Lvl first then herc, or other way around?

Edyn - Dreamweaver

Heya,

Im kinda having this dillema atm. Dunno what way is best to optain a herc w/o spending real life cash:
Wait to lvl and focus on grinding mats and so on. Or Lvl first high enough.
Cause i thought that it would be easier first to get bit higher lvl so you can do more TT's and FC's and so for cash but alot off ppl told me its better to grind.
How did you herc-veno's do it?

Dyskrasia - Heavens Tear

Honestly, I'm not sure how profitable farming is these days. Farming herbs in heaven/hell can be pretty good, but you have to get to level 89 first. lol
Either way, if you don't spend real money and you don't merchant, it's going to take awhile.
FC is also more of a coin sink than anything, unless you happen to get a good drop (which I wouldn't count on.)
TTs... well honestly, I think you'd have a hard time finding a squad for TT without a herc. You don't need one, really, but just about everyone who's never played a veno thinks you do.
I got my herc when they were much cheaper and when mats were worth much more, so I'm not really sure what the best way to go about it now would be. If I were in your situation, I would grind until I've saved up a small chunk - maybe 3 or 4m. Then I'd look into merchanting. If you don't have a second computer to run a shop on, then you can use the auction house. I've found some reaaally good deals by stalking the auction house whenever I could - that's how I got my nix. It's not the most reliable source of income, however.
Dabble around in each area - grinding, farming, merchanting... see what's easiest for you and has the best results. If you're gonna farm, you can create a route using this site. If you go for grinding, I'd recommend leveling up a Dark Wanderer if you haven't already - as far as I know they have the best land DPS.

Edyn - Dreamweaver

tyvm for your reply,
Ill try that. Not lvling a darkwanderer but i do have a viscious scorpio, read here somewhere in these forums that they are around the same DPS.
Gl to you 2

xxxdsmer

TBH, with the current state of the game:

how they've (by bug/glitch/or just flatout nerf) messed up our bramble guard and bramble hood (NEITHER do ANY reflecting in pvp now. so its pretty much just a pve buff now. this even matters on a pve server if you ever switch to pvp mode too. even matters just on the principal that the class is nerfed right now wether pve or pvp. one of their cash cow classes and they've got it messed up right now.)

how HH has been "tweaked" to be alot harder, and i think alot crappier droprates, its gona be QUITE difficult to get a return on the (what used to be) 'investment' of a hercules or phoenix.

also how the DQ items value was dropped 20% because of **** "gold farming" in CHINA (they even said theirselves it happened here because of somethings people were doing in CHINA, and not here.) so, another way that used to be alright for good old fashioned honest work grinding mobs for money is down the drain.

pretty much, all the ways for a veno to make back that money with the herc have been nerfed or 'tweaked' so they're so hard they're no longer do-able without an entire squad.

and i've heard more than once of armored bear (starts at lv80) tanking things in frostcovered city. i have yet to try it out myself, but i dont doubt that it can with just the default skills on it all leveled up to 5 (excluding pounce, b/c pounce's max lvl is 2)

so, considering the state of the game, and how ridiculously much more it would cost to get a herc (and nix) nowawdays, i strongly reccomend against getting one. at least until they put somethings back so that we can get our money back out of the herc at some point, instead of YEARS later. and after they put our signature buff and selfbuff (bramble guard and bramble hood) back the way they're suppoesd to be.

despite popular belief, we (venos) do have a role to play in squads, and we DO NOT have to have a herc to do it. barbs are the tanking class, and even if a veno does have a herc, there are still things the barbs are going to have to tank anyway.

Damewort - Sanctuary

You might have easier time to get the money at later levels. 2-x are good for money (dust of stars, antennas), can earn money with Gamma too. I consider, that in 2-x at according level, there isnt much use of herc as in 2-2 and 2-3 herc veno can tank only few bosses. But in gamma, herc simply makes chest farming tiny bit faster. Besides, if you do know how to play veno well, you should easily get to know some regular TT/RB runners who would take you along cause of your skills.

I got my herc pretty late, at lvl89 or so. And I got money for it from TT runs mostly. But... I got it when price was up to 90mil already, but friend sold me all 9999 SoFs for old price as she promised before...

Kieran - Dreamweaver

I started saving up for my herc around lvl 85 tho I didn't focus solely on saving up every coin (e.g. i kept doing BH/FCs/upgrading gear/ leveling etc.) Haven't really missed having a herc in TT much anyway since I had a barb and cleric firends that I always run TTs with anyway - and veno wiht good DD pet is pretty decent DD for TT and you wouldn;t DD with herc anyway. Finally got my herc at 97 spedning about 76mil total to buy SoF. Saved up the money mostly by running TTs and selling the mats on AH and merchanintg common gems for CS (+ that let me level bunch of alts to around lvl 40-50 in case I ever want to try another class). Over all it took me about 4 months. Can't really imagine starting to save for herc prior to ~lvl 80 or so since the lower TTs mats sell for next to nothing now. One thing that helped me hold on to the coins was dropping it off on an alt so that my veno only kept enough to cover daily expenses (but not fashion...)
Either way. GL on gettng your herc!
~Kier