Is the 218 damage Swell Left arm worth the circle? That’s essentially an Arde Dagger and a half. Granted when at level 280, 218 fixed damage is neglegiable, any thoughts on this?
Is it worth taking over Linker C2?
You havent told whats your build so far - and what you are aiming for. I doubt that thaum c1 is a good idea, but i heard also that after recent link nerf, its either c1 or c3 for linker - although it may be good for either sorc/necro/cryo. Just state your build first xP
going pyro > _ > sorc 3
Then i would go for link2. unless you dont have r2 yet - so i think cryo would be better instead of pyro.
so pyro > linker > linker > sorc > sorc > sorc?
and why do you think cryo c1 is better than pyro c1? pyro has on hit damage that can save you sp if you’re playing sorc…
I’m using Thauma C1 in my alchemist build. however it’s only because i want to be a tank… using transpose
I also have a full healer at all time next to me so fill my HP when i use transpose( every 50second)
So unless you have a priest with you and want to go that route… I wouldn’t advise to go ThaumC1
even as a support class, their swell skill are less useful than linker 
Dmg from pyro1 at later lvls is really small - with cryo you’ll have at least cc that will help your summons last longer/attack uninterrupted. And if i’m not mistaken its the most popular build involving sorc3. The other one is with cryo3 and third one probably cryo2-kino1. All of them have different uses and strenghts. Link is better for the shared dmg of summons, which have pretty low ai atm, with cryo3 your summons will have easy time hitting frozen enemies and cryo2kino will make you do more dmg and nice cryo-kino combo and still have nice cc freeze with cryo2.
The reason why I took pyro was because of flame ground and fire ball, it allows me to help do damage if my summon isn’t up. it doesn’t use as much mp too because both are field skills… that’s my thought and its working out great so far, 90% up time on flame ground is nice
Sure - at low lvls. Read the threads concerning pyro and you’ll know what i mean. I was going to make pyro3 at the beginning - but after i read a lot of topics concerning it i know that even c3 is not all that great later on - thats why i decided to go for ele route. I admit- pyro is great on early lvls - then he has arguably the best dps of all classes - but it quickly fall behind. But if you are determined -its not terrible choice at all - just there are better imo/ If you are happy with it just stay with it - games suppose to be fun, not frustrating xP
No… Do not go Linker 2, whoever told you to is trying to get you to hate your life. Linker 2 has 0 purpose other than some exclusive buffs to share. Thauma 1 is extremely viable as a full CON support build to transpose yourself into a glass cannon if you wanna solo bosses or do damage in specific cases.
Shrink and Swell also are great CCs, EXP modifiers, damage modifiers for hoplites and archers, do damage as well with attribute(you can shrink, swell, shrink, swell).
Attribute on Left Arm also gives way more than just +58 damage.
Thaumaturge is an underutilized, underrated class.
Linker 2 can link more enemies? that alone makes the class worthwhile imo lol.
A linker greatly boosts party efficiency while 58 dmg… even +200dmg doesnt sound very enticing to me.
You can link 2 more enemies than Linker 1… Grats. With a Dandel gem you can link 6 as Linker 1. 8 with Linker 2, with a gem on Linker 2 you STILL link 8. Linker 2 is the worst in the Linker tree, you either go 1 or 3, never halfway IMO. Not until they buff Spiritual Chain at least.
If +200 damage doesn’t sound enticing then many people wouldn’t bother with an Arde Dagger.
Isn’t Dandel gem extremely rare regardless?
I agree with you though, Thauma is underrated.
Even if it’s rare, 5 targets is still enough. Most dungeons have only groups of 5 away from each other anyway in general. Even with 8 links, you link 8 out of 10, and the team still spends another few seconds to kill those 2, it’s no difference. I’m speaking as a Linker 2 with a heart filled of regret BTW.
Most Thaumaturges I’ve seen don’t buff regularly, don’t make use of Transpose, don’t use anything other than Swell Arm irregularly. It’s a sad scene.
Higher level content usually consists of a tanker pulling groups of mobs (usually over 10+ monsters) towards the group.
5 targets is not enough at these high levels and you’ll feel like joint penalty is useless at that point. 8 is a lot more, and if you think about how a dungeon spans a large amount of time, the time saved from being able to link 3 extra enemies is a lot more than you seem to be giving Linker C2 credit for.
I’m a Linker 2 myself. 8 is no big difference, once the group of mobs exceeds 8 TBH Joint Penalty makes no difference in the end as you spend time cleaning up the unlinked mobs regardless.
If you manage to get a Dandel gem or have Divine Might, you can link 6 things, 2 less. While having a whole other class to do other things better than linking 2 more targets. You invested one whole circle for 2-3 more targets, not worth it.
In high level dungeons, a good party will spend 15-20 seconds to kill all the monsters per mob pull (~20 monsters or so). Mediocre and bad parties will take 20-30+ seconds, and the monsters only get tougher the higher level you get.
In that time, you’ll be able to pull off 2-3 links (3 especially if you take chronomancer 3). With Linker C2, this is 16 or 24 monsters linked vs. with Linker C1 being only 10 or 15 monsters.
Let’s not forget that dungeons last a long time and every 22 seconds or so, a linker C2 would be linking 3 more monsters than a linker C1, which is about 6 extra monsters linked every minute if you only use joint penalty twice in one minute (in 20 minutes of mob killing you would be theoretically linking an extra 120 monsters).
Especially with a party that features single-target DPS’ers, having a linker 2 is much more useful than just having a linker 1 (Linker 1 Thau 1 will not excel over Linker 2 in these PvE situations).
In sum, both paths have their own merits (Linker 2 vs. Linker 1 and Thau 1), and it is all dependent on the content you will want to dedicate more time towards (and excel in).
Like I said, Dandel gem is extremely rare, so I wouldn’t expect to go linker 1 and get it anytime soon.
I understand that you are Linker 2, and I respect you for basing your argument on your experience with the class; however, maybe you just haven’t gotten to the content that Linker 2 shines in yet.
I’m only suggesting this because you mentioned in a previous post that most dungeons only have groups of 5 away from each other, so I am led to believe you’re not talking about higher level content.
Personally, I REALLY hope I get proven wrong and that Linker 2’s Spiritual Chain becomes useful. IDM if I’m proven wrong I mean if I am, I benefit from it since I’m Linker 2. So far being a Linker, be it 1 or 2, you are just a JP bot and nothing more.
You can take other classes along with linker.
By your logic, we could also deduce Thaumaturge as a buff bot and nothing more (which they are, but it makes the class sound worse than it is and will discourage others from trying out a class that has good potential).
I agree, linker needs another incentive besides Joint Penalty (Hangman’s Knot buffed a little would be a good start along with some new buffs added to spiritual link), but it is by no means the trash that you make it out to be.
Thanks guys! This has all been really helpful, I think I know what to go for my main now.