by The Avatar on Tue Jun 04, 2013 11:59 pm
BICEPS is still not necessarily better. It isn't at good at regen fighting as BURNDAYRAZ, and you don't get the stack pop-off bonus which can make it deal up to 1 damage per mana per level.
Part 22: The Warlord! This is a very fun class to play, and definitely one of my favorites. It's abilities synergizes almost flawlessly. Base damage is huge for Warlords, and GETINDARE is the best glyph. Elf warlords are very good if you can get 20 mana. The cool thing with CYDSTEPP is you can precast it and the use it mid-battle. But you saw that. Warlords can usually take a weak level 3 at level 1. Always immediately precast CYDSTEPP. What you want to do with an elf is hit that 20 mp threshold ASAP. The bloody sigil is actually best at level 1. WHY ARE YOU SO OBSESSED WITH THE TOWER SHIELD? Seriously, it isn't that good, and it is totally against the warlord strategy. The pendant of health is better than the tower shield unless you will be tanking lots of hits or resist stacking. Warlords are the OPPOSITE. You should attempt to get all of the damage items you can, and then mana items. Good targets are 2-3 level higher monsters. If you have a way to tank an extra hit from 4-5 level higher dudes (ENDISWAL, GETINDARE, 20 mana for another CYDSTEPP), you should take them out instead. That level 7 snake was a very poor choice. That will require 2 mana potions. The level 6 goat is almost just as good and requires NO POTIONS! It's not a good plan. I promise. I called it 2 MANA POTIONS! THAT'S LETHAL TO YOUR GAME! Your entire endgame is centered around mana potions. Each 2 mana potions are 1 hit against the boss. It is essential to have mana potions for the bosses later in the game (unless you are good enough to get a tricked out loadout that can kill bosses in 3 shots (like in NC)). BICEPS! It's pretty good, but ENDISWAL is the better choice to keep. It allows you total freedom of movement and will let you score hits on 2-3 level higher guys through stoneskin. The tower shield was the best conversion choice of all, but still ENDISWAL trumps BICEPS. Oh dear, meat men are the worst warlord targets. Warlords are the opposite of the monks. You need to fight low hp targets because it will be easy to CYDSTEPP high level versions of them. Here's a small distinction for the warlord. For the purposes of mid-fight level ups, level up with a CYDSTEPP on--don't use the last one. Use it when you level, because you will do slightly more damage. You should have been casting BICEPS, but you forgot TWICE! That was the difference between victory and defeat! The badge of honor is a great item. Seriously, you are overvaluing the tower shield. It's good, but it's not THAT good. ENDISWAL, IMAWAL, BICEPS, heck your 2 base SWORD is better than it. And swords suck. The tower shield is just not what you want for this load out. EM is GREAT for the warlord! The 10 mana from clearance (of course, used after you use plantation) is worth 3-5 more CYDSTEPPs against the boss. UGH. S(uper)M(eat)M(an). HE SUCKS. He is the single most annoying normal boss, IMO, and he is a huge pain for warlords. He is the anti-warlord. All health, no damage. You need to be wary of exploration when fighting SMM. It's all about regen fighting. Normally converting to get 20 mana is good for the warlord, but that BICEPS will be more valuable in a regen fight. NO! As much as you overvalue tower shields, in a regen fight vs SMM it is more valuable than 2 CYDSTEPPs. There are only 2 level 8's. You killed one, and can see the other. You won't find another one. WHAT?! You just said exploration won't be valuable, but it is the single most important thing vs SMM. You should convert IMAWAL before the boss. You just threw away a mid-fight level up vs SMM. You could have had 2... WHAT?! YOU THREW AWAY BICEPS INSTEAD OF IMAWAL? YOU A REGEN FIGHTING A BOSS. WHY WOULD YOU NEED IMAWAL?! You love IMAWAL a little too much. It is not worth giving away your BICEPS pre-regen fight! BICEPS is the alternate tool to BURNDAYRAZ (which you unfortunately CONVERTED!), so it is much more valuable vs SMM that IMAWAL! JUST CONVERT IMAWAL! YOU DON'T NEED IT! You totally misplayed SMM. You should be regen fighting him, not trying to tank him! Imagine if he had been the extra boss in a hard dungeon. You would have blown all your potions on SMM, when 30(?) tiles would have been equivalent. Told you the warlord was cool. Elven boots are a great prep.
KEY POINTS: PRECAST EVERYTHING ALWAYS! You are undervaluing ENDISWAL and over valuing IMAWAL. Seriously, the tower shield isn't that good unless you have lots of hp. SMM should be regen fought, not tanked. Oh, and side note, the gen in regen is prounounced like the gen in generation (so it's pronounced like re-jen). Don't use potions.
Warlord tips: 20 mana is great (2 CYDSTEPPs), but 25 is the best (each mana potion=1 CYDSTEPP). Always mid-fight level up with a DP on (as in use your last DP after you level) because you will do slightly more damage total.
We made an expansion and it is awesome. Really, you should check it out, especially if you're looking for some extra challenge.
Download over at ddmod.weebly.com!