blood is power gives more pips of energy regeneration, scaling with blood magic. blood ritual increases energy regen by a flat +2 or +3 iirc; only the duration scales with attributes
~0:28:30 Pro Tip: I'm not really a "pro", but Zhen gets body blocked at this shrine (I had noticed he had greyed out later in the vid). Either watch for this or flag the party back while kneeling.
whoa! I'm not sure if flagging the party would've helped here though since he is technically not "in the party." I didn't notice at all until you pointed it out. I'm surprised I was able to complete the quest.
Hero review project: Zhed Shadowhoof Zhed Shadowhoof (Water/Earth Elementalist): Comes with.... Aura of Restoration, Blurred Vision, Freezing Gust, Ward Against Melee, Ward Against Foes, Rez Signet Notes: Coming as Water Magic with its hex heavy line is the game suggesting these types of skills vs. Kournans. Two wards seem excessive and nothing to spam. Only comes with 6 skills (which appears to be the norm for heroes); however, Acolyte Sousuke (Fire Elementalist hero) comes with 7, so I will propose the same for Zhed. I consider Blurred Vision a great hex alternative to blind, but Freezing Gust is a typical weak Water skill. Ice Spikes is far better. Dropped Ward Against Foes and replaced with Obsidian Flame for another Earth Magic skill/overcast and Ice Spear. Aura of Restoration, Blurred Vision, Ice Spikes, Obsidian Flame, Ice Spear, Ward Against Melee, Rez Signet In my view, Nightfall reflects the game designers perfecting their craft. When heroes are recruited, default hero builds, where elite skills are capped, and even cutscenes provide strategy hints to the player. I do have some issues regarding how Zhed is used later. Water Magic already suffers due to armor, a problem that should have been obvious to the designers by Nightfall. A missed opportunity.
Love that Zhed skill improvement. I was on the right track it seems with removing the ward but I replaced it what I thought was a better snare. I went double earthquake which is pretty troll-y. I’ll go more spammable skills you suggested to see if he’s more effective
@@UberOfficer1 Remember that my proposed build is simply a "comes with" respecting the game limitations for each new hero (e.g. number and availability of skills). The build i would use on Zhed for this mission would be different. BTW... On another note, that you effectively wiped at the Necromancer boss suggests this playthrough is relatively fresh for someone familiar with the game. In contrast, I remember those popups and the experience wouldn't be "new" or a surprise. I will again suggest capping any interesting elites in the areas that you've already visited. Sprinkle in some side quests and caps to break up the series a bit.
Sunspear Sanctuary has the expected 10 core henchmen. I can understand less attention on the henchmen by the game designers since one gets some heroes rather quickly, but some come mid-game or even post-game. My review of the core henchmen: Necromancer Eve (Battery, Life Steal Necromancer): Comes with.... Ravenous Gaze, Shadow Strike, Deathly Swarm, Vampiric Gaze, Blood Ritual, Strip Enchantment, Signet of Lost Souls, Rez Signet Notes: Since Proph is required to get Olias; Master of Whispers is optional (mid or post Nightfall); and Livia is EotN, Eve's generic no hex/condition build is appropriate. The player will face more effective energy denial in Nightfall as well, so I'm fine with Blood Ritual (a Proph skill) even though my proposed henchmen builds try to be energy self-sufficient. Her build is basically the same as for Factions except for the much better elite Ravenous Gaze (which I like very much) and adding the signet. To counter Wastrel's skills, I like having at least one cheap, quick recharge skill, which can be a problem for some lines/professions, and the reactive Blood Ritual doesn't suffice. This means a chain of skills that can basically be repeated. Replacing Shadow Strike (a Proph skill) with Vampiric Swarm (a Factions skill) and keeping Deathly Swarm. To get more out of the Death Magic investment, replacing the weak Vampiric Gaze with the more interesting Well of Suffering. Eve is the first Nightfall henchman reviewed that comes with skills that aren't either Nightfall or core. This suggests that the designers realized the difficulty of creating an effective build here with the limitations. She's from Ascalon, so Proph skills fit the storyline, but I'm also taking the position that she's previously explored Canthal. In short, the seal was already broken, so I went with that freedom. As the campaigns were released, additional skills should have just been changed to core, especially after the failed duplicate skills from Factions. Ravenous Gaze, Vampiric Swarm, Deathly Swarm, Well of Suffering, Blood Ritual, Strip Enchantment, Signet of Lost Souls, Rez Signet
blood is power gives more pips of energy regeneration, scaling with blood magic. blood ritual increases energy regen by a flat +2 or +3 iirc; only the duration scales with attributes
Ohh nice so blood is power is definitely better then. Thanks for the comparison info!
~0:28:30 Pro Tip: I'm not really a "pro", but Zhen gets body blocked at this shrine (I had noticed he had greyed out later in the vid). Either watch for this or flag the party back while kneeling.
whoa! I'm not sure if flagging the party would've helped here though since he is technically not "in the party." I didn't notice at all until you pointed it out. I'm surprised I was able to complete the quest.
New video release soon! In the process of uploading as I write this comment.
Hero review project: Zhed Shadowhoof
Zhed Shadowhoof (Water/Earth Elementalist): Comes with....
Aura of Restoration, Blurred Vision, Freezing Gust, Ward Against Melee, Ward Against Foes, Rez Signet
Notes: Coming as Water Magic with its hex heavy line is the game suggesting these types of skills vs. Kournans. Two wards seem excessive and nothing to spam. Only comes with 6 skills (which appears to be the norm for heroes); however, Acolyte Sousuke (Fire Elementalist hero) comes with 7, so I will propose the same for Zhed. I consider Blurred Vision a great hex alternative to blind, but Freezing Gust is a typical weak Water skill. Ice Spikes is far better. Dropped Ward Against Foes and replaced with Obsidian Flame for another Earth Magic skill/overcast and Ice Spear.
Aura of Restoration, Blurred Vision, Ice Spikes, Obsidian Flame, Ice Spear, Ward Against Melee, Rez Signet
In my view, Nightfall reflects the game designers perfecting their craft. When heroes are recruited, default hero builds, where elite skills are capped, and even cutscenes provide strategy hints to the player. I do have some issues regarding how Zhed is used later.
Water Magic already suffers due to armor, a problem that should have been obvious to the designers by Nightfall. A missed opportunity.
Love that Zhed skill improvement. I was on the right track it seems with removing the ward but I replaced it what I thought was a better snare. I went double earthquake which is pretty troll-y. I’ll go more spammable skills you suggested to see if he’s more effective
@@UberOfficer1 Remember that my proposed build is simply a "comes with" respecting the game limitations for each new hero (e.g. number and availability of skills). The build i would use on Zhed for this mission would be different.
BTW... On another note, that you effectively wiped at the Necromancer boss suggests this playthrough is relatively fresh for someone familiar with the game. In contrast, I remember those popups and the experience wouldn't be "new" or a surprise.
I will again suggest capping any interesting elites in the areas that you've already visited. Sprinkle in some side quests and caps to break up the series a bit.
@@tarheel7406 you got it!
Sunspear Sanctuary has the expected 10 core henchmen. I can understand less attention on the henchmen by the game designers since one gets some heroes rather quickly, but some come mid-game or even post-game.
My review of the core henchmen: Necromancer
Eve (Battery, Life Steal Necromancer): Comes with....
Ravenous Gaze, Shadow Strike, Deathly Swarm, Vampiric Gaze, Blood Ritual, Strip Enchantment, Signet of Lost Souls, Rez Signet
Notes: Since Proph is required to get Olias; Master of Whispers is optional (mid or post Nightfall); and Livia is EotN, Eve's generic no hex/condition build is appropriate. The player will face more effective energy denial in Nightfall as well, so I'm fine with Blood Ritual (a Proph skill) even though my proposed henchmen builds try to be energy self-sufficient. Her build is basically the same as for Factions except for the much better elite Ravenous Gaze (which I like very much) and adding the signet. To counter Wastrel's skills, I like having at least one cheap, quick recharge skill, which can be a problem for some lines/professions, and the reactive Blood Ritual doesn't suffice. This means a chain of skills that can basically be repeated. Replacing Shadow Strike (a Proph skill) with Vampiric Swarm (a Factions skill) and keeping Deathly Swarm. To get more out of the Death Magic investment, replacing the weak Vampiric Gaze with the more interesting Well of Suffering.
Eve is the first Nightfall henchman reviewed that comes with skills that aren't either Nightfall or core. This suggests that the designers realized the difficulty of creating an effective build here with the limitations. She's from Ascalon, so Proph skills fit the storyline, but I'm also taking the position that she's previously explored Canthal. In short, the seal was already broken, so I went with that freedom. As the campaigns were released, additional skills should have just been changed to core, especially after the failed duplicate skills from Factions.
Ravenous Gaze, Vampiric Swarm, Deathly Swarm, Well of Suffering, Blood Ritual, Strip Enchantment, Signet of Lost Souls, Rez Signet
I’ve been getting destroyed by that ravenous gaze spell. I’m interested in using it for a build with Olias soon
@@UberOfficer1 Ravenous Gaze is my default, 'go to" elite for my Necromancer main, but I don't use much on heroes.