Empath new player guide

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This is a page for the Empath specific page for the Newbie Help Guide. Whenever possible, overlap with the general guide should be minimized.

For details, rules, and the other pages involved, see Category:Newbie Guide Contest.

Role-playing Considerations

Traditionally, Empaths have often been played as cheerful, selfless healers who eschew violence. Even now, many players believe that Empaths are supposed to be that way, and those who stray from that path are flouting the guild's teachings. This belief is the result of several factors:

  1. a misunderstanding of supernatural empathy: In the everyday sense, when we describe someone as empathic, we mean that he understands another person's feelings by putting himself in that person's shoes -- and usually that he feels sympathetic or compassionate as a result. Supernatural empathy doesn't really have anything to do with people's feelings. It is a breaking down of the barrier that separates two beings, allowing the Empath to sense and manipulate life essences. (As an extreme example, the First Empaths could not tolerate being around other people due to their godlike empathy.)
  2. a misunderstanding of empathic shock: Empaths who directly cause injury or pain to another living being experience Empathic shock. Many people (including Empaths) misinterpret this as a punishment for violating the guild's moral teachings, similar to the way a Paladin's soul declines when he engages in dishonorable or unchivalrous deeds. Although some Empaths may choose to attach moral significance to empathic shock, it is simply an automatic physiological reaction that arises by virtue of the Empath's heightened sensitivity to the life forces around him. If you lived in a cave for a year, and then wandered out into the noonday sun, the bright light would hurt your eyes, and you would be temporarily blinded. This is much like empathic shock, which is pain followed by a temporary insensitivity that is caused by over-stimulation of one's empathic senses.
  3. early guild mechanics that limited empathy to the transference of wounds: The Empathy skill used to be called "Transference." This is paralleled by the guild's own belief that empathy should be "channeled only into the transference of injuries, so as to prevent it from growing too great, as it has with [the First Empaths]." In the wake of Jomay, who was accused of spreading an empathic plague that maimed and killed hundreds, the Empaths' Guild attempted to eradicate knowledge of all other empathic powers from the public record. See Shift Debacle for a summary of this history.


Because early PC Empaths were generally helpless and totally reliant on other adventurers for training, protection, and income, a lot of ideas developed about how Empaths were supposed to be treated and how they were supposed to behave. This attitude has largely waned, as Empaths now have ways to train, defend themselves, and make money that don't involve other adventurers.

In short, there is nothing wrong with going the traditional route if you want, but the guild's lore allows for a lot more flexibility in character design. As GM Armifer put it, "Empathy doesn't make people nice."

How to Empath

Here is some recommended reading for those who are new to the guild or returning after a long break.

  • Empath Healing: An explanation of how to heal others and yourself.
  • Empathy skill: Includes a list of methods for training Empathy.
  • Link ability: This ability allows Empaths to temporarily benefit from the increased skill of other adventurers. The persistent link is also required for certain advanced healing techniques. The guild does not teach this ability; you must learn it from another Empath.
  • Manipulate ability: Using his empathic senses, the Empath can manipulate the minds of creatures, causing them to fight each other instead of the Empath. This provides the earliest method for killing creatures that are not constructs. It also allows you to train empathy in combat! Once you have about 50 ranks in effective empathy, you can learn this from another Empath.
  • Perceive Health: At about 50 ranks (average of empathy and attunement), the Empath can begin to sense the life essences of those around them. This ability is very helpful, as you can sense even the most stealthy of beings. (However, you will not see the names of those who are in hiding, only that someone is there.) With more skill, you can see certain health details, such as disease, poison, or vitality loss. With high skill, you can sense people who are several rooms away. This teaches a small amount of empathy (less than healing or manipulation).
  • Shift ability: This ability allows Empaths to permanently alter the appearance of other people. The guild does not teach shifting. Shifting is prohibited by the guild and is illegal in Zoluren and Therengia. Nonetheless, you can undergo a quest to learn this at 30th circle.
  • Construct: Unlike living creatures and the undead, constructs are magically animated and have no life force. Therefore, Empaths can hunt them without experiencing empathic shock. To check whether something is a construct, PERCEIVE it. For a construct, it will say, "You sense that a [monster] will not cause shock if you attack it."

Dedicated Healer/Support Character

Suggested Spell and Feat Progression

Coming soon!

Combat Empath

I will continue to expand this, but for now, here is a suggested spell and magical feat progression for combat-oriented Empaths.

There are two routes you can take for training a combat Empath. The first, which is most effective, relies on your magic, particularly your Guardian Spirit, tactics, and Empathy to bring down creatures. To this end, you will want to focus heavily on your mentals, though you may want to wear heavier armors, which will require some strength. You will want to focus on living creatures, which you will Manipulate, and support your Guardian Spirit by casting Paralysis and Lethargy on the creature it is fighting. You will also want to engage that creature, and utilize Tactics on it for further balance and position debuffing.

While in combat, you can choose between your three cyclic spells, each having advantages and disadvantages.
Regenerate - This will heal you, which will help prevent any enemies from getting the better of you. This is largely a defensive option.
Guardian Spirit - Your spirits strength is determined by your skill in TM, and as the spirit fights, it will train your TM. The more mana you put into the cyclic, the stronger the spirit will be. Since TM is a secondary trained skill, this represents a fairly effective way to take down creatures or other players.
Aesandry Darlaeth - This is a less popular option. While the Reflex and balance and recovery pulsing is useful, this is often considered to be lackluster compared to Regenerate or Guardian Spirit. I personally find this useful when supporting other hunters, or when stepping into a new hunting grounds.

The second route you can take while training a combat Empath is to find the various constructs in the land, and fight them directly with weapons. This is largely viewed as a secondary hobby for most Empaths, though training a handful of weapons can be an effective means for increasing your TDPs. Typically, an Empath won't rely on their weapons to do anything very effectively, though it might surprise someone if they're focusing on rushing you and ignoring your Guardian Spirit, and you're able to dish out some punishment with a weapon or two. That said, attacking PCs will accrue Empathic Shock, so make sure you know what you're getting into! Your spell options probably won't vary much between these two routes, though weapons will undoubtedly trail behind your magics, so you may not want to use your Guardian Spirit in constructs while training weapons.

Stat Contests for Debilitation

Debilitation spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them negatively in a non-damaging way while using the Debilitation skill. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. When using a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. Be aware that casting Nissa's Binding in town will upset the locals!

Debilitation Contests

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Necromancers

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom to determine success
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline to determine success
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence to determine success

- You always use all 3 stats in any contest.

Of the Debilitation spells available to Empaths, the breakdown is as follows;

Mind - Nissa's Binding
Magic - Lethargy
Spirit - Compel

More information on stat contests can be found here.

Suggested Spell and Feat Progression

The order takes into account spell slot costs and expected (minimum) magic ranks for each circle, indicated in the far-right column. You may be able to use spells earlier than listed here, especially with the mastery feats. I would recommend getting the cyclic spells (Guardian Spirit, Aesandry Darlaeth, and Regenerate) as early as you are able to cast them. (They require 200-250 ranks to begin casting with minimal mana.)

I have prioritized combat-oriented spells and included some spells that improve self-sufficiency/survivability. You may shift the order if you would like to emphasize healing ability more than I have.

How you spend your final slots is really a matter of personal preference. I like the mastery feats, because they let you channel more mana into spells than your skill would otherwise allow, and when you outgrow them, you can unlearn them and re-allocate those spell slots. For PvP combat, the recognition feats may be beneficial in that you can see what your opponent is doing (and try to react accordingly). Some people also recommend the "faster" prep feats, but I have heard that they only decrease spell prep time by a second.

Circle Spell Effect/Comment Cost Prerequisites Magic.Ranks
1 Heal Wounds 1 none 3
2 Heal Scars 1 Heal Wounds 6
3 9
4 Refresh -fatigue, +fatigue recovery 2 Heal Scars 12
5 15
6 18
7 Lethargy pulsing fatigue damage (prereq) 3 Refresh 21
8 24
9 Paralysis non-damaging immobilizer (to train TM in anticipation of Guardian Spirit) 2 Lethargy 27
10 30
11 Iron Constitution -damage from serious hits (prereq, becomes good at high levels) 2 Heal Scars 33
12 36
13 Gift of Life +stamina, +empathy skill (prereq) 2 Refresh 39
14 42
15 Aggressive Stance +evasion skill, +brawling skill 2 Iron Constitution and Heart Link or Gift of Life 45
16 Blood Staunching stops bleeding (prereq) 1 Heal Scars 48
17 51
18 Vitality Healing can be a life saver; you might want it even earlier 2 Heal Scars 54
19 Strange Arrow prereq 1 none 57
20 Lay Ward potency barrier against spells 1 Gauge Flow, Ease Burden or Strange Arrow 60
22 66
24 Manifest Force ablative physical damage barrier 2 Gauge Flow, Ease Burden or Strange Arrow 72
26 Cure Disease 1 Blood Staunching 78
28 84
30 Mental Focus +intelligence, +concentration/recovery (prereq) 2 Heal Scars 90
32 Compel forces target to leave room (prereq) 1 Mental Focus 98
34 106
36 114
38 Nissa's Binding puts target to sleep (AoE debilitation) 3 Compel or Awaken 122
40 Deep Attunement +harness regeneration 1 100 Attunement, 100 Arcana 130
42 Efficient Harnessing -attunement cost of held mana 1 100 Attunement, 100 Arcana 138
44 Innocence forces target to disengage; prevents facing/advancing (prereq) 1 Iron Constitution 146
46 154
48 162
50 Tranquility +discipline, +defense against vs. will/fortitude attacks (prereq) 3 Mental Focus 170
52 Vigor +agility, +strength 1 Gift of Life 178
54 Utility Mastery allows you to channel more mana into utility spells 1 100 Utility, 100 Arcana 186
56 194
58 Awaken -stuns/unconsciousness 2 Mental Focus 202
60 Raw Channeling power cyclics directly from attunement 1 100 Attunement, 100 Arcana 210
62 Efficient Channeling -cyclic cost 1 100 Attunement, 100 Arcana 218
64 226
66 Guardian Spirit summons combat "pet" (cyclic, trains TM) 2 circle 20, Innocence and Compel or Paralysis 234
68 242
70 250
72 Aesandry Darlaeth +reflex, +recovery from balance/immobilization/webbing (cyclic) 3 circle 20, Aggressive Stance 260
74 270
76 280
78 Perseverance of Peri'el ablative vitality barrier (ritual) 3 circle 30, Tranquility and Iron Constitution 290
80 300
82 Heal heals most severe wounds/scars (prereq) 2 Vitality Healing 310
84 320
86 Regenerate gradually heals wounds/scars (cyclic, great for hunting) 2 circle 30, Heal 330
88 340
90 Dispel dispels one magical effect 2 two AP spells 350
92 Flush Poisons especially after Poisons are released for alchemy 1 Blood Staunching 360
94 Magic Theorist learn spells designed for other mana types 1 100 Scholarship, 50 Arcana 370
96 Improved Memory memorize a second spell scroll 1 100 Scholarship, 100 Arcana 380
98 Sorcerous Patterns -sorcerous backlash 1 100 Sorcery, 100 Arcana 390
100 Targeted Mastery allows you to channel more mana into TM spells 1 100 TM, 100 Arcana 400
102 Debilitation Mastery allows you to channel more mana into debilitation spells 1 100 Debilitation, 100 Arcana 410
105 Augmentation Mastery allows you to channel more mana into augmentation spells 1 100 Augmentation, 100 Arcana 425
108 Warding Mastery allows you to channel more mana into warding spells 1 100 Warding, 100 Arcana 440
111 Legerdemain easier to conceal spell preps 1 50 Stealth, 50 Arcana 455
114 Alternate Preparation prereq 1 100 PM, 100 Arcana 470
117 Silent Preparation can learn spell preps that are easy to conceal 1 Alternate Preparation, 100 Stealth, 100 Arcana 485
120 500
123 515
126 Fountain of Creation heals all wounds/scars 3 circle 30, Heal 530
129 Burden -strength 1 Gauge Flow, Ease Burden or Strange Arrow 545
132 Adaptive Curing allows preemptive casting of Flush Poisons and Cure Disease 1 Cure Disease or Flush Poisons 560
135 575
138 590
141 605
144 620
147 635
150 650