Could use some advice on how to balance gear

[antonsson]

Greetings dear community!

I've played this game for an impressive two days and I could use some pointers. I've read through some of the guides and threads for newbies, some really helpful stuff there, but I haven't found quite what I was looking for. It's very possible I just missed it in all my excitement to log on and get my face bashed in but anyways...

I am working on a polearm build based on what I've read on this forum and I'm leaning towards going slightly more towards agility (over str) because I would really prefer to be able to move easier than hitting harder.

My issue is this: I've no clue how to balance my gear!

• Do I even bother buying gear during the levling up phase or do I wait until I'm a higher level?
• Weight will slow me down, heavier gear also protects me better right? So... what would be a general idea of "balance" between the two?
• I've read that going for gear up to maybe 25k gold is fine if you don't want to end up losing gold on upkeep costs (over time), I seem to be barely making gold with my very cheap gear - is 25k gold too high for someone with my limited skills?
• What's the most important gear pieces - do I mainly focus on an expensive weapon or do I try to keep it evenly between the slots?
• Follow-up question on the last one: Which is the most important piece of equipment, as in, which piece do I spend all my shiny gold on first?

Hopefully these questions makes sense heh..

/antonsson

[CrazyCracka420]

It really varies and comes down to preference.  I think the body armor and weapon are the two most important pieces of equipment for melee.  Leg armor is not very important, and head armor is only going to see any real difference when you start getting up to the 45+ armor levels.  I'd suggest going for a "mail" armor type of build as a new player (so "light medium" or "higher tier light armor").  I'd buy body armor in the low 3,000 gold cost, up to low 5,000 gold cost as a new player.  For your weapon, I would most likely use whatever you think is good, and not worry about the price.

I personally bought equipment and used it on my first gen as soon as I could.  That being said though, it's good to have a buffer of 5,000 gold or so in case you get hit with an unlucky streak of upkeep.

Upkeep is roughly a 4% chance of happening on every piece of equipment for every "XP/Gold tick" you get on the minute marks.  If you get hit with upkeep, it will be 7% of the total cost of the item.  This is of course, out of "infinity" so it's possible to get hit with upkeep 10 times in a row on the same piece of equipment (though unlikely).

As an early level player, I'd mainly focus on leveling up and getting better gear (rather than how well you're playing).  Focus on trying to help/assist other teammates, rather than trying to be a hero yourself. 

san. posted a nice chart for calculating athletics and how weight affects you:

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Also, I'd highly suggest playing while in a teamspeak for a faction.  They likely can answer questions for you, and possibly allow you in their faction to test out using different armor and weapons they have in their armory. 

[Prpavi]

Greetings!

First of all before the gear it's important to have a solid build. We have all messed up out first build so I'll help you out. You said you prefer agi over str so I advice 18/21 build, still balanced (which is best for new players) but a bit on the agi side.  The build should look like this on level 30

Strength: 18
Agility: 21

Powerstrike: 6
Athletics: 7
Weapon Master: 7
Ironflesh: 3

put all the weapon proficiency point in Polearms.

This should be a nice solid build for your first generation and you'll se what you like, maybe you can go with more strength next time around.

Now for the equipement, what cracka said don't go too high with the armor, up around the Kuyaks will be fine depending on what style you want to play (European, Arab, Russian, East etc.) with the Wisby gauntlets you should have decent protection and it won't slow you down much. Head and leg armor are completely your preference just don't buy super high tear gear. This gear will also make you money over time, not millions but you won't be losing cash.

As for weapons, this is where you have the most room to experiment and have fun. You like beaing a piker? Grab a Pike, Long Spear, Bambo Spear and help your team out, protect the archers from the cav (when you take the horse down you'll get hooked) these are all cheap weapons but highly effective and you help your team out more than dying in a melee blob first minute or so, but beware they are 1 or 2 directional. If you'd like a 4d polearm you can grab something allong the lines of Long Bardiche/Long Axe/Long War Axe/Long Hafted Blade/Long Hafted Spiked Mace... in time you'll see what fits you best but have fun and experiment and with more gold you can buy more expensive poleaxes and see if that fits you (remember you can always sell the stuff you don't want, you don't get the full price for it but you do get some extra cash if needed). Also not that some polearms (mostly axes) have bonus agains shield meaning you can break your opponents shield and some are unbalanced meaning they are harder to controll and once you swing them you can't cancel your attack.

Hope this helps you out feel free to ask more if anything is unclear and remember to have fun!

[antonsson]

Thanks a lot for the advice and for taking the time to help me out, both of you! This gives me a much better idea of where to go from here and also answered a couple of things I've been wondering about but did not remember to ask in my original post!

[Panos_]

Welcome to the glorious family of polearmers friend, add me on steam if you want , I can help you with builds and meleeing aswell, my steam is Mighty_Greek


Death to 2handers

[Prpavi]

Thanks a lot for the advice and for taking the time to help me out, both of you! This gives me a much better idea of where to go from here and also answered a couple of things I've been wondering about but did not remember to ask in my original post!

You are very welcome!

oh and don't mind our friend Panos, he's a bit... special you'll see in time  , this game for me is all about veristility, try all the classes and all the builds, make challenges for yourself, most of us here are playing this mod for 3/4 years beacuse of this.

[Panos_]

oh and don't mind our friend Panos, he's a bit... special you'll see in time  ,

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[CrazyCracka420]

Just wanted to add there's a couple character calculators out there that can help you determine builds, or help you plan a build someone has suggested (keep in mind the WPF is not accurate however):

http://sayginsoher.com/merccrpg/calculator/

http://alpha-lider19.ru/MB/

[Grumbs]

You should experiment with how you use skills, stats and skills->stat conversions when levelling. There no right way to do it, but for me I would forget about agility and just dump points into strength for the first levels and convert skills to stats and just get PS and maybe some IF. Then start getting some agi/athletics.

Otherwise you can split up your points but I'd rather do 1 thing well than a few things badly. Don't rush to retire too imo, high level is better than the slight bonus a few loom points give early on. Its only really when you have a stack of looms that they are worth it and you might be sick of grinding through low levels before you get there. Looms make you restrict your gear/build too, which might spoil the fun a bit

[Patoson]

Don't use equipment with an upkeep of more than 600 gold (each piece), so you always keep earning gold. It's important to have savings for future purchases or transactions.

[antonsson]

Ahh, thank you all for sharing more wisdom!

Also Sabjorn, thank you for the offer, I might just do that!

[Penitent]

I'm going to echo some advice here.  40-50 body armor, gloves that aren't too heavy (mail guants or wisby maybe), 30-40 head armor just so you dont' get one-shot in the head, and whatever weapon you fancy.

Poleaxes are very good for polearm, but they are a little pricey.  Long axes are good too.  Experiment once you can buy some!  Once you have suitable armor and found a weapon you like, you can save and try to experiment with different armor levels too.

[Johammeth]

Welcome to cRPG, fellow agi-poleman!

There are plenty of good options for light gear that is still useful in combat.

-You pretty much can't go wrong with anything in the 8.5-12 range in terms of body armor.
-Wisby/mail gauntlets are great
-Any light boots will do
-Any groovy hat will do (I like to stay under 2 weight, while others prefer to go heavier here)

Here's the golden rule:
Pick whatever gear looks fun to use. Min/maxing for perfect stat balance really won't offer you an advantage when you're just getting started. Find something you enjoy, something that feels cool, and stick with it.



For a frame of reference, here's the +0 version the mobility-support/skirmisher gear that I use, which is about as light as I care to go.

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Broad Brimmed Kettle Helmet (This varies with whatever catches my eye and weighs under 2)
Mail Shirt with Fur
Red Wisby Gauntlets
Light Leather Boots
Bamboo Spear

Totals:
13.6 weight
37 head armor
41 body armor
20 leg armor
12,271 gold

If you plan on being more of a frontline brawler, then you're probably going to want to add more body armor.

Cheers, and best of luck! cRPG is a game of incredible highs and incredible lows. Stick with it, and the good times will outweigh the bad.

[Carthan]

What I did when I was new (and still do although less fanatically) was to try to keep your maximum repair bill at around 1000 gold.
That way you can have pretty decent light armor and a nice weapon.
The thing is that I LIKE light armour and speed, that is just my playstyle.
Eventually you will find your groove and will be set.
Good luck

[BlindGuy]

Greetings dear community!

Join a clan. If they are good guys, they will let you borrow loads of gear from their armory, they will suggest and offer help, they will call out in teamspeak to watch your back when your being snuck up on, they will offer build and tactical advice, when you all come crashing into enemy together they will try stabbing your enemy so you can finnish him, pulling gankers off you, and chasing down the archers who are trying to ruin your day and face.

Also, any questions you have they can answer in real time while everything is fresh in your mind.

Check the forum for hiring clans. Some have elitist policies about taking on new players, but many are welcoming and helpful and actively strive to help new players find their feet.

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I would personally, of course, recommend joining the Templars, we are the 2nd oldest clan, probably the oldest still active clan, we have never said no to an application, everyone is welcome, and we are always willing to help anyone, all they have to do is ask.

We have only 1 rule really: You must be willing to have fun, if at all possible never at the expense of others (of course, someone will die when two people fight, but we stay clear of things like spawn killing peasants, ganking the last man standing when he is trying to be a hero, using weapons that obviously need balancing, etc). We do have other rules such as not using japanese equipment when using a Templar tag, and never posting polls to kick or ban anyone unless it is someone who is actively breaking the rules and relishing there being no admin online at that second.