So I have recently been planning a massive buy of a crap ton of armor and helms and shield to make sets against specific levels (mainly danger missions). and i cant seem to find a set that has Shadow/piercing def for heart of Ice.dont tell me i should just make an all around set up cause i have one of those and you are more than welcome to view it (My usual screen name is "Subhazrd"). i understand that it would be a waste of my time, but i figure i dont have anything else to do with it so why the hell not.
Shadow/Piercing Armor/Helm
Fri, 05/30/2014 - 19:49
Fri, 05/30/2014 - 21:09
#2
Midnight nailed it, Skolver/Snarbolax is the best way to go for Heart of Ice
While we do have two items that give both Shadow and Piercing defense, one of them is a (pretty useless) shield that shouldn't ever be considered for anything serious ever.
The other is Radiant Silvermail, which gives poison resistance, but no freeze resistance. That said, neither of these should really be thought of being brought into HoI without solid freeze UV's, the former of which can't even get freeze UV's.
And besides, the Normal defense on a Snarbolax/Skolver mix is more useful than the two pure defenses, assuming you could even get them (as there is no Shadow/Pierce helmet).
Sat, 05/31/2014 - 00:04
#3
I think it's better to go with a pure shadow set for Heart of Ice because the fiends there are a lot more dangerous than the beasts. Additionally, I recommend using Black Kat Cowl as it's pretty much objectively better than Snarbolax Cap for the Danger Mission in question.
Sat, 05/31/2014 - 00:58
#4
I was about to write a response, but Krakob said most of it. Black kat cowl is much better than snarbolax for ice+shadow, and the wolvers aren't that bad. If you really want to be more defensive, all of the other kat hats are perfectly suited for the level as well, and offer the same amount of resistances as dread skelly does.
If you really want to be perfect:
Black Kat Cowl @ Freeze UV
Radiant Silvermail @ Freeze UV
Dread Skelly/Gorgomega shield @ Piercing or maybe shadow UV
This will provide you with a bit of normal, a ton of shadow, and a bit of piercing, which is the optimal setup provided that you agree that shadow damage is a bigger threat in this case. Damage bonus vs undead helps with howlitzers, but the bulk of your damage buff will be coming from the black kat cowl. While there are obviously better solutions to this that suit your weapons exactly, this would be optimal for most situations. But really, ditching the piercing defense and not wasting money in more than one-two ice UVs would be a much smarter move.
The ridiculous star themed shield that offers players willing to invest arms AND legs a legitimate advantage over the rest of us all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world, which also happens to make collecting gear fairly impossible such as to ruin that aspect of the game, lacks ice resistance, and shouldn't be taken into consideration as this would make it far worse for either piercing+ice OR shadow+ice attacks. The fact that most monsters deal a teeny amount of normal damage to compliment their high shadow/piercing damage doesn't help the shield's case either.
That being said, the shield is definitely your best option. Why you may ask? Because if you have it, then fanboys will flock to you and support your every action. Come up with ridiculous plans that don't work for three years straight? Totally fine with them. Buff random things and ignore every single thing people tell you? Well you see, its harder than that. To make a new handgun, you must first find the supplies and then get immigrants to painstakingly craft every single one of them. This is completely fine too. You think devilites gonna stand up for that? They'll see your shield, and then half of them will leave. After that half leaves, all of the others will start to suck up to you. They'll turn into the little green ones and start healing you. This is why I want to kill myself, because this kind of ridiculous thing seems to happen all the time everywhere and that shouldn't make it the best possible thing. Other options might look good on paper and actually work when given time and testing in closed environments over the course of several years, but the current thing doesn't work in practice so we should stick with that. Leave me alone.
Sat, 05/31/2014 - 03:56
#5
agree with Krakob, Fehzor
Beasts are not worth thinking about; the real threat is the fiends. I wear only shadow armor in Heart of Ice. Use your Black Kat Cowl and something like Snarbolax or Shadowsun. Dread Skelly would also be great.
By the way, a totally different direction is bomber armor (or Chaos) with Dark Briar Barrage. If you can put up a perpetual wall of explosions, then monsters will have trouble touching you. If you are also mobile, then projectiles won't hit you either. Sometimes this tactic irritates teammates, though.
Sat, 05/31/2014 - 07:52
#6
No reason to read this if you don't care for wisp resistance.
In response to what others have said, I'd like to add that if you're not one to go for good UV's or expensive equipment, then Skolver + Snarbolax will work just fine there, otherwise you should most certainly go for better setups (BKC being the most obvious improvement).
It might not really make a difference, but here's my regular Heart of Ice loadout.
I'm not gonna lie and say "I wear Skolver because it covers all defenses", because that's not true, but rather, I wear Skolver because Snarbolax only gives +3 freeze resistance. With Gift of Autumn + BKC it's either wear Skolver or throw the Cold Blooded perk on over my Movement Speed Increase. I chose the former, and it just so happens to give piercing resistance as well. I'm just someone who thinks that +9 resistance is basically a requirement for all the Danger Missions (except Legion of Almire). /shrug
If you have the money to throw around on going for freeze UV's (or simply getting 2 Gift's of Autumn/Grand Solstice Rings), pure shadow defense is definitely a better choice. The only thing the piercing defense is really good for in Heart of Ice is the occasional time when you get cornered by Alphas, and quite honestly the outcome is the same with or without piercing defense in that situation anyway.
#PoorLife
Sat, 05/31/2014 - 08:07
#7
freeze quite valid
Dibsville's emphasis on freeze protection is quite reasonable. Especially if you're in an Elite Heart of Ice party of two or fewer people, the lost souls alone are going to ruin your expedition. But maybe freeze+11 (Skolver + Skolver + perk) is enough to handle them? Someone please check.
Sat, 05/31/2014 - 08:12
#8
I like Dark Briar Barrage. You can use it with the other recommended armor too since BKC gives you the damage bonus.
I'd recommend +10 freeze since some enemies need it to be resisted (like wolvers and greaver haze) and the sprite perk is perfect for that.
BKC/Snarbolax/Elite Bomb Focus x2/Cold Blooded III was what I used with that setup.
edit: +10 for lost souls too
Sat, 05/31/2014 - 09:19
#9
Snarbolax and Black Kat cowl
Snarbolax and Black Kat cowl would be nice items to bring, and skolver certainly has freeze resist and sword damage boost. However, due to the extremely high difficulty of obtaining the Snarby suit and the BKC, and the fact that all the piercing damage in this mission comes from 2-3 rather predictable monsters I would not recommend any of these for your average play.
If you want a set to help you survive get the Dread Skelly set, it has the status and type resistances you need at high enough levels to greatly improve survival rates. The final flourish or barbarous thorn blade make good swords, while the blitz needle is the preferred gun of choice due to how quick it can cut down Trojans.
For most of the mission you will rely on your sword, while watching your back for those wolvers that pop up. Practice battling various fiends and beasts to learn their attack patterns.
Missions like "blades of the fallen" can give you some practice against the basic greaver attacks, lost souls, and Trojans.
you can wear a combination of skolver and snarbolax armor that can provide both pierce/shadow defence as well as freeze resistance, freeze is a hazard in HoI, you get stuck in one place for the wolvers to bite you, so having freeze resist is definately going to help. I personally discarded all piercing defence due to how easy it is to dodge wolver's attacks.