Gearing a Completionist: Handwraps

[Sebastrd]

I could use some help figuring out just which junk is worth hanging on to for a character that will eventually hit triple completionist. My goal is to recycle as much gear as possible to minimize bank/mule space. In this thread, I'm focusing on Handwraps. Assuming the following:



Improved Crit will be taken.
TWF feats will be taken.
Power Attack, Cleave, Great Cleave, etc. will be taken.
Any greensteel or Cannith weapon is craftable


What are the best Handwraps at each level, from 1-30?



Fernian Wraps, Eternal Rest, Devotion
Weeping Wraps
?
Scorching Wraps, +1 Frost Wraps of Lacerating
?
+3 Shock Wraps of Pure Good (RR, Festival Burst)
?
+2 Holy of Lacerating
?
+2 Crippling of Lacerating (red)
?
Vampiric Stonedust Wraps, Wraps of Endless Light (12), +2 Paralyzing Wraps, +5 Acid Wraps of Pure Good (Festival Burst), +1 Paralyzing Wraps of Lacerating, +1 Shocking Burst Wraps of Smiting (RR)
?
+3 Banishing Silver Wraps, Adamantine Knuckles (elite), +3 Shock Wraps of Stunning +10 (RR), +3 Wraps of Smiting
?
Wraps of Endless Light (16), +4 Holy Wraps of Greater Dragon Bane (RR), +4 Weakening Wraps of Enfeebling, +4 Maladroit Wraps of Bonebreaking
?
+3 Holy Wraps of Smiting, +2 Banishing Wraps of Stunning +6
?
Wraps of Endless Light (20), Grave Wrappings, +5 Acid Wraps of Smiting
?
?
?
Wraps of Endless Light (24), +5 Banishing Wraps of Stunning +10, +6 Boreal Wraps of Smiting
?
?
?
?
?
?


I'll edit this post as the discussion develops, and I'll enter some placeholders based on gear I've already acquired.

Which weapons clearly outshine all other options at their level?
At which levels are utility weapons such as smiters, disruptors, paralyzers viable or necessary?
Are certain enchantments like Wounding of Puncturing, etc. ever viable?
Which of the above is just **** and should be binned?
There seems to be a glut of named wraps in epic levels. Which are the best?

Thanks in advance to any participants :)

[inspiredunease]

From level one I still have an old set of devotions, eternal rests, and Fernians. They seem to cover most bases. I have picked up a couple of the upgraded versions that I swap in a bit later now. I also have a set of reduced ML stunners for level 6ish I think. From 12 - 20 I pretty much just use vampiric stonedusts, plus a set of metalline good handwraps for DR breaking. I don't really bother with disruption/banishing/smiting any more; I just can't be bothered to carry them around. Tier two alchemicals and Tharaak wraps at 18 are both nice. Grave wraps are the only thing I use from 20 (again apart from a slightly higher level set of metalline good wraps for DR), Antipode are good boss beaters from 23 to 28 (especially if you have the relevant focus). EE thunder and lightning seems to be pretty much universally acknowledged as the best wraps at 28 if you don't count +14 sunder wraps, which are about to become useless.

[Sebastrd]

Tier two alchemicals and Tharaak wraps at 18 are both nice.

Why Tier 2 Alchemicals? I'd think Tier 3 were the bees' knees.

[inspiredunease]

Why Tier 2 Alchemicals? I'd think Tier 3 were the bees' knees.

Tier 2 can be used at 18, tier 3 is only available at 20, at which point grave wrappings > any other wrap :D

[Matuse]

I have a set of Cannith-made +5 Acid Burst of Vampirism wraps that do wonders for making sure I stay not-dead. Expensive to make with the Locus Of Vol ingredient, but I've never found anything that works better. Sure, there are wraps that do more damage, but that doesn't really matter if you're a stone.

[Sebastrd]

Tier 2 can be used at 18, tier 3 is only available at 20, at which point grave wrappings > any other wrap :D

While Grave Wrappings are nice against trash, there have got to be better wraps for certain situations (e.g., bosses). Wraps of Endless Light are definitely better for undead.

[Snarglefrump]

Here are highlights from what I'm running with:

ML2: Holy handwraps of bleed with medium guild augment (Cannith Crafted),
Screaming of Construct Bane (Cannith Crafted for beating on the Training Dummy),
Ghost Touch handwraps of undead bane
ML4: Holy silver handwraps of Undead bane (Cannith Crafted)
ML6: +1 Holy handwraps of bleed with Festival Icy Burst and +1 Force damage
ML12: Vampiric stonedust handwraps,
+1 Banishing handwraps of Pure Good with Festival Icy Burst,
+1 Holy handwraps of Disruption with Festival Icy Burst (RR: half-orc)
ML14: Holy Silver handwraps of Lawful Outsider Bane (Cannith Crafted),
+4 Holy Cold Iron handwraps of Chaotic Outsider Bane (Cannith Crafted)
ML18: +3 Banishing Handwraps of Lawful Outsider Bane,
+3 Banishing handwraps of Stunning +6 (RR: half-orc)
ML20: Grave wrappings

For ML6, I'd switch to +1 Holy of Lacerating if I could get my hands on some.

I take Rogue at level 1, so I don't worry about handwraps until level 2.

Brawling gloves add 1d4 damage, Str, and sneak attack. You may also be interested in: Items that proc when you hit something (https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/362800-Items-that-proc-when-you-hit-something)

[Uska]

good info to have

[inspiredunease]

While Grave Wrappings are nice against trash, there have got to be better wraps for certain situations (e.g., bosses). Wraps of Endless Light are definitely better for undead.

Yup, fair enough, I have 24 endless lights, and some reasonably high level metalline of pure good (ML21 +6s I think). Those are useful where grave wrappings are not, but I'm still using grave wraps everywhere else :P I used to optimise every single possible wrap for every single possible enemy. I tend to find that not needing to do endless inventory management is more fun now.

[Rhysem]

I've found humanoid bane worthwhile enough to carry at high levels. YMMV.

[DeathdefyBeta]

I've bolded the wraps I'd bin. I'll try and write a quick rationale on why. In advance, obviously this is a pretty subjective task so my opinions are only opinions.




Fernian Wraps, Eternal Rest, Devotion - Devotion are fine for 1-4 when you get your first lootgen decent wraps. Yes, neutral things won't take bonus damage. Pfft. Eternal Rest are solid since ghost touch is a pain to get on something usable for quite a while.
Weeping Wraps - You will be fine on the Sharn Syndicate Bank crystals without these.
?
Scorching Wraps, +1 Frost Wraps of Lacerating - Scorching wraps do less damage than good lootgen wraps which you have. You really don't need to worry about elemental damage diversification as a non-caster. If you don't get your 1d6ish elemental damage per hit on something it's not a big deal.
?
+3 Shock Wraps of Pure Good (RR, Festival Burst)
?
+2 Holy of Lacerating
?
+2 Crippling of Lacerating (red) - Crippling smells and a red slot doesn't make up enough for it.
?
Vampiric Stonedust Wraps, Wraps of Endless Light (12), +2 Paralyzing Wraps, +5 Acid Wraps of Pure Good (Festival Burst), +1 Paralyzing Wraps of Lacerating, +1 Shocking Burst Wraps of Smiting (RR) - Paralyzing smells; though some people like it. If you like it keep the lacerators. Definitively bin the +2 Paralyzers. I also personally dislike Vampirics since 'where's the damage?' but enough people use them that they must do something right.
?
+3 Banishing Silver Wraps, Adamantine Knuckles (elite), +3 Shock Wraps of Stunning +10 (RR), +3 Wraps of Smiting - You already have the SB Smiters so I wouldn't bother upgrading for an extra +2. Yes you'll haste some Flesh Golems, but they're Flesh Golems so who cares. I also didn't fall in love with the HE Adamantine Knuckles due to the lack of +to Stunning, but they're probably fine against Red Names.
?
Wraps of Endless Light (16), +4 Holy Wraps of Greater Dragon Bane (RR), +4 Weakening Wraps of Enfeebling, +4 Maladroit Wraps of Bonebreaking - Yep I'm a hater re: stat draining wraps. Just don't get it. Yes casters can't cast, beholders can't do eye things, etc. But it's heroic. Kill them instead; even fat casters in IQ / beholders Madness Chain are better stunned and dead or QPed in my opinion.
?
+3 Holy Wraps of Smiting, +2 Banishing Wraps of Stunning +6
?
Wraps of Endless Light (20), Grave Wrappings, +5 Acid Wraps of Smiting - Myeh. Smiting is smiting. I suppose having 1 high level wraps to upgrade to makes sense, but I feel like you're going overboard with the incremental upgrades on smiting; if you need inventory room this is a good place to get it.
?
?
?
Wraps of Endless Light (24), +5 Banishing Wraps of Stunning +10, +6 Boreal Wraps of Smiting - In Epics there aren't that many banishable things to stun. Same complaint as above about the Smiter Wraps.
?
?
?
?
?
?


At which levels are utility weapons such as smiters, disruptors, paralyzers viable or necessary?

- Smiters are brilliant from level 8 onwards. Definitely worth using.
- Disruptors are also brilliant from level 8 onwards. The dilemma of 'ghost touch of undead bane' or 'non-ghost touch of disruption' remains DDO's greatest paradox. Ideally get GT from ML: 11 Ethereal Bracers and level 8 or 10 disruptors. Endless Night wraps are totally fine until you pick up disruptors though. That 'Light-Bringer' nonsense on the Endless Night wriaps is almost as good.
- Paralyzers are garbage. If you're 1 on 1 in a difficult situation, stun it and kill it. If you're not 1 on 1 in a difficult situation, move around until you are, because relying on paralyzers is going to take you 4 hours to kill everything or get you beaned by an ogre.

Are certain enchantments like Wounding of Puncturing, etc. ever viable?

- No. Stun it.



Last thing;
- Enlightened Vestments are a pain to get these days since no one runs VoD, but if you get the chance they open up some gearing options from 14 - 20 since you get the freebie banishing insta-kill (not the damage though, but it means that in e.g. Rainbow in the Dark you can equip smiting wraps and banishers and fish for 20s, or stunning wraps and have banishing and +10 stunners, etc. It's a noticeable upgrade but not a must-have.

- Similarly Frozen Tunic is spectacular from level 4, with incremental upgrade, all the way into Epics.

- ToD Rings also are game-changing but something of a pain. Back in the day when 18 - 20 took forever I did a single Monk life without them and hated it so much I sat at cap for the sole purpose of farming out two rings.

- Someone else already mentioned Brawling Gloves. They are awesome and I don't take mine off (the level 4 pair is fine, though I upgrade to the level 12 pair for no logical reason at level 12) until very late in a heroic life. Just remember they split oozes, so have another pair of gloves on a hotbar for an easy swap against oozes.

[jskinner937]

Tier 2 can be used at 18, tier 3 is only available at 20, at which point grave wrappings > any other wrap :D

Alchemicals tier 3 blow Grave Wrapping away now even on trash. The change in level drain to chance on crit makes them ****.

[inspiredunease]

Grave wrappings haven't changed. They're not Life Stealing like Nightmare, they're Soul Eating which is 1d3 neg levels on vorpal giving you 35 temp hp. With monk attack speed you hit vorpals enough. I'm using them at the moment on my drunk and they're still just fine thank you very much.

[Sebastrd]

I've bolded the wraps I'd bin. I'll try and write a quick rationale on why. In advance, obviously this is a pretty subjective task so my opinions are only opinions.



Last thing;
- Enlightened Vestments are a pain to get these days since no one runs VoD, but if you get the chance they open up some gearing options from 14 - 20 since you get the freebie banishing insta-kill (not the damage though, but it means that in e.g. Rainbow in the Dark you can equip smiting wraps and banishers and fish for 20s, or stunning wraps and have banishing and +10 stunners, etc. It's a noticeable upgrade but not a must-have.

- Similarly Frozen Tunic is spectacular from level 4, with incremental upgrade, all the way into Epics.

- ToD Rings also are game-changing but something of a pain. Back in the day when 18 - 20 took forever I did a single Monk life without them and hated it so much I sat at cap for the sole purpose of farming out two rings.

- Someone else already mentioned Brawling Gloves. They are awesome and I don't take mine off (the level 4 pair is fine, though I upgrade to the level 12 pair for no logical reason at level 12) until very late in a heroic life. Just remember they split oozes, so have another pair of gloves on a hotbar for an easy swap against oozes.

Awesome. Thanks for the advice and analysis.

[Sebastrd]

Alchemicals tier 3 blow Grave Wrapping away now even on trash. The change in level drain to chance on crit makes them ****.

Other than tier one air, what would you put on them? Conventional wisdom used to be triple air, but lightning strike has lost its luster with the change in endgame.

[Matuse]

You don't take tier2 Air for the Lightning Strike, it doesn't go off often enough to justify that. You take it for the doublestrike. Unless of course you have that doublestrike elsewhere. If you do, then I'd probably go Fire for the +2 base damage and /Good DR breaking from Righteous, or Water for the +2 Wis.

[jskinner937]

You don't take tier2 Air for the Lightning Strike, it doesn't go off often enough to justify that. You take it for the doublestrike. Unless of course you have that doublestrike elsewhere. If you do, then I'd probably go Fire for the +2 base damage and /Good DR breaking from Righteous, or Water for the +2 Wis.

Agree...And Acid is nice too if you want a good elemental damage to supplement.

[Dalsheel]

For heroic, any wraps will do. Try to get Thaarak wraps if you're willing to run HoX.

lvl20
Triple Air alchemicals are just the best thing you can use. Even the AC bonus on them is helpful at level
Grave wraps for EE orange names only
lvl20 Wraps of Endless Light for your Wiz-King farming


lvl23

Antipode, is there any other choice here?
See lvl20 entry for EE orange names and undead



lvl24

EE Ivy Wraps - situational, I use mostly for DR breaking on Rhaksassa's in EE Cry for Help with a holy bust ToD ring to bypass DR/Pierce & Good
upgrade to lvl24 Wraps of Endless Light



lvl25 (hypothesis: you can get your doublestrike somewhere else instead of the handwraps)

EE Adamantine Knuckles as many as you feel you need, these wraps are so customizable. Triple Ruby of Endless Night is surely a fun option :D
lvl24 Wraps of Endless Light for Wiz-King still unbeatable


Haven't tried the EE Thunder and Lightning yet, so I can't speak of them. They bypass DR/Silver I believe, but that's irrelevant for a light monk.

[Sebastrd]

Based on the current endgame and beneficial stats for a wrap user, I'm leaning toward Air/Water/Earth.

[Tobril]

Were I do do this today:


1 - LGA Screaming of Bleed (lowered to level 1 via masterful shard)
2 - Eternal Rest (this is a swap as needed)
12 - Vampiric Stonedust
18 - Byeshk Air/Air (stonedust swapped in as needed) (holyburst oremi ring+necklace, stalker or trash ToD ring with icyburst or flamingburst crafted)



20 - Mabar wraps (undead swap)
23 - Antipode
24 - Mabar wraps (use both 20 and 24 as needed)


If you use a stunning ring the Thunder and Lightning is more
damage, though less set advantages. (PRR, true seeing, spellpoints, etc)

I don't advocate using the Adamantine Knuckles as the slots
tend to break and require a re-equip to fix. This was far too
troublesome for me.


Any other wrap you carry is just going to eat up space in your
inventory and is not necessary for leveling.