Back when I first was getting ready to TR, I thought knew what I was doing. After all I had leveled many guys to cap. And a few extra xp would hardly slow me down. I was wrong, but I learned my lesson well. Those few extra xps took a lot longer then I thought they would. And I needed to take a long hard look at my gear, before going again.

Often I would find myself swinging away with my Rad2 rapier, doing “fine damage” doing the fighting in a wall/cloud thing. It could take a while to clear a dungeon when trying to save SPs for a later fight.

So when I started looking at my plan for my 3rd life, I looked at a building a better option. And for me that option was a big two handed lighting 2 weapon. After much time and thought I went with a maul vs a great ax. It better fit my style/needs. And it has served me well, from level 12 almost every life, this one is no exception.

But it is exceptional, as this life my lovely Lig2 maul as stepped up its game even more. How? Well by gaining double strike, naturally. How else could it get any better?

At level 14 I leveled to 12/1/1 bard/fighter/barb. And gained warchanter 2. The Inspire Recklessness song is so good. For a shotty -10% fort I gain 5% double strike. A worthy trade off considering you can slot extra stacking fort in guild slots (small +10%, med +15%) or wear your Stalwart Trinket (if you made one).

I haven’t seen a double lighting bolt yet… but I think it is just a matter of time and finding a mob with enough hit points to live long enough until it happens. But I like the idea so much I am debating on switching my Virtuoso bard in to a warchanter to add in the off hand Swashbuckler and a bastard sword with the THF line for crazy damage. 🙂

If only there was a way to add in Zeal also…..

Thumbing around the forums you can see a number of different threads; and why all have different topics they all have the same answer. A in game player rep system.

What do I mean? Just like the forum rep you can add to or remove rep from a user. But I have some guide lines.

1, Rep is account based. This way someone can’t just jump to another character and have a clean slate if his/her rep falls low.

2, Rep modifiers falls off after 30 days. Any rep gained or lost at 31 days or older is removed.

3, You can only mod rep for some one in your party and only once a quest. When rep is changed a message shows on screen letting you know that is has been changed and the value of the new score. Maybe only once in a 24 hour time frame. I am not sure on how often you can add to a users rep… if you quest with the same guy 3 or 4 quests in a row and he is super helpful and what not each quest you might want to give rep to that user during each quest.

4, If no one changes your rep in a 24 hour period that you have played and grouped you get a free bonus amount of positive rep.

5, Your rep total can been seen by you, and group leaders only. Group leaders only see your rep total when your applying to a group.

6, When you give neg rep you also take a point of neg rep. So you better mean it.

I don’t know if this would really help but it would allow me to clear a lot of room on my “friends” list. And would maybe get me to (lead) group more by help me filter out some of the undesirables. Your reputation would be right there for others to see good or bad.

As the title says I have a few more wants – ideas. This time items. Aka items that makes the Dragonmarks look better, not unlike the Chimera’s Fang. Lets take a look at some of the feats and what we can do that would keep in line with the theme.

Mark of Storm – Gust of Wind/Electric Loop/Call Lightning Storm
I picture the Cloak of Storms. It does some so so effect normally like twilight. Good but not uber.
But if you have the Gust of Wind mark you get something like shock damage to melee damage like the Epic Red Dragon Armor or lightning guard (1d8). Electric Loop grants a small stacking % to double strike change. And Call Lightning Storm grants lighting strike guard. Good enough to devote a slot and 3 feats.

Mark of Healing Cure Light Wounds/Cure Serious Wounds/Heal
I am not sure what type of item matched this feat the best but I am inclined to say a ring or some kind of weapon. It it is a weapon it could have some kind of tall person bane. All humanoids that are not dwarf or halfling. Then we add regen effect. A Rez effect maybe, and then grant a fast heal effect to the target when you use any of your cure/heal clicklies.

Mark of Warding Fire Trap/Glyph of Warding/Greater Glyph of Warding
I am thinking a Shield with a big Bonus and nice damage dice. Then granting a miss chance with the first feat. Larger shield proc chance to attack with the shield. Finally granting a large DR 15-20 range.

So there are quick ideas. What do you think?

❤

Over on the DdoCast boards, Episode 216 generated a strange topic add in some in game conversations over the last few weeks and I think DR is not super well understood. Mainly as how it stacks.

So how do I think of DR stacking? Layers.

5/magic
3/slashing
2/-

If that is your DR and I swing at you with a master work sword we pull 5 damage off. As it is not from a magic weapon. If I swing with a +1 maul then we pull of 3. And if I swing with a +1 great axe then we pull of 2. It becomes what layer does you the most good.

Any DR you have when your not holding down the block key is called Passive DR and can come from many sources. Which makes any times when you are blocking, “active” DR.

Active DR stacks with any Passive DR (from the single, highest applicable source) *ddowiki*

So if your blocking with a shield that gives 9 DR, you have the same DR listed above and you block. And I swing with a with a master work sword we pull 14 points off. A +1 maul 12 points is stopped. Or a +1 great axe 11 points is blocked.

That is the nuts and bots as I understand it.

❤

Today is another day I am going to hit a couple of questions from twitter: What are your favorite XP grind quests? Just the high XP per minute ones or other favorites? Via Phite3

Well I do love fast xp. There is nothing worse then feeling like your not having fun and not advancing your character. So as long as I don’t have a personal goal for the day I will take what ever xp I get.

But those days are far and few between. Most days I want a rank or a level or to complete a set of quests.

So lets hit a list, you have the biggies Shadow crypt, and raids. But let me list a few others.
BoB not on epic
WizKing
Inferno
Bloody crypt
Pit
Tear
Red Fins pack (Claw and fathom)
Tombs Blighted, Tormented (traper and BB)
DQ 6 man
Attack on SR pack (Blockade buster is super)
Gh All of Gh is great.

Well I can keep going but you can hit the quest list and more or less go level by level. There are a few that I might do once and forget or not run into the ground. But the list above are normally loved by me.

Blah Blah Blah, you can produce a Healing Word effect five times per rest. Blah Blah for 1d4 hit points plus an additional 1d4 per two caster levels.

1 – 1d4
2 – 2d4
4 – 3d4
6 – 4d4
8 – 5d4
etc until 11d4 at 20

Practical use so far says it is as good as the best cure spell I can cast. It is keeping up with my cure serous at level 11 / 9 casting levels.

I think that I will use it on not self healing builds if there is room. And for early levels. But once I can equip my CordOp/Torc I don’t think there is a problem turning sps in to hps.

So I think I will swap the feat out and take Quick Draw instead. But for the early levels it was a life saver. And it does work in beholder anti magic. And can/has saved the no death bonus.

But the difference between a good build and a great one is constantly evaluating yourself and see what is working and what is not.

❤

I was having another one of those brain fart days. Where I needed a solid idea to start with. So I do what I do when I am stuck and asked Twitter. And Kageryu00 had a killer idea: How about your thoughts on clerics Who starts start LFMs with the BYOH notation?

I love the BYOH notation. I have used it many a times. And I look for LFMs that say BYOH. BYOH doesn’t mean bring your own heals to me. It means, I am doing the quest and you can tag along and help but don’t die. I read my focus is completing the quest. I will not hold your hand. I will not be waiting around for someone to hold your hand. Join at your own risk.

I don’t care if the leader is a Clr, FvS, Fighter, or any class/mutt. It is setting early expectations. And that is great.

Some people that have BYOH in the LFM, mean “I will never heal you” . Some people mean I will help you out but I am not watching you full time. Others mean it as a warning, to ask for help. But don’t spam me all the time.

These are often soloers that feel like grouping. Or testing the waters for the current level of pugs.

If you see a lfm with a byoh in the title. Ask yourself if you can handle the quest. If so hit the LFM. I feel more often then not these are the people you want to group with.

❤

I have been looking at what to do with a few characters now that I have gotten the feel for the update 9 changes. Samiusbot my lvl 20 pure wiz went from the guild epic holder (AM Ench) back to a PM. He is still a holder, but my play style is strengthened by the Pm line. McGoogles my 20 pure FvS has specked into a AoV. Boy the devs really out did themselves with that PrE line. Boy! Add in the 5 level light spell and I dig it.

But I look at poor Javabot, I am at a loss, again…. I am willing to TR him again, but to what? He needs to stay a WF. Not just for the name. But for tons of gear. Bound DoD, and upgraded Titan gloves, and a handful of other RR WF gear. And I want him to have a blue bar as he as a Torc and a CordOp built, and has been marked to have an epic Jidz (he is holing all the parts waiting for me to be sure). He also has a few GS longwords and a other GS items. Oh and a good intim is a must.

So as I said the eternal struggle, the question, What is next? How can I build something better, stronger then before?

Building on everything I have been kicking around lately, factoring in gear. I have a few options:

20 pure WF FvS. Good healing, fine dps, solid spells it is kind of a whole package. But I have a pure FvS already…

13/6/1 clr/rgr/mnk Rad 2, some monk options, Gtwf, solid dps and fair good casting, manyshot.
12/6/2 clr/rgr/mnk see above but loosing a level of spells.
11/6/3 clr/rgr/mnk see above but loosing Rad2 for monk fists

13/4/3 clr/fgr/mnk all of the strs of the first but loosing manyshot….

Can I find the right balance? Can I get good selfhealing, at least some group healing, good dps, and make the other casting worth a shit?

To be, or not to be? My nuts!

What to do? What to do? That is the question.

❤

And in the letter the writer asks “What is my role in a PuG now?” signed AM Enchanter.

There is some other stuff in the letter but that is the main question. And a hard question to answer. My first gut answer is to the same as before the update plus do more damage to keep the crowd control effective. If you hold a mob and then with your help the group clears said mob before it hurts any one, what harm is the spell change?

Answer: None.

To me maintaining dps vs sp management is now very hard. Not impossible, just harder then ever before.

So lets look at what is in our tool box… Removal, mostly single targeted removal is as good as it has ever been. Finger, Pwrd KILL, Pwrd STUN, PK, wail, circle of death, Symbol of death, all the holds, sleep. If it gets them out of the fight long enough to be permanently removed then it is a good removal spell. And now lots of spells are getting their due, finally.

As a wiz it is not that hard to get all your meta feats and greater in 2 schools. You should be able to have great Dcs in one area and have solid DCs in another. If you want to hold and WoF(or other DPS spell) you can. If you want to Hold and watch for a good time to hit a death effect spell you can.

Or you can mix and match.

But I think we will start to see less people building to do X or Y, and more people building to play to a style of casting. Standing in a Wall/blasting(attacking) and hold/blasting will become more popular. New styles will develop. Like what my guild has been doing. What I will call Double PM Blasting. But I will get in to DPM later.

Find your style, and fine tune it. Oh and get that necro DC up there, and learn pwrd KILL. It will become your go to spell. When it is off timer, you will have the power to change the flow of almost any fight.

❤

So since the update I have kinda avoided playing some of my wizards. And I have a few. A pure 20, a 18/2 rouge splash, 11/6/3/ fighter monk splash, and a x/6/1 ranger/monk splash. All of them were super fun. But with the changes….

So to do a little testing I called up Samiusbot (20pure) Ench Archmage, aka my epic runner. And boy things have changed. Holds almost last 15-20 seconds. Dance spells are about the same. But we can instant kill now. So that is a nice change. But it was not good enough to stay Archmage, yep I am back to Pale Master. And things are about the same, except now as a PM dps is a lot more sustainable.

The good: epics now allow a larger range of strategies, where before make mobs helpless and beat down was the best option.

The bad: Everyone needs to be helpful. Before even a less then good player/build could be a help. But now… I think albatrosses are a lot more noticeable then before.

I haven’t gone over my other builds, yet. I think I will make Java a Clr, and As400 will get cleaned up but remaining a 18/2, he will be fine. I am not sure what to do with Samyus my ranger splash.

Change… its not always good. But I think these changes will be fine, but might alienate some and make getting into epics harder.

❤