I made a saboteur and was inspired by this thread, but I did all my leveling melee and it has worked fine. I beat the normal campaign at 41 and flew through everything, was able to 1-shot all trash mobs. I only play hardcore so I don’t see any problems with going melee and not guns, almost never in danger of dying.
Level 42 now and just flying through stuff with dual Solar Axes and shadowstrike 
One question that was at least hinted at in the comments (read through all of them), and I am not sure got a clear answer.
Is Execution worth the 25 point investment to reach it? Granted, I’ve never used Execution before, so no idea how strong/useful it is.
Or is it that Execution is nice to have, or there’s no other decent skills to dump points into, or do we really want the passive return we get from the 25 points into the mastery? Or some combination of all 3?
Not trying to challenge the jajaja-wisdom or anything, just got to Whirling Death, and want to make sure that the further mastery investment definitely IS the most optimal way to go.
Thanks for any and all input guys ;D
Execution is amazing. It tears chunks of health out of monster health.
execution doesn’t multiple FS dmg so its ok but not great for sabo. however, the passive bonus are needed. if i remember right , without maxing nb, we can’t even use stormhearts.
This.
You see, Execution is a great skill for a character, that use WEAPON damage (Blademaster piercing, for example). But this build use Brimstone/Static Strike, which are NOT weapon damage. So, Execution’s huge %weapon damage will be useless, for it doesnt increase Brimstone/Static Strike damage. So, i’d say you may skip Execution for this build, if you want to.
Doesn’t the entire attack modifier (including flat skill damage get multiplied)?
If graceful dusk is right, Stormheart has one of the highest avg weapon damage among all leg 1-handed weapons (and i’m talking about weapon dmg, not weapon dps).
Plus, Execution’s not only a %weapon damages proc.
Can anyone tell me how to distribute points (Physique vs Cunning vs Spirit) on each level up?
I am guessing this info is hidden somewhere in the 31 pages of this post.
Anyway, really appreciated if someone can tell me.
Thanks
I’m playing out my final devotion points differently compared to the second “defensive” option; if one forgoes Targo and the stray points in light of empyrion, one can complete Behemoth, refund the Red/Green crossroads and then build Solael’s Witchblade.
The proc, Eldritch Fire, can then be linked to Fire Strike to provide -20%fire/Chaos resist and -33% movement speed debuffs.
You are right, it is pretty hidden :), was wondering the same thing for a while, and then read the question/reply somewhere in the comments.
It is 74 phys, 0 cunning, and 13 spirit.
Can be seen on the first page, in the skill distribution links, bottom left of the grimcalc page
No. Flat damage on weapon skill is not weapon damage, it’s skill damage.
If a skill multiplies ALL damage, then it’s stated as “total damage modified by X%” (like Fire Strike’s transmute). It multiplies both weapon and skill damages.
But when you see “X% weapon damage”, it means it’s only a WEAPON damage multipler, and it doesnt affect skill damage.
Saboteur can actually abuse that - for example, Amarasta’s Quick Cut and Whirling Death may be left at 5/8, and they will deal 300%/200% of skill’s damage anyway (which is lion’s share of your damage), because 3x/2x number of hits. On other hand, abilities like execution (single hard hit) will be generally wasted.
I know that, but Fire strike is a default attack modifier, I thought they directly changed weapon damage. I know, for example, that charging my Savagery increases the damage of my Blitz.
Come on… is there some sort of conspiracy against Scholar’s Light?? lol
This is the third time I’ve tried asking… keeps getting skipped over.
bump!!
Thank you so much. I just started this toon
Here. I’ll give you the answer that I think is most appropriate reason:
- Scolar’s Light provides some small Elemental damage increases and a bit of flat elemental damage. It then provides you with 4 Green affinity points as the completion bonus.
- In general you’ll only need either 4 green total for the defensive option or 6 green total for the offensive option devotions.
- Due to 1 and two, you’ll be missing out on Hawk (which provides much needed OA) if you go the defensive route.
- If you decide to go the offensive route, it’s not a terrible replacement for the last 3 points in Behemoth devotion (you’ll gain some dps and loose some hp + hp regen). This is probably the only time I’d consider using it, and it’s pretty good here as you’ll also gain another free devotion point to play with since you can then take back the crossroad green point.
Savagery is very different from Fire Strike. Savagery provides you with a buff, that grants all of Savagery effects in it. Think of it as about a skill, that buffs yourself. The only effect of Savagery, that is not present as buff, is %weapon damage. Flat damage on savagery buff is weapon damage, obvisously.
Fire Strike performs a weapon hit for its %weapon damage, and adds extra skill damage above it (just like most other skill or spell does, actually).
Thank you!! That makes sense. I see it’s more of an other ‘options are better later on’. I may be speccing out of it soon (just hit 71), BUT I did feel like it helped and had a huge impact early on (especially at 50 when first equipping the firebrands).
That is very useful information i did not know about, thank you. This makes it seem like Savagery Trickster holds a lot of potential, too bad that bleeding and lightning don’t go well together.
Edit: One more thing, does the flat bleeding/lightning scale with charges, or does it apply at 100% as soon as you have at least one charge like Tenacity of the boar buffs do?
Hi,
I’m currently 63 and I use 2 Firestarters. Do you think Crystallum or Grim Fate swords worth waiting for Stormhearth. Which one is the best ? Thanks.
Actually, only Execution WPS benefits well from weapon damage (among all nightblade’s WPS). So, it isnt really good. No wonders - Savagery was designed for 2-handers in 1-st place.
All Savagery effects scale with charges, as far as i know. But only Savagery effects themselves. Effects from transmuter & augments do not have “charges” on them, they just apply at effect to savagery buff, same for 1 charge or 8.