I was hoping to find some information on staff/spear skills. I don't really know how to ask in character. I don't really get the spec at all and feel a bit "shafted." Ha.

1. What is the difference between legsweep and trip? Only thing I can tell is very slightly higher damage on legsweep. Are the lags different?

2. Why crescent? Seems to do about the same damage as thrust, but with no neat feint/extra attack. Plus pugil seems stronger and it doesn't even require a specialization.

3. Why misdirect? Same as crescent really, but I'm assuming there is lag involved here? Hard for me to figure that out since mobs don't seem to take lag.

4. In terms of melee offense/defense, is there any difference between staff and spear? Spear obviously has more skill options, so was hoping maybe staff works better with spin or something?

5. Finally, I felt invincible from level 20-30 and then suddenly died a bunch of times. I have 24 dex and 18 str. Is there a tankier spec I could be using to make the climb to max level a bit smoother? Maybe a higher con race with mace/shield or axe/shield?

1) legsweep only cares about skill % for success. Trip cares about a few other things. That all being said, the lag for them is the same.

2) You cannot thrust with every spear, you can crescent with every spear. Obviously you cannot pugil with a spear.

3) Misdirect lags you for 3 rounds and your victim for 2 rounds. One of the best parts of misdirect is that there are practically 0 ways to avoid it for the victim.

4) There is a slight difference in their ability to parry. Staffs tend to be a little lighter than spears which is an upside in PK situations where people try to maledict.

5) Crossing 30 is where things start to get more complicated in terms of mobs being "scarier" in a lot of situations. They start to hit more often and harder, as well as having more skills/abilities they do. The best way to learn is to keep slowly plugging away at it.

>1) legsweep only cares about skill % for success. Trip cares
>about a few other things. That all being said, the lag for
>them is the same.
>
>2) You cannot thrust with every spear, you can crescent with
>every spear. Obviously you cannot pugil with a spear.

This is false. You can thrust with any spear, you can only thrust with piercing pole-arms. Crescent is literally useless and you shouldn't waste the practices.

>3) Misdirect lags you for 3 rounds and your victim for 2
>rounds. One of the best parts of misdirect is that there are
>practically 0 ways to avoid it for the victim.

It is also not terribly reliable. I believe it is str dependent on your part, which generally doesn't go well with high-dex spear/staff.

>4) There is a slight difference in their ability to parry.
>Staffs tend to be a little lighter than spears which is an
>upside in PK situations where people try to maledict.

You'll only use a staff fighting AP's and Orcs unless you have eagle-inscribed.

>5) Crossing 30 is where things start to get more complicated
>in terms of mobs being "scarier" in a lot of situations. They
>start to hit more often and harder, as well as having more
>skills/abilities they do. The best way to learn is to keep
>slowly plugging away at it.

This is true, but without healing (titanium spear/a buddy) you pretty rapidly lose the ability to tank as a spear/staff spec, which is sort of the one thing you are sort of good at. Keep plugging along, but chance are impale is the only skill you'll use long term in spear/staff spec.

I can never remember if its polearms or spears that thrust is quirky with.

Or at least melee classes :)

Nah, I just don't skill grind. If Im not hero in under 40 hrs I did something wrong =P.

I'm totally the guy sitting at Barovia getting those sweet, sweet 100%s. Not that I won't play without them (god knows I don't need 100% elbow), I just have to be able to type prac and see that shining perfection.

Good news as an Immediate, it's all done for me. Bad news is, I constantly disconnect myself typing prac and getting spammed out.

*Edit: stupid autocorrect.

Thank you everyone for the answers to my questions. You bring up another point I have trouble with. Skill practice. How do you manage it without leveling up? I had a good run with Malagmyr because of a skill learning bonus while ranking, but other than that I feel my skills are very sub par compared to the way people talk about their chars and maxing X skill before passing Y level or whatever. By the way, thank you to the mages and folks that kept learning with me despite having to hold my evil hand a bit. I'm getting there!

I've played a mud that had training dummies you could practice on, is there something like that I just haven't found? Is that what Barovia and the camouflaged shrub are for?

I tried to switch to a few classes with healing which were human. I noticed my skill gains were WAY worse with them, so I really don't see how I'd ever max something without leveling. Unless maybe you just don't kill the mob? I could do that with the ranger that can hide in the forest, but the paladin doesn't seem likely to accomplish that.

This matter is complex, and there are some good hints already available on various forums.

You could ask around in game mentioning specific skills.

For example, offhand disarm is not easy to perfect until someone tells you the trick, and then it is super easy.

In this example, the trick is to dual wield a dagger, and use lowish level mobs with shields like the elves in Evermoon. You'll fail every time and learn fast from your mistakes. I have given this guidance ic when asked.

Any suggestions for thief binder skills?

-J

Not played a binder, sorry.

I could suggest some kickass ways of using the skills that people rarely seem to think of, but not how to spam them up.

But ask around ic (thieves mainly) and you might get some tips.

At least its a shrub and not a vine.

nt

better than my arial/elf/human dex i've done. they have more hp, heal faster, and most importantly can do almost twice the damage output because of claws, meaning mobs go down quicker and you tank for less time.

i really liked my felar spear/staff + polearm build for PVP and ranking grind. not so much for competitive pk though, but shadowmaster showed it can be powerful

Or a warrior with Space, Fluid or some form of blinding (like eyejab); then disarm destroys you utterly.

and then caught on to the trick and told the rest of the village.