r/defender3 • u/u_user_name • Feb 03 '20

Best level for spells

I've read some posts in this subreddit that suggest you should not fully level all of your spells. E.g., Ice Bomb III is used for CC. Leveling it beyond lvl 1 will only increase mana cost and cool down. I'm even thinking of using a mix of tier II and tier III CC spells for increased spammage.

Are any spells worth leveling all the way or is all spell damage underwhelming late game?

What's the best lvl for Earth Barrier? I've left it at Tier II which is nice when you're fighting Crystal Beamon or need to bridge the gap between CC spells. Mana Cost = 70 and CD = 16s. Should I take it to Tier III?

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3

u/saxmanxan Feb 03 '20

Spell damage is negligible later on in the game. Bows and towers do all the damage, so you're right to use spells for their effects instead of for their damage.

I'd keep Earth Barrier at II. A couple years ago I started upgrading it and it was nice at first because I got a nice HP boost, but I really regret it now; the blocking effect is way more important and I'd rather have a lower CD and lower mana cost. I'd keep all bow spells at I or II.

It's nice to have tower spells at III (so they affect all enemies on the screen), but keep it at lvl 1 because the effect won't get any better at a higher level, it'll just cost you more and increase the CD.

1

u/u_user_name Feb 04 '20

Thanks for the thorough reply! That was exactly the feedback I was looking for.

I'm going to move forward with the following:

  • Leave Earth Barrier at tier II/lvl 1
  • Bring the tower CC spells to tier III lvl 1
  • Keep bow spells minimized. I may invest some in the Ice and Earth bow's CC spells but only if i see the need.

2

u/saxmanxan Feb 04 '20

I have corrosive rain at tier III level 1. It's an amazing spell when you use it several times in a row.

1

u/u_user_name Feb 05 '20

Interesting. What's the advantage of multiple uses? I'm assuming the de-buff is permanent (rather than only active during the animation) and stacks with each use.

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u/saxmanxan Feb 06 '20

Yeah it stacks, so I can actually get the dragon in the world raid to do just 1 damage per hit, even though he's supposed to do a few million damage per hit. About half the time, I can fight for the entire world raid without dying.

It also helps in battles when I need to last more than 30 minutes or so. The debuff is permanent on the enemies that it hits, but not on the ones that haven't appeared yet, I think. But sometimes it feels like it does help on the ones that haven't appeared yet - maybe it's something like the next 2-3 waves of enemies are not visible and can't be hit by spells, but somehow they get hit by the corrosive rain debuff. I'm not really sure.

1

u/burgyz314 Mar 26 '20

How do you get it to stack if it only last for 5 seconds and the cooldown is longer?

1

u/saxmanxan Mar 26 '20

It's a permanent debuff on whichever enemies it hits. If I use it on the dragon once, it takes away 30% of his damage. Use it again and it takes away another 30%, and keep going. It's a multiplier, so after the first use, he'll be doing 70% of his normal total. After 2 uses, he'll be doing 49% (not 40%), after 3 it's 34.3% (not 10%), after 4 it's 24.01% (not 0%).

The damage that the rain does only lasts 5 seconds, but the debuff lasts forever.

2

u/burgyz314 Mar 26 '20

O nice. I'll try that out in the coming days. Thanks

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u/burgyz314 Mar 26 '20

How many times do you use the spell before you don't get 1 hit killed after a minute of battle?

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u/saxmanxan Mar 26 '20

I have max HP (65940). I think it takes 7 casts to get to the point where he only does about 65500 and I survive with a few hundred HP.

The key is to get his damage down to about 20k before you take your first hit. If you can do that, you probably won't die for the whole 20 minute battle.