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Season 4 Heartseeker Planner Links

• Standard build: https://maxroll.gg/d4/plannenn1lp0wi#1
• High-end Pit build: https://maxroll.gg/d4/plannenn1lp0wi#2

Note: This guide and the build links above may be updated from time to time. Look out for these updates in the original guide document here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pVRhEVZa0qPrg_03Tq_k98eMrmD7s8DK4kELn_Pfhi4/edit?usp=sharing

How it works

Heartseeker is one of the Rogue’s ranged basic attacks that has a reliable chance of hitting its targets.
Although Heartseeker is reliable in that respect, its damage potential was very limited throughout Diablo 4 history due to its lower base damage compared to core skills and combo points and because it had no way of delivering imbuement effects, inflicting area of effect (AoE) damage or taking advantage of the huge damage bonus from precision.
While basic skills still can’t be imbued and precision doesn’t work with basic skills, Heartseeker’s main obstacles have been solved:

• Basic skill’s lack of damage has been solved by using Moonrise and Adaptability aspects (on a 2-hander and amulet) which together boost basic attack damage by 5.6x as well as providing attack speed and movement speed benefits
• Victimise will be a very strong key passive going into season 4. Not only will Victimise provide a decent damage boost for Heartseeker that can’t otherwise benefit from Precision, Victimise makes the Heartseeker build viable by giving the build AoE damage
• As of season 4, you can now get Heartseeker ranks from your pants slot (up to +8)

Victimise is a key passive that works off lucky hit, which basic attacks like Heartseeker - together with Primary Heart Seeker which allows Heartseeker to ricochet and hit twice - can proc very often because of its 50% lucky hit chance and because of Heartseeker’s fast attack speed.
Also, because Heartseeker tracks targets, this can be used safely and reliably to deal damage to enemies from afar. As enemies then agro towards you from a distance and converge closer and closer together as they approach you, this allows your AoE explosions to deal more damage the more tightly packed enemies become.
Pros

• Good consistent damage that doesn’t need an elaborate attack rotation to do reliable damage
• Easy to play by spamming a single attack without worrying about conditional damage combinations and energy usage
• Safely fight from a distance, taking the heat off you and reduces the chances of long drawn out fights from needing to dodge around
• No resource issues so no need to build around energy sustainability in your build, saving skill points, aspect slots, affix slots on gear and less reliant on Inner Sight

Cons

• Crowd control effects (CC) are not the easiest to apply with attacks since Heartseeker only hits 1 or 2 targets per cast
• Damage takes a little time to ramp up - Heartseeker, Moonrise, Exploit Weakness, Chip all have buffs or debuffs that ramp up based on how many times you hit targets. This takes about 3-4 seconds for all damage bonuses to be fully online
• Not a build that you can start levelling with from a brand new character until you collect the key ingredients
• Despite having AoE in the build, builds like Penetrating shot and Scoundrel’s Kiss Rapid fire are still unmet when it comes to AoE potential

Victimise Double Dipping
Victimise has interactions with your original attacks that result in your damage output being affected by double dipping. This means that certain buffs and debuffs boost your damage twice, usually in 2 different stages of your full damage calculation.
Victimise bases its damage based on a percentage of damage that your Heartseeker hits do. For example, if Heartseeker does 10,000 damage and Victimise does 300% of your original (Heartseeker) damage, then Victimise explosions will do 30,000 damage.
If then your Heartseeker damage is increased by buffs and debuffs that result in Heartseeker doing more damage against its targets, then this will increase the base damage of Victimise. For example, if the Control glyph + Exploit Weakness debuffs increase Heartseeker’s damage by 50%, then Heartseeker will now do 15,000 damage, and Victimise is expected to do 45,000 damage (because Victimise does 300% of your Heartseeker damage).
However in this case, when Heartseeker results in a Victimise explosion and hits the same targets that are affected by the Control glyph + Exploit Weakness debuffs, then Victimise itself also gains the benefits from these debuffs, and its final damage will increase from 45,000 damage to 67,500 damage, or in other words 30,000 x 1.5 x 1.5 = 67,500 damage.
Known interactions that double dip with Victimise:

• Caltrops - as long as the target is standing in Caltrops while hit with Heartseeker and Victimise
• Exploit - as long as the target is health or injured when hit with Heartseeker and Victimise
• Subverting Poison Trap - as long as the target is standing in Poison Trap, but not applicable to us since we don’t deal poison damage
• Control glyph - as long as the target is CC’ed when hit with Heartseeker and Victimise
• Pride glyph - as long as the target is health when hit with Heartseeker and Victimise
• Chip glyph - as long as the target is hit 10 times with physical attacks prior to when hit with Heartseeker and Victimise for maximum effect
• Canny glyph - as long as the target is hit 10 times with non-physical attacks prior to when hit, but not applicable to us since we don’t deal non-physical damage
• Deadly Ambush - as long as the target is standing in any of our traps (Caltrops) while hit with Heartseeker and Victimise
• Exploit Weakness - as long as the target is hit 25 times while vulnerable prior to when hit with Heartseeker and Victimise for maximum effect

Credits to Ava on Sanctuary Diablo 4 Discord server for testing this out.
To put things into perspective, while playing in the PTR, I noticed my Barrage hits that were doing 1.1 million damage were procing Victimise explosions that were doing almost 12 million damage.
With Heartseeker, our damage per hit with Heartseeker and Victimise explosions will do much more damage, and Victimise explosions will occur more often.
https://preview.redd.it/bjskc65ro90d1.png?width=756&format=png&auto=webp&s=5d30f050350d11604ee1a341efc7aee86d75a4ab

The Build

Skills

• Heartseeker - The main “core” skill for this build. Get Primary Heartseeker for ricochet Heartseeker arrows that deal 75% of the original damage. These arrows can loop back around and hit the same target twice, as long as it doesn’t hit a wall or obstacle
• Dash - For general mobility and disengagement. Get Enhanced Dash for 15% critical strike damage for bosses or tightly packed enemies
• Shadow Step - For general mobility and a CC break. Get Enhanced Shadow Step for 8% critical strike chance mainly for bosses, and Disciplined Shadow Step to help refresh Shadow Step’s cooldown. Alternatively you can get Methodical Shadow Step for better stagger application, but using Shadow Step in this way risks being caught in CC and potentially dying
• Concealment - For general mobility, disengagement, and a CC break. Get Subverting Concealment for applying vulnerable while in the levelling stages
• Smoke Grenade - For disabling groups by dazing them, disabling suppressor barriers and for activating both Cheap Shot, Control and Concussive Strikes. Get Enhanced Smoke Grenade for an extra 25% damage bonus versus groups of enemies (this doesn’t work on bosses). Get Countering Smoke Grenade for quickly refreshing Smoke Grenade’s cooldown vs groups of enemies (this doesn’t work on bosses). Alternatively, get Subverting Smoke Grenade to increase the stagger effectiveness of Smoke Grenade on bosses
• Caltrops - Apply slow in an area. Get Enhanced Caltrops for up to 45% extra damage bonus (depending on how long enemies stay in Caltrops), and get Disciplined Caltrops for 10% critical strike chance vs enemies standing in Caltrops

Specialisation
Inner Sight, purely for the 25% critical strike chance bonus once every few moments.
Passive Effects

• Weapon Mastery - If using a bow, gives you more damage vs vulnerable enemies, if using a crossbow, gives 15% critical strike damage
• Exploit - Increases damage to healthy and injured enemies. This passive also double dips with Victimise
• Malice - Increases damage to vulnerable enemies. What’s less commonly known is Malice also increases the base damage of Victimise
• Frigid Finesse - Increases damage to chilled and frozen enemies. This build freezes enemies and staggers bosses so this passive is quite powerful
• Sturdy - Reduces damage taken from close enemies
• Siphoning Strikes - Healing when you critically strike close enemies. Although we can fight at a distance, we can still fight up close and get some healing while doing so
• Stutter Step - Increases movement speed temporarily while we critically strike. Useful during fights for mobility
• Trick Attacks - Knocks down enemies for a short period when you critical strike them while they are dazed
• Concussive - When you knock down an enemy, gain up to 12% critical strike chance. This should work during the first few seconds of a boss getting staggered also (but to be confirmed)
• Agile - Increases your dodge chance after using a cooldown (in this case: Dash, Shadow Step, Concealment, Smoke Grenade, Caltrops)
• Haste - Increases movement speed. This passive does improve attack speed when below 50% energy, but this never happens
• Trap Mastery - Gain 12% critical strike chance when your Death Trap activates (for the High-end Pit variant only)
• Dark Shroud - Reduces damage taken from enemies. Although this is an active skill, we gain Dark Shroud shadows passively through Umbrous aspect, making this a more passive effect

What we don’t pick up

• Impetus - Doesn't work with basic skills. Given that we attack very fast, this passive won’t be useful anyway
• Imbuements - Basic skills aren't imbueable
• Precision Imbuement - Basic skills aren't imbueable
• Shadow Crash - This build doesn’t deal shadow damage
• Consuming Shadows - This build doesn’t deal shadow damage or need energy recovery
• Deadly Venom - This build doesn’t deal poisoning damage
• Debilitating Toxins - This build doesn’t poison enemies
• Alchemical Advantage - This build doesn’t poison enemies
• Chilling Weight - This build doesn’t chill enemies, only (instantly) freezes enemies
• Innervation - This build doesn’t consume energy so not needed
• Second Wind - This build doesn’t consume energy so no benefit
• Alchemist's Fortune - This build does not used any non-physical attacks
• Rugged - We have high mobility with this build and we can heal our way through damage over time effects that stick on us
• Reactive Defense - We have Shadow Step to quickly get us out of CC effects
• Mending Obscurities - We can use potions while in concealment
• Aftermath - This build doesn’t consume energy so not needed
• Shadow Clone - Not only is Shadow Clone severely undertuned to do very little damage (after accounting for all of your aspects and paragon), Shadow Clone doesn’t proc Victimise which is there most of our damage comes from

Aspects

• Moonrise - Increases attack speed, increases movement speed and significantly increases damage when 5 stacks of Moonrise are accumulated. Use in your 2-hander weapon for higher damage bonus
• Adaptability - Significantly increases damage when at or above 50% energy. Because we’re always at 100% energy, this is an unconditional damage bonus for Heartseeker. Use in your amulet slot
• Crowded Sage - Increases dodge chance and heals you whenever you dodge. Use in one of your defensive slots. Alternatively, use Assimilation aspect for Fortify accumulation instead of the healing effect
• Umbrous - Gain Dark Shroud shadows when you critically strike enemies with Heartseeker. Use in one of your defensive slots
• Edgemaster's - Increase damage by up to 20% based on your available energy levels. Because we’re always at 100% energy, this is an unconditional damage bonus. Use in one of your offensive slots
• Elements - Increases damage to a set of 3 damage types for 7 seconds at a time. This is basically a 30% damage increase that is active for 7 seconds, inactive for 7 seconds, etc. Use in one of your offensive slots
• Retribution - Increase damage against stunned or knocked-down enemies (and staggered bosses). Use in one of your offensive slots
• Rapid - Increases attack speed for Heartseeker. Use in one of your offensive slots
• Frostbitten - Increases critical strike damage against frozen or stunned enemies and when hitting enemies with smoke grenades, instantly freezes them. Use in either your boots or chest slots
• Concussive Strikes - Dazes enemies and increases damage against dazed enemies. Use in either your boots or chest slots
• Inner Calm - Increased damage, with the bonus tripled after standing still for 3 seconds. Useful against staggered bosses or when feeling safe against dazed groups. Use in one of your offensive slots

Note: We are not using any unique items for this build. Paingorger’s Gauntlets seem like a very good unique item to use for this build, but unfortunately its final damage output from testing by other people has been underwhelming. To be tested once season 4 launches however.
Paragon

• Exploit Weakness - Ramps up your damage against enemies (per target) the more that you hit them while they are vulnerable. Double dips with Victimise
• Cheap Shot - Increase your damage while there are 1 or more enemies nearby that are CC’ed, up to a 25% damage bonus for 5 or more enemies
• Deadly Ambush - Increase your damage against enemies that are affected by your traps (Caltrops in this case). Double dips with Victimise
• Control glyph on starter board - Increases your damage against CC’ed enemies. The glyph core bonus double dips with Victimise
• Chip glyph on Cheap Shot - Ramps up your damage against enemies (per target) the more that you hit them with any of your (physical) attacks. The glyph core bonus double dips with Victimise
• Pride glyph on Leyrana's Instinct - Increases your physical damage against healthy enemies. Using this glyph on Leyrana’s Instinct also allows us to max out our resistances. Double dips with Victimise
• Exploit glyph on Deadly Ambush - Increases your vulnerable damage (important for Victimise) and makes enemies hit by your attacks vulnerable (once every 20 seconds). Deadly Ambush board is used for Exploit for the high number of strength nodes around the glyph
• Combat glyph on Exploit Weakness - Increases your critical strike damage. Exploit Weakness board is used for Combat for the high number of intelligence nodes around the glyph
• Ranger glyph on Tricks of the Trade - Reduces your damage taken while you are holding onto a bow or crossbow (ie, after casting Heartseeker)
• Efficacy glyph on No Witnesses - This glyph is used just to boost the surrounding rare +life node. We don’t care about the glyph core bonus

Note: We should end up with 7 paragon boards in total.

Stats/Gear Priorities

Summary

• Vulnerable damage - stacked as high as possible for higher additive damage and for scaling Victimise’s base damage. Aim for 900+% vulnerable damage from gear and paragon
• Other additive damage bonuses - to further increase your overall damage output. Get 650+% of this from Marksman critical strike damage tempers and other smaller ones from gear and paragon
• Attack speed - to cast Heartseeker quicker. Aim for 85+% from gear and 30% from Rapid aspect
• Chance to cast Heartseeker twice - scales up your damage output as you’re casting more Heartseekers per attack. Aim for 95+% from 2 tempers on weapons
• Heartseeker - is used as the main skill for delivering damage and Victimise procs. Aim for 11+ ranks in total between your native skill points and your pants
• Lucky hit chance - to proc Victimise and other effects (CC, Umbrous, vulnerable) more often. Aim for 50+% from gear. You can use an elixir to boost this up further
• Critical strike chance - to increase how often you critically strike and gain a damage bonus from Weapon Mastery, Frostbitten, Deadly Ambush and your critical strike damage additive and core bonuses. Aim for 80+% from intelligence, gear and paragon, including Marksman critical strike chance bonuses
• Dexterity - to increase your baseline damage and increase your dodge chance. Aim for 1500+ from gear and paragon
• Life - is needed for survival. Aim for 40,000+ in total
• Dark Shroud - is needed for your main source of heavy damage reduction. Aim for 12+ ranks in total between your native skill points and your chest piece
• Dodge - reduces the chance of direct attacks damaging you, which also protects your Dark Shroud shadow stacks. Aim for 50-70% from dexterity, gear and the Agile passive
• Armour cap - 9,230 for 85% damage reduction from physical attacks
• Resistances - 70% to all resistances
• Crowd control effects - to disable enemies and build up stagger on bosses. Get 4-5 affixes that apply CC effects on enemies, including Concussive Strikes. After that, get crowd control duration
• Movement speed - to improve mobility in combat and general mobility. Get 70+% from gear and skills, including from Moonrise

Item Pieces

• Weapons - for vulnerable damage, attack speed, dexterity. Tempering: marksman critical strike damage, chance to cast Heartseeker twice (on your 2-hander + one of your swords), caltrops duration (on one of your swords)
  • Vulnerable damage - High priority stat to help stack Victimise damage
  • Attack speed - Enough to get 100% attack speed from weapons alone
  • Chance to cast twice - To ensure 100% chance to cast Heartseeker twice per cast to multiply effective damage output by 2
  • Caltrops - Caltrops duration is preferred over Caltrops size since the extra duration will work at the highest damage bonus benefit and will extend the benefit before needing to move (break our Inner Calm bonus) to reapply Caltrops
  • Marksman critical strike damage - Some extra additive damage
• Rings - for vulnerable damage, life, lucky hit chance (on one of your rings), lucky hit chance to apply vulnerable (on one of your rings). Tempering: marksman critical strike damage, agility cooldown reduction
  • Vulnerable damage - High priority stat to help stack Victimise damage
  • Life - Needed for survival
  • Lucky hit chance to apply vulnerable - An important stat that helps apply and maintain vulnerable on enemies
  • Lucky hit chance - Stacking lucky hit chance is important to increase Victimise proc rate and for applying CC more often
  • Agility skill cooldown reduction - This helps mobility by increasing the uptime on mobility skills that get you from point A to B faster
  • Marksman critical strike damage - Some extra additive damage
• Amulet - for Exploit, Malice, Frigid Finesse. If you can’t get a 3x passive amulet, you can also aim for lucky hit chance. Tempering: marksman critical strike chance, dodge chance
  • Exploit - Important for the double dip effect for Victimise
  • Malice - Important for increasing damage versus vulnerable enemies and increasing the base damage of Victimise
  • Frigid Finesse - Increases the damage of enemies frozen by attacks and for increasing damage during boss stagger window
  • Marksman critical strike chance - Helps the build reach very high levels of critical strike chance
  • Dodge chance - Needed for survival
• Helm - for life, armour, lucky hit chance. Tempering: dodge chance, lucky hit chance to X (see below “CC effects”)
  • Life - Needed for survival
  • Lucky hit chance - Stacking lucky hit chance is important to increase Victimise proc rate and for applying CC more often
  • Armour - 2 armour rolls across all gear is needed to reach the armour cap. Juggernaut’s can be used instead, but having 2 armour rolls frees up an aspect slot
  • Dodge chance - Needed for survival
  • Lucky hit chance to X - Needed for applying CC effects against enemies
• Chest - for Dark Shroud ranks (important), life, armour. Tempering: single resistance (see below “Resistances”), lucky hit chance to X (see below “CC effects”)
  • Dark Shroud ranks - Important for survival, going from 11 ranks to 15 ranks of Dark Shroud is a 25% effective damage reduction bonus
  • Life - Needed for survival
  • Armour - 2 armour rolls across all gear is needed to reach the armour cap. Juggernaut’s can be used instead, but having 2 armour rolls frees up an aspect slot
  • Single resistance - Needed to complete capping resistances across all elements
  • Lucky hit chance to X - Needed for applying CC effects against enemies
• Gloves - for vulnerable damage, critical strike chance, lucky hit chance. Tempering: marksman critical strike chance, lucky hit chance to X (see below “CC effects”)
  • Vulnerable damage - High priority stat to help stack Victimise damage
  • Critical strike chance - Improves overall damage output and Umrbous aspect proc rate
  • Lucky hit chance - Stacking lucky hit chance is important to increase Victimise proc rate and for applying CC more often
  • Marksman critical strike damage - Some extra additive damage
  • Lucky hit chance to X - Needed for applying CC effects against enemies
• Pants - for Heartseeker ranks (important), life, dodge chance. Tempering: dodge chance, lucky hit chance to X (see below “CC effects”)
  • Heartseeker ranks - Important for stacking Heartseeker damage
  • Life - Needed for survival
  • Dodge chance - Needed for survival (stacked twice from item stats and tempering affix)
  • Lucky hit chance to X - Needed for applying CC effects against enemies
• Boots - for movement speed, dexterity, life. Tempering: movement speed, crowd control duration (see below “CC effects”)
  • Movement speed - Important for general mobility and to speed up gameplay and avoidability of dangerous attacks (stacked twice from item stats and tempering affix)
  • Dexterity - For adding in extra damage and dodge chance
  • Life - Needed for survival
  • Crowd control duration - Linearly scale up the amount of stagger that can be delivered on the boss

CC effects
We want to have as many CC applying effects from our tempering mods as possible across Boots, Pants, Gloves, Chest and Head gear pieces. The possible CC applying effects available from tempering are:

• Lucky Hit: Up to a +[21.0 - 30.0]% Chance to Slow for 2 Seconds
• Lucky Hit: Up to a +[13.5 - 22.5]% Chance to Immobilize for 2 Seconds
• Lucky Hit: Up to a +[13.0 - 17.5]% Chance to Stun for 2 Seconds
• Lucky Hit: Up to a +[13.0 - 17.5]% Chance to Freeze for 2 Seconds
• Lucky Hit: Up to a +[13.0 - 17.5]% Chance to Daze for 2 Seconds

Some guiding principles on how I’ve chosen which effects we want to have across Boots, Pants, Gloves, Chest and Head gear pieces are written below:

• We want to have one of each type of effect across our gear set to diversify our stagger application. It’s important to have this diversification because applying the same type of stagger effect twice or more times in quick succession reduces the effectiveness of that type of stagger effect (for how long is not currently known)
• In our build, we already have daze from Smoke Grenade and Concussive Strikes, and we already have slow from Caltrops, so we will need to pick up:
  • 1x Freezing effect
  • 1x Stun effect
  • 1x Immobilise effect
• 4th CC effect: You can either pick up another 1x Freezing effect to freeze enemies more often and trigger Frigid Finesse and Frostbitten bonuses more often, or pick up 1x Slow effect for better stagger diversification and damage reduction from slowed enemies from the Cheap Shot board
• We also pick up 1x crowd control duration rather than getting a 5th CC effect on our last piece to help boost the effectiveness of each of the following and to reduce the chance of diminishing stagger effect (by applying too many individual CC effects):
  • All tempering lucky hit chance to CC effects
  • Concussive strikes
  • Smoke Grenade
• We should end up with 4x lucky hit CC effects and 1x crowd control duration across Boots, Pants, Gloves, Chest and Head gear pieces
• The above needs more testing, but that’s the current idea

Read more information about how stagger works here https://discord.com/channels/989899054815281243/1239196457488355328/1239196457488355328
Bow vs Crossbow
As a basic principle, bows shoot 22% faster and crossbows deal 22% more damage. However, some nuanced stuff should be noted:

• Crossbows come with vulnerable damage, which boosts your Victimise base damage. However, this damage increase from vulnerable damage in the scheme of things is not major. This damage increase is pretty much unconditional however
• Bows have extra damage to distant enemies, which can be nice sometimes but it can be hard to keep your distance from enemies at times especially if you’re trying to optimise damage your output with Dash and Caltrops, which require you to get close
• Bows shoot faster and can apply CC effects quicker this way. This in theory staggers bosses quicker. However, bows have been found to not quite shoot 22% faster than crossbows in some circumstances, and applying CC effects quickly have some diminishing returns even if true.
• Furthermore, you can apply stagger on bosses using cooldowns such as Shadow Step and Smoke Grenade which aren’t affected by how much faster you can shoot with a bow
• Crossbows also gain us a higher Weapon Mastery passive bonus than what bows can do, though only by 3% at rank 3 of Weapon Mastery. Although Weapon Mastery with a bow increases your damage to vulnerable enemies, it does not contribute to your Victimise base damage in the same way that the Malice passive does
• Bows look cooler because of transmogs and because you’re shooting faster

While for this build there is no clear winner between using a bow or crossbow, it will ultimately be decided for you based on what you find or trade for out in the field and how lucky you get with your tempering rolls.
Swords vs Daggers
We use Heartseeker for our “core” attacks, so we will only rely on our swords or daggers for their damage bonuses.
Swords come with extra critical strike damage and daggers come with extra damage versus close enemies. Given that we will have a high amount of critical strike chance with this build and we may be fighting from afar quite often, going with swords is more ideal for this build.
Survivability
For survivability, there are a few things that will help us here.

• Dark Shroud with Umbrous aspect - Dark Shroud with up to 15 ranks gives up to 68% damage reduction when 5 shadows are active. Umbrous aspect allows you to gain shadows when you hit enemies with Heartseeker. Since you lose shadows every time you take direct damage, being able to get them back quickly is important
• Dodge - Dodge allows you to avoid taking damage from hits altogether. Apart from the obvious benefit of avoiding damage, not taking damage also helps preserve your Dark Shroud shadows. Beware however that dodge doesn’t reduce the damage you take when you do take damage, and dodge doesn’t avoid certain ground effects or damage from damage over time sources, so don’t rely on dodge too much. Somewhere between 50% to 70% dodge should be enough without stretching you too much
• Life - The more life you have, the more punishment you can take. Try and aim for around 40,000 life or a little bit more to ensure you can take most hits without dying
• Damage reduction - Pick up damage reduction where you can. The following paragon nodes should be secured to help you survive:
  • Damage reduction from vulnerable enemies on Exploit Weakness
  • Damage reduction from elite enemies on Cheap Shot
  • Damage reduction from trapped enemies on Deadly Ambush
  • Ranger glyph
  • Damage reduction from slowed enemies on Cheap Shot if you have 1x Slow effect from tempering. Note that this form of damage reduction is less important since it doesn’t work on bosses
• Resistances - Resistances can be maxed out without any gear rolling resistance affixes by
  • Tempering Fire, Lightning, Poison or Shadow resistance on the Chest piece
  • Getting the Leyrana’s board with a maxed out Pride glyph
  • Getting the cold resistance cluster of nodes from on Exploit Weakness (30 out of 35% worth)
  • Making sure that your rings natively roll cold resistance on them on their inherent affix. If you can only get 1 ideal ring with cold resistance on it, then pick up the remaining 5% cold resistance node on Exploit Weakness as well to top up your cold resistance
• Crowded Sage vs Assimilation - Both aspects have 8% extra dodge on them. Crowded Sage will be better against lots of smaller attacks, where as Assimilation will be better for less frequent but harder hitting attacks, so take your pick
• More defensive - If necessary, swap Elements aspect for Might aspect or Assimilation/Crowded Sage aspect (requires some aspect shuffling) to further improve survivability. You can also gain the full glyph bonus on No Witnesses by swapping to Diminish (damage reduction) and adding more surrounding strength nodes

Levelling

At the start of your levelling journey, you should follow any other levelling guide out there that uses Rapid Fire, Barrage or Penetrating Shot and use combo points. Once you reach the key passives at the bottom of your skill tree, you should use Precision for the foreseeable future.
There are a few key ingredients that you should get before switching over to using Heartseeker and Victimise:
Heartseeker:

• Mid to high roll Moonrise aspect, ready to put on your ranged weapon slot
• Mid to high roll Adaptability aspect, ready to put on an amulet slot
• Rapid aspect, ready to put on any offensive slot
• Victimise (see below) since Precision doesn’t work with Heartseeker
• Ideal: Ranks to Heartseeker on pants, chance to cast Heartseeker twice, etc

Victimise:

• Either Accursed Touch aspect or Lucky hit chance to make targets vulnerable on one of your rings. Note that you will drop Accursed Touch long term but it can be handy to use while levelling
• Exploit glyph
• Some lucky hit chance affixes (20+). Gloves are the best spot to get this early
• High amount of vulnerable damage bonuses (200+)
• Ideal: At least 2 double dipping interactions from your paragon

High-end Pit

In high-end Pit content, even trash enemies will take a little while to kill. This will force you to use your Caltrops, Smoke Grenade and other tools more often to maintain an efficient clear speed. With this in mind, see the notes below on the changes to make from the standard build.

• Swap Concealment for Death Trap + Prime Death Trap, Death Trap will be used to tightly group enemies together and to activate Trap Mastery
• Swap Stutter Step for Trap Mastery, since we will not be speed farming but trying to maximise damage output when we activate Death Trap
• Swap Inner Sight for Preparation, while we can’t lower Death Trap’s cooldown with Preparation, we will use it to lower other cooldowns with Death Trap. Given that Inner Sight will likely perform badly in higher levels of Pit, this swap becomes sensible
• Swap Agility cooldown reduction for Trap cooldown reduction to help maximise the uptime for Death Trap
• Swap Combat glyph for Ambush glyph, Combat glyph makes sense in a more agile build, but we will become more heavily reliant on Caltrops and Death Trap for damage output, so Ambush will give us a small damage boost over Combat
• If necessary, swap Elements aspect for Hectic aspect (requires some aspect shuffling) to further improve the cooldown refresh for Death Trap

Boss Attack Rotation

• Spam Heartseeker to ramp up all of your damage modifiers - Heartseeker, Moonrise, Exploit Weakness, Chip - and to apply constant CC effects on the boss until they are close to being staggered. Save your Smoke Grenade for now
• Once staggered, quickly Shadow Step them, throw down Caltrops and Dash through them
• Spam Heartseeker into them while standing still
• Once the boss comes out of stagger, throw your Smoke Grenade then spam Heartseeker to apply constant CC effects on the boss until they are close to being staggered again
• Once staggered, quickly Shadow Step them, throw down Caltrops and Dash through them
• Spam Heartseeker into them while standing still
• Repeat this process until the boss is dead

Situational Skill Usage

• Use Dash or Concealment to disengage when you feel in danger. Remember to not disengage for too long otherwise you will lose your ramp up damage modifiers - Heartseeker, Moonrise, Exploit Weakness, Chip
• Use Shadow Step when you get CC’ed, making sure that it’s safe to do so first
• Use Caltrops but sparingly (at the start of stagger window) since Caltrops takes time to cast when you want to be shooting with Heartseeker instead to apply CC and keep damage modifiers online. This will also help ensure that you have Caltrops ready during the stagger window
• Use Death Trap to refresh cooldowns, preferably on the boss to also activate Trap Mastery and brief moments of Deadly Ambush, Ambush, etc
• Use Smoke Grenade when it comes off cooldown but avoid using it during the stagger window

My gf and I are looking for a place, and they sent me an application form(pics related) to fill out and then began requesting payment. Obviously I didn’t pay them because I had not seen the place yet, but I do feel like a dummy for submitting the application. They basically messaged like they just wanted me to fill out a questionnaire for a quick screening and didn’t ask for any money until after I submitted it.
No IDs, SSN or any of that has been exchanged, but I did provide my name, address, and #. It prompted me to leave a signature at the bottom but I just scribbled a couple lines for that.
I’m just a bit worried if any of this info I provided is enough to cause me any identity fraud issues, I’m hoping they were only looking for a quick $100 out of people

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 13, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ascot Resources Ltd. ( TSX: AOT; OTCQX: AOTVF ) (“ Ascot ” or the “ Company ”) is pleased to announce the Company’s unaudited financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2024 (“ Q1 2024 ”), and also to provide a construction update on the Company’s Premier Gold Project (“ PGP ” or the “ project ”), located on Nis
g
a’a Nation Treaty Lands in the prolific Golden Triangle of northwestern British Columbia. For details of the unaudited condensed interim consolidated financial statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis for the three months ended March 31, 2024, please see the Company’s filings on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca).
All amounts herein are reported in $000s of Canadian dollars (“ C$ ”) unless otherwise specified.
Q1 2024 AND RECENT HIGHLIGHTS

• On May 7, 2024, the Company announced a $5,000 non-brokered flow through private placement (the “Offering”), the proceeds of which will be used to fund the 2024 exploration program at the PGP. The Offering will consist of 6,024,096 common shares of the Company, which qualify as "flow-through shares" within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the “FT Shares”), at a price of $0.83 per FT Share. The closing of the Offering is expected to occur in one or more tranches in or around late-May to mid-June 2024, and is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals, including the acceptance of the Toronto Stock Exchange.
• Rock was introduced into the grinding circuit of the mill on March 31, 2024, and first gold-bearing ore was introduced to the mills on April 5, 2024. On April 20, 2024, first gold was poured as a part of the commissioning process. Commissioning of the processing plant at PGP is ongoing, with commercial production anticipated in Q3 2024. Two gold pours have been completed using gold recovered from the gravity circuit. Another pour from gold recovered from the carbon-in-leach (“CIL”) circuit is anticipated imminently.
• On February 20, 2024, the Company closed its previously announced financing package for a total of US$50 million from Sprott Resource Streaming and Royalty Corp. and its affiliates (“SRSR”) and Nebari Credit Fund II, LP (“Nebari Credit Fund II”), as described in the Company’s news release dated January 22, 2024. $13,700 of the above proceeds were used to buy back two existing 5% NSR royalties on various PGP property claims on March 15, 2024.
• On February 20, 2024, concurrently with the above-noted financing package, the Company closed its previously announced bought deal private placement financing, under which the Company issued a total of 65,343,000 common shares of the Company (the “Common Shares”) at a price of $0.44 per Common Share, for gross proceeds of $28,751.
• At the end of Q1 2024, overall construction excluding mine development was 98% complete compared with 86% complete at the end of 2023. A few remaining commissioning activities in the mill are underway. The tailing storage facility was completed and signed off by the engineer of record at the end of March 2024.
• The new water treatment plant began operations in February 2024. The high-density sludge plant has been successfully commissioned and water is being treated and discharged into the environment. The moving bed bio-reactor (“MBBR”) is complete and media have been loaded into the tanks.
• As of April 30, 2024, underground development totaled approximately 2,710 metres at Big Missouri and 150 metres at Premier.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROJECT
Project financing
On February 20, 2024, the Company closed a bought deal private placement for gross proceeds of $28,751 and a financing package of US$50 million for the completion and ramp-up of PGP. The financing package consisted of a royalty restructuring and a cost overrun facility.
Construction progress key performance indicators
At the end of Q1 2024, overall construction was 98% complete, compared with 86% complete at the end of Q4 2023. With first gold having been poured on April 20, 2024 via gold recovered through the gravity circuit, the project construction is 100% complete on schedule and on the most recently provided budget of approximately C$339 million. Commissioning and ramp-up activities in the processing plant and in the mine continue towards achieving commercial production in Q3 of 2024.
Safety
The Project had no lost time injuries in Q1 2024. There was an increase in recordable injuries at the end of the quarter which in part, can be attributable to seasonal changes and the transition from construction to operations. As the Project continues its transition from construction into operations, focus has been placed on the ongoing development of standard operating procedures, in field job hazard analysis and worker training. There was a small increase in property damage reported in the quarter due in part to weather conditions and the onboarding of a significant number of new workers to the site. The re-enforcement of reporting to the operating team remains a key focus to ensure that all learnings are identified and applied to prevent re-occurrence and reflect in the future training plans. In Q2 2024, significant work will be placed to support the operational teams to begin to operate the newly constructed plant through the final stages of C4 and C5 commissioning.
Processing plant and site infrastructure
Mechanical and electrical work in the mill was substantially completed in Q1 2024 with minor associated systems and punch list items to complete. Focus has shifted to commissioning the process plant and ramp up as well as completing minor deficiencies.
Stage one of the tailings storage facility (“TSF”) raise was completed and accepted by the Engineer of Record for use. Earthworks activities in 2024 will focus on raising the spillway dam by three metres, producing material for the 2025 raise and advanced work on the Cascade Creek Diversion in preparation for the 2025 works and final completion of the diversion.
The new water treatment plant was substantially mechanically and electrically completed in Q4 2023 with some minor areas remaining. The high-density sludge circuit was commissioned in Q1 2024 and is advancing towards full ramp up. The MBBR circuit was substantially complete in Q1 2024 and will begin full commissioning as the process plant continues to deposit tailings into the TSF and feed nitrogen species into the MBBR circuit.
The site power reticulation was completed in Q1 2024. Sustaining capital works in 2024 will focus on reticulation to the Premier portal as well as the Big Missouri portal.
Mine development
Procon Mining & Tunnelling (“Procon”) a mine contractor with extensive experience in BC and the Golden Triangle continued to advance mine development at two portal areas: S1 about 9 kilometres north of the mill which accesses the Big Missouri and Silver Coin deposits, and the mill adjacent Premier Northern Light (“PNL”) portal which accesses the Premier and Northern Light orebodies. As of the end of Q1 2024, Procon had about 57 people on site, 40 of whom were miners and 10 were maintenance personnel.
At Big Missouri, Procon advanced development into several ore headings in the A zone, as well as reactivating the S1 ramp heading that goes to Silver Coin deposit. In Q1 Procon developed 936 metres at Big Missouri (258 metres in ore and 678 metres in waste, and by April 29, 2024, development advanced to 905 metres in waste and 507 metres in ore total in 2024. Including the development completed in late 2022 and late 2023, the total development to date is approximately 2,710 metres in both ore and waste. Productivities at Big Missouri have continued to improve, with availability of key equipment such as Maclean bolters being made a priority.
During Q1 2024, the geological team continued to encounter high grade material occurrences in both face sampling and probe hole drilling in multiple areas of the A zone. As previously reported, these occurrences are in or very near existing wireframes or logical extensions of wireframes. At the end of March 31, 2024, a total of approximately 30,000 tonnes of ore was mined from Big Missouri and stockpiled at Diego pit.
At PNL, Procon dealt with issues related to near surface structure and weak ground. These issues seem to have abated at the end of April, and Procon has started to make better progress as they move into the better ground conditions expected at Premier given what was seen historically. In Q1 2024 approximately 85 metres were advanced at PNL, and at the end of April this increased to approximately 150 metres as ground conditions improved.
Mining development is being advanced down into the Premier deposit for initial mining in the Prew Zone, with ore development now anticipated to begin in early Q3 2024, and initial longhole stope production following later in Q3 2024. The ramp has been strategically laid out to allow for underground drilling on the Sebakwe Zone in 2024 and will eventually connect a footwall ramp over to the 602 area at the southern end of the Premier deposit. Although progress has been slow, the quality of the resultant work with ground control and shotcrete arches has been excellent, allowing for a secure and stable ramp for the life-of-mine production to come from this area approximately 350 metres from the Premier Mill.
Recruitment
At the end of Q1 2024, total site recruitment has reached approximately 90% of the planned operational team. A key achievement was the successful recruitment for some challenging roles pertaining particularly to some of the maintenance roles, health and safety (specifically, mine rescue), and technical roles for the mine and processing area. Policies and procedures development have been ongoing throughout Q1 2024 and key documents will be rolled out in Q2 2024.
Permitting and Environmental Compliance
A Joint Permit Amendment Application (“JPAA”) was required to be re-aligned with the project completion dates and was submitted in October 2023. The JPAA underwent first round comments through February 2024 and second round comments were received in late April 2024, with our responses anticipated to be submitted in May 2024.
The air permit was received on March 25, 2024. The updated environmental permit PE-8044, including the sewage treatment facility discharge permit is anticipated to be received in late May 2024.
2024 EXPLORATION PROGRAM
Planning for the 2024 exploration program is in full swing with an anticipated start date in late June. There are several areas on the properties that will be targeted by new drilling. Near the Premier mill, several drill holes have been planned around the Prew and Sebakwe zones of the Premier deposit. The new holes will complement the existing drill pattern at Prew and test induced polarization geophysical anomalies from last year’s survey.
Additional drill holes have been planned for the Big Missouri deposit where underground development is rapidly providing access to different parts of the deposit. The new holes will be designed for resource conversion and mine plan addition at this deposit. Specific new drill targets have been identified at the Day Zone on the western edge of the deposit, where geophysical anomalies seem to outline previously untested mineralization along strike of known ore zones.
Additional exploration drill holes are targeting a large geophysical anomaly to the west of the Dilworth deposit that extends surface showings to the north onto Ascot’s PGP property. This target has a large strike extent and may require drilling over more than one exploration season.
The Company anticipates a drill program of between 15,000 and 20,000 metres distributed over the areas described above. The program will require utilization of two drill rigs into late September or early October 2024.
FINANCIAL RESULTS FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2024
The Company reported a net loss of $6,208 for Q1 2024 compared to $7,589 for Q1 2023. The lower net loss for the current period is primarily attributable to a $2,170 decrease in the loss on extinguishment of debt and a $1,196 decrease in financing costs, partially offset by increases in other expense categories.
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
As at March 31, 2024, the Company had cash & cash equivalents of $47,028 and working capital deficiency of $33,030. The working capital deficiency is caused by an estimated $23,024 as the current portion of the deferred revenue only to be settled with future production from the Project and the $25,180 value of the Convertible facility, which is classified as current due to the lender’s right to exercise the conversion option at any time at a variable exercise price. Excluding these non-cash current liabilities, working capital was $15,174. In Q1 2024, the Company issued 67,807,135 common shares, 10,164,528 warrants, and granted 110,000 stock options and 28,667 Deferred Share Units. Also, 100,766 stock options expired or were forfeited, 24,427 Restricted Share Units were forfeited, and 99,039 stock options, 137,533 Deferred Share Units and 158,726 Restricted Share Units were exercised in Q1 2024.
MANAGEMENT’S OUTLOOK FOR 2024
In 2024, the Company will transition from the construction of the mine and related infrastructure to the operation of the entire site and becoming a gold producer. Despite the challenges associated with this transition, there are many opportunities for the Company to grow and create value.
The key activities and priorities for 2024 include:

• Making health and safety a priority in the commencement of operations
• Completing the commissioning of the process plant
• Completing the access ramp and starting the mine production at the Premier deposit
• Continuing to expand the mine production and development at the Big Missouri deposit
• Shipping and selling of gold doré
• Advancing the exploration and infill drilling program on the numerous opportunities to increase resources
• Compliance with the environmental requirements of the site and making sure water treatment and the tailings management facility operate as designed
• Successfully transition from a mine developer to a mine operator

Qualified Person
John Kiernan, P.Eng., Chief Operating Officer of the Company is the Company’s Qualified Person (QP) as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this news release.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Ascot Resources Ltd.
“Derek C. White”
President & CEO, and Director
For further information contact:
David Stewart, P.Eng.
VP, Corporate Development & Shareholder Communications
dstewart@ascotgold.com
778-725-1060 ext. 1024
About Ascot Resources Ltd.
Ascot is a Canadian mining company focused on commissioning its 100%-owned Premier Gold Mine, which poured first gold in April 2024 and is located on Nis
g
a’a Nation Treaty Lands, in the prolific Golden Triangle of northwestern British Columbia. Concurrent with commissioning Premier towards commercial production anticipated in Q3 of 2024, the Company continues to explore its properties for additional high-grade gold mineralization. Ascot’s corporate office is in Vancouver, and its shares trade on the TSX under the ticker AOT and on the OTCQX under the ticker AOTVF. Ascot is committed to the safe and responsible operation of the Premier Gold Mine in collaboration with Nisga’a Nation and the local communities of Stewart, BC and Hyder, Alaska.
For more information about the Company, please refer to the Company’s profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca or visit the Company’s web site at www.ascotgold.com.
The TSX has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information
All statements and other information contained in this press release about anticipated future events may constitute forward-looking information under Canadian securities laws (" forward-looking statements "). Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "targeted", "outlook", "on track" and "intend" and statements that an event or result "may", "will", "should", "could", “would” or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking statements, including statements in respect of the terms of the Offering, the closing of the Offering, the advancement and development of the PGP and the timing related thereto, the completion of the PGP mine, the production of gold and management’s outlook for the remainder of 2024 and beyond. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements, including risks associated with entering into definitive agreements for the transactions described herein; fulfilling the conditions to closing of the transactions described herein, including the receipt of TSX approvals; the business of Ascot; risks related to exploration and potential development of Ascot's projects; business and economic conditions in the mining industry generally; fluctuations in commodity prices and currency exchange rates; uncertainties relating to interpretation of drill results and the geology, continuity and grade of mineral deposits; the need for cooperation of government agencies and indigenous groups in the exploration and development of Ascot’s properties and the issuance of required permits; the need to obtain additional financing to develop properties and uncertainty as to the availability and terms of future financing; the possibility of delay in exploration or development programs and uncertainty of meeting anticipated program milestones; uncertainty as to timely availability of permits and other governmental approvals; and other risk factors as detailed from time to time in Ascot's filings with Canadian securities regulators, available on Ascot's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca including the Annual Information Form of the Company dated March 25, 2024 in the section entitled "Risk Factors". Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions made with regard to: the estimated costs associated with construction of the Project; the timing of the anticipated start of production at the Project; the ability to maintain throughput and production levels at the PGP mill; the tax rate applicable to the Company; future commodity prices; the grade of mineral resources and mineral reserves; the ability of the Company to convert inferred mineral resources to other categories; the ability of the Company to reduce mining dilution; the ability to reduce capital costs; and exploration plans. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and opinions of management at the date the statements are made. Although Ascot believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements and/or information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements since Ascot can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Ascot does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements, other than as required by applicable laws. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.
​
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A Time to Forget About Ordinary Excel Sheets and Take an Enhanced Data Upload Tool
Thousands of users worldwide of Oracle Fusion ERP use ADFdi and FBDI for data loading or data management generally. Excel has some great features that help to streamline data analysis. There is no argument that Excel is a highly functional tool for organizational data management.
Ordinary Microsoft Excel spreadsheets have many limitations regarding data loading to Oracle Fusion Cloud. Excel is great for simple ad hoc calculations, but it needs connectivity features to automate and document its contents, making its use prone to error.
Manually keying in data in Oracle Cloud from Excel worksheets or copy-pasting is a slow, time-consuming process that is bound to reduce employee productivity. Accuracy is also compromised, and inaccurate data can cost an organization millions in revenue. Excel needs more automation, so if you handle large volumes of data, there may be a better tool for you. Furthermore, data security is not assured since Excel does not have encryption features.
The standard Oracle tools (ADFdi and FBDI) are rigid in nature; the user cannot move columns around or even easily paste data from another sheet to ADFdi or FBDI. The error reporting and resolution cycle is too cumbersome and needs specialized technical knowledge.
Why do people still use Excel sheets for data management?
● It’s cheaper
For a team that doesn't care about automation, why bother spending on something more costly if they can get away with something that stores data tables? Considering its limitations, is it worth it in the long-run cost?
● Easy-to-use
Excel is easy to use. It is one of the basic Microsoft Office tools that most people learn to use in basic computer interactions. Because they are already familiar with it, most people find Excel easy to use and often prefer to do so than learn new about new tools.
● Limited knowledge of what’s available
Some people are just stuck in their routines. They need help staying current on the newest software available on the market. If the leadership of a team or members does not take the initiative to look around and find out what the market has to offer, they will be stuck with Excel and its attendant costs when others are enjoying the benefits of more advanced tools.
● Poor experience with some project management software
Choosing a data loading tool to suit your data loading needs is a task that should be taken seriously. Many data-loading teams that used Excel have been turned off by their previous experience with data-loading tools. Some tools are cumbersome and difficult to use, others are code intensive and not suitable for most end users, and some may need more features you are looking for. The poor experience is a result of poor customization.
Suppose you had a tool that allowed you to use the easy-to-use and familiar Excel worksheet while providing you with advanced specialized features for loading data into the cloud. Wouldn’t that be great?
How to make Excel work with advanced tools
Working with Excel in data loading does not have to be a slow and cumbersome process that does not ensure the accuracy or security of your data. You can harness the power of Excel and still enjoy using advanced data-loading tools. More4Apps and Simplified Loader are Excel-based data-loading to consider.
More4Apps
More4Apps is an Excel-based data-loading tool that allows businesses to integrate familiar Excel spreadsheets with Oracle EBS and Oracle Fusion. Its tools work within the familiar interface of Microsoft Excel, leveraging the many features of Excel to facilitate data loading.
Training is optional since Excel is the main interface, and end-users are familiar with it. Unlike ordinary Excel spreadsheets, which are limited in scalability, More4Apps empowers data owners to carry out mass data uploads and updates.
A plugin must be installed on a PC before you can use More4Apps. The IT Helpdesk needs to be involved in installing the plugin, so only specific PCs can be used.
More4Apps sends and receives data from the server hosted by More4Apps. Considering data security, allowing data transfers to a third-party server without ensuring the details are transferred is risky. Robust testing is required with every release of More4Apps update to ensure your data is transferred to a safe place. The IT Security department needs to get involved in verifying the third-party server and plugin.
Simplified Loader
~Simplified Loader~ is an Excel-based tool designed explicitly for uploading or downloading data to and from Oracle Fusion Cloud. The Simplified Loader template is easy to use. It includes a toolbar that contains operations specific to the template. The output of any operation is displayed in the Excel template's Load Status and Error Message fields.
Simplified Loader Excel files upload or download data from Oracle Fusion Cloud. Simplified Loader’s Excel templates are used either for mass data loads, for example, data migration, or everyday data loading activities in Oracle Cloud.
Simplified Loader ensures your data’s security by routing data from the Excel template directly to Oracle Cloud without a third-party server. The Simplified Loader template doesn’t need plugin installation and runs using Macros, similar to how other Oracle Cloud tools interact with Oracle.
Which template should you choose?
User convenience - Both More4Apps and Simplified Loader provide features that enhance user experience. Most UX features are similar in both products. Since they use Microsoft Excel, additional training is rarely necessary. More4Apps provides a form to input data that is not in the tabular format. Whereas the Simplified Loader provides a single unified sheet to enter data, the same sheet is used to invoke the list of values.
Both tools allow you to insert custom columns, hide or delete columns you don't need, and insert formulas you may need for data analysis. You can also analyze or validate data before uploading it.
Data Security - Oracle Fusion only allows interaction through APIs. Both More4Apps and Simplified Loader use APIs to interact with Oracle, so the security protocols are the same in both toolsets. More4Apps uses an external system to manage licenses. From the IT point of view, in a highly data-sensitive environment, the IT has to open additional ports to interact with the More4Apps servers to validate licenses.
In terms of data security, both toolsets have the same features.
License Management - This topic is considerably different in More4Apps and Simplified Loader. More4Apps restricts the number of times an administrator can update users licensed to use the Simplified Loader template, whereas, in Simplified Loader, the Administrator has full control over maintaining the users licensed to use the Simplified Loader templates.
Support—Both organizations offer excellent support to users who log defects using the support system. Simplified Loader has a vast library of short videos demonstrating product features and functionalities. More4Apps has recently adopted the approach of video tutorials.
Plugin installation - This is a key difference between the two templates. The More4Apps template requires an additional plugin installed on the user's machine. The user will always see an additional toolbar in Excel when working on any Excel document. The user always has to use the PC where the plugin is installed. In comparison, the Simplified Loader Excel doesn’t need any plugin installation on the user’s machine. When the user opens the Simplified Loader file, the Simplified Loader toolbar appears. Users won’t see the additional toolbar when they open any other Excel file.
Using Excel parallelly: When using either toolset, Excel cannot be used for any other purposes. The user has to wait until the data is loaded to Oracle.
Pricing: Both toolsets offer per-user licensing. More4Apps offers licenses per user by module, whereas Simplified Loader offers licenses per user by Template. License management at the template level gives the administrator higher control to assign the right user to the right template, resulting in purchasing the right number of licenses per user. The More4Apps licenses are considerably higher (more than 5x) than the Simplified Loader licenses.
Conclusion
Using ordinary Excel spreadsheets for data loading may not be very effective. Excel may have shortcomings, but you can use it efficiently with advanced data-loading tools to get the best of both applications. Both More4Apps and Simplified Loader provide similar features for loading data in Oracle. Both are advanced data-loading tools that make your experience more pleasant and effective. Simplified Loader is more handy as it does not need plugin installation, and the user doesn’t need any involvement from IT to install the plug-in.