Leveling Reaper of Souls

[Acipenser]

I am completely new to the leveling of weapons. I have read a bunch of the leveling threads but most of those weps are eventually being turned into relayered equipment. So not sure what to do on my first wep.
I have a Reaper of Souls that I have begun leveling, but am not sure what should be added to make it the best weapon that I can.

Came with:
Damage Increase - 25%
Hit Life Leech - 40%
Hit Mana Leech - 40%
Hit Stamina Leech - 40%
Strength Bonus - 8
Swing Speed Increase - 60%

I have added:
Hit Lightning - 20%
Hit Fireball - 1%
So I have used 84 points so far.

What should I add?

[Wil]

Dex and stamina for sure, so that you hit faster.

[Acipenser]

So if I add:
Dex Bonus - 8 = 32 points
Stamina Bonus - 8 = 24 points

Total 56 points + 84 already spent = 140 spent
Leaves 355 points left.

Any other tips?

[Asmodean]

Here is the way to look at for weapons take notes.

Direct DMG Weapons u want higher ht percentages. (so 46 or higher unless a 4x38, never under 3x on any)

Hits and uses on diff dmg types

Direct DMG

Hit Lightning first, Fireball Second (both can be good on the loot even harm or magic arrow if u plan accordingly)

Hit Harm and Hit Magic arrow determine if you are fighting ranged or melee. Magic arrow might be better for Ranged, but at the same time if you use ranged and melee with it harm will hit harder in the long run as it hits harder the closer you are.

Area hits have NO use on a direct dmg weapon as they do not do direct dmg only area of effect dmg.

Hit lower defense is good and better than Hit Lower attack on direct damage. One lowers their HCI, other their DCI, Id rather lower their DCI and hit them more so Hit Lower Defense.

Damage Increase is wasted space and should never be considered a hit on a weapon as it will most likely be wasted as you will (or should) be maxed by relayers.

Hit Dispel does not work on this server other than for player summoned creatures. Never consider it a hit for purchase or sale.

Leeches u want mana then life and stam if u really want on direct hit weapon in that order. Mana leech will be needed for using the special attacks repeatedly on most weapons


Area Weapons (whirlwind)
Your weapon wanting numbers can change on this. Really the higher up is still better but a 4 or even 5x 26 can be just as good with the right stats as a starter.


Areas and Direct DMG hits. I would definitely want at least an area and a direct hit on my weapon. I would probably even try to add later another hit or 2 and an area if possible (why the 5x26 or even 4x26 can come in handy as u can have a lot at 26 from whirlwinding doesn't need 60 always for them to go off as they get more chances).

Hit lower defense/Lower attack are really not needed or used much on an Area weapon as Lower attack would be better for saving you bandages, Nothing should need their defense lowered that you would area attack.

Leeches, whirlwinding doesn't take as much mana as direct dmg specials. You can get away sometimes if your suit is all medable without it, Stam leech and then Life leech would be best. As stam helps you not have to spam divine fury at a champ spawn.

There is your basis for looted weapons, you can follow if you want or not. But it is the best way to look at every weapon you loot, or want to buy.

[Pariah]

It all depends in what you want to do with it. I believe it has WW as a special. In that case, I'd make it an area wep. Add the two spells you already have up to 25. I also always add SDI because there's no cap. Once done, if add an area or two up to 25 for the rest OR 8 str depending on your hp situation. Ultimately, this will not be your long term wep so it's really up to you what to add. I wouldn't add dex or stam personally because you can cap that in other ways and with the ssi.

[Tredin]

Cut and pasted from the ETA forums. It isn't covered here but I wouldn't add either dex or stam to your reaper. If you already did its not really a big deal but weapons are about damage and while both have a loose effect on your DPS neither directly effect it. 8 Dex wont be noticeable for things like healing and SSI and 8 stam is nearly worthless.

One of the most common questions I see asked these days is "Where is the best place to spend points on my reaper of souls?". Now I can't get a Reaper of Souls but if I could I know exactly where I would spend my points and if you were to ask other vets most of them would probably agree with me.

At level 100 your reaper will have earned 495 points total to spend. If I were you I would spend them like this:

50 points Lightning. 200 skill points spent.
50 points Fireball or Harm* 200 skill points spent.
25 points HLD (Hit Lower Defense) 75 skill points spent.
8 points in Hit Point Increase 18 skill points spent.
Total Skill Points Spent 493

Spend the remaining two points on one rank of Hit Point Regeneration or two ranks Stamina Regeneration.

*With no SDI(Spell Damage Increase) Fireball will hit for 12-32, Harm will hit for 23-29. In theory you would net more damage with harm but based off personal experience nearly half of everything you fight is undead and undead is naturally more resistant to cold. I have a hammer with stats very similar to the Reaper and used that to make a judgment call and added fireball to my weapon. You would probably not even notice a difference though.


There are a couple of alternate choices as well.

40 fireball/lightning/harm for 480 points spent. Put the last 15 into hit point increase and get 7 more HP

Or

50lightning 50fireball/harm 400 points spent, 20 SDI for 40 points, 15 HLD for 45 points leaving 10 points unspent.

Pick any of those three and you can feel confident that your weapons potential has been reached. That being said I personally think the first choice is still superior to the second two I listed.

[Pariah]

Just curious as to why you would add HPs instead of STR? Str adds more HPs and affects damage for only slightly more cost (8 points total). You bring up a good point about monster types though. That's why I tend to to go 25% of a hit spell and add another 25% to a different spell to diversify the mobs I can effectively kill quickly.

Also, HLD on an area wep would seem to be points that could be spent better elsewhere or are you considering this a direct damage wep? I'm too old for a Reaper or I'd gladly test it out myself

[Tredin]

Just curious as to why you would add HPs instead of STR? Str adds more HPs and affects damage for only slightly more cost (8 points total).

Because it comes with 8str on it already.

Also, HLD on an area wep would seem to be points that could be spent better elsewhere or are you considering this a direct damage wep? I'm too old for a Reaper or I'd gladly test it out myself

It is only an area weapon if you put area hits on it, whirlwind alone doesn't make it is an area weapon. Area hits are only really worth it if you have a good bit of Spell Damage Increase which most players with a Reaper wont have. So its not an area weapon unless they make it one which I don't recommend because there are much better alternatives. If anyone wants a decent area weapon they just have to put 2x50 area hits on a Blaze of Death and they have a far better area weapon than the Reaper would be.

The only reason I listed alternatives was so people would know there are options out there. For max damage potential the first option is by far the best choice.

[Pariah]

Because it comes with 8str on it already.

It is only an area weapon if you put area hits on it, whirlwind alone doesn't make it is an area weapon. Area hits are only really worth it if you have a good bit of Spell Damage Increase which most players with a Reaper wont have. So its not an area weapon unless they make it one which I don't recommend because there are much better alternatives. If anyone wants a decent area weapon they just have to put 2x50 area hits on a Blaze of Death and they have a far better area weapon than the Reaper would be.

The only reason I listed alternatives was so people would know there are options out there. For max damage potential the first option is by far the best choice.

Forgive my reading comprehension failure with the 8 STR. Makes sense now that you explain with the context of other better weps for area, but couldn't the same be said for direct damage weps? There are Yumi's like Hanzo's and Horselord, or weps with better direct damage in concert with specials that are fairly reasonable in terms of price. I just wonder what would be the best use case for this weapon in general. Not trying to hijack the thread, but to me it makes most sense as an area wep. I'd be curious as to how others use it. Thanks.

[Tredin]

Well he asked about the best way to level a reaper of souls, not the best weapon option for so and so blah blah blah. So that's what I gave him.

Without getting into too much detail weapons are situational, I use 2 different Blazes and a crossbow for situational use while I have a 5x50+ war hammer I use for the majority of my hunting.

So sure some Tokumo arti's and dropped weapons are better, but how many of those can every newer player take into a pack of demons and whirlwind indefinitely without the fear of death?


The reason the Reaper is so awesome is because you can literally run into a room and as long as your not one or two shot you can whirlwind with no fear of death and you can do it till the cows come home. My War Hammer has all 3 leaches and it allows me to take on groups of monsters that would make most pause. I'm a lot more advanced now than I was then but I had it maybe a week before I realized that a WW weapon with all 3 leaches is +C's gift to being a noob.

[Acipenser]

Thanks for the replies and discussion.

What if I were to follow this formula and use it as a direct damage wep.
45 points Lightning. 180 skill points spent.
45 points Fireball, 180 skill points spent.
30 points HLD (Hit Lower Defense) 90 skill points spent.
20 points SDI (Spell Damage Increase) 40 skill points spent.
Total Skill Points Spent 490
I'll put the other 5 points somewhere.
I thought that this might increase the amount of damage done when the lightning or fireball spells hit, and have a better chance of hitting.

I would also like to know (as mentioned by Pariah) why this will not be a long term weapon. What should I be looking for in a long term weapon that this does not have? Very curious as I have no idea.

Also I would like to level a bow as well. I have a Honzo's and Horselord, but again would not be sure what to add to it. I guess that the bows should be made as area effect weapons. So what should I add to one of those. Again not thinking of ultimately making it a relayer.

Thanks,

[Wil]

20 points SDI (Spell Damage Increase) 40 skill points spent.

SDI is pointless on a non-relayer that also lacks spell channeling. You can't cast while it's equipped! Ditto everything else on the spell menu as well as int and mana attributes.

Hit Life/stamina/mana leech, Hit lightning/fireball are wasted on a relayer. They only have effect when on a weapon. You won't be relayering the reaper; the points aren't distributed well for it.

I basically agree with Tredin except about Dex. If you don't put 8 dex on it, you're 8 dex further away from 220 dex god mode. It isn't hard or expensive to find or buy +8 dex jewelry (24 points), max your character's innate dex (125 points), get yourself a 4-part leather suit from pet-friendly mobs in the Citadel (+12 dex), +8 dex you put on your reaper and suddenly you're at 169 dex... With the Reaper's native swing speed increase, that DOES make a difference.

[Acipenser]

So SDI only counts for cast spells? I thought it would increase the lightning/fireball damage from the sword as well. If it does not add to there damages then I can see how that would be worthless.

[Wil]

So SDI only counts for cast spells? I thought it would increase the lightning/fireball damage from the sword as well. If it does not add to there damages then I can see how that would be worthless.

That's a good question. I don't know.

[Unbeliever]

SDI (Spell Damage Increase) does increase damage from direct damage spell properties on weapons (Hit Lightning/Fireball/Harm/etc). Believe that if it didn't, no one would worry about it at all. Because no one casts direct damage spells to kill monsters. It doesn't increase damage from area of effect spells, nor does it affect buffs/debuffs in anyway. About adding SDI to this weapon, I personally look at it this way: 20 points of SDI alone is not worth bothering with much and by the time you're carrying enough SDI for it to be significant, you'll probably be upgrading or already have upgraded weapons.

About adding stats to a weapon: if it's the difference between taking you to the next level or not, consider it. But I can tell you that I was able to reach 210 dex with gear and a +10 stat scroll alone, no points added to a weapon. The healing is extremely fast and even though I only carry 162hp at most times, I've only died a handful of times in the past several months.