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Plate Darkrunners

The biggest drawbacks I can think of is that you lose magic defense and the 20% reduced trip duration from leather armor. While you can get magic defense from costumes and garments, it basically trades your offensive stats for the magic defense. While there are more melee classes vs. magic, you will get melted by any magic user. Years ago our best weapons were t4 obsidian weapons, and physical/magical attack was not crazy. Most people nowadays can get 600-800 melee/magic attack effortlessly, yet there is nothing from plate that will help you against mages (neither years ago, nor now because the gear has stayed the same- obs, delph, ayanad). For a class like darkrunner, my interpretation of it is to be a pure dps class that kills others before it gets killed itself. You can make it tanky, sure, but remember that it's offensiveness will go down the more you go tanky. An argument can be made that if you have a really nice weapon (say over 900 attack on it) that gear type won't exactly matter, but keep in mind that there are magic classes out there. If they survive your burst, or catch you out in the wild, you'll literally be fried unless you kill them before dying.

Overall, my opinion is if you stick only with darkrunner, leather would be better.



One exception/situation where this would somewhat be viable, is if you played another class as a plate user, and do not want to buy a second set just to play darkrunner.

This paragraph is just my mindset on plate as I am choosing to use it here, and you shouldn't take it for more than just opinion (unless you want to) and no need to read it if you don't want to. I'm playing paladin on this server (battlerage, defense, vitalism), and have a choice between all three styles. The only differences between the sets are: cloth will give me better mana regen, leather will give me the ability to socket other types of gems rather than mdef/pdef, as well as allow me to play other melee classes (darkrunner, etc), and plate will give me reduced stun duration, more pdef, and more health. I did my calculations and plate with mdef gems gives you more overall defenses in both vs. cloth with pdef gems. I also chose plate because 1) most people I encounter play melee/ranged vs. magic, 2) fully geared ill have 35k health and incredibly tanky which is insane (especially against melee classes), and 3) I don't have to worry about magic classes because I'll have mdef gems. When switching classes to have some dps fun instead of being tanky, I'd do Darkrunner and Argent (battlerage, auramancy, vitalism). With an epic shortspear, my damage will be more than fine, and my gear will help me stay alive. I've played darkrunner on live all the way up to around 2.5-2.9 before switching to paladin. I played leather and plate on live and I last played AA years ago just like you. Just keep in mind that phys/magic damage has gone up tremendously since back when we played, and we need to put more into our gear to increase it's resistance. If I played DR now with an epic obsidian shortspear, I might not be able to down people in one combo like most DRs in leather and offensive-type builds (because of my magic defense stacking in gear and costume/garment), but it will still be fun because winning against other DR's because of (#1 skill, #2 pdef) will make them very salty.

To conclude, choose what you feel like going with. Gearing has diversified tremendously and what truly matters, and what you should #1 invest your gold in, is your weapon. That has unfortunately stayed the same since launch.
 
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The biggest drawbacks I can think of is that you lose magic defense and the 20% reduced trip duration from leather armor. While you can get magic defense from costumes and garments, it basically trades your offensive stats for the magic defense. While there are more melee classes vs. magic, you will get melted by any magic user. Years ago our best weapons were t4 obsidian weapons, and physical/magical attack was not crazy. Most people nowadays can get 600-800 melee/magic attack effortlessly, yet there is nothing from plate that will help you against mages (neither years ago, nor now because the gear has stayed the same- obs, delph, ayanad). For a class like darkrunner, my interpretation of it is to be a pure dps class that kills others before it gets killed itself. You can make it tanky, sure, but remember that it's offensiveness will go down the more you go tanky. An argument can be made that if you have a really nice weapon (say over 900 attack on it) that gear type won't exactly matter, but keep in mind that there are magic classes out there. If they survive your burst, or catch you out in the wild, you'll literally be fried unless you kill them before dying.

Overall, my opinion is if you stick only with darkrunner, leather would be better.



One exception/situation where this would somewhat be viable, is if you played another class as a plate user, and do not want to buy a second set just to play darkrunner.

This paragraph is just my mindset on plate as I am choosing to use it here, and you shouldn't take it for more than just opinion (unless you want to) and no need to read it if you don't want to. I'm playing paladin on this server (battlerage, defense, vitalism), and have a choice between all three styles. The only differences between the sets are: cloth will give me better mana regen, leather will give me the ability to socket other types of gems rather than mdef/pdef, as well as allow me to play other melee classes (darkrunner, etc), and plate will give me reduced stun duration, more pdef, and more health. I did my calculations and plate with mdef gems gives you more overall defenses in both vs. cloth with pdef gems. I also chose plate because 1) most people I encounter play melee/ranged vs. magic, 2) fully geared ill have 35k health and incredibly tanky which is insane (especially against melee classes), and 3) I don't have to worry about magic classes because I'll have mdef gems. When switching classes to have some dps fun instead of being tanky, I'd do Darkrunner and Argent (battlerage, auramancy, vitalism). With an epic shortspear, my damage will be more than fine, and my gear will help me stay alive. I've played darkrunner on live all the way up to around 2.5-2.9 before switching to paladin. I played leather and plate on live and I last played AA years ago just like you. Just keep in mind that phys/magic damage has gone up tremendously since back when we played, and we need to put more into our gear to increase it's resistance. If I played DR now with an epic obsidian shortspear, I might not be able to down people in one combo like most DRs in leather and offensive-type builds (because of my magic defense stacking in gear and costume/garment), but it will still be fun because winning against other DR's because of (#1 skill, #2 pdef) will make them very salty.

To conclude, choose what you feel like going with. Gearing has diversified tremendously and what truly matters, and what you should #1 invest your gold in, is your weapon. That has unfortunately stayed the same since launch.

Thank you for that very detailed reply.
 
Nice class to play. The good news is plate will work just fine for you. As a plate abolisher you'll be very tanky, and a obs v2 mdef shield + gems and cloak/garment/costume will bring up your total mdef to a really good level. I'm assuming you'll be running with desert or obsidian (stam/str either way). As long as you get at least an epic weapon, you'll be great. You'll not only be tanky, but if you throw on a 1h wep and duel wield, you can play Darkrunner as well.

I'd recommend a shortspear for three reasons. 1) Because Abolisher uses defense and is tanky, you'll be using a shield 100% and limited to a 1h weapon. 2) Shortspear has a hidden effect of pdef penetration. Your attacks have a chance to go through a chunk of the enemy's armor with it, which is great. 3) This is a huge bonus if you ever have an inkling to play with vitalism: healing power. If you get an obsidian shortspear, it not only comes with melee attack, but it has healing power. This is a great choice for playing as an Argent/Paladin as mentioned in my original post up above. Also, I'm not 100% sure but I believe it will boost Revitalizing Cheer (which you NEED as an abolisher). I could be wrong though, I don't see any bonus from healing power on the skill description, and I'm not in-game ATM to be able to test it out. Just a note, obsidian shortspear will cost you more since it's a lot more rare vs. crafted shortspears. If you roll crafted, a divine ayanad shortspear should be the "standard" for you. If obsidian, epic is the best way to go. Shortspear is also "the" weapon for DRs, as well as longspear/nodachi. Since you'll be using a 1h because of shield, that's my reasoning as to using a shortspear.

I wouldn't recommend katana because it's hidden passive is crit instead of pdef penetration, but I suppose it (or sword) are both options if you're on a budget (really high power weapons are expensive).
 
Nice class to play. The good news is plate will work just fine for you. As a plate abolisher you'll be very tanky, and a obs v2 mdef shield + gems and cloak/garment/costume will bring up your total mdef to a really good level. I'm assuming you'll be running with desert or obsidian (stam/str either way). As long as you get at least an epic weapon, you'll be great. You'll not only be tanky, but if you throw on a 1h wep and duel wield, you can play Darkrunner as well.

I'd recommend a shortspear for three reasons. 1) Because Abolisher uses defense and is tanky, you'll be using a shield 100% and limited to a 1h weapon. 2) Shortspear has a hidden effect of pdef penetration. Your attacks have a chance to go through a chunk of the enemy's armor with it, which is great. 3) This is a huge bonus if you ever have an inkling to play with vitalism: healing power. If you get an obsidian shortspear, it not only comes with melee attack, but it has healing power. This is a great choice for playing as an Argent/Paladin as mentioned in my original post up above. Also, I'm not 100% sure but I believe it will boost Revitalizing Cheer (which you NEED as an abolisher). I could be wrong though, I don't see any bonus from healing power on the skill description, and I'm not in-game ATM to be able to test it out. Just a note, obsidian shortspear will cost you more since it's a lot more rare vs. crafted shortspears. If you roll crafted, a divine ayanad shortspear should be the "standard" for you. If obsidian, epic is the best way to go. Shortspear is also "the" weapon for DRs, as well as longspear/nodachi. Since you'll be using a 1h because of shield, that's my reasoning as to using a shortspear.

I wouldn't recommend katana because it's hidden passive is crit instead of pdef penetration, but I suppose it (or sword) are both options if you're on a budget (really high power weapons are expensive).
im sorry but can i ask lill question mate i see that u say katana hidden effect is crit is this crit in general or phy crit ?
asking cuz im primevil (not much in to pvp) and my primary weapon of use is The full agi (obsi) bow
and i wander if dual wielding katanas will increase my crit ?(currently dual wielding 2 cursed obsi daggers )
 
im sorry but can i ask lill question mate i see that u say katana hidden effect is crit is this crit in general or phy crit ?
asking cuz im primevil (not much in to pvp) and my primary weapon of use is The full agi (obsi) bow
and i wander if dual wielding katanas will increase my crit ?(currently dual wielding 2 cursed obsi daggers )

Hidden passives only trigger when the weapon is used to physically attack a target. Healers want to regen mana with their Club's hidden passive? Go whack an enemy until it triggers. Want to lower cast time with your staff as a mage? Go bop your enemy on the head until it triggers. So the answer to your question is no.
 
I think I used a dagger and shield when I played an archer before.
ive done this as well but i pull up more Agi as a glass cannon
im currently investigating the options for building hybrid archer Range/Mage but there is almost no leather gear that gives Agi and Int at the same time as for weapons im thinking of trying Dual welding the mag damage obsi katanas not sure yet ,problem is that at lvl 40 u can get tons of drop gear that is totally good for building Hybrid Archer But at lv 50 all the accessable drop gear its only dungeon and Auroria Gears and they have class or skill tree specific presets for the most part ;(
 
im currently investigating the options for building hybrid archer Range/Mage but there is almost no leather gear that gives Agi and Int at the same time

There is no gear at ALL that gives Agility/Intelligence as far as I know, but this isn't your problem with a build like that. Your problem is synergy. People hate Darkrunners because of synergy between the 3 trees. A DR wants to get in and blow you up while having mobility to get out or chase you. An archer is so squishy, you need to keep moving because if someone pounces on you, you're dead. A mage needs to be immobile for a small period of time to cast their damage dealing spells. On top of your optimal stat gear not existing, you're dealing crap archer damage by comparison, you're dealing crap mage damage by comparison, and you're stuttering more than someone with a speech impediment.
 
ive done this as well but i pull up more Agi as a glass cannon
im currently investigating the options for building hybrid archer Range/Mage but there is almost no leather gear that gives Agi and Int at the same time as for weapons im thinking of trying Dual welding the mag damage obsi katanas not sure yet ,problem is that at lvl 40 u can get tons of drop gear that is totally good for building Hybrid Archer But at lv 50 all the accessable drop gear its only dungeon and Auroria Gears and they have class or skill tree specific presets for the most part ;(


What Velorra said about intelligence and hidden weapon proc is true. I would also not recommend you mix magic with archery. Archery by itself is a very gear-dependent class. The only time archery will be great, is when you are fully geared with an epic bow at the very minimum. You can still do well against people with low defense, but you're going to have a hard time fighting anyone with a shield and/or anyone who runs defense as a part of their build. You should instead focus on getting gold to buy an epic obsidian or delph/ayanad bow. Try to avoid delph if you can, but I understand money can be an issue at times. The weight of a weapon vs. gear is about 70/30 weapon; gear when it comes to PVP. That is why I recommend #1 to (anyone) to get a very nice weapon first. This is MUCH more important for you because archery doesn't do that well in PVP until you get very good gear.

If you're looking to try out other classes, there are only three archery builds I would recommend to you. The rest are all bad because the synergy between skills and the gear will always be a conflict and will make life difficult for you. I do not rank these in any specific order, just listing them as I think about them.

1) Primevil - you play this already. Great class because of mobility. The auramancy skill allows you to be mobile. Because you're squishy, it helps you kite enemies and stay away as much as possible. Shadowplay also allows you to use stealth, backdrop, and (if you use this combo) - overwhelm into shadowsmite.

2) Stone arrow - (Archery/Defense/Shadowplay). This is the tanky version of an archer. Less mobility than prime, in exchange for being more tanky. This would be my least recommended playstyle of all three because in my opinion, if you get caught, you're going to die anyway because stone arrow isn't a natural tank like other classes, and it instead just gimps your damage.

3) Ebonsong - (Archery/Songcraft/Shadowplay). This is a popular class nowadays. The main use of Songcraft is to get the Zeal passive that gives you an enormous crit dmg buff for a specific amount of time after your first crit. This, combined with the dmg chant, makes you hit extremely hard. I would recommend trying this build out. The better your gear, the more damage you will do. However, you lose the mobility of auramancy but I'm sure the massive damage gain is worth it; and you still can use the movement chant as well.

If you want to be a glass-cannon, AFTER you have a really nice weapon, go gale for maximum damage as an ebonsong. Just know your health will be lower but that's what a glass cannon is: kill first or die.
 
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What Velorra said about intelligence and hidden weapon proc is true. I would also not recommend you mix magic with archery. Archery by itself is a very gear-dependent class. The only time archery will be great, is when you are fully geared with an epic bow at the very minimum. You can still do well against people with low defense, but you're going to have a hard time fighting anyone with a shield and/or anyone who runs defense as a part of their build. You should instead focus on getting gold to buy an epic obsidian or delph/ayanad bow. Try to avoid delph if you can, but I understand money can be an issue at times. The weight of a weapon vs. gear is about 70/30 weapon; gear when it comes to PVP. That is why I recommend #1 to (anyone) to get a very nice weapon first. This is MUCH more important for you because archery doesn't do that well in PVP until you get very good gear.

Eatmydust is such a sweetie ! Always helping :rolleyes:
 
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