The Cellar - View Single Post

vsp · 07-06-2005, 08:10 AM

<Vizzini>
WAIT 'TIL I GET STARTED! Where was I? Oh, yes. Today's thoughts:
</Vizzini>

<b>Ranking the Class Skillsets</b>
Wondering what class to take on your next Ascension? Here's a quick and biased guide in descending order.

1) Disco Bandit
PROS: An embarrassment of riches. DBs get what I consider to be the best attack in the game, Disco Face Stab (never misses, never fumbles, does minor damage AND decreases monster power), which is vital to quick advancement. They get more meat and more drops after combat. They get a self-heal (Power Nap). They get a crafting skill (cocktailcraftings), which isn't one of the better ones but can still create some decent drinks. They get a to-hit boost on their trademarked crossbow attacks. AND they get a combat-initiative boost. What more do you want?
CONS: DFS can burn through MPs fairly quickly if you're using it all the time. You need a variety of bottles of booze and mixers to use Cocktailcrafting effectively, _and_ you won't be able to make a whole day's worth on your own (5 drinks, you can generate 3 items per day). Some of the skills are repetitive. Still, the best of the skillsets out there.

2) Pastamancer
PROS: This is a strong competitor for the top slot, after being underpowered for a long time. Pastamancery is _the_ best crafting skill by far, allowing you to make stunningly powerful and efficient food items. You get an even bigger combat initiative boost, two self-heals, an overall HP boost, a familiar boost with Leash of Linguini, and the assorted spells to do direct damage. If Entangling Noodles was just a _little_ more powerful, this would be a no-brainer for #1.
CONS: You need to equip a Kickback Cookbook to get best usage out of the spells, which uses up an Accessory slot. The heals and HP boosts help negate the lack of Moxie, but it's still a fragile class. You can burn through MPs very quickly. Still, this would be #1 except that DFS is just _that_ damned good.

3) Turtle Tamer
PROS: This class _used to_ be a contender for the top spot, but it's been nerfed. However, it is still a familiar-boosting machine, with Amphibian Sympathy and Empathy of the Newt each jacking familiars up 5 pounds; a lot of people will take a turn or two through this class just to acquire those. Wisdom of the Elder Tortoises is a much-needed MP boost, vital for any class. Tenacity of the Snapper and Reptilian Fortitude are nice but expensive, Spectral Snapper even more so.
CONS: Armorcraftiness is useless once you have the Mall available, and not very useful even then. Headbutt is dependent on normal attack to-hit rates, so it won't let you jump ahead like DFS will. The Shell skills used to be great, but have been nerfed into uselessness even when fully jacked-up.

4) Accordion Thief
PROS: A very wide variety of buffs. You can jack up your (or anyone else's) stats, meat drops, item drops, combat initiative, melee damage or MPs. Ode to Booze gives a couple of extra adventures per day. Polka of Plenty is vital for building up huge stacks of meat once you have access to some of the big-drop areas.
CONS: You can only have three AT buffs running at any given time, and they get expensive in terms of MPs to begin with. The fact that large numbers of players are in Ronin at any given time lowers the usefulness of buffing others dramatically. The skills boost combat ability indirectly, but aren't as effective as spells or DFS. You'll be able to avoid a lot of damage, but not deal much out.

5) Sauceror
PROS: Advanced Saucecrafting produces Scrumptious Reagents, which used to be in high demand (for Hell Ramen and PvP potions) but aren't as crucial any more. Still, they're nice to have around. Elemental Saucesphere provides a number of useful resistances. Saucy Salve is the only in-combat healing skill in the game. The spells do direct damage, and Intrinsic Spiciness helps lower the need for a Kickback Cookbook.
CONS: A Cookbook is still pretty vital, and the spells are MP-expensive. The advent of Stir-Fries/Chow Meins really nuked the Hell Ramen market, and PvP potions sell for a fraction of what they used to sell for. This is the most fragile class, and the Saucespheres don't do that much to remedy that. Saucy Salve can be useful, but in many cases when you're fighting something that's strong enough that you'll need it, it'll be doing as much damage as the Salve heals each round, leaving you at zero-sum with fewer MPs.

6) Seal Clubbers
PROS: The traditional whipping boys of KoL have a couple of useful tricks. The Otter/Walrus skills provide combat bonuses, armor and heals, though nothing spectacular in that regard. Tongue of the Walrus is a nice heal. The Thrust-Smack series combined with Eye of the Stoat is all right for combat.
CONS: As a SC, either you're whacking things or you're not. Not much variety in this class. The Otter/Walrus skills aren't particularly robust. Meatsmithing is useless. Rage of the Reindeer doesn't do all that much. Beyond that, just keep building up Muscle, hitting Attack and hoping for the best.

07-06-2005, 08:10 AM	#152
vsp Syndrome of a Down Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: West Chester Posts: 1,367	<Vizzini> WAIT 'TIL I GET STARTED! Where was I? Oh, yes. Today's thoughts: </Vizzini> <b>Ranking the Class Skillsets</b> Wondering what class to take on your next Ascension? Here's a quick and biased guide in descending order. 1) Disco Bandit PROS: An embarrassment of riches. DBs get what I consider to be the best attack in the game, Disco Face Stab (never misses, never fumbles, does minor damage AND decreases monster power), which is vital to quick advancement. They get more meat and more drops after combat. They get a self-heal (Power Nap). They get a crafting skill (cocktailcraftings), which isn't one of the better ones but can still create some decent drinks. They get a to-hit boost on their trademarked crossbow attacks. AND they get a combat-initiative boost. What more do you want? CONS: DFS can burn through MPs fairly quickly if you're using it all the time. You need a variety of bottles of booze and mixers to use Cocktailcrafting effectively, _and_ you won't be able to make a whole day's worth on your own (5 drinks, you can generate 3 items per day). Some of the skills are repetitive. Still, the best of the skillsets out there. 2) Pastamancer PROS: This is a strong competitor for the top slot, after being underpowered for a long time. Pastamancery is _the_ best crafting skill by far, allowing you to make stunningly powerful and efficient food items. You get an even bigger combat initiative boost, two self-heals, an overall HP boost, a familiar boost with Leash of Linguini, and the assorted spells to do direct damage. If Entangling Noodles was just a _little_ more powerful, this would be a no-brainer for #1. CONS: You need to equip a Kickback Cookbook to get best usage out of the spells, which uses up an Accessory slot. The heals and HP boosts help negate the lack of Moxie, but it's still a fragile class. You can burn through MPs very quickly. Still, this would be #1 except that DFS is just _that_ damned good. 3) Turtle Tamer PROS: This class _used to_ be a contender for the top spot, but it's been nerfed. However, it is still a familiar-boosting machine, with Amphibian Sympathy and Empathy of the Newt each jacking familiars up 5 pounds; a lot of people will take a turn or two through this class just to acquire those. Wisdom of the Elder Tortoises is a much-needed MP boost, vital for any class. Tenacity of the Snapper and Reptilian Fortitude are nice but expensive, Spectral Snapper even more so. CONS: Armorcraftiness is useless once you have the Mall available, and not very useful even then. Headbutt is dependent on normal attack to-hit rates, so it won't let you jump ahead like DFS will. The Shell skills used to be great, but have been nerfed into uselessness even when fully jacked-up. 4) Accordion Thief PROS: A very wide variety of buffs. You can jack up your (or anyone else's) stats, meat drops, item drops, combat initiative, melee damage or MPs. Ode to Booze gives a couple of extra adventures per day. Polka of Plenty is vital for building up huge stacks of meat once you have access to some of the big-drop areas. CONS: You can only have three AT buffs running at any given time, and they get expensive in terms of MPs to begin with. The fact that large numbers of players are in Ronin at any given time lowers the usefulness of buffing others dramatically. The skills boost combat ability indirectly, but aren't as effective as spells or DFS. You'll be able to avoid a lot of damage, but not deal much out. 5) Sauceror PROS: Advanced Saucecrafting produces Scrumptious Reagents, which used to be in high demand (for Hell Ramen and PvP potions) but aren't as crucial any more. Still, they're nice to have around. Elemental Saucesphere provides a number of useful resistances. Saucy Salve is the only in-combat healing skill in the game. The spells do direct damage, and Intrinsic Spiciness helps lower the need for a Kickback Cookbook. CONS: A Cookbook is still pretty vital, and the spells are MP-expensive. The advent of Stir-Fries/Chow Meins really nuked the Hell Ramen market, and PvP potions sell for a fraction of what they used to sell for. This is the most fragile class, and the Saucespheres don't do that much to remedy that. Saucy Salve can be useful, but in many cases when you're fighting something that's strong enough that you'll need it, it'll be doing as much damage as the Salve heals each round, leaving you at zero-sum with fewer MPs. 6) Seal Clubbers PROS: The traditional whipping boys of KoL have a couple of useful tricks. The Otter/Walrus skills provide combat bonuses, armor and heals, though nothing spectacular in that regard. Tongue of the Walrus is a nice heal. The Thrust-Smack series combined with Eye of the Stoat is all right for combat. CONS: As a SC, either you're whacking things or you're not. Not much variety in this class. The Otter/Walrus skills aren't particularly robust. Meatsmithing is useless. Rage of the Reindeer doesn't do all that much. Beyond that, just keep building up Muscle, hitting Attack and hoping for the best.