Just Starting AAs

[quseio]

get all the sol lvl aa archtype/class aas just ignore the innate stats get run speed first then con fbo and servent aas

[Wazza]

Sorry for the slight hijacking, but from what I'm hearing I should get enough AA to get Run to 5 and then just wait till 59 before getting more AAs?

Wazule 51 Magician AB.

[nako]

It depends, there certainly aren't many useful AA at 51, if that's the question. Run3, potion belt slot, first rank of mystical attuning are about it iirc.

At 55 you unlock the first of the archetype AA's, which will mostly be bread and butter (SCF 1-3, SCM 1-3, CA/CS/ND 1-3, summon companion, 1st of 4 extra spell slots, etc).

59 unlocks the lower end class AA's, but in all honesty there weren't really any good ones for mages at the time (luclin era). 1st rank of FBO is a joke - although not as bad as during Luclin era, elemental forms were mostly useless even then. Pet hold is the only one that immediately comes to mind as being must-have. [edit - add Quick Damage and Companion of Necessity]

Run 4/5 aren't available until 61 I think, maybe 61 and 63 or something.

As for when to start AA'ing seriously, it really depends on where you like to hunt. I recently started an alt mage just for kicks, and did ~50 aa's in Seb at 51 just cause it was a blast. Currently 55 and reliving the good old days stomping through kunark dungeons. Assuming you stop to get 30 banked, you'll run out of really useful aa's at about 51/50, 55/150, 59/200'ish? There really isn't any point to stopping at 59 and aa'ing, unless you found someplace you really enjoy with lots of LB mobs that are 45 and will green out at 61. At 61 you gain access to *much* better buffs, and 61 air pet will be a huge upgrade unless you're epic'd.

In summary, if you found a happy place < 61 by all means stay there and enjoy it. If you just want to power game through the lower levels, then get to 61 asap (stop for run3 along the way), then start working archetype stuff.

-nako/saryrn

[Wazza]

Thanks Nako for the info. I took a look at the spreadsheet in this thread and have come up with the following:

I'm thinking of earning enough AAs pre-55 to get the AAs listed below when I hit 55. I'll be hunting Seafuries (at 52) and I think they're green. As I want to hunt them for money I may finish my level doing 70% AA before they turn grey @ 53.

Spell Casting Mastery 2 + 4 + 6 [12]
Spell Casting Fury 2 + 2 + 2 [6]
Summon Companion 1 [1]
Mental Clarity 2 + 4 + 6 [12]
Mnemomic Retention 3 [3]
Natural Durability 2 + 4 + 6 [12]

And I'll get these + bank some for the class ones between 55-59

Get the following @ 56
Secondary Forte 9 [9]
Persistant Casting 2 + 4 + 9 [15]

TBH I'm not sure how you can spend more than a thousand AA points!

Btw what is the potion belt? I haven't used potions as of yet- are they all player made?

[nako]

Keep in mind that you can only bank 30 unspent AA's points max, and spell casting fury is 2/4/6. You'll be able to save up enough for a lot of it, but not all. Also, Persistant Casting is pretty much a waste, I don't think I've ever seen it do anything. I'm sure it has, but it's just not noticable at all.

Potion Belt is mostly for clickies you'll start using at later levels (ice shards, lava/molten orbs, rods), and heal pots. The heal pots are player made, and also available at most alchemy vendors (PoK, CR, etc). There's an easy quest in CR from a farmer in the Inn area. Doing it once will net you a stack of 10 Heal over time IX potions, which are clickable at lvl 30 (normal player made IX pots aren't clickable until 60). Takes about 5-10 minutes and is repeatable, nice heals for the level you can click them, and nice if you're low on plat.

Seafuries can get boring fast, I remember back in the day I leveled from 49 to 54 mostly on them, I think there's a lot more of them now at least. If you're looking for alternative camps with decent pp and xp, I might recommend the following (on a scale from 1-10):

XP/PP: [bold = hotzone, subtract a couple points off XP rating when they change]

3/4 -- Seafuries (haven't camped them since OOT was revamped, so rating based on old OOT)
5/6 -- Dulaks Harbor
6/8 -- Sebilis
7/5 -- Veksar
7/? -- Griegs End (not sure on loot as not too familiar with zone, some decent tribute stuff iirc -- Mobs might be a bit high on the hp's to make it efficient)
8/3 -- Howling Stones
8/7 -- The Hole (not sure if there are many good camps at 52, entrance greens out about then, but great post 60 down in the temple/seal areas).

Completely ignore this if you're happy at seafuries, just thought I'd throw them out there.

-nako/saryrn

[Wazza]

My original character back in the day was a rogue, so this soloing lark is still relatively new. I'm sure I'll get burnt out, but as I've got 2 quests to do in the area (Clay beads Goblin chap and i've got to kill Gornit for his fire giant toes (I don't think I can solo fire giants yet (although never tried)). I'll clear that island at least once My knowledge of the new zones and what I'm capable of as a mage are pretty limited.

I was in Sebilis the other day for a bit of a tour with an old friend and the exp didn't seem all that great. The froggies seemed to have a lot of health and they always came in pairs. When I hit 53 I might go do some further exploration there, what are the money makers?

I hear the hole is awesome for 60+ so may want to try other zones prior to setting up shop there.

Howling stones was fun, found a group and totally owned the zone. We killed 2 of the fabled, but they were both melee item drops. I looted one of the melee daggers to give to my pet! I had a task to kill oblation undead, but I think we went in completely the wrong direction and after spending 4 hrs there, only killed one!

Thanks for the heads up about the 30 AA Cap. Didn't know there was one. Should be able to afford CM3, CF3 & MC3 at the very least. My mana seems to be the main limiting factor at the moment (even with 255 int!). Are there any potions that do clarity?

Once again many thanks,

Wazule "The Eager newbie"

[Zatpus]

There are clarity potions available at pok at the alchemy vendors.
Somtimes at the bazaar you can find them at lower cost as well made by alchemists.

Look for "Distillate of Clarity". They are level restricted, the lvl 50 potion would be "Distillate of Clarity VII". (they don't stack with enchanters kei). They last 30 minutes a pop.
There is as well a bst-crack in a bottle named "Distillate of Spirituality". Same concept, they won't stack with Beast-buff.

If you know a friendly alchemist, there is more he can do for you.
Tonic of Heat Affinity III will reduce the manacost of fire-based spells by 5% upto level 60, this line is ranked as well. A bottle of this will last for ours.

At higher levels more potions get useful as well.

[Wazza]

Thanks, will take a look.

A'khzam shows that it's only 9 manna every 6 seconds for my level. Is this really noticable?

[Tweelis]

Thanks, will take a look.

A'khzam shows that it's only 9 manna every 6 seconds for my level. Is this really noticable?

Doing some math this comes out to 2700 mana during the entire course of the potion. If you're doing a hard lesson burn chances are you'll have a couple of OOC regens in there so the effectiveness of the potion goes down even more. So it's better than a kick in the bootie but it won't change your gameplay significantly.

[Zatpus]

A'khzam shows that it's only 9 manna every 6 seconds for my level. Is this really noticable?

Kei from lvl 60 enchanter does 14 per tick.

C-Pot
Effect: Elixir of Clarity VII
2: Increase Mana by 9 per tick

crack-pot
Effect: Elixir of Spiritualism VII
5: Increase Mana by 4 per tick
8: Increase Hitpoints by 4 per tick

Both together: 13 mana/tic just 1 mana shy of kei. Do you feel Kei is useful?

When I run out of chanter or bst-buff I use the pots.


The best Manaregen-clicky for Groupers in game befor Underfoot was the Baneband, usable at lvl 85. The ckicky is: Reyfin's Random Musings, 9 mana per tick.
Just short time ago I could grab an upgrade in Underfoot.

9 mana/tic is not gamechanging. But all adds up.