BMG tips

[H&R]

I think you've saved a lot more than just my time by not writing such a post. Personally' date=' I'd love to see you try and prove that sear is somewhere near 100% efficient in landing blind or any other of your "points"[/quote']

Been a while since my bmg, but from what I remember blind landed very often when you cast it at noon, even through saves. If you use it when the sun isn't at its peak though, that's another story.

[Pali]

*facepalm*

[Croyvern]

Also one of the "benefits" of having a small pbase like you all do here is that statistically...how many zerks with haymaker bonus are you gonna have to fight?

Your last BMG evaded haymakers rather well.....

[mya]

Guys, there is a thing called saves that are used to prevent spells effects....

"""There's an item that will let you cast sear twice in one round" - It has no bearing on your ability to cast the spell."

It has bearing on your ability to cast the spell. Bearing of which I shall not speak.

Onyx Lance is also a good weapon to dance. I take it over the Maw any day of the week. Not because it's more powerful, but because it's the same and easy as pie.

Human Battlemages are also for me the best race for them, due to the 20 CON regen bonus.

Don't forget Air Shield spell. When you cannot block you absorb.

[mmajunkie]

Mya -- I know of the proficiency bonus, but that does not let u cast the spell any faster. I should've clarified as I knew someone would want to try and prove me wrong

Croyvern -- hehehe, that zerk was a tough cookie when I was walking around in 1/2 eq. idk what took me so long to get on the ball and get some decent eq but there for awhile I had stuff like a spiked collar and a bear-skin cloak. The mino zerk dual axe/charge definitely got me one time. But I think at the end I returned the favor. Three times.

H&R -- the blind at 11, 12, 13 hour does seem to land more easily. However, it is not 100% and 3 out of 24 hours having an elevated success rate does not put it anywhere near 100% in general as Foxx suggested.

[Mindflayer]

The bane of a battlemage is a smart invoker

[f0xx]

H&R -- the blind at 11' date=' 12, 13 hour does seem to land more easily. However, it is not 100% and 3 out of 24 hours having an elevated success rate does not put it anywhere near 100% in general as Foxx suggested.[/quote']

Zrothum, you should be a lawyer.

Of course I was talking about the peak of the day.

And when making this statement one should have in mind, by default, that we are talking about average characters in average gear (lets say human in around 15 svs). Now, put your magic resistant race with 35 svs and you will have a hard time landing anything, not just sear (even though I've had H&R's BMG land sear blind on my char with magic resistance and ~35 svs multiple times).

Against the average foe though, when cast at the right time, sear will land almost always.

Not even going to mention cabal skills, + spell level EQ, + sear prof EQ. Not even going to bring the fact that you CAN cast 2 sears in 1 round under certain circumstances.

The fact that I say something which is usually not true (like 2 sears in 1 round and close to 100% success rate for sear blind), does not mean it is absolutely always not true. You know well that those things are achievable under the right circumstances. Not saying exactly what the circumstances are though, does not make it false, but only vauge. Then you claiming those things are not achievable (when you fully well know they are) is an intentional mislead and a simple desire to argue with me just for the sake of arguing.

You need to grow up.

[samag08]

I find that if prepared for it a sear lands blind only 1/5 times looking over my last 20 or so fights vs bmgs with various setups and classes. As for tips go I can only say in a different way what has already been stated. The same goes for any race/class combination here. You need to have a well thought out plan for each and every possible fight and then simply execute it flawlessly. If you do this it will only be a matter of time before your opponent makes a mistake and you can capitalize on it. Otherwise, if they are also playing flawlessly, and you are losing, you made a miscalculation somewhere. This is paraphrasing Sun Tzu ,of course.

P.S. The odds are that most of us players here will HARDLY fully exercise the above unless we are VERY familiar with the classes and situations.

[Pali]

You need to have a well thought out plan for each and every possible fight and then simply execute it flawlessly. If you do this it will only be a matter of time before your opponent makes a mistake and you can capitalize on it. Otherwise' date=' if they are also playing flawlessly, and you are losing, you made a miscalculation somewhere.[/quote']

This is one of the main reasons I often compare the level of PK depth in FL to a game of chess - being a good player is less about coming up with insanely intricate schemes (though these are fun to pull off ) and more about just not screwing up and leaving open holes in your defenses.

P.S. Mindflayer is right - invoker is bmg bane. I'd say well-played paladins also qualify as bane for evil bmgs - except certain Savants.

[mmajunkie]

The fact that I say something which is usually not true (like 2 sears in 1 round and close to 100% success rate for sear blind), does not mean it is absolutely always not true.

I cannot really believe you even said that Foxx lol

Someone asks for advice...so you think it's okay to give them advice that is usually not true?

And no, YOU cannot cast sear twice in one round under any circumstances. What you can do is wear an item that casts sear as soon as the game ticks 12 noon, then if you are lucky enough to time it right you can cast sear at that precise second and get two sears in one round but will be unable to even have a chance to do it again for another 24 hours. Do you understand how many stars and planets have to align for that to happen? You need to be able to time the tic precisely, hope you are not lagged by a trip/bash/other spell cast

To tell someone "If you get this particular item, you can cast sear twice in one round" is misleading, as has been my entire point about some of your tips. Now you've clarified and made it a little bit more truthful. But still not good, sound advice.

You can get hurt and be defensive and tell me to grow up all you want, my little bulgarian friend...but you really should take twenty minutes and re-read every post you've made in the past five months (I've already done it) and take a long hard look in the mirror. If it was anyone else that said it, I would look the other way. But you say it thinking you are absolutely right and anyone that presents a case that proves you wrong is some sort of bully. You are trying to help, which is a great thing, and I admire you for. But misinformation will only hurt people in the long run. It -IS- absolutely not true that a non-IMM enhanced battlemage can cast two sears in one round.

[f0xx]

Do you understand how many stars and planets have to align for that to happen? You need to be able to time the tic precisely' date=' hope you are not lagged by a trip/bash/other spell cast[/quote']

You don't have to tick it precisely.

The item will cast sear as long as it is 12 o'clock. Not just "when it ticks". Also "wear" command has no lag. Hell it's not even hard to do it.

And if you, as a BMG are being lagged by bash/trip or whatever other lagging spells, then this is entirely your only fault since you have means to defend yourself against lagging skills.

Someone asks for advice...so you think it's okay to give them advice that is usually not true?

And advice is an advice. What does it matter if you will only be able to cast it once every 24 hours? It works, no matter how you try to persuade everyone how hardly achievable that is.

To tell someone "If you get this particular item, you can cast sear twice in one round" is misleading, as has been my entire point about some of your tips. Now you've clarified and made it a little bit more truthful. But still not good, sound advice.

So, basicly I gave an advice on how to get two ===DISENTIGRATES== in one round and you say this is not a good advice? It is not only a good advice, but it is a trick which very few people know, including you too, it seems.

but you really should take twenty minutes and re-read every post you've made in the past five months (I've already done it)

This one, I won't even comment. You seem to have some personal issue with me and you are not even trying to hide it. And you go nuts at me every time I post.

I will give you a small advice here. There was a time in which I hated Mya real bad. I wanted to burst on her and prove her wrong every time she posts. That of course wouldn't have looked good neither for me, nor for her, because as we know, proving Mya wrong is not a hard thing to do. Instead of that though, I decided to try a different approach and pretend that I like her. And it works (most of the time at least ). I would advice you to try it. I will start pretending that I like you too, from now on

[mmajunkie]

You said yourself your advice is usually not true, now you're trying to prove it is true?

Of course I know about the Iridescent Shield and how it works. Yet again you say something like you're giving advice on how to get two disents in one round....try casting sear on Jaspurr at noon and see if you get a disent. Or some other sanc'd/prot'd person. Your calculation is based on best-case scenarios and not average gameplay. There will be times when you don't have flight, there will be times in close battles where not stopping to put forcefield back up outweighs the time lost in the chase. There will be times where you have manalock up vs a watcher invoker and his dragon gets a lucky bash.

I have nothing against you, I don't know you. I have something against the way you parade around the forum with your half-flames and half-truths. If you took my advice and read your posts over the past few months, you might see it.

Wearing the shield in the middle of combat does not automatically make it cast. Your enemy, if smart, will flee immediately.

Again, this scenario IS NOT what you originally advised. You simply and incorrectly informed everyone that if you get this item you can cast two sears in one round.

I know how the shield works and I know how you can POSSIBLY hit someone with two sears in a round once every 24 hours at noon.

That's a world of difference than what you originally said which is all my argument is with. If you want to continue to modify and clarify your original post, then by all means go ahead.

The fact remains that your initial advice was incorrect and misleading. If you want to paint me as some sort of bad guy for trying to make sure someone asking advice about one of my favorite classes doesn't get fed BS about certain things...well, that's a you issue.

[f0xx]

Jesus christ.

The fact remains that your initial advice was incorrect and misleading.

"There is an item that will allow you to cast 2 of them in one round." - That is my original post.

That advice, while vauge is TRUE, UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES.

try casting sear on Jaspurr at noon and see if you get a disent. Or some other sanc'd/prot'd person. Your calculation is based on best-case scenarios and not average gameplay.

You are asking to cast sear on a person who is magic resistant and decked in saves? Is that what you call "average" situation?

I am trying to help someone with knowledge that has taken me years to obtain and I get all flamed for that. No thanks, I am out of this ****.

Good luck, English lad, hopefully you will find the truth for yourself alone.

[Mindflayer]

Get a room

[Mmm Coffee]

The same argument could be made in reverse...a fully-prepared BMG is the bane of an invoker. Across all of my BMGs, I only lost to one invoker...that was as my undead bmg vs. a Stalker gnome invoker and I was on the way back from cabal item retrieval.

There's only ONE spell in an invoker's arsenal that hurts a BMG and that spell can only be cast in certain conditions and certain locations. It's really not hard to get around.

In my experience, the most difficult fight for a BMG is an evil cleric.

[H&R]

I agree that an invoker isn't the bane to a bmg that is prepared for him. But the invoker should still have the edge with a higher damage output.

[Pali]

Foxx, Mma is correct in saying that telling someone that there is an item that allows you to cast two sears in a round is misleading - it makes it sound like there is an item that will allow you to cast two sears in a round whenever you want. Also, considering that the item in question is not bmg-only, I don't see how it has any relevance to giving advice regarding how to play bmgs specifically. I do have to agree with him that, as a rule, when giving a newb advice that advice should be stuff that applies mostly across the board, not advice that only is useful in very specific situations (unless, of course, you are asked about what to do in such a situation). Tricks regarding the use of specific rare/unique items at certain times of day aren't the kind of tips newbs are looking for - they're looking for general strategies and help staying alive.

That being said, both of you need to learn to cool down when discussing things with each other.

And I have never seen an invoker lose to a bmg. I don't think an invoker of mine has ever even been forced to flee by a bmg.

[f0xx]

Also' date=' considering that the item in question is not bmg-only, I don't see how it has any relevance to giving advice regarding how to play bmgs specifically.[/quote']

That is good point.

I take your remark.

[mya]

There's only ONE spell in an invoker's arsenal that hurts a BMG and that spell can only be cast in certain conditions and certain locations. It's really not hard to get around.

You means Call Lightning? Cause if you skip Armor/Shield/StoneSkin/AirShield you are in the the same AC range as any other class. Not good enough? Remove Chest,Leg,Arm armor.

This thread is fun, it appears that None of you has the faintest idea that Auto Casting Sear is the least important thing about the Item.

But what do I know ...

Also, if you are fighting a BMG at noon you are either about to kill him, or not very smart.

[mya]

I will give you a small advice here. There was a time in which I hated Mya real bad. I wanted to burst on her and prove her wrong every time she posts. That of course wouldn't have looked good neither for me' date=' nor for her, because as we know, proving Mya wrong is not a hard thing to do. Instead of that though, I decided to try a different approach and pretend that I like her. And it works (most of the time at least ). I would advice you to try it. I will start pretending that I like you too, from now on [/quote']

F0xx, You should correct that to "thinking that you proved Mya Wrong, while not grasping certain unusual concepts in the matter".

And great strategy!!! As it is said, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

[f0xx]

Shh, I was hoping she would miss that paragraph

[mmajunkie]

Foxx your original advice about the shield is not true under any circumstances if you want to get technical.

Invoker vs Bmg is such a painful fight in most cases. I can't remember who played Nemis but I killed her once when I had my bmage before Cerihk. Think I had 80hp left, mainly due to being caught unprepared...but, that's what PK is all about.

[mmajunkie]

Battlemages are designed to be functional melee killers. People will tell you that heavily decked melee's are your bane. I would argue that a heavily decked warrior with the right weapon choice is anyone's bane…so pay that no mind.

The trick to playing a successful battlemage and playing one that is just so-so relies on a few things. Keep in mind that battlemages are like many other casters that do not have a reliable lag skill, so you need to be able to chase efficiently.

I play my battlemages with a melee mindset, not because they are LIKE a melee class as Foxx will tell you, but because they are a very offensive class. You need to always be putting the pressure on your opponent with spells and with chasing.

Dispel is your biggest friend vs melee. Most melee's are going to be equipped with pure hit/dam so a dispel is really gonna rock their world if you are dancing the right weapon and are fighting a race susceptible to sharpmetal. If they are magic resistant races, sharpmetal/meteor can really push some nice damage.

Sear is your "mega" spell. But knowing when to use it is key. My battlemages will almost always try to initiate a fight around 8am. That gives me a couple hours to soften up my opponent without showing my trump card. Even if it is a close battle and they have you on the run…let them chase you, and let them stay close. Once 11am rolls around, a nice dispel/sear or even just a blinding sear will turn the table.

Obviously Ogres make great targets with a magical dancing blade, their magic vuln(read dispel magnet) and Sear will pull unspeaks on them. I have three-hit killed Ogres before with just Sear alone.

Mana upkeep is the one thing all battlemage advice givers will have in common on their list. Some will tell you that cancellation is the way to go, some will tell you that having slow up 100% of the time is the way to do it. Don't feel as though you need to listen to any of them.

Battlemage is a very versatile class and being such allows you to play them in a variety of different ways. How do I deal with the mana upkeep? I either use a client that supports a tick timer or recently as I have been playing on a Mac client without one, I've just learned to keep a count going in my head while fighting. Sleeping at the right time will allow you to counter the mana drain effectively. And it isn't really THAT bad if you go 5 hours without slow or sleeping. What is bad is if you run around for 20 hours looking for someone or whatever and you haven't used slow or the sleeping technique. Also, always keep milk on hand and try to always be full. You want to maximize your mana regen with simple tools, not with a tool that is going to have drawbacks if you can help it.

Keeping slow up 100% of the time in my opinion is not a good idea and generally I wouldn't advise it. It will make you eat extra damage in fights vs melee. Against a caster/communer I would probably have it up at the start, but don't feel as though it is one of your "must-haves" It does help your mana regen but it also has several drawbacks.

My biggest piece of advice to anyone trying to play a battlemage is to just remember that you are NOT that complex of a class and you really do not need to overthink things. I read that someone said cancellation is a big help…I never even use the spell except when preparing to fight the Wight and I need to remove fly. I run around when fighting and when not fighting and I always have the ability to keep all my spells up. I never need to duck away in a hidden place to cancel everything and re-prep. When chasing someone that you have on the run….don't stop to put blur back up. Don't stop to put air shield back up. Chase with either sharpmetal if they can counter and murder if they cannot. Having one or two spells down will not be the end of you. Obviously if you are chasing them and sharpmetal/murder only to find out they pulled a quick one on you with nymph hearts/red staff/etc then you need to get away and put those couple spells back up or get away altogether.

Battlemages really rely on some of the most basic PK skills. Knowing when to stay in the fight, knowing when to get away from the fight. Like I said, I try to start my fights around 8am…by 11am I have a general idea of where the fight is headed. If dispel/sear hasn't put it into my advantage by then…I'm gone.

Just to reiterate…don't take my word as gold here, don't take anyone elses either. Battlemage is a class you really just need to find your comfort zone with when dealing with the mana issue and spell utility. And don't feel like you need to only fight around noon…I've won plenty of battles without sear as well. Keep in mind that you have one of the best disarm abilities in the game…use it wisely.

[mya]

You do not eat more damage from being slowed in meele fights. The drop on DEX disrupts your AC and your Parrying ability. But most BMG will have a belt of +4 Dex that completely counters this effect. Now Field Dressing DEX penalty is a Pain, especially since it fails so much.

I personally favor Slow all the time, but I try to counter the penalties by being Flying,Mounted, and catching most tics. You do lose lost of moves just moving somewhere, but you can also regen 200 moves per sleep.

A small trick I use, if I have to chase is to put Haste up, since I cannot cancel Slow, and then Cancel Haste when I want to Rest. This is interesting, but add another complexity factor to a class that is already complex just from doing nothing.

This is why I love BMG. You can do anything with them, if you master of the BMG particularities. But with so much option comes also the openings for great mistakes and failures.

Invockers are not half of what BMG are. For example, when I was refreshing my Vocker from Autodelete (NO RARES), you managed to strike at him in the 5 min space I cannot log out. And managed to Sear me blind on first strike, at which I fleed, and used my 2 Gyvels not curing blindness.

Sensing death 10 rooms from my pit, (I knew how good you are), I decided to go with a bang and blow some of your gear .

So I put up Firestorm up, and waited. You came, and I just spamed HellStream with my fully charged staff for === Desintegrate ===/round. 3 hellstreams latter, I am bellow 200 hp of 750 and you just fleed. Could not see your HP because of Blindness.

This is why I do not play much Invockers. They are to easy once you know how to fully charge your staff.

PS: If you have the log of your fight vs the Halfling Ranger Warmaster, post it. I am quite curious of how you did it.

[mya]

Just to add, IMNHO, Battlemages have no counter class. And are not the counter to any class, because they are so versatile.

But some classes have some key skill/spells that hinder them greatly.

DK - Silence/Energy Drain -> Easy counter-able with Saves.

Berserker - Haymaker -> Run, Just run and recast.