How to be the best templar....

Cedric

Cedric

Prodigy
Marshal
So I looked through some old threads and didn't see a lot about this. For that reason, I thought I'd get other players input. How can you be the best celestial templar at low to mid levels (1st - 10th)? What has worked for you?

Things to consider are:

1. Skill choice/balance of melee damage vs spell
2. Spell Loadout
3. Gearing? What types of magic items do you prefer at low levels? Consumables such as scrolls/potions?
4. Physical skills as in mastering templar tuck, spell packet toss, melee skills?

Anything else you can think of....

This is just a brainstorming and a sharing of knowledge.
 
I find that the cross-classes are not efficient before level 8. It's better to master one side or the other, either fighter or magic and then go back and pick up the other skills for levels 8-16. Choose which one you like more and go with that until your first eviscerate or 9th level spell. For the fighter side with some Celestial flavor, you could get Read Magic early and use lower level scrolls. On the flip side, go sword and board with high armor points for a more tanky scholar.
 
Last edited:
Right now my build is 62. I grabbed sword and board and then went full celestial after that. So far I'm enjoying it, and I plan on going celestial until at least I have formal magic. Still, you have some great comments.
 
I thought about building a celestial templar at one point but found that it was not very efficient at low levels. I agree with Peter, stick to one side then slide to the other. Starting as a templar may cost a little more in build but you make up for it in body and armor.

I would definitely stock up on defensive scrolls/potions. Use your slots on attack spells. Definitely get scrolls and tape them yo your shield so you can utilize them during combat.

As for magic items, any celestial spells you can memorize canbe cast by activate and spell name so that expands your amount of spells available per day.
 
Another way to go is choose sword & board, read/write, read magic, and 1 level 1 celestial spell. This will give you access to spell shield and magic armor scrolls, and gives you the ability to then focus on your fighter skills up to your first eviscerate, them build up to your first ninth level spell.

When playing a cross-class, it is important to set skill milestones on both sides, and the order in which you want to attain those goals.

Also, choose whether you will pyramid to your ninth or column to it. Then once you get there, and you meet your Fighter skill goals, will you then complete your column, fill out that pyramid, get some formals, or work toward parries, a riposte, or more profs?

Either way you go, have fun, and build toward what you think you will have the most fun with, and what will work best with your friends or team.
 
Fighter till 4 profs, 1 evis, 1 rip, 2 slay, 2 parry, 1 stun.
Or
Scholar till teardrop 9.

Then start sliding.

Earth templar has better spell load out. You take some utility and some healing, but the healing is mostly for yourself. Celestial templar is going to be more heavily about utility and damage mitigation with the occasional big punch in the mouth from your spells.

Gearing, if you can, get read magic, go sword and board, and throw some scrolls on the back of your shield. Try to keep your armor mobile (so *maybe* a breast plate and leather all else) but try to get as many point as you can at the same time. That armor is as much your health pool as your body, and more often than not you'll find yourself thankful it was there. If you can, get arcane. Pouches, pouches, pouches! You're going to need more space to store your extra stuff to be effective.

Templar tuck is vital. Get good at it. If you can master it, center grip shields are better than arm strap shields, because they let you have more room between you and the guy trying to maul you. Long weapon... unless you can use claws. Then always use claws when you can. Because they can't be disarmed or shattered, which means one less thing you have to worry about.
Spell packet, get good at a sideways toss (if you're right handed, hold your left arm out in front, and think from your left elbow to your left wrist for motion.) That let's you hide some of what you're doing behind your shield, which is important to landing packet attacks. Look for your opponent's center of gravity; aim just below it. Every spell you throw is precious so you really need that 90% success rate instead of dirting packets.
As far as melee goes, wait for it. Sometimes you'll be the guy throwing the punches. Sometimes you just gotta block a lot and wait for the right shot. But most often you'll actually want to be standing right next to a scholar and taking/redirecting as much as you can onto yourself so that the scholar can make the baddie go boom.
 
Great hints there Sarah, thanks a bunch. Keep um coming if you have any other suggestions!
 
Personally, I disagree with taking most fighter skills as a templar. An Elemental Blast deals roughly as much damage as a slay and a stun limb is just a sub-par KO effect (of which your spells grant you multiple). Only Eviscerate and Parry are really worth your build and the former only because it is nearly fool-proof after binding.

Sword and board is not the only way to go. I've seen an amazing celestial templar archer and a two handed weapon is also surprisingly effective (much easier to quickly free up a hand for casting).

From experience, I can definitely say that planning is important and NEVER pick up earth secondary while under 8th level.

-MS
 
mikestrauss said:
Personally, I disagree with taking most fighter skills as a templar. An Elemental Blast deals roughly as much damage as a slay and a stun limb is just a sub-par KO effect (of which your spells grant you multiple). Only Eviscerate and Parry are really worth your build and the former only because it is nearly fool-proof after binding.

Sword and board is not the only way to go. I've seen an amazing celestial templar archer and a two handed weapon is also surprisingly effective (much easier to quickly free up a hand for casting).

From experience, I can definitely say that planning is important and NEVER pick up earth secondary while under 8th level.

-MS
Click to expand...

An Elemental Blast is a wasted Prison. As a templar, you're not going to have a full column for a while if you're trying to keep your skills relatively balanced. Further, if you miss with that Elemental Blast, it's super wasted... whereas you can keep swinging that slay until it resolves. Stun Limb is one of the most under valued skills in the game. Land one on someone with a two hander and if they fail to drop that weapon, you've opened up a whole new field of legal target.

Two hander style has the benefit of easier hand free for casting as well as increased damage, but loses defense and increases risk of taking damage from only having one hand on your two hander. It's a trade off... and if you're agile enough to pull it off, more power to you. (Can I have some of your spunk?)

Being a templar (or adept for that matter) takes planning and intelligence. You have to know where your strengths are, what your weaknesses are, how you can compensate, and how to pace yourself.
 
I have a level 11 High Ogre Cel Templar and I'd concur with a lot of what has been said so far. I use a two hander, so two proficiencies gets me to 6 damage, but it also makes it harder to effectively use scrolls or my wand. If I were really looking to optimize a low level Cel Templar, I'd start with one handed edged, shield, a 432/100/000 spell column (allowing you to use every scroll), and then buy three profs so you can swing 5 damage. Where you go from there is pretty open ended, and by that point you'll have a better idea of how you want to specialize. That puts you somewhere around level 8 or 9 depending on if you buy any racial abilities or anything like first aid and healing arts (which are super useful regardless of your class).
 
Cedric said:
So I looked through some old threads and didn't see a lot about this. For that reason, I thought I'd get other players input. How can you be the best celestial templar at low to mid levels (1st - 10th)? What has worked for you?

Things to consider are:

1. Skill choice/balance of melee damage vs spell
2. Spell Loadout
3. Gearing? What types of magic items do you prefer at low levels? Consumables such as scrolls/potions?
4. Physical skills as in mastering templar tuck, spell packet toss, melee skills?

Anything else you can think of....

This is just a brainstorming and a sharing of knowledge.
Click to expand...

Like MS mentions I would start with a fighter with a "dot" (read magic and a 1st level spell), then I would stay as a fighter until you have 8 profs and 4 parrys. I would stay away from all the other fighter skills. The problem with having access to all those skills (fighter and caster) is that you want to take em all, don't. After that you want to start taking spells until you are happy with your amount. A 4 or 5 block is nice. At some point add 1 level of formals just to have it and after your column is done, then dump into formals (if that's your flavor). Then finally I would start to buy the other fighter skills, starting with riposts then eviscerate then slays.

Keep in mind that you will work better while working within a group, splitting your build into fighting skills and spells will "thin" you out and leave you lacking. The plus side to a C. Templar is that you can use read magic to help with spells that you don't need to memorize (but you will need money to purchase scrolls).
 
Note that YMMV based on your group, and your chapter's storyline.

I also kinda lean towards focusing on fighter skills, because as things sit right now, it's easier for you to duplicate spell skills with magic items than it is to duplicate fighter skills. Which is terrible, but it's the reality.
 
So far I've picked up Sword and Board, Blacksmithing and have gone straight up celestial magic with the rest of my build. It seems to be working out okay, but I'm starting to feel the crunch of only swinging 2s. I'm decent with shield, so I can hold my own pretty well. I just can't kill stuff fast. So I end up playing defensive fighter right now or I bring out the spells for straight damage to blow something up. It is seeming to work okay for now, but I know once build slows down, getting those profs are going to take forever. I'm getting better at the templar tuck, got the scroll thing for my shield and I'm working on my aim with packets (which sucks atm).

Anyway, thank you everyone for your suggestions and hints, so great points so far.
 
Cedric said:
once build slows down, getting those profs are going to take forever.
Click to expand...

This is the biggest reason to make your first primary goal profs (after getting that read-magic + first level spell). Spells cost a lot less, making the incremental build accumulation at higher levels feel less punitive than it would if you had to wait between 1 and 2 years between being able to do something "new" (i.e. swing 1 additional damage vs being able to cast three to 6 more spells.
 
So a lot of great things that i agree with have been said so far. When I started playing this game years ago I knew right out of the gate that I wanted to go C. Templar. I'll go over my theories on the matter real quick and maybe you'll take something from it.

First here were the puzzle pieces involved in making my character: 1) I wanted to wield a Polearm 2) Because of my backstory I wanted blacksmithing 3) I wanted the ability to Ward as soon as possible. Here is how I went about solving that

I went with going full scholar first. Buying a rank of blacksmith and foregoing the Polearm. (16 build for scholars yeesh) This was largely because I wanted to learn the magic system fully, its practical uses, and which spells were the most useful in combat.
I went about finishing my spell pyramid up to a full tower and bought wands.
At this point I am am level 11 and putting all my build into formal magic.
Now I'm almost level 13 and getting ready to make the transition to C. Templar. For this I will keep my tower intact and take all the necessary build out of my "Formal Magic Pool" to cover my Templar costs. Most of which is covering that damned Polearm. But then lo! By around Lvl 15 I am more or less the same mage with all my power intact, though now I have more health/armor and a 6ft beating stick to keep baddies away from me. And yes I'm that really tall Elf so that reach will be tremendous. Utilizing the two hander I will cast defensively by keeping baddies at bay with the polearm extended in my right hand and doing a shot put spell throw. (someone mentioned sideways templar tuck, I believe them to be the same maneuver)
After this point yes, I do spend the rest of my days slowly and painfully gaining profs which I then turn into nothing but more profs and parries. This is because I (which was stated above) will be doing slay level damage with spells and have better KO effects with spells.

Scrolls is not something I've looked to much into yet. Making them for a ton of Magic Armors seems like a win.
Blacksmithing has been my surprise all star skill.

I hope all this helps
 
Super thoughtful post Jason.

Next question, how do you feel about gearing up (magic item choices?) and what about spell loadout that you all like?

Mike
 
Be aware that you can't block or swing damage with a two-handed weapon held in one hand (exception: bows and staves, blocking only). If I saw someone holding a polearm out in front of them take a hand off to wind up for a packet toss, I'd light them up with a slay or two, right into the haft of the weapon.
 
As a templar, I tend to be kinda selfish with my casting - my spells are there to keep me going, not to fix other people up. For that I tend to go with a lot of protection/enhancement spells. This is the sort of load-out I would go with most weekends (barring foreknowledge of a massive elemental invasion or something like that):

1 Light, 1 Fortress, fill out the rest with Disarms
Magic Armor all day every day - this is one of your best spells as a templar, a well timed magic armor is almost as good as a parry
1 Wall of Force, fill out with Shatters or Binds depending on what you tend to fight
Mix of Flame Bolt and Elemental Blade - depending on the event, elemental blade will either be useless or the best thing ever. You can also take Shun or Awaken to get rid of command effects if you're not selfish like me.
Spell Shield, Spell Shield, Spell Shield, Spell Shield
I like Sleep, but Elemental Shield is a solid choice
Charm, Subjugate, Confine, Ice Storm, all pretty decent choices
Dragons Breath or Dispel. Grab a Magic Augmented Dispel once you have High Magic - you can use magic augmented spells even when you can't use game abilities as long as you can at least move your mouth
Ward if you need it, maybe a Circle, fill out with Prisons - Magic Storm is fun but I'd rather have the extra Prison
 
Cedric said:
So I looked through some old threads and didn't see a lot about this. For that reason, I thought I'd get other players input. How can you be the best celestial templar at low to mid levels (1st - 10th)? What has worked for you?
Click to expand...
So, my classic concept of a templar would have you starting with some sort of one-handed stick, a style (probably shield, but two weapons can be interesting), and maybe a level of Blacksmith (if you want to self-adjust your armor). Then, R/W, Read Magic, and a 3/2 tree. That will take you 30 build (assuming OHB/Shield and you're not paying double for R/W).

Your strongest time at this juncture is going to be daylight - using Flame Bolt/Stone Storm/Lightning Storm scrolls in the same way you would use a slay: as punctuation on the damage wall, Disarm/Ping/Repel/Bind/Shatter/Web for selective tactical combat, etc. You're likely going to want to memorize Disarms and Magic Armors. Shield scrolls, at this level, are also a good choice because they represent a reasonable percentage of the total damage you can take. For potions: lots of defensives: Magic Armor and Spell Shield, plus a couple of Cure Serious in case you land in a tough spot away from your healers.

Mastering the "templar tuck" is going to be key here - most of your casting is going to be close up, so you need to be able to tuck your weapon, throw from your waist, and bring the weapon back up quickly. If you're playing a team-based character, now is also a good time to start practicing sticking just behind the shoulder of your party's front-line fighter. Your job here isn't necessarily to fight shoulder-to-shoulder, but primarily to cover your teammates flank defensively - give her room to do the big damage swings, as well as being ready to put a new Magic Armor or Spell Shield on her.

Next up, you want to run up your fighter skills. Prof 1, prof 2, then a parry take you to 71 build. If you find yourself in more night fights than daylight/well-lit encounters, you might want to pick up slay and a couple of Disarms, but imo, you're better off using scrolls for equivalents and leave the real slays to the fighters. The overall rule of thumb is that if it's already covered under your spells and scrolls, don't worry about them too much. IMO, your goal as you level up beyond this point, ideally, is to use your fighter skills to cover things you can't do with your spells. Two more profs and another parry bring you to 112 build, on the top edge of 10th level. Again, if you're playing for a team, your role is still to cover the flank, but you're also popping a bit more damage so you're a bit more active.

Beyond 10th level, I'd say fill in a couple other fighter skills you don't have spell equivalents for first: Eviscerate, Riposte, Stung Limb, in that order. You're swinging for 6 naturally, 9 with a +3 weapon. And more profs at at this stage has you waiting three or four events for each one (ymmv depending on gobbieing). A decent stagger in build spending here is 20 build in magic, then 20 in fighter skills, then 20 in magic again, etc.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top