General

[quote=Mysteltein]Which is?

Btw, there's a nice E-staff 7 244 matk for 161K NX in the MTS....Pretty cheap if you ask me.[/quote]

The exact same equips listed in this thread except for 18% earrings and a 9% overall. And I don't see me getting 160k nx anytime soon

OR I could just use my equips I have right now and get that ele stave.

[quote=d4rkxStrIfe]I'd like to do the same thing, but the problem is getting rid of my 3L unique czak and replacing it with an Empress hat.[/quote]

You have funds to go past that, though. I feel like that if I choose my BaM route I'd be worthless lol.
I'd have like ~500mil left after everything. (I mapped it out last night) I can merch. However, not very fast.

I'd like to do the same thing, but the problem is getting rid of my 3L unique czak and replacing it with an Empress hat.

[quote=Cthulhusama]@Distance: If you are going to go with the BaM I would go for replacing your hat, overall, cape, and glove with DTM ones and keeping your shoes. Then use an Ele instead of the DTM staff as it is a LOT better training and it is better at bossing unless you have the full set, it is post-union, and you have decent SI. So I would get that and then maybe change over to a DTM one later on.

If you are going to go with the I/L I would do the same except getting the Ele wand you mentioned. Eventually you would want to get the full DTM set though.

As for which you should fund? Whichever you have the most fun with obviously.

@justheel08: Ah that sucks. I was going on local prices. Anyway. I wouldn't bother with the CZak. It is just as, if not more, expensive as the DTM hat but not as good. The HTP is pretty nice but if you have enough luck you should go for the DTM set. Even just getting 4 of them will boost your range by a ton and if you go for Hat, Overall, Glove, and Shoe it will be a lot cheaper than getting the cape as well and all those items are really good on their own as well.

If you don't feel you can wait until 140 you can get the other equips instead but honestly they won't increase your damage nearly as much.[/quote]

I just don't see myself getting very much funding after that 100k nx, however.

@Distance: If you are going to go with the BaM I would go for replacing your hat, overall, cape, and glove with DTM ones and keeping your shoes. Then use an Ele instead of the DTM staff as it is a LOT better training and it is better at bossing unless you have the full set, it is post-union, and you have decent SI. So I would get that and then maybe change over to a DTM one later on.

If you are going to go with the I/L I would do the same except getting the Ele wand you mentioned. Eventually you would want to get the full DTM set though.

As for which you should fund? Whichever you have the most fun with obviously.

@justheel08: Ah that sucks. I was going on local prices. Anyway. I wouldn't bother with the CZak. It is just as, if not more, expensive as the DTM hat but not as good. The HTP is pretty nice but if you have enough luck you should go for the DTM set. Even just getting 4 of them will boost your range by a ton and if you go for Hat, Overall, Glove, and Shoe it will be a lot cheaper than getting the cape as well and all those items are really good on their own as well.

If you don't feel you can wait until 140 you can get the other equips instead but honestly they won't increase your damage nearly as much.

[quote=justheel08]I don't think that I will ever have the funding(2-4bil) to afford the whole empress set so I am hoping that I can eventually beat Oz and get them by myself from drops. If someone can tell me how hard she is to beat and what level I should be to verse he, that would be great. Thank you. [/quote]

Oz is summoned by Empress Cygnus. You have to be 170+ to even enter the map and to be honest if you don't have the funding to buy the equips you won't have the funding to be strong enough to kill one of the Knights or be invited into a serious Empress run. Anyway. Other than the weapon and the cape the items are only ~200mil each (maybe a bit more for the gloves) so you should be able to slowly accumulate them.

Well guys, here's my situation.
I can get a 180 magic attack ele staff 7 right now for 4.5b.
OR
I could get a 167 matk clean empress staff for 2.1b.

If I were to get that empress staff, I would get decent si. That means with Union I will have booster + yellow aura + decent si. AND half of the time I'll be on body boost, so that adds 2 more attacking speeds.
What speed would that put me at? Because if I end up getting that ele staff I will have ~2.5b to upgrade my other eqs. With that DT staff I will have 4.5~.

And to the people saying it'll be hard to get %int on the empress equips, It won't be terribly hard with 100k nx. Epic potential scroll all of it, and wah lah. Epic already. As soon as I hit 6%+ on one, I'll move to another.
I know the 222 from the perfected DT staff (GM'd with 1 aee) will make up for a LOT of my damage being lost. The matk from the set bonus is also a plus. The cape would be the last thing I'd get.

I just need an answer that will persuade me one way or another. Preferably from @cthulhusama.

What should I do?

EDIT: Or I could just get that ele staff, and get 4 empress eqs. that would take a long time, however. I could also just keep my current staff.

EDIT2: Or I could just simply go to my I/L with all of these equips. I don't mind either class.
EDIT3: I'm thinking that playing my I/L would be more plausible. I can get a 3L epic, 149 matk clean ele wand 8 for 1.2 bil. Add 200mil x 9 for GM wands, and that's 1.8ish-bil. (give or take a few mil for different pricing) 1.8+1.2 = 3b. I'm getting 100k nx. I can sell that 100k nx for 5.5bil. So that means I will have 2.5 left if I sell all of it.
Then add my current staff being sold. (c/o 1.4 bil.) So lets add just that much. I would have 3.9b left. Oh, almost forgot. Plus a confusion fragment. 200-250mil. That leaves me with 4.1b. That 4.1b could be used to buy and cube a hat, overall, and gloves. Shoes would be absolute last because mine are too good right now.

For the hat, overall, (which I already have sitting in my BaMs invetory), and gloves I expect to pay ~300mil. Then add 3 epic potential scrolls for 180mil each to that price. that;s ~840mil. Subtract that again from my 4.1 leftover, and I'm left with 3.2~bil. That 3.2bil can then be converted into nx. (save 300-400m for myself for the time being)

So 3.2-400 is 2.8bil. 2,800,000,000 divided by 50,000,000 (the NX ratio right now) is 56k nx. I can wait for a cube sale after all of this. (960 nx for 1 cube, and i'm going to assume ~1.4k for a super cube.) With the regular cubes I can get 58 cubes. (with sale) For the super ones at 1.4 each I can get 40. That seems like a butt load of super cubes.
I've watched friends cube with super ones, and they always seem to get their items to unique faster. so if I hit 9-12% int on each one of those items, that's be 27-36% of the 30% that i lost (disincluding shoes). I would then sell my 21% int VSS. They have been valued at over 3bil, I will assume about 3.2b. After that assumption, I would then buy nx again.
3,200,000,000/50,000,000 is 64k nx. I would buy cubes as needed, getting my shoes to 12-15% int. If I were to get 15% int, I would have made up for 42~51% of my lost int. Oh gosh! got my 51% int back! With some more money to spare!

Also, seeing as that 3L epic wand has 6% int as one of the lines, I would cube it last. I know, I know. Weapons always first. But I will gradually make my way up with that. Adding that 6% to my 42~51% gained, I would receive 48~59% int back.

I almost feel like going to my I/L would be better...

@VitaminMmm: Well it should only be around 1-2 months tops before we get Aura stacking so if you are upgrading gear you should be thinking ahead IMO. If you want precise numbers for attack speed it is simple. Slow 8 staff with just booster takes 990 MS to use FB and an Ele hitting speed cap takes 750 MS to use FB. The difference between saying 1 second for the first one and the actual numbers is .1th of a second. So little time that you can't even blink in that time span so I figure it is around the same unless I am actually plugging numbers in to calculate something.

As I said about the +2 skills it doesn't break cap like CO does. I was actually correcting you since you referred to it as "free self CO" which it isn't since it can't break cap which is the best part of CO. It is basically only good for low levels or if you want to have DG at max.

The %HP and MP is awesome. It also stacks with Decent HB just like any %hp/mp from equips would. That makes it even better. 55% HP/MP? 85% with energizer if you only want to count the part that can't be dispelled. 115% HP with conversion.

As for his equips? Shoes are awesome. No argument there. Helm? Ehhh it's okay. Overall? it's so-so. Gloves? Not bad but not hard to make empress ones better seeing as though they start with 5 Matk. Cape? Once again not bad but the DTM cape has int, luck, and matk so it can be made better without too much trouble. I'd say it would be worth upgrading at least those 4 equips to Empress ones and then waiting until he can get 15% int+ on a shoe before replacing his current shoe.

Reduced status effect duration can be great for surviving seduce, the +15 matk is amazing, and the rest is just icing. Hell the +15 matk and -2 seconds on status effects is better than the +20 stat and +2 skills IMO so the 4 set bonus is better than the 5 set so obviously getting 4 DTM equips should be worth it. Oh and what do you know? He happens to have 4 equips that are worth replacing (not that 6-9% stat is bad but it isn't that hard to get compared to the benefit of the DTM set IMO).

[quote=Distance]Gaiz,
Here are my current hat, gloves, shoes, cape and overall stats:
Hat: 6% int
Gloves: 9% int
Shoes: 21% int
Cape: 9% int
Overall: 6% int.
[/quote]

Im here if u want to donate ur GOLDY 6 or 9 % stuff! (Please) <3 Im so poor im using a slow staff :O
Anyway go for the empress

[quote=Mysteltein]Who says we have to use the full set?

Even 5 pieces set bonuses is awesome. That's not counting individual equip bonuses compared to regular int % gear.[/quote]

Imo empress gear is only good in set of 6. Mages only have overalls so i guess it is viable unless you want to wait until we get maple sports even for lvl 80 common top and bottom. But im basing it off what he currently has Verses if he were to get new gear.

It isn't viable for him unless he willing to give away all his equips for full empress, craft his cape which cost tons, and spend ton on cubes to recube.

Also look into, the staff is on avg 12 m.atk more. so full empress verses ele staff build isnt far off. Especially when you already started and have 80% of your ele gear its very unviable to start again for empress build. for just a bonus of couple hundred bonus range... definetly not worth it unless your trying to show off you range or trying to hit cap.

[quote=Cthulhusama]It's about 1 FB per second for a slow 8 weapon with just booster and 4/3 attacks per second with a fast 4 weapon and booster on (Actually it is 1.010101010101 for a slow 8 weapon with just booster but I rounded) just FYI. Also the +2 all skills from the empress equips is achieved at 5 items so you could get it as a BaM while still using an Ele. It also doesn't let you break the cap like CO does and is therefor more or less useless (although it would allow you to "max" all your skills but losing 2 SP on Dark Gen isn't a big deal to me anyway).

Anyway. As others have said the individual items are amazing and even the 4 and 5 piece set bonuses are well worth the investment (hell even the +15% HP from 3 pieces is nice).The +30% boss and +30 matk make the DTM staff worth it for a BaM post-union if you don't mind sacrificing training speed for bossing speed (and don't mind the gameplay at slow attack speeds....) if you also have Decent SI.[/quote]

Yea but with Ele staff you gets you Fastest speed with booster and you cant stack auras (yet).

If your going to use exact numbers don't go 'about one' then go on its '1.010101010101'. very bad for trying to prove something lol

its like saying my acura can go about 300 km/hr. the ferrari can go 310 km/hr lol. I know what you mean though

for the +2 stats do you honestly thing any1 would pay tons just to do 2% bonus damage with FB.... -.-" seriously please buy my lambo... so you can get to work 5 seconds faster! Please switch to empress and buy ele 8 so you can kill a crock, well 2% dmg wont do much even at like 400k dmg (8k bonus) per hit (which i dout he does). to be generous lets just say you kill 1 hit faster LOL.

The % hp and mp super awesome. and 6 peice bonus is GODLY. now when you bring up Decent Si. You can mind as well just scratch what you said about %hpMP, Decent hb

I'm not trying to say set sucks. I'm trying to say with what he has already is good. No need to waste all tht time and spend more money for just a little more damage. hey man buy the ferrari, drive to work 5 seconds faster, your gonna get all the ladies

[quote=VitaminMmm]You guys are forgetting.

Battle mages rely on attack speed.

Using empress gear means you will be using empress wand/ staff. Which is Slow.

IMO empress gear is only good as a full set so you can get that +30% boss and free self co.

Keep what you have imo. Your level 162, almost 163. Instead of spending 3b for a set of empress then needing to recube, get ELE 5,6,7, or 8.

The difference between Slow and Fast is huge. Think about it >.>

atk 1.2x a secound or like 2x a secound. Idk the actual numbers though

But hey what do I know, just another mercedes : played NL b4 and booster mattered alot xD[/quote]

It's about 1 FB per second for a slow 8 weapon with just booster and 4/3 attacks per second with a fast 4 weapon and booster on (Actually it is 1.010101010101 for a slow 8 weapon with just booster but I rounded) just FYI. Also the +2 all skills from the empress equips is achieved at 5 items so you could get it as a BaM while still using an Ele. It also doesn't let you break the cap like CO does and is therefor more or less useless (although it would allow you to "max" all your skills but losing 2 SP on Dark Gen isn't a big deal to me anyway).

Anyway. As others have said the individual items are amazing and even the 4 and 5 piece set bonuses are well worth the investment (hell even the +15% HP from 3 pieces is nice).The +30% boss and +30 matk make the DTM staff worth it for a BaM post-union if you don't mind sacrificing training speed for bossing speed (and don't mind the gameplay at slow attack speeds....) if you also have Decent SI.

You guys are forgetting.

Battle mages rely on attack speed.

Using empress gear means you will be using empress wand/ staff. Which is Slow.

IMO empress gear is only good as a full set so you can get that +30% boss and free self co.

Keep what you have imo. Your level 162, almost 163. Instead of spending 3b for a set of empress then needing to recube, get ELE 5,6,7, or 8.

The difference between Slow and Fast is huge. Think about it >.>

atk 1.2x a secound or like 2x a secound. Idk the actual numbers though

But hey what do I know, just another mercedes : played NL b4 and booster mattered alot xD

[quote=KDrumz]I would recommend only getting 4 pieces of the set since the 4 bonus is better than the 5 bonus. 15 Magic Attack > 20 All Stat. So get the Hat, Gloves, Overall and Cape (*gasp*). The cape is the hardest to get since it's via Recipe only. But this way, you will be able to keep your shoes and upgrade everything else. [/quote]

The Set effects are cumulative though so it is 15 Matk AND 20 all stat if you have 5 items. Of course 20 all stat (and +2 to all skills) isn't going to be as good as 21%int shoes unless they get really lucky with cubing.

[quote=Holitrix]Uh sorry, noob question here, but isn't the empress set untradable?

I never made a UA so explain please [/quote]
They mean the lvl 140 set that drops from empress boss

Indeed they do, they are my babies. I'll definitely be upgrading those last. Unless... I just sell those. Any idea on what they;re worth?