Level 130 Gear and Beyond

[RookieRecurve]

Hi all,

I am currently around level 135 and half way through Empyrea. I am also questing a death wizard on a separate account to help quest, who is also around the same level. I am farming for the Dragoon/Vanguard gear, and am wondering what you all would recommend? My understanding is that Merciless is top-shelf at the moment, so I do not want to spend too much time grinding gear that will be less relevant shortly. I have decided that Vanguard is definitely good enough for most of my needs. Am I missing anything? I have an Aphrodite II ring, Morganthe Amulet (earlier version), and a Kappudan's Boarding Hook. Should I just grind for the Tier 2 hat, robe, and boots, and quest on? I definitely want an upgrade in health and damage before continuing on further, I am just unsure what is worth it, and what will offer smaller returns.

Thanks!

[Jonathan Greenflame]

Hi all,

I am currently around level 135 and half way through Empyrea. I am also questing a death wizard on a separate account to help quest, who is also around the same level. I am farming for the Dragoon/Vanguard gear, and am wondering what you all would recommend? My understanding is that Merciless is top-shelf at the moment, so I do not want to spend too much time grinding gear that will be less relevant shortly. I have decided that Vanguard is definitely good enough for most of my needs. Am I missing anything? I have an Aphrodite II ring, Morganthe Amulet (earlier version), and a Kappudan's Boarding Hook. Should I just grind for the Tier 2 hat, robe, and boots, and quest on? I definitely want an upgrade in health and damage before continuing on further, I am just unsure what is worth it, and what will offer smaller returns.

Thanks!

I have the full Merciless set for a couple of my guys but don't use anything but the ring and knife. I use Dragoon/Vanguard clothes and on a couple guys I'm using Malistaire robes. I found what I gained in critical and damage with Merciless ge a r I lost in health, power pip chance and resist which are important to me. You ought to check the WIKI and run a comparison to see if you want to go through the grind. But that's only my opinion. Like I said, I have it but don't use it. I think you will be happy sticking with the Vanguard.

[bluedreamer]

Hi all,

I am currently around level 135 and half way through Empyrea. I am also questing a death wizard on a separate account to help quest, who is also around the same level. I am farming for the Dragoon/Vanguard gear, and am wondering what you all would recommend? My understanding is that Merciless is top-shelf at the moment, so I do not want to spend too much time grinding gear that will be less relevant shortly. I have decided that Vanguard is definitely good enough for most of my needs. Am I missing anything? I have an Aphrodite II ring, Morganthe Amulet (earlier version), and a Kappudan's Boarding Hook. Should I just grind for the Tier 2 hat, robe, and boots, and quest on? I definitely want an upgrade in health and damage before continuing on further, I am just unsure what is worth it, and what will offer smaller returns.

Thanks!

Given that there has been a damage cap, soft cap, I saw no need to farm or even visit the underground/drains in wizard city. Malistaire hat and robe it is good enough, providing you much resistance against the tougher bosses in Lemuria. Should you truly desire the extra damage, I would recommend going to the bazaar and buying the Cabalist hat. Offering similar stats and available for gold.

As far as merciless gear goes I generally only go for the hat and athame. Given the lack of accuracy and pips I see little point in using the rest. The magicians/malevolent boots are exceptional, having much more resistance plus pips, far outweighs the 1%-2% damage boost. When it comes to the amulet, if I'm planning on using more blades I still go with Morganthes (Original version), if not again the magicians/malevolent, in my honest opinion is better, giving more resist, health, block than the merciless.

For me it's all a matter of balance, with the lack of accuracy and pips, plus lower resistance. If the game had realistic statistical accuracy and pip chance it really wouldn't matter. However the game is as the game is, you know you will fizzle or Pip fail, far more than statistically possible.

I will add that the soft damage cap is being removed on test, should you be looking for more damage. Personally as I said above I like a more rounded set of gear and seeing what is on test, unless farming proves pretty easy I sincerely doubt it is worth much time to improve on Merciless, same lack of pips and accuracy, more resistance and damage… So you need to find that extra accuracy and pips somewhere, if that means anything to you. I hope that helps.

[Torpzun26]

Get enough pieces for the first gear set bonus that offers you +6% extra damage. As for which pieces, definitely go for the Amulet. It gives you two AoE hits that are slightly stronger than an enchanted Humongofrog while still costing the same amount of pips. The pre-enchant means that if you're going for a tiny 7-card deck so that you draw every card on turn 1, you don't need to spend an extra deck slot on the Epic enchantment.

The Dragoon Boots are also pretty good as they offer a bunch of great stats and then on top of that give you an Item Card version of Sharpen Blade and Potent Trap. Blades/Traps enchanted by these will stack with the ones enchanted by trained version of Sharpen/Potent, which makes up for the lost blades from switching to the Dragoon Amulet.

And finally for the third piece, I would say get the hat because it's a lot easier to farm, and you have so many team-ups farming for Alchemical reagents especially during Double Reagents. If you aren't a fan of the hat's lack of resist, you could instead go for the Athame. It has its downsides as well, but getting the extra +6% damage from the gear set bonus is pretty sweet.

Definitely do not go for the Robe or the Wand though. The Robe is extremely defense-oriented and offers no damage whatsoever, so you'll more likely prefer the Darkmoor or Tenni'syn robe. As for the Wand, it's not going to be as good as the Sinbad wand that you already have. The Ring is very iffy considering that you already have the one from Aphrodite, but if you're going for full glass cannon and can handle the power pip loss it might be ok? It's just on the very edge of the "Don't farm for this" zone.

If getting three pieces is too much investment for your liking since better options are only a few dozen levels away, that's alright, but at the very least get the Amulet.

[RookieRecurve]

Thank you everyone for the replies! I definitely prefer a balanced setup with 100% PIP chance, and 100% Accuracy (+30%) for overall stats, so I will keep that in mind as I work on getting my new gear. I have been farming Abandoned House, and can find a team with great ease, and usually a two round finish.

[Jonathan Greenflame]

Thank you everyone for the replies! I definitely prefer a balanced setup with 100% PIP chance, and 100% Accuracy (+30%) for overall stats, so I will keep that in mind as I work on getting my new gear. I have been farming Abandoned House, and can find a team with great ease, and usually a two round finish.

Make sure you run the Abandoned House when the double reagent benefit is on. You'll be surprised at how much you gain in reagents after an hour or so then.

[Oxnhorse]

Hi all,

I am currently around level 135 and half way through Empyrea. I am also questing a death wizard on a separate account to help quest, who is also around the same level. I am farming for the Dragoon/Vanguard gear, and am wondering what you all would recommend? My understanding is that Merciless is top-shelf at the moment, so I do not want to spend too much time grinding gear that will be less relevant shortly. I have decided that Vanguard is definitely good enough for most of my needs. Am I missing anything? I have an Aphrodite II ring, Morganthe Amulet (earlier version), and a Kappudan's Boarding Hook. Should I just grind for the Tier 2 hat, robe, and boots, and quest on? I definitely want an upgrade in health and damage before continuing on further, I am just unsure what is worth it, and what will offer smaller returns.

Thanks!

Rookie,

I have sent almost all my wizards into the underground for Vanguard gear, but my Life has either won or crafted 5 of the 7 gold pieces. Right now, as Lemuria is with damage my Life with nearly 11K hit points can be destroyed in about 3 to 4 rounds depending on which boss he goes against.

This is weird and insane, but I have experienced the weird gameplay, even with 4 universal defense jewels at +29, with my gear and pet add-ins, to me its plain insane.

Ultimately it's up to you on your choices of gear, but I would suggest that your death at least get the amulet under Golem Court, because your normal spell from Azteca that takes 8 pips to cast only needs 2 power pips to throw at all your enemies.
Oxnhorse

Thank you everyone for the replies! I definitely prefer a balanced setup with 100% PIP chance, and 100% Accuracy (+30%) for overall stats, so I will keep that in mind as I work on getting my new gear. I have been farming Abandoned House, and can find a team with great ease, and usually a two round finish.

Phaner in Lemuria sells +29 universal defense jewels.

Oxnhorse