Essential weapons while levelling?

[Istaria1]

Hi all,

I'm playing my first melee toon, who is using THF, and I'm uncertain what type of weapons to go for. It's all been fine so far (level 9) with <element> of Pure Good stuff which I picked up reasonably cheap on the AH. However, I kinda like to plan ahead if I can so that I don't end up stuck.

I'm F2P atm, so please bear that in mind for any recommendations. In the next couple of weeks I will either go VIP (probably) or I'll purchase a few packs - if I do VOT is a given, so I should be able to craft Greensteel at some point.

EDIT: On the subject of Greensteel - could someone please tell me what Lit II and Min II mean please? I know that Mineral is Keen Metalline, and Lit is Lightning Strike, but the II? Sorry for newb question, and thanks :P

Also worth mentioning is that I have the following weapons:

- Hellstroke
- Carnifex
- +3 Flaming Greataxe of Pure Good
- +2 Frost Greatsword of Pure Good
- +3 Greatsword of Everbright - I looted this and use it for Oozes, but it's far from ideal because they breed like rabbits :/

I think that I'll need to pick up some bludgeon weapons soon, and maybe a Ghost touch item, but I'm uncertain. Also, I am not an accomplished crafter but I do have some levels and a whole bunch of mats.

Does anyone have any recommendations? Worthy of note also is that I am aso VERY interested in THF Greensteel advice, as I'll likely TR my Wizard into this build when he hits 20. If it makes any difference to the GS, the character is 2rog/2fig/16 (in the end) bard.

Thanks :)

Aes.

[PsychoBlonde]

The II with greensteel indicates the third tier bennie. In case you haven't seen it, greensteel crafting has three tiers. The bonuses you pick for tier 1 and tier 2 give you an initial extra benefit, for example, in the case of a concordant opposition item, you get +6 wis and some skill bonuses. With an Air item, you get a haste clickie. That's "I" bonus.

When you put the third tier on, you can choose to make a double-imbued shard which, if it matches up with the correct recipe and your "I" bonus, nets you an additional special benefit. That's the "II" bonus. These special recipes are very powerful compared to the basic item effects so people nearly always make items to correspond to the recipes, that's why instead of saying "I put on holy burst/shocking blast/+4 insight AC" they'll just say "I made a lightning II".

This planner (http://perfectweb.org/ddo/crafting/base_crafting.php) can help you put the recipes together correctly.

[PsychoBlonde]

As for your other weapons--look for weapons with multiple special effects (they have a cyan border on them). These are generally more powerful than the basic weapons. You can also make some nice weapons off the Cannith Challenges.

[Istaria1]

Thanks for your advice, PB, especially on the GS stuff. Now I know that <type> II means fully upgraded. I have played with the GS planner before, and have it bookmarked, but have never really been able to figure out the "bang for buck" element of it...surely some effects are easier obtained than others? And some are better for a low mats cost? The power shards seem to be a major factor, but you can run Shroud every 3 days, right? That's not THAT bad....or am I missing something?

Also, I am a bit confused on the special border stuff - so far all I have found is "lacerating" (lots of), and "prisms" (one greater prisms) - on enemies that bleed this stuff looks nice, but.... what bleeds please? I can't find this on the wiki.

Anyhow, guess I was looking for a "You will face <this> in the next 6 levels, so you want <this> weapon" - sorry if it's a ridiculously noob question, but well....I am one ;)

Thanks!

Aes.

[Frotz]

Also, I am a bit confused on the special border stuff - so far all I have found is "lacerating" (lots of), and "prisms" (one greater prisms) - on enemies that bleed this stuff looks nice, but.... what bleeds please? I can't find this on the wiki.
If it's not Undead, a Construct, or an Elemental then it probably bleeds (Living Constructs also bleed). I think that covers it.

You will want a Ghost Touch weapon. A Bludgeoning Everbright is good for oozes and rusties. Disruption, Banishing, and Smiting are all nice to have as well.

[FuzzyDuck81]

In the mid to high levels, you can start looking for special effects like banishing, smiting & disruption which are all pretty nice, they do bane damage in addition to the chance of instakill so are solid for dps - banishing of righteousness/pure good is especially good as when you get the vale it'll bypass the DR of most of the enemies out there too, letting you beat them down very effectively. Paralysing can be a useful one too.

For the multi-effect things, i rather like the desert sand prefix, and mauling or debilitation are good suffixes.

[DrunkenBuddha]

Anyhow, guess I was looking for a "You will face <this> in the next 6 levels, so you want <this> weapon" - sorry if it's a ridiculously noob question, but well....I am one ;)


In Gianthold, you will be facing giants, trolls and minotaurs for the most part - so paralyzing weapons will be helpful. For Necro 4, you will be facing lots of undead, so disruptors will be useful. For Vale of Twilight, you will be facing enemies that can be banished, so banishers are helpful, as are paralyzers, although they will start to become less effective.

Another thing to begin taking into account is DR, which is still relevant at this level although less relevant at later levels. Devils have silver/good and demons have cold iron/good. Also, some of the Ghaele in a quest frequently run in Vale have cold iron/evil.

So you should take some time to figure out what types of mobs you will be facing. Also, smiters are excellent for golems.

[AbyssalMage]

You will want a Ghost Touch weapon. A Bludgeoning Everbright is good for oozes and rusties. Disruption, Banishing, and Smiting are all nice to have as well.
This ^^ @ level 8 RR weapons or 10 and higher. Usually the Smite/Disrupt/Banish/Para weapons tend to have the best pricing range around 12 and 16.

Although I craft Everbright or buy on AH (ASAP at lower levels) and the weapon usually goes into the bank around level 12 or 14. The other thing I have been doing recently is using Handwraps but it slightly ineffective on Elite runs if you do not have TWF.

Greensteel makes Para weapons trivial on TR

[lyrecono]

lit2 is great :)
i'm not sure if i would still recommend building a min2 these days, since dr breakers are not that hard to come by.
I would prob build a pos3 maul before that (3X positive), its a great undead beater, especially skeletons.
Combined with spectral gloves (http://ddowiki.com/page/Spectral_Gloves) or Ethereal Bracers (http://ddowiki.com/page/Ethereal_Bracers), you can hit ghosts without needing ghost touch on your weapons, i still find those 2 items on the AH, you can also ask guildies or in trade chat.

a cheap version of the 3X pos maul is this: Fury of the Flame (http://ddowiki.com/page/Fury_of_the_Flame), the quests are free to play, run it with a tr group and you'll prob end up with 4 in the chest if you ask nicely.

i like these mauls because even in epics there is hardly anything better so your millage is great.

btw, dont forget that although you can equip greensteel weapons at lv 12 these days, the chance that you'll do the flagging quest and actual raid enough times to get all the shards needed at lv 12 is very small (assuming you have a high lv alt to farm/buy the res of the ingredients.
By the time epics rear's his head, you'll find better gear. greensteel still remains great TR gear though.

[lyrecono]

Also worth mentioning is that I have the following weapons:

- Hellstroke
- Carnifex
- +3 Flaming Greataxe of Pure Good
- +2 Frost Greatsword of Pure Good
- +3 Greatsword of Everbright - I looted this and use it for Oozes, but it's far from ideal because they breed like rabbits :/


Aes.

try to get a everbright maul, bludgening damage doesn't make oozes split (or breed as you mentioned :P)
Great swords are nice but have you considered Falchions? they have a nice crit range and the same modifier.

you also mentioned being lv 9, that means reavers will rear their ugly head
You might find gear from invaders in the auctionhouse, these are nice weapons against reavers and have been recently upgraded with a red slot.
The invader quest is free to play and drops invader tokens too, giving ok loot to f2p people.

when i started my first melee i found nice cheap gear in Atraxia, where people quickly unload thei haul at the vendor. I got my bets paralysing and everbright weapons there, used them for TR-ing for years.

happy hunting!

[Istaria1]

Thanks for all the advice guys :) I love these forums!

Aes.

[EllisDee37]

THF melee weapons for free-to-play:

Sword of the Thirty (from tear of dhakaan)
Blade of Fury
Whirlwind (from the desert, but BtCoE so you can buy it in ah.)

Whirlwind is significantly better than Blade of Fury, even if you upgrade Blade of Fury to add vampirism. This is due to Whirlwind's increased base damage and crit range. But a Vampiric Fury Blade is still pretty darn sweet.

If you're thinking about spending money on the game, and can swing $35, get the MotU standard edition in the DDO market. (Not the in-game store.) It comes with 4 adventure packs, including Attack on Stormreach, which is the pack you need to upgrade the Blade of Fury. That $35 also comes with 1000 TP, which you can (should) use to buy Gianthold.

For context, I have done many lives on many characters, and am currently leveling a THF melee character. He uses:

Carnifex for level 4-7
Sword of the Thirty for level 8-9
Whirlwind for level 10-19
Epic Antique Greataxe for level 20+

EDIT: People mentioned specialty weapons for things like undead and constructs. Have a look at the "Weapon Recipes" thread linked in my signature. Even if you can't craft yourself, there are tons of jaded vets with tons of crafting levels that would happily craft you up some shards free of charge.

[unbongwah]

Blade of Fury
I prefer Bloody Cleaver (http://ddowiki.com/page/Bloody_Cleaver) to Blade of Fury; DPS is only so-so, but Bodyfeeder on a falchion is welcome. Upgrade to Vampiric (http://ddowiki.com/page/Vampiric_Cleaver) and it really cuts down on how much healing you need. :)

Not sure how long it takes a F2Per to grind them out, but don't forget about Cannith gear (http://ddowiki.com/page/Vaults_of_the_Artificers_loot); in particular, greataxe of fire + Ring of the Stalker is a useful combo for any 2H build.

[EllisDee37]

I prefer Bloody Cleaver (http://ddowiki.com/page/Bloody_Cleaver) to Blade of Fury; DPS is only so-so, but Bodyfeeder on a falchion is welcome. Upgrade to Vampiric (http://ddowiki.com/page/Vampiric_Cleaver) and it really cuts down on how much healing you need. :)Yeah my pally used a vampiric cleaver on his first life and liked it quite a bit. That was my first character, and he long ago upgraded to a lit2 for leveling past 12, so I eventually vendored that cleaver.

I would have preferred the fury blade for the wounding, but since he was a pally I went for the falchion instead. That bodyfeeder didn't suck at all, though; not one tiny little bit.

Good call on the challenge weapons. Also the mournlode maul for undead, or even a calomel weapon for general trash beating.

[droid327]

Good call on the challenge weapons. Also the mournlode maul for undead, or even a calomel weapon for general trash beating.

For 16-20, hands down, you want an Elemental Greataxe of Fire, among F2P weapons. If you save your daily tokens, you can upgrade it to Tier 3, and stick on Screaming of Bleed on top of all the other mods - or Holy or Righteous, and then you have your Good and Metalline DR breaker, too.