Gear Check - Tacvi+

[Tordail]

I upgraded my shield recently, and that was the last slot I'd had a planned upgrade for. Now my guild is in Tacvi and eyeing further progression, and I find myself in the unenviable position of trying to digest an overwhelming list of available gear, necessary foci, and various slot upgrades. I browsed through thread already, and have come up with a small list of things I'm certain I'm going after. Lucy and Allah's seem to be down for now, so my apologies for the lack of links.

I like Wristguard of Chaotic Essence. After that, I like Cloak of Nightmarish Visions for detrimental mana preservation, and Boots of Altered Perception for beneficial mana preservation. When I upgrade my Bloodlink, I'm thinking of going with the Ritualchanter's tunic. I find it hard to get excited over the DON or Tacvi tunics.

After that ... Ritualchanter's gloves are nice for healing focus, but I also like Ring of the Serpent since I need some jewelry upgrades. Is the difference between 45% and 40% that big of a deal? And are there decent gloves to look into if I go with Ring of the Serpent over Anguish gloves? Once I upgrade my healing focus, I like Vambraces of Eternal Twilight to replace my Kanleku's arms, and Ritualchanter's arms are nice, too.

I'm torn on shoulder items too. I'll be keeping my Quarm shoulders for the clicky, but they will need an upgrade at some point soon. Brute's Gaudy Shoulderpads are nice, and I also like Whispering Amice. Thoughts?

Jewelry ... well, that's a bit of a snafu, and I guess it depends on what I get for my healing focus. With Ring of the Serpent, I can move my Shattered Jade Band to replace my Earring of Celestial Essence (which I'll keep for the clicky), and look for another ring. I could also keep Shattered Jade Band on my finger and look for an earring. Without Ring of the Serpent, I'm definitely in need of at least one ring and an earring or two rings (depending on where I move Shattered Jade Band).

I sure hope all this made sense, been doped up pretty well on sinus pills for the last couple of days. Any direction is appreciated!

[Ungkor]

Are you guys doing Anguish as well? I found myself trying to make a gear list from both Tacvi and Anguish, and while it took a while, I think I have a few good combo's.

Check out my alternate magelos.

Chaotic wrist from Tacvi was on my list, but now I'm not sure. Two Anguish wrists would be slightly better stat wise. The pendant of discord is for sure going on my neck, because I'm not sure when we'll see Vish fall, and the vish shield is practically the only other spot where one would get magic focus (there are boots also, but with Anguish boots are way better, Bulwark of the Dragorn on them).

Basically, Assistant Researcher Symbol, Chaotic Wrist, Pendant of Discord are all I'm shooting for from Tacvi, due to Anguish armor. If you are not working in parallel in Anguish, I"m sure you'd have to take a different route.

I see you are going after DoN targets also. Ya'lir's shield is on my list also. But I'd replace your lodestar with Rikk's poison focus range item. 275hp and the best poison focus that we can get (40% affects rains, dots, and nukes).

In terms of your shoulders, ya, thats tough. I have inku'ta shoulders now (250hp'ish) and I'm really not seeing a reason to upgrade them any time soon. I figure I'll either wait for Vish shoulders, or something even beyond that (DoD). The reason being, there didn't seem to be any gear set arranagements that required a particular focus to reside on the shoulders.

shoulders: Once you get any of the below, you are fine I think.

Obsidian Pauldrons +34 AC +23 Str +26 Sta +24 Agi +27 Wis +27 Int +30 vsMg +15 vsCold +25 vsPos +20 vsDis +325 HP +335 Mana 1.3 Wt
Slot types: 8 The Accursed Nest

1. Dragon Health

70
Omens of WarAmice of Ill-Will +40 AC +23 Str +23 Agi +21 Dex +23 Wis +23 Int +15 vsMg +25 vsFire +15 vsCold +30 vsPos +295 HP +325 Mana +325 End 1.0 Wt
Slot types: 8 Citadel of Anguish

1. Bulwark of the Dragorn

70
Omens of WarShawl of Nefarious Favor +35 AC +21 Str +15 Sta +17 Agi +15 Dex +22 Wis +22 Int +30 vsMg +30 vsFire +10 vsCold +15 vsPos +275 HP +275 Mana +275 End 1.5 Wt
Slot types: 8 Muramite Proving Grounds

1. Protection of the Dragorn

70
Omens of WarBrute's Gaudy Shoulderspines +40 AC +15 Sta +30 Dex +25 Wis +25 Int +20 Cha +15 vsMg +15 vsFire +20 vsCold +20 vsPos +15 vsDis +255 HP +295 Mana +295 End 1.5 Wt
Slot types: 8 Muramite Proving Grounds

No Effects

70
Gates of DiscordWhispering Amice +42 AC +15 Str +18 Sta +15 Agi +15 Dex +20 Wis +20 Int +17 Cha +10 vsMg +20 vsFire +20 vsCold +20 vsPos +15 vsDis +250 HP +235 Mana +235 End 1.1 Wt
Slot types: 8 Inktu'ta, the Unmasked Chapel

1. Improved Parry II
2. Discordant Disease

65
Gates of DiscordMantle of Corruption +34 AC +18 Str +20 Sta +17 Agi +25 Wis +25 Int +20 Cha +15 vsMg +15 vsFire +30 vsPos +30 vsDis +265 HP +280 Mana +280 End 1.3 Wt
Slot types: 8 Tacvi, Seat of the Slaver

1. Geomantra

70

[Gmork]

[Ungkor]

[Brohg]

[Brohg]

[Ungkor]

[Pecannius]

i would put up there with the tunat quest neck/belt. Improved dodge3 is kinda tough for shammies to get and that focus is the best you will get outside of getting really lucky on one of those 24 man DoN raids or winning the vish class loot piece. I picked up the chaotic essence wrist too since I never got a mpg trial fear mask. Although with the and the this fine bracer could legimitely get passed up (but look at the ac on it! mmm)

Oh and i love the 2 120 hp augs from xxeric too. If you're not in a guild that does a lot of anguish runs they're a nice option.

[Tordail]

/takes notes

Thanks for the responses guys, this is starting to look more manageable.
How about Ring of the Serpent vs. Ritualchanter's Mitts?

[Sebekiz]

[Brohg]

Mitts suck, no mod2s. There are two best hands atm, Ritualchanter's aren't them. with 10% stun resist drop in theSpecialization Mastery Raid at Projection of Arcana in MPG. with.. lots of stuff.. drop from the Council of the Nine raid mission that starts in Undershore. The battle gloves have lots of mods, but I think the Adroitness hands are better because stun resists are harder to cap out generally.