BIS equipment - Best gear for Monster Hunting & PvP

[gogoo]

Hey guys!

Quite a long post, so hopefully someone will be interested/kind enough to read through it anyway :P I mostly need confirmation about what I "found"... I think...

I'm wondering what are the best items I could use for Monster Hunting & attacking in PvP, if anyone could enlighten me!


For Monster Hunting

Are items from the Hunter Path (Elite) considered the best items for Monster hunting?
2% Crit (or even 1% maybe) is way more important than items stats I believe?
Even though these items only have 1 slot, since you can only forge 1 Chaos Gem onto an item no matter the number of slots anyway***, it doesn't matter as piercing/resistance from ingots and elemental gems wouldn't add anything for monster hunting, is that right?

So I guess for the Boots and the Pendant (which have 0 slots), if you have a Chaos Gem that can give you more than 2% crit chance and/or a nice Agg. general boost, the Glorious Amulet/Doom Heart and the Elandal Crushers or Greaves would be better options. However I'll probably never get any of those items. So I guess for me the Dragonslayer Boots and Pendant are the best choices?

And all other Hunter Path Elite items are the BIS items for Monster Hunting?

***Is that right?
It is my understanding that you can only forge one of each gem/ingot type into a piece of equipment. If an item has 3 slots, you can only put 1 Chaos gem, 1 ingot and 1 Elemental Gem?
Side question: When you put a rune & a gem in a weapon, you can't remove just the rune, you are forced to salvage everything (and potentially lose the gem)?


For attacking in PvP

I think my attack is high enough* to almost only care about Piercing instead of a few dozens of extra attack points.

Are some items from the Conqueror Path actually any good?
From what I can see:

• Elite Warbringer Longblade is useless. I'm working towards Cronus Blade (+120 Physical Pierce) currently. (Maw of the Void (+125 PP +80 Earth Pierce) is probably even better than Astaroth Blade (+140 PP) though? But too hard to get anyway).
• The Shield seems useful (+30 PP + 1 slot)? Maybe the best Shield in the game for attacking, since Ouroboros Shield has +50 PP but no slot? If you don't count Flamebound Destroyer which has 2 slots but I'll never get this item.
• The Plate is useless. Is Wormhide Breastplate (+75 PP) the best attacking Armor? Or would one of the Legendary Armors with 3 slots be better?
• The Helmet is useless. Is Helm of the Sorcerer-King (+50 PP) the best attacking helmet? Unless you go for the Helm of the Dragon-Emperor/God which have 1 extra slot?
• The Pendant might be interesting (+30 PP)? Better than the Phantom Amulet (+20 PP). The 2 amulets with a slot... I won't get them. So this may remain the best option for me?
  Unless the Mark of Paxadrian (+25 EP) is any good? Better stats, but is the +25 EP interesting compared to +30 PP?
• Gauntlets are useless, Phantom Gloves (+30 PP) are better already. I guess next better options are Pristine Gloves (I guess it has 1 slot? Maybe 2? The wiki doesn't say) or Hordeslayer/Deathgauntlet?
  Would Sandworm Gloves (+25 PP +15 EP) be better than Phantom Gloves though?
• The Greaves (boots) (+30 PP) seem to be the best non-legendary option? Only Elandal Greaves/Crushers would be better with 1 slot I guess. Or would Elandal Stompers be better already (with +15 PP & +25 EP)? I could afford those ones.
• Magic: I use Metal Storm (+10 PP) currently. Would Spirit of Ouroboros (+5 PP +10 EP) or even Windflame (+10 Wind P.) or Sparkflame (+10 Fire P.) be better? Then I guess Pureflame (+25 FP) is definitely better than Metal Storm?

I'm really not sure whether PP is always better than Elemental Pierce (and maybe it depends on the element, are some definitely stronger than others?).
Edit: according to the wiki, one doesn't seem to be inherently better than the other - https://castleage.wikia.com/wiki/Pie...and_Resistance
Edit 2: Actually, the wiki does state that physical is better than elemental: https://castleage.wikia.com/wiki/Pie...y_for_success:

Side question: When attacking, the negative Elemental Resistance stats of certain items have no effect at all, right?
Edit: according to the wiki, resistance has no effect when attacking (and pierce when defending) - https://castleage.wikia.com/wiki/Pie...and_Resistance

As for PvP defense, I think I'm a lost cause but if you wanna talk about it anyway please do I'm always curious haha.


*My stats for info:
Atk: 4232 when PvP attacking and 4662 when MH (3300 + 932 IA + 430 Rune bonus)
Def: 1967 when PvP defending and 1562 when MH (1001 + 561 IA + 405 Rune bonus)


Thx a lot to anyone who reached the end of this post Thx even more if you take the time to answer me


PS: Extra side question so I can edit the wiki: Can boots be forged with offensive or defensive gems/ingots or both? And do they have a Rune slot? Same questions for Warbanners.

[The Reaper]

Boots are defensive gem only.

There's also a low stat amulet from a prior Arena with a slot. I use it for monster hunting.

[gogoo]

Boots are defensive gem only.

There's also a low stat amulet from a prior Arena with a slot. I use it for monster hunting.

Thx. Do you know about Warbanners (and whether you can put a Rune on boots & warbanners)? I only have the Bogo one. I see you answered me at the same time I edited my previous post to add the question about warbanners ^^

Oh right, I checked the Arena wiki page, it's the Dwarf King Amulet from Season 10 Swordsman rank.
18 Attack 18 Defense
1 slot, +12 Earth Pierce

I actually have it and didn't notice. I'll edit the Forge wiki page.

It's also probably better than the Elite Warbringer Pendant for PvP then, with at least a silver Ingot of PP.

[Batw]

Just a general comment - a legendary gem in a legendary gear can have critical hit buff (e.g. over 4%) higher than Elite Gear, respectively.

If you can get legendary gems, than gears such as:

Aetherforge
Titan Aetherforge
Helm of Zeus
Divine Helm of Zeus
Shalazar’s Mantle
Gorgon’s Protector

all become BIS indirectly for hunting purposes because they have ability to be slotted with a Legendary gem. That is why I am working hard to get these gear.

[gogoo]

Just a general comment - a legendary gem in a legendary gear can have critical hit buff (e.g. over 4%) higher than Elite Gear, respectively.

If you can get legendary gems, than gears such as:

Aetherforge
Titan Aetherforge
Helm of Zeus
Divine Helm of Zeus
Shalazar’s Mantle
Gorgon’s Protector

all become BIS indirectly for hunting purposes because they have ability to be slotted with a Legendary gem. That is why I am working hard to get these gear.

Yes it's a good point. But I don't even have 1 Epic gem yet so I'm not going to count on Legendary equips xD I haven't been focusing on Campaign, just doing some tasks, and I didn't realize until very recently that Hard Campaign gave 60 shards per task... I thought it would be 20 like with the Easy Campaigns I was doing... Now by doing only tasks (not fully doing campaigns), I earn a lot more Epic shards than I was earning Common shards...

[The Reaper]

I know Attack Rune can be put into banners. I'm not super sure on Defense Rune.

[Barathor]

Regarding gear for for pvp attack:
THE SHIELD
- Only defensive gems can be used in shields, so the main boost they provide will be useless when attacking in pvp. Unless you get a chaos gem with nice "secondary powers", you'll be fine with Shield of Endless Cycles (Ouroboros'). I have lots of epic gems and none of them would fit in an offesive shield, so I use Ouroboros' too.
THE GAUNTLET
- If you plan for long term but don't care for reallly high end alchemies (Shiny Glove), my opinon is: Deathgauntlet > Sandworm Gloves > Pristine Gloves. Deathgauntlet is legendary gear and somehow "easy" to get (though you need to be patient and methodical), and it provides a nice IA bonus. The funy thing is that even having Deathgauntlet myself, I still use Sandworm Gloves because I sloted there a good epic gem and I am not ready to lose it.
THE ARMOR
- I find Wormhide Breastplate the best one because it id easy to get and, like the shield, can only get deffensive gems, which heavily reduces your chances to find a good legendary that fit. Having only 1 socket doesn't matter much when attacking, unless you don't care to change to deffensive loadouts of you can't (like Colosseum, where I don't even have time to change them).
THE MAGIC
- Given that Vargulis final alchemies will be needed for further legendary crafting, I would go for Pureflame, as it is both useful on its own and a step towards Magmaflame. In the meanwhile, I think I would rather use Spirit of Ouroboros than Metal Storm.
THE BOOTS
- To me, Elandal Stompers > Elite Warbringer Greaves and you need them to reach "the final boots" (Elandal Greaves), which should be the long-term goal of every player, no matter if pvp, hybrid or hunter.

Regarding gear for monster hunting:
THE AMULET
- If you have Dwarf King Amulet, that's the one to use. Epic gems (which you will get sooner than later) go beyond +3% to crit. It doesn't matter if Dwarf King Amulet's stats are lower than Elite Dragonslayer Pendant. Note: You'll probably won't have another slotable amulet, so either leave this one for pvp and use the Elite Dragonslayer Pendat for hunting or wait for that incredible chaos gem that has both crit and aggressive bonus

[Elandal]

- Only defensive gems can be used in shields

Wrong.
Slots are as follows:
Defensive only: Helmet, Armour, Boots
Offensive only: Weapon, Glove, Amulet
Takes both defensive and offensive: Off-hand, War Banner.

Elite Warbringer Shield is (almost) best attack shield as it's Pierce and slot. It's not Legendary though, so Gorgon Protector can top it (has less pierce but is legendary and has slot).

[Barathor]

Wrong.
Slots are as follows:
[...]
Takes both defensive and offensive: Off-hand, War Banner.

True, I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote that

[gogoo]

I know Attack Rune can be put into banners. I'm not super sure on Defense Rune.

Thanks!

Regarding gear for for pvp attack:
THE SHIELD
- Only defensive gems can be used in shields, so the main boost they provide will be useless when attacking in pvp. Unless you get a chaos gem with nice "secondary powers", you'll be fine with Shield of Endless Cycles (Ouroboros'). I have lots of epic gems and none of them would fit in an offesive shield, so I use Ouroboros' too.
THE GAUNTLET
- If you plan for long term but don't care for reallly high end alchemies (Shiny Glove), my opinon is: Deathgauntlet > Sandworm Gloves > Pristine Gloves. Deathgauntlet is legendary gear and somehow "easy" to get (though you need to be patient and methodical), and it provides a nice IA bonus. The funy thing is that even having Deathgauntlet myself, I still use Sandworm Gloves because I sloted there a good epic gem and I am not ready to lose it.
THE ARMOR
- I find Wormhide Breastplate the best one because it id easy to get and, like the shield, can only get deffensive gems, which heavily reduces your chances to find a good legendary that fit. Having only 1 socket doesn't matter much when attacking, unless you don't care to change to deffensive loadouts of you can't (like Colosseum, where I don't even have time to change them).
THE MAGIC
- Given that Vargulis final alchemies will be needed for further legendary crafting, I would go for Pureflame, as it is both useful on its own and a step towards Magmaflame. In the meanwhile, I think I would rather use Spirit of Ouroboros than Metal Storm.
THE BOOTS
- To me, Elandal Stompers > Elite Warbringer Greaves and you need them to reach "the final boots" (Elandal Greaves), which should be the long-term goal of every player, no matter if pvp, hybrid or hunter.

Regarding gear for monster hunting:
THE AMULET
- If you have Dwarf King Amulet, that's the one to use. Epic gems (which you will get sooner than later) go beyond +3% to crit. It doesn't matter if Dwarf King Amulet's stats are lower than Elite Dragonslayer Pendant. Note: You'll probably won't have another slotable amulet, so either leave this one for pvp and use the Elite Dragonslayer Pendat for hunting or wait for that incredible chaos gem that has both crit and aggressive bonus

Wrong.
Slots are as follows:
Defensive only: Helmet, Armour, Boots
Offensive only: Weapon, Glove, Amulet
Takes both defensive and offensive: Off-hand, War Banner.

Elite Warbringer Shield is (almost) best attack shield as it's Pierce and slot. It's not Legendary though, so Gorgon Protector can top it (has less pierce but is legendary and has slot).

Thanks a lot for your answer Barathor! (and Elandal for the clarification )

Edit: I grayed out what's actually kinda just me talking to myself

So regarding the Shield, if I use the Elite Warbringer, would it be better to put a Silver Ingot of PP in it, or a Chaos gem with +48 Wind Pierce & +5.2% to base atk?

From what I read on the wiki (https://castleage.wikia.com/wiki/Pie...and_Resistance), all piercings and resistances are equal? Physical is not inherently better than elemental, it's just the values differences between the attacker piercing and the defender resistance that matters?
So the chaos gem would be better?

Gauntlet: For now I'll switch to Sandworm I guess since it had more overall pierce than Phantom Glove (and has 1 extra slots which can easily be +45 PP for me).

Armor: I definitely overlooked the fact that armors can only be slotted with defensive gems. Wormhide Breastplate it is.
The fact that a Gem is offensive or defensive only affects Elemental Pierce/Resistance? The additional powers can be anything? (physical pierce for a defensive gem?)

Magic: Spirit of Ouroboros it is then :P I'll see about Pureflame.

Boots: I'll probably go for the Stompers then. They're better than Warbringer Greaves and won't cost me Guild Coins :P

Helmet: Defensive slot only, so I guess Helm of the Sorcerer-King will be the best for me for a very long time.

Amulet: I guess I'll see whether I want to use my Dwarf King Amulet for MH or PvP. In the meantime it seems Elite Warbringer Pendant is the best option.



For Monster Hunting

You only mentioned the Amulet, so you consider that for all the rest the Hunter gear is the best?

About the boots, you can only put defensive gems in it... can a defensive gem give +crit%?