Realistic Time Frame for CA AAs

[QuietRobot]

I'm really wanting to start a Mystic and try out the Combat line from the EoF tree. Thing is, I haven't really started a new character since since the Achievement System was in place. So my question is this -- how long, level-wise, would it take a very casual player to get to a point where the CA AA stuff starts being effective? I know there are lots of ways to get the points, and it seems that questing is the most effective way to grab 'em.  Maybe the better question is this -- how many points would I need to have to invest to start seeing a return? More than 35? More than 50?

[schmee]

hmm lets see. i saw a benefit the minute i started with a few points in our first CA, which is minimum 4 iirc, if not 1. the quicker casting/recycling of a CA version of our offensive spells starts working right away, although doesn't come close to being as effective as when we have all of them. assume 5pts for the earlier ones and 1 pt per for the ones down the tree to see what the bare minimum would be (i can't count them up cause i don't have the tree handy). seems to me 20-30 pts minimum to fill out enough in the EoF AAs to start seeing the benefits of the CAs the later benefits of filling out the shaman line (is sta chieftan? i forget) and filling out the combat EoF tree to get the to get the 100% melee crits and stuff is obviously a lot more like 50 pts total, but i was feeling very effective with the mystic melee route long before i filled those out. i still need some str line points for some of the haste and stuff to go all the way. by effective i mean what i couldn't dream of soloing before became very soloable. the end line benefits of parry + melee skill boosts & 100% melee crits really make a difference, but aren't required to be fairly effective with the melee route. thing is, if you're young, getting AA fast is a lot easier than it used to be, by doing all the solo quest lines (turning off exp until you do), making sure you down all the nameds you can for a given level before you grey them out - i see a lot of alts in my guild at level 50 with 70+ AA pts  where my 2 lvl 70s are still working on 75 AA pts. hope that helps.

[Sandain666]

Define very casual. One hour a day or a few hours just on weekends? At minimum you need to hit level 10 to start gaining AA XP. Also what do you mean by effective? The CA's do exactly what they say they will do. How "effective" they are will totally depend on your skills in using them. I admit some AA's sound great in the description but are next to useless in game but the combat AA give you exactly what they promise. No more and no less.

[Ruckuskro]

<p>I'm currently lvl 36 with 54 aa pts, which is not that much to other twinkers.  </p><p>I started out going through EoF to get the weapon mastery first.  Adding a couple here and there to get bear claw buff.  Once I got 21pts in there ( had xp disabled since lvl 10 and was lvl 19 or 20 I think)  I then went down the Agi line in KoS to get the final in there which takes 24 pts ( which I think i was closing to lvl 30 which after that got tired of the slow lvling and just turn xp back on)  </p><p>Going down the EoF line first is a no-brainer, but it's up to u whether u want to get the weapon mastery first or not.  You can always go down the EoF til you get all 4 CA's at a 3pt min and go for the 100% crit right away.  But be aware that without "Weapon Mastery",  ur hit accuracy will drive u nuts somtimes, especially when taking on things even con or above.  </p><p>Disabling ur xp and going the aa route is time consuming at the same time rewarding.  You'll get aa abilities early on but u'll most likly get left behind by most ppl due to u just lvling off of discovery xp and quests.  It's also fun to actually do as many quests because u'll be able to experience allot of content that u usaully wouldn't just grinding in lvls.  </p><p>The amount of time it will take u to get to ur goal is up to ur amount of time playing.  Just remember that lvling up will almost at times take twice as long as normal.  If battlepriest is what u really want to be, then aa grinding will let u get that experience as early as lvl 30.</p>

[QuietRobot]

Yeah, I forgot to define my idea of casual -- probably 2 hours per day on my work days and then substantially more on my days off, perhaps 15 to 17 hours per week. Anyway, I appreciate the good responses. It seems that I should be able to get some work done on the AA side of things without too much trouble. I have really wanted to play a healer for the longest time, but my tank (a berserker) was just too much fun for me to change over. So this route sounds promising. But now I have a different question. Does disabling your combat experience affect your quest experience? If so, how does it work? With all of my alts, I've just always gotten the majority of my experience via questing instead of grinding. So it sounds like if I stick to that, I'll be maximizing AA gain. But will turning off combat/adventuring experience affect that even more? Or does disabling the combat/adventure xp also disable xp gain from quests? I'm so confused.

[Dragonreal]

<cite>QuietRobot wrote:</cite><blockquote>Yeah, I forgot to define my idea of casual -- probably 2 hours per day on my work days and then substantially more on my days off, perhaps 15 to 17 hours per week. Anyway, I appreciate the good responses. It seems that I should be able to get some work done on the AA side of things without too much trouble. I have really wanted to play a healer for the longest time, but my tank (a berserker) was just too much fun for me to change over. So this route sounds promising. But now I have a different question. Does disabling your combat experience affect your quest experience? If so, how does it work? With all of my alts, I've just always gotten the majority of my experience via questing instead of grinding. So it sounds like if I stick to that, I'll be maximizing AA gain. But will turning off combat/adventuring experience affect that even more? Or does disabling the combat/adventure xp also disable xp gain from quests? I'm so confused.</blockquote>It only blocks xp gain from killing a mob; doesn't do a thing to quest/discovery xp.

[Ordate]

<cite>QuietRobot wrote:</cite><blockquote>Yeah, I forgot to define my idea of casual -- probably 2 hours per day on my work days and then substantially more on my days off, perhaps 15 to 17 hours per week. Anyway, I appreciate the good responses. It seems that I should be able to get some work done on the AA side of things without too much trouble. I have really wanted to play a healer for the longest time, but my tank (a berserker) was just too much fun for me to change over. So this route sounds promising. But now I have a different question. Does disabling your combat experience affect your quest experience? If so, how does it work? With all of my alts, I've just always gotten the majority of my experience via questing instead of grinding. So it sounds like if I stick to that, I'll be maximizing AA gain. But will turning off combat/adventuring experience affect that even more? Or does disabling the combat/adventure xp also disable xp gain from quests? I'm so confused.</blockquote><p> Yah, much to my dismay there is really no way to turn off quest and discovery xp.  My poor arasi bruiser knows some guards all too well in my quest to have 100aa before level 30.  This is the only way that I know to slow down quest and discovery xp (xp debt) but even that doesnt stop it.</p>

[rumblepants]

<p>You'll see the difference once you have your first 9 achievement points. You'll need at least 3 in Chilling Strike to get to your next CA, and another 3 to one of two abilities to get to the next set (the others you can just put in 1 point). It's night and day comparing between the two. XP lock your character so that quests don't grey out fast and you have more chances to get achievement XP. </p>