Tier 3 berzerker equipment - whether to go for STR or STA?

[Didi]

<DIV>I have recently started a gnomish berzerker-to-be.  She is about to reach level 20 and since she is an alt, I imagine she will be in her 20s for some time as I won't be playing her all the time.  I'd like to get her some really nice equipment, particularly since the gnomes don't have the optimum stats for being warriors.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> <DIV>Here's her profile:  <A href="http://eq2players.station.sony.com/en/pplayer.vm?characterId=264194104" target=_blank>Rosebud the gnomish berzerker</A></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV> <DIV>Currently she has 30 strength, 28 stamina.</DIV> <DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>So far I have mainly been soloing or duoing, I will likely still do a lot of soloing, but I do want to be able to tank for groups sometimes also.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV> <DIV>When she reaches 20, she will be getting an imbued steel breastplate and leggings, plus an imbued steel battleaxe, and probably an imbued oak tower shield.  All player crafted equipment for the rest.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>In terms of rings and hex dolls, I'd appreciate opinions on how to balance out her rings and the doll slots between strength and stamina?  I probably can't afford the rare rings or dolls, but I believe the regular ones are still quite nice.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <P align=center><IMG src="http://tinypic.com/220nxy"></P>

[Chanliang]

<div></div>Well I have half-elf berserker leveling up and thinking about same stuff. I will basically try to balance all 3 str/agi/sta.  Stamina gives hp, str power and attack + carrying, agi evasion.  There is good thread of abilities how they change or gives stats on what level on guardian forums. So basically it went roughly that str gives 5power/str before 1-99 and 100-199 4.5p/str. Plus you'll get 25% more damage when you have over 100 str and attack of course. Agility gives avoidance 0.11%/agi to base and parry 1-99 and 100+ 0.05% to base+parry. Stamina was 5hp/sta 1-99 and 12.xxhp/sta 100+ In my opinion try to keep all 3 abilites in balance up to 100+ and then all the way sta and as secondary str. Raising agi 101+ doesn't give that much back... ). That is at least what I'm going to do, it should give well rounded character. Well remembered those stats almost correctly :p http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=3&message.id=9849 <div></div><p>Message Edited by Chanliang on <span class=date_text>04-06-2005</span> <span class=time_text>01:48 AM</span>

[Besual]

I have made an halfling alt. She will become a zerker too. Well, once she finished the betrayer quest. For the equipment she will get: imbued steel BP / leggings, imbued fir kite shild (looks better then the tower shield <span>:smileyhappy:</span>) imbued fir bo staff (covers 2-handed style and bludgeon), imbued steel spear (covers 1-handed-and-shield style and piercing), 2x imbued steel falchion (dual-wield style and slashing), imbued fir longbow (ranged attacks), fright (+str) / ruin (+sta) imbued rukas hex doll, imbued jasper ring of agility / strength. The other slots will be crafted armor / juwelery. Before I rolled this alt I planed to turn all the rare stuff into furniture. But now the "bad girl" gets all the stuff. <div></div>

[Chanliang]

Hehe your alt is going to have nice stuff :p I'll get propably regular imbued weapons/shield/armor and gauntlets of storm + loot drop steel armor for rest. Jewelry I'll make my self and concentrating str>sta>agi as much as possible.  For T4 I'll try to get playermade feysteel stuff + imbued oak shield but going to take a while to get there. <div></div>

[Tagright]

I go for stamina (hitpoints, maybe power?) first, because I am generally the MT in my guild groups.  If that ever changes, I will focus on strength (damage).  Agility (procs) and Wisdom (avoid hits) are also good.  It's really a matter of personal preference and what fits your playstyle.  Ultimately, I would not sweat the stats.  They don't mean that much in this game. <div></div>

[JDDbull]

Well our power pool comes from our Str, as does our damage output.  I have always gone for str, I find that the others in the group usually buff my agi alot more than they buff str.

[Huna]

At lvl 35 I've gone for Str, then Agi.  I find that when comparing my stats to other berserkers and guardians, I usually have more power by a good deal, and about the same hps (sometimes more, sometimes less), Avoidance is usually higher depending if they have a shield (I dual wield).  To me, I want to increase the damage I do the most.  My stamina is much lower than my Str and Agi (each over 100 unbuffed), and I haven't had any problems being MT, or soloing.  Also, as far as DPS goes, I'm usually near the top in the group when going all out (damage bonus, two proc'ing weapons, and high power). <div></div>

[Tagright]

<div></div>It's good to hear multiple points of view, but beware of selling stamina short.  What you really want is the input from someone who does what you want to do at level 50.  I aspire to be a primary raid tank, where the role is survivability first and dps second.  In this role, there is little question that sta is more helpful than str.  I never die because I run out of power, it's the *$%#&! hitpoints that get me.  <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> My stamina lags behind my strength.  Fully buffed at 45, my strength approaches 200, which I believe the devs said is a cap (not sure if it is soft or hard).  My stamina needs help.  Therefore, I look for stamina items.  P.S. I five starred all of you -- all good posts, on topic and insightful -- nice to see that no bozo has hijacked the thread yet. <div></div><p>Message Edited by Tagright on <span class=date_text>04-06-2005</span> <span class=time_text>08:55 AM</span>

[Didi]

<P>In the long term, if I get STR over 100 then I get 25% damage bonus.  Each STA point I add seems to give me 2HP at the moment (tested it last night).  So if I add that 70 points into STA instead, then I get +140 HP, realistically this will be gone in 3-4 hits from a mob at this level.  If I can get STR over 100 however that 25% damage should mean the mob will die a lot faster, hopefully fast enough that he can't get in that extra 3-4 hits.</P> <P>So long term I think my goal is to get over 100 STR first, and add STA after that's achieved.  However, looking at tier 3 gear, this is going to be hard.  A friend paladin has an entire set of steel armour and he's up to about 80 strength, conceivably that could reach 100 with imbued rings and hex dolls but it would be a very pricy effort.  I'm thinking it's not going to be worth the cost to get tier 2 gear good enough to get STR to 100 before I reach level 30, since at 30 I'll need to replace everything.</P> <P>Going on this logic, I had been leaning to adding STA gear during levels 20-29 to get the extra HP, since I likely can't get STR to 100 in this tier, and then at level 30 I start concentrating on STR instead.  What I didn't realize before reading some of these comments is that adding STR increases my max power pool, so maybe it IS worth adding some STR during levels 20-29 even if I can't reach 100.</P> <P>*ponders*</P> <P>Very difficult decision on how to balance...</P> <P>Many thanks for all the input!</P><p>Message Edited by Didi on <span class=date_text>04-07-2005</span> <span class=time_text>04:32 PM</span>

[Chanliang]

<span><blockquote><hr>Didi wrote:<div></div> <div></div><p>cost to get tier 2 gear good enough to get STR to 100 before I reach level 30, since at 30 I'll need to replace everything.</p> <p>Going on this logic, I had been leaning to adding STA gear during levels 20-29 to get the extra HP, since I likely can't get STR to 100 in this tier, and then at level 30 I start concentrating on STR instead.  What I didn't realize before reading some of these comments is that adding STR increases my max power pool, so maybe it IS worth adding some STR during levels 20-29 even if I can't reach 100.</p> <p>*ponders*</p> <hr></blockquote>As looking player made T3 stuff and quest/loot drop stuff you'll get ending up getting sta/str rather equally. Only if you try to get more agi it usually comes in expense of str.  More or less equipment seems to be having str/sta or agi/sta.  If looking traits I'm starting think that should almost always take sta instead of str what I was thinking earlier. Aas I have half-elf  could get something like +4str +3agi +11 sta (from  general  traits 2xsta 1xstr, racial traits 1xagi 1xsta)  Nothing game breaking really less stats than in 1 T5 equipment piece. </span><div></div>

[Daran]

<div></div><span><blockquote><hr>Tagright wrote:<div></div>P.S. I five starred all of you -- all good posts, on topic and insightful -- nice to see that no bozo has hijacked the thread yet.<div></div><p>Message Edited by Tagright on <span class="date_text">04-06-2005</span><span class="time_text">08:55 AM</span></p><hr></blockquote>Que the bozo!All I could think was this..."ohh look at the cute little gnome....umm is she growling at me.....oh my god! get it off get it off! My leg AHHHHHH!!!!!.... stop please I'm beggi...wait what are you....ARRGGGH dont bite there! Oh the humanity!!!!" by the way, I love the rosebud signaturesorry had to say it.by the way, love the rosebud signature.</span><div></div><p>Message Edited by DaranHB on <span class="date_text">04-07-2005</span><span class="time_text">11:16 AM</span></p><p>Message Edited by DaranHB on <span class=date_text>04-07-2005</span> <span class=time_text>11:16 AM</span>

[Salinge]

If I recall correctly from EQ1 Stamina was well looked upon because it was something you didn't find much of in item enhancment or spells received from group mates during battle.  Looking toward the current end-game I would think we should consider what kind of buff candy we will be getting from the casters in our groups and keep that in mind when considering permanant skill up strategies. <p>Message Edited by Salingeez on <span class=date_text>04-11-2005</span> <span class=time_text>03:29 PM</span>

[Dalensbane]

<P>I generally base my equipment purely on good AC and str. I don't really consider any of the other stats, i sometimes include resists if the equipment im comparing is near equal in AC and str.</P> <P> </P> <P> </P>

[-Aonein-]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Didi wrote:<BR> <P>In the long term, if I get STR over 100 then I get 25% damage bonus.  Each STA point I add seems to give me 2HP at the moment (tested it last night).  So if I add that 70 points into STA instead, then I get +140 HP, realistically this will be gone in 3-4 hits from a mob at this level.  If I can get STR over 100 however that 25% damage should mean the mob will die a lot faster, hopefully fast enough that he can't get in that extra 3-4 hits.</P> <P>So long term I think my goal is to get over 100 STR first, and add STA after that's achieved.  However, looking at tier 3 gear, this is going to be hard.  A friend paladin has an entire set of steel armour and he's up to about 80 strength, conceivably that could reach 100 with imbued rings and hex dolls but it would be a very pricy effort.  I'm thinking it's not going to be worth the cost to get tier 2 gear good enough to get STR to 100 before I reach level 30, since at 30 I'll need to replace everything.</P> <P>Going on this logic, I had been leaning to adding STA gear during levels 20-29 to get the extra HP, since I likely can't get STR to 100 in this tier, and then at level 30 I start concentrating on STR instead.  What I didn't realize before reading some of these comments is that adding STR increases my max power pool, so maybe it IS worth adding some STR during levels 20-29 even if I can't reach 100.</P> <P>*ponders*</P> <P>Very difficult decision on how to balance...</P> <P>Many thanks for all the input!</P> <P>Message Edited by Didi on <SPAN class=date_text>04-07-2005</SPAN> <SPAN class=time_text>04:32 PM</SPAN><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR>Unless they have changed the effects of STA, I now get at lvl 48, 12 STA = 149 HP. Works out roughly too be 12 HP per 1 STA. Just got a imbued rignt of STR and STA made up, when casting the 12 STA on me, thats what i get, 149 HP. So seeing as the impact of STA is pretty big, i have decided to start laying off on STR and leaning towards STA. Casseroles / Pasta add to stamina now also, T5 add's 10, so there is another 120 HP just from food. STR on the other hand increases damage output and total power pool, but it all depends on what you do mostly, if you tank alot, then a Balance of STA + STR is ideal, if you DPS alot and play offtank to a Guard, then STR > STA. If you solo alot, id have to say STA > STR because we are already a offensive tank and can do good damage as it is so the increase to HP while solo never goes astray. <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>EDIT: The impact from STR wont be as big as STA unless you can get STR above 200, which isnt hard but isnt easy ethier, where STA on the other hand is suppling me 12 STA = 149 hp at lvl 48, and im 108 STA self buffed, and 178 STR self buffed. If i knew STA was going to have a bigger effect in the long run, i would of taken STA traits over STR cause its easier to make up STR then it is STA.</DIV><p>Message Edited by -Aonein- on <span class=date_text>04-12-2005</span> <span class=time_text>01:48 PM</span>

[slade]

<DIV>IMHO, AC is first and foremost. You would never catch me wearing medium armor just to squeeze an extra couple str/sta/agi.  Next is getting STR over 100 to get the bonus damage output and high power pool.  I believe that STA is slightly more important than AGI because of how it is weighed as far as health points added vs. avoidance added.  It takes several AGI to gain 1% avoidance (1 in a 100 chance of having the blow miss) while at the same time several STA would more than make up for getting hit. If comparing 2 similar pieces of armor, I refer to resists.  FYI I tend to solo alot, but I can see if someone tanks for groups/raids quite a bit putting more emphasis on AGI over STA.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>My unbuffed stats are STR - 95, STA - 81, AGI - 72.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>To summarize: minimize damage taken>kill fast>maximize health>slip and move </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Just my 2cp.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>35 Iksar Zerker - Oggok Server</DIV> <DIV>32 Tailor</DIV>

[Chanliang]

Agility has one nice advantage it adds both base avoidance and parry. But when your agi goes over 100 then 1agi gives 0.05% avoidance so in my books it's not worth it to raise more self if you have option to choose str or sta. Where sta gives 12hp/sta and str more attack/damage/carry/power. <div></div>