A few questions from a recently returned dark disciple

[Kanfo]

Good morning! After two years of absence, I've a few questions about the changes that have happened in the meantime, if anyone would be so kind as to illuminate me: First, I haven't picked up any of the expansions at this point, and since I'm not sure I want to remain in game yet, if I were to get the most recent (EoF) would I unlock the level 50 cap, and still be able to progress as my main? Second, I'm still looking through all of the abilities that have been changed, and I'm noticing that alot of the troubles that caused me to leave in the first place are still there.  At 50, I'll commonly be hit for 100, 200, 400, or the like.  My beautiful lifetaps and procs return maybe a quarter to a half of a single hit, i.e. so small a number as to be almost useless.  Am I missing some trick, modifier, or something else that makes the majority of my abilities actually worth using? Thirdly, at the moment I'm still standing around in old Ebon armor.  It was beautifully rare back when I quit, but I'm sure it's rather old and musty at this point.  Are there any quest lines I should look into for new gear to update myself in new, cool threads?  (Uh, metal threads...) Lastly, I've noticed a lot of neat new quests and revamps, but so far, haven't seen any really new content.  Is the new content available only in expansions/adventure packs/things I spend money on? <div></div>

[Incur]

<DIV>EoF also includes ALL the other expansions, so you get everything for a nice lil lump sum =)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>At 70 with the new reaving AA line, i get as much green health spam as i do combat damage, between lifetap procs from my self buff and group buff, vampiric adornment on wep, self healing earring, and 800+ heals from my new ring it makes a big difference, and our lifetap ward is incredibly handy, and still AFAIK the only ward that gives hate to the person you cast it on.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>First thing to remember is due to the combat revamp, heroics mean NOT SOLOABLE at least in theory, you shouldnt be able to solo any con of heroic (unless grey) </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Ebon should do you fine till 52, then you want to start peering at the next teir of rare which is Cobalt i beleave, imbued cobalt will keep you equipped fine till you start picking up the ol legendary drops and the like.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Revamp has gone from the ground up, try making a new character just to see the huge changes, new newbie isles, sk's are much more Shadowknighty than we where, and currently imho standing a lot higher up the tank listings than we have ever done before.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The reason im still with this game is they activly <TRY> (not to say they get it right every time ) to make it better all the time, heres hoping it continues! </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>And welcome back!</DIV>

[AziBam]

Please spill the beans.  800+ heals on a new ring? 

[Kanfo]

So, are SK's actually really *fun* to play now?  My biggest issue when I left is I felt that a good majority of my abilities really didn't *do* anything, other than make pretty colors on the screen.  As much as I appreciate pretty colors, I'd like all that time and button-clicking I'm doing to make a real tangible, noticable difference to gameplay.  I crave the strategic use of abilities, rather than button-mashing.  Perhaps I'm playing the wrong class?  <img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> And does the expansion also come with a free month's play?  If so, then it's almost worth it to upgrade for me just for the subscription cost. <div></div>

[Norrsken]

<div><blockquote><hr>Kanfoxy wrote:So, are SK's actually really *fun* to play now?  My biggest issue when I left is I felt that a good majority of my abilities really didn't *do* anything, other than make pretty colors on the screen.  As much as I appreciate pretty colors, I'd like all that time and button-clicking I'm doing to make a real tangible, noticable difference to gameplay.  I crave the strategic use of abilities, rather than button-mashing.  Perhaps I'm playing the wrong class?  <img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> And does the expansion also come with a free month's play?  If so, then it's almost worth it to upgrade for me just for the subscription cost. <div></div><hr></blockquote>the sk is IMHO one of the most strategy dependant classes in the game. Sure, you will get by just mashing away, but then you'll be way sub par and will be apart of the mass of players that give SKs a bad rep. We can tank anything, we dish out decent damage, and our self healing capability is way up there.And, my lifetaps with the t5 upgrade to the blessing line gave me 200-400ish a pop worth of health. At 55 we get an ae lifetap that, with enough enemies, fully heals us.And the reaver line from EoF looks nice as far as lifetaps (Adds lifetap to the HT line, and the silly dot line we have. amongst other nice things)My sk is the class I am having the most fun playing atm.But if you've been gon 2 years, the whole combat system have changed, so you need to relearn what you knew. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></div>

[Kanfo]

I KNEW EVERYTHING! Wow, uh, relearning all that is gonna take a while.  Guess I better get started...  *mentors down to level 3 and starts swinging...* <div></div>

[Eluzay]

<div><blockquote><hr>roxer2b wrote:<div><blockquote></blockquote>the sk is IMHO one of the most strategy dependant classes in the game. </div><hr></blockquote>definietly the most strategy dependant warrior class in game... I think my coercer takes more strat, and my assasin... but I look at it like this.The difference between playing your SK well vs any other tank is much greater... a poorly played SK sucks, a well played SK rocks socks... vs a poorly played guardian or zerker will get by and a well played one is pretty good...</div>