First of, I have just started playing L2 last week, so please don't hesitate to spell out something you may think is common knowledge when you answer my questions below. Thx!
So, I just finished my Palus Knight quest and am back in DEV recycling the Sweetest Venom quest until I get to lvl 21, after which I am planning to do the 100k adena quest in SoDA. By then I should have approximately 450k adena, which I want to spend wisely. I think I have a pretty good idea as to where to hunt after that thanks to some of the helpful guides posted on the forums, but I am less clear as to equipment and I need your help!
<ul type="square">
Obviously, I am still using Adventurer's (Newbie) weapons until I get to lvl 25, but once I get there, what weapon should I get and what is the good armor to spend the rest of the money on?
Should I be trying to buy crafted stuff (no idea whether the D grade stuff is tradeable at all).
Should I use the Enchant D grade armor scroll I've got from one of the quests? What on?
What are the Echo Crystals I've got for one of the quest?
Should I be buying D grade SS now, or is it better to save money and take more time to hunt (I am not trying to powerlevel, as this is still learning experience for me anyway).
Any other helpful tips for someone who recently started, but is quick in picking things up? Perhaps we could chat in game/PM on the forums? Any clans looking for new talented members with time on their hands? ;)
1) Echo crystals are just for music and no other use
2) You will probably not be able to afford Brigantine armor so go to giran armor shop and buy the mithril heavy set (Mithril Breastplate/Mithril Gaiters/Helmet/Hoplon) it is not top but good enough)
3) Have you used the second exchange coupon for a d grade weapon? It is also decent enough for until lvl30...
4) Dss is a good investement for faster lvling but if you cannot afford them go to light blue mobs and fight without ss
5) Better sell that EAD for 90-100k to earn some more money to use (no need to invest more money to your Ds)
6) If you are on Devianne pm me online and I will be glad to help you more with any questions you might have
I am playing on Franz, as I am in Europe and it has the lowest ping for me.
I have used the second exchange coupon, hence the question re SS. I was under impression I have to return the Adventurer's weapon once I reach lvl 25, but it seems I can use it indefinitely (or until lvl 30, as you suggested). Do you think green mobs are too tough without SS? I am a little concerned about drop/exp penalty...
Also, should I go into one of the larger towns to sell EAD? Come to think of it, I haven't actually seen any trade messages in my chat log (under #Trade), is there an option somewhere I need to enable?
no, trade channel is automatically enabled for trade messages
You can use the second weapon for ever, you cannot sell it. Green mobs are easy enough but try to hunt mobs that are at least 3-5 lvls below you and x1 hp for faster xp
You can sell the EAD in gludin or dion. Both towns have markets at least in Devianne. If you ever consider coming to our server meet me and we shall have a nice talk :)
One thing you can do regarding armour is find a clan and join their academy, there is a quest to get clan armour which is supposed to be pretty good and you can use it all the way up to level 40.
I don't know what its like on Franz but on Sieghardt Dion is the most popular place for D grade selling so that would be your best place to sell your Enchant Armour D. Also don't be concerned about seeing nothing in +trade as most people !Shout instead. Best bet is to just setup shop selling your Enchant and go away from keyboard for a bit and hopefully it'll be sold by the time you get back.
With regards to weapon, use that one for as long as you can and when you gather enough money together by the best one you can lay your hands on in the Giran shop at this point you should be able to go into the dungeons (catacombs / necropolis) and hunt for seal stones, with these seal stones you can exchange them for Ancient Adena and when you have enough Ancient Adena you can upgrade your weapon to the top D grade one.
Another tip that might help you out regarding the D grade soul shots, create a dwarf, level it to 20 and do the class change quest for Artisan, go hunt the particular mob that drops the D grade soul shot recipe then you can create your own D grade soul shots for cheap and even sell some to people to make your own money.
If you want any more explanations on the above please don't hesitate to ask as i'm sure either myself or many others on here can explain them further and in more detail.
So I shouldn't try going into dungeons until I've got better equipment? What's the right lvl to try it? Have to admit I have some reading up to do re ancient adena/upgrades.
As for the eq I have now, I haven't bought anything in stores, so it's just the stuff from the quests: wooden breastplate, buckler, bone gaiters, crude leather shoes, short leather gloves and some jewelry. The Traveler's Bastard Sword that I am using now has patk 51.
try to find yourself a clan academy thats recruiting, if you can get into one, you can grab yourself some clan oath armor, which is uber cheap, and get your d grade weapon voucher, try and save as much of your money as you can you'll need it for DSS/Potions (try to be as frugal as possible your going to need the adena when you hit 40 for C grade armor, you can rely on shadow weapons till you can afford a c grade weapon)
try to get into low level raid groups, great for xp/sp should beable to hit 40 in a few days of raiding, when your not raiding level down in the catacombs *you need to sign up for dusk or dawn to fight in catacombs* try to group as much as ya can, you probably wont beable to solo in that catacombs with out top grade gear, so when you cant find a group use your map (ALT+M) to find yourself a leveling zone just below your level, you'll want to fight green-white mobs, which will be easy to kill, and still drop adena
think about what class you want to go, Blade Dancer or Shillien Knight, Blade Dancer = Support/DD Class SK = Tank Class, personally for a starting toon i suggest BD, as they get groups easily, and level fairly fast
So I shouldn't try going into dungeons until I've got better equipment? What's the right lvl to try it? Have to admit I have some reading up to do re ancient adena/upgrades.
As for the eq I have now, I haven't bought anything in stores, so it's just the stuff from the quests: wooden breastplate, buckler, bone gaiters, crude leather shoes, short leather gloves and some jewelry. The Traveler's Bastard Sword that I am using now has patk 51.
Ok... since you are playing on Franz I can give you some info on what to do with AA (ancient adena). DO NOT upgrade your weap with it. You will be "losing" money on it. The current AA prices are 1:3 (1aa for 3a). The best thing to do is to sell your AA. With the money you get, you should be able to buy a weapon.
as far as armor, the best thing for you to do (right away) is to ditch the bone gaiters for some wood gaiters and a wood helmet. This seems a bit odd but the set bonus on the wood set is better than the extra little armor you get from the bone gaiters. If you have the money, look around in Dion for someone selling a Mithril Heavy set. Do some shouts as well (dont use the trade channel because nobody really uses it).
One of the best ways to find out if you are getting a good deal on armor / weapons is to look at the crystal value of the item. Lets say that the mithril breastplate can be crystalized into 332 D grade crystals. The going rate for D crystals is around 615a each. 332 * 615 = 204,180a Anything at or below this price could easily be resold for what you bought it for. To check the crystal value of most armor, I would suggest using Stratics (http://lineage2.stratics.com). If you go to the armor section, you should see a column for Grade. In this column you will see a letter (S, A, B, C, D, NG). Next to the letter you should see a number in parentheses D(332). This number is the number of crystals you get when crystalizing that item.
Hopefully I havent totally confused you at this point. If so, you can always PM me in game.