SoD vs. FH Armor; Vengeful Ykesha and aggro

[Annir Vazaelle]

Greetings all,

Short background: There is the possibility that I will be able to buy an SoD in the near future. In order to do this I will have to essentially empty myself of both money and gear.

One of the things I will have to give up is my armor, a full set of FH. That hurts to even type, I love that armor, but SoD's don't drop anymore on Vaz and the SoD's aggro-holding ability is the stuff of lore.

Before I part with the FH, which I likely will not be able to replace for quite some time if at all, I want very much to hear some advice. I have a couple paths, so here they are. Please let me know what you think.

1. Sell it all and end up with an SoD. Rest of my gear is marginal to weak but can be eventually upgraded through drops.

2. Sell it all and end up not having the SoD (someone else could simply offer more, no guarantee that I will get it), then feeling like I wish I could buy that FH armor back :p.

3. Keep the gear and work out a trade with a troll smith for 1-2 of the Troll forged Ykesha swords. This would leave me either dual wielding a Frosty-Vengeful Ykesha or dual wielding two of the Vengeful Ykeshas.

Option 3 is, oh, 20-30 times cheaper than buying the SoD. In fact, I can barely afford it now without selling anything.

I am primarily concerned with holding aggro versus doing damage, but I also want to be a good tank. Option 3 leaves me with high AC, high hit points and decent weapons. Can anyone vouch for the Vengeful Ykesha and holding aggro? Anyone used a Frosty-Vengeful Ykesha combo?

Thanks in advance for the advice. I am really hesitating on selling things I cannot replace. Just not sure if the SoD if worth giving up so much.

-Annir

[Brutul]

Don't sell your armor for an SoD. Even if you get teh SoD you will still need to be able to tank now that you have aggro heh.

Get a Willsapper or something. Getting an SoD isn't worth taking a major downgrade in most of your armor slots.

[Azeroke]

God I'd hate to part with all that gear honestly for just one weapon. It's not like it makes you able to hold aggro like a paladin.

I would think you'd have to ask yourself what kind of tanking you're going to be doing. Do you have to MT large raids for your guild etc? Or are you going to be mostly exp grouping and marginal MT jobs on raids?

Ykesha holds some pretty damn good aggro, I havnt used two of the smithed ones but I would imagine they are pretty good, acceptable for xp groups I'm sure.

I'd probably just forget the SoD for now personally.

[Gaylon]

Well, I am not qualified to judge the SoD and probably never will be. But I can say that I would never sell/give up everything I have worked hard to get for one item.

I can however vouch for the Aggro quality of the Ykesha blades. I duel wield 2 Hone Blade of Ykesha and have been quite impressed with them. They easily blow away any combo I had with Frostbringer. Granted I do not play the level of game that most here do so I really don't need weapons like SoD, but given the price (10k ea) I believe Ykesha blades are an excellent choice for the non-uber guilded warrior.


Also, I recently picked up a Greastaff of Thunder and it is rapidly becoming my Aggro weapon of choice. I got it for 20k and I think it was a steal considering the amount of aggro it produces.

[Gear]

Sold my Windblade bought a Greatstaff of Thunder and havnt looked back. I only use my 1 handers now when I dont want agro. Or when Im confident I can get away with using my Greatstaff without gaining any.

If you are concerned about agro there are alot more inexpensive alternatives. Well not ALOT but a few. On the other hand. An SoD will NEVER drop in value. So if you think you can replace the stuff you would be giving up then an SoD might be a nice investment for down the road. It really comes down to what you are willing to sacrafice and why.

Personally if I could get an SoD by giving up all my armor. I would. After all this is a Sceptre of Destruction we are talking about here. Not like you run across them for sale every day. =)

[ragnarz]

to this day I wont understand peoples overabundant desire for a SoD. The game is rich in weapons that enable you to either DPS or hold agro. Many very affordable (as seen by previous posters). Get over it already.

[Sisco Beowulve]

I've got an SoD and i'd rather have a full set of FH, never will because i worship brell... Keep the armor, go for the yaks. you'll do just fine.

[Azeroke]

God I'd hate to part with all that gear honestly for just one weapon. It's not like it makes you able to hold aggro like a paladin.

I would think you'd have to ask yourself what kind of tanking you're going to be doing. Do you have to MT large raids for your guild etc? Or are you going to be mostly exp grouping and marginal MT jobs on raids?

Ykesha holds some pretty damn good aggro, I havnt used two of the smithed ones but I would imagine they are pretty good, acceptable for xp groups I'm sure.

I'd probably just forget the SoD for now personally.

[Annir Vazaelle]

Thank you all for your replies, that all came much quicker than I thought it would.

No SoD for me. I am reading that the Vengeful Yaks are fine weapons, so I will complete my deal for two of those and not look back.

Thanks again.

-Annir

[Beornegar]

I have a scimitar of ykesha; dmg/dly is only 8/22, and it's great for aggro. I can only assume that the troll smithed versions rock ( I really want one) :) Using the scimitar in my main hand and a bed leg club in offhand (All I can afford right now, please don't make fun of me)...ok, dont make too much fun :) , I can hold aggro off an epic rogue with relative ease unless she just completely loses all restraint, and if I get lucky on procs (3 or more back to back) I just tell all the dps classes to go nuts. :)

Beo

[Gaylon]

and if I get lucky on procs (3 or more back to back)

For me thats the beauty of my Ykesha blades... 3 or more back to back procs is very normal. :)

[Tima]

What was it about the Ykesha's that got your attention? There are some really nice two handers that you can buy, and some one handers even that will be as good if not better than Ykesha's for aggro generation (most have already been mentioned, but Brutul has a great suggestion if youre after 1handers, go snag ya a Willsapper)

Im also glad you didnt sell your armor for the SoD, it kinda defeats the purpose of being a tank if you can get aggro then explode once the mob hits you a few times due to lack of hps/ac.

[Beornegar]

Originally posted by Tima

Im also glad you didnt sell your armor for the SoD, it kinda defeats the purpose of being a tank if you can get aggro then explode once the mob hits you a few times due to lack of hps/ac.

That's what usually happens to me when I get aggro now. :)
Guess I need to stop hanging out with my higher level friends and just go off on my own and level up some.

Beo

[Annir Vazaelle]

Tima - I recently found out that there is a Troll smith on Vaz so I looked up what the Troll cultural stuff is. Needless to say I was surprised to read about the weapons they can make. A Willsapper would be fantastic but I am not part of a guild right now, so what I have researched leads me to believe that it is not within my reach. Since the Troll smith is very much within my reach, Vengeful Yak's it is.

You are right, there are other things out there like two-handers. I must admit that when I think of a weapon layout that generates aggro I still think of dual-wielding first. I'll check out some options on 2H weapons also.

Thanks,

-Annir

[Gaylon]

I must admit that when I think of a weapon layout that generates aggro I still think of dual-wielding first

Aye, thats something that was hard for me to get over also. What I did was look up some good 2h aggro weapons (i.e Windblade, Greatstaff of Thunger) put whatever 1handers I had in the bank and went off to EXP for a couple of nights. Took some log parses which showed that not only was I keeping aggro just as good or better but that I was doing more DPS and needed to be healed less.

[zacc]

A full suit of FH probably costs 125-150k, depending on your luck. The smith's cost is under 50k.

Are you looking to give up a full suit of FH only, or a full suit of FH + equivalent amount of gear for the SoD?

Unless prices vary greatly between your server and mine, it sounds like a steal to me.

250-300k for an SoD on MM.

Zacc-65-MM

[Annir Vazaelle]

Zacc - I'm not going to try and buy it but I would have had to throw out all my equipment from two other characters I have played for a long time. Even then, it might or might not have added up to the 275k I was estimating it would take.

-Annir

[Haass]

I'm either missed it, or you never stated it. What level are you? Do you have any champs/myrm in the bank? Can you 2 box?

I'd personally do it, but here's the catch.

I can 2 box, and I've camped virtually every piece of my gear.

I have a grandmaster human smith.

I have a full suit of champions in the bank, and a full suit of Myrmidon, minus BP/Legs. Also, i'm level 60, which is more than adequate to farm my own shit.

It's much easier to scrounge up 10-15k at a time to get small pieces than it is to get enough for a SOD. If it is within your means, I say go for it. You'll eventually replace everything you lose, and you'll have a SOD. If you don't do it, you'll most likely never save up 275k cash, and thus never own one.

[Corpsed]

I sold all my twink crap and windblade and various other droppables that I own and was able to come up with 260k for
SoD on Vaz. Its a good weapon for sure and was upgrade from willsapper for dps and agro. However, few days later we killed PoI dragon and i got hammer which is > than SoD imo. I dont regret buying it as it will hold its value for a long time since there are not lvl restrictions on it and doesnt drop anymore. And since I am a blind h00man you cant beat that light source $$.

[gymli]

dorf > human C :)

I recently sold my windblade on vaz and picked up a greatstaff as well. From what i'm seing so far it does very well for aggro. Plus the added dps (as opposed to DW) makes for a better XP tanking expierence.

I'm curious about the new ykesha (sp) blades as well tho...

Gymli