Revisiting the AAs in time for the Expansion

[Mistmoore-Milaga]

I've gone INT 448 STA 45888. I am a little disappointed in the STA line. The melee crit is nice, and since I have the Bowling Pin of Pain I use the AOE stun a lot. Divine Aura is not terribly helpful at the point I am in raiding. If something is going to kill me it's going to kill me with a few devastating blows, and Divine Aura just doesn't help. 4% health is nice, but paying 8 AAs for it, not to mention the 12AAs just to get to that point is a bit much. I am considering respeccing, and I'll reserve my final decision until I see what the expansion AA looks like. INT 448 is a nobrainer, and I'm keeping that no matter what.My thoughts are:INT 448 STR 458 STA 448Gives me an attack speed increase, and an increased chance to crit. I don't have any good Fabled Axes, but I've seen quite a few drop. I've got my eye on the Shadow Axe.INT 448 STR 458 WIS 448This is the one I'm leaning to. I don't know what impact increasing offensive skills will have on power consumption, but it might make the third rank of Wisdom much more valuable.INT 848 WIS 45848Okay, this is the oddest one. With the caps going up, 4 points for 32 points of INT may be the best way to spend my last 4 AA points. Alternately I could put the 4 into the health regen. Finally ...INT 848 WIS 588864 INT, 30 WIS, spell crits, +33 offensive skills for the group and +67 per tick health regen. This is strange, but it seems nice and dense without a lot of wasted AA points. I'm not sure if it makes sense as a follower of Cazic Thule, the god of fear, to be immune to fear, so I might just leave that one out.Anyway, just thinking about how I might mix it up.<div></div>

[Xanoth]

I'm Currently INT 448 WIS 48848not sure why i picked up the group melee proc, just felt i'd rather get the most out of it.with EoF on the way im considering going with Str 448 Wis 448 Int 448i find the health regen from Wis totally worthless in a raid situation (matron mebies being an exception). Skill boost currantly reduces resists, but its main use is to aid healers as they almsot never fizzle, and when i picked my setup i was often in the MT group wtih 3 healers to benefit, and to also ofset the MTs stance.the main reason im considering str now is that with ascendant and shadow axe i rarely use any other weapon type.Im reluctant to make any changes before EoF though, as i want to see what the AAs are, what weapons are available that would be an upgrade, and what abilities mobs use (will fear be more present).I keep looking at the Sta line for the HP boost, but im just not willing to spend that many points just for 4% more HP.

[plantb]

<DIV>Currently</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Int - 5-4-8</DIV> <DIV>Sta - 4-4-8-8-8</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>EoF</DIV> <DIV>If combat changes are any good, then</DIV> <DIV>Int 4-5-8</DIV> <DIV>Wis 4-4-8</DIV> <DIV>Sta 4-4-8</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Regarding haste - I dont find haste to be much of a dps increase.  Why?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Well dirges are talking about a DW weapon that drops in HoS that has a massive dmge range and a 4 sec delay.</DIV> <DIV>They love this weapon because</DIV> <DIV>1) The damage range - The further the numbers are apart the higher the crit will be (numbers = 25-150 dmge)</DIV> <DIV>2) The 4 sec delay - Dirges cast alot just like us, having a quick hitting weapon just doesnt fit into the casting times.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>One of our SKs on this forum said that a weapon with a 3 sec delay is the best weapon to use, as it fits into our casting times.  I would have to agree.  For me I think the magic number is around 2.5 secs when your buffed up.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>When I solo my haste is at 22% constant, I then use the sword that drops from Vyme in labs this seems to ballance out melee and spell dmge.  When raiding I use Prides Edge which has a nice dmge spread and something like a 3 sec delay.  So when buffed in a group the delay is around the 2.5 sec mark if not maybe lower.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The Feral lion proc on the sword is also pretty good dmge dealer.  In a 23min run of Nek3 the Feral Lions did 24k dmge, however that doesnt get added onto my parse <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I always prefer DPS buffs over haste buffs.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Plant</DIV>

[rabid.pooh]

<P>Right now I'm Int 448 wis 448 and sta 458.</P> <P>I reintroduced the wisdom line from the str line, I was Int 448 str 448 and sta 458.</P> <P>I switched to the wisdom becuase of the +34 to skills for me and the group.  When tanking places like Nizzara, that +34 really makes a difference to the group, it helps the mezzers big time too with the +34 to subjication.  Also with the new combat 'improvements' coming up, it looks like this will make an even more significant impact.  I really hope they bring out more challenging instances like Niz, right now most instances in the game are joke.</P> <P>The AOE stun from the stamina line also has to be on of the better abilities.  In nizzara when that fireclaw hits you, I drop the hammer, to give the clerics catch up time to heal.  Since it's aoe you don't need a target.  Or when I overpull, drop the hammer to open up your casting time for tap viens.</P> <P>I found the end ability in the STA line to be pretty much worthless, the time it requires you to cast, well your pretty much dead at that point, and the 15 minute recast timer makes it so you won't precast when you see the MT going down.  End ability for Wisdom line is all but useless too, just group with people who know what they're doing and that fear is cured right away.</P> <P>well that's my 2bits</P>

[Xanoth]

haste is good with a slow enough weapon, more haste = more swings = more procs

[Mistmoore-Milaga]

INT WIS STA huh? Hmm ...I'll have to think about that. WIS will probably help quite a bit when dealing with Tarinax. And I do like the AOE stun (plus my fabled weapons are hammers.) I'm still completely flabbergasted that Vraksakin's Club dropped in my guild when I wasn't there and no one wanted it. Vendor trashed.  *sob*Might be worth thinking about going to INT WIS STA now. I've only used up my free respecs so far, so I can afford the 1s.<div></div>

[plantb]

<P>Milaga</P> <P>My advice now, would be to wait until NDA has been lifted and Sks on beta have reported on how things are in EoF.</P> <P>Afik at the moment the + to all skills doesnt make much a difference, and tbh I like the extra hp gain and DA.  When I get more info on the combat changes and our new AAs I'll then decide what role my SK will be.</P> <P>I'll also check to see what exactly in the new system the + to skills does.  If its all good then on release day I'll respec and go Int 4-5-8 Wis 4-4-8 and Sta 4-4-8.  </P> <P>This would make me a buff bot, which I dont mind as its a purpose.</P> <P>Plant</P>

[CHIMPNOODLE.]

<DIV>I'll likely wait a bit too and see how things play out in live. For now, I love the STA line and DA. It has saved my butt and the raid's countless times now. Unless I see something that really makes a big difference to mitigation, HP, or some other form of immunity...not too much chance I'll change anything.</DIV>

[Mistmoore-Milaga]

Having done a lot of research before I picked my AA lines, it looks like I had two free respecs coming to me. So I went ahead and respecced 448 STR/WIS/INT. I may change again later depending on what the + skill looks like but dang, I am happy with it now. More than cancells out the disadvantage of defensive stance.<div></div>

[G3IST]

<blockquote><hr>Xanoth wrote:haste is good with a slow enough weapon, more haste = more swings = more procs<hr></blockquote>From what Ive heard its better to have a longer delay for procs because the % chance to proc goes off the delay time, and its not a 8% chance or whatever every time you swing the weapon, and I believe its the same for casting time on spells and procs that go off of hostile spells which means a longer delay has a greater chance to proc each time you swing the weapon.  Yes you will get in more hits with a quicker delay if youre just doing straight up melee damage but it will take a lot more hits from that weapon to get the proc to go off.  So haste really does not do much for a SK when the majority of the time we are casting, and with a longer weapon delay the proc will go off more for us since the delay will line up better with casting.  If we used a weapon with a short delay and haste we would hardly ever proc because we do not get that many melee hits in during casting.

[Xanoth]

<blockquote><hr>G3IST wrote:Fromwhat Ive heard its better to have a longer delay for procs because the% chance to proc goes off the delay time, and its not a 8% chance orwhatever every time you swing the weapon, and I believe its the samefor casting time on spells and procs that go off of hostile spellswhich means a longer delay has a greater chance to proc each time youswing the weapon.  Yes you will get in more hits with a quickerdelay if youre just doing straight up melee damage but it will take alot more hits from that weapon to get the proc to go off.  Sohaste really does not do much for a SK when the majority of the time weare casting, and with a longer weapon delay the proc will go off morefor us since the delay will line up better with casting.  If weused a weapon with a short delay and haste we would hardly ever procbecause we do not get that many melee hits in during casting.<hr></blockquote>you either misunderstood me, or dont fully understand how proc normalisation works with haste.i'll cover both.By "slow enough weapon", i mean at least 2.5s, preferably 3s+.Proc normalisation happens <b>before</b> haste is calculated. so if you have a 3s delay weapon with a 5% proc, you will swing 20 times in a minute, and proc an average of once. if you then manage to get 100% haste, you will double your number of swings to 40 in a minute, but still have a 5% chance to proc, so your chance to proc is doubled.most of our spells have a casting time of less than 1.5s, few go over 2s. while 100% haste isn't ideal unless you have some spell haste (STR line), as you'd need a 4s delay weapon to not loose swings. but its rare personally for me to be with an illusionist to push my haste to those extreams.When your haste is pushed to those extreams, simply avoid casting long spells (wrath, death circle, blessing, sacriment... ) unless a cleric in the group uses spell haste, or you have death march ready. you just need to alter your play to make the msot of whats available. i still often switch to Right Hand of the High Priestess when a dirge uses CoB, and only cast 0.5s spells during that time to make full use of a 100% chance disease proc which crits with our improved crit chance (still prefer troubs though).

[JoarAddam]

<DIV>I went all the way down the str line 4 8 8 4 8(equals 1 point) and I'm partway down the int line 5 4 8.  The recast reduction is a big benefit, it's not just an increase in DPS, but the reduction in some timers can provide a much bigger boost than just the 10% reduction suggests.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I'm a raider, and I'm most worried about damage. I can tank, and do on some fights as an add tank, but that requires a complete change in almost every piece of gear...  Scourge knight's mask becomes ichor filled thorax, maisiths prayer beads becomes vitrified scale gussets, etc....  But my preference is for putting out damage.  I was in the top 3 every single parse in deathtoll last night (except for when i came back late from an afk/bio break and they killed one of the goos without me)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I've tried every line and combination of lines that there is to try.  I've spent 10p on a respec at least 4 times I can think of.  It's been a long while since I was using melee crits, it was a big boost in damage when I first tried it, but I grew past that to what i do now.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Xanoth]

Im presonally tempted to try:STR 458AGI 448INT 448when fighting heroic mobs i pull at least 3-4 encounters, even if yellow heroic (mainly PoA), so for maxing my AAs in EoF the agi line is sure to help, as will the haste. then when finished up with the new AA's i can consider a respec that ould b better suited for raiding.at the moment im have WIS 48848 INT 448. as i feel this benefits the raid (my group at least) the most), giving 1% more damage, recast, heal and casting time. as well as a skill buff and a 1 min reacst power efficint melee proc. fear immunity is pretty pointless tbh.I just find it hard to give up these buffs knowing that others benefit from them. But ideally i think i'd prefer the STR line for spell haste/recast and melee haste. i also almost always use an axe (although i prefer swords still) as the proc on shadow axe is just great, nice delay too. and if i need to tank, switch to ascendant.I'd also love to be rid of 3 extra buffs that can't be cast on the move u.ufor now i keep delaying the inevitable respec as long as i can, as i want to have more info regarding EoF before i make any choices.

[HentaiB]

<P>4 5 8 4 8 str  4 8 8 int here.  Once they stated that haste wont top out till 200 I was like oh well I will respec to 4 8 8 4 8 str and 4 5 8 int on EoF release date.  We raiders are all about DPS and some small debuffs.  Dispoiling Mist will be much more popular and worthwhile to cast once the brigand nerf to dispatch hits.  Right now the mob is always dispatched so what is the point.  </P> <P>On another point if we get top 5 DPS on the zone parse you were either the MT with tons of damage procs on you or YOUR TRUE DPS NEEDS TO TRY ALOT HARDER.   If a swashie or a neco or a wizard or a assasin is below you on the zone parse they are not paying attention.  Yes we are awsome DPS when we go all out, but we are not in a league with the big boys.  A zone parse should read every true dps class then you.  We can beat zerkers as well, but if they got a good group and you didn't you wont beat them unless they are a bad player.</P> <P>Let the FLAMES begin.</P><p>Message Edited by HentaiBOy on <span class=date_text>10-26-2006</span> <span class=time_text>07:23 AM</span>

[Mistmoore-Milaga]

<div><blockquote><hr>Xanoth wrote:haste is good with a slow enough weapon, more haste = more swings = more procs<hr></blockquote>Actually 'more haste = more swings = more procs' applies equally to all speeds of weapons. Yes, it is good for all.I meant to say I went STA/INT/WIS. I can see the STR being more useful for raiding than STA, but I had been raid tanking with STA for so long my good weapons are crushing. Once I start picking up some axes I'll consider switching over. Besides, for grouping I still think the AOE stun is probably the best 2nd AA level ability we get.The AGI AA is good for grouping or soloing. In fact I think 448 STR/AGI/INT must turn us into a pretty sick soloer. Joust and Lance are devastating, but for raiding you just cannot rely on being on horseback. Unless you are doing something contested, one death and you've lost the advantages of this line.</div>

[Xanoth]

<blockquote><hr>Milaga wrote:<div><blockquote><hr>Xanoth wrote:haste is good with a slow enough weapon, more haste = more swings = more procs<hr></blockquote>Actually 'more haste = more swings = more procs' applies equally to all speeds of weapons. Yes, it is good for all.<hr></blockquote>Procs are normalised for delays, so thats not true.1s delay weapon, buff with 15% chance to proc. proc assumes 3s delay (everything normalsied to 3s), so with a 1s delay weapon, buff would proc 5% of swings to compensate.short delay is not of benefit to pocs.

[Darkaren]

dekeon wrote<p>4 5 8 4 8 str  4 8 8 int here.  Once they stated that haste wont top out till 200 I was like oh well I will respec to 4 8 8 4 8 str and 4 5 8 int on EoF release date.  We raiders are all about DPS and some small debuffs.  Dispoiling Mist will be much more popular and worthwhile to cast once the brigand nerf to dispatch hits.  Right now the mob is always dispatched so what is the point.  </p> <p>On another point if we get top 5 DPS on the zone parse you were either the MT with tons of damage procs on you or YOUR TRUE DPS NEEDS TO TRY ALOT HARDER.   If a swashie or a neco or a wizard or a assasin is below you on the zone parse they are not paying attention.  Yes we are awsome DPS when we go all out, but we are not in a league with the big boys.  A zone parse should read every true dps class then you.  We can beat zerkers as well, but if they got a good group and you didn't you wont beat them unless they are a bad player.</p> <p>Let the FLAMES begin.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>He learned everything he knows from me.</p><p>Dogmae and i pushed this set up in the gamewide sk channel guk.sk</p><p>Those who have switched to it, (dekeon included) Love it and would never change. pending changes in eof.</p><p></p><p>darkaren sk</p><p>npu</p><p>guk</p><div></div>

[Littleflame]

I feel like a newbie to SK still, but right now at level 53, my plan of AA has been and still is: STR 8, WIS 44448, INT 448. That leaves some tuning points still, and for now has been suiting my soloing needs while I rather be DPS than a tank in groups when I need to team up.With combat changes and getting to higher level to do some more raids with guild, I do realize I might end up having to reset and try some other things.EDIT: to add, no I don't have 50 AA yet, but haven't noticed any reasons so far to change my plan.<p>Message Edited by Littleflame on <span class=date_text>10-28-2006</span> <span class=time_text>08:52 AM</span>

[Xanoth]

<blockquote><hr>HentaiBOy wrote:<P>4 5 8 4 8 str  4 8 8 int here.  Once they stated that haste wont top out till 200 I was like oh well I will respec to 4 8 8 4 8 str and 4 5 8 int on EoF release date.  We raiders are all about DPS and some small debuffs.  Dispoiling Mist will be much more popular and worthwhile to cast once the brigand nerf to dispatch hits.  Right now the mob is always dispatched so what is the point.  </P><P>On another point if we get top 5 DPS on the zone parse you were either the MT with tons of damage procs on you or YOUR TRUE DPS NEEDS TO TRY ALOT HARDER.   If a swashie or a neco or a wizard or a assasin is below you on the zone parse they are not paying attention.  Yes we are awsome DPS when we go all out, but we are not in a league with the big boys.  A zone parse should read every true dps class then you.  We can beat zerkers as well, but if they got a good group and you didn't you wont beat them unless they are a bad player.</P><P>Let the FLAMES begin.</P><p>Message Edited by HentaiBOy on <span class=date_text>10-26-2006</span> <span class=time_text>07:23 AM</span><hr></blockquote>Ok, NDA's lifted, what works best for EoF?