Few bruiser questions.

[droma]

<p>Having played eq1 as a paladin I remember seeing monks running around dual wielding sticks and thinking, boy I picked the wrong class. Now after playing vanguard for a bit (at least i got a free copy from work) and cancelling, I have this free 2 months or however long to play eq 2. This time I get to be one of those cool iksar running around with sticks. Or at least I thought. Having read the boards a bit it seems unarmed with str AA is the way to go. Having only read a bit of the forums im not sure of a few things. For the following questions remember im only a lvl 10 bruiser. </p><p>Since I will probably be spending a good amount of time solo to get the best dps am I really going to need to fight unarmed?</p><p>Is there any way that I could be actually using weapons (like batons?<img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />) before lvl 60 (like around my current level) and still be doing better than unarmed? ..wow, thats one ugly smiley.</p><p>Since I will be soloing what sort of AA's should I be going after?</p><p>Any other suggestions as far as equipment/AAs/and the like would be appreciated. </p>

[Novusod]

You can go down the AGI line for AA's and get baton flurry which can do very good dps. When you hit level 12 you can buy master crafted batons from a woodworker. You might want to pick that as your crafting skill since you will need to upgrade your batons again at level 22, 32, 42, ect. Unless you are parsing yourself solo you are not really going to notice the slight drop in dps. If you do all the quests in the darklight woods zone you will get about 12 aa by the time you hit level 20.

[droma]

<p>Have to check out the AGI line then, thanks a bunch. Had to look up the darklight wood, unfortunately I started in freeport. Im already lvl 14 at this point and have 4 AA pts, is it worth it/possible atm to go out to darklight? Thanks again.</p>

[tt66]

<cite>droma wrote:</cite><blockquote>Is there any way that I could be actually using weapons (like batons?<img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />) before lvl 60 (like around my current level) and still be doing better than unarmed? ..wow, thats one ugly smiley.</blockquote>Short answer is : No You currently cannot do better DPS than going unarmed and 4/4/8 STR.

[Raidi Sovin'faile]

While you can do things to make your Batons "effective" (like Novusod said), and at certain level ranges if you get Mastercrafted or Legendary gear you'll equal or slightly edge out unarmed damage with the Strength line. However, unarmed is basically Free Legendary grade weapons that scale with your level, saving you a LOT of cash. The thing is though... if you intend to go with adornments, you may still want to go with twin batons anyways. It won't be "the best DPS", however you will get other things, like a lifetap proc, which is extremely nice for soloing or tanking. Combines damage and healing yourself at the same time, which gives a level of "value" beyond just damage. I'm level 70, and currently only have one fabled weapon and one legendary weapon (although my legendary weapon is lvl 70 and from EoF so it's pretty high quality). The main reason I use them tho is because of the lifetap and powertap procs I have on them, allowing me to solo/tank better, and dps for longer on raids from the power regen. So while unarmed might be better for straight up DPS, you may want to go with weapons anyways if you can get your hands on some decent utility from your weapons.

[droma]

<p>Okay, so say I stick with unarmed and the 4/4/8 STR and I come upon a couple of decent batons. This turns my str aa's into "wasted" points correct?</p><p>At this point im thinking of sticking with unarmed and str aa's until 20 or so then looking around at the available weapons. Once I find some good batons or whatnot would I want to respec my aa's (i believe this is the correct terminology) in order to support them or should I keep my str aa's for later use. I understand this may boil down to personal preference but I would like any input I can get. Also If I choose to go with weapons which line of AAs would be more useful? Novusod mentioned the AGI line, I understand you can get up to 50 points to spend so what other aa's should I be looking at?</p><p>as an added note I should say that im not strictly looking at dps now, just what would make soloing better/easier. A lifetap proc would be helpful, is there anything on lower level weapons like that, or a similarly useful utility? Thanks again.</p>

[Bobbette]

You asked about other lines ... The INT line is very helpful too. The 2nd AA will allow you to turn the mobs so you can fire off your back attack. The 3rd AA buffs your melee crits. The 4th AA buffs your avoidance (parry). The final AA gives you a ton of mitigation and a ton of melee crit buff if you drop below 30% (for those zomg I'm gonna die! moments & then you don't). If you're going to do strength line then do it all the way, the additional ripostes in the 4th AA will be helpful for your avoidance (and damage) ... and the bottom ability is another castable burst damage ability. If you go with batons then drop the strength line altogether.  Too many wasted points that could be better spent in one of the other lines.

[Novusod]

I would have to second the recommendation for putting AA's in the INT line. Eagle Shrike will save your behind more than any other ability and will give you more DPS when it counts than STR. I would go INT line first and than AGI line so you can get the most out of Baton type weapons. At level 14 Darklight woods is still better AA than any other T2 zone. When you hit level 20 you can do either Nek Forest or Butcherblock both of which have lots of solo quests that give AA.

[Kaedi]

One thing DLW has going for it is the 10 or so solo named mobs that give aa for killing them. 

[Bulzie]

I left FP early and went to Darklight and I'm glad I did for same reasons everyone is says, nice solo quests and named mobs that give good AA.  Even if you are higher level, there are tons of lower level chars there that you could group with, mentor and still get some AA xp. One thing I posted in another thread is I have tried the bare fisted Str AA line at lower level (I'm 16 now) and to me it does not work as well as using 2 nice procing weapons.  The reason is I don't have enough AA points to put in Str to get the double attack.  I currently have 4,4.  I think once I can get more AA it will be alot better then weapons but not until then.

[Couching]

The str line is over rated. The only advantage to get str line is that it's free. You can save money to update your weapons. That's it. From my test, when my bruiser hit lv52. I have respec str line to int line with 2 master crafted weapons with hp drain adornments. I got 300+ hp, 40+ str, 2 damage proc and 2 hp drain proc. Not to say, I got 18.1% critical hit from int line. The pure damage from str line is higher but if you consider extra 4 procs, extra 40 str and extra hp 300+ hp (will be extra 700 hp if you count in hp drain proc), str line is crap. I can solo faster and kill higher level heroic mobs with weapons rather than bare fist. Not to say, 16 points on str line is a waste since you can spend it on int and wis line. You can get extra 4% hp, crane flock and extra parry. It helps you a lot no matter solo or group. In other word, if you can't afford 2 master weapons and 2 adornments, str line is a viable choice. However, if money isn't a problem, get a pair of master crafted weapons with adornments and respec to int and wis line. You will be happy how tough you are than bare first.

[ganjookie]

you can also get the mastercrafted imbued chest and pants for more heal procs <img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />