Gear for Levelling

[safetypro]

I am thinking on making a new guide that has to do with level gear. Many of us have a stash of lower level gear that we set aside for when we start new characters so I thought rather than just list my preferences, I'd compile ideas of my own with that of other experienced players.

I have several difference set-ups that I use for instance melee vs. caster however, I'll just share a one tid-bit from my arsenal because I don't want an "all about me" thread. I'd rather read about your ideas and preferences.

Levels 0-30
My favorite for a melee character would be using Isenhart's set in combination with Sigon's gloves, belt and boots. One additional benefit to this set-up is that it allows me to switch the Isenhart's gear at level 18 for Milebraga's gear and keep the Sigon's parts. Works fantastic especially for Paladins.

Feel free to add your ideas. Please don't add anything that you'd prefer I not include in my new guide.

[Murari]

u play classic?

[safetypro]

u play classic?

no sorry, LOD Ladder.

[N V]

hmm. interesting thread. i dont usually have something set aside for lvling in particular, but a couple of useful items at low lvls for melee is...

bloodfist (dont tell me this isnt awesome :))
angelics rings/amu (10 dex, ar, life, life rep. what more can you want? :D)
hsarus boots/belt (more ar, fire res, cold res, life and defense).
pelta lunata and umbral disk both work great.
steel weapon is awesome. 25 ias, 50 ow, some ed and max dmg. just great.

but best combo i have used so far (if you know you will be needing the strenght) is full sigons. combine that with steel for example and you got a char that can take on all of normal, just need a weapon change every now and then.

[safetypro]

Thanks N_V, I agree with the Sigon's/Steel combination. It's one that I have used as well. I've also found Skewer or Krinitz a nice fast llvl weapon as it adds str allowing you to equip Sigon's a lvl or 2 earlier. Crushflange mace fits in the same category however its much slower.

[Zinah]

Cool thread. :) Skewer of Krinitz is awesome - for some reason most of my necros start as kinda melee (i know how it sounds, don't laugh) so most of them loved it. :P Good Maelstrom is useful sometimes (i mean good AD and good CE) for the start. I like Iratha's set - it's ok to solve some problems with res at the beginning. Nightsmoke is good one. And i totally agree with bloodfist!

[Habit88]

best starting weapon for melee or casters to a certain point is the quest item Khalim's Will. once the flail is cubed with the heart brain and eye it get's awesome stats for a level 1 char and has no requirements. i mule one for all my new chars. just make sure you mule it before you you complete that quest or you'll lose it.

[Nosferatu]

Iceblink is GG lol.

[safetypro]

best starting weapon for melee or casters to a certain point is the quest item Khalim's Will. once the flail is cubed with the heart brain and eye it get's awesome stats for a level 1 char and has no requirements. i mule one for all my new chars. just make sure you mule it before you you complete that quest or you'll lose it.

That's a great idea! Thanks for sharing that one. What are the stats if you don't mind me asking? I've never looked at the flail before using it to open the Durence.

Zinah, I've use Iratha set a few times. Still leaves you room for good boots, armor, weapon and shield.

Nosferatu, stop teasing....LOL Boneflesh is good mid-level armor for a melee character and Greyform for starter melee characters as well.

I'll share another goodie! I was looking for a decent mid level Barb armor for my latest build when I came across a 3os Russet armor. Just for the heck of it I looked at the 3 socket armor runewords and suprisingly found Myth.

Myth (Hel+Amn+Nef) level 25
3% Chance To Cast Level 1 Howl When Struck
10% Chance To Cast Level 1 Taunt On Striking
+2 To Barbarian Skill Levels
+30 Defense Vs. Missile
Replenish Life +10
Attacker Takes Damage of 14
Requirements -15%

[Nosferatu]

Ummm....Shaftstop?

[Habit88]

Khalim's Will
One-Hand Damage: 1 to 15
Durability: 19 of 30
Mace Class - Fastest Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10 Expansion
Item Level: 1
Fingerprint: 0x6061a96f
+40 to Attack Rating
Adds 1-40 lightning damage
6% Life stolen per hit
6% Mana stolen per hit
50% Increased Attack Speed
150% Damage to Undead


i'm pretty sure it hasn't changed in 1.11 so these would be current.

[saracen85]

my leveling tools include a 12x jewels of envy set-up. that will totally clear act1 monsters easily.

btw, @OP, i've sent a couple of links that may help in your guide.. =)

[safetypro]

Khalim's Will
One-Hand Damage: 1 to 15
Durability: 19 of 30
Mace Class - Fastest Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10 Expansion
Item Level: 1
Fingerprint: 0x6061a96f
+40 to Attack Rating
Adds 1-40 lightning damage
6% Life stolen per hit
6% Mana stolen per hit
50% Increased Attack Speed
150% Damage to Undead


i'm pretty sure it hasn't changed in 1.11 so these would be current.

Ah so thats Khalim's Will. At frst I thought it was Tan-Do-Li-Ga (which is a respectable llvl weapon BTW) but upon further inspection, it was not. Love the dual leach and it will be fast-fast-fast.

btw, @OP, i've sent a couple of links that may help in your guide.. =)
Thanks saracen85, if you want to post them or if you'd rather, please PM them to me.

[Habit88]

the hellforge hammer i believe has no clvl req. although i'm not sure of the stat req's pretty sure it has none either. hmm i wonder if you can socket khalims will. a jewel of envy would go nice in there. anyone know if you can socket a quest item?

[saracen85]

@safetypro
links sent thru pm..

and here's a good weapon i use as well..

Gemmed Great Maul
Two-Hand Damage: 64 to 125
Durability: 33 of 60
Required Strength: 54
Required Level: 9
Mace Class - Slow Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x5bf8b565
+67% Enhanced Damage
+1 to Minimum Damage
+29 to Maximum Damage
Requirements -45%
150% Damage to Undead
Socketed (6: 6 used)

not really the optimum, but it's the best within my reach.. =)

[Habit88]

the slow attack speed and no shield would upset me but other than that it's not too bad

[safetypro]

Looks like a nice Druid or Barb weapon. Thanks for the PM.

[DarkPrinceLoki]

i also use the full isenhearts set. other items i use include sander's riprap/vidella's fetlock for boots. tarnhelm (lvl 15 and +1 all skills its the coolest) and lore for the helms. not to mention a slew of rare items that stack up in my mules.

[Jordan]

Ravenclaw with deaths gloves and belt + enchant = gg.

[saracen85]

not just any raven claw..
1.09 raven claw.. =P"

[Shallie]

I usually start with one of the classic sets. Which one depends of coarse what kind of char I play.

Some nice uniques for casters are Tarnhelm and The Eye of Etlich. Can be equipped at lvl 15 and gives you an early +2 to skills.

For rings I usually use two Manald Heal for early leveling. They help quite a bit with the mana problem you usually have at the beginning.

[N V]

Thanks N_V, I agree with the Sigon's/Steel combination. It's one that I have used as well. I've also found Skewer or Krinitz a nice fast llvl weapon as it adds str allowing you to equip Sigon's a lvl or 2 earlier. Crushflange mace fits in the same category however its much slower.

how could i forget skewer of krinitz. a great weapon, and the ignore targets defense is a good mod. i would say that weapon is perfect for early lvling in tristram with enchant. you might have trouble hitting some of the champion packs because (if my memory serves me right), ignore targets defense doesnt work on those. also blood crescent is a good weapon for lvling. not great dmg, but 33% OW, ias, res, life and life leach.

looking at the unique scepter knell striker that can be used at lvl 5, it has the potential of being a good lvl weapon. avg dmg of 14 or 15 at lvl 5 isnt so bad.

Cool thread. Skewer of Krinitz is awesome - for some reason most of my necros start as kinda melee (i know how it sounds, don't laugh) so most of them loved it. :P Good Maelstrom is useful sometimes (i mean good AD and good CE) for the start. I like Iratha's set - it's ok to solve some problems with res at the beginning. Nightsmoke is good one. And i totally agree with bloodfist!

maelstorm is indeed a good starter weapon. never really looked at it much since i dont play much necros (but that will change sometime in february aye? ;)), but the 3 amp dmg and 3 CE will certainly help :)

best starting weapon for melee or casters to a certain point is the quest item Khalim's Will. once the flail is cubed with the heart brain and eye it get's awesome stats for a level 1 char and has no requirements. i mule one for all my new chars. just make sure you mule it before you you complete that quest or you'll lose it.

khalims will, another great lvl wep. i have used that before, but i havnt taken the time to get the parts to make one. maybe i should do that one day. that weapon really shines in the hands of a zealer :D

my leveling tools include a 12x jewels of envy set-up. that will totally clear act1 monsters easily.


how would the psn damage look like with that? does the dmg over time increase with each jewel, or does it stay at 2 sec but increases dmg. been so long since i used any psn dmg from jewels/gems that i dont remember how that work. i would rather use max dmg jewels though since i like to OHKO my enemies instead of waiting for them to die.

btw is it only me, or is angelics ring/amu really great on shapers? im playing a fury druid, and at lvl 14 using the leach skill and angelics with a combat shrine i got as much ar as 9k and each angelic ring added almost 200 to life when shape shifted and oak sage. i had almost 500 life and can kill anything without problem. even without combat shrine i got almost 2k ar :D

[The _Reaper]

I recently start a Double Swing Barb - my first Barb :D

I found that at a fairly low lvl, cant remeber xactly what, i can use full sets of both Angelic and Deaths Disguise.

Not the most powerful of weapons but provides enough res and life leach to keep you alive fairly easily.

The other thing is use is the good old favrite of Sigons.

Forgot to say aswell.

He attacks ver very very quickly - IAs on both wepaons and gloves :)

[safetypro]

I've tried Cathan's and Arcanna's sets for a Sorc's and wasn't overly impressed with either. Cleglaw's set is pretty cool for a Sword Barb and Death's set is probably the best early set next to Sigon's. I try to combine multiple set pieces when I can to try and get double bonuses. An example of that is using both Hsaru's full set (shield, belt and boots) with Berserker's full set (helm, armor and weapon) and Iratha's Gloves and Amulet. You get all kinds of decent mods.
Anyone have any good Caster gear suggestions?

[N V]

tarnhelm for +1 skills, and get a nice staff/orb/wand with some skills, then just get some mana items. the skills early lvl kill fairly good anyway, and with mana you can spam them more. carrying 1 row of health pots and 3 rows of blues will also let you take fewer trips to town. and often early spells do have AoE so its not very difficult. besides nothing early on should be able to kill you in 1-3 hits anyway.

but im sure someone got a better setup for a caster :)

[JaBaSh]

Interesting thread! ^^
I didn't keep any low level gear for some time now, as I won't start new characters on Soft Ladder anymore, but when I did I always kept full Sigons for most of them.
I remember I always had ritual of buying full books of Town portal and identify + transfering 50k gold, so I bought some stuff from vendors right away ^^. Weird items were at least 2-4 stamina potions, so I could keep pace with rusher :P

[Zinah]

maelstorm is indeed a good starter weapon. never really looked at it much since i dont play much necros (but that will change sometime in february aye? ;)), but the 3 amp dmg and 3 CE will certainly help :)

Lol, it will certainly change. i just found another maelstrom yesterday (and i have both somewhere on mules now - i saved one some time ago for purpose of leveling and my wands collection :P). so you can try yourself when time will come. xD

About poison - i think time will stay the same (2 secs) but I'm not sure if you just sum up the damage. I have this feeling that i read that it's not that simple. but i'm not sure. I can't refer to Tao of Poison because i guess it was not updated for some time. But i know lots of people use tons of jewels of envy in weapon and armor - so it's probably good. :D need to test it - will start collecting those jewels.

Ok, will you shoot me if i say Spectral Shard for casters? ;) (playing some classic i'm very careful with calling stuff "crappy", many "crappy" things can be actually useful, no matter xpac or not) Also Horadric Staff. Now that sounds funny. But it's not bad if you can go with a staff with first two acts. To make you laugh: I just put it in hands of my low level new pala and it's worth it for people reactions. lol, at least it's a very fast weapon, gives some res. and a pala with a black stick is cool - can always pretend that he knows kendo, the animation of him waving the staff is priceless. ok, ignore my craziness.

I just read one good tip for casters - using a crystal sword with Tir runes for mana per kill. (yeaaah, we all have mana problems at the beginning)

[saracen85]

the jewels of envy set-up i great. they have no level requirements = can be used at level one.

my set-up has ~200 poison dmg over 2 seconds, great for low levels. it's basically hit and forget, like poison dagger. =)

[brom]

I'll share another goodie! I was looking for a decent mid level Barb armor for my latest build when I came across a 3os Russet armor. Just for the heck of it I looked at the 3 socket armor runewords and suprisingly found Myth.

Myth (Hel+Amn+Nef) level 25
3% Chance To Cast Level 1 Howl When Struck
10% Chance To Cast Level 1 Taunt On Striking
+2 To Barbarian Skill Levels
+30 Defense Vs. Missile
Replenish Life +10
Attacker Takes Damage of 14
Requirements -15%[/QUOTE]


you are luck to come across a rare thing like that just by chance

[safetypro]

I'll share another goodie! I was looking for a decent mid level Barb armor for my latest build when I came across a 3os Russet armor. Just for the heck of it I looked at the 3 socket armor runewords and suprisingly found Myth.

Myth (Hel+Amn+Nef) level 25
3% Chance To Cast Level 1 Howl When Struck
10% Chance To Cast Level 1 Taunt On Striking
+2 To Barbarian Skill Levels
+30 Defense Vs. Missile
Replenish Life +10
Attacker Takes Damage of 14
Requirements -15%


you are luck to come across a rare thing like that just by chance

Thanks Brom but, luck wasn't really involved. I'm sure lots of Barbs find decent 3os Armors while leveling. The good fortune for me was that I decided to look up potential runewords and discovered one of the 1.11 runewords that most people probably overlook. It so happened that I could use the runeword at the same time as the Exceptional armor. I was able to use that armor until level 42 when I changed it out for Skullder's Ire.

[N V]

as for the poison damage, if i remember right to calculate the final psn dmg from different sources with different psn lenght you have to figure out dmg per fram, then add i together or something like that.

im sure the psn dmg is a good setup, but you can find some cool max dmg jewels with no lvl req. imo hit and kill instead of hit and forget is better. enemies die faster and you get hit less. a military pick is excelent for this. no lvl req, low stat req, 7-11 dmg and can get 6 sockets. assassin and paladins have very fast attack with it while the rest of the classes have fast attack speed with it.

[Azwype]

I have a full sigon set and a ravenclaw set aside for leveling a character. I just find a chant game and level till I can wear Sigons set. I continue in chant games till I can use ravenclaw. Again, chant game all the way to Baal. Level 1-25 in about 2 hours provided chant games are available.

[safetypro]

I have a full sigon set and a ravenclaw set aside for leveling a character. I just find a chant game and level till I can wear Sigons set. I continue in chant games till I can use ravenclaw. Again, chant game all the way to Baal. Level 1-25 in about 2 hours provided chant games are available.

Thanks Azwype,
But you're missing the point of this thread. I do understand that there are quick ways to level however, some of us prefer to do it the old fashioned way. Many people rush to endgame with their characters and then proceed to do the same MF quests over and over. MFing is boring to me so I prefer to level slow, always with a new character so I'm learning new skills and new builds every time. Allot of the fun for me is planning out my gear from beginning to endgame.

I haven't seen any replies yet for Assassins. I must admit that I am niave when it comes to that character class. Is there specific early or mid game gear that works well or do they use much of the same gear as either melee or caster builds?

[Azwype]

I see your point. How about this then Sigon set with Shadowfang sword for meleers?

[N V]

assassins can use much of the same meele gear, and some of the caster gear used depending on the class. for example kickers can be built very similar to smiters.

dainbramage knows a lot more about assassins than i do though ;)

[safetypro]

Thanks N_V.
I've followed up your reply with a post on the Assassin Board requesting some assistance on Assassin Katars.

dainbramage, if you read this please help me with some issues regarding llvl assassin gear.

[N V]

if you really need to find the lvl req for different skills on assassin weapons you can shop for some at anya in hell. getting a +1 or 2 assassin weapon isnt very difficult and getting +3tab and +1,2 or 3 to specific skill shouldnt be much problem. really cant help much more than that though :(

i do know fools claws (around char lvl 40 or so) is a great choice for melee sins. adds dmg and massive ar. my lvl 49 kicker have reached max ar of 11k with a fools claw, bartucs and duel angelic rings/amu :)

[Dlav123]

a good set i like for barbs is berserker set with 2 berserker weps works real well i also like full vidalas for zons also i like i think they call them thread cotton boots for kick sins cause they require lvl 25 to wear and have good dmg all so i like leaf for fire sorc's and i like wormskull for necros and tarn helm for any char because it gives 1 to all skills and u need to be lvl 18 to equip it.

[saracen85]

something interesting to note for the untwinked..

as early as level 13, you can make a "nadir" helm for just a nef and a tir.

simply translated;
9x lvl13 cloak of shadows charges, ie 20 seconds of "invisibility", +46% defense & -51% enemy defense.

too expensive to recharge? just make another one =)