Cultural Armour + Aug Guide - looking for one!

[Gorblimey]

Chaps

I've been running around in circles looking for a decent up to date guide on the cultural crafted arnour and augs.

I'm trying to get an understanding of whether I should start heading down the cultural armour route to replace my LGuk gear and what might be achieveable aug-wise right now that I'm not in an active raiding guild - if I can find stuff in the baz and grub up the plat of course. A clear concise guide would be darned useful - can anybody point me at one?

I am a little clueless as the whole cultural armour thing has mostly passed me by but I'm guessing that at 76 there could be some mileage on working towards some of this stuff.

Apologies if I've overlooked something/somewhere obvious but most stuff I've found is well out of date.

Gorby

[kolor]

http://mboards.eqtraders.com/eq/showthread.php?t=30180

http://mboards.eqtraders.com/eq/showthread.php?t=30202

http://mboards.eqtraders.com/eq/showthread.php?t=30177

http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/ques ... quest=3056

http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/ques ... quest=4569

[Gorblimey]

Thanks Mate

That's been helpful although was hoping for more of a "User's/Wearer's Guide" than a "Crafting Guide" but this plus peeking at peoples Magello's has suggested that, cash permitting, I could get some upgrades over my BB gear.

I'll probably try to hold off for a bit though and see if I can find a Raiding Guild and possibly some DKP-funded rather than plat-funded upgrades

Cheers

Gorby

[Zorbee]

Elegant + Sublime are only small upgrades over LGuK plate, but the biggest advantage comes in when you factor in the slot 12 and you can get Bazu/LB's etc.

[olts]

as zorby said, the biggest advantage of cultural gear is the slot12 aug slot. those augs though come mostly from raids (bazu = shyra etc., last blood = demi / por, serpent = tss, sunshard = solteris, sof) or are pretty gimp (chronal and discordant). search alla for what mob drops what stone, but if you dont have access to at least bazus, it will be far easier to just stay with the very nice guk gear. an option though might be farming matriarch shyra if ya have highlvl geared friends (also need a high lvl tank and a good puller to split her) or can get 2+ groups of average geared ppl together. maybe the giant shroom in DoD drops a bazu too, i cant remember. but hes not hard too.

a good route is sof armor, since the result (tier4) is almost equal to full elegant / sublime / last blood armor, but can be 1grouped all the way. especially as a tank ya will need a full set of tier2 armor though to attempt tier3 stuff. full set of tier3 to attempt crystallos. its a long route, but the reward is worth it. the nonvisible armor drops in sof zones arent bad too, even if they are mostly too low on ac for a tank attempting to tank crystallos. and, finally, the armor might have use in further expansions. the cultural route though ended with sof, soe made that very clear when there was the debate too nerf elegant with last bloods, because the armor was too good. (what it was imo, even if i personally benefittet a lot of it )

ohh, on a last note: not sure, if ya can buy the stuff for tier3 and tier4 in baz, on fv ya can, but its insane expensive. farming it yourself is usually less of a timesink than getting the required plat.

good luck

caero snowbunniesbane
80 paladin of tunare
master artisan
forgotten nemesis
firona vie

[Abazzagorath]

[olts]

well, ya right abzz, i never touched the sof gear, assumed somehow it was better...

my bp for example (elegant, sublime, lb with ak anon badge aug) is 180 ac 845 mana hp, 4 shielding, 19 avoidance. the tier4 bp from earth (not counting eblem and powersource used) would be 163 ac, 690 hp mana, 1 shielding, 8 avoidance. granted though it has more heroic stats and i didnt count the ps. lets assume its 170ish ac, 750ish hp / mana. on the bright side though, the tier4 foci are up to date, while last blood foci arent....

still, cultural is noticeable better. this though is not true with a bazu instead of the last blood (- 15 ac, - 50 hp / mana, worse foci, worse 2mods), which is the very best the op can achieve unless he gets into a raiding guild. as for co9: neat idea, i will try that next week. pally > all

c.

[dindaur]

like abaz said, the ac is much less on the quest gear versus the tradeskill gear. both are very usable sets.

[Gorblimey]

Hmmmm

Was all set to forget about Cultural for now then did a quick comparison between my LGuk BP and the crafted Elegant with Sublime Aug.

Main diffs were that the cultural gave, more AC, more Hps, on average greater stats including more heroic, on average greater saves and more and higher mods including shielding and avoidance. Given that one of my challenges is my weak AC and my shielding and avoidance could do with improvement too this has prompted me to think again.

I think I'm going to have to sit down at some point and chuck numbers on a spreadsheet for Cultural and suitable groupable alternatives.

Gorblimey Kindheart
Paladin and Proud!!
http://eq.magelo.com/profile/1407370

[Zorbee]

I am fully bedecked in LGUK and recently checked the numbers to see if any peice would be worth switching (since I had got a hold of a porous loam).

While all of the combos seemed close, none seemed a clear winner (without a type 12 aug anyway), however your post is making me recheck this.

Darkened Enameled Black Chestplate : AC120, HP 365 Shielding: +1% Avoidance: +3
Effect: Improved Dodge II (Worn, Casting Time: Instant)
Focus: Thorren's Extraplanar Inspiration II

Elegant Moonglade Cuirass: AC130, HP 410(80+330) Avoidance: +5 Shielding: +2%

And you are correct.

[olts]

imp dodge II is imo winner though unless ya can get it elsewhere. i assume, imp dodge II+ items drop in dsh and sof though, i have to admit i never payed much attention. but from overall stats and assuming ya have no other imp dodge piece i personally would go with the guk one. well, of course its debatable if imp dodge II is worth 10 ac and some hp

again i fail to understand why the sof gear route is put aside here. the gear is great, its 1groupable and at least tier1 aint very hard (tankable in full guk gear id say). granted tier2 can be the suck, but there are some camps that are doable, especially in steam if i recall right. of course ya wont clear much, but with patience ya will get a named. tier3 arnor now, drops in tier4 aka crystallos, is cake compared to tier3 zones. it really is. mobs hit a tad harder, but its easy pulling, almost always singles with a good puller, after ya learned how to avoid the eyes in each camp. and if ya cant stand the dmg, just bring an echanter to perma stun stuff. works at least for trash, essences drop of elders (not squires), that are not stunnable by chanter, but dont hit harder than average trash. squires finally are not too bad too, but id think a tank in tier3 gear might have a hard time with em.

c.

[Zorbee]

I don't really understand SoF gear.

I have a BP in my bank, but I don't know the next step.

[Brohg]

You have a ? To upgrade it you need a which can either be looted directly or converted from any other Steam Core with and . Combining the Warped Steel Breastplate with Steam Core: Purification in will make , which can be further upgraded for stats with individual Crystallos elemental essences (, or upgraded for stats and focus with all four Crystallos elemental essences together ().