Melee AAs comparable to spells?

[Vasharyn]

<p>I just started a mystic last week, so please forgive my newbish question. I looked to see if it had already been answered, but I couldn't find a post that specifically answered what I want to ask.</p><p>I'm going to be going melee, because its FUN! And I'm looking at the Mystic AA tree where you can choose to use some of your attack spells as a melee attack instead.</p><p>There are only 5 ranks that you can get in each one. Will they be comparable to the spells themselves that you would get as you level up? Or will the spells outstrip them later on?</p><p>[edit] I forgot, I also want to ask - you can upgrade spells by buying or making an Adept 3 or a Master whatever. Can the melee versions be upgraded too, and do they take a scroll or an essence?</p><p>Thanks</p>

[KatrinaDeath]

<p>Mystics buff STR (Other stats too) more than anything. At level 80 you can almost self buff 400 STR with 3 buffs.</p><p>Your combat arts are based *mostly* off the amount of STR you have. I know all my combat arts hit for far harder than the spell versions. I've pulled 2,000dps through T8 instances (CoA) and the combat arts and STR had a lot to do with it. Haste, DPS, and a freaking nice spear/malllet also adds to your melee output and can make others cry.</p><p>Good class to play imo if you plan to solo OR group to 80.</p>

[Banditman]

The CA's cannot be upgraded, but they do scale automatically to your level.So, your five points in the first ability may do 100 points of damage at level 20 . . . that first ability with five points for me does over 1000 at L80.  The only upgrade is how many points you have in each ability.Just max them out and you'll be thrilled.  Oh, then go do the AGI line for more goodness.

[Effie]

<p>They have slightly longer refresh than their spell counterparts but they have near instant cast, can't be interrupted and don't have to be upgraded every 14 levels. they are also affected by your melee crit rate (which should be at least 100%)...</p><p>All things considered, you simply cannot compare to the potential DPS from CAs to the potnetial DPS from spells.</p>

[Nor]

<p>They are comparable, but they do damage a little different.</p><p>You have 2 Dot's (why shadowmen/nightblood bonus on the one, I mean...really?)</p><ul><li>The cold based dot does damage every 3 seconds as a spell, and every 4 seconds as a CA</li></ul><p>You have 1 AE.</p><ul><li>The CA does out of encounter damage (great for getting adds through walls) where the spell does encounter only.</li></ul>

[tebion]

one more difference between CA and spellif a spell is resisted, its recast time is halfed so you can recast it alot faster, if a CA is resisted, you have to wait the complete reuse time to use it again.

[Karlen]

- CAs improve every level, while spells only improve every 14 levels (when you get a new one).   So in most levels, the CAs will be "better" than the corresponding spells- CAs are boosted by STR while spells are boosted by INT.  Since Mystics buff for STR, this gives CAs an inherent advantage.  Of course, there is nothing stopping you from getting lots of INT equipment and having a higher INT than STR, but it is a lot easier to have a high STR.   NOTE: The DoT portion of both spells and CAs is increased by INT, not STR.- make sure to get both the bottom ability in the Mystic Combat tree (Weapon Mastery) which will ensure you hit every time you swing and the 100% melee crits in the AGI line to ensure you do maximum damage when you do hit.- the quality of CAs (app IV, adept 1, etc) is determined by how many points you put into it (up to 5).  You will eventually want to max out all of them.- CAs are NOT affected by anything related to the spell it replaces.  You don't even need to buy the spells if you don't want.  - You CAN continue to use spells if you like, although they share recast timers with the CAs.  Spells can be handy in situations where you want to attack from range as the CAs have no range to speak of.- With 100% melee crits get a weapon with a high variance (the difference between minimum and maximum damage) since you will always do at least maximum damage (up to max+30%).

[Carcinoma]

<cite>Karlen@Befallen wrote:</cite><blockquote><b>- CAs improve every level, while spells only improve every 14 levels (when you get a new one).   So in most levels, the CAs will be "better" than the corresponding spells</b>- CAs are boosted by STR while spells are boosted by INT.  Since Mystics buff for STR, this gives CAs an inherent advantage.  Of course, there is nothing stopping you from getting lots of INT equipment and having a higher INT than STR, but it is a lot easier to have a high STR.   NOTE: The DoT portion of both spells and CAs is increased by INT, not STR.- make sure to get both the bottom ability in the Mystic Combat tree (Weapon Mastery) which will ensure you hit every time you swing and the 100% melee crits in the AGI line to ensure you do maximum damage when you do hit.- the quality of CAs (app IV, adept 1, etc) is determined by how many points you put into it (up to 5).  You will eventually want to max out all of them.- CAs are NOT affected by anything related to the spell it replaces.  You don't even need to buy the spells if you don't want.  - You CAN continue to use spells if you like, although they share recast timers with the CAs.  Spells can be handy in situations where you want to attack from range as the CAs have no range to speak of.- With 100% melee crits get a weapon with a high variance (the difference between minimum and maximum damage) since you will always do at least maximum damage (up to max+30%).</blockquote>Correct me if I'm wrong, but it appears that spells are upgraded once every 14 levels after approximately level 25.  Before this it appears spells are upgraded much more frequently.I know this is a minor point, as pre level 25 is a small part of the game, but I just thought I'd point it out.