Should I level up or stay 52 longer?

[bronislav84]

I have a level 52 locked full Int Mage that I'm supposed to be farming 51 drops with to be able to afford 55 or new 60 gear after expansion, but haven't been playing much. I've been on SL more or just offline, and been thinking lately that it might be time to unlock and get to 55. But first of all I can't afford a 55 set so I'd still be using Shadow, and of course I won't be able to afford the new 60 set in 5/6 more levels of leveling up if I cap for now and skip the 55 set. I have 200 some odd thousand, not enough for anything at 55.

Who has some good advice? Unlock and get to 55/56 then wait for expansion and not get the 55 set or stay 52 and wait for expansion as I've been doing, then hope I get rich enough to afford level 60 items in the 8/9 levels of leveling I will be doing later?

By the way as long as we're here, what kind of ring is recommended for Int Mage? Armor? m/s? Damage? Crit?

[Redbridge]

Crazy idea... create another alt and level that to 55....

[bronislav84]

I've got my bird I could farm with if I go level. My Mage is my main though. That's the question really. Should I unlock my main? I'd be as broke at 55 or 60 as I am now.

[Physiologic]

Why not just level and farm 55 items the whole time? You could've potentially gotten your 55 items for yourself as well as have made great profit off of the 55 drops.

[bronislav84]

Hmm that's a great point. How's being 55 or 56 in Shadow? Frowned upon? I don't die much and I've run every Sewer map a bunch of times in Shadow. Really I only die from trap crits or stupid people who wipe the entire party, and I'm always there fighting. I just don't agro things first because mobs in AO3 and Sewer lag for me, so I wait a bit to jump into a fight until I can see the mobs.

With the expansion upcoming I don't really feel like putting out money on MM and the recipes (I have all the other items already), so if I do get the MM pieces it would be from farming them myself with good company.

Should I just level up and worry about money when I level cap?

Anybody got a good ring suggestion now that I have plat? I've checked out your ring guide Physio, but still can't decide.

[SUPAPRODIGY]

Just make another one i would say we all have multiple accounts anyway nothing be braggy about

[Formora]

I bought the 2 crit, 2 m/s and 4 damage ring. Seemed like the best choice there.

[sun light]

if u dont have. 2 mil cash on both chars, keep farming.

[SUPAPRODIGY]

Farm farm thats how the CS crashed

[Heyyoucooll]

Um well i have never been rich i think the most money i have had at once was like 300k but im a lvl 55 mage and pretty strong if u want to know wht equipment i use add me
Ign: TheGandhi

[sun light]

so yea, farm! i need to have 2 sets, one on each char, and 2mil cash.
that is a good case.
altho 1 mil woth 2sets is ok.
im farming for a month and ive got from the farming mm set gemstone staff lvl 51 and 2 mil cash.
ant i think im comming ready for the update lol
btw... i think lvl. 51 items will never crash, myb lvl. 55 crash lol

[friedkimchi]

Honestly, if you want to spend countless hours farming, by all means. Merchanting is the way to go. Easy money in less than 8 minutes.
But I do have to thank the countless people who slog it out for pinks.

Do people even buy those lvl 51/53 pinks? Seems like a limited market. The lvl 55 pinks' prices seem to be picking up though, after the epic crash when the new expansion was announced.

I personally don't play much, except maybe for a quick run to pass the time while I'm cooking or waiting for my next class.

[Herozheng]

Why not just level and farm 55 items the whole time? You could've potentially gotten your 55 items for yourself as well as have made great profit off of the 55 drops.

well , lv51~53 item sell for good money not only pinks , but red or green item are selling very nice price compare with lv55 trash drop , i was plan to lock my bear at Lv51~52 cuz my bear can solo most part of sewer get drop from all the mini boss (after i go duel bear can solo kitting most big boss too) , the low lv item make good money , but there many way to make gold , i never short on gold and always buy the best item for my chat before they reach the item lvl , and that's gives all the motivation to lvl up all my chat asap to wear those high end gears

now i still got more then 10 million gold on me , and nothing need to buy any more .... maybe just play trade in CS to make more gold ?

also an other reason to lock at lv51 is you still can go OS III to farm kills , there is some ppl in game got very high Pve kill # , that is how they got it , but i feel bored in that way , so i decide not to lock my bear's lvl even knows my bear can solo sewer at low lvl , mage and bird can't solo sewer at low lv , make no sense to cap them at lv52 after alll .......

[bronislav84]

Mage and bird cannot really solo sewer, but it's meant to be done with dedicated 52 farming parties Hero. That's how I earned enough for my Shadow set. Because level 51 drops are actually all sellable, while at 55 I'd only be making money off of the pinks.

Level 48-52 get level 51 drops which are all sellable and can be resold when people are done with them. Level 53/54 get level 53 drops which are all basically junk. Level 55/56 get 55 drops which only pinks are really worth anything.

So I'm poised to level with Register in 2 hours. Am I making a bad decision? I'll still be broke at 55 and wearing Shadow, probably to 60.

[Herozheng]

not get aggro means you don't do much damage ,as a wand mage usually didn't aggro on boss fight in sewer , but at trash clean fight as a high aoe damage class mage got aggro all the time , i wear shadow set from lv50 ~lv54 , shadow glow stick set is a very balance set , but at lv55 there is more powerful set like MM set and enchant set , of course you can still wear shadow set to play save , but for my mage my goal is be come a most useful mage in game , so i bought MM staff set at lv52 , and craft it in to enchant set immediately ...

with good skill you will not die too much in staff set , but your aoe are way powerful then another set in game , only down side is still kid of slow on boss fight , after few test i switch to hybrid mage (Dex/int) wear custom bow set , lowed aoe power but still good at clean trash mobs (with a lv55+ group ,clean trash never been a problem , and doing much better in boss fight , i got aggro from boss all the time , if tank can't get aggro back just kitting the boss , or heal and mam shield (never mana shield at Queen's fight , just cast heal asap) ... a mage got aggro are better then the bird , cuz bird don't has
mana shield and they can't heal .

also i got custom cross bow too , make myself useful in pvp .

be a useful mage , that is what i want , that is what i do .... never let myself become like a spare tire （like pally) or a Coward ... .......

... never retreat ... never surrender ！

[Herozheng]

I bought the 2 crit, 2 m/s and 4 damage ring. Seemed like the best choice there.

dex ring ( +2 crit / +10 damage) are best one for dps class in pve , you need 67 dex too wear it , but you need some dex after all , all the class need some dex even mage , that helps you to cap hit% in any kid of gear .

[JaytB]

dex ring ( +2 crit / +10 damage) are best one for dps class in pve , you need 67 dex too wear it , but you need some dex after , all the class need some dex even mage , that helps you to cap hit% i any kid of gear .

I don't agree with that statement. A pure int does more skill dmg as compared to when you'd put 67 in dex. Even with the 10 or 11 dmg ring. Hit% isn't an issue for pure INT at end-lvl. I get 98% hit with staf and 99% with wand, and that's without any ring. On top of that, if you're using an enchanted set, your mana regen is already bad. Putting 67 points in dex will make that even worse

[Physiologic]

Hmm that's a great point. How's being 55 or 56 in Shadow? Frowned upon? I don't die much and I've run every Sewer map a bunch of times in Shadow. Really I only die from trap crits or stupid people who wipe the entire party, and I'm always there fighting. I just don't agro things first because mobs in AO3 and Sewer lag for me, so I wait a bit to jump into a fight until I can see the mobs.

With the expansion upcoming I don't really feel like putting out money on MM and the recipes (I have all the other items already), so if I do get the MM pieces it would be from farming them myself with good company.

Should I just level up and worry about money when I level cap?

Anybody got a good ring suggestion now that I have plat? I've checked out your ring guide Physio, but still can't decide.

The optimal ring for your character is best complimented when your character has end-game gear on and your own build, IMO (regardless of your Platinum status). If you're a full INT mage wearing full MM then something with damage/m/s can work. If you're going hybrid and you're wearing Customized set, then a crit/damage ring would work well.

The other issue with staying at below lv 56 is that you completely lose out on an awesome piece of gear - the no-requirement Crown of Persistence, which will no longer be obtainable once the expansion is released. I would just level and farm for 55 gear at your own pace and if you're willing to get to 56 for the Crown, be prepared to spend a lot of Plat, or a lot of time.

I personally don't even have any end-game pink on minus the Crown of Persistence - I've been using Bagman's armor and auto-bow and have been doing just fine with those (I just sell off any pink loot from Sewers including archer loot). In all honesty, one doesn't really NEED to have end-game gear to be considered a good player. It just depends on how fast your reflexes are and how you manage your skills during battle. You could save a ton of time and effort that way and focus on farming for lv 60 gear when the expansion comes out.

[bronislav84]

But the crown is not a vanity item. It would negate set bonuses wouldn't it?

The definition of end game is relative really. Right now 55 is it but soon 60 will be it. Before 50 I used to wear items for ten levels, sometimes 15. Since 30 I've worn only pinks.

30 - Brain freeze wand "set"
35 - Bone pick wand
45 - Full Isis "set". Yes I wore Brain for 15 levels and really needed to upgrade
50 - Shadow wand set

If 60 was now, I'd skip the 55 items entirely to save money because I'm used to wearing stuff for 10 levels. I've had no trouble in sewer parties with Shadow since I got it. Only times were when soloing to Bank entrance or inside bank getting shot at by all the mobs, really.

So very likely I'd still be in Shadow at 55 all the way to 60 then finally upgrade. I still can't decide on a ring. If I have the time I will probably get the crafted wand set for 55 but can't afford it unless I farm the weapon/shield/hat/armor myself. What's a good ring to go with Shadow?

Oh yea, dunno about 55 sets but Shadow gives me over 100 hit, so don't have accuracy problems.

[Herozheng]

Mage and bird cannot really solo sewer, but it's meant to be done with dedicated 52 farming parties Hero. That's how I earned enough for my Shadow set. Because level 51 drops are actually all sellable, while at 55 I'd only be making money off of the pinks.

Level 48-52 get level 51 drops which are all sellable and can be resold when people are done with them. Level 53/54 get level 53 drops which are all basically junk. Level 55/56 get 55 drops which only pinks are really worth anything.

So I'm poised to level with Register in 2 hours. Am I making a bad decision? I'll still be broke at 55 and wearing Shadow, probably to 60.

just like Kimchi said

"Honestly, if you want to spend countless hours farming, by all means. Merchanting is the way to go. Easy money in less than 8 minutes."

i bought my shadow set at 700k , wear it from lv50~54 , sold it at lv55 for 1.3M , also i bought MM set at 1.1M craft in to enchant set , sold it at lv56 in CS , got more then 2M back .

I don't agree with that statement. A pure int does more skill dmg as compared to when you'd put 67 in dex. Even with the 10 or 11 dmg ring. Hit% isn't an issue for pure INT at end-lvl. I get 98% hit with staf and 99% with wand, and that's without any ring. On top of that, if you're using an enchanted set, your mana regen is already bad. Putting 67 points in dex will make that even worse

i wear enchant staff set from lv55 ~lv56 (it is a very long lvl you know what i mean ... hehe) , i know what is spell power means to a mage , also enchant staff mage are most powerful spell power mage in game , but still i feel powerless in boss fight , a wand mage even more powerless in boss fight , so your spell power are mainly useful on trash clean , is that what you want ? a trash clean queen or king ?

have you been in a group without any bow bird or bow bear , and you know how long it takes to kill a boss with full group of 1h weapon user ? is that not like a pin in the *** ?

every time you see pally or war bird in you pve group , don't you sigh ？

and that is why i become hybrid (int/dex) custom bow mage , has just enough power to clean the trash , and much powerful and useful in boss fight , a all purpose mage !

did you know with custom set and our self buff , mage got 100%+ on crit ? that means crit% is not a chance any more , with our buff on ,all the spell we cast and auto shot are absolutely critical ... i got 50% crit with out buff on , that is make me do way more damage then most wand mage , even in aoe trash clean .

some may say mm wand mage got nice M/s , come on ppl there is free mana pots drop all the time , i only keep 25 mana pot on my mage never run out , before they put a cool down on mana
pot , or change the drop rate on potion , M/s are not a problem for a end game set gear mage .

also that is an other thing you need to know Crown of Persistence is not work with your set , meaning you will lost set bonus if you wear that crown , but it is nice for or all the duel or hybrid class , cuz it is no-requirement so i can put more int pts when i wear a dex set to gain more spell power , also that pic will become a major boots gear for duel builds in the future ....