Level 1 Farming Build - Gear Questions...

[Raner]

Hello all,

Long time lurker... first time... you know.

First let me say I have loved this game for years. It is less a video game to me, than a slowly unfolding one-player D&D campaign. That is the highest praise I can give to the developers and content authors.

To the community at large: a belated thank you for all the information and theory crafting... even if it did lead me to a toon with regen 4 or 5 back in the day. It worked then!

I have played AT through to the (then) endgame 3 or 4 times since inception. At some point, I have always made a decision that I regretted. (Killed the sheep before the bell quest; missed Vacor's boots; drank Bonemeal potions, etc.)

I have used various builds, all the way back to the seriously broken Crit builds near launch, heh. I want now to develop a super toon - level 1 with L&E equipment, and enough experience to jump to level 50+ to try different builds / quest paths.

Build rules:

No unique NPCs killed (e.g., I cannot even enter Falstone for the escapee blocking it).
No quests completed (only the two access quests to BWM started to access RoL).
No fleeing, in case they start tracking that like deaths in some release (limits hit/run/save/kill tactics). Thanks Zukero for the update that fleeing is not, nor will be counted.


And finally the Question!

Please suggest any changes, but (I think) this is becoming a fairly decent 'base' set of gear, given that I have not attempted Remgard as yet.

RoL #2; ElyR; andLevel 50+ Exp grinding time...

So many stores/boss drops / quest rewards from the content I know are off limits, and grinding for the RoL (so I can grind for 2 RoLS) is not going very fast... too much healing and missing because my BC/AC are barely adequate. I am relying on the 3 DR to blunt the damage to my tiny 39 HP, but that means no JoF, so only the QSD gets 3 per round. With the frequency of in combat healing, that drops to 1 per round and the benefit goes away.

Updated with changes - alternate weapon of Runed Scepter useful if farming RoLS before RoL.

Gear:

Fine Green Hat
Crude Iron Helmet (high BC gain; low AC loss)
Hardened Leather Shirt (DR needed, nothing with AC/AD available)
Necklace of the Protector (DR needed, takes away the JoF)
Hardened Iron Longsword
Sharp Steel Dagger
Rapier of Lifesteal x 2
Crude Wooden Buckler
Strong Wooden Tower Shield (high BC gain; low AC loss)
or
Elytharan Redeemer
Villain's Ring x 2
Ring of Lesser Shadow x 2
Troublemakers Gloves or Swift Attack
Gloves of Life Force (awesome suggestion from Tristan)
Snakeskin Boots

Skills:
Nada

Any help is appreciated, as I am getting with this setup maybe 400 kills per hour at the outside (save/clear/load).

All legendaries acquired as of 29.05.2014. Don't ask how many hours! Lol.

Again, my sincerest thanks as a long time reader, and a big thumbs up to the community math geeks, you occassionally bring back memories of Calculus, Stats & Probability, heh.

- Raner

[Zukero]

Hello Raner, and welcome to the forums.
Thanks for all the praise, and glad you like AT that much.

The level 1 challenge is definitely one of the toughest and from what I can tell, you will not reach something like 130AC at level 1. For items to look for, check out Richard Faila's Andor's Trail Directory. It should help.

Rest assured that for now, there are no plans to count the fleeing statistics in the game, nor is there the capability to do so in the current code base.

Other forum members more knowledgeable than me about the game content will certainly come and give you wise tips on your build.

Enjoy your stay !

[Tristan]

GoLF! I took a Level 1 character to just over 18M XP, the equivalent of Level 100. Low HP was the biggest challenge for me, so the boost from the GoLF made a world of difference.

[Raner]

Tristan! I was hoping you would see this. I saw your insane post in the millionaires thread. (I am nuts too, it's ok) Did you do it all (multiple L&E +lvl 100) without the upgraded store gear? (e.g., crossroads from Feygard quests and Vilegard?)

The loss of DR gear and the BSS is felt...

I switched to the Sharp Steel Dagger for +10 AC, but the Imps still evade at annoying levels. The GoLF is a great idea: -1BC/-2AC from Troublemaker, but +8 HP - better for the dang crits. I can make it there easily - any unique spawns or quests to watch out for?

Danke

-Raner

[Tristan]

You will need to begin the BWM quest line, but you won't need to choose a side. An additional small quest makes a bed available, which can speed the grind considerably.

I performed no quests that required an obvious choice of factions, so that certainly limited the equipment at my sisposal. And i focused quite early on finding the RoL & 2 RoLS. Still, I found myself experimenting with multiple equipment combinations depending on the battle at hand. At times I opted for higher damage weaponry, other times I chose multiple attacks per turn. The strategy inherent in those decisions was easily the most rewarding aspect of the journey.

[Duke]

What about Jinxed Ring of Damage Resistance? You could get one or two of them, and make your DR 5! Also, are you not able to get to Remgard, or does the questing thing block that as an option? And what about the dagger of the shadow priests? Also, can you buy a conditon weapon, like spiked club of bleeding? Can you get chainmail mittens (+1 DR) or worn plated gloves? Sorry, if these are unobtainable with your parameters, I just can't remember what is needed to get all this stuff.
EDIT: I'd also go for Leather Gloves of Attack, +3 HP and +13 AC

[Tristan]

Duke, those all are great suggestions and I used several of them. I suspect each player sets his/her own parameters when deciding to embark on a level 1 journey. The JRoDR was an option I tried, but the negative BC was too much to overcome. The bleeding wounds incurred during the battle also were difficult to handle. I did manage to find my way to Remgard to visit the armory, but it literally took days and countless reloads to get through the spiders.

[Raner]

Though the JRoDR has flaws as Tristan indicated, it will prove useful when farming for Gold/Exp. The 5 DR thus possible enables some 'mindless' farming. With an updated 48 HP with GoLF, I am looking forward to this part... should drag a lot less than the Imps.

I do plan to try to reach Remgard (With a RoL and 1+ RoLS), though Tristan's account is not encouraging. Chainmail mittens are not available as I finally decided not to unlock Vilegard. Though not an obvious faction choice, it seems anti Feygard, and my biggest goal is to never HAVE to start over again when new content arrives.

DoSP, I will sadly live without as the NPC is unique. 6500 kills looking for RoL and 7000 for RoLS so far and no joy...

Thanks Duke for the suggestions (love those rings). The level one challenge is very much a test of your adaptability and patience. There is no 'best' gear set. Masters/Trainers with 2 attacks and 5 DR require a different set than Imps with 3 attacks and 1 DR, require a different tactic than Exp speed grinding etc.

I strongly urge anyone who has beaten the game to explore the level one challenge. It is proving a great deal of fun.