Extreme East Spoiler and Discussion Thread

[shade_of_ox]

I've bashed my head against Curious EB for quite a bit, and I'm starting to wonder if it's even possible. At the very least, none of my strategies seem to be working.

I first tried the same Paladin build that cleared regular EB so easily. That build can consistently get the boss to about 350-odd HP (and tears through Balder easily), but always runs out of steam at that point, mostly thanks to Corrupting Aura blowing all of my piety, preventing me from taking Cleansings or Protections. Even if I could take them (I had a run with 100 piety and Antitheist's Collar at Cocyteon for some refills) they don't do me much good because of how my stats get lowered.

The other build I've been trying is the Orc Rogue of Jehora -> Dracul, trying to maximise life steal, but even with 5 life steal I could only get the boss to around 350 health, and this strategy is way less consistent due to the huge amount of scumming involved. The main problem I run into seems to be that % refills are pretty much worthless against this boss, because he lowers your bars by so much (this is mitigated in the normal version by all the free refills you have). The bottom line is that the boss lowers your stats so much that 500 health is basically the halfway point for killing him (especially with the 50% resist, which you can't strip earlier like you can with H).

In terms of other power builds I use, I can't see any of them actually standing a chance here since most of them don't really have the staying power that life steal or the Paladin provide. In particular, Heretic isn't the massive powerhouse it was for VGT, because you only have the standard 4 gods here.

I'm going to keep trying, but if I couldn't win a Paladin run with Platemail, level 10, AND Serpentine Shield, I don't see myself clearing this run.

[srid]

[shade_of_ox]

Sorry, I don't have a screenshot or precise numbers. I was playing a Vampire with Platemail, hit a Beholder (the combat prediction said I should still have around half my health left) and then when I hit him I died instantly. If I were to guess, I would say the combat prediction probably is accounting for lifesteal twice, when the Riposte attack doesn't trigger lifesteal again.

I spent around 60k on another veto slot that I never ended up using, and then burned a solid 30k or so on curious FF, so that's my money gone.

[srid]

This bug doesn't look like something I already fixed, so I'll investigate. Thanks for the report!

30k is a lot of gold. With 300 worth of prep it means that you tried a hundred times, OMGG.

As for EB, I can't help you but seeing that he has Magical Attack, a Paladin doesn't seem like the best choice.
I believe the best god for damage spikes is TT, maybe you could try a Rogue or Assassin of TT, rack up 4 or 5 Reflex+Dodge and a Can of Whupaz, and that would be enough?
Obviously TT would punish you, but if you dodge all attacks it won't be a problem.

[The Avatar]

[srid]

[The Avatar]

[shade_of_ox]

I'm worried that a more damage based build will have problems with Balder. As it is, the 4 or 5 lifesteal build can barely kill him using almost all the blackspace...

[The Avatar]

Perhaps this is unintuitive, but damage is actually good vs Riposte, as long as it doesn’t make the attack one-shot you. You will inevitably take (Max_HP+Regenerated_Health)*Riposte_Percent, so you should try to minimize that Regenerated_Health by dealing more damage per attack. However to speak to this build in EB directly, I find Baldur is exceedingly beatable if you find just one thing to give you an edge during the fight. This could be poison (APHEELSIK is very strong and even poisoned dagger is solid), some DR/resists (Serpentine Shield just is one of the best finds, and Platemail/RBS could very well be feasible), or just some extra dodge luck (alchemist scroll and then TT->Drac might be a better build than JJ-> Drac).

[shade_of_ox]

Hmm, that makes sense. I had Venom Dagger once and it took him down pretty well all on its own. I don't think I have a solid understanding of Riposte yet, probably because the puzzle is impossible at the moment and the only enemies I've fought with it (aside from Beholders which are rather weak) are Golem Arbiters, which I'd be taking steps to avoid fighting as they don't give exp. I'll try that build out again.