Sk looking for some AA insight.

[Kharz]

<DIV>Hi all~</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I have my little SK and am just now appreciating the fun and mechanics of this class. So far I have no problems holding aggro and the tanking is a wonderful change from my Bruiser. However the AA line is a bit unique and it looks like there are several lines that "could" be good. I went around and asked several SKs on my server and what I got back was that the Str line is awesome, everyone seemed to agree on this. Then there was a split on if Int or Agility was the better 2nd line to go down. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Agility seems to add the the Trample and Higher ground abilites. Giving you the chance to hit up to 4 targets every proc and a chance to prevent knockdowns. While the Int line gives you the chance for critical dmg and crit heals. I have to ask, does the crit heal thing even really apply to us? Do our life taps count as heals or as dmg? Also...how much of a dps increase is the additional spell crit going to bring to the table? Really hoping some high lvl Sks with 30+ AAs can give some real world experience and insight, suggestions on this subject.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Lastly nobody seemed to like or suggest the Stamina or Wisdom lines. Wisdom seems a bit...well underpowered, the ideas seem nice but the bonuses seem too small. The Stamina line looks like it could have some nice utility with the hammer knockdown, crit and extra health. Has anyone used these enough to throw out an educated opinion? Look forward to the posts!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Kaza</DIV>

[clamdiper]

<div><blockquote><hr>Kharzek wrote:<div>Lastly nobody seemed to like or suggest the Stamina or Wisdom lines. Wisdom seems a bit...well underpowered, the ideas seem nice but the bonuses seem too small. The Stamina line looks like it could have some nice utility with the hammer knockdown, crit and extra health. Has anyone used these enough to throw out an educated opinion? Look forward to the posts!</div> <div> </div> <div>Kaza</div><hr></blockquote>I went wis the first time but respected to str for a fable I have. I will be adding wis again as the final slot (fear) is very handy for epic mobs in many of the new zones. Also the other abilities are useful; don't let anyone tell you diff.  <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></div>

[Kazander13]

AA's can serve several purposes to which range from covering weaknesses in your playstyle to just wanting to give your character a unique feel. If you say your having no problems, then I would say go for what suits you. Like clamdiper I picked a line for a weapon I had. I recently respecced to Agi, and absolutely have not regretted it since. Joust alone is nice enough once you get up there in ranks but Trample is just plain mean. I started using a 1h Spear and shield for tanking and so far have not been dissappointed. I noticed other SK's on my server using Agi and Int, but I think the general consensus is, put them in whatever you think makes you a better SK, or whatever makes you happy, after all it's your money.

[willychoi7]

Hi all,I have 39 AA point, maybe can share some information with you.I go STR and INT line, place STR line as 4854 and INT line 5480 at that moment.All my gears are T7 and have 1 relic pant.This is good combo to me, coz I am good tank and dps both, with my gear buff, I have +85% speedup in group so hit mods like crazy. with a high speed I can tank POA mod without shield, yes, I carry Axe and sybmol only but L70^^^ mods cannot hit me often, just resist resist and resist....My INT spell crit list was place full 8 point, all my spell have 68% crit hit which very nice, my Tap vein return me 660 hp each mod, life tap shiled return 400 hp per hit so no worry to face grp yellow mods and singleblue ^^^ mods when solo.One more thing, my HT blast huge damage now, I cast HT to Lab raid 4 x epic mod when it goes red. it killed immediately, what damage I make to him? I am talk about 11,493 damage which no one wanna to duel with me anymore when they saw it make by a SK not WIZ.Yes, I am a battle mage who wear plate, can shield bash you and give you super HT bomb when you knock down...not rooted, hey guys I am a tank.BonesmasherL70 Shadow KnightButchBlocker

[Telka]

<DIV>I went int line for the 8 point in crit nukes and I am SOOOO happy with all the crit nukes that crit our heals makes both soloing and grouping easyer.... dont think it will make to much diffrence in raiding beyond giving me a bit more dps and to better able to cover Myself with the AoE</DIV>

[Kharz]

<P>Awesome replies so far guys. Really appreciate the different points of view and the experiences. Seems Int with the crits can help us tank, do dmg and keep aggro. Same with Str or Agility...in fact this might be one of the first classes where the AA's are useful in each line! My SK is coming along great so far, cannot wait to hit the lvl 45+ mark. Wish me luck this weekend!</P> <P> </P> <P>Kaza</P>

[clamdiper]

Careful about going for straight crit line if your intent is to raid and do so in a support role. There are many goods and bads with each line; what you choose today might not be what you want when lvl 70. I am staying with the Str and Wis lines myself for the role I play and it suits me best. If you go for Int because you want to out damage a Warlock or Wizzy you might find it more a novelty that anything else. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />I seem to be doing fine with crits and with a 8900 tops so far HT I can't complain. Having the fear immune will help me much more in raids than crits ever well IMHO.End of Wis line:Fearless Morale is a good end to this spell line making the crusader <font color="#ff6600">immune to fear effects and increasing group spell damage, melee damage, heals, reuse times and casting times by 1%</font>. Would be nice to see this upped to 5% since it takes twenty five points to get to the end of this line.

[Ultimatum]

In a raid role, I prefer straight DPS.  SKs already play a good support role, and I didn't feel that adding 36 to slashing/disruption/etc. was the best way to help ou tthe raid as a whole, and imo the final AAs in each line are a waste of 8 points.  The Fear immune AA is the only remotely interesting final choice and even that is so situational...there are a few named in Lab that you could benefit from this on, and unless you are planning to run Vaults every night the AA is a waste to me.  I chose to go 4/4/8 in INT for the obvious reason of spell crits...just that AA alone can boost your overall DPS by 20-30%, 4/4/8 in STA for Melee crits which is another 10% or so boost in auto attack dps, and I'm planning on going 4/4/8 in AGI for the Trample AA so my auto attack becomes an AOE.  The way I see it is that the more DPS everyone can crank out, the faster mobs die, and the less useful support AAs like Battle Leadership become.  That's just my 2cp though.<div></div>

[clamdiper]

<div></div><div><blockquote><hr>Razerblaze wrote:In a raid role, I prefer straight DPS.  SKs already play a good support role, and I didn't feel that adding 36 to slashing/disruption/etc. was the best way to help ou tthe raid as a whole, and imo the final AAs in each line are a waste of 8 points.  The Fear immune AA is the only remotely interesting final choice and even that is so situational...there are a few named in Lab that you could benefit from this on, and unless you are planning to run Vaults every night the AA is a waste to me.  I chose to go 4/4/8 in INT for the obvious reason of spell crits...just that AA alone can boost your overall DPS by 20-30%, 4/4/8 in STA for Melee crits which is another 10% or so boost in auto attack dps, and I'm planning on going 4/4/8 in AGI for the Trample AA so my auto attack becomes an AOE.  The way I see it is that the more DPS everyone can crank out, the faster mobs die, and the less useful support AAs like Battle Leadership become.  That's just my 2cp though.<div></div><hr></blockquote>Seeing, Lyceum... There are a few epics which like to fear the group, granted they can be overcome but having one more ability is nice. No, for me the wis line and dump remaining into int. Course this will be moot once we get extra AAs down the road. But to each their own as far as I am concerned. I also think it would be a boon in raids to have wis because many choose the other rout. This means I add something to a group/raid that others don't because they choose int. It balances out with Pallys I raid with.BTW, good points though, I feel many choose Int for a macho thang, you seem to have for reasons better than that. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></div><p>Message Edited by clamdiper on <span class=date_text>05-19-2006</span> <span class=time_text>10:34 AM</span>

[rabid.pooh]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> clamdiper wrote:<BR>Careful about going for straight crit line if your intent is to raid and do so in a support role. There are many goods and bads with each line; what you choose today might not be what you want when lvl 70. I am staying with the Str and Wis lines myself for the role I play and it suits me best. If you go for Int because you want to out damage a Warlock or Wizzy you might find it more a novelty that anything else. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /><BR><BR>I seem to be doing fine with crits and with a 8900 tops so far HT I can't complain. Having the fear immune will help me much more in raids than crits ever well IMHO.<BR><BR>End of Wis line:<BR>Fearless Morale is a good end to this spell line making the crusader <FONT color=#ff6600>immune to fear effects and increasing group spell damage, melee damage, heals, reuse times and casting times by 1%</FONT>. Would be nice to see this upped to 5% since it takes twenty five points to get to the end of this line.<BR><BR><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P><BR>The wisdom line is great for solo'n, and that's about it.  The +34 to skills sets has a measurable impact to a tank that's in a deffesnive stance and that's it.  Other classes already have +'s to their base skill sets, and it's more then the +34, add in a troub or dirge, they have additional buffs to add those plusses that are double ours.  There is deffinately a point of dimishing returns when it comes to buffing offensive skills, and in a raid format, it's not needed, because it's already handled.  Take a group and run a parser with it on and off, and they only measureable diff you see is in the deffesnive tank, he'll hit on average 10% more.</P> <P>The HP regen, well you can argue over a really long fight it makes an impact, but this doesn't win the battle in the least against a raid mob, again nice for solo'n.</P> <P>Fearless.... ya Fearless is nice for one zone, and some raid mobs, you know whats just as good?  a healer that does his job and cures the fear as it lands.  If you were the one tanking the mob that fears then theres more value added to that, however most of the time we're not (RAID format).  So you stand there not feared and hit the mob while others run away for a couple of seconds.  Dealing with the fear mobs is easy in this game, it's not a must have, not even close to a must have.</P> <P>Int line is not about trying to out DPS wizzards and warlocks.  It's about the extra DPS to do a job, kill the mob and gain hate.  The extra hate generated by critting the spells trumps the STR line hate buff.  Also your heals crit on top of it, so it's about keeping yourself up.   It's true the int line is more about personal DPS, but when the main tank falls and you need to get agro, that DPS is what's gonna help you get it, not fearlessness, +34 to skills or your group regen.  Wisdom line is a solo line, parse it and figure it out for yourself.  And if your tanking Int line is about keeping hate.</P> <P> </P>

[clamdiper]

<div></div><div><blockquote><hr>rabid.pooh wrote:<div></div> <blockquote> <hr> clamdiper wrote:Careful about going for straight crit line if your intent is to raid and do so in a support role. There are many goods and bads with each line; what you choose today might not be what you want when lvl 70. I am staying with the Str and Wis lines myself for the role I play and it suits me best. If you go for Int because you want to out damage a Warlock or Wizzy you might find it more a novelty that anything else. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />I seem to be doing fine with crits and with a 8900 tops so far HT I can't complain. Having the fear immune will help me much more in raids than crits ever well IMHO.End of Wis line:Fearless Morale is a good end to this spell line making the crusader <font color="#ff6600">immune to fear effects and increasing group spell damage, melee damage, heals, reuse times and casting times by 1%</font>. Would be nice to see this upped to 5% since it takes twenty five points to get to the end of this line. <hr> </blockquote> <p>The wisdom line is great for solo'n, and that's about it.  The +34 to skills sets has a measurable impact to a tank that's in a deffesnive stance and that's it.  Other classes already have +'s to their base skill sets, and it's more then the +34, add in a troub or dirge, they have additional buffs to add those plusses that are double ours.  There is deffinately a point of dimishing returns when it comes to buffing offensive skills, and in a raid format, it's not needed, because it's already handled.  Take a group and run a parser with it on and off, and they only measureable diff you see is in the deffesnive tank, he'll hit on average 10% more.</p> <p>The HP regen, well you can argue over a really long fight it makes an impact, but this doesn't win the battle in the least against a raid mob, again nice for solo'n.</p> <p>Fearless.... ya Fearless is nice for one zone, and some raid mobs, you know whats just as good?  a healer that does his job and cures the fear as it lands.  If you were the one tanking the mob that fears then theres more value added to that, however most of the time we're not (RAID format).  So you stand there not feared and hit the mob while others run away for a couple of seconds.  Dealing with the fear mobs is easy in this game, it's not a must have, not even close to a must have.</p> <p>Int line is not about trying to out DPS wizzards and warlocks.  It's about the extra DPS to do a job, kill the mob and gain hate.  The extra hate generated by critting the spells trumps the STR line hate buff.  Also your heals crit on top of it, so it's about keeping yourself up.   It's true the int line is more about personal DPS, but when the main tank falls and you need to get agro, that DPS is what's gonna help you get it, not fearlessness, +34 to skills or your group regen.  Wisdom line is a solo line, parse it and figure it out for yourself.  And if your tanking Int line is about keeping hate.</p> <hr></blockquote>I am getting the impression you think I am complaining about taking the int approach, I am not. What I said is true about being a balance in a group/raid where everyone else takes the int approach (pallys moreso). I am grouping/raiding with the same people day in and day out hence I want to take AA line which will compliment well others. There is nothing wrong with doing what ever you want. BUT I will add that there are those who have posted about the Int line stating, "I can out DPS anyone." That is a macho approach evem if you haven't taken to that way of thinking.I may still decide to do the Int line myself, but only if it will benefit what I am currently performing in our raids, not because of any other reason. This game has plenty of mavericks, team players sometimes can be hard to find.I'm not condemning you, I am stating that there are valid reasons for what AA line you wish to take, and knowing SOE your Int line becomes too popular will be nerfed down the road if everyone takes it. You know how SOE works. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />P.S. Both you and Razerblaze have good points...</div><p>Message Edited by clamdiper on <span class=date_text>05-19-2006</span> <span class=time_text>02:27 PM</span>

[rabid.pooh]

<DIV>I actually went to the wisdom line twice during respecs as on paper it looks like it is totally a good group support path.  However in practice I found that it had little to no impact on a group as a whole.  Fantastic for soloing tho.</DIV>

[Margen]

<P>Int is deffentily a nice ability and it of course does increas dps (mind you while I am usally in the top 7 or 8 in dps, I am not going to threaten true dps classes unless I am in like the perfect group).</P> <P>The wisdom line is so situational it makes it less attractive, plus I am still ticked off about the comparison between our hp regen vs warriors mitigation (kind of felt that is a major slap in the face for crusaders that actually wish to compete for tanking duties).  But I have to admit the wisdom end line is the only one of our end stages that looks even remotly attractive.  </P> <P>For raiding, while fear immunity is nice, I just feel the points you have to spend to get to that stage could be better spent (this of course is a matter of perspective).  If they improved our hp regen greatly or made it something else (maybe major increase in reisist ... just an idea), then I might be more tempted to go this route.  But a measly 66 hp regen or what ever it is every six seconds in the raid enviroment is pretty much useless, specially for trying to tank.</P> <P>Feel free to disagree just the way I see it ).</P>