gearing up my lvl 8 ranger

[krashor]

just hit lvl 8 and went P2P. Do you guys think you could help me gear up? I have about 30k plat between my toons...



heres my stats and what i have so far
str 20
dex19
con18
int8
wis12
char6
(was going to type out all my gear but realized you can just check myddo--Krashor of Argo)

What should i be looking for? i have a plus 2 strngth and dex item, and a plus 1 con and wis item.
im wearing a plus 1 ice guard adamantine chain shirt of lesser fort and weiding a plus 2 acid daxe, i plus 1 frost of righteousness daxe, a plus 2 daxe of enfeebling, and dwarven thrower and a giant stalkers knife...i also have the silver bow and a crippling longbow of slowburst. im also still wearing the angers set from korthos


so yeah i know my gear is hurting and want to focus on redoing my setup. What should i get and where should i get it from? are there any pieces of "required" gear for a low lvl dwarven tempest like me? I dont mind grinding out gear so id prefer to do that before i hit up the AH

thanks

[JStone]

its probably a good idea to get a +2 wis and a +2 con item...a good cloak of either protection (for AC) or resistance (for saves) at lvl 9 you can get +4 DEX and STR gear. i have noticed it might be good to try to find str bracers since that slot isnt really good for anything else. the angers set is actually a good set, im lvl 8 and still wearing my pathfinders as well...i honestly havent found a necklace or boots worth losing the +2 tohit.
you should be able to get a mythral chain shirt or breastplate to up your AC. for weapons it might be a good idea to try to find +4 gear as it helps you hit more often as well as adding damage, also look for weapons designed to kill specific mobs, zombies,skelis,oozes,ghosts.

[krashor]

its probably a good idea to get a +2 wis and a +2 con item...a good cloak of either protection (for AC) or resistance (for saves) at lvl 9 you can get +4 DEX and STR gear. i have noticed it might be good to try to find str bracers since that slot isnt really good for anything else. the angers set is actually a good set, im lvl 8 and still wearing my pathfinders as well...i honestly havent found a necklace or boots worth losing the +2 tohit.
you should be able to get a mythral chain shirt or breastplate to up your AC. for weapons it might be a good idea to try to find +4 gear as it helps you hit more often as well as adding damage, also look for weapons designed to kill specific mobs, zombies,skelis,oozes,ghosts.

Thanks for the advice. Anyone know of any named loot or quest reward I should try farming that is considered essential for a tempest?

[MithrilSoul]

I have a level 10 ranger (actually 9 ranger/1 rogue) and this is my highest level character in DDO so I am going through the same sort of questioning that you are. For what it's worth, here are some of the things I've come across or picked up.

1. Strongly consider getting some item with spell resistance (SR). I bought the new Sentinels xpac and ran it a number of times and eventually got the helm, which when you upgrade it with 1 of each of the 3 sigil types, becomes the Chimera Crown, which gives +1 natural AC (only worthwhile when you are not barkskinned) but more importantly, gives 15 SR. Doing at-level quests as a level 9 and now level 10 character, I can tell you that I can see the SR stopping spells against me VERY often. SR 15 probably won't do much at endgame but in these mid levels, it is definitely helpful. If you can't get the Chimera Crown, there are usually a variety of items available from the brokers (belts, rings, cloaks, you name it) that have SR on them.

2. I would highly suggest you get your hands on an armor "...of Invulnerability." These armors give DR 5/- against all 3 physical damage types. Because unless you have uber twink gear, you are probably not going to get your AC high enough where mobs are constantly missing you. So given that they are going to hit you with some frequency, then next best thing is to be able to reduce the damage from those hits as much as possible. My ranger recently picked up a +1 (or maybe it was +2) mithral breastplate of invulnerability. It was a bit pricey (I think I paid around 50k gold on the AH) but it has definitely been worth it. If you are worried about losing the fortification on your current armor, well fortification is something you can get on belts and can also get on rings. (My character happens to have a +4 STR ogre belt so I kept checking on the jewelry brokers and finally found a light fortification ring.)

3. As for weapons, I would make it a priority to try to get your hands on a "holy" weapon of some sort. Holy weapons do 2d6 extra damage to anything evil (which is almost every mob in the game), so something as simple as a +1 Holy D-axe is going to do way more damage than any of the weapons you have listed. Holy weapon (or else pure good weapon) is needed to bypass the DR on the ghostly skeletons in Delera's Tomb as well. Keep your eye on the AH and also on the weapons brokers in House D.

4. If you are the stealth/sneaky type, the same quest that drops the Silver Bow (The Church and the Cult, level 9 quest) also drops something called the Cloak of Shadows, which is +2 protection AC plus +7 each to Hide & Move Silently. The vampire boss at the end has got to be one of the suckest fights in the game, lots of threads on these forums about that fight.

5. Not ranger specific, but end reward option from Deleras Tomb chain is a trinket that gives +5% XP on all quests completed, which is awesome, and also gives +1 luck bonus to saves and skill rolls. Great item. Also end reward option from Tangleroot Gorge quest chain is the Visor of the Flesh Render Guards, one of the few items in the game that is a Death Ward (as opposed to merely Deathblock) item.

Those are a few things I can think of. The Anger's Set from Korthos is so good I am still using it at level 10. so no shame in still using it at 8.

[shadow_419]

Just a correction, but Invulnerability is DR5/magic not DR5/-. Only magical weapons get through dr and you don't run into them much until lvl 10-12+.

Gear with ability score +'s are +3 for lvl 7 and +4 for lvl 9 unless it's a race restricted item. Race restricted can come with +4 at lvl7 and +5 at lvl 9. As a tempest, always try to keep str and con + items the max you can carry for your level while keeping the highest fortification item you can find. Getting critted is very bad and having a higher + to hit and dmg while having the most HP possible is always desirable. It's tough getting all the weapons you want in the game for different mobs, but you'll slowly be able to afford them or loot them. Don't blow all your money on the next higher + weapon because that's a fast way to the poor house.

[Azmich]

Here is a link to a really great guide that helped me out a lot for gear.

New Player Equipment Help Guilde

[MithrilSoul]

I'll add something more, there is a level 12 (?) quest called "A Relic of a Sovereign Past" that you should consider running at about level 10. You pick it up in the Sovereign Host temple in House D, and it takes you to a small wilderness area you access via house K. I was able to do what I needed in there at level 10 solo (AA build, no hireling) on the casual setting, which isn't to finish the quest, but rather simply to get to a side area where there is an adamantine ore mine, gather adamantine ore, and turn it in to a friendly NPC in the area for a choice of several rewards. The one really worth getting is a necklace (Niteforge Gorget) which gives heavy fortification (so 100% immunity to sneak attack damage and critical hits).

As far as I know or have read anywhere, this is the earliest in the game you can get a heavy fortification item. (The item itself is ML 9). It's a helluva long quest and there are many spots in there where one false move and you can be in big trouble really quickly, but it's also fun. Good sneaking skills are definitely a perk when trying to do this under-level. Basically there is one huge lava cavern in the center (full of fire and earth elementals) and various passages that branch off from it, you need to go down one passage which is the barracks area and find the room (random each time you do the quest) that has a chest with a key, then the key will let you get through the door into another passage which is the mine area that has the adamantine ore randomly strewn about the floors (with evil dwarves all around trying to stop you). Gather the ore, turn it in to NPC, get powerful item. Fun times.