Grey Empath Academy/Logs/20231012 Grey Empath Academy Lesson 2

Event Name: Grey Empath Academy Lesson 2

Event Instance: Prime

Real Date: 2023-10-12

Game Date of Event: 446-10-37

Point of View: Unknown POV

[Wyvern Arena, Triage Area] The cold stone floor of this room slopes slightly toward a rough metal trough, allowing for good drainage and easy cleaning. Heavy wrought iron cots are arranged at intervals along the back wall. Standing sentinel over each cot, large brass lamps provide excellent lighting for the healers and attendants. You also see a crested porcelain cup of Tethloren velvet coffee, a large curving diamondwood bar with several things on it, a diamondwood sideboard with an ornate chef's carving station with several things on it, a one-eyed nut brown kitten, a mottled slate grey kitten, a curly tailed black piglet, a gingham picnic cloth edged in heartstring lace with several things on it, an elaborate storyplait picnic cloth patterned with fanciful dancing spatulas with several things on it, an Elven silk picnic cloth embroidered with silvery thread with several things on it, a porky saddleback piglet with a few things on it, a ramp leading to the competition area, a wash basin, a large white cabinet and an arch. Also here: Deathbeing, Vesper Jaelia who is emanating a benevolent holy aura, Shavay, Ecologist Penrhyn, Indomitable Fortress Voranos who is sitting, Hodierna's Fist Timoria, Black Fox Leayne, Fearless Crobin, Goon Golameth who is pestered by an incorporeal imp resting on their shoulder making nonsensical gestures, Outrider Chrysagon who is shining with a dark golden glow, Raven Queen Chelinde, Yallen who is sitting, Nepenthe Huebald, Water Flower Larasa, Puddle Stomper Piw who is sitting, Maunderer Aislynn who is sitting, Eyskin, Blood Dancer Selame who is sitting, Battle Empath Tichond, Harurs del Cawna Warbrolus who is sitting, Hodierna's Fist Timorias, Handy, Grey Empath Akeiro who is sitting, Danger Wizard Dasheek who has a stony visage, and Nurse Illiya. Obvious exits: west. Illiya says, "Looks like we have most of us here already, so let's get started. We will have some combat exercises at the end if we have time." Illiya says, "Hi everyone! Welcome again to Grey Empath Academy. Thank you all again for joining us as we continue our journey in Empath combat." Illiya says, "Again some housekeeping: please avoid excess actions to reduce distractions. Thank you." Illiya says, "This is our second class, and today we will be talking about defensive strategies." Illiya says, "As Empaths, defense is our primary advantage, therefore mastering the material we will discuss today is critical." Akeiro angles his ears forward, gazing curiously at Illiya. Illiya exclaims, "Like we always say, you can't lose if you don't die. You might even get what we call an Empath win -- your opponent gives up from sheer exhaustion and boredom!" Akeiro chuckles. Dasheek grins at Illiya. Selame snickers at Illiya. Illiya says, "In other words, a lot of the time we can force the fight to a draw due to our strong defensive abilities." Golameth asks Voranos, "How many immortals are we going to end up with after this you think?" Illiya says, "Another nice thing about defensive strategies, you can practice them without incurring any shock. And we will have some defensive practice at the end of class that even our non-shock Empaths can participate in." Illiya says, "We'll go into that in more detail in a moment, but first let's get into our pre-fight checklist." Akeiro rubs his hands together. Voranos says to Golameth, " That's an excellent question." Akeiro jots down some notes. Penrhyn giggles at Illiya. Illiya says, "These may seem like simple things, but even experienced fighters will sometimes forget. Personally I keep a list of these things to check really quickly before I begin a fight." Illiya asks, "What are some things you should do or check before a fight? Can anyone think of anything?" Akeiro raises his hand. Crobin raises his hand. Illiya points at Akeiro. Akeiro says, "Stances." Larasa exclaims, "Make sure your armor is all the same type!" Illiya nods to Larasa. Golameth raises his hand. Illiya asks Crobin, "Yes?" Timorias says, "Make sure you have tyour armor on." Warbrolus ponders. Crobin says, "I was going to say armor." Akeiro says, "Or off." Akeiro nods to Timorias. Illiya points at Golameth. Timorias grins. Illiya grins at Akeiro, her dimples flashing into view. Chelinde says, "I like it off." Chelinde nods. Golameth exclaims, "BUFFS!" Aislynn quietly says, "Tie back your fluff. It's far too easy to trip over that stove you forgot to put away." Illiya says, "Is your armor repaired? Are you wearing a clownsuit for training purposes? Wearing multiple types of armor (clownsuiting) imposes severe penalties on evasion, so we want to avoid that. Akeiro will go over armor considerations in a moment." Warbrolus nods. Illiya says, "Stance is another thing that we may not normally think about." Illiya says, "Since as Empaths we are stronger in Survival than Armor or Weapons, you should be using 100% of your Evasion skill. The rest of your STANCE can be in Shield or Parry. It used to matter which one, but theoretically now it does not matter." Huebald ponders. Illiya says, "Buffs are another important thing of course! We will go over which ones to use in a moment." Timorias says, "Make sure you have a clear path of retreat." Illiya grins at Timorias, her dimples flashing into view. Tichond gazes thoughtfully at Illiya. Golameth raises his hand. Illiya says to Timorias, "You would be surprised, we don't always have to retreat." Illiya asks Golameth, "Yes?" Golameth exclaims, "A battle buddy!" Illiya exclaims, "Buddies are important too!" Akeiro says, "Battle Buddies are great." Akeiro nods. Golameth raises his hand. Chelinde says, "I love buddies." Illiya exclaims to Golameth, "Yes!" Golameth says, "Make sure people can't hand you 100000000000 coppers." Illiya chortles softly at some secret joke. Timorias nods to Golameth. Tichond nods at Golameth, obviously agreeing with his views. Aislynn begins chortling at Golameth. Larasa begins chortling at Golameth. Illiya says to Golameth, "I mean, if they were plats I would take them happily." Dasheek says, "Or drag you away from your battle buddy, for that matter." Aislynn quietly says, "Did that once to Heartsfyre during a bar brawl. She was so confused." Aislynn chortles softly at some secret joke. Chelinde nods at Illiya, obviously agreeing with her views. Akeiro grins at Aislynn. Warbrolus says, "I'll take that many of any denomination. Think of all the tithing I could do." Golameth says, "But burden....not carrying 135 boxes." Crobin says, "Illi is bad about carrying boxes." Illiya sticks her tongue out at Crobin. Tichond chuckles at Crobin. Illiya exclaims, "Burden is very important!" Illiya nods at Golameth, obviously agreeing with his views. Akeiro says, "The overwhelming weight of being awesome." Akeiro says, "It's a burden." Timorias says, "The most important thing to remember....is to have someone fight for you." Warbrolus chuckles at Akeiro. Timorias says, "Pay well and you can get anyone to be a stand in." Akeiro quietly says to Warbrolus, "But someone has to shoulder it right." Akeiro winks at Warbrolus. Illiya says, "You need to be fighting at zero burden. If you're not at zero burden, you can cast Ease Burden and even Vigor to get there. If you're still not there after both of these spells, you need to do some inventory cleaning. Put stuff in your vault. Deposit your coins. There's just no way around it. I'm as bad about this as anyone so I get it, but having a burden in a fight penalizes your evasion with every hit." Tichond grins at Timorias. Illiya says to Timorias, "Also, we are teaching people to fight here." Warbrolus chuckles. Illiya sticks her tongue out at Timorias. Penrhyn playfully says, "I don't think I can get my burden to zero without lowering my toolbelt to the ground." Yallen exclaims to Illiya, "Buts dems pataytoes!" Timorias says, "I hate having a burden so thats not an issue for me." Penrhyn exclaims, "But then I wouldn't be able to play chase and seek!" Illiya nods to Yallen. Illiya asks Yallen, "Can you eat all the potatoes before the fight?" Yallen furrows her brow. Yallen shakes her head at Illiya. Illiya says, "You can try putting things in your eddy, if you have one." Chelinde says to Yallen, "We might need to get your one of these portal things at the corn maze to keep all your potatos in and not bother your burden." Yallen asks, "Da huhs?" Illiya points at a swirling eddy of incandescent light bound by a gold-striated coralite frame she has. Illiya says, "I put stuff in here before a fight all the time." Chelinde says to Yallen, "It is coming soon." Jaelia exclaims, "Yallen, its basically an enchanted bag that can hold 250 potatoes with no extra burden!" Timorias says, "SOmething one must also consider Illiya, is you may not have time to put stuff away before you are attacked. so its best to STAY unburdened." Dasheek points at Timorias. Illiya says to Timorias, "True! Very true. And some might argue you should stay buffed too." Larasa nods to Timorias. Akeiro nods. Timorias nods in agreement. Akeiro says, "Always be buffing." Timorias says, "I do." Dasheek grins at Illiya. Illiya nods. Timorias says, "I get attacked enough to know from experience." Illiya says, "Another thing to check is your wound state. This may sound basic, but I had to be reminded of this the other day. Sometimes we just healed a bunch of wounds and forgot to heal them on ourselves." Illiya says, "Another thing to consider is to check how you are TOGGLED to cast AOE spells." Illiya says, "If you are set to cast at [C]reatures, you will not hit anything when casting normally during a fight. The two ways around this are: to toggle your AOE to [E]ngaged or [A]rea before the fight, or to simply cast purposefully every time you debilitate. In other words, to CAST ENGAGED or CAST AREA during the fight." Penrhyn asks Illiya, "Which are our AoE spells?" Illiya says to Penrhyn, "Nissa's Binding." Akeiro nods to Illiya. Penrhyn asks, "Just that one?" Illiya nods. Akeiro says, "Primarily outside some esoteric scroll choices." Illiya says, "Personally what I do is to keep my AOE toggled to [E]ngaged and purposefully CAST AREA if I am in a situation that requires casting area during a fight." Selame raises her hand. Illiya points at Selame. Larasa nods to Illiya. Huebald asks, "In a team fight, say, which one of those won't also put our teammates down for a nap? Or does it matter?" Selame asks, "If you waggle the whole area does that potentially get your pals or team mates too?" Crobin says, "Put your books away." Illiya says, "Cast AREA will cast at every single person in the area." Crobin nods. Illiya nods to Selame. Illiya says, "Sometimes there are situations where we might use it though." Crobin says, "Make sure and not pull the old almanac out in the middle." Larasa says, "I would forget to toggle that off afterwards." Illiya says, "For example if you're in a 1 on 1 fight and you are trying to fish someone out of hiding." Illiya says, "And Crobin hit on our last checklist item." Illiya says, "We typically do not want to be studying our almanacs or gazing into our sanowret crystals while we are fighting, so if you have any habits (OOC: scripts) to that effect, you should try to avoid those. (OOC: kill the scripts you don't want running)." Crobin raises his hand. Akeiro laughs happily. Timorias says, "You have to be careful about area AOE's though." Chelinde nods at Akeiro, obviously agreeing with his views. Crobin says, "Can I add to that." Illiya says to Crobin, "Of course." Crobin says, "IF you have little critters you like to ahve out and about." Crobin says, "They can give away you in a room as well." Crobin shows Illiya his brown kitten. Tichond nods to Crobin. Dasheek says to Crobin, "Good point." Crobin says, "Nuts was out and about last time." Tichond chortles softly at some secret joke. Illiya says, "Good point, if you have a kitten following you around it will give away your room even if you are hiding." Dasheek says, "Drips, too." Illiya exclaims, "Put your kittens away!" Dasheek says, "Towel yourself off before you try to hide in a fight." Timorias says, "I don't hide well enough for that to matter." Timorias chuckles. Tichond says to Dasheek, "Never thought of that." Illiya says, "Even experienced fighters have made some of these mistakes at some point or another, so it never hurts to have a checklist that you go over before the fight." Illiya asks, "Any other thoughts or questions about the pre-fight checklist?" Timorias says, "Alfar." Timorias says, "Have em out." Illiya asks Timorias, "Alfar?" Timorias says, "GS." Akeiro says, "Greys don't typically use alfar." Illiya asks, "What about it?" Aislynn quietly asks, "Why not?" Timorias says, ""Have them out and ready to go." Akeiro says, "Aesandry Darlaeth is far FAR more valuable than anything the GS can do." Illiya says, "As Akeiro said, we generally don't use the alfar during fights." Illiya nods. Aislynn ponders. Akeiro says, "Eating a full almost a minute stun will lose you the fight." Yallen asks in Gorbesh, "What if we don't have that spell yet?" Tichond says, "Unless you are not planning on hitting your oponent." Illiya says, "We'll go into that a little later too with our native spell choices." Tichond says, "In which case the courtyard is the other way." Timorias says, "But not every will have AD and GS at the same time." Timorias says, "Some will just have GS and get AD later." Aislynn chuckles at Tichond. Illiya says, "There's very few situations where GS is the preferred cyclic." Huebald says, "I was wonderin' about which of our cyclics would be best. I'd figured Regenerate would win out since greys are doin' the damage themselves." Illiya says, "We'll go over cyclics in just a moment." Huebald nods to Illiya. Illiya says, "Along with all of our other native kit buffs." Illiya says, "So remembering the checklist, including your burden, stance, armor, kittens, almanacs, AOE toggle." Illiya asks Akeiro, "What kind of considerations need to be taken into account when choosing an armor setup for an Empath?" Selame exclaims to Illiya, "And your towel to dry off!" Illiya says to Selame, "And your towel." Illiya grins at Selame, her dimples flashing into view. Akeiro says, "When considering armor, my primary focus lies in two key aspects: hinderance and absorptiveness. Given the formidable strength of the Iron Constitution, there is a limit to the severity of blows we can receive when an attack manages to breach our defenses. To safeguard our PoP's integrity and minimize injury, the optimal strategy is to evade incoming attacks whenever possible." Akeiro says, "For the simplest "I don't want to think about it" armor choice, lighter chain armor is the answer, head to toe, and don't mix in any other armor with it when fighting adventurers. This can be chain from Tembeg, forged lumium ring chain, forged damite ring chain, and beyond that for the super pricey you can look into the armors from the various events throughout the year like duskruin or corn maze. Light chain generally offers the best absorption with the least hinderance of any armor type." Akeiro says, "I've personally experimented with well-crafted leathers and even cloth armor with some success. This led me to embrace what is now known as "naked empathing," a concept that prioritizes unhindered movement and the ability to hide effectively. The trade-off is that, when I do get hit, it might be slightly more damaging on average compared to wearing chain. However, the damage I take is still limited by Iron Constitution." Akeiro says, "Stealth skills stand strong for us, making it a sensible strategy. Against opponents of similar skill, I've found that I can stealthily maneuver, allowing me to disrupt a warrior mage's spellcasting, prepare my own spells, create opportunities to retreat, or check on my teammates' well-being. Stealth can be a valuable asset for us, and we excel at it, so it's worth considering in your training." Timorias says, "I've neglected my stealth training badly." Akeiro pats Timorias on the back. Akeiro says, "Best time to start fixing that is now." Timorias says, "I can barely hide from myself." Akeiro says, "The most significant drawback of this approach is that it elevates the urgency of regaining Iron Constitution. If you lose it, your top priority should be reactivating it as quickly as possible. With chain armor, while it's still an emergency, the difference between being armored and not is less drastic." Eyskin says, "Burgling is quick for stealh." Illiya asks Akeiro, "Would you say going 'naked' is defensively preferable to clownsuiting if you're able to keep IC up?" Akeiro nods to Illiya. Illiya says, "So clownsuiting is basically the worst thing you can do in a serious fight." Akeiro says, "Aside from wearing all plate yeah." Akeiro nods. Illiya asks, "Does anyone have any questions about armor?" Larasa asks, "Plate is that bad?" Huebald ponders. Yallen asks in Gorbesh, "Where do you find good armor if you are in a clownsuit?" Akeiro says to Larasa, "We can't get that hinderance down to anything workable, so it cuts our ability to evade attacks to nothing." Illiya nods at Akeiro, obviously agreeing with his views. Larasa nods to Akeiro. Illiya says to Yallen, "Normally what I would do is carry a complete chain set that I swap into before a serious fight." Tichond asks, "Normally?" Akeiro suddenly blinks and then bursts into laughter! Illiya grins at Tichond, her dimples flashing into view. Piw says to Tichond in Gorbesh, "Until she breaks out the super secret armor." Akeiro says, "I train via armor swapping, wearing a chain hauberk and carrying around head and hand armor to change into while hunting tends to be the lightest way to get them all." Akeiro says, "If you want to train them all that is." Illiya says, "Okay, so moving on to our native kit." Illiya asks, "So we've said that defense is our primary advantage as Empaths. What makes Empaths strong defensively?" Voranos asks Akeiro, " If your opponent is able to rend or ward break you, is it not leaving yourself very wide open then? Akeiro says to Voranos, "As noted, it makes losing iron constitution more of an emergency than it otherwise is." Illiya says, "What makes Empaths defensively strong? I'm looking for 3 specific answers." Penrhyn says, "Buffs, heals, and... moxy." Timorias says, "Our evasion ability." Eyskin says, "PoP." Akeiro grins at Penrhyn. Timorias says, "Our Defensive spells." Penrhyn playfully tilts her ears in opposite directions. Timorias says, "Like Vigor, Pop, AD IC and AGS." Illiya says, "Self-healing is one thing, as Penny mentioned." Timorias nods. Illiya says, "Our wards are very strong, as Tim mentioned." Illiya says, "The third thing is our ability to not get debilitated." Timorias says, "And If you can, get EY." Penrhyn asks Illiya, "How's that?" Akeiro says to Penrhyn, "It's not possible to lock us down for more than eight seconds at a time thanks to AD." Illiya says to Penrhyn, "Awaken will pop you out of either sleep or stunned states, while AD will help with webbed or immobilized states." Penrhyn says, "Aah." Akeiro says, "With precious few exceptions." Piw says in Gorbesh, "You drop logs on their heads they just stand back up, the trees run out of limbs." Illiya says, "Debilitation makes attacks hit much much harder, so if we can't be debilitated we are taking less damage." Illiya says to Timorias, "EY is a good spell, but it's one among many choices that we have." Timorias nods. Illiya says, "So, as we alluded to earlier, wards are the most important buffs that we cast. As a guild, we have one of the best ward suites of any guild. Without wards, anyone can out-damage our healing." Illiya says, "Iron Constitution reduces all damage above a certain threshold. Basically, it caps incoming damage, both physical and elemental (for Empaths). No matter how high that damage may have been originally, it will be capped at a moderate level." Huebald nods. Illiya says, "Iron Constitution does not block elemental damage for non-empaths, for what it's worth." Yallen raises her hand. Timorias raises his hand. Illiya says, "Secondly, Perseverance of Peri'el. It's an ablative vitality barrier. It reduces the vitality damage we take but wears down slowly as it absorbs damage. It's what makes Empaths 'not seem to notice' when we're getting damaged or set on fire. But it's a ritual spell." Illiya asks Timorias, "Yes?" Timorias says, "I was going to say that a strategy I have found that has worked for me. Is to Out heal Damage if its a fairly equal fight." Illiya says, "Healing is definitely one of our defensive advantages." Timorias says, "With Regen and a Max heal up.... I've just outlasted people." Illiya says, "You can't always rely on healing alone to survive." Timorias says, "No not always." Yallen raises her hand. Yallen bounces from where she is sitting! Illiya says, "And wards are part of what helps reduce incoming damage to a manageable level." Huebald raises his hand. Illiya points at Huebald. Yallen scratches her head. Huebald asks, "We've said 'slowly' for POP. How many hits is that, usually?" Tichond nods to Huebald. Illiya says, "It's vitality damage more so than the number of hits." Tichond says to Huebald, "Great question." Akeiro says, "Depends on the opponent a bit. For folks that tend towards larger single hits it can be as little as a few." Akeiro says, "For someone that does more smaller hits, like fire rain and barrage, it can last for a few minutes." Illiya asks Yallen, "Did you have a question?" Tichond raises his hand. Yallen asks in Gorbesh, "I have been noticing that when I perceive spells, I can see how strong of a spell they are. Which spells can we buff or cast will show how potent they are?" Illiya ponders. Illiya says, "I'm not sure what you mean." Akeiro asks, "Referring to how strongly perserverance of peri'el is manifest?" Akeiro angles his ears forward, gazing curiously at Yallen. Yallen nods to Akeiro. Akeiro says, "That's a unique sense that we have of that spell in particular." Akeiro says, "Most of the rest either have a flat effect, where more skill and mana increases duration, or others where the potency scales as well." Akeiro says, "Bring up a minor note." Akeiro says, "If you normally buff using symbioses." Yallen says in Gorbesh, "When I perceive POP and Tranquility, they both perceive as being superficial. I assume that will adjust as I learn more." Akeiro says, "Don't for fighting adventurers, cast at the highest mana you can." Illiya nods to Yallen. Tichond raises his hand. Illiya says to Yallen, "The more mana you can put into the spells, the stronger they will be." Akeiro nods to Tichond. Illiya asks Tichond, "Question?" Crobin raises his hand. Akeiro angles his ears forward, gazing curiously at Tichond. Tichond says, "On that point Akeiro." Tichond asks, "The more mana I put into PoP, does that increase the amount it can absorb?" Illiya says, "Yes." Tichond nods. Akeiro says, "It does up to a point." Illiya says, "You should always cast it as high as you can." Tichond asks, "Potency, not duration?" Akeiro says, "There is a mana cutoff where it only gets duration after." Tichond nods to Illiya. Akeiro says, "I think it's six hundred streams, but I'd have to look it up." Tichond nods to Akeiro. Timorias says, "Spell stance can help with Potency of spells." Tichond says, "Excellent. Thank you." Piw raises his hand. Illiya says to Akeiro, "Oh? Interesting." Illiya says, "Potency only helps until you can cap mana." Piw asks in Gorbesh, "How important is it to rebuff mid combat if one of the wards goes down?" Penrhyn nods to Piw. Crobin raises his hand. Illiya says to Piw, "Very important, usually." Illiya asks Crobin, "Question?" Crobin asks, "Well yes and no?" Akeiro chuckles. Crobin says, "It is a question, but not from me." Illiya nods to Crobin. Crobin says, "I am a horder of many scrolls." Crobin asks, "Which ones are good for people to look into?" Illiya says, "We will cover sorcery in a later class." Akeiro exclaims, "Actually there is a lot of option there!" Illiya says, "There are many options, basically." Akeiro says, "Tons." Illiya says, "We wouldn't have enough time to cover it completely here." Illiya exclaims, "So... stay tuned!" Illiya asks Penrhyn, "Question?" Crobin says, "It was her question." Crobin chuckles. Akeiro grins. Illiya grins at Penrhyn, her dimples flashing into view. Akeiro says, "Also if any student wants to experiment with any scroll." Akeiro says, "I have most." Akeiro says, "For free." Illiya asks, "So.. moving along, if we don't have any more questions?" Akeiro chuckles. Illiya grins, revealing her dimples. Illiya says to Tichond, "Being the adult is hard." Illiya says, "Manifest Force is an analagous physical damage barrier that is available to any magic-using guild. It can partially reduce the damage from at most at most six hits before ablating." Illiya says, "Usually I'll start with IC and PoP at the beginning of the fight, and if PoP gets ablated I will either recast PoP or put up MAF as the situation dictates." Akeiro nods at Illiya, obviously agreeing with her views. Tichond nods to Illiya. Timorias asks, "Why not use PoP AND MAF at the same time?" Akeiro says, "You'd ahve to drop IC." Illiya says, "Because then you don't have IC up." Akeiro says, "And then you would die." Illiya says, "You can only use 2 wards." Tichond chuckles at Akeiro. Timorias says, "Ahh. Never knew that." Illiya says, "IC is the non-negotiable one." Timorias says, "Thank you." Illiya says, "And technically Tranquility is a ward but does not take up a ward slot. It gives us a boost to vs Fortitude debilitations." Akeiro nods. Illiya asks, "So that's wards. Any questions about wards?" Akeiro says, "You have your ward ward, but then you also have your non ward wards." Selame raises her hand. Tichond says, "Depends on the ward. Some do not require a ward slot." Illiya nods to Selame. Akeiro angles his ears forward, gazing curiously at Selame. Tichond says, "EY and PSY do not." Akeiro nods to Tichond. Selame asks, "How do you break through your peaceful tranquility?" Akeiro says, "Brute force." Tichond says to Illiya, "Do not tell her." Akeiro says, "Or a paperweight." Dasheek says, "The wards that require a ward slot are the damage reactors. Wards that directly reduce damage." Huebald says, "How difficult is it to cast a ritual like POP in combat? Seems like you'd be locked up for a bit." Illiya says to Selame, "Uh well we are not trying to get our tranquility broken usually." Timorias says, "That would explain why I can have Tranq, PoP, EY and IC up. Makes sense." Akeiro says, "Or a ward break casting person." Selame says, "Brute force it is." Akeiro says to Huebald, "In Groups, extremely. In solo combat with rooms not too bad." Huebald nods to Akeiro. Illiya says, "Brute force is generally the answer, unless you have a way to ward break or dispel." Selame nods to Illiya. Illiya says, "Tranquility will crumble under onslaught and you would have to put it back up." Crobin says, "Brute force it is." Crobin chuckles. Illiya says, "That's a good question actually." Akeiro says, "The reverse is true for us, plenty of things we have to brute force through." Akeiro says, "Like paladins." Akeiro makes a grunting noise. Illiya says, "So the other thing that makes us strong defensively is our ability to mitigate debilitation." Illiya says, "As we mentioned earlier, Awaken helps prevent stuns and unconsciousness. It procs every several seconds and will pop you out of unconsciousness or stuns." Illiya says, "Awaken is especially important when fighting Grey because we get stunned every time we do damage, and this helps to mitigate the self-inflicted stun." Tichond nods in agreement. Illiya says, "Aesandry Darlaeth heals your balance, breaks immobilization and webbing, and on top of that adds a reflex buff." Illiya says, "In terms of self-healing, I'm sure most of us know how to heal ourselves by this point. But I'll just say that while Regenerate is a potent self-healing spell, I will usually opt for the anti-immobilization of Aesandry Darlaeth as my cyclic in combination with Heal+ADC for self-healing. If I find that I am struggling to keep up with damage, I may swap to Regenerate." Handy nods to Illiya. Illiya asks Huebald, "Question?" Huebald asks, "Blood staunchin' isn't a ward, right? Worth it to keep it up or is it a waste of our attunement?" Akeiro says, "Worth keeping up." Tichond blinks at Huebald. Akeiro says, "EXCEPT." Akeiro says, "If you're fighting a necromancer." Akeiro says, "Or someone using sidhlot's flaying." Huebald nods at Akeiro, obviously agreeing with his views. Aislynn quietly says, "That's an awful spell." Aislynn makes a grunting noise. Akeiro says, "In which case it will turn you into a bloody puddle very quickly." Huebald nods at Aislynn, obviously agreeing with her views. Yallen asks in Gorbesh, "Why?" Dasheek says, "Oh, that's interesting.." Chelinde asks, "Is that bad?" Huebald says to Aislynn, "Aye. Nasty piece of work, that." Aislynn nods at Huebald, obviously agreeing with his views. Timorias says, "That would accout for what happened in my last Necro Fight." Timorias sighs. Piw says in Gorbesh, "No idea what that spell does or the interaction." Akeiro says, "Sidhlot's Flaying pulses damage on any wound that gets bandaged." Illiya says, "Blood Staunching counts as bandaging." Tichond gasps! Penrhyn quietly says, "Ooh." Akeiro says, "Blood staunching makes them all bandaged, and so you just sort of explode into uncontrollable bleeders." Piw says in Gorbesh, "That sounds fun..." Tichond says, "Well...that is sure good to know." Akeiro says, "Made that mistake once." Akeiro shudders. Timorias chuckles. Akeiro says, "Rather climb a moongate." Illiya says, "I actually don't use Blood Staunching, and I would say it's less important in our list of buffs, if attunement is a concern." Tichond says, "That does sound decidedly unpleasant." Yallen says in Gorbesh, "I don't want to explode." Huebald nods to Illiya. Timorias says, "I Used BS against Zfora.....didn't end well. I became goo outside the Forge." Akeiro nods. Akeiro says, "I don't go out of my way to put it up either, but if you've got nother else to do." Akeiro nods. Illiya says, "And if you can spare the attunement." Illiya nods to Huebald. Akeiro says, "And I know our attunement feels starved for a lot of our career." Huebald says, "I hadn't heard it mentioned so I was wonderin'. Makes sense, thank you." Illiya says, "To what Tim said earlier, if you are fighting a skilled opponent the anti-immobilization is generally more useful than the healing of Regenerate." Illiya says, "A max-duration Ice Patch can be over 20 seconds." Illiya says, "That's 20 seconds where you can't move, retreat, cast, or do anything." Timorias nods in agreement. Akeiro says, "Longer than that, a max duration ice patch will probably last the rest of your life." Illiya laughs! Yallen asks in Gorbesh, "Can you use Nissa's binding and Ice Patch together?" Akeiro says, "Ice patching someone that is asleep wouldn't do anything I don't think." Illiya says, "You can't ice patch someone that is prone." Akeiro says, "The diminising returns you get from immobilizing someoen with ice patch also affect the duration of nissa's." Voranos says to Yallen in Gorbesh, " If your target is already on the ground from NB there's no point to IP because it'll fail." Illiya nods. Yallen nods. Illiya says, "As Voranos said, if they are already proned from NB, the ice patch will fail." Akeiro says, "So if you cast an ice patch first, and knock them down. Say it lasts ten seconds, and then you get to melee and sleep them." Akeiro says, "They would wake up almost instantly." Timorias says, ""I have a question." Illiya nods to Timorias. Timorias asks, "Would IZ work aainst a Necro?" Illiya says, "IZ will work against anyone." Akeiro says, "Works against any living creature." Illiya says, "I mean, except paladins probably." Yallen asks in Gorbesh, "What is IZ?" Illiya scoffs. Akeiro says, "Not typically much used in grey fighting." Timorias says, "Sorry I had the thought and just had to ask." Illiya says, "It's very difficult to hit at level with IZ though." Akeiro says to Yallen, "Icutu Zaharenela. Makes our touch do damage." Akeiro says, "And it's cyclic so no AD." Illiya says, "Plus you have to be at melee and it's easily blockable." Akeiro says, "Hurts your fingers, jabbing shields." Deathbeing asks, "Speaking of spells is Paralysis worth anything in pvp? Or would you need a foci?" Akeiro says, "A foci helps a lot, but I like it. I don't use it super often, but it can knock someone over handily enough in a pinch." Huebald asks, "What's a foci do? Reduce your targeting time?" Illiya says, "It can be useful in a situation where you can't hit with NB." Illiya says, "Since NB is based on a stat contest, and Paralysis is based on your TM skill." Deathbeing says, "That makes sense." Illiya says, "Usually what we go for is an accuracy TM focus." Illiya says, "Helps stuff land better in addition to hitting harder." Huebald nods. Illiya says, "Okay so. in addition to those other spells, of course you want to put up the normal buffs you would have while hunting, such as Mental Focus, Vigor, Aggressive Stance, Gift of Life, Refresh, Calculated Rage." Penrhyn asks, "Calculated rage?" Yallen asks in Gorbesh, "What is that?" Selame asks, "Is that where you drop kick things?" Huebald quietly exclaims, "Ooh, I'm lookin' forward to that one still!" Akeiro says, "Calculated rage is one of our few very offensive spells." Akeiro says, "And a powerful one." Illiya says, "If you are non-shock it will be a defensive debuff on your opponent." Illiya says, "If you are grey, it is kind of a tossup if it is an attack or a debuff." Akeiro says, "With calculated rage up you get a number of attacks you can do. If they land and you have some empathic shock, they can do damage, but they also reduce ALL of the offensive capability of the person for a minute." Illiya says, "I think it is a defensive debuff." Akeiro says, "It can turn someone hitting you fairly hard into them scratching you or even missing you." Illiya says, "Well, it's useful either way." Illiya grins, revealing her dimples. Akeiro says, "And you can keep doing it until you run out of charges, it can quickly end a fight in the right moment." Deathbeing asks, "Is it SvS?" Illiya says, "It's based on your TM skill." Akeiro nods. Illiya says, "It's kind of like the pre-cast TM warrior mages have." Akeiro says, "It's the same as trying to hit them with a fireball just with your fingers." Akeiro says, "It's a weird one." Akeiro says, "But awesome." Illiya nods at Akeiro, obviously agreeing with his views. Illiya asks, "Alright, any questions about our native buff kit?" Illiya exclaims, "We have not even gotten to actual strategies yet!" Akeiro asks Illiya, "Where would you rank our spell kit compared to other guilds?" Akeiro angles his ears forward, gazing curiously at Illiya. Illiya says to Akeiro, "It's strong, especially defensively." Akeiro exclaims, "The best!" Illiya and Akeiro highfive each other and follow it up with simultaneous finger snaps. Sassy! Tichond says, "I'd love to hear that debate." Illiya says, "There are more options if you're willing to dip into sorcery or non-native magic, but that information will be coming up in Class 4. For now I think it best for you to experiment with your native kit and then decide where you feel you would like to add something, whether it be offensive or defensive. There are many viable builds and it depends on each individual which way they would like to go with it. We'll give you the options on Day 4. There's no 100% correct answer there." Akeiro says, "We have it all the time with the corpses of the incorrect." Akeiro nods to Tichond. Illiya says, "Alright, so let's talk about actual fight strategies." Illiya says, "In a 1v1 fight and a group fight, your goals and actions may be somewhat different." Illiya says, "In a 1v1 fight, you are generally only taking damage from one source and you are trying to apply damage at the same time." Illiya asks Akeiro, "So now that we've gone through our pre-fight checklist and put up our native buffs, what specific defensive strategies are we looking to implement in a 1v1 fight?" Akeiro says, "In single combat I tend to try and think of it like a cycle, I check on how my wards are doing, if any need to be recast, I check how I am doing if I need to cast healing, I think about what debiliations I can put on the enemy, then I look at damage. Usually in roughly that priority. We're extremely durable, but it's a durability that does require some maintenance." Akeiro says, "Generally speaking my aim is to have every single debilitation I can on my opponent, and then put them to sleep and try a big manuever or targeted magic attack." Tichond nods. Voranos jots down some notes. Akeiro says, "'Strategy will vary a bit depending on who I'm against but as an example for how I'm currently running I'll try to hide while advancing and get lethargy and vertigo onto my opponent, rage at melee, then sleep them and try for a big hit with a combat maneuver." Akeiro says, "From there it may be a fight where I'm constantly rebuffing tranquility versus a Bard. Or replacing PoP when it goes down for manifest force against a barbarian, thief, ranger, or paladin. Or a fight where I have to keep an especially close eye on my wards when fighting clerics, warrior mages, or moon mages." Aislynn quietly asks Akeiro, "Out of curiousity, what would you prioritize if you found yourself facing another grey empath?" Illiya says, "We don't really fight each other." Akeiro says to Aislynn, "Breaking their wards." Aislynn nods to Akeiro. Illiya says, "Theoretically though." Illiya nods. Akeiro says, "If neither of us could ward break one another I'd probably leave, or call Selame in." Akeiro nods to Aislynn. Dasheek nods to Akeiro. Illiya says, "A two Grey Empath fight could easily become a two fullshocked Empath fight." Tichond chuckles at Illiya. Akeiro nods at Illiya, obviously agreeing with her views. Tichond asks, "Is it better to use Ward Break or Dispel?" Akeiro ponders. Akeiro says, "Ward break is stronger of the two as far as I know." Illiya says, "Ward Break is very strong and only 33 mana, whereas Dispel is 100 mana." Tichond nods to Akeiro. Akeiro says, "That was it." Akeiro says, "The mana." Tichond nods to Illiya. Akeiro says, "I was trying to remember the other why." Akeiro grins like an idiot. Illiya says, "It's very likely that you'll have to cast it multiple times as well, so the mana is a big factor." Tichond nods. Illiya says, "And ward break can take off multiple wards at once while Dispel is only one spell at a time." Illiya says, "But Dispel can take off more than just wards." Tichond asks, "Should you try to take down all of someone's wards before swinging at them?" Akeiro says, "If you can, sure." Shavay says, "Ward Break also only targets wards, whereas Dispel affects any magics." Illiya says, "Well, keep in mind that they will be trying to put them back up at the same time too." Illiya nods at Shavay, obviously agreeing with his views. Tichond nods. Akeiro says, "Also if you are trying to win a ward break contest." Akeiro says, "If you can stun the person." Tichond says, "Sorry if I don't ask questions right away I will forget them." Akeiro says, "With a weapon strike, or anything." Illiya grins at Tichond, her dimples flashing into view. Akeiro says, "It makes the contest half as hard to win." Illiya asks, "Any other questions about 1v1 strategies?" Huebald asks, "Might be more general, but can we sense when we're about to go from partially shocked to fully shocked?" Illiya says, "You can tell when you are getting close with the cassava root." Huebald nods. Shavay says, "But in mid-fight you're likely not checking that." Illiya says, "I've never been full shocked myself, so I am not sure if there is a sensation in getting that last bit of shock." Akeiro nods to Shavay. Dasheek asks Shavay, "Why not?" Shavay says to Dasheek, "Too busy fighting." Illiya says, "I do check sometimes mid-fight." Tichond raises an eyebrow. Illiya says, "Ideally we are not trying to even get close to fullshock though." Dasheek says, "Don't win the battle only to lose the war. If you're worried about it, check." Akeiro says, "If you notice your not getting stunned anymore or the stuns are gone before awaken clears them, you're getting pretty high." Akeiro says, "If you notice you can't link to anyone anymore, you're in the danger zone." Huebald exclaims, "Good to know!" Illiya says, "If I got to 7 or so I would just stop fighting. Or stop attacking anyway." Akeiro nods at Illiya, obviously agreeing with her views. Illiya says, "Make them tire themselves out failing to kill me." Tichond grins at Illiya. Akeiro says, "I tend to start being really picky about where to spend my shock when it gets to six." Illiya says, "It's very rare that you would get more than 3 levels of shock from a single fight though." Akeiro says, "Generally speaking you're perfectly safe to start a spar at anything below a five." Illiya says, "If you check before the fight and you have around 3 levels to spare, you sh ould be good for the fight." Dasheek says, "The more you fight, the slower the fights get. They seem fast and hectic at first, but comfort comes from experience. Akeiro says, "Above that you'd want to be cautious, but it's a pretty forgiving thing we have." Yallen says in Gorbesh, "Each fight scares me and I shake a lot." Akeiro nods to Yallen. Akeiro says, "Used to be me all the time too." Akeiro says, "Still is sometimes." Akeiro grins at Yallen. Illiya says to Yallen, "That definitely gets better with time." Yallen giggles. Illiya asks, "Any more questions on 1v1 spars before we talk about group strategies?" Tichond says to Dasheek, "I feel like I am always panicing." Illiya says, "So a group fight is somewhat different, especially for an Empath." Illiya says, "Usually the group itself will come up with a strategy of who to target first. The Empath may or may not be part of the offensive strategy. There are times when your job is to simply focus on healing." Illiya says, "We're doing a lot. Healing teammates, keeping ourselves healed and buffed, debilitating, damaging. Most of the time, the Empath is the most important person on the team." Illiya asks, "What is the #1 goal of the Empath in a group fight?" Akeiro says, "Steal all the kills." Akeiro nods to Illiya. Illiya says to Akeiro, "That might be an Akeiro thing." Shavay says, "The makeup of the group would affect individual strategies as well." Shavay says, "For instance, area-effect combat spells often can't avoid hitting Guardian Spirits." Illiya says, "So the #1 goal of the Empath in a group fight is to stay alive." Tichond nods to Illiya. Akeiro says, "Can't do much but heckle when you're dead." Illiya says, "The Empath is usually the most important member of the team, because we can help keep everyone else alive too." Illiya says, "For that reason we often get targetted by the opposite team." Tichond nods in agreement. Illiya says, "So in a group fight, be prepared to be focused on by multiple attackers." Chrysagon says, "It sounds unethical." Illiya says, "Fortuantely due to our defensive capabilities, we can withstand a lot of damage." Illiya says, "So, keeping ourselves alive is the most important thing." Illiya says, "Also, since our teammates are stronger at applying damage than we are, but are unable to heal themselves, healing is an important contribution that we make to a group fight. Logistically you are trying to stay near your teammates to be available to heal them." Shavay says, "So if it's between saving a patient and saving yourself - focus on yourself." Handy asks, "Do you ever fight with more than one empath in a group?" Piw says to Handy in Gorbesh, "They try to split them up but sometimes we have multiples." Handy nods. Illiya says to Handy, "We do, but we'll often decree that only one Empath on the team can heal." Akeiro nods. Illiya says, "Otherwise two teams with two healing empaths each could be another forever battle." Tichond nods to Illiya. Illiya says, "Debilitation - Since Nissa's Binding is an AOE debil, we can cast it to help our teammates apply damage or even use it defensively if we are being attacked by multiple opponents." Akeiro says, "We try and avoid stalemate type fights where we can in the spar scene broadly." Illiya nods at Akeiro, obviously agreeing with his views. Handy nods. Illiya says, "And there are situations where we may need to help more with offense, on a team that does not require as much healing or perhaps needs help on offense." Illiya says, "Knowing what to do, and when, comes with experience. Akeiro will go into some more examples." Akeiro says, "For groups I follow much of the same as I do with my solo strategy, the main difference is I persistent link my entire team. Watching for folks taking big hits sometimes I'll hand of hodierna one or two folks that are getting the most abuse, but often I've found that taking half of all of their wounds is enough to stabilize them without overwhelming myself." Yallen says in Gorbesh, "I have tried using persistent link but I don't see it doing anything." Akeiro says, "On it's own it doesn't do much." Huebald nods to Akeiro. Akeiro says, "There are a few things that it helps with." Aislynn quietly says, "Useful when your team mates like to hide." Akeiro says, "First is you can perceive the health of a person you are linked to." Huebald grins at Aislynn. Illiya nods at Aislynn, obviously agreeing with her views. Akeiro says, "Even if they are stealthed." Akeiro says, "And start taking their wounds also." Aislynn nods to Akeiro. Piw says in Gorbesh, "Does it worth through blend..." Huebald raises his hand. Akeiro says, "So it can save you some fumbling trying to establish your initial link in the middle of a fight." Akeiro says, "Where they might be disappearing constantly." Akeiro says, "There isn't always an exact right or apparent next step to take, so don't be afraid to wing it and see what happens. The ability to reflect on the fights, especially losses, and learn from them is really what will make or break the success of any of your fighting careers." Akeiro says, "And don't forget spells like fount of creation, if you have it." Akeiro says, "That's a massive heal that you can bring out." Akeiro says, "That doesn't require giving up aesandry darlaeth." Akeiro says, "In groups I find myself making pretty frequent use of it." Illiya says, "Personally I find group fights are way more fun and rewarding. There's so many more factors to consider and do, and the Empath is in a pivotol role in a group fight. We have the power to make or break the battle." Akeiro nods to Illiya. Akeiro says, "I like the variety." Illiya nods at Akeiro, obviously agreeing with his views. Akeiro says, "It's what makes our fighting fun." Illiya says, "And we can also get away with taking on less shock, letting our non-Empath teammates do the bulk of the damage." Akeiro grins at Illiya. Akeiro says, "And coming in for the kill." Akeiro rubs his hands together. Illiya says to Akeiro, "I knew you were going to say that." Illiya grins at Akeiro, her dimples flashing into view. Illiya asks, "Any questions about group fights?" Akeiro says, "If not you'll have tons after the first group fights tomorrow." Huebald raises his hand. Illiya nods to Huebald. Huebald asks, "I know our links help us heal teammates who are hidin', but what if we're the ones tryin' to hide? Will it pull us out of hidin' to heal with Hand of Hodierna, for example?" Illiya says, "No, it will not." Akeiro exclaims, "Nope!" Akeiro says, "Also." Huebald grins. Akeiro says, "It's a fun sneaky thing to do to friends." Akeiro nods. Aislynn begins chortling at Akeiro. Akeiro says, "Also." Akeiro says, "Herbs aren't a bad idea." Tichond ponders. Illiya says, "I'm pro herbs personally." Akeiro nods to Illiya. Illiya says, "Make my job easier, please." Selame giggles at Illiya. Illiya asks, "Any other questions on anything?" Piw asks in Gorbesh, "What's the best thing I can do as a teammate for an empath to help them?" Tichond asks, "Dont die?" Akeiro says, "Die loudly." Akeiro nods to Piw. Akeiro exclaims, "Going down!" Akeiro exclaims, "Need healing!" Tichond chuckles at Akeiro. Akeiro asks, "Where is my right leg?" Illiya says to Piw, "Oh, nice question." Akeiro says, "That sort of thing." Akeiro nods to Piw. Piw says in Gorbesh, "Well usually I'm knocked out during my death throws." Akeiro says, "Moan or something." Akeiro nods to Piw. Piw grins at Akeiro. Tichond chuckles. Illiya says, "Communicate about your need for healing to make their job of healing you easier." Huebald nods at Illiya, obviously agreeing with her views. Illiya asks, "Any other questions before we end the lecture?" Illiya says, "So this class went way longer than I anticipated -- but that was a good thing, we had a lot of great questions! We are really over time, so I'll just say that those who want to stay later can have a little defensive practice, but I understand that many of you have other obligations." Illiya exclaims, "Tomorrow evening we'll be having group spars at the Kirm Morzindu in Steelclaw Clan, hosted by myself, Akeiro, and Selame. Come by and try out some of the group strategies that you just learned, or cheer on our students!"