Hybrid Strat: Blending Mage and Tank (in General)

Such a grand idea. Be sure to give me some credit if you make it close to the top. :) I would use this strat, but I don't have the USD to pump up a large enough bow for this to be worthwhile. And so, I'm sharing this with you guys! :D

out of 100 points of exp:

Hitpoints: 30
Strength: 25
Archery: 6.25
Dexterity: 4
Cone of Cold: 20
Ethreal Chains: 1
Anti-Magic Field: 13.75

The Basic Idea: elminate enchanters and forward mages in ranged, wipe out remaining tank with CoC.

Cons: Some foolish people might place their high dex tank in the front;
As of now, a large portion of CB uses a lone mage strat, Unless you have amazing AC or a CoBF, I advise reducing CoC and pumping the exp into hp and strength.

And of course, if you have CoBF, untrain archery and pump it into strength.

Keep in mind that if you use this strat, you can save more cash to pump into your bow and armor since you don't need a melee.
And don't forget ToE, judging from King Chuckle's 25k one, they seem to be quite worthwhile.

I keep remembering little bits after I click 'post.' The lack of coffee seems to have scrambled my thoughts.

Anyways:
The above is just a sample minion, the basic idea is that you can replace dex and melee with CoC. And note that right now, most battles are lasting 1-3 rounds, and so I don't advise this strat unless you know you can make it to melee. :)

Using a CoBF will nix more than just the archery, Chicken.

"And don't forget ToE, judging from King Chuckle's 25k one, they seem to be quite worthwhile."

My strat is very opponent specific, I use a ToE because of my opponents (and also because it annoys quite a few of them), not because it's the best item ;)

If you're playing defense, well yeah it can be taken into consideration. I see that's what you're doing but are you sure ToJ isn't the better option? 43.7% of EXP trained in DD is in FB, don't you think an instant 50%+ reduction against all of that is worth it? Also a round or two against tanks has to be good?

Also MM is another good idea, although as this is something someone else plans to do and it was their idea I'll leave the details out.
ToE is an awesome tat but ToJ is still great for defense. ToA is another good option to stop your EXP spreading too much.

;) MrC beat me to it. Consider;

A Mage training: HP, Archery, CoC and any Enchantments you desire. Equipping a ToA to gain Strength and Dexterity.

Archery (and a bow! ;P ) does physical damage during all the ranged rounds, then CoC will do a load of magical damage to whoever's left during melee.

DM won't be a needed as it is with FB, as at leat some of the opposing minions should have been killed during ranged.

'Using a CoBF will nix more than just the archery, Chicken.'
True, but I figure if you put on a CoBF, there isn't much of a use for AMF. MM isn't much of a threat because:
1. it does less damage against lone minions than FB
2. It doesn't fire on the first round
3. not as common as FB

And to Mr. C
Sorry, I have no idea how this ToE works. But I considered it to be more defensive than ToJ. Either tattoo would work fine I suppose, since they both protect the tank during ranged.

GentlemanLoser

I considered the ToA, and I probably should have included it in this post as a possible variant.
However, the purpose of this strat was to eliminate the need for high dexterity on tanks. Wielding a ToA means that you will be wasting (the tattoo's) exp on dex.

Not sure about this, but IF the ToA's bonus is added on after armor penalties, a lot of the dex would be lost anyways (not that it matters.)

With the original variant (top), you can load up your minion with decent AC without having much impact on the already low dex. Might harm the CoC though. -__- But meh, until battles start getting into 6th and 7th rounds, CoC can be considered a 'secondary weapon.' And I'm sure with the recent 40% increased damage, it can still dish out plenty.

I've started up a CoC archer. I've a LToA in rentals at the moment and when I get that back I'm going to use that, pump my xp into HP and CoC, leaving the tat to take care of ST/DX.

The main decision to make is do you want your char to be an archer or a mage. One has to take priority. Obviously if you want to kill all your opponents in ranged then you need to concentrate on the archer. Downside to this - money - if you want to be the best archer then you need the best bow. A lot of people still don't have dollars to invest in this. Given that fact then it's more cost effective to get a halfway decent bow and put more emphasis on CoC.

I think this is the way to go for a number of reasons but the main two would be these:

1. The increased power of CoC makes it a very good DD spell. My char is only at very lower levels but can hit for 300/400 damage when a fireball mage at the same pr is only hitting for 100-150 damage. Think of the power at higher levels. CoC could now be the ELB of DD spells.

2. The amount of ToJ's around. As these get stronger, especially coupled with AS or sitting at the back of a 4 minion team , the chances of you killing them in ranged decreases dramatically. Single archers have always been especially vulnerable to 4 minion teams and this hasn't changed in CB2. If you are facing a ToJ you will most likely have to enter melee and that's where CoC will help most.

So my version would put 50/50 of xp into HP/CoC and equip a ToA to handle the ST/DX. Of course if you're starting out with a base ToA you will have to put some xp into those but after a while the tatt will handle it. You could put xp into archery but if your tank/mage is strong enough he should do enough damage. Diluting the xp into anything else is I think a mistake.

Of course some people like to be prepared for all enemies but if you're going down this route you can leave that to the multi minion teams.

Hope that made sense - I've only just woken up!

Johnnywas, you could also add DM to help with multi minion teams.

I agree, obviously DM would help against those but I think putting the emphasis on HP/CoC at first would be a better idea, in much the same way you would build a single tank with basic stats then add BL and VA later on. If your basics are undiluted to begin with you are building a stronger character in the long run IMO. OK, it leaves you vulnerable to some teams but if you are a supporter you have your favourites list and can avoid fighting those! Of course I know some people like to be able to take care of all teams eh GL? =)

Damn right! ;) I'm still working towards that goal though.... :(

Just to fill you in. My char Jack Frost is my CoC archer. I've equipped him with a LToA. That frees up my xp to take care of HP/CoC and archery. And I know he's still extremely low level but armed only with a longbow and base arrows, plus equal amounts into hp/CoC he is beating 80% of his fights. If I got hold of a decent bow that figure would probably rise. He's winning most in ranged, but when they do go to melee CoC is working really nicely. I think I might stick with this one!

=)