With the Fabled due to return in the near future, I am pondering going after the Fungus Covered Scale Tunic for myself. I know my brother will help me with his 70 paladin and shaman, in addition to others in my small but very close knit guild. :) However there are pros and cons to these two tunics and I am trying to decide between them.

Now, despite being in a small guild that doesn't put together raids very often I think I have managed to do all right for myself equipment wise: http://www.magelo.com/eq_view_profile.html?num=74290

I *could* get something better than an Elysian tunic but unfortunately as a half elf druid I've come to despise the way half elf females look in leather. I still mourn the Velious armor graphics that went away with the Luclin models. The only armor graphic for tunic and leggings that I find tolerable for Starlene is chain, and post-Luclin I think almost all classes have been forced into a certain armor type. The best chain upgrade that I can get for my Elysian, that I know of, comes from Vex Thal, and there is no way I'll be able to set foot in Vex Thal in the foreseeable future if ever.

Elysian stats are as follows:
AC: 24
STR: +15 STA: +5 WIS: +15 HP: +15 MANA: +75
SV FIRE: +8 SV DISEASE: +8 SV COLD: +8 SV MAGIC: +8 SV POISON: +8

Fabled tunic's stats are as follows:

AC: 21
STR: +13 DEX: +10 STA: +12 CHA: +9 HP: +110 MANA: +110 Endurance: +110
SV FIRE: +10 SV DISEASE: +10 SV COLD: +10
Regeneration: +25

The choice is not as clear cut as I would like.

Pros for Fabled tunic:

-Awesome regeneration (though as a druid I don't think regeneration is as useful on us as compared to other classes. Any opinions on that?)

-Lot more HP

-Slightly more raw mana

-2 more fire and cold resist

Cons for Fabled tunic:

-NO augment slot! This is the biggest thing for me. I really hate to lose out on an augment slot. I remember when people asked about the augment slot being excluded the devs answered that because of the large amount of hp regeneration they thought players being allowed to augment it further would be over powering it.

-No wisdom. I think the more raw mana might make up for this. My wisdom is also currently capped at 400. I have 32 extra wisdom points so substracting 15 from that won't be noticable. I would like to raise my cap in the future at some point though.

-I've been trying to raise my magic resist and this tunic would actually set me back when it comes to MR.

I'd greatly appreciate any feedback :) Before I invest a lot of time and my friends' time in going after this, I want to be sure this is something I really want.

Try the grand tunic of the oracle. Very good upgrade, from elysian, has aug slot, don't lose any magic resist. Pick up 4 mana regen. Drop strength but gain more stamina and wisdom. In line with Aten's Mail of Judgement or pretty darn close. But, has the leather graphic sorry..... oh and you can get a good instant clicky mana regen with that quest.


Grand Tunic of the Oracle
agic Item lore Item No Trade
Slot:Chest Ac20
Sta 18 Wis 20 Hp100 Mana 125
Svfire10 sv disease10 Svcold10 Svmagic10 Svpoison 10
ana Regen4
Wt0.9 size: medium
Class Clr Dru Shm
Race All
Slot1,type7

Fabled Fungi, definately. You gain 115hp, which far outweighs the 15 wisdom, and you already get more mana anyways. Plus the regen is hawt.

No doubt about it go with the fabled fungi. You said your wis is at 432, but even with AAs the cap only goes to 415. You have 0 use for wis, and can lose 17 wis with 0 loss. The raw hp/mana upgrade outweighs any other small stat/resist losses, and any augment you could put in the elysian. The regen isn't important for any class nowadays since mobs hit so hard, but every bit helps add to your survivability I guess.

Definately go with the fabled. The reason:

You don't need STR, DEX since you don't rely on melee damage to kill mobs.

You don't need WIS since it WILL be over the cap from other pieces and augs.

You don't need CHA since druid charm is not associated with this. You'll be well over 134 from other pieces and augs for getting best vendor prices.

So for the stats, only STA and AGI matters. After taking out the other 4 stats it's a no brainer.

you have gear like facade of fright and such YET you limit your chest and leg slots to chain graphics... ><
try hitting F9 til you are in first person mode and don't worry about it.
or maybe name change to something like Prudence.

-Awesome regeneration (though as a druid I don't think regeneration is as useful on us as compared to other classes. Any opinions on that?)

Regen is nice. I don't nesecarly look at it when I'm considering upgrades, but with high regen you'll be able to go without healing yourself when you get scratched here and there, which saves you a bit of mana.

you have gear like facade of fright and such YET you limit your chest and leg slots to chain graphics...

LOL! Yep, I've decided the way my character looks is most important, and stats come in second to that. I'm actually glad it's just two slots that I have to be picky about. If you think that's bad... We have a mage in our guild who refuses to wear any armor that shows up other than plate-looking armor!

Oh and he won't use anything in his primary slot but his beloved Sarnak Liberator (http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=216) which apparently no longer drops. All that with his black horse, he gets mistaken as a shadow knight fairly often. When our guild took Lord Seru down for the first time, we ALL passed on the Yttrium Wrapped Sleeves for him since he so badly needed an upgrade for the arm slot that was plate in appearance.

Thank you all so much for the advice. :) I think I will go after the Fungi even though I still really hate losing that augment slot, the mana/hp is much better and the awesome regeneration is a bonus. I didn't realize the highest I could get my wisdom at the moment with AA was 415, though I'm sure they will raise the cap in the future, but it's not a huge concern now. I may look into that Grand Oracle tunic quest if there's a clickie I could use even if I can't use the tunic.

Again, I appreciate your feedback. :)

you have gear like facade of fright and such YET you limit your chest and leg slots to chain graphics...

Why would need to wear Elysian full time for a chain graphic? There's ways you use any type of armor graphic without actually keeping that armor on, ya know.

Nope, I don't know. :) Please feel free to enlighten!

It requires a clickee illusion item to make happen.

How to bug your armor graphic:
Put on armor graphic you want to see, put on wolf/skeleton (any non-amor showing illusion), put real armor back on while in illusion, click illusion off and you will still have the armor graphic you want to see on, along with your better armor.

It requires a clickee illusion item to make happen.

To be more specific, any illusion where you can't see armor graphic will work. For clickies this would include skeleton and elementals. For druid memable spells, it'ld include wolf form and maybe even tree form. For end memable spells (assuming they have pi) would include things like seb frog, werewolf, scarecrow, etc.

Do you have to do that each time you zone?

yes

How hard is the fabled king?

I'm trying to figure out if I can duo it with my monk... http://www.magelo.com/eq_view_profile.html?num=906465

Anyone think Its possible?

Hmmm...interesting trick with the armor graphics, but having to do it every time I zone and every time I die and loot my corpse would be very tedious to me. I think I'll stick with my current plan. :)

I think it's hard to say Netura. You can always give it a try and exodus if things turn nasty. I haven't duoed with many monks, so I'm not really familiar with their damaging mitigation and avoid abilities.

Well, thanks to everyone's feedback, my guild helped me to grab the Fabled Fungus Covered Scale Tunic today! :) We didn't even have to wait there very long at the camp. After the first clearing, there he was! Our group easily took it down with a 70 enchanter, 67 cleric, myself, 70 paladin, 70 shaman, 60 paladin, and 65 necromancer.

I think if Netura tries duo it with a monk, the hardest part would be all the adds around the king, unless the monk could get the king alone. Without slow you may easily drain your mana healing, but that's just my guess.