User:Vyn/Alchemist

The following notes based on the character below:

Anin: Thalore Alchemist (normal/adventure)

This was the first character I played after a 7 year hiatus from ToME, so it is very much experimental and not as optimized as it could be. Single death was due to walking into the Damp Cave and losing track of stealthed enemies. As usual, it was an entirely preventable event with better play.

General Impression

• Alchemist is very good at attacking around corners or from beyond sight range
  • Throw Bomb has very high AoE damage, particularly in confined spaces
  • Combined with some means of scouting, alchemist can sail through most of game tossing bombs around corners and never letting an enemy get in sight

• Golem is a very average tank, but you can do some interesting things with it
  • The golem cannot solo tank enemy groups, or output any meaningful damage past the early game. It is great as a disposable decoy to soak up some attacks in battle, and for inflicting on-hit debuffs. On-hit global slow is particularly useful.
  • Make sure to bind a hotkey for controlling golem (party: give order to character 2), as it has to be repositioned frequently for best effect
  • Higher levels of Supercharge Golem can reduce the cooldown enough that the treants summoned by Thalore's Nature's Pride can tie you over in some battles. Probably won't work in insane+ difficulty however.
  • Healing totems can affect golems and help keep them healthy. Works on escorts too.
  • Golems do no activate invulnerable vault monsters. They can safely walk around the greater multi-hued dragons in the Vor Armoury.
  • Golems can wake up the sleeping dragons in a vault however.
  • Despite the golem being a somewhat lackluster individual unit, the ability to direct its action to some degree allows for many tactical maneuvers that are simply impossible with other classes. Some examples below...
    • Control a golem to open doors and activate objects. If a trap would normally move the player into a different zone (e.g. tentacle swallowing player, falling down into grave), then that effect will fizzle on the golem. If you actually want to get moved into a different zone however, you can still activate the trap yourself. If an enemy spawns next to you, Golem Portal can allow you to switch places with your golem, presumably parked a safe distance away.
    • Use the golem to block an escort, while you leisurely clear the path ahead.
    • Park the golem in a safe location while scouting ahead yourself. Use Golem Portal to switch places with the golem when you run into trouble, then Invoke Golem to recall the golem next.
    • Park the golem near a doorway while you explore inside. Run past the doorway after engaging the enemies, and the golem can intercept the first pursuer coming through the door.
    • When retreating from battle, don't leave the golem to hold the line. Order it to retreat in a different direction instead. If the enemies chase after you, this leaves you the option of escaping with Golem Portal.
  • When controlling the golem, remember to check the orders for your alchemist that is now under AI control. There is a bug where, under some unknown circumstances, the AI controlled alchemist will have their leash anchor set to a non-existent enemy (in my case, it was the rogue that last killed the alchemist). If this occurs, your alchemist will immediately run off screen when you switch control to the golem unless you correct that order, and this may have to be done every time a new level loads (bug eventually fixed itself in my game).

• Alchemist has decent PBAoE attacks
  • Fire Storm plus Body of Fire actually yield pretty good sustained damage, but requires proximity
  • Body of Fire only shoots one fire bolt to each enemy, so its damage is really on the low side. It also has a very high sustain cost, so it's best to keep it off during normal play, and only turn it on for long boss battles, ideally after you have used up a bit of mana.
  • There are very strong cold damage unique items that can combo well with Fire Storm and Body of Fire for a PBAoE style of attack.
    • Frozen Shroud: a damage burst plus an incredibly strong lingering AoE
    • Frost Lord's Chain: has ice block penetration, and grants Shivgoroth Form, which gives you Ice Storm
    • Both items above can be tricky to use, since they will damage the golem. One must command the golem to move into safer positions, and it may be necessary to disable the golem's Knockback and Pound talents to prevent it from moving around too much.
  • High movement speed or infusions/runes/talents for repositioning can help one utilize PBAoE damage more effectively.
  • Flash Freeze is very helpful for a PBAoE play style, making it easier to position yourself relative to your golem and the enemy. The extremely long pin effect is very useful in general too.

• What to do in between bomb cooldowns?
  • Bombs have a 4-turn cooldown, so a good alchemist should find something productive to do during that time.
  • The basic Channel Staff attack can always help increase damage output, and it is possible to build for it, particularly with prodigies like Arcane Might boosting staff damage. While this would no doubt be effective, it can also be a little bit monotonous.
  • It's always fun to have more buttons to push, and unlocking more generic categories will do just that. Extra talent categories also benefit a lot from the Adept prodigy, which is my new favorite in 1.7.4. See section on generic unlocks below for more details.
    • The alchemist has notably more generic points to spend than class points, so I sacrificed unlocking Energy Alchemy in preference for more generic unlocks.
  • One can always just move when bombs are on cooldown. This can be the standard hit and run tactic, or moving into position to use PBAoE attacks.

• Smoke Bomb is incredible for blocking line of sight and messing with enemy AI
  • The smoke is most effective when it is deployed before enemies have first caught sight of you, so that you can attack from within the smoke. This will cause the enemies to start scampering about looking for you, but they will move around randomly and generally not head straight towards you.
  • You will need some means of scouting to see through the smoke yourself. A wand of clairvoyance will be your default tool. Track can be a helpful pickup from escorts. The best option is unlocking Divination from escorts however, and putting a few points into Arcane Eye.
  • Stair traps can be easily dealt with because enemies will not have you targeted initially, so you can immediately drop smoke and prevent them from seeing you, and then start throwing out ranged attacks.
  • The enemy behavior is actually a bit perplexing, considering that most enemies have 10 range infravision and should be able to see through the smoke without any trouble. It is not clear if this is a bug or intended behavior. However, one can rationalize this by assuming the smoke to be magical in nature.
  • This tactic works in some of the most dangerous encounters in game, like Celia in the Last Hope Graveyard, and the post-Dreadfell Ambush fight.
  • Smoke will prevent the golem from attacking as well, but you can manually order the golem to intercept enemies if they are getting too close for comfort.
  • The fact that smoke bomb can interact with burning enemies is its greatest weakness. Thankfully this interaction is only checked on cast, so you can still burn enemies after the smoke is up.

• The primary threats to an alchemist are enemies that can quickly dispose of the golem and still hurt the alchemist afterwards, either due to sheer numbers, quick cooldowns, or very high damage basic attacks. The tremendous AoE damage of bombs and careful play should prevent one from getting outnumbered, Burning Hex can extend enemy cooldowns, but enemies with high damage basic attacks will have to be dealt with by bomb kiting or manipulating the AI with Smoke Bomb.

• The alchemist class seems to be well balanced for normal/nightmare. It is probably viable on insane too, but likely to be very demanding in terms of micromanagement, due to the poor control interface for the golem. There really should be hotkeys that directly set the leash anchor and leash range of golems.

Class Talents

Some suggestions for class talents. Raw talent level in brackets, assuming Adept prodigy has been taken.

• Explosive Admixtures
  • [5] Throw Bomb: the signature talent for Alchemists.
  • [5] Alchemist Protection: helps prevent friendly damage, requires full investment given the large AoE of bombs.
  • [5] Explosion Expert: gives bonus damage in confined spaces. See this post for some nice graphs that illustrate how important the 5th talent point is.
  • [1] Shockwave Bomb: a low damage attack, but the knockback can be very useful in a pinch

• Golemancy
  • [5] Golem Power: golems need accuracy to hit enemies and apply on-hit debuffs. This is important because a gobal speed debuff can absolutely turn the tide of battle.
  • [1-5] Golem Resilience: makes golem tankier. Not a high priority early on, but a good place to put spare talent points.
  • [1] Invoke Golem: 1 point is sufficient to summon the golem to your side. The melee power buff to the golem scales very poorly otherwise.
  • [1-5] Golem Portal: 1 point is sufficient to switch places with golem. Higher raw talent levels can help the golem taunt enemies away more reliably. This is actually one way to position yourself for PBAoE attacks, but would put a potential escape option on cooldown.

• Fire Alchemy
  • [1] Flame Infusion: elemental infusion talents are very weak when compared to damage bonuses that can be accumulated from equipment, so it is best to save the talent points for other uses.
  • [5] Smoke Bomb: completely messes up enemy AI, absolutely max this.
  • [3-5] Fire Storm: even if alchemists perform best at long range, having the option to turn on the hurt is very useful in longer battles, or when the location makes it difficult to maintain range.
  • [1-5] Body of Fire: a relatively weak talent for the high sustained mana cost, but alchemists can spare the mana at higher levels if some investments are made in willpower. The fire bolts are very slow and will miss a lot. It's probably best to only turn this talent on when you need it for a long battle or the extra fire resistance.

• Acid Alchemy
  • [1] Acid Infusion: This is probably the best infusion to use during the early/mid game due to the acid blind effect.
  • [1] Caustic Golem: The reactive acid cone will damage friendly units, so you may wish to switch infusions if that will cause problems.
  • [5] Caustic Mire: this is one of the best slow effects in the game. The debuff seems to be reapplied to enemies in range every turn, so they can never cleanse it away. The only downside is the long cooldown, so one must be careful to apply it at the right time and location for maximum effect.
  • [3-5] Dissolving Acid: 3 raw points plus Adept will allow this talent to remove 3 effects from enemies. Could be worth maxing for damage if you happen to find equipment with acid elemental bonuses.

• Frost Alchemy
  • [1] Frost Infusion: Freezing enemies can make them waste their cooldowns on attacking the ice block encasing them, so it is still useful even if it slows down the battle a bit. The ice block will also absorb damage from you however, so it is best to have some non-damaging actions queued up for the occasion (e.g. reposition, use tools, cast a hex).
  • [1] Ice Armour: scales poorly with extra talent points.
  • [3-5] Flash Freeze: excellent crowd control with decent damage and range, and it even casts instantly. The only downside is the relatively long cooldown.
  • [3-5] Ice Core: alchemists do not have any natural crit reduction, so having some crit shrug is very useful. The cold affinity and physical resistance are both useful as well.

• Advanced Golemancy: requires category point to unlock
  • [1] Life Tap: a rarely used talent. In a situation where the alchemist is low on health, it is nearly always better to opt for some action that will not get your golem killed and make your situation worse. If the alchemist is fighting solo while using the golem to block an escort however, then this is a decent heal to have on hand.
  • [1] Gem Golem: The golem's attack element is determined by the gem in the first slot. The imbued effects of normal gems are generally too weak to make an impact on a golem. Even among artifact gems, there are only a couple of them that can meaningfully extend a golem's lifespan in battle, so this talent is usually not worth the class points.
  • [1-5] Supercharge Golem: Instantly resurrect the golem and gives it a regeneration boos that should heal it to full in a few turns. Higher talent levels are actually pretty useful, particularly for reducing the cooldown, which varies from 16 to 11 turns with Adept. When the golem is resurrected, any talents or runes on cooldown will retain their original cooldown, but the golem will lose all temporary effects like runic saturation.
  • [5] Runic Golem: The golem can have 6 rune slots with this talent maxed, which significantly extends its durability in battle. Because rune effects often scale with stats, its best to put all the runes that a golem might use into their inventory, and then examine them there while controlling the golem. You can also visit shops with the golem to see which rune might be worth buying.

• Energy Alchemy: requires category point to unlock
  • [1] Lightning Infusion: Dazing lightning attacks are actually pretty nice at long range, because they can prevent the enemies from moving, allowing your bomb to come off cooldown and daze them again. Can add Pacification Hex for more effect.
  • [1] Dynamic Recharge: Scales poorly with additional talent points, but this can help the golem's runes come off cooldown a tiny bit earlier, and that does improve the golem's survivability more than the other infusions can.
  • [1-5] Thunderclap: Decent damage, has knockback, and disarms. This would be a great talent if it did not also affect the golem. The golem really needs to be armed and in melee range to apply global speed debuffs, and it is hard to satisfy both conditions with this talent.
  • [2,4] Living Lightning: Getting an extra turn upon taking big hits is nice and can save your life. 2 points with Adept will give the passive lightning strikes 5 range, and 4 points will give 6 range.

Generic Talents

Some suggestions for generic talents. Raw talent level in brackets, assuming Adept prodigy has been taken.

• Stone Alchemy
  • Extract Gems
  • Imbue Item
  • Gem Portal
  • Stone Touch

• Staff Combat
  • Channel Staff
  • Staff Mastery
  • Defensive Posture
  • Blunt Thrust

• Survival
  • Heightened Senses
  • Device Mastery
  • Track
  • Danger Sense

• Hexes: can be obtained locked after helping the Grand Corruptor attack Zigur
  • [1] Pacification Hex]: best cast on enemies you are not actively attacking, but this situation is rare
  • [3] Burning Hex: one of the best debuffs against strong foes, but does require one to at least survive the first salvo of attacks (disposable golem is helpful here)
  • [1] Empathic Hex: mostly useless due to asymmetry in player vs enemy damage/health ratios
  • [1] Domination Hex: can make big rooms of enemies fight themselves, try to target low spell save enemies with AoE attacks

• Divination: can be obtained locked from escorts
  • [4] Arcane Eye: only need effective talent 5 to see stealth/invisible creatures, so 4 points with Adept is enough
  • [1] Keen Senses: a decent sustained buff, works well enough with 1 point and Adept.
  • [1] Vision: scouts terrain for better bomb placement, did not use this much due to finding Burning Star
  • [1-3] Premonition: more damage mitigation is always nice, especially since you will mostly be targeted by ranged attacks that tend to have more uniform damage types

• Curses: can be obtained locked from escorts
  • [1] Curse of Defenselessness: duration is just too short to matter, and it only helps the golem land hits
  • [1-3] Curse of Impotence: this can actually extend the golem's lifespan quite a bit against lone bosses
  • [1-5] Curse of Death: a decent DoT spell, pales in comparison to the PBAoE sustained damage mentioned above, but this one can be cast at range and is not dependent on items
  • [1-3] Curse of Vulnerability: duration is a bit short compared to bomb cooldowns, but it could work well on a Shalore alchemist using Timeless to skip one bomb cooldown

• Chants: can be obtained locked from escorts
  • [3-5] Chant Acolyte: this improves all three chants available, one can only wish the alchemist's elemental infusions worked in this manner
  • [1] Chant Illuminate: a weak talent for alchemists, but we need it for the next one...
  • [1] Chant Adept: allows the instant cast chants to also remove a debuff, can be life saving in some circumstances
  • [0-1] Chant Radiant: a little bit of bonus fire damage might be useful if you have spare generic points

Prodigies

• Adept: A great prodigy for any character being played for the first time. Allows one to experiment with more talents to see how they perform with the character. The +1.5 talent points even affects item talents, and is further boosted by mastery, so it can have a very substantial impact.
• Worldly Knowledge: Gives more buttons to push in between bomb cooldowns, and guarantees access to Divination.

Play Style

1. Use a wand of clairvoyance, Track, or Arcane Eye to maintain contact with enemies
2. Use Throw Bomb around corners to take care of most enemies
3. For tougher enemies that can also chase you down quickly, contact can often still be broken with Smoke Bomb, allowing for more time to continue your attacks. Make sure to keep scouting talents running. Arcane Eye on the target is optimal.
4. If the enemy continues to approach, then it may be time for some additional measures
   • Send in the golem to tank a few turns and waste the enemy's cooldowns.
   • Burning Hex cast early will help ensure enemy talents will take a long time to recycle
   • If the battle is expected to be long, it will be best to have the golem approach from a flank, making it easier for you to approach with PBAoE attacks, but this can take some micromanagement
5. Use Caustic Mire to slow and damage the enemies. The slow is very strong and cannot be resisted.
6. Use Flash Freeze to pin enemies in a good position for PBAoE attacks
7. Activate movement abilities and get yourself into position
8. Turn on all the PBAoE attacks. For the character played here, just the sustains and DoT effects will deal ~1k damage per turn before crits, for 10-15 turns.
9. If the enemy looks too strong, then retreat after pinning them with Flash Freeze