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A couple of questions from a newbieFollow

#1 Dec 05 2010 at 4:48 PM Rating: Decent
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Just started not long ago again and having some fun, but just having a few questions I want a little help with.

1) My fiancee is playing with me (mainly duo) and she is a Berserker. She has been gaining AA with me but hasn't spent a single point. She enjoys the game, but not the in-depth mechanics. I'm noting on 3 AA lines she can get either increased DPS, increased Attack Speed, or increased Multi-Attack chance. She is a dual-wielder, and while she does use CAs, she doesn't time them or anything, so boosts which require nothing on her part (such as those 3) would be cool. For now (not endgame, as we are far from it) which would be the best to take, and in what order? She has 22 AA right now (We are both locked at 24 atm) so we can max one, but only get a point or two into others. We plan on grinding some AA so...which one first?

2. I am a Warden and truly enjoying the Nature's Boon AA ability (When you hit, has x% chance of AE healing group members) and pumping it up (currently I have 6 points in it, 4 in Multi-Attack and 4 into Nature's Blade.) My question is two-part. One) Multi-Attack. Is this a double-attack? Or does it randomly do extra hits (like a chance for 3 strikes, a chance for 2, etc) Second question: On a Multi-Attack, does any of my "on hit" procs each have a separate chance of activating, or is there still only one chance for the proc during a multi-attack (for example, if I multi-attack and hit 3 times, do I have 3 chances to proc or only one?)

3. Given our duoing nature, which craft would be best for my fiancee? I am a Sage (to enhance my spells since my fiancee isn't much on hers, plus I could possible trade spells for CAs) and also made an alt for Weaponsmith (to forge master-crafted weapons until we get fabled stuff.) So the other things I've considered for her is Tailor (to make Cloth/Leather armor (which benefits me), armorsmith (which benefits her). She is pulling more for Tailor (since it also allows one to make the hex dolls) and backpacks to help carry more things. So opinions would be helpful.

4. Reading the Recruit-a-Friend power-level guide (easy to Google) it mentions we can level-lock at 24 and go to Fallen Gate for good AA (lots of named heroics or something to this effect.) Is this something doable as a duo, or does it require more? We're finishing our AQ quests to ensure our armor is decent (not going to aim for MC until 32) and weapons are the best we can get (by MC with my weaponsmith) to help our success. I'm sure the guide is from a "mentored down tank SK" standpoint which I do not have available.

5. What are good Racial Traditions to take early (Before level 30) for Sarnak and Arasai? I took the OoC Power Regen for me and Arasai took the increased multi-attack trait, but now we're both 24 and haven't picked our second.

Thank you for your time and opinions, they are greatly appreciated.
#2 Dec 05 2010 at 5:58 PM Rating: Good
Regarding question #2: I believe 'multi attack' is a chance for an additional swing. And each time your weapon swings, the systems checks to see if it procs and each proc is considered separately. (a weapon based proc and an AA based proc should give you two chances to proc with each swing)

So yes, if you have an AA that increases the number of times you swing you will probably proc more often. BTW - common setup for a druid is 'sword & board' but consider a 2 handed (blunt) weapon for your warden. They swing less often but do much more damage per swing so the procs really pay off well. (We also look really good swinging a big old hammer or mace!)

Regarding question #3: Tailor is a great choice. I have a high level warden/tailor and not only do I make my own armor (and armor for a fury alt) but I also make really good money selling MC armor, bags & hex dolls. As a tailor she can also make all the casual clothes she wants for her characters.

MC cloth armor also sells very well on the broker so the revenue stream for tailors just gets bigger and bigger!

Keeping your spells (heals & nukes) up at high quality may be even more important then keeping hers up so making a sage was a good choice. And again, with all the mage/wizzy/conji spells you can make & sell, you should be bringing in enough cash to buy whatever she needs.

One more point - your choice of zerker/warden as a duo was a really good one! wardens tend to heal a tiny bit later or slower than clerics & shamen. Our heals are HoT (Heal Over Time) based and so there is a small initial heal component followed by a number of additional ticks as the heal progresses. Zerkers get bonuses based on having taken damage, so with a ward (from a shaman) or a reactive heal (from a cleric) they don't take damage initially and therefore their innate bonuses don't kick in as often.

#3 Dec 05 2010 at 7:55 PM Rating: Excellent
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First off, welcome to EQ2! Second off, I apologize for being long winded in my reply. Smiley: lol

1. I play a 77 Berserker that duos with my hubby's 77 Mystic, it's a fun pair. :D Here's what I did, but tell your fiancee to do whatever she feels most comfortable about raising:

On my zerker's Warrior tree I ended up going down the WIS line first (the one that starts with Belly Smash) and put 4 points in Belly Smash, 8 points in Seasoned Veteran (+DPS) and 10 points in Unshakeable (+physical mitigation), then got Stance Mastery which removed penalties from stances, enabling me to use my offensive stance more often without taking a negative defensive penalty.

After that I actually went over to the Berserker tree for a while and raised Enhance: Chaos (top rank hastens reuse by 15%), Enhance: Blood Rage (top rank gives +50% to the healing), Enhance: Controlled Rage (top rank removes all penalties) and Enhance: Destructive Rage (top rank gives +25% DPS) all to rank 5. This allowed me to put a point into Perserverence which is a self buff that gives one big heal per buff if you drop below 30% health (great for "oh crap!!" situations).

Then I hopped back to the Warrior trees and went down the INT line next (starts with Acceleration Strike). I put 4 points into Acceleration Strike, 10 points into Slayers Speed (gives +attack speed), 10 points into Parry (increases your parry chance) and then got Relentless Assault which increases your ability reuse and recovery speed.

Afterwards I went back to the Berserker trees and got Enhance: Berserk Rage, Enhance: Wall of Rage, Enhance: War Cry, Enhance: Weapon Counter and Enhance: Juggernaut all to rank 3 (rank 3 is the max for War Cry, the first two ranks cost 2 points each). This opened up a short term buff, Berserk, which increases your DPS and attack speed for 10 seconds and can be reused every 1 1/2 minutes.

Level 70 allows you to put 20 more points into the Warrior and Berserker tree, so I've been working on the Strength line in the Warrior one. I've also put some points in the Shadows trees, basically just randomly remembering to do so whenever I forgot what I had been working on. So far in the Shadows trees I have Consummate Defender and Battle Hardening from the Fighter line at rank 5, which allowed me to take Sneering Insult (great for grabbing aggro back), then in the Warrior line got got Rallying Cry at rank 5 and Absorbing Blows at rank 4.

Ok, my long-winded part is done, hopefully that's of some help. I usually don't give out AA suggestions but it sounds like you two play like my hubby and I do so this time it seemed appropriate. Smiley: grin

2. OBD answered this one well for you!
3. My Swashbuckler is a Tailor and I don't regret it one bit. It is nice having an Armorer around as well if you guys have enough characters for both.
4. It sounds like you'll both be fine in Fallen Gate, it's full of heroic mobs so just take your time and get a feel for the place.
4a. About armor upgrades: You stated you want to stay at 24 for a while, which I wholly approve of--having more AAs early on is a huge help! I can understand not wanting to get Mastercrafted yet, however, I have a better alternative anyways. Frostfell starts this Thursday and you can earn tokens to buy Legendary armor and weapons and fairly nice jewelry from a merchant there. The 22 armor would be available to you and if you decide to level to 30 before the end of the event (ends on 1/6) then you can pick up the 32 armor as well. Here's a guide to all the items you can get with the Frostfell tokens. Smiley: smile
5. I admit I have no idea here--never played a Sarnak and my 24 Arasai Warlock still hasn't picked her level 20 racial yet either.

Edited, Dec 5th 2010 8:56pm by Cyliena
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#4 Dec 06 2010 at 6:42 AM Rating: Decent
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**Edit as I did not want to double-post** another question or two.

1) If I betray (Currently evil) then I can change my Warden to a Fury, correct? Once I become good, could I betray back to evil? Curious because I was looking at Fury and was wondering if I could keep switching depending on my whim of the week, or do you get only one shot to betray? I would have to be stuck as a Fury if I didn't like it, and don't much want to level up a new character.

2) How do Deities work? I understand that I should be able to start the first quest and pick one now that I'm over 25 (26 atm.) Looking on the wiki, you get Miracles/Blessings which cost favor. So in order to use the ability it costs favor instead of Power? How does one gain favor aside the deity quests (the 5 that grant you the pet, alter, etc)

I appreciate the long-winded answer! My post certainly was.

We're at the last Armor Quest now, so I think we will see Fallen Gate tonight to see at least what can be done with it. Thank you OBD and Cyliena both for your answers. I forsee going ahead and pumping up the WIS line first as Belly Smash is easy enough to incorporate for her (just make sure I put it beside Body Check so when she goes down the line it'll be in proper spot) for the +DPS. I will probably seek Speed next (so she begins to hit fast and hard) then a couple of points for Multi-Attack (My Warden is on 16% and it happens decently enough. With her dual-wielding with +ATK Speed it should proc decently. Only being able to put 50pts into it kinda sucks, but I can see how a character would be overpowered if they could fully spec.

Thanks again for the answers, they'll certainly help us.

Edited, Dec 6th 2010 11:33pm by AureliousSilverbreeze

Edited, Dec 7th 2010 7:43am by AureliousSilverbreeze
#5 Dec 07 2010 at 10:21 AM Rating: Good
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Per your last post:

1) You can betray back and forth as often as you wish! Yep, you can be a warden/fury/warden/fury/warden/fury. They even recently made a change so that you keep your learned spells! So if you have a few Fury masters, go to Warden, decide to go back to Fury, your previous spells as a Fury will remain Adept/Expert/Master or whatever you had them at in the first place. (Of course, becoming a Warden for the first time will make all your 'new' spells all apprentice).

2) "Favor" is actually faction with your god. It's gained by giving your altar any items that are Treasured or above. So most dropped items, and quest rewards that you don't need can be sacrificed to your god (Level of the item will determine how much Favor you gain). Once you have enough points you can pick up a blessing (which will lower your Favor by the amount stated on the blessing). Picking up a blessing once, gives you two charges to use. Once those run out you simply go back to the altar and pick that up again, or pick up new ones.

Also note there are two categories with blessings, lets call them the Left and Right lines. You can pick One blessing from each Line to have active at any time. So at max level there will be 5 abilities under each the L/R lines..and you will be able to pick one from each of those so you have 2 different abilities to use at will.

Edited, Dec 7th 2010 10:24am by Dyadem
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#6 Dec 07 2010 at 10:51 PM Rating: Good
AureliousSilverbreeze wrote:
If I betray (Currently evil) then I can change my Warden to a Fury, correct?

Yes you can switch as often as you like but why would you want to?!?

OK seriously, I play both classes at fairly high levels (82 warden & 64 fury) and here is my unbiased comparison between them:

Both are druids but each has a slightly different focus. Think of it in terms of each druid "leaning" in one direction or the other. Wardens are considered "the defensive druid" while furys are considered "the offensive druid" but in truth they are much more alike than different - each can heal and each can do great damage. Wardens have a (slightly) better selection of heals (both single target & group) and furys have a (slightly) bigger selection of attack spells (both DD & DoT) HOWEVER, consider the following points...

1) Warden damage spells have a slightly shorter refresh rate so even though you have fewer of them you will never have to wait for a damage spell to come back up. When you want to drop one it will always be ready to go. In 80-some-odd-levels, I have never, I repeat NEVER had to wait for a damage spell to refresh. And considering that I mostly solo with the warden and tend to look for yellow targets, I think that is saying something! so damage wise it's kind of a wash.

2) Due of #1 above, more heals also ends up being a better deal because you can only cast as many damage spells as you have time to cast but different heals will stack, so the more (different) heals I can drop on a target (and remember EVERY druid heal has a HoT component), the safer that target is.

3) The two warden 'specialty' spells blow away the unique spells for furys. At high level, wardens get a "wolf pack" (Nature's Pack - lvl 55) and a "healing tree" (Healing Grove - lvl 58). Both are considered "limited pets". The wolf pack acts as another DoT and the healing tree acts as an AoE group HoT.

Furys get an AoE DoT (Ring of Fire) at lvl 55 and a delayed group heal (Hibernation) at lvl 58. While these two allotments seem even at first glance - one damage & one heal each, my experience is that in both cases, the warden spells pack a bigger punch and are the more useful. The issue with the fury spells is that the heal although decent sized, is a one shot with a long refresh and the AoE DoT is really only useful if you are facing a large number of targets at one time (either linked targets or adds). Since in most cases (even dungeons) you can control the ground, the number of MoBs faced at one time is almost never an issue.

But the easiest way for you to test all this out is to make a fury alt and play him until you can get a feel for how they differ friom wardens. Ultimately it's a judgment call and you may enjoy furys more but I wanted to speak in defense of wardens before you abandoned yours!


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