Could need some help finding good util items

Heya, I have recently rolled an armsman (just flame me ) and am starting to think about his template...

Now, I have already decided that I won´t use any arties (for various reasons) so I am on the look out for some good ToA plate armor or accessories that can cap me in the different ToA bonuses (cap increases, melee damage etc.)

Been looking myself on some drops from the MLs, but haven´t really found anything "great", so was wondering if anyone knew some great stuff they could post here?
doesn´t really matter how much the stuff costs on ME or how hard it is to get, would just like to see what options I have

I will use a crush polearm btw, if you have some suggestions on what polearm to get

On beforehand thx,

-Fellavader

Without using artifacts you’ll probably gimp your style damage % and melee damage %, which is the whole point of having an armsman.

ask kagato ingame, dont think he has any artifacts in hes template (except cyclops shield he wields when he has to find stealthers (stealthlore))

okay cheers for the replies

I might go with an arti or two, but I really didn't want any because the *good* ones are overcamped and cost a fortune on ME.. besides that they take ages to lvl

I'll try and see what I can get without arties, and if it goes totally wrong I might through in one or two

Depends on your spec also, if S/S or 2h Malice is not a bad choice, not so
hard to get either.

Dunno if the new patch made a polearm version too.

You really ought to get one or two artifacts mate. I'd suggest:

Scepter of the Meritorious (for HP increase)
Guard of Valor
Ceremonial Bracers (for Mez feedback)

Try and make sure your resists are capped, then try and get Str, Qui and Hits as high as possible.

The only thing you will miss from not having Artifacts is Style & Base damage bonuse.

Unless you use ML10 pole which does have those on it, but also happens to be shit anyway.

However damage is not a problem for Armsmen anyway, we have weaknesses but damage is not it.

Every other ToA bonus you can get from good items, whats more by using High Utility items you can get MORE of those bonuses then you would have if you used artifacts with good charges but shit stats.

Theres arguements both ways, my suggestion is to try and build a template aiming for the bonuses you want, and if you have space left over (you wont) then try and fit artifacts in. That will bring things into perspective for you.

Of cause its not always that simple and there are things to consider. Some items, even artifacts are worth using, others come very very over rated, you will see some mentioned here already, look at them on paper and think to yourself wether there actually as good as people reckon before you spend 40 plat on them. A ToA drop with 70 + utility and a damn good proc is often just as good if not better.

Another thing you will need to consider.

As an Armsmen, depending on spec, you can find yourself having to cap 3 spec lines with a two handed weapon, that means your already losing 1 item with a potential 6 slots on it for stats/bonuses/procs which again is a strong arguement for good utility rather then artifact charges.

My motto is always to be decent 24/7 rather then good for 1 minute out of 15.

Regarding spec lines I can give you this advice, + all melee is your friend !

If your specing pole or 2h you will need both your base damage and pole/2h Spec, +All Melee benefits both for free, so don't bother crafting those in individually, make use of toa/sidi items with +All Melee on it and you can cap both in 1.

For the record, my current template uses no active artifacts in my fighting suite, but as already mentioned cyclops shield for stealth lore is handy for finding Vanish cowards (not garunteed to work but gives you a fighting chance if lucky) and also Sceptre or Battler are both good for the charge in unused weapon slot without gimping your fighting suite.

Before anyone whines at me about artifacts, im not interested so save your fingers the ache I've debated it all I care to and everyone has their own opinions, my personal opinion is that I have far far to much I need to fit into my suite to leave room for shit stat items.

Battler sleeves (from Battler) , Soot boots (from SOM), Gem of Thunder (ML8), Bracers of Silent Oblivion (ML5), Ancient Copper Necklace & Kirkerlis Helm (ML1.6 and a pain to farm) are all pretty good for utility.

I suggest getting a sidi breastplate with 180 heal proc on it, or ML6.10 plate 130 heal proc, but slightly better utility.

Make sure every item you wear has lifetap, heal or melee buffer proc.

And despite what ppl say you can do great without Artifacts, you just need to get the spec right for your situation.

thanks alot for the advice everyone

Helped shed some light on this whole template thing..
Will look at some of the stuff posted here and see what I can come up with

cheers again

FFS when will you tank gimps start learning that Spear of King >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Scepter of the Meritorious /hugz

Beltorak said:

FFS when will you tank gimps start learning that Spear of King >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Scepter of the Meritorious /hugz

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When will ignorant gimps learn that Spear of Kings STACKS with Scepter of the Meritorious so you can use BOTH to get about 3088 hit points (from my old templates actual example) or more.

However I would not reccomend using either, if you can afford the scrolls and get the help then the absorb on Battler is better to use, I say the absorb because the actual debuff has a rediculously huge resist rate and cannot be relied upon. SoK is just as hard to get but the hits don't compare to the absorb value, the only benefit to you yourself being the length of the buff.

Sceptre though is cheap and easy to get, a ML9 sorc can solo it and if you can't afford the big items its a nice little bonus.

For comparison I currently use a ROG pole with battler/cyclops unequiped for the charges but not templated, I also have SoK which is basically so shit its my PvE pole, but its good to keep it equipped if your afk for awhile or inactive, so when you come back you can buff yourself and have a 10 minute hits/af boost as the buff stays on even when you switch back to your good pole.

SoK is easier to get since patch because it's now 100% drop rate.

Javai said:

SoK is easier to get since patch because it's now 100% drop rate.

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far from

dropped on third or fourth attempt for a guildie, but on first attempt for another guildy and for me.. droprate is quite high, but definitely not 100%

sok proc is great though, scepter is a waste of groupslot imo unless you use sok as 2h and you have room for it

Kagato said:

However damage is not a problem for Armsmen anyway, we have weaknesses but damage is not it.

My motto is always to be decent 24/7 rather then good for 1 minute out of 15.

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Surely as with anything in life, it's great to be adequate, but much better to excellent. Sure, you don't need the % damage bonuses. You dont need CB mez immunity. You don't need wolf morph. It helps though.

Yes be decent all the time. A good player can cope without active RAs up or artifact abilities. However, not using artifacts and items to their full is a waste. Not having Tart's gift for example in a theurgist template would be simply stupid, even if only for the 50% power charge on it.

Kagato I'm sure you are a great player, I do not doubt that and am not flaming you, just to make that clear.

SoK is great; I love it on my thrust merc, the proc is nice too. And it's not 100% drop; nothing (almost) is.

Vodkafairy said:

far from

dropped on third or fourth attempt for a guildie, but on first attempt for another guildy and for me.. droprate is quite high, but definitely not 100%

sok proc is great though, scepter is a waste of groupslot imo unless you use sok as 2h and you have room for it

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Well prior to patch I'd done it ~ 10 times and never got drop, only done it once since and it dropped

If nothing else it's now alot easier to get than it was before. Though the encounter itself remains the same. (Our best run on this was 4 chars/two players but I don't recommend it because its way too easy to spend 1.5 hours hitting it only to wipe to harpies at the very end).

Edit: My mistake on the 100% drop rate I missed the almost when reading the patch notes, and since patch nothing failed to drop when doing the encounter so had no cause to go and read em again

eggy said:

Surely as with anything in life, it's great to be adequate, but much better to excellent. Sure, you don't need the % damage bonuses. You dont need CB mez immunity. You don't need wolf morph. It helps though.

Yes be decent all the time. A good player can cope without active RAs up or artifact abilities. However, not using artifacts and items to their full is a waste. Not having Tart's gift for example in a theurgist template would be simply stupid, even if only for the 50% power charge on it.

Kagato I'm sure you are a great player, I do not doubt that and am not flaming you, just to make that clear.

SoK is great; I love it on my thrust merc, the proc is nice too. And it's not 100% drop; nothing (almost) is.

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As I said, i'd rather be decent all the time then good for 1 minute out of every 15.

Now *some* over powered artifacts are always good, but those are very few like malice, but a vast majority are only good for a buff that often lasts only a minute and has a 15 minute reuse timer (like battler or arrogance charges, even SoM leaves you vulnerable for a period of time till timer is up).

That is my arguement, if you rely on those you can and will get caught with your pants down and more often then not your normal fighting ability will suck because you sacrificed so much to fit those artifacts with shit stats in.

I don't think its a waste at all if you can run around with max over-capped strength/con/hits and full resists rather then having blatent gaps that will get you owned if your 'I Win' button is still 2 minutes away from being up.

Regarding SoK i disagree its an aweful artifacts I know I used it as my main weapon for about a year

The proc IS good but only if it procs right at the very begining of a fight as if it procs near the end its simply wasted the effect is so minor

so as you can imagine sods law is that it nearly always procs right after its to late to save you

Kagato said:

As I said, i'd rather be decent all the time then good for 1 minute out of every 15.

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You don't seem to understand what I'm saying.

I'm not saying you should rely on them, I'm saying yeh be decent all the time, and have that extra edge with an ability when it's needed. I'm not saying be good only 1 minute out of 15.

It's perfectly possible to add artifacts to templates and still cap things as needed.

Really, show me a template with 26 strength / con / 200 hits cap, capped all resists and dex/quickness at limit, not even over capped AND 3 full spec lines at +11, melee haste limit and style/base damage whilst limited to a two-handed weapon using 3 or 4 artifacts.

Kagato said:

Really, show me a template with 26 strength / con / 200 hits cap, capped all resists and dex/quickness at limit, not even over capped AND 3 full spec lines at +11, melee haste limit and style/base damage whilst limited to a two-handed weapon using 3 or 4 artifacts.

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Why do you need 3 spec lines capped?

In a standard 50 50 28 Pole spec you just need +11 Parry. Adding +11 to Pole and Dmg Type is pointless, you are already variance free.

Of course if you spec 50 Pole, 42 Shield and 39 Dmg Type then you'll need +11 to two lines.

I do agree though, it must be difficult trying to cap everything with a 2H/Pole Class

Danamyr said:

Why do you need 3 spec lines capped?

In a standard 50 50 28 Pole spec you just need +11 Parry. Adding +11 to Pole and Dmg Type is pointless, you are already variance free.

Of course if you spec 50 Pole, 42 Shield and 39 Dmg Type then you'll need +11 to two lines.

I do agree though, it must be difficult trying to cap everything with a 2H/Pole Class

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Urm even with 50 pole, +11 increases maximum cap damage.

Danamyr said:

Why do you need 3 spec lines capped?

In a standard 50 50 28 Pole spec you just need +11 Parry. Adding +11 to Pole and Dmg Type is pointless, you are already variance free.

Of course if you spec 50 Pole, 42 Shield and 39 Dmg Type then you'll need +11 to two lines.

I do agree though, it must be difficult trying to cap everything with a 2H/Pole Class

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That is wrong like Eggy already said, +11 pole will increase your maximum damage cap as well as your weaponskill.

But for the record I need +11 Polearm, +11 base damage and +11 parry in my template to make use of my spec. Some spec's can get away with less but then again they will be imperfect for it, it depends on what level you wish to play at and how perfect you wish to be.

eggy said:

Urm even with 50 pole, +11 increases maximum cap damage.

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I know that Eggy - but as 50 Pole will already be hitting for a lot, +11 Pole could easily be dropped if it means the extra imbue can be used to cap a stat or resists instead.

+11 when 50 already will not make that much difference anyway - a few % at the most.

That's all the point is I was making; in a situation where you're already missing one item to imbue why make it more difficult? Makes no sense to me

Kagato said:

That is wrong like Eggy already said, +11 pole will increase your maximum damage cap as well as your weaponskill.

But for the record I need +11 Polearm, +11 base damage and +11 parry in my template to make use of my spec. Some spec's can get away with less but then again they will be imperfect for it, it depends on what level you wish to play at and how perfect you wish to be.

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I think that's a bit of an anal view mate TBH. Exactly how much is +11 Pole going to give you? 5.5% extra dmg from the +11 to Pole and a little more perhaps from the increase in Weapon Skill? That's well within the bounds of negation due to opponent skill in RVR.

How you SC is your business of course, but as I posted above in reply to Eggy, if you're already struggling to cap the important stats and resists, then using up valuble imbue just to put +11 to a skill that should already be 50 seems a waste to me.

Im afraid you couldn't possibly be more wrong, your main spec line, polearm in this case is your bread and butter, your main survivability, everything you rely upon, it is the number 1 most important thing about you and capping it is the number 1 priority. +11 makes a huge differance there is no drop off above 50, your damage cap just goes up and up with spec as does your weaponskill by a huge amount.

Your base damage does have deminishing returns above 50, but your main specline (polearm) does not.

There are some things I would sacrifice to cap stats and resists, but my main specline, or any specline to be honest, never, you might as well not bother.

Kagato said:

Im afraid you couldn't possibly be more wrong, your main spec line, polearm in this case is your bread and butter, your main survivability, everything you rely upon, it is the number 1 most important thing about you and capping it is the number 1 priority. +11 makes a huge differance there is no drop off above 50, your damage cap just goes up and up with spec as does your weaponskill by a huge amount.

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Quantify 'huge' for me please, because I can't believe that it's that big a deal.

I know with Shield on my Paladin, I have an extra 0.5% check to block for every point above 50, so I assumed that you'd gain an extra 0.5% dmg per point in Pole Arm above 50? If that's wrong then educate me please, because I'd like to understand how it works, and if my understanding is incorrect then where it is incorrect!

I respect you as a player, and my posts have had no malice or ill-will behind them, so I hope you've not taken offence.

Danamyr said:

Quantify 'huge' for me please, because I can't believe that it's that big a deal.

I know with Shield on my Paladin, I have an extra 0.5% check to block for every point above 50, so I assumed that you'd gain an extra 0.5% dmg per point in Pole Arm above 50? If that's wrong then educate me please, because I'd like to understand how it works, and if my understanding is incorrect then where it is incorrect!

I respect you as a player, and my posts have had no malice or ill-will behind them, so I hope you've not taken offence.

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If you have 50 pole, use pole styles, and then add +11 in your SC, all your polearm styles will do 61/50=1.22 or 22% times more damage. All style damage is directly proportional to your total skill in that style line.

Additionally your base damage two-hand bonus will increase by I believe 0.5% per spec so thats 5.5%. That's 5.5% of no spec, so you might get something like 160% -> 165.5% base damage compared to no spec which is a relative increase of ~3.4%.

Add them together and ingame you'll see (depending on quickness and haste) between 10 and 15% damage increase on each styled swing. That's pretty huge


If you play a polearmsman and don't put +11 in your template you might aswell put 0 strength since you obviously don't care about damage. +11 pole makes a bigger difference than 25 str overcap and have you ever seen a tank template that doesn't try to get str cap?

Thanks Seth - seeing the figures makes understanding it a lot easier.

I appreciate your earlier comments now Kagato.

So by the same token then, a high RR Pole Arms is going to hit for even more damage because of the + to skill?

Pretty sick TBH

question is if you need +base wpn skill, or if wyrd spec works on polearm as on DW ? anyone know this?

oh, and imo! SoM > 200 hits for a solo template, once you gone SoM you never go back

Lethul said:

question is if you need +base wpn skill, or if wyrd spec works on polearm as on DW ? anyone know this?

oh, and imo! SoM > 200 hits for a solo template, once you gone SoM you never go back

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Yes, wyrd spec works... as long as you spec 50 polearm, 51 (some say 50) composite base damage spec is enough ofc that means you need to use polearm styles

Fellavader said:

Yes, wyrd spec works... as long as you spec 50 polearm, 51 (some say 50) composite base damage spec is enough ofc that means you need to use polearm styles

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Why would you play a Pole Arms and *not* use Pole Styles?