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Old 08-11-2013, 11:22 AM
phobus phobus is offline
Fire Giant


Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 609
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Seducio [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]
Head Slot:

Platinum Tiara vs. Totemic Helm vs. Jaundiced Bone Helm

(3AC +35HP +50Mana) vs. (12AC +5wis) vs (18AC effect:Glamour)

Would there be differences in your recommendation here depending on low level (1-40), mid level (41-52), or high level (53+)?

One negative about my current Platinum Tiara is that it doesn't have a graphic. But the hit points are pretty nice.

The other two have decently cool plate head graphics.
First of all, I've not done any calculations on this, so take it all with a grain of salt.

Basically, at lower levels, I don't worry so much about AC. From what I understand, AC is capped on a per-level basis, so you'll hit that cap with nearly any kind of twink gear at lower levels. Give yourself the biggest HP pool you can, then.

At higher levels, I feel AC plays a more important role for a Shaman since you can easily take a few hundred points of damage in one round. Obviously, a little HP here and there adds up, but in general I would only trade AC for HP/mana when there is a lot to gain. The Platinum Tiara is an interesting option, but I've got other things to spend 8k on first. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Loraen did some testing on the effectiveness of AC for a caster, and while it's probably similar for a Shaman, the actual cap should be higher. We just don't know exactly how much higher. Maybe I'll do some parsing when I hit 60 and have some free time. With our buffs, it may be that we can almost completely ignore AC on gear and just stack HP.