The cost of the Warrior path

[1asdfasdf1]

Hi guys,

I don't post much, but I do play quite a bit. Have been burning through alts for about 4 months (Nec, Mage, Ench) and now Warrior. Just hit level 29 and I'm not in completely terrible gear, but obviously at 29 I'm not littered with in end-game no-drops.

My question is about the cost of being a warrior. It is a really fun class for me, and yes that's all the game is about: fun. But it becomes less fun when I see that tanking anything outside of the old world seemingly requires level 50+ gear.

Is that part of the design of the game? Is it generally accepted that you must first level a character to 60 so that you can afford to tank?

Rough gear summary: HP+AC jewelry, Cobalt boots, Crafted most everywhere else, SCHW, Venomous Axe + Random offhand.

I have been farming clickies as they are level-appropriate (Rolfron Zek stun idols etc). The main problem I'm having is that, for example, single pull blue-con Tizmaks in GD crunch me down pretty quickly, and my duo partners always have to blow 50% of their mana pool to keep me alive. I can't imagine this gets better in roughly the same gear at level 40+.

"Just get your Thurg armor MQ'd" is one response I've gotten from Warriors but, again, is that the intent of the game? To be twinked or not tank at all?

Thanks for any input

[DinoTriz2]

I think people typically speak about what's ideal.

If you want an easy, breezy experience and access to high-level raiding/tanking, then yeah it's going to cost a bit to play at that level.

But that doesn't mean it's required.

People will say "You need 100,000 plat to invest in a warrior".

No you don't. Get out of here, elitist SCUM! (kicks guy into hole)

Just play what you like, man.

I mained a Rogue. I didn't twink him - I didn't start a Druid first.

I actually DID my Epic, rather than pay for it like these silver spoon daddy's boys out there.

You'll appreciate your accomplishments more too.

[Jimjam]

My warrior on red soloed to 40 in rawhide armour. No joke.

Sure a 'decent' duo (not tank and spank, but pet based) could churn through whites and yellows. That is not the strategy for a warrior.

You find the highest level mobs that your armour lets you mitigate decently against and you kill them. This means you want a substantial level difference between you and what you are fighting. Although the XP/kill will be much lower, the mobs will have less hp so you can kill more of them. Compounded by your out levelled attack skills you land more hits and hit for greater damage, further speeding your kills.

I suggest staying away from kunark and celious mobs. They tend to have more hp than their old world counterparts.

At 29 you may be able to solo ogre guards or skeletons in Najena or group up to do SolA. There is also a fire scale croc in lava storm you might be able to get XP off.

You sound like you have done a lot of research; have you worked out how to bandage without interrupting your melee attacks yet?

[JohnT88]

Leveling will most likely make your issues go away. I'm running roughly the same gear besides starting with low plat filler items besides crafted until I went with better upgrades. I had spent 29-34 in Highpass Hold on Goblin camp, then a very boring level 35-36 at mistmoore Castle entrance, then soloed or duo'ed at Overthere ramp from 37-44 (high levels will buff you kindly as they are just standing around). These places didn't require insane gear whatsoever. Of course it helps, but it doesn't mean you need thurg plate to play a warrior.

Granted, I do have a 52 necro who is a farm machine for my warrior which got me to the point of having velium HP+AC jewelry, cobalt boots, SCHW, Frostbringer, Venomous axe, etc.

If you were starting completely fresh as a warrior, you would have a pretty hard time getting that base level of gear. But it would still come. It would just be more difficult and perhaps even more fun!

[bigjeff100]

Hi guys,

I don't post much, but I do play quite a bit. Have been burning through alts for about 4 months (Nec, Mage, Ench) and now Warrior. Just hit level 29 and I'm not in completely terrible gear, but obviously at 29 I'm not littered with in end-game no-drops.

My question is about the cost of being a warrior. It is a really fun class for me, and yes that's all the game is about: fun. But it becomes less fun when I see that tanking anything outside of the old world seemingly requires level 50+ gear.

Is that part of the design of the game? Is it generally accepted that you must first level a character to 60 so that you can afford to tank?

Rough gear summary: HP+AC jewelry, Cobalt boots, Crafted most everywhere else, SCHW, Venomous Axe + Random offhand.

I have been farming clickies as they are level-appropriate (Rolfron Zek stun idols etc). The main problem I'm having is that, for example, single pull blue-con Tizmaks in GD crunch me down pretty quickly, and my duo partners always have to blow 50% of their mana pool to keep me alive. I can't imagine this gets better in roughly the same gear at level 40+.

"Just get your Thurg armor MQ'd" is one response I've gotten from Warriors but, again, is that the intent of the game? To be twinked or not tank at all?

Thanks for any input

Finding normal human beings on your adventure to play with will put an end to all this talk.. I could care less what anybody in my group is wearing... And so will any normal, healthy player.. Anybody who speaks up, or says otherwise in your group can kick rocks.. Swifly remove yourself from those people, and find new friends.. There are plenty of amazing people on P99!

Besides- If some dude is leveling his 5th BiS alt, and is complaining, then he should donate something to your cause, or forever hold his peace.. The hell is somebody doing making a twink and complaining about others gear.. Why the hell do you need all those extra stats if you aren't gonna utilize them? Sorry you had to ask this question man. Like you said- This game is for pure fun, why people choose to take it in a different direction and get all serious is beyond me..

[FatherSioux]

My warrior is stagnant at 48, I found it hard to find a group in this range. With the melee abilities stagnant for a few levels soloing is hard. Groups in KC don't want you and SolB is very hit or miss.

[DMN]

You don't have to do anything, but those people who say you need a lot of cash for a warrior are saying it for good reasons.

[Crede]

My warrior is stagnant at 48, I found it hard to find a group in this range. With the melee abilities stagnant for a few levels soloing is hard. Groups in KC don't want you and SolB is very hit or miss.

CoM moat/arena can get you through this. Lguk groups are possible too. Also soloing bloodgills should be very doable on a warrior until 51 with pretty shitty gear. 6 of them are single pullable and stock up on those bandaids.

[Danth]

"Just get your Thurg armor MQ'd" is one response I've gotten from Warriors but, again, is that the intent of the game?

The basic intent of the game, especially on a melee type, is to be doing stuff in full or near-full groups. In that sort of setting your Warrior will give adequate performance. Near-full crafted with some cobalt, haste, and kunark/velious weapons is perfectly fine for the level.

If you want to duo, try to do so with somebody who can cast slow and you should do fine. Trying to tank unslowed monsters in only a duo means absorbing a lot of damage. That's true for anyone. Un-debuffed monsters in this game tend to ruin similarly-leveled players in melee except at very low levels.

Danth

[jolanar]

If you compare yourself to the average warrior of your level back in the day, I can pretty much guarantee you will have far superior gear. They did just fine, and so can you. If you are getting wrecked by a blue con, it's probably only 1 or 2 levels below you. Levels are FAR more important than gear on p99. Try to fight things that are as low level as possible but are still dark blue.

[Keebz]

One problem is that you are in Velious. Try leveling in the old world or even Kunark, where the monsters aren't as beastly and ideally somewhere there's an exp bonus.

Also, get a staff of battle and just sell the veno axe and pick up something with a better ratio.

[Lurgort/Sseri]

Play the character you wanna play, don't let the haters try to change your mind. My Warrior's got some cool stuff but I don't go boasting about it, I just take hits and bring a bunch of exp piñatas in for everyone, preferably in a steady stream!

[Pint]

just xp in classic zones if youre having trouble, the xp is better.

[Troxx]

If you enjoy the class, play it. Gear comes with time - don’t worry about the cost. Save your coin for the modest upgrades that matter the most: 21% haste or more and a pair of threat weapons. After that the rest will take care of itself, especially if and when you find a guild.

Level compared to what you are fighting matters a lot more than gear. I found tanking to be most lucrative when you opt to hang around in an area dominated by low blues with a few scattered high greens compare to hunting strictly blue con areas where you frequently go toe to toe with mobs within 1-4 levels of you.

From the Standpoint of a non-twink also realize that warriors are not always a DUO friendly class. Druids and cleric direct heals in the presence of untwined warrior dps can be a drain. On top of that, some of your competition for tanking job can help offset downtime with self healing potential. Rangers/paladins can Med and help self heal between fights and SKs can also tap during the fight thus decreasing med down-time.

If you add in a single high dps class and efficiency goes up. Depending on level, partnering with a shaman is actually more lucrative as slows are just that powerful.

PS: unless you just want adventure/fun, avoid level hunting in velious. With very few exceptions hunting old world and kunark is more lucrative.

For the guy stuck at 48: I did dreadlands wall. On both my warrior and paladin I’d log in prepared to slowly solo easy yard trash with the plan of finding a healer to duo with. With a rings in the zone it never took me more than a few minutes to find a 39-49 Druid more than happy to duo some xp. If you luck out and land a shaman duo partner it’s a gravy train.

[Freakish]

Velious is bad xp because mobs hit harder and have more hp. It's not just you that gets their butt kicked. Do classic and kunark unless there's a camp you want. Focus on hp and dex items followed by ac. AC is great against low atk targets but hp will scale against everything.

[Troxx]

For what it’s worth until level 50 I approached every login session with the expectation that I would be wandering around solo. I filled my bags with bandages and sought out hunting locations where I knew could start a fight at 50% and survive 99% of the time. Hunting areas got massive bonus points if there was a vendor somewhat close that sold bandages.

It was slow going at times but was also fun knowing I could be self sufficient on a class that traditionally is anything but. The biggest perk to having this mindset is that when I inevitably found a partner it helped me really appreciate some of the under appreciated classes. Piddly druid heals and thorns? Why yes thank you! A wizard with terrible sustained dps but nukes that cut our fight time dramatically (time fighting = hp lost = time lost bandaging)? Hell yeah ... why not?!? I met a lot of good friends along the way.

I always actively sought out partners, partial groups, or full groups. When I couldn’t, I at least had something productive to do. Keeping bind wound maxed as I leveled was also worth its weight in gold. I still carry stacks of bandages at 60 and they still come in handy.

Forcing yourself to roll solo periodically also really helps you to understand your capabilities and limitations as you climb in levels.

[Jimjam]

Great post Troxx. I tried to do similar on Jimjam. For what it's worth I found the axe of the slayers to be great in the 30s. Rampage is one hell of a proc when fighting low blues at that level. It was less dps, but I had zero downtime after most fights.

OP mentions fighting Tizmaks. If fighting beastmen is your thing try South karana.

As has already been stated Velious is way overtuned for its level or the gear you will wear.

I don't want to be a complete downer on Velious; if you are duoing with a Druid then fear/charm kiting Cougars works well. ToFS, EW Orc fort, crystal caverns and velks are all fun zones. Just don't go expecting to chain kill whites.

[Snaggles]

Tizmak’s are very tough for their level. Half of them are shamans with sow.

Like Troxx said, kill the easier stuff. Get a Staff of Battle and maybe head to HHk. Ask if you can train up the skill while waiting for a group.

Kill low blues in a high ZEM zone. I was in unrest with my pally soloing to 40. 45 in sol a off gnomebots. Go with volume kills, not impressive ones. Fine steel is your lifeblood...loot it all and sell it for upgraded gear.

[DinoTriz2]

Since this is a warrior thread, I figured I'd throw this in:

Level Bind Wound in Lavastorm Mountains.

Find a little spot of lava and step in it, then walk out at like 15% HP. Bandage. Repeat.

[stebbins99]

Dino man that's some solid bind wound advice! Excellent idea

[1asdfasdf1]

Thank you everyone for the advice! I have summarized it with a count of the # of times that advice was given.

4: Fight easier mobs (You want a substantial level difference between you and what you are fighting; You'll hit for more and be hit less.). Try to fight things that are as low level as possible but are still dark blue.
4: Get out of Velious. Mobs hit harder and have more HP. Not great for grinding XP.
3: Level up
3: Improve your bind wound skills
2: Soloing is possible but will be a bit slow.
2: With your current gear, do stuff in full or near-full groups.
2: If you must duo, do so with a slower.
1. Gear up. (People who say you need a lot of cash for a warrior are saying it for good reasons)


Jimjam: have you worked out how to bandage without interrupting your melee attacks yet? No, I have not. Is this like "jousting"? I need to look up vids on that. I guess, get a long delay 2 hander and time my bandaging out? (I'll need a macro to target me, start bind wound, target previous target?)

bigjeff100: What is a "5th BiS alt"?

[Crede]

Jousting is totally different from the combat bind wound. Simply search the forums the bind wound combat macro is out there.

BiS means best in slot gear aka there’s nothing better you can loot to replace that specific item. 5th BiS alt means you have 5 alts that are fully geared aka you’re probably in the guild aftermath.

[Snaggles]

I think that’s a good summary. :)

My only note is while people say gearing a warrior is expensive it’s only in comparison to other classes or hunting for best slot items. Fungi, Swiftblade of Zek, etc etc.

The class is more than capable of soloing with like 2k worth of gear. You can dish out and take hits very well. The margin of error just has to be dialed in since your only plan B is running. Staff of Battle, hp rings, bronze, SCHW, a ton of bandages, etc.

From 30 to close to 50 your offhand isn’t doing much and your MH damage bonus isn’t great. 2h’s are streaky but overall a much better solo tool. Definitely for the money.

[mizzbiscuits]

Since this is a warrior thread, I figured I'd throw this in:

Level Bind Wound in Lavastorm Mountains.

Find a little spot of lava and step in it, then walk out at like 15% HP. Bandage. Repeat.

Ooooh that's a good idea.

[Tethler]

Since this is a warrior thread, I figured I'd throw this in:

Level Bind Wound in Lavastorm Mountains.

Find a little spot of lava and step in it, then walk out at like 15% HP. Bandage. Repeat.

Yeah, I did that on my monk and rogue. Very convenient since the gypsy vendor camp or whatever there sells bandaids too.

[kjs86z]

Jousting is totally different from the combat bind wound. Simply search the forums the bind wound combat macro is out there.

BiS means best in slot gear aka there’s nothing better you can loot to replace that specific item. 5th BiS alt means you have 5 alts that are fully geared aka you’re probably in the guild aftermath.


I thought the phrase 3rd / 4th / 5th BiS was a means of describing the item in order of how many places behind the true BiS item.

Like item X is 3rd BiS is obtainable and 2nd BiS and 1st BiS drops off raid mobs you'd have (realistically) no chance of getting. So 3rd BiS is good enough.

[Legidias]

No, 5th BiS alt (notice the "alt") means your fifth alt you get BiS for.

2nd BiS (note, no "alt") generally refers to items.

e.g. 2nd BiS weap, 3rd BiS chest, etc.

[Wallicker]

Find me in game I’ll get you an infestation for free in the next week