How often should I be buying armor? (and why I hate the market system... yes, a rant)

[cavalier15]

I'm 21 now, and been soloing in SH since 20. got 2 SoT drops before i hit 21. I started the quest with the first one, and am going to sell the 2nd one for around 3-5 platinum, if not (hopefully) more. I killed Watch Captain Gylar twice (each time i grouped with someone who offered to defer the boots to me if they dropped, and loot on the rest. I'm not too sure if I can solo him and his cronies at 21. I haven't had the chance to try, but he brought along 4 sentries the first time I killed him, so I'm thinking its doubtful) and Sentry Maxillim 4 times. got 4 Silver Bengals and an earring (from Maxillim). I equipped one bengal and teh earring, and sold the other 4 bengals for 1 gold each, so now I have some money for armor. Only thing is, money seems fairly hard to come by, so I don't want to blow this little bit of gold I have. Most of my money comes from selling almost all items (the bengals and the sword are the only things I've ever sold on the market) to merchants for a little silver. Some items fetch a decent amount of silver. But my lack of market action is mostly due to the ABSOLUTELY WRETCHED market system. (Only reason this rant isn't in another forum, is because i don't know which forum to put it in. Ignore it. I'm more concerned in getting info about my armor, unless you have a reasonable explanation for this atrocity). ****Rant Alert**** You HAVE to SIT in your house to sell anything on the market?!? Who's bright idea was this? For any casual players, this pretty much rules out selling anything on the market, because you'd probably rather spend your 2-3 hours a day anything but SITTING IN YOUR HOUSE DOING ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! If you're on a shared PC, or can't afford to pay electricity on a PC running 24-7, this rules out using the market system. Hell, even if you can leave it running 24-7, the SERVERS dont even run 24-7. If you're the kind of person who's sleeping, or working, or doing something somewhere else around 7am (eastern), this [Removed for Content] the amount of time you can leave a merchant on, if at all (How you gonna log out before shutdown if you're gone/asleep/whatever?).  For those of us who put in a lot more hours (myself included), you'd probably rather spend 6, 8, 10, or 12 hours doing ANYTHING (leveling, grouping, adventuring, questing, hunting NMs, or even DIEING) than SITTING IN YOUR HOUSE DOING ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! If I wanted to sit in a house and do nothing, I WOULD SIT IN MY HOUSE AND DO NOTTHING! No t.v., no PC, no anything. Maybe I could just move furniture around all day, since THAT'S ABOUT ALL THERE IS TO DO WHEN SELLING ON THE MARKET! This is one of those things that just makes you say [expletive ninja'd by Faarbot]!?!. [expletive ninja'd by Faarbot] were they thinking when they decided this was how the market system would work?!? Even FFXI's entirely player run, often overpriced (hey, I like capitalism. supply and demand, my firend), Auction House system was better than than this. If you WANTED to sit around and do nothing, you had the CHOICE to set up your player with a bazaar, but if not, you could still sell on teh auction house Even Star Wars Galaxies semi-[expletive ninja'd by Faarbot] 6k price cap was better than this. Even thier "hope somebody recommends some random vendor in some random city on some random planet or else you're stuck buying junk off of the bazaar" system was better than this. In fact, if you could have/make/summon/buy/enslave your own NPC merchant (like the vendors from SWG) that you could stick in your house, then the current system would be acceptable. You could put your junk on the guy, and go off and do stuff while people can still browse your items and buy something. How  could they get SO MUCH right in this game, and completely FUHDpINArJdOIwJD up this? Seriously, [expletive ninja'd by Faarbot]?!? This is not a rant out of anger, or any such thing. This is one of them things you just can't fathom. [expletive ninja'd by Faarbot] were they thinking?!? **** Rant Over**** ANYWAY.... I've noticed most of the armor I can buy at this level lasts for somewhere between 5-8 levels. however, I don't want to spend my money now, if in a level or two I can buy better better armor that would last a little longer. My heavy armor skill is maxed at 105 I believe, and I don't quite know how much it goes up with each level. Can someone point me to a list of armor skill at each level or something, so I can decide if I should wait 1-2 levels to buy, or just buy now, or what? basicaly, whats the most efficient armor I can buy? I still can't wear the full Carbonite mentioned in the 20-24 in SH guide. Should I buy Pristine Forged Carbonite Armor (I believe I'm currently wearing mostly plain Forged Carbonite Armor)? or should I wait 2-3 levels and buy a different, better kind of armor? or should I wait 4-5 levels to get an even better set? What about the AQ armor? I did AQ1 (and half of AQ2), but im not sure about this stuff. the Guantlets I got weren't even as good as the ones I was wearing (Gauntlets of Storms, I think), so I'm wary about the other AQ being useless as well. Any suggestions will be appreciated, and if you want/need to know exactly what I'm wearing now (mostly Forged Carbonite, with a couple filler peices) lemme know. I'M GOING TO BE SITTING IN MY HOUSE ALL DAY (and maybe for days to come) UNTIL SOMEONE BUYS MY SoT, SO I HAVE PLENTY OF TIME TO BROWSE/REPLY ON THE FORUMS. oh yeah, and [expletive ninja'd by Faarbot]!?!?!?!? <div></div>

[Troodon]

Offline selling is on its way. In the first phase it will be sales from your housevault while you're anywhere online in the game, then it'll move to full offline selling. If you have the money, and if you can really sell the SoT quest starter for that much then it looks like you do, unless you have friends to had whom can help getting all the AQs out of the way quickly, Id suggest getting a set of Pristine Forged Carbonite and then scrutinizing the stats of the AQ pieces as you complete them. The bits of armour you recieve for the finial AQs will certainly outclass the player made stuff (currently that is), however it makes life a lot easier if you can get approach them well equiped. <div></div>

[Iustus]

<P>I would recommend replacing armor every 10 levels. At 20, you can get some crafted armor that will last you until 30. Then you can get a new set that will last until 40. You might want to consider getting some rare armor, depending on your playtime. A full suit of steel armor (20-30 rare), costs about 1.75p. A full suit of feysteel (30-40 rare), costs about 5p. If you want to save your money, a full suit of carbonite is nearly as good as the AQ armor, and cheep until level 30. And feyiron is also pretty cheep, and decent armor to get.</P> <P>-I</P>

[Golrad]

<DIV>      I would suggest finishing all of your armor quests if at all possible, the armor you get from them is good and even if you don't use it, you can sell it for some silver at least. Personally, I bought a set of pristine carbonite at lv20 and used that while I was doing AQ's and slowly replaced each piece. For gloves, the best you'll get up to lv30 are the gauntlets of storm, you can get them from the quest in stormhold that asks you to find 3 artifacts from the guy at the entrance. </DIV> <DIV>        Every level your skills' max increases by 5, so if a pair of gloves says 130 minimum skill that's lv26, the easy way is just to divide the number by 5 to find what level you need for it. Finding armor up to 30 isn't too difficult, anything you decide on will serve you well, AQ armor isn't necessary, the pristine carbonite is enough to last you to 30. One thing I like to do is every 10 levels buy a set of pristine crafted armor (carbonite, feyiron, then fulginate) and replace the pieces as I find better stuff. </DIV> <DIV>         Buying new weapons, shield, and jewelry from crafters also is a good idea. Most of the crafted equipment is fairly cheap to get (about 1gp for each piece of feyiron, and 3gp for fulginate) so even if you don't get to use it much till you find better, it's not a big deal. </DIV> <DIV>         About rare crafted armor, I don't think the price is worth the equipment, dropped armor is almost as good (like laensteel in the 20's, or enchanted black/feysteel plate in the 30's) and a lot cheaper. The exception to that would be ebon, by the time you get to the end game, having the best armor you can get isn't a bad idea. Good luck and have fun!</DIV> <P><SPAN class=time_text></SPAN> </P><p>Message Edited by Golradir on <span class=date_text>03-20-2005</span> <span class=time_text>08:41 AM</span>

[Lairdragna]

what server are you on?  Feyiron on Nektulos is around 25g for a suit, maybe 20g if you work a deal with the armorer.  Fulganite goes for around 20g per piece, maybe a 1p if you work out a deal to buy an entire suit/ <div></div>

[Golrad]

<DIV>      I'm on najena, when i bought my fulginate armor, i paid a total of 18gp for the full set. I skipped feyiron myself and bought all enchanted black and feysteel plate because I liked the look better, but feyiron is pretty cheap. Seems to me that on your server there aren't many armorsmiths so they charge whatever they want, we have quite a few here, even for ebon armor there is competition between crafters.</DIV>

[Deathspell]

If you have decent gear, you only have to invest money in a good chest armor. If you sell the SoT for even 1 plat, there's no problem to always wear the best of the best gear. Dagorel's chest armor sucks and your armor quest chest armor comes at AQ6. Also, there's also the stupid centaur aggro, if you want your AQ6 done you need to kill centaurs, but then they aggro you up and til level 31-32. Trust me, you want to invest good money in your chest armor. Get a pristine forged carbonite vanguard cuirass or smth, it's greenish, but the best chest armor you can have at <25. It's still good at lvl 30, but at lvl 25 you can get a steel platemail chest armor, which is slightly better. <div></div>

[cavalier15]

sorry about all the obscenities; didn't know that was considered one, or I wouldn't have used it so profusely >< anyway, i meant the armor I'm wearing is mostly forged carbonite vanguard, save for a couple pieces that i either couldn't find or afford. Replacing every 10 or so sounds good to me. I've got offers for a little over 1p for the SoT (is that a good price for the Antonia Bayle server?), and I'm very stingy when it comes to money (meaning I won't be wasting it, at least not intentionaly). I'll probably buy a full suit of whatever the best I can wear somewhere between 23-25, and then replace again at 30 and 40. Depending on how much i get for SoT, I may go with a full suit of Pristine Forged Carbonite Vanguard (minus any AQ pieces that are better). Currently, this is what I'm wearing at lvl 22 (just dinged): Helm of the betrayer (best thing i could afford at the time, cons<img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> (blue) Forged Carbonite Vanguard chest (orange) sea salt pauldrons (best I could afford at teh time) (orange) Hearth Forged Bracers (yellow, i think) Gauntlets of Storms (orange) Forged Carbonite Vanguard legs (orange) Sabatons of the Observer (yellow, i think. JUST got them like 5 minutes ago ) My shield is the Siren-something, its a round shield, pretty nice. There are no kite shields available in my skill range. Also, I've got a couple questions: What does Tier 2 or Tier 3 mean when talkin about equipment and whatnot? and, What would be better: wearing a piece of armor that cons blue, but is a a few AC higer than an orange piece, or wearing the orange piece that is a few AC less? thanks <div></div>

[Deathspell]

You can get a pristine forged ash wood kite shield or something at your level 22. I think it's the first kite shield you can use, maybe the Kite Shield Of War and the Waterlogged Kite Shield as well, but they are harderer to find and have more or less the same stats. The ash kite shield is player made, ask around if you can't find it on the market <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> As for blue or orange armor, I pick the best "overall" armor, always items with magic stats on them. Having slightly higher AC without magic stats sucks if you have zero resistances to magic and you're facing a caster. But that's just my opinion <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> <div></div>

[Pnaxx]

<P>Firstly, i would save your money and just go with the AQ stuff. It is better than the Pristine Carbonite suff...and its free. You will be grouping with peeps for these and you will do fine with wut u have right now. I did it with alot less. (although the chest guard may be smart to avoid agro with Taurs...but heck, when  you group, you will be killing them anyway with other players so just go for it.)</P> <P>As far as the Question of Armor con blue with higher AC vs lower AC with orange. You will probably not need any more armor aftre AQ6, so if the orange only gets better at the upper end of 20...like 27-30, well....ull gonna keep AQ stuff til 30...so we must be talking bout shields now, get highest AC that will last 4-5 lvls then change over. You need to be maxed out fer those crucial lvls. But just grind out thses AQ's...even the chest...all free and is very good stuff....better than player made. Just keep jewlry upgraded...thats where you can spend ur money.</P> <P>Pnaxx</P> <P> </P> <P> </P>

[Titali]

<DIV>i dont think anyone who has had 2 SoTs drop for them is allowd to complain about anything.</DIV>

[Collaud]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Titaliss wrote:<BR> <DIV>i dont think anyone who has had 2 SoTs drop for them is allowd to complain about anything.</DIV><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P><BR>/agree</P> <P>Between 2 different characters, I've spent over 8 levels in SH and have yet to see a SoT drop.</P>

[Deathspell]

Apparently I looted the Sword of Thunder in my early "sorcerer" days (november), not being able to get a quest (I was a mage) and not knowing what is was, I gave it away <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Afterwards ofcoz, I found out that it was a rare drop and that I could be rich, hehe, so I didn't feel to well. Especially since I had a "Paladin" waiting to leave the Refuge Island Then, by some divine intervention probably, I found it for sale at the broker for 1 gold,... and yes I bought it <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> <div></div>

[Pathin Merrithay]

<DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I'd suggest saving your rants about online selling. Back in the day when you had to hoof it halfway across the world to whatever market zone you were in and spent hours actually yelling in /auction the goods that you were trying to unload was a much more frustrating endeavor <img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Anyway. Once you hit 20 there is no reason not to do the various AQ's and save your money. After that, expect a full armor suit upgrade at both 30 and 40. (Feyiron/Feysteel and then Fulginate/Ebon) Frankly, a full suit of Pristine Feyiron is  nice investment, can be found fairly cheap if you've been saving, and while is not quite as good as Feysteel is infinitely cheaper. The better choice if you find yourself low on cash.</DIV>

[buggz620]

<IMG src="http://xs21.xs.to/pics/05123/kite.png">Capt Hess in SH drops  what looks to be a nice Kite Shield its white at 24.<BR><BR><p>Message Edited by buggz620 on <span class=date_text>03-23-2005</span> <span class=time_text>12:41 AM</span>