New player tips and must-haves!

[infuriates]

Was hoping people could add to this thread, to create a list of must have gear/gadgets that exist, and possibly a few hints for squeezing new players into better gear. Unfortunately, there's no concrete cushions or wrangles

Looking over a few things, I was wondering if it's better to push SP into the major/minor talisman slots earlier in the game, rather than weapons or balancing them Would pushing for QL 10 major talismans at the expense of weapon ranks be unwise?

Edit - forgot, add-ons that might be useful. I've added the deck manager and crafting, but I'm sure there's a few other handy ones I'm missing. Suggestions?

[Elrojo]

I use Curse Client and I have the following add ons

BooWarnings - gives global warnings for NY raid stuff and HR/HE shield buff
VipersDeck Manager - gives unlimited deck set ups and the ability to import/export builds
Eths Buff Bar - Almost a mandatory requirement. Gives a big buff bar that shows things like DPS boosts on self. Also shows offensive buffs on the bosses
Vipers Castbar Relocator - simply moves and enlarges the cast bar for the bosses and players. Also you can put in some abilities to get a bigger warning.
Resource relocator (not sure of name) - moves the resources for weapons to centre stage so you dont need to look around.

[Elrojo]

Glyph/Talisman/Weapon etc as a beginner.

Talisman

If you imagine your total points as 100% you can avg the weight of each piece as follows;

Head = 25% contribution
Major = 15% per item (45% total)
Minor = 10% per item (30% total)

So when raising skills (SP) as you progress it makes sense to mostly raise evenly. Be aware that your major skill will add HP and contributes the most overall so its a good line to keep high. When determining things like DPS/HP/Heal rating your talisman skills being higher will generally count more than an overpowered weapon with low talisman/glyphs.

I.e the combination QL 9 weap + QL3 talisman/glyph is pretty useless. So in general raise roughly equally.

Glyphing

Glyphs can be equipped of any QL into any talisman (so long as its a glyphable talisman) without requirement. Glyphs will significantly increase your effectiveness. DPS will require a moderate amount of hit and penetration to keep hits from glancing or being blocked. Tanks will need a moderate amount of block or defence to reduce incoming damage and heals will want moderate crit rating so that your heals are more effective.

AP wheel and spending

Understanding your AP wheel will be the key to unlocking the game. As you progress you learn how to make some synergistic builds. But to start remember some key points;
1) passives from any weapon tree can be equipped regardless of your active weapons
2) there is a search bar on the right hand side when you open your skill wheel. You can then search ANY term that will appear in text. For example using the word "impair" will bring up skill that cause impairs, prolong impairs, do extra DPS when impaired etc etc. So to make a good build try to use things that will complement your actives.
3) Look online for some builds that people use and tinker with them

[Crash]

Looking over a few things, I was wondering if it's better to push SP into the major/minor talisman slots earlier in the game, rather than weapons or balancing them Would pushing for QL 10 major talismans at the expense of weapon ranks be unwise?

I'd say the most important thing is to focus on actually accumulating SP as opposed to agonizing on how to spend it. Seems obvious, but it's easy to get caught up soloing the story & slowing your progression.

With higher level cabal mates to run with, you can acquire SP & AP at a blistering rate. example: Farming KM airport &/or blitzing dungeons you're not "ready" for yet, especially with XP boost potions, will get you filled up quickly.

That said, don't spread out SP among too many weps. Also - don't fill out both aspects of a wep at the same time. The goal is to equip a Q10 which only requires one "side" of a wep's SP. (sorry if that's painfully obvious, but I see a lot of people do both)

[infuriates]

I'd say the most important thing is to focus on actually accumulating SP as opposed to agonizing on how to spend it. Seems obvious, but it's easy to get caught up soloing the story & slowing your progression.

With higher level cabal mates to run with, you can acquire SP & AP at a blistering rate. example: Farming KM airport &/or blitzing dungeons you're not "ready" for yet, especially with XP boost potions, will get you filled up quickly.

That said, don't spread out SP among too many weps. Also - don't fill out both aspects of a wep at the same time. The goal is to equip a Q10 which only requires one "side" of a wep's SP. (sorry if that's painfully obvious, but I see a lot of people do both)

Heh, I ended up farming around 200 SP on Sunday with the SP anniversary boost, maxed out the gear slots, and got QL10 on most weapons - did only fill out one of the two, I did feel it was more important to have access to the best weapon, rather than what appeared to be a minor improvement to the actual ability. I think I'm only missing shotgun, pistol, chaos and hammer, and the aux weapons that I haven't unlocked anyway.

Thanks everyone!

[Chrisax]

Great and very interesting job, everyone.

Just a small remark, as this thread is mainly for new players:

1) passives from any weapon tree can be equipped regardless of your active weapons

This is true for many passives and it's indeed an essential thing to train the interesting lines for you, and not necessarily to try completing one weapon before anything else, but it's not true with all passives:

- some passives apply only to a specific active power for the same weapon (example: Perfect Storm blade passive applies only to Blade Torrent blade active, making it afflict (Damage over time) every enemy hit by Blade Torrent; or Wheel of Knives/Wheel of Misfortune, etc.)

- some passives are limited to some type of weapons (for example Breakdown works only with Chaos, Blade or Hammer)

They said, explore passives to see what you can use, even if they are not in the line of the weapons you use. Just be careful with points spending.

[Crash]

1) passives from any weapon tree can be equipped regardless of your active weapons

<cough> FORGED IN FIRE!! <cough>

[Chrisax]

Hm? Yes, Forged in Fire (regain 40% pf your total life over 10s when your life drops under 50%) is a major example of "universal" passive. But not all passives are universal, even is a most (I guess?) are.