Gearing questions of a returning player

[QRob]

Hello

Optional to read:
I am a returning player, but I played B&S as my main game from the betas till August, 2016. Since then, I have taken a break. (I once planned to come back to play the game, but I kinda dropped the idea, because I was also playing another game, and I didn't really have time for B&S as much as I thought.)
But now I am not really playing anything else, so I decided that I would come back to B&S to play it actively.
However, there's A LOT of content in the game right now, and my head is like full of question marks about certain things, so I wanna ask your help. 
(I play Summoner, thus some of my questions will relate more to the class specifically than to just general gameplay, and yes, yes, I know, y'all hate summoners, but please don't let that discourage you from answering if you would answer anyway :) )

1. Badges: So, as reading forum posts, I found that summoners either use Alluvion or Magnum. Alluvion is a lazy one, but Magnum requires some skill rotation, and, to me, it just seems better. So my question is, Alluvion or Magnum for Summoner (I don't minde if I have to rotate my skills)? (Also, if it is, indeed, Magnum, is there any alternative to get it, other than dragon express? 
(I don't ask about mystic badges, cuz according to forum posts, it was quite obvious that Enigma is the one, but please, let me know if you see it otherwise.)

2. Which soul shield should I get for battlegrounds? There are 3 types that the NPC is selling: Battleground, Ivory Laguna, Nova core. I guess Battleground is the basic (starting battlegrounding SS, so to say), and Ivory is better and Nova core is the best. is it like that indeed? which one should I focus on? 

3. similar to 2., which pve SS is the best I could get with my AP? (I've got 974 AP) I know I can finish Naryu Sanctum, but I havent tried higher tier dungeons yet, cuz I'm just HM lvl 11, and I don't really wanna mess up other ppl's run with my noobie gear. what do you think, which dungeon's mechanics should I learn to run it with my current AP?

4. What should be the daily things to do? Currently, I am doing EC, DT, NF, NS dailies every day+event dungeon+pvp dailies+the new raid dungeon (the dragon one)+the weeklies. Is there something else I could do with my current gear that provides some similar income as those dailies?

[Ludicium]

Welcome back.

1. By the sound of your badge choices, it sounds like you're an earth summoner. Maybe let us know what element you're using?

However, covering both elements, the pulse mystic badge and courage soul badge are the go-to choices for wind summoners, where their primary damage comes from rumblebees - you'll want to fuse your courage soul badge with glory soul badge later.

Whereas with earth summoners you'll want to go Alluvion if you have the 8-piece Raven/BT/Skybreak Spire Soul soulshield, go Magnum if you are aiming/will be working towards your VT soulshield (full 8 pieces - you don't want to mix and match as an earth summoner).

As for mystic badges it really does sound like you're an earth summoner so if you are, then stick with that. If you're not, then you'd want to go with pulse mystic badge.

 

2. It depends on what pieces you have already. But yes, Nova core is the BiS atm, then Ivory. As for what to focus on, it ultimately depends on how invested you are into PvP, if you want to do 6v6s, then aim for Nova, if you're just out and about killing random players in Open-world (who most-likely will have PvE gear on), you can always settle for Ivory. But remember, get your PvP weapon to Ascendant first.

 

3. Again, ideally we'd want to know what soulshield, the pieces you have/are missing and what element.

But, the order is (for earth summoner) 8-piece MSP (which you will get from the storyline), then 8-piece BT/Skybreak Spire, then 8-piece VT - again, don't mix and match.

As for wind, same order, but if you want, you can mix 5-piece MSP with 3-piece BT/Skybreak Spire, and so on (essentially, more lenient).

 

It's somewhat hard to mess with other player's run unless you don''t know the mechanics. Even in raids, +900AP should be fine to run them. The people who are asking for 1k+ are...I'll leave that to your own opinion XD

 

4. Those all sound good to me, make sure you do the windrest dailies as well as..pig costume = OP :3 Joking aside: purple dungeons sounds like you have that on lock down. Completing all raids that you can (all orange raids except VT/SK), PvP done, new dungeons done, all sounds good to me, I don't think you're missing anything essential. The other dailies like Celestial Basin for the extra current event token, windrest, etc. are non-essential - unless I'm missing something, someone please fix/correct me.

Extra income? You could farm essenceses (just try and find an empty world and farm any of the wheel of thingy bosses) XD Haha, or CB bosses XD Or swiping even! (Just teasing btw)

In all seriousness, it's all up to you and how much time you have on your hands. Just find something slightly profitable that you enjoy doing and do it over and over again.

[Annysan]

Well welcome back ;)

 

First... we talk about earth sum then, just to make sure ;)

 

1. So for badges, if you go for the super optimal: magnum with msp soul shields (midnight sky plains, the ones from longui/gifted by the story), alluvion with bt (first raid), then again magnum (fused with the current one) for vt soul shields. If you start now, just get the magnum I would say, it is still totally ok with bt shields and you want to change later anyway. Plus you do not have to buy tokens for it, which saves you some gold. You could of course buy the tokens for it, but as they are rather old (and not that common anymore) it will get expensive. Your best bet is to collect enough solar energy to get your badge (it is about one month of doing dailes).

The thing with the mystic badges is, they changed that for us last patch. So we actually get some damage now and enigma is not really the best choice anymore (unless you are somehow desperate for focus for some reason). It depends a bit on your play style... I read that with bt soul shields pulse is better, as you get reduced cd of doom and bloom. On the other hand, if you get many resets (weapon/block stuff) you can go skyrift and proc the badge with 1 (damage variant). Personally I went with the skyrift one, but I did not do the excact math, and I probably get the vt one soon anyway, so it did not really matter that much to me. Maybe someone has done the math and writes here as well ;)

 

2. well I don't pvp, but I think that is right ^^

 

3. as earth sum, there is only one way to go: you go full msp (the one from story), then you change directly to full bt (ravenking/skybreak spire, the first real raid). So no mixing. Also, now people hardly mix msp with xanos, but with the gifted 3 bt soul shields (again, as earth sum not that great)

Also, the next easier dungeon after sanctum is star stone mine (very easy mechanics), and people tend to ask for 1000 ap there....

The question is more, what gear do you have? as you haven't mention, I just state some general things... you go necklace from tomb, also elemental ring from tomb, belt from foundry, bracelet from foundry and earring from foundry. Earring and ring are violet ones. For more information, please tell us what you got ;) (screen or if you want to give us a name, you can link bns tree here). You might already have some things of these (or older versions, elemental stuff was different before).

For now till sanctum is fine, you might get into some star stone mines runs as you are not that far off for 1k ap, just try ;) if (sorry forgot english name) and ebondrake lair have a harder mechanic so not so many do it.

 

4. I would add cold storage, as it takes 2 min for 2 gold, other things depend how much time you got (for example bosses in the peaches pasis might drop something, but I think they kinda reduced drop rates there, not sure)...

 

Edit: 2 min too late ^^

[QRob]

Thanks to both of you for your detailed answers, it really helps a lot to see where to start, cuz there's so much content in B&S that it was somewhat confusing, so it's defenitely clearer now :)
(And yes, you both got it correct that I wanna build towards earth element. I have the full MSP SS from the storyline btw, however I haven't fused them with crit prime SS, because they are like 80+g/each. I still remember the time when it was like 15g/each q.q, it was long ago.)
 

[Annysan]

you can make those primers yourself (and buy them in the dragon express). The tradabales are expensive, but you can craft a non tradable version for your own use, which is way cheaper (they are account bound). I am not sure about the english name of the profession... soul warden maybe? the one with the soul shield as symbol...

 

Also, if you want to fuse the msp soul shield, just use the blue primer, they are totally enough in that case, as you will change it rather soon.

[QRob]

I've seen that I could craft them, but I thought they were the tradeble ones that are also on the marketplace, so I didn't really check the crafting cost, cuz I thought it would be still expensive. But now that I know they are the nontradeable ones and they are cheaper to make, I'm gonna defenitely take another look at it.
(I have the soul warden crafting btw, but the crafting window, and I think the whole crafting system itself, has complitely changed.)
Thx for the tip!

Ahh, and I'd have another question: how do people level their HM LVL these days? Grinding mobs or? just because those exp scrolls (or charms, idk) that I get daily provide me like 600.000 xp. And if I got that amount every day+quest XP, it would take months to lvl up even to HM12 from HM LVL11 (and I'm like HM LVL11 +30%).

Also, what do you think is the first elemental accessory I should get? (I mean ring or necklace or?) This is my character profile https://bnstree.com/character/eu/Jiyshu Yu (Don't mind if I am wearing wrong SS atm, I had run WW for the daily before I logged out (so even my AP may be 10 less).

[Deadly Intent]

Your ring will be easier to get since DT is much shorter to run than NS.  You will not have much competition in bidding either since last week's event should've satisfied just about everyone that needed a ring.  And since the hm/nm merge a purple ring drops every time.  Remember you will need two if you are going for true (second does not need to be your element).  When you equip both true purple element acc they will give you 700 extra crit.  DO NOT bother with the ledge ring in EC.  It is a complete waste of resources to upgrade.  The less said about the ledge earring the better.  As for leveling you can try dragon soup which can be crafted for that extra exp boost but for the most part it's just grind.  Whales make 5M exp charms but that is a pretty expensive approach (and getting more expensive daily).      

[QRob]

30 minutes ago, Deadly Intent said:

Your ring will be easier to get since DT is much shorter to run than NS.  You will not have much competition in bidding either since last week's event should've satisfied just about everyone that needed a ring.  And since the hm/nm merge a purple ring drops every time.  Remember you will need two if you are going for true (second does not need to be your element).  When you equip both true purple element acc they will give you 700 extra crit.  DO NOT bother with the ledge ring in EC.  It is a complete waste of resources to upgrade.  The less said about the ledge earring the better.  As for leveling you can try dragon soup which can be crafted for that extra exp boost but for the most part it's just grind.  Whales make 5M exp charms but that is a pretty expensive approach (and getting more expensive daily).      

Ahh, sadly, I guess I just missed the prvious event, cuz i've got back literally just a few days ago. Now I should just hope that the ring will drop. And I assume if the ring is this "easy" to get, then I should save my dracen core for another accessory.

Also, may I ask what are the common grinding spots?

[Deadly Intent]

The purple element acc are not ledge so you will not need to use your cores to get them.  They just drop from the last boss.  However if you still need your neck and bracelet then those cores will come in handy if you can't get a ledge acc to drop (much higher chance with the hm/nm merge now).  Since you are already doing your dailies including the purple train + pvp content then, until you get more gear, you could try peach farming.  Besides needing the peaches for your mystic badge, the 40 minute bosses have a good chance to drop 100K exp charms (along with the occasional evo stone).  They can add up.

[Annysan]

As beeing said, the first elemental accesoirs are just viotelt drops from the boss, and just hope for your element ;) just take what you can get first (I got the feeling I dropped all the fire accesoiries in the world with my alt, which unfortunatly needs shadow ^^)

 

Well for your gear... From the weapon you go from this directly to raven 1, as it is way cheaper right now (just a notice for your progression). With draken cores you want (in that order) bracelet - neclace - belt. Also the bracelet is the most important to max out. Which one you go really depends on if you wanna switch in the middle. again, with msp tiger is better, with bt dragon, then again tiger... so you could just go tiger and be done with it. I am not sure with the english names... is you glove still the story glove or the one you can get at the npc in valindria? you might wanna check up with the npc then.

Also, please do not throw away your old accesoiries. If the are at max you can salvage them for elements (only if you don't need them any longer)

[QRob]

10 minutes ago, Annysan said:

As beeing said, the first elemental accesoirs are just viotelt drops from the boss, and just hope for your element ;) just take what you can get first (I got the feeling I dropped all the fire accesoiries in the world with my alt, which unfortunatly needs shadow ^^)

 

Well for your gear... From the weapon you go from this directly to raven 1, as it is way cheaper right now (just a notice for your progression). With draken cores you want (in that order) bracelet - neclace - belt. Also the bracelet is the most important to max out. Which one you go really depends on if you wanna switch in the middle. again, with msp tiger is better, with bt dragon, then again tiger... so you could just go tiger and be done with it. I am not sure with the english names... is you glove still the story glove or the one you can get at the npc in valindria? you might wanna check up with the npc then.

Also, please do not throw away your old accesoiries. If the are at max you can salvage them for elements (only if you don't need them any longer)

Thank for the tips regarding my gloves and outdated accessories!
(By the way, yes, those gloves are, indeed, from the story quests, so now I'm gonna check out that NPC you suggested.)

[MrBubbles]

Some extra things:

 

If and when you need moonstone crystals, just spam naksun. For all other non-tradable mats, basin is the place (+starstone mines boxes if you can get into a multirun group). Use XP food in basin and note that the more you have peaches stacked, the higher tier quests you get. For your gear I'd suggest staying at around 20-25k peaches to not get the worst "kill 70 temple guardians" quests while still avoiding most of the worthless quests.

 

Yeti/Lair solo is still worth to do daily. If you feel like gambling, you can solo necro too in hopes for the hm skill book. Still good money from that.

 

If you don't have a clan that does BT or another group ready where you can get your skybreak spire accessories for free, note that they are incredibly cheap in carry raids too now. Expect to pay 200-250g each for earth. Might go even lower if you find a spot from a raid that's finding buyers on the last possible minute. Pay attention to faction chat and Khanda vihar region chat if you're hanging around there.

 

If you feel like paying a bit for the game, the mastery bundle from f10 is worth the investment for the lvl8 soul you get from it.

 

Don't upgrade your oath neck and eternity belt. They're just stepping stones and you really shouldn't waste gold on them. Elemental necks from Vortex Temple are also going for relatively cheap now (it's cheaper to just buy a VT neck from a sell raid than upgrade Oath neck to a meaningful level).

 

If you have level 50 alts, do the event daily on all of them. Not so much for the gears, but for the chance to get princess cannonballs. The rewards from those can really boost a low-geared player.

 

Remember to pick up tower of infinity tickets every day from the quest NPC. Don't use them right away, wait closer to the end of season when you have enough gear to clear higher floors for the boxes. As much as people hate ToI, the 10 sacred orb and soulstone bundle drops are aplenty and definitely worth of the effort to use all tickets.

 

Do as much of trial arena as you can too before the end of season. The rewards from there are really good even if you can't clear higher stages yet.

 

Don't get nova core ss for now, you won't have the battlepoints to spare (especially if you have battleground keys stacked up). Summoner can use 8set VT instead of nova core for wine whip instagibs. Until then beluga is good enough if you're not aiming for high silver/gold+ ranks. And regardless of what you do right now, you'll be heavily undergeared in 6v6 for a long time. Just focus on staying alive, cc'ing people, saving party members with stealth etc and you can still be semi-useful and have fun with the game mode.

 

I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but that's a start I guess.

[QRob]

4 hours ago, MrBubbles said:

Some extra things:

If and when you need moonstone crystals, just spam naksun. For all other non-tradable mats, basin is the place (+starstone mines boxes if you can get into a multirun group). Use XP food in basin and note that the more you have peaches stacked, the higher tier quests you get. For your gear I'd suggest staying at around 20-25k peaches to not get the worst "kill 70 temple guardians" quests while still avoiding most of the worthless quests.

Yeti/Lair solo is still worth to do daily. If you feel like gambling, you can solo necro too in hopes for the hm skill book. Still good money from that.

If you don't have a clan that does BT or another group ready where you can get your skybreak spire accessories for free, note that they are incredibly cheap in carry raids too now. Expect to pay 200-250g each for earth. Might go even lower if you find a spot from a raid that's finding buyers on the last possible minute. Pay attention to faction chat and Khanda vihar region chat if you're hanging around there.

If you feel like paying a bit for the game, the mastery bundle from f10 is worth the investment for the lvl8 soul you get from it.

Don't upgrade your oath neck and eternity belt. They're just stepping stones and you really shouldn't waste gold on them. Elemental necks from Vortex Temple are also going for relatively cheap now (it's cheaper to just buy a VT neck from a sell raid than upgrade Oath neck to a meaningful level).

If you have level 50 alts, do the event daily on all of them. Not so much for the gears, but for the chance to get princess cannonballs. The rewards from those can really boost a low-geared player.

Remember to pick up tower of infinity tickets every day from the quest NPC. Don't use them right away, wait closer to the end of season when you have enough gear to clear higher floors for the boxes. As much as people hate ToI, the 10 sacred orb and soulstone bundle drops are aplenty and definitely worth of the effort to use all tickets.

Do as much of trial arena as you can too before the end of season. The rewards from there are really good even if you can't clear higher stages yet.

Don't get nova core ss for now, you won't have the battlepoints to spare (especially if you have battleground keys stacked up). Summoner can use 8set VT instead of nova core for wine whip instagibs. Until then beluga is good enough if you're not aiming for high silver/gold+ ranks. And regardless of what you do right now, you'll be heavily undergeared in 6v6 for a long time. Just focus on staying alive, cc'ing people, saving party members with stealth etc and you can still be semi-useful and have fun with the game mode.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but that's a start I guess.

Thanks a lot for those tips, I really appreciate them! :)