A Trapsin is an Assassin that uses the Traps abilities as her main skills. This particular variant uses Lightning Sentry (LS), Death Sentry (DS) as stationary weapons and Fireblast as her backup skill. This build can deal with most monsters encountered, and those she can't the mercenary should be able to handle with Cloak of Shadows (CoS) support to keep packs of monsters at bay. The skill setup is as follows:
Claw Mastery - 1
Fireblast - 1
Psychic Hammer - 1
Shock Web - 1
Burst of Speed - 1
At level 6 quite a few skills become available to the Trapsin. At this point the character isn't really using the skills all that much and just using her claws to melee monsters to death. For very dangerous foes she can however use either Shock Web or Fireblast to deal with them from a distance. Burst of Speed is used from here onward, active all of the time. Not only does it increase the movement speed of the character, but the trap laying speed is also increased.
Cloak of Shadows - 1
Charged Bolt Sentry - 1
At level twelve one of the characters most utilized skills becomes available, Cloak of Shadows. CoS will be used constantly for the rest of the game. When cast normal monsters will not realize the character is nearby and stand idly by while they are eliminated by the traps. The only exception to this is if the monsters have "seen" the character already and are trying to engage. They will continue to follow the character around until they either reach her or are distracted by something else. Still, a quick CoS cast followed by lots of long range attacks keeps the character very safe, as well as the mercenary. One thing to note is that CoS can crash the game if used in the vicinity of stationary objects like the towers in the beginning of Act V, the chained mummies in Act IV or the Arreat Summit.
Charged Bolt Sentry - 13
Lightning Sentry - 1
Up until level twenty-four the synergy for Lightning Sentry, CB Sentry, is increased. CB Sentry is somewhat useful for massed monsters, but against single targets is very lacking. As such once Lightning Sentry becomes available, CB Sentry will no longer be used. That and LS is far more powerful per stat points assigned to it. From here onward the character shouldn't have many problems for the rest of Normal difficulty with the combination of LS and CoS.
Lightning Sentry - 7
Death Sentry - 1
At level thirty Death Sentry becomes available. It's main use is for exploding corpses, both to keep summoning monsters from resurrecting them and for dealing physical/fire damage to other monsters. However at lower levels it really isn't necessary to use as LS clears out the packs quite nicely. One thing to note is that it is not possible to choose when DS explodes corpses and when it shoots lightning, which can be quite annoying when faced with Lightning Immune monsters.
Lightning Sentry - 20
Charged Bolt Sentry - 20
Weapon Block - 1
At level forty-six both Lightning Sentry and it's main synergy are maxed and monsters drop like flies. In fact progress should be so quick at this point that casting CoS is only necessary against really nasty boss packs. Otherwise monsters don't last long enough to threaten the mercenary with harm. Weapon Block is also added to the characters arsenal as by this point duel wielding claws is preferable to gain the most +skill mods possible for her traps. Weapon Block allows the character to still avoid damage as much as possible, with the added bonus of perhaps blocking magical attacks as well.
Death Sentry - 10
Fireblast - 20
At level seventy Lightning Sentry is further synergizes with extra points to Death Sentry, allowing it to continue wreaking havoc even against the higher Hit Point monsters in Acts IV and V of Nightmare. However the main focus is on developing a backup attack for LI monsters, Fireblast. As long as the monster remains stationary, which is the mercenary's job along with CoS, Fireblast is very effective against LIs. However due to the lobbing motion of the attack if the monster is moving then it is tough to target until the monster is almost right next to the character. This can be negated somewhat by targeting the ground where the monster should be when the Fireblast arrives, but this isn't the easiest thing to time properly.
Death Sentry - 20
At level seventy-eight Death Sentry, the second major synergy for Lightning Sentry is complete and LS packs quite the punch. Along with this DS can now be used in conjunction with LS in perhaps a 2:3 or 1:4 DS:LS ratio for added carnage and an increase in progress speed. From here on out all extra points can either go into Shadow Warrior for an added tank or Shock Web for added synergy damage for LS and Fireblast. Personally I recommend Shock Web as the combination of CoS and a melee mercenary doesn't require additional assistance in keeping the character from being mobbed.
Final Skill Distribution:
Charged Bolt Sentry - 20
Lightning Sentry - 20
Death Sentry - 20
Fireblast - 20
Burst of Speed - 1
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
Castle Age: Update
Where do I begin? It's been a while since I posted about the Facebook application Castle Age. Originally I didn't think I would be posting more than once, but the game has evolved so much it is much more like a standalone application than a FB app. So a few highlights:
Addition of monsters (dragons, bosses) to fight using Stamina
Addition of battle ranks for PvP fighting
Addition of subquests as well as additional realms for more questing
Monsters made the game completely different than what it was before. Previously PvP and questing was all one could do, now there are many more options. One unfortunately byproduct of monsters is that players can level up much faster than normal and putting all points into Attack/Defense is no longer the only option. As such those players that have been here since the beginning are being passed by (level-wise at least) by the "power levelers". For example at this moment I am level 176, which is respectable. However the top player, who has been playing a lot less time than I am is level 800+. I have absolutely no chance of protecting myself from such players on the PvP field. This is why I keep hoping the developers will implement a tiered battle system so that people that high in rank can only fight others that high in rank.
Due to all of the changes I've gone ahead and done what I thought I'd never do, add points into Stamina. This does weaken by build a bit for a period of time, but will allow me to level up faster and partake in the monster hunting aspect of the game, to a degree. Having a variety of ways to play the game will will keep it fresh and enjoyable, so I don't see myself quiting anytime soon. Granted this additional Stamina does mean I spend a little bit more in the game than before, but not too much more. Reason being I have no plans to increase my Stamina to several hundred points like the true monster hunters. My build is a Paladin variant first, PvP second and monster hunter third. I may fall behind the monster hunters, but I will be very competitive with anyone within 100 levels of me.
One additional thing that has changed is that the forums for CA have moved off of the FB site. There is now an independent forum dedicated to Castle Age, of which I am one of the moderators. Moderating is a bit of a time sink, but so far not too terrible of one. The vast majority of my time is spend deleting posts from the monster help section where someone put the wrong link in one of the help threads. That and giving out infractions for repeated such behavior.
The strategy I have chosen means I have tons of content to discover and enjoy, and it will take me a long time to explore it all.
Addition of monsters (dragons, bosses) to fight using Stamina
Addition of battle ranks for PvP fighting
Addition of subquests as well as additional realms for more questing
Monsters made the game completely different than what it was before. Previously PvP and questing was all one could do, now there are many more options. One unfortunately byproduct of monsters is that players can level up much faster than normal and putting all points into Attack/Defense is no longer the only option. As such those players that have been here since the beginning are being passed by (level-wise at least) by the "power levelers". For example at this moment I am level 176, which is respectable. However the top player, who has been playing a lot less time than I am is level 800+. I have absolutely no chance of protecting myself from such players on the PvP field. This is why I keep hoping the developers will implement a tiered battle system so that people that high in rank can only fight others that high in rank.
Due to all of the changes I've gone ahead and done what I thought I'd never do, add points into Stamina. This does weaken by build a bit for a period of time, but will allow me to level up faster and partake in the monster hunting aspect of the game, to a degree. Having a variety of ways to play the game will will keep it fresh and enjoyable, so I don't see myself quiting anytime soon. Granted this additional Stamina does mean I spend a little bit more in the game than before, but not too much more. Reason being I have no plans to increase my Stamina to several hundred points like the true monster hunters. My build is a Paladin variant first, PvP second and monster hunter third. I may fall behind the monster hunters, but I will be very competitive with anyone within 100 levels of me.
One additional thing that has changed is that the forums for CA have moved off of the FB site. There is now an independent forum dedicated to Castle Age, of which I am one of the moderators. Moderating is a bit of a time sink, but so far not too terrible of one. The vast majority of my time is spend deleting posts from the monster help section where someone put the wrong link in one of the help threads. That and giving out infractions for repeated such behavior.
The strategy I have chosen means I have tons of content to discover and enjoy, and it will take me a long time to explore it all.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Diablo II: Certain Death Tournament
The Certain Death Tournament by Wakiki is an mutation of a previous tournament I had played, the No Vitality tournament. The basic concept is that no stat points may be placed into Vitality at all. The way this tournament is different from the No Vitality one is that an extra restriction is placed on equipment where no more than 30 health allowed per item and only a single health charm per charm type (small, large, grand) is allowed. This means no shopping for those +100 health armors and such, so all of the characters really are walking paper targets. As one can imagine there were quite a few deaths in this tournament, and my character was no exception.
Jaheira, of Baldur's Gate fame, was planned as a Trapsin (an assassin using traps). I had never created one before so thought this tournament would be a good place to start, considering her skills allows her to remain far away from monsters 90% of the time. She started off using melee combat to deal with monsters, due to how simple the first act of the game is. While progress was slow Jaheira didn't encounter any real problems until her untimely death. Once traps and Cloak of Shadows became available to her progress became both quick and safe. When a pack of monsters was encountered she would first cast Cloak of Shadows to blind them all to the presence of both the mercenary and herself. Then several traps were laid out and Jaheira would watch the carnage that resulted.
Outside things were very simple, with lots of room to roam and no choke points Jaheira could move freely. It was the indoors or underground areas that gave her the most problems, specifically those with doorways such as the Countess Tower in Act I NM. Since Jaheira couldn't see what was awaiting her, she took to casting a trap on the other side of the doorway to see if any monsters were nearby. If they were, then more traps joined the first one until they stopped firing. Otherwise the way was safe and Jaheira could walk through the doorway. As such progress was slow inside, as either this tactic or just casting a single trap at all intersections and turns in the underground caves was used at all times from Nightmare difficulty onward.
Unfortunately Jaheira still was unable to protect herself fully, as evident by the fact she was taken down in a drive-by from a crow type monster in the Spider Forest of Act III in Hell. A unique boss with unknown stats flew into the screen and eliminated Jaheira before any reaction could be taken, then flew away just as fast. Quite odd to have a deeds screen with no monsters present, but that's what I got.
My conclusions about this are that trapsins are way to overpowered, but I still wanted to build one for my collection. So next step is to recreate Jaheira in Softcore mode, and twinkled.
Jaheira, of Baldur's Gate fame, was planned as a Trapsin (an assassin using traps). I had never created one before so thought this tournament would be a good place to start, considering her skills allows her to remain far away from monsters 90% of the time. She started off using melee combat to deal with monsters, due to how simple the first act of the game is. While progress was slow Jaheira didn't encounter any real problems until her untimely death. Once traps and Cloak of Shadows became available to her progress became both quick and safe. When a pack of monsters was encountered she would first cast Cloak of Shadows to blind them all to the presence of both the mercenary and herself. Then several traps were laid out and Jaheira would watch the carnage that resulted.
Outside things were very simple, with lots of room to roam and no choke points Jaheira could move freely. It was the indoors or underground areas that gave her the most problems, specifically those with doorways such as the Countess Tower in Act I NM. Since Jaheira couldn't see what was awaiting her, she took to casting a trap on the other side of the doorway to see if any monsters were nearby. If they were, then more traps joined the first one until they stopped firing. Otherwise the way was safe and Jaheira could walk through the doorway. As such progress was slow inside, as either this tactic or just casting a single trap at all intersections and turns in the underground caves was used at all times from Nightmare difficulty onward.
Unfortunately Jaheira still was unable to protect herself fully, as evident by the fact she was taken down in a drive-by from a crow type monster in the Spider Forest of Act III in Hell. A unique boss with unknown stats flew into the screen and eliminated Jaheira before any reaction could be taken, then flew away just as fast. Quite odd to have a deeds screen with no monsters present, but that's what I got.
My conclusions about this are that trapsins are way to overpowered, but I still wanted to build one for my collection. So next step is to recreate Jaheira in Softcore mode, and twinkled.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Java: Hotline Update #13
An update was needed for the Hotline program, specifically emails are now going to be tracked following the same guidelines and options as phone calls. The hard part was already done thanks not having a different set of options to select from. So the OptionPanel file was copied and renamed to EmailPanel to create the new program tab. Along with this the pop-up messages that appear were renamed to mention an email was tracked as opposed to a call.
However some changes were made as left to the current setup the user would have to log into both tabs individually, which allows the possibility of doing so incorrectly for one of them and causing significant tracking issues. So I borrowed some code from the Enguard program and required the users to log into the application upon startup, before the program window appears. Then once logged in the bottom panel displays what type of tracking that page performs as well as the individual logged in instead of the JComboBox that was there before for logging in.
In order to make it painfully obvious which tab was for calls and which for emails the email tab was recolored, I used Dark Salmon (light red) which made a nice contrast to the opaque blue of the call panel. Along with this borders were placed on all of the buttons to better distinguish them from one another.
Now that there are two reporting tools being used in the program, they each need a separate way to have reports run on them. As such a JMenu was added with two JMenuRadioButtons, one for emails and one for phones. Depending on which one was selected the report would pull the corresponding data for the Report tab.
Right now there isn't a way to combine the two reports together, but that's in the works. Along with that I will be hiding the Report JMenu from anyone who doesn't have the privileges to view the Report tab, just to avoid confusion.
However some changes were made as left to the current setup the user would have to log into both tabs individually, which allows the possibility of doing so incorrectly for one of them and causing significant tracking issues. So I borrowed some code from the Enguard program and required the users to log into the application upon startup, before the program window appears. Then once logged in the bottom panel displays what type of tracking that page performs as well as the individual logged in instead of the JComboBox that was there before for logging in.
In order to make it painfully obvious which tab was for calls and which for emails the email tab was recolored, I used Dark Salmon (light red) which made a nice contrast to the opaque blue of the call panel. Along with this borders were placed on all of the buttons to better distinguish them from one another.
Now that there are two reporting tools being used in the program, they each need a separate way to have reports run on them. As such a JMenu was added with two JMenuRadioButtons, one for emails and one for phones. Depending on which one was selected the report would pull the corresponding data for the Report tab.
Right now there isn't a way to combine the two reports together, but that's in the works. Along with that I will be hiding the Report JMenu from anyone who doesn't have the privileges to view the Report tab, just to avoid confusion.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Java: Hotline Update #12
It has been a little while since I was last asked to make any changes to the Hotline application. These changes weren't anything significant, same as the previous couple of updates. Basically one of the options was removed and replaced by a new options. As such this entailed a new JButton to be created with associated listener, and a new piece to the If-Else statement in the ReportPanel class to handle this new variation to the call options. One quick test to ensure that a representative can save calls and then a report can be run on that day's usage, which both passed, and the requested change is complete.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Online Game: Dungeons & Dragons: Tiny Adventures
A while back my brother convinced me to join Facebook. Being a gamer I knew I'd end up playing some of the applications there, and I was right. Thankfully one of the ones I found was simple and requires as little time as possible to still have fun. This game is Dungeons and Dragons: Tiny Adventures. In this game you take a character, equip them and send them off on a short adventure. While they are gone you need to do nothing. After a certain period of time your character completes their journey and you can read about their experience. Once they've healed up you can then send them off again on a different adventure.
It works very much the way D&D works, except just about as simplistic as possible. Each encounter during an adventure has a difficulty in one of the characteristics (strength, dexterity, wisdom...etc). A 20 sides die is virtually rolled and compared to the difficulty. Equal or higher and the character is successful, lower and the character is not. Rewards are given for being successful which can be used or equipped on the character for the next adventure.
This is a set and forget application, that was the intent. One could sit and watch each encounter and switch equipment between them for maximum effect, but personally I see that as a waste of time. This is perfect for me as I have enough other things I do and games I play that getting involved in something that took lots of time would be a major problem. Best part about this is, if you go on vacation there is no penalty. Your character simply sits idle until you return, just like a single player game (which it is). One side effect of playing this game is now I've gotten back into playing Balder's Gate II on my PC. I've only played through that twice before and definitely not seen all of the different aspects of the game, so I don't mind. I needed a bit of a break from Diablo II as I've pretty much worn that game out and played all of the builds I intended to play. There are a few more I could play if I wanted, but I think I'll wait for the 1.13 patch before that happens.
It works very much the way D&D works, except just about as simplistic as possible. Each encounter during an adventure has a difficulty in one of the characteristics (strength, dexterity, wisdom...etc). A 20 sides die is virtually rolled and compared to the difficulty. Equal or higher and the character is successful, lower and the character is not. Rewards are given for being successful which can be used or equipped on the character for the next adventure.
This is a set and forget application, that was the intent. One could sit and watch each encounter and switch equipment between them for maximum effect, but personally I see that as a waste of time. This is perfect for me as I have enough other things I do and games I play that getting involved in something that took lots of time would be a major problem. Best part about this is, if you go on vacation there is no penalty. Your character simply sits idle until you return, just like a single player game (which it is). One side effect of playing this game is now I've gotten back into playing Balder's Gate II on my PC. I've only played through that twice before and definitely not seen all of the different aspects of the game, so I don't mind. I needed a bit of a break from Diablo II as I've pretty much worn that game out and played all of the builds I intended to play. There are a few more I could play if I wanted, but I think I'll wait for the 1.13 patch before that happens.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Diablo II: Classic Tournament
In the Classic Tournament by EmperorMoo the rules were extremely simply, play a hardcore character in Classic mode untwinkled. Rerunning was allowed, as were any skill and stat distributions. I haven't played Classic in years, so seemed like fun.
I should have read up on the changes between Classic and Expansion before starting, so I wasn't surprised. I was aware of several changes (no charms/runes, no equipment on the mercenary) but many I wasn't. Such as:
No potions can be given to the mercenary
Static Field has no limitations in NM/Hell
Mercenaries can't move from one act to another
No orb weapons
No weapon switch
Turns out some of these ended up being my downfall, but I'm getting ahead of myself. I played this tournament with Mirax, a Blizzballer. Never made one before but they are pretty simple and should be able to solo the game. This was especially important as the mercenary won't be doing much damage of their own.
Things started off somewhat slow, as expected with a sorceress. Hitting everything with a staff until a few points in Firebolt were available, then mowed everything down when Fireball was introduced. The rogue mercenary was a very poor tank and only vaguely distracted the monsters away from Mirax. So moving through tight areas was slow going as Mirax wouldn't move forward very fast. This changed a bit in Act II as the desert mercenary does tank fairly well, or at least well enough to hold monsters in place for a few Fireballs to finish them off. Of course any poison damage kills off the merc right away, so lots of trips back to town to be healed/resurrected were needed.
Act III proved interesting with an Iron wolf mercenary. He doesn't tank, so Mirax leads and had to go slowly to be able to deal with the fast Flayer packs in the jungle. Thankfully they have low health and fall to Fireball quickly. At least now Teleport is available and can be used to reposition the merc when needed, or save his life of course. At the end of the act Glacial Spike is also available and used to freeze any monster packs before they are eliminated, which is the exact tactic used in Act IV.
Both Mephisto and Diablo in Normal difficulty proved to be fantastic and entertaining fights, one dealt with Fireball chains and the other a constant stream of Blizzards.
Started to run into cold immunes in Nightmare and a one point Blizzard is tough to eliminate them, mostly because I have trouble aiming at single targets. Can take up to 6 casts to get rid of a single skeleton, since the merc isn't powerful enough to finish it off on her own. Most of Nightmare was a combination of Blizzard and Fireball chains, I basically forgot all about Static Field as the monsters didn't get close enough. In the end Blizzard was used almost exclusively in Act IV and against Diablo, chilled monsters is just safer.
Hell ended up being a huge jump up from NM. The mercenary died constantly and money became a real problem. However while that mean progress was slowed a bit it wasn't stopped, and Mirax continued onward through the different areas without too much difficulty. This is why her sudden end was so unexpected. Walking across the Kurast Causeway she ran into a double pack of Faithful and Sextons. The Sextons dropped Blizzards on her and with 20% cold resistance she didn't have a chance to react before the Faithful finished her off.
It was a fun tournament and a very interesting departure from my normal DII playing. Now I'll return to the land of softcore and try to finish off the last two to three builds I have in planned before I finish the list I made oh so long ago.
I should have read up on the changes between Classic and Expansion before starting, so I wasn't surprised. I was aware of several changes (no charms/runes, no equipment on the mercenary) but many I wasn't. Such as:
No potions can be given to the mercenary
Static Field has no limitations in NM/Hell
Mercenaries can't move from one act to another
No orb weapons
No weapon switch
Turns out some of these ended up being my downfall, but I'm getting ahead of myself. I played this tournament with Mirax, a Blizzballer. Never made one before but they are pretty simple and should be able to solo the game. This was especially important as the mercenary won't be doing much damage of their own.
Things started off somewhat slow, as expected with a sorceress. Hitting everything with a staff until a few points in Firebolt were available, then mowed everything down when Fireball was introduced. The rogue mercenary was a very poor tank and only vaguely distracted the monsters away from Mirax. So moving through tight areas was slow going as Mirax wouldn't move forward very fast. This changed a bit in Act II as the desert mercenary does tank fairly well, or at least well enough to hold monsters in place for a few Fireballs to finish them off. Of course any poison damage kills off the merc right away, so lots of trips back to town to be healed/resurrected were needed.
Act III proved interesting with an Iron wolf mercenary. He doesn't tank, so Mirax leads and had to go slowly to be able to deal with the fast Flayer packs in the jungle. Thankfully they have low health and fall to Fireball quickly. At least now Teleport is available and can be used to reposition the merc when needed, or save his life of course. At the end of the act Glacial Spike is also available and used to freeze any monster packs before they are eliminated, which is the exact tactic used in Act IV.
Both Mephisto and Diablo in Normal difficulty proved to be fantastic and entertaining fights, one dealt with Fireball chains and the other a constant stream of Blizzards.
Started to run into cold immunes in Nightmare and a one point Blizzard is tough to eliminate them, mostly because I have trouble aiming at single targets. Can take up to 6 casts to get rid of a single skeleton, since the merc isn't powerful enough to finish it off on her own. Most of Nightmare was a combination of Blizzard and Fireball chains, I basically forgot all about Static Field as the monsters didn't get close enough. In the end Blizzard was used almost exclusively in Act IV and against Diablo, chilled monsters is just safer.
Hell ended up being a huge jump up from NM. The mercenary died constantly and money became a real problem. However while that mean progress was slowed a bit it wasn't stopped, and Mirax continued onward through the different areas without too much difficulty. This is why her sudden end was so unexpected. Walking across the Kurast Causeway she ran into a double pack of Faithful and Sextons. The Sextons dropped Blizzards on her and with 20% cold resistance she didn't have a chance to react before the Faithful finished her off.
It was a fun tournament and a very interesting departure from my normal DII playing. Now I'll return to the land of softcore and try to finish off the last two to three builds I have in planned before I finish the list I made oh so long ago.
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