Hi, topic title pretty much says it all: do you recommend dagger or bow as main weapon level 20 to 40 as a DE Assassin?
I currently have a Composition Bow and the top ng dagger (Throwing Knife, I think). I started out using the bow a lot, but since I seed that uses up a lot of my mp, so switched to dagger for mp-regen times. However, I quickly noticed that my kill speed on whites was so much faster (since no kiting) with the dagger than with the bow.
So, for now, I basically use the knife non-stop, and its great.
When I hit 20 I don't want to buy 2 d-grade weapons, if I can help it. Trying to save everything for when I hit c-grade.
From previous characters I already have full brig in bank, so I'm all set on armor until 40.
My question is: do you recommend me sticking with daggers until 40 or investing in a d-grade bow. In either case, why? And which specific weapon do you recommend?
There is no question about it , stick to the dagger to level 40. I have even know some "archers" to stick to dagger to level through C grade too because an archer in C grade is very expensive apparently.
The reason why you want to stick to dagger is because daggers are VERY easy to level from lvl 20-40 and they do it fast. ANother thing is that from lvl 20/40 you have masteries for both weapons, so use the dagger. The only down side is that you will have to invest in bow and dagger skills, but only invest SP into what you really need to get through lvl 20-40.
I had a feeling that was the way to go. Good to hear your thoughts on why.
As I return to L2 I'm trying to focus on what I enjoy and on letting things come as they do, rather than try to force things. What I mean is, I know I will be a PR eventually and that come C or B grade I will be using a bow all the time. But, if daggers really are better at the moment - hey, why not use 'em!
I'm guessing my brig set will really come in handy for the P.Def and hp bonus. Will almost be like when I leveled up my Palus Knight to SK, except I'll be using a dagger instead of my SoR and shield. =)
My question is: do you recommend me sticking with daggers until 40 or investing in a d-grade bow. In either case, why? And which specific weapon do you recommend?
Honestly? Neither.
As you've noticed bows take too much MP during the D grade levels. Without a dedicated OOP recharger it's not worth the downtime overall, or having to buy a dagger+bow. (Unless you got adena to burn.)
As for the dagger....it doesn't do enough damage. Simply because you don't have enough passive or active skills to make it worthwhile yet. (I'd wait until 40~43 to change to a dagger at the earliest.) This is doubly true if you don't have a high level buffer keeping you loaded on the crit/atk.spd/dam buffs.
So what do I recommend? 107 Duals. (+3 if you have some earlier event enchants around.)
These have the highest patk you can get for the cheapest and easiest price. You don't have sword masteries, so a Claymore doesn't give you much more that the Duals won't. (Plus it doesn't require mammon and AA to get.) And the base accuracy is better on the duals than a dagger, which means more damage than what you would get from crits on the dagger, minus the misses. (Even with the Critical attack herbs.) Plus it seems like the double swings activate crits more often than a dagger or one handed weapon. (Need I mention the lack of blocks using a shield, reduced evasion, much less the extra weight a shield gives?)
And just for fun, your "Sting" skill works using Duals as well. =P
Also, if your fighting 'light armor' mobs (evasion) that are tough to hit, you can turn on your 'Guidance' toggle (+ACC, only 1mp per tick) and you will hit as if they were normal mobs. Something you can't do with a dagger even if you have accuracy turned on. In fact, I often leave guidance on all the time unless I get a long period without some MP herbs dropping, in which case I just turn it off until my MP goes back up or I get more MP herbs.
Even the MP consumed by seeding doesn't slow me down half the time. When it does...I turn Guidance off for a little while until my MP is back up. But I never have to sit down for MP with mobs that drop herbs and the seeding/harvesting itself uses less mp than I regen while fighting.
For the armor, the brigandine is a very good choice. Pdef still beats out light armor even with L36 skills and if you have the helmet, the extra HP is a godsend. And the 10 evasion you lose by not taking a light armor is hardly enough to evade anything. FYI - All your passive 'Boost Evasion' skills work *regardless* of what armor your wearing! The ONLY reason that there is *any* difference in evasion between light and heavy is your pre-20 general armor masteries! (Eventually, the light armor masteries added pdef will become much better, but DE/LE dagger classes don't benefit any other way from light armor outside the base +10 evasion, which isn't enough until you get higher levels of 'Boost evasion' or some hefty agility buffs.)
My only issue with wearing heavy has largely to deal with my normal 'carry equipment'. Simpy put, it weighs more. And on a lower carry capactiy elf this can make enough of a difference to have to use the 'weaker' light armor if you need to carry a lot of stuff.
Basically, my issue is this: I usually carry 1,000 seeds (Mature fruit weighs more than the seeds!) and take my sub-40 manor char out into a field and leave it there. I will farm maybe 200 (+/- 100-200 more) at a time (1-3 self-buff rounds) and then log it off and log the main on or just log out. Up until L32~L34 I can fight without SS and still kill slow enough that I don't over-run the seed refresh timer. After that mobs get a big boost in HP/Def and I need to use SS to kill fast enough to avoid frequent downtime. However, carrying so many seeds has a problem...I can't carry enough SS for a decent amount of time as well as the wearing the heavy armor. I have to wear light armor to carry the seeds as well as carry the SS. (~6k-8K SS)
I tried using a +3 Mithril dagger (As well as other weapons) but the Dagger just made me use more SS without a corresponding increase in damage/kill speed. (Not enough buffs/skills to make it worthwhile.) I found the Duals had the best overall performance despite the lack of masteries that work with them. (Other than your pre-40 generic masteries.)
If your not seeding like I am, or don't carry as many SS you will probably be able to stay in the heavy without any weight issues like I had.
Ok, now for the disclaimer: For all my testing, a DE assassin *wasn't* one of the classes I used. BUT, I have done this several times on a DE Palus Knight and on a LE Scout, and between the two of those, I'm certain the Assassin won't be much different. (Now if you were an Orc or a dwarf.... ^_^) Oh, and the LE is my perma-farmer, I keep it in the 20-40 range to farm seeds. The DE is currently a Shillien Knight (L41) but I don't have enough gear yet to decide which side of 40 I am going to keep it on to farm seeds. (These are my 'manor' chars, which I keep low level for efficient farming of lower level seeds.)
PainAmplifier: Wow, what a response. Thanks! I didn't even consider duals! That's a very interesting idea. I'll see what the market is for d-grade duals this weekend. If I can find a decent set cheap I'll consider it. I appreciate you taking the time to type out all your thoughts on this topic. Right on!
PainAmplifier: Wow, what a response. Thanks! I didn't even consider duals! That's a very interesting idea. I'll see what the market is for d-grade duals this weekend. If I can find a decent set cheap I'll consider it. I appreciate you taking the time to type out all your thoughts on this topic. Right on!
Glad to be of help. I've spent so much time on the 20-40 chars it'd be a shame not to spread the knowledge around. =D
As for the duals...it will probably be cheapest to just make them yourself from store bought swords. Giran/Innadril or equivelent depending on which has lowest taxes is easy and cheap. Just buy a bastard Sword and a crimson sword and have the normal blacksmith dual them.
Giran takes 117 D crys and 17,420a if my notes are up to date. Thats ~100K + ~770K + ~1.2M = ~2M total. (That's with 10% tax)
Yeah, the Crimson * Bastard isn't the best looking, (WTB the OLD Crimson swords...) but you can take them to Mammon once they are made and trade them for better looking ones for free. I traded mine for Artisan * Spinebone duals. The 'big nasty duals' looks is so much better than the wimpy Bastard * Elven 'slimline' duals in the hands of an LE/DE *I* think. ^_^
EDIT: OH! And before I forget, because you get them so easy&cheap it's an easy choice to crush them for Crystals if you don't need/want them later, but don't want the hassle of selling a Top D one hander. Plus you could use the D crystals as part of what you need if your buying a C dagger from the Luxury shop.
Btw, I happen to have a Sword of Revolution +3. Anyway that could be 'pressed into service' as part of a dual set-up?
Not in D grade duals. Lowest duals using a SoRev is C grade. That and you would lose the +3 from them when dualed anyway. You could probably trade the +3 SoR for a pair of clean 107 duals or something close though.
Oh. One last benefit of duals if you do choose those over a dagger...there are quite a few 'Dagger Resist' mobs out there but not as many that are 'Very High Pdef'. And most of them are pretty good for XP if your in a hurry to level. e.g. The Punchers in the wastelands are ++Mdef and Dagger resist, but -Pdef. Plus they give more XP than the Tyrants around them. ^_^
Daggers can get really high critical damage when fully buffed...but when low level/self buffed, they suffer a double whammy of resists in the +Pdef and +Resist Dagger combinations. Duals and other melee weapons only have to worry about the ++Pdef mobs. (The 'slighty high pdef' mobs are barely noticable most the time, it's just the 'very high pdef' you need to watch for.)
The Granite Golems nearby aren't good though, those are ++Pdef. (Aka Very high) You'd kill them faster and with a lot less butthurt than with a dagger, but without a blunt it's just not efficient or cost effective.
You've convinced me that, at the very least, duals are worth looking into. I just hit 20 and am about to do the Assassin quest chain. Once I'm done I'll hit Giran and see what I can find on the market. Thanks again for all the info and for your time, PainAmplifier. Rock on.
But, if you CAN.... I suggest getting a highly enchanted Light Crossbow. That's what I used on my main (Cervantos, my Phantom Ranger). Granted, it was a gift from my clanmate, but it was +7 and I rarely had MP problems (Two shotting those 1/2 HP mobs in Fields of Silence was fun, even self buffed =P)
And if you're gonna go Light armor, do NOT get Salamander Skin. P. Def. is pretty much worthless to an archer, much like it is to a nuker. Get Manticore Skin, it has a +87 MP bonus to it, which is a pretty large amount at those levels for a non-caster. Being a Dark Elf is all about doing the most amount of damage in the least amount of time with the least amount of effort. Dark Elven archers are good for that, and make one of the best robe and light armor killers in end-game (Dead Eye ftw, trust me.)
using a bow will get you out of mana, if you kill fast. (at lvl40 or below) even hunting where herbs drop I was oom. good i have a OOP SE :)
if you think you gonna take any beating at all at lvl20-40, get a heavy armor for any DD class. brigadin works fine, or get oath clan armor if you can. I used salamander cuz I think it looks cool (on my dagger) but yea, its not real ya good choice.
Well, someone was selling dual 107's in Dion (Artisan/Elven) for 2.1 million, so I grabbed them.
One word: WOW!
I kill so fast now, and with the brig set I wear (plus pots that drop) it's non stop, fast-action killin'. I picked up a level in an hour, just killing those Maille Lizardmen for Gludio Town.
Thanks for the advice, Pain Amp. These should serve me well until I become a PR.
Well, someone was selling dual 107's in Dion (Artisan/Elven) for 2.1 million, so I grabbed them.
One word: WOW!
I kill so fast now, and with the brig set I wear (plus pots that drop) it's non stop, fast-action killin'. I picked up a level in an hour, just killing those Maille Lizardmen for Gludio Town.
Thanks for the advice, Pain Amp. These should serve me well until I become a PR.
Your Welcome. ^_^
The Maille around Gluido are probably the easiest 1/2 mobs you will see for a looooooong time. Abuse the one quest that gives 42K SP if your going to be doing those. :p
Well, someone was selling dual 107's in Dion (Artisan/Elven) for 2.1 million, so I grabbed them.
One word: WOW!
I kill so fast now, and with the brig set I wear (plus pots that drop) it's non stop, fast-action killin'. I picked up a level in an hour, just killing those Maille Lizardmen for Gludio Town.
Thanks for the advice, Pain Amp. These should serve me well until I become a PR.
Your Welcome. ^_^
The Maille around Gluido are probably the easiest 1/2 mobs you will see for a looooooong time. Abuse the one quest that gives 42K SP if your going to be doing those. :p
Ooo! 42k SP!? Wow - I did a chain where you first gather 100 red and 100 black necklaces, which then leads to collecting 30 lizard man emblems and 30 venom sac thingies. The final reward was a set of NG fishing gear (pole, lures, bait). Is there another quest I'm missing? I'd love that 42ksp.
Don't use duals, they give you dagger masteries as an assassin for a reason. Don't use a bow until after 40 (i recommend getting a bow at 52 tbh since your MP will be better then and you'll have enough money to buy a bow)
Don't use heavy armor you have light armor mastries and evasion for a reason. And in the name of allt hat is holy don't ever use a shield with a dagger, you need your evasion and a shield will do nothing for you anyways in the future.
It's a little frustrating at first but you'll love and embrace your Phantom Ranger in the future.
I'm close to subbing on my PR :) I <3 my class!
Ooo! 42k SP!? Wow - I did a chain where you first gather 100 red and 100 black necklaces, which then leads to collecting 30 lizard man emblems and 30 venom sac thingies. The final reward was a set of NG fishing gear (pole, lures, bait). Is there another quest I'm missing? I'd love that 42ksp.
The quest is "Lizardman's Conspiracy" (L25 requirement) and starts at Guard Praga. He's at the western exit to town. He'll send you to a NPC at the Church and they will have you kill Lizardmen and Spiders for Gemstones. (Equal number each). Bring them back to him and he gives you the 42K SP. I abused the hell out of this quest to make the SP requirements for my 'personal clan L3' much more bearable. (Something like 500K SP for L3 clan upgrade.)
If you can, use a polearm. The mobs are all half-hp so AoE is the way to go. My lvl 30 nuker did the quest quickly. If my friend had stayed on and been the puller, it would have been over way quicker.
MilleFeuille: Really nice to hear how much you enjoy your PR. That's very encouraging! I met a nice person, in-game, yesterday; a PR. He was kind enough to share a lot of insight with me about playing PR, which was cool. As for weapon choice, I bought the duals and am loving them for now. I really just want to zip to 40 as fast as possible, and I can see how these dual 107's will help me do that. With no OOP buffs and no shots - just self buffs and herbs - I'm carving through whites and yellows with no downtime at all. When I get to 40, I will happily switch to bow. :)
PainAmp: Thanks - after I asked about that quest I went over to stratics and looked it up. Just like you said (level 25, 42k sp). Right now I'm 22, almost 23, so I think I'll slaughter those Ol'Mahums for badges until 25, then back up to the lizardmen for that easy sp. Thanks again for taking the time to write in with all this advice and info. I never would have even considered duals, but now that I'm using them I am amazed. I'll be 40 in no time.
If you can, use a polearm. The mobs are all half-hp so AoE is the way to go. My lvl 30 nuker did the quest quickly. If my friend had stayed on and been the puller, it would have been over way quicker.
I'm going to hold off spending anymore on d-grade. If money was not an issue, then yeah, I'd be happy to experiment with a PA to try that out. But I have to be cautious with my adena. I have a long way to go to have enough for new armor and a top bow when I hit c-grade at 40.
I've been using the dual 107's that I bought on PainAmp's recommendation (Elven/Artisan). It's been awesome.
Without using any OOP buffs, not even using SSD's, I can just carve through whites and even pinks with zero downtime, so long as pots are dropping. I got 2 1/2 levels last night in just a couple hours at the Abandoned Camps of the Ol Mahum's. Non-stop killing. And the duals aren't even enchanted!
Its a little strange, I suppose, to be 'prepping' for PR using duals as an Assassin, but I have to say it sure is sweet. Since I use no SSD and almost no pots (except the ones that drop in the field) its pure profit when I grind. I just pop in my iPod headphones, cue a good mix, and go to town. If someone's LFG I group up for the heck of it (always good to make new friends) but even solo, self-buffed these duals have made me into a killing machine.
Thanks again, PainAmp: these duals you rec'd I buy absolutely rock! I never would have thought of it without your advice, so totally tyvm.
I am only going to say this once...so plz lesion up!
When you hit lvl 40, you will need to get a dagger.... not a EMI!!!!!
as DE you have really low con, you can only carry so much SS to keep you out lvling.
When your a PR, you will need to carry Arrows, and SS or your dmg will suck. so will your weight control.
LvL in catacombs lvl 40-52 if you want to lvl fast, cause alot of people have their own support toons, and usely will be happy to buff you.
After you hit 52...dump your dagger, and buy a bow of plural. this is the best Archer bow for lvling in game. get one +3 with c/s. BoP only uses 3 SS per pull. and solo on herb dropping mobs makes for fast lvling and good adena income. Stick to 1X hp mobs...
unless you get bored and you wana have fun then go to a cata group and there....see how fast you can pull 6 mobs on your self and live (or die).
Don't forget you can buy elixirs for MP, so you can stay out for a long time like that, but SS and weight will always be a problem.
Just to recap..use a dagger and light armor 40-52. get BoP at 52, buy Bss (craft bo jewelry and crush it is best: for b crys).
get a second acc and make a PP. your a DE...at 58 you get a Body to mind (hp to mp) skill...you will need a out side buffer at those lvls. or buy L2 day scrolls (1 hour buff scrolls).
pixi, you can play as an archer whenever you like. plenty of people have, it'll just be more costly and time consuming to do so.
I hear you ~ both of you. You're not TELLING me what to do, you're very kindly suggesting (from experience and observation) the best/fastest/cheapest way to get to the point I want to get to.
And, to tell the truth, there is something zen-like about direct, in-your-face melee, especially when you're in good gear and the pots are dropping. I just run into enemies and evicerate them, while blasting music through my iPod. It's almost like a waking dream. I'll be 52 in no time!
Don't get me wrong, I actually don't mind melee at all, but I am going this route to be an archer. You're saying to put that off until lv52? Yikes. =/
11 of those 12 levels can go pretty fast, so it's not a big deal. You could probably do them with a bow as well, but be prepared to sit for MP. (SS and MP cost is still an issue for C grade.) With a dagger it's easier to get a group (More people in the cats than outside.) and weight is easier to manage. (As noted by others.)
It's good to hear that your doing so well in D grade though! Eventually your going to need to turn on the SS to level at a good clip, but you can make it to L34/36 before you need to do that if you don't mind the slowdowns in kill speed around L30. The Basiliks in the Wastelands are the last mobs I usually kill without SS before I have to turn the spam on. You can kill the Punchers and Tyrants up through L40 after that though, as long as you avoid the Gigantiops mobs.
I am using duals and brig armor to level my HE from 20-40. I already have them, so they are easy to get. I will be getting buffs from a 69 SE, so I will overpower most anything that is white/yellow to me. I don't expect to spend enough time in D grade to make it worth while to get class specific weapons and armor.
Don't get me wrong, I actually don't mind melee at all, but I am going this route to be an archer. You're saying to put that off until lv52? Yikes. =/
11 of those 12 levels can go pretty fast, so it's not a big deal. You could probably do them with a bow as well, but be prepared to sit for MP. (SS and MP cost is still an issue for C grade.) With a dagger it's easier to get a group (More people in the cats than outside.) and weight is easier to manage. (As noted by others.)
It's good to hear that your doing so well in D grade though! Eventually your going to need to turn on the SS to level at a good clip, but you can make it to L34/36 before you need to do that if you don't mind the slowdowns in kill speed around L30. The Basiliks in the Wastelands are the last mobs I usually kill without SS before I have to turn the spam on. You can kill the Punchers and Tyrants up through L40 after that though, as long as you avoid the Gigantiops mobs.
Thanks, PainAmp. On the other hand, the good thing about leveling slower (at least some of the time) is earning more money (assuming you're not spamming the SS too bad). So, it sort of balances out. Especially if I know its just a 'wall' level to grind through and it will get easier again (for a while) when I grade up.
Well....a big part of the problem is from mid 30's on your pretty much going to have to spam SS or find another way to increase damage or get buffs/heals.
Either the potential parties will insist on you spamming SS (Just like them.) Or the beatdown you take from normal mobs while solo killing them will make grinding without excruciating to the extreme. I've never had a evasion character high enough to say if they can do what the rest of my characters can't. But I doubt it. And even I don't level my nuker without a liberal application of BSPS.
My melee chars are split between SS and pets. Pet's are cheaper in the end, but harder to find good spots to level in since they die easier than another played character. (They don't complain about you getting 100% of the drops though. =D
In the end I settled for having some lowbie alts to farm seeds and cash to help fund gear and SS on my higher level chars. I freight gear around as needed and work at having fun instead of leveling and so far things are working out fine. I even have enough to splurge on spammage and frills from time to time. (Extra spammage, not just what you use normally that is. ^_^;) I don't play quite enough to afford more than that.
Well....a big part of the problem is from mid 30's on your pretty much going to have to spam SS or find another way to increase damage or get buffs/heals.
Either the potential parties will insist on you spamming SS (Just like them.) Or the beatdown you take from normal mobs while solo killing them will make grinding without excruciating to the extreme. I've never had a evasion character high enough to say if they can do what the rest of my characters can't. But I doubt it. And even I don't level my nuker without a liberal application of BSPS.
My melee chars are split between SS and pets. Pet's are cheaper in the end, but harder to find good spots to level in since they die easier than another played character. (They don't complain about you getting 100% of the drops though. =D
In the end I settled for having some lowbie alts to farm seeds and cash to help fund gear and SS on my higher level chars. I freight gear around as needed and work at having fun instead of leveling and so far things are working out fine. I even have enough to splurge on spammage and frills from time to time. (Extra spammage, not just what you use normally that is. ^_^;) I don't play quite enough to afford more than that.
I guess that's why I question the advice to go dagger after 40. Even if it takes longer to kill post 40 with a bow, won't the fact I'm not taking damage (since I'm kiting) and not burning through MP (since I'd be using a CS bow) mean slow but profitable growth?
I freight gear around as needed and work at having fun instead of leveling and so far things are working out fine. I even have enough to splurge on spammage and frills from time to time. (Extra spammage, not just what you use normally that is. ^_^;) I don't play quite enough to afford more than that.
You sound, btw, like you have a very balanced approach to L2. Kudos.
I guess that's why I question the advice to go dagger after 40. Even if it takes longer to kill post 40 with a bow, won't the fact I'm not taking damage (since I'm kiting) and not burning through MP (since I'd be using a CS bow) mean slow but profitable growth?
For the first half of C grade, your still going to be building your skills up. Basic evasion, running speed, bow range, MP recovery (esprit, etc) are still all at low levels and not much better than at D grade. (Yet) L43 and L46 are the two biggest steps up that you will first see, just by going from the skill lists. And the best stuff doesn't come until in B grade. (58 for the BtM-ish skill.)
Thus your still going to get hit (runspeed and evade is still low), your still going to have mp issues (Total MP is still a bit low and you haven't gotten/built up the MP affecting skills yet.) as well as C grade bows still being SS weight/use inefficient.
I think this is why most people just use a dagger straight through C grade...your not going to be really good with a bow until almost L50 anyway, so why buy a bow your barely going to use and level slower? It would probably be easier to and faster to group for XP and save for a B grade bow instead.
From my point of view, this is where *you* need to make the choice of when to switchover. Do you want the 'quick and easy' way to B grade, or do you want to start using a bow and kiting before then? The former may be more boring to some, while others prefer the latter even though it may not be as fast.
What gear you have and how much adena and the market on your server will probably have an influnece on what you decide as well. And for that I can't really offer much more than I already have, since I am on a different one and my resources are different. I personally would think about waiting until L46 to switch over, but I can also see where not having to manage/buy/sell two weapons in a single grade can be a deciding factor as well.
That all makes a lot of sense, especially the part about run speed skills and bow skills not really cutting in until close to 52. And, really, I think I'd have to be even dumber than I am (a scary concept) to ignore so much solid input which I've been lucky enough to get in this topic. Let's consider this topic closed: use my 107's until 40, then switch up to a c-grade dagger for the march to 52, and THEN go for the BoP at 52.
I like to think I'm just too lazy to cheat, to stubborn to give up and too smart to not take advantage of what I can. ^_^
Hehe.
...although I do wish that the dev's would make the game less 'adena grindy', I reserve my warmest hatred for their spoil tables. }:->
Based on your sig, I'm guessing you'll 'get' this reference:
If you were, somehow, able to transform their spoil tables into a living, breathing human being and you WERE Pinhead, then might you not be tempted to say to Spoil-Table-Man: "Your suffering will be legendary, even in hell!"
I used a dagger and brigandine heavy (including shield ) on my Assasin that went PR. Worked out well. Many noobs would argue against this... but the pdef/ hp bonuses Brig gives you does much more than the evasion bonuses at that level.
I used a dagger and brigandine heavy (including shield ) on my Assasin that went PR. Worked out well. Many noobs would argue against this... but the pdef/ hp bonuses Brig gives you does much more than the evasion bonuses at that level.
I'm basically doing that, only sub dual 107's for dagger, but yeah: I use my brig set (from my Palus Knight). Similar to how Brig Set's +HP and PDef bonus overpowers the early light armor bonus Assassins get, the duals are so much more powerful (in terms of dps) than daggers at these levels, for similar reasons.
Right now I'm a slice-and-dice machine. I can take up 5 whites at once and with brig survive the madness. Not that taking 5 whites at once makes for efficient grinding, since I have to pot afterwards -- but I can at least survive such battles! And the duals are just so punishing that battles are over almost before they begin, so at this level range they work great. Credit to PainAmp for the idea to use this set up, btw. I never would have thought of using dual 107's without PA's advice, but I'm glad I took it!
I dunno about the dps. It might have higher p atk... but does it really compensate for the lower attack speed, crit rate, and lack of stabs? I have to try this!
I dunno about the dps. It might have higher p atk... but does it really compensate for the lower attack speed, crit rate, and lack of stabs? I have to try this!
Well, all I can say is I've been chaining whites and yellows for the last two nights, going from level 20 to level 28 in just three evenings. Its non-stop killing, absolutely zero downtime, zero SSD, zero pot's (except for the ones that drop in the field). Pure carnage with pure profit!
I dunno about the dps. It might have higher p atk... but does it really compensate for the lower attack speed, crit rate, and lack of stabs? I have to try this!
About the only thing you will miss is the use of the dagger skills like Mortal Blow. The DE skill Sting works with duals, but the LE skill Bleed does not. Beyond that, only if you have some high level buffs will the dagger outperform the duals in straight up melee damage at these levels. By not using the high-MP dagger skills, you are left with plenty of MP for other uses as well.
Apologies to the OP for piggy-backing (hi-jacking?) his topic but I had similar questions about what weapon setup I should be using and where I would get them so I figured I'd ask here instead of making my own thread. :)
I'm a DE Fighter and am planning on going the BD route which means I'll be a Palus Knight for a while. I'm at level 19 now and expect to hit 20 and my class change tonight. My question is, what would be "the best" setup for me weapon-wise? I read Pain's suggestion about duals and the OP's response that they rock so I was wondering if those would work for me too?
I don't know very much about how this game works yet so any advice would be greatly appreciated.
As a Palus Knight you get Sword Blunt Masteries. Duals are not affected by Sword Blunt Masteries, but 2-Handed Swords are. Therefore, get a Titan Sword from the shop in Giran or, if you can, a Claymore. Don't bother to enchant your weapon. It will not increase your kill speed at all.
You might want to invest in Potions of Alacrity though, the 2H sword and the Duals have the same atk.speed base (normal, but the 2H sure *feels* slower.
I actually did my Palus Knight with the duals, but that was simply because my dwarf was using my Skullbreaker at the time. (I did try using the SB and a SoR for a bit, although at the time I hadn't yet upgraded to a top D 1H weapon.) Later I also tried using a Flamberge a bit with the now-shillien knight and that worked decently enough, although shortly after that char got mothballed.
Using a 1H weapon + shield is a bit of a waste at those levels. Just like the Assasins evasion and dagger masteries, Shield Blocking is significantly less effective than using a 2H weapon with higher Patk. I think my dwarves block almost as much with a shield as the Palus Knight did even with L1 shield mastery.
On the other hand, as soon as you change to Bladedancer, you already have a pair of duals in hand if you go that route.
I was wondering about the whole 1h + shield thing versus a 2h. I think I will go with the 2 hander and worry about duals when I'm getting closer to 40.
I couldn't find the Titan Sword listed on the weapons page...and I'm assuming a Claymore would be bought from another player and not in a shop (i.e. it's just a drop)?
I was wondering about the whole 1h + shield thing versus a 2h. I think I will go with the 2 hander and worry about duals when I'm getting closer to 40.
I couldn't find the Titan Sword listed on the weapons page...and I'm assuming a Claymore would be bought from another player and not in a shop (i.e. it's just a drop)?
Titan Sword is one of the newer C5 weapons, and NC has not yet updated their database with the info yet....
It's got the same crystal count as the Sword of Revolution and it is the second best 2H weapon you can get. I think I've seen it in the Schuttgart weapon shop, although it should be in giran as well.
It's a 96 patk weapon with a fairly distinctive look. (Kinda has that Cruma/Giants Cave theme to it.)