Adept 3 - which to upgrade?

[Saev]

<DIV>A friend of mine can make me a single Adept 3 (for now), up to level 19 spells/abilities. I'm asking here and not on the crusader board because a new level 20 SK I don't want to waste it on a spell I won't use.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>So, what would you recommend? Initially I was going to go with a damage spell (Righteous Anger or Cry of Conviction), but then I got to thinking about my role, and maybe a defensive or buff spell would be better (Vigor of Trust or Demonstration of Faith).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I'm also not sure which recipes are available, so that might influence the final choice. I'll have to go look that up.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Any suggestions? </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[chaosang]

<DIV>vigor of trust without any doubt, this will boost your str and stamina by more then 20 points. that gives you an immense hp and power boost, DoF is perhaps usefull at higher lvls upgraded, but it will eat quite a lot mana now wich will make it impossible for you to solo, no more then appIII for that spell. the dmgspells wouldnt really do a lot more of dmg, not worth it either.</DIV>

[Adonae_Perpet]

I agree.Having DoF at app3 is really your best bet imo, as chaining it won't cost you any more mana than it presently does, but you'll get more out of it.

[Lylah]

<DIV> <DIV>I had the same dilemma - I could make an Adept III level 10-19 BUT Vigor of Trust doesn't have an  Adept III recipe, not even an Apprentice III.  It is a level 19 spell that won't be upgraded/replaced with a new one until level 33.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Hope they fixed this with today's patch though.   </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV>

[jhessal69]

<DIV><SPAN>Adonae_Perpetua</SPAN> Are you sure about that? we made a adept 3 bestowal of vitae , it increased the spell cost from the base of 43 ( i think, dont have the numbers in from of me atm) to 62 . The heal amount went up as well, from 92 to bour 128. These numbers are approx, i dont have my notes in front of me, but we all did discuss it . So basically the spell didnt get THAT much better, it just got bumped up a little...the amount it healed for increased but so did the mana cost as well.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Im not sure id really upgrade any 11-19 spell for us, truthfully. At lvl 23 i rarely use my ward now because its just a waste of mana alot of times...mobs just chew through it in 1 or 2 hits... its still decent taunt factor, but id rather fire off an Unholy Order so everyone gets some benifit for a few minutes.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Edit - Id consider upgradeing charge to adept 3, ive got it at adept 1 now and its a really hard hitting attack that i can use with a 2hander or with a sword+ board unlike power cleave or unyielding advance.</DIV><p>Message Edited by jhessal69 on <span class=date_text>12-01-2004</span> <span class=time_text>01:10 PM</span>

[Gnardl]

<DIV>Maybe the easiest thing here would be to build a little chart of DOF's Ward amount and power cost at each level and then just compare...</DIV> <DIV>Currently... at level 24...with a Adept 1 DOF...im getting 243 ward for 58 power...</DIV> <DIV>Anyone have App 1,2,3 amounts?</DIV>

[Anash]

<DIV> <DIV>I just found some palludum tonight so i'll be upgrading a 20-29 spell tonight, wondering about the Infernal pact spell you get at 26.6, if that a upgrade to DoF, if so then ill probably go with that.</DIV></DIV>

[Adonae_Perpet]

Jhessa: I was speaking about an apprentice 1 to apprentice 3 step for DoF, as any apprentice level spell requires the same amount of power (unless that's changed since beta).

[jhessal69]

<DIV>Ya im pretty sure they changed that. I just upgraded decree of decay and sickenting decay from app 1's to app 3's and they increased in power cost. </DIV>

[Ixnay]

<DIV>I'm not sure where you all are getting your information.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I just purchased and am looking at the examine screen on Demonstration of Faith (Adept III).  It shows Power as 46.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I have the same screen up for Demonstration of Faith Apprentice III.  It shows Power as 52.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Adept III uses less power than App III.</DIV>

[Adonae_Perpet]

There was another thread posted elsewhere that discussed this, as the amount shown on the scroll is not the amount it will cost you, unless (iirc) it's an ability you got at your current level (something to do with power use scaling to level).

[Ixnay]

<DIV>I am soloing level 23 "a motley kodiak" in Nek at level 21 as I write this, using my new Adept III DoF.  It sure doesn't seem to be using more power than what I was using before, and I am finishing each encounter at full health with over 50 percent power remaining.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I'm glad I got this.</DIV>

[Anash]

<DIV>Got my Adept3 Infernal Pact last night, was playing support tank to a guardian, we were killing the sisters in Nektropos Castle and my ward seemed to be helping a ton, haven't had time to mess with it soloing much, but last night it seemed to help us all survive a few times.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[ChaosImbu]

Demonstration of Faith is my most useful ability at all levels. The rune effects in the game are just broken and with one or two SK's runing the tank (or an SK tank runing himself) you can fight big mobs or large encounters that would otherwise smush you. Get DoF Adept 3 and hit Nektropos.

[Anash]

<DIV>Infernal Pact is a SK upgradge to DoF at 26.6, also has a lifetap effect, and looks more spooky.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Graksk]

<DIV>At level 37 I don't even bother to use the wards when soloing or group since it is just a waste of my power.</DIV>

[Anash]

<DIV>I need to figure out what else to upgrade, just found 4 rares tonight, 2 within 5 minutes of each other, so I'm going to upgrade a few more 20-29s</DIV> <DIV>Infernal pact was healing me for 40 points, I was soloing stuff in enchanted lands that was 31-32 without risk, I believe it was well worth it.</DIV> <DIV>Just got decrepit slam and at app2 its doing 95 damage + stun, way better than unyielding <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Anash]

<DIV>Just got Consume Vitae Adept3 and Harm Touch Adept3 i'll test these babies out tomorrow, was healing for around 50 with adept1 CV, hope its a noticable increase, and HT I have done around 500 with app3, hope to hit some records with this tomorrow <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[ValonMorid]

<blockquote><hr>Anash wrote:<DIV>Just got Consume Vitae Adept3 and Harm Touch Adept3 i'll test these babies out tomorrow, was healing for around 50 with adept1 CV, hope its a noticable increase, and HT I have done around 500 with app3, hope to hit some records with this tomorrow <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV><DIV> </DIV><hr></blockquote>This should be interesting. Cant wait for your results.

[Anash]

<DIV>I went to enchanted lands to test them, consume vitae is doing around 129 damage and giving me 64 health, I tried the Adept3 harm touch and it did zero damage, guess it was a bug or something, going to try it again when it resets.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Drax]

<DIV>So what level of an artisan (and class) do I need to harass for Harm Touch Adept 3 and Consume Vitae Adept 3? I've been sitting on a chunk of coral. Lemme guess, I need a rare from Nektulos for this? <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV>

[Anash]

<DIV>Yeah you need tier 3 rares, the alchemist needs to be the same level as the spell to make it into adept3. Got harm touch adept3 to work finally, first time on a orange con I did 666 hehe, and on a green mob I did 721, i guess its around a 160+ point improvement over app3. </DIV> <DIV>I have one more tier3 rare, just haven't decided what to use it on next.</DIV>

[MF2K|Wh]

<DIV>I'd say if you're going to get an Adept3 spell...Id get either Inflame or Shout. Those are your most important spells as a tank (keeping aggro is your job). That's what I'd get first, and then I'd prolly get the Internal Pact after that.</DIV>

[WuphonsReach]

Or more importantly... those spells are ones that "when you need it, you *really* need it to work".Inflame was one of the first ones that I upgraded to Adept1.

[beantownk]

<DIV> <DIV>I just upgraded Righteous Anger from adept 1 to adept 3 Just letting everyone know that there isnt a damage increase from adept 1-3. only reduced mana cost. I will be upgrading my blessed weapon tonight and will post whether or not it hits anymore that than it normally does. After that im not sure what i will upgrade to adept 3 but will post my results.</DIV></DIV>

[Hysteric]

<DIV>I finally got some silver, found a lvl 22 Alchemist and had him create DoF Adept 3.  I can tell you DoF App3 was 55 power, but DoF Adept 3 is 49 power.  I'll use it tonight and see how much more dmg it can take.</DIV>

[Bihl]

<DIV>The most important thing to me, in choosing which to bump up to adept3, is making sure to pick a power that will be used continually.  If Demonstration of Faith gets replaced by a shadowknight power at 26, then I'll only get ten levels of use out of the adept3 version.  That doesn't seem like a good idea.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>So, what <STRONG>doesn't</STRONG> get replaced fairly quickly?</DIV>

[Poena_De]

<DIV>Decree of Decay might be a good option on an upgrade if you are high enough level for it.  Due to the fact that it is skill that you get shortly after becoming a Shadowknight I don't think it will be replaced soon.  Also you end up using it quite often when grouped up or atleast I do.  I would say your best bet on updating a skill are the ones you just recently got if you want the upgrade to last you the longest.</DIV>

[Bihl]

<DIV>Thing is, I have a coral.  So I can only upgrade 10-19 level skills.</DIV>

[WuphonsReach]

Well, here's the list (I'm sitting on a piece of Coral as well):10 - Blessed Weapon : Chance to do Divine damage with each swing11 - Righteous Blow : Divine damage attack12 - Demonstration of Faith : Single Target Ward13 - Righteous Anger : Divine DD14 - Cry of Conviction : AE Divine damage attack - 6 targets max15.6 - Faithful Swing : Attack which heals crusader a bit17 - Offering of Armament : Give some of your AC to another party member17.6 - Inflame : Taunt19 - Vigor of Trust : Single Target STR + STA buff19.6 - Charge : Medium damage attack with knockdownI'm already level 22, so I'm leery of upgrading DoF if I'm going to get something better in a short while (at level 26).VoT (App1) only gives +8 STR and +9 STA, so gaining the nicer buffs would be good. I don't get an upgrade to VoT until level 33. This is the one I'm leaning towards.I could upgrade Inflame, but what about Shriek of Terror that I get at 23.6? And I already have the Adept1 of Inflame.Charge is a good possibility as well.

[Anash]

<DIV>I heard someone say charge adept3 sucked badly, I would go with Inflame, since I am getting it tonight, I think its a good choice and still blue to me at level 29, I finally got a coral for a fair price after a long wait.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Like someone said earlier our main job is to keep aggro, so it only makes sense to upgrade our taunts first.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Seolta]

<DIV>Shriek of Terror doesn't exist.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Inflame's upgrade spell is Disease Cloud...but it has a DoT component...think about that for a min. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I'll be using Inflame as my primary single targ taunt for a very long time. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>BTW...BIG issue that you must consider when upgrading:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Unless this has changed (and I don't think it has been) here is how spell upgrades in EQ2 work:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>(Copied from the Sony Crusaders Board)</DIV> <DIV>Tier (app1, app2, app3, adept1 etc) for combat arts increases the "used level" of the spell when cast. Wild Swing is acquired at level 1, and maxes out at level 11. Fierce Swing is acquired at level 15, and maxes out at level 25. The casted level of the various tiers is currently as follows, but these numbers ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE:</DIV> <DIV>Apprentice I : -1 Level<BR>Apprentice II : +0 Levels<BR>Apprentice III : + 1 Level<BR>Adept I : + 2 Levels<BR>Adept III : + 3 Levels<BR>Master I : + 5 Levels<BR>Master II : + 6 Levels<BR>Master III : + 7 Levels</DIV> <DIV>If you are level 15, and you cast Apprentice I Fierce Swing it will be cast at 15 - 1 = Level 14<BR>If you are level 15 and cast Apprentice III wild swing it will be cast at 11 + 2 = Level 13</DIV> <DIV>If you are level 22 and cast Apprentice II Fierce Swing it will be cast at 22 - 0 = Level 22<BR>If you are level 22 and cast Master I Wild Swing it will be cast at 11 + 5 = Level 16</DIV> <DIV>Spells that do direct damage or healing also have their levels promoted/demoted as above, but additionally have a scalar applied to strengthen their effect. This scalar was 1.0 for all tiers prior to the upcoming patch, meaning Apprentice III nukes were not a whole lot worse than Adept III. As of the next patch this has changed, you will notice a wider difference between App1, App2, App3, Adept 1, Adept 3, Master 1 etc spells of the Healing and Damage variety. *note - this was fixed*</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>*Because of this, your dmg and healing spells are really the most effective spells to upgrade beyond app3. This isn't to say that you SHOULDN'T upgrade them given the chance, but you will see more benefit from the dmg and healing spells due to their scalar bonus. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Because of this, my choice for the 1 coral i've gotten so far is Faithful Swing, as it's the only extra melee attack that contains a healing component AND it has a quick refresh. Not only that, but the upgrade at 29 (Painbringer) is a strength debuff and I don't think the slightly diminished dmg from the lowering of the mob's strength will match the extra healing of an adept3 Faithful Swing since mob base dmg is pretty high at that level. </DIV>

[carlhung]

<DIV>So, everything I am reading makes it look like you can't make a Vigor of Trust adept 3.  Has this changed?</DIV>

[Zartu]

<DIV>I am shocked that nobody here has mentioned Grim Harbinger. It's the SK upgrade to Blessed weapons. Grim Harbinger is a spell that we all use 100% of the time and there is no upgrade for it, meaning that you'll be using it when your lvl 50.  Most of the abilities your you guys are using your rares for are abilities that will eventually be obsolete.  </DIV>

[Macki]

<DIV>Unholy Aura aka Unhallowed Aura replaces Grim Harbringer.</DIV>

[Saev]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Zartuul wrote:<BR> <DIV>I am shocked that nobody here has mentioned Grim Harbinger. It's the SK upgrade to Blessed weapons. Grim Harbinger is a spell that we all use 100% of the time and there is no upgrade for it, meaning that you'll be using it when your lvl 50.  Most of the abilities your you guys are using your rares for are abilities that will eventually be obsolete.  </DIV><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR> <P>Note that when I asked this question, a month ago, I was asking about abilities up to level 19. Rares are tier based, so there was no point in asking about 20+ spells since I didn't have a rare for it.</P> <P>As a side note, if you are on Nektulos, my crafter friend Zkoric is now making and selling App3's for SK's up to level 25  (when the morning reboot hasn't shut him down). :smileyhappy:</FONT></P>