NEW Brigand needs *enlightenment* [Archive] - EQ2 Forum Archive @ EQ2Wire

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Knove

05-13-2009, 04:46 AM

Hi all I'm a new EQ2 player!So my first character is a brigand and im now lvl27, but still there are a lot of things I don't quite understand, I hope someone could gimme some advice <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />I've been using the quest rewarded gears from Gorowyn till lvl27, feeling quite weak surviving in Nektulos forest in order to complete the armor quests. Finally I've competed that and have my set of custom armor, preparing to rock... BUT I can barely solo two lvl25 mobs x_x with that armor set... and it makes me think of my stat priority for the first time...As all my AAs have been spent on the pirate (agi) tree, so I decided to pump my agi by purchasing gears closer to my level, making it 2:3:1 Str:Agi:Sta ratio... and it doesn't help much..Also, I've read that most of you recommend smaller delay weapon, so I replaced both my 3.0 delay quest rewarded (but higher max damage) ones with 1.5 delay broker sold daggers (less max damage)... And it failed :T*My question is, am i going to the wrong direction by pumping agi and using small delay weak weapons?I'm now thinking about respec-ing into Str tree, pump Str and making my Str:Agi:Sta ratio something like 3:2:1 / 3:2:2, will I be much better off? or its the design of the game that you must party to kill same level mob after level 20?Really appreciate your help! <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> I know this is a long passage but the main points are jsut gears and stat. Thanks!

Backpayne

05-13-2009, 10:25 AM

Greetings!First off, agility helps with avoidance and your power pool so for the most part you can put it at about 4th in priority.Secondly, max out your strength as that directly affects your melee damage.For a decent walkthru on the brigand class, check eq2flames in the class discussion area for the How to be a Brigand thread (its stickied at the top) which will give you the AA spec, casting order, target gear at 80, etc.For lower levels, aim mostly for strength gear as it will give you the biggest bang for the buck. Try to stun lock the mob as much as you can using Walk the Plank to turn it initially. There are two CA's that help here. One prevents the mob from changing the direction it is currently facing and the other is a stun+damage. Cheap shot also applies here. Watch your duration timers on the maintained window to help maximize the duration of the stuns. Spin > a couple damage CA's > Cheap shot > more damage > stun+dmg CA > more damage > prevent mob from changing direction > more damage.... you get the picture. If you run out of stuns and the mob is still alive, you can always use your snare line and run it around for a few seconds while your CA's refresh.Make sure you are running poisons at all times. The master crafted caustic (player made) poison is the best bet for damage overall but running vitality breach can help if you are having issues staying alive.Check each CA closely and make sure you understand what it does and try to combo things up. Debuff the mobs defense and parry asap so that it dies faster.Brigands can be a really fun class once you get used to them, just make sure you check out that flames thread as it contains a LOT of vital information.BP

Dareena

05-13-2009, 11:19 AM

Well as mentioned, the EQ2 Flames thread do carry a lot of information. Just mentally tune out the various posturing and ego that you may find on that sight.But let me try to give you some quick answers to your questions.1) Never used low delay weapons. Period. All of your 80th weapons will be at a 4.0 delay. Grab a 4.0 slashing and a 4.0 piercing weapon (to dual wield). (I'm blanking on their names.) Buying Mastercrafted versions of those ever level tier (w/ Glimmering Strike procs) and you'll be set until 80th (where you'll switch out for real weapons). (This will train your to use your final weapons to their best effect since you'll be used to their timing. Also 4.0 weapons are great since you can use a 2-3 CA in between auto attacks and still not throw off your auto rythme. Lossing the rythme means losing DPS potential.)2) Never use gray armor. Always make sure that you're using at least the cheap Handcrafted chain armor at each new tier. Though if you can afford it, I'd suggest Mastercrafted instead. 3) For jewelry, look on the broker for (relatively) cheap pieces that provide +CA damage. Since I've recently started to level a bruiser alt, I've been amazed at just how readily this stuff is available (starting at about 27-29). The +CA benefit is usually more important that the actually stat benefits of those jewelry pieces. (Also the level 28th +1 Melee Crit cloak from the Crushbone Keep quest is very nice. It'll be the only +MC gear that you'll find until 47th with the revamped Everfrost gear. Then after that, it won't show up again until your high 60's with the Necklace of Shadowy Strikes at 68th.)4) Always make sure that your combat arts are at least Apprentice IV or greater. These can be found on the broker or made by any jeweler for almost nothing. Though in an ideal world, you'd want Adept III art for your primary abilities.5) Make sure that you spend at least x5 pts into the Agility tree so that you'll have the base version of Walk the Plank. After that, I would sugggest that you finish out the Strength tree. Then I'd personally move back to the Agility tree. Though I'm a fan of respec'ing to use the Intelligence tree after 70th (for it's end line Feign Death ability) for your solo AA build, it isn't worth it (in my opinion) at the lower levels. (I only use Stamina in my group / raid AA build post 70th for the net +8% health ability. Regardless of it's shield bonuses, I still dual wield in my group spec.)6) Your mana pool comes from both Agility and Strength. Though the main part is Agility based, a nice chunk is still Strength based. Combined with the fact that Strength affects all of you CA and auto attack damage output, it's your most important stat. Intelligence will also raise your damage output of proc and poison (proc) damage.7) Stun locking and knock downs are you friends. If you're getting hit much in return, then you're probably doing something wrong. Or you're jumping something that's a bit tougher than your average opponent. Either way, be selective about picking your fights. We can easily lock down a single opponent and crush it, but obviously can't do that if we're getting two (or more) mobs are the same time. (Though in the case of group linked mobs, you're want to kill the dps mobs as fast as possible.)Hope that helps. Do some online research at the various EQ2 sites for more information. Also don't ever be afraid to ask potentially dumb questions. We all had to learn these things at some point.EDIT<img src="/smilies/b2eb59423fbf5fa39342041237025880.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Almost forgot this last key. Offensive Stance is our friend. Interrupt procs (with bonus damage) are good. Also it increases our weapon skill. The higher our weapon skill, the more likely that all of our CA and auto attack swings will hit. This is especially important since you never want to miss with your key CA. (This includes Walk the Plank, various stuns, important debuffs, and our various high damage CA.) Defensive Stance can still be used for green mobs (and blue mobs so low level that they're almost green) since our weapon skill margin is usually enough. But otherwise I'd suggest that you permanently live in Offensive. Having lowered defenses doesn't mean much when you've got a mob locked down to the point that it can't swing back.

Goonch

05-13-2009, 12:24 PM

<cite>Dareena@Lucan DLere wrote:</cite><blockquote>Just mentally tune out the various posturing and ego that you may find on that sight.</blockquote>Heh. I resemble resent that statement!Seriously though great post above to follow above until you get to 80. Flames can help you a lot more once you are there. The tips and tricks thread may be useful but most of the other stuff there is geared towards end game.The main points I agree with or would add to is...<ol><li>Mastercrafted everything will be the way to go for the most part unless you get legendary or fabled upgrades from leveling.</li><li>Grind as much AA as possible now so you don't have to do as much later..</li><li>Get Adept 3s of everything</li></ol>

Knove

05-13-2009, 12:47 PM

Thanks for all the tips! <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" />One thing i wanna say is EQ2 has a really nice community, tho cause I'm not a native english speaker myself I dun understand everything said in the main chat, but at least I know people are not firing at each other all the time and are willing to help which is good <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" />So I guess the first thing Imma wanna do is to purchase longer delay higher damage weapons (one for slashing and one for piercing) and try to pump str instead of agiBut about the rest I think i still have 2 more questions:1. I've got opinions about getting sailwind asap before going down str tree, n i personally think thats right, so is it recommended doing so?2. I've actually tested out the basic mechanics: Stun > Debuff (off)> HO > debuff (def) > position lock(black jack)> jump to the back of target>all dmg CA from behind> (if not dead, which is most of the cases)> dual dagger atk CA.... n it worked so so, not that efficient, any comments? OR one big question: should i always start with HO n do it again once its up in order to maximize damage? I can't seem to find a way to constantly lock the mob at my level (because of the recast time) I think i need more work on that myself but a bit of advice would be nice hehe ;DThanks for your time again!

Dareena

05-13-2009, 01:48 PM

Well those questions are kind of opinion based for their answers. But here's my point of view.1) Sailwind is nice. Very nice. Definitely worth having whether you're soloing or grouping / raiding. I use it in all of my AA builds. But... (Yes, there is a but.) Melee Critical is your most important special stat to worry about. Period. The Strength tree is your only way to get Melee Critical through AA. Maxing out this AA option is your most important priority (after getting Walk the Plank). MC affects all melee CA (which is almost all of them) and all of your auto attack swings. This is what you need to focus on.2) Heroic Opportunities. Hmm... Well this might sound like blasphemy to some brigands, but I have never used them. Ever. They forced me to use my arts in combinations that I didn't personally agree with at the time. I'll use whatever art patterns that I see fit (as they are called for in the situation). While some raids request that you use HO mid raid since it's supposed to theoretically increase the drop rate of chests, that's the only time that I use them.3) How do I start combat? Either I pull them with our ranged knock down combat art for free incoming damage or I use our stealth attack (which debuffs strength). When speed pulling, I try to alternate the two so that one will always be up. Then I'd either WTP or Cheap Shot. If my rear attacks were up, then I'd use them at this point. Otherwise using Cheap Shot will still prevent incoming damage while you kill your stunned target. Actually I use our quick reuse CA that debuffs attack speed, followed up by Cheap Shot, in most of my standard soloing targets as they're coming into melee with me. Though if you're fighting a named mob or a white / yellow target, then I make our parry debuffing CA my first priority.

Knove

05-13-2009, 11:19 PM

Wow thx for the advice! <img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Without HO in the way i think ill can adapt my CA more practicallytime for me to spend some time on money grinding to upgrade everything x_x