I've been away about 6 months and want to start playing this toon again.

Here's a magelo ...

http://www.magelo.com/eq_view_profile.html?num=1299702

I'd like some input on items to shoot for to upgrade (am gonna keep an eye out for ornate legs) both now and over the next 10 levels.

Also, at what point should I work on some aa's?

Any input on soloing areas over the next 10 levels would be cool too (was charming in PoN befoe I left) ....

Thanks much for any help ...

If you root/rot to any great extent, I can't recommend the ornate pants enough. Should be the first thing you save for.

If you mostly solo and do pickup groups, I highly recommend going 50/50 on the XP. This way you get some AA's as you level. That's been my plan, except when I'm about to outgrow a main hunting ground (ie. about to go more than 5 levels above the mobs), and don't have a suitable new spot picked out. Then I go 100% AA.

At 56, PoN stalkers are still good. PoN gargoyles are good for root/rot, though single pulling may be a problem. PoS frogs will be good XP, though you can't charm them til 63.

Good luck and welcome back!

Tat

How much money do you have?

Ornate pants are not that expensive if you are willing to be patient and check the bazaar frequently. I got mine last fall for 23Kpp. I also got an Ornate BP and Ornate pants for my alts for 30Kpp each this winter.

Tat

Elysian to replace your Nathsar bracer and gloves. Decently easy solo, and you'd prolly get some exp out of it too.

For other weak spots, a good bet would be to check the bazaar if you have money. Cultural armor is good stuff, and there's a lot of 100+hp/mana stuff floating around now. Monster missions give some loot that might be worth checking out, there's info on those elsewhere on these forums I think. If you have DoN, at 60 you could start saving up crystals to spend there on some decent stuff as well. Hope this helps!

Go to corathus creeps and solo the PH's for the named (during off hours). None of them summon but they are social so use HON. They hit moderately fast, up to 150, but once snared they cannot catch you (may resist).

If you see high level people (like myself) farming the creep camp (the only area in zone with 10 creep reapers, use tracking to locate the place Creep reapers and corathus are KOS) or the corathus camp (the only other area besides the reapers with lots of corathus) for drops, ask to group with them to leech some free exp.

There are two silverfan snakes (slink and sloth (sp?)) in the river. The PH's (level 47) have more hitpoints than others (level 45). Pull them to the shore to root/dot. These snakes are animals so you can try charming them (never tried since I have DC).

The creep area has 4 named. Two creep reapers (vernon and creep) at the gate (one wanderer, one stationary) are the PHs. Just inside the gate, to your right the first corathus is the PH for 'an oozing corathus' which is a single pull. After killing these 3, invis and turn left go up the ramp, turn around and look down, to your left at the bottom of the ramp is another corathus named PH, also single pull (creep reapers don't assist).

After these, you turn around, to your left on the top of the ramp there are several 'good' clockwork machines (give faction hits, but you can kill creep reapers to get it back). To your left, there is lone 'a clockwork scatter' which is the PH for scatterbucket. And to your right 'an octo mech patrol' (sp?) which is the PH for octo-bot. If you root-dot these two, other clockwork mobs won't assist (that means if you get adds you are attacking the wrong ones). Do not use chamed snakes in these two PHs, since for some odd reason if your charmed snake gets into the battle, all nearby mobs will agro.

Now how many PH's already? 8 right? If that's not enough, there is one lone 'a sithering corathus' north to the creep camp (and almost at the mouth of the corathus camp), which is another PH. This one though is level 55, so it takes longer to drop (and maybe resistent to roots a lot at your level).

Well, it's kind of tough giving him advice without knowing the funds he has. One of the first thing I did when I got money was buy a shield of silver serpents, the one with +3 mana regen. I felt the difference immediately. Eventually I bought the DoN mana regen augs also for another +6, which brought me to +10 with earring of solstice. I would go with those before anything else. Item mana regen makes all the difference in the world.

Agreed about the DoN FT augs, though I still think the Ornate pants might be a higher priority, depending on play style. If you cast the free root once a minute, that's equivalent to FT12 right there. Also, at 56 you don't have the less resistant root, so you get the advantage of getting this root 8 levels early.

Also, you can get 12 FT from DoN augs. Each camp has a +1, +2, and +3 aug that can be purchased. Those and a Solstice earring get any character up to FT13 without much trouble at all.

Tat

My opinion is: clicky /worn effect > focus > FT > HP/Mana > resist > stat. The following are all bazaar items for a quick fix:

First fill clicky slots. Lodi's shield(everlast breathing), Tanglewood shield (ensnare),ornate pant (root), ornate chest (regen), 8th dain ring (DS), ES arm (dot). Swap the arm piece and the ring for the clicky only. Swap chest if there is a much better one. Same for Lodi's shield on the back slot.

Also get two other pieces with effects: small drum on ammo slot (mount) and the e???? shell in inventory for pet haste.

After that, go for focused effects. Have at least Mana pres, spell haste, extended range, improved healing, burning affliction, affliction efficiency, extended enhancement at the IV's level. A quick fix is to buy like 5 ceramic stuff of something for different focus effects (ceramic shield of valor, for example) and swap them in 3 sets for different situations (buffing, root/dotting, quadding). Ornate boots have Mana preservation IV. Silverine waistcoat has boon of the pious (better than even improved healing V). If you do the 8th shawl quest, the reward is 3FT and a focus effect better than EE IV. However the quest is quite difficult and tradeskill related.

Then go for FT. DON FT augs are good but I think they have level restrictions. the FT2 augs are 58+ and FT3 ones are 63+. So before you reach 58, you can go with 2 ornate wrists (2x2=4 FT) and the solstice earring (FT1). You can use tribute to get more FT (not sure how high you can get at your level, but I think at least 3). Tribute FT falls under the same category as wore ones, if you have maxed wore FT then don't use tribute. There are some items which sell pretty cheap in bazaar but have great tribute value. Bazaar FT items are expensive so I don't recommend you buying them. Get to 63 fast and you'll have 10 more FTs from the DON augs.