AoE Formation

[Barzabel]

:swm::swm::swm:
:bst::bst::witc:
:sha::malehero::sha:

I have a staff main and want to incorporate 2 shamans (with 3 swordies would be a good combo, wouldn't it?) and have a monk on the side that I can trade off if I really need him. Would this work well? if not why? Oh, it's only for PVE. Thanks!
I really just want the best early on AOE build with a LOT of defensive strength and a lot of offensive strength. Working to get to lvl 100 quickly!

[Flabble]

Well, the one, glaring flaw that you have in your formation is that it is impossible -.-; You can only have 1 of each C merc.

The C grade mercs are:

:witc::bst::exo::prn::pro::ora::inv::jan::can: :lak:

Also, there are B grade mercs with the same rule

:spt::pra::ELEMENTALIST: <--no smiley :-(

[XaatXuun]

hmm not sure if it can be called standard, for a PvE only build, but Staff PvE only builds looks something like

:swm::swm::swm:
:bst::witc::vik:or :art:
:mnk::malehero::sha:

there really is ( I think) no need for 2 shamans in PvE, I am running a PvE only Build, and only kept BoL at lvl 1, which is enough (so far) as a back up heal if ever needed.
So in a sense I am a second Shaman with a weak heal, and I did Not really kept BoL, I removed it to place Scud in it's place then read one BoL book, so now BoL is my "W" key, and scud is right click.
I should be higher level then I am, but had to stop leveling ad let the mercs catch up, so currently 58.

this is what My formation looks like
:swm::swm::swm:
:bst::art::malehero:
:mnk::sha::witc:

I will place myself on the front line if a sword is hurt bad or against a strong magic mob, I have Mana Shield, so I can take melee hits better then a swordman can, and better MDef, my witch is getting hurt too much, and since I need her sometimes for mana recharge, for the monk, she needs to last longer. My monk has Protect, and it is shy of being maxed, with 8 holy Guard and 5 awaken (At his level).

I have been thinking of dropping a sword, and place the BT there, and add a Viking
meaning my formation may look like
:bst::swm::swm:
:vik::art::malehero:
:mnk::sha::witc:

this will get me another row to attack, not to mention having freeze. I seem to be having a tough time not having a viking, I never played with out one, I am just used to having that freeze axe,

So with your formation if you really want to have 2 shaman's, then in the one BT spot either place a arty or a Viking there

[Lalablah]

your only range is an arty which sucks at hitting scrolls @_@

[Locksley]

Note - XaatXuun said PVE-ONLY BUILD. pve ppl dun have to be concerned over scrolls...well until they run into sphinxes that use reinforcement scrolls, but those are ground-based anyway.

Barzabel wanted a pve-only AoE build anyway. the purpose is simply to spam the way up to lvl 100 the fastest to (I assume) unlock maniac.

[Lalablah]

mmmm sorry for not noticing >_> i hope you'll make a pvp build in the future tho o_o

[XaatXuun]

Note - XaatXuun said PVE-ONLY BUILD. pve ppl dun have to be concerned over scrolls...well until they run into sphinxes that use reinforcement scrolls, but those are ground-based anyway.

Barzabel wanted a pve-only AoE build anyway. the purpose is simply to spam the way up to lvl 100 the fastest to (I assume) unlock maniac.

I have had at one time or another since Monk quest, shadow mobs use scrolls, but they are easy, since they only have 2 rows, I know in the BT quest, they use the reinforcement scroll

mmmm sorry for not noticing >_> i hope you'll make a pvp build in the future tho o_o

I plan to, after I discovered mana shield, Right now just want to get a maniac started first.

I do PvP with a Musician, On Argos, right now I am playing on Delphi, so only had a short time in the PvP world.

I have some ideas for a PvP formation, I just do not have the experience at high level PvP to know if they would work for me.

[Locksley]

"I have some ideas for a PvP formation, I just do not have the experience at high level PvP to know if they would work for me."

- well, post your formation ideas in the musician section, and we'll help check out you ideas and post suggestions and comments. While i dun use musician...I think I might have killed enuff "bad" musicians to figure out wat doesn't work, and lost to enuff good musicians to know wat works too.

[XaatXuun]

I was thinking of magic skills, and since I have 3 swordmen, I thought, why not add a lil more DoT.
I could add Dark seed to the swordmen and since I will only have Blessing of Life (BoL) on the Shaman, get Hex for her as well.

wouldn't hurt, not in my case.
and I am still thinking of adding a viking

so skill may look like something like this, in the end
:swm:
Flame sword 60
Dark Seed 40

:sha:
BoL 60
Hex 40

:bst:
Summons 60

:vik:
freeze axe 60

:art:
DI 60

:mnk:
Protect 60
Awaken 30
HG 10

:witc:
meteor strike 60
mana recharge 10 (maybe more not sure, just have to see later)
mana drain (rest here)

:malehero:
Scud 60
BoL 5
mana Shield 35


Update: okay, maybe cause I tested with skills just at 10, so I may not see the results I wanted, but seems the dark seed + Hex combo, did not work that well, barely any significant notice. this was in a PvE battle, I know on my other character that I PvP with, have had that used on me, and it did show some damage, not much but the extra was enough for them to win. Any ways, I am not giving up on further testing/trying it, I think if both skills were at 40, I would see the results I want to see, and that the Seed and Hex combo would be a great addition to the DoT area of the build.

Mana Drain (MD), I was thinking I may need more, seems I would, but just for the monk, currently my MD is just at 9. which so far has been plenty for the rest, but not enough for the monk, well enough to keep the monks protect and any other skills going in some long battles.
Protect is just at 42 right now. Monk is 62, with MD at 9, it fills about 50-55% of the monks Mana ( I should have taken note how much mana the monk actually has, instead of just looking at the bar)

Update II:
I did manage to get Hex and Dark seed up higher, but being the level my Mercs are, I was only able to get Hex to lvl 31. ( I still need good BoL)
yeah it did work well, so I will go as planned with the skills. having the skills at lvl 10, was not enough. I would not say I was impressed, but it was very noticeable, and worked great. It is a combo worth having in a Pure PvE Build like this.
So I do plan to have Hex and Dark Seed at 40

.

[Hunkfish]

alot of my guild members and ppl laugh at me using the hell flame combo, often said you are wasting your shaman points
typical shaman
bol 60
ns 60
bw 10

tyical swordman
fs 60
Deadly strike 60

but for me hell flame combos works great in pvp where they least expected.

hers some tips in using it for pvp (bear in mind i only level 60+ and still in div 9-13) i know when lvl 100 this combo should be ditch but i would be using orcale and other sword merc and not shaman/swordman anymore anyway by then.

Kill the monk 1st, then drop the combo.
without holy guard, its hard for them to get rid of the dot

[XaatXuun]

hmm NS for a PvE only Build . .
I guess it may help, but I think I can get more from Hell Flame, course only on Bosses does it shows it's effectiveness too , on any normal mobs not that great (my experience so far).
I have never used NS, so honestly I can not compare, just the descriptions tells me, Hell Flame would be a better option for a Pure PvE build/Formation, and experience using it tells me just use it on Bosses and in FL.
Yeah had to FL, needed fame to get in some Dungeons, and sparring was taking too long. Div 10 is not a good place to start FL'ng on a pure PvE build :o lol and no skills that really help

I am in the process of placing the Viking in the formation.
Ill be getting a better PvE build, me thinks so, so it'll look like the formation I posted a few up, that shows the Viking in it.

my witch never gets to use meteor strike unless I am in a shadow dungeon, seems I just use her mostly for getting mana for the Monk, which has been very useful .
My main skills for AoE is beast Summons and Scud, and the DoT from the Arty.
pretty much that is all that is needed. Even as week that it is right now . . (been busy spending gold else where then on myself), my Scud is pretty low for my level, as well as Beast summons
Even the Red Mobs ;) that is all that is needed.

while the brief time in Fl to get fame, the Exo hurt me bad, not so much if they had their Exo 2nd or front row .. if they had their Exo in the back row, there was little I could do, just my arty and AoE's
Also the fact I do not have a Exo

[Zpirit]

Oracle is miles ahead of Shaman in pve, so I would replace asap.

[XaatXuun]

yeah , but only did this staff to get to 100 quick, but getting bored not having any Free league time in, well , I can still FL, just never win with what I have (mainly due to what skills I leveled up). I am thinking of making some changes, and Oracle Recruit quest is just around the corner, but if I add Oracle it takes away my Hell Flame, Which has worked great against Bosses

all in this post I started http://www.myatlanticaonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1376

so basically saying I want to spend minimal time getting needed crystals/Jewels for upgrades.
This character is just going to end up being a lvl 100 mule. I want to try out a maniac

I do agree, a :ora: replacing the :sha: is a better build/formation, if I was to take it to End game, also would be a few other changes

[XaatXuun]

okay, after spending some time after level 80, and still low on Gold, Also helping others (Apprentices,Newbies and guild members) did not help my Bank account either. did a lil math (and from what most say) and the situation I have placed myself in, it is better that I just add the :ora:

2 things for this change, I would have to spend more gold to get Vial of Potential for the Shaman, to keep adding to Hex, for the combo Hell Flame, and at the point I am at, Hell Flame is just a bit weak to be fully effective, still a nice DoT to use against Bosses, but not as well as it did at the lower levels.
Cost for heal books, to do as well and eventually better then BoL, is less, but the trade off is now spending more for the crystals for upgrading.

I was never planing to get a Oracle , mainly I do not have a will line/formation, and the combo Hell Flame worked well, but now after level 80, without using Vial of Potential (since this is just going to be a level 100 mule in the end) I decided to get a Oracle, and live without the combo Hell Flame. Also since I am very much out leveling my Mercs, I need the better heals.

Right now my Front line is weak, probably due to they are not leveling as fast as the Main. And I can not think of a stronger front formation with what is available to me right now.
This is my formation now ( currently Oracle in merc room quest leveling up to 50 b4 moving her to formation for final formation , but shows her in formation)
this is my PvE formation, it has some changes for PvP (not shown)

:bst::swm::swm:
:vik::art::malehero:
:mnk::ora::witc:

merc room for PvP :exo::pro:

currently, the oracle is below lvl 50, but I have a question, does her heals improve greatly after lvl 50 upgrade ?
I never stayed with playing one long enough to find out, and as it is now, the numbers show her heals are weaker then the Shaman.
Also from what I understand the heals ,heal the whole party, I am guessing this is at the lvl 50 upgrade as well ?

.
edited, I forgot to mention, when I do not need the witch for PvE, I do swap her out for the Prophet, so I can have a stronger Front line, there are only a couple spots that I do the same with the Exo, like if I am against staff Mobs, I will swap witch and Exo

[BachOh]

I was thinking of magic skills, and since I have 3 swordmen, I thought, why not add a lil more DoT.
I could add Dark seed to the swordmen and since I will only have Blessing of Life (BoL) on the Shaman, get Hex for her as well.

wouldn't hurt, not in my case.
and I am still thinking of adding a viking

so skill may look like something like this, in the end
:swm:
Flame sword 60
Dark Seed 40

:sha:
BoL 60
Hex 40

:bst:
Summons 60

:vik:
freeze axe 60

:art:
DI 60

:mnk:
Protect 60
Awaken 30
HG 10

:witc:
meteor strike 60
mana recharge 10 (maybe more not sure, just have to see later)
mana drain (rest here)

:malehero:
Scud 60
BoL 5
mana Shield 35


Update: okay, maybe cause I tested with skills just at 10, so I may not see the results I wanted, but seems the dark seed + Hex combo, did not work that well, barely any significant notice. this was in a PvE battle, I know on my other character that I PvP with, have had that used on me, and it did show some damage, not much but the extra was enough for them to win. Any ways, I am not giving up on further testing/trying it, I think if both skills were at 40, I would see the results I want to see, and that the Seed and Hex combo would be a great addition to the DoT area of the build.

Mana Drain (MD), I was thinking I may need more, seems I would, but just for the monk, currently my MD is just at 9. which so far has been plenty for the rest, but not enough for the monk, well enough to keep the monks protect and any other skills going in some long battles.
Protect is just at 42 right now. Monk is 62, with MD at 9, it fills about 50-55% of the monks Mana ( I should have taken note how much mana the monk actually has, instead of just looking at the bar)

Update II:
I did manage to get Hex and Dark seed up higher, but being the level my Mercs are, I was only able to get Hex to lvl 31. ( I still need good BoL)
yeah it did work well, so I will go as planned with the skills. having the skills at lvl 10, was not enough. I would not say I was impressed, but it was very noticeable, and worked great. It is a combo worth having in a Pure PvE Build like this.
So I do plan to have Hex and Dark Seed at 40

.

excuse me, i don't really understand, Holy Guard increase to 10 for what?

[XaatXuun]

to be holy :p


that was my plan, since this character was just going to 100, and become a Mule.
10 was a good rounded number, seeing that nobody ever uses Guard dispel any more, 5 at the most, but 3 should be plenty any more

also things have changed how my PvE build is going, I was bored so I decided to go ahead and get a lady Knight and Oracle

Now I have a formation that looks like

:bst::swm::lak:
:vik::art::malehero:
:mnk::ora::pro:

when I do Ind. Dungeons I just take out the mid column