Artefact Opinions

Xias

So I've jumped back into the game, full force, after over a decade of inactivity and I've been loving every bit of it! I logged into my Atavian Bard who was sitting at lvl 27, changed him to a Paladin, and now I'm almost 65. But I've been doing all my basing unartied; in the future I'd love buy some new shinies to help my Paladin (2H Sword Spec) along.

What artefacts would anyone recommend from mostly a bashing/PvE standpoint, like maybe top 5 priorities? 

I thought about a weapon first but I'm not sure if the power jump from a regular bastard sword to the arte one is worth the up front investment, compared to other "must have" items. Thanks!

Achilles

the key for bashing is not dying so the artefacts I would buy first tend to be hunters belt, level 1 health sip ring and mayan bracelet.  

Once you get to level 85ish you can get a critical hit pendant which will speed things up a bit.

Nothing is really must have, most it will cut down on your time if you are trying to reach dragon.

Frederich

If you're a high con race choice, Mayan bracelet is not only the better choice for Health, but it also is the cheaper choice. (This is around.. 14 or 15 base con?)

If you're a low con race choice, belt is better.

Bashing isn't about killing shit faster, but more about being able to fight what you are fighting without needing to do hit and run.  As a monk, life fucking sucked because I'd hunt Dun Fortress and have to hit-and-run and numb a lot (took over an hour to do a full clear of the place bar huge stacks + Baron).  It got changed so we deal a shitton more damage, which is always gucci in my book.

As far as Paladin, you get Fervor, healing rites, etc.  Be sure to just drop them and (i think you can call them to you? off of a hunting attack.  Unsure).  Just make sure that you aren't slowing down for hit and run (or if you do, don't have it be super often). If you can't tank a room without being able to keep your health maintained, it usually ain't worth it.

Torinn

Inspiration helps too, adding damage.  Be careful about using revitalization, it takes a good chunk of devotion power per use

Xias

Thanks for all the suggestions! It looks like Bracers might be my first purchase and then going from there. I'm curious if the Crit Neck really makes a huge different (is it a noticeable boost?).

@Torinn For sure, I make sure Inspiration and Weathering is up at all times. I even debated race changing to a strength heavy race, just so I could be sub-strength dragon without being dragon. I'm not sure if I have Revitalization yet but I'll take a look. Using mainly Inspiration, I rarely go through 10% of my Devotion in any given playing session.

Torinn

Yeah I usually didn't run out unless I was hunting a lot (like getting to dragon I think I hunted at least 5-6 hours a day).  There is a minor trait you can take that increases devotion Regen too.

Cooper

@Xias I have a pair of level 1 Mayan Bracelets in a gift bag you can buy for cheaper than you can get from the artie shop. 300cr!

Xias

@Torinn I picked that up I think as my lvl 40 trait--it's funny how much devotion we get with it! Getting to dragon is definitely one of my top goals, though even hitting lvl 80 and not having to eat/sleep will be a big win.

@Cooper That's awesome! I'll definitely keep you in mind since I'll probably be buying credits very soon. Thanks!

Laedha

Xias said:

Thanks for all the suggestions! It looks like Bracers might be my first purchase and then going from there. I'm curious if the Crit Neck really makes a huge different (is it a noticeable boost?).

@Torinn For sure, I make sure Inspiration and Weathering is up at all times. I even debated race changing to a strength heavy race, just so I could be sub-strength dragon without being dragon. I'm not sure if I have Revitalization yet but I'll take a look. Using mainly Inspiration, I rarely go through 10% of my Devotion in any given playing session.

Critical pendant made a noticeable difference for me. I bought a level 2 pendant when I was around 86. The help scroll gives specific numbers. That and a sip ring are the only hunting arties I currently own and I definitely noticed the difference when I bought each one. 

Critical Hit Pendants
- These pendants allow you to get extra critical hits when hunting. Everybody, at every level, has a chance of getting a critical hit. The higher the level, the higher the chance of getting a critical hit _and_ the higher the chance of getting harder hits. These pendants increase both the chance of getting a critical hit and the chance of getting harder hits. To give a couple of examples of critical hit chances: level 50 = 1.6% chance of getting a critical hit; level 65 = 6.4%; level 80 = 16.6%.
Fire pendant: 2% increase 200 credits - criticals(1)
Blood pendant: 4% increase 600 credits - criticals(2)
Stygian pendant: 6% increase 1200 credits - criticals(3)

Aralaya

@Xias
I'm a little late, but as a Paladin, use your regeneration battlerage as often as you can. It is amazing at keeping me in when bashing, and lets me bash things that are slightly above my normal paygrade

Edit: Yes I know this is about arties, but I figured I'd give some general hunting advice since arties seems to have been taken care of

Xias

@Laedha I'm almost level 68 now so a 2 or 4% increase definitely seems like it might help, especially if I'm rolling on a crit streak like the other day--5 hits in a row. Man, crit seems to really jump in 20 levels it seems!

@Aralaya Thank you! I for sure make sure to spam it whenever it's up since it almost feels like a free sip. Too bad their isn't an artefact that reduces the CD of it, or doubles the effectiveness!

Xias

@Cooper Do you still have the Bracelets for sale by chance?