Bender's Guide to Torchy Borchy

from Demigod Forums

While I wait for the Custom Games list to stop being frozen and completely useless, I thought I'd write up my most recent TB build for anyone who's interested.

The build is based on maximising HP and HP recovery, along with not dying.

Ok, so here goes!

Initial Kit:

  • Banded Armor, 500 Gold. Nabs you +400 HP and +5 HPS.
  • Scaled Helm, 550 Gold. Nabs you +525 Mana and +4 MPS.
  • Favour Item: Blood of the Fallen. 750 Favour Points. Nabs you +800 HP and +5 HPS.
  • Level 1 Ability: Circle of Fire 1.

That'll give you initial HP for TB of 1410 + 400 + 800 = 2610 HP.

Initial Play:

  • If there's a Health Flag, go and grab it, get your 15% HP bonus. Cataract has one of these.
  • Your HP should be able to give you an early advantage while you grab some XP.
  • Try to get to Level 2 quickly, it usually only takes a flag and a few creeps. Once you have fireball, combined with Circle of Fire, you'll be able to damage enemies enough to get them running back or using potions, giving you an XP and gold advantage.
  • Don't be stupid and try to take on 2 demi's by yourself. It's just not going to happen, even if you have 2k more health than them.
  • If you can hold the health flag and creep zone, do it. You need to take advantage of the time your enemies are spending healing and running back to the health crystal. Don't advance, just sit there and farm the XP.
  • Get to Level 5 before bothering to take on any towers.

Here's the build from there:

Abilities:

  • Level 2: Fireball I
  • Level 3: Skip
  • Level 4: Fireball II, Circle of Fire II
  • Level 5: Fire Nova I
  • Level 6: Skip
  • Level 7: Fireball III, Circle of Fire III
  • Level 8: Skip
  • Level 9: Skip
  • Level 10: Fireball IV, Circle of Fire IV, Fire Nova II
  • Level 11: Fire Aura I
  • Level 12: Fire Aura II
  • Level 13: Fire Aura III
  • Level 14: Skip
  • Level 15: Circle of Fire V, Fire Nova III
  • Level 16, 17, 18, 19, 20: Enhanced Attributes

Items:

  • Nimoth Chest Armor. 1500 Gold. Nabs you 500 HP & 750 Armor.
  • Unbreakable Boots. 1500 Gold. Nabs you 600 HP, 800 MP & 5 HPS.
  • The Speed Staff (forget the name). 1250 Gold. +25% speed for 8 secs, just use it to run away or to chase to get into fireball range.
  • Plenor Battlecrown. 1500 Gold. Nabs you 1575 MP. If you need to, sell the Scaled Helm to get it earlier.
  • Narmoth's Ring. 4000 Gold. Nabs you 750 Hp, +20 HPS, and 8% Health Steal.
    • I prefer this over Heart of Life. Heart of Life is a reactionary item, I prefer to get and stay in battle longer with Narmoth's Ring.
  • Make up the rest as you go along.

Artifacts:

  • Whatever you like really.
  • I try to get the Girdle of the Giants, and later on, Bracelet of Rage.

General play hints:

  • If you can, always sucker the enemy into a Circle of Fire. This works especially well against Melee demi's, but also helps to negate the QoT's shield.
  • If you need to quickly kill off an early creep wave, do so with Circle of Fire, not Fire Nova. Less Mana.
  • Don't buy Priests at the Citadel until after your opponent.
  • Fire Nova III can take out an entire wave of creeps with priests/angels and cats. It's a fantastic way to gain some XP.
  • Once your opponent gets Giants, you cannot defend as easily as your Fire Nova III won't kill them in one hit.
  • If you're with a decent team and it's late in the game, get an ally to run off and steal portals while you defend at the Citidel. TB is the best defender in the game and can take out masses of creeps at once.
  • When taking down towers, use Circle of Fire. It helps, and you can often take out more than one at a time. Same applies to rook towers.
  • When levelling up from Fireball III to Fireball IV, if you can help it, don't use the fireball until your enemy is escaping. Most players are aware of how much damage spells are doing to them, if they expect an 850 hit and are escaping based on that, and you can get in a 1050 hit, you'll get a kill.
  • Fireball range is great, and the demi only has to be in range at the time of casting. Let them run off, cast the fireball and kill them while they're on their way retreating.
  • Use the speed staff to catch up to a retreating demi to get in range of a fireball.
  • You can't move and attack at the same time. For this reason, demi's will escape you. Don't stress about it and don't be stupid and follow them into towers or a trap.

Weaknesses:

  • Erebus is just about the only thing that causes me issues. My build leaves TB being slow to move, and Erebus can easily outrun an escaping TB, even if you use the speed staff. Furthermore, the Sleep ability can prevent you from teleporting, so be careful.
  • Low Mana. This build doesn't really give you a massive Mana store. You have to be careful with it, and not waste too much. Don't bother using an ability to take out creeps if there's no rush.
  • Traps. If you get caught in a 2 on 1 situation, try to get out of there using the speed staff. You may be able to take out one of the two, but unless you have an ally coming to back you up, you'll die before the 2nd enemy does.

That'll do.

Try it, see how you go. I can usually out-level most players, and if the teams are even, come out on top. If there's one way to turn around a losing battle, it's TB defence.

I'm sure it's similar, if not the same as other people's TB builds out there. I've made this one up myself, sorry if it's so close to yours and you feel ripped off - it's not intentional.

Questions and comments welcome.

Good day.

Edit: Thanks to www.demigoddb.com

2,896 views 9 replies
Reply #1 from Demigod Forums Top

This is pretty much the generic pure fire TB build. Nothing particularly new about it; we even already have a guide on this. That said, pure fire is very weak against HP stacking, which almost everybody in their right minds does; he has low DPS with autoattacks and has to rely on a bunch of abilities to deal damage (not only that, but his damage dealing abilities do less than a full ice + fireball combo, which is also good at AoE and has multiple status effects).


As far as fire builds go, though, this is average in every way.

Reply #2 from Demigod Forums Top

Sure is, as I already said, "I'm sure it's similar, if not the same as other people's TB builds out there."

Thanks for stating the fact again tho, really makes a positive difference!

That said, I don't seem to have much problem kicking a substantial amount of ass with this build (at least on the Aussie circuit). Perhaps people who haven't read something similar will appreciate it.

I'm sure you're much too pro or whatever to care, but someone else might.

Cheers!

TouchTasks - Access tasks with ease on Windows touchscreens.
Reply #3 from Demigod Forums Top

It's a solid dps build for sure and it won't get much better with staying in Fire only.

But, in my opinion, you can get more utility and similar oomph from a hybrid build that goes full fireball, 1 circle of fire (at the start) and fill up frost. But that is just a matter of playstyle. Don't forget to stance-dance though, the extra damage and regen is priceless.

Also, I would not always pick Blood of the Fallen as the favor item. Depending on the opposing team it could be better to pick, for example, Swift Anklet. If that UB gets to you, you are going down (unless you have a nice advantage in one way or the other), that 800 hp is not going to help that much. Plus extra movement speed is an alltime useful stat with getting where you are wanted, and getting away. But on the other hand, the extra hp is a lifesaver when you have a Regulus against you; it will help soak up Snipe and Mines. It could be a matter of preference, I like being mobile.

 

Reply #4 from Demigod Forums Top

Yes, I have dabbled with a fire/ice combo, however I love the mid-game power the fire TB gives me (for creep defence).

The reason I choose Blood of the Fallen as a Favor item is because I feel like TB's HP is lacking in the early game, and having the extra early HP prevents me from wasting a lot of time and money with potions and healing.

Early game, UB comes running up and launches a spit - most people care. I don't :)

I have been thinking about it a bit more, since I can't login right now (server is down I think), and I find that most of my games end by level 15 or so, which is a good thing. As Mr. Constructive-Comment (Milskidasith) said above, once everyone catches up to level 20 I can't get many kills.

Good thing I get to level 20 before anyone else!

Huzzah!

Reply #5 from Demigod Forums Top

Blood of the fallen is the best choice. With one point in diseased claw and one point in inner beast for UB, you will only have a .12 speed advantage over that UB. While you may be able to get away, the speed advantage is actually so negligable you can stay in "melee" range for quite a while.

So basically, unless UB is going for a hybrid build with spit and ooze, he will have passive skills that make Swift Anklet nearly useless, and if that's not enough, he can still upgrade the passives.

Reply #6 from Demigod Forums Top

looks like a pretty good lane pushing build. enough health and harrassment ability to prevent a single DG from stalling you in a lane and very good anti-creep and anti-tower tools. 

 

the one thing i don't like about it is the holding back skill points at levels 6, 8, and 9. it creates major gaps in your development during those levels. i'd rather just take the points in Fire Aura earlier and delay acquisition of the next highest rank of Fire Nova or Circle of Fire for 1 or 2 levels. 

 

the only other thing i'd do differently is get a Vlemish Faceguard instead of the Plenor Battlecrown. mana regen is more valuable than max mana for a build like this which casts nearly constantly (as opposed to a playstyle that holds back and casts spells in big bursts against enemy DG's). Vlemish also has better synergy with the mode switch bonuses you get from changing forms. drop out of and back into fire form for the +50% mana regen for 20 seconds. with a Vlemish that nets an additional 7.5 mana/sec. 

Reply #7 from Demigod Forums Top

I would get nimoth then v-helm(mana regen means longer stay time and more fireball harassment), Then unbreakable.

I would skip enhanced attributes, by the time you are pick it up and the item build you choose leaves you with shitastic auto-dps. Instead pick up another aoe skill or shatter for the interrupt.

If you are getting plenor instead of v-helm you should get heart of life instead of narmoth. HoL also gives you 20hps, but gives you full mana out of combat, and decent regen in combat. You like to get artifacts instead of cit upgrades, why not just get narmoth and HoL - 40hps.

Reply #8 from Demigod Forums Top

nice Bender, looking forward to using your own build against you :P

ive always had trouble with playing TB XD

Reply #9 from Demigod Forums Top

Thanks for the comments guys.

Quoting transitive, reply 6

the one thing i don't like about it is the holding back skill points at levels 6, 8, and 9. it creates major gaps in your development during those levels. i'd rather just take the points in Fire Aura earlier and delay acquisition of the next highest rank of Fire Nova or Circle of Fire for 1 or 2 levels. 
End of transitive's quote

Yes, you're quite right. There are times that require more tactical play than what most people may desire.

I guess the reasoning is one of surprise. My enemies sit there, hacking away, and I sit there, flaming away. We're all accustomed to the gradual increase in damage and HP from levelling. Once I do hit Level 10, I'd say enemies are somewhat taken-back by the damage increase I've just had. Increasing the Fireball, Circle and Nova all at once adds up to a good lot of extra damage, and often results in a kill!

Quoting transitive, reply 6
the only other thing i'd do differently is get a Vlemish Faceguard instead of the Plenor Battlecrown. mana regen is more valuable than max mana for a build like this which casts nearly constantly (as opposed to a playstyle that holds back and casts spells in big bursts against enemy DG's). Vlemish also has better synergy with the mode switch bonuses you get from changing forms. drop out of and back into fire form for the +50% mana regen for 20 seconds. with a Vlemish that nets an additional 7.5 mana/sec. 
End of transitive's quote

I'll give it a shot, see how it goes! Mana is a concern at times. I didn't even realise there was a mode switch bonus!

Look at me stuck in my old ways... :\

 

Quoting Chaoticon, reply 7
I would get nimoth then v-helm(mana regen means longer stay time and more fireball harassment), Then unbreakable.

...

If you are getting plenor instead of v-helm you should get heart of life instead of narmoth. HoL also gives you 20hps, but gives you full mana out of combat, and decent regen in combat. You like to get artifacts instead of cit upgrades, why not just get narmoth and HoL - 40hps.

End of Chaoticon's quote

Thanks, but I prefer to up the Max HP over Mana regen. Enemies can easily see how much HP you have left, but it's impossible to see how much mana. I could be low on mana, but high in HP, and that in itself is enough of a deterrent to stop chumps coming in and bossing me around :thumbsup:

I don't buy artifacts often, only once the Cit is sorted.

My consumable items are usually Speeeeeed Staff, Tele Scrolls, and Flag Locks. I don't have the space for a HoL that often, and get better mileage from teles, with my play style.

Cheers Big-Ears!