Talk:Animate Bone Minions

What's the "first mission in Kryta"? Gates of Kryta, or something else? Being able to capture it then would give it out pretty early (especially if someone doesn't go to Fisherman's Haven), quite useful. --JoDiamonds 16:47, 23 October 2005 (EST)
 * Gates of Kryta would be the first mission in kryta. --Rainith 16:56, 23 October 2005 (EST)
 * Great. I filled the name in on the article. --JoDiamonds 18:29, 23 October 2005 (EST)

Soul Reaping
The article currently sais: "9 or more points in Soul Reaping results in an overall gain in energy when the minions die, and each additional point results in 3 more energy gained." I don't get it. Did the spell spawn three minions at one point? Because otherwise the math doesn't add up: Every point in Soul Reaping gives you 1 energy. The spell creates 2 minions. This means I get 2x Soul Reaping rank as return. This means I need 13 Soul Reaping to get more than the 25 cost. And each additional point results in 2 (not 3) more energy gained. Did I get something wrong? -- 22:38, 14 February 2006 (CST)
 * Bone minions: Original death is +x soul reaping, then cost is 25, then they eventually die, giving back 2x.  Thus at 3x>25, x>8.33 you get a net gain in energy from bone minions through the whole cycle.  You can thus operate bone minions fine on 9 soul reaping, provided you don't need more than your base 4 pips. The question is thus whether you wish to count the original death; in terms of energy management it completes the picture nicely.  This results in an 8 Soul Reaping for Horrors, a 9 Soul Reaping for Minions and a 13 Soul Reaping for Fiends, if you want to be operating on at least your base 4 pips.  I added a parenthetical explanation for the rather odd figure. --Epinephrine 23:03, 14 February 2006 (CST)
 * Ah, now I get it. You're counting the original death that created the corpse?! I think this death should be left out of the math. It has nothing to do with the minion animation, really. -- 23:09, 14 February 2006 (CST)
 * Well, to be fair, I wasn't counting it, but I do think it is part of the math, in a way. It's a tricky issue - on the one hand, if planning your overall energy needs you need to take into account the overall effect of the skill, but it related directly to death.  It's a very real effect in game; according to the math you'd have at least 4 pips of energy while using minions with 9 Soul Reaping, and you do - you get your 4 pips, with a bonus of 2 energy per death with an animation, and 9 energy on deaths without you animating (elementals, missed corpses etc...).  If you operate at 13 Soul Reaping (the break even poitn without counting the first death) you are rolling in energy, so it's obviously excessive.  Counting the first death you need 8 Soul Reaping to do alright with Bone Horrors, and if you don't count the first death you need 15 Soul Reaping to break even - but 15 Soul Reaping results in huge excess energy - I only go that high if running primarily Bone Fiends and using extra spells.  Most spells can be considered pretty much in a vacuum, as they have a set recharge time, and can be used with a certain regularity; the animation skills all hinge on deaths, and thus need in a way to be considered in conjunction with those deaths.  If you don't count the inital death, you end up "breaking even" at 13 Soul Reaping, but what you really mean is that you have no cost for the Bone Minions essentially, and STILL have 13 Soul Reaping from every death, an excessively large amount of energy.--Epinephrine 23:22, 14 February 2006 (CST)