Ogre Tradition (lvl 18)

[Shli]

<DIV>Hello... I have a lvl 18 Ogre Brawler on his way to becoming an Bruiser.</DIV> <DIV>I could use some help picking the best possible long-term Tradition.</DIV> <DIV>My options are as follow:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV><STRIKE>Murdunk's Tactics:               +0.1 DPS Slash special damage; Augmentation- 3 min duration; 30 min recast</STRIKE></DIV> <DIV><STRIKE>Oggokian Trade:                 </STRIKE> +<STRIKE>5 to Weaponsmithing skills; Permanent Enhancement</STRIKE></DIV> <DIV><STRIKE>Battlefield Command:          </STRIKE> +<STRIKE>3 Defense for party member; Augmentation- 3 min duration; 30 min recast</STRIKE></DIV></DIV> <DIV><STRIKE>Rallosian Readiness:         </STRIKE> +<STRIKE>5 to Armorer skills; Permanent Enhancement</STRIKE></DIV> <DIV>Battle Rest:                           +3 HP Regeneration, +2 STR; Augmentation- 3 min duration; 30 min recast</DIV> <DIV>Blessing of Zek:                    +3 STR; Permanent Enhancement </DIV> <DIV>Lifted Curse:                         +3 INT; Permanent Enhancement </DIV> <DIV>Rallosian Conditioning:        +3 STA; Permanent Enhancement </DIV> <DIV>Toughened Hide:                 +3 Defense; Permanent Enhancement</DIV> <DIV>War Ready:                        +3% HP; Permanent Enhancement</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV> <DIV>First of all, Can we use slashing damage weapons? As of right now i have dont have any skill in sword or axe... only crushing weapons... perhaps this will change?</DIV> <DIV>I'm not going to become a weaponsmither.....</DIV> <DIV>I'm not going to become an Armorer...</DIV> <DIV>I'm not interested in increasing a party members defense...<BR>I don't think i want to increase my INT, however correct me if I am mistaken.</DIV> <DIV>Battlefield rest (hp regen and str bonus) seems like it would be useful, but more of a luxury than a necesity.</DIV> <DIV>3% HP bonus.... Right now my hp is about 590. And that is with bonuses from equip... so would this simply incrase my hp less than 17 points? Or would my hp be 3% higher than it would normally be per level?</DIV> <DIV>i seem to be torn between +3 sta +3 STR or +3 defense. So stamina increases my HP. Is it true that each stamina point is worth more HP depending on what level you are? (e.g. at level 3 1sta might = .5 hp where as at lvl 5 1 sta might=2hp?)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Any And ALL Input is appreciated!!!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Thanks</DIV>

[Raidi Sovin'faile]

<P>I've personally found that any and all 3 min duration, 30 minute recast abilities do not give nearly enough to be useful in any way. The battle rest regen itself is outside combat too, which means it'll only be useful when soloing... and decent food will give you a more noticeable effect anyways.</P> <P>INT most likely will be useless unless you are a caster, so as a bruiser you really don't need to worry about it at all. Even if they fix it so that it increases your spell casting damage... we don't cast spells, so it's still useless.<BR>Some folks claim that it increases the chances of parrying... after testing with my dirge, I can say that even 10 points increase did zilch to increase the number, while even 2 points of agility saw an increase.</P> <P>Strength and Stamina are always nice. The higher the better. Yes, there are lesser gains at higher levels.. but we are talking about +3 here, and the caps start kicking in at 200+ scores.<BR>Not sure if Stamina increases the higher level you get.. I think Jezekiel was doing some HP testing, so I'll let him pipe in on that one instead of making unfounded assumptions. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> </P> <P>+3% Hitpoints is (i'm pretty sure) applied after all other factors. So at 100 hitpoints it's a big fat 3 points more, but at 7000 hitpoints we are talking about 210. While that might not seem like a lot extra at the level you'll have those hitpoints... think about the pieces of armor you have on you. It's like having an extra two or three pieces or armor that provide hitpoints.<BR>And stack that with your other traits later on (+% total vs +regen.. I always took + to total), you can really pile on that extra HP. Remember, every little bit counts, and this 3% is just another one that you can pile on.</P> <P>Lastly, the +Defense is great. While the number seems small, keep in mind that a simple +5 makes you the equivalent of 1 level higher. It's not hard to see that levels mean all the difference in this game... fighting a green con is noticeably different than fighting a grey con. Well, if you can stack on that +defense, it just means you are effectively higher in level with regards to that skill... and you'll start to have xp generating creature attacking you like they were grey cons.<BR>This is the fundemental way of Tank defense... so if you can stack as much +defense as possible, you'll find encounter that much more easier. +3 is quite a boost when you look at it this way.</P> <P> </P> <P>Personally, I'd probably go with +Defense, then +Str or Sta, whichever I might have been lacking the most... then +3% hitpoints when I'm getting into higher levels and that % starts to mean real numbers.. and then whichever of Str or Sta I didn't pick the first time. I think we only get 4 choices over the course of leveling, right?</P>

[Shli]

<DIV>Wow, Thank you So much Raidi!</DIV> <DIV>That is all the answer I possibly could have hoped for and more.</DIV> <DIV>I do believe I will go with the defense.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>From the later part of your post, I'm assuming that every 10 levels I get to choose from the same list of traditions?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>An the last thing I am slightly unclear about is the +3%...  when you said that your pretty sure its applied after all other factors, I thought that meant, even If I chose it now while i have 100 hp, When i have 7000 I will infact actually have 7210.<BR>But then at the end when you said you would choose that later on when it makes more of a difference... Does that mean that If i chose it now when i have 100 hp, i would just get 3 extra hp and thats the end of the bonus?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I hope this question makes sense...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Thanks again!</DIV>

[Raidi Sovin'faile]

<P>Ah yes, that might have been a little confusing... I just meant that the +3 hitpoints wasn't that big a deal, even at the lower levels. The +3% only really helps when you can "pile it on", so to speak... and that's too hard to do at the lower levels. So I chose mine at a higher level when I started getting equipment and grouped with healers with more buffs that I was in the position to pile it on.</P> <P>So it does grow, it's just that the +210 later will be worth more because it's added along with all the other bonuses you are getting... while in the beginning it's one of the only bonuses you are getting, so it's just +3 with nothing to pile on with. Basically... the other options are worth more earlier than this, even though this one doesn't hurt you to take it early rather than late.</P><p>Message Edited by Raidi Sovin'faile on <span class=date_text>05-20-2005</span> <span class=time_text>11:55 PM</span>

[Chanliang]

<div>Blessing of Zek:                    +3 STR; Permanent Enhancement </div> <div>Rallosian Conditioning:        +3 STA; Permanent Enhancement </div> <div>Toughened Hide:                 +3 Defense; Permanent Enhancement</div> <div>War Ready:                        +3% HP; Permanent Enhancement</div> First of all these are IMO only options that you should consider. I'd strongly advice taking defence>+3%hp>str>sta. Defence will give biggest effect and works effectively every level.  I find 3% hp better than 3sta and it scales up to 50 so I'd take it first before sta, then str or sta depending do you want more attack/power or hp...  Anyways that is what I'd choose. <div></div>