Road to Level 10

Originally Posted by Ensign

(do you move on in the academy even if you lose the arena match? Can't say I have any experience with that...)

Originally Posted by Luggage

Wish I had known about the collector wanting scales for the belt tho - the one I talked to wanted 5 "worn belts" and I never got a single worn belt drop in pre-searing

Originally Posted by Sausaletus Rex

In PvE, you'll want that rezzing power on the character least likely to die. Oddly enough, that means you'll waste it putting it on your Wa/Mo and other non-healing */Mo because they should be concentrating on battling the enemy, therefore they'll be the most likely to get hurt and die, even if they are tanks. And you'd want it on your dedicated healers who'll be the last ones to enter the fight. That's the opposite of PvP play where a rez on a dedicated healer isn't going to see much play as they're going to be a primary target and go down quickly and, at the same time, every second they spend on those long casting time rezzes is another second they spend away from pumping out healing/defense. So, you stick your rezzes on your WaMo or your RaMo because they'll be among the last targeted by the opponent, in an ideal setting.

Originally Posted by gendred

Everyone posted good information and Thanks to Ensign (i'm going to start collecting Dyes for a few hours tonight before i go to the academy.)

Thanks to Shrapnel - i'm going to send this to a few friends who just started playing as well and hopefully this will help them.

Originally Posted by Ensign

I disagree with the 'Each and every character profession/class is good.' line. If you choose 'Necromancer' at the character creation screen, you have failed, and your character is crippled for life. I also disagree that you will regret not learning the Resurrection Signet. I think you will be doing handstands and backflips every time you go to change skills and don't have to scroll past that particular steaming pile in your skills list.


Skills are not crucial in the early parts of the game. You can easily survive off of, say, Flare and Orison of Healing on your march to Lion's Arch. Skill power fluctuates greatly early on - Conjure Phantasm is insane, for instance, and Flare isn't the colossal waste of energy that it turns into later.


I disagree on trading. Don't even bother trying to buy, sell, or otherwise interact on the secondary market as a low level character. You'll spend five minutes trying to sell ten iron for 15 gold instead of 10, and in those 5 minutes you would have gotten the extra 5 gold anyway, on top of progressing further in the game. Once you get halfway through the game you'll be getting 5 iron from a single salvage, and pulling down as much in 10 minutes as you did in an hour as a level 1 character. If you want to make money, get to where it's time efficient to do so quickly.


A bit more advise - in the newbie area, *everyone* is a melee character. I don't care if you're a Monk, grab the best sword and shield you can find, and hit things with them. At level 1 every class is the same, and swords/axes just kill faster than everything else available. The shield also provides a bit of defense to make your hit points last that much longer. Once you get to around level 5 or so you can start to consider switching to other options if your attributes support it, but until then it's all sword/shield work.


Be sure to gather the Skale Fins for the collector right outside of Ascalon City - he'll give you a belt pouch for five, easily the best investment you'll make in the entire game. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother with the collectors unless you just happen upon one that you have the materials for. You need to free up inventory space by selling / salvaging what you find, and +2 AL to a single piece of armor just isn't worth the effort - you'll be crafting better stuff as soon as you pass the academy, anyway.


Stockpile dyes like no one's business. These are your ticket to wealth in the outside world. While just about everything else you'll find is worth one, maybe two gold if you really fight for it, a single dye can sell for 50+ gold easily. Don't squander it, don't use 'em. Just sit on it until you get to Lion's Arch - there you can sell the dyes you've accumulated for a few hundred gold pieces, which should be plenty to get you going economically.


Peace,
-CxE

Originally Posted by gendred

excellent i want to get a full set of the collectors armor before i leave for the academy as well

Time to get my remaining skills & armor pieces and head off to the academy

just a question if anybody can answer though - should i worry about going to the academy by myself? Should I get my roommate and his girlfriend to level up a bit and go in with me?

Originally Posted by InFeStEd

what makes necros so bad?

Originally Posted by Sausaletus Rex

My understanding of things is that henchies do indeed get their share of items, just as they get a share of gold, and a share of xp, too. It's just you don't see the items they get actually drop, so you don't notice them actually picking them up, they just get whisked into the ether whenever they're created. That didn't use to be the case so just be thankful that you're spared the outrage of watching your henchmen pick up that rare max damage sword with no upgrades that you've been looking for while you happen to get your twelfth Rusty Scimitar...