Question - Gear path , live vs test? (1 Viewer)

[fuggun]

Since the DX patch I've only been able to play on kids computer for 2 to 3 hours on weekend.
Since it's going to be awhile before I can get a new comp to play again. I have moved to test for more " quality" play.

On live I tried TBM and got my ass spanked. Tank gold, rest ftp. AG recommended trying cotf if tbm too hard. He was right. I could do "into the hills" no problem. But most gear is prestige so only my SK benefited.

Now, on test, all characters can spend the marks of valor accumulated and have all auto granted AAs.

So, keep going on Cotf or move to TBM? I haven't tried into the temple yet with all AA's but wondering if it is worth it now?
Thanks for any advice and let me know if I'm missing something.

 

[Koko]

On test people regularly throw BiS droppable gear into the bazaar for all sorts of levels for 1 pp.. I’d ask in general chat if anyone has any copies of whatever lvl gear ur needing if you can’t find any in bazaar and gear up that way.

When all your toons are geared and aa”ed up with the plug-in automation I’m sure it’ll be eye opening.

 

[Kingkiller71]

From my (limited) experience on Test, someone usually does drop things like blood-soaked for 1p each every now and then. You have to be quick to get them and may still not get everything you want / need unless you can find someone who will just do a /testcopy for you.

Also, in terms of the lag pile, it is much smaller than my current live server and you may find it harder (or takes longer) to get the amount of buffs you get in live.

I have been tempted a few times in the past to jump to Test, but I've never been able to replace Overseer being reset for each account. I'm tempted to sit out the next couple of months and use live Overseer to get my characters to max level and then do a /testcopy and see how I get on.

 

[JustGlassin]

I definitely found use for both. CoTF was better experience and easier so i did those runs first, then once i had gotten enough armor and was getting close to 100/105 i started doing TBM. i definitely needed some gear first before i could handle TBM. you definitely want to try to move into TBM when you can because of the heroic stat augs you can get from there. i basically spent all my marks on visible gear from COTF, then all my tbm currency on the augs. even if you can only beat 1 or 2 of the TBM missions, the currency is tradeable so you can direct all the gear to your tank first and then progress to the harder missions. i managed to do the first couple of missions at around 95-100 with a kronod group manually boxxing them without MQ just isboxer, so i would imagine its doable earlier with plugins

 

[zarroth]

TBM means you're skipping TDS, which comes between CotF and TBM. Trying to skip over 2 expansions is the biggest issue. Personally I hated TBM's gear scheme and I skipped it altogether, going from TDS to EoK gear wise, then coming back to TDS to get achievements :P

 

[Redmonkey]

Agree with zarroth on TBM gear scheme - I tried it for one character and after that I didn't bother with it further. But I do go there for other stuff.

The Latent gear from Marks of Valor was not prestige last I looked. You can get it all from the NPC or make it with dropped stuff (which costs more plat) so don't use the dropped latent. However the next step up, the Manifested is prestige.

You could easily outfit your crew with this trick:

Go to Requisitioner Rhies who is just a few tents away from Blacksmith Cerray

Purchase one of what ever piece you want named XXX of Latent Ether - this tier is 960 Marks of Valor at least for my guys but I see it could be around 1025 marks.

The reason we are not using dropped or baz purchased Latent in this case is because it seems to require an additional agent (13,124 plat) later on in the combines and really jacks up the cost and takes away the simplicity of this way

Combine it by itself in the Ethereal Attuner (10,600 plat one time) And you will now have a Latent Etheric Armor of XXX, stats are around 2500 hp etc.

Marks of Valor are available from any HA in that expansion. I found the ones from Marla to be easier than the Gribble (into the hills) or the Bixie. You can also get double the marks if one of them is offered in the daily hot zone Teek sends you to.

You may want to stay on test since the F2P merc on live will hurt your group if your running mercs.

Sorry to hear about your computer not being able to handle the changes they made. I am in the same boat and can only play an hour maybe, compared to over 10 hours daily that I used to before these "patch improvements" but I know buying a new computer is not the answer. We can wait and hope I guess.