have to be prepared to get into melee combat if necessary. Everyone, regardless of intention, needs to. BUT since you are a mage, you don't need to focus as much on killing the enemy with melee weapons. With that in mind, 1h swords, or bayonets are very reliable weapons. The latter especially so, as with the right blood veils allows you to quick evade, which is useful no matter the class, but especially viable to ranged classes.

With that in mind, once you pick your preferred melee weapon of choice (something small and quick is ideal) you should transform that weapon. You could enhance its damage with something, its gift scaling, but I give it a drain enhancement. The enhancement slightly nerfs damage, but increases the drain rating, meaning you are gaining more ichor per melee hit on any given enemy, which you can then use to power your attacks.

Transforming a blood veil to drain is also a good idea, in fact most of them benefit much more from it. More ichor = more mage attacks. Otherwise, if your load is too heavy, consider transforming either your blood veil or your weapon (or both) with alleviation. It does nerf your damage, but not that much. Being able to quick evade is much more valuable than that little bit of damage you lose.

As far as actual combat behavior goes, well it depends on what you are fighting. But generally keep your distance if possible. If it is not, be prepared to evade, counter for 1-3 hits, then evade again. Then cast an offensive skill to finish off the enemy. Backstabs are usually reliable, and get back a lot of ichor. Parrying is reliable once you get the windows down, but only versus one opponent at once.

As for suicide spur, or any thorn type veils, use the drain ability before getting into combat. Thorn type veils can extend the range of your drain attack for a surprisingly long distance before releasing, has decent knockdown, and can potentially hit multiple targets at once. But the suicide spur is the best, stat wise, out of any blood veil I've seen for people who primarily utilize dark skills.

Oh, and practice combat drains! It doesn't get you back as much ichor as regular drains, but they are very quick and do still get you some ichor, making them very useful in a melee. Claws types are the fastest, spear types get you the most ichor but are prone to missing, and thorn types cover a wider area and have knockdown. Haven't tried the wolves.

I need to save your post since I'm going mage (especially as soon as I get Isis).

Isis is one option for that boss. The other is queens ribcage, which is also extremely powerful for mages. In fact, I use queen's ribcage as my main blood code at present because of how ridiculously powerful its scaling and gifts are, not to mention it allows a good versatility of weapons you can use.

[Aegis Runestone]

Nice. The main reason I want Isis is it's a Lightning-centered Bloodcode. My character is thematic and calls herself "The Scion of Storms", thus, she specializes in lightning magic.

[Sabaithal]

Originally posted by Aegis Runestone:

Nice. The main reason I want Isis is it's a Lightning-centered Bloodcode. My character is thematic and calls herself "The Scion of Storms", thus, she specializes in lightning magic.

Then isis is certainly ideal. Queen's ribcage does have one extremely powerful lightning attack, but unfortunately that attack cannot be mastered, and is therefore specific to its blood code.