Karm1cOne wrote: »

All zones are scaled. So you will not see any overworld zones that are too hard. I would avoid dlc dungeons and trials until at least 160 cp, so you can use any gear you find in those settings.

Yes, I understand that the zones are scaled, which is why I am asking which zones are best to avoid questing in until I hit the CP160 benchmark, because the quest rewards contain set items that are very useful in endgame builds, such as the Briarheart's set is with Stamina characters.

I'm hoping to avoid leveling a new character through a zone, getting rewarded a sure thing set item from a quest, then realizing once that character is level 50 and CP unlocked, that reward was really good for the build I was going for on that character and then having to go back into that zone and having to pray to the RNG gods that I get the equivalent drop in a reasonable timeframe.

Like, using the Briarheart set as an example again, because it's what I had a personal experience with, there's a quest which rewards Barrow Brigandine, which is a Briarheart Chest slot item. If I had held off on doing that quest before my main was CP160, I would have saved myself a lot of time.

So, what zones contain similar sets that are good for other builds, such as Magicka DPS, Tanking, and Healing sets, where you can save yourself a lot of time and frustration by not having to farm as they reward set pieces through questing?

AcadianPaladin wrote: »

I see what you are asking. Deeshan for Mother's Sorrow and Bangkorai for Spriggans come to mind.

That said, a couple things to consider in deciding if you want to pursue that course:
1. Whenever you find a set item, the ability to reconstruct that item (at any level) goes into your 'sticker book' and you can reconstruct it at the desired higher level at a cost of 25-75 transmute crystals - depending on how many pieces of that set you have found.
2. Any overland set piece can be bought at CP160 from guild traders and, with few exceptions, for a pretty affordable price of gold.
3. Both these options also ease the ability to get the item in any desired trait.

Thank you, I didn't know much about the sticker book and transmute crystals and how they work. That alleviates some of the worry though the crystals do sound like there's still some grind to it, but definitely better than relying on RNG.

El_Borracho wrote: »

@AcadianPaladin nailed it. Only things you should avoid are trials and dungeons with gear you want. Even still, the sticker book would cover that. The cheap part of me still refuses to pay 75 transmute crystals for an item of gear when I know I can farm it and transmute it for 50, so I'll keep farming for those items until I get them or get enough of the set that the cost to reconstruct is under 50.

One thing to note about the sticker book. You can NOT improve reconstructed gear. So if you build a purple Mother's Sorrow inferno staff, it is purple forever. Normally this is not that big a deal, but for things like daggers that can change optimum traits with updates, it can have an effect. That is the one advantage to farming the gear and transmuting it.

Thank you, that is good to know

keegus wrote: »

So what zones should I, and other potential new players, avoid questing in until "max level" for useful sets? I know some of this will be alleviated as I get more characters to max, and I am also aware there are other, more efficient ways of leveling but I can't afford Skyreach runs and Dolmen farming and grinding mobs gets old pretty quickly.

The equipment level doesn't matter any more - you can deconstruct and reconstruct all gear except mythic items and monster helms at any level, so you can get a mother's sorrow lightining staff at level 10 and reconstruct it at CP 160 just fine. Monster helms and the like can't be reconstructed for a low level toon (alas )

Every day do the random dungeon and battleground. They are a lot of XP and in addition you'll get the skill point for the first quest for each dungeon and a bunch of useful sets over time (Medusa, Ebon etc). Battlegrounds tends to give you less useful gear (although cowards gear is a hoot for farming) but will level your alliance war skills which gets you some really good skills and ultimates. All those dungeons will also give you a big pile of transmute crystals to reconstruct gear.

As to Skyreach better to find a guild with other people who want to run it as well.

OxfordCalculator wrote: »

El_Borracho wrote: »

@AcadianPaladin nailed it. Only things you should avoid are trials and dungeons with gear you want. Even still, the sticker book would cover that. The cheap part of me still refuses to pay 75 transmute crystals for an item of gear when I know I can farm it and transmute it for 50, so I'll keep farming for those items until I get them or get enough of the set that the cost to reconstruct is under 50.

One thing to note about the sticker book. You can NOT improve reconstructed gear. So if you build a purple Mother's Sorrow inferno staff, it is purple forever. Normally this is not that big a deal, but for things like daggers that can change optimum traits with updates, it can have an effect. That is the one advantage to farming the gear and transmuting it.

I just improved reconstructed gear yesterday, taking a staff from blue to gold. Do you mean that you can't change the trait? For example, if you reconstruct something as precise, and later you want infused, then you have to reconstruct a new item.

That's what I meant. My bad.

@code65536 I swear when I tried to transmute a dagger it would not let me, albeit this was when the whole sticker book just came out. I'll take a look at this again. Thank you.