- Feb 24, 2004
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Originally posted by zaphodbrx on Apr 17, 2013:
Patriarch John Mandrake, the branded bowmancer
For those who haven't read the Bartimaeus series, John Mandrake is the alter ego, or alias of Nathaniel, the young magician. He takes the field armed with the crossbow of doom, using his trusty bone walls and amp damage and a faithful rogue by his side.
John Mandrake is also very particular about his items and he likes only expensive 'brand'ed stuff. While other necromancers might be content to hang around Charsi or Gheeds, he orders all his stuff online from highrunes4you.com
LCS
Deadly strike: 67%
Bone spear cast: 1108-1174 magic damage
Skills
20 Teeth, Bonewall, Bone prison, Bone spirit ( synergies to bone spear and bone armor )
9(13) Amplify damage ( the rest )
1 Decrepify, clay golem, summon resist, etc.
Gear
'Brand' Colossus Crossbow
'Fortitude' eth Kraken shell
Andariel's Visage (30/10, fire resist/ias jewel )
Highlord's wrath
Laying of hands
Razortail
Gore rider
Ravenfrost
Nature's peace
Switch - Call to arms ( 6 bo ), spirit monarch
Merc: A1 fire rogue with Faith greatbow, fortitude, andariel's visage
Inventory: Resists, life, max dmg, AR
Gear readouts
Thoughts
Well, not very much to say here. He was played under the same restrictions as my meleemancer - No skeletons, revives, CE, no vitality, players 5 hell. He did very well and nothing was really a problem. Two deaths. Tactics were, amp everything, slap down strategic bone walls, kill everything.
Some comments on itemization. Since this character doesn't get hit too much, bone armor isn't too useful and it doesn't get overwritten by chilling all the time, so fortitude was an obvious choice. Now I didn't want to use my wire fleece forti because Necros look terrible in it. Could have made a forti archon, but I realized I can use my eth bug kraken shell merc forti as it only has 1 more str req than a colossus crossbow anyway. Durability loss was a concern, but during the entire questing the durability only went down from 25 to 17, so it was fine.
Any character using Andy's is a pain to equip- I used pamethyst Guillames till lvl 83, and Andy's gives 5 extra str but I didn't bother to respec that. Faith rogue is quite suited for these types of builds, she can shoot over bonewalls, provides an alternate type of damage via fire arrows, procs some tough revives,provides some dmg and AR and boosts attack speed to 11fpa even with a somewhat slow and bulky weapon.
I did use enchant sometimes but mostly the ITD on the weapon was good enough, though it noticeably slowed down against bosses and champions. My AR without enchant was about 5.1k. The fire damage from enchant adds on to explosive arrow splash, though it's not really relevant in this case.
Things that could fire through bonewalls - such as serpent's spears, gloams lightning, etc. were a problem. I kept a Tgods in my stash to swap on some times. Heavy PIs such as moon lords, death berserkers etc. were also difficult, I rerolled some areas because of them.
The ctc bonespears are of course incredibly cool, but they were only a small part of my damage. Still, this thing has ITD, knockback, great damage, not to be trifled with. Oh and a big bonus to demons, which I noticed that anything Demon was killed really fast.
Screenshots
Bonewalls, bonewalls, more bonewalls
De Seis, Four bosspacks, Ancients
Finds
Gul, Gul ( hellforge )
Dracul's grasp ( 10 LL 14 str ), warshrike ( 234 ed ), Tal's belt ( 15%), 4/4 cold facet, etc.
Lion Branded skiller of sustenance ( 26 life )
Patriarch John Mandrake, the branded bowmancer
For those who haven't read the Bartimaeus series, John Mandrake is the alter ego, or alias of Nathaniel, the young magician. He takes the field armed with the crossbow of doom, using his trusty bone walls and amp damage and a faithful rogue by his side.
John Mandrake is also very particular about his items and he likes only expensive 'brand'ed stuff. While other necromancers might be content to hang around Charsi or Gheeds, he orders all his stuff online from highrunes4you.com
LCS
Deadly strike: 67%
Bone spear cast: 1108-1174 magic damage
Skills
20 Teeth, Bonewall, Bone prison, Bone spirit ( synergies to bone spear and bone armor )
9(13) Amplify damage ( the rest )
1 Decrepify, clay golem, summon resist, etc.
Gear
'Brand' Colossus Crossbow
'Fortitude' eth Kraken shell
Andariel's Visage (30/10, fire resist/ias jewel )
Highlord's wrath
Laying of hands
Razortail
Gore rider
Ravenfrost
Nature's peace
Switch - Call to arms ( 6 bo ), spirit monarch
Merc: A1 fire rogue with Faith greatbow, fortitude, andariel's visage
Inventory: Resists, life, max dmg, AR
Gear readouts
Code:
Brand
Superior Colossus Crossbow
'JahLoMalGul'
Two-Hand Damage: 119 to 339
Required Dexterity: 77
Required Strength: 163
Required Level: 65
Crossbow Class - Slow Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x5d575415
+261% Enhanced Damage
+12% Enhanced Damage
+3 to Attack Rating
Knockback
Ignore Target Defense
Prevent Monster Heal
20% Bonus to Attack Rating
323% Damage to Demons
20% Deadly Strike
Fires Explosive Arrows
100% Chance to cast Level 18 Bone Spear on striking
35% Chance to cast Level 14 Amplify Damage when struck
Socketed (4: 4 used)
Fortitude
Kraken Shell
'ElSolDolLo'
Defense: 3429
Durability: 17 of 25
Required Strength: 164
Required Level: 61
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x787cc800
+200% Enhanced Defense
+300% Enhanced Damage
+15 Defense
Damage Reduced by 7
Fire Resist +29%
Lightning Resist +29%
+5% to Maximum Lightning Resist
Cold Resist +29%
Poison Resist +29%
Replenish Life +7
+1 to Light Radius
25% Faster Cast Rate
12% Damage Taken Goes to Mana
20% Chance to cast Level 15 Chilling Armor when struck
+119 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (4: 4 used)
Andariel's Visage
Demonhead
Defense: 336
Durability: 20 of 20
Required Strength: 102
Required Level: 83
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xf3ed9339
+30 to Strength
+117% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist -5%
Poison Resist +70%
+10% to Maximum Poison Resist
10% Life stolen per hit
35% Increased Attack Speed
+2 to All Skill Levels
15% Chance to cast Level 15 Poison Nova when struck
Level 3 Venom (20/20 Charges)
Socketed (1: 1 used)
Highlord's Wrath
Amulet
Required Level: 65
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0xa9a35370
Lightning Resist +35%
Adds 1-30 lightning damage
20% Increased Attack Speed
+1 to All Skill Levels
Attacker Takes Lightning Damage of 15
32% Deadly Strike (Based on Character Level)
Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 83
Fingerprint: 0x5a2ddafc
+16 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
+205 to Attack Rating
Adds 15-45 cold damage over 4 seconds
20% Cold Absorb
Cannot Be Frozen
Nature's Peace
Ring
Required Level: 69
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x6886044a
Damage Reduced by 7
Poison Resist +30%
Slain Monsters Rest In Peace
Prevent Monster Heal
Level 5 Oak Sage (27/27 Charges)
Gore Rider
War Boots
Defense: 154
Durability: 34 of 34
Required Strength: 94
Required Level: 47
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 71
Fingerprint: 0xe5511a2a
+20 to Maximum Stamina
+187% Enhanced Defense
+10 Maximum Durability
Requirements -25%
30% Faster Run/Walk
10% Chance of Open Wounds
15% Chance of Crushing Blow
15% Deadly Strike
Razortail
Sharkskin Belt
Defense: 104
Durability: 14 of 14
Required Strength: 20
Required Level: 32
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 43
Fingerprint: 0xc78ad37a
+15 to Dexterity
+143% Enhanced Defense
+10 to Maximum Damage
+15 Defense
Piercing Attack [33]
Attacker Takes Damage of 87 (Based on Character Level)
John_Mandrake's Laying of Hands
Bramble Mitts
Defense: 86
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Strength: 50
Required Level: 63
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x229b9b7f
+25 Defense
Fire Resist +50%
20% Increased Attack Speed
350% Damage to Demons
10% Chance to cast Level 3 Holy Bolt on striking
Thoughts
Well, not very much to say here. He was played under the same restrictions as my meleemancer - No skeletons, revives, CE, no vitality, players 5 hell. He did very well and nothing was really a problem. Two deaths. Tactics were, amp everything, slap down strategic bone walls, kill everything.
Some comments on itemization. Since this character doesn't get hit too much, bone armor isn't too useful and it doesn't get overwritten by chilling all the time, so fortitude was an obvious choice. Now I didn't want to use my wire fleece forti because Necros look terrible in it. Could have made a forti archon, but I realized I can use my eth bug kraken shell merc forti as it only has 1 more str req than a colossus crossbow anyway. Durability loss was a concern, but during the entire questing the durability only went down from 25 to 17, so it was fine.
Any character using Andy's is a pain to equip- I used pamethyst Guillames till lvl 83, and Andy's gives 5 extra str but I didn't bother to respec that. Faith rogue is quite suited for these types of builds, she can shoot over bonewalls, provides an alternate type of damage via fire arrows, procs some tough revives,provides some dmg and AR and boosts attack speed to 11fpa even with a somewhat slow and bulky weapon.
I did use enchant sometimes but mostly the ITD on the weapon was good enough, though it noticeably slowed down against bosses and champions. My AR without enchant was about 5.1k. The fire damage from enchant adds on to explosive arrow splash, though it's not really relevant in this case.
Things that could fire through bonewalls - such as serpent's spears, gloams lightning, etc. were a problem. I kept a Tgods in my stash to swap on some times. Heavy PIs such as moon lords, death berserkers etc. were also difficult, I rerolled some areas because of them.
The ctc bonespears are of course incredibly cool, but they were only a small part of my damage. Still, this thing has ITD, knockback, great damage, not to be trifled with. Oh and a big bonus to demons, which I noticed that anything Demon was killed really fast.
Screenshots
Bonewalls, bonewalls, more bonewalls
De Seis, Four bosspacks, Ancients
Finds
Gul, Gul ( hellforge )
Dracul's grasp ( 10 LL 14 str ), warshrike ( 234 ed ), Tal's belt ( 15%), 4/4 cold facet, etc.
Lion Branded skiller of sustenance ( 26 life )