Empyre65 wrote...
The moral of the story is that Xanos is mostly useless.
...perhaps for you, Empyre. But that may not always prove the situation for all, especially if approached differently.
The sad fact is that just about all spellcasters are a huge problem using the stock hench AI controls and though TonyK's Ai helps, it is far from perfect and IMO doesn't make them productive.
TBH, Xanos is the only henchie I use until Deekin is available. Dorna's trap skills seem seldom needed (I always at least xclass the trap and lock skills in all my toons) and cleric buffs are extremely short-lived at SoU levels. Mischa is decent as tank if you have the fix applied. But I recommend training Xanos as a barbarian and forgoing the arcanist skills for the most part (you can't avoid that single sorc level unfortunately). True, a few buffs can help from time to time, but he is still a better tank than a sorc. Also, when he does cast a lot, he spams
Find Traps so if your rogue wants to recover traps, you need to be extra cautious of his perception range. I've been tempted to kill him myself MANY times.
I'd recommend setting Xanos up as either a S/S (there are a few +X 1H weapons in the early game) or greataxe-wielding barb. Keep dropping Bull's potions on him before each battle (and Cat's for extra AC) since the level-up package will continue to boost CHA as his primary ability. Also, equip him with ogre mitts and any other STR-boosting items, like belts, if available. Conbined with his raging boosts and occasional Power Attacks and Cleave opportunities, he will cause lots of damage and withstand a fair amount of damage with the elevated HPs from the barb levels. By the campaign end he'll have somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 or more HPs while raging... fairly high for an SoU toon.
Remove ALL his weapons except the one that you prefer to have him use. Bring up his spell selection before combat and try to exhaust them beforehand. At Sorc 1, there should be very few attempts at spellcasting on his part.
Playing Xanos otherwise, well, then... I agree with Empyre's assessment... a sorc is just plain annoying to drag along, just like Glinkle in the OC.
edit: Oh, and as far as Heurodis battle goes, you have already figured out the key if you take Xanos all the way. Set up the shadow door, immediately where you enter the chamber out of her perception range and leave Xanos on Stand Ground well back while you go about destroying the mythallar, since your toon is the only one with suitable defenses vs. her spells. Then once she no longer has the mythallar regen, place Xanos on Attack Nearest or Defend once you have Heurodis engaged (I recommend melee with all act bosses except those with reciprocal shields erected which may have been too difficult to dispel). Drop a speed potion on Xanos from time to time, when you can. Unfortunately, the boss is immune to sneaks so your rogue damage will be limited to just what the weapon (or ammo) does on its own. Those fire pots will help damage as well.
Modifié par HipMaestro, 11 février 2013 - 08:09 .
