Force Armour & Self defence

[Tamui]

Long Story short, I'm seeing a lot of conjus lately with Force Armour.
Honestly I never found it that useful and anyway, I want your thoughts on this spell.
I'm finding it a little difficult lately,(although I've met some jewelled archers :'() surviving at all.(Might be because of my absence as well )
Truth be told I'm not expecting a lot of positive reviews on this spell, but who knows? I might be surprised.
So to continue with this is, how do you increase your defence against anything apart from Steel Skin and Energy Barrier 5?

Let this topic be for all Conjurers interested, curious about these spells and others. Might help somebody else apart from me.

[Pnarpa]

I never tested force armour.

I haven't used energy barrier for months now and only use karma mirror + self heals 4/5. To be honest, nothing will help against archers with boss jewelry except a tree.

[VandaMan]

The way armor points work, force armor is increasingly effective when used with better armor. If your conjurer is geared with level 60 gear, all very good against piercing, I would guess force armor can be quite helpful against archers. Personally I prefer to gear my conjurer for health and mana instead, and find that humping a tree, rock, or fort costs less power points than force armor.

[Phlue4]

Originally Posted by VandaMan

The way armor points work, force armor is increasingly effective when used with better armor. If your conjurer is geared with level 60 gear, all very good against piercing, I would guess force armor can be quite helpful against archers. Personally I prefer to gear my conjurer for health and mana instead, and find that humping a tree, rock, or fort costs less power points than force armor.

exactly.
But the more damage you get in, the less force armor serves.
Some players do 100ers on me, I can reduce them to 50 with force armor - but do I really need to? (rhetoric question )
Force armor gives you about ~~~~10% damage resistance against 400-700 dmg.
Definately not worth the skill points, I'd say.

edit. also read kitsunie's post. Noticed it too late - he more or less tells the same like me.

by the way, the reflected damage from karma mirror does definately not kill anybody, it's no danger for any enemy, that's true.
But 30% resistance against all kinds of damage is pretty nice.
Yes,

Originally Posted by kitsunie

Reducing a hit of only 100 by 30% is pretty insignificant

but if there are 10 archers making 100er norms on you (or just one barbarian doing a 1000 norm), you will only receive 700 damage instead of 1000.
Absolutely nice spell, if you ask me. Way better than material wall (apart from the duration), and everyone would skill material wall as a defensive buff if it were possible.

[ieti]

For me Karma Mirror is pretty good spell.

It is nice to stop dot's and if you add regen self you are pretty good.

It is pretty nasty to put when marks pew pew's you and if he uses recharged well it ticks twice on him.

If used properly and you have enough HP a low health barb can suicide in it - i have seen it several times.

As a plus it have less shiny animation compared to Force Armor.

Lastly it is not bound to gear and resists.

But again no matter how buffed and geared you are if there is no teamplay you are dead meat.

[Enitharmon]

Reducing hits by 30 or 50 may not sound like much, but as a high level conj you shouldn't be in danger anyway if it's just one player targetting you.
It's those cases where 3-4-5-6 or more gang up on you (which should be the usual case in a group fight, once you put your nose out in the open), where you start getting into trouble. And then even -30 on each hit means a great deal less incoming DPS.

And I used to feel the same way as Tamui about my dragon armour, it was not easy to stop using something I worked so hard for back then to get. But play around with Kitsuni's armour calculator abit and you'll have to face some tough truths.
Compared to that Great Healer hat, with VG resist vs slash/pierce and armour bonus. If I used the Alasthor hat instead, I would need Force Armour(5) to get back the same damage reduction for those types.
It would be more economical then to use that manaless hat, and put 2 powerpoints in Mana Pool instead of 5 into FA. Better still just get used to playing without those 175 mana, which is less than most lvl5 spells cost anyway.

[Masterkick]

As said by Pnarpa, trees. And running. Be always on the back, and when you go forward, remember to buff. I've never used Force Armour but I'm seeing a lot of conjs lately using it, still I manage to keep myself alive by having my eyes wide open. That I think is the best possible way of defense for us.

When you get targeted, run back; when a barb is coming, cast Sanctuary or run for your life, etc... Oh, and Mind Blank is possibly your best defense.

To sum up, Karma Mirror + Steel Skin for damage resistance; Mind Blank for resistance to powers. And ALWAYS stay alert.

[ieti]

I never found it very useful, maybe because i focus more on bonuses than resists and levels of gear.

Main factor i do not use it is this spell have a very bright and distinct animation - it is like a big sign telling "shoot me i'm conju".

But most of all conju is teamplay class and there must be second one to have DI and support. Kill enemy conju first and keep ally conju alive.

[Tamui]

I see. Well recently have acquired a 7 const tunic, which is elite, so I guess it's the same as lvl60 excluding WM stuff and the new items, my Tunic is the highest. My bracelet right now is temporarily a Great Healer Bracelet, though normally I'd use a lvl45 bracelet as it has mana. I guess it isn't very viable considering I have half, if not more, of my gear lvl 50.

As for more 'self-defence', Anyone maxes WM Tree for health. Perhaps a better question is, what lvl do you normally carry the WM Tree?

Do you prefer getting more mental and perhaps Static Field instead?

[ieti]

I wish i can be WM now at conju - i suppose it will take me time. As of it i will take HP and CS bonuses for sure.

Of mental i usually get ivy and push. Domain and TM are good too. Static is a good aura but it is spear range. Well applied at fort doors it is nice. Evendim Fury is perfect too, but it is hard to get it in support setup without sacrificing war master passives.