With a ping up to 63 and those two skill points, I've now maxed Hydra Rest of points will be going in to Fire Mastery and Fireball.


On to running Mephisto. I'm looking for a few pieces for my merc, as well as a nicer belt and boots for Serena. If a Tal's ammy or something drops I certainly wont' be complaining either! Gonna go /p3 or /p5, see how killspeed is.


I've done a few runs since getting back tonight but all drops so far have been naff. I'll update again when something nice appears.

Peace y'all

This post was edited by Mukhalif on Mar 19 2019 12:27pm

What is your damage right now?

Looks like a very fun combo

Please don't make her die naked in blood moor

Aye it's a blast!

Hehe, it's not on the cards!



I'll show ya

Ty, sir

How is the clear speed with this?

A stack of Hydras is surprisingly effective, but Nova is really starting to drop off! Pairing it up with Static helps

You probably know this, but I will mention it here anyway: although Hydra is a pet cast, its caster's +% Fire Skill Damage (from Fire Mastery and items equipped) and -% Enemy Fire Resistance both apply.
Hydra is explained in greater detail on the following page: https://www.theamazonbasin.com/wiki/index.php?title=Hydra


If your aim is to maximise Hydra damage, just remember synergy bonus and Fire Skill Damage are applied separately (multiplicatively):

Fire Bolt/Ball +% Fire Damage = 3 · (Fire Bolt.blvl + Fire Ball.blvl)
Fire Mastery +% Fire Skill Damage = 23 + (7·slvl)

where Fire Ball.blvl denotes base level of Fire Ball (skill points invested in Fire Ball) and slvl denotes skill level of Fire Mastery.

Hence it is a matter of maximising the product of two percentages:

(100 + 3 · (Fire Bolt.blvl + Fire Ball.blvl)) · (100 + 23 + (7·slvl) + X)
where X is the percentage sum of Fire Skill Damage from items equipped.

One might be tempted to suggest adding points to Fire Mastery is obviously better (since 7 > 3), but this is not always true.
The proper allocation of the next skill point (hence the +1) is determined by which of these two products is greater:

(100 + 3 · (Fire Bolt.blvl + Fire Ball.blvl + 1)) · (100 + 23 + (7·slvl) + X)
vs
(100 + 3 · (Fire Bolt.blvl + Fire Ball.blvl))· (100 + 23 + (7·(slvl+1)) + X)
or, equivalently, which of these two fractions is greater:

(100 + 3 · (Fire Bolt.blvl + Fire Ball.blvl + 1)) / (100 + 3 · (Fire Bolt.blvl + Fire Ball.blvl))
vs
(100 + 23 + (7·(slvl+1)) + X) / (100 + 23 + (7·slvl) + X)
Example
Let us consider your current Fire Spells skill distribution as depicted on the above image (taking X = 0):

(100 + 3 · (1 + 1)) · (100 + 23 + (7·9) + 0) = 106 · 186 = 19 716 (~ +97.16% damage)
[1] Next skill point in Fire Ball or Fire Mastery; we choose whichever yields the greater Hydra damage:

109 · 186 = 20 274 (~ +102.74% damage)
vs
106 · 193 = 20 458 (~ +104.58% damage)
or comparing fractions: 109/106 (1.0283...) < 193/186 (1.0376...). Fire Mastery is the better option.

[2] Next skill point in Fire Ball or Fire Mastery:

109 · 193 = 21 037 (~ +110.37% damage)
vs
106 · 200 = 21 200 (~ +112.00% damage)
or comparing fractions: 109/106 (1.0283...) < 200/193 (1.0362...). Fire Mastery is still better.
.
.
.
... the trend continues. Notice how the gap narrows with each skill point invested. Eventually:
.
.
.
[10] Next skill point in Fire Ball or Fire Mastery:

109 · 249 = 27 141 (~ +171.41% damage)
vs
106 · 256 = 27 136 (~ +171.36% damage)
or comparing fractions: 109/106 (1.0283...) > 256/249 (1.0281...). Fire Ball wins.

Nice build, will read later

Trying to understand this will get u drunk.
Love this guys input but Please put these things in idiot terms so some of use idiots can understand also

I had heard there comes a point where the synergies will provide more of a damage boost than Fire Mastery - appreciate the detailed explanation







This made me

I got Tal belt and mask before giving up with Meph, truly awful drops. Not had much time to play but currently on A5 NM - will update later probably

This post was edited by Mukhalif on Mar 21 2019 09:38am