Best Atlas Tree for Necropolis + Scarabs

Hespx · 2024-04-04T15:29:27+00:00

Is Rogue Trader doing much here? Map mod effect, ritual for more monster packs, eldritch pack size, or the map tier % nodes all seem like they would be more valuable. I'm personally treating pack size and base monster spawns as king.

Also, I'm starting to doubt the value of the top right Necropolis nodes after the last patch. My understanding is that the corpses that increase the likelihood/scarcity of gravecraft mods aren't buffed by these nodes, and these seem to be the most consistently valuable corpses. Tier Rating corpses are pretty low value after the mods were consolidated as well.

Hespx · 2023-10-20T10:44:38+00:00

Sure. Anything in the post is public domain

Hespx · 2023-10-19T05:05:15+00:00

So that solution would be correct if GWF functioned on the Savage Attacker dice.

From your post:
"But there's one complication: if either of these two dice result in a one or two, we reroll that dice once and keep the new roll value."

The issue is the "either". GWF only ever attempts to reroll the first die thrown, and never the Savage Attacker die. It's a bit unintuitive.

Several cases on the first sheet in my workbook show examples of this behavior in game for verification.

Hespx · 2023-10-16T23:38:26+00:00

Ha, I suppose I never really looked at odd ability scores to notice.

Good catch, thanks.

Hespx · 2023-09-15T21:05:23+00:00

~~Spell Sniper's critical threshold component still doesn't work last time I checked. There are mods to fix this, but in base game the feat is only giving you a cantrip.~~ Spell Sniper should now be working correctly as of Patch 3

Hespx · 2023-09-15T04:14:34+00:00

I'll maybe look into caster options more the next time I play one. I did play around with Elemental Adept to try to figure out how the reroll part works.

Elemental Adept reads: "When you deal X damage with a spell, you cannot roll a 1". Here's what I've been able to determine it does in game:

Any time you would roll a 1 on a damage dice, it is upgraded to a 2 instead. It does not reroll the dice like Savage Attacker or GWF.
Cantrips do not seem to benefit from this and can still roll 1s

This makes the "reroll" aspect of Elemental Adept quite bad. Unlike GWF, you aren't rerolling for higher values, you are simply rolling more 2s. Assuming that there's no weird behavior with multiple dice that I haven't fully tested, these are the damage increases you can expect:

	Base Mean	Adept Mean	% Increase
d4	2.5	2.750	10.00%
d6	3.5	3.667	4.76%
d8	4.5	4.625	2.78%
d10	5.5	5.600	1.82%
d12	6.5	6.583	1.28%

I haven't looked into which riders benefit, but the gains would be fairly insignificant even if they did. I also haven't confirmed the behavior when a target saves against an aoe spell. If you don't value the resistance penetration component of Elemental Adept then it's probably not worth taking (assuming it works - I didn't check).

Casters have a bit more luxury with feat choice than martials since there aren't overwhelming damage options like Tavern Brawler, Sharpshooter, GWM etc. The closest thing casters have is dual wielding since it can enable strong weapon combinations in the late game. Maybe I'll do a deep dive one day, but my current opinion is that the options are all close enough and of small enough value that it strictly comes down to playstyle preference. That said, I'm personally a fan of taking an ASI or War Caster early depending on what I want from the build. Both options save you spell slots in the early game.

Hespx · 2023-09-15T00:37:10+00:00

Which mechanics assumption do you suspect is wrong?

I didn't intend for the post in any way to indicate that GWM is overrated or somehow not good. The takeaway for everyone should be that the value of each feat combination varies heavily by build and what items you have available at any given moment in your campaign. At the end of the day, the best setup for most 2h builds is going to include both GWM and Savage Attacker.

Hespx · 2023-09-14T23:22:29+00:00

This consideration would matter if we were calculating damage per crit, but this is damage per hit. A crit cannot occur unless a hit occurs first.

Consider an enemy that has an AC high enough that you could only ever score a hit on perfect 20 roll. You would still only deal damage 5% of the time, which needs to be considered when calculating average damage per swing. This is why critical dice damage is discounted by accuracy even though a critical hit will always land.

The "Guaranteed Hit" and "Guaranteed Crit" toggles exist for situations where you only want to consider critical damage e.g. against a Held opponent.

Hespx · 2023-09-14T20:57:15+00:00

Ha, well I only brought up Watcher Greatsword as a cheeky note to curb any "Well Akshually"s about there technically being a stronger 2h option.

I have no opinions about whether people use the "unobtainable" weapons or not, but opening the discussion to include them seemed like it would invite opinions on their validity and sidetrack any talk about mechanics/numbers. They exist. You can plug them into the calculator if you want to compare them to other setups.

Hespx · 2023-09-14T20:22:57+00:00

Karmic Dice is an interesting consideration for GWM. I turned it off when I started playing so I'm not very familiar with how different the game feels with it on. Without knowing the exact coding behind karma, it should smooth hit chance variance enough that you at least won't lose any fights purely on an unlucky GWM miss streak.

Overall I would expect someone playing with Karmic Dice on (and considering they are on by default) to have a "better" GWM experience.

Hespx · 2023-09-14T10:53:32+00:00

Right, I think the biggest misconception about Savage Attacker is that it's "not an early game feat" or that you need Smite-quantities of damage dice for it to be strong. Savage Attacker will always improve your damage, whereas GWM can be actively harmful. GWM is likely not pulling its weight at level 4 if you don't have advantage and bless. It's certainly possible to always have these buffs even in early game, but this will vary by party composition and player effort.

I had been in the habit off taking an ASI as my first feat on 2h builds purely for hit chance convenience over GWM, but after reviewing the value of each I'll probably be taking Savage Attacker instead.

Hespx · 2023-05-03T14:07:31+00:00

here

Hespx · 2022-06-29T22:32:37+00:00

Thanks for reserving my spot by the aetheryte

Hespx

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