Where do I draw the line

[Ssner]

Ok,

So after 5 years away from EQ I have returned and levelled my BST to 66.  I have  been on hold gathering up AA's.

Currently I have:

Run3 - (3)
Food3 - (3)
Combat Fury 3 - (18)
Feral Swipe - (9)
BF5 - (10)
Ambi - (9)
Sinister - (12)

What I am wondering is where do I go from here.  Do I start leveling towards 75 or More AA and What AA?
I am thinking that Pet Hold, Pet Focus and Pet affinity are worth getting before heading towards 75.

I would like the opinion of the more seasoned folks here.

Thanks in advance

Ssner

[Shamno]

Pet hold and pet affinity are both excellent AA's. I would at least suggest pet hold, it makes handlign spell casting mobs a ton easier.

Pet focus I wouldn't worry to much about unless your raiding heavy, and even then it isn't a must as long as you pay attention.

Some defensive AA's can't hurt either imo, but aren't a huge deal if your not tanking. If you are they can make a world of difference with at least the PoP ones

Keep in mind beastlords are a bit front loaded compared to other classes. You can at least get away with fewer AA's per level then most other classes.

What you decide to do first, level or AA's, though is totally up to you. level do make you strong, but AA's make you stronger in those levels.

[Vidyne]

I might suggest paragon....

I'm not sure on how accurate, but a while ago, was told that combat agility line went something like this:

2, 5, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25, 26.5, 28, 29.5, 31, 32.5, 33.5, 34.5, 35.5, 36.5, 37.5

in terms of percents.
That's CA 1-3, LR 1-5, RM 1-5, Precog 1-5
So with just CA1-3 and LR1-5, you have 25%, compared to the end 37.5%

[Khauruk]

If you want utility - Fetter, run5.  Paragon's not such a big deal anymore w/ ooc regen imo.  Sometimes it'll help  in 'oh crap' situations, but not a game winner anymore.  Spellcasting Reinforcement is really nice, and can work out to a decent mana savings.

Defensives - Don't bother w/ anything post-PoP until you've levelled more.  The rewards aren't worth the cost.

Healing line - worth big $ in the long run, esp. if soloing w/ lifetap proccing weapons.  Same w/ spell crits - they go towards this as well.

DPS if soloing - Killshot AAs take a while, but they really add up to huge dps.

[Shieara]

Whether you level or aa is up to you.  Personally, I would probably grind out CA3/LR5 before I went further, but you certainly can live without them.  My tendancy is to get beat on a lot by angry mobs, so defensives were a big priority for me.  If you do decide to go that route, you may want to consider doing one level of combat stability and natural durability and then picking up physical enhancement from the class tab also.  Whatever you do, don't go past the PoP defensives yet.  They are just not worth the cost when you have so many other things you could buy.

Pet hold is a great aa.  Pretty much universally required if you are raiding at all, and nice in groups or even solo.  Pet focus is an aa I love, but you can live without it with no real problems.  Its main strength is in encounters with multiple AEing mobs or in an encounter where a named is AEing heavily while you are trying to focus on killing adds.  Not to say that you have to have it in those situations, it just lets you be lazier.

Pet affinity is more of a tossup.  If you are mainly soloing then I would put that further back on the list, because at that point you are only really getting it so that your pet can pick up MGB buffs.  If you are spending a lot of time raiding or grouping it is more valuable, especially if you spend a lot of time with a bard or have casters that don't want to single-target buff your pet.

Mnemonic retention hasn't been mentioned but it gives you an extra spell gem.  I really like it for it's convenience and it is only 3 aa. 

Healing and spell nuke line are very worth it, especially if you are running lifetap procs.  Spell Casting Reinforcement can add up to a fair amount of mana saved also, so I think that is a good one to pick up towards the beginning of your career.

[mogtoth1]

THose PoP era defensives are hugely important. Not only will they allow you to stay alive longer but they will increase the rate you can kill at wihtout having to break to recuperate. Outside of this you have to take into acount your playstyle. Your warder will become increasingly less usefull as you progress up levels and meet harder mobs until near the cap (75) when they come back into their own with new buffs ,healing and larger numbers of AA's.

It may be time to stop thinking about letting the warder tank (thats if you still do) and having him up but not really relying on him anymore and anything he does is a bonus.

I used to try to do 1 defensive, then 1 offensive, then 1 general type such as healing or a pet aa in turn so each side of things go up slowly. Others have done all of 1 aa line before starting the next.  Do what YOU feel happy doing. There is no wrong way to progress (unless you decide to do tradeskill aa's lol)

[Ssner]

Thanks for the input everyone.

I have been Soloing a whole heap and I do 95% of the tanking.  I went for the most DPS I can get seeing as to level from 66 to 75 I am planning on grouping and not being the main tank.  I like the idea of doing a little more AA before leveling up to 75.  I am definitely thinking PoS is just that a POS.  With the new rest, mana and hp regen is completely ridiculous. 

I have a question though about a statement:

1) "Healing line - worth big $ in the long run, esp. if soloing w/ lifetap proccing weapons.  Same w/ spell crits - they go towards this as well."

Does this mean that the AA effects the Lifetap proc or just makes me heal better? What about spellcasting fury does this impact life taps too?

I read this as you have a chance to crit on a life tap for healing purposes.  I assume this is an incorrect assumption.

Additionally when I look at things like lifetap augs it looks like they have a 12 second refresh timer, does this actual mean I cannot proc with these weapons only once per 12 seconds or can only gain health once every 12 secs.

[Shamno]

Healign AA's do effect lifetap procs. A 125 lifetap proc can heal up to 160 with full heal AA's, this is none crit mind you. You can also crit heal on them as well. Heal AA's are a pretty decent line all around.

[Vidyne]

If you're soloing, yes, paragon can wait a long long long long long while.
The times, they change, and with ooc regen paragon does become a moot point soloing.
However, in places where you will never get the opportunity to use ooc regen, paragon is well worth the aa for extra regen.
I usually don't get a chance to use ooc most of the time grouping :)
And I use aura of spirit as a HoT for nameds sometimes soloing..
However as you are not grouping that much yet?  then yes para would not be for you.  Sorry for that misconception.

If you are tanking 95% of the time, then defensives up to the planes of power will be invaluable. 
Lifetaps can be enhanced by spell crit, healing adept, and healing gift aa lines... double critting for over 600 on a 125 proc.... when maxed out.

Healing adept increases all direct heals originated by you, whether it be an actual casting spell, or a lifetap proc.
Healing focus effects on items will only effect those heals cast by you, and not your lifetap proc.

Healing gift can critical any direct heal originated by you.

[Spiritclaw]

640 is max healing from 125 lifetaps.  crit damage takes it to 250 (max healing AA gives you 320 health), crit hitting takes that 320 to 640.  Makes for a nice heal over time.  Not reliable, but when I equip a weapon without 1 of the 2 procs I have, I notice it.

[Nusa]

Most of us leveled under the old rules where it was a nobrainer (despite feeble arguments to the contrary) that leveling was better than AAing. Not too long ago the rules for AA experience changed so it's no longer a one-sided decision. So you really don't want the seasoned old-rule opinions...you want RECENT opinions under the current rules.

[hokarz]

I found it harder to get aa's at 74 than at 70 just because all my usual hunting spots greened out (very little exp) If I had to do it again, I wouldn't level past 71 until I had every purchased every worthwhile aa available. I can't solo as well at 74 that I did at 70. One of the best exp spots at your level, solo, is Grieg's end. It's a hotzone now so it's fairly crowded, but you should be able to crank out aa's pretty quickly there.

[Tiroon]

I'd get the 3 regen AA's first (cheap and all the regen does add up), Mnemonic Retention then archetype and class defensives next.

PoP defensives are very good value and I would add those to the list before leveling. Even when grouping you will get aggro at times and you don't want to play speedbump but be in there with at least some ability to hold mobs for a bit.

A special case is Spell Casting Reinforcement. Nice to very nice for soloing and when in a group you don't have to worry about buffs dropping before everybody else's do.

[Vidyne]

Nusa makes a good point, and if not grouping all that much, I would agree to not go past 71.. althought I would cut it off at 70.
You need to make sure your solo grounds don't drop off the exp curve, because there was a signifigant difference in lazily exping at 70 in fire, and then jumping up to MPG/RSS since fire went Lightblue.  Granted at your lvl/aa/gear you probably won't be anywhere near those zones, but the concept is the same...   
You have to weigh what you will gain from levels and will you be able to solo in a higher max hitting zone with the increased levels vs the current zone you are in.


I can easily solo in a 200 hitting zone now, but if I gain 5 levels, and this hunting zone goes Green/gray... will I be able to solo in a 350-450 hitting zone just as fast as I do here with the spell upgrades I receive.

That's another factor in the logic, how easily you can obtain the new spells.  71-75 they are buyable, while 66-68 require a bit more money per spell still(Runes still going for 1500-5000 last i looked in our bazaar).