The NEW Arcane Paladin Guide - Now With Extra Glitter!

**Ashtalia** · 10-10-2020, 08:09 PM

Hey folks! I am making a new guide here for my Arcane Paladin build that I had started in another thread. It got a little cluttered and messy, so I wanted to redo it so it's easier to understand and find what you are looking for. As always, if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please add them!

Are you new to Project Gorgon and looking to do a Sword/Shield build from scratch? Or are you someone who has played a while and wants to try out what a Sword and Shield build might be like? Well, if you answered YES to either of these questions, then look no further than this guide!

Disclaimer: I am in no way an expert on this game or these skills, but this is what I have found that worked for me

Before we start, if you haven't already, check out this page on the PGWiki to get a basic understanding of mechanics and other things of the game.

If you are a beginner to the game and this build, please check out the Beginner's Guide I have written below. It is not thoroughly in-depth at this time, but it will give you a little push on how PG works and what you can expect throughout the game itself. It's a lot of info, so just click on the Show button to open up the window.

Beginner's Guide to Being an Arcane Paladin (Anagoge Island) - PART I

Spoiler:

Welcome to Project Gorgon (PG)! I see you are here with me on Anagoge Island after someone dumped you here. Happened to me as well some time ago. But don't fret! I'm here to give you a hand ...

Hm? You heard I was an Arcane Paladin? Yes, well I am but ... You want me to teach you how to be one too? *rubs chin* Well, I guess I could. But just know what I teach you could be different than another person, and you are free to do and change what you wish ...

*snaps fingers* Alright! I will teach you. But first things first! Take the sword and hardtack from the bag there. Good. Now equip the sword. No, hold it like this. There, better! Now, you'll notice that you have both a Sword skill and an Unarmed skill on your main hotbars. It is your choice to keep and use both or to clear out the Unarmed skill. Either way, you want to start killing the nearby skeletons and use your Sword skill, Sword Slash. This is because, in PG, you gain XP in skills that you actively use!

Your goals, for now, are:

A. Gear. Put on what you can, but try to aim for a set of the ones that start with Comfortable Ancient. They have the highest Armor (+20). You may need to get a few points in Unarmed as well in order to wear some of the good armor that drops, and that's fine!
B. Sword skill up to level 5. You want to have Parry, Many Cuts, and Wind Strike to help you deal with the creatures easier.

Remember, that purple line over an enemy's head is their Rage bar. You do not want it to fill up! When you see it almost full or full, use Parry to lower that Rage.

C. If a Shield drops, put it on as well, though at this time you won't have any skills to use it.
D. You may also find some Jewelry. Check out the stats on them, and just like gear, put on what will best work for you.

You should still be near where you were dropped off at the dock. We are now going to head to a statue. *rummages in bag* Here, have this map. I've marked a few places so you know where to go.

We are heading towards here, point A. Right-click on the statue and you will gain the Lore skill.

Now let's head to B on your map where we will meet a nice elf named Lawara. *pauses* What was that? Oh, you noticed you gained another skill called Endurance? Yes, you'll get that when you are hit by an enemy while wearing armor. *thumbs up* Great! You will need that. *points to the cauldron* Now I want you to have a taste of that porridge. What? No, it isn't poison. *scoffs* I'll have you know I tried it earlier today and I am perfectly *twitch* fine. See? Now you have the Gourmand skill!

Now, let's take that quest she has for spoons. You have been picking things up off the ground, right? *eyes you* Right? Good. What did she give you? An amethyst? Great! You'll need that later. Oh, and look, when you talk to her again, she gives you an Autopsy Kit. This interaction you had with Lawara is a key thing in PG; talk to NPCs, do favors for them, give them things they like, raise their Favor level with you, and get rewarded!

You can also do the quest for bones as well. It's pretty simple.

*rustles through papers* What's next ... ah! I want you to hang out with her and check each other for Lice. *pauses* What was that look for? Trust me, friend, it will be worth it! Hanging Out starts a timer that countdowns only when you are offline. You get rewarded for doing these as well, so don't forget!

Before we head off, go take a Power Nap in the bed nearby. Yes, right-click on it. There! You now got a 30 min buff (Comfort) that regens your Armor (+3) when out of combat. Buffs are quite important in PG as well. Other buffs to get come from eating food, drinks, and even snacks! And sometimes we can get special event buffs on the server for a time.

I'm going to take a moment here to pause and talk more about PG as a whole. For me, it's all about exploration; going into every nook and cranny, picking up things, touching things, taking chances, and getting messy. Death is not a penalty in this game (as long as you aren't in Hardcore mode) and there is so much to do! Even though you might be following this guide I am making, I strongly encourage you to do everything you can on the island, as well as open up your Quest Log and click on the Stuff To Do tab.

Anagoge Island has other skills to learn and find as well;

Mycology
Fishing
Death (yes you even get XP from dying a lot)
Pathology
Foraging

... and much more!

Keep an eye on the Buffs/Debuffs bar on your UI. See something new? Hover over it! You can get strange and wacky buffs/debuffs. For example, Ashtalia has a debuff as she is on the Island alone:

Feel free to explore and talk to everyone. Heck, you should do that anyway, no matter what I say! Pick up things on the ground. It can be food, empty bottles, clothes .. heck, friggin dirt! Take it all! *rubs hands and cackles* ... Ahem, sorry. I'm a packrat and grab anything that isn't nailed down.

Now, let's continue!

You always want to have the best food when you are exploring out in the wilds. Food gives you extra health, as well as health and power regen (out of combat) for as long as the buff is active. So make sure to eat! If you run out of the hardtack you started with, you can have more of the porridge next to Lawara, or you can find cheese and other foods around the island.

There are 2 ways to leave the island; 1. by going through the door at C on the map, or 2. learning Teleport from Elmetaph inside the lighthouse on the island (you should learn this anyway because it can help a lot later on)! Whichever way you choose, you'll want to end up in Serbule.

If you went through the door at C, you'll need to find your way through the 'dungeon' and out to a cave area. You'll find a lever there that, when pulled, opens a secret door. Go straight towards the light in the tunnel (contrary to everyone shouting for you not to go to the light) and touch the portal to zone into Serbule Hills. From there, turn right and you'll want to run until you see a building on your left. That is The Tapestry Inn. Go just past that, then follow the road NW until you come to a portal. Take that to Serbule (Keep).

+++ TAKE NOTE +++

You can always come back to Anagoge Island to finish things you might have missed as well. Don't ever feel like you need to rush or that you will be left behind. Enjoy yourself!

Beginner's Guide to Being an Arcane Paladin (Serbule) - Part II

Spoiler:

If you came through the Spider Caves, please check out the map below. You exit at (A). You'll want to head south a bit until you are on a road. Turn to your right and you'll see a sign pointing to Tapestry Inn (B). You'll want to head that way until you pass the Inn (B) and come onto another road. Turn right again and head uphill towards the teleporting aura to Serbule Keep (C).

Teleport "auras" as I like to call them, are places where you can go from one area to the next. You can find these underwater, and in caves and other places ... so keep your eyes open!
-----
Now, if you decide to go to the working Teleportation Circle on Anagoge and Examine it, choose Recall. It will take you to a place in Serbule next to an NPC (Yurra) on a small platform (D). You'll then want to head a little South then West until you come to a Shrine (E). From there head SouthWest until you come to a crossroads where you'll head North and into one of the four (4) entrances to Serbule (F).

When you load in from Serbule Hills (C), you'll want to just head North towards the crossroads and into Serbule (F).

Just like Anagoge Island, you want to poke around, talk to everyone, and do Favors for them. But I will list who you need to talk to in order to get a little boost to the skills this build uses.

Sound good? Okay!

I. First up ... Joeh. A male elf who likes leather parties (don't ask).

Quests

Get Cat Eyeballs for Joeh - This quest reward will net you 750 Sword XP.
Pork Party - This quest reward will net you 250 Sword XP
Leather Party - This quest reward will net you 1000 Sword XP

Hang Outs

Spar with padded swords(2h) - This rewards you with 200 Sword XP
Help refurbish some used swords(1h) - This rewards you with 100 Sword XP

You can also get Joeh's Old Sword by doing Participate in a leather party(8h) Hang Out, but the stats on it are mediocre at best. You could put on an augment if you have something decent that goes with the skills you have on your hot bar. Otherwise, I'd just give it back to him as a Gift.

II. Next you'll want to speak with Marna whose shop is right next door. Just talking with her will get you the First Aid and Patch Armor skills!

Quests

Fiery Secrets - This quest reward will net you 500 First Aid XP
Kill Deer - This quest reward will net you 100 First Aid XP and 100 Armor Patching XP

Hang Outs

Fill out first aid kits (2h) - This rewards you with 200 First Aid XP

Now Marna, like Joeh, can give you more storage space the higher Favor you have with them. She also is one of the NPCs that will buy anything, though keep this in mind ... She buys almost any item at full value, however, is not willing to spend much money buying items from people she is not friendly with. She is said to "smooth the experience for new players", however, new players will quickly run her available Councils dry, and then will have to wait seven days before her money regenerates. It is recommended that you sell only things to her that you really couldn't sell elsewhere so that you make the most of her weekly gold amount.

III. Next you will want to find an older human by the name of Nelson Ballard. You are going to become good buddies with him, less for quests, and more for what he can teach you.

His one quest, The Trespassing Charlatan, gives a Quality Sword as a reward. Just like Joeh, you can keep this sword and see if you can put an augment on it or give it as a gift.

Skills Taught

Precision Pierce
Precision Pierce 2
Precision Pierce 3
Precision Pierce 4

IV. Next comes Sir Coth. He thinks elves are immoral, so do be careful around him! He is a good source of Armor Patch kits as you gain Favor with him

Hang Outs:

Help polish Sir Coth's armor - This rewards you with 200 Armor Patching XP and x3 Good Armor Patch Kits!
Argue about whether elves have souls (2h) - This rewards you with 25 Lore XP

V. Fainor is a great NPC to go to if you are looking for new foods to try to level up your Gourmand skill.

Hang Out

Taste-test new vegetarian recipes (1h) - This rewards you with 100 Gourmand XP.

VI. Hulon is the resident banker in Serbule. He has a chest nearby where you can store some items that can be shared by other characters on your account.

Hang Out

Discuss the tax code (1h) - This rewards you with 25 Lore XP

VII. Elahil (?)

VIII. Blanche is a real gossiper outside The Chortling Beaver.

Hang Out

Talk about how the council needs to send more researchers to Serbule (1h) - This rewards you with 10 Lore XP
Search for antique Human artifacts (4h) - This rewards you with 10 Lore XP and seems to be repeatable

IX. Larsan is the resident jeweler in Serbule Keep.

Hang Out

Help Larsan untangle knotted necklaces (3h) - This rewards you with a Ring of Multiple Lacerations which will add more damage (+25) to Many Cuts.

X. Velkort mainly teaches Fire Magic, but he has a few things we can use too!

Quests

Velkort Wants Acid Claws - This rewards you with 100 Lore XP

Hang Outs

Discuss magical theory (4h) - This rewards you with 50 Lore XP
Play with Velkort's sentient flame (1h) - This rewards you with 25 Lore XP

XI. Find the Teaching Golem and solve the riddle it gives you for 50 Lore XP and to learn the Word of Power recipe!

And there you have it! I hope this helps you get on your feet with the sword/shield build. I will be going more in-depth with my choices in the posts below.

There are a lot more NPCs that can help, but I don't want to turn this into a walkthrough of the game. If you have read this and still have questions, please feel free to ask them below!

**Ashtalia** · 10-10-2020, 08:11 PM

What does it mean to be an Arcane Paladin?

We are a specialized tank 'class'.
We use the elements of Fire and Acid against our enemies.
We cause them to Bleed.
We take advantage of their Vulnerabilities.
We Stun and sap the Rage from their bodies so they are easy to defeat.

I made this build as a solo one, as I enjoy exploring PG and what it has to offer. But I also know IRL takes priority, (and boy does it) so grouping can be difficult at times. This build was to give me a chance to survive and do damage in both melees and ranged fights.

I will do my best to be as specific as possible in regard to what skills are used and why. I will try to explain a basic rotation that this build can use for 1 v 1 fights or even 1 vs group. This is an ongoing project of mine and I will do my best to keep it updated!

+++ TAKE NOTICE +++

There will eventually be more than just sword/board to this guide. I'll be adding those weapon skills as I unlock and test them out.

+++ Arcane Paladin Sword Guide +++

Spoiler:

My Sword build on my hotbar:

Slot 1: Sword Slash
Slot 2: Hacking Blade - Aim for mods that strengthen the amount of Bleed
Slot 3: Precision Pierce - You want this to puncture through creatures with Heavy Armor
Slot 4: Wind Strike - This is to counter when they are Vulnerable
Slot 5: Many Cuts - Find a mod that adds a Stun to it.
Slot 6: Parry/Repose (use whichever one you have that's higher level) You want to raise the amount of Rage it reduces in a hit.

Just like Unarmed has Meditation for combos, we Sword users have Calligraphy. You learn it from Sammie Grimspine in Serbule Hills. You can get it at Neutral Favor (though she won't be around when it's a Full Moon ... I wonder why? *thinks*).

Sword Trainers:

Nelson Ballard - You'll need him to teach you Precision Pierce 1 through 4.
Malvol - He teaches Decapitate 1-3, Thrusting Blade 1-3, and Heart Piercer 1-4. I haven't reached him at the time of this, so I don't know if the skills he teaches would fit this build.
Janet Lews - Unlock levels 51-60, 61-70, and teaches level 51+ abilities.
Pegast - Unlock levels 71-80, and teaches level 71+ abilities.

+++ Arcane Paladin Shield Guide +++

Spoiler:

For Shield, my hotbar looked like this:

Slot 1: Fire Shield - Get mods that strengthen the damage this does, and look for anything that adds Combustion.
Slot 2: Quick Bash - This gives a bit of Accuracy, but I may switch this out.
Slot 3: Stunning Bash - Get mods that help with Stun as you will use it when your Rage reducers are on Cooldown
Slot 4: Fight Me You Fools - This is more to knock creatures away than to Taunt (as this is more a solo build).
Slot 5: Finish It - I was debating on changing this one later.
Slot 6: Disrupting Bash - Used to remove Rage

For Shields:

Tyler Green - Teaches Shield as well as Waxing your shield and Armor Patching
Nelson Ballard - Teaches Fire Shield 1-4.
Gorvessa - Teaches many Fire Shield 1-5, Fight Me You Fools 1-7
Sir Johnson - Unlock Shield levels 51-60, 61-70; Teaches Finish it 5 & 6, Disrupting Bash 6 & 7, Stunning Bash 6 - 8,
Pegast - Unlocks levels 71-80 and teaches Fire Shield 6, Quick Bash 8, Fight Me You Fools 8, Finish It 7, Disrupting Bash 8.

So who do we speak to in order to learn Shield? Tyler Green is our man! You can find him feeling sorry for himself at The Tapestry Inn located in Serbule Hills. We'll need to get his Favor to Comfortable in order for him to teach us the Shield skill.

Quests

Citrus For Tyler - This will get you 75 Favor with him.
Rubbery Tongues - This will get you 50 Favor with him.
The Melted Shield - This will get you 50 Favor with him.
Shield Repair Metal - Once at Comfortable, this will get you 100 Favor with him.

Having trouble finding Tyler Green's shield in the Serbule Hill's Spider Caves? Below shows you just where it is! Uh ... ignore the cursor on the picture, lol. Head to where the YOU icon is.

Spoiler:

**Ashtalia** · 10-10-2020, 08:12 PM

+++ TIPS AND STRATEGIES +++

This post will be ongoing and possibly updated a lot as I go through the game. Keep in mind that this will cover buffs received from touching items as well as strategies for defeating some creatures or areas.

Comfort - Given while using a bed, this buff will give +3 Armor regen per update(?) when out of combat. Lasts 30 minutes.

-----
___ Armor Suit Bonus - You want to wear all of the same armor types to get this bonus. For us, I highly suggest metal. This will mitigate 1 point of direct damage for every 50 points of Max Armor

-----
CombatRefresh - Notice the blue-winged icons? I circled them below. Keep these in mind when you fight! When you see that icon flashing use those abilities as you cannot refresh Armor, Health, and Power in combat. These are tied to skills labeled Basic Attacks.

-----
Don't kill the chickens in towns! - In PG, there are two (2) types of chickens ... regular chickens and wild chickens. Regular chickens you see in towns and sometimes around them are your source of Eggs. If you kill them, no eggs!

**Ashtalia** · 10-10-2020, 08:12 PM

RESERVED for Ranged info

**Ashtalia** · 10-10-2020, 08:13 PM

For my sidebar, I used these skills. Of course, feel free to change them around how you like:

Slot 1: Endurance: Dig Deep
Slot 2: Power Potion (item)
Slot 3: First Aid
Slot 4: Healing Potion (item)
Slot 5: Armor Patching: Patch Armor
Slot 6: Armor Potion (item) or Rapid Recovery (Shield skill) - whichever one restores more armor

A want to go a little bit more into the Skills I chose for this build.

There are a lot of skills you can gain in PG. 114 (!) at the time of this writing. Each one has its own uses and can be gotten through time and effort. Feel free to grab as many skills as you wish and try them out, but what is listed below are those skills that I feel complement this build well.

Spoiler:

I. Lore - There is more to this skill, but for this build, I am focusing on unlocking Words of Power. From the wiki:

Level 0 Words of Power can be very useful to new players. It often produces Teleports which will save time traveling (and even after learning Teleportation it may be a cheaper alternative to using up your Amethysts). Unlike Level 2, which produces lots of questionable effects like Leprosy or Fear of Water ... Level 0 tends to produce mostly useful effects. They are pretty cheap to produce and the Crab Meat can be processed from Raw Crab without a Cooking Stove nearby (ie. when you fish crab).

The Level 0 recipe consists of Salt x1, Crab Meat x1, and Bottle of Water x1. Just make sure you write the words down!

II. Endurance - As we wear gear with Armor on it, this skill is important for us.

From the wiki:

Endurance - This is a skill about withstanding great amounts of pain. Endurance XP is automatically gained after killing a monster, depending on the amount of Armor damage you took during the fight (or possibly from that monster itself). Endurance provides useful bonuses like extra inventory slots, in- and out of- combat armor regeneration, maximum metabolism, and maximum underwater held breath. It also provides access to the sidebar skill Dig Deep, which can restore Power.

Mechanics

When you enter combat, a meter tracks how much armor damage you take. When you kill a monster, you gain Endurance XP based on how much armor damage you took, capped based on the level of the monster you killed. The meter tracking the armor damage then resets.

Implications include:

You won't continue to gain Endurance XP if you allow one monster to deal damage to you indefinitely, because the amount of XP you get is capped at some point.
If you fight two enemies at once that damage your armor, you will get the Endurance XP from the total armor damage both of them deal when you kill one of them. However, upon securing this kill, the meter will reset, so you won't get the same amount of XP when you kill the second enemy.
Fighting low-level enemies won't give you much Endurance XP per kill even if the enemies have abilities that deal high armor damage, since you're more likely to hit the XP cap.
It can be time-consuming to brute force grind Endurance XP, but a relatively efficient way to do it is by fighting large groups of mobs a little bit below your level, which have abilities that specifically damage your armor. Then kill them one by one, rather than using an AoE to kill all of them at once.

III. Gourmand - Tied to when we eat or drink, everyone will eventually get this skill. And who doesn't like to eat? From the wiki:

Training Gourmand

Each kind of food eaten will reward Bonus Experience the first time they are eaten. Typically this is 10 times the Meal Level, but some of the lower-level food it's different. To see all the unique foods you've already eaten (and how many of each), go to Skills panel > Gourmand and select the button there. Some high-level foods will provide a small amount of XP (+1) each time they are consumed.

Gourmand Mechanics

Types of Foods

Most foods give bonuses to Regeneration of Health and Power, both in- and out-of-combat. Many foods also provide bonuses Maximum Health and/or Power, as well as Metabolism Regeneration. The duration of food effects varies, but most last 1 hour. The player may have one Meal and one Snack active simultaneously.
In comparing Meals versus Snacks, Meals tend to give more Health Regeneration, Maximum Health, Metabolism Regeneration, and Out-of-Combat Power Regeneration while Snacks provide more Maximum Power and In-Combat Power Regeneration.
When comparing Cheeses to Non-Cheeses, Cheeses usually give more In-Combat Health and Power Regeneration and Maximum Health and Power, while Non-Cheeses give more Out of Combat Health and Power Regeneration and Metabolism Regeneration.
A comparison of approximate value of level 80 foods can be found at Game_updates/2019-11-08#Food_Changes.
The other foods are Instant-Snacks. These don't provide any Regeneration bonuses. Instead, they restore flat amounts of Health and Power, while consuming some Metabolism. You can eat Instant-Snacks whenever you want, as long as you don't run out of Metabolism.

IV. First Aid - Used to heal from injury and disease. You can target another player and use First Aid to heal them as well. The better the First Aid Kit you use, the stronger the healing done/disease cured.

V. Armor Patching - Just like First Aid, you use Armor Patching Kits to repair yours or an ally's Armor. Better kits repair more Armor.

VI. Blacksmithing - WIP

**Ashtalia** · 10-10-2020, 08:14 PM

Before anything else, I can't stress this enough .... USE YOUR LOADOUTS!!! Press the star (*) between your hotbar and your Metabolism (green) bubble for the Loadout window.

Load-outs are a snapshot of your active skills, abilities, and equipment. You can switch to a different load-out at any time (except during combat), either through the GUI or by configuring a hotkey. You unlock your first two load-outs when you get your first combat skill to level 25. After that, each combat skill you raise to level 50 unlocks another load-out, up to a maximum of 9. The equipment used by load-outs is marked with a special icon in your inventory so that you can easily tell which ones are in use. And these items don't show up in the vendor GUI -- they are effectively "locked" from being sold.

For Gear, it can be complicated. I will be listing what special weapons and armor I've come across in the game and where they come from. NOTE: I focus on anything with the highest Armor first, then look at the bonuses I am given to my skills. You are more than welcome to do different! Also, below are some examples of what can drop (outside of quests). You might not find them but come across other gear. Feel free to add what you found and where in this topic!

Example:

I wanted to make a quick note on the naming of gear. There are a few parts to it, and though I don't know the correct terminology, I hope my description is helpful.

It goes like this:

A = Name, level, and rarity
B = How much armor it gives
C = Any Refresh Abilities, main Stat Buffs/changes, and secondary Stat Buffs/changes
D = Type of armor look it has (some NPCs don't like it if you look terrible etc), any requirements to wield it, and it's value

Personally, I look for the amount of armor first, then anything else second. I go for anything that can help with my Armor stat in the buffs/changes area or something that adds to the skills I use. You can pick how you want, but I highly encourage you to at least choose those with high Armor stats for protection.

+++ Anagoge Island & Anagoge Records Facility +++

Spoiler:

() General Lawyr's Pants - Assist Lawara by finding out who she is. Break open the enchanted Practice/Training Dummy to find a key inside and give it to Lawara. You can then open the chest nearby.
() Lawara's Mangled Platemail - Become Close Friends (Favor level) with Lawara.

In regards to dropped armor, you have the base armor (names listed below) which then can have a prefix and/or suffix added to it, depending on the added stats. If you have the time and patience to do it, you can get an entire set of nice heavy armor before you leave Anagoge Island!

() Comfortable Ancient Helm - Chance to drop from Toughened Skeleton Guard, Skeleton Archer, Old Skeleton Guard, Weatherbeaten Skeleton Archer, and Gajus the Big-Headed
() Comfortable Ancient Shirt - Chance to drop from Toughened Skeleton Guard, Skeleton Archer, Old Skeleton Guard, Weatherbeaten Skeleton Archer, and Gajus the Big-Headed
() Comfortable Ancient Gloves - Chance to drop from Toughened Skeleton Guard, Skeleton Archer, Old Skeleton Guard, Weatherbeaten Skeleton Archer, and Gajus the Big-Headed
() Comfortable Ancient Pants - Chance to drop from Toughened Skeleton Guard, Skeleton Archer, Old Skeleton Guard, Weatherbeaten Skeleton Archer, and Gajus the Big-Headed
() Comfortable Ancient Shoes - Chance to drop from Toughened Skeleton Guard, Skeleton Archer, Old Skeleton Guard, Weatherbeaten Skeleton Archer, and Gajus the Big-Headed
() Battle-Hardened Shield - Chance to drop from Toughened Skeleton Guard, Skeleton Archer, Old Skeleton Guard, Weatherbeaten Skeleton Archer, and Gajus the Big-Headed
() Sturdy Shield - Chance to drop from Gajus the Big-Headed
() Sturdy Helm - Chance to drop from Gajus the Big-Headed
() Sturdy Shirt - Chance to drop from Gajus the Big-Headed
() Sturdy Gloves - Chance to drop from Gajus the Big-Headed
() Sturdy Pants - Chance to drop from Gajus the Big-Headed
() Sturdy Boots - Chance to drop from Gajus the Big-Headed
() Slightly Rusty Gauntlets - Chance to drop from Gajus the Big-Headed.

**Grobyddonot** · 10-11-2020, 12:52 AM

Third time's the charm

This is a detailed guide, that I think, will make the game a bit more new player friendly. Especially for those players, who don't like to explore much and prefer to be led by the game/guides. Great job/wip, Ashtalia.

**Ashtalia** · 10-11-2020, 10:09 AM

Originally Posted by Grobyddonot

Third time's the charm

This is a detailed guide, that I think, will make the game a bit more new player friendly. Especially for those players, who don't like to explore much and prefer to be led by the game/guides. Great job/wip, Ashtalia.

Thanks! I'm still waiting to see if they can reinstate Ashtalia, but either way I will be continuing this. What is seen here is a barebones framework of what I want to get across and I will fill in more info as I go along.

I am grabbing some stuff from the wiki, so as always, it can change quickly, and I will do my best to keep up with it!

**Chilton** · 10-11-2020, 05:50 PM

Good on ya mate for putting this back together, I'll like to throw in my two cents.

I am a sword/shield main, 85/89 at current, I have 1050 hours in the game as reported by Steam (I think that means I am qualified to give opinion as a veteran player ^.^).

Why did I pick sword/shield:

I picked sword/shield as my build ever since I started the game 4 years ago. I stuck with it for no particular reason (mostly sunken cost fallacy I reckon). One of the remarkable things about this game is that ALL combat skills are viable to the end game. Some are more annoying to level than others particularly if the player is doing a lot of soloing, but once they are at level 80, every combat skill combination will allowing them to participate effectively in a group run of The Wintertide (which is currently the highest level dungeon in the game at level 80) or Gazluk Keep (level 70 dungeon and equally hard or harder than The Wintertide). Every build will allow the player to do good damage and they will contribute something to the team.

What does sword/shield bring to the team:

1) Good consistent physical damage

Spoiler:

I can fairly consistently do the 2nd or 3rd most damage to the enemy in The Wintertide, as seen in the autopsy report post battle. This is not the most damaging build in the game, but it can sustain damage output better than builds that rely a lot of "epic attacks" which do huge damage but have long cooldowns.

2) Fairly solid tank.

Spoiler:

I am comfortable with being the puller/tank in Gazluk Keep and The Wintertide, confident that I can take a few hits before the mob is brought back within range of my team. Being sword/shield makes the player tanky enough that they should be able to solo the regular casino dailies (level 40-50 content) without the stress that comes with more "glass cannon" type builds. Between our stun, high armour (hopefully you are wearing metal or leather armour), physical damage mitigation, and Debilitating Blow's -10% enemy damage debuff, we are reasonably tanky.

3) Reliable unconditional stun.

Spoiler:

Stunning Bash is amazing, and one of the relatively few "unconditional" stuns on short cooldown. It helps a lot in soloing, as it mitigate a lot of damage that can come out of mobs, it helps the tankiness as well for the same reason. In team games I found that I can use Stunning Bash multiple times, the cooldown is so short that by the time the first mob is dead I can use Stunning Bash again on the second mob, so that effectively we are not taking damage from one mob. There is the possiblity of a second "conditional" stun through a boot mod for Many Cuts, which helps a lot in keeping one mob "stun locked".
Having a reliable stun also helps when fighting ghosts, in particular against Katarina in Dark Chapel.

4) Rage reduction.

Spoiler:

It is difficult to express into words how amazingly useful this is. The most damaging attacks enemy has is almost always their "rage attack" or "burst attack" (the one they activate when the purple rage bar is full). The combination of stun and rage reduction that comes with sword/shield means I can prevent one target from using their "rage attack", helping to prevent damage being done and avoiding some annoying mechanics. The best example is that I can solo the Winter Nexus and the Yeti Cave and so long as I carefully only pull one Ogres at a time, I can complete it without any broken bones.
My understanding of the damage mechanics is that the enemies "rage attack" when it critically hits is what can one hit KO some characters. By avoiding the "rage attack" I certainly found it helpful for survival.

5) Team buff to mitigate physical damage.

Spoiler:

Shield Team is amazing in that it allows me to give a fairly substantial buff to the whole team, I have found it useful to help lower level party members survive on regular casino daily runs.

6) Elemental immunity.

Spoiler:

Elemental Ward givens 10 seconds of complete immunity to fire/ice/electricity with 30 seconds of cooldown, and Finishing Blow can give the player 25% resistance for 10 seconds. This is useful again the Droaches in Dark Chapel in particular.

The limitations of being sword/shield:

1) It is not a true tanking build.

Spoiler:

It is not a true tank in the sense that a true tank can stand there and face tank multiple mobs. The proper tanking skills in the game are cow, unarmed, or staff. I agree with the argument that shield and ice are not true tanking skills (it's a long and ongoing debate, refer to https://forum.projectgorgon.com/show...t-Tanking-quot). In MMO terminology I think the sword/shield build qualifies as an "off tank", I can take a few hits and stun enemy frequently enough that I will be fine, but I don't measure up to the dedicated tanking builds.
However like I alluded to earlier, I can fill in the role of puller/tank in groups that lack a dedicated tank, but I will have to pull carefully and our clear speed is slower than if a dedicated tank can do the pulling.

2) Limited means to set trolls on fire.

Spoiler:

This is a major annoyance in both Winter Nexus and The Wintertide, this build can use a mainhand shield mod to cause the Fire Shield ability to set enemy on fire, but I found it unreliable because it requires the enemy troll to hit me, which may not occur consistently, particularly because I am also trying to stun them every change I get. In game I rely on the Explosion Sigil skill to set trolls on fire, but likewise this is not very reliable, compared to having a Fire mage, Battle Chemist, Archer, or Priest in the party.

3) Limited self healing ability.

Spoiler:

This build doesn't have a dedicated healing skill at all, instead it relies on Push Onward and First Aid to provide healing, and I keep a stash of Bacon on me for healing. One can take on mods that allow Flashing Strike and Heart Piercer to provide some healing, but that will take away from mods that provide damage. Compared to say staff/druid or priest/shield builds which provides good self heals and excellent damage, this build is really lacking on the healing department.

4) Physical damage only, mostly slashing damage.

Spoiler:

Until the release of The Wintertide I would have said this is not a major issue. The fact that sword skills mostly do slashing damage allows one to benefit from Calligraphy skills that provide a nice boost to slashing damage. However the issue comes when one is facing Davlos's Astral Projection, a boss in The Wintertide, he is completely immune to all physical damage, so this build is not very useful when it comes to facing him and our role is limited to killing the Abominable Soldiers that spawn during that fight.

5) Cannot solo higher level dungeon mobs or bosses.

Spoiler:

Related to the lack of tankiness and lack of self healing, this build can't solo high level content. There are builds that allow one to solo a single Elite in Gazluk keep or event solo General Pask, a high level boss in Rahu, but this build doesn't allow us to do that.

My suggested equipment mods:

My current build (ideal mods assuming 7 mods max enchanted gold tier items)

Spoiler:

https://www.gorgonexplorer.com/build-planner/914

Alternative build with second stun from Many Cuts (ideal mods assuming 7 mods max enchanted gold tier items)

Spoiler:

https://www.gorgonexplorer.com/build-planner/915

I should point out that I am currently using found gold tier items (ie 6 mods instead of 7) and I am missing level 80 items in the mainhand and gloves slot, but I am managing pretty well despite not using the above theoretical optimal gear. Don't feel pressure that that you need to use max enchanted gear or even all gold gear. As Citan himself has stated, the game is balanced assuming you only have red tier gear, so only with 3 optimal mods out of the theoretical 7.

Shameless self plug
There is a list of project gorgon guides I put together a while ago, I updated it a month ago
https://forum.projectgorgon.com/show...-for-beginners

I think I'll stop here and let Ashtalia take it from here, feel free to copy and paste anything you find helpful in the main part of your guide. I just got a fresh reminder of why I don't post a lot on forums, typos and grammar errors are doing my head in ><

**Ashtalia** · 10-14-2020, 11:56 AM

Lots of interesting info you gave, Chilton! I haven't made it past 50 yet in skill, so I'm more than happy to leave your thoughts here. As I go along, I'll compare them to what I find (as the game will change as the days go by).

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