rest wrote on Apr 12^th, 2012 at 1:19pm:


Does it proc on the Lord of blades?

Ravager does 2d6 against anything that can bleed.

Ahhh.

LoB hasn't been that bad since the "new raid smell" was washed away.  Normal is even pugged now on GLand.  But when it first came out yeah, it was a messy.  My guild even waited until hard became a joke before even trying epic.

Epic is retarded, the amount of un-mitigatable damage he puts out is just insane and one loss of aggro can wipe the raid.  There's just a lot of un-fun designed in this raid although I'm sure somewhere there are a few masochists who get off on having dogs chase you for 40+ minutes while other just constantly throw heal scrolls.

But people want Tier III Alchemicals (I think to brag more than anything else) so it gets run.  When these weapons are out-dated it'll be the new "Titan" raid.

It did however push us to build better tanks, going in there on normal and getting torn apart made us re-think everything.

I think our fastest was about 40sih minutes but we're trying for a efficiency more that speed.  I want my healers using as few pots as possible so it's more sustainable, something we can do every 3 days without people bitching about the resource usage.  I run with more newer players than 6+ year vets so the wealth stock-pile of consumable just ain't there.  I have a total of 119 non-DDO Store pots to my name.

Well, we've had some end much faster than that, just not with a completion . . .

Scrolls . . . I'll buy my healers 1000 for a run.  I've no problem with that.

Regardless . . . Rest, it's not that bad anymore and some of the loot is pretty good.  if you got a monk you'll want those wraps and any TWFing melee's life will change with either a stunning 10 Khopesh or a pair of double-earth Achemicals.  The gear is highly front-loaded so just running the raid on normal will get you some decent goodies.  People also pay 1-2 reds for the cells so it can be profitable.

I've also been toying with the idea of ditching my second ToD ring with shocking burst for the eStalker ring. I don't have a kyosho's on my monk, I have the ninja spy set and it works well for me. Being a ninja spy and all.

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My guess is the earliest we'll see the ENH pass is August, plenty or time to TR, get in 20 raids, and TR again when/if the 12/6/2 "monster" builds get neutered like many of us expect.

Finally did Epic LOB on him, main-tanked it and it was the smoothest run i'd been in.  Healers drank a total of 1 SP pot and 3-4 deaths.  it was a very good group though, half my guild and the other half were from Gunga's (Ravensguard). 

350 point hjeal-scrolls isn't redonkulous amp but it good enough that scroll+ FS capstone is enough to keep you alive most of the time.  Still thinking a Pally PL or two couldn't hurt . . .

900ish HP (931) is enough, slot on a Pale lavendar when you get 2-3 ML procs to prevent getting more and have your Epic Brawn's Spirit hot-keyed so you can put it on quickly if you need to intimidate.  I tagged out to the off-tank once when my HP got down to 600.

Manyshot with a +5 HB of GCB bow gets him when he's across the room better than a thrower can.

The S&B threat is not that hot compared to it's TWFing mode.  No-fail intim helps for this but I know a few rabid-animals I run with are going to need to mitigate their threat or I will lost aggro.  Running Abbots now as I believe an upgraded Circle of Hatred, with 30% more stacking threat,  will resolve this.

Why am I bringing this up?  It comes down to maintaining a Kensai option in the build.  There is NO WAY IN HELL it can be done anymore unless you give up being able to tank the Epic LOB.

I've effectively 4 toughness feats (1 Barb PL, 3 toughness) along with SF:intim, Shield mastery, etc . . . to be an effective kensai in the modern game I'd need:

-  Improved Sunder
-  Stuning Blow
-  Greater Weapon specialization (pre-req).

Fitting in these three feat would gut Meat's ability to tank the ELOB effectively.  I would not be able to get 900+ HP or no-fail intimidate.

I'm already cramming 10 pounds of shit in a 5-pound bag, there just ain't any more room.

So you have to make a decision . . . if you maintain a kensai option via an ENH reset your won't be a viable Epic LOB tank.  But . . . you'll be able to tank EVERYTHING ELSE in the game including Elite Horoth and N/H LoB. 

For a stalwart defender the DPS is actually very good so you won't be piking in say EVON6 or normal epic quests.

Good luck with whatever option you chose.

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It has been said several times that you can not get more than one prestige from a single class. No Kensei and Stalwart Defender allowed. It might be possible for you to get something like Kensei and DoS though.

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Well I am pretty sure that Dwarven Defender counts as Stalwart Defender and that you still can't have two fighter PrEs. I didn't know that humans got that though, I will need to do some reading.

I'd just like to say that I'm thoroughly impressed by the stamina that it takes to get through all of those melee lives.

My third life Wizard was a breeze.  My second life Fighter was painful.

Epoch wrote on Apr 18^th, 2012 at 4:06am:


Because Greg and I are doing all the work!

popejubal wrote on Apr 18^th, 2012 at 1:13am:


Swing, 2, 3, jump, drink.

JC wrote on Apr 18^th, 2012 at 1:58pm:


Yup, which is why 12/6/2 builds are probably gonna hit the toilet, especially with the racial PREs becoming more open.

Tempest 1 and Kensai II or kensai III and ravager/Tempest III.  Unless you REALLY need manyshot that badly there's not much point in going 6 ranger, and the 12/6/2 "blitz" build got their balls cut off when the barb PL was "nerfed." 

In the case if fighters in general I suspect your be able to invest in all three PRE trees (Purple Dragon Knight is the third) and switch via stances.  You'll probably have to invest in the different tree to get the stuff you'd want anyway, Haste boost has gotta be in the Kensai tree, Toughness Enhancements are probably in defender, etc . . .

Splash at your own risk, it's always been the case.  The flavors of the month are going to change but not until at least august.

Bigjunk wrote on Apr 18^th, 2012 at 3:03pm:

I think it may open up some 8/6/6 builds though.  The same 12/6/2 builds will be there most likely, and we'll have to take less shit enhancements to make them work.  From the sounds of it the racial PrE's are going to cost more than class PrE's so I'm not sure they'll be worth it in all cases.

No matter how hard I try I can't be fucking pessimistic about the PrE & ENH changes, Junk.  And I'm trying really, really fucking hard.  So hard I even got neg rep for it lol.