looking for suggestions with AA

[Sebastien]

<DIV>OK I am reaching a point where I feel like I need to have a gameplan for my axp.  I am holding onto 5 or 6 achievement points atm because I am not sure where to put them.  My original idea was to put points in the STR line first and foremost.  I liked the idea of building on the hybrid aspect of the class, and I figured the free added damage and effects would help my soloing a lot.  So currently I am 4/4/4/4 into STR.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>What I've been learning so far is that, when I'm actually grouped with other people, it is kind of pain for me to try to have my auto attack landing most of the time.  I am of course casting spells, which is time when I'm not auto-attacking.  And sometimes I have to flip my targets around a lot, as you know when you heal, so again this can interfere with my autoattacking.  The net result is that I'm really not sure how much, if any, benefit I get from the STR line while grouping.  I used to think that was ok, because I do solo often, but since I got Strike of Thunder, I am starting to see that my nukes will always do a ton more damage than my autoattack, even with hastes and double-attacks, etc.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>So.. should I quit while I'm ahead?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>What I definitely DO want to do is emphasize the offense aspects of the class.  One of my guildmates is making a more pure/dedicated healer, so I want to be just backup healer / additional dmg.  Should I go into INT instead?  And then maybe take some points in STA for heal crits and added hp?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>And then what about the Fury axp tree?  If I stay with STR, I guess working toward animal form is a must.  But once I got strike of thunder I immediately saw the value in reducing that casting time via achievements.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I guess I am at a crossroads and not sure whether to push the melee/solo concept all the way, or shift gears and really go for nuker/healer hybrid.</DIV>

[kcirrot]

My plan is INT 8/4/8/8 and I use a hammer.  This give me a 36% chance for critical spell damage.Additionally I've went down the energy line for Fury.The result is that my DPS has about doubled.  And it was good before.  <span>:smileywink:</span><div></div>

[Sebastien]

<DIV>Yah that is sort of what I'm starting to see.  Up until recently, the DoT's have been nice but my overall dps has been modest.  Once I got that nuke I realized that I had much more potential to increase my DPS through nuking than I ever will through melee.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>So at this point the only virtue of melee for me is that its free.  But I don't usually hear furies complaining about being out of Power, so perhaps I overstated this concern in my head.  The other nice thing about the melee is the group aoe heal proc, again free, but in a real group, the bottom line is that I'm not auto attacking enough to really get a tremendous mileage out of this.</DIV>

[Boli32]

My advice: Either go all spell... or all melee.Spell wise its full crits, enargy vortex the entire shbang.  Melee wise, its maxing out the str line (I took 488<img src="/smilies/b2eb59423fbf5fa39342041237025880.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> and taking 'animal form'.At 16% chance to proc (8 ranks) the group heal procs more than you might think, and the higher your haste the more it procs per min. In groups witout mana regen (particually with ring events) the heal proc + single target regen + manastone is often enough to keep your group alive almost indefinatly when you run short of power.Of course I never run out of power now... running in with animal form intermitatly the heal procs works a treat to help keep my group alive so I can animal form for longer.Solo wise I would say you can take on more mobs quicker with the melee path, but the big named the spell aproach wins. In all it depends if you LIKE getting toe to toe with the mob or prefer the mage spell appraoch... either are viable.<div></div>

[Cica]

<P>Yes i kindof have the same problem, cant decide if i want to go down the str line and get animal form with it or go the int way, i like the added grp heal procs in str line and animal form the power regen sounds sweet, but im afraid that i cant raise my str high enough to do ok dps. While int is so much easier to increse with our buffs and gear. Im talking only about gear thats primary stat is wis and then int so much easier to find then gear with wis & str. Right now im on the int line and thinking about swithing to str, but dont think my str would be high enough. And i dont want to sacrafice wis for it. Anyone can tell me if the str line works ok even if you dont have alot of str gear ? Thank you for any advice. </P> <P>Wanted to add i mostly grp and raid. And if anyone can tell me if animal form works well on raids would be great too <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> </P> <P> </P><p>Message Edited by Cica on <span class=date_text>01-04-2007</span> <span class=time_text>01:06 PM</span>

[Sebastien]

<DIV>I did seem to me like a lot of leather armor that promoted STR was restricted to brawlers.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I guess I feel more intrigued by the STR/animal route, but the INT route seems like less of an uphill battle, and I think I would enjoy either.</DIV>

[Boli32]

You don't need <i>that</i> much str to do ok dps Furys can get to 200 haste easily, I think I have around 200 str self buffed... but I do amazing damage melee wise as I can get my haste very high... procs go crazy when you are running around with that much haste... animal form or not. If a Dirge is in my group or a brigand debuffs the mob I do about 1k dps on autoattack with animal form... and there is <i>no</i> chance of me <i>ever</i> getting agro.Spell wise you'll do more damage but agro is a problem.<div></div>

[PsycoSWG]

<DIV>I went down int, got 8448 right now..also went down energy for added DPS (shorter cast times, etc.) and working my way towards that hibernation AA. For a pvp server that hibernation AA seems almost necessary in order to survive the burst DPS from rangers, etc. </DIV>

[Cica]

<P>Thank you for the answers.</P> <P>My str is 246 and my int is 608 self buffed. I could prolly raise str a bit more if swithing gear around but i would lose int ofcourse. And i read it somewhere on warden forums some wardens have 500+str (not sure if that was with a grp tho) so thats why i thought with my str that low i cant make any dps if i go str but i guess i will just test it for myself. LOL just didnt want to get to the point where i have to pay a plat or something for changing my AA's hehe <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />  </P> <P> </P>

[Kardg]

<DIV>I've read the varying opinions and different results but I can't find a more effective setup than STA/INT in the KoS tree (No final abilities). Maxed out heal crits, spell crits and added Focus & Disruption. Maxed out the energy line, picked up some ehanced root from Hindering and put the rest in Animalism for the buff improvements. I have no problem switching from any type of activity in this setup. Solo farming, grouping or raiding. I'd guesstimate my stats are similar to yours and I wouldn't dream of auto-attacking. I've got 600+ int for a reason. With spell damage crits and healing crits its pretty tough to bring down a Fury. With energy vortex you can really lay waste to anything with your spells, your auto-attacks can't compare. From my perspective I feel as though they added a root to our book in order to help us keep our distance and nuke or heal.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I personally think the KoS STR line is garbage for a lot of classes I find it funny its even available on my Coercer. I mean every class appears to have some melee potential but why pigeon hole yourself into melee gear/AA's so you can mix it up toe to toe, while when all things are considered even we are better casters. You risk the potential of gimping your ability to do more in a variety of situations. Of course this is just my opinion and I know diversity is important. At the end of the day if I feel as though my character is optimal to my standards I'm happy. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>So if you enjoy melee and want those auto-attacks go for it. I'd put my vote in with magic.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV><p>Message Edited by Kardgar on <span class=date_text>01-05-2007</span> <span class=time_text>12:08 PM</span>

[Sebastien]

<P>STA/INT was what I was thinking, once I finally commit to my first respec.  Right now I still have those points in STR.  I think it would be a mistake to consider our STR line to be garbage, and especially if you get a 16% chance to proc free aoe heals, and couple that with animal form for agro loss / energy regen, you have a nice build.</P> <P>So I wouldn't call it garbage at all, but I do think I will be going sta/int for the reasons you cited.  I like the in-combat movement buff from WIS, but to be honest I do not enjoy kiting, not even sure how necessary/feasible kiting would be in EQ2 anyway, and I'm not on a PvP server, so..   Surprising tho that Stamina and not Wisdom gives the heal crit rate.</P> <P>As for the EoF tree, I'm more divided.  I think I'm going to take the shortened cast and cooldown time on the nukes, because a 3sec cast time on the main one was just too extreme.  But I'm not sure where I will want to put the other points.</P>

[Kardg]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Sebastien wrote:<BR> <P>STA/INT was what I was thinking, once I finally commit to my first respec.  Right now I still have those points in STR.  I think it would be a mistake to consider our STR line to be garbage, and especially if you get a 16% chance to proc free aoe heals, and couple that with animal form for agro loss / energy regen, you have a nice build.</P> <P>So I wouldn't call it garbage at all, but I do think I will be going sta/int for the reasons you cited.  I like the in-combat movement buff from WIS, but to be honest I do not enjoy kiting, not even sure how necessary/feasible kiting would be in EQ2 anyway, and I'm not on a PvP server, so..   Surprising tho that Stamina and not Wisdom gives the heal crit rate. <FONT color=#00cc00>I wasn't directly saying ours specifically was garbage but I find most STR lines for Priest/Mage classes unrealistic considering actual play not a modified form. Obviously this is my personal opinion and will invariably differ from person to person and their playstyle. I can't imagine my Fury up there toe to toe in a raid taking unnecessary damage when I can nuke and heal for more (no interupts, stuns, stifles & damage) while safely standing back a bit. Kiting is both necessary and feasible. I'm not sure if you play any other classes, but kiting is widely used and practiced daily. If you plan to solo any real hard hitting mobs you'll definately not want to be in range to be beat on. Poet's Palace comes to mind. You'd never be able to kill Arysnor or his eye without rooting & kiting. My Coercer couldn't win a challenging fight without, mez, root kiting.</FONT></P> <P>As for the EoF tree, I'm more divided.  I think I'm going to take the shortened cast and cooldown time on the nukes, because a 3sec cast time on the main one was just too extreme.  But I'm not sure where I will want to put the other points.  <FONT color=#00cc00>I'd definately go deep into the energy line & recommend going for the buff improvements with the rest of the tree and if you play with root and learn to like it, get some hinderance.</FONT></P> <P> </P><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR><p>Message Edited by Kardgar on <span class=date_text>01-08-2007</span> <span class=time_text>07:37 AM</span>