SK - To AC or not to AC
 

Hi, I've got some potentially complicated questions. I've been playing exclusively with a trio of IRL friends and don't foresee that changing. Ogre Shadow Knight (me), Troll Shaman, and Gnome Enchanter. I've tried to do a lot of reading about stat priorities and what to go for as a tank. It seems like with a Shaman healer HP is a lot less valuable because of a lack of Complete Heal. I've read a few comments here or there about AC being good to stack with a Shaman healer. I've also read comments that AC is an all or nothing stat and not to stack it unless you REALLY stack it. Are these comments true? If so to what extent? How would you balance HP/Resistances/AC with this trio?

Current Set
Future AC Set?

Help me out. Am I being stupid trying to stack more AC, or is actually a valuable endeavor?

Group or raid, raid hp>ac, group ac>hp, but strive for pieces with good both.

I used to remember the 10hps = 1 ac rule but people on p99 generally think that's aggressive in weighing AC. If that was the case, nobody would wear Hammered Golden Loops over conventional earrings. If your sham has torp it's really not a mana issue and slowed targets should be very easy to trio (like WW dragons).

That said, the comparison you showed is a huge step in AC for very little overall hps lost. I just would pick better 1h if you really want to move in that direction OR stay with 2h. Even torped a solid 2h is going to be multiple times more dps than the WESS. It's still likely double the DPS of a 1h (like a Sword of Pain which gives a free instant junk buff/GCD clicky). You might take a bit more damage over the course of a fight that lasts the same amount of time, but if you kill the npc even 10% faster (assuming + charmed pet) you will take 10% less damage.

If you want a general target for MR I would say 110-130 unbuffed is very useful for fighting blue cons. Having a few quick swap items like jacinth rings, runed bone fork, and a tranix crown though is handy.

Stacking AC is probably fine, _if_ you aren't sacrificing too much stats. For example, some of the pieces are solid, like the Silver Chitin Bracers, Spike Seahorse Hide Belt and even the earrings. They bump your AC and stats. I'd get those. However, some of the pieces like the BE items w/o stats, the crystalline torque, and the gem encrusted ring are less than ideal. Don't get those. I'm also in the 2h camp, but if you want to test out sword/board from time to time, feel free, but don't use a WESS. Among other things mentioned above, the proc is super annoying.

This probably breaks your grouping rules, but if you wanted real upgrades to some of the other slots, you could try going to open HoT/WToV raids and getting some quest armor. Buying MQs is possible as well, but it's a lot of plat.

This.

It’s really just that simple. No, really. It is. Stack AC. Win. Then get 60, raid, realise AC does nothing against anything raid related. Keep an AC set for group content until your gear is good enough you can’t tell the difference.

Good advice but its worth pointing out that you're not a warrior so stacking raid hp will never be necessary

Those chardok earrings are worn by people who don't parse. They are unoquivically the worst earring to wear for any damage facing class. Great wizard, raid MT, ranger and AE damage rogue/melee earring. AC is game breakingly good on p99 currently for all but rangers.

Coming from a (mostly) non-raider shadowknight, long since 60, who typically duo's with a shaman, sometimes with an additional friend or two:

Careful of old threads on this board; P99 has changed a great deal over the years. All or nothing on AC was characteristic of years ago on P1999 when AC was implemented differently than it is now. Nowadays, due to changes over the years, AC has much more consistent returns against non-raid opponents.

If you're grouping mainly with a shaman, gear for AC first, but not totally to the exclusion of health. Torpor heals a fixed value, your shaman won't usually run out of mana, so you can kill just about anything you out-heal. Hence lowering the average damage roll you take (via higher AC) is the most useful thing you can do. That being said, you still have to be able to survive the "unslowed" part of a pull, too, as well as feign fails and such. There's little reason to wear, for example, a Blood Ember bracer when you can trade it for a second Silver Chitin wrist (they're not LORE) and you gain 40 more HP for a measly 1 AC loss. Likewise trade the neck for something with some health on it, the helm for one with nearly similar AC and HP, they're maybe a little harder to find but they're out there. You can of course use the cheaper pieces as filler in the meantime--not like they don't work, just something you can probably do better in the longer term. Shooting for 285-300 worn AC and 3000 unbuffed health as a non-raiding Ogre is very much do-able thanks to the Ogre's inherent statistic advantage, even with a 2H on. With a 1H weapon/shield it should be fairly straightforward. Don't forget as a non-raider you can access Thurgadin pieces via either MQ or Kael Drakkel farming (your trio can do it), and even Skyshrine or Kael armor (depent on faction) via MQ. Some of those pieces are worth looking in to.

The AC-based 1H is a fair idea. Don't sell the 2H; keep both. Mostly you'd only have a shield on during the unslowed part of a tough pull or when clearing through fairly tough things at a fast rate with a charm pet doing most the damage. In that case you'd probably dual-wield shields if you could and the damage you do with your 1H weapon is practically immaterial. You may elect to get the free 1H sword from Velketor--your trio can easily do the lower kobolds and free is nice. When you want to do damage you use the 2H.

Raiding entails different set of gearing considerations both because of raid mob ATK values and because of Complete Heal. There are a few raider players who seem to have forgotten what it's like to play the game normally, without temple veeshan gear or 50 people at their back. As always, read the advice posted and filter it as necessary--keep the good, toss the superfluous, use what you find useful for your own needs.

Danth

it helps tho, ive def had to MT on my pally for certain things, like lord bob.

You might put up a post with some more insight. These are worn by a lot of raiding guild MT’s, warrior bots, and knights.

I’m not a fan of lost AC but just from everything I’ve heard and read the community (by large) is a supporter of them.

As for Pint’s comment on stacking Hp it’s true. That said having a buffer of hps helps with human error and mob rng. Often 100 worn AC on a casual geared basis is almost 800 hps.