I have a WC on his way to A-grade. Right now I am in BW light and I was wondering which armor set in A-grade is the best (PvP and party PvE wise). Also if keeping my current set (BWL) through A-grade can be a valid option.
Some questions need answered for an accurate reply.
Do you have a full time buffer/healer?
Are you primarily pve or pvp?
Are you always in a group?
If in a group, what role do you play now?
I don't know about AndreasK, but my WC will be boxed to a Destroyer, and I'm mostly concerned about PvE. The toons will be in a party maybe once or twice a week.
I don't box anything. I am buffer/partial healer myself. Also, as I say in my post, I am interested in PvP and PvE in groups, not solo. What role I play in a group? A WC's role is pretty standard in a group. Buff, then DD and crowd control.
If you want a Mana Up weapon dont waste money on a high-grade one. Buy the cheapest avalible Stick Of Faith (1handed) or Crystal Staff. As a WC people except you do help doing damage in the groups so you would want a melee weapon too. A high crit-rate one: dagger, 2h sword or duals.
Tokara, since you brought up the price issue, do you think that keeping the BWL through A-grade (in conjunction with a secondary weapon with mana up or conversion SA) is viable option? It lacks only 5% casting speed from a robe but it has better Pdef than any A-grade robe. Tatoos can take care any +/- you want to apply. Finally it comes down to those resistances (stun, paralysis, poison, bleed, etc). Do they worth it?
Well, I dont know what stuff costs on our server, how much money you have etc., but I can recommend Majestic Robe, together with some Duals or Dagger (in this case I even suggest Dagger+Shield). As Dyes, you should do wit+4 men-4, for the other 2 Dye options I lack WC experience. You can use http://www.l2guru.com/l2calc/ to experiment a little. Something that seems to work for my prophet is +4dex -4con and +4str -4con with some +4 Kesh*Dama (if with a BD, better BD/SwS in party).
Lv61 WC in party with 58+ BD with +4Kesh*Dama, full enchanted Maj Robe, full enchanted Maj Jewels, with selfbuffs (+potions) and Dances should have:
CP: 1038
HP: 2847
MP: 2805
P.Atk: 809
M.Atk: 376
P.Def: 673
M.Def: 972
Atk. Spd: 536
Casting Spd: 520
Acc: 95
Crit: 103
Evasion: 96
Speed: 163
Mp should be fine to turn on SoulCry (lv8) here and there, boosting P.Atk to 1056.
The higher your lvl comes, the better it goes, so maybe you wanne wait till you max out your buffs. Also a trio with BD and PP could be fine. With a 56 PP together, your HP get to 3496, MP 3200, crit 112, PAtk. 870/1117 with 579 Atk.Speed. Not soo bad for a lv61 Mystic. Remember your a support char.
All you need is some money :P
Think of, without the armor enchant, you will have lesser pdef, just avoid tanking in this case. And if you cant effort maj jewels, or their enchant, you will have lesser mdef, whats mostly is a pvp loss. Depending on your server you can start going for some unenchanted maj robe, that shouldnt be impossible. Dyes can be farmed (mammon), it will take time, but someday you will have it. The most expensive part are the duals, but like the dyes, time will fix it. You just cant have top equipment or a pony at 61, and this is just an idea for what you can aim for.
for PvE it doesent sound to bad. going -8 con for PvP (and no shield nor acumen wep) wont make you last longer then it takes you to target your enemy :)
Well, you should apply the -8 con after you have the health SA or deal with it :P
It all depens on the playstyle in the end. More smaller groups, or more big groups? Good healers life played, or boxes? 1on1 pvp, small/big group pvp, siege pvp? Health fully covers the -8con, its just you lack castspeed and shield defense. A shield is just good against archers, it doesnt help against nukers. Melee shouldnt touch you anyways, your group should cover you. And for the castspeed, since you dont have a real heal, it just messes up your crowdcontrol (and normally with pvp buffs there is just a small chance you root/sleep someone anyways).
Its all very playstyle depending. There is no all-time-favorite setup. If you party often without a BD duals are not so good because of the slow atk speed. Without propper buffs and/or a SwS Focus>Health.
If you want to write a constructive post, just read what I asked info about. Otherwise, please keep the thread clean. I do preffer answers from people who actually have a WC at A-grade.
Well, there is nu huge difference between a WC and a PP, and I know how a WC plays since I spent weeks to help a WC friend to hit 78.
I re-read your posts.
You want to buff, heal, deal damage and crowdcontrol.
This all takes MP, and then you have a very good toggle skill you might wanne use from time to time, this is why I said Majestic Robe. I posted you a link to a statcalcsite, have you used it?
Basis difference between your BW light and Maj robe is, BW light more pdef (90pdef), Maj robe lots of more MP, better MP regen and more castspeed.
You said you play in groups, not solo. Tell me something about the groups setup. If there is like 90% the time a BD and a SwS in the group, and maybe often a real healer, the idea with going -8con and gettin A/g health duals is not bad PvE wise I think, PvP wise depens on your group anyways, no matter what setup you have. I told ya the difference to a 1h + shield and to other SAs.
The stuff I suggested is expensive, and I dont think you will have it hittin 61, but that is fine IMO. I simply suggested 1 possible setup you can focus on while lvling up.
I also told you when to not choose the setup because it doesnt fit your playstyle/groupsetup.
yea. well I dont have a WC in Agrade. I just know -8 con and no shield/acumen weps makes WC die fast in PvP. for PvE it doesent realy mather going -con. same for all classes. (almost)
Bw light is a good alternative for A grade armor. A mana up weapon will be needed for buffing full parties. Bw light also has a good option of allowing you to solo also.
I used bw light til 66 at which point I switched to tallum robes. PvP in bw light is possible, but you will need to pick up a bow and pretend to be an archer instead of a nuker.
Thank you Tokara. Sorry to bug you, but 2 questions. Why should I use the bow in particular with BWL and not a mage weapon? MP or C.speed issues? And second, If I have a bow, won't the accuracy be awful due to the mystic penalty (somewhere like -12)?
The -Accuracy (-9 I think, not sure) isnt that bad in PvP, its just bad in PvE (well, its bad vs high evaion classes like dagger/archer, but it was bad against them before anyways). The bigger drawback is the -30% castspeed.
with BW light cast speed and manapool, going the nuker route is very ineefective.
In truth, In pvp you want to pick one style or the other, either heavy+ bow or melee weap or robes + mystic weap. While Bw light offers many versatile options in PvE, its drawback is it isn't that good at PvP especially for A grade+