Rift upgrade?

[KingFu]

Devs, any idea if you'll improve rift? It doesn't feel, str friendly. It bothers me that void is great for archers giving dodge, dex, crit, and a good ammount of M/S, cosmos is great for mages, giving a large ammount of M/S, a little crit, and a little H/S, and rift being the worst suitable of the three IMO giving very little H/S, and a nice ammount of crit, but, crit? Why? I don't see the need for crit, I know, some may argue saying crit is key, but from what I have heard, dodge, H/S and/or maybe a little M/S would be nicer than crit IMO. Crit is nice to have, but i think it isnt my main concern as a tank, i would prefer dodge, or regen. So maybe, 5 H/S, 1 M/S, 11 Str, and maybe...? 6 Dodge, and, 4 Armor, giving it similar stat number to the cosmos and void, making it more equal IMO. I just am not too excited about the rift gear, since I mainly use for the added str and armor. Thanks!

[Ellyidol]

Devs, any idea if you'll improve rift? It doesn't feel, str friendly. It bothers me that void is great for archers giving dodge, dex, crit, and a good ammount of M/S, cosmos is great for mages, giving a large ammount of M/S, a little crit, and a little H/S, and rift being the worst suitable of the three IMO giving very little H/S, and a nice ammount of crit, but, crit? Why? I don't see the need for crit, I know, some may argue saying crit is key, but from what I have heard, dodge, H/S and/or maybe a little M/S would be nicer than crit IMO. Crit is nice to have, but i think it isnt my main concern as a tank, i would prefer dodge, or regen. So maybe, 5 H/S, 1 M/S, 11 Str, and maybe...? 6 Dodge, and, 4 Armor, giving it similar stat number to the cosmos and void, making it more equal IMO. I just am not too excited about the rift gear, since I mainly use for the added str and armor. Thanks!

Can't agree with you enough! I've been wanting an m/s addition to even just the weapons (Force cutter, scimitar, vibra rift). I'm stuck with a thoth plasma sword, while the two other classes can fully use all the new Ao3 gear.

It is disturbing how Void gives so much (too much) m/s for archers. I've even heard some of them prefer to use Isis gear since it gives too much m/s which is just useless at some point. And mages! seriously 36 (not sure on exact) m/s? YET they get to have 11 h/s too, which is what we have.

For the crit, maybe the rift set is a DPS set for bears? (Rift + Hammer deals so much damage), but we're bears. lol

[KingFu]

Exactly, ATM, there isn't a 1H that is str that has much of a damage base. I realize 2H is mainly meant for damage, bur 1H ATM is full dps set.

Archers usually use either full void, or 2 void 2 Isis, since the M/S is high enough to be concidered unnecissary. I used thoth plasma for a while too, before I got a lvl 50 Thoth plate. 36 M/S is crazy, unlimited mana basically, also, with mana shield, it practically turns that 36 M/S into 36 H/S making them un-nukeable. To be honest, I almost wanna get cosmos gear and respec to int bear it's so bad lol.

Ive been wanting NEW ao3 gear with M/S and H/S balance for a while, I don't see how the crit, and little H/S fits.

[Ellyidol]

True that our 1H set adds loads of DPS, but despite that DPS the base damages of our 1H are so low. Aside from the force cutter (which I heard does -25 armor, stacks 4x), they'd do really low damage unless fully debuffed.

Yeah on birds. And tbh, I think next to mages on mana consumption, bears come next. Unlike birds that have Meditation (forgot about how much that adds to m/s for them), all their skills aren't that mana consuming and they have longer cooldowns on them compared to bears. (Scream, slashes).

You should use a thoth weapon if you want to maximize armor, I tried mixing and matching stuff and I found out a full rift armor set + a thoth weapon gives the most armor. Since you sacrifice only -7 armor with a weapon, but you give up -12 or -15 (can't remember) from a plate. The only reason I'd use a thoth plate is for the force cutter :P

AND worse than PvE, a full rift set in PvP gives 0 m/s. So after a combo or such bears only have like 1/4 mana left. No pots, so I'm usually forced to back away and wear a thoth weapon. =/

[icantgetkills]

I have nothing 2 say because you summed it up in 2 posts lol

[KingFu]

True Ellie, I use Vibra battle sword, for my Thoth I wear plate since I have a rift helm I get more armor with the overlord rift + Thoth plate than Thoth helm + rift plate. I think rift deffinately needs a mix up, here's my stats with 3 rift, 1 Thoth:
http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz133/therealdavid/5b0c9cd3.png

[Vyvin]

God the reason it's like that is so all the three are still balanced.
In ao2 str had the upper hand while archer died like billion times
Stop complaining and play the game(Ohh no it's mystical, I'm going to get cussed at) not to say that you don't play!
Nyway
/Vyvin

[KingFu]

God the reason it's like that is so all the three are still balanced.
In ao2 str had the upper hand while archer died like billion times
Stop complaining and play the game(Ohh no it's mystical, I'm going to get cussed at) not to say that you don't play!
Nyway
/Vyvin

Lol, I'm not gonna cuss at you? I understand where you are coming from, but ATM, archers nuke everything, and then some, have you played warrior in pvp? In a fair fight, I rarely see them win against an archer in void or a Mage in cosmos.

[Ellyidol]

I'm even levelling my bird now :P

[Ellyidol]

True Ellie, I use Vibra battle sword, for my Thoth I wear plate since I have a rift helm I get more armor with the overlord rift + Thoth plate than Thoth helm + rift plate. I think rift deffinately needs a mix up, here's my stats with 3 rift, 1 Thoth:
http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz133/therealdavid/5b0c9cd3.png

I have 11 H/s, 6 m/s and 173 armor with my setup. Fair trade sacrificing the 7 armor for a debuffing weapon, though I like the look :P

[NinjaStar]

God the reason it's like that is so all the three are still balanced.
In ao2 str had the upper hand while archer died like billion times
Stop complaining and play the game(Ohh no it's mystical, I'm going to get cussed at) not to say that you don't play!
Nyway
/Vyvin

If you died as an Archer a billion times then their could be one of two causes or the combination of two. None of those causes are archers being underpowered because like Mystic said they NUKE.

First of all, archers are dps chars, they are very squishy, so if you are getting in front of the tank or getting to close to mobs or bosses then you WILL get hit and die.

Second, if you are not doing what i stated above and know how to play your char, then the tank youre playing with doesnt know how to play his char (holding agro and tanking as much mobs as possible and keeping the boss away from everyone else).

I agree with mystic, Rift gears need an upgrade.

[BeardedBear]

God the reason it's like that is so all the three are still balanced.
In ao2 str had the upper hand while archer died like billion times
Stop complaining and play the game(Ohh no it's mystical, I'm going to get cussed at) not to say that you don't play!
Nyway
/Vyvin

That makes it hardly even for pure's, like the game is designed for. Get real.

[Vyvin]

High dps makes you deal more damage.
New bosses target chars who hit more
Go try it.. 8D
Now from what ur telling me I should stop hitting or hit less
Which means that I'm going to be poor because again pinks go to chars to hit the most...
/Vyvin

[Ellyidol]

I haven't really noticed that when doing bosses with at least 2 bears. Either I get aggro (since I'm one of those bears), cause I notice my hp dropping as boss hits, or nobody gets damaged as the boss is stunned. The only reason I see birds dying is by other mobs that stick to the bird, or him getting too close and getting AoE'd etc.

And, I think pink drop rate is individual. Most DPS or not. As long as your within range for drop, you could get anything.

[Vyvin]

Yea AoE attacks suck as a pure dex I would die 1shot
Now I've speced to dex tank* and I survive woo speaking of which will post my build sometime..
/Vyvin

[Mala]

High dps makes you deal more damage.
New bosses target chars who hit more
Go try it.. 8D
Now from what ur telling me I should stop hitting or hit less
Which means that I'm going to be poor because again pinks go to chars to hit the most...
/Vyvin

Actually....

Dps makes you hit faster and damage makes you hit harder, like a hammer. You could have all the dps you want but if its not getting through the armor your not dealing a lot of damage.

DPS does attract more aggro but tanks are built to sustain aggro and control bosses with multitude of stun skills and my favorite skill of all, Beckon. Again, just in case you didnt read well, you are not playing with Tanks that know how to cooperate with each other and keep the rest of the team alive and away from baddies. He never told you to stop dealing damage...

[KingFu]

High dps makes you deal more damage.
New bosses target chars who hit more
Go try it.. 8D
Now from what ur telling me I should stop hitting or hit less
Which means that I'm going to be poor because again pinks go to chars to hit the most...
/Vyvin

Uhm, drops are 100% random. The devs have said so:)

[Vyvin]

Fine..
But at least go try it...
/Vyvin

[NinjaStar]

Well I obviously have tried and that's why I said that... lol

Most would agree too.

[krazii]

Ellie, you might benefit by respec and putting at leat 16 into int, that will get you 1 m/s regen, either that or take all your int out and leave it at one, having 9 does no good. Also, what do you mean by "debuffing weapon", please elaborate, is there some debuff on the vibra, havent' heard that one yet.

[Ellyidol]

True, I've thought about that before but I don't think just 1 m/s would do any good. Unless I'm mistaken?

I'm even pondering if I should match my stats to be able to use Rift and Voids at the same time, just switching between via lower level gear that add str/dex.

The Force Cutter of Rift is what I called a "debuffer". Since among the 1H rift weapons this seems to be the only weapon that has an effect outside damage. It reduces your target armor by (from what I've heard) -25 per hit, stacking up to 4 times. Not sure on duration, but it should keep at -50 or -75 permanent debuff.

[NinjaStar]

Vibra doesnt have an actual proc. but if used correctly you could self combo and unleash a fury of "Execute". All you need to do is use Hellscream.

Execute lowers DPS drastically and lowers damage too.

On a test done by Malakath in pvp he confirmed this combo. DPS was originally 190s on target then debuffed all the way to the low 90s. Damaged was debuffed by 20. Combo lasts a few seconds so they key is to continually slash at target.

[Ellyidol]

Vibra doesnt have an actual proc. but if used correctly you could self combo and unleash a fury of "Execute". All you need to do is use Hellscream.

Execute lowers DPS drastically and lowers damage too.

If Vibra doesn't have a proc, how can a bear do a combo? Quite curious since AFAIK bears can't do combos alone =/ Aside from using a freeze weapon then stomp.

[NinjaStar]

Yea its the first of its kind to do that. Malakath lent his Vibra to Royce and he confirmed too.

[krazii]

Thanks for info, more confused now then before. There is something on the vibra, just not sure what it is. Thought there was an AOE effect. Have done some testing but nothing conclusive. Will try more.

Details on the execute combo pls, I would like to reproduce.

I think 1 m/s does make a difference, certainly it's better then just having 7 more str. I too wear Thoth plate for M/S, so if you keep that on, I guess you don't need it. But I switch to Battleforged (forget exact name, the red one) for bosses and do notice that I need less mana pots then before. Hope they do a little revision to give rift pieces (helm, armor, weaps, and shield) each 1 m/s.

[NinjaStar]

No other proc lol

Just use Hellscream and that's it, Execute will be unleashed. Drops DPS drastically and damage too. Like I stated above, not much else to say besides what i already posted. :)

IMO it's the best TANKING weapon, helps keep everyone alive by making baddies go slow motion and dropping their damage.

Doesnt work on all Bosses though... But it does work on all mobs and minibosses.

[Ellyidol]

Awesome! So its just scimitar left that I don't know any effect with :( How can you tell that its debuffed though?

So this "Execute" is AoE?

[NinjaStar]

PVP... Hit your target with it and then he checks his stats to see any changes.

No lol I never said that. Its sinlge target.

[Ellyidol]

No other proc lol

Just use Hellscream and that's it, Execute will be unleashed. Drops DPS drastically and damage too. Like I stated above, not much else to say besides what i already posted. :)

IMO it's the best TANKING weapon, helps keep everyone alive by making baddies go slow motion and dropping their damage.

Doesnt work on all Bosses though... But it does work on all mobs and minibosses.

Okay must have misunderstood that line :) So aside from PvP, since I dont really do PvP, there is no way to tell it proc-ing for Hellscream in PvE?

[kavanah]

Where is Royce when you need him?... sigh

1) I saw a post about pink drops going to the person who deals most damage? Nope sorry. I've seen people afk at a boss and get pinks. Toss that out the window as well as dying decreasing drops or whatever silly theory people come up with. When you kill a boss, think of it like a slot machine spinning and landing on certain things. Each person's slot machine spins and whatever item you roll up with on the loot table, thats the item you get. If you have an elixer of luck, you get a chance to spin again, if you do spin again and it lands on a better item, you get the better item, if not then you just receive the first item you spun for. K? Also DPS isn't speed... its Damage Per Second. Its a mathamatical equasion factoring Damage and Speed...

2) Bears hold aggro just fine when people give them a second to establish aggro. I've already talked about this multiple times. The fact of the matter is that people in PL hardly have played other MMO's and learned what I call "class mechanics" that general go into all fantasy genre rpg elements. Coming from a background of a DnD Player, 9 year Everquest Veteran, and 4 year WoW Veteran, as well as a host of other MMO's and MOBA's, I know how to tank. Ask any good person who plays in games with me. If they know how to let me tank, I have know problem keeping aggro. I get complimented on it all the time.

3) The rift armor set in FULL is amazing for tanking. Sorry if you disagree Mystical, I would love to see 1-2m/s put into there somewhere, but if not, I think it's fine. I wouldn't mind them switching up some crit, dodge, and ms throughout the set so that when you equip all pieces you get a little bit of each stat + bonus stats for all pieces. I have however, learned to manage with 0 m/s. How you ask? Well I dont use my slashes... I don't use my beckon's like crazy... or my hellscreams like crazy... or my stomps. Instead I focus on taunting everytime it's up and making sure I'm the first to be hitting the mob. I have also known for a while that you can "pick up" mana pots as you go as long as it is under 25. So basically I use mana pots when I come to mini bosses such as the Alien Sniper to do what I call a "lock down" on that mob. In a "lock down" I simply taunt, beckon, hellscream, stomp the mob to keep it stunned so it isn't dont half the damage it would normally do. I believe a better solution to this problem would be for them to remove the mana cost (like taunt) of beckon, stomp, and hellscream. Or for them to revamp the mana of bears into a "rage" or "stamina" type format that recharges at a decent amount, and recharges further per enemy killed. Something of that sort.

So in conclusion... I've tried many different tanking equipments over the past week and what I've found the best so far is my Rift Armor, Rift Scimitar, Rift Shield, and Battleforged Helmet of Destiny which I will upgrade to the Overlord Rift Helm asap. Learn to manage your mana and aggro and you will see the beauty in having the armor and str of the Rift set.

*Side note... Rift complete set gives a bonus of +50hp and 4dodge. I get 500hp, 184 armor, 296 str, 33 crit and 7dodge with the full set on.

[Ellyidol]

Where is Royce when you need him?... sigh

1) I saw a post about pink drops going to the person who deals most damage? Nope sorry. I've seen people afk at a boss and get pinks. Toss that out the window as well as dying decreasing drops or whatever silly theory people come up with. When you kill a boss, think of it like a slot machine spinning and landing on certain things. Each person's slot machine spins and whatever item you roll up with on the loot table, thats the item you get. If you have an elixer of luck, you get a chance to spin again, if you do spin again and it lands on a better item, you get the better item, if not then you just receive the first item you spun for. K? Also DPS isn't speed... its Damage Per Second. Its a mathamatical equasion factoring Damage and Speed...

2) Bears hold aggro just fine when people give them a second to establish aggro. I've already talked about this multiple times. The fact of the matter is that people in PL hardly have played other MMO's and learned what I call "class mechanics" that general go into all fantasy genre rpg elements. Coming from a background of a DnD Player, 9 year Everquest Veteran, and 4 year WoW Veteran, as well as a host of other MMO's and MOBA's, I know how to tank. Ask any good person who plays in games with me. If they know how to let me tank, I have know problem keeping aggro. I get complimented on it all the time.

3) The rift armor set in FULL is amazing for tanking. Sorry if you disagree Mystical, I would love to see 1-2m/s put into there somewhere, but if not, I think it's fine. I wouldn't mind them switching up some crit, dodge, and ms throughout the set so that when you equip all pieces you get a little bit of each stat + bonus stats for all pieces. I have however, learned to manage with 0 m/s. How you ask? Well I dont use my slashes... I don't use my beckon's like crazy... or my hellscreams like crazy... or my stomps. Instead I focus on taunting everytime it's up and making sure I'm the first to be hitting the mob. I have also known for a while that you can "pick up" mana pots as you go as long as it is under 25. So basically I use mana pots when I come to mini bosses such as the Alien Sniper to do what I call a "lock down" on that mob. In a "lock down" I simply taunt, beckon, hellscream, stomp the mob to keep it stunned so it isn't dont half the damage it would normally do. I believe a better solution to this problem would be for them to remove the mana cost (like taunt) of beckon, stomp, and hellscream. Or for them to revamp the mana of bears into a "rage" or "stamina" type format that recharges at a decent amount, and recharges further per enemy killed. Something of that sort.

So in conclusion... I've tried many different tanking equipments over the past week and what I've found the best so far is my Rift Armor, Rift Scimitar, Rift Shield, and Battleforged Helmet of Destiny which I will upgrade to the Overlord Rift Helm asap. Learn to manage your mana and aggro and you will see the beauty in having the armor and str of the Rift set.

*Side note... Rift complete set gives a bonus of +50hp and 4dodge. I get 500hp, 184 armor, 296 str, 33 crit and 7dodge with the full set on.

Very well said.

I agree that the 0 m/s IS manageable, but thats for the bear to determine how manageable it is for his play style, the biggest issue for me is comparing it to the other sets. As void gets more than enough m/s, same with cosmo. Its true that spells don't need to be spammed, I'd agree because when a good group is going you barely need to do a 2nd round of debuffs, moreover even taunt/beckon. Its when you get into random games and some people don't know what their doing and your forced to spam those skills.

Btw, have you noticed any benefits in using your Rift Scimitar? Seems its the only new rift with nothing special.

[kavanah]

Very well said.

I agree that the 0 m/s IS manageable, but thats for the bear to determine how manageable it is for his play style, the biggest issue for me is comparing it to the other sets. As void gets more than enough m/s, same with cosmo. Its true that spells don't need to be spammed, I'd agree because when a good group is going you barely need to do a 2nd round of debuffs, moreover even taunt/beckon. Its when you get into random games and some people don't know what their doing and your forced to spam those skills.

Btw, have you noticed any benefits in using your Rift Scimitar? Seems its the only new rift with nothing special.

Public games are always hard to deal with, because people just don't know how to play very well. I've had more sucess in our first group of 45s to run through AO3 then I do have now with many people lvl 50. Simply because people just don't know how to play, and unfortunately I'm slowly losing patience in that, which is why I want guilds asap!

As for the benefits of using scimitar... its only because it gives the set bonus with, armor, helm, and shield of rift equipped.