SSF Paladin

[kjs86z2]

I would definitely want some cha gear asap on a ssf paladin unless you're planning on doing single spawn 6-7 minute camps the entire time.

[Crede]

Originally Posted by Keebz [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

How are you going to get cultural armor and a lumi sword SSF? Even if you do, you probably want to split mobs well before then (sometime in your mid 50s).

I'd want a plan to get a 150 CHA kit by 30.

Fair point I don’t know how hard cultural armor is - sounds like an amazing ssf reward though for how good the dwarven stuff is.

If you are ssf though are you really doing crazy deep dungeon grinds where a crit resist will end you even though you have root/loh?

The dwarven stat advantage almost becomes more heightened with ssf because to get that kinda str/sta from finding your own gear is extremely difficult. I think heavy twinkage lends itself more to playing different races like a high elf where you can still have a shitload of str/sta with twink gear.

[Keebz]

Originally Posted by Crede [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Fair point I don’t know how hard cultural armor is - sounds like an amazing ssf reward though for how good the dwarven stuff is.

It's definitely cool, but it requires enchant / imbue spells so technically not SSF. You could special case it I suppose, but it's not so much better than the other cultural that I'd say it matters. It's notably very good for twinking, which we are not doing here.

Originally Posted by Crede [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

If you are ssf though are you really doing crazy deep dungeon grinds where a crit resist will end you even though you have root/loh?

Base Root is pretty bad and CHA has a massive effect on lull success. Being able to split 2-4 spawns reliably opens up so much more of the game and will make run of the mill grinding much smoother and safer. Not to mention it helps you get around without invis. Lull is just too good on p99 to ignore.

Originally Posted by Crede [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

The dwarven stat advantage almost becomes more heightened with ssf because to get that kinda str/sta from finding your own gear is extremely difficult.

I don't think STA is a super high value SSF stat — pretty low returns and no "double dip" mechanics like Mend; not to mention no one is CHing you. It's an end game stat.

In my opinion STR (big advantage dwarf here), WIS and CHA are the best stats for SSF Pal.

Traditionally you can get a cheap CHA set, but it's a lot harder to come by for SSF, which is why I'd personally avoid dwarf. It's still a reasonable choice as a melee bruiser with heals, but it will play a lot different than a human or elf.

[Crede]

Originally Posted by Keebz [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Base Root is pretty bad and CHA has a massive effect on lull success. Being able to split 2-4 spawns reliably opens up so much more of the game and will make run of the mill grinding much smoother and safer. Not to mention it helps you get around without invis. Lull is just too good on p99 to ignore.

Cha has no effect on lull success? The effect it has is how likely you will get a crit if you get resisted. Unless I am mistaken. So while higher cha will help avoid the crit resists, generally speaking you should be hunting as low of blues as possible(even more important with ssf) where your odds of getting a lull resist are low. I don’t see how the base root is pretty bad, not hard to park at least one mob. If you are engaging groups of 4 mobs at a time then you are already flirting with death with ssf gear. Not saying cha isn’t valuable just don’t personally think it’s a reason to not play dorf. And you could always put 20 points into it at character creation to help level the playing field.

[Snaggles]

The only time I really used my CHA kit of around 150 was splitting Unrest basement. Surviving a crit resist there and running to the zone was stressful. As you level up, the range widens (your level vs the mob). That and most my favorite hunting spots involved close zones walls and splitting maybe two spawns initially while keeping them spaced/timed out.

As a SSF pally I’d prob skip Unrest altogether. Getting a rez there is nearly impossible so eating deaths can really mess with the progress.

[Kich867]

Originally Posted by Snaggles [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

As a SSF pally I’d prob skip Unrest altogether. Getting a rez there is nearly impossible so eating deaths can really mess with the progress.

I try to tell people this all the time. Dungeons when soloing are usually a waste of time, they're often out of the way, they're cluttered, there's a lot of competition for mobs, the respawn timers are crazy long, dying there fuckin sucks, etc. If you have it all to yourself, dope, or if it's something nearby / easy like Crushbone entrance, sure. But in general for SSF I'd stick primarily to outdoor zones.

If you're a dwarf paladin, or really any shorty melee class, the Bull Smasher quest is pretty non-negotiable. It has an insane ratio for that early in the game and I still used it on my dwarf warrior ssf run up into my 40's.

Scarab armor quests are easy, Bloodforge armor quests are easy, highly recommend doing both of those. BF armor at least until you get the helmet that's like BIS for a long, long time.

You can spend a long time in Butcherblock Mountains. Eventually you're going to want a magical weapon though, and so I think someone else mentioned it, the Bloodforge Hammer quest which brings you to Qeynos is an easy one to acquire.

Then, once you're in the Qeynos area with your magic hammer, you can go farm wisps in Norht Karana -> do moonstone handins for awhile to 16 or so, pivot to East Karana, farm snakes and brown spiders near the town near Gorge. I did a little leveling in gorge but its kind of a pain because of the constant blinds.

Real goal is to get high enough to do Crag Spiders then just chill and level off them until you can't. There's a ton of them, they drop infinite silk, turn the silk into swatches, sell the swatch stacks for plat, should walk away with at least 1k.

SSF really was the first step towards realizing making plat isn't that hard while leveling if you just loot shit and sell it.

[Goregasmic]

Dungeons are usually best ZEM though so it could be argued you're making it harder on yourself hunting anywhere else. Some are absolute death traps solo though so you have to see what you can handle.

Not super familiar with paladins but I know pre kunark pallies seem to speak fondly of ghoulbane, you could probably solo the quest in your early 30s?

[Kich867]

Dungeons have the highest ZEM but, I mean it depends. If you have the zone mostly to yourself, you know how to solo in it, and you can consistently be pulling, then definitely.

But, typically speaking, dungeons have a much slower respawn timer, and in many cases I find that killing a mob that gives ~50% more xp or something, but is on a 22 minute spawn timer, in the long run doesn't give as much XP because in those 22 minutes I could've killed like 4 mobs outside for basically 300% more xp you know?

Granted, this was on my SSF warrior, it was simply faster to bind wound up to 50% and fight very low blue / green mobs in beserk range for quad crits and just kinda chainsaw through them. If you're doing something better at soloing you can definitely do more dungeon stuff.

[Crede]

Originally Posted by Kich867 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Dungeons have the highest ZEM but, I mean it depends. If you have the zone mostly to yourself, you know how to solo in it, and you can consistently be pulling, then definitely.

But, typically speaking, dungeons have a much slower respawn timer, and in many cases I find that killing a mob that gives ~50% more xp or something, but is on a 22 minute spawn timer, in the long run doesn't give as much XP because in those 22 minutes I could've killed like 4 mobs outside for basically 300% more xp you know?

Granted, this was on my SSF warrior, it was simply faster to bind wound up to 50% and fight very low blue / green mobs in beserk range for quad crits and just kinda chainsaw through them. If you're doing something better at soloing you can definitely do more dungeon stuff.

Yea I don’t think dungeons were ever designed for fungi mega twinked melee to rip through them solo. So it makes sense as SSF you would be better off staying safe/outdoors. Even like unrest there used to be so many nasty basement trains back in the day you weren’t really venturing in there solo.

[Snaggles]

To each their own, anyone who isn’t killing HK type mobs (warriors and rogues; 1800-2400hps on average) is making life harder. Nobles also have a 6-7min pop compared 28 minutes in lower guk.

Breaking a room full of overtuned casters with twice the hps makes for a fun adventure and Twitch video. It’s not faster than going safe, boring, and dropping xp mobs in half the time though. If you have 3 bags of jaspers and a DW BP that’s of course different. Bonus points if you have a Dawncall weapon or Craslith.

It just is a matter of what you want, reliable and boring exp or an adventure. If the latter keep a Leatherfoot cap in a general slot.