reached 20, so... what now?

[ciopo]

Greetings community
after about 3 reroll, VIPping myself and about 2 months of playing I finally got to level 20 for my first time.

Now... I'm a bit unsure of what to do next, I'm running shroud on cooldown, got the dragontouched armor and I'm attuning myself to the various raids, I'm just not sure AT ALL what piece of gear I should be working toward first ( greensteel weapon excluded, I'm still with just the blank *whistle*)
char being an acrobat2 kensei1 rogue13 fighter 6 barb1

current gear
minos legens
+15 DD googles
dragontouched robe slotted with +6con ice guard greater false life
t3 epic bucaneer ring (not slotted)
30% striding boots
t2 epic brawler gloves
feather falling ring
stormsinger cloak ( mainly for +4 saves, but sonic guard is nice too)
t3 epic spyglass (not slotted)
silver flame talisman
planar gird
wind howler bracers.

last two things are only for the clicke, and in that sense I'd like to have something else on the slots that I swap out to use the clickie then swap back in, in that regard I have a 6con belt "ready" if a decent different tempest rune drop.

I'm a bit eery I'm undergeared for epic yet so I'm not doing any yet.

so, short of more shrouds, what else should I be running right now?

thanks for the input

[megathon]

Tower of Despair for one so you can get your ring and the quests in amarath for belts and neck items. Epic content so you can get your epic tokens.

You can check this link and look through items that you might want: http://itemwiki.cubicleninja.com/items/threadview.aspx

[bryanmeerkat]

Vision of Destruction - for tharnes
Tower of Despair - For a ring

With gear you have there you are also prob ready for some of the easier epics

[Spoprockel]

I'd recommend running hound of xoriat and vision of destruction, down in the subterrain (access from the marketplace).

Hound only takes a few minutes and vod doesn't take very long either. Both are easy to learn and not hard to complete if people know what they're doing.
Make sure you speak up if it's your first time, so people can explain the important stuff and make sure you don't get lost on the way to the quest.

There is good raid loot to get down there (tharnes goggles and bracers from vod, leviks bracers from hound), as well as a chance on +3 tomes.

Reavers fate is also very popular, easy and fast. If you don't need anything in there at least get some easy completions for a chance on tomes.

For tower of despair i waited until i had my shroud gear ready, it can get rather nasty in there, especially on higher difficulties.


As for gear, i'd have a look at the amrath belts (devils of shavarath pack), there are some that net you +6 con and GFL, so you can put other useful things on your DT armor.

I'm not too familiar with all the gear around, and haven't done demon queen or VON6 yet so maybe other people can help you more with that.

[Sarisa]

Definitely do VoD for a Tharnes set, or at minimum the goggles. It is a great thing for you, and will greatly boost your DPS. Keep the 15 DD item as a swap-in. Note that the Tharnes Goggles also have True Seeing, so you can use something different in your trinket slot than the Spyglass. Still keep the Spyglass as a swapin for UMD and Search.

The most recommended DPS trinket is a Bloodstone (sorry, "The Blood Stone" in update 9). Greater Bold Trinket is another option while you work for it.

I'd go for a con6/GFL belt from Amrath, and you'll be able to get a better set of stats on your Dragontouched. The belts shouldn't be too hard to get in a good group. Definitely keep the Gird or two as swap-in clickies.

As a staff acro, one of your best general purpose weapons to work toward will be an Epic Souleater. The Vampirism on it works quite well if you have some form of healing amp. The aforementioned Levik's Bracers from the Hound raid are an option (also gives +6 str), as would be healing amp on your Dragontouched.

The Buccaneer ring is fine to use until you get a ring from ToD. That can be time consuming.

The Brawler's Gloves are fine for now, they're the easiest to get 7 strength item available, and provides a sneak attack bonus. Once you get Tharnes and a ToD ring with strength, you can replace it. Spectral Gloves are a popular option, as is the epic Claw set. Just note that the epic Claw set increases your threat, which you may not want at all times.

A popular rogue option for the cloak is an epic Mabar cloak. You'll have to wait for that event to roll around again, but it provides you with permanent "ghost touch", permanent Blur, and a few other semi-useful effects.

You'll eventually want a Greensteel HP item. This can go into your helm slot, if you do a dual shard MinII helm (45 stacking HP, Heavy Fort, +5 Protection), and then when you have a permanently equipped epic item with a green slot, you can put Toughness on it. Just note that dual shard items require 24 large ingredients rather than 12, so they can be a long grind with only one Shroud capable character. You could also use whatever slot you have free, and use a single shard Earthgrab HP item. Both are viable options, though a heavy fort version will allow you to replace your Minos at some point.

For boots, do not get anything you will want to permanently wear here. Don't craft a greensteel HP item here, as you will need to swap to Boots of Anchoring for the ToD raid. Most people use the boot slot for other random swapins like Firestorm Greaves or a move silently item (like Dustless Boots) when needed. Striders are fine for wearing most of the time.

With your current equipment, if you have at least 350 HP, you can do some of the easier epics. There are ones like Partycrashers, Snitch, Big Top, Bargain of Blood, Last Stand, Claw of Vulkoor, Fathom the Depths, and maybe The Tide Turns and Tharashk Arena (VoN1). While you won't get too much in the line of useful equipment in the House P and House D chains for an acro build, they're easy tokens and give you some epic experience. Just note that Malicia, the boss from Big Top, and the Paragon Kobold Shamen from VoN1 can hit upwards of 430 point Disintegrates.

The VoD and ToD raids are also ones that will teach you about aggro management and damage avoidance, as well as giving you good and useful raid loot.

[Cardtrick]

For an easy weapon on a acrobat, run the IQ1 chain for a Rahl's Might: 1d10 base damage, x3 crit, improved destruction, does slashing/piercing/blunt damage -- try to get the Force version and upgrade it to Force Burst, but any of them is good. The crit multiplier makes this your best DPS weapon against most enemies until/unless you get a Lit2/Rad2/Epic Souleater.

Also run Reaver's Fate a lot -- it's quick, easy, and you really want the Madstone Boots and the Dreamspitter. Dreamspitter can be unlocked in IQ2, becoming a +5 Holy of Greater Evil Outsider Bane weapon that also drains levels. Before update 9, it's pretty much the best weapon in the game in epics; after update 9, it will be less useful, but still essential for an acrobat build. Even ignoring the level drain effect, it's a great weapon for acrobats in much of the endgame.

Before you get your Dreamspitter, grab a Shadow Staff from the Lordsmarch Plaza quests. With that, you'll already be able to contribute very effectively to epics. (An acrobat staff build with a woo stick almost has to try not to top kill counts in pre-U9 epics.) The Phiarlan Carnival ones are probably the easiest to get started, collecting fragments and tokens to slot your epic items.

When you can stand the monotony and frustration, work on upgrading your Dragontouched. Mine is +5 Resist/+15% healing amp/Earthen Guard -- still trying for a Sov rune of Radiance. You definitely don't want GFL and +6 CON there -- you can get both of those on a single Amrath belt. Try Healing Amp -- if you've never used it, you'll be amazed how much difference even a bit of amp can make, especially since you ought to be able to UMD Heal scrolls.

[stainer]

If you haven't yet, start working on a new character or two, funding and equipping them from this character. I just finished my first TR, but I had 7 characters capped and running shroud/making plat before I TR'd anything.

[Zenako]

If you haven't yet, start working on a new character or two, funding and equipping them from this character. I just finished my first TR, but I had 7 characters capped and running shroud/making plat before I TR'd anything.

This roll up and play to cap other character and character types. Helps to give another whole perspective on gameplay. The world of a Barbarian is a LOT different than the world of a Wizard for example, and is different again from the world of a cleric or favored soul. Races also have nuance to explore. Plus having a number of characters gives you a lot more play options if and when you are grouping.

[ciopo]

thanks for the input.

I got the shadow staff some weeks ago but only recently I realized how awesome life stealing is on held mobs, it's my weapon of choice most of the time now, CC cr25 teach newbies stuff

hp is 382 unbuffed, still missing 10 from argossen favor and no con tome used yet.

Guess I'll start with epics then

[Cardtrick]

thanks for the input.

I got the shadow staff some weeks ago but only recently I realized how awesome life stealing is on held mobs, it's my weapon of choice most of the time now, CC cr25 teach newbies stuff

hp is 382 unbuffed, still missing 10 from argossen favor and no con tome used yet.

Guess I'll start with epics then

That is a bit low for epics, but workable for the easy ones. I would suggest starting a green steel HP item. Even a Tier 2 airx2 cloak would give you +25 HPs, enough to break the 400 HP barrier, plus an air elemental clicky. You may already have the smalls and mediums you need to make it.