Q: Avoidance AA buffs in EoF

[tt66]

Ok, so I'm fairly new to the world of EQ2, and my lvl 56 bruiser is my first character. I've never been in a group of more than 5 people. Please be gentle if I'm discovered to be laboring under some massive misconception due to lack of end-game/raid experience.I've been going down the Str AA line, partially for DPS and partially because it's fun to fight bare-knuckled. After going 4/4/8, I thought I might continue down into "Claw Reversal", in order to get a bit more avoidance. (My main healing buddy is a Fury, who occasionally has a little trouble keeping up when I get hit several times in a row, I figure anything that stops me getting hit must be a good thing).However "Claw Reversal" (and the other avoidance/parry/deflection buffs in the AA tree) seems to have been radically reduced. Whereas it used to be a 1.5% chance to riposte for each point you put in, now it seems to be more a 0.5% chance per point, according to the tool tip. My question is.. is it still worth trying to go 4/4/8/8, or should I just go 4/4/8 in Str/Sta/Int and try to raise my avoidance in some other way?Apologies if this has been asked before, all the information on Brawler AA's I've found so far refer to the pre-EoF version.<div></div>

[wesblueeyes]

<P>Up to level 70 it is best to go STR 4-4-8 STA 4-4-8 and INT 4-4-8 for the dps. If you never intend to go raiding, you can live with this setup for the rest of your years as a bruiser. But if you want to do raids you will have to pick up good Dual Wielders and either stay this setup so you can switch to barehanded for mobs lvl 71 and below then gear up for 72+ or you can go STA 4-4-8-8 and INT 4-4-8-8 for the extra avoid. I use the sta/int setup so that I can both dps and tank but I am using the best dual wield for bruiser weps as of KoS. So really your AA setup depends on what you do.</P> <P>One of the cool things about being in the STR line is that you can pop on a full defensive stance and because it doesnt decrease your Fist skill, you take no penalties. The full offensive stance also doesnt buff your fist skill and this is the main reason you have to pick up DW weapons so that you can hit those guys 72+ with frequency. Anyways these are things to think about, there are so many configerations to mess with but those seem to work the best for me.</P>

[Nocifer Deathblade]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> tt66 wrote:<BR>However "Claw Reversal" (and the other avoidance/parry/deflection buffs in the AA tree) seems to have been radically reduced. Whereas it used to be a 1.5% chance to riposte for each point you put in, now it seems to be more a 0.5% chance per point, according to the tool tip. <BR><BR> <BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P>It  never changed at all. 1st rank always 1.5% then 2nd rank all way to 8th rank is always 0.5% . It's OLD news..  Its never got nerfed.. Hope it clears up.. yes, it's very smart to invest in 1st rank for most bang. 2nd rank and beyond in that is just your choice..<BR></P> <P>As for deflection, parry etc, they still offer same points  like 1.6 deflection per rank before or after change. No change. Only change I noticed is that avoidance related skills we get, less effective it'll be cuz we have already too high avoidance due to diminishing return.  Anything over 3,600 get "reduced" % per point invested in. </P> <P>As of right now,  it's best to invest in adornments, gear etc with mitigation cuz we get most % returned for same Mitigation number because our mitigation is usually well below 3,600 solo. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> That's what I am focused on now.  Avoidance AA is still viable. I still can see 0.3% avoidance gain per 1.6 deflection rank that I just bought and same increase before and after change even though if we have 10k avoidance. Not too bad!</P> <P>Only bad thing is the combat changes that affect the combat mechanics alot. Once deflection became uncontested then deflection AA will serve us pretty good!</P><p>Message Edited by Nocifer Deathblade on <span class=date_text>11-17-2006</span> <span class=time_text>08:09 AM</span>

[tt66]

<div></div><div><blockquote><hr>Nocifer Deathblade wrote:<div></div><div></div><p>It  never changed at all. 1st rank always 1.5% then 2nd rank all way to 8th rank is always 0.5% . It's OLD news..  Its never got nerfed.. Hope it clears up.. yes, it's very smart to invest in 1st rank for most bang. 2nd rank and beyond in that is just your choice..</p><hr></blockquote>Ah, okay. My mistake. Got my info on the 2nd rank + from the "<a target="_blank" href="http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=7&message.id=22569">From A Bruisers Point Of View</a>" thread. Sorry for the misinformation <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />Thanks for the advice! Is there any concrete news on the uncontested deflection thing? Hrm. I suppose I should probably do the 4/4/8 x 3 thing, it has to be popular for a reason!</div>

[Nocifer Deathblade]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> tt66 wrote:<BR> <DIV><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Nocifer Deathblade wrote:<BR> <P>It  never changed at all. 1st rank always 1.5% then 2nd rank all way to 8th rank is always 0.5% . It's OLD news..  Its never got nerfed.. Hope it clears up.. yes, it's very smart to invest in 1st rank for most bang. 2nd rank and beyond in that is just your choice..<BR></P> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR>Ah, okay. My mistake. Got my info on the 2nd rank + from the "<A href="http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=7&message.id=22569" target=_blank>From A Bruisers Point Of View</A>" thread. Sorry for the misinformation <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /><BR><BR>Thanks for the advice! Is there any concrete news on the uncontested deflection thing? Hrm. I suppose I should probably do the 4/4/8 x 3 thing, it has to be popular for a reason!<BR></DIV><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P> </P> <P>Ah! I just re-read that "front a bruiser's point of view" that you got info from on claw reversal. Yeah, that info is wrong heh. He needs to correct that. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />  Max % is actually 5% not 12% and had been that way for Long time. I enjoyed claw reversal rank 8 for 6 months now I think and been 5%.. That thread is good one anyway for new bruisers to read...</P> <P>DR's that he mentioned needs to be tweaked some cuz EOF came out with some DR loss on all weapons across the board that includes barefist DR as well. My fist damage was 450 per hit now under 400 per hit. ;( even with same strength. I saw base damage of barefist dropped to 73-123 or 127 (can't remember off my head) from 80-140 I think. That's a pretty drop.. But I saw fabled fist weapons 60+ DR now  sporing 57ish DR so str line still is attractive even with minor nerf just thanks to all weapons being nerfed as well.</P> <P>One biggest upgrade over str line due to EOF is adornment procs.  Fabled weapons will become more attractive with proc adornments. You cannot even adorn your barefists. ;(</P><p>Message Edited by Nocifer Deathblade on <span class=date_text>11-17-2006</span> <span class=time_text>11:36 AM</span>