[Prophet] First char, a few problems

[Psyborg]

I'm a noob to Titan Quest (about a month), but I've spent countless hours of my life on Diablo 2.

My first char is a Storm/Dream using lightning and distortion. I wiped the floor with the core game...but in Immortal Throne (Act 4), I'm finding that I never find good, efficient gear anymore.

I don't believe armor is extremely important for my class, but I'd like to get past the 40-60 "ceiling" I've run into, especially going into Epic. I'm not sure how to keep increasing my spell damage output except the hunch that +lightning% will boost ALL lightning damage I do, not just the weapon?

I'm getting various body parts handed to me throughout this act...archers mostly. I got as much gear with Pierce resist as I could, but they do about 300dmg. Squall doesn't make the Machae miss as much as it says it should.

The main problem...I have no idea how I'll survive Epic without faster casting, lower recharge, more resists, and higher damage...and the gear with good combinations of that just isn't available in shops or drops. What am I missing?

My gear:
Grim Shadow Staff of Feasting (28-82 + Ess. Zeus, lifesteal and Vit dmg)
(epic) Emerald Crown (Def60, poison resist, mostly)
Honor Guard's Jeweled Mantle (Def63)
Tempered Wristlet of Haste
Insulated Gossamer Wraps
Prismatic Necklace of Spirit
Random Insulated Rings
Touch of the Fool (Lesser Artifact)

[Poinas]

Don't worry too much about epic, acts 1 & 2 are easier than normal act 4.

Bows do 25% pierce damage, the rest is physical. So even with 80% pierce resistance, you still take a lot of physical damage. The archers in act 4 do so much physial damage, that armor can't really absorb even half of it with normal armor ratings.

+% lightning does indeed increase all lightning damage you do.

[mamba]

My first char is a Storm/Dream using lightning and distortion. I wiped the floor with the core game...but in Immortal Throne (Act 4), I'm finding that I never find good, efficient gear anymore.

Just a matter of luck I guess, some unique Hades items should be better suited to you than any of the other 3 acts as they focus on Dream (none of the 3 other acts do).


I don't believe armor is extremely important for my class, but I'd like to get past the 40-60 "ceiling" I've run into, especially going into Epic.

armor always is important, of course it is less important to casters, no idea why you hit a ceiling (other than no decent armor dropping). Go for int based armor if you are a caster (which I assume you are given this post).


I'm not sure how to keep increasing my spell damage output except the hunch that +lightning% will boost ALL lightning damage I do, not just the weapon?

True, once you have your primary attack spells maxed, you will have a harder time increasing your damage, except for your weapon damage (as weapons improve throughout all acts).

+% Lightning will increase your lighting damage, spells and weapon. Higher int also increases all your elemental damage (skills and weapon).


I'm getting various body parts handed to me throughout this act...archers mostly. I got as much gear with Pierce resist as I could, but they do about 300dmg. Squall doesn't make the Machae miss as much as it says it should.

Have you maxed its synergy ?


The main problem...I have no idea how I'll survive Epic without faster casting, lower recharge, more resists, and higher damage...and the gear with good combinations of that just isn't available in shops or drops. What am I missing?

epic act 1 and 2 will be easier than normal act 4.

Lower recharge, faster attack speed, higher resists (esp. pierce and poíson), + to all skills +% lightning should be what you are aiming for. Anything that offers this is useful, anything that doesn't can for the most part be ignored.

Cast speed never was an issue for me.

[Irma2]

...but in Immortal Throne (Act 4), I'm finding that I never find good, efficient gear anymore.

It's a universal problem. Act IV has the worst shopping in the game. Almost all my toons finish Act IV with much the same gear they used to kill Typhon. You should be able to find a weapon upgrade and there is some good jewellery to be had. But the armour items are generally rubbish - loads and loads of whites and low-grade yellows.


I don't believe armor is extremely important for my class, but I'd like to get past the 40-60 "ceiling" I've run into, especially going into Epic.

I wouldn't worry about it. In Epic, you will find purple armour items that boost your AR into the heavens (not in melee armour terms, but compared to mage items that you can buy from vendors). Besides, AR is not that important to mage, as you say. Having 80 torso armour instead of 60 isn't going to make a big difference to the damage you take. Instead, I'd focus on the armour providing other bonuses that I need - DPS, resists, etc. AR is bottom of my priorities in choosing mage armour.


I'm getting various body parts handed to me throughout this act...archers mostly. I got as much gear with Pierce resist as I could, but they do about 300dmg. Squall doesn't make the Machae miss as much as it says it should.

Hmmm, I've always found that Squall works as advertised. As long as I have it at 11 or higher, everything misses. However, note that archers/mages must be affected by at least one tick of Squall before they start missing. I don't cast Squall in response to archers firing at me. I cast it to get them to start firing at me. If you use Squall to aggro them and initiate combat, they will have been hit by at least one tick before they fire at you.

The other problem is that if you are accustomed to kiting and dodging ranged fire, you often dodge into projectiles that would otherwise have missed. For this reason, I often don't cast Squall on Typhon. I've dodged into his lightning bolts once too often for my liking. I'd sometimes rather know that he's going to hit, and then dodge to make him miss, than not be sure where he's going to aim.

For any ranged toon, you have to keep moving against Typhon, otherwise he closes the distance and uses his death breath. Casting Squall and then moving is hazardous. So I prefer to not use it against him. He can't lead his shots, so he misses as long as you're moving. Squall often gives him faux (ie accidental) leading capability. For Squall to be at its most effective, you have to cast it and then stand stock still.


The main problem...I have no idea how I'll survive Epic without faster casting, lower recharge, more resists, and higher damage...and the gear with good combinations of that just isn't available in shops or drops. What am I missing?

Only patience. You won't find the gear in Normal to let you beat Epic. You'll find that gear in Epic. I have many toons that finished Normal with only 400-500 DPS. By the time they hit Knossos in Act I Epic, they're doing around 1.5-2k DPS. Just one purple item can move you to a whole new level.

Fair enough, those are mostly melee toons, and melee is favoured by drops in early Epic. But mages also get good drops. Just keep progressing and the gear will come.


My gear:
Grim Shadow Staff of Feasting (28-82 + Ess. Zeus, lifesteal and Vit dmg)
(epic) Emerald Crown (Def60, poison resist, mostly)
Honor Guard's Jeweled Mantle (Def63)
Tempered Wristlet of Haste
Insulated Gossamer Wraps
Prismatic Necklace of Spirit
Random Insulated Rings
Touch of the Fool (Lesser Artifact)

Staff is about what I'd expect at this point.

Helm is not good imho. I would rather try to find a Hallowed helm. ~50% Vitality Damage resist and +1 all skills is just mega for Act IV, with socketing ability (Odysseus) as extra gravy. Ceremonial (+% Int, +% Experience) is also good.

Honor Guard's is fine. Stun resist is always good.

Cuffs are fine, both pierce resist and attack speed are good. ...of the Gryphon is also mighty for a mage.

Foot gear I'd look for movement speed rather than elemental resists. With Squall you should be taking very limited elem damage.

Prismatic Necklace and insulated rings aren't great imo. Again, you shouldn't be taking a lot of elemental damage if you have Squall. Other than situational Fire and Poison resists (for Siege Striders, the Poison Empusa boss and Cerberus respectively), elemental damage is not really serious in Act IV.

First prize is Divine amulet (+1 all skills). For rings I'd take something like Plato's (+% Int, +% Energy) or Occult (+damage +casting speed) or Bitter (cold damage, slowing) or any of the +%Lighting damage ones (...of Thunder, etc). If you are short of energy, then Accursed (drains x% of energy with y% of drain as damage) socketed with Spectral Matter (10% energy drain as completion bonus) is effective. This keeps your blue bar topped up, while adding damage and sucking monsters dry of spell-enabling mana. You can bleed the Telkines dry with a couple of these.

Your main weak point is that artifact. Touch of the Fool is just horrible, even in Act I. Alas, there is no way that you can guarantee yourself a decent artifact, the formulas either drop or they don't. Ultimately, you will probably want Ikon of Zeus. At this point, I'd be aiming for either Book of Dreams or Shadow Veil. Both are very handy for a Prophet. Soul Shiver is also a no-brainer for any toon. But even Star Heart or Skyfire Pendant would be an improvement on TotF.

[Psyborg]

Helm is not good imho. I would rather try to find a Hallowed helm. ~50% Vitality Damage resist and +1 all skills is just mega for Act IV, with socketing ability (Odysseus) as extra gravy. Ceremonial (+% Int, +% Experience) is also good.

Foot gear I'd look for movement speed rather than elemental resists. With Squall you should be taking very limited elem damage.

Prismatic Necklace and insulated rings aren't great imo.

First prize is Divine amulet (+1 all skills). For rings I'd take something like Plato's (+% Int, +% Energy) or Occult (+damage +casting speed) or Bitter (cold damage, slowing) or any of the +%Lighting damage ones (...of Thunder, etc). If you are short of energy, then Accursed (drains x% of energy with y% of drain as damage) socketed with Spectral Matter (10% energy drain as completion bonus) is effective. This keeps your blue bar topped up, while adding damage and sucking monsters dry of spell-enabling mana. You can bleed the Telkines dry with a couple of these.

Your main weak point is that artifact. Touch of the Fool is just horrible, even in Act I. Alas, there is no way that you can guarantee yourself a decent artifact, the formulas either drop or they don't. Ultimately, you will probably want Ikon of Zeus. At this point, I'd be aiming for either Book of Dreams or Shadow Veil. Both are very handy for a Prophet. Soul Shiver is also a no-brainer for any toon. But even Star Heart or Skyfire Pendant would be an improvement on TotF.

Thanks for the gear advice! I actually managed to upgrade some of it before the end of Act 4 (which I did finish yesterday). I downloaded the unofficial patch as well, which I read fixes some drop bugs along with other stuff. Before the patch I wouldn't have stood a chance against Hades with the framerate problem. Truth be told, Hades was a walk in the park compared to actually getting to him, as was the case with Diablo/Baal in Diablo2 as well.

I've arranged relics and gear to get higher movement, but I was using TotF for the casting speed and lightning boost. I'm working on Book of Dreams actually and I'll use that once I get the other two arty components, but I found without the casting speed I couldn't cast and dodge well enough, stuff was just so fast in Act 4. I tried Eye of the Heavens but the activation rate of Tidal Wave was useless.

In addition, I hadn't been putting points into Static Charge, and now I am since I know how much of a boost it gives me. (I previously thought the +lightning was only for Storm Nimbus damage itself.)

Yes, the game is fairly easy again now that I'm in Epic. :) I've started finding green/blue items again where I didn't much in Act 4. Also it pleases me that there are new types of items in Epic altogether.

Thanks everyone for all the great feedback!

[oddyseuss]

I have a quetion, what is synergy?

[golem]

synergy is follow up skill -> check your skill page and see what higher-up skill is connected to a lower skill. The higher skill (that requires at least 1 point in the lower skill) is the synergy

[Poinas]

To me synergy also means two or more different skill enhancing each other or working well together.

For example, Conqueror gets +% damage from Onslaught, and +damage from shield attakcs. Those skills have great synergy.

[Psyborg]

Yea I love my Conquerer, it's a much less complicated play style and I love making things fly when I have full Onslaught, Battle Rage and a Battlemarker. Onslaught and Batter/Rend Armor seem to be a great combination.

[wish]

Howdy.
I feel free to link my old Prophet video. Have a look (put in code on bottom)
http://share.gulli.com/files/134921902/tqit_07_prophet_c.wmv.html

I got it as a fairly aggressive hybrid melee/mage. My only character i beat through the whole game and cannot remember an archer problem you mentioned. The one in the video has attacks for distance, squall and enough capabilites to stun enemies for that matter.
I can let you have my gear and skillage if you want. But would be as interesting having yours. Maybe put your skills onto www.titancalc.com ?

cya and keep this underrated fun class rolling.

[mjkittredge]

A great boss combo to farm in Epic is Minotaur/Telkine after the maze. You can find the legendary quality Battlemage set items, in addition to other goodies. You'll also get lots of relics and charms and xp along the way.

[Irma2]

Having dissed Act IV for its poor shopping, I pop into Eutropios' emporium at Medea's Grove in Epic tonight to find, in one fell swoop:
Indomitable Hormos of Feasting
Summoner's Hormos of Convocation
Spellbound Medallion of Permanence

Well, I did say the jewellery wasn't bad. I still maintain that Act IV vendor armour sucks horribly. My bow Avenger is still wearing yellow boots from Act II Epic, and Act IV has barely coughed up a pair of yellow boots yet, let alone a nice green pair. There are green bows with every vendor visit, and green jewellery like the list above. But no decent greaves, dagnabbit.

[mjkittredge]

it seems like a trend, Irma. Lots of green weapons each vendor trip, but very rarely a green piece of armor. At least that's been my experience.

[oddyseuss]

this is why i've been stocking up on green and blue items. HaHa!!!!

[alex_gio1983]

as a pure caster prophet how do you spend your stat point?
INT all the way, or drop some points also to agility?

[golem]

Same here -> went through act IV mainly on act III armour -> then I hit epic and now I'm improving gear every session

[Poinas]

as a pure caster prophet how do you spend your stat point?
INT all the way, or drop some points also to agility?

The maximum dex requirement for mage items in legendary is 174. Go for that.

[alex_gio1983]

it is a honor to receive an answer from the great Poinas. thank you!

But if is it 174 i shuold be able to reach it, with some of +dex equip, so i think that with 100/130 points of plain straight dex im ok...

sorry for my poor english, but i dont know it very well and it's very late here...


saluti
alex

[mjkittredge]

I'd put it up to 174 with hard points. All of a sudden, you may wish to switch to superior equipment, but be unable to because the gear you switch to has no bonus dexterity on it and you'll be 40-70 points below the requirement. That would suck, wouldn't it?

[Poinas]

I kind of agree with mjkittredge. Some excellent mage items grant you no dex at all. Though it is unlikely that you'll equip only items that don't give any dex at all, I'd still go for more than 130 hard points in dex.

It's always a good idea to keep a ring that gives you +dex in your inventory, just incase you suddenly need more dex to equip something.

[mjkittredge]

Yeah, worst comes to worst, you could always just gain 10 levels or so, and wait that long to upgrade your equip.

[Psyborg]

Well in retrospect I was doing a lot of things wrong back then, simply because I didn't know the mechanics of the game. First, I wasn't aware that +x% to (dmgtype) meant a bonus for ANYTHING that does dmgtype. I had no points in Static Charge as I thought it gave a bonus to Storm Nimbus damage ONLY. By that same token, I underestimated the Storm Wisp upgrade.

On the Dream side, I discovered the near-broken power of Temporal Rift (Distort Reality) and Psionic Immolation (Distortion Wave), combined with Lucid Dream to boost their damage. Between all of those things, my wisp, AND Trance of Wrath, the random area damage made Sands of Sleep become useless so I bought that back and maxed out Squall, which made more of a difference than I thought it would.

Gear-wise, I now have a Hallowed headgear, Diogenes' Wrap (legendary), Pythia's Vestment (epic), a Plato necklace, and a Book of Dreams.

In summary, I am now in Act 2 Epic, and electrically laying waste to just about everything. Yay for me, and thanks for all the advice. :)