back slot and Ax belt questions

[Nitefang]

ok 2 questions here -

1. I'm currently using the Cloak of Greater Pernicity in my back slot - but I'm wondering if I should go with the Lodi since it seems to be the more popular choice for the higher end folks...

2. Since dropping the offhand epic, I'm currently without any sort of haste item - most haste items I see are belts, but I'm a bit reluctant to get rid of my Ax belt as I'm in a small "family" style guild that does not raid.... its just too good... feeling kinda stuck on this

should I just focus on LDoN items & augs, or is there another alternative for non-time/ep player with modest plat ? (around 20k)

any ideas/recommendations are appreciated

[Ukator Iceblood]

Hey Nite. I'm in a smallish guild also so my stuff might be an idea what you can do/buy without bigtime raids. LDON items are great for us, however you can also buy items from bazaar that are better and have less time taken to get.

1. I have moved away from the Lodi for one reason, no HPS. This is becoming my new passion. I need more hps:) So I still have lodi for when I need it but I would use your cloak now.

2. I don't use Ax belt anymore for reason stated above. No hps on it kill me. I bought a simple LDON dropped belt to handle me for now.

What I would do, it seems that you do not have a haste item right now, is use your offhand epic for now. Buy a haste item 31% or better, or camp one (belts from Veksar and Droga are doable solo or duo). Then work for the Orb or claws from LDON.

Good luck.

[Animist]

1. I'm currently using the Cloak of Greater Pernicity in my back slot - but I'm wondering if I should go with the Lodi since it seems to be the more popular choice for the higher end folks...

it really depends.
why some higher end folks use lodi shield is because of the resist. in mid level raiding 20 resist can weight more than 50 hp. ToV / low SoL is the example of them.
however, once u move into higher content like PoP (no personal experience about Emp/Seru/VT as we skipped it) then every little bit hp u can get grants u more power imo. surviving some nasty AE that cant be resisted or eatting 1 or 2 riposte, all depends on ur hp pool.
in short, it is about ur situation, ur current raiding/exp'ing targets etc. cant one-side ur choice without knowing that.

2. Since dropping the offhand epic, I'm currently without any sort of haste item - most haste items I see are belts, but I'm a bit reluctant to get rid of my Ax belt as I'm in a small "family" style guild that does not raid.... its just too good... feeling kinda stuck on this

should I just focus on LDoN items & augs, or is there another alternative for non-time/ep player with modest plat ? (around 20k)

hehe i am in the same boat with u. notice that my bst is merely an alt i played when i am not raiding. that means i cant expect any 40%+ haste items (well, exclude ToV quest bracer and cloak, but those takes tons of time to farm) except my epic, without dragging 2 groups+ of my friends to do something just for an alt.
currently i am using broken driven belt (34%, from junkbeast in PoI) as haste post-epic. there are some other options, like SG's haste belt (34%), CT haste belt (31%, mnk/bst only - so it is cheap), good old CoF/CoCW/CoM (36%, but it is back/back/head slots). i think the best buyable haste belt in the game currently is belt of raging nature, but it is very rare and hard to find ppl selling them.
for ur budget, i would suggest the CT haste belt, which is only about 10k or 12k on DRo. with a chanter/shaman haste u are at cap haste anyway.

hope this help

[Dysz]

just a tidbit to add about seru, since i have had experience with him:

in my estimation the best use of a beastlord for that raid is really mana, not melee.  yes you can make a bane weapon but that is a nasty nasty spell he has so fero'ing rangers and stacking on dots and nukes is really the best use of our abilities.  pets as well, i guess, i dont bother usually.

so back to the original question!  once you graduate out of velious content, its better to bag the lodi for eb / resists.  that said its probably one of the best bst eb items but i still would rather wear my cloak of falling starts with 100 hp on it than a lodi.

[Nitefang]

Thanks for all the Info - I knew you guys would come thru - Beasties are Da Bestest !