EZ Server

It's been a while since I've played on EZ and it seems a lot has changed, I tried searching through the forums to try to find answers to questions but I haven't found answers for a couple.   Last time I played it was before ToFS was released but it was being worked on to give an idea of the time frame since I last played. Going to break this up into a few different sections so it's easier to read.

My goal right now is to get all of my characters ready for t5 before I start working on t5.  So first up, here is my current group:
1. T4/UC/4.0'd Warrior
2. T3/UC/4.0'd Paladin
3. T2/3.0'd Zerker
4. T2/4.0'd Bard
5. T2/3.0'd Druid
6. T2/3.0'd Enchanter
7. T2/4.0'd Cleric
8. T3/4.0'd Monk
9. T2/3.0'd Mage
10. T2/No Epic Rogue
11. T2/3.0'd Ranger
12. T2/4.0'd Shaman

WARRIOR WEAPONS

Last time I played I was told my best bet for warrior was to use the 2h epic with SOTA in my back until the shield was better hp than a 1h epic then use 1h/shield.  Is that still what I should be doing, or should my warrior stick with 2h weaps, or swap back to DW?

EPICS

Last time I played epic weapons were still implemented and not augs, so with them being weapons I know several classes wanted a certain number of epics at certain levels for specific procs/clickies.  I am curious how many epics each class will want.  Ex: Before Bards wanted 2 highest lvl epics, and 1 3.0 for the clicky.  Rangers wanted 3 highest lvl epics so they had 2 swords and 1 bow etc.  

If possible I'd like to know how many epics each class wants maxed and at specific epic levels so I can farm all of the epics up before I start t5.

ULTIMATE WEAPONS

Ultimate weapons weren't in place when I last played so not sure when/who I am supposed to get these on... should I have this started by time I start in t5 or is it something that shouldn't be started until a later tier, and if so when is it recommended to start working on it.  Also, is the UW supposed to go on my warrior, or is it better on a different character?

ULTIMATE CHARMS

ToFS was still being designed so I haven't had much time playing around in it, but I noticed v1 charms dropping there when I decided to mess around on lvl 1 a bit.  Is it better than LDoN for farming v1 charms now, or should I still be doing LDoN to farm up charms if my only goal was to quickly farm v1 charms.  If I should be in LDoN is there a specific level that is recommended over the others?

I have my warrior and Pally UC'd already, does the order after that matter?  If so which order should I want to work on them?

AUGS/MANA NECK

Going to stick 2 questions together here cuz they are both related so... Would I be better of doing either augs or necks first to help me farm the quickest?

 Does it matter who I give neck to first (mage vs. enchanter) or does it not matter and I should get them both one after another so it won't make a big difference?

SOTA

Before I took my break my Warrior was up to SOA 15, should I continue to work on that before starting t5? If so which lvl should I expect to try to have it at before starting t5?

RESISTS

These are new to me, but I've been working on putting the resist augs on my warrior, up to having a few rank 5s.  should I be working on resists on everyone before t5, or not until I start breaking into t6?  If I should be working on them what should I be aiming at before starting t5?

CONCLUSION

Thanks everyone who made it this far, I know this is a lot of questions but I figured if I had these questions other people might have them as well so having them all answered together might be helpful.  Really appreciate any/all answers I'm able to get to this stuff and thank you all who make this server so fun to play on!

Idk who told you to use sota as a shield...but no, don't.  Sota = cloak on a warrior, and dual wield is better (dps). 

1 epic per class.  Warrior might want a 3.0 epic for the click extra (can also use sceptre of time in ranged as an alternative). There are random other ok/decent clickies, but honestly none are must haves, look them up and see if you want any.

UW you'll probably want on warrior, if you play a lot can do other dps classes or a paladin (whatever). You'll want to realistically wait till you are t7 geared to start farming a lot of it, balancing your group out and having good augs on your group is better than 1 UW.

Depends on charms as to higher benefit, a uc'd melee would benefit more, but w/o a uc I think a pet might, regardless, as you get geared out, pets are a hastle, and their effective dps lessens as your raids increases (proc uptime on neck).  Mage pet is a bit tougher than a chanter pet, but you'll see relatively the same dps boost from a mana neck on either.

sota - if you are having issues tanking or want to pull more mobs, work on it.  It isn't required to clear t5, kind of nice to have maxed for the mitigation + hp though.

Resists - there is a post w/ recommended resist levels somewhere on here, I have carried different toons w/o resists w/ my raid with no issues...probably should ask people doing t5 for the first time for a better answer though

Agree with Marxist. Dual wield is the way to run, no need for a 2h anymore on the warrior, as the epics clicks were made all the same by Hate about a year ago. Some warriors DO run with a shield on heavier hitting bosses, since the amount of damage you reduce from block is substantial....but in general they dont use a shield for very long, and ANY shield will do (such as one from the tier you are currently on). As soon as you arent in the purple club on any given boss fights in the zone dual wield. Agro control is better, dps is better.


All in all no class here benefits much from more than 1 epic. A couple classes that dual wield have procs on epics that help somewhat, but in general one epic is enough as the effects dont stack.


A lot of players here are of the mindset that UW shouldnt even be doable til you are in T6 or later. And I agree with Marxist here, too....putting your essences, SLS, plat and time resources into your whole group (strike augs, SoA, mana necks, etc) will do more for you than a mid range UW. But yes, if you do add a UW do your warrior first. Second UW is a hard call right now....but WAY down the road you might consider checking out what a UW does for a mage pet (again, in NO way should this be a priority, and you'll want to see what people say about it that have such once this UW pet cloning goes live....still in the works).


IMO right now ToFS 2nd floor is hands down the best place to farm v1 charms. BUT....those mobs are around T2 in difficulty, but based on your group makeup that seems to be fine. I'd definitely work ToFS over LDON if I could just for the resist stones....you're gonna need a TON of them! As far as V2 charms, 5th floor ToFS is the best place to farm these....but the mobs are somewhere between T5 bosses and T6 trash in difficulty, and you're gonna want 1600 resists minimum to all boxes that hunt there. HoH now with the changes to max number of mobs pulled and the charm drop rate is probably 2nd best spot for V2 charms. I'd definitely work HoH over 3rd or 4th floor ToFS is working charms.

As for which character to UC next....I'd say monk or zerker. Monk, probably, since 4.0. Then another healer. But a lot of different ways to go on that note that will work.


I'd aug up monk, ranger, rogue before I worked on mana necks for the pet classes. Early on the strike augs have a far deeper impact. I'd probably wait to add a mana neck to the mage or chanter til after I UC'd them, because of how the proc damage bonus works. But....yeah, I'd mana neckj and UC the pet classes asap. It STILL helps a ton, even after the nerfs.


I'd keep my SoA maxed always as I progress. I'd probably do this before I upgraded strike augs on melee. Right now you are lvl 73 on warrior, and just able to work T5, yes? Which means that your max level on the SoA is 35, I believe....or 30 if not yet able to enter T5. Either way, max SoA asap. Its a substantial increase to warrior defenses, which is the CORE of anything you do here. Oh, and keep that shield click on ALWAYS....just as you ALWAYS keep on warrior epic click! And keep in mind BOTH fade when you zone, so refresh often! Might even consider a macro that automatically casts when you enter certain zones :D


Resists are FAR more important in T6 than T5, but they still have an impact. Mobs in T5 now cast on you, and can be a pain in the butt. Work the resists up as fast as you can, but keep in mind that T5 armor has TWO aug slots rather than T4 armor's single slot, so it will make advancing resists a lot easier. I'd bounce back and forth between T5 and HoH or ToFS to work armor in one, and charms and resists in the other two. This will keep you from snapping and sitting on a water tower with a .408 and a sillyscope muttering to yourself about spawning Goldmist while you pick off random targets.