200 Wisdom. 20kpp to spend. Buy more wis gear?

[Tariq]

Hey folks.

As the thread title indicates, I have about 20kpp saved up, and my current wis gear, with a KEI, puts me at 200 wisdom. (I'm only lvl 43, and this is my main, so it took a while to get that 20k!) I had planned to start smithing when I hit lvl 45, so I could get that KEI, and spend the 20k on supplies as needed. However, I've been reading through the forums here, and everyone's talking about wis levels of 255 to 355!

So, my question is: should I spend some or all of my 20k on better wis gear, or is 200 wis sufficient for a reasonable skillup rate? Bear in mind that I hope to breeze through to 188 in smithing pretty quickly, and start in on Human cultural gear to get over 200.

Tariq al-Rasoule {Fellowship of Vazaelle}
Ranger of the 43rd Season

[Craftah]

You should be able to get from 200 WIS to 255 WIS with much less than 20K. It might take a full suit of 'crappy' WIS gear that you would never use (maybe has serious negative stats, but as long as it is not neg WIS you are good to go).

The 2 to maybe 3K you spend getting to 255 will be more than paid back by fewer combines.

That said the low level smithing combines are cheap enough that it's not so much of a big deal if you want to get started on smithing now. But I would go to 255 WIS before you start on fine plate. (BTW, you have 2500 leather paddings saved already? )

[GremlinClr]

(BTW, you have 2500 leather paddings saved already? )

Surely it doesnt take anyone 2500 hundred combines to triv fine plate does it? It took me about 260 combines from 154 to 188.

If it took me 2500 I think I would smash my computer.

[Tariq]

Thanks for the advice! I've made a few cheap upgrades to my wis kit, and my wis is now up to 231, with KEI (once I'm high enough in lvl to get it of course). I'm finding it difficult to get those last 24 points at a reasonable price though. Can anyone make some suggestions?

If you're so inclined, you can take a look at my wis kit on Magelo at:

http://www.magelo.com/eq_view_profile.html?num=715932

Once there, just click on the "Current wis kit" alternate profile link on the right.

*Note: I also have +10 wis from my food/drink combo of Pouch of Kejek Catnip and Qeynos Afternoon Tea, which Magelo doesn't take into account. So, my wis kit yields a raw wisdom of 206, plus 25 from KEI. Hence the 231 total I mentioned.

The only remotely reasonable additional upgrades I found in the Bazaar today were:

Othmir Fur Cap -----> Tigeraptor Skullcap = 1200p (+2 wis net)
Shroud of Nature -----> Polished Tinmail = 700p (+3 wis net)
Chitinous Belt -----> Cobalt Drake Belt = 800p (+3 wis net)
Rabbit Hide Boots -----> Coldain Skin Boots = 1500p (+4 wis net)

That's over 4000 plat for only 12 wis, which leaves me at 243; still 12 points short of the cap. Can anyone suggest cheaper alternatives to these items, or for any other slots? If not, I think 231 wis is about as high as I can afford to go.

Anywho, thanks in advance!

- Tariq al-Rasoule {Fellowship of Vazaelle}
- Ranger, 43rd Season


P.S. Where'd the 2500 Leather Padding total come from? (Not that I'd mind having that many to sell!)

[splunge]

Lotus Vine Necklace (9?)
Axgoreths Belt of Defence (15)
Bracelet of Sense (15)

[Reflan]

Tradeskilling is extremely expensive in terms of both money AND time spent. If you try to cheap it out with low wisdom, you will spend MUCH more time and money than you would otherwise. You will not save any time or effort staying as low level as possible or spending as little money as possible. You will cost yourself enormous amounts of time and money doing either.

Get the levels you need to get the wisdom you need. Get the AA you need to get the wisdom you need. Get the money you need to buy the gear you can't loot or don't want to take the time to camp yourself.

Get it all out of the way so you can make your transition through trainskills as painless as possible. Because it won't really be all that painless in the first place.

[Tariq]

Originally posted by Reflan
Get the levels you need to get the wisdom you need. Get the AA you need to get the wisdom you need.

Ya, that would ordinarily be my preferred route. Lvl 60 with oodles of cash and the AA, etc. However, with smithing in particular, I wanted to skill up now (in my mid-40s) so I can make the Fine Seafarer's Ringmail while I'm still at a level that it would be worth using.

Unfortunately, I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that it's not going to be possible. If the trivs on the Fine Seafarer's are assumed to be around 300, I would need a skill of about 224 to have a 50% chance of a successful completion. That's a raw skill of 213, plus a geerlock. With my human cultural options, I can do that with Field Plate, which only requires HQ Ore, Leather Padding and some Sea Temper, all of which are relatively easy to obtain. From the sounds of it though, it would take me several hundred combines to go from 188 to 213, and that's alot of cash. Then, the Seafarer's itself requires 24 infused MQ rings, i.e. 24 blue diamonds plus other misc. components. At 2 attempts per successful combine, that's 17k for the BDs alone.

Rats. I was really hoping to craft myself some useful armor, but it just doesn't look plausible. *sigh* Welcome to tradeskilling eh?

- Tariq

[Tariq]

Yeesh. It's even worse than I thought. I was just reading some posts on my guild's tradeskill forum that say people with 250 skill only get about 50% success rates when making the high-end cultural gear. At 215 skill, that would put me closer to the 1 in 4 region! Ack.

- RD

[Myrron]

Hey bud!

When I began tailoring back in my teens I dreamed of the day I could make a full suit of cultural armor for me to wear. Well, as time went on, I got better gear in every slot than cultural by the time I was able to have a >5% chance to make it.

If you want to pick up smithing just for fun, I say go for it. I can help you with a Solstice earring for another wisdom boost. If the only reason you want to pick up smithing is for the cultural armor, I'd pretty much recommend using the money to buy the cultural. :P

See you in guildchat!

--Myrron

[Tariq]

Hey Myrron!

Yep, I think I'm going to have to go the purchase route after all. I'll just bring my tradeskills into the 188 range for the fun of it, then save the high-end stuff until later. Oh well, the Wood Elf cultural gear is better for Rangers anyway, so I'll just buy some supplies and exploit your carpal-tunnel riddled hands for some combines!

- Tariq

[Reflan]

756 combines from 188 to 195.

This is some serious effort (my combines were all shadowscream to that point) and a MASSIVE, massive time sink. Anything that can cut that short is well worth it. Leveling, buying wisdom gear, buying AA to help with wisdom, etc. -- you name it.

I still had another 55 points to go. :P

[Magrath]

A couple of suggestions:

Do the testament of vanear quest for a +10 wis secondary item, and then drop the greatsword for an "eye of the griffon", which seem to be getting pretty inexpensive on my server at least. Net gain +5 wis. I've seen eyes for under 1k.

Get your earring of the solstice, for a gain of +5. While this is admittedly more expensive, it's something that will probably be part of both your regular gear and tradeskill gear for a very long time.

Edit: Forgot about the fact that you'd get reduced stats on the solstice earring. But I still think it a good idea -- even reduced, I imagine it would be greater than 3 wis.

[Chenier]

I'd vote Solstice earring as well (tho isn't it restricted to 45 - might reduce the wisdom)...worth the investment as it's better than either of current "main" earrings.

And a bracelet of sense - if you can't find one cheap, maybe you could borrow one from someone?

Or you could go the ToV route - though camping that guy is sort of a pain...

[andyhre]

I'm a 44th level ranger. You can see my suit at

http://www.magelo.com/eq_view_profile.html?num=639194

In my main/secondary/range, I have 28 points, I think, using the Razor-Edged Shantok (which is also a weapon I had been using until yesterday) which maxes out its Wisdom at 43rd, and then the Testament of vaneer, which was simple to do in my 40s, at the good advice of this board, and then the eye of the griffon.


On my server the Polished Tin Chest item is only 500pp, I figured I'llkeep growing into its wisdom, so it'll give me wisdo now and then two more "presents" as I level.

I sprung for the Efreeti Boots as well, when there was a very cheap pair, but it's hard to knock +9. I got mine for 1,500pp, but I see them as low as 2K at times. That's a nice boost.

I also commissioned my Tigeraptor skullcap from a friend who was skilling up in tailoring -- I gave him 10 or so tigeraptor hides at well below market, and paid for the other items. I just asked him to make the first combines on skullcaps until he succeeded and he could have the rest for his own uses. I shopped until I got them at a low enough price that it probably cost me 500pp or so.

Finally it's easy to get a cheap wisdom boost on your ears, to at least +5 per. There were a variety of affordable choices for me for my non-solstice ear, the one I picked, Fang Shaped Stone, happened to be cheapest that day.

I'm still balking at the final steps, like 5K for an Emerald Dragon Tunic for 20 Chest wisdom or 6K per for Bracelets of Sense, but I am at 233, and 11K (one wrist, one chest) would get me all the way up to 253, with my earring and my gloves kickin in the other 2 when I "grow up"

Anyway, good luck to you.

Oh, I forgot to add: I get +7 from my solstice earring at 44, and I'm pretty sure I got that same +7 at 43. So that's a nice boost and a earring you'll wear every day as well.

[Tariq]

Beautiful. Thanks for all the advice folks.

- Tariq