another returning tank

[grayhunter]

I am returning after an absence of almost 3 years. all my gear is old raid gear, and i need some advice regardning a few effects on the gear.

First, I have been told by several people that if a max shield specialist and improved shield specialist AA's, i can do more dps with sword and shield than with dual wield. is this accurate?

Second, i have ferocity 8 on my legs. Does ferocity work only with dual wield or will it also function if i am equipped with sword and shield?

My old arms are outdated but have Cleave 8. The new gear that i have access to, only has Cleave 7-20. Upgrading would give me about 20 more AC and about 1k more hp, but Cleave would move from 8 to 7-20. Is this a significant loss?

I have about 3k AA's all in pre Underfoot AA's and my CS and CA are currently at level 32. How important is it to get to level 43-45?

I have missed the last 2 expansions, HOT and VOA and most of Underfoot. Can anyone advise me on the most important 1-10 AA's from those expansions? I have already marked Phalanx of one, finishing infused by rage and blast of anger, enhanced aggression, armor of wisdom, shield block, and ageless enmity on my high priority list. if you can suggest any other AA's from the last 3 expansions, i would appreciate it.

Here is my most recent magelo for those who require a good chuckle.


http://eq.magelo.com/profile/2403321


Thanks for any advice you can provide.

[Mendler]

Sorry dont have a lot of time here but I'm sure others will help out as well.

1. Yes you get more dps with sword/board if you have the aa's you listed. Yes its odd but its SOE so dont be surprised.

2. I can't remember what the difference is between those two off the top of my head but if I'm not mistaken it wont effect your dps much at all.

3. Get your CA/CS up to speed even though its not a huge return on the aa's spent.

4. AA's? Work on whatever is going to improve your game play. Raiding = agro/survivability. Grouping = DPS/Survivability/Agro (depends on who you're grouping with). Solo = dps/survivability.
In VOA wars got HUGE boosts to agro so get the Gut Punch, Blast of Anger, Projection, Infusion of Rage and all of the Hastened aa's that are related to agro (dont forget Bazu, and Scowl i think its called). You will not have agro issues after those are done. Dont forget shield block as well to improve your survivability.

Welcome Back!

[waza]

Welcome back

[Shakeout75]

The cleave will be an increase, it does a minimum damage mod which will boost every attack.

[Sirphoenix_18]

Thanks for this thread, it was helpful. I just came back from a long break and I didn't realize how incredibly easy it is to get AA's now. I'll likely pound out my shield AA's before going on to 85 so I can do more DPS.

[Battleblade]

Originally Posted by Sirphoenix_18

Thanks for this thread, it was helpful. I just came back from a long break and I didn't realize how incredibly easy it is to get AA's now. I'll likely pound out my shield AA's before going on to 85 so I can do more DPS.

I'm not totally convinced that sword and board,

...particularly using an aggro augged aggro weapon - a near necessity IMO for group geared Warriors

...especially vs. non-trivial content where a Warrior (again group geared Warriors more likely to be affected) is going to be far more prone to using defensive rather than offensive disciplines

is most DPS. Somewhere in this forun are posts showing a 2H keeping up with a stun proccing DMG augged 1H used with a shield vs. fast kill trivial mobs. An aggro compromise non-raiders are less likely to be able to handle.

IMO the reason to get the Shield Specialist AA's is so you don't take a huge DPS hit when using a shield and tanking mobs that can hurt you emptying your healer's mana pool and possibly killing you.

If the mobs can't hurt you and aggro isn't an issue, THEN break out your DMG aug damage proccing 1Hander/s or 2Hander.

In the same tier, IMO aggro augged aggro weapons do more aggro and less damage than DMG augged damage weapons. There ain't a one setup/one weapon best in all cases solution. For high end raiders there are compromises which a player might find to be satisfactory. For those who are group geared I'm think such compromises are less likely to exist (except for the obvious use of the DMG+stun and DMG+Rune augs).

Cleave increases damage btw, not aggro. The AA's that give you more swings do increase your aggro.