avcom outfitting?

[Gallahandro]

Hello. I would like to ask how I should be outfitting for avcom. I play florentine, but I do not know what kinds of equipment I should be using in order to optimize.

The only decent gear I have at this point is the career sword and the Mancatcher's Loop from the Havana prison daily (but, as I said, I do not know if that piece really compliments florentine or not).

There is a lot out there; some of it focuses on regeneration, some damage resistance, some grant health / guard bonuses, etc. I do not know how to choose wisely and would appreciate your thoughts so that I can become a better avcom combatant.

Thank you.

[Georgiana Jennings]

Did you do the mission at Jaqueme? If so, you should have a Pure Silver Mirror, which would work better than the Mancatcher's Loop. If not and you can still run them, it's possibly worth doing. Other good items for that slot can be found at Fortaleza da Luz, the easiest to get would be Khan Balum's Fang which can be farmed from the 1st boss in an almost reasonable time. I don't know what class you are, but the FT also have a +10% damage career reward item you could use.

If you can run Besieged Tortuga, with Celebrated rep you can get the Crusader's Mail, which offers +10% Damage resistance and +25 Health. It's the best Torso slot item in the game, and generally recommended for all avcom styles. The Besieged Tortuga grind is very long, but offers access to many good and some overpowered items. Other items worth mentioning are the Mud-Encrusted Boots and the swords Ssangdo and Siccus Tecculum which are good for Florentine. The Tortugan Spirits are an overpowered consumable item that can be used by any style.

Another very good avcom are the Prelate's Tenacious Treads, which require 7 runs of the daily mission Baptism of Fire. This mission is in Island Harbour for the British and San Marcos for the French, if you are Pirate or Spanish ask in your nation. The Tenacious Treads are probably the best boots in game, and slightly better than the Mud Encrusted Boots I've already mentioned.

The Musketeer's Pistol is extremely good and comes from a quest chain in Pointe-a-Pitre for the town magistrate, I don't remember the starting quest's name though. The best pistol currently in game comes from the Bey's Retreat level 50 Epic Mission, but it is only very slightly better than the Musketeer's.

For consumables, running the daily High Spirits in your nation's capital will give you access to 4 different consumables--however, one is absolutely horrible (Rhum Agricole is litterally worse than nothing at all) and two are so-so, so the Cuba Libre is generally considered the best; although it might be possible to stack resistance enough on certain builds to make the Overproof Special worthwhile, and the Witch's Brew could be quite nice on some Dirty Fighting builds (however, as Florentine just stick with Cuba Libre).

Finally, there's some really nice items from Bey's Retreat, but AFAIK only the pistol is best in slot, the other turn-ins can be viable alternatives to what I've mentioned but are not (AFAIK) better.

[DerHuhnTeufel]

Until avcom changes, you should focus on things that grant you health of some form (Guard, Health, Guard Regen) and resistance, with a little bit on damage. Right now, offense and defensive stats like dodge or parry alter the scores so minutely that they just aren't worth taking.

What Georgiana said is pretty much spot on, but if you are looking for cheap alternatives, consider the Supple Boots, First-rate from your trainer and a Chain Shirt, First-rate, usually available from the AH for less than 1000 doubloons. The Mancatcher's loop will work just fine, although I prefer the Mirror of Pure Silver from Jaqueme myself.

As far as an "ultimate" build goes, you'd be looking at Crusader's Mail (Besieged), Prelate's Tenacious Treads (Daily Georgiana mentioned), and the Clasp of Pacal (From Fortaleza), but getting all of those can take some time.

[Josh_Brown]

The Spanish and French trade factions both have boots that give a nice bonus to guard regen, if you're willing to grind rep and/or burn MoTs to get them.

[DerHuhnTeufel]

Originally Posted by Josh_Brown The Spanish and French trade factions both have boots that give a nice bonus to guard regen, if you're willing to grind rep and/or burn MoTs to get them.

MoTs are only for the Trade Unions, not the various trade companies (Mississippi, West India, etc.) The Spanish House of Trade has some nice boots out of Trinidad, I think you need 1500 rep, but it might be 2500.

[Gallahandro]

Originally Posted by Georgiana Jennings Did you do the mission at Jaqueme?

Do you mean the ones related to the supernatural missions? If so, I did not. I went the other way. If you are not referring to that particular mission chain, I will head there and start doing missions for the silver mirror.

[DerHuhnTeufel]

Originally Posted by Gallahandro Do you mean the ones related to the supernatural missions? If so, I did not. I went the other way. If you are not referring to that particular mission chain, I will head there and start doing missions for the silver mirror.

Unfortunately the mirror is part of the supernatural chain. You can do just fine with the Havana / Tortuga necklaces, though.

[kritikal]

Since implied months ago; The Mirror of Pure Silver is Nothing more than a Warhouse only item. Translation; Useless. The Pitfighter's Prize is Superior, which is inferior to the Mancatcher's Loop which is or is not Equal to the Clasp of Pascal, Depending on fighting styles of course.

Nuju-

[Gallahandro]

Originally Posted by toanuju281 Since implied months ago; The Mirror of Pure Silver is Nothing more than a Warhouse only item. Translation; Useless. The Pitfighter's Prize is Superior, which is inferior to the Mancatcher's Loop which is or is not Equal to the Clasp of Pascal, Depending on fighting styles of course. Nuju-

Ok. I found Mancatcher's Loop a couple of times in the thread. I did get that, and it definitely helps, so thanks to all who suggested it.

Currently I am using the career swords, the mancatcher's loop, and a couple of late mission item rewards.

It seems I need to get my hands on a Chain Shirt, first rate and Supple Boots, first rate (thanks DerHuhn!) until I can get the Crusader's Mail from Btort and Prelate's Tenacious Treads (thanks Georgiana Jennings!) from the Baptism of Fire daily (which might be in Trinidad, I think).

Is there a sword upgrade I should consider beyond the Level 50 career rewards (other than the SoD I keep hearing about)? There are sword rewards from the Havana and Tortuga dailies I could work for, but I'm so inept at figuring out what is "better," I should ask before I do anything. There's probably a guide somewhere that really explains how avcom items really work--theory and such. I should find that.