Thursday, September 11, 2008

Warhammer

So, I've moved on to Warhammer and I'm currently thinking about switching this over to a Warhammer blog.. probably for the Warrior Priest. So if any one has actually come to this site at any point in time, expect it to change. See you when I make the decision to change over, if it ever happens.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Grinding Locations

Wild Lands of Zelata (36-40):Solo/Duo
The area underneath the bridge to the Sanctum of Burning Souls is filled with camps of humanoids. These guys give some solid xp, while also bring in only a bit of a challenge for most classes, even 2 or 3 levels below them. If xp begins to slow down on these groups, more humanoids can be found in the NE corner of the map and can be a bit higher lvl, and usually less farmed.

Fields of the Dead Vanir, Wolves and Werewolves (40-50):Solo

There is a huge number of spots to grind out the 40s in this area, from the Vanir camps, down to the haunted forest, and up to the mountains infested with wolves.

Cannibal Cave (Eiglophian) 52-57:Solo/Duo/Group
Truly amazing alternative for a level range very limited in the quest department. Either solo/duo clear the regular version of the instance or group it up for the epic version, both work well and the constant respawns should keep your on your toes as the levels fly by.

Boars (Thunder River) 58-64:Solo/Duo
Located in the far south/southwest part of the map, these boars are generally untouched by questers as their out of the way from a majority of the Thunder River quest spots.

Cannibals (Thunder River) 65-69: Solo/Duo
The Thunder River cannibals can be found in camps in the Southeast Corner of the map, both down in the Ravine and up on the Cliffs. Both areas have a few quest related bosses that have a fairly high drop rate for blues.

Mammoths (Atzel's Approach) 67-72: Solo
The Southeast corner of Atzel's Approach is loaded with slow Mammoths that tend to stand in groups of 1-3. Their massive hit box, low health pool and rather slow attack speed add up to an easy grinding experience, with some nice leather at the same time.

Acolytes (Kheshatta) 72-76: AoE/Duo
The Mid-East part of the map houses a very large amount of robed caster-type mobs, which don't really tend to cast much. This makes for both weak melee mobs, and low hp mobs, on top of that they are also pretty good at forming large groups around you for mass AoE grinding solo or grouped.


Southern Camps (Kheshatta) 76-80: AoE/Duo
The southern wall of Kheshatta is littered with humanoid camps starting with the lvl 76-78~ death camps east of the southern city and the other camps located in the mountains south and south west of the southern city, although the southernmost camps may be more fit for duoing for less confident AoEers. Any groups of 3 or more usually lowers the XP too much though, switch to epic mode for that.

Class Overview: Stats

This guide will hopefully A. Help you decide what class uses what items so you know whats trash and whats cash, and B. Help you better understand the other classes as both friend and foe


-Cloth Armor-

The Cloth wearers consist of Demonologists, Assassins, Herald of Xotli, Priest of Mitra, and Necromancers.

Assassins focus on direct damage to increase their survivability the most, this means stats such as +Dex, +Dagger damage and +Offhand chance each give a big plus to the survivability and damage of an assassin. Other stats such as +Sta would also be a secondary choice for this class.+Hide on an item is also beneficial, but not a deciding factor.

Demonologists kill their opponents with fire and electric damage, so they would benefit from an increase in either of those sources of damage, or both with +int. Increasing their mana is also beneficial, but again tends to be secondary to increasing overall damage.

Herald of Xotli tend to focus on Two-Handed Edged damage as their main damage attribute, with +fire damage (magic) as their secondary (although not nearly as important). Again, increasing stamina is very beneficial, but usually takes a backseat to increasing overall DPS.

Necromancers use their skills in unholy and ice magic to dispose of their opponents, so an increase to those, as well as an increase in their intelligence. Increasing their mana is beneficial as well.

Priest of Mitra focus on healing for both solo and group play, and holy damage for solo grinding. Any increase in their holy damage, wisdom, or mana pools is preferred for this class with natural mana regeneration coming in after that.

Final Thoughts: Between all of the cloth armor classes, they all need either stamina or mana (or both) so if the cloth item has a considerable amount of +sta/mana or natural regen it should go pretty well.


-Light Armor-

Barbarians are, well, Barbarians who use brute strength to get the job done. This means an increase in their melee damage with +one-handed blunt/edged weapons (usually preffered 50+), or their two-handed weapons are most beneficial to this class. Increasing their strength and stamina are secondary choices. +Hide on an item is also beneficial, but not a deciding factor.

Tempest of Set are elemental healers who use both electric damage and healing power to get the job done. Increasing their electric damage, wisdom, intellect, and mana are all very beneficial depending on the Tempest's playstyle.

Final Thoughts: The Barbarian and the Tempest of Set are pretty much polar opposites, so they'd both only really benefit from the same item if it had a considerable amount of health and invulnerabilities, possibly stamina too if you're a ToS that sprints a lot.


-Medium Armor-

Bear Shaman resort to Barbarian-like tactics, paired with a powerful healing ability, to wear down their opponents. Increasing their two-handed blunt damage is key for most every bear shaman, with secondary focus being set on increasing their mana/stamina pools as well as their strength/wisdom depending on player preference and playstyle.

Rangers rely on their ability to hide and do powerful amounts of ranged damage, while also being able to finish off anything that reaches them alive. Increasing their bow/crossbow damage and dexterity are key, then comes +stamina/+one-handed damage/dagger damage/off-hand chance items.+Hide on an item is also beneficial, but not a deciding factor.

Final Thoughts: Both benefit quite a bit from an increase in stamina.


-Heavy Armor-

The three classes that use Heavy Armor include Dark Templar, Guardian and Conqueror. It should be noted that Guardians move to Full-Plate at 60 so Guardian oriented Heavy Armor pieces won’t sell nearly as well, if at all.

Dark Templars use both stamina and mana, while also relying on their hp pool. Thus their main attributes consist of +stamina/mana/hp pieces that preferably have high melee/magic invulnerabilities. Dark Templars also benefit greatly from increased threat caused by Taunt and % hate modifiers, as well as One-Handed Edged Damage stats (a preferred stat for PVP Templars)

Conquerors are primarily an offensive class which occasionally offtanks. This means attributes which increase their damage: one-handed edged/blunt, two-handed edged/blunt, offhand chance, and (a bit less appealing in its current state) strength. A secondary choice of gear for Conquerors would usually be along the lines of +stamina.

Guardians can be found as both tanks and the "I don't want to tank" polearm kiddies. The former benefits greatly from +invulnerabilities, +HP, +Sta, +Const and +one-handed edged/blunt damage in that order, with +one-handed damage being preferred for PVP players at 80. The latter require +Polearm Damage, which can be very hard to come by in earlier levels, +Sta and +Str, again in that order.

Final Thoughts All three would benefit from +one-handed damage items, or items increasing HP and Sta, making these items the best sellers in this group.