AAsFollow

I have conflicting advise.

Some say it is faster to get AAs at level 61, and some say at lev 66 and some say it doesn't matter, it depends on who you're fighting.

SO>... which is it?

It also depends on your class, your play style, and some details of level based AAs you really want to get "now". There are literally some AAs that are huge, but only in a set of level ranges. There are also level ranges where you may gain AAs slower (especially when soloing) by gaining a level or two. If some really nice AA grind spot turns lt blue for you by leveling, and you can't find an equivalent spot with mobs just a level or two higher, you may very well lose AA grind rate by leveling.

Nothing's absolutely set in stone. In general though, assuming you mix up soloing and grouping, you'll be able to gain AAs faster the higher level you are. Um... But you'll also likely want to have more AAs the higher level you are. While the "wait till 70 then grind AAs" concept works great if you're a caster, that strategy wont work at all if you are a tank, and gets less workable if you are main healer, main CCer, etc... People kinda expect you to have a certain ability at various levels. A level 60 tank with no AAs *might* be able to get away with it (if he's got good gear). A level 70 tank with no AAs? You're asking for trouble. You might be able to get away with that if you only hunt with guildmembers who know this character is a work in progress, but for anyeone else, this wont work.

Remember that the entire post 60 game is designed around the assumption that AAs exist and will be used to add to the power of the characters. The farther you get post 60, the more noticable it'll be if you don't stop periodically to get AAs.

Basics would include def discs and HP AAs for tanks and I'd probably also grind to get bow AAs for a ranger and then maybe grind some with headshot(I think). As for casters lvls always>AAs

Elorian plays a wizard as his main. For a wizard, there's actually a reasonable argument that levels>AAs. Since *all* a wizard contributes is dps (ok, not all, but all that really makes a huge difference), and dps increases as you level (cause nuke spells get more efficient in terms of damage/cost), it's a probably the best case for making that statement.

I'm still not sure I agree with it totally though. Especially as you get into the 66-70 range, the number of AA points you could get instead of leveling starts to get extreme. The difference in dps by just going from level 67 to level 68 for example may very well not equal the difference in dps gained via the same amount of AAs you could have gotten otherwise.

In any case, it's a much closer argument for wizards then any other class though. After all, odds are you group wont wipe because the wizard does 30% less damage over time with his nukes. Wheras that same percentage difference in healing or tanking ability will definately make a huge survivability difference.

You are correct gbaji meh baby is a wizzy and as far as wizzies go spells(AKA levels)>AA....now it get tricky at the higher lvls(65-70) but I'd still stand by it(I'm not including focii or the 65 line of ancient spells....).

I also(though I can't swear by it) think that a necro, mage, druid, cleric, shaman, bard, and chanter(maybe on this guy) would be better off with lvl 70 spells than he would with AAs.....though there are some "basic"(erm needed....godlike....etc....) AAs that one would have to get first I grant that.....


So I guess what I am saying is this.....look at your AAs and then look at what you get with each level.....then think that getting an AA is a whole lot easier than getting a lvl(especially 65-70....).....by this I mean if you have an amazing XP group go full normal XP....AAs are EZPZ to get....good normal XP isn't =p................

Blah I digress......If you have a needed AA and I mean needed(I don't mean you need that extra % chance to crit......I mean you need that whatever def AA or FM or what not........) then get it.....then lvl and get the amazing...but not life saving AAs.

I plan on stopping at 62 (after I can cast Virt) to gring out a few AA's. I want to get my healing mastery AA's, and spell casting mastery. Plus MGB, and m/b even Mnenomic Retention.

IM not sure how I lived with out Mnenomic Retention before I had it. I LOVE having the extra spell gem.

I think this is key when making a decision on leveling or getting AAs. If you pretty much exclusively group, leveling first is often the best choice, but if you end up soloing alot, sometimes it makes sense to stop and work some AAs every now and again.

Some of the folks in my guild keep bugging me with the whole "Just get to 62nd and you can get a ton of AAs in BoT". Other than the weekends I'm often only around after 2am PST and getting groups anywhere isn't easy and I won't be able to solo BoT , so, for me, it makes sense to work some AAs awhile until I can solo some other hunting areas to grind AAs solo at 62nd.

At 60th, there are alot of options for me to get some pretty decent AA exp solo and even more options if I can get a group of one or two going.

I also think a case could be made for working some AAs just so that you can level up faster.

My monk (who I am playing mostly right now) is lvl 55, and I have decided to wait until around lvl60 to start AAs. I have a SK friend who is doing that now and recommends this course. There are many AAs I would like to have right now, but since the lvl requirement for many of them bounce from 55 to 60 and so on, I feel like I could just get a bunch at once (and a lot faster) at lvl60. Then at lvl60 I'll probably go half and half on xp.

Where would a good place be to grind out aa's at level 60 for a pally?
Thanks in advanced,
Dartanicusx
60 Paladin
Povar

I wouldn't say don't split it.....I did 90/10 grinding from 65 to 70 and got a few AAs out of it while lvling at a very quick speed.

I am in the school or either 100% lvl, or 100% AA. Efficiency speaking, you get more tools/levels quicker, which makes you get exp faster.

Mentiality (sp?) speaking, you know you've got stuff done and can move on to the next project, instead of half done on this and half done on that.

I still don't agree with this approach though. Here's the reason why:

let's say for the sake of argument that a 90/10 split between leveling and AAs, will net you 2 AA points in the course of gaining one level (so a level accounts for approximately 18AA points worth of exp).

The timeline of AA/level gain will then work like this. First we assume a value X that is the total exp required to gain one level and two AA points. Then we split X up into parts to see where we get new AAs/levels. At .5X, you'll gain your first AA point. At 1x, you'll gain the second AA point and the level. Pretty simple, right?

However, had you put 100% into AAs first, you could have gotten those 2 AA points after having spent only 1/9X (about 11% of the whole). You'd then get to use those two AA points, for the remainder of the total amount of experience. This is clearly "better" in every way. You don't get your first AA point until halfway through the whole process versus getting both quite a bit sooner. Since there is *zero* benefit to having a partial AA or a partial level, you will *always* be better off going 100% one or the other. No exceptions.





This is reasonable, but also mostly unecessary. And potentially counterproductive IMO. Why not just turn on 100% exp until you have a sufficient amount of buffer, then turn 100% to AA? Assuming it's only a temporary measure, and in this case your goal is to get to a specific point within a level, there's very little reason to do it the way you state. You can mathmatically argue that you'll gain AA points faster this way while working up your buffer (and you'd be right). However, that slightly faster advancement comes at the expense of having that buffer earlier.

The buffer is an all or nothing kind of thing, right? You either have enough, or you don't. If you die while slowly building that buffer at 10% rate, you'll have effectively wasted that time. You may as well have just decided not to bother with the buffer and ground out AAs at 100% rate. Another way to look at it is that you simply move the "bar" that determines where a level starts and ends at the buffer point instead of the ding point. So gaining one level means gaining exp from the buffer point of the last level, to the buffer point of the new one. The total time taken is identical. But this way, you can ensure that you wont lose a level from dying (except for the short period of time you build the buffer), and you can then focus 100% on AAs when you aren't leveling.


This one is admittedly a matter of choice. I just tend to grind 100% exp until I ding and build a buffer. I don't consider myself "done" grinding for level until I've built that buffer. When I do AAs, I turn on 100% AA exp. If I've died a few times, and my buffer is getting small, I'll turn on 100% leveling exp until I'm happy with the buffer again, then switch back to 100% AAs. In my opinion, this is just easier to manage. I always know exactly what I'm working on. I have a set goal at all times. When I reach that set goal, then I make a choice as to the next goal.

That's just the way I do it, and it seems to work pretty well. YMMV.