Post by Traaavis on Dec 3, 2012 2:36:28 GMT -5
BINDS GUIDE
This guide will attempt to help clarify any ambiguity about commonly used offensive and defensive equipment available in dungeoneering and formulate the most effective bind setup for most DGers. While 3bo does not currently require any specific binds, the choices elaborated upon in this narrative, and I hope you can use this information to choose the best-fitting bind combination for your specific uses.
FOREWORD
Because combat is such a huge part of dungeoneering, it is vital to use your level-based ability to its fullest potential. Prioritizing weapons that offer greater damage output combined with armor that will help maintain a high accuracy rating will cooperatively and effectively shorten the time spent fighting monsters. Additionally, choosing the right defensive binds is crucial for survival techniques -- another key component of the dungeoneering skill. Therefore, it is important to find the proper balance between offense and defence when choosing what to bind.
WHAT DO I BIND?
Detailed explanations can be found below, but here is a general list of what should be bound and when.
For Hybrids:
Ammo: Cosmic runes until Level 50, then Arrows (Staves provide unlimited runes)
Level 1: 2-Handed Weapon
Level 20: Platebody
Level 50: Ranged or Magic Weapon (dependent on levels)
Level 90: Hood > Chaps/Robe Bottom > Blood Necklace > Ranged Body/Magic Top
Level 120: Blood Necklace
Ring of Kinship: Tier 7+ of Berserker and Desperado/Blitzer
OR
For Tribrids:
Ammo: Cosmic runes until Level 50, then Arrows (Staves provide unlimited runes)
Level 1: 2-Handed Weapon
Level 20: Platebody
Level 50: Ranged or Magic Weapon (dependent on levels)
Level 90: Ranged or Magic Weapon (dependent on level 50 bind)
Level 120: Blood Necklace > Hood
Ring of Kinship: Tier 7+ of Berserker and Desperado
OR
(Thank you WorldGorger!)
MELEE WEAPONS
In general:
- 2h sword > Maul > Spear
- Primal > Promethium > Gorgonite etc.
Specifically:
- Primal 2h > Primal Maul > Primal Spear > Promethium 2h > Promethium Maul > Promethium Spear > etc.
Prior to the EoC release, 2h weapons were the best choice because the Berserker ring provided a strength boost for 2h weapons, where the Tactician ring increased accuracy for 1h weapons (and strength > accuracy). Now, those rings give identical boosts for their respective weapon types. However, 2h weapons are still preferred since there are many 2h-only abilities that are spectacular.
Due to the nature of weaknesses in the EoC, any monster weak to stab, slash, or crush is weak to any melee weapon in general. So how do you choose which weapon to use if all 2h weapons of the same tier have the same stats? Well, using the specific weakness provides a 15% accuracy boost, so it's important to note the frequency of slash-weak, crush-weak, and stab-weak monsters. Currently, although I have not inventoried anywhere near to all monsters, slash is the most common, closely followed by crush, and stab is by far the least common. Therefore, in any one tier, 2h sword > Maul > Spear.
Like previously mentioned, all 2h weapons in a single tier have the same offensive stats, but vary in attack styles. Because of this, if you have 99 strength, but do not have 99 attack, a Primal Maul is better to use than a Promethium 2h Sword. And if you have 99 attack but do not have 99 strength or 113 dungeoneering, a Primal Spear is actually better than a Promethium 2h.
In short, bind the highest tiered two-handed weapon you can wield.
RANGED AND MAGIC WEAPONS
In general:
- Shortbow > Staff
- Ranged > Magic (unless you can bind a Staff 1 tier higher than your highest available ranged weapon's tier)
Specifically:
For Hybrids
- Hexhunter bow > Sagittarian Shortbow > Celestial Catalytic Staff > Gravecreeper Shortbow > Gravecreeper Staff > Doomcore Staff > Entgallow Shortbow > Entgallow Staff etc.
For Tribrids
- Hexhunter bow > Sagittarian Shortbow > Gravecreeper Shortbow etc.
- Celestial Catalytic Staff > Gravecreeper Staff > Doomcore Staff > Entgallow Staff etc.
Traditionally, the only ranged weapon ever recommended to bind was the Hexhunter Bow, and until you found the fabled bow, you bound a surgebox and used magic. Now with the advent of the EoC, non-hex ranged weapons have been significantly improved, and are highly recommended to bind due to ease of use when compared to magic; ranged is recommended to use over magic both for its simplicity and damage dealing capability.
However, for those with a higher magic level than ranged level, magic can be significantly useful, though more though-oriented. If you can bind a staff one tier higher than your highest accessible bow, magic will be more useful for you (i.e. level 90 magic and level 82 ranged -- Gravecreeper staff > Entgallow shortbow). Properly using magic requires noting enemy element weaknesses, and switching styles quickly for maximum damage. Because staves provide unlimited catalytic and elemental runes, and all four elemental spells deal the same base damage, attacking with the specific weakness is important for maximizing DPS.
Un-empowered staves provide unlimited Catalytic and Elemental runes, whereas their empowered counterparts do not. Both normal and empowered staves share the same stats, too, so empowered staves are underpowered at the moment. In regards to the Doomcore Staff, it no longer retains its damage boost, but is one of the best staves for lower leveled players (requiring only 68 attack and magic to wield, or 83 magic alone). It is more accurate than the Entgallow Staff, but less accurate than the Gravecreeper Staff.
In general, though, melee can take down all magic-weak monsters pretty quickly, while they suffer against range-weak monsters (i.e. Animated Books, Forgotten Mages, etc.). For this reason, ranged weapons are very useful for quickly taking care of magic-using enemies.
A Sagittarian Shortbow actually has higher DPS than a Hexhunter Bow, but Hexes are special; they provide an Armor and LP boost and fire arrows faster than any other DG ranged weapon, while also offering access to shield abilities. Once their bonus against magic-using enemies is reinstated, their DPS will surpass the Sagi Short, and because of this they are still the best ranged weapon available.
In short, bind your highest tiered shortbow or staff (depending on skill levels) until you can obtain a Hex.
DEFENSIVE BINDS
In general:
- Platebody is required
- Hood > Chaps/Robe Bottom > Ranged Body/Mage Top > Platelegs
Specifically:
- Primal Platebody > Promethium Platebody etc.
- Only bind magic armor if you are choosing to use magic instead of ranged because of levels or opting for tribridding; do not bind magic armor if you are only using melee and ranged
- Hood > Leg gear > Body gear as a secondary defensive bind
- Blood Necklace can be used as a filler 4th bind until chaps, a body, or a Hood is found
- Blood Necklace as a 5th bind
Defensive gear now provides a huge chunk of your LP, which unfortunately eliminates Hoods as a primary defensive bind. Melee is the attack style you will use 90% of the time in a floor, so a platebody is absolutely required. There are no alternative melee defensive binds; chainbodies are weaker and provide no benefit to ranging at all, and Hoods are classified as Magic gear (and also do not provide a high enough Armor/LP boost, but more on Hoods later).
It is no longer acceptable to remove your platebody to increase ranged accuracy, since you will halve your LP and be far more susceptible to damage and death. Using a ranged body will help increase your accuracy by ~10% when using a ranged weapon. However, this leaves you incredibly vulnerable to melee attacks (only 31% resistance). Since you will only be ranging against magic-using enemies, combining chaps with a platebody will increase your magic resistance from 31% to 76% while equipping a Hex and 65% without. Consequently, this sacrifices your 10% ranged accuracy boost (since wearing different classes of armor reduces overall accuracy) and reduces your melee accuracy by ~15%. Clearly this isn't optimal, but the large LP and armor boost from the chaps will help with survival (i.e. chaps are not suggested for speed floors, but are beneficial for overall exp).
But are chaps the best choice? Shadowsilk Hoods are still very useful in the EoC. They won't improve your ranged accuracy, but they won't lower your melee accuracy by 15% either. They help balance out your defense with a Hex, and increase your magic resistance by 15% compared to a platebody alone. On top of all this, they Hood's invisibility to humanoid monsters provides an unquantifiable extra defensive boost, as well as an advantage in certain skill rooms like 2nd page polt, and potentially emotes if everyone is hooded. For a better side-by-side comparison, here are a few possible combinations of gear (note: the Blood Necklace adds nothing to Attacking or Defending power, but only +5% critical, so it can be ignored for this comparison).
Personally I prefer using a Hood over chaps, but chaps are definitely acceptable as an alternative.
THE BLOOD NECKLACE
The Blood Necklace, one of the only Dungeoneering armor items to provide an offensive buff, grants 5% increased critical and continues to offer its passive damage/healing effect (300 damage to surrounding enemies every 10 seconds + healing for the damage dealt). Critical hits are identified by a larger, colored damage splat, and indicate 200% of the normally intended damage. Because of this, it is extremely useful as a 4th or 5th bind, partially because critical hits are the only way to break the 5,000 damage cap on bosses (don't worry though -- the critical percent shown on the equipment screen is only a boost; you can still achieve critical hits without a Blood Necklace, and max critical hits are still rare). However, defensively it is unreliable and weak, providing no Armor or LP boosts whatsoever, so it is recommended to not use the Blood Necklace until 120 dungeoneering, or as a placeholder 4th bind until you manage to bind a Hood or chaps/robe bottom.
WHAT NOT TO BIND
- Platelegs -- Platebodies provide enough defense against melee and ranged, and there are much better alternatives to using two melee defensive binds.
- Seeker's Charm -- Although they do provide a crit% boost, Blood Necklaces are superior and it is more beneficial to use a Hood instead. The only time this can be used is at 120 dg without a Blood Necklace bound yet.
- 1-handed Weapons (including Primal Battleaxe) -- Like mentioned earlier, 2-handed abilities are far superior.
- Gauntlets or Boots of any kind -- Armor no longer provides offensive strength boosts, so gauntlets and boots now offer minimal Armor and LP boosts.
- Precision Bracelets -- Lower Armor and LP boost than a Hood, with only a fraction of a % of increased crit, and a very small accuracy boost (20 points for golden).
, you may wanna add to the Tribrid section that a Doomcore Staff can be used in place of a CCS, if you're not 99 magic and that its superior to a empowered catalytic staff as it a Emp Cat lacks infinite runes whether as Doomcore provides all elemental runes like cele cat
