Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Gear Wars : The New Crucible PVP Gear Vs. AP Gear

When 2.7 launched it brought 2 new modules to the game:  the Arena of Chaos and the Arena of Discipline,  and with those 2 new mini instances,  new PVP gear was also introduced.  The new Empyrean Crucible gear is eternal,  with 5 manastone slots.  That's not all though.  For the first time in Aion  NC has introduced a new
element of gear stats,  called conditioning.  Conditioning is an extra set of stats that can be enabled with the purchase and application of the conditioning item,  which can be bought from the general store in Sanctum or Pandamonium.   NC also made 2 levels of conditioning available to players by creating 2 tiers of gear.  One set of gear can only be conditioned once,  and the other set of gear can be conditioned twice.  Of course the 2 tier set is more expensive because it enables a second,  extra set of stats.  The EC gear can be bought with
Crucible Insignias,  first introduced in the 2.6 update,  and with Courage Insignias,  the new form of currency
in the 2.7 release and only obtainable by running the Arena instances.  Here's a pic of a piece of my EC gear:

As you can see,  its a Tier 2 item,  and has 2 levels of conditioning available.

Now for a discussion about AP (Abyss Point) gear.  AP gear was,  until the release of 2.7,  the only available PVP gear in the game.  It is purchasable only with AP (abyss points) and medals.  There are 3 levels of AP gear for levels 30, 40 and 50: superior (green),  heroic (blue) and fabled (yellow).  There's  4 levels for 55,  an extra eternal (orange) gear set.   For the purposes of this discussion I'm only going to compare the fabled and eternal  AP gear with the Crucible gear,  which only offers fabled and eternal grade.
Also,  most players who set a goal to obtain AP gear usually go for the fabled set,  and then upgrade to eternal later. 
The most attractive thing about AP gear is the number of manastone slots.  There are 6,  which is 2 more than most any fabled piece of armor or weapon in the game.  There are some exceptions to that rule,  but not many,  so the AP 6 slot gear exceeds other fabled gear 95% of the time. 
The next stat is the bonus you get for having the entire set.  Its an extra set of stats that activates and gives more HP,  crit strike,  etc.
Those two things on top of the PVP defense or attack (armor or accessories),  made AP gear the most coveted gear in the game.
The differences between the AP PVP gear and the Crucible PVP are as follows:

Eternal Crucible Gear 

  • 5 Manastone Slots
  • Lower Physical Defense than a comparable item for level 55
  • Only for level 55
  • Extra stats of Magic Resist and Paralysis Resist
  • 2 Tiers of Conditioning which enable extra stats like Strike Resist and Spell Resist,  PVP attack and more

AP Gear

  • 6 Manastone Slots
  • Comparable or higher Physical Defense for the player's level
  • Available to players at level 30, 40, 50 & 55
  • Bonus Stats for having the entire armor set
This brings up the question: Which one is better? and is the reason why I wrote this article.  Clearly,  the AP
gear has alot of advantages,  and those who have the full set are looked upon with respect.  The reason why is that AP gear is hard to get.  Earning enough AP and medals to get the entire set is a very time consuming
process.  For those who can't devote daily time to the game to farm AP exclusively from instances like dredgion or endless quest grinds in the abyss,  the AP gear is out of reach. The 55 eternal AP gear requires platinum medals,  which,  for the most part,  can only be obtained in bulk from daily quest grinds,  which I'm going to write a separate article about soon.   This means that the acquisition of AP gear is tailored to the hardcore player.   Of course,  AP is also gotten from PVP,  however if you don't have the PVP gear to begin with,  how can you beat another player who might?    I could go on about that topic,  but I'd be going off subject.  This is the reason that NC introduced the Crucible PVP gear,  which,  in my opinion,  was a smart decision.  It's biggest advantage is that it takes much less time to acquire.  The gear is bought with crucible and courage insignias,  which are obtained from running either of the 2 arenas.  If you think of the cruc insigs as AP and the courage insigs as medals,  then you're getting both items at the same time,  which is convenient in comparison to the demands of AP gear,  which requires silver, gold or platinum medals that have to be earned or purchased separately.  This is a great opportunity for those players who've never had PVP gear because they lacked the time to obtain it,  and now gives a larger player base the chance to participate in the PVP aspect of the game.
The ease of obtaining the Cruc gear has been offset with some disadvantages.  The gear has lower PD and needs enchanting to bring it up to comparable items.  It has 1 less manastone slot, which prevents higher stat
accumulation.  Finally,  it requires a lifetime maintenance fee:  re-condiitoning the armor as needed when the conditioning runs out.  A player must purchase the conditioning item,  level 1 or 2,  depending on what armor they have,  and pay to have the armor's stats refreshed when they run out.  The fee I pay for my Tier 2 armor
runs me about 200K per item.  How often the item needs re-conditioning is something I'm still studying.  I'm not sure whether it's based on a time rundown or how often one plays the game (how much the armor is put to use).   
So which is better?  They're both good,  and I hope that my comparison discussion has helped you decide.  My conclusion is: whichever one suits your playing style.  Have fun and game on :D