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Basic Guide for KA Heroics - Character Prep

Discussion in 'Items, Equipment, and Mechanics' started by Errrorr, Jun 19, 2017.

  1. Errrorr

    Errrorr Active Member

    So a thread on the official forums brought it to light just how uninformed or confused people are about the transition from Solos to Heroics, especially in this expac. So writing a basic guide on some things that will ensure a much smoother transition. Feel free to reply to this with anything you wish to add.

    Resolve
    Resolve for T1 Heroics is 190 Grouped. This means you'll need at least 140 solo.
    Resolve for T2 Heroics is 240 Grouped. 190 solo.
    Resolve for Experts is 375 Grouped. 325 solo.

    Stats
    For making headway in KA Heroics, aim to achieve the following where possible;
    • 4150 Crit Bonus (Right side Prestige is a big boost for this).
    • 12,000 Potency+ (Potency is king this expansion)
    • 100% Reuse, Cast speed & AE Auto.
    • 120% Haste.
    • 100% SDA (Get this as high as you can, 100% is not always achievable instantly)
    • As much Abil Mod as you can get.
    • As much Fervor as you can get.
    When it comes to auto attack stats, it is not advised to put much effort into these. Let them occur naturally and use these for reforging (See below).

    Various stats have caps & overcaps. See here for more detail.

    Essential Items

    KA brought in lots of new adornments for purple slots. These adornments can be very powerful and I advise to have these; (More Detail Here)

    All Classes;
    • Aspect of Paixao (3): [eq2u]Foundation of Excitement[/eq2u], [eq2u]Firmament of Passion[/eq2u], [eq2u]Ascension of Love[/eq2u]
    • Aspect of Pingyuan Diqu (3): [eq2u]Foundation of Earth[/eq2u], [eq2u]Firmament of Growth[/eq2u], [eq2u]Ascension of Life[/eq2u]
    • Ascension of Aniuquallicaion (2): [eq2u]Foundation of Ruin[/eq2u], [eq2u]Firmament of Fire[/eq2u], [eq2u]Ascension of Destruction[/eq2u]
    • 1 x [eq2u]Bolstered Attributes[/eq2u]

    Tanks;
    • 1 x [eq2u]Relentless Conviction[/eq2u]

    Healers;
    • 1 x [eq2u]Foundations of Adamant[/eq2u] (It's a free 2k Mitigation to whole group)


    Essential AA;
    Similar to items, KA made changes to AA that make some far more substantial than the rest. The following are reccomended for anybody moving from solo to heroic;
    • 8 Points in Enhanced Vigor (Prestige Class tree)
    • Self Ward - 2nd Column, 4th ability down (Dragon Tree) - Non Fighters.
    • 10% Temp Duration - 3rd Column, 1st Ability (Dragon Tree) - Fighter Only.
    • Damage on Taunts - 4th Column, 2nd Ability (Dragon Tree) - Fighter Only.
    • Right side Prestige until capped on Crit Bonus - Non Fighters.
    As well as this, it is essential that you have an appropriate AA spec for your class. Unsure on what to go for? Find a few other of your class, look up their specs on EQ2U to get a general idea of what is a common choice. Do NOT just blindly copy a top raider, as this may not work for you.


    Reforging


    My general recommendations for reforging are generally as follows;
    • Crit Bonus (Only if Capped) -> Cast Speed (Until SDA capped), then Ability Mod
    • Attack Speed/DPS Mod/MA -> Cast Speed (Until SDA capped), then Ability Mod
    • Abil Reuse (Above 100%) -> Cast Speed (Until SDA capped), then Ability Mod
    • Cast Speed (If SDA is at 100%) -> Abil Mod.
    • AoE Auto (If at 100%) -> Cast Speed (Until SDA capped), then Ability Mod
    Reforging can make good use of bad stats on your equipment. Every item (Apart from Handcrafted) can be reforged. This allows you to take unwanted stats, and turn them into more useful stats. When reforging, mess around with the sliders and work out what is going to give you the most end stat. For example if reforging MA is going to give you 5k Abil mod, but reforging Haste is going to give you 10k, reforge the haste.

    As you can see, it's not a black & white process, but there are general rules you can apply.


    Plat Infusion
    A lot of people shy away from Plat Infusion, as they are unsure of what it really does. In short, it allows you to add extra stats to your items. While it may not seem a huge amount, it does all add up. A fully infused character can gain near 10k Stamina, 700 CB and 700 Potency.
    My recommendation is that you try to infuser where possible, but consider how long you will have an item for.

    For example, your Ethereal offhand you will have quite a long time, so investing infusers into that is a good idea. But your handcrafted charm you may replace quickly, so don't do much with that. Personally my general rule is I will infuse an item up till a plat value based on how long I will keep it. If I expect an item to last a week, I may infuser up to the 200p marker. If a month, 500p. If 3+ months, I may fully infuse.

    All of this is relative to your gear & plat budget, but it should not be ignored.

    Top Tip - It is better to spread your infusions about across gear. If you can get 10 items infused 10x for 3000p, it is better to do that then it is to infuse 1 item 20x for 3000p.

    Physical and Deity Infusion
    The concept of Physical (Dropped) and Deity (Bonus) infusers is pretty much the same as Plat Infusion. However it's worth noting that each infuser has an effective 'cap' on it, meaning you are limited how much stats you can gain.
    For these types of infusers, you are best applying the lesser quality ones first, till you can apply no more, then more upwards. E.G - Apply all your "Standard Potency Infusers" till an item can take no more, then move onto "Advanced Potency Infusers", etc through Standard/Advanced/Heroic/Epic.

    More detailed info on Infusions can be found here

    General Tips
    1. Potency > Pretty much everything. If an item has 100 Pot vs an item with 800, take the 800.
    2. Ascension is powerful, make the most of it. If you have temporary buffs that increase your base potency by large amounts, use these in combination with Ascension spells.
    3. Epics - These make zones a lot easier. Several of the epics can be done with minimal heroic involvement. They also provide a good amount of high quality items along the way.
    4. Group Setups - Do not underestimate zones. If undergeared, try to go in with a sensible group setup (Tank, Healer (Maybe x2), DPS, Utility)
    5. Shrunken Earring HQ - This HQ is very easy to do in OF. It has 1 heroic mob to kill, which is low difficulty. It awards a very nice earring.
    6. Do not be afraid to wipe. It happens to everyone, learn from it, adapt and try again. If you wipe to something over and over, concede you can't manage at the moment and perhaps try another zone. Come back to it a week later with upgrades and try again.
    7. Don't be afraid to ask for help. While there are trolls out there, and 'elitists', there are also a lot of people who will help. Mob strats, Stat help, class questions etc.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 20, 2017
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  2. Wurm

    Wurm Active Member

    Nice guide!

    Just wanted to add, don't skimp on your food and drink. ATM "Best in Slot" are the following

    [eq2u]Victornut Butter Tart[/eq2u]

    [eq2u]Strategist's Smoothie[/eq2u]

    They are however relatively expensive (especially if you don't do a lot of harvesting on your own)

    My suggestion for a player on a budget is the older food and drink from AoM

    [eq2u]Stormborn Souffle[/eq2u]

    [eq2u]Monsoon[/eq2u]

    These are made from the easy to harvest shrubs rare "Stormthorn" in Tranquil and Phantom seas.

    Also have your friendly local Alchemist make you a bunch of the following

    [eq2u]Twark Draught of Prowess[/eq2u]

    They don't require a shadebud rare to make and more importantly they stack while in group.

    30,000 hp and 300 main stats x 6 is a huge boost!

    I hand them out to my group members for free, and advise them to guzzle them down like a bum does his wine. Even when solo they make a nice difference!

    They also make it easy to remember to refresh your goblin earring buff if you activate it every time you use one, since they are both on a one hour timer (if you haven't upgraded the earring in a Kly raid).
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 20, 2017
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  3. Feldon

    Feldon Administrator Staff Member

  4. Shmogre

    Shmogre Active Member

    They are three-piece sets of the new purple adorns, for instance Ascension of Love is part of the Aspect of Paixao set, along with Firmament of Passion and Foundation of Excitement.

    DenMum has a write-up about them here, and I've got a spreadsheet for what they are and which toons can make them if anyone wants it: eq2-KA purple adorns
     
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  5. Feldon

    Feldon Administrator Staff Member

    Oops forgot to delete that post. :) Yeah we got it sorted. Thanks!
     
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