Some Gear Advice :)

_tannerru_ - Archosaur wrote: »

So a long time ago I had a fun sage sin Before R9 was released for EG.

Well that sin is lost in an abyss, so I recently leveled a new one, and it has all sage skills but maybe 3. Now my question is, since it has been so long since I've played a sin. What gear path would be better now. It will mainly be a "farmer" and "Alt Tw Toon". Now by farmer I mean if someone needs a sin for BH, Lunar, FW, ETC I could go on it. I have pretty much every class for this reason and I enjoy playing them all.

With NW, I know r8r is very doable now, So should I:

1. Stick to the tt99 squish aps set
2. Go with r8r rolls to obtain aps

Now I do not need a discussion on not to go aps, This sin is on its way to full rrr9 for TW.
Also which daggers should I use being sage? (PVE) My 3rd cast daggers, or G13,G15, G16?

I know these gear threads are getting lame, So bare with me.

Hi tannerru! Miss you and your trollness. How's my dex genie doing on your seeker?

I'd say stick with the TT99 squish aps set. Honestly you don't need anything stronger for PvE. If you're going to PvP with aps set then sure, go with r8r for maximum defense. But, considering you mentioned R9 full, obviously DPH will be preferred, so there's no real point.

I suggest you carry around a double interval dagger along with your third cast dagger. I have had experience with both (not on Archosaur) in a farming instance, and it seems the best to me to be able to switch out which weapon depending on which I need.

I suggest you acquire a decently refined and sharded pair of G13 or double interval G15 daggers. In this manner you will be able to choose between 2.86 DD or 4.0 survivability, seeing as more aps gives you more chi for sparking for defense. Normally you can use 2.86 but if you find yourself in a perilous situation you can switch to 4.0 base for non-genie permaspark and 25% reduction, which is significantly more survivability than 2.86 can offer.

_tannerru_ - Archosaur wrote: »

I knew you would reply to this Tsy, lol But ah, the said dex genie is gone, Still use the same setup but with an 89/100, and been playing with a 81/100 90 strength genie. More or less my troll genie.

I really wanted double interval g15 since I will have R9. I spent 60mil....Now remember this is with NW on raps to try and roll that. With no luck at all. At this point I am thinking Double Interval G16 would be easier. Squish aps set is alot easier than the r8r for sure, Just thought it would be nice to have. Sins get that sexy -int bonus on 3 piece

it's easier to get (1/2/3x) int on g16 in terms of rerolls; it's just that getting the badges takes quite a bit

_tannerru_ - Archosaur wrote: »

Yea badges are not bad to get though xD I have a good steady squad to do some fast runs, And when they are not on I just open with alts and me and the GF duo it. Takes a little over an hour that way though. I am sick of rolling with raps for some inferior g15 daggs. I'd rather take teh chance on G16.

G16 has more chance for 2x int seeing as:

G16=
40+ atk lvs
(add)
(add)
(add)

G15=
Unique (add)
(add)
(add)

And 40+ atks lvs is a more significant increase over GoF or SS.

Walpurga - Dreamweaver wrote: »

DPS wise yea.

In pvp though G15 with GoF > G16 due to GoF charm jumping

But

Might as well get G16 and then farm R9

If you can deal with the unstable damage then G15 w/ GoF. If not G16 does a high consistent damage with its 40 atk levels.

Why farm if it's an R9rr pvp alt? Don't you have a source of money that provides you with the R9rr to begin with?

http://pwcalc.com/ac450adad1d8de3e windshield to 5.0 or 4.0 if you're only gonna have a single -int weapon

I have both NV3 daggers (with -0.1 int) +11 as well as r9rr (21/6/13) +11 and I'm discovering there are very few circumstances when NV3 even comes close in terms of DPS and obviously is totally outclassed with regards to DPH. BTW, my NV3 has 1 garnet gem, while my r9rr has 2. I'm also sage.

To give you a couple PVE situations I've had the opportunity to directly compare the 2.

Tyrant: Icika a boss in City of Abominations with 2.5m hp. With NV3 @ 5.0 (with windshield) requires 3 sparks and a bit, while r9rr @ 3.33 (also with windshield) needs only 2 and a bit. That's ~50% faster aka ~50% more damage. Mind you it's somewhat a special circumstance as since I'm only sparking twice, beginning with full chi I don't run into chi issues since 3.33 roughly generates 2 sparks over the spark cycle.

Final boss in lunar BH path: This is the only place I frequent that sees damage advantage go to my NV3 daggers over the length of the battle. This is because I cannot use windshield making chi management much more difficult. Of course, if in an OP squad that can kill it in 1-3 sparks, r9rr does do about 1/4-1/3 more damage. I typically start with r9rr and switch to nv3 after the first spark ends unless sage inner harmony (for subsea/powerdash) procs then I switch after the 2nd.

A couple other things I've also noticed that may affect you in PVE:

- Mobs, be it one by one or in large pulls (obviously) r9rr kills much faster - obviously this point is moot if you're stealthing past them - r9rr wins

- Bosses that hit hard and in quick succession (ie some WS bosses) I find are harder to deal with using r9rr due to having bp heals spaced further apart because of the difference in aps and the time it takes to use chi building skills. Basically, the possibility of being caught off guard with r9rr is higher. Making sure ribstrike is ALWAYS up (in case you don't already) eases this issue for r9rr significantly - properly addressed r9rr wins again

- Soloing TT bosses that spam debuffs and purge is much less complicated at 5 aps and I find is often worth it even though doing less damage. Alternatively, switching to tankier gear, using chill and skill spamming with r9rr seems to work out very well (Grr 3-3 Steelation) but takes a bit longer and a good chunk of an mp charm - I consider this a tie and you didn't mention TT as one of the "farming" runs you'd be on

- Any boss with the anti APS buff is a bit of a nightmare with r9rr and an APS set (unless you have higher refined and sharded gear) while NV3 @ 5.0 seems to handle this a little better. Personally I switch to my full NV3 gear +r9rr daggers, toss on chill and skill spam and take agro from almost any APS user regardless of their weapon until chi management becomes harder 2-3 sparks in (I'm outta practice since my r8 days lol) but I can only think of a couple times where the boss lasted this long. I keep a handful of chi pots (genie could work too but for me it's a waste of a spot for the few bosses it helps out with) on hand and this problem seems to have vanished since - Again properly addressed, r9rr wins

Final thoughts:

I love my NV3 daggers! I was lucky and got 2x int when they were first recasted. But as my gear refines get higher and I get better at the chi management required of r9rr, NV3 will soon be gathering dust in the bank (kinda wish they were lunar now lol). If you've already got your r9rr daggers the time spent farming badges for rerolls to get 2x int is probably better spent getting comfortable with r9rr's chi shortcomings and squishing more badies. A slightly easier time with less circumstances then I can count on one hand wouldn't be worth the trouble of all the rerolls.

peckked wrote: »

I have both NV3 daggers (with -0.1 int) +11 as well as r9rr (21/6/13) +11 and I'm discovering there are very few circumstances when NV3 even comes close in terms of DPS and obviously is totally outclassed with regards to DPH. BTW, my NV3 has 1 garnet gem, while my r9rr has 2. I'm also sage.

To give you a couple PVE situations I've had the opportunity to directly compare the 2.

Tyrant: Icika a boss in City of Abominations with 2.5m hp. With NV3 @ 5.0 (with windshield) requires 3 sparks and a bit, while r9rr @ 3.33 (also with windshield) needs only 2 and a bit. That's ~50% faster aka ~50% more damage. Mind you it's somewhat a special circumstance as since I'm only sparking twice, beginning with full chi I don't run into chi issues since 3.33 roughly generates 2 sparks over the spark cycle.

Final boss in lunar BH path: This is the only place I frequent that sees damage advantage go to my NV3 daggers over the length of the battle. This is because I cannot use windshield making chi management much more difficult. Of course, if in an OP squad that can kill it in 1-3 sparks, r9rr does do about 1/4-1/3 more damage. I typically start with r9rr and switch to nv3 after the first spark ends unless sage inner harmony (for subsea/powerdash) procs then I switch after the 2nd.

A couple other things I've also noticed that may affect you in PVE:

- Mobs, be it one by one or in large pulls (obviously) r9rr kills much faster - obviously this point is moot if you're stealthing past them - r9rr wins

- Bosses that hit hard and in quick succession (ie some WS bosses) I find are harder to deal with using r9rr due to having bp heals spaced further apart because of the difference in aps and the time it takes to use chi building skills. Basically, the possibility of being caught off guard with r9rr is higher. Making sure ribstrike is ALWAYS up (in case you don't already) eases this issue for r9rr significantly - properly addressed r9rr wins again

- Soloing TT bosses that spam debuffs and purge is much less complicated at 5 aps and I find is often worth it even though doing less damage. Alternatively, switching to tankier gear, using chill and skill spamming with r9rr seems to work out very well (Grr 3-3 Steelation) but takes a bit longer and a good chunk of an mp charm - I consider this a tie and you didn't mention TT as one of the "farming" runs you'd be on

- Any boss with the anti APS buff is a bit of a nightmare with r9rr and an APS set (unless you have higher refined and sharded gear) while NV3 @ 5.0 seems to handle this a little better. Personally I switch to my full NV3 gear +r9rr daggers, toss on chill and skill spam and take agro from almost any APS user regardless of their weapon until chi management becomes harder 2-3 sparks in (I'm outta practice since my r8 days lol) but I can only think of a couple times where the boss lasted this long. I keep a handful of chi pots (genie could work too but for me it's a waste of a spot for the few bosses it helps out with) on hand and this problem seems to have vanished since - Again properly addressed, r9rr wins

Final thoughts:

I love my NV3 daggers! I was lucky and got 2x int when they were first recasted. But as my gear refines get higher and I get better at the chi management required of r9rr, NV3 will soon be gathering dust in the bank (kinda wish they were lunar now lol). If you've already got your r9rr daggers the time spent farming badges for rerolls to get 2x int is probably better spent getting comfortable with r9rr's chi shortcomings and squishing more badies. A slightly easier time with less circumstances then I can count on one hand wouldn't be worth the trouble of all the rerolls.

This actually helped me a bit as well. I was concerned about selling mt T3 +10 when i finish my r9rr dags, especially since, I don't have a tome, and I'm sage.

peckked wrote: »

I would suggest getting a pan gu first as the increase in aps (assuming you currently have 2.86/3.33ws) sees roughly the same dps increase as switching to r9rr (2.5/2.86ws), is half the price and will let you permaspark at 4.0.

I already had my r9rr dags, what I ment by finishing is summerwinds, badges and refining. I'm not spending 250m on a tome when I have more important gear peices. Honestly for me permasparking isn't a big deal, I still am able to farm very well w/o 4 aps, or even 3.33. My APS set is on the backburner until my r9rr set is finished and has some decent refines.

peckked wrote: »

I remember saying the same But now that I've been there and done that...

My experience: While I've geared up each step seemed like the best option at the time yet I could have done much better had I done certain things in a different order. To give a concrete example and one that may directly relate to your situation, I got my NV3 weapon within 2 weeks of NW beginning. Breaking the bank to make the upgrade it took a while before I could get some decent refines to surpass my old daggers. At the time an int tome could be had for about 2/3 what I paid for mine. Had I gotten the tome first and gotten the NV3 weapon say a month later after prices of raps had bottomed out, I would have saved (or earned from selling farmed supply tokens and farming more later) in the area of 150~200mil between the weapon and the tome and seen an immediate increase in my cash flow without having to worry about refines. Fast forward to today, the price of r9 3rd cast is slipping due to ever dropping supply token prices and constant rank sales, and the cost of the int tomes continue to rise.

As a sin that can obviously afford one, sooner or later you will eventually be getting an int tome. Only question really is when. If you farm PVE you may want to reconsider getting the int tome first as faster kills generally means faster income, or more badge runs in the same available time. Then again, if you primarily farm NW, or if you're only a hop, skip, and a jump from having your full 3rd cast r9 then maybe not.

Lastly, while APS is certainly not the end all and be all it once was, don't dismiss it so quickly. In PVE, a seeker can come close to matching, if not beat, an equally skilled/geared pure DPH sin in terms of DD on a boss. We're one of the purest forms of DD in game with the possibility of the highest DPS of any class. Forgoing APS is nerfing your potential in so many situations. I would suggest, if possible, borrowing an int tome from a friend, and I'll be surprised if you are as quick to toss aside the benefits of being able to permaspark while dealing 20% more DPS at 4.0. In the right circumstance (pretty much every boss), it IS a big deal. Consider, a demon sin doing 5.0 with NV3 will likely out DD you (I would have to double check to be sure) with your r9 3rd cast daggers at 2.5 at the same refine for 1/10th the cost. To me that's just... wrong.

Just food for thought.

Well I sold my traded my N3 for another +10 one w/ damage adds and 15m for some quick coin, then resold those for 200mil. Which I then used to +10 my r9.3 daggers, and get seoms stuff for alts with the bit of leftover coin. You are right about its just a matter of time before I get the tome. As for friends, I don't know anyone that would lend me anything except small amounts of coin. Someone offered to lend me a pangu before but they kept saying they have to find a spare and I eventually gave up and continued on my own. Money seems to be a bit hard to come by these days. I can't get hiogh amounts of tokens in NW because of all the OP ppl and the fact that I am a sin, and I can easily kill r9.3 seekers if they are not careful. When i pop out of stealth I have at least 7 people chasing me around trying to kill me. My TT90 mats aren't selling, so I have to farm other TT's which slows me down because I am not as familiar with the bosses.

I'm wondering what my next step is though. Work to get my r9.3 belt? Or get my R9 greaves? Or refine my helm to +10 from +7? I would shard my helm, but it has immacs because I do plan to Jade my helm and robe. I currently have 10 GST's and 3 MoG's, that I was saving for my belt. But I do admit I am a bit lost since my weapon is complete, until the rest of my gear is refined to +10.b:surrender