User:Mac Dre/Divine Champion
From NexusWiki
Caution: The owner of this page states that it may or may not be factual and/or unbiased, and so should not be considered 'Neutral Point of View'. As such, only the creator of this page - or others, given permission - may edit it.
|
Contents |
[edit] Dremac's Divine Champion Guide
I'm just some dude who's been playing NexusWar for a long time. I've maxed every class and I've played in factions of all sizes and locations and styles. This article is merely my thoughts about the Divine Champion class written down for all to see.
The Divine Champion is the angel's hybrid spellcaster/fighter. His counterparts are the demonic Void Walker and the unaligned Nexus Champion. His alternate is the angel's pure tank, the Seraph.
The Divine Champion is traditionally seen as an immensely powerful raider and stronghold defender.
[edit] Pros and Cons
[edit] Pros
- An amazing variety of cloaks to choose from.
- Cheap access to Hand of Zealotry.
- The best innate soak of any class that can cast spells.
- The highest hand to hand damage attacks in the game and complete immunity to mundane damage with Cloak of the Carbon Core.
- The only unsoakable AoE in the game with Cloak of Holy Radiance.
- The unique ability to pick up and use Heavy Items as weapons with Cloak of Steel and it's child cloaks.
- 0 AP travel and immunity to magic damage with Cloak of the Tornado.
- Reduced cost spell-casting with Cloak of Air.
- Excellent accuracy thanks to spells and Weapon Mastery.
[edit] Cons
- Almost all of your abilities are MP reliant.
- All it takes is one enemy Defiler to ruin your day with Dark Heart.
- Certain cloak combinations synch much better than others, some planning is required.
- Heavy Items are usually worn or worse quality, further reducing already low accuracy.
- Many of the cooler abilities rely on the Thrown Weapons tree.
[edit] How to Play a Divine Champion
[edit] Know the Cloaks
It's vitally important that you read the wiki entries on all the 60 cp cloaks before you start your Divine Champion. Your basic approach should start with "which of these cloaks do I want the most?" Once you've answered that question you can pick the mortal skills that will complement it the best.
If it helps to break it down any, here is a comparative chart.
| Cloak | Soak Bonus | Immunity | Damage Bonus | Accuracy Bonus | Defense Changes | Innate Attack | Activation MP | MP Upkeep | MP per Action | AP per Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carbon Core | +10 | Piercing, Slashing, Bludgeoning, Ballistic | +10 Hand to Hand | - | -5% Defense | - | 2 | 3 / 15 Minutes | - | 2 |
| Titanium | +4 | - | +5 Hand to Hand | +15% Heavy Items | - | - | 2 | 3 / 15 Minutes | - | 1 |
| Lightning | - | Electric, non-Magical Weapons | - | +20% Ranged Spells | - | Lightning Bolt (Thrown), Lightning AoE (70% base) | 1 | 2 / Minute | 1 | 1 |
| Tornado | - | Magic, non-Magical Weapons | - | - | Chance of Spell Reflection or Absorption | - | 2 | 2 / Minute | 1 | 0 |
| Hoarfrost | - | Cold | - | - | Cold Damage Aura | Frostblade (Fencing), Ice Shard (Throwing), Soul Chill (?) | 2 | 3 / 15 Minutes | - | 1 |
| Holy Radiance | - | Fire, Holy | - | - | Fire Damage Aura | Kiss of the Radiant Sun (?) | 2 | 1 / Minute | 1 | 1 |
[edit] Choose Your Weapon
[edit] Carbon Core
Carbon Core is probably the most popular cloak and for obvious reasons. Low upkeep, huge soak bonus, great immunities, huge boost to hand to hand damage, etc. For a Hand to Hand DC, Carbon Core is an excellent choice as a primary cloak.
On the downside, it's rather dull. While good factions love their Carbon Core Divine Champions, they rarely get to do much besides bash ward, soak pet attacks, and stand still and get beat up on defense. I sort of feel as though Carbon Core DCs are the serious students, sitting inside, hunched over their papers, staring longingly out the window at the Divine Champions who are having more fun. Such as...
[edit] Titanium
In terms of power, Titanium may be the worst of the cloaks. Mediocre damage boost, mediocre soak boost, the only cloak with no immunities, etc. Titanium however has one thing going for it that might just trump every other cloak - the 15% boost to attacks with heavy items. Yes, a Carbon Core DC can hit like a truck but a Titanium DC can actually hit you with a truck. The beauty of smiting someone with a portable toilet is also a joy that only Divine Champions can know (yes, Lesser Smite can be used with Heavy Objects) and the the Titanium Champion knows it more than any other.
While Titanium makes a weak primary cloak, it shouldn't be overlooked. It also makes an excellent complementary cloak to Carbon Core. Go Carbon Core when it's time to be serious, switch to Titanium when it's time to have fun. Titanium and Hoarfrost synch well for a Melee Divine Champion.
[edit] Lightning
Personally, I think Lightning is the least appealing of the cloaks. While it's AoE attack may seem nice, remember that as a Divine Champion your MP comes very precious and you won't be able to shoot off more than a few of them. In a large stronghold, this will make very little difference. Furthermore, the bonus to ranged spells calls for a very odd Divine Champion build. I don't think I've ever seen one that uses ranged spells. For that reason alone Lightning is a very weak choice as a primary cloak, and only really sensible as a secondary cloak for a Divine Champion that raids with a very light-AoE team.
[edit] Tornado
Tornado is the ultimate angelic travel skill. For 0 AP (but 1 MP) per square you can get wherever you want. If you are being raided and need to respawn, you are actually competitive with a Void Walker in arriving back home with nearly as many ap as you had when you respawned. Tornado is also invaluable for raiding, as it allows you to show up at the enemy stronghold with the maximum amount of AP.
Tornado makes little sense as a Primary cloak. However, for a Carbon Core or Titanium DC, Tornado makes an excellent secondary cloak. Carbon Core DCs who specialize in wardbashing are especially benefited by the extra AP from Tornado. Hoarfrost, with it's low MP cost, also synchs well with Tornado.
[edit] Hoarfrost
Hoarfrost is the alternative to Carbon Core for a low cost Divine Champion. Where a Carbon Core champion picks up hand to hand skills, a Hoarfrost champion will go for melee. However, the damage from the Frost Sword is not as great as carbon fists. That being said, avoiding pesky defilers is much easier if one has a damage aura to scare them off.
The Soul Chill ability offers the intriguing notion that perhaps a Hoarfrost DC is most meant as a foil to other Divine Champions. Blasting off a few MP draining bursts in a room full of cloaked up DCs would be positively delightful. To my knowledge, nobody has attempted this "anti-angel" build yet.
Hoarfrost is the sensible primary cloak for a melee divine champion. It is complemented well by Tornado for good travel times, and Titanium as both make good use of the thrown weapons tree.
[edit] Holy Radiance
The idea of an unsoakable AoE attack was met with, to put it mildly, pandemonium. This has since been tempered quite significantly, due to how costly the attack is, the damage getting nerfed, and the realization of how likely you were to fry your friends in most any situation you would want to use it. The best case scenario is to be alerted to an attack on your stronghold very early and then step outside and use this skill on the wardbashers on the porch.
Needless to say, this scenario is sufficiently rare to discourage all but the most active of players from taking it as a primary cloak. Nevertheless, it remains an alluring option as a secondary cloak for almost any build.
[edit] Namm is Magic
Don't overlook the fact that you can cast spells for 30 cp. This may seem expensive for a class that is fairly starved for CP and MP as it is, but the benefits are well worth the price.
- With an attack boosting spell (Tiger Claw, Eagle Eye, or Shade of the Dervish) a Divine Champion can achieve very high accuracy.
- Defensive Spells such as Turtle Shell will still be up even after all your MP is drained.
- Utility spells, such as Wards, Reveal, and Dispel Greater Ward, are probably best left for the other spellcasters on your team.
- If you're a bookworm or know some friendly Sorcerers, having a stack of helpful scrolls on hand at all times can be immensely helpful.
This is especially true with Cloak of Air which halves the cost of spellcasting when the cloak is activated. It's an easy way to stack twice the spells you otherwise would be able to in advance, or even spam wards in an emergency situation.
[edit] Stick to Your Plan
The Divine Champion, more than any other angelic class, can have a woeful experience with the wrong build. Once you have your build figured out, stick to it. Don't try to cram in another option when the cloaks you've picked to go with should already guarantee you a fun and deadly time.
While any other class can probably find some way to squeeze in a skill or two that their faction needs, a Divine Champion might need to be more selfish in their skill selection.
[edit] You Are the Angel's "Demon"
Probably one of the reasons the Divine Champion is so popular is because it's the angel class that plays the most like a demon. The best place for a Divine Champion to be is in the thick of a raid. Breaking down wards, the first one in the door, trampling actives and petmasters alike. Because, let's face it, against a big faction your MP is going to be gone and you'll be useless if you wait too long. Likewise if you try to go hunting you'll miss half the targets due to lack of Enhanced Senses and anyone active will just run away from you. So go to where they can't run - inside their stronghold! Run in like a berserker and remind those demons why they fear the light. You shouldn't be relying on equipment, your forms give you all the weapons you need. Don't fear dying, make the other guy afraid.
[edit] Comparison
The poor Seraph may come off the worst of any direct comparison between two options. He does not have an iota of the Divine Champion's flash or sexiness. Still, the Seraph is a respectable class and, in the long run, can hold it's own.
Doing a point by point comparison with a class as flexible as the Divine Champion would be silly. The main things to remember are that a Seraph...
- Can have more HP and MP
- Has a damage aura at all times
- Has enhanced senses
- Gets to Greater Smite
- Does more base damage with Infinite Attack
Next to all the incredible goodies in a Divine Champion's toolbox, this may come off somewhat cheap. Never forget that while the Seraph may be less intimidating, only a fool would trust his stronghold's safety to an angel whose power can be drained as easily as the Divine Champion's. That said, I can't imagine anyone seriously choosing a Seraph as the class they would rather play these days.
[edit] Conclusion
It's hard to write a firm conclusion about a class with so many possibilities. But if you want the sky to be the limit, and aren't afraid to plan your build in advance and stick to your plan, this is the class for you.
Last Edited by Mac Dre 04:11, 29 December 2007 (CST)