by Karen Hertzberg on May 27, 2007
By Hjelmen
I have made this guide as a response to all the people starting new
threads asking questions about Symbiotes. If I have missed something or
you have anything you would like to have added, please comment or
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/private.php?do=newpm&u=47">send
me a PM.
The Blood Mage is very unique class, and it has a very varied
playstyle. One of the most unique spell-lines the class gets is the
Symbiotes. Symbiotes are created by the Blood Mage by using his own
blood and
organs harvested from enemies, and subsequently cast on allies or
yourself for various buffs. Do not expect your Symbiotes to be huge
buffs, but they give you a ton of flexibility and are very interesting.
When you get your first Symbiote-spell you will see that it requires a
Symbiote-item to cast. To construct a Symbiote, follow these steps:
Note that there is no need for you to be at an assembly table!
You
should now have 10 of the Symbiote you constructed, and a few less
components. No worries though; components stack, and a Still Beating
Heart will continue beating even though youve had it in your bags for
weeks.
Getting the organs you need can be a bit tricky, so heres some comments
and tips. First of all, dont harvest organs when youre in a group.
Youll
divert your attention from the action and that could prove fatal. Since
organs stack (up to 20) go find some mobs (even gray ones will do), and
harvest off those by yourself. I find that going into Sanguine Focus
makes it easier to harvest
several organs from the same mob since you wont do as much damage and
wont take as much damage while waiting for Grim Harvest to refresh
(15 seconds). I do this since you can harvest several organs off the
same mobyes,
a bear does seem to have 4 brains, 3 hearts and more stomachs than a
cow!
Also you can make absolutely sure which organ to get by having only one
debuff on the mob at one given time (so dont cast Cyst followed
immediately by Union of Blood, since you cant be sure which organ
youll get).
The points here is
of course that having only one debuff on the mob ensures that you get
exactly the organ you want and that you can harvest several organs
from one mob. Of course, this is only my way of doing it, but I think
its a very easy and quick way to get a lot of organs.
When you have constructed your new Symbiotes, you can cast the spells
associated with them. When you cast the spell, your Defensive Target
will be buffed with the
Symbiote and one Symbiote of the appropriate type will be removed from
your inventory. Remember that a
player can only be buffed with one
Symbiote at a time.
The only offensive Symbiote is Controlling Symbiote. Casting it will
apply it to your Offensive Target. Remember that the spell can miss, be
resisted or just not work if the target is of a type that is not
charmable or is to powerful (4dots and up usually). If you try to charm
a mob which has already been charmed by Controlling Symbiote once, it
will also fail.
It does not cost you anything to construct or cast Symbiotes, the only
cost you have is in getting the components.
I have listed all the available Symbiotes in one entry per Symbiote.
Where there are multiple ranks, I have stated how many ranks are
available and when you'll be able to train them. The description will
also include what bonus a certain Symbiote yields at which rank.
I have also added a note to the Symbiotes where the description doesnt
quite cover the way it works.
Cleansing Symbiote
Symbiote Requires: 1 Vial of Blood, 1 Still Beating Heart
Trained at Character Level: 14
Description: Attaches a Symbiote to an ally, cleansing their body of
poison and disease over 15 minutes.
Notes: Ticks every 10 seconds, removing 1 poison or disease counter.
Controlling Symbiote
Symbiote Requires: 1 Vial of Blood, 1 Quivering Brain (Animation
Symbiote in the Assembly Menu)
Trained at Character Level: 14
Description: Attaches a controlling symbiote to an opponent, forcing it
to obey your commands for 15 seconds. Repeated symbiote uses will be
ignored completely. Draconic, undead, construct and elemental targets
are immune to suggestion.
Notes: The controlled mob will behave like a pet for the duration of
the spell, which means that you can command it to attack and use its
spells.
Plated Symbiote
Ranks: I / II / III / IV
Symbiote Requires: 1 Vial of Blood, 1 Twitching Muscle
Ranks trained at Character Level: 18 / 28 / 38 / 48
Description: Attaches a plated symbiote to an ally, transforming their
skin into spiky plates that returns 30 / 49 / 71 / 94 damage upon their
attackers and increases AC by 54 / 84 / 114 / 144 for 1 hour.
Notes: The Symbiote only causes damage to melee-attackers and normal
ranged attacks (bows, throwing weapons etc.).
Hollow Symbiote I
Symbiote Requires: 1 Vial of Blood, 1 Quivering Brain, 1 Still Beating
Heart
Trained at Character Level: 22
Description: Attaches a hollow symbiote to an ally, allowing them to
float above the ground for 1 hour.
Frenzied Symbiote
Ranks: I / II / III / IV / V
Symbiote Requires: 1 Vial of Blood, 1 Quivering Brain, 1 Twitching
Muscle
Ranks trained at Character Level: 26 / 32 / 38 / 44 / 50
Description: Attaches a Frenzied Symbiote to an ally, increasing his or
her damage by 20 / 32 /45 / 63 / 84 for 1 hour.
Notes: The bonus from Frenzied Symbiotes apply to melee-attacks only.
That said, extra damage on every melee-hit is quite efficient.
Renewing Symbiote
Ranks: I / II / III
Symbiote Requires: 1 Vial of Blood, 1 Twitching Muscle, 1 Still Beating
Heart
Ranks trained at Character Level: 30 / 40 / 50
Description: Attaches a renewing symbiote to an ally, this symbiote
transfers 20 endurance to 30 / 34 / 38 health every 10 seconds for 30
minutes..
Quickening Symbiote I
Symbiote Requires: 1 Vial of Blood, 1 Quivering Brain, 1 Twitching
Muscle, 1 Still Beating Heart
Trained at Character Level: 34
Description: Attaches a quickening symbiote to an ally. This symbiote
grants you the use of an ability that doubles your damage for 6
seconds. This symbiote lasts 1 hour.
Notes: The target of your Symbiote will have to check his
Abilites/Spells for a spell called Quickening Jolt and drag this to
his hotbar.
Vitalizing Symbiote I
Symbiote Requires: 3 Vial of Blood
Trained at Character Level: 38
Description: Attaches a vitalizing symbiote to an ally. This symbiote
transfers 30 endurance to 45 mana every 10 seconds for 30 minutes.
Conductive Symbiote I
Symbiote Requires: 1 Vial of Blood, 2 Pulsating Stomach, 1 Quivering
Brain, 1 Still Beating Heart
Trained at Character Level: 42
Description: Attaches a Conductive Symbiote to an ally. This symbiote
grants you the use of an ability that instantly heals an ally. This
symbiote lasts for 1 hour.
Notes: The target of your Symbiote will have to check his
Abilites/Spells for a spell called Conduct and drag this to his
hotbar.