How to get item rating from 8.5K to 11K?

koje · January 2018

Hello all!

I'm just getting back into Neverwinter and could use some help. I hit level 70 a couple weeks ago and I have been trying to increase my item level to unlock more epic dungeons and more difficult content but I seem to have hit a wall and I'm not sure how to proceed.

I managed to get through the intro quests for Chult and reach Port Nyanzaru. I saved up some AD and bought a set of the 420 League Assault gear from the AD vendor in Port Nyanzaru and along with some enchantments, relics and the Wootz and Pina Halata weapons from the AH, I managed to get my item level up to about 8,500 which opens up Temple of the Spider epic dungeon. However, upon heading out into the jungle I am clearly still under level for this content as I can make progress but I die a lot. I tried to inspect a few other players and everyone I saw in Chult had item rating at least 11k or higher.

I ran Temple of the Spider which is the highest Epic Dungeon I can access but the three gear items that dropped were item level 396 which is lower than the gear I already have (although they did salvage for a good bit of AD). I feel like the gear you would need to have in order to reach the required item level for a dungeon is higher than the gear you will get from completing that dungeon.

So I am at a loss. Where do I go to get gear better than the 420 set that I have now if I am still struggling in Chult? Going from 8,500 to 11,000 seems like a big difference. I can't find any content in the game (aside from Chult) where I can earn anything that would improve my gear but I'm sure I must be missing something. I know I could buy better enchantments (mine are mostly level 7 now) and I'm working on the various campaigns to unlock more boons but I don't really know what areas of the game I should be spending my time that would be most beneficial.

Thanks for all your advice!

greywynd · January 2018

1) Get better gear
2) Upgrade enchants
3) Upgrade artifacts
4) Upgrade companions
5) Get better companion gear
6) Get epic mounts
7) Get epic insignia for all mounts

zephyriah · January 2018

You don't need better armor, 420 is fine. My armor is all between 450 and 480 and that only gives me 190 ilvl more than you. Not a significant amount. But my total ilvl is 15,661, much higher than yours.

You probably need to upgrade your 4 artifacts, enchantments, +5 rings and artifact equipment.

Also boons, mounts (more slots is more insignias), insignias, companion rank, all contribute to your Ilvl. Those of us in max level guilds will get 1500ilvl and up to 2000 from guild boons alone. Without those, you need campaign boons and the things mentioned above to get over 11000.

maxzius · January 2018

Gear is nice and all, but don't skip the campaigns. I see more and more new level 70s trying to go straight to Chult for the gear. Buy the 420 armor and Chult weapons, like you did, and start finishing all of the campaigns. The boons are extremely important to your stats and character development (each will also give you 30IL).

Getting through the campaigns will make your life a lot easier later on.

koje · January 2018

Thanks for the tips everyone. I managed to join a level 20 guild and the boons from that was a big boost. I also discovered that marks & stones are much cheaper on the AH then in the Wondrous Bazaar so I managed to upgrade all four of my artifacts along with getting all of my enchantments up to at least level 7. All that brought me up to just over 10K. Probably still a bit low for Chult but if I can just get to 11K it will unlock all epic dungeons.

I'm saving up AD to convert to Zen and buy VIP then I will look at improving my mounts and upgrading companions. I'm also working on the campaigns but there are so many now it's tough trying to find time to work on all of them. Should I prioritize any campaigns over the others?

zephyriah · January 2018

koje said:

I'm saving up AD to convert to Zen and buy VIP then I will look at improving my mounts and upgrading companions. I'm also working on the campaigns but there are so many now it's tough trying to find time to work on all of them. Should I prioritize any campaigns over the others?

My suggestion would be to first do the ones you enjoy, it will help make it seem less of a grind. Second, even though your guild is lvl 20, they likely need one or more campaign currencies to get all structures up to 10 (usually Frozen-IWD and Dark-Dread Ring). Do those campaigns so that you will contribute to the effort sooner. Third, if there is a dungeon/skirmish you like, do that next to be able to make keys for it. With random queues you will eventually want to make keys for everything, if you plan to use the RQ feature for bonus AD. Doing it like this the boons will come naturally as you are trying to achieve a different goal, to me this is a bit more than enjoyable than just going for the zone with the "best" boons.

sundance777 · January 2018

I see this occasionally as well, even with decent gear and GH20 boons, people are stuck just below 11K. Check your rings, there are lots of double slotted options available and double slotting gear for companions as well as your neck/waist and weapons opens up more IL from slotting enchants.

mordekai · January 2018

Its probably worth pointing out that 11k won't unlock Fangbreaker Island or Master Spellplague Caverns.

Both these dungeons also require campaign progression unlocks. (But dont worry about the 28% Everfrost Resist for FBI as they sorted that with a special item that is very easy to unlock in Storm Kings Thunder campaign.)

If you can afford it, I would heartily advise buying the Storm Kings Thunder Campaign Completion from the Zen market, though the Cloaked Ascendancy does not have that option. (maybe when mod 13 drops???).

It is also worth pointing out that 11k is unlikely to help you complete either of these two dungeons, especially if you haven't got all the campaign boons and all your equipped powers to rank four through Power Points (earned as part of the post L70 experience rewards.)
They are bloody hard. Particularly if you are queueing on your own in a Pick Up Group.

As for higher IL, in addition to the good advice above, get as many three slot mounts as possible and beg borrow or steal relevant insignia. There are some good bonuses available for various combinations and the insignia themselves can give both stat and IL bumps.
Summoned companion gear adds to your IL, and if you're running Bonding Runestones on the companion its worth bumping their item enchants before your own as soon as the Bondings "Companion's Gift" total is above 100%.

koje · January 2018

Thank you again for the advice.

I am currently using two of the Ring of Dod from seals vendor but waist slot needs improvement. I definitely need better mounts and insignia. My companion has three 420 rings with level 7 enchants and one bonding runestone so far.

Sadly all of those things basically require Zen or AD to improve. I was hoping there was some campaign that might offer good rewards that are worth doing (aside from the boons) rather than spending every day farming AD.

mordekai · January 2018

koje said:
Thank you again for the advice.

I am currently using two of the Ring of Dod from seals vendor but waist slot needs improvement. I definitely need better mounts and insignia. My companion has three 420 rings with level 7 enchants and one bonding runestone so far.

Sadly all of those things basically require Zen or AD to improve. I was hoping there was some campaign that might offer good rewards that are worth doing (aside from the boons) rather than spending every day farming AD.

message me in game @mordekaithurloe I might be able to help you out.

zephyriah · January 2018

koje said:
Thank you again for the advice.

Sadly all of those things basically require Zen or AD to improve. I was hoping there was some campaign that might offer good rewards that are worth doing (aside from the boons) rather than spending every day farming AD.

In that case, you may want to focus on Sharandar. After you complete the campaign, one of the tasks allows you to make power points with campaign currency, 15,000 AD (Less than half of Zen store of 35,000AD at current exchange rate) and a little gold, and will make it faster to get the fourth point in your encounters, at-wills and daily powers. If you do all the daily quests in sharandar, you can make one point every 3 to 4 days.

shinytepig · January 2018

i'd recommend fishing in chult (there is a place in south part of the stream that drops 2x fish) and then giving those fish over to the chult fishing vendor, this will give chult riches (not totems, those are easily gotten by doing weeklies and merchant princes folly) if you have 2500 of those you can buy one piece of 440 gear from the vendor next to the ad vendor (the one where you get the 420 gear). that's in the gear department though. you can also get 450+ (I cant remember for sure what ilvl gear they are) with trade bars and with VIP you get a free enchanted key (for opening lockboxes) per day on one character and you get trade bars from lockboxes.

zephyriah · January 2018

shinytepig said:
i'd recommend fishing in chult (there is a place in south part of the stream that drops 2x fish) and then giving those fish over to the chult fishing vendor, this will give chult riches (not totems, those are easily gotten by doing weeklies and merchant princes folly) if you have 2500 of those you can buy one piece of 440 gear from the vendor next to the ad vendor (the one where you get the 420 gear). that's in the gear department though. you can also get 450+ (I cant remember for sure what ilvl gear they are) with trade bars and with VIP you get a free enchanted key (for opening lockboxes) per day on one character and you get trade bars from lockboxes.

As long as he has done enough of SKT to get the khyek and fishing pole.

armadeonx · January 2018

Companions, mounts and mount insignias are a huge source of stats - the higher ranked the better.

hypervoreian · February 2018

Hi Koje

First,just take a quick read of this guide.90% the things there,you already know,but it does not hurt to check out.
https://www.arcgames.com/en/forums/neverwinter#/discussion/1233015/guide-for-the-poor-lazy-player

Now,as an advice I honestly urge you,not to rush through game and get yourself frustrated.
The toons you see are older in time toons,that took months or year plus+ to gear up.Some toons are alts of old accounts and can get geared up very easily.With you,as a new player,this is not the case.

Important thing is,to not see NW as a race: you will get eventually to the point you want ,but please dont rush yourself.
You will lose time and/or money and the results might not be the ones you desire:Why?
Cause as a new player you dont know well the reality of this game ,(and sadly most MMOs are the same)
I read your post ,and you are eager to go 11k ,so to go to the dungeons.11k IL for dungeons,using artificial items (any double ring with out the desired stats for your class/build as an example) is not going to help much:
especially if you are a striker class.(DPS)

In general,dont chase IL: it is not the target,your efficiency as a player is the target.
read the guides for your class,decide which stats you want: Prioritize these stats.You want them all,you dont have the ad.Which one should you start putting more attention.Chase and the others aswell but put priorities.

Now to the essense of your post:ways to improve your toon with low cost.

-----------------------------------

1.Do the campaigns!The boons offer huge stat improvements,and also they count towards IL.
As said,do the campaigns you like most,first.Sometimes there is a 2xDouble currency of a campaign.Do that these days.

2.https://two30.github.io/neverwinter-insignia/
open this tool.And read carefully which insignia you want for your class,then see which mounts they offer them.You dont have that mounts?
Check the lesser insignia bonuses you want.example ypou cannot get ProT Camaderie,you will go for the lesser version Prot Friendship.

3.Go to the mounts vendor and buy with gold all the white mounts.All.Bye a lot of node kits and go to Rothe valley ,in the down down town.There will be extremely limited numbers of players there.Farm insignia ,the ones you want.The effect makes sense ,not the neglibible AH insignia.

4.Run the Gambit skirmish for good companion gear.Most people tend to go for bronze,try to find parties that go for gold.
At that point you will equip the companion that suits your class,with first criteria,the gear you have available.i am not saying to run a healer comp if you are DPS i am saying to have summoned a striker companion for your striker class,but based the gear you have.

5.Upgrade bondings.

6.Upgrade the primary artifact you use.The rest later.

7.Gear up your second slot char and make it slowly 70.Run the daily skirmish with him for the ad.

8.Try to get yourself in group content that demends more than 5 people.So your inneficiency to not show up.

---------------------------------------------

These....take your time man,go slowly ,enjoy the game and you will end up as a powerfull 15-17k IL toon.with time ....

if you rush frustrated to get IL ,in most of the cases people gear bad their toons,they go finally to dungeons,they screw up and leave the game...

enjoy the game!! \o/ No rush!

How to get item rating from 8.5K to 11K?

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