Brigand AA Help

[Gelu]

    Hey guys, I just started up a brig and wanted to find the best AA's for soloing. I've read through a lot of posts and am pretty sure I am going to go with STR/AGI but I was wondering what I should do for the EoF tree and which to go down first. If you could provide the specifics for Eof tree that would be great

[oneeyedlotus]

I recently started lvling a brig, I had a lvl 70 one but sold it when vanguard came out....but anyways i am working on a small AA leveling guide i parse myself constantly and tweak my AAs for maximum DPS.  i feel walk the plank is a must have for soloing as you exp so my builds start there. Lvl 53 atm so this is what i have as of today. this is me at 53 vs a lvl 57 mob over about a 15 sec fight AGI 4441 and WIS 4488 I DPS an avg of 482- This is with mastercrafted 1 hander Str 46482 and Agi 4441  I DPS an avg 548 - this is with DW mastercrafted And with both i can chain pull non-stop as long as i have power i dont use much per fight so id say 20 mobs between 1-2 min rests for power. I find these are good lvling up builds, theres alot more to the 1hnader at 70 fabled out but with mastercrafted this seems to work best.

[Gelu]

    Thanks a lot man, how long do you think it will take to get up to 70?

[TheSpin]

<p>I am only 64, and my character is only a month and a half old....but I do have 96 aa and I don't see any appeal in the wisdom line when you compare it to the STR and AGI line and here's why....</p><p>Walk the plank = awesome in solo and sometimes in group settings.  </p><p>Today for instance I had to drop stealth in a very specific spot and let a mob come to me before I could start the fight.  In addition I couldn't move behind the mob or I would aggro other mobs nearby.  Walk the plank is the only thing that made this fight possible. (It was in the temple of growth in new tunaria to harvest a statue for SoD, had to solo a 58^^^ at 64, I got hit twice I think).</p><p>End line ability in agility = more attacks when time matters.  </p><p>Brigands have a lot of attacks that must be executed quickly in order to maximize dps.  With the end line ability in agility line and the end of potency line I can get 3 combat arts off with walk the plank (and only 6 ranks in walk the plank).  In addition I can reliably get 2 attacks off for double up.  I can also stealth while getting hit and use my stealth attack quite reliably if fighting only one or two mobs.  All of this is in addition to the obvious...dispatch only lasts a limited time and the more combat arts you can fire while a mob is dispatched is a very big increase in damage.</p><p>As for the Strength line....the melee crit and the end line ability are both awesome...the end line ability is a must for raids.  Just about every brigand takes this line if they want to raid.</p><p>I'm a big fan of the Tactics and Potency line in the EoF tree. ....  Safehouse is one of the most powerful abilities in the game if used correctly, but I won't share my tricks of the trade here.</p><p>I believe I'm in the minority of the rogue community with being completely against the wisdom line (even before LU36)  but I hope I gave you a few reasons for you to consider.</p><p>I know that auto attack is also important, but in heroic content it's all about fitting in as many combat arts as you can.  In addition, once you get two fabled weaopns using duel wield is possibly better dps than the wisdom line once you factor in procs on the off hand weapon.</p>

[oneeyedlotus]

<cite>TheSpin wrote:</cite><blockquote> <p>Brigands have a lot of attacks that must be executed quickly in order to maximize dps.  With the end line ability in agility line and the end of potency line <u>I can get 3 combat arts off with walk the plank</u> (and only 6 ranks in walk the plank).  In addition I can reliably get 2 attacks off for double up.  I can also stealth while getting hit and use my stealth attack quite reliably if fighting only one or two mobs.  All of this is in addition to the obvious...dispatch only lasts a limited time and the more combat arts you can fire while a mob is dispatched is a very big increase in damage.</p></blockquote>just thought id build on this thought, walk the plank 1 CA, cheapshot 2CA's, Stun and finish your back and flanking CA's then if the mobs still alive you still have all your frontal attacks and depending on the lvl 1 more stun to use. I can kill any mob ( except red ons and yellow heroics) in 1 rotation of this in 15 secs-30 seconds depending on the mob of course. Solo this is the fastest way ive found to kill with minimum downtime. Just find yourself mobs around 3-4 lvls higher than you and stick with this formula and you can gain 1-2 a day solo with not to much playtime until your 50s, then it slows a bit but a lvl every 2 days seems what i get anymore, i play maybe 2-3 hours a day.  Check eq2i for the solo quest timelines and do them they will lvl you alot faster.

[Zetnorr]

So which  achievement page -  Rogue  or Brigand -  to start 1st I have a 27 Brig/27 Jeweler & about 21 aa's but not sure which page to start putting them in.Any suggestions would be much appreciated.  <img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Moongloom]

<p>I actually respects from Str/Agi to Agi/Stam.  I find that I am doing about as much damage as before but with much better survivability.    Yeah, the melee crit went down a bit but the increase in damage from some of the abilities in the Stam line make it up a bit.  But the defense buffs in the Stam line are so much better than the Str line.  (Of course having the shield helps too  <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />  </p><p>When we couldn't find a tank, I even tanked Kaladim for a bit.  That extra taunt sure does help out a lot.  </p><p>-edit</p><p>I'd say start in Rogue line.   There are those there that will help you out sooner.</p>

[TheSpin]

<cite>Moongloom wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>I actually respects from Str/Agi to Agi/Stam.  I find that I am doing about as much damage as before but with much better survivability.    Yeah, the melee crit went down a bit but the increase in damage from some of the abilities in the Stam line make it up a bit.  But the defense buffs in the Stam line are so much better than the Str line.  (Of course having the shield helps too  <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />  </p><p>When we couldn't find a tank, I even tanked Kaladim for a bit.  That extra taunt sure does help out a lot.  </p><p>-edit</p><p>I'd say start in Rogue line.   There are those there that will help you out sooner.</p></blockquote><p> I think the agility line is awesome for various reasons...and any raider will tell you how important the debuff at the end of the STR line is.  Also I don't feel the STA line and agility line compliment each other as well as str/agility  Agility has the attack from behind proc, but stamina makes you into a tank which wouldn't be behind the mob but rather in front.</p><p>I think any brigand who wants to raid absolutely needs a few things....End line ability in STR, Max extension on dispatch and end line ability in potency, and max improvements to amazing reflexes.  Aside from that it's personal favorite, I like agility, some like wisdom, and a few like stamina or int.  I personally will never go without safehouse, but some others would rather spend their points outside of the 'tactics' tree.</p><p>Now I know leveling up and raiding can have two different builds as it is easy to respec, but you'll find many of these abilities useful at all levels.</p>

[Moongloom]

<p>I agree that the Str end ability is great.  But with 2 other Brigands in my guild already that went either Str/Agi or Str/Wis then that ability is covered.  Besides I like to be a bit different and not a clone of all the other Brigands out there.  I should really be different and go Stam/Int.   <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />  But nah that is too opposite.  </p><p>Yeah, Stam is more for in front of the mob.  But even with Walk the Plank/Restrain you are still facing the mob more than you are puncturing its buttocks.  Not to mention that I took on 3 ^ solo Heroic mobs yesterday (Yeah it may not be awe inspiring <img src="/smilies/97ada74b88049a6d50a6ed40898a03d7.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> but it was more than I was doing when I was Str/Agi ) and won with a third of my health left over.  So only one of those mobs at a time would I see any kind of Backstab action.  The other two would be pounding on me.  So when you get those times when there is an add, it is better for me.  </p>

[TheSpin]

<cite>Moongloom wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>I agree that the Str end ability is great.  But with 2 other Brigands in my guild already that went either Str/Agi or Str/Wis then that ability is covered.  Besides I like to be a bit different and not a clone of all the other Brigands out there.  I should really be different and go Stam/Int.   <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />  But nah that is too opposite.  </p><p>Yeah, Stam is more for in front of the mob.  But even with Walk the Plank/Restrain you are still facing the mob more than you are puncturing its buttocks.  Not to mention that I took on 3 ^ solo Heroic mobs yesterday (Yeah it may not be awe inspiring <img src="/smilies/97ada74b88049a6d50a6ed40898a03d7.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> but it was more than I was doing when I was Str/Agi ) and won with a third of my health left over.  So only one of those mobs at a time would I see any kind of Backstab action.  The other two would be pounding on me.  So when you get those times when there is an add, it is better for me.  </p></blockquote><p>Now that I'm max AA, it's not walk the plank/restrain...it's Walk the Plank, dispatch, another attack, restrain, spam more attacks and use another stun just before restrain wears off, see if I can find anything else I haven't used yet and then use my last stun.   If the mob's still standing (which would only happen on a high green or better ^^^) then run off while getting both snares and my throw CA off and basically stall until more stuns come on refresh.  I rarely stand face to face with a mob.</p><p>As for taking on multiple mobs...I've learned that my master I band of thugs makes them into an ok group of offtanks...just cast it and use my deaggro and they go right for my iksar bruiser.... buys me 34.5 seconds or so to deal with what else I'm fighting. </p>

[Moongloom]

<p>I don't mind a little face to face.  With the end Agility ability I can get all of my backstab abilities off before it turns back around.  Admittedly, I may take a bit more damage but I heal back up as fast as my power goes back up.  </p><p>I do other than just Walk the Plank/Restrain.  But whichever other things you stick in there, it still ends up with those two abilities being used pretty close together.</p><p>I level really slow though.  Even though I have been playing since opening day+4, I am still only just 64.  So no Band of Thugs for me yet.   It takes me so long to settle on a class to play.  I try (and delete) many classes before I can settle on which I like the most.   Took me 2 years to settle on Mage in EQ1 and get it to end game.  </p>

[TheSpin]

There are some heroic mobs that can kill me in about 5 seconds of face to face fighting that I can in fact kill, but everything has to go just right or I'm a dead dorf.