Strat question about Crusher (in General)

Yes, another strat thread...

What should I do come free training time with my Crusher character?

Here are the options I am considering:

(1) Do nothing. The strat is working very well right now, so why change it?

(2) Replace the SF with a ToA for Crusher and shift some points from Blocker's HP/PL to Protection, which is currently at base level (1000).

(3) Any other smart ideas that necessitate minimal amounts of changes.

In case you are thinking of suggesting it, I love the UC on Crusher and the VA on Nullifier, so I will not getting rid of them.

I always find it a waste to put PL on a heavy AC Wall. Your AC gets bypassed when your (for example) Enchanter gets hit by FB and you PL the full amount.

I also has my reservation about PL on the heavy AC Wall, but it is working very well. It is diminishing Decay, FB, and CoC damage by at least 10% on other minions. It allows my UC minion to survive to the mellee rounds and then it stays alive longer because of the VA. That in turn allows my SF to deal more damage before getting hit.

I'd say put it on Nullifier, if he had any HP or you used AS! ;)

I thought about that, but then I wouldn't be able to invest as much XP on Nullifier's Dispel and/or Blocker's HP. The advantage of PL over AS (that I really like) is that is cannot be dispelled.

I say, don't have PL on your wall, as GL said, you're making your AC useless and it being in the back, means, its being hit by MM, and that means even less gets reduced.

You _need_ an AoI on your UC tank.

You also should be training more ST on your UC tank, You should most definitely have more ST than DX. the PTH from UC is more than enough for you too land hits, so have more ST than DX. Possibly more HP as well.

During free retrain, try AMF, I can't say which is better, but I think AMF would be, seeing as you're UC.

You want to keep your VA at your average blow. not MPB. this is a common misconception. I don't know if it is at your average blow or not.

You could always try sticking VA on crusher, and AS + PL on Nulifier. Get an AoI and stick it on nulifier, move him to the front. Stick an AoM on Crusher and an AoAC on your Wall.

Physical attacks target Crusher and his large Dex/UC Evasion. MM hits your Wall. Nulifier is there to PL soak it all up :)

But, you might want a second opinion on all this! :P

I think he is already getting penalised quite a lot for 3 minions and no ToA on his UC tank. so, adding VA, which can be quite costly isn't a great thing to do on a 3 minion team. It could work, but I see a lot of stalemating, completely on the fact, you wont hit hard enough, or die early, for lack of xp into intrinsics (HP, ST, DX).

that's just my opinion, if that was a normal tank, yeah, but with HP, ST, DX, UC and VA, too much.

First let me start by thanking everyone for the suggestion. It's great food for thought. I am getting a much etter idea of what I want to do when free retraining comes along.

Now my replies to the latest suggestions...

Crusher's HP/ST/DX/UC ratios
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I actually tried your suggestion (raising HP and UC) a few months ago, but it wasn't working very well because I was missing almost every hit during ranged combat. I also tried the opposite (more ST and DX), but that wasn't working either because mage characters were completely owning me. With equally balanced HP/ST/DX/UC, combats against powerful mages end up in draws and combats against powerful tanks usually end up in my favor because of my big SF. If I switch to a ToA, I will lower my ST and DX and put more XP into my HP and UC until they are all even. I found that with my strat, balance is the key for my monk.

AS vs. PL
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I don't like AS because it can get dispelled (I would only consider using it with a RoS). That is why I prefer PL. If I put PL on Nullifier, I will have to diminish the power of his DM, which I am not prepared to do. So... neither options sound good to me. But thanks for bringing them up.

I can't move PL to Nullifier because then I would have to raise his HP and/or train AS, which would require too much XP. I am not prepared to do that.

AoI on Nullifier
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I like the "Equip Nullifier with an AoI" suggestion, but AoI's are still too expensive for me to buy and/or to rent. I figure that when I have enough gold to actually buy one, it will be pointless because my ennemies will have more than enough DX to hit Nullifier. On the other hand, if I also get my hands on pair of DBs, it could work. in conclusion, I will defenitly consider it.

Heck, I might even re-equip my current Wall with magic resistant equipment instead of weapon resistant equipment and then move Nullifier to the front with all that extra evasion power (when I get my hands on it...). Maybe that would be the best strat I can use. Any thoughts?

Amulets
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I was planning to equip every minion with the exact same amulets that were suggested by GL... but it will take some time. I don't have the gold and even if I did, I am not yet prepared to accept the PR boost it would give my char. Eventually though, they will all be equiped just like GL suggested.

VA suggestions and advice
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(1) I am actually raising VA *above* my MPB (not there yet) because I don't want it to be affected by a weak DM. I see the ravages DM can cause because I use it, so I like to be prepared. A lot of chars use AMF with DM, so they have to keep their DM low. I plan to exploit that fact as much as I can.

(2) Sticking VA on Crusher is not an option unless I switch to a ToA. Then I could spare the extra XPs for VA. If I switch to a ToA, I will definitly consider that option. Which do you suggest: ToA or SF?

Ok, I need more suggestions...

I rented an AoI to test it, and it didn't work very well. The problem is that whoever is equiped with the AoI gets targeted last by normal weapons/ammo and MM.

This works against me because I wanted to equip the AoI on Nullifier (along with a pair of DBs). Then I wanted to move Nullifier in front of all the other minions so he could prevent my damaging minions, Crusher and Nullifier's SF, from being targeted first.

The AoI makes it so that Nullifier always gets targeted last no mater what. That completely defies the purpose I had in mind for the amulet.

So, do you think I should forget about an AoI and just go with DBs and some Evasion/DX on Nullifier?

I've seen way too much Star Trek over the years. I saw that question and first thought "Wesley or Beverly" before opening the thread.