Ok I have heard varying reports and I need the answer to this to make intelligent equipment decisions so help me out here. First of all I heard taht the cap for FT items is 15. I also heard that the number 15 came from the fact that yo ucoudl only have ONE of each FT item so 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 = 15. I do not believe taht the information about items with the smae FT not stacking but I need somoene to verify that they stack. For example the Earrign of the Solstice and the 7th Coldain Prayere Shawl both have FT1. Do the two items give yoiu FT2 or FT1 becaseu there is no stacking? Also can anyoen verify the limit of 15? The previous information on how 15 was derived is incorrect becasue there are FT6 items out there and the equation did not recognize that. Any and all information woudl be helpful.

FT items of any number stack with each other to the cap of FT 15.

So, you can have 15 FT1 items (err, are there 15 slots?)

You can have 3 FT5 items... or varying combinations.

So, if you're lucky enough to have 2 FT 1 items, an FT 2 item, and an FT 3 item, you will have FT 7 (assuming my basic math hasn't failed along the way!!)

FT items stack and the cap is 15 for worn mana regen (i.e. things that don't take buff slots but do take equipment slots) regardless of them being FT or not.

Ok thanks. That makes sense.....well it made sense 2 years ago or whenever they put the cap in but it doesnt make any sense now. I see people on Magelo with FT25+ worth of FT items and some effect that obviosuly is also a mana regen. The part about them all stcking does relieve me though.

I am still debating the Boots of Flowing Slime versus the Wanderers Sylvan boots. I read some of the posts on it and it made my head hurt. :-0 I am really torn on this one. When I used to use the Obulous Death Shroud it seem to me like the savings using it were huge. On the other hand how can I get rid of FT3 on the boots. Oh me, oh my! Any opinions as to which is better? And please no math. :-)

People playing with high end equipment have access to multiple FT stuff with high FT. They receive FT up to 15, though they have equipment with more. Similarly, they may have wis well over 355 on equipment, but it doesn't add to their mana or stats in play.

The thing is, if the equipment is good, and other folks in their guilds are comparably equipped, then having extra FT on equipment just means that their equipment is very good overall.

Take, for example, the most basic FT1 item, the PotC earring. A lot of pure melee I knew got these because the overall stats were good enough to make the earring useful to them; the FT didn't matter. I've seen Magelos of higher end warriors with FT that makes me drool :)

You can go over the FT 15 cap if you have to necklace from Aten in VT. You can get FT 23 if you have that.

<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>You can go over the FT 15 cap if you have to necklace from Aten in VT. You can get FT 23 if you have that. [/quote]

Hmmm, you sure?

No, Talisman of Vah Kerrath counts towards the FT cap.

Hrmm, I was almost positive that it stacked. Oh well

Wanderers Sylvan boots are very useful vs boots of flowing slime. I think about it this way. There are many slots you can add FT to and not many slots at all that you can add MP4 to. MP4 with my mana pool of 4415 adds another possible 441 mana to my pool if it worked to max efficiency. Even at half efficiency it adds 220 mana effectively to my pool. It also does not affect the FT cap since it is different than flowing thought. Those are my 2 cents on it. I am at FT11 now and if I can get my hands on the leather bracers I would be at the cap.

Even at half efficiency it adds 220 mana effectively to my pool. --- Lhittle

Ok this is where I have a problem wiht this situation. What good is 220 more mana to me? I can cast maybe half a spell with that. What good is half a spell? Well its worth ZERO as far as I can tell. :-) The problem for me is never erunning out of mana. That just never happens to me. My problem is regennign mana as fast as possible. So I guess for me teh FT boots are infinitely superior to the MC4 boots. I guess it all boils down to how you play. One thing that sways me towards teh FT3 boots is the pricing of items. FT2 items generally sell for 50K +. FT3 boots are around 70K - 80K. The pattern for the Ornate boots sells for 15 - 20 K. To me that says that the buying public looks at FT as 4 times as valuable as MC4. Of course the public and pricing are not always correct but it adds one more plus in favor of FT.

The difference in price is a lot more reflective of the rarity, twinkability and tradability.

Once you assemble the Mana Preservation boots, they are no-drop. So you'll only ever be able to use it on one toon.

The affect is not exactly rare, there are more slots with mana preservation than you'd think.

Leather boots are only usable by three classes as well. And for monks and beastlords there are signifigantly better boots around. So you have less competition buying them.

Further, look around at the number of Flowing Thought 3 items that are usable by most classes. There aren't many and the price runs high due to that. Especially since the silk wearing classes get mana preservation on their silk arms. A lot more competition buying them.

Iegil

"The affect is not exactly rare, there are more slots with mana preservation than you'd think." - speaking of MP4

True if you're in a raiding guild. Otherwise, not that many to choose from.

Likewise, FT is very limited for those of us who can't/don't raid much. It torques me off how they keep doing stuff like this (we have to give up boots of flowing slime to get the most prevalent MP4 item for druids, one that doesn't require raiding; and the Droga quests/drops, the Priest reward is an FT2 shawl. Great, SAME SLOT AS THE COLDAIN SHAWL YOU MORONS). Don't know what it's like for other classes, but trying to gather FT items is a real pain, and SOE seems to be stingy on adding items to more varied slots, that don't take a raid force to obtain.

ah, i feel better now )

/rant off

Tat

<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr><em>Even at half efficiency it adds 220 mana effectively to my pool. --- Lhittle</em>

Ok this is where I have a problem wiht this situation. What good is 220 more mana to me? I can cast maybe half a spell with that. What good is half a spell? Well its worth ZERO as far as I can tell. :-) The problem for me is never erunning out of mana. That just never happens to me. My problem is regennign mana as fast as possible. So I guess for me teh FT boots are infinitely superior to the MC4 boots. I guess it all boils down to how you play.[/quote]
Look at it this way...220 mana may only be half a nuke, but it's a lot of little utility spells you could cast, like root, ensnare, improved super camo, and so on. FT3, on the other hand, is just 3 more mana regen per tick. Yes, every little bit helps, but it will take 74 ticks (<em>7 minutes and 24 seconds!</em>) to make up that 220 mana using FT3; let's not even talk about possibly getting 440 mana out of it. ;)

The boots of flowing slime are expensive because they are a status item, not because they're so terribly useful. Every class has some of these status items available to them. Boots of flowing slime happen to be it for healers and casters. Don't get me wrong, FT3 on an item is certainly useful, but I'm not sure it's more useful than having 10% or even 5% more mana in your mana pool.

FT items tend to be made less useful (not useless, just less useful) as your mana regen gets better due to spells...KEI, Protection of the Cabbage/Glade/Nine, Mask of the Hunter/Howler...it all helps to lessen the overall effect of a single FT item, thus making it less critical (although admittedly, still desirable, since more of a good thing tends to still be a good thing in this case). In this situation, conserving mana appears to be the safer bet.

Again, as you said, it boils down to how you play. ;)

FT is indeed capped at 15. Talisman of Vah Kerrath (sp) from VT DOES count in that FT15. Items that have a clickable effect that adds to mana regen aren't covered by the cap. Such as the Shawl of Awakenings from the Emperor in Ssra. That effect goes in your buff box and adds 5 more mana regen. There are other items as well. If you have to click the item to get the mana then its effect goes on top of the FT total. If (as in the case of the Talisman of Vah Kerrath) there is no clickable effect then that items effect counts in your FT cap total.

220 mana is HUGE. Look at the cost of the spell but also the fact that after you have factor in specialization savings, etc. your 400 mana spell doesn't really cost 400 mana. That coupled with the fact that if you had 200 mana left over without that item you now have 420 mana which is more then enough for another spell.

FT is capped at 15 but I haven't seen anyone mention that you can effectively raise that to FT18 through mental clarity AA's. By getting MC1,2 and 3 you end up with an effective FT18.

Not really part of a stacking discussion but thought I'd mention it.

Don't some of the high-end raid gear items have effects with worn mana regen that stacks with FT? Just like the melee aura of darring with atk and regen that most people say stacks with aura of battle?

And as far as MP4, it isn't just that you have an aditional 220 mana- it is that you have used your mana slower. Your nuke cost a bit less, so you can regen back the mana spent on that nuke faster. As a pally, I've worn a mana preservation 3 item for a very very long time, and am quite jelous that my SO is able to get MP4 off her ornate boots, while my ornate boots are FT3. I freqently run at full mana as a pally, if grouped with a enc and a cleric- as well as my partner's druidess. When all hell breaks lose and I go oom quickly with AoE and 1 sec cast time 800pt heals, I would give my BP to have MP4, get off an extra heal. FT can't do that for me, MP4 could. While Ravara doesn't run at FM anytime we are actually fighting, the MP4 still has been a big boon for her. :)

There are caps on worn atk (250?) and hp regen (35?) as well as mana regen (15). It doesn't matter what effects they come from, if they're worn effects they're subject to the caps.

Yep, some of the folks got my point..and that was 220mana at Half efficiency (230 now with some AA changes and upgrades)it could be more mana than that. More mana is VERY useful when in a situation where you are blowing a lot of mana quickly, flowing thought cant keep up in those situations. MP4 is also useful in that it works with Natures Infusion which seems to be the spell that I use most for healing during raid encounters. It does depend on your play style, but having the larger effective mana pool for me makes more sense, especially since I am close to reaching the cap from FT items in other slots.