Caster Seraphim

[Deonhower Colmyne]

CASTER SERAPHIM BUILD

This build strays from the traditional hybrid nature of a Seraphim. It focuses on dealing high magical damage in close and ranged combat. This build will be somewhat similar to the Battle Mage but the obvious difference would be the spells that this character can cast. If you like a lot of Heavenly Magic at your side, this is one build you may want to try.

SKILLS

You’ll start off with Weapon Lore and Magic Lore. Unless you do a little trick known to some players you don’t have a choice. Basically Weapon Lore is an added feat which you can rely on from time to time with the Caster Sera, but more often than not, you won’t need its benefits. Here are some areas of concentration:

Magic Lore – You need this to raise your damage-dealing capabilities. Max it or raise it high enough to your convenience.

Meditation - This is important in reducing your total regeneration time for each Seraphim spell. Balance with the Spell levels you intend to have

Heavenly Magic – This will provide support in reducing spell regeneration time and reduce casting time for those that need longer animation to execute. Balance in the same manner as above.

Constitution – You need the added hit points

Armor – To reinforce your defense

Riding – This character is meant to be mounted and takes advantage of the speed and additional hp that the horse provides. Not suggested if you plan to make Bee Eff Gee as your killer move. Although this is highly recommended, this build can survive even without a high level horse.

From here you can add any other skills you prefer. Adding melee skills would bring you back to the traditional hybrid build so I could not suggest it at this point. Although I have nothing against the hybrid build and I personally think it is one of the strongest builds out there, I cannot recommend Sword Lore and the likes since it will defeat the purpose of this build.

ATTRIBUTES:

Mental Regeneration – As with my BM guide, this is the only attribute I feel the need to concentrate on BUT is not the ONLY attribute you should put points on. I could suggest Physical Regeneration to help the purpose of keeping the Constitution Skill and the use of Bee Eff Gee (yes BFG is a Combat Art not a spell so it regenerates with Physical Regeneration)

SPELLS:

Here are some spells I could suggest. A Caster Seraphim is also a “build within a build.” What this means is a Caster Sera can have several combination of magical spells that can distinguish her from other Caster Seraphim. It depends on the main spell/s you will use but here are some that are known:

HOLY DONUT
This Sera will use the Celestial Light and Rotating Blades of Light as the bread and butter of her modus operandi. The Celestial Light will serve as the “donut hole” and the Sera runs around the “donut” brushing the high-level Rotating Blades of Light against the enemy or enemies trapped within the range of the spells. Essentially it’s the Celestial Light that will kill the enemy but the second spell will help hasten the process. Use high level Light to hasten the killing spree for mobs of Undead Creatures.


HOLY SPEAR
You’ll need a Britney Rod, a Blonde wig with two peggy pony tails and an overdone mascara. Ok now that you’ve realized that the Seraphim has all that time to unleash hell. This caster uses Bee Eff Gee which is formidable against most opponents especially bosses and dragons. Use this in combination with the “donut” technique or simply use it as it is. Technically this should be in the Combat Arts area but for the sake of consistency I decided to place it here.

HOLY BOLT
No it’s not Diablo 2 so take it easy. This caster uses Energy Bolts instead of BFG but both can be used alternatively. For individual enemies a high-level Lightning Strike would have the same effect if not better.

HOLY CRAP
This build is rare but somewhat effective. Believe it or not, it uses Irritation at high levels. The spell only works for a certain period of time but the window of opportunity it creates is enough for any type of Caster Sera to run around and do her thing. Since it is an area spell it will render opponents helpless for a certain period of time. DO NOT USE in a combo if you plan to make this your support spell. Instead use it to squeeze out of a mob or dazzle them till they drop. Using this over and over while picking the monsters off with another area spell like Celestial Light can have devastating effects. Not suggested for PvP, boss monsters or dragons. Besides who would want to irritate a dragon?

HOLY RITUAL
This is a MUST before you do anything or finish off someone, anyone, everyone, anything and everything. I suggest placing the spells in a combo to maximize the animation time, save on shortcut buttons and reap the effects all at once. First in line would be Irritation to momentarily stun or illuminate any surrounding enemies and provide enough time to execute the spells next in line. Next would be Light to increase your light radius and damage any nearby undead creatures. 3rd would be Light Shield to ward off missiles except magical projectiles. Last but never the least would be your killer spell Rotating Blades of Light. Melee or Hybrid builds can pick this up by substituting either of the first two spells with Strength of Faith to increase combat capabilities.

OK NOW WHAT?
As always choose the one to your liking or create one unique to your own. The combination is not limited to what this guide can provide and creativity is a powerful factor in beating the game. So mix and match and see what works. I strongly suggest raising the spells to the highest possible level ASAP by runes or equipments that give huge bonuses for the arsenal of your choice.

COMBAT ARTS
There are only two CA’s that I could possibly suggest for this build: Bee Eff Gee and Combat Jump: the former for damage dealing, and the latter to jump over rivers, crevices and the likes in map trotting. Invest only one point for Combat Jump as your equipments will boost it to a significant and useful level.

EQUIPMENT
This build would be nice if you could afford to complete the Talia Mel’s Set to avail of the additional +xx% Divine Damage on top of total damage. Acquire rings or amulets that will boost Rotating Blades of Light to a delirious level, enough to make short work of mobs (to level-up faster). The Sereish Set is not bad but the additional damage that the Talia Mel Set can give is better. If you decide to use Energy Bolts your hands will become weapons and the weapon/s and/or shield they were wielding will disappear upon casting. If you prefer Talia Mel’s though, you won’t have wings so either the wings from the modern Sereish Set or wings from the more celestial Dream Netting of the God’s Set will do.


Socket Vampiress runes that give life leeching percentages to ease the burden of carrying tons of potions as you are robbed of the ability to carry a bag of holding or a mule (sorry wrong game). You can also augment your armor with Blacksmith Arts that provide additional resistance bonuses or damage bonuses. Try to concentrate on Magic Damage attributes but have Fire or Poison as alternates.

OTHER NOTES:
That’s pretty much it: run around and have fun dealing heavenly damage and I guarantee that the outcomes will be divine! Try not to stick close to melee monsters with stun capabilities. Cerebrepods and Golems will be a problem (high magic resistance) in the Valley of Tears and Hell’s Ridge but you can pre-empt defeat by casting early before engaging these foes. Goblins, Orcs, non-magical undead creatures and non-magical beings can be easy and are suggested level-up mobs as they have low magical resistance. I hope you found this guide useful in creating a Caster Sera and as always my PM is open for comments, questions, suggestions and violent reactions. I prefer not to receive the last please .


-+-Win32##Mozilla Firefox 1.5.0.2##1152 × 864##1-+-

[florimel]

Neat build. I'm definitely going to try this for my next Sera.

One question. Many people have recommended the Combat Jump CA for the Sera and its use in jumping rivers and other map navigation.

I have never been able to use it except in actual combat. In other words, it doesn't seem to work if I'm exploring and want to jump across a river or some other short obstacle.

Am I missing something?

Thanks,




-+-Win32##Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0##1024 × 768##12-+-

[AREA666]

For the jumping, atleast for the vamp, you hold the ctrl key down to be able to move. I assume it is the same for the sera, and if it is then we can have Deon add it to his build.

-+-Win32##Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0##1024 × 768##1-+-

[fierysarcasm]

yep, it's the same for all the chars. ... just hold down the CTRL key and right-click wherever it is that you want to jump to, and that's all there is to it!

-+-Win32##Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0##1024 × 768##12-+-

[florimel]

Thanks so much for the replies. I will try that out.

I guess what confused me is that when I use the BM's Phase Shift, I need only to right-click on the area I want to reach.

-+-Win32##Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0##1024 × 768##12-+-

[florimel]

Thank you again, FierySarcasm and Area666. It does work that way.

I am curious as to how you discovered this. I searched the manual and could not find it.

Florimel



-+-Win32##Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0##1024 × 768##12-+-

[fierysarcasm]

heh... well actually you can pretty much just thank AREA for that one... see i at first had a similar problem, because i was used to the Dark Elf's Mongoose move (just have to right-click) and so i mentioned something to AREA once about how i wish my Gladiator could do that... and that's when he suggested i try that... heh, so really AREA deserves the majority of the credit... i just happen to have done it with all of the characters (with the exception of the Wood Elf, and the Dwarf of course...) so i just confirmed something which AREA already presumed anyway ;D

-+-Win32##Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0##1024 × 768##12-+-

[Hallelujah]

I want to thank Deon for posting this build. It is A LOT of fun! Great Job Deon! #clap# I just couldn't resist a LITTLE bit of hacking and slashing, though. :laugh:

-+-Win32##Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0##1024 × 768##1-+-

[Deonhower Colmyne]

Thanks y'all I think the Combat Jump was mentioned in the CA area of my guide, but I did forget to mention that you need to hold down the CTRL button. The same is true for all characters that have the Combat Jump ability or it's counterpart. Sorry 'bout that Depending on the equipments you will use, your augmented Combat Jump can range from level 5 to as much as 20+. In 20+ range it's enough to jump over cliffs, crevices, rivers and the likes .

I'm glad you're enjoying the build hal it's ok to hack and slash besides you can still customize this build according to your comfort and still maintain the root of the character's distinguishing tactics. I know that melee builds can kill a whole lot faster, though at one point you'll realize you don't need to stick close to an opponent and run when you're hurt with this build because basically... you have distance .

-+-Win32##Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0##1024 × 768##1-+-