[Poll] Favorite Mastery

[Marine OKeefe]

What is your favorite mastery in Titan Quest?
My favorite Mastery is.... Defense!

[killnpc]

shield bash 4tw

[Safaex]

Storm it is. Smelly, electrified FLESH!

[chooch709]

Storm!

... and Warfare..

... and Nature ...

err, I have a lot of favorites. ;)

[DaveyJJ]

My son has started a Storm character and loves it. So that's what I voted for because I didn't see an option that said "I haven't started a game myself because I'm fiddling with the editor." :)

[Kazuya]

At the moment I love Rogue! (mind you I have played 4 masteries).

Calculated strike, bam bam bam... pick the next target... DEAD. Buffed up even more with lucky strike to have a chance to devastate. Brings me back the good old days of tiger strike assassins (even kinda looks the same).

The PvP feel of the Rogue people may not enjoy, but I love it, combined with 150+ attack speed :rockon: . My rogue is devastating, at about halfway point in the third area, and this is without any item farming - more or less a quick rush through to get myself familiar with the game.


On the other end of the scale, I find the Hunter real tough to start playing with especially if you're going down bows (slow attack speed), but its fun to beef up the speed of the missles until they're like rockets!

[Phyrex]

I picked storm.

Most versatile talent tree in the game. Period.

[Slyrous]

I picked Spirit because of the Death Chill aura and the Lich King. The King has to be one of the coolest pets I've played with!

[Mivo]

Still playing around with the masteries (particularly the rogue mastery because of the traps), so it's too early to vote -- but so far I quite like nature and rogue.

[Tenore_Titan]

Defense off the bat. The extra hitpoitns when leveling up the masteries is so beneficial for a melle type character. Fighting in the middle of mobs is much more exciting whne you have someadditional hitpoints and defense bossts to benefit. Combined with warfare tons of hitpoitns and both defense and strenght to compiment a truw tank.


I like storm too. Next melee char will be a paladin (Defense + Storm)for me. I'm also working on a summoner (Nature + earth) as the build on ign sneak peak. Just love those pets. So I wish there was an option for "all of the above"

[Arangar]

Besides diablo 2 (not lod) and world of warcraft i never played a game where i wanted to play all classes so badly. Every aspect of every class just seems alot of fun. Kudo's to Iron Lore for that :clap: .

I chose warfare, im currently fond of dual wielding :), nature came very close as a second.

[Marine OKeefe]

Putting a "All" option would ruin the point of the thread since almost everyone would pick that. My real interest is seeing what is the "Least Favored" class, but making a poll Titled "Least Favorite Mastery" would just have people Picking whatever mastery just killed them or whichever they think is the weakest/powerful and not really least favorite.

Im hoping to see some developer responses on this one.

[Tenore_Titan]

Ahh I see your point Marine. Well as you said right now it's Defense there is really nothing like it in any other ARPG out there.

[Marine OKeefe]

I just love the feel of playing a Defender, theres nothing like it any other game.

Im happy to see that Defender isnt the least favoured mastery!

Looks like no-one likes Nature.

[Monk]

Ouch. I feel so alone voting on nature. Love the mastery though. I don't think anyone is really giving it a chance, favoring the more offensive based masteries instead.

[Tenore_Titan]

Ouch. I feel so alone voting on nature. Love the mastery though. I don't think anyone is really giving it a chance, favoring the more offensive based masteries instead.


yeah that mastery is unique on its' own. It has pet summons and health buffs. AS As solo character it may not be really popular because it doean't have that offensive edge. Although I'm working on a summoner build (earth + Nature) I think it would be and iteresting build with focusing on pets and the enchantment ability. As I undertstand the enchantment ability buffs anyone in the party including your pets. AM I wrong?


perhaps a defense + nature build Marine? with added hitpoints (heart of oak) and plague wouldn't it provide a nice secondary mastery for defense?

[SeedOfHate]

Warfare ! Its just so much fun to ram into ennemies with two weapons and tear them appart withing seconds.

[Srikandi]

<3 Hunter! There isn't a skill in that tree that I don't want to max. Having a hard time convincing myself to put points into my secondary :)

[Monk]

yeah that mastery is unique on its' own. It has pet summons and health buffs. AS As solo character it may not be really popular because it doean't have that offensive edge. Although I'm working on a summoner build (earth + Nature) I think it would be and iteresting build with focusing on pets and the enchantment ability. As I undertstand the enchantment ability buffs anyone in the party including your pets. AM I wrong?


perhaps a defense + nature build Marine? with added hitpoints (heart of oak) and plague wouldn't it provide a nice secondary mastery for defense?


It buffs everyone in youyr party, pets included. I was considering taking defense as my secondary mastery to be honest. It looks like it could be a very viable build in the long run. You could be potentially unkillable with the amount of hp you would build up with all of your buffs running. You would have to rely fairly heavily on pets for damage output however, if you went that route.

[medierra]

Putting a "All" option would ruin the point of the thread since almost everyone would pick that. My real interest is seeing what is the "Least Favored" class, but making a poll Titled "Least Favorite Mastery" would just have people Picking whatever mastery just killed them or whichever they think is the weakest/powerful and not really least favorite.

Im hoping to see some developer responses on this one.

I think a couple of us did vote but didn't respond and Chooch voted and posted a response. It's actually really interesting to see a poll of people's mastery preferences. I'm glad to see there isn't just one or two masteries with all the votes.

I voted for Rogue, which is my favorite single mastery because its incredible damage dealing power but fragility and reliance on active defensive skills makes it a really fun finesse character. It has great potential but it is challenging to get the most from it.

On the other hand, my favorite class combination is Defense / Storm. I enjoy making a retaliation tank so that I can wade through crowds of monsters while they kill themselves on me. This is probably the best non-pet build for when you're feeling lazy / tired / drunk...

On a final note: I'm not surprised Nature is in last place right now. It is very popular around the office but most people like it as a secondary mastery. Nature doesn't have a lot of active skills and for that reason many people won't select it first but it pairs very well with many of the other masteries, so it makes a great second choice. It was designed to be light on active skills since many people reach the limit of skills they can use at once with their first mastery and for a second they just want something that can provide added value without a lot of extra work on their part; this is were nature really shines.

[Xaece]

On a final note: I'm not surprised Nature is in last place right now. It is very popular around the office but most people like it as a secondary mastery. Nature doesn't have a lot of active skills and for that reason many people won't select it first but it pairs very well with many of the other masteries, so it makes a great second choice. It was designed to be light on active skills since many people reach the limit of skills they can use at once with their first mastery and for a second they just want something that can provide added value without a lot of extra work on their part; this is were nature really shines.

Agreed whole-heartily. I would have voted for Nature Mastery, but its just not very "primary" mastery to me. Its a great complement to -any- mastery.

[Rhiec]

A question about storm - do the spells have a cooldown akin to the volcanic orb in the earth mastery? I'm moving up the volcanic orb, and while I like it, the cooldown is a little annoying. Although, it really is necessary, as VO seems very overpowered. Quite frankly, it makes the game WAY too easy. I have 1 point in core dweller, he takes all the damage, and I just stand back. I hardly ever have to use health pots (or energy pots for that matter).

What spells do you like in storm? And what 2nd mastery are you choosing with it. I'm thinking of switching from earth, simply because it seems to make the game too easy (and slightly boring).

Is storm more fun?

[Bellerophon]

so far i like the nature tree. wolves and nymphs ftw. great with the hunter mastery.

[Reader81]

Did anyone try "Pure Nature -Single Class "Wanderer"? I try that,s put few skill in woft, and follow you, they kill faster then you at early normal game, they steal my kill but I rather support them then killing but however, I think most people wont risk working Wanderer Class to bring in Epic, and higher level, since I read somewhere Woft is getting weaker, and Nature dont have any backup pure mass Damages. Since I try play Wanderer, but I fear it's would waste my time if Woft is not strong in Epic or even end boss at normal level (I hasn't there, I'm still in Greece Land) I vote Storm, because Ice Shade dose not has Cooldown, now that's what I talking about pure mage While Spirit Life drain taken lot of mana and has Cooldown, I'm not sure about Earth in full verson but I try out in Demo, and Flame Surge has cooldown, can't play pure mage.

[mgrobins]

i'm playing earth/storm.

mostly earth at themoment and only level 12. The pet seems to help a lot with his fire spell (can't remember the name) and I love the volcanic orb.

I'm using earth enchantment and storm nimbus with a staff and just nuke away.

I'm still trying to work out if earth enchantment and storm nimbus both add damage to my lightning/fire attacks from my staff or just from melee weapons :P.

be nice to find somewhere with more detailed explanations of the skills... anyone got a link?? :)

[Icarus]

I'm a Wanderer. It makes me really happy in multiplayer. I follow people (always Warriors so far, oddly) around. They get double HP and 15% total speed and elemental resistance and energy savings. Because of my wolves, 90% of the time in battle they have +68% damage and another total speed boost. I heal them. My wolves and my nymph aren't very strong (though -- the scaling is weird. They're doing much better in epic Greece than in normal Greece), but they create distractions and do some DPS. I myself do some token DPS with my relic'd staff and high intelligence.

I just got Plague. I'm not sure I like it. Does anyone know how long it lasts at max level? So far it seems too quick to vanish even in a crowd. And what's the point anyway when the damage folks can just explode the crowd in .5 seconds regardless of debuffs...?

[Llama8]

I think I'll go for the "I don't know, I've not tried them all out yet" option. I've only tried Storm/Hunter...

[Hyunsai]

Well, this poll is old, perhaps now everybody got a better idea of their favorite masteries...

Mine is Rogue.

[Antalia]

I picked Spirit, hands-down. I love crowd control/debuff abilities, and it's a nice benefit that I can set things up so everything dies right as it reaches me.

I am fascinated with Warfare and Nature for secondaries. The AE stun horn is simply amazing, and can be used quite often. And Heart of the Oak's speed benefit and near-instant, powerful heals are tantalizing, too. Realistically, though, I find myself hard pressed to pick something besides Storm Surge to throw in as my secondary mastery. Nothing like proccing an AE stun + bomb when you get hit, and pretty often to boot.

If I went on I'd probably say I liked everything, though. Except Hunting. I don't have a problem with Hunting in general except, I really wanted to use a bow. The bow abilities being almost totally un-uber kind of broke my heart over my first character.

[RinusTQ]

I like Spirit because of lich KING and Enslave Spirit :P i like Army's

[Beo]

I'm actually suprised to find that I love nature mastery, toyed with many of the masteries getting several characters into their mid 20s just fiddling and learning the game then decided I wanted to beat the game with either a champion or guardian so I started with nature mastery. I maxed the wolves first then worked on regrowth as I leveled up eventually having maxed heart of the oak, maxed regrowth/dissemination, maxed wolves one point in the follow ups till the +% damage one which I maxed. I enjoyed this combo quite a bit when I needed to heal I just right clicked on my portrait and my wolves were my form of area of effect damage, once I had a high strength, with the +68% aura running on me and the boys we pretty much tore through everything all the way to the deathlances which more or less raped me and the wolves.

Now i'm tearing through epic I finally picked my second mastery as warfare basically for onslaught line + war banner and maybe the ancestral champions with onslaught up and the wolves howl I'm doing around 900 dps with a crappy weapon, I can't wait to get some upgrades and see my dps then. I honestly can't rave enough about how much i've enjoyed nature mastery and i'm planning on trying out a guardian, illusionist or ranger next.

[Driden]

Personal favorite is Nature for being so well rounded. Defense and Warfare are nice as well but far from the best

[TCGTRF]

I find it fascinating that even though the melee masteries are considered by some to be the most difficult to play, they're the two most popular. Any ideas on why this is?

Tom

[Driden]

I find it fascinating that even though the melee masteries are considered by some to be the most difficult to play, they're the two most popular. Any ideas on why this is?

Tom


everyone loves melee. The thought of bashing skulls, wearing the best looking armors, swinging swords and taking punishment are always wanted. If you ever played an mmo you will find 100 tanks for every 1 healer/caster class.

[TCGTRF]

everyone loves melee. The thought of bashing skulls, wearing the best looking armors, swinging swords and taking punishment are always wanted. If you ever played an mmo you will find 100 tanks for every 1 healer/caster class.

Hmmm. Certainly not what I was used to in CoH. CoV had the brutes, which were more like a damage-dealing tank with lowered (scrapper-level) defenses. When tanks could herd, they were seen as a necessary nuisance, when they could no longer do so, they were looked upon with derision, while 8 Defenders (the buffer/caster class) could beat any group in the game.

So, I guess I don't get what you're saying. What game has the 100:1 ratio?

Tom

[OneEyeDave]

I shied away from Defense at first precisely because of my tanker experience in CoH, I didn't want to invest in a character I could'nt do any damage with while the bad guys just take twice as long to beat me anyway. Like the Hulk with a flyswatter. But Defense, even paired with a non-melee smashy thing like Spirit, is not quite like what I'd gotten used to seeing in 'tanks'. I'm smashy! Defense FTW.

[TCGTRF]

I'm impressed with what they've done with this game, considering that it's a first try from the company. I think that the melee classes are a bit too dependent on equipment (I absolutely detest having to farm, always have.) Perhaps it will be more balanced in that respect as time goes on--I'd rather have more potent powers and lesser equipment.

Tom

[Rain]

Storm~
Overpower? Just because it is to0 good for you ^^

[Frostbane]

Storm is the most complete mastery and it goes well with any mastery!

[Kiyoko]

If I went on I'd probably say I liked everything, though. Except Hunting. I don't have a problem with Hunting in general except, I really wanted to use a bow. The bow abilities being almost totally un-uber kind of broke my heart over my first character.

how far did you take hunting? I'm soon done with normal and from lvl 20 and up (30 now) it's been a breeze. i'm actually a brigand but i only have one point in rouge so far (open wound). maybe it gets more difficult in epic but i have good feelings about my progress.

[EasymodeX]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Monk
Ouch. I feel so alone voting on nature. Love the mastery though. I don't think anyone is really giving it a chance, favoring the more offensive based masteries instead.



yeah that mastery is unique on its' own. It has pet summons and health buffs. AS As solo character it may not be really popular because it doean't have that offensive edge. Although I'm working on a summoner build (earth + Nature) I think it would be and iteresting build with focusing on pets and the enchantment ability.

I'm currently working on a "Soothsayer" (ugh, crappy class name) Spirit/Nature build. Essentially going full summons + debuffing the crap out of the enemy. Probably the build with the most caster survivability in the game.

Instead of using Earth Ench for higher pet DPS, my plan is to use Deathchill and its upgrade to nerf the resists of the enemies -- I think that will be more effective come Epic/Legendary (where mobs have a base resist%, -%resist is more effective than +%dmg).

In any case, I'm also interested in seeing if Deathchill's -vitality and "-resist" will enable Undead to get owned by the pets, especially with their pierce and %life attacks.

And stacking Plague with Deathchill. How much -resist was that? Yeah. That's right.

Also ... Outsider + Refresh anyone?

I'm also excited by the gear for this build -- check this out:

1) No elemental damage. Int stacking has no point.
2) No physical damage. I don't need to stack Str for DPS, or weapons.
3) No piercing damage from the player. I don't need Dex (except for DA so I don't get nailed by 10000 damage crits).
4) I don't get targetted much by enemies (will eventually have 4-6 pets out at a time).

Gear requirements:

1) I do need +skill items. In a major way.
2) +%regen, +mana. This type of gear is EASY to get. Way freaking easy.
3) Some %resists, so I don't instantaneously die from AEs or whatnot.
4) -recharge gear. Outrider, gg. No recharge Heal. Etc.

This means I can get away with minimal stat point investment into Str/Int/Dex/mana, sink most of my points into HP, and focus almost entirely on resist gear with some Hecate's Crescent relics if necessary, and epic/legendaries with +skills.

In the end, I wonder how many HP I will have ;). She's currently in Normal/Egypt, and has only spent like 4 points into Int (for a staff). Ahhh.


Sidenote: can anyone confirm that -%HP attacks count as Vitality damage?

[Hyunsai]

So far Defense wins, close to Warfare. Storm third... Hunting Last though... Cause of crappy bow skills or???

[Ieldra]

Here's another one voting for Nature (hey, I'm quite comfortable being in the minority), not necessarily because of its power, although it *is* one of the stronger masteries, but for sheer style. I like my wolves, I love my nymph when she laughs and even when she moves (although the one who designed her gear deserves to get shot), and I'm tempted to laugh the same way when my companions are suddenly at full health again, while the enemies die from my plague...

On the opposite side, Hunting seems, well, crappy.

[Metodist]

Is storm as good as they say it is ? cuz im very itchy to make a lightning-char

[lucasgarsha]

D-Fence! D-Fence! The shield bashing skills are aces.

[Elbereth]

I also chose Nature. What I AM suprised at are the number of responders that say they like Nature, then go on to say that it makes a great secondary Mastery.

Surely if you chose a different Primary, you would normally vote towards that Primary, no?

When I took the initial look at all of the Masteries, I could see where there would be some natural combinations, but the one thing I didn't care for was the fact that in a second mastery, if there is a lvl 32 skill that you are interested in, the 32 Mastery points you must spend to get just one point in that skill are not entirely wasted, but lose much of their value.

So, I went with the Wanderer, or the Nature Purist, because I felt like I was getting an additional 32 points to spend. I lack the Attack Skills as pointed out by the Iron lore dev, but I feel that with a little finesse, the wolves and Nymph do fine.

Keep in mind that this is playing solo. When partied, the Wanderer REALLY shines. Allies get buffed, have twice the HP, and heals on top. They probably rush in most of the time anyway, but now it is a bloodbath.

In many ways, the strength of a Mastery shows in the ability to play only that Mastery to the end. I am going to try and see how well the build holds up over time....

[Shiver]

I chose Rogue. It's just plain fun. Glad to see Hunting with the worst score because those archery talents and Monster Lure for the most part fail at being useful.

[Testecles]

I did warfare till level 11 until my prepatched version corrupted it. I liked the raw power of the mastery, but I saw its limitations (at the early stages at least). I decided that I should try spirit and I am loving it. I am at level 16 just past the gorgons. Fun stuff. Blood Letter + Nice staff + smokin' bracers + lich king = good fun indeed.

[Nexus]

I love me some spirit! And i dont even use ternion. My soothsayer is pretty nasty with refresh and summon outsider. Along with the auras and lich from spirit, and heart of oak from nature... my outsider is just sick.

[n8iLLiES]

Warfare, because you can't ever go wrong with a big axe or a strong sword. :rockon:

[STiger]

I chose Rogue. It's just plain fun. Glad to see Hunting with the worst score because those archery talents and Monster Lure for the most part fail at being useful.

Haven't tried Lure on my hunter, so I can't comment. But the bow skills are far from sucky. Yes, you need some good gear - this is not unique to hunters (though more important than for casters, but less important than for melee). And, as much as I wanted to play a pure marksman, I got a really good blue spear so I put some points in spear and I do switch it out when I get mobbed.

My Hunter is in Epic now and has been a lot of fun. It's also the only toon (of four) that I've taken to Epic as a single mastery.

[outlandos]

Spirit FTW!!!

[Emiraven]

Storm. It kills things dead at a very safe distance, and loots great while doing it. Who doesn't want to call lightning bolts down from the sky?

[krigart]

My choice was Earth. Just like the way I can burn everything :) And no I'm not a pyromaniac :D

[Croyd]

Warfare and Dream are too strong together^^

[boog]

My personal favourite is the warefare. It is the best to match with any other masteries.

[golem]

I'd choose dream if that was an option... Strength from mastery is a match to warfare, health points are more than any. Lucid dream skill tree, phantom strike and dream stealer skills.. Great crowd control (especially with a level 5 nightmare).

Most complete mastery there is.

[Arkeyla]

I picked Spirit as well, but I am starting to adore IT's Dream with my Haruspex...

[linksu]

Defense.. shield procs and 100% block!!!

[aeoNemesis]

Warfare is my fave as of now,Defense is a close 2nd.

[Matseb2611]

^:rockon:Hey hey hey, lol, exactly same with me, AeoNemesis. 3rd and 4th also very close are Dream and Earth for me.

Surprised Hunting has the least votes. I thought a lot of people loved it.

[Sleepmist]

I hadn't seen this thread before.

Count one more vote for hunting.

Actually, it looks like I manage to pick the least fashionable combo: hunting and rogue. :rolleyes:

[ClosetChemist]

I hadn't seen this thread before.

That's probably because the last post before today was almost 20 months ago! That's why Dream is not in the poll. The thread was created shortly after TQ was released and died long before IT was released.

Be careful about thread necromancy! It is technically against forum rules. If a thread is inactive for more than 60 days, you are supposed to create a new thread if you want to discuss a similar topic.

[aeoNemesis]

^:rockon:Hey hey hey, lol, exactly same with me, AeoNemesis. 3rd and 4th also very close are Dream and Earth for me.

Surprised Hunting has the least votes. I thought a lot of people loved it.


me too Dream would be the 3rd.I'm into melee as of now that's why I choose Warfare.I was really attracted to Dream when IT came cause of the animation of the Phantom Strike & Distort Reality, but as I play I observe Warfare is the melee man.If Psionic Touch is as powerful as Onslaught, Dream will be my 2nd but now Dream has it.

[I_Raps]

http://i30.tinypic.com/2aj2c7c.jpg

[claudius]

lmao

[boog]

I think all masteries has its own advantage, if you try all, you can't decide which is the best..

[CAP007]

Defense, what little gammer does not want to grow up to be a Knight in shineing Armor? Also all of us Captain America fans know how to really use a shield!

[yerkyerk]

I wonder how'd I miss such a thread... nice card I_Raps.

Anyway, back on topic, I like Spirit the best atm... although I do feel the Liche King is way overpowered (I seriously don't think one should be able to have it maxed at level 9...), it levels quite nicely in the beginning. It's my first mastery and I choose it pretty much because I like necro's in D2.

[manitaliano]

i love earth

[manitaliano]

is that a magic the gathering card
the card games baddass

[Matseb2611]

Nice one I Raps. I would love TQ based cards. Would be awesome.

[manitaliano]

i like earth the best

[aeoNemesis]

I wonder how'd I miss such a thread... nice card I_Raps.

Anyway, back on topic, I like Spirit the best atm... although I do feel the Liche King is way overpowered (I seriously don't think one should be able to have it maxed at level 9...), it levels quite nicely in the beginning. It's my first mastery and I choose it pretty much because I like necro's in D2.


Yeah Liche King rocks.Spirit is ok too..:headbang:

[Eric_The_Red]

I love defense. Nothing is better in my mind than having those passive shield strikes and colossus. So much to like, although i never use batter, which seems like a wasted skill slot. But everything else is awesome. For something called defense its really more offense based.

[Ivaron]

I went with Rogue, just because it's so much fun to use Lethal Strike and send enemies flying off the screen :)

[Knivel]

:rockon: Place storm for me :)

Love to send everything to dust :rockon:

[McGyverForTehWin]

Warfare, no contest. All out DW melee, sacrificing armour and HP for speed, becoming a whirlwind of death and destruction, a harbinger of doom.