Optimal gear choices.

[Deus2015]

Greetings fellow Watchers,

 

I've started a second play through, and have been reading the PoE wiki to compare armors and weapons to establish the optimal/best gear for each character to chase after - and I'm struggling - my intended team is;

 

Rogue (PC)

Pallegina (Tank)

Eder (DPS/Tank)

Aloth (DPS)

Sagani (Ranged Bow DPS)

Durance (Support)

 

How can I establish what to aim for? If, say Pallegina as my tank, would benefit more from the Coat of Ill Payment or Exceptional Plate Armor? Would my Rogue be best to aim for the best Stiletto, or Dagger? Which rings? Cloaks?

 

Trying to get a sense of what to aim for - I do hope that's made sense.

 

 

Thank you.

[AndreaColombo]

I usually spend some time before every play through to think about who's going to be in party, what role they'd serve, and what equipment to give them. My choices are mostly based on memory and aesthetics, but when I need a refresher I just console in a bunch of items and play dress up until I find a combination that satisfies me. That becomes my target equipment for a given character.

 

That said, a few random pieces of advice off the top my head:

 

Edér (DPS/Tank) - use the equipment from this build (first and last post.)

Durance (Support) - Dunryd Demon helm, Raiment of Wael's Eyes robe, Seal of Faith ring,  Thy Clef shield; rest is up to you. I suggest Blunting Belt, Bracers of All-Consuming Rage, Dream Dancer's Sidestep, Ring of Protection +9, and a random weapon (he likely won't fight much anyway since he's in a support role; better to invest in his durability.) For consumables, go for Potion of Deleterious Alacrity of Motion and Casità Casserole besides any healing potions.

Aloth (DPS) - Gwisk Glas robe with Durgan enhancement, Ring of the Selonan, Telda's Ring; the rest doesn't exceedingly matter.

Sagani (Ranged DPS) - You absolutely want the soulbound bow (Stormcaller) for her. Can't comment on the rest of the equipment as I never play ranged DPS characters.

 

[pi2repsion]

You are setting yourself up for a big fat waste of time, I suspect. I suggest you just take items as you find and make the most of them.

 

Much of the gear that anybody would consider 'optimal' arrives late in the game, so what is worth more, equipment that your characters are slightly better off with in the end or equipment you use for a longer period of time?

 

Okay, let's say for the sake of argument that all that matters for you is to have optimal gear in the end. If that's the case, then since as of 2.0 you can freely respec talents for your characters by paying a nominal fee at any shop, you are still better off just taking items as you find them and making most of them, performing an occasional respec if you determine that some character is better off using a slightly different equipment configuration due to something new and shiny you've found, making you have close to optimal gear all the time.

 

As an example, it is silly to waste time on comparing the Coat of Ill Payment - something you only gain access to well into chapter 3 - with an exceptional plate armour, something that you can create at will for a tiny cost once you hit level 8. If the game hasn't handed you enough exceptional plate armours to satisfy your front line when you hit level 8, you'll craft those you need. And when in the fullness of time you get that coat, you can compare them with full knowledge of how the enchant system work (point allocation for various enchants) and make your own informed choice.

 

Or take the rogue - you've already locked yourself into a mindset of daggers vs stilettos; And sure, single- or dual-wielding daggers of stilettos work. But so does using sabres, or maces, or, for that matter, two handed weapons - indeed, some very popular rogue "builds" are based around wielding two handed weapons that can be acquired fairly early in the game, and then upgrading as you go.

 

As for rings, cloaks, bracers and so on and so forth, many of those are randomized, and most of those that are not provide fairly small (but valuable) bonuses. For anybody likely to be hit by attacks, you'll probably want to get +5 or +9 fort/ref/will and +5/+9(/+12) deflection from two such items as and when you happen to find them.

 

So rather than establishing what to aim for, how about playing the game and making the most out of what you find? If you start out focusing on daggers and taking the relevant focus talent, there's nothing to prevent you from respeccing to a 2-hander greatsword type later on, if you find you'd rather do that.

 

 

Ps: Okay, one exception, as you have a wizard.

 

There is exactly one ring that makes a huge difference for your group, which you might otherwise miss, and that is the Ring of the Selonan that you can acquire fairly early in Pearlwood Bluffs after you have retaken Caed Nua in chapter 1. It gives +2 extra 1st and 3rd wizard level spells, which makes a huge difference to your wizard during chapter 2, and certainly remains a top ring for a wizard throughout the game.

 

And one for your paladin. Since you want Pallegina to tank, presumably with 1h+shield, get her the paladin-only buckler sold in Gilded Vale. Enchant it as you progress. That'll last her throughout the game.

Edited September 17, 2015 by pi2repsion

[Deus2015]

Greetings,

 

My thanks to you both for your replies - I appreciate the wisdom and tips, much to contemplate.

 

 

Thank you.

[Ymarsakar]

Greetings fellow Watchers,

 

I've started a second play through, and have been reading the PoE wiki to compare armors and weapons to establish the optimal/best gear for each character to chase after - and I'm struggling - my intended team is;

 

Rogue (PC)

Pallegina (Tank)

Eder (DPS/Tank)

Aloth (DPS)

Sagani (Ranged Bow DPS)

Durance (Support)

 

How can I establish what to aim for? If, say Pallegina as my tank, would benefit more from the Coat of Ill Payment or Exceptional Plate Armor? Would my Rogue be best to aim for the best Stiletto, or Dagger? Which rings? Cloaks?

 

Trying to get a sense of what to aim for - I do hope that's made sense.

 

 

Thank you.

 

DPS will need weapons as a high priority. The White Spire estoc is pretty good, especially as it debuffs the enemy. Not sure where I got it, though.

 

Many weapons can be bought at Dyrford stores and the Copperlane store in Big City 1.

 

Expensive, but can be pretty good if you want to build a build around just that weapon. Other than the weapons that drop in Caed Nua and some other places, you won't be able to easily get an early game build out. 

 

Most of your issues will be fixed early game because the equipment is... fixed and also random, thus somewhat unpredictable. But generally the best stuff is at the stores I mentioned, so take a look at them and see what you can afford. The prone on crit Tall grass pike and the two handed swords are some of the best weapons in the game when upgraded. And are especially useful for certain rogue or paladin or dps builds.

 

Lead Spitter is available from a quest from Dyrford, that covers the blunderbuss line well up until you can upgrade to the other special blunderbuss.

 

The loot for the rings and cloaks of protection should drop from special hidden containers, on a rotating loot check with different stuff every game day. So for tanks you generally want the +9 ring or the +9 bracer for deflection. For DPS, once you find the gloves of accuracy or the bracers of accuracy, it can substantially increase the dps of your ranged or melee characters.

 

For boots, there's particularly useful self healing one after you do a few quests at big city 1 for Crucible Knights. Shod in Faith, put that on your weaker party members or on your tanks and they won't need as much healing per encounter.

[AndreaColombo]

The White Spire estoc is pretty good, especially as it debuffs the enemy. Not sure where I got it, though.

 

It is sold by Dunstan in Crucible Keep.

[Ymarsakar]

http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/80015-all-poe-random-item-day-checklist/page-3?do=findComment&comment=1733106

 

This can be used to plan the loot a little bit, although I wouldn't try to micro this for every day. That's not fun if you ask me. But it's a good idea to see what kind of random loot you might get from the early levels, if you really wanted to plan it like that.

[MasterCipher]

Rogue - a +3 MIG accessory, +10% melee or +10% ranged damage gloves depending on your build, armor or boots with +10% damage vs. flanked, +10% damage on crit helm, +MIG accessory or armor enchantment, +DEX accessory or armor enchantment, there are MANY good weapon choices, heaviest armor: padded

 

Wiz - ring of overseeing +10% area of effect to go with the previously mentioned Ring of Selonan, +10% spell damage gloves, +3 MIG accessory, +INT accessory or armor enchantment, +DEX accessory or armor enchantment, +1 MIG hammer (stacks with MIG from other sources), heaviest armor: robes

 

Ranger - Stormcaller (hunting bow), +MIG accessory or armor enchantment, +DEX accessory or armor enchantment, +15% attack speed gloves, +10% ranged damage neck, Stalker's Torc (equip once after taking Stalkers Link ability then remove and keep in storage), heaviest armor: robes

 

+PER item to any of the above classes won't hurt, but not needed

[Teioh_White]

I'd agree you don't really need to plan any of this out. Just explore all of the nooks and crannies of the maps/merchants/npcs, take the items as they come, and respec later if you found a new shiney you like that doesn't fit your focus. There a few items you might want to rush 'out of order', but not many. The only thing you might want to look up ahead is the 'RNG' loots that change on a daily basis, but that's a hassle and a pain, and I'd just take what the chests give you. Or if missing out on that gloves of mechanics or something which really bothers you, just console it in when you get to the right chest, and leave whatever was there in the chest.

[Psychevore]

Saint's War Armor (Edér's armor) - Second Chance.

Ring of Wonder - Second Chance AND +1 might, +1 per and +1 res. (not sure about the latter two, I'm mainly in it for the Second Chance)

 

Two top notch items you can acquire very fast. One for free (just recruit Edér ) and 1 for like 6000 gold from that guy near where you recruit Pallegina.