Question about Stacking

[tpmnec]

I'm confused about the stacking rules.
I currently have:
Ring and a Belt both giving a +2 Strength
Gloves and Boots both giving +3 Dexterity
Helm and Trinket both giving +1 Wisdom
From what I understand, these do not stack, so instead of getting +6 Dex like I thought I was getting, I'm only getting +3.

Since there are more items than there are abilities, what do other Rangers use the different slots for?
I also have:
Necklace +2 Constitution
Goggles +3 Intelligence
Cloak +1 Charisma

The only thing I can tell that stacks, is HP. Are there other items that stack? Does AC or Spell Resistance stack?

Any suggestions/recommendations on items I should be equipping my character with since I'll have to drop one of the Strength, Dexterity and Wisdom items?

Thanks in advance for any help to this newbie!!

[aradelothion]

You might find this useful: stacking

[sebastianosmith]

Bonuses of identical type do not stack with the exception of Feat or "untyped" bonuses. The DDOWiki has a short section on stacking you may find useful.

Rangers generally go for equipment similar to other melee-oriented classes. An exception may be a +4 to +6 wisdom item if you dumped wisdom and want to cast your full range of spells.

Best of luck!

[Dodoroq]

General rule is that different types of bonuses stack, while the same types of bonuses do not. Because almost all of the stat-boosting effects are of the same type (Enhancement bonus), they do not stack. Please also note that spells like Cat's Grace also grant Enhancement bonus and thus would not stack with any items.

As I told above, not all bonuses are typed as Enhancement bonuses for stat-boosting, however on lower levels, there are not many that are typed differently. For example, if you acquire (and wear) a set of items from a Chronoscope raid, it will grant a Profane bonus to strength which stacks with the enhancement bonus. On higher levels, the bonus types that can raise ability scores become more diverse.

All in all, if you can find an item which states "+X Dexterous boots of Y", this will always be an Enhancement bonus.

Most other statistics, like AC, are very similar in this - the bonuses of the same type do not stack, while those of different types do. That means you cannot use bracers +5 (Armor bonus) and Chainmail (Armor bonus) to raise your AC - only the higher of those two would apply. However, you can still add Shield bonus to AC from wearing a shield or using a Shield spell, boost your AC via the usage of Protection bonus (Ring of Protection +X), Natural Armour bonus, Deflection bonus, ...

HP follow the same rule - they do not stack either if the bonus is the same. However, raising your Constitution adds to HP and having an item with as high False Life does too. Clearly these two are of different type.

There are certain statistics that do not follow these rules, most notably Threat generation (items with Incite) and Healing Amplification (Convalescent), however I wouldn't worry about it until end game too much.

[BruceTheHoon]

Equipment bonuses almost never stack between each other. Only the largest amongst them is used, lower ones are redundant.

Some other useful item enhancements:
False life (lesser, improved, greater, ...)
Fortification (light, moderate, heavy)
Invulnerability
Resistance

I'd have my eye out for the enhancements above, if I were you.
On a ranger I'd even drop charisma and intelligence for them (if you're not the one disabling traps).

[tpmnec]

Thanks for all of the input !!
Here's the list of items I'm thinking of dropping:

Ring - Ogre Strength +2 (The Belt I have is +2, but is also Lesser False Life)

Boots/Gloves (both are +3 dexterity, and no other attributes)

Trinket - +1 Wisdom (Helm also gives +5 Listen)

I also have 3 items with AC bonus, so they need to be changed as well:
Bracers +3
Cloak +2 (with Charisma +1)
Necklace +1 (with Constitution +2)

Any other specific recommendations for gear I should add?

[Dodoroq]

If you happen to play on Cannith, send me a PM, I'm sure I can equip you way better than what you have now with almost no expenses.

Basically, as a ranger, you want an item boosting your Strength, Constitution and possibly Dexterity (if you are bow-build) and Wisdom (if your wisdom is too low for casting spells of your level). Additionally to that, look for the following item effects:

- False life
- Fortification
- Resistance
- Devotion if you use your spells for healing yourself - not that a ranger has enough SP to do that efficiently
- Striding

and for situational use, Underwater Action and Feather Falling (these are enough to be used only when you need them - switch them on before swimming or falling, then switch them off again)

Try to look for items that are "plain" - any additional effect only lowers the usability of the item until lvl 11. For example, if you are lvl 7, you can find and wear:
+4 Dexterous Boots
or
+2 Dexterous Boots of Jumping +5,

as +4 Dexterous Boots of Jumping +5 would be minimal level 11.

Check the Auction House and filter items just for the levels you can use in the top - not that the items wouldn't be terribly overpriced there most of the time, just to make up the pattern in the item effects.

[tpmnec]

Very generous of the offer Dodorog, but I'm on Orien.
I do appreciate the input though !

If you happen to play on Cannith, send me a PM, I'm sure I can equip you way better than what you have now with almost no expenses.

Basically, as a ranger, you want an item boosting your Strength, Constitution and possibly Dexterity (if you are bow-build) and Wisdom (if your wisdom is too low for casting spells of your level). Additionally to that, look for the following item effects:

- False life
- Fortification
- Resistance
- Devotion if you use your spells for healing yourself - not that a ranger has enough SP to do that efficiently
- Striding

and for situational use, Underwater Action and Feather Falling (these are enough to be used only when you need them - switch them on before swimming or falling, then switch them off again)

Try to look for items that are "plain" - any additional effect only lowers the usability of the item until lvl 11. For example, if you are lvl 7, you can find and wear:
+4 Dexterous Boots
or
+2 Dexterous Boots of Jumping +5,

as +4 Dexterous Boots of Jumping +5 would be minimal level 11.

Check the Auction House and filter items just for the levels you can use in the top - not that the items wouldn't be terribly overpriced there most of the time, just to make up the pattern in the item effects.

[fco-karatekid]

On the topic of stacking - has anyone figured out if the negative energy reduction from items like Belt of Thoughtful Rememberance (boy, I wish they'd fix that spelling), Bone Shield, etc stack serially, additively, or at all?

All of them say "after all other protections", but I've never seen an answer on whether the game walks each of the negative absorbs or just counts multiple items as 1 item with a single 20%.

[Dodoroq]

For this I would say it works as other energy absorptions - non-alike amounts stack multiplicatively, same amounts do not stack. As both bone shield and belt have the same amount, I would say they do not stack at all. The formula for multiplicative stacking in this would be (total %absorbed) = 100 * (1 - (100-Item1)*(100-Item2)*...*(100-ItemX)), where items 1..X are set in percent and must be different.

Mind you, I have not tested this myself on negative energy, just on fire resist, and that seemed as described on wiki.

[fco-karatekid]

For this I would say it works as other energy absorptions - non-alike amounts stack multiplicatively, same amounts do not stack. As both bone shield and belt have the same amount, I would say they do not stack at all. The formula for multiplicative stacking in this would be (total %absorbed) = 100 * (1 - (100-Item1)*(100-Item2)*...*(100-ItemX)), where items 1..X are set in percent and must be different.

Mind you, I have not tested this myself on negative energy, just on fire resist, and that seemed as described on wiki.

I should prolly just take one of my 25's into Invaders! and document it once and for all... maybe this weekend.

[tpmnec]

Ok, so I've made some purchases, and I think I've spead things around a little better.

Here's what I have now:
STR:
DEX: Gloves +3
CON: Belt +3
INT: Goggles +3
WIS: Helm +1 Listening +5 (Needs upgrading)
CHA: Cloak +3

Other:
AC: Bracers +3
Poison: Ring of Proof +6
Disease: Ring of Proof +6 and Spell Resistance (13)

Next on my list, when I get the money, is Boots of Striding.

I also have the Helm I want to upgrade, and have to find something to do with Necklace and Trinket.

Is this looking better? Any additional thoughts to help this level 5 Ranger?

P.S. Weapons right now are Khopesh +3 and Khopesh +1 of Pure Good, or a Shortbow +3

[Torin17]

- False life
- Fortification
- Resistance

This.

To me, these are way more important than boosting your INT or CHR. But then that might just be me.

Tas

[droid327]

Lifeshield is also great, and Cannith craftable onto armor. Unless you're a fulltime archer, then you might want Fearsome, as feared mobs are easy pickings and it procs pretty often.

Invulnerable is great till about ~L6-8, then everything will start breaking Magic DR and it becomes worthless.

Reflex save is worth stacking on top of Resistance as well. It'll be your primary save vs traps, and vs most damaging spells.

Goggles can hold +Attack Bonus, never hurts. Also worth picking up some goggles with Secret Door Detection, so you can find them without having to Search for them, and some with Blindness Immunity, for situations where you know monsters cast Blind (a really annoying, veeery long debuff)

You'll also want something with +Spellpoints, Rangers hurt for blue...

[cru121]

what's the name of your character? perhaps I could send you some gear

[Sianys]

I second what droid said, particularly in regard to saves - some saves stack (see the wiki link earlier in the thread), and I've found that can sometimes really add to your survivability. Play with equipping and unequipping items while looking at your saves on your character sheet to see what will stack and what won't. (For example, I know the trinket from Delera's will stack with the +2 Fort Save on the Gatewarden's Girdle from STK.)

I'd also consider at least one DR item, if you can, or and/or a fortification item (at *least* Light, higher if you can get it). Spell Resistance is a plus if you have trouble increasing your Will saves, or even as a bonus on top of that to help with regular spells tossed at you like Hold Person, Otto's, etc.

Blindness Ward can be your friend, particularly against some monsters like Air Mephits or NPCs that like to blind you (like the end boss of The Graverobber). It's possible to still move and fight if you're blinded, but you're at a huge disadvantage from not being able to see anything besides your UI!

Now and then you might be lucky to run across a Freedom of Movement item; consider slotting one if you're having a tough time with Will saves in quests that spam movement effects.

One of the things I'm having a *lot* of fun with is a Fearsome prefix on my chainmail shirt and the Invis Guard on my Cloak of Night from Mabar: when both of them proc, it's hilarious to see monsters run away in lots of confused directions.

In short, play with the options others have suggested and see what else you can come up with that suits your play style.

[tpmnec]

Thanks Droid !

Lifeshield is also great, and Cannith craftable onto armor. Unless you're a fulltime archer, then you might want Fearsome, as feared mobs are easy pickings and it procs pretty often.

Invulnerable is great till about ~L6-8, then everything will start breaking Magic DR and it becomes worthless.

Reflex save is worth stacking on top of Resistance as well. It'll be your primary save vs traps, and vs most damaging spells.

Goggles can hold +Attack Bonus, never hurts. Also worth picking up some goggles with Secret Door Detection, so you can find them without having to Search for them, and some with Blindness Immunity, for situations where you know monsters cast Blind (a really annoying, veeery long debuff)

You'll also want something with +Spellpoints, Rangers hurt for blue...

[tpmnec]

Thanks for the offer. Very generous of you. I'm CreepinDeth.

what's the name of your character? perhaps I could send you some gear

[tpmnec]

Good info, thanks. It seems that most people have multiple items for different occassions. I've had a tough time with money to get better items, so having a stockpile isn't really something I considered. I do have a few good items in the bank waiting for me to level up to level 6. I'm less than 10k away right now.

I second what droid said, particularly in regard to saves - some saves stack (see the wiki link earlier in the thread), and I've found that can sometimes really add to your survivability. Play with equipping and unequipping items while looking at your saves on your character sheet to see what will stack and what won't. (For example, I know the trinket from Delera's will stack with the +2 Fort Save on the Gatewarden's Girdle from STK.)

I'd also consider at least one DR item, if you can, or and/or a fortification item (at *least* Light, higher if you can get it). Spell Resistance is a plus if you have trouble increasing your Will saves, or even as a bonus on top of that to help with regular spells tossed at you like Hold Person, Otto's, etc.

Blindness Ward can be your friend, particularly against some monsters like Air Mephits or NPCs that like to blind you (like the end boss of The Graverobber). It's possible to still move and fight if you're blinded, but you're at a huge disadvantage from not being able to see anything besides your UI!

Now and then you might be lucky to run across a Freedom of Movement item; consider slotting one if you're having a tough time with Will saves in quests that spam movement effects.

One of the things I'm having a *lot* of fun with is a Fearsome prefix on my chainmail shirt and the Invis Guard on my Cloak of Night from Mabar: when both of them proc, it's hilarious to see monsters run away in lots of confused directions.

In short, play with the options others have suggested and see what else you can come up with that suits your play style.

[tpmnec]

I leveled up to level 6, so I was able to use a few items I had stored. Here's what I currently have:
Hope it's looking better!

STR: Ogre Power +3 Ring
DEX: Gloves +3
CON: Health +2 Necklace of protection +1 (I keep looking for something better here)
INT: Clever +3 goggles
WIS: Wise +1 Helm of Listening +5 (I keep looking for something better here)
CHA: Charismatic Cloak +3

Others:
Proof against Disease +6 Belt of Scare
Proof against Poisin +6 Ring of Spell resistance (13)
Striding 5% Boots of Tumbling (I keep looking for something better here)
Armored Bracers +3

Armor:
+3 chainmail Short of Lesser False Life

Weapons:
+1 Pure good Khopesh
+2 True Law Khopesh
+3 Keen Shortbow

I also picked up goggles for blindness protection, and I have a couple maces for skeletons and such.

I REALLY appreciate everyone's thoughts and also can't thank those that have been generous and sent otems as well. Thank You so much !