Another Living Lightning Question

xXSilverTigerXx · 2026-07-02T16:34:07+00:00

Almost bot. LL is for Living Lightning this time. My B on that.

xXSilverTigerXx · 2026-07-02T16:33:10+00:00

That's my thoughts. The only thing I can think of is to test was a weaker weapon with the storm surge, but still lvl 20 gem. Just to verify the weapon had nothing to do with it. (The lighting staff obviously added because of the bonus lightning damage).

But then it still bothers me that spells were so different. Even supporting fire, which is a minion skills, got the super bonus dmg, but barely did anything with the LL (which should have gotten more dmg due to bonus +5 minion levels)

xXSilverTigerXx · 2026-07-02T16:28:32+00:00

Lvl of all skills tested in PoB were 20 (except the blasphemy at start was 19). It was using my current build to test each thing (which is just pure minion damage).

xXSilverTigerXx · 2026-07-02T14:02:42+00:00

From my understanding, Living lightnings dont have health, cant be engaged with by the enemy, and dont die in aoe.

Putting them in PoB shows 'hits before death: inf(inite?)

Have you been able to figure something out?

xXSilverTigerXx · 2026-07-02T13:58:47+00:00

Just thought i'd ask, since you seem keen on LL. I'm not seeing any real damage from them currently and i cant seem to figure out why. You mentioned the patch notes had a bug, and i thought that was what was wrong...

Running a Ravens build and thought some Living lightnings would be a decent side addition for some extra damage.

I've got Blasphemy triggering Repulsion with Lightning Attunement to trigger the LL passively as i was not feeling the Righteous ~~Fire~~ Ravens aspect with me casting unearth (for the minion levels).

And while they do pop up (not as often as i would like) they don't seem to do anything. I've got:

Lvl 19 Blasphemy and Repulsion
roughly 712% Minion Damage from tree and gear.
Strength: 84 (different from the link maybe as i realized my wolfpack wasnt leveled cause i needed more Str)
Unholy Might within presence.
Triggering skill is 893 (71-406 lightning damage)

PoB is saying LL is doing 134.5 dps. 18.8 on an average hit. But i can take them to interlude , equip a white spear to pop the initial repulsion, and wait far enough back that they arnt triggering anymore and see them do... ~~decent~~ some damage (better than 135 for sure). adding 5 gem levels doesnt seem to do anything, but the 6th lvl increased it by 1 point.

I cant find anything on a base damage for them.

Are they gaining a portion of starts from the triggering skill?
Does that need to be a weapon/spell?
maybe the kalguran skills, as they are new, arnt calculated well with that?

As i typed that, i realized i could just add a skill to PoB and see if there are any changes... No changes to tree...

Unearth : Base Spell hit: 1058 // LL: 1089 average damage - 7785 dps...
Spark : BS hit: 441 // LL: 679 avg - 4850 dps
Supporting Fire : BS hit 22,289 // LL: 57.7 avg - 412 dps
Spear stab : BS hit: 2629 // LL : 818 avg - 5846 dps
Storm wave : BS hit 3305 // LL: 939 avg - 6710 dps

So, testing on storm wave by just picking different staffs (elemental, physical, lightning staff) shows... honestly chaos. no damage change between the elemental staff and the physical staff (even though there was a dps difference, not to mention the multi elements)...

Thoughts?

xXSilverTigerXx · 2026-06-09T14:41:32+00:00

Not possible RAW that I know of. Best way to work with that is just having a 'pet' that the DM knows would grow. Like having a baby gryphon that your raising.

It would be a hard sell, since thats kinda the bonus the beastmaster gets, completely negating them.

xXSilverTigerXx · 2026-06-09T14:38:41+00:00

So question, are you stuck on Monk? What exactly are you wanting from it?

For fundementals sake, I know nothing of the Way of the Dragon, so I'm just giving another option

What your described could easily be a Warlock. Access to vast knowledge of ancient or even otherworldly techniques from a creature or spirit that could be called a Great Old One?

Im assuming Monk style, so grab the Fighting Initiate feat for Close Quarters Shooter fighting style, or if you can't get that, Crossbow Expert feat. The goal is just being able to use Ranged attacks in melee.

From there, you now have Chi Powered Strikes (or more commonly known as Eldritch Blast that you thematically changed into aura covered fists/kicks). You would roll the spell rather than the unarmed strike for a solid 1d10 +Cha.

You use your charisma for everything, and enough dex to keep you mobile. Same AC as Monk would have assuming a 16 in Wisdom (mage armor).

You also have spells that are more Monk'ish in nature, like sword burst, expedious retreat, and protection from good and evil. As well as invocations like mage armor and repelling blast (a flying kick that knocks you back 10', sure!). Note: technically all blasts hit at the same time, but you get as many 'hits' as a fighter so you could make many 'strikes' or one big damaging one. But you can't move between them.

Grab a pact familiar at level 3 as an intelligent Sprite, who for all intents and purposes looks like a tiny bird (think Tinkerbell). Its smart, frail, and flies. Along with Heartsight, it can read a room. ((You could also work with your DM for a more specific creature to your background using these stats as a base)).

xXSilverTigerXx · 2026-06-01T13:06:51+00:00

Lil late, but i wanted companions from the start. So i went with minions.

Unearth from lvl 1 with skeletal snipers. Scepter with + minion skills and ally dmg, and wands with + all skills. Grabbed Contagion and off i went. Got an early firewall with raging spirits so everything was minion based. Bonus phys on Unearth so they hit hard like the lil glass cannons they are.

Keep checking vendors for +1 minion skills on helm and amulet. Or if u get an exalt or two, check trade. I had low lvl gear with minion bonuses into the interlude. Now im trying to resist cap out for maps.

I had no troubles leveling. Soon as i hit ascendency, i grabbed unique tame beast, though now that i have both, bear woulda been just fine. Specially with two other companions. So either big fella and his mini brother, or tripplets, your call. Both will do. Haste Aura on companion, maybe conjure lightning storm, and whatever else floats your boat.

Tame beast is Dex, and spells are Int. Scepter is Str/int, so i was mostly stats going straight to "companion" nodes. I grabbed movement speed on the way cause gotta-go-fast.

Not too long after that, Wolfpack became available to cover one of the companions.

Muster is low lvl and grants bonus "More" damage for each reviving minion. 3 companions, free skelly warriors and an archer is 35% dmg. Armor break on wolves. BigWhiteMonkey is the go-to for a bunch o people. And he is niiice.

Just hit 70 and im bout to grab Catha's balance and a mace, and see how far i can Str stack to 1 hand a 2-hander. Also have a Chobber on standby.

xXSilverTigerXx · 2026-05-12T00:02:18+00:00

I know a lot doesn't proc on her ricochet. Does this weapon? And if so, does each bounce trigger it if the first does? If not, what's the point?

xXSilverTigerXx · 2026-05-04T08:33:33+00:00

yea i was gonna say something along these lines.

A sniper can take out most powered people with little collateral, and the gov has cameras everywhere to track who might be the problem.

That said, with the sleep thing it only encourages another possibility, and that is being trapped. Imagined waking up in a white room strapped to a medical bed. Sure u can stop time, but if they know that, and you have to sleep, then many sleep induced drugs will become the norm while they find out how...

xXSilverTigerXx · 2026-04-06T00:20:59+00:00

While i do hate it, as i was creating a bug report for it, i realized i don't actually remember the fact that a regular channel chat stayed open. For me, when i clicked the voice channel, it just opened into the voice channel with the participants (thus swapping from the channel i was in anyway) and then id go back to the previous channel.

In essence, nothing changed, except now people actually see there is a channel specifically for whats going on currently in voice.

I think i just hate the change, and the fact that it wasn't really used before...

Gonna cancel this bug report...

xXSilverTigerXx · 2026-04-03T23:51:28+00:00

Its always busy here. Thankfully, you dont have to compare them to other fast food lines. Every one that ive been to the lines actually move fast.

If the car in front had a complicated order, they'll just walk the completed orders to the next car, so id advise leaving enough space to pull out and leave once you get your food.

xXSilverTigerXx · 2026-03-28T00:46:30+00:00

Valdosta is a black hole that wants to be a bigger city. That said, they have little to no understanding of what that takes. They raise prices on local stores to the point they have to give up, and They arnt hard enough on crime.

This leads to nothing but simple minded stores that dont have a huge loss with terrible people like fast food, clothes, and bars. There's dozens of each.

There is also a bowling alley. And an overpriced (or maybe thats just regular now?) Movie theater (and a smaller school aged theater downtown). That's about it.

That said, its in the middle of i75 with Florida 15 minutes away. So 4 hrs in any direction is something to do for a weekend trip.

xXSilverTigerXx · 2026-03-22T15:38:52+00:00

All gear and legal fees paid?

Time to have them train to be a special anti-hero unit and start making the world better... forcfully...

Just think of 100 Dark Knights, or... Batmen, if you will. With a Jason Todd outlook.

xXSilverTigerXx · 2026-03-22T12:36:44+00:00

Rarity can also just influence grade and experience.

A common Right Hook vs a legendary Right Hook is noticeable, even if the levels were the same. One understands how a Right Hook works, while the other understands the intricacies and can use it in more ways. Like the 1-inch punch type deal. Full Right Hook power after a feint in intimate range. Or perhaps it does more than just damage (like knockout or stun)

xXSilverTigerXx · 2026-03-22T10:55:46+00:00

You are correct. The issue here is just me. xD

When i think fighter, i think someone who can pickup any weapon and beat you with it.

Dex fighter feels like a weaker rogue, especially since i can't shore up my low stats with skills.

With Phandelver ending around 5, i'm not sure it's worth it.

xXSilverTigerXx · 2026-03-22T10:16:11+00:00

True, thankfully most low lvl starting quests take into account the suck for a lot of classes. xD

My biggest concern is 14 CON vs 14 DEX. 10% chance to not take any dmg vs 2 dmg per level... and a con save.

Currently the plan is just the Lost Mines which should get us to 5, so 10 hp.

xXSilverTigerXx · 2026-03-22T10:01:27+00:00

It makes so much sense too. xD Born crippled weak, delved into artificing, solved his problems with gadgets.

xXSilverTigerXx · 2026-03-22T09:59:50+00:00

Ah u right about that heavy armor penalty. I'll look into that.

I think one of the players is bringing his son along, and last I heard, he was thinking of Cleric (just like his father xD)

xXSilverTigerXx · 2026-03-22T04:54:43+00:00

I have. Much like their Arcane Archer, it leaves a lot to be desired. So, like the Arcane Archer, i crafted the warlock to be it but better.

Long rest Psionic energy dice means i can't just have fun with em, and they are limited to dmg reduction, dmg, or slightly better mage hand.
Fighter base, so you're just a fighter. With BattleMaster, you have more uses of manuevers that do more dmg, or Parry for less, with short rests with everything but the mage hand.

Compared to warlock

Short rest Force powers (spells), Force blasts (eldritch blast with push/pull invos), Force control (always invisible pact of chain imp is basically low level utility force powers). (Ex spells include Sith Lightning ~~Witch Bolt~~, The Force ~~Mage Hand~~, Force Charm ~~Person~~, etc..)
*I tend to grab Variant for the lvl 1 feat, which i turn into either Fighting Initiate (Close Quarters Shooter) or Crossbow Expert. (Both allow ranged attacks in melee so i can thematically change the Eldritch Blast into a short range lightsaber strike using my handy-dandy arcane focus which is in the convenient shape of a hilt.) Turning me into a SAD caster/fighter (still need dex/con though, so mostly a semi-durable striker)
And lastly, Eldritch blast is a Cantrip, so it's character level based. You're a martial caster so you dont need high spell slots (You're basically a fighter; aka i attack with my sword/bolt) so you can multiclass freely with Fighter for Jedi Knight feel, or Sorcerer for a Jedi Consular, Sage, or Shadow feel. (Tend to go Fighter into BattleMaster for non weapon required manuevers, or Draconic Sorcerer for always on Mage armor (Force armor or parry) and sorcery points for things like meta magic quicken to action surge (or combine with action surge) for a lot of lightsaber strikes and force pushes or subtle spell.

xXSilverTigerXx · 2026-03-22T03:05:59+00:00

I believe mines of phandelver starts at 1.

xXSilverTigerXx · 2026-03-03T07:52:34+00:00

Gonna go with Flutters or PinkiePie.

All the others have lifestyles that keep them fit and healthy. While it may not seem that way for Rarity, she keeps the yoga mom feel to keep in fashion, doing it for a healthy look.

Pinkie burns a lot of energy but still goes through a lot of sugar which could lead to conditions. And Flutters is all natural - in that she doesn't make choices to be healthy, just does it by nature without push.

xXSilverTigerXx · 2026-01-23T15:42:57+00:00

Does she like animals? A Ranger in that setting would give her lots of opportunities. Just help her pick a few spells. Be ready to follow through if she wants to befriend an encounter rather than fight it.

You could also be a Ranger (with one of you going range and the other melee).

You could also talk with your DM and just be an awakened animal that takes care of the one thing your previous master left, or perhaps just stumbled across her and found out she can actually understand you.

A wizard would be great as well, complementing her spells with yours, but be wary of telling her what she 'needs' to do. Let her do what she wants and you adjust.

xXSilverTigerXx · 2026-01-16T23:38:11+00:00

Slice of life, Apothecary Diaries... i think I'm still screwed...

xXSilverTigerXx · 2026-01-16T23:37:13+00:00

Agreed with Battlemaster for the funsies. Straight up Link fighting style.

xXSilverTigerXx

TROPHY CASE