For those of you who like soloing, but at level 100+ you are now finding it difficult... Also if you love spamming damage with speed! Diamond Knuckle Blades maybe the answer for you!
Disadvantages for Knuckles:
For those of you who like Sneaky Attack, and Assassinate skill, well they don't work with Knucks. So take that into consideration if you love those skills. (But keep reading and you'll see why not having those skills make it an advantage for soloing.)
Why Knuckles for soloing?
Essentially with Soloing you want to be able to consistently take mobs a few levels higher than you and you'd want your down time to be short. With knucks you are actually forced to become more of an auto attack, but at the same time you are actually more efficient and effective on mob kills. No more waiting on skills like Sneaky to reload, or needing to put more points in focus to use those skills. You dont want to be waiting for your energy to regen so that your skills can make you effective again. Also freeing up skill points away from Sneaky/Assassinate will save you with downtime by putting those points into skills like Bandage/Recuperate.
So think about it, being more efficient with time, and you throw in a super Haste/Know or super Combo elix and you are one lean mean exp machine.
The Guide
I wanted to create a guide where the average player can actually obtain the gear I suggest. So this Guide is geared towards obtainable equipment for a mainly Solo player who may not have the backing of a large Clan to obtain the best of the best gear.
Where do the Diamond Knuckle Blade sell. It's by the "Tower" leystone in OW by NPC "Wayland the Smith". Quest begins at lvl 80 i think, and unlocks by collecting the blue diamonds of OW quest. Although I suggest not buying Knuckles from the vendor. You'll have plenty of time to search the market while training...
Training? Yes, first things first, you need to get your Hand to Hand close to max before you can actually be effective. Don't count on the 200+ H2H bonus from the knucks to help you out if your H2H is low. So start training your Hand to Hand skill ASAP. (you get the skill from one of the NPC's outside of the Arena.) With all this downtime training you might as well look out for knuckles from players. Usually sells for 40k, and its from people who most likely have had troubles adjusting to the knucks...Good thing your reading this guide, huh!!
Training H2H isn't aways fun so here's some tips.
-Remember to take off all Dps gear when training. (saves you time for waiting on dummies to reset.)
-If possible dont train by the leystone in Farcrag Castle. There is always some noob with his connact weapon or spell spamming Mages ready to lend you a hand and destroy the dummy you're working one. I would usually asked them to save me 1 dummy, which usually falls on deaf ears. Don't get into a shouting match with them, it's pointless. Calmly equip all your dps gear, and repeatly destroy all dummies til they leave.
I call this tactic, "Pwning Dummies." -the best place to train is the dummies by the Arena. Usually no one there to bother you while you scan the market for your diamond knuckles deal. Or on off hour start punching Gladiators which i would do before logging and just go afk.
The Build:
I suggest a Dex build rather than Str, high Dex adds Defence for soloing, and maximizes the Skills best suited for faster weapons like Diamond Knuckles.
Example of Dex Build near level 120 using a Goldenblade with Heroic Ammy
STR 25-50 (100-125) +75 str from Golden Blade (highly recommended)
DEX 180-220 (depending on any dex boost bracelets)
VIT 350+rest of point available
you'd want close to 2.5k health, in order to take down 3 star Golems your level. (without the use of pots)
This is where a lot of people start really struggling to solo. Golems hit heavy and have high armor/defence.
Also taking down a "wisdom Green golem" 4 star, on elix with the use of minimal pots makes this build so worthwhile. That's 270k+ exp for an easily soloed 4 star mob.
the Skills:
Poison: MAX, (a must for soloing, increasing my damage by 90+ and poison has little to no resist)
Fast Reflex: MAX (if you're not using this skill for soloing you should quit being a rogue altogether)
Smoke: MAX (super helpful especially when your H2H skill still isn't quite maxed)
Distract: 5-10 points (i know your solo but you still need to group for bosses)
Bandage: what ever points you have left. (save on downtime)
Sneaky Attack: NA (not applicable)
Assassinate: NA (not applicable)
What about Rend/Quick Strike ?
I've opted not to use these skills and put the rest of my points to bandage wounds. To kill downtime which is quintessential for solo elix runs.
Quick Strike- So until they fix the QS auto attack glitch i'm a bit wary of using this skill for dps. Also this skill at max does about the same damage as my auto attack. So skill may cancel and auto attack and does about the same damage... SKILL FAIL!
Rend- Throwing Smoke in the initial run up to the mob, out weighs the benefits over casting Rend. Having the chance of NO misses for the duration of Smoke beats the minimal dps advantage with Rend. I Also tried throwing Smoke and Rend one after another but it slows Dps IMO. Too much time not doing any damage in the opening seconds while taking damage isn't a good thing, especially for rogues.
PlayDead you ask?
here's what i think about playdead...
http://www.celtic-heroes.com/forum/view ... 51&t=28841
Equipment:
Diamond KnuckleBlades (hopefully bought it cheap)
Golden Helms- 50 Elemental dmg (BloodLust 10 pierce would be Great, but after the update the price has made this unaffordable. Plus you don't really need the pierce damage you're a Dex build right!)
Chest and Legs
Diamond Jerkin (beats out Meteor and much, much easier to obtain)
Diamond Breeches (if you can get the Star Rems and Air Tabs go for Meteor and save some money, but same thing, Diamond is better.)
OffHands and Necklaces
-Golden Blade 200 elemental dmg (adds 75 str that you can put into Vit) use with Heroic Ammy. (highly recommended)
-Golden Venom Dagger, + DPS necklace. You'll have less regen, than the combo above, and may lose dps depending on necklace.
Well, you should have a Dex build where a Golden Blade will shine. But if you're like me and love the dagger because it's COOL and GREEN,(ikr not logical) you need a DPS Necklace (again these DPS necklaces are harder to obtain than a Heroic Ammy, and be prepared to pay double/triple the price of a Heroic Ammy when looking for a decent DPS necklace.) In the end a great necklace makes this combo worth having.
Gloves and Boots
-Heroic Gloves a MUST! (not a must when using with haste pots)
-Heroic Boots not a must but helpful for soloing and getting those tavern buffs when taking down the golems by the tower leystone.
Bracelets
there are lots of choices here, find what works best for you.
here are some suggestions.
-Wyvern 15-20+ Vit, Dex, Str
-Damage Bracelets 6+
-Regen Bracelet if you cant find anything better.
Rings
Shout out for some Skill Rings, especially Poison, Fast Reflex, SmokeBombs, try and at least get Grand rings. Usually sells for 10k.
Save up for Damage dealing Rings for when you reach level 120 which is the requirement to wear. 100k should insure you to get a few decent rings. If possible try and buy 15-20+ rings. and replace the skill rings.
Charms
if you can get a charm that helps out in anyway, then you're lucky.
Don't think that you need all this equipment at lvl 80, (that wouldn't be a realistic guide) this is something to build up to and eventually have near lvl 120 when soloing becomes difficult.
If you followed what I've said above you should be able to take down a 3* Golems the same lvl as you, and 2*s a few levels higher than you, consistently.
ps. it's also pretty cool to see solo-ers avoid all the 3* golems while you run at them head first!
PlaySafe and have Fun!
RedRouge Signing off!
