Will throw this crafting info in here, so we only need one Crafting sticky:
Trinketting and Salvage Guide:
strategy.guardiansofvalor.com/Strategy/PharaohTrinketingGuide.aspCrafting calculator:
www.aros.net/~fumigatr/daoc/craftingcalculator.htmAlchemy guide:
www.midnightsojourn.com/news.htmlSpellcrafting Calculator:
sc.aod.net/When doing an armour set put in all the acc (Gems, Cloak, Etc) and armour pieces that you already have (artifacts, epics, nice MP drops from TOA). Then play with the configuration you want to use by tweaking the crafted pieces of armour. When you're comparing gems/jewlrey look at the utility number but use judgment and don't blindly take a piece because it has a higher number than others. You can save individual jewlrey pieces after you enter them to help you mix and match and fine tune. For a level 50 template I highly recommend the following high utility items: SOA necklace and Coin, The Ring of Seven .... from green glades quest, Cenalon's ring, Ebon Hide bracer, SI bracer items.
Use all 4 slots and mix up your stats across the armour to both reduce cost and make the most efficient use of imbdue points. Most important thing in any template is to max out +hits, +con, Melee resists (Crush/Thrust/Slash), your primary weapon stat:
Str for Slash & Crush users,
Dex/STR for Thrust/Flex users,
Dex for Bow users,
INT for mages,
PIE for Healers
Dex effects casting speed so for healers/castsers you'll want that maxxed.
Dex also effects blocking & parry abilities.
Qui increases weapon swing speed (at the reduction of damage per hit, but the same damage over time) and helps with evade. (Dex has a contribution to evade as well)
You'll also want to max out some of your +skills to increase your weaponskill for melee and increase your to-hit chance for mages. Use the "distance to cap" function in Kort's to aid with fine tuning. Make sure you correctly enter the armour quality (quality plays a huge roll, the better quality the armour the more imbdue points, the more stats!) and level in your calculator. The preceeding is all you should really worry about for a levelling character.
Once you have all that done then it's time to really uber up your template with Spell resists. Unless you're going to be RvRing a lot it's probaly not necessary to worry overmuch about your spell resists as most monsters are melee only. You'll probaly already have some spell resists from some of the premade pieces of your set. Generally the priority is BECH (Body, Energy, Cold, Heat) for resist importance. Spirit I like to have high too, then matter is normally quite neglected. I generally like to max heat as it reduces Hib baseline stun time, especially when combined with my own resist buffs. Higher spell resists in RvR will help with reducing spell damage, reducing mezz/root timers, and sometimes outright resisting spells.
For anyone looking to get overcharges Thantes can do level 51 5.5 O/C, but I really don't enjoy doing them and am quite lazy about it (I'll also charge a hefty markup for pain and suffering!!). Don't nag me if you've placed an order or I'll just take longer (spite clause). To make things easier you can e-mail me your template from Kort's which will help a lot in setting up craft bars. Of course the guild has two other less surly Spellcrafters - Alger (who's higher than Thantes) and Allur. Both have full fledged LGM tailor's too hehe.
Couple more tips: Not recommend to put Str/+hits or +con on weapons or shields if you can avoid it. Particularily if you are swapping out weapons on a regular basis. (Ie Minstrel or Scout) Best not to put Envenom either cause it temporarily unequips weapon to apply poison. For my latest templat I've been trying to set up the stats without considering weapon at all to allow me to switch between weapons without losing any stats.
Oh yeah, and for lower level characters, use higher level armour. Will give you more imbdue points to work with, and you'll grow into the armour eventually.
Last item: 28.5 is max imbdue points for 99% armour.without overcharging. You can go .5 over the max imbdue for all items except certain types of cloth armour (can't remember which off the top of my head).
Main thing is to use the calculator to input any bracers, rings, gems, cloaks, belts and premade armour you are going to use. You should keep an eye on distance to cap to make sure your choice in acc. doesn't exceed stat caps. Then tell the SCer what you'd like to max after that.
Or, once you have your accesories put in use this program:
www.syntheticrealms.com/Loki/index.html hehe. It automatically figures out the optimal SC suit for you based on what you assign as priorities. I'm not even gonna try to explain that usage.. There is a trial version of it somewhere, not sure recently though as I haven't used it much.
