Facebook Chronicles of Blood Equipment and Power Recommendations Guide + Advanced Mechanics

Equipment and Power Recommendations Guide + Advanced Mechanics

Credits to Chan Yoong Hay

EQUIPMENT GUIDE
Sorted by location and level. Just search by the headers.

REMEMBER THAT CHOOSING THE ‘WRONG’ WEAPON OR ARMOR IS NOT FATAL. IN PVE, YOU CANNOT MESS UP.
You just hunt less efficiently, that’s all. Loads of defeats, lack of loot, no big deal.

CROWS HILLS CEMETERY (Level 1 – 10)

Q: Devil’s Tongue or Frost Dagger?
A: Either is fine. If you want a very specific answer:
IF YOU HAVE IMMOLATION + HELLCORE HOUND, USE DEVIL’S TONGUE
Frost Dagger otherwise.

Q: Lifestealer or Embrace?
A: Hum. I have heard mixed reviews of both items.

GET LIFESTEALER IF:
– You are not buying Goldfinger in the Dark Forest
– You have made Necromancer’s Cloak already
– You DO NOT HAVE Devil’s Tongue OR Frost Dagger

GET EMBRACE IF:
– You have Devil’s Tongue OR Frost Dagger
– You DO NOT HAVE Necromancer’s Cloak

DARK FOREST (Level 11 – 20)
Q: BD Gear…
A: Goldfinger. Pricey, but worth every diamond. There is a reason why it is the ONLY 999 BD item.

Q: Oak Staff or (insert R1 weapon here)
A: No big difference. Knock yourself out.

Q: Battle Axe? Throatslashers?
A: Lucky Gun Ace of Spades will last the ENTIRE Forest. Skip both. If you are hardcore PvP, get the Axe.

Q: Blooming Life to craft what?
A: Bark of the Ancients, then Crown, then Pendant. Lucky Gun handles the weapon slot. (I’ll bet someone will say otherwise)

UNDERGROUND SEWERS (Level 21 – 30)
I’d say you could just spend these 10 levels with the Lucky Gun farming away in the forest to fill your coffers and get one very good Power.

But for people who do not share my ‘efficient way to play’ methods…

Q: Bilespitter or 9 Ring Sword of Wand?
A: Wand. Bilespitter just doesn’t cut it. 9-Ring Sword for hybrid PvE/PvPers.

Q: Light Magic Cloak or Tentacle Cloak or Chitin set
A: Tentacle Cloak. Enough. No Venom Extract? Then forget getting any armor.

Q: Poison Vial…
A: Forget it. A novelty item.

OLDTOWN (Level 31 – 40)

Q: What to craft with Power Cell?
A: Battlesuit, then the Helmet, then Spinning Death.

Q: Roy’s Razors or Spinning Death or Compact Machine Pistol or Holy Gun Purgatory?
A: Spinning Death or Razor (depends on you having Power Cells to spare) for PvE, Purgatory for PvP.

Q: Plate Armor or Battlesuit?
A: Battlesuit. No Power Cell, skip both.

I got my Power Cells by doing loot-boosted hit-and-runs. Saves time, materials and still get the goodies.

ABANDONED INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX (Level 41 – 50)

Weapon: Freezer. If you cannot, Electrowhip. If you cannot do that either, Grenade Launcher. Failing THAT, wait for the Grenade Launcher.
Armor: Chem Warfare Armor.

What happens in between? Lots of tears. It isn’t easy, R5.

Alternate Method: Spend levels 41 to 50 elsewhere (R1/R2 farming, PvPing, partying and be merry, etc), then return to the Complex with Lucky Gun Last Goodbye at level 51 and kick serious butt. I prefer skipping challenges where possible. Hey, isn’t LIFE challenging enough?

And by now I expect one to have learn the skills of deciding their gear because no one should be able to stumble THIS FAR INTO THE GAME and still be complete doofus. You wanting a second opinion is fine. Not knowing ‘what does this picture mean’ or ‘I didn’t know the monster could do THAT’ takes the cake.

INFERNAL PLANES (Level 51 – 60)
Weapon: Both Truesilver and Hellfire Sword. Lucky Gun: Last Goodbye.
Armor: Both Truesilver Plate and Phoenix Robe.
One weapon handles Demons, the other, Undead. Since the mats are bound, grab all the goodies.
The Plate is a defensive armor, and the Robe, offensive. Again, bound mats, you will be saturated with them over time, nab them all.

If you insist, “Which First?”
The gun. The Luckiest of the Lucky Guns, Last Goodbye. It’s Confuse 20 offers a new twist on the once-rather-mediocre Confuse proc by using sheer quantity over quality. This gun actually offers a good shot (if not the best shot) against Alithia the Warlock Queen by making her miss so much (and hence you win).

COFFINS

New stuff. All give Bloodlust and Blood, and it’s procs only aid you in defensive PvP.

Selecting the right one is based on three criteria:
– Cost (VPs/BDs/Materials/Credits)
The best in this category would be Scale Coffin. Deluxe Steel is heavy on DS, Thundercloud on Rare Mats, Steel on VP.
Earthhole was omitted due to it’s ludicrously cheap cost, and equally ludicrous use (which is practically nothing)

– Quality (Procs/Defensive Effect)
Deluxe Steel, Ornate Stone (donator) or Steel (best, and is from PvP)

– Misc
The one that gives the most Bloodlust would be Ornate Stone or Thundercloud (+30 BL). Others aren’t too far behind (Steel gives 25)
Or anything you want to synergize with. Odds are, you won’t, because you would have to get a coffin for every element.

POWER GUIDE

What you should know about Powers:
– There is no ‘best’ Power. Given the ever changing gear and monsters introduced in the game, the compatibility and synergy potential of each power increases over time, some moreso than others.

– Each Power has a Feat. A feat is that ‘USE’ Button on the Power’s picture when you fight. Clicking it launches the Power’s feat at your opponent. You may throw both Feats in the same battle. Each Power has a different Feat, of course.

– Each Power has a passive ability or a proc. Usually one of the two. It is always in play.

– After using a Feat, it goes into cooldown. You need to wait for a period of time (shown as a countdown timer on the Power’s picture) before you can use it again. PROCS/PASSIVE ABILITIES STILL WORK WHEN THE POWER IS IN COOLDOWN

– Vampiric powers range from level 1 to 5.

– To improve a power, read a scroll of the same name as the power. The scrolls have the name of the Power they increase. You do not have to ‘figure-it-out-yourself’. The only thing that needs figuring out is what Powers to choose, and what they do.

– ‘Joker Scrolls’ can increase any power that you already have. IT’S A WILDCARD SCROLL.

– Void is a proc that players and monsters may have. Void, when is in play, JAMS ALL YOUR FEATS. So don’t activate them. If you do, you launch it, nothing happens, and it goes into cool down. :/

Powers are usually classified under several categories (I deviate from the Wiki for this segment)
1. Nukes/Bombs (N)
– The Feat deals massive damage in one round.
– All nukes to my knowledge follow the same damage progression.
– A nuke does 30 – 50 damage. Multiply this range by the level of the Power. (Level 2 does 60 – 100 and so on)
– Most useful for PvE and PvB.
– Most are useless in PvP, and make the fodder of PvP players (me! )
– The best Nukes are Immolation and Lightning Strike.
– The economical Nukes are Grave Touch and Purge.
– List of nukes (ratings included):
Grave Touch (N) **3/4
Purge (N) **3/4
Hawkeyes (N) ***2/3
Aikido Mastery (N) ***1/2
Lightning Strike (N) ****1/2
Soul Strike (N) ***1/2
Immolation (N – B) ****1/4
Vengeance (N – B) ***1/4
Earthmend (HN) ***1/4

2. Damage over Time (DoT)
– The Feat does a set amount of damage in every remaining round in the battle.
– If it is activated in Round 3, it deals 3 rounds X fixed damage.
– So DoTs must be activated in Round 1 to maximize potential damage.
– It is less flexible as a result, and is slightly weaker than Nukes in terms of total output.
– They are the cheapest powers around as a result.
– List of DoTs:
Command Vermin (DoT) * (:P)
Raise Skeletons (DoT) **1/4
Vile Swarm (DoT) **3/4
Pyromancy (DoT – B) ***1/2
Venomtongue (DoT – B) ***
Marked For Death (DoT – B) **
Electrocute (DoT – B)

3. Healing Powers (H)
– There are only two proper ones, and a strange long lost cousin. (I had an expletive in mind to describe it, but nevermind)
– They heal you. -.-
– These powers improve victory chances by sacrificing deathblows (which awards +25% Exp and better loot rates in PvE)
– Healing powers have a higher absolute value than their damage counterparts.
– Is very vulnerable to shutdown via Necrosis and Pestilence.
List of Healing Powers:
Earthmend (HN) ***1/4
Blessings from the Elders (HDoT – B) ***1/4
Hunger of the Beast (HDoT – B) *

4. Genociders
– These powers target and does very high damage (in comparison to an equal DoT/Nuke counterpart) to a specific monster type.
– The damage range is being calculated, but current observations show that it deals double the damage of their normal counterparts. :O
– They will not work if the monster class is wrong.
– They are very tactical, and quite hard to get (kill the same boss 3 times to get 3 scrolls)

Genociders include:
Nemesis (corrupted)
Vampire vs Wild (bestial)
Bonegrinder (undead)
Monsterslayer (abominable)
Under a Red Moon (lycans)

Average Rating: *** (theoretically should slaughter bosses- but my god they are hard to get)

The last class of powers need a separate section altogether.

5. The Oddballs (O)
– They are…unique.
– They do not directly try and kill the opponent.
– They either weaken them, or strengthen you, or both.
– Or annoy them. Any of the above.
– Hence they need more explanation. The above are very direct- stall and win, or kill.
– ODDBALLS WORTH MENTIONING:

ODDBALL 1:
BAD OMEN
Feat: Shadowdance
Proc: Curse X (x is the Power’s Level)
Found: Underground Sewers, dropped by Insane Clown and Tainted Water Spirit

Shadowdance: Dodges the next enemy attack after activation.
Curse: Chance to reduce your opponent’s RAGE and CONTROL.

Ah, the enigmatic Curse. I have heard much about this strange power.
When Curse triggers, you become a giant ogre and your opponent turns into a slab of tofu.
What is does if you hit harder (- Control) and they hit for less (- Rage)
BUT HOW MUCH?

…uh. From what I heard, it can be:

a) You do +2 * (Curse level) damage, enemy does -2 * (Curse level) damage per round.
b) It slashes a percentage of the Rage/Control stat. Higher level, higher %.

Rating: *** + 1/2 for being so strange

ODDBALL 2:
GLAMOUR
Feat: Tactical Retreat
Proc: Stun
Found: Won off other players as loot (PvP)

Tactical Retreat allows you to end combat the very next turn after activation.
Stun….stuns. When it procs/triggers, your opponent cannot attack next round (all existing DoT procs continue and Coven can still trigger)

HOW TO USE GLAMOUR
1. Equip Lucky Gun of your choice, and Raven servant. Use Blood Diamonds as bait.
2. Equip Glamour power. And a Nuke (not necessary, but advisable)
3. Go to the furthest region you can reach.
4. Hunt.
5. If it is Epic/Legendary, go to Step 7. If it is some common fool, see Step 6.
6. You either run and hunt again, or proceed with Step 7.
7. Ensure that the enemy did not Trample or Void.
8. Use the servant to attack (MUST HIT), OR, have a Beginning-of-Combat proc hit your enemy, then immediately Use Glamour.
(In short, make sure you have injured your enemy more than he has injured you- some enemies can use the same procs to foil your Glamour)
9. Win, and hopefully with lots of loot

Rating: **** for being so cheap and dirty, yet effective

ODDBALL 3:
AGONIZING ACUPUNCTURE
LOL
Use in R4, and R4 only. Absolutely….tactical (or shall we bluntly just say it’s terrible?)

Rating: THIS POWER DOESN’T DESERVE A SPOT IN MY GUIDE, BUT I SUPPOSE THE SCROLLS WILL MAKE A GOOD COASTER FOR MY DRINK

ODDBALL 4 AND 5:
FRENZY AND DEMONIC RITES
Feat: Pestilence, Smite
Proc: Berserk, Nightfall
Found: Forest, Infernal Planes

Pestilence jams all enemy healing. Earthmend, Heal, Blood Infusion all *poof*
Smite eliminates up to three enemy servants. No more random intercepts or attacks.

Now, their Proc…
Berserk gives you a chance to do (8 – 14) * (power level) extra physical damage when you hit your opponent.
Nightfall, same thing, except it’s Shadow instead of Physical.

THESE THINGS ARE BEASTS. YET WILDLY UNPREDICTABLE.
At level 5, they can add up to 40 – 70 damage per turn, so that’s potentially 200 – 350 damage right there!
…of course, it can also do nothing. :P

And see, because they are procs and not Feats, they contribute to every battle.
And also because they aren’t Feats, they slip under Void (which is becoming a trend in monsters and bosses)
As a result, they are expensive (Frenzy) or hard to get (Rites is Bound)

Rating: ****1/4 (read last line)

ODDBALL 6: THE LONGEST NIGHT

Feat: Force of Will
Proc: Attunement

Proc resets the Feat Timers of BOTH Powers you have equipped. This Power, and the other one you have equipped.
Feat resets the Feat Timer of the OTHER Power you have equipped. This prevents an infinite loop.

What do I think of it? Great potential and synergy waiting to be explored.

[details to follow]

RECOMMENDED POWERS:
I’m sure you skipped everything above because I sound like a vacuum cleaner, droning on and on and on.
Here’s what I think you should have:

PvE:
1.For consistent deathblows (usually during farming)
(Pick any 2)
Lightning Strike
Immolation
Frenzy

2. For tougher opponents:
(any 2, watch for Void)
Lightning Strike
Immolation
Frenzy
Demonic Rites
Purge
Grave Touch
Glamour

For healers:
Frenzy or Decay (Frenzy preferred)

PvP:
(any 2- sorted best to worst)
Diablerie
Frenzy
Lightning Strike
Immolation
Glamour
Earthmend + Blessings From the Elders

PvB:
Megalomania + Doom for first round to amplify Wrath damage (optional)
Frenzy or Immolation or Lightning Strike vs Void Bosses
Grave Touch/Purge otherwise

A mix of the mentioned powers is also fine. Depends on the boss.

Others:
Worth a try if you have it already (level 3 and above):
Bad Omen
Vile Swarm
Command Vermin
Raise Skeletons
Earthmend + Blessings

Anything not mentioned, check the ratings. Anything above *** is worth considering.

DAMAGE CALCULATION GUIDE:

1. This guide shows how damage-modifying procs interact with one another.
– The numbers were tested and confirmed in lots of PvP battles, done by me.
– Initial theory and testing (done way before mine) are credited to Parvati, Aaron Teo, Lim and Teo.
– And the Wiki. Thank the Wiki.
– If you don’t know why I credited you, never mind.
– And if I missed anyone, sorry. I owe you some royalties. Since I make none, you get none. :P

2. Damage Enhancing Procs
Procs that enhance your damage fall into two broad groups:
i) Elemental modifers
– Modifiers only improves a specific element of damage as the proc states.
– They work at 5% per level.
– As long as the element is correct, the modifier boosts it’s output.
– It can be your weapon, your mount, power or proc. EVERYTHING.
– Activation rate is 100% in most cases. The procs on gears, no guarantees.
– Just ensure you have something that can benefit from your modifier, or it is wasted.
– Example:
– Ignite 1. Level one means 5% more.
– Ignite works with FIRE damage.
– So Immolation’s Incinerate does 5% more damage per round, your Fireball does 5% more…
– But use Ignite on a Ballistic weapon…
– Nothing happens.
– Other examples: Precision, Freeze, Infection

ii) Banes
– Their activation criteria is based on the CREATURE.
– They improve damage by 5% per level.
– As you as you face a creature that matches the Bane you have, you get the bonus.
– The activation rate of Banes are 100%. Just make sure the target matches the Bane you have.
– Banes improve ALL damage you deal (procs, weapon, servant, everything except Coven)
– Example:
– Bloodbane 5 (bonus damage versus Vampires) when fighting a Zombie (Undead).
– WRONG CREATURE, NO BONUS.
– Bloodbane 5 when fighting a player (Vampiric)
– You get (5% X level 5 = 25%) bonus damage on your target!
– Other examples: Demonbane, Lightbane, Heroism

iii) Elemental Curses
– Activation is dependent on chance (triggers whenever it feels like it)
– Curses only improve a specific element of damage as the proc states.
– They increase the stated elemental damage by 10% per level.
– They affect everything Modifiers can, plus environmental procs, servant damage and Coven (Shadowcurse)
– While they improve damage by a higher percentage, they do not proc all the time.
– So it’s a trade-off between reliability (Modifers) and output (Curses)
– Example:
– You gained Shadowcurse 1.
– You use Grave Touch 3 (deals 100 shadow damage)
– Shadowcurse 1 improves shadow damage by 10%
– Grave Touch 3 does 110 Shadow damage (10 additional damage)
– Other examples: Slayer, True Aim, Poisoncurse

3. DAMAGE ENHANCER INTERACTIONS
– What happens when I have multiple Banes and Modifiers (and Curses) going off?
– Good news is not only do they stack, they compound stack.
– Confusing?
– Example:
– Decapitator (physical weapon) is the weapon in question.
Paired with Bloodbane 5 (Diablerie) + Slayer 1+ Nosferatu
1.25 X 1.1 X 1.05 = 1.4438 = 144.38% of physical damage
– Instead of 1.25 + 1.1 + 1.05 = 140% of physical damage
– So multiple sources of damage enhancers are very deadly.
– They add up very, very fast.

4. Damage Reducing Procs
– Again, two parts, Elemental Resistance and Wards.
– Damage can be reduced to 1 at the most for each source.

a) Elemental Resistance
– Modifiers only improves a specific element of damage as the proc states.
– They work at 5% per level. So Fireward 3 = 15% less fire damage.
– As long as the element is correct, the modifier will work.
– It affects all enemy output of that element- proc, weapon, mounts…
– Activation rate is 100%.
– Study your opponent, then use the right defenses to kill their offense.
– Example:
I have Fireward 4. (20% less Fire damage)
Enemy uses Fireball 3, and it deals 40 damage.
Fireward blocks 8 damage, leaving 32.
So it will show as: Fireball dealt 32 damage (8 prevented damage).

b) Wards
– The activation criteria are based on the CREATURE.
– They reduce damage dealt by the said enemy type by 5% per level.
– So Necroward 3 means 15% less damage from undead creatures.
– As you as you face a creature that matches the Ward you have, you get the bonus.
– The activation rate of Wards are 100%.
– Wards reduce ALL damage you receive (procs, weapon, servant, even Coven in PvP)
– Example:
I use Bloodward 5 on an enemy player.
Enemy Coven enters and deals 80 damage to me.
Bloodward 5 blocks 20 damage (80 * 25%)
So it shows as:
[enemy]’s legion entered the combat and dealt 60 damage (20 prevented damage)

5. DAMAGE REDUCTION INTERACTIONS
– Damage reduction is calculated using a reducing balance method.
– It means the total resistance is a product of all wards and elemental resistance you have.
– Example time~
– Enemy uses Immolation’s Feat, Empowered Fireball 4. (PvP)
It deals 150 damage.
I have Hellfire Chopper (Fireward 4) and Diablerie 5 (Bloodward 5)
So my total resistance (Elemental and Ward) is:
(100 – 20%) * (100 – 25%) = 60% of final Fire damage
In this case, the enemy will see:
Empowered Fireball dealt 90 damage (60 prevented damage)
Damage is rounded up.

6. Enhanced Damage vs Resistance
– One Example to Explain Them All
I Use:
Crimson Decapitator (physical weapon), with a PvP set.
Bloodbane 5 (Diablerie) + Battle Charger + Nosferatu + 3rd Crimson Bonus (Cruelty 1) + Bloodbane 2 (Decap) + Slayer (Gauntlets)
1.25 X 1.1 X 1.05 X 1.05 X 1.1 X 1.1 = 1.8343 = 183.43% of physical damage dealt

Ouch. Nearly double. This build can yield Criticals up to 170 damage.

Enemy Uses:
Resilience 3 (Panzer) + Bloodward 5 (Diablerie 5) + Gargoyle Servant (Bloodward 1)
Final damage is 0.85 X 0.75 X 0.95 = 0.6056 = Takes only 60.56% of enemy damage

COMBINE THE TWO:

1.8343 X 0.6056 = 1.11 = 111% of final damage.

Before this, Wards worked at 10%. Now at 5%, the PvP gear are even more unstoppable in their own element. Well, I guess that was how it works…

Summary:
Stacking Banes/Enhancers/Curses = Very very good
Using too many Wards = Less beneficial
(About 2 – 3 strong sources of the right wards will do)
(Banes/Modifiers/Curses – GO CRAZY)

Tiny Checklist: Loots worth noting in each region

This is what you should try to keep. The rest are either disenchanted or sold. They are not comppulsory, but things that are nice to have should the situation require them (like the Pendant of Molten Fury with Hellfire Sword)

Some are one-drop only (meaning if you have one copy, if will not drop again till you disenchant it), so you might want to break it anyway if you plan to farm in that location for a long time. These items are denoted with (1).

Crow Hills Cemetery
– Raven Cowl (1)
– Grip of Darkness (1)

Dark Forest
– Touch of the Ancients (1)
– Lucky Gun: Ace of Spades (1)

Underground Sewers:
– Scorpion Claws

Oldtown
– Nightshades (quest)
– Holy Gun: Purgatory (1)
– Pendant of molten fury
– Used Police Combat Gear (1)

Abandoned Industrial Complex
– Blob-in-a-jar (quest)

Infernal Planes
– Wingclipper
– Staff of the Warlock Queen
– Sniper Scope (quest)

Non-Technical Tips

Just one of those ‘In-case-you-don’t-know’ things.

1. Find the Lifefeed terribly long to scroll? Zoom out your browser by holding down ‘Ctrl’ and scrolling the Mouse Wheel. Or ‘Ctrl’ and ‘-‘. (Done in Firefox) This lets you scroll a lot faster by shrinking everything! Lucky the Assist buttons are fairly large, so despite shinkage, it’s fairly easy to spot.

2. If you PvP like crazy, just dump your Credits into Pearls. You’re gonna lose them to others, or healing anyway. (Somewhat pointless anyway, but eh)

3. Put on everything that adds Bloodlust before you leave for a long time (sleep, usually, if you ever do) to maximize the amount of hunts when you return. You can swap them out immediately- the extra Bloodlust will not disappear if you swap out the gear before you use it. (ex: 320 / 300 Bloodlust after swapping out Zombie)

4. Blank Diary = Update = PvP Attack Limits Reset = Go read the news