i have 4/4/8 str...now what?

[afflictus]

<p>i am 32 now and i have 4/4/8 str aa's.  only thing is, now i don't know what aa tree to work on!  i try to group as much as possable as the offtank and chain puller.  any suggestions on which path i should go down? either the bruiser aa's or the monk general aa's.</p>

[tt66]

<cite>afflictus wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>i am 32 now and i have 4/4/8 str aa's.  only thing is, now i don't know what aa tree to work on!  i try to group as much as possable as the offtank and chain puller.  any suggestions on which path i should go down? either the bruiser aa's or the monk general aa's.  </p></blockquote>recommended AA progression for your first 50 AA points 1st point in favorable wind (natch). 2-17 points in STR until you are 4/4/8 STR 18-33 points in INT until you are 4/4/8 STR,  4/4/8 INT 34-41 points in INT until you are 4/4/8 STR,  4/4/8/6/2 INT 42-46 points in Bruiser Self Heal 46-50 points in Bruiser Group Taunt

[Thoral]

If you find yourself tanking for warlocks a lot, I recommend stopping the INT line at 4/4/8 and going 4/4/8 down the WIS line.  However, if you are not building your toon for tanking and encounter aggro management, then tt66's build is great! tt66 wrote: <blockquote><cite>afflictus wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>i am 32 now and i have 4/4/8 str aa's.  only thing is, now i don't know what aa tree to work on!  i try to group as much as possable as the offtank and chain puller.  any suggestions on which path i should go down? either the bruiser aa's or the monk general aa's.  </p></blockquote>recommended AA progression for your first 50 AA points 1st point in favorable wind (natch). 2-17 points in STR until you are 4/4/8 STR 18-33 points in INT until you are 4/4/8 STR,  4/4/8 INT 34-41 points in INT until you are 4/4/8 STR,  4/4/8/6/2 INT 42-46 points in Bruiser Self Heal 46-50 points in Bruiser Group Taunt </blockquote>

[Rayche]

<blockquote> 1st point in favorable wind (natch). 2-17 points in STR until you are 4/4/8 STR 18-33 points in INT until you are 4/4/8 STR,  4/4/8 INT 34-41 points in INT until you are 4/4/8 STR,  4/4/8/6/2 INT</blockquote> I solo mostly with my Bruiser, and will shortly start doing some small raids (Courts etc) with him. With that in mind, should I stick my last two KoS points into STR or INT? (I have 50 spent in the KOS tree already, but I went INT/STA.) I'm mostly looking for DPS/Survival. One more note, I have Cobalt fist wraps currently. Would the STR line be better DPS than using Cobalt and the STA line?

[afflictus]

<p>i am now lvl 37 and i have 4/4/8 str, then i went to EoF aa's.  i started with the knockout line with 3 stamp, 3 shoulder charge, and 3 into FD.  i am almost to my next aa and it will go into shiftyness.  i will then go back and get 2 more in FD then i will go back to shiftyness till it is maxed out.</p><p> the reason i am going this way, i like to pull and some times FD fails.  the faster i can FD again, the faster the extra mob leaves or the faster i drop agro to the MT.  i am just chomping at the bit to get shiftyness, as i usually pull agro near the end of the fight.  </p><p>thanks to all those who replied too.</p>

[Surly_Smurf]

<cite>Gojirax wrote:</cite><blockquote><blockquote>1st point in favorable wind (natch). 2-17 points in STR until you are 4/4/8 STR 18-33 points in INT until you are 4/4/8 STR,  4/4/8 INT 34-41 points in INT until you are 4/4/8 STR,  4/4/8/6/2 INT</blockquote> I solo mostly with my Bruiser, and will shortly start doing some small raids (Courts etc) with him. With that in mind, should I stick my last two KoS points into STR or INT? (I have 50 spent in the KOS tree already, but I went INT/STA.) I'm mostly looking for DPS/Survival. One more note, I have Cobalt fist wraps currently. Would the STR line be better DPS than using Cobalt and the STA line? </blockquote><p>I don't see you mention your specific level but I will give you a GENERIC response to the question of STR line. I believe the current logic states it is good to use the STR line up to about Lvl 60(+) because of the prohibitive cost of acquiring "Fabled" weapons along the first 6 Tiers, which will need to be replaced, regularly. It is hard to find a weapon which will match the Damage Rating (DR) of your fists unless you are using Fabled Weapons. It can certainly save you money (and harvesting time) if you aren't trying to replace your weapons with mastercrafted every new Tier. Likewise, when the level cap gets raised to 80, people may say it is best to go STR line up until 70. We'll see I suppose.</p><p> Since it is generally considered more practical to acquire Fabled weapons at T7 either through raiding or it finally being worth the money to invest in the cost of Fabled, this is the point many would recommend you move away from STR line. Since of course, your playstyle will dictate what AA's best suit you, along with what kind of Fabled Weapon you are using (staff, fists-based, etc) I cannot offer a "what then" scenario for your AA's. </p><p> If you are already Lvl 60 or higher, I would recommend against going STR line, if you plan to raid or want to buy Fabled.  You'd just end up wanting to respec again as soon as you get some fabled. You said you are using Cobalt so you could be anywhere from 52-59 as far as I know (maybe you're even 60+ and haven't upgraded your weapons??).  If you are 52 and you don't mind waiting for the cost to reset to 10g on the AA respec, it might be worth a shot. If you are 58,59 I am not sure I would go messing with it right now. Depends on your disposable income I suppose. Heck if you don't mind paying a plat right away you can respec and respec again if you don't like it!! =)</p><p> This is NOT to enter into the debate of whether it is better to have the Higher DR of bare-fists and lose the weapon stat buffs to empty weapon slots, and possible proc's from weapons. Each player must decide what give/take they want to live with. Personally, I have both a monk and a bruiser and I'm pretty happy with STR line, weaponless. Neither of them have reached Lvl 60, yet. =)</p>

[Tharangus]

<p>Well I've been weaponless since tier 5 and have been very satisfied with the results myself.  But a bruiser in my guild was stating that t7 legendary (not fabled) would out-perform what you'd get off the STR line.  That I am skeptical of but some decent parse data would be helpful.  That, of course, I don't have yet.</p><p>For me, it's not just a question of performance but also playstyle.  A lot of the brawler weapons I just don't like.  That and there's just something more satisfying wbout being able to smash things with your bare hands.  Do I plan to raid much with my bruiser?  Perhaps on occasion but I know I'll do more dps with my necro.  So, most likely not often enough to get something that would make respec'ing away from STR an option I'd consider... at least not for awhile.</p>

[Rayche]

Thanks for the input Surly_Smurf. Although, if you looked at my post, you'd notice my sig shows him as level 58 <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> (Which is accurate) The cost of respeccing isn't an issue. My question was where to spend the remaining two AA's since I have 50 available in the KoS tree.

[Surly_Smurf]

<cite>Gojirax wrote:</cite><blockquote>Thanks for the input Surly_Smurf. Although, if you looked at my post, you'd notice my sig shows him as level 58 <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> (Which is accurate) The cost of respeccing isn't an issue. My question was where to spend the remaining two AA's since I have 50 available in the KoS tree. </blockquote><p> The sig didn't show up in the reply/quote and by that point ...</p><p> Hahah. Me no look at Tiny fonts!!! <shrug> I just didn't even see those tiny letters. I'm old. Forgive my aging eyes. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[tt66]

<cite>Gojirax wrote:</cite><blockquote>My question was where to spend the remaining two AA's since I have 50 available in the KoS tree. </blockquote> The question of how to arrange your 50 KOS AAs in a fairly involved one, but I'll try to run through some of the basic concepts here. Usual "just my opinion" disclaimers apply. Firstly, some assumptions used in planning these setups. Just to show where I'm coming from. 1) Everything past "Relentless Punches" in the STR is a waste. (Deflecting Pincers is a miniscule 0.5/AA pt, and Chi has that ridiculous "bad karma" debuff) 2) Agility isn't worth it. (There are some who disagree, I appreciate this. But an 8% cooldown reduction and Altruism seem severely underpowered compared to the other trees). 3) Eagle's Fury is the best AA we have, and so any build will be at least 4/4/8 in INT. 4) Switching between three different weapon types for the 2nd tier AAs is way too much of a fuss. 5) If you're going to go for an endline ability, you might as well go for a second one, as putting only 9 points into a tree is kinda a waste. <b>Recommended AA Builds</b> 4/4/8 STR   4/4/8 STA   4/4/8/1 INT - <i>Unarmed DPS Build</i> For those without fabled weapons that want to max out their DPS. A popular build, as there isn't much else you can do if you want to go the barehanded route. 4/4/8 STA  4/4/8 WIS   4/4/8/1 INT - <i>Weapon DPS Build</i> The best way to do damage when you're holding a weapon. Still the preferred build for raiding, I believe. 4/4/8/6/2 WIS  4/4/8/7/2 INT - <i>Tanking / AE Build</i> Crane flock helps keep aggro on group encounters, and Eagle shriek gives a decent boost of mit if your health gets too low. A build to consider if you find yourself tanking a lot. 4/8/8/2/2 STA  4/4/8/7/2 INT - <i>All rounder Build </i>This is the build I'm currently playing with. I solo enough that Eagle shriek is of huge benefit, and raid enough that I have 8/8 in Mantis Star in an attempt to convince myself I'm useful to have along <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />  Mantis Leap is a fun trick to have in PVP, and can be used every minute to guarantee that my Kidney Punch will crit. Plus, there is no weapon-switching required!! Until recently, almost every Bruiser around was using one of the two first builds, depending on whether they liked to use bare-fists or weapons. Now that it only takes two points to get an endline ability, builds such as the third and fourth are more popular. Anyways, four builds to consider. Let me know what you think. EDIT : Upon further reflection, all of those builds are "endgame" builds and might not be best when levelling. I would suggest something like : 8/8/8/1 STR  4/4/8/6/2 INT - <i>Levelling Build</i>. Unlike the others, I haven't tried this build. But it occurs to me that if you have 9 points spare, maxing out strength (for damage and power) and the crushing debuff (for faster kills), isn't a terrible idea.

[afflictus]

<p>just my view here....</p><p>i feel that EoF aa's are better to put points into after the STR line, there is a direct increase to damage CA and a couple really useful skills.  i am trying to not be a carbon copy of all other bruisers and give my bruiser some unique flavor.  as stated above, after 4/4/8 str i went stomp 3, shoulder charge 3, FD 4, and shiftyness 1.  i am going to leave FD at 4 till after i have shiftyness 5 and 5 in both taunt aa's so i can unlock the deagro skill at the end of the attention line.  i feel with this set up i am set to group as a tank, offtank, or dps. </p><p>after i get the attention aa line done i will plug my aa's into the knockout line and get drag before i go back to the KoS aa lines.  </p><p>anyone else feel the same way about this?  anyone want to comment or critacize(sp?) about my planned aa set up?</p>

[tt66]

<cite>afflictus wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>just my view here....</p><p>i feel that EoF aa's are better to put points into after the STR line, there is a direct increase to damage CA and a couple really useful skills.  i am trying to not be a carbon copy of all other bruisers and give my bruiser some unique flavor.  as stated above, after 4/4/8 str i went stomp 3, shoulder charge 3, FD 4, and shiftyness 1.  i am going to leave FD at 4 till after i have shiftyness 5 and 5 in both taunt aa's so i can unlock the deagro skill at the end of the attention line.  i feel with this set up i am set to group as a tank, offtank, or dps. </p><p>after i get the attention aa line done i will plug my aa's into the knockout line and get drag before i go back to the KoS aa lines.  </p><p>anyone else feel the same way about this?  anyone want to comment or critacize(sp?) about my planned aa set up?</p></blockquote>Have to admit that I wouldn't have done it this way. By ignoring Eagle's Fury, you have missed out on 16% chance of a critical hit on <i>every single one </i>of your combat arts.. in favour of +15% damage to two of them. That doesn't seem to be that good a deal to me. Also, while shiftyness is a useful trick to have if you find yourself pulling aggro in groups, the endline deaggro is very very poor. Nothing wrong with trying to be a bit unique, but just remember that moving away from the "optimum" AA setups, means that your bruiser will be less effective than if he was a "carbon-copy". Certain builds are popular for a reason!

[afflictus]

<cite>tt66 wrote:</cite><blockquote>Have to admit that I wouldn't have done it this way. By ignoring Eagle's Fury, you have missed out on 16% chance of a critical hit on <i>every single one </i>of your combat arts.. in favour of +15% damage to two of them. That doesn't seem to be that good a deal to me. Also, while shiftyness is a useful trick to have if you find yourself pulling aggro in groups, the endline deaggro is very very poor. Nothing wrong with trying to be a bit unique, but just remember that moving away from the "optimum" AA setups, means that your bruiser will be less effective than if he was a "carbon-copy". Certain builds are popular for a reason! </blockquote><p> tt66, thanks for the reply.</p><p>the reason i went EoF aa as opposed to eagle's fury was not for the +15% damage, but for the improved FD and shiftyness.  i love to chain pull, so the improved FD is really, really nice as well as having a way to drop agro to the MT faster.  the endline deaggro does look rather poor, but i want to put 5 into each taunt aa anyway, so i will pick the deagro up because i will have 20 points in attention  :p  </p><p>and i am not all to worried about moving away from the optimum aa setup.  i do a good chunk of dps already with out the +crit, but i will pick it up when i get a bit higher level as i think +crit will be more important at 60+.  also i am trying to be a bit different than what i normally do with characters.  usually i power level to max level, min/max all important stats and skills, and end up at max level with nothing to do :p</p>

[Tharangus]

<cite>tt66 wrote:</cite><blockquote>1) Everything past "Relentless Punches" in the STR is a waste. (Deflecting Pincers is a miniscule 0.5/AA pt, and Chi has that ridiculous "bad karma" debuff) </blockquote> You can avoid bad karma if you cancel Chi before it expires, btw.

[tt66]

<cite>Tharangus wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>tt66 wrote:</cite><blockquote>1) Everything past "Relentless Punches" in the STR is a waste. (Deflecting Pincers is a miniscule 0.5/AA pt, and Chi has that ridiculous "bad karma" debuff) </blockquote>You can avoid bad karma if you cancel Chi before it expires, btw.</blockquote>*blink* Really? Seriously? I had no idea, thank you for the info. Well that's neatly messed up one of my major assumptions when it comes to AA lines!