AAs very offputting. Looking for SK build.

Discussion in 'Fighters' started by Saltyd0gg, May 11, 2017.

  1. Saltyd0gg New Member

    Im a new player and the list of AAs at level 10 is astounding. Im going to be leveling/soloing/(M)oloing and hopefully joining higher end groups and raids at endgame. Ive looking on eq2wire, i know everyone says to do that. Ive looked up countless SKs in top guilds and its ALL OVER THE PLACE. Not one build shares the characteristics of another. Is there no optimal build or guide out there I can refer to?
    Fairin likes this.
  2. Mermut Well-Known Member

    For most classes, there is not a single build that is best for all circumstances. What's best at end game isn't what is best while leveling up. Also, what is best depends, to some extent, on your gear and even what your regular group is, if you have one.
  3. Porrum Member

    As Mermut says, what is optimal will change as you level, and get better equipment.

    For example, an AA that reduces the Reuse time of an ability might be very valuable for you, since it means you wait less time before you can use that ability again. But at higher levels, your equipment will eventually have 100% Reuse on it, which is the cap, which means those AAs do nothing for you.

    Changing your AAs is free, you can do it from anywhere, as much as you like (as long as you're not in combat). So the best thing to do is to just look at what's available, and pick whatever seems most useful to you right now. Then, if that changes later on, just change the AAs to something else.

    For a low level SK, the "Reaver" ability in the Shadowknight tree is a good early goal, this will heal you when you cast hostile spells. Also, Ancient Advance in the Dragon tree (far right side, 2nd one down) adds damage to your taunts, which is really nice.

    You can see what the AAs all do outside of the game using the Everquest 2 AA Calculator at http://beetny.com/eq2aa/ this lets you plan out what to spend your points on, and you can even export a 'build' to use later.
  4. Fairin Active Member

    i'd say there is a single aa spec for each class that is optimal (the 350) , but pristege should vary from gear tremendously as critbonus becomes less usefull getting turned into potency. or even wdb for geomancers.

    how ever finding someone with enough class / aa knowledge to have made it is a different story, i dont have a shadowknight one for you, but you can look at my alts and get a clue as to whats good and whatnot. (guard/wizard/fury/troub) did defiler too.. whee
  5. Saltyd0gg New Member

    Thanks for all the advice, its just a bit tedious to figure out..
    Fairin likes this.
  6. Fairin Active Member


    trust me on how much better it is to have choices and rotations and various abilities.. than only having 5.. and no choices of specs and player defining stuff.

    imagine rolling a fighter in D&D, and you could only pick the feats the DM tells you, no improvisation on combat, all you get are roll to attack. and if you want to dual wield, sword and board. or 2hs.

    thats basically how i feel about other mmo's in a nutshell

    here i can be unique. and (in)famous!

    stick to it. explore the world. find out what works for you and what doesn't get lv 100 and caught up on things , it'll be a long slog through the mud but you'll never run out of things to do.. as long as you ask if you do not know the answer.

    sure any vet could roadmap your progression for you. but on your first character i feel like it should be special =).

    however i will suggest this. while you are leveling look up the questlines for your epic 1.0, your epic 2.0. and any Heritage quests those require, along with the Greenmist HQ, since they will be required - and a time sink at lv 100, but so much better at level. for xp and fun reasons.

    infact doing the HQ's at level and actually geting some use out of them is also fun...
  7. Loresinger Active Member

    For right now, I would suggest just using the pre-built soloing profile. You don't need to really mess around with AA much until you are higher level, and by then you will have a much better idea of what your abilities do, and what you need. As you start to group more with others at higher level, you can adjust from there.
    captainbeatty451 likes this.
  8. Zelox Active Member

    Why not just read into each one and use some common sense to build your character?
    Should never just copy other people, always challenge the normal way of thinking and figure out what's optimal for yourself.
    Snikkety, Malleria and Fairin like this.
  9. Earar Well-Known Member

    I prefer to do it myself from the start. Just to get the feel of it.

    It's personal but i like to know what i'm doing and what i have and not let the game choose for me .
  10. Melt Actually plays the game

    SK is possibly the most different of any class in levelling vs endgame aas. You need to figure out your own build. Doing so will familiarize yourself with the class and learn the game mechanics better. It's true it can be overwhelming, so I'd recommend starting in the "Shadowknight" tree. Theres a lot of soloability stuff there.
    Mathafern likes this.
  11. Mandoblast Active Member

    This is my SK AA profile

    https://u.eq2wire.com/soe/character_detail/450972583594

    If you are just soloing and running light Heroics (ie not expert) then click on my AA build "MaxDPSRight". This is setup to provide maximum (or near max) DPS.

    If you are tanking and need defensive (ie Expert heroics or Raids), then click on my "TankMaxLeft". This setup has more defensive abilities and longer lasting.

    Ignore my proving grounds setup as this is just for there and not useful in any other situation.

    At least this will give you a place to start. This is by no means the "golden standard" for SKs, but is a fairly good setup.

    Good luck!
  12. Mathafern Well-Known Member

    There are some personal choices involved in AA builds, and I'd change a few things in Mando's max DPS build- you don't need the left side in crusader, you can get all that with a cheap reforge instead of 20+ AAs. Instead go fear immune IMO. In KA heroics at any rate fear immunity is very nice to have.

    I suggest to ANYONE trying to master a class that they actually read all of the AAs themselves, learn what they do, and make their own decisions. Otherwise you may have abilities or options you don't even know about, which may be priceless in a specific situation.

    And yes definitely make a PG specific build because for THAT the left side in crusader is worthwhile. No reforging in PG.
  13. Justaplayer Member

    There are some option that don't work at all, and some that are so vague that they either don't work or work behind the scenes without you seeing anything. Watch out especially for the ones that says they change the reuse speed, they seem to be the most common to not work.
  14. Meneltel Well-Known Member

    There is an item you can buy eventually that will give you fear immunity, so once you get the https://u.eq2wire.com/item/index/115953016 you can redo your AAs so you don't have bought Fear immunity unless you really want to.
  15. Mathafern Well-Known Member

    The bottle is nice for heroic instances, but once you get into T2-T3 raid fights you really want more resolve (and potency).
    Also if you are stretching to match the resolve needed for a heroic you won't want to reduce it by using the bottle.

    For non-crusaders the bottle is essential for some fights however.

    Again, these things are a personal choice. See what works for you, your rotations, your targets, and your gear.
  16. Fairin Active Member



    they do work, however unless it modifies the base reuse / casting ect, it caps at 100%, which you get from gear

    aa's that read "increases damage or crit damage by a % are literally that much potency / crit bonus. i.e. 20000 potency but investing in this ability makes it deal damage as if you had 20015 ! horray wasted points!
  17. Justaplayer Member

    That explains the reuse yes, but not the damage. Even if it's just that much potency increase, it should raise the damage at least a little. it's more noticeable on my BL, where the modifications on the primals don't do anything on the Shadow tree. When I put points in other spells, they do raise that spells damage, not the primals, not the duration of the primal nor the radius it's supposed to increase. I forgot which SK spells is affected I redid my AA so many times, but I remember a lot was similarly broken.
  18. Carynn Well-Known Member

    I always picked AAs based on what Title it gave me.:p It wasn't til I reached level 95 that AAs really became necessary, or if I wanted to molo-raid in EoF. Using mercs pre-AoM allow you to plow through most things. If you want a challenge and really learn your character, don't use the merc as you level up until you get in the 90s. If you do that, then you can and will learn what each AA does and what works well with your play style.