Excelsior

I was wondering if anyone had any unique leveled weapons or ideas of what to level, beyond what people normally level. An example of this is a hit Area bow, and a weapon changed taskmaster with all hit areas, or a different weapon for a relayer that people don't typically level. I really want to see anything for some ideas for what to do next, I'd appreciate it

Now I got that song on my mind (your signature... thanks )

Serpent's Fang also has 100% poison hit. So that could be a choice too.

Bow with hit areas? I guess it could be kinda fun to get a area hit yumi.
Start out with a 3x40 or whatever and build it on from there. Would probably work wonders.
Just one thing. With a bow, does the area hit effect hit around your character, or around the arrow target?

the Taskmaster as a haliber is great! I have 1 with 60% stam leach for my Bio and I have 1 for my self with all points spent on Hit area I use at champs and Umbris camp ect... it has a total of 223 Hit area effect spells and if you hit nine targets the whole screen turns red with DMG delt. the only drawback is you can't use them in quest areas where hit area effect spells are turned off.

BTW the one with all points spent on AOE is on my vendor for sale its SR5 and blessed too. Asking 225ed wish is less then it cost me years ago but I don't really do champs anymore and have a 3x58% halaber I prefer because of quests. (200ed for change/arty tag drop+50ed SR5 +bless deed + level 100).

Nick wrote:the Taskmaster as a haliber is great! I have 1 with 60% stam leach for my Bio and I have 1 for my self with all points spent on Hit area I use at champs and Umbris camp ect...

Nick, your taskmaster is what inspired me to make the thread, actually It looked pretty interesting. It's not a bad idea since you would need to weapon change it to remove the tag anyway. I was thinking about making one too, but I decided to do something else for now. Plus yours is cheaper to buy than to make it.

Era wrote:Now I got that song on my mind (your signature... thanks )

Peeerfect, my job here is complete, everyone can leave now.

Era wrote:Serpent's Fang also has 100% poison hit. So that could be a choice too.

I completely forgot about that one, it has resist on it instead of dexterity so both would work pretty similarly. The only other difference being the type of damage but I'm not sure how that works when changed, or how it works at all.

Era wrote:Bow with hit areas? I guess it could be kinda fun to get a area hit yumi.
Start out with a 3x40 or whatever and build it on from there. Would probably work wonders.
Just one thing. With a bow, does the area hit effect hit around your character, or around the arrow target?

That's a good question, the only time I've had hit area on a bow it was when I first started and I had no idea how utterly horrific it would be as a new player. From what I remember, it hit where the target is. It could be pretty fun if you used double shot and spammed it at champs, but there must be a reason why no one does it. Beats me.

After making this thread, I decided it could be interesting to level a Sword Of The Stampede. It's 100% hit harm, but when leveled fully it will be 100% hit harm/60% hit lightning/60% hit fireball or 100% hit harm/40% hit lightning/40% hit fireball/40% hit magic arrow, and it works pretty well. With enough regens and LMC, you don't need mana leech to spam abilities. I've seen them a few times but they aren't nearly as popular as BoDs or Horselords for leveling. It might not work like a Reaper of Souls without any leeches or not being one handed but everything is situational.

Basically, it would be cool to see people break the mold and try new things, doing the same things can be boring, but I can understand the shard is over 10 years old so everything has been figured out, possibly. Happy hunting.

Erth wrote:After making this thread, I decided it could be interesting to level a Sword Of The Stampede. It's 100% hit harm, but when leveled fully it will be 100% hit harm/60% hit lightning/60% hit fireball or 100% hit harm/40% hit lightning/40% hit fireball/40% hit magic arrow, and it works pretty well. With enough regens and LMC, you don't need mana leech to spam abilities. I've seen them a few times but they aren't nearly as popular as BoDs or Horselords for leveling. It might not work like a Reaper of Souls without any leeches or not being one handed but everything is situational.

I use as my primary wep, a Sword of the Stampede turned into a Double Axe. The beauty of using a Double Axe is that - in addition to having whirlwind, to get you out of mob-heavy scrapes - it uses Double Strike. So, with the 100% hit harm, it means you're almost guaranteed a minimum of four hits with every single swing.

I also have 50% Lightning and 50% Fireball (plus 8 str, some hit points, and 20 mana leech), and the damage output on this axe is outrageous.

I did some analysis on all the weapons available on the shard, to work out which would make the most sense to convert an SotS into, and the only thing more damaging than the double axe is the Yumi... so I made one of those, too

The issue with the Yumi, of course, is that if you use it for anything other than In Your Face Melee, then the hit harm power takes a huge drop. So I use the axe most of the time.

Purely as a test case for myself, I worked out that I do between 8,000 and 9,700 damage in total per minute against Netopir with the axe (not factoring in any Chivalry buffs).

I've been saying it for a long, long time now, but I think the SotS is hands-down one of the best weapons available in the game, provided you turn it into something with either Double Strike of Double-Shot.

mattwaldram wrote: I use as my primary wep, a Sword of the Stampede turned into a Double Axe. The beauty of using a Double Axe is that - in addition to having whirlwind, to get you out of mob-heavy scrapes - it uses Double Strike. So, with the 100% hit harm, it means you're almost guaranteed a minimum of four hits with every single swing.

I also have 50% Lightning and 50% Fireball (plus 8 str, some hit points, and 20 mana leech), and the damage output on this axe is outrageous.

I did some analysis on all the weapons available on the shard, to work out which would make the most sense to convert an SotS into, and the only thing more damaging than the double axe is the Yumi... so I made one of those, too

The issue with the Yumi, of course, is that if you use it for anything other than In Your Face Melee, then the hit harm power takes a huge drop. So I use the axe most of the time.

Purely as a test case for myself, I worked out that I do between 8,000 and 9,700 damage in total per minute against Netopir with the axe (not factoring in any Chivalry buffs).

I've been saying it for a long, long time now, but I think the SotS is hands-down one of the best weapons available in the game, provided you turn it into something with either Double Strike of Double-Shot.

Everything you said makes so much sense that I'm actually on the verge of doing it right now. I have a spare weapon change deed and it sounds like it'd be a nice side weapon. I'm debating whether or not to do a yumi or a double axe. I still don't know if lumber-jacking affects axes on this shard but everyone swears by it so that'd give more reason to use that over anything else, really. Also, double axes have more utility overall, and it wouldn't be a bad whirlwind weapon either. Another thing I wasn't sure about is picking what properties to go with. Do you think it would be better to trade off points for strength and hit points in this scenario when going for maximum damage? Thanks for your post, I appreciate it.

Erth wrote: Everything you said makes so much sense that I'm actually on the verge of doing it right now. I have a spare weapon change deed and it sounds like it'd be a nice side weapon. I'm debating whether or not to do a yumi or a double axe. I still don't know if lumber-jacking affects axes on this shard but everyone swears by it so that'd give more reason to use that over anything else, really. Also, double axes have more utility overall, and it wouldn't be a bad whirlwind weapon either. Another thing I wasn't sure about is picking what properties to go with. Do you think it would be better to trade off points for strength and hit points in this scenario when going for maximum damage? Thanks for your post, I appreciate it.

First up, yep Lumber Bonus is in place on the shard - certainly in all the testing I've done. I have a huge spreadsheet that I use for all sorts of things, including calculating the damage I do with all weps (factoring in all of my character stats etc), and my calculations are based on a Lumber Bonus and match up with what I see as my damage range in-game when I equip a weapon. So, I'm as convinced as I can be that the Lumber Bonus is there.

When you're deciding on what weapon to use - between the axe and the Yumi - there are a few things to bear in mind, really, chiefly what your overall character stats are. I have no idea whether you have relayers, and if so how many, and that will play a big part in your damage output.

Because, technically, the Yumi would be more damaging than the Axe with all things being equal - assuming we're standing 1-tile from the MOB we're fighting, and spamming Double-Strike or Double-Shot. To give you my real-life numbers, purely on the physical damage (no spell hits) that my converted SotS do, my Axe has a range of 6,307 to 7,171 HP Damage per Minute, whereas the Yumi will do 7,872 to 8,736 HP Damage per Minute. So, it seems that the Yumi is better in that regard.

But what I find is, the Physical damage I do is the least damaging thing about my character, because I have 260 SDI - and as I have set up both my Axe and my Yumi with identical stats, I find that there really isn't much in it between them. Yes, the physical damage output on the Yumi is higher over the course of a minute, but how many battles last longer than a minute? It's just bosses, really - but most MOBs I fight tend to be finished in a few swings, so I barely notice the difference. E.g., Fighting Balrons - assuming I hit my discord quick, and using Chiv buffs - I usually take down a bally in 6-7 swings of my axe, whereas with my bow it's... 6-7 twangs. Because, my SDI is high enough that the majority of the damage comes from my Harm/Lightning/Fireball.

I always travel with my axe and my bow on me, and alternate between the two depending on where I am (basically, I use my bow if I need to avoid a one-shotter), but I use my axe 90% of the time. I just much prefer using it, and this is what it comes down to - personal choice. But to help with your choice, bear in mind the following:

- Both the axe and the Yumi have a double-strike/double-shot, which is why this weapon build is so damaging, but Double-strike (the axe) has a 10% physical damage penalty when used, whereas double-shot is 2x full damage (that's partly why the physical damage over 1 minute is so much higher for the bow)
- Which secondary ability is going to most help you? The Yumi has Armor Pierce, whereas the axe has Whirlwind, which is probably the most useful ability on any weapon.
- Do you have the HP to melee most of what you hunt? If not, the Yumi gives you the ability to keep your distance, but just remember that the further away you are from your MOB, the less damage your Hit Harm does, which sort of negates the whole point of using the SotS.

To your last point:

Erth wrote: Do you think it would be better to trade off points for strength and hit points in this scenario when going for maximum damage?

I happened to put Str 8 on my axe, just because I like things to look neat, and the idea of having Magic Arrow 8% on my axe would have driven me mad, so I opted for the 8 str to get my damage and HP up.

Both my axe and bow have the following stats:

Fireball 50
Harm 100
Lightning 50
Mana Leech 20
Str 8
Hit Points 1

The mana leech is perhaps a bit low for some, but I have quite high mana so I find it is very, very rare that I run out. And, for those times when I do, (usually when taking on a boss - something like Netopir) I always travel with a stock of Ethereal Powder that I autoloot from Umms. So, the low Mana Leech is never an issue for me.

About relayer ideas. I know cost is extreme but is it possible to relayer a SoT to a weapon, level it and then relayer it to an article of clothing? I have so far only seen relayered SoT with their normal properties in game.

memowolf wrote:About relayer ideas. I know cost is extreme but is it possible to relayer a SoT to a weapon, level it and then relayer it to an article of clothing? I have so far only seen relayered SoT with their normal properties in game.

If that were possible, that would be the most popular relayer. If you relayr an sot to a weapon slot, it will be an sot that looks like a weapon. It will not function as a weapon

Glad to hear that this is a good build. I have had a SotS laying around for a while and was not sure which way to go with it. Was thinking about a war hammer. Have you done the dmg output on those?

I never weapon changed it because it was a 5 x 46 crossbow by default. Works great for gauntlet, Harrower etc. Also amazing for most champs early on as it lays them to waste with 2-3 area damage procs every attack especially with double shot.

I've taken a different approach to the Sword of the Stampede scenario. I, like others, have thought that the 100% Hit Harm is enough unique, and potentially powerful enough to warrant exploration. This axe is actually my second attempt. My first attempt was butchered halfway when I returned from a long hiatus during the horrible "food ruins your regen" era and although regens seemed slow i didn't realise food was affecting me and so put way to much mana leech on the weapon and when I found out I just need to eat 10000 fish steaks constantly I realised it was wasted points, however the weapon (actually a scimitar) was still good enough, even with many squandered points. So I started again.

This axe was the end product. I didn't focus on the % so much but explored the idea of the hits as fractions for my "neatness" as someone else called it earlier. It is also ethy dyed, so it looks bad on the paperdoll (all black) but awesome on the toon.



The hits go off like this:
Harm 1/1
Lightning 1/2
Fireball 1/3
Magic Arrow 1/4
Mana Leech 1/5

It actually has 3 spend points left over that I refuse to spend as it will make it look less "neat". It is impossible to catch all the hits with a screenshot due to fireball's delayed dmg. But when you get the lucky swing, it puts 10 red numbers above their heads. If each number only averages say 30 that's still 300 dmg. It is often significantly more on a big hit. I don't think the weapon is completely optimised for damage output, but I love the random element to it. Sometimes the damage and animations during a good lot of whirlwind hits is quite nuts too.... MA's fireballs and lightnings coming down, not to mention the harm 100% of the time. I think the weapon can compete with the top tier looted weapons in terms of melee dmg output, although I have not done any dmg output math etc to back that up...

The next unique weapon is my first weapon I really built as a younger player. This was in my first year, the shard was really still in its infancy and so... well... there are some ugly things about it. Keep in mind 220 dex was hard to attain, hardcore relayering hadn't gone mainstream and well... times were different. Endgame content is what we now call midgame content etc... So by todays standard the hammer is a bit weaker, but the concept and potential, i think, is awesome. And an argument for why a titan's hammer might make an excellent melee weapon rather than just being for relayering.



BOOM! The Plague King! Concept is a whirlwind weapon that delivers a big punch consistently in large mobs of mobs. If I were to respend this I would remove the dex and str stamina leech (the leech in particular is bad) and spend it all on another aoe effect. Likely fire. Anyways, the hammer was more than a weapon it was a large investment into my char stats too back in the day and I still use it due to its sentimental value. That said it is interesting to note the damage types on the weapon. Not many would have an artifact weapon like this with those dmg types (it was made by a bug when +C did it for me, back then wep changes and relayers were done manually by +C). It is also renamed under the old system with a name that is too long for the modern system, making it doubly unique.



Whilst we are discussing unique wep and relayer effects, what about the oldschool off-slot appearance relayers, like wearing a shirt on your robe slot. What were the possible combinations? I know of earrings-helms, shirt-robes, kilt-torch/candle/lantern. I am sure there are others. How many people still rock the oldschool off-slot relayers? I run a Torch in my kilt slot and a fancy elven shirt in my robe slot, which is particularly nice as it makes my character look relatively unadorned compared to the chars with kilts, aprons/belts, sashes and hakamashitas etc piled over them. The shirt covers all of them neatly. Check the pic below for the uncovered, covered versions... And yes... my colour palette is currently a bit odd, I don't think blue suits me. Note the ethy cloak, again invis on the paperdoll, actually I like this as it makes the paperdoll look neater again, but also looks sweet as on the toon. As Entora once described... "Like one of the sexy nighty things" or words to that effect.



EDIT: Just noticed that I don't have belt equipped in the pic. Just sold my old belt to make way foroa newer relayer. Will be a woodland belt dyed same color as shirt. Seems to fit it nicely as if the two were the same item.

Comments, opinions, and questions allowed.

That middle halberd has the stats of a 1.5x46. It is terrible (sorry Glyph). I wouldn't even have looted that...

But.... but..... but.... it could be a 5 x 38 or even a 7 or 8 x 20. Typical junk that drove po s for me. Lol.