Short term AA question

[Haggatha]

Greetings,

A quick question. I'm a new level 70 beast, 177 AA, and not high end at all. With Tenacity, I almost hit 9k hp.

I should probably wait until I get my Magelo updated tonight, but I'm impatient. So, I want a quick AA path advice.

http://eq.magelo.com/profile/1070593

The AA are accurate above, but on hitting 70 I replaced some equipment (mainhand went Gold Dragon Mace with 125 point lifetap, offhand went Spiritclaw with 125 point lifetap).

Anyway,
After getting Hobble, which is next on my AA list due to some spots I want to hunt, which would be the most beneficial...  Keep in mind that I mostly solo.

Finish out BF to max? Only 10 AA. I know this is a "soon" but I don't know if its an immediate.

How useful will finishing out the PoP defensive AA be? I already have LR 5, and 2 ranks in Damage reduction, 2 in more hps, and the AA which adds one to each of the above. It would only be 11 AA to finish out the mitigation AA - but will it really make any difference? I like tanking, even if I suck at it.

Spell crits? I have 4 out of the 6 ranks.

Healing? I have healing crits 2, and increased healing 1.

I'm running into trouble getting folks to help with Kirin brains, so thus Hobble, and an attempt to solo get them. Also, I've had problems a couple of times with runner Murks in WoS. So Hobble is next....

Thanks for any tips advice.

[Nusa]

It's my opinion that defensives are generally more valuable than offensives to a tanking beast. BF was an exception, and probably IBF would pay as well...soon as you want.

Get ND3.
Pick up enough of the PP line to keep useful stats (sta, str, dex) from maxxing with typical buffs. (Add more PP whenever your gear improves your stats.)
Finish PoP defensives: CS3, ID1-5.
Finish IBF if you haven't done it yet.

Re-evaluate...you've got the better defensives now, but the omens ones will still help. But you may want some more offensives now, like Ambidexterity and Sinister strikes. Or perhaps a few utility items like Fetter or Swift Journey.

[Gunzak]

If your soloing the WoS Murkgliders, Hobble isn't necessary.  If you position the mobs correctly you can usually kill them before they can bring an add when they run.  Worst case just keep a nuke ready when they hit 20%.  Once you get your 70 pet you can give him 2 weapons with 235 DD procs that stun.

ND3 is 5% more hp which is a big boost.  If your 6k unbuffed thats an additional 300hp.

BF5 and IBF5 are very large DPS boosts.  Ambi and sinister are very small.  With my setup sinister is only about 2dps.

I would finish ND3, CS3, IBF 4-5 and then ID1-5 first.  After those are all done you can do hobble, PP, healing AAs and what not.

[Spiritclaw]

If your soloing the WoS Murkgliders, Hobble isn't necessary.  If you position the mobs correctly you can usually kill them before they can bring an add when they run.  Worst case just keep a nuke ready when they hit 20%.  Once you get your 70 pet you can give him 2 weapons with 235 DD procs that stun.

ND3 is 5% more hp which is a big boost.  If your 6k unbuffed thats an additional 300hp.

BF5 and IBF5 are very large DPS boosts.  Ambi and sinister are very small.  With my setup sinister is only about 2dps.

I would finish ND3, CS3, IBF 4-5 and then ID1-5 first.  After those are all done you can do hobble, PP, healing AAs and what not.

What pet weapons are you talking about?  As far as I know, mage summoned weapons don't have stun components.

[Gunzak]

I don't remember the name but every time the mob would run and my pet proced it the mob would get stunned.  I give my 70 pet the Muzzle of Mowcha, Lucid Belt and 2 of the 235dd proc weapons when I go.

Unless your deep inside the cave if you position the mobs correctly it will almost always run to the zone out so you wont get any adds.  If you keep 1 or 2 nukes ready around 20% you can easily kill it before it gets too far.

[Spiritclaw]

I don't remember the name but every time the mob would run and my pet proced it the mob would get stunned.  I give my 70 pet the Muzzle of Mowcha, Lucid Belt and 2 of the 235dd proc weapons when I go.

Unless your deep inside the cave if you position the mobs correctly it will almost always run to the zone out so you wont get any adds.  If you keep 1 or 2 nukes ready around 20% you can easily kill it before it gets too far.

The mage weapons are:

http://lucy.allakhazam.com/item.html?id=52662: which procs http://lucy.allakhazam.com/spell.html?id=9502
http://lucy.allakhazam.com/item.html?id=52663: which procs http://lucy.allakhazam.com/spell.html?id=9501
http://lucy.allakhazam.com/item.html?id=52664: which procs http://lucy.allakhazam.com/spell.html?id=9500
http://lucy.allakhazam.com/item.html?id=52672: which procs http://lucy.allakhazam.com/spell.html?id=2674

None of those procs stuns.  The proc that stuns is pet proc which stuns to 75

[Haggatha]

Thank you for advice.

I went ahead and got Hobble last night. Its a decent utility AA, which I expect to get some use out of. (Though you are right, I don't need it at the Murks anymore - I kill faster now than I did when I first came out, and it isn't an issue now.)

I've decided to go ahead and finish IBF. Then ND, then finish the CS line through PoP. Then I will stop and reasses where I am at, and what I could use.

Thanks!

[Soriab]

When working on AA's I go defensive/offensive/regens/stats/toys

Of what you have in the order I would progress.

Arch
Natural Durability 3
Combat Stability 3
Mental Clarity 3

Class
Body and Mind Rejuvenation

If you Raid add the following
Mass Group Buff

PoP Advanced
Planar Power 5

PoP Ability
Innate Defense 5


GoD
Mastery of the Past 1 (Stop Fizzles)

Omens
Reflexive Mastery 5
Defensive Instincts 5
Perfection of Spirit 3

DoD
Precognition 5
Thick Skin 5

Serpent
Aura of Spirit 3

After you complete those I would work in the Offense from the oldest up like you see with the Defensive

Over all you want to live longer so defensives will stack so get them all after you are able to live longer kill faster with your offensives. Then go for the toys. You will be about 1100 to 1200 AA's when you get through Defensive/Offensive and what not

[Soriab]

Oh yea, and start doing TBS Missions and get the armor and weapons from there asap. You will be better off. Or at least buy Ebon or Radiant crystals and buy the DoN Armors or do the TSS Armor quests. There is much better armor and weapons out there for a beastlord.

[Nusa]

Soriab's list is solid old-school advice. New-school, I'd put all the mana regen, hp regen, and even paragon improvements in the "If you raid" category because of easy access to out-of-combat regen in the soloing and grouping contexts.

[Gunzak]

Aren't Precognition 5 and Thick Skin 5 only 1.25% for 25aa?  50AA seems like a lot for 1.25% mitigation and 1.25% avoidance.  Wouldn't the healing AAs or pet offensive AAs be a better choice short term?

[Khauruk]

Aren't Precognition 5 and Thick Skin 5 only 1.25% for 25aa?  50AA seems like a lot for 1.25% mitigation and 1.25% avoidance.  Wouldn't the healing AAs or pet offensive AAs be a better choice short term?

2.5% for the 25AAs, I do believe.  0.1% per AA spent.

[Haggatha]

Soriab....

I'm mostly happy with my gear, believe it or not. I solo 90% of the time. Virtually everything I get I give away. I don't sell much in the bazaar or anything. The most money I've ever had at one time is 35k. While I do raid on occassion with my guild, I don't even bother to track my points. I just do it because it increases the others enjoyment (I find it about as enjoyable as pulling your own teeth with rusty, dull pliars would be).

I've got a lot of DoN augments on the gear above, and the mainhand weapon is a DoN weapon. The Spiritclaw was given to me by a guildee when I hit 70. Believe it or not, buy my DPS jumped about 20 points when I hit 70.

I'm on Firionia Vie, which is the lowest population server around, aside from the PVP ones. Nobody is in Buried Sea, to speak of. Most I've seen in any zone of it is 7, not counting myself. Very few folks in my guild even have the expansion (I'm in a small evil/neutral role play guild).

So, while I improve my gear, its slow, and by tiny increments.

And, I agree with Gunzak.... precog and thick skin are among the last AA's I plan to get... If I am even still playing EQ at that time. This is my 3rd time or so back from retirement, and each time I return its for less and less time.

[Gunzak]

I think you should work on more stability line.  My understanding from when I researched all the forums on this was this:

CA3 = 10% avoidance, LR5=5% avoidance, RM=2.5% avoidance, Precog=.75% avoidance Total = 18.25% avoidance

CS3= 10% mitigation, CS5=5% mitigation, DI5=2.5% mitigation, ThickSkin=.75% mitigation Total= 18.25% mitigation

PE=2% avoidance + 2% mitigation

Grand Total:  40.50% damage reduction

Anyhow, that's the best figures I found when attempting to determine what defensives to work on next.  Hope it helps!

Solase

I did a search on the forums and found the numbers.  The OoW defensives are 25AA for 2.5% but the DoD are 25AA for .75%.

[hokarz]

I believe the mitigation aa's affect the plate classes much more than it does us. Plate classes can easily get over 2000ac, even being just group geared and the mitigation aa's raise the cap. It's harder for beastlords to because the return over the cap is so dismal. We are on the same mitigation table as druids, but we have block. The avoidance aa's have a solid return on investment, the mitigation aa's...not so much.