Level 90 (non-heroic) Paladin currently with autogrant AAs and equipped with Rustic armor, level 85 jewelry and non-visibles, a 150AC shield and 3.54 ratio 1 hander. Having a little trouble killing stuff. I also have 2200 Marks of Valor to spend on equipment and augments. Non-raiding, casual guild that does raid some. I was hoping for some ideas of the best way to proceed from here to 95. It appeared that I could upgrade armor, but only about 10-15 AC per slot spending 320 Marks each. That did not appear to be a worthwhile upgrade. For the same price, I could get a 34AC augment or a 10 damage augment. I could upgrade the 1Hander to from 3.54 to 4.54 ratio or so. I'll just go beat on some Necro's pet to max the skill. Or, I could jump to 5.65 ratio on a 2H with 96AC. I'm not sure what would really help during this period from 90 to 95 and I feel that it would be a good idea to have some marks available when I reach 95 (366 marks per item). Casual player that plays a lot, like to group but also molo from time to time, enjoy HAs obviously. Thanks.
Are you grouping or soloing? Are you having trouble staying alive? how are your current AC augs? if soloing and staying alive no problem, go with better weapon, if you don't have many 2h aa, go with 1h. if grouping and staying alive, go augs. If having issues tanking, go with the bigger ac and hp boosts, augs or armor. You can always get more marks, just makes it more fun and faster if you have better gear. Augs are the thing it takes longer to replace, first step is to get them all 30+ then 35+ then 40+.
id honestly wait til you hit 100 if you grind cotf HA's by that point youll be able to get fully decked out in vis/non-vis and augs and it will be a very noticeable difference but the augs you can start getting from the cotf merchants most of those are good for a casual group players and save you a few hours farming them and start at lvl 85-100
I agree with Zarakii for the most part. You might be able to find someone willing to just buy the CoTF visible stuff via currency for you if you're in a guild, have friends, etc... (don't know your situation). I used to do that for new / returning people. That frees up the currency you gain in the meantime for the non-visible pieces and weapons. The one exception I'd make... shield. Always get the highest AC shield you can and keep the highest AC aug you can get equipped in it.
When you say trouble killing stuff, do you mean it kills you, or fights just take forever? The first version would mean "time to make upgrades", the latter is just answered with "lol you're a tank" If you're needing upgrades to survive, the jump from Rustic to RoF Attunables or Fear Touched armor is kinda big, and they're the best non-raid till lv98, at which point you're headed for lv100 armors. If they're within reach, you should go for them. Upgrading augments is definitely a big deal if you've empty or shady slots. At 92 you could (should) have at least 30ac per slot, and looking at mostly 35+, hopefully with tank mods (hDex/hAgi) but those are less important.
Excellent questions to start. The answer is both. I am having trouble tanking more than one mob at a time in Valley. If the pull comes at two or more and the group has no effective CC, then I will likely die. As for mobs taking a long time to die in Valley, yes, they do. Much longer than in Grounds for comparison. Admittedly, I have almost no augments and none that I consider really worthwhile based on your recommendation of 30AC per slot. Which means I am looking at 4915AC unbuffed and 5600AC fully buffed. It just doesn't seem to be enough. So, large upgrade in armor, plenty of augment hunting/buying, maybe an upgrade in weaponry for when I want to molo. Looks like the prescription is more hours playing. Thanks.
Looks like you should do augs > gear > weapons. Also note that valley is a different expansion than grounds. That is one of the bigger reasons for the hp boost of the mobs and why they die slower. Also not that the upper part of valley is considered t1 voa, while the lower half is t2, and the lower half mobs will hit harder and have more hp.
Trouble doing two at a time in the 91-95 expansion, as a 92 with incomplete gear (notably missing augs) is the wholly correct scenario. Have Root up to separate doubles~ Happy hunting
