Zafaria Pt. 6: It's What's On the Outside That Counts - Gear, Pets, and More, and an "Unknown Pet Files" Addition
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Here we are our sixth Zafaria post all about gear! Gear Selection is now a big, new, issue.
Lets start small - the new pets. We've heard tell of a Fire Snowman and even seen a picture, so here's the latest "Unknown Pet Files" addition:
NAME: Fire Snowman
Johnny recently spotted this odd pet in the Test Realm. It could be another new drop thrown in with the recent Boar Knight and such. If it is a hybrid, it wouldn't be the first time Kingsisle sneaked one into the Test Realm, which is probably how we've missed so many. With even a bit of buzz on this new pet, you're sure to have wizards hatching and farming in hopes of getting one!
In addition to this pet, there is a Leopard and a Skink. Neither have stellar talents, though the Leopard does get Smokscreen at teen.
Gear is the main concern here. With the new crafted gear, there is a lot of controversy about what it the best. Between drops, crafted gear, sold gear, and previously released gear, the decision is going to be purely based on opinion, school, and character style. If you need a larger view on any pictures, click on them to increase the size.
All I can do is share my opinions on gear for a specific character and a specific character style. I'll be sharing my views on gear for my Storm character.
I first looked at crafted rings and athames. My Storm had an interesting combination of the Stellar Signet and the Garnet Bear Claw to offer a happy medium between impressive healing, and a bit of everything, and also kept his Mana in tune.
The rings I saw varied. Some of them I liked - rather than 7 or 8 universal block rating that only offers a slightly increased chance of a block, why not ensure a block against schools known to critical a lot? Most rings offered a high amount of critical block rating for two specific schools. Some had more health, some had less. The power pip chance varied, too. Then they threw in an extra 24% incoming healing boost. I still missed out on almost 20%, but it seems like a sacrifice worth making, seeing as my Storm rarely healed himself.
The athames offered less choices. They conformed more to the way of the Garnet Bear Claw. The incoming healing bonus was improved, the damage improved, and the universal block rating improved. Several stats, specifically the health, varied, so I'm definitely going with one with more health, seeing as Storm's health is low as it is. They were basically trade-offs between Health and Mana. One was a (health-mana) 75-250, then there was a 140-140, and a 200-35. Not the best health, but acceptable.
There we also new amulets. There was one for each of the rank 8 spells giving one card copy and 75 health. The ones I was more interest in were those that gave something like 285 health! With Ice's close to 50% universal resistance, this was like giving them 570 more health - like a whole new piece of gear!
There were also amulets for each school that gave a blade and 155 health.
Hats were interesting for Storm. I could have a boosted Elemental Blade with a greatly increased critical chance, but it would cost me. I'd lose my extra little incoming healing bonus, my universal resistance, my universal accuracy, and some damage! I WOULD have 7% accuracy bonus, but it would be only for Storm, not Balance for Elemental Blade, not for Star, Moon, or Sun for use of those spells in unison with any accuracy decreasing spells, and not for any Ice Tower Shields, etc. While I'd have 18% resistance to Fire and Ice, I preferred my 8% universal resistance. While I liked the critical and card, I wanted to keep my hat for now.
The next thing was boots. Boots came in different styles. There was the Celestia crafted style which gave bonuses for more than one type of school. While you gained some resistance to one or two schools, you lost your universal resistance. There wen't my universal block, too, which I had lost enough of already. Not these boots.
The next set, I liked much better. Theses particular boots increased the health and GREATLY increase the critical block. While not all boots might give this, these Ice/Storm combination kept everything I wanted for Storm - universal resistance, lots of universal block rating, health, accuracy, and pretty big damage! While I sacrificed a bit of incoming health, if I ever found myself casting a Tower Shield or Ice spells, I'd have a little bit of a bonus. This might not be the best for everyone, but it worked for my Storm.
Robes came in different forms, too. They had more Celestia crafted style. If I had a Life Mastery amulet and some Life Spells, the Double Rainbow Robes would be super useful! Unfortunately, the Life Mastery amulet was not something I could afford, and had yet to come across it as a drop.
While I didn't have my Waterworks robe, knowing that level 68 and 70 gear was around the corner with the new world, I kept in mind that I could have 12% resist if I farmed for it.
If I picked this Ice/Storm combo robe, I got a load of health as well as some good universal block rating, but increased Storm damage and critical rating, but still would have had to give up 12% resistance.
Then I saw the next type of robe. These were school specific and were perfect! They gave me my 12% universal resistance without requiring any farming, but more health, added block rating for schools that got quite a bit of critical, some accuracy, increased critical rating, and good Storm damage!
The crafting NPC also offered Legendary Artisans the opportunity to craft all of the customizable signs, including the Customizable Gravestone, previously only available in the Nightmare Pack, and the all new Customizable Chalkboard! Many houses have classrooms, so I can see this being common for crafting maniacs.
One vendor did catch my interest, though, and that was the Snack Vendor. If a pet "likes" the Spicy Drumstick, you're in luck, as this was a cheap Celestia snack that could potentially give 6 or 7 pet experience. This snack was now available in unlimited quantities for only 250 gold a piece!
There IS some level 68 gear that gives 1 or 2% armor piercing, but you lost universal resistance, and a lot of users are going to want that. In the end, these were my preliminary Storm choices.
Here we are our sixth Zafaria post all about gear! Gear Selection is now a big, new, issue.
Lets start small - the new pets. We've heard tell of a Fire Snowman and even seen a picture, so here's the latest "Unknown Pet Files" addition:
 |
| (Click to Enlarge) |
AVAILABILITY STATUS: Rarely seen in Test Realm
HYBRID? Unknown
LOCATION SPOTTED: Zafaria
CURRENT PROJECTS: None
In addition to this pet, there is a Leopard and a Skink. Neither have stellar talents, though the Leopard does get Smokscreen at teen.
Gear is the main concern here. With the new crafted gear, there is a lot of controversy about what it the best. Between drops, crafted gear, sold gear, and previously released gear, the decision is going to be purely based on opinion, school, and character style. If you need a larger view on any pictures, click on them to increase the size.
All I can do is share my opinions on gear for a specific character and a specific character style. I'll be sharing my views on gear for my Storm character.I first looked at crafted rings and athames. My Storm had an interesting combination of the Stellar Signet and the Garnet Bear Claw to offer a happy medium between impressive healing, and a bit of everything, and also kept his Mana in tune.
The athames offered less choices. They conformed more to the way of the Garnet Bear Claw. The incoming healing bonus was improved, the damage improved, and the universal block rating improved. Several stats, specifically the health, varied, so I'm definitely going with one with more health, seeing as Storm's health is low as it is. They were basically trade-offs between Health and Mana. One was a (health-mana) 75-250, then there was a 140-140, and a 200-35. Not the best health, but acceptable.
There we also new amulets. There was one for each of the rank 8 spells giving one card copy and 75 health. The ones I was more interest in were those that gave something like 285 health! With Ice's close to 50% universal resistance, this was like giving them 570 more health - like a whole new piece of gear!There were also amulets for each school that gave a blade and 155 health.
Hats were interesting for Storm. I could have a boosted Elemental Blade with a greatly increased critical chance, but it would cost me. I'd lose my extra little incoming healing bonus, my universal resistance, my universal accuracy, and some damage! I WOULD have 7% accuracy bonus, but it would be only for Storm, not Balance for Elemental Blade, not for Star, Moon, or Sun for use of those spells in unison with any accuracy decreasing spells, and not for any Ice Tower Shields, etc. While I'd have 18% resistance to Fire and Ice, I preferred my 8% universal resistance. While I liked the critical and card, I wanted to keep my hat for now.
The next thing was boots. Boots came in different styles. There was the Celestia crafted style which gave bonuses for more than one type of school. While you gained some resistance to one or two schools, you lost your universal resistance. There wen't my universal block, too, which I had lost enough of already. Not these boots.
The next set, I liked much better. Theses particular boots increased the health and GREATLY increase the critical block. While not all boots might give this, these Ice/Storm combination kept everything I wanted for Storm - universal resistance, lots of universal block rating, health, accuracy, and pretty big damage! While I sacrificed a bit of incoming health, if I ever found myself casting a Tower Shield or Ice spells, I'd have a little bit of a bonus. This might not be the best for everyone, but it worked for my Storm.
Robes came in different forms, too. They had more Celestia crafted style. If I had a Life Mastery amulet and some Life Spells, the Double Rainbow Robes would be super useful! Unfortunately, the Life Mastery amulet was not something I could afford, and had yet to come across it as a drop.While I didn't have my Waterworks robe, knowing that level 68 and 70 gear was around the corner with the new world, I kept in mind that I could have 12% resist if I farmed for it.
If I picked this Ice/Storm combo robe, I got a load of health as well as some good universal block rating, but increased Storm damage and critical rating, but still would have had to give up 12% resistance.
Then I saw the next type of robe. These were school specific and were perfect! They gave me my 12% universal resistance without requiring any farming, but more health, added block rating for schools that got quite a bit of critical, some accuracy, increased critical rating, and good Storm damage!The crafting NPC also offered Legendary Artisans the opportunity to craft all of the customizable signs, including the Customizable Gravestone, previously only available in the Nightmare Pack, and the all new Customizable Chalkboard! Many houses have classrooms, so I can see this being common for crafting maniacs.
The other vendors in the Babao Marketplace have nothing of interest. There gear is all level 60+ and doesn't even compare.
There IS some level 68 gear that gives 1 or 2% armor piercing, but you lost universal resistance, and a lot of users are going to want that. In the end, these were my preliminary Storm choices.
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