I have reached a point in character growth where I am ready to start really fine tuning my main. I’ve been keeping his skills and abilities pretty much maxed out and so I feel like I’m ready to try on something with better stats than the newbie quest armor I currently possess.
But rather than ask *what should I buy* I prefer to ask *what can you teach me that will help me learn*. So, my question is: What kind of methodology has proven effective for you in determining where to spend that hard earned plat in an upgrade?
I’m speaking in terms of low to mid level magic items here but the principles should hold up for high end items as well…
Do you start with the stat you want to raise or the slot you want the item to fit in? Or do you approach the decision from the *I have XXXX plat to spend so I'll get...* angle?
Do you primarily look for the best bang for the buck or is price not important when you want to fill a hole?
Can an argument be made in favor of an impulse purchase and snapping up a target of opportunity or do you let something pass when you’re not totally sure.
How much research do you do before you go shopping or even before you have the money available to spend? Do you bargain hunt in game at the bazaar or go in with a shopping list?
Do you talk to other players / guildies seeking recommendations or hunker down and hit the books to skull out which shield/boots/sword/helm/breast plate is gonna make you stronger/quicker/smarter/faster/more nimble?
Is it smarter to avoid the latest fad weapon/armor item since the popularity drives the price up or is the current best that much better?
And in a related area, if you buy something that you’re just not happy with, is there a viable market in resale? Can you usually get rid of a magic item and not take a big hit in price?
And finally, can you buy an item that is beyond your character’s abilities and grow into it or do you just have to bite the bullet and plan on turning over slots periodically as your character matures?
I understand that this is a complex subject and that I have asked a lot of questions but I have been mulling this over for a while now and I welcome your detailed input.
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My usual method is fairly quick and dirty:
Decide what slots I'm least happy with. Search for that slot, ranked by whatever attribute I figure is most important (INT/mana for casters, WIS/mana/AC for priests, AC/hp for melees, etc). Then just go down the list until I see something affordable that's a meaningful upgrade (i.e. not 1AC better for 1000pp)
I often buy high rec. level gear and use it with the reduced stats. Depending on the gear and the stats vs your level, you can still often get a nice upgrade that way. For instance, my rogue is wearing a Cryptrobber's Chestplate. I forget the "real" AC, but at lvl 45, it's about AC:38 on me. I bought it for all of 1.5k back around lvl 25ish, when it was still over AC:20 for me. Still, for 1.5k, you can't go wrong.
If I'm unsure of an item's worth before buying it and it's the only such item, I sometimes check out the rest of the person's wares. If they're selling a Netherbian Chitin for 75pp and a Nightshade Wreath for 750pp, then obviously it gives me pause about buying their 5k item. It's not a perfect system, but it sometimes gives a gauge.
I almost never buy to resell. Just don't have the patience for it, nor a dedicated trader on my single account at 56k dialup. Maybe two or three times I've seen an exceptional deal worth reselling, but that's it.
Oh, and always take a moment to look up a "new" item before you buy. It may be a doable drop for you or your friends and you just never went to where it drops. For instance, there's quite a few decent drops from Droga and City of Mist, neither of which are high level zones. But the gear from there sells well, partially because not many people ever think of going to City of Mist and getting their own items or are even aware of what drops in the zone.
Decide what slots I'm least happy with. Search for that slot, ranked by whatever attribute I figure is most important (INT/mana for casters, WIS/mana/AC for priests, AC/hp for melees, etc). Then just go down the list until I see something affordable that's a meaningful upgrade (i.e. not 1AC better for 1000pp)
I often buy high rec. level gear and use it with the reduced stats. Depending on the gear and the stats vs your level, you can still often get a nice upgrade that way. For instance, my rogue is wearing a Cryptrobber's Chestplate. I forget the "real" AC, but at lvl 45, it's about AC:38 on me. I bought it for all of 1.5k back around lvl 25ish, when it was still over AC:20 for me. Still, for 1.5k, you can't go wrong.
If I'm unsure of an item's worth before buying it and it's the only such item, I sometimes check out the rest of the person's wares. If they're selling a Netherbian Chitin for 75pp and a Nightshade Wreath for 750pp, then obviously it gives me pause about buying their 5k item. It's not a perfect system, but it sometimes gives a gauge.
I almost never buy to resell. Just don't have the patience for it, nor a dedicated trader on my single account at 56k dialup. Maybe two or three times I've seen an exceptional deal worth reselling, but that's it.
Oh, and always take a moment to look up a "new" item before you buy. It may be a doable drop for you or your friends and you just never went to where it drops. For instance, there's quite a few decent drops from Droga and City of Mist, neither of which are high level zones. But the gear from there sells well, partially because not many people ever think of going to City of Mist and getting their own items or are even aware of what drops in the zone.
Belkira wrote:
Wow. Regular ol' Joph fan club in here.
Wow, lot to do here, I'll get started...
My method goes something like this:
Go to the bazaar (if you don't have luclin, you can skip this step and all steps following and scroll right on down to the next message)
Do a search for your race and class and choose either:
A) Your weakest slot
B) Slot you are most interested in upgrading
If I don't have much money I'll put a max price of about 2000 (which is way more than I ever have) which allows me to see if someone is underpricing something. While this method can get you into trouble if you just buy something because it's a lot cheaper than the average price, I have found a lot of good deals this way.
Scan through the list and find the best item, compare it with your item and determine if it's worth it, rinse and repeat for all slots or until you run out of money.
Of course you know you can narrow it down by stats, so if you're an intelligence caster, sort first by int and then sort the list that comes up so that the highest int item is on top.
As far as your question about wether to impulse buy or not... I'd like to say don't do it. Go in knowing what you need and leave with that and that only, otherwise you're going to be broke and have a lot of items you really wish you didn't buy. However... it's very hard to resist playing the bazaar game of buy low sell high, and if you are a human you will probably do this at least once. You will also get taken by this method at least once.
Alla has a great feature that I am too poor to use called an upgrade search, which is perfect for researching things, but I try to research anyways before I go make a big purchase. A good example is my argent defender that I use, I had posted a question about my low damage output and I was told to use a high delay weapon, as my role as a pally works better with this ssort of thing. So into the weapons i delved until I found the argent defender, saved up and bought it and am still very pleased with it (thanks again). Unfortunatly I don't research very often, I just go to the bazaar and go thruogh the list of what's there, and you lose money that way but that's just the way it goes.
Your question about popularity, sometimes that rareness of an item or how cool it looks will drive the price up. Sometimes it's just a fad factor, for example centi shortsword is around 400pp on Quellious and a shaded blade, which is very similar is about half that price. Most of the time I buy on functionality over looks, but sometimes you can't help yourself (See my planar lance of torment which is sitting in my bank along with my piercing skill of 5).
Resale value, depends on how lucky you where when you picked it up. If you waited a few days and scoped out prices in the bazaar and bought when it was low, you can usually make a few pp buy selling it back higher, some items are nice houses on good property, others are yugos that will drop in value the second they hit your hand.
Growing into an item, Depends on how high the level is. For example if something is recommended 65, and has an armour class of 15 when you get to 65 but an armour class of 1 now, no. In no way buy an item like that becuase by the time you get to 65 you will have much better items at your disposal and this will be long gone. On the other hand, if it's level is 35 and the stats are good at 35 and you get some usage out of it now, go ahead and get it. My kunzar deathguard shield was this way, and i still use it when I'm not using my 2hs. Another way to think of it is, if it costs you 500pp to buy something that will give you 2 int now, but 15 int at 50, and you can pay 150 pp for something that will give you 5 int now, I'd take the later.
Hope this helps, if you need any more help or if I made something complicated that shouldn't be, just let me know. Good luck
My method goes something like this:
Go to the bazaar (if you don't have luclin, you can skip this step and all steps following and scroll right on down to the next message)
Do a search for your race and class and choose either:
A) Your weakest slot
B) Slot you are most interested in upgrading
If I don't have much money I'll put a max price of about 2000 (which is way more than I ever have) which allows me to see if someone is underpricing something. While this method can get you into trouble if you just buy something because it's a lot cheaper than the average price, I have found a lot of good deals this way.
Scan through the list and find the best item, compare it with your item and determine if it's worth it, rinse and repeat for all slots or until you run out of money.
Of course you know you can narrow it down by stats, so if you're an intelligence caster, sort first by int and then sort the list that comes up so that the highest int item is on top.
As far as your question about wether to impulse buy or not... I'd like to say don't do it. Go in knowing what you need and leave with that and that only, otherwise you're going to be broke and have a lot of items you really wish you didn't buy. However... it's very hard to resist playing the bazaar game of buy low sell high, and if you are a human you will probably do this at least once. You will also get taken by this method at least once.
Alla has a great feature that I am too poor to use called an upgrade search, which is perfect for researching things, but I try to research anyways before I go make a big purchase. A good example is my argent defender that I use, I had posted a question about my low damage output and I was told to use a high delay weapon, as my role as a pally works better with this ssort of thing. So into the weapons i delved until I found the argent defender, saved up and bought it and am still very pleased with it (thanks again). Unfortunatly I don't research very often, I just go to the bazaar and go thruogh the list of what's there, and you lose money that way but that's just the way it goes.
Your question about popularity, sometimes that rareness of an item or how cool it looks will drive the price up. Sometimes it's just a fad factor, for example centi shortsword is around 400pp on Quellious and a shaded blade, which is very similar is about half that price. Most of the time I buy on functionality over looks, but sometimes you can't help yourself (See my planar lance of torment which is sitting in my bank along with my piercing skill of 5).
Resale value, depends on how lucky you where when you picked it up. If you waited a few days and scoped out prices in the bazaar and bought when it was low, you can usually make a few pp buy selling it back higher, some items are nice houses on good property, others are yugos that will drop in value the second they hit your hand.
Growing into an item, Depends on how high the level is. For example if something is recommended 65, and has an armour class of 15 when you get to 65 but an armour class of 1 now, no. In no way buy an item like that becuase by the time you get to 65 you will have much better items at your disposal and this will be long gone. On the other hand, if it's level is 35 and the stats are good at 35 and you get some usage out of it now, go ahead and get it. My kunzar deathguard shield was this way, and i still use it when I'm not using my 2hs. Another way to think of it is, if it costs you 500pp to buy something that will give you 2 int now, but 15 int at 50, and you can pay 150 pp for something that will give you 5 int now, I'd take the later.
Hope this helps, if you need any more help or if I made something complicated that shouldn't be, just let me know. Good luck
My methods are a lot like Jophiel's.
First thing you want to do is fill all your slots. With the new newbie armor for most classes that's not such a big issue any more but still important. Something is definately better than nothing.
Never make small upgrades until you reach the point where that is all you can do. At the current time most of the upgrades to my equipment I want are over 20kpp. I just don't make that kind of cash quickly so I can't afford to make a purchase for 1 or 2 AC or 15hp.
Don't wait too long to upgrade though. The better equipment you have the more money you can make and the faster you can get even better equipment. Levels are better than equipment (I should take that advice myself but I'm enjoying the ride to much to race to 65). Once I got into the 50s money really started to come in a lot faster than previously.
Always keep an eye out for a bargain, even if it's a slot you don't think you need to upgrade. I recently found a Brazen Earring of Health for 5600pp. I had never heard of it before but +1 regen in an ear slot is worth a lot more to me than 5600pp.
Learn what things are worth to other players as well as vendors. Not too long ago I found a pair of Jaundiced Bone Guantlets for 100pp. They were well below what I wear but I knew that a vendor will pay 438pp for them so I made a quick little profit from someone's ignorance. There are quite a few items that have significant value to vendors that are often overlooked or in the possesion of low CHA players that you can resell for a small profit.
First thing you want to do is fill all your slots. With the new newbie armor for most classes that's not such a big issue any more but still important. Something is definately better than nothing.
Never make small upgrades until you reach the point where that is all you can do. At the current time most of the upgrades to my equipment I want are over 20kpp. I just don't make that kind of cash quickly so I can't afford to make a purchase for 1 or 2 AC or 15hp.
Don't wait too long to upgrade though. The better equipment you have the more money you can make and the faster you can get even better equipment. Levels are better than equipment (I should take that advice myself but I'm enjoying the ride to much to race to 65). Once I got into the 50s money really started to come in a lot faster than previously.
Always keep an eye out for a bargain, even if it's a slot you don't think you need to upgrade. I recently found a Brazen Earring of Health for 5600pp. I had never heard of it before but +1 regen in an ear slot is worth a lot more to me than 5600pp.
Learn what things are worth to other players as well as vendors. Not too long ago I found a pair of Jaundiced Bone Guantlets for 100pp. They were well below what I wear but I knew that a vendor will pay 438pp for them so I made a quick little profit from someone's ignorance. There are quite a few items that have significant value to vendors that are often overlooked or in the possesion of low CHA players that you can resell for a small profit.
I have been doing the same thing lately (updating my 3 characters) and actaully am fairly methodical about it. Oh, and for a bit of background I am in the final stages of updating my characters from their 20's equipment, and all are within a few levels of 45. And I don't have an exceptional bank account either. I think between all 3 characters I have about 60,000 plat to spend total.
I normally start by hitting the books to find out what stats I should shoot for. I have 2 casters (NEC and ENC) and a hybrid (RNG). My research includes a bit of asking around, and mostly website searches such as Alla's and the various class-specific sites (EQ Necros, EQ Rangers, etc.).
Once I know what stats I want to shoot for, I hit the wishlist feature of Alla's and make my shopping list. I cull most of the items here via simple visual inspection, and only keep on my list those items that I think are in my budget (or over my budget within reason, never know what bazaar will bring) and that have the right combination of stats as to really be considered an upgrade. Normally by the time I am done I end up with between 10 and 20 potential items for each slot. These are mostly droppable items, but if I see a no drop that I think I have a reasonable shot at obtaining I will include it as well.
With wishlist in hand, I head to bazaar. I set a minimum of one week of price gathering before I buy anything so that I can establish a good base price for most of my items. During this week I search methodically by each slot and stat I want, while both jotting down prices for the items on my wishlist and adding the occasional item that I find appealing that didn't make it to my wishlist. Once I know the general prices for the items I then generally wait until I see a price slightly below that before I purchase an item, unless it is an item that I have a great need for. I do look for the best bang for the buck, but sometimes that means spending a little more than usual to get a particularly fine item. I do not impulse buy and have often passed up what seemed like a good deal when I wasn't totally sure (i.e. I hadn't gathered enough price data on it yet).
I personally try to avoid the latest fad items, since I don't want to spend more than they are worth and I do hope to get some resale value from them at a later date (when the fad has most likely worn off). That's also part of the reason I tend to wait to purchase my items when I find them slightly below market value, so that when I eventually resell them I can at worst break even, and perhaps make a few plat in the process. Generally there is a viable market for resale, but it may be worse at the lower levels due to the fact that there is simply much more lower level gear on the market as compared to higher level gear.
To answer your last question, in my latest round of upgrades I tried to shoot a little higher than normal, so that my current gear will last me longer. I currently have several pieces that will take me 10+ levels to reach the recommended level, but the gear is still great and getting better with each ding.
In my case, with about 8-10 more pieces to go between all three characters, I find that I could use another 10,000 plat or so (which shouldn't be hard to get within the next month or so), which to me is a good sign. I bought good gear, and have it to use in combat rather than having plat sitting in the bank. On the other hand, if I were finished upgrading and still had considerable money sitting in the bank, I would most likely be looking back at some pieces of equipment and wondering why I didn't opt for the more beefed-up piece of equipment that might have been a little more costly.
To sum up, I do a TON of research and have a lot of patience in bazaar before clicking the BUY key, but when I do I know I'll have equipment that will serve me well for a long time, without making me bankrupt in the process.
Good luck with your search!
I normally start by hitting the books to find out what stats I should shoot for. I have 2 casters (NEC and ENC) and a hybrid (RNG). My research includes a bit of asking around, and mostly website searches such as Alla's and the various class-specific sites (EQ Necros, EQ Rangers, etc.).
Once I know what stats I want to shoot for, I hit the wishlist feature of Alla's and make my shopping list. I cull most of the items here via simple visual inspection, and only keep on my list those items that I think are in my budget (or over my budget within reason, never know what bazaar will bring) and that have the right combination of stats as to really be considered an upgrade. Normally by the time I am done I end up with between 10 and 20 potential items for each slot. These are mostly droppable items, but if I see a no drop that I think I have a reasonable shot at obtaining I will include it as well.
With wishlist in hand, I head to bazaar. I set a minimum of one week of price gathering before I buy anything so that I can establish a good base price for most of my items. During this week I search methodically by each slot and stat I want, while both jotting down prices for the items on my wishlist and adding the occasional item that I find appealing that didn't make it to my wishlist. Once I know the general prices for the items I then generally wait until I see a price slightly below that before I purchase an item, unless it is an item that I have a great need for. I do look for the best bang for the buck, but sometimes that means spending a little more than usual to get a particularly fine item. I do not impulse buy and have often passed up what seemed like a good deal when I wasn't totally sure (i.e. I hadn't gathered enough price data on it yet).
I personally try to avoid the latest fad items, since I don't want to spend more than they are worth and I do hope to get some resale value from them at a later date (when the fad has most likely worn off). That's also part of the reason I tend to wait to purchase my items when I find them slightly below market value, so that when I eventually resell them I can at worst break even, and perhaps make a few plat in the process. Generally there is a viable market for resale, but it may be worse at the lower levels due to the fact that there is simply much more lower level gear on the market as compared to higher level gear.
To answer your last question, in my latest round of upgrades I tried to shoot a little higher than normal, so that my current gear will last me longer. I currently have several pieces that will take me 10+ levels to reach the recommended level, but the gear is still great and getting better with each ding.
In my case, with about 8-10 more pieces to go between all three characters, I find that I could use another 10,000 plat or so (which shouldn't be hard to get within the next month or so), which to me is a good sign. I bought good gear, and have it to use in combat rather than having plat sitting in the bank. On the other hand, if I were finished upgrading and still had considerable money sitting in the bank, I would most likely be looking back at some pieces of equipment and wondering why I didn't opt for the more beefed-up piece of equipment that might have been a little more costly.
To sum up, I do a TON of research and have a lot of patience in bazaar before clicking the BUY key, but when I do I know I'll have equipment that will serve me well for a long time, without making me bankrupt in the process.
Good luck with your search!
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