Each time you kill a boss, a huge artifact-like fragment spawns. If you kill it, the end boss will become more difficult…

First boss spawns adds every 20s that will heal him. So kill the adds quickly. Apart from that, he just hurts like a truck.

Next boss periodically runs towards his spawners. He then removes their shield, so you can kill those spawners, before DPS’ing the boss again. Also, he randomly ensnares players in a cobweb, that you need to kill, it can’t be dispelled. More endurance than anything. Ah yes. He can hit like a truck.

Third boss, Dayshade, splits into two. A white and a dark one. Tank then where they are, face them away from each other. DPS at each boss, healers in the middle. When their shield goes up, they spawn adds. Drag the White add to the black boss and vice versa. Kill the add to remove the shield. There’s two adds per cycle, you only need one to remove the shield. Hit the add a few times to get aggro and drag it to the boss. Yes. Those bosses hit like a truck.

Now it’s chest time, do yourselves a favor and glide from platform to platform. Loot the chests and get your AP stuff…

Now it’s time for the last boss. Have 2 DPS at each teleporter. The boss will spawn gates every minute, alternating them at bottom, top, bottom, … Kill the gates before the adds come and heal the boss. Have the healers at the artifact, the tank face the boss away so the frontal AoE cone doesn’t hit the healers. DPS can join in if their gates are down. Healers need to perma-heal-spam the tank, no matter his HP, because, you guessed it, this boss hits like a truck.

All in all, not to bad, some nice drops off the boss, and yes. They all hit like a truck.

Get a tank going !

In other news, my little Templar has made quite a journey. After being stuck on Israphel for a few weeks due to shut down server transfers, i levelled her all the way up to 50 and recently moved her back to all my other characters as well.

Interesting thing to play a Templar, especially with 2.0 lurking around the corner and the knowledge that Templars will be needed, so I might need to put some more effort into gearing her up. Ah well… The gear…

So. Should I go for another Miragent’s while I’m raking in my AP’s for the real deal ?

As close as it’ll ever get to the name of my templar…

First, have a look at all the items in question. I tried to keep it to items that are in reach of players, even though i know that some of the world bosses’ items might be difficult to get your hands on.

Maces

• Elite Guardian Tribunus’s Warhammer
• Miragent’s Warhammer
• Anuhart Elite’s Warhammer
• Noble Surkana Warhammer
• Triroan’s Warhammer
• Commander Bakarma’s Warhammer

I realize that the last two (Triroan’s Warhammer, Commander Bakarma’s Warhammer) are not top of the list due to either only 15% Attack Speed, respective no additional attack speed. However, both being extendable and not too difficult to get (Triroan’s / Lannak’s are easy), i added them as optional weapon of choice.

Shields

• Elite Guardian Tribunus’s Shield
• Anuhart Elite’s Shield
• Zapiel’s Shield
• Black Heart’s Shield
• Dragon Deity General’s Shield
• Dragon Flame Scale Shield
• Expert Noble Durable Orichalcum Shield
• Noble Balaur Lord’s Shield
• Noble Wise Dragon King’s Shield

Some of the shields might be more difficult to come by, others are rather easy, but i tried to put in some shields for everybody’s budget. Remember that only the Abyss Shield yields 6 Manastone slots, while the regular ones usually are between 3-4.

Staves

• Elite Guardian Tibunu’s Staff
• Miragent’s Staff
• Noble Necsium Staff
• Triroan’s Staff
• Divine Dragon Staff
• Elder Staff

I’ve only put together a very small selection of staves, and the Abyss one is standing out of these, since it doesn’t get you additional magical attributes as such. However, it’s obtainable for everyone, and provides 19% Attack Speed as well as PvP damage bonus, so it had to be on the list to be considered.

Armsfusion
In general, the Armsfusion (PowerWiki) transfers 10% of the secondary’s weapon meduian Attack and Magic Boost to the primary weapon. All additional (non-base stats) boni are transferred, too, as well as manaslots. Should there be multiple boni, the higher value counts. If you want to have an extensible weapon, you need to have that weapon as primary weapon.

Combined Staves
Unfortunately, there’s no option yet to display the result of an Armsfusion using the armory/database syndication, but i’ll try to keep it to a very few selected examples only, and let your imagination work at the rest. Basically, we have a shopping list of requirements towards a staff, which most likely is

• 19% Attack Speed – absolutely required, as it reduces the animation time thus speeding us up a little bit
• Magic Boost – a high base value of MB as well as additional stats in MB are required
• Extendable – a very nice to have to chase fleeing players more easily
• PvP Damage – also a very nice to have, depending on what scenario you build the staff for

Apart from that, we take all the other boni we can get, but those four i would consider key. Unfortunately, we have to buy the extensible option at the cost of lower damage, but in case of a Cleric, we aren’t really interested into the attack value – even though a higher value would be nice. There are, however, some restraints…
Miragent’s Staff – you only get one, so it should be primary
Triroan’s Staff – must be primary to keep extensibility
With that being said, I’d like to present some combinations for discussion…

Miragent’s Staff + Elder Staff
The Elder staff is a drop, and doesn’t bring attack speed into the mix, so it should be easier to come by than Divine Dragon Staff or even Noble Necsium Staff. However, the combined Staff would have modified stats like :

Attack : 196 – 296 (+24) = 220 – 320
Magic Boost : 780 + 76 = 856
Magic Boost : +66
Magical Accuracy : +47
Manastone Slots : 8

Just listing the changed / added stats in comparison to the regular Miragent’s Staff. It is some added base damage, as well as essentially 5 Magic Boost +25 Manastones and some Magical Accuracy, in addition to the 4 added Manastone slots, which allows you a total of 4 * 25 + 76 + 66 = 242 Magic Boost. Think about a Nezekan’s Valiance godstone slotted into that weapon, greatly boosted through the additional Magic Boost. However, not extensible, but having all the other essentials listed.

Triroan’s Staff + Elite Guardian Tibunu’s Staff
This is a combination I am seriously considering for myself. Extensibility, as well as PvP damage bonus, at the cost of some additional stats that i wouldn’t need in an offensive gear setup, since i can put those into the defensive one.

Attack : 178 – 268 (+24) = 202 – 392
Magic Boost : 710 + 76 = 786
Physical Attack : +33
Crit Strike : +52
Atk Speed : +19%
PvP Damage Bonus

This version is has a slightly lower base Magic Boost than the other combine mentioned above, however we have 2 more Manaslots available, adding another 50 Magic Boost on top of that, which brings us very close to the other staff. However, this time extendible. Once again, using the same Godstone Nezekan’s Valiance for added damage output.

So what about Maces and Shields ?
I haven’t forgotten about them. They are still a valid and required option, especially on the defensive side of things. Given that alot of Sorceres and Spiritmasters will try to combine their Orbs / Books in order to push up Magical Accuracy, you might want to think about having a HP set handy. In addition, you might want a possiblity to chase someone and snare them…

Miragent’s Warhammer + Elite Guardian Tribunus’s Shield
This combination, fully slotted on Hitpoints might be a very good defensive combination. PvP damage reduction, highest number of Manaslots and alot of +HP boni from both should help you boost yourself a little bit.

Triroan’s Warhammer + Dragon Flame Scale Shield
I know. The shield isn’t the best, but it’s something every Cleric can easily get their hands on, just do a few Dark Poeta runs. Feel free to replace it with something better, while I don’t see a point in it. Why ? Since this set is only used to chase after someone who tries to run off, and you would put a Charna’s Root or Helkes’ Revenge godstone into the Warhammer, to get a better chance at snaring your target.

In the End…
You will most likely end up having multiple sets of Armor and Weapons, depending on what the situation calls for. There is

• Magic Resist, which seems to have fallen into decline ever since 2-hand combines allows Sorcerers and Spiritmasters to push their Magical Accuracy high enough,
• Hitpoint, which enables you to survive in certain situations. Due to the nature of PvP, this should be an Abyss Armor Set,
• Magic Boost, in those occasions when you want to dish out some damage,
• Fire Resist, in case you’re up to A and S Grade Dark Poeta

This also means you have different weapons for different purposes. You want to be able to push

• Magic Resist, and there are some interesting options there,
• Hitpoints, which most likely will lead to Miragent’s Hammer + Shield,
• Magic Boost, which is probably a combined Staff with General’s Godstone
• Snare, which is an extensible weapon with Immobilize Godstone it it

For each situation, create a macro that will switch to the according armor and weapon combination, so you can quickly switch those during combat.

Now, add to this that the Unstable Triroan drops extensible weapons like
           
you can understand that more and more people are running into the instance to get a shot at the weapons. In three runs i did since the update, i saw   and ]]> http://monkeyz.de/blog/?feed=rss2&p=217 0 http://monkeyz.de/blog/?p=213 http://monkeyz.de/blog/?p=213#comments Wed, 16 Jun 2010 15:03:16 +0000 hoschi http://monkeyz.de/blog/?p=213 I’ve been thinking about my gear a little bit. Let’s put aside the jewelry and accessories, they need to be Level 50 Abyss anyway, but i’ve been comparing a few item sets lately – all chain…

Elite L40 Abyss
     

vs

Elite L50 Abyss
     

vs

Miragents
     
And there are some interesting results. At the moment, on Zikel server, i can pretty much rake in 20k AP per day without any real issues. It’s actually more, but let’s go for the lower numbers, which means i’m only counting 5 days per week, so a weekly AP intake of about 100k, which would also sort of cater for increasing ranks = less AP gain. Given this intake, the Level 40 Elite Abyss Set would take me 9-10 weeks tops to obtain, while the Level 50 one is about 20 weeks worth of work. This is not counting in any additional exploits you have with rifting or anything like that, just Instances and Dredgion (so more or less boring..)

The stats of all these sets are pretty much comparable, so let’s concentrate on some key properties : Hitpoints, Magic Resist, Magic Boost. Bear in mind that the Abyss Sets have 30 Manastone slots, while Miragents only has 20.

Hitpoints
20 Manastones HP +85 = 1700,
30 Manastones HP +85 = 2550, which leads to
Elite Level 40 Abyss = 892 + 2550 = 3442 HP
Elite Level 50 Abyss = 1024 + 2550 = 3574 HP
Miragents = 1698 + 1700 = 3398 HP

Magic Resist
20 Manastones MR +12 = 240
30 Manastones MR +12 = 360, which leads to
Elite Level 40 Abyss = 482 + 360 = 842 MR
Elite Level 50 Abyss = 439 + 360 = 799 MR
Miragents = 597 + 240 = 837 MR

Magic Boost
20 Manastones MB +25 = 500,
30 Manastones MB +25 = 750, which leads to
Elite Level 40 Abyss = 45 + 750 = 795 MB
Elite Level 50 Abyss = 176 + 750 = 926 MB
Miragents = 169 + 500 = 669 MB

Soo.. lotsa numbers. Where does that leave us ? Let’s quickly recap and have this more presentable (HP/MR/MB display)
Elite L40 : 3442, 842, 795
Elite L50 : 3574, 799, 926
Miragents : 3398, 837, 669

I want to maximize as much as possible, but i can’t have it all, or can i ? So, the most Magic Resist is actually within the Level 40 Elite Abyss Set. Which leaves the choice of Magic Boost and Hitpoints between Miragents and the Level 50 Elite Abyss Set. In that case, the Abyss set clearly has more Hitpoints. Soooo….

Elite Level 40 Abyss = Magic Resist Set
Elite Level 50 Abyss = Hitpoints Set
Miragents / Fenril = Magic Boost Set

Happy AP farming.. Yay. Create yourself some Macros to switch the Armor when needed, so you can easily switch during combat. In GuildWars, we used to switch the weapon set for each spell on a Healer, and for each armor class on a Warrior..

Go for it…

Then, too, i’ve been looking into what other game accounts I still have. Turns out I have..

• Everquest 2
• Rohan
• Heroes of Newearth
• Diablo 2
• and some more…

Maybe it’s time to log into those games and check if i am still alive there

Ah yes.. i want the Unstable Trioan’s Staff off Theobomos Lab, so i can combine this with another PvP Staff to get an extendible one… Guess i have to Farm like crazy for that one

Given the size of the good legions these days, there’s always a chance that some players are hiding within the mass that i don’t really fancy. It seems to me i can’t get around that, and i’m going to have that everywhere anyway, so i might accept it and look for what’s best for me..

PvP
That not only includes Dredgion, but also Sieges, rifting and teaming up to swoop the Abyss and clean Asmos out wherever you see them.

Forts
Well, do the instances when they’re up. It’s a given and free AP, so you might as well take it

be still able to help friends
I do have friends (wow.. how did that happen) that are in other legions, and i still want to be able to help them, play with them. A static team is nice and well, but i don’t want it to eat up 100% of my gaming time.

A boss here and there
Wouldn’t mind to slowly upgrade some of my gear, but then most of it will/is be Abyss / Miragent’s, so that’s on the nice-to-have side.

And – for the record – i listed them in the order of priority for me ! So… am i going to find a legion that matches these criteria ? Let’s see…

So. I’ve started to look at my options. Bleak. Meh.

Be a Pot-For-Hire
Sure. Go solo again, be a walking health-potion-for-hire and see how i get through. In the end, that’s how i got my Miragents set – only with friends on my friendlist. Do i want to go down that route again ? Not sure…

Vis Maior, HATE, Catalyst, Uprising, Bloodsworn
Those are more or less the most active and highest ranked legions on the server at the moment. I’m however not a fan of ‘dissolving’ in a mass-legion. Also, there seems to be bad blood between some members, due to World bosses.. blah. So, again, not sure. I could make a statement about each of the above. Pros and Cons.

Create my Own
Yeah. Right. That’s what i decided after leaving GuildWars to NOT do again. I was running my own competitive guild there for quite some time. Been there, done that. Thanks, but no thanks.

Looking at what’s happening in the Abyss these days, we obviously need a zerg to pull something off. Will i be happy in any of these legions ? I honestly don’t know.

I hate that shit.

Then, yesterday, i spent some time loopnig around Forts during Sieges, mostly solo all by myself. Which is fine, and after dumping my AP into a L50 Ring i don’t mind being killed by 5+ players. rofl. But strange thing is, i was sitting in the Fort, watching them fight the other Elyos, and as soon as i came out, they were over me like stains on a matrass… I should feel honored, i guess. In the end, the whole evening fooling around got me like… 291 kills with 7315 AP. Not bad for a poor lil’ solo Cleric…

shameless plug
since i know my baby is reading this, too, i send some kisses your way !

Geared and pre-buffed by a 2nd chanter for Roah, so we had twice the chanter buffs, we rushed into the instance. Did i mention that we didn’t bring CC ? We had a Templar, two Glads, a Sin, Chanter and a Cleric. So we plowed through the mobs, and got all three bosses with about 3min left on the counter. Same thing in Asteria, and Kysis was a breeze (apart from a Kamikazi pull.. lol).

Sadly i head to bail for Mirren and Krotan, as RL kicked in, but hey, nice to see a team going through those elite mobs as you would farm regular mobs <10 levels of your own.

Nice job guys