Should I be using a shield ?

[yahwob]

<p>Hi,</p><p>Just hit level 30 and was fighting in Zek when another Inquistor saw me and said I should be using a shield and not a two handed crushing weapon like i was.</p><p>Is he right? I'm mostly soloing at the moment so dps is important to me.</p>

[Calain80]

No you are doing it just right. You actually even want to be hit, so the reactive damage spells trigger and the two handed weapon will do a lot more damage. For some hard (probably heroic) encounters it can help to equip a shield for a higher survivability, but as long as that is not a problem a two handed weapon is the way to go.

[Dareena]

<p>As it has already been stated, 2-handers are the way to go.  The exceptions to this general rule are when you're in hard core healing mode for a heroic dungeon or at max level when you're wielding your 1-hand epic (for heroic+ content).  But even then, top level Inquisitors still use 2-handers when soloing.</p><p>Though if you're specifically spec'ed as a power caster and not melee spec'ed, then I could see the 1-hander and shield.  But if someone is going that route, then I'd question why they're playing an Inquisitor in the first place.</p>

[S_M_I_T_E]

<p>2H's all the way up past lvl 50 solo is definately the right direction. </p><p>The only time a 1H and a shield becomes comparable to the 2H for certain situations is at the endgame when you have booku AA's and your Myth which is only slightly less DR than some of the fabled 2H's floating around. </p><p>At that stage you effectively have a choice of soloing with nearly capped haste and DPS while maintaining 55% mitigation / 35% avoidance w/ your 1H and shield vs 55% mitigation / 20% avoidance with your 2H. </p><p>Your 1H at that stage has cool double cast effects, click -cure, proc immunes, etc. and your AA shield line has a single mez.  Any single mob the 2H will be fine but some of the linked or (unfortunate times you get adds) can hurt you quick and a Myth / Shield requires less effort/focus to kill/live.</p>

[Calain80]

<p>Even if you have the Myth it is better to use a two handed weapon for soloing most of the time: Just get the Dogwood Staff (same mob as the one to get the Myth) and get 10% avoidance for wearing a two handed weapon. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/b2eb59423fbf5fa39342041237025880.gif" border="0" /></p><p>Only if you are fighting heroic mobs that hit hard or cast a lot of negative effects it is worth to switch to the Myth.</p>

[Mew]

<p>Use a two hander for solo.</p><p>Use a 1 hander and shield for groups/raids <strong>IF</strong> you get a weapon and shield that has a heal bonus or provides a very important resist bonus against the mobs you are fighting.</p><p>When I group I generally stick with my two hander.  I am not afraid to wade into the thick of battle!  After all, killing mobs faster is just a form of pre-emptive healing!  <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/97ada74b88049a6d50a6ed40898a03d7.gif" border="0" />   I can add a pretty decent chunk of dps to a fight.</p>

[S_M_I_T_E]

<p><cite>Mewse wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>After all, killing mobs faster is just a form of pre-emptive healing!  <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/97ada74b88049a6d50a6ed40898a03d7.gif" border="0" />  </p></blockquote><p>Spot on!</p><p>/agree</p>

[tarb]

<p>So what stat do we want on our 2 handers? and is wis still our most important stat? It sounds like Inquisitors melee alot for thier damage so would we want str? thank in advance.</p>

[Pyra Shineflame]

<p>Typically I go for str, to the expense of everything else as I'm used to just being able to shore up the difference with jewelry and armor. Wis is still a very important stat though, don't get me wrong, but I go for str first.</p>

[Dareena]

<p><cite>tarb wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>So what stat do we want on our 2 handers? and is wis still our most important stat? It sounds like Inquisitors melee alot for thier damage so would we want str? thank in advance.</p></blockquote><p>That's a subjective question.  What level are you?  Also do you usually solo or group / raid?  If you're close to the level cap, then I'd have one answer.  Or if you're leveling up, then I'd answer another way. </p><p>Up until about 50th, my soloing gear build uses trash jewelry pieces from the broker that give +CA / +Spell.  (Though I still always used the MC Str and Wis rings.)  This gear build is supplemented using a Str/Sta/Wis MC 2-hander and MC armor.  I use a hybrid of 3-4 pieces from the Str/Sta/Int and Sta/Int/Wis sets depending on my current stat balance.  (Prior to the Str/Sta/Int armor being available, I used Str/Agi/Sta.)  My hex dolls were Str and Sta, which I typically use instead of any other charms.  (They're used for general stats and for killing ^^^ nameds.)</p><p>By the time that I hit 52nd, I switched out my trash jewelry since my auto attack rate had surpasssed the CA damage bumps from the old jewelry.  Other than the FBSS, I stated wearing MC Str/Agi/Sta jewelry.  (Once again, I still kept the Str and Wis rings.)  Now having more than enough Sta from my jewelry, I switched my 2-hander to Str/Wis.  Between the +DPS symbol and consistently using the +DPS neck adornement (at every tier), I can solo like a house on fire and mow through content.</p><p>Now please keep in mind that this kind of gear build is mostly self sufficient through a Phantom Shod adornment and our mana stealing proc buff.  Your goal is to have such a high auto attack rate that it doesn't really matter if you're mana inefficient.  The only time that I really feel the limits of my mana pool are long named fights where I have to root and fear multiple times to kill the mob.  In those situations, I'll only have a little mana left by the time that I've killed the mob. </p><p>Also bear in mind that this gear build is designed for solo leveling and doesn't have the capacity to be a truly effective heal bot for grouping.  For your average low to mid level dungeon group, the soloing gear build should still usually work since it's designed to dps and debuff a mob down before healing becomes an issue.  But if you're the solo healer in a white con (or higher) dungeon, then you're not going to be able to keep up as a healer.</p><p>Once you get near the level cap, my gear philosophy changes since you'll be expected to mainly group and raid.  But that's another subject entirely and it doesn't side like that's your question.</p>

[tarb]

<p>Very nice info thx alot, The idea of a melee dps healer sounds like alot of fun, whats AAs do you reccomend to go melee heavy?</p>

[Dareena]

<p><cite>tarb wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Very nice info thx alot, The idea of a melee dps healer sounds like alot of fun, whats AAs do you reccomend to go melee heavy?</p></blockquote><p>Once again, that's a very subjective question.  But here's a break down of the melee aggressive build that I've been using.  I've tried to list them in order.</p><p>AA #1: Yaulp (Cleric tab)</p><p>AA #2 - AA #21:  converting the 1st x4 spell options into CA @ 5 AA each (Inquisitor tab)</p><p>AA #22: Battle Priest (Inquisitor tab, CA end line ability)</p><p>AA #23 - AA #38: Sta 4-4-8 (Cleric Tab)</p><p>AA #39 - AA #54: Agi 4-4-8 (Cleric Tab)</p><p>AA #55 - AA #64: 2.5% Health and Mana increase (TSO tab)</p><p>AA #65 - AA #69: Litany of Combat (TSO tab)</p><p>Please note that the benefits of Litany exceed those of the Agi line.  If you're really picking about min / maxing, you can respec some of your AA later on so that AA #61 will go into Litany.  But I really wasn't as concerned with being x4 AA behind schedule.</p><p>Also note that this aggressive melee soloing focused build has 0% Heal Crit from AA.  (At much later AA levels, I'll eventually add x5 AA into the Sta Heal Crit.)  While I would advise maxing it out at lower levels in your group build, it simply isn't required for a soloing Inquisitor.  If you can kill you enemies fast enough, then your healing shortcomings are somewhat meaningless.</p><p>After the AA point that I've listed above, I maxed out my mitigation debuffer and started to fill out the Str line.  By the time that you reach the end of this line, assuming that your AA margin is eventually around +20-25, you'll hit 70th and be able to add the last AA neccessary to get the Str end line ability.</p>

[Baynne]

<p>keep in mind the order in which you pick up AAs is up to you.  i did all my CA/battle cleric AAs first, and then proceeded to take the str line for its end ability.  not being interrupted while casting heals is highly useful in both solo and group situations.  currently i am wrapping up melee crits and then going to work on TSO until litany of combat.  </p>