Hi, I'm moving up to B grade equipment, I decideed to shop around to see what I should buy. I have no clue which armour set to buy, or which tattoo/dual o.O. I looked around here for awhile and I found much debate on the issue. since this would actually be the first time I needed to THINK about which armour set to get, I think I need some help from the more experienced players!
Now, I've heard TSU*SLS for the focus, up until this point I had no clue duals could have SA lol. Now, I have no clue where to go. BW or Doom? Then I've heard about tattoos, which since this is my main, and haven't bothered since, I need some help there too! O.o
My Plan/Playstyle: I'm planning on staying in big parties and only tank occasionally, not too much grinding since once I hit 58 and get dance of Fury I'll be in much demand ^^ Thank you in advance for any advice!
Ok I asked this same question about a week ago and this is the response I got... for BW it gives better P Def and for Doom it gives more Health so both are god but more people (including me) go BW for all the bonus it gives like the defence is benefitical to you in groups or solo so that you can take the hits :) AND of course the best weapon to go for is the duals you mentioned with the SA Focus you can find most people selling them but I've been told it's cheaper to buy the duals and craft them with that SA yourself if ya know how? Good Luck & have fun :)
BW is better p.atk not p.def, doom actually has slightly higher p.def.
BW gives +7 Run Speed, +5% HP regeneration, STR +3, CON -1, DEX -2
Doom gives +320 HP, Increased breath gauge, CON +3, STR -3, +24% Shield Defense (when shield equipped).
While it is cheaper to craft duals, there is a 33% chance that they will blow into crystals when applying the 4th enchant that gives the SA. If you get unlucky it could cost you more then just buying +4 duals.
pve: +4 dex +4 str sls*tsu +4 doom light. Greatest pve setup of all time.
pvp: It depends on your clan/your opponent/ your server. It depends so much on so many things there is no good answer. If you are in a clan ask other bds in that clan. If you want to know about the arena, I don't care.
you forgot doom light. Doom light gives +3 dex which is over 100 more crit rate. Crit rate is everything. Get doom light and ignore everybody who looks at you funny because they don't know. If they ask you about it say, "You don't know SON!" or say, "DON'T MAKE ME!" both are great things to pm to people.
anyway... it still the better damage out put imo...
I was hitting the wh keeper and with doom light damage was 48-58 with bw heavy it was 51-64 (no buffs or dances cause they ran out and i dind't want to go begging for buffs.)
in 20 swings with bw i had 2 misses and 3 crits in doom light it was 7 crits and 1 miss. Now it would be better if i was full buffed with both... but this does give some comparison....
anyway I did (with fire not warrior) about 1500 dmg to the wh keeper in doom light and 1300 dmg to the wh keeper in bw. This shows that doom light does give more damage output. However with death whisper it give significantly more damage. And with the cat buff it is off the charts. Doom light is better, but I don't know where i got 100+ crit rate. :(
/edit the higher damage out put doesn't even take into account the faster attack speed of doom light...
/edit 2 ignore the mdef... I had no jewels on lol
/edit 3 I had sls*tsu +4
/edit 4 There is only a difference of 50 hp between doom light and bw heavy. Also the mana regen should be taken into consideration as it allows you to hex more, but it isn't that significant.
you forgot doom light. Doom light gives +3 dex which is over 100 more crit rate. Crit rate is everything. Get doom light and ignore everybody who looks at you funny because they don't know. If they ask you about it say, "You don't know SON!" or say, "DON'T MAKE ME!" both are great things to pm to people.
The problem with Doom Light is -1 Str and -2 Con. You will need full buffs in that light armor, including VR. Probably a few GHP's too. And you're right: you are wholly reliant on increased crits to save your neck.
I'm not saying it can't work, just that in the hour or two that I tested the Doom Light on my BD (solo), I wasn't convinced that it was better than BW Heavy for most hunting situations.
In fact the reduced pdef in addition to reduced HP made me a much more cautious aggressor. In BW Heavy I have no worries about taking on a small phalanx of Oel Mahum Shamans & Warriors at once. In Doom Light doing that will almost assuredly force you to UD. (In case you're wondering: +5 Dex, +4 Str, -9 Con, and a +8 Tsu*SLS was used for this test.)
I don't know how Doom Light fares PVP. My guess is that you'd probably be pink mist in the wind in no time at all. Maybe others who have experimented with LAOD can shed some light here?
Doom doesn't add MEN or MP regeneration, does it? That's BW light...
Doom Light adds MP Regen. 2.5%, I think. I still would stick with BW Heavy. I'd only use Doom Heavy for PVP ... if choosing which armor you'll have on when you get ganked is an option. :)
you forgot doom light. Doom light gives +3 dex which is over 100 more crit rate. Crit rate is everything. Get doom light and ignore everybody who looks at you funny because they don't know. If they ask you about it say, "You don't know SON!" or say, "DON'T MAKE ME!" both are great things to pm to people.
The problem with Doom Light is -1 Str and -2 Con. You will need full buffs in that light armor, including VR. Probably a few GHP's too. And you're right: you are wholly reliant on increased crits to save your neck.
I'm not saying it can't work, just that in the hour or two that I tested the Doom Light on my BD (solo), I wasn't convinced that it was better than BW Heavy for most hunting situations.
In fact the reduced pdef in addition to reduced HP made me a much more cautious aggressor. In BW Heavy I have no worries about taking on a small phalanx of Oel Mahum Shamans & Warriors at once. In Doom Light doing that will almost assuredly force you to UD. (In case you're wondering: +5 Dex, +4 Str, -9 Con, and a +8 Tsu*SLS was used for this test.)
I don't know how Doom Light fares PVP. My guess is that you'd probably be pink mist in the wind in no time at all. Maybe others who have experimented with LAOD can shed some light here?
well yes doom light isn't great for soloing... in fact i wouldn't reccomend it at all. however in a party where most bds spen all their time lvling hp don't matter.
As for pvp... Doom light is great if you are full buffed and don't get targeted... otherwise it sucks...
Well, heavy is your guarantee that you won't get targeted until right before the SwS and tanks - but in light, you're just a squishy target that can't even evade. :p
And yes, in a party where BDs don't tank with VR that rarely, I'd argue it's still important.
The point that I'm trying to show here is that if you can be effective soloing as a BD, then you'll be effective in groups as well -- looking strictly at the armor, I mean. But if you can't be effective soloing with it, I think you are being more of a liability to your group than you know. The purpose of groups is to synergistically offset individual weaknesses... so anything is possible with the right group. But I think with LAOD you are probably manufacturing a weakness and not necessarily adding to overall group strength. Like Maline says, you are rather "squishy" in LAOD. That's gonna come back to haunt you eventually.
The point that I'm trying to show here is that if you can be effective soloing as a BD, then you'll be effective in groups as well -- looking strictly at the armor, I mean. But if you can't be effective soloing with it, I think you are being more of a liability to your group than you know. The purpose of groups is to synergistically offset individual weaknesses... so anything is possible with the right group. But I think with LAOD you are probably manufacturing a weakness and not necessarily adding to overall group strength. Like Maline says, you are rather "squishy" in LAOD. That's gonna come back to haunt you eventually.
you're absolutely right about being a potential liability. However this isn't true if you are good at it. You can't simply spam assist and dance every 2 min. You have to watch for agro and have confusion on your hot bar. I lvld for 4+ hours the other day in a catacomb in doom light, and a mob didn't hit me more than once. Confusion is a great skill, but most bds don't have it on their hot bar, and if you use doom light you are going to have to learn the skill.
I do have a bw heavy set for when I feel like being lazy in an archer/nuker party, but for small necro/cata parties, it is all about the doom light.