constructive advice needed

ltdansot · May 2013

I tried asking about these things in /zone and was met with mostly "because you suck"

I have several characters. The highest level is my 40 cleric. I am about to stop playing her because I can't afford gear upgrades and my companion is stuck at 15 and has become mostly useless which leads to quick death for both of us. I am not getting usable gear or rewards from questing and foundries. Some of my stuff is still level 20. I really haven't done much with dungeons because I feel like I am not good enough of a healer.

So what are my options for getting AD in the thousands or even hundreds of thousands to get any sort of decent gear via vendors or the trade house without spending real money? Or, alternatively, am I just doing things incorrectly? What can I change?

Thanks

v1ctor2k · May 2013

If you need some quick AD the easiest way is through the ZEN Exchange. Alternatively you can do dungeons and sell the blue gear drops for AD.

I wouldn't recommend playing a DC as your first class. Roll a TR or CW and go for the Tank Pet if you want an easier leveling experience.

v1ctor2k · May 2013

ltdansot wrote: »

So what are my options for getting AD in the thousands or even hundreds of thousands to get any sort of decent gear via vendors or the trade house without spending real money? Or, alternatively, am I just doing things incorrectly? What can I change?

You don't need to spend that much on leveling gear. The cheap green stuff is more than enough to get you to lvl 60.

Unknown · May 2013

This content has been removed.

silversprite · May 2013

I have a cleric, I do feel your pain, having the companion stop leveling at is useless at the higher levels, I often bring out the warg I got with the guardian pack. I have been not so patiently waiting for them to add the higher levels to the companions at the store, but that has yet to happen.

as for AD, pray a lot everyday! do the leadership quests that give AD, and yes, buying zen is an option as well as selling things at AH, but I will admit I dont have patience for auctions, I seldom use them in any game I play

agent2090 · May 2013

I play a DC as well. I don't want to sound condescending but if you can't keep yourself and your party healed at 40, you must be doing something wrong. I used a Man at Arms companion until level 30, which became pretty useless by then, but I got enough skills that heal to effectively solo the rest of the way (except dungeons). The fact that you haven't done many dungeons could also be what's holding you back, since a lot of gear comes from them. But don't worry too much about gear, I had level 28 rings, belt and cloak until level 60, and didn't even have an icon (didn't actually realize I never equipped one other than the tutorial one) until 50. Your heals are more than enough for dungeons, you just need to know when and where to place them.

I would suggest you take a look at what skills you are using and what they do, and also make sure your feats match the play style you are going for.

jaelithe · May 2013

My cleric - now 42 - had similar issues. Doing a foundry twice a day for the foundry daily helps a LOT on gear if you do one with many random drops - some of them will be useful green gear at your level. Try Bill's Tavern though there are other good ones for drops also.

As for the companion - until you can get a purple companion go with the cleric if you don't have that already. I know you ARE a cleric and it feels wrong but it isn't. A level 15 dog won't do squat against level 40+ mobs but the level 15 cleric heals you for 20% of your hit points whether you are level 15 or 60. In other word her usefulness scales to your level unlike the other free companions. She is just harder and harder to keep alive but so are the others.

theosymphany · May 2013

From my experience levelling up gear isn't that important. I've been using mostly green stuff that mobs drop. Rare gear for clerics hardly drop from dungeons, and when they do they often have the wrong attributes. Also rares get outlevelled by greens quickly, so no need to spend on money. The market is flooded with lower level blues and greens anyway for a couple hundred Ad each, you should have at least several thousand from dailys quests that you can afford to spend them. If using AH look for stuff a few levels ahead so you'll upgrade into them. Don't bother bidding on stuff with no buyout...you'll level past them by then. Don't spend more than 1000 AD on any single item, not worth it till 60.

For gear attributes you should be looking for recovery/crit/power/defense in that order depending on your build. Hit points, lifesteal and deflection are fairly worthless as a cleric, despite what your quest rewards keep give you. You want your cooldowns to be shorter so you can cast/heal more. A high level gear with the wrong attributes is not as good as low level gear with stats you need.

Doing daily foundries/skirmishes can help you get a few levels in addition to ADs and that gives more survivability in questing zones if you outlevel them. The noticeable difficulty spike is in Helm's hold around the Cathedral area because of a high density of tough mobs which refresh very quickly. Grind a few levels from foundries etc and it'll get easier.

What others said about companion is also true. Man at arms is good for lower levels, but cleric is better at your stage, it's only 2g and you'll level her quickly. For skills when questing use daunting light to wipe a few trash mobs at range, cast divine forgemasters flame on toughest mob which you tank for healing while you dwindle the weaker ones down. You can use sunburst or chains or whatever else on 3rd slot in your rotation. Don't give monsters combat advantage, if surrounded you down much quicker. In a pinch it's better to kite towards people and hope others will help save you.

imivo · May 2013

I wouldn't spend AD on gear from the AH while you're leveling, since you grow it out too quickly. A blue weapon may be the exception since that may last you for a while. Just don't overpay for it (I'd stay under 5k AD).

You normally should get enough suitable greens from monsters. Fuse your runes to higher ranks and socket them into your gear (while leveling I would not use anything higher than rank 3 runes). The bags you get for the zone-specific badges can also be a source of upgrades.

Make liberal use of the buff potions you keep finding (the ones that raise stats for 15 minutes), invoke once and hour, and find foundry quests that are managable for you to do -- you can run those a bit for XP and also gear drops, potions and scrolls.

The Phoera pet (goes all the way up to max level) may also be a worthwhile investment and the easiest to afford purple companion at the moment, with the free cleric being a good choice because her heals are percentage-based, but it may still be outside your AD-range at the moment. Selling crafting materials at the AH can be a good source of AD income, but as mentioned, I'd not spend it on gear while leveling (just a weapon every once in a while).

Good luck! It's normal for most classes to have stretches of slowness and feeling-stuck-ness.

*constructive* advice needed

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constructive advice needed