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Seeking some Serpent wisdom, especially with Artefacts
Quick Background:
I hope this wall of text isn't too obnoxious for everyone with all the questions but after much deliberation between Serpent, Jester, Shaman, and Runewarden I believe I've finally settled on Serpent. I haven't played since an extremely brief stint in Ashtan around 2010 and with all the changes I am in need of planning the best route when it comes to my Serpent. I've read quite a bit on the forums but a lot of my information might be quite out of date and I'd rather not waste too much money on stuff that won't really help in the long run. I'd like to make bashing up to dragon a bit easier (as I'm sure Serpent is still pretty squish) while also maximizing my PvP potential as I get around to focusing on combat, AND getting the most use should I decide to Multiclass into one of the above!
Questions:
I'll have about a total of 7500 Credits to spend with 2000 extra lessons although I'm sure a Veil/Hood is still required so more like 5500 and will likely have just a little less after Tr-Transing, plus some Survival, Vision, and Avoidance.
Spec/Trait: So far I believe I can spec to 15 Dex but would take a hit down to 11 Con and I will likely choose Nimble trait to help just not sure if the loss in Con is worth the Dex gain?
Dirk: I was under the assumption that a L3 was required to be competitive at the higher levels but recently told the L1/L2 dirks will work just fine due to a cap with the right Dex to match, so which would you personally go with?
Lash: I've read that some forged lashes can get close to 170-180 speed which would make me favor the L2 lash since I believe the L1 is at 187 and L2 209, is the extra 450 credits worth the 22 points in speed?
Silver Fangs: An increase to the damage of shielded mobs when bashing at higher levels or so I've read but also quite expensive at 500 credits.
Bow: Pretty much to help out group combat. I haven't read too much into the benefit of the increased speed so at the moment I'm considering just picking up a Ranger's Bow so as not to have to worry about the decay of a Dark Bow.
Shiny Charm: I've spoken with a few Serpents and they've made note that with the changes to server side curing illusions aren't used as often and instead a few have switched to Hypnosis. With the 33% increase how drastic of a difference could this make?
SoA: Pretty much a given plus I can use it if I multiclass, should also help in both bashing and PvP.
Wings: Almost as popular as the Veil/Hood so I'm sure I'll pick up a pair of Eagle Wings too. I don't see much benefit to the Atavian ones.
Of course I'm also looking at getting a Wyrmskin Pack, DragonSkin Quiver, Sip Ring, and some vials/pipes but should I also look at going for better defensive Artefacts as well such as Shackles and Buckawn Amulet? Or should I spend the remaining on a stat increase to Dex and Con like Boots and Belts?
Whew that was a ton of questions, and I hope not overly obnoxious. Thanks for any opinions you guys can offer.
Comments
l2 dirk with 16 dex is the most cost efficient. Level 3 after this is a tiny improvement, though it lets you get 15 dex instead. You need at least 15 dex anyway, there's no such thing as a good con specced serpent.
lash is good if you're gonna bash a lot, but idk if it's better than crit pendant to start.
you have a lot of 'of course' items that make no sense. Veil, obviously, but pack and quiver are also pretty pointless unless you're swimming in credits.
trans avoidance/survival, soa, then probably belt/bracers/sip ring as far as defensive stuff goes. Beyond that you only need level 2 dirk if pking, and lash/crit if you wanna bash a lot. wings obv good too.
Con artefacts are a lot cheaper than dex artefacts, so dex spec with +con arties would be the way to go.
A L1 lash isn't much of an improvement over forged, so I wouldn't bother buying a L1. L2 lash is a very significant boost for bashing though.
You can use battlerage to balancelessly break shields, so I don't recommend buying silver fangs for bashing.
You technically need 16 dex to hit the dstab speed cap with a L2 dirk, but 15 dex is only slower by a negligible amount (0.02s), so you'll be fine with that. A L3 dirk will be 0.1s faster, but shouldn't be necessary from what I've heard.
In regards to the veil this is the "A lot of the my information might have been outdated/incorrect" part. For some reason I remember being told Thoth's Fang and a Veil were essential to PK. With Nimble/Agile and 16 Dex I'll definitely go L2 Dirk. So the L2 Lash would be less use at lower levels than the Crit Pendant I assume because of how low my crit chance would be until I start getting into the higher levels?
Honestly though with the savings from not getting Dex arties or Veil Lash/Crit combo should work out just fine.
Dex spec with Con arties definitely appears to be the winner in terms of how I'll work out the stats. I hadn't noticed the difference in cost before this!
L2 will definitely be the way I go, this confirms what I surmised from reading earlier posts, thank you! Combined with Krypton's advice on the Agile trait it'll save me quite a few credits as well.
Ah! The posts I've seen previously recommending Silver Fangs seem to be before battlerage.
Traits were definitely an added confusion to the mix so this and the cost of the Dex vs Con arties per Sena completely solve that.
To everyone who commented I'm pretty sure I've read multiple posts of yours on the subject from the past so it's pretty awesome to have you all comment so quickly. Thank you!
Instead of buying a level 2 dirk, buy level 2 dex boots, you're spending 450 credits more for about the same dstab speed. The bonus of 2 more dex is very game changing for hunting, regardless of what you decide for lash. Dex effects phase time, garrote speed, and bite speed (possibly more).
I'd go the dex route -unless- you plan on thoths being a goal. I traded my level 2 dirk to upgrade my boots, and I find level 2 boots and dex spec to be plenty fast enough with a forged dirk to kill anyone I need to. Thoths wasnt my goal though so I'm definitely biased.
Bow is amazing for group combat - I would never ever consider trading in my Lupine. I pvp'd my way to dragon using my Lupine, and barely hunted at all. I was under 2000 mobs slain when I hit dragon, iirc. Would 100% recommend picking one up. Not only is it high damage, but it gives you a way to be useful in group fights before you're comfortable with serpent melee, which can be complex if you're not already comfortable with the affliction system.
Would highly recommend SoA, its one of those purchases that will make you significantly tankier both in pve and pvp.
Pack, quiver, and veil are 100% not necessary, although having them is a pretty nice quality of life enhancement. That being said, veil is super expensive, so I'm not sure its worthwhile when you still need other more important things, such as more health.
Would firmly recommend getting wings if you're interested in combat, although they aren't strictly necessary either. However, lots of fighting occurs at the clouds, and it kinda sucks to be unable to get up there on your own. Plus, they're nice transportation for just getting around to various hunting grounds when you're leveling.
Lash is really only useful for pve, but if you intend to be hunting a lot then I would strongly recommend one, since it'll increase your damage by a significant amount.
Silver fangs are nice for pvp when you're trying to damage someone out with camus, but definitely not necessary, especially if you have a bow. There are some occasions when you don't have the luxury of going adjacent and sniping, but more often than not if you're trying for damage, you're more useful just using your bow than biting camus. Regarding pve, I'm not sure the advantage you get of being able to do a little more damage when they're shielding is worth the 500cr. Would place this as a solid "nice, but not necessary".
Same deal with the shiny charm. Faster hypnosis is nice, but its not going to make or break anything. Definitely not necessary.
Buckawns are, unfortunately, fairly necessary for combat if you don't want to just get webbed constantly. Would recommend, even though I, and lots of others, dislike their importance.
Shackle of Garash is nice, but also not necessary. Would buy one if you get everything else you need and have stuff left over, but not otherwise.
So, to summarize. Assuming you're at 15 dex, I'd get l2 dirk, l3 bow, SoA, wings, buckawns, lash (if you want to bash to dragon and not just pvp there with lupine), at least one pipe if not just 3 so that you can put elm in an artie pipe and not deal with lighting it in aeon. Whatever you have left I'd recommend sinking into con belt, health bracelets, and a health sip ring to help your survival.
Also, morphing weapon?
My decision to trade my level 2 was before the latest changed to dstab speed, so my generic poor man's recommendation of dex could be slightly different now.
Morphing is basically any level 3 melee weapon. I use forged dirk if I'm hunting with lash morphed or for fights I want to go soft on someone. Thoths definitely still has a higher speed cap though which is why your decision would boil down to whether you wanted it long term.
So L2 dirk with 15 dex gives you 2.12s, basically at the cap. 18 dex with a forged dirk will also bring you to the cap, or 17 dex with L1 dirk.
Edit: For reference, the 13 dex with L3 dirk that Antidas mentioned is 2.2s, roughly equivalent to L1 dirk with 16 dex or forged with 17.
I would be at 15 until Agile at Level 50; Using Sena's reference I could in theory get a L1 dirk once I take Agile to boost Dex to 16 and save some credits to go towards making myself tankier or a Lupine Bow.
I see, so going Dex 16 with L1 would put me pretty close to the cap at 2.2s while the L2 would put it at 2.12?
16 dex L1 would be 2.18s.
This will increase your garrotes speed and make you a bashing machine.
But in all honestly, get defensive arties first since serpent is really squishy. Offensive toys are fun, not not really necessary.
I would buy a SoA, level 2 health set (bracelet ring belt), eagles wings, 3 pipes, skills, and the offensive arties mentioned above
I'd say this applies to most arties though. Have some fun unartied. Figure out which aspects of the game you want to focus on before you invest heavily in something you might not ever use. It's also worth noting that once you have arties, the pool of people willing to fight you is going to change. Serpent beginning should absolutely not invest in going crazy. Learn the basics first, augment where needed. A lot changes in 7 years.
That's part of the plan as well. I'm going to buy the hunting arties first and will have enough left over for most other ones I need when I start to get into combat with the leftover credits and ones I've earned from hunting. This is quite a silly question but I don't remember a death cape, mind refreshing me?
Edit: Ooooh, is that the Sycophantic Shoulder Cape? I'm still pretty bewildered by how Talisman Sets work. Definitely new to me.
Expect to pay much higher prices if the set isn't currently available though, it might be best to wait for a promotion that gives out a lot of death pieces (or whatever talisman you're looking for).
I really can't thank you all enough for helping out.