View source for Grey Empath Academy/Logs/20231019 Grey Empath Academy Lesson 3

{{Log
  |date=2023-10-19
  |eventname=Grey Empath Academy Lesson 3
  |gamedate=447-1-25
  |event_instance=DR
  |log=
[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 red-eyed blue-grey rat, a curly tailed black piglet, a spotted dog that is sitting, a belzune stone, a sleeping sea otter that is lying down, an Elven silk picnic cloth embroidered with silvery thread with several things on it, an elaborate storyplait picnic cloth patterned with fanciful dancing spatulas with several things on it, a longhaired dove grey kitten, a ramp leading to the competition area, a wash basin, a large white cabinet and an arch.
Also here: Tear Reaper Tambellis, Vaddon, Mountain Titan Robarvo who is sitting, Sticky Fingers Bellaphena, Hodierna's Fist Timorias, Salvitoriel who has a fiery visage, Piw who is sitting, Qij, Yallen who is sitting, Niliaevat Raesh Isen Malorna who is sitting, Eyskin, Chirurgeon Akeiro who is sitting, Lady of Pain Selame who is sitting, Shadow's Touch Zovos, Ecologist Penrhyn, Handy who is sitting, Danger Wizard Dasheek, and Nurse Illiya.
Obvious exits: west. 

Illiya says, "Alright, let's get started. The stragglers will have to catch up with the notes."

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."

Akeiro beams!

Illiya exclaims, "This is our third class, and today we will be talking about offensive strategies. Now we're getting to the good stuff!"

Illiya rubs her hands together.

Illiya says, "As Empaths, we have a unique handicap surrounding offense - Empathic shock. Each damaging action means we gain more shock, but also a 'shock stun.' As we covered in our defensive strategies class, Awaken can help mitigate the duration of the stun, but for this reason we also try to focus on high-damage attacks over small, light hits."

Illiya asks, "So, what are some things we can do to maximize our damage?"

Illiya smiles, revealing the dimples in her cheeks.

Illiya asks, "Anyone know?"

Handy says, "Debil."

Illiya nods at Handy, obviously agreeing with his views.

Akeiro nods at Handy, obviously agreeing with his views.

Illiya exclaims, "Exactly!"

Piw says, "Trick them into taking off their armor."

Illiya says, "If your opponent is stunned, asleep, proned, webbed, etc - they will take much more damage when you attack them than they would if they were just standing there."

Qij says, "Bonus gear, foci, etc."

Illiya sticks her tongue out at Piw.

Selame giggles at Piw.

Qij quietly says to Piw, "Effective."

Qij nods emphatically at Piw.

Illiya says, "True, if you somehow manage to do that. Probably not a strategy you can rely on usually."

Illiya says, "So we try to debilitate our opponent before applying damage in order to maximize our hits."

Illiya says, "As a guild, we have some serviceable debilitations."

Illiya says, "There's two types of debilitation. Does anyone know what they are? We also refer to debilitation as 'cc' or 'crowd control'. Those of you who attended Praxium should know the answer to this."

Handy nods to Illiya.

Eyskin says, "Nb for sleep."

Illiya says, "So the two types are 'hard' and 'soft.' Generally speaking, a 'hard' debil is one that causes an immediate debilitated status that prevents return action such as web, stun, sleep, immobilization, etc."

Illiya asks, "So do Empaths have any native 'hard' debilitations?"

Akeiro nods.

Kalinandra chortles softly at some secret joke.

Illiya asks, "Which ones?"

Zovos says, "Paralysis and nb."

Illiya beams at Zovos!

Illiya exclaims to Zovos, "Exactly!"

Illiya says, "Nissa's Binding is our bread and butter debilitation. Its strengths are being easier to land and also being AOE (affecting everyone who is engaged to us, or everyone in the area depending on if we cast ENGAGED or AREA). Its weak point is that it can be mitigated by Awaken. It's very difficult to use NB on other Empaths, or anyone who is scrolling/gyreing Awaken. And by the way, that's a large proportion of experienced PvPers. So what you want to do is cast NB right before the hit."

Illiya says, "If you wait too long, they'll Awaken again and you won't get the benefit of attacking them while they are asleep."

Salvitoriel says, "Hello need an extra body to serve as a training dummy."

Penrhyn grins at Salvitoriel.

Illiya says to Salvitoriel, "Always."

Illiya beams at Salvitoriel!

Illiya says, "Paralysis is tricky because as a TM spell, it's harder to use vs stealth, but it can also create an immobilization state."

Illiya says, "A 'soft' debil is one that one that does not cause an immediate debilitated status and most importantly, does not trigger diminishing returns."

Handy nods.

Illiya asks, "Does anyone know what 'soft' debils Empaths have?"

Piw says, "That stupid stamina debuff."

Piw makes a grunting noise.

Illiya grins at Piw, her dimples flashing into view.

Zovos says, "Lethargy."

Piw ducks his head.

Illiya says, "You're both right."

Illiya says, "Lethargy is a fatigue and small agility and reflex debuff that remains on the target for awhile."

Illiya says, "We have another one too."

Handy asks, "Compel?"

Akeiro ponders.

Illiya says, "Compel and Innocence don't really get used a lot, although technically they are debiliations."

Illiya says, "I was thinking about Calculated Rage, which is a bit unique because it can be a larger defensive debuff if you are mostly unshocked, but if you are grey it could also happen as damage and a smaller defensive debuff."

Handy shrugs.

Akeiro says, "Can be handy if you can land them, that seems to get progressively less often the further up the ranks you go."

Illiya grins at Handy, her dimples flashing into view.

Handy grins.

Akeiro grins at Handy.

Illiya asks, "So when do we use 'soft' debils like Lethargy and when do we use 'hard' debils like Nissa's Binding or Paralysis?"

Salvitoriel says, "Nasty stuff that one."

Zovos says, "Lethary seems better in a team spar to me."

Zovos says, "From what ive watched."

Akeiro says, "Well you can throw it on literally everyone."

Akeiro nods to Zovos.

Piw says, "Lethargy seems good against physical attackers mostly/."

Illiya says, "They can both be useful in team spars."

Akeiro says, "There's no downside to lethargy."

Malorna says, "Plus it lasts long."

Illiya says to Piw, "That's been my observation too."

Illiya nods at Malorna, obviously agreeing with her views.

Illiya says, "Well, what I meant was the timing during the fight."

Illiya grins, revealing her dimples.

Salvitoriel asks, "Oh as early as possible?"

Akeiro nods to Salvitoriel.

Illiya says, "You can use 'soft' debils like Lethargy at any time, without diminishing returns, but you want to time 'hard' debils to land right before the hit so you don't waste them."

Malorna says, "Then the hard ones as you are about to hit em."

Akeiro nods at Malorna, obviously agreeing with her views.

Illiya beams at Malorna!

Illiya exclaims to Malorna, "Exactly!"

Malorna smiles at Illiya.

Illiya asks, "Okay, any questions about our native debilitations?"

Salvitoriel says, "I have one..."

Illiya nods to Salvitoriel.

Illiya smiles at Salvitoriel, revealing the dimples in her cheeks.

Salvitoriel asks, "How come paralysis doesn't recieve a boost from using a tm focus like most tm spells?"

Illiya says, "It does."

Akeiro says, "Depends on the focus but it does."

Akeiro says, "It doesn't benefit from a damage focus from what I can tell, nor does it proc elemental foci."

Illiya says, "If you're using an accuracy TM focus it allows you a greater chance of hitting someone you wouldn't normally be able to hit."

Salvitoriel says, "Oh... okay I just didn't notice the difference when I was playing around t=with that one then sorry."

Illiya nods to Salvitoriel.

Illiya says, "Another way we can control the pace of battle is using brawling maneuvers. Being lore primary, Empaths are generally strong in tactics and can usually pull off brawling maneuvers successfully."

Illiya asks Akeiro, "So what type of maneuvers should we be using and what do they do?"

Akeiro says, "For myself the primary ones that I focus on are circle, which can unbalance an opponent, quite severely when grappled. Weave, which when successful applies a small offensive debuff to the opponent."

Zovos says, "Interesting."

Timorias says, "Shove works well for unbalancing them as well."

Penrhyn raises her hand.

Illiya says, "Shove will push them to missile too, but you don't always want that."

Illiya nods to Penrhyn.

Akeiro says, "Beyond that making use of grapple to keep your opponent close, shoving them, and also worth keeping in the forefront of your mind that if you're stuck in a grapple you don't want to be in, you can attempt to suplex your opponent as nearly sure fire way to get out."

Penrhyn asks, "For those of us who aren't anywhere near the top ranks of combat, is there an easy way we can assess whether or not it would be worth our time to try tactics maneuvers against our opponent?"

Akeiro says to Penrhyn, "Trial and error really."

Penrhyn says, "Honestly I just assume all my moves will fail against anyone who cares about pvp."

Penrhyn grins.

Malorna grins at Penrhyn.

Vaddon smiles at Penrhyn.

Illiya says, "It's a skill based contest though, so it depends on your skill vs theirs."

Akeiro says, "With brawling at least you'll succeed more than you fail generally, assuming you're anywhere near the same level as your opponent."

Penrhyn playfully says to Akeiro, "Not a reasonable assumption."

Akeiro says, "Paladins are a special exception to that, since really high defending ability  broadly negates a lot of brawling."

Illiya says, "When you fight in the arena with equalized skills, you should usually be able to pull off brawling moves."

Handy nods to Illiya.

Penrhyn nods to Illiya.

Illiya says, "Or other high-tactics guilds like Bards or Traders."

Illiya says, "Grappling and circling is a very powerful move to keep the opponent unbalanced, especially if they are prone."

Illiya says, "It's a good one you can use in boss or champion fights too, to end them fast."

Illiya asks, "Any questions about brawling maneuvers?"

Illiya smiles, revealing the dimples in her cheeks.

Zovos asks, "So strength is fairly important in empath pvp then?"

Akeiro says to Zovos, "To a point we make use of everything."

Illiya says to Zovos, "It's not more important than any other stat."

Zovos nods to Akeiro.

Illiya says, "Now let's talk about some non-native spells. Empaths do have native debilitation and Targeted Magic (TM) spells, which are fine for training, but in PvP they can be a bit limited."

Illiya says, "So you may choose to include debil or TM in your scrolled spells. Remember that we only have 3 non-native spell slots (2 scrolls and 1 tattoo), so it's important to choose carefully depending on what you want to bolster in your combat kit. We will discuss non-native defensive spells in our next class, so perhaps hold off on your decision until then."

Yallen scratches her head.

Illiya asks Akeiro, "What are some non-native debils we should consider?"

Akeiro says, "We're fortunate that our robust native selection of spells gives us a ton of flexibility with scroll choices, and tattoo choices should you choose to get one, they aren't strictly speaking necessary to be a high functioning Grey Empath, they are nice enough to consider, however."

Illiya nods in agreement.

Akeiro asks, "For sorcerous debilitations there are a few important considerations, firstly how difficult is it to land on your average opponent?"

Akeiro asks, "And secondly does this debilitation have some effect that will reduce the efficicacy of my native debils?"

Akeiro says, "For example Ice Patch, it's a fairly easy contest to land being your magic against your opponents reflexes, but it will cause your next nissa's binding to end early because it also immobilizes. Never hurts to get someone on the ground, but it's something you'd want to be aware of making the choice of this spell."

Akeiro says, "Alternatively something like tremor, which is the same contest as ice patch, and fills many of the same functions as ice patch being that it will knock your opponent off balance or prone, but it does not have any effect on your next nissa's binding cast. Meaning you're free to stack these debilitations on your opponent, or use it liberally while waiting for nissa's binding to be full strength again."

Penrhyn raises her hand.

Timorias raises his hand.

Akeiro nods to Penrhyn.

Akeiro asks Penrhyn, "Question?"

Penrhyn asks Akeiro, "I don't think I realized that the repeat penalty could occur between different spells. Does paralysis make NB weaker, too?"

Akeiro nods to Penrhyn.

Akeiro says, "It does because it immobilizes."

Penrhyn frowns.

Illiya says, "Anything that puts the opponent into a debilitated state that prevents them from acting, such as stun, sleep, immobilization, etc. is considered a 'hard' debil that will haev diminishing returns if cast within 60 seconds."

Illiya says, "It will basically half the duration of the subsequent cast."

Akeiro says, "For the last detailed consideration, and these spells are more for examples than they are strictly suggestions is vertigo, which is a favorite of mine, it also attacks balance like the other two but it's contest is your mind versus the opponent's willpower, which can be hard to land. In addition to not interfering nissa's it has the added bonus of reducing all of the opponent's offensive skills."

Yallen smiles at Akeiro.

Timorias raises his hand.

Akeiro nods to Timorias.

Yallen raises her hand.

Akeiro angles his ears forward, gazing curiously at Timorias.

Illiya asks Timorias, "Question?"

Akeiro quietly says to Yallen, "Go after Timorias asks his questions."

Yallen says, "I bes gohts un queshuns wens das Bohbs bes duns."

Akeiro nods to Yallen.

Yallen nods to Akeiro.

Illiya grins at Yallen, her dimples flashing into view.

Timorias says, "How hard does using non Native non Life spells affect your Social Justice? I mean as someone who's been banished from both Zoluren and Therengian.. Im a bit leary of that."

Akeiro says, "Not at all unless you're unfortunate enough to have the worst sort of backlash inside of town."

Akeiro says, "Which hasn't ever happened to me yet."

Yallen scratches her head.

Akeiro says, "It did kill Atuen once in front of me though."

Akeiro says, "Which was hilarious."

Illiya says, "It only affects your social outrage if you backlash visibly in town."

Akeiro nods to Yallen.

Timorias says, "Well I only ask because I was banished from Therengia fro just listening to a Sorcery class."

Illiya says, "If you backlash non-visibly, there is no social outrage."

Illiya says, "Well yeah, Therengia.."

Akeiro says, "Oh."

Akeiro says, "Yeah don't listen to a sorcery class."

Akeiro says, "Listen to someone else teach their primary magic."

Timorias nods.

Akeiro says, "It will teach both life magic and sorcery."

Akeiro says, "And ruffles no feathers."

Timorias says, "I've tried. I've never been able to."

Piw says to Timorias, "Therengia is a bit of a stickler for their rules."

Robarvo says, "And dont listen to thievery either."

Robarvo says, "In towns."

Illiya asks Yallen, "Question?"

Illiya smiles at Yallen, revealing the dimples in her cheeks.

Akeiro asks Yallen, "What was your question?"

Handy grins at Robarvo.

Yallen asks, "I bes tin'n bots das veht-, erm, verhteegahs. Howsa manees slahts I bes needn' tas has?"

Salvitoriel raises his hand.

Piw says to Yallen, "It's a scroll for you, so one scroll slot."

Illiya says, "So for sorcery spells, they take scroll slots rather than the normal spell slots we get from the guild."

Illiya says, "In total we can have two scrolls and one tattoo."

Illiya nods to Salvitoriel.

Akeiro says to Yallen, "It's a scroll for us, you can spend two spell slots at Ozursus in the academy to learn sorcerous patterns which lets us temporarily memorize spells from other schools of magic."

Akeiro says to Yallen, "And also improved memory, which is a magic feat that lets us temporarily memorize two scrolls instead of one."

Illiya asks, "Any other questions about non-native debils?"

Illiya smiles, revealing the dimples in her cheeks.

Akeiro says, "Finally on debils."

Akeiro says, "Beyond those in depth examples I encourage you to experiment, keep those sorts of considerations in mind and there are literally dozens of spells that you can try that all have their own strengths and weaknesses. A short list of considerations: curse of zachriedek, hand of tenemlor, huldah's pall, dazzle, arc light, rend, ward break, heighten pain, viscous solution, curse of the wilds... and so on."

Salvitoriel stops trying to teach Elemental Magic to Timorias.

Akeiro says, "We have A LOT of different options to play with depending on how you want to approach things."

Illiya nods at Akeiro, obviously agreeing with his views.

Illiya exclaims, "Have fun and experiment!"

Akeiro nods at Illiya, obviously agreeing with her views.

Illiya asks, "Any other questions about non-native debils?"

Akeiro says, "Also the best for of non native debil."

Akeiro leans on Selame.

Akeiro says, "Barbarian Girlfriend."

Selame leans over and scratches Akeiro's back.

Akeiro nods.

Illiya grins at Akeiro, her dimples flashing into view.

Dasheek smiles.

Piw chuckles at Akeiro.

Yallen nods to Akeiro.

Malorna lets out a loud "Huzzah!" for Selame!

Selame laughs at Akeiro.

Penrhyn raises her hand.

Illiya says, "She brings the snacks too."

Akeiro nods to Penrhyn.

Illiya nods to Penrhyn.

Akeiro quietly says to Illiya, "Only on the super delux models."

Penrhyn asks, "I actually have one more question about scrolls. Do most of y'all not do sorcery research all the time?"

Penrhyn playfully says, "I can never seem to hang onto scrolls due to the backlash."

Akeiro asks, "Research?"

Penrhyn giggles.

Illiya says, "Sorcery research is extremely risky actually."

Akeiro says, "I cast sorcerous spells all throughout my training."

Akeiro says, "I vertigo so many archons."

Akeiro nods to Penrhyn.

Illiya nods at Akeiro, obviously agreeing with his views.

Penrhyn says, "It's not the least bit risky for an empath."

Malorna says, "Specially with regen on .. in case."

Illiya says, "The best way I've found to train sorcery is by casting sorcerous spells."

Piw says, "You can scroll fire shards and it'll pretty much never backlash on you."

Akeiro says, "I seem to recall it being time consuming, but if it's your preference, it works just fine."

Akeiro nods to Piw.

Akeiro says, "For training gar zeng, fire shards, fire ball, lightning bolt et cetera."

Penrhyn nods.

Akeiro says, "They all make great spells both for training targetted magic, and sorcery."

Akeiro says, "And most are plenty useable against adventurers too."

Illiya says, "A good Elemental battle spell like a debil or TM spell should not be too difficult to use."

Illiya nods at Akeiro, obviously agreeing with his views.

Robarvo says, "Illiya  explain what are the easiest scrolls to start with that are safesst for empaths   like  GZ  vs Shadows...etc.."

Akeiro says to Robarvo, "Any of the intro targetted spells."

Illiya says, "The easiest spells are Elemental battle spells."

Robarvo says, "I dont even know what into spells are."

Akeiro says, "Also if any students need any scroll, feel free to ask."

Akeiro just nudged Yallen.

Robarvo says, "But names of the scrolls they should try .. like gz as a example."

Robarvo says, "Trains well up to like 700 i believe."

Illiya says, "Battle spells are considered one tier lower in difficulty than non-battle spells of the same difficulty."

Akeiro nods at Illiya, obviously agreeing with her views.

Yallen says, "I bes nahs shurs das uns tas gehts. I bes tryn' dems tas figyahs dems ots."

Tambellis joylessly says, "Aura of Tongues is a boring yet common choice for Life users to do sorcery."

Yallen nods to Tambellis.

Illiya says, "Aura of Tongues, Eillie's Cry are intro Elemental but non-battle spells."

Akeiro nods to Tambellis.

Handy nods to Illiya.

Salvitoriel shrugs.

Akeiro says, "Only spells I'd stay away from are non native ward spells really."

Akeiro says, "Since it gets to be tricky using them to train."

Malorna asks, "Like EY?"

Akeiro says, "Without stepping on your own toes."

Timorias says, "I love ey."

Akeiro says, "EY won't teach sorcery."

Illiya says, "If you use something like Ethereal Shield to train you won't be able to put up your own native wards."

Akeiro says, "Great spell though, a very good choice."

Akeiro nods to Malorna.

Piw says, "For those of us with lower sorcery, battle debils will still backfire a decent chunk. I had about 3-5 backfire over the course of a day. However, intro TM like fireshards and gar zeng I've never seen backfire."

Salvitoriel says to Akeiro, "I've got an extra copy of fs if any of your students would like to use it..."

Malorna says, "I lost my GZ spell."

Akeiro quietly says to Piw, "That's a built in feature from Meraud to keep Rangers humble."

Akeiro nods to Piw.

Illiya grins at Akeiro, her dimples flashing into view.

Piw grins at Akeiro.

Piw says to Akeiro, "I think you tried to get me killed with that vertigo scroll."

Piw winks at Akeiro.

Illiya says, "Alright, moving along."

Illiya says, "So let's talk about our damaging magic options, or Targeted Magic."

Penrhyn grins.

Illiya says, "As we've mentioned before, both Guardian Spirit and Icutu Zaharenela are extremely rarely, if ever, used in serious combat. The reason for that is because they are both cyclic spells, and our defensive cyclic Aesandry Darlaeth is much more useful in most situations, followed by Regenerate."

Illiya says, "If you want to use damaging TM, you'll need to scroll a TM spell. So any damaging TM that we use in PvP is generally non-native."

Illiya says, "The first one I'll recommend is Strange Arrow. This analagous spell can be purchased by anyone at Herilo's Artifacts and can be cast without sorcery. You can also memorize it permanently without it counting as one of your scroll spells."

Illiya says, "The second spell I recommend is Lightning Bolt. As a Warrior Mage spell it is Elemental, which is the easiest sorcery mana type for us. Lightning Bolt is shield-ignoring, pure elemental damage, and thus easier to hit with and hit hard. For most people that scroll non-native TM, it's basically the go-to. The disadvantage of LB is that it cannot be cast indoors."

Illiya says, "A third spell to consider is Frost Scythe, another Warrior Mage spell. It is armor piercing and cold/slice damage but can be cast indoors."

Handy nods to Illiya.

Illiya says, "At the end of the day, your TM choice will not make or break most of your fights. I've experimented with different TM spells, and the difference is not massive. If you already have a TM spell that you enjoy using for training, it is fine to use that in PvP too."

Illiya says, "Another thing to note is that you don't absolutely need to scroll a damaging TM spell. For example, Akeiro generally runs without one and relies on weapons."

Vaddon says, "Not sure we need to be thinking armor piercing.  Just my thought there."

Illiya grins at Vaddon, her dimples flashing into view.

Illiya says to Vaddon, "Says the Paladin."

Vaddon chuckles.

Akeiro grins at Vaddon.

Akeiro says, "Palmstrike."

Akeiro says, "Also ignores armor."

Illiya asks, "Any questions on TM?"

Illiya asks Akeiro, "So if you don't have a damaging TM spell, how do you apply damage?"

Akeiro exclaims, "Whack em with weapons!"

Illiya beams at Akeiro!

Handy grins at Akeiro.

Akeiro says, "Now due in part to shock, and in part how we can often be waiting or timing our next debilitations on our target, I tend to focus on trying to win the fight with as few large hits as I can possibly manage."

Akeiro says, "Before I get into how I choose weapons, it's worth noting that these recommendations are only for hitting your target, I don't suggest trying to parry with these sorts of weapons. Leave that to a well balanced parry stick."

Akeiro says, "Parrying with a pike is perilous."

Akeiro winces.

Illiya nods at Akeiro, obviously agreeing with his views.

Malorna says, "And a tongue twister."

Illiya says, "Try saying that five times fast."

Illiya grins at Malorna, her dimples flashing into view.

Akeiro says, "Parrying with a pike is perilous."

Malorna nods at Illiya, obviously agreeing with her views.

Illiya grins at Akeiro, her dimples flashing into view.

Akeiro says, "I couldn't even get it out twice quick."

Akeiro says, "My tongue gave up."

Malorna chuckles.

Akeiro says, "For choosing a good weapon there are mainly two things I tend to look at."

Akeiro says, "The first consideration is as much damage, of any flavor, the weapon has in total. We can make use of piercing, slashing or bashing on any weapon."

Akeiro says, "The second is the weapon's natural affinity for stunning folks, this suitability is good because weapon stuns do not interfere at all with our debilitations, with extreme luck you can sometimes keep someone stunned for quite a long time."

Timorias says, "Stun lock for the win baby."

Akeiro says, "That's it actually, balance doesn't matter for whacking someone laying on the ground generally, durability isn't such a concern across a single fight. Now, how we USE these weapons."

Akeiro says, "This is my own personal favorite weapon for our fighting style."

Akeiro nods to a lifesculpted sledgehammer flourishing with growths of greenery.

Illiya beams at Akeiro!

Illiya says to Akeiro, "That sledge has racked up so many kills."

Penrhyn raises her hand.

Illiya nods to Penrhyn.

Akeiro says, "Lots of bit bigs for bashing, barely balanced."

Penrhyn says to Akeiro, "How do you tell the weapons tendency to stun? I don't think I can tell that from an appraisal."

Illiya says, "Its ability to improve the force of your attacks."

Illiya asks Penrhyn, "Appraise?"

Illiya shows Penrhyn her lifesculpted sledgehammer.

Penrhyn begins to carefully examine a lifesculpted sledgehammer flourishing with growths of greenery.

Yallen asks, "Wers I gehts uns ovs dems?"

Akeiro says to Yallen, "I can make you a suitable one for the time being."

Malorna asks, "Is there a recommened level you should look for in the desiged for impoving  your attacks?"

Illiya says, "This sledgehammer is perfectly designed for improving the force of your attacks."

Illiya says, "It is completely unbalanced though, so not a good training weapon."

Akeiro nods.

Akeiro says, "Or parrying."

Akeiro says, "You don't want these out all the time."

Akeiro says, "Just for the attack."

Akeiro says, "Then put it away."

Akeiro says, "There are eight combat maneuvers that we can use: powershot, cleave, impale, twirl, palmstrike, suplex, and doublestrike. They are all powerful and accurate attacks, but I tend to focus primarily on cleave with a large two handed sword, crash with as big and nasty of a sledgehammer or maul I can find, impale with a pole ranged polearm, twirl with a quarterstaff, and palmstrike."

Handy nods.

Akeiro says, "Usually our fighting style dictates that we get one or two potential maneuvers off in a debilitation cycle."

Illiya nods to Akeiro.

Akeiro says, "If you stun with a weapon or spell, that's when I say go all in."

Illiya says, "If the opponent is stunned, it's a good opportunity for us to attack."

Akeiro nods.

Akeiro says, "Lastly you may hear about "bombo" which is a short way of saying barbarian combo, it's actually not used all that frequently in combat, simply put it's the practice of stringing together several of these attacks in a row."

Timorias says, "Assuming we aren't stunned from shock."

Akeiro says, "That's what we rely on awaken to rid ourselves of."

Akeiro nods to Timorias.

Akeiro says, "For us whether this is successful or not really depends on where you're at skill wise relative to your opponent, and which debilitations you are using. Generally speaking we can get one or two maneuvers off against a fully debilitated target before they are standing back up, which often means these attacks will be misses for us."

Akeiro asks, "Any questions regarding weapons?"

Zovos asks, "Staves fall in the same catagory as pikes for pvp?"

Akeiro says, "Staves you would use to twirl."

Illiya says, "Staves are different than pikes."

Akeiro says, "But there are pike staffs."

Illiya nods.

Akeiro says, "The terminology can be confusing on those two."

Illiya nods in agreement.

Zovos nods to Akeiro.

Akeiro says, "If you can get a staff that's pole ranged."

Akeiro says, "Twirl is incredible."

Akeiro nods.

Akeiro says, "It completely ignores your targets evasiveness."

Timorias says, "Spears are good for that as well."

Akeiro nods.

Timorias says, "And have a short RT."

Akeiro says, "Twirl and impale are great to use while advancing."

Illiya nods at Akeiro, obviously agreeing with his views.

Piw says, "Or against rangers trying to keep thier distance."

Piw makes a grunting noise.

Illiya asks Akeiro, "Are we going to have a demonstration?"

Akeiro angles his ears forward, gazing curiously at Selame.

Illiya gazes hopefully at Akeiro.

Selame nods to Akeiro.

Akeiro makes a grunting noise.

Akeiro leaps to his feet!

Selame stands up.

Selame dusts herself off.

Akeiro says, "We'll step down to the arena."

Illiya says, "To watch, OBSERVE <NAME> after they go down the ramp."

Akeiro says, "I'm going to have Selame do the bombo since barbarians are really quick at it."

Akeiro says, "On me."

Illiya says, "Oh, umm."

Selame rubs her hands together.

Illiya says, "We were going to have an Empath demonstrate it."

Akeiro asks, "Or did you want me to?"

Illiya says, "Yeah."

Akeiro says, "Alright."

Selame winces.

Akeiro rubs Selame gently, massaging her muscles.

Akeiro nods to Illiya.

Dasheek says, "Show off that stun and the timing."

Allye grins.

Akeiro says, "Alright I'm going to open about as normal and just try to do an entire bombo."

Akeiro says, "Probably a lot will miss."

Illiya says, "So, some things to watch out for. Akeiro is probably going to try to debilitate his opponent first and try to land as many hits as possible."

Akeiro exclaims, "Alright ready!"

Akeiro kisses Selame on the nose.

Illiya lets out a hearty cheer for Akeiro!

Chirurgeon Akeiro went down a ramp leading to the competition area.

Illiya says, "OBSERVE AKEIRO to watch."

Selame clucks her tongue and shakes her head.



<Akeiro demonstrates Advanced Combat Maneuvers on Selame>



Illiya says, "Wow."

Illiya lays her hand on Selame's arm.

Piw says, "So vertigo into NB into... ow."

Selame yawns and stretches, coming out of her sleep.

Akeiro says, "Uh."

Akeiro says, "I ran out of Selame."

Chirurgeon Akeiro came up a ramp leading to the competition area.

You stop watching Akeiro since he is no longer in the arena.

Selame stirs and wakes up moaning.

Selame stands up.

Akeiro quietly says to Selame, "Thinking probably should've done twirls."

Selame exclaims to Akeiro, "Surprise!"

Timorias pats Selame on the back.

Illiya asks, "So, what debilitations did we notice Akeiro using?"

Selame leans on Akeiro.

Handy says, "Lethargy."

Yallen says, "Das Nissahs."

Illiya nods at Handy, obviously agreeing with his views.

Illiya nods to Yallen.

Illiya says, "He layerd on Lethargy, Vertigo, and finally Nissa's Binding right before the attack."

Illiya says, "That's basically the perfect way to execute it."

Selame nods in agreement.

Akeiro says, "And got lucky with a weapon stun right up front."

Yallen lets out a hearty cheer for Akeiro!

Illiya says, "Get your opponent as debilitated as possible and then attack."

Handy nods to Illiya.

Akeiro leans on Selame.

Illiya asks Akeiro, "How many maneuvers did you get through?"

Akeiro says, "Three."

Akeiro says, "Crash cleave then impale."

Akeiro says, "All three pole ranged, but I was at melee."

Illiya asks Akeiro, "How many would you say it usually takes in an equalized fight?"

Piw asks, "Do you always lead with crash?"

Piw asks, "Or is the order important?"

Akeiro says to Piw, "Not always, twirl against evasive folks, anything BUT twirl against rangers."

Yallen asks, "Howas yas gehts das spehls ots sas fahst?"

Illiya says, "People have different preferences as to the order of maneuvers."

Akeiro says, "I would say maybe five to eight hits."

Illiya says to Yallen, "Practice."

Akeiro says, "Depending on who I am fighting."

Illiya nods to Akeiro.

Akeiro says, "Fastest ever was killing a naked Rifkinn in Ylonos at three."

Illiya says, "Yeah at Ylonos without armor."

Yallen gasps at Akeiro!

Yallen exclaims, "Meh Mista Rifs!"

Illiya grins at Akeiro, her dimples flashing into view.

Selame snickers.

Piw giggles at Akeiro.

Illiya says, "During Akeiro's demonstration, you may have noticed the shock stun after every maneuver."

Akeiro says to Yallen, "He did the same to Selame too."

Yallen gasps at Selame!

Selame nods at Yallen, obviously agreeing with her views.

Illiya says, "So, while any guild is technically able to chain ACMs into a bombo, we are still the worst at it due to the shock stun. And not just with ACMs, but with any damaging action including TM or weapon attacks."

Yallen exclaims, "Meh Heeros!"

Akeiro nods to Illiya.

Illiya says, "Compared to other guilds, we are not able to chain attacks together quickly because we will be stunned in the aftermath of any damaging action."

Akeiro says, "Awaken pulsed me out of it each time there."

Malorna asks, "Or brawl right?"

Illiya says, "That's also why it's important to keep Awaken up when we fight."

Illiya says, "Another thing to be aware of is that the shock stun itself is like any other stun - it unbalances you and debilitates you."

Illiya says, "So when you attack you are also opening yourself up to receiving damage, which is something to be careful about, especially in group fights."

Piw raises his hand.

Akeiro says, "It can also make you lose a spell you are preparing if you're supremely unlucky."

Illiya nods to Piw.

Akeiro exclaims, "So don't be unlucky!"

Illiya grins at Akeiro, her dimples flashing into view.

Piw says, "Does the shock stun give you DR's to incoming stuns/."

Illiya exclaims, "Get lucky!"

Malorna asks, "Will a luck boost help with that?"

Akeiro shakes his head at Piw.

Akeiro says to Malorna, "It actually might."

Akeiro looks at Malorna and shrugs.

Akeiro gets an ornate brass astrolabe from inside his entangling brambles.

Akeiro holds his astrolabe up and focuses on it.

You feel the magic in the astrolabe swell up and engulf you!  The feeling is odd, but not unpleasant.

Akeiro puts his astrolabe in his entangling brambles.

Illiya says, "Can't hurt anyway."

Malorna chuckles at Akeiro.

Illiya asks, "Any questions about anything related to Empath offensive strategies?"

Akeiro says, "It takes a lot of practice to do our offense well I think."

Akeiro says, "And even more to do it, and healing, and debilling."

Akeiro says, "So if you feel overwhelmed at times."

Akeiro says, "That's very normal."

Illiya nods at Akeiro, obviously agreeing with his views.

Illiya says, "Practice working on the timing, practice makes you better."

Akeiro says, "Unlike pooping it's not always exactly clear what your next best move is."

Akeiro nods.

Illiya says, "Again, thank you all for coming, and we hope that you have gained something of value. The class ran later than scheduled once again, but those who want to stay later can have some practice in the Arena."

Illiya says, "We will be meeting back here at Wyvern Arena tomorrow evening for 1v1 spars, so those who cannot stay late now can still get an opportunity to fight tomorrow."

Illiya exclaims, "Remember, the best way to learn to fight is by fighting, so we hope to see everyone tomorrow!"
}}