Life in Qeynos

Achievement Points System - Confusing?

Unlike most of you guys, I don't really hang out at the SOE forums too much. I only go there to look for specific things, ie I use the SEARCH function alot :)

The thing is, I still don't quite "get" the new Achievement points thing. People just say you get achievement points (from here on I'll refer to them as "AP") from doing the same stuff you have been doing all along - ie, completing quests, killing named mobs, etc. Actually, Kendricke explains it way better than I can here in this SOE Forum thread.

So, I read his post, and I now have a question - one of the line says "Completing a quest appropriate for your level". Does that mean I get no APs for quests that are blue, green, yellow, orange, and red? Do I only get APs for completing white quests?

That would really suck because sometimes you can't help but outlevel the quest while you're doing them. For example, you're a level 20. You're doing your AQs. Assuming you do get APs for completing your AQ, you would probably outlevel AQ1 when you're doing it, because let's face it - when you do AQs, you need to get a group. The group probably won't just do your AQ. They will want to grind XP (since AQs usually take place in dungeons and xp-grinding zones). Chances are you will ding during each of your AQs. Once you ding 21, your AQ1 will become BLUE.

Did you just lose your APs?

Then, I discovered something that is, to put it mildly, surprising the other day while doing lvl 55 writs in Sinking Sands. I was doing a writ for the Temple, to kill Rujarkian Spiritists near the Undercity Arena. Now, being a level 64, these guys were all GREY to me. While some of you may envy my position, being able to run around the area with impunity and without fear of ambushes, my problem is that every bloody mob looks the same to me. They all con GREY (no con colours to separate the "more dangerous" ones from the rest).

But that is beside the point. The point is, I actually levelled up in APs. Yes, I got a new achievement point! From killing greys. None of these guys are named. I have not completed the writ yet at the time (all level 55 writs need you to run back to town to hand it in before it is marked as completed). I could swear I even saw my achievement xp bar move while killing them spiritists! I know I haven't "discovered" any new areas during my mob-hunt while doing the writ since I'm basically circling the same area over and over waiting for them to respawn, so the APs couldn't have come from there. The loot they drop are the usual vendor fodder stuff, or ears and eyes and stuff for Orc L&L.

Going by the forum post listed above, my situation fits nowhere in that profile.

Well maybe just 1, and that's iffy. I did get some status loot, you know, those Indocite Relic, Ruby Scrying Stone things which you need to turn in back in town to the correct faction? I only got like 4 or 5 of them, so I highly doubt that would be enough to level me in AP.

Then there's the other thing that kind of makes it hard for me to choose my path down the line. As a monk, I should go for STR and AGI (the 2 primary traits). However, the paths down those 2 lines have abilities which require me to be either bare-fisted (no bo staff, no knuckles, no cestii, no cestu etc) which I hate, or to be equipped with Dual-Wield staves (fighting batons, quarterstaves). Incidentally, the "fighting batons" is called a tonfa in the martial arts world.

My weapon of choice is the ebony bo staff. First, it's "cheaper" since I only need 1 weapon, and it cost me 2 plats to make. It's sold on the broker for 5 plats, ready-made. If I were to equip myself with 2 fighting batons (one in each hand), I would need to spend double the amount. The total stats from the 2 batons would be exactly equal to the stats given by the ebony bo staff (I know, I have already compared them). The only upside to equipping dual-wield weapons such as the fighting batons, is that the delay is shorter (1.6 seconds compared to 2.5 seconds). But, since the damage from the batons is exactly half that of the bo staff, I still hit for the same amount of damage in 2.5 seconds as you will in 3.2 seconds (1.6 x 2 for both hands).

So, the STR line requires me to be bare-fisted (maybe fist wraps don't count?). The AGI line requires me to have dual-wield weapons. Only the WIS line has an ability that makes use of my bo staff - an ability to strike all mobs in melee range with a 2-handed staff. Everyone knows we don't have enough APs to go down 3 lines! In fact I don't even think I will ever manage to get enough APs to completely max out one line - my AGI line.

Frankly I have yet to see a monk with any sort of Wisdom resembling "decent". My own Wisdom is pathetically poor at around 124. Yeah I know, my resists suck. That's what jewelry is for - to up my resists :) BTW, resists play a major role if you raid alot. Many strategies and techniques for taking down mobs require you to have a high enough resist to counter the mobs' AOEs, and that is especially true for melee class like me. Rangers and other scout classes can back off out of AOE range and just pummel the mob with arrows. We can't. We're melee class.

No, the itty bitty shurikens don't count :)

By the way, any of you guys actually bothered to buy/make legendary ranged ammo like maybe cobalt arrows / throwing hammers / throwing knives / shurikens? I personally still use iron shurikens on my lvl 64 main. Since I use them only to pull, not to damage the mobs, it makes sense to get the cheapest available. They are only like 5 coppers each, and I carry about 1,400 of them on me at any one time.

That means I'm useless in a raid when not in melee range though.

posted by FoxTwo @ 10:08