View source for User:Vyn/Anorithil

The following notes based on the character below: 

[https://te4.org/characters/128696/tome/b89ff846-bd5f-4ea4-be2f-45846b5e836a Satz: Drem Anorithil (insane/adventure)]

==Overview==
The [[Anorithil]] is a mid-range caster:

===Strengths===
* Tanky and resilient because...
** {{c|Light}} tree gives shields, healing, and continuous cleanse.
** {{c|Chants}} tree gives many defensive buffs and on-demand cleanse.
** Positive/negative energy only take normal fatigue penalty, so it is feasible to use heavy or massive armors.
* Exceptional crowd control with {{c|Circles}} and many other talents to silence/knockback/blind/confuse/clone enemies.
* Absurd burst damage with {{t|Arcane Amplification Drone}}.
* Can easily escape from most dangers with {{t|Jumpgate}}.

===Weaknesses===
* Optimal combat range is within circle radius, which is typically 4 or 5 tiles, which will expose one to more danger.
* Many talents deal friendly damage, so must be careful when fighting around friendly/neutral units.
* Positive/negative energy pools are quite small, and need to be boosted with equipment (e.g. belts with the "of containment" ego), or pickup talents that can mitigate casting cost.
* Damage type is normally limited to light and darkness, which can make it difficult to deal with enemies like radiant/searing horrors or [[Sun Paladin]]s.

==General Impressions==
* The [[Anorithil]] are mid-range casters. Their optimal range is 4 or 5 squares, due to the various {{c|Circles|Circle}} talents and PBAoE attacks in that range. Being able to position yourself so enemies are forced to fight with a wall behind them is particularly useful, as this allows one to pin them in place with {{t|Circle of Warding}}, without pushing them too far away.
* The positive/negative energy resource can be depleted quite quickly, so the resource recovery talents – {{t|Twilight}} and {{t|Twilight Surge}} – need to be part of the normal spell rotation.
* [[Anorithil]] are pretty survivable casters due to access to the {{c|Light}} tree talents for recovery. They utility of the {{c|Twilight}} tree's talents are also pretty helpful: resource recovery, teleport, confuse enemies, clone enemies.
* The {{c|Glyphs}} tree is very underwhelming. The effects are just too weak outside of Glyph of Moonlight's damage debuff, and even then the duration is too short. The supposed synergy between {{t|Empowered Glyphs}} and {{t|Darkest Light}} is usually too much trouble to setup and play for. It is much easier to utilize {{t|Darkest Light}} by just equipping items with damage affinity to light or darkness damage.
* The common wisdom is that [[Anorithil]] have great synergy with spell procs. While this is true, it is also very dependent on item drops. If you cannot find a [[Life Drinker]], there's really just no easy way to force the issue. Common artifacts like [[Prothotipe's Prismatic Eye]] are pretty underwhelming.
* The Anorithil has a decent selection of beam and AoE attack talents. It also has many attack talents that scale with the number of visible enemies. This makes {{t|Arcane Amplification Drone}} a good choice for an offensive prodigy. Of particular note is that {{t|Corona}} triggered AAD attacks will often be the largest component of one's damage output, due to the three {{c|Circles}} each triggering {{t|Corona}} twice for each enemy in sight, and the AAD counting as one enemy.
* Radiant/searing horrors and Sun Paladin enemies can be a big problem to Anorithils due to their high damage affinity to light. There are some countermeasures that one can take however.
** Picking up the {{c|Harmony}} tree for {{t|Healing Nexus}} can shut down enemy healing from damage affinity.
** Look for items that can change your damage type, such as the relatively common [[Elemental Fury]]. Keep an eye out for artifact weapons too. Even if they are not your preferred staves, you may still use them to deal with damage affinities.
** {{t|Arcane Amplification Drone}} can also change your damage type.

==Deaths and Threats==
* First death was due to opening a chest in the [[Dark Crypt]], which spawned a random boss elven guard, with [[Gunslinger]] and [[Archer]] classes. I managed to trap the boss in my circles and push it away, after which it started to shoot at me. I kept back peddling to dodge the projectiles, but then got hit with a critical {{t|Volley}} (not a projectile?) for 1143 damage and was one-shot killed. This could have been a survivable shot, given that my health was at 964, a shield on top of that would have saved my life, but I must've let it lapse while dodging the projectiles earlier.

: Aside from the tactical issue above, there is also the strategic issue that entering the [[Dark Crypt]] at early levels on insane difficulty, even after acquiring one's first prodigy ({{t|Adept}} in this case), is still a very dangerous affair. I had actually made plans to go hide in [[Dreadfell]] at level 23 due to a similar death on my previous character, but I got greedy and killed the [[Sandworm Queen]] on level 23 for more talent points, gained a level, and that made it impossible to travel any distance on the world map without triggering the [[Dark Crypt]].

: One issue that may have to be resolved before hiding inside [[Dreadfell]] is storage. It would be convenient to rebind the [[Rod of Recall]] to the [[Sher'Tul Fortress]] in order to camp out [[Dreadfell]] for any extended period of time, especially on casters with low strength. To make this possible, it would be important to save up a stash of high value loot in a vault somewhere, clear out the [[Weirdling Beast]] in the [[Sher'Tul Fortress]] at level 23, then go back and transmogrify the stash to quickly charge up the requisite fortress energy.

: These preparations are pretty important for a full clear run, given that [[The Godfeaster]] is another forced encounter on the world map at level 30, and one will almost certainly get caught up in that immediately after a full clear of the [[Dark Crypt]].

==Battle Notes==
* Preparation procedure before taking the stairs:
*# Activate {{t|Hymn of Detection}} and rest until full
*# Use {{t|Barrier}} for a long duration shield. Can repeat this step to fish for a critical hit, amplified by the {{t|Hymn of Detection}}'s bonus.
*# Use {{t|Precognition}}, {{t|Track}}, or a wand of clairvoyance to enable long distance scouting.
*# Take the stairs. The active scouting talents with the detection bonuses from {{t|Hymn of Detection}} should help you assess the situation correctly.
*# If combat is necessary, can activate {{t|Hymn of Shadows}} for the movement and casting speed buff.<br/>This also cancels {{t|Hymn of Detection}}, which will turn you invisible with {{t|Hymn Adept}}, giving you a few turns to engage enemies while invisible.

* It is possible to distract [[Subject Z]] from the [[Yeek Wayist]] by casting {{t|Shadow Simulacrum}} on it. After that, using a movement infusion or the speed bonus from cancelling {{t|Hymn of Shadows}} with {{t|Hymn Adept}}, one can circle around [[Subject Z]], then push him back through the door with a torque of gale force. To ensure that the torque's full force will take effect, it is important to dig out a long passage directly in front of the door. Once [[Subject Z]] has been pushed through the door, you can quickly catch up to him with another movement boost and dispatch him before the [[Yeek Wayist]] is able to endanger itself again.

: Beware that many [[Anorithil]] talents will damage neutral units like the [[Yeek Wayist]], so they cannot be used in this encounter. Among these are all the {{c|Circles}} talents and {{t|Mind Blast}}.

: {{t|Sun Flare}} and {{t|Starfall}} are also CC options, but they cannot reliably stop [[Subject Z]] from killing the [[Yeek Wayist]].