@NateRich:
I don't understand the conditions for when his effluvia is at crazy levels. It'll just seem to randomly kick in out of nowhere. And then depending on where you are on the map, the tick damage gets crazy if you're not regenerating with a health augment. The gear isn't as good as Kirin's imo. I'm looking forward to different arch-tempered dragons, because the armor is going to be even more overpowered than Lunastra. Imagine some Nergigante gear with attack/agitator boosts and crazy slots. Then there's Kushala and Teostra with Handicraft and Weakness Exploit respectively. Apparently you can only flash Arch Tempered monsters just once? That's gonna be hell for the other ones if we get them.
I believe the Effluvia stacking is a result of triggering moves where Vaal spreads it, overlapping with previous releases.
Fighting the regular tempered version after it is a cake walk with the build I was using, and a majority of its attacks don't even put out Effluvia, or it isn't noticeable.
If there's any fight I'm not looking forward to, it's Arch-Tempered Kushala with deadlier tornadoes and higher HP.
May have to learn a ranged weapon for that one…
@Cyclone_Baroness:
I just completed all my Optional quests. That one I had was the Lunastra and Teostra fight. Lunastra is so damn annoying even with a heat resistance build.
I had only gotten to try the Arch Val like twice. People just kept getting killed and even though we had the effluvial resistance and expert stuff we were getting killed. Then stupid Odie shows up…Ugh. are the arc sets even worth the hassle? I couldn't get Arch Kirin done either.
The gamma armor sets seem to have a really high armor cap and plenty of points focusing on specific skills with higher level gem slots.
Kirin Breakdown:
! Alpha: Marathon Runner 3, Divine Blessing 3, Thunder Atk 3, Thunder Res 2, Free Element 3, Blight Res 1, no slots
Beta: Marathon Runner 2, Divine Blessing 2, Thunder Atk 2, Free Element 2, Blight Res 1, 9 L1 slots
Gamma: Marathon Runner 2, Thunder Atk 5, Free Element 3, Blight Res 3, 1 L3 slot, 3 L2 slots, 4 L1 slots
! Direct changes from Beta:
Marathon Runner from Head to Coil + 1 L1 slot
Free Element + 2 L1 slots from legs to Jacket, no change
! Changes in slot values:
Beta: Divine Blessing 2 + Thunder Atk 2 + Blight Res + 9 L1 slots == 14 L1 slots
Beta: Marathon Runner 2 == 2 L2 slots
Beta: Free Element 2 == 2 L3 slots
! Gamma: Thunder Atk 5 + Blight Res 3 + 4 L1 slots == 12 L1 slots
Gamma: Marathon Runner 2 + 3 L2 slots == 5 L2 Slots
Gamma: Free Element 3 + 1 L3 slot == 4 L3 slots
! Gamma Gains: 2 L3 slots, 3 L2 slots
Trade Offs: No innate Divine Blessing, -2 L1 slots
Kirin Gamma especially has been a major improvement over its limited coverage/slots, with only one piece on its beta set (free element 2 + 2 L1 slots) matching a gamma piece, and all others being more valuable than its (admittedly horrible) Beta set.
Also got rid of the pointless Thunder Res on its Alpha gear, for that amazing Thunder Res + Thunder Atk synergy on armor with high thunder res values…
Vaal Hazak Breakdown:
! Alpha: Peak Perform 3, Dragon Atk 4, Rec. Speed 3, Effluvia Res 3, 4 L1 slots
Beta: Peak Perform 3, Rec. Speed 2, Effluvia Res 2, 10 L1 slots
Gamma: Peak Perform 2, Dragon Atk 5, Rec. Speed 3, Rec. Up 3, 4 L3 slots, 2 L2 slots, 3 L1 slots
! Too many changes to reference direct changes.
! Changes in slot values
Beta: Rec. Speed 2 + Effluvia Res 2 + 10 L1 slots == 14 L1 slots
Beta: Peak Perform 3 == 3 L2 slots
! Gamma: Dragon Atk 5 + Rec. Speed 3 + Rec. Up 3 + 3 L1 slots == 14 L1 slots
Gamma: Peak Perform 2 + 2 L2 slots == 4 L2 slots
Gamma: 4 L3 slots
! Gamma Gains: 4 L3 and 1 L2 slots
Trade Offs: No innate Effluvia Res.
Vaal Hazak dropped its "make-a-set-to-fight-me-better" nonsense and fully supports its set bonus for pure sustain.
The main changes allow you to have Peak Performance on 2 different pieces than before and access to higher level slots, instead of only L1 slots.
The only turnoff to either of the Gamma sets are the full points in elemental attack, since few weapons have enough elemental power to not reach a cap.
And you avoid that by mixing with other armors as needed, since they're either a straight buff to the gamma set or open up different combinations, whether or not you want their set bonuses.