Where should my familiar go? (in General)

I am about to equip my Ice Familiar full time because my MTL is going to surpass its level.

Should I place the familiar behind or in front of my Conjurer minion?

To help you decide, just remember that Sorceress's MM level will always be greater than the familiar's level.

I thought since the beginning that I should place the IF in front of Conjurer so it could survive longer against MM attacks. But I am not certain anymore because against any other type of attack, the familiar would survive longer in the back. Decay would also hit the opponent's front minion before the CoC blast, which would be a very good thing.

What do you think?

Put it at the back. You're currently #14 magic missile, and a lot of the ones above you are people like NWO and Dixie Cousins, probably too big for you to worry about for the moment. There are also not many steel familiars around right now.

While it's nice to prepare for all attacks, sometimes it's worth ignoring one to concentrate on the ones that will cause you more trouble.

Just think about the attacks from the front too (not that I really have to explain anything to you Tal!)


Physical attacks: you're entering the place of big PTHs, one more kill slot between your IF and an archer/xbow/Sod tank is always helpful;

FB: spread fire hopefully won't kill it and it won't see direct hits for a little while.

CoC - if that's all they have then you'll be hopefully keeping it from a direct hit for a little longer;

RBF: the longer you keep the IF alive the more it gets the chance to show how it is the natural counter to an RBF minion.

with something like this there is no substitute for extensive testing

Your setup is looking awesome BTW!

I agree with both of you.

JW's advice makes a lot of sense so I will start with that (even changed the character image to reflect the change.

However, there is no substitute for extensive testing as novice wisely points out. So I might eventually change it back.

I'm just curious but, why ice familiar? it looks to me that your team isn't built for endurance... Since you need your mm to be > MTL, its evasion can't be very large (like YOU large). So it's not unreasonable to get hit on the third round of ranged. Then you are really only getting one shot off with the IF. SF will dominate you from the back. Your only source of HP is as, leaving you open for dispel magic. What am I missing?

The evasion is pretty big; big enough that I lose to the char with a +101 weapon and ToA.....

+101 weapon is small at our mpr. You should be expecting +150 or so with all the namings and named ammos. I wouldn't be surprised if the evasion is around 1mil level though, which is where mine is at. I do get hit by the bigger elbows on the third round, but my team is mostly done doing damage at that point anyways.

I dunno, +101 is plenty to let me take on most things; apart from the bigger evasions and DBs. But Talion's team does well; decent amounts of damage too!

I think it's a great set-up. As for his weakness to AS, I find that anyone training a DM big enough to take out his AS - like me - has a spot of trouble finding enough AMF to counter his DD attacks. His Sorceress usually gets one or two hits on me before I roast him alive :D. If my kill slot wasn't back there, I would draw him almost every time.

Also, I'm wondering, why did you switch from your FF?

Nevermind.. 4th round is a total killer for single minions. MM + Decay + CoC = x.x

"I'm just curious but, why ice familiar?"

Simple... I like the IF. That is the main reason. I would be lying if I wrote something different.

However, there are other reasons I go IF that I don't want to justify in this thread.

I will just point out that Sorceress will eventually switch the CoI for an EC, the DB for some EB, and maybe the AoL for a AoF. That will boost her Evasion level up the wazoo and her AC will rise another 40 to 50 points to eventually settle close to 200. With Conjurer and his IF both sporting an AC around 120, I will be able to last quite a while with the massive HP generated by my AS (already top 50).

Later on, I will always have the option of hiring more minions to serve as meat shields if nothing else, which will allow me to last even longer.

♪ All the mages get the Fam in the back ♫

Actually... LOL!

Since my minion is training Decay, the familiar will always be in front of it.

Problem solved by non-option clause.

CoC in front of Decay may be a good thing in some cases. Against teams with a 20HP minion up front, your Decay won't do much if it fires first ;)

That's if anyone even use a front wall anymore due to exp shots.

Just wondering, how much have you spent of BA for this character, and how much do you intend to spend?

Are you earning enough money for BA as you fight?