Best Relic/Charm piece for each equipment slot?

[Sandokan]

Hello everyone. I'm new to posting in this forum but I've read A LOT on the information you guys share here. It's amazingly useful and it solved me a lot of problems on the game, and most of all, it multiplied by hundreds my fun when playing this game.

Well, now, onto the question. I'd like to know what are your recommendations on enchanting each kind of piece of equipment with the different options provided by the multiple charms and relics, and even more with the random bonuses they get on completion. I have a fairly large collection of charms and relics in my vaults, so I only need to choose among them... but I'd like to hear opinions from the masters here!

So, I'd like to hear suggestions on this. Something like

Headgear:
Chest Armor:
Weapon (melee):
Weapon (Bow)
Weapon (mage's staves):
Footwear:
Jewelry:
Shield:

And if anyone share ideas on which relic/charm works better on any kind of class (melee, mage, hybrid, particular masteries), it would be even better.

If enough answers are provided, I'll update this post so everyone can pick the preferred choices and try them on their heroes.
I think this info may become useful not only for me, but for many new players who like to research on how to improve their playing style and their characters.

Thanks a lot! I will research myself and add some thoughts too whenever I can (I don't have any legendary characters yet, so I don't know the bonuses provided by the incarnations and legendary charms)

Regards,
Pablo from Argentina

[Galadd]

Thats not a bad topic
Let me try to share some of my revelations

Head:
Crystal of Erebus - obviously a sweet thing - it has some incredible completion bonuses including +2 to skills
Viny growth - for sick health regen chars
Herakles might - with +25% dmg or 66% reduced atk speed
Cunning of odysseus - almost a must for mages

Chest:
Golden fleece - with -recharge

Wrist:
Rage of ares - with +dmg/atk speed/reduced atk speed

Legs:
Hermes sandal - if you use the fanpatch - high moving speed is invaluable

Jewellery:
Demons blood - always a contender
Tortured soul - with ritual bonus is incredible (very hard to get also )
Monkey king - if you go the reduced resistances route

Weapons:
Valor of achilles - +35% atk speed
Anubis wrath - again +35% atk speed and nice damage to health
Shen Nong - for reduced resistances

Shields:
Shade of hector - +DA or pierce resistance - if you need high DA and some final % for 100% CTAP
Turtle shell - probably the best for Defense characters.

Other worth of mentioning are:
Rigid carapace - for pumping up pierce resistance
Pristine plumage - for poison resistance
Ankh of asis - great hp bonus

[Raven.rpg]

Well if you using lighting attack then zeus thunderbolt is for you but if you like rock and fire then Prometheus' Flameis for you
for armor I sugest boar hide for begin
That is good for the begining

[Irma2]

Headgear:
Generally: Shards of Erebus depending on completion bonus. However, it's not bad even as is. Those who don't wear purple helms will often wear Hallowed helms, which give vitality resistance. Shards of Erebus just adds to that, meaning that you can reach (or get very close to) the 80% cap with just one item. Otherwise, Iron Will of Ajax. Everybody needs +% health, and stun resistance is usually useful too.
Melee: Herakles' Might. +Strength and +% damage,what's not to like?
Caster: Cunning of Odysseus. +% Int never hurts.

Torso armour:
Generally: Guan-Yu's Grace is very good for the defensive help. It's especially good with a Veteran's torso armour. Alternatively Mechanical Parts for the total speed boost.
Melee: Herakles' Might again, or Iron Will of Ajax.
Caster: If you're a -100% recharge fiend, Golden Fleece can help with the energy cost.

Melee weapon: Valor of Achilles. Faster attack speed and +% boost to damage are always useful. For hybrid toons, Blade of Thanatos provides total damage boost - so physical and elemental equally. If you don't have attack damage -> health from another source, Anubis' Wrath is good. Finally, if you have a weapon with low base damage, Peng Claw can provide a decent flat damage boost along with +% damage as completion bonus. Finally, for builds that emphasise reduced resistances, Sheng Nong's Dark Medicine is the ticket.

Bow: Sheng Nong's Dark Medicine, Valor of Achilles or Anubis' Wrath for the reasons outlined above. Artemis' Bowstring is also obviously good, as it's custom-designed to boost bows with piercing damage and attack speed.

Staff: Obviously, Prometheus' Flame for fire damage toons and Zeus' Thunderbolt for lightning damage. Chill of Tartarus (with +% cold damage) is probably best for Ice Shards builds. Sheng-Nong's is also valid, for reasons given above.

Footgear: Herakles' Might (melee) or Iron Will of Ajax (all toons) again, for reasons outlined above. If you really lack pierce resistance, Hag's Skin can provide help. Hermes' Sandal is perfect if you lack run speed, and can roll with a huge range of completion bonuses.

Armgear: Rage of Ares is a no-brainer for melee toons, with its damage and skill disruption procs and its +% damage completion. Otherwise, Herakles. For casters, there isn't an awful lot. Iron Will of Ajax for stun resist and life or, if you're doing Cold damage or lack Cold resistance, Yeti Fur. Hydradon Hide helps against Beasts. Viny Growth is quite good, especially if it's used in conjunction with ToC or Herbal Remedy. Viny Growth can also be used in all armour, so it's an option for helms, boots, torso as well.

Jewelry: For all reduced resistance builds, Monkey King's Trickery is a no-brainer. For melee amulets, I'd usually go with Raptor Tooth and its +% damage completion bonus. Demon's Blood is very good (all toons) for vitality and stun resistance. Spectral Matter is effective at draining monster energy with +% energy drained as completion bonus (often disabling their special skills in the process) while it fills your blue bar. Although if you're one-shotting things, you won't get much energy leech from it. Dionysus' Wineskin is also a fine overall choice, providing some much-needed damage resistance and a small boost to life. Tortured Soul with the Ritual completion bonus makes life very, very easy against Magical, Demons and Undead. It can also give +% damage to Undead or +% damage to Demons as completion bonus, both of which are useful. If you equip a Sacrificial amulet, Ankh of Isis cancels out the life drain. Code of Hammurabi is OK-ish for casters.

Shields: Very balanced choices here. Turtle Shell is best if you're a Quick Recovery type of player who wants to increase block % and minimise blocking cooldown. If you're an all-out attacker and damage maven, Spiny Shell adds to your shield damage and also ups block percentage. Rigid Carapace is best for pierce resistance freaks. For overall defence (+DA and +% chance to avoid projectiles), Shade of Hector is fine.

Other choices:

All Armour:

Set's Betrayal gives handy +% pierce damage if this is your primary damage type.

Udjat of Horus increases armour protection, so all-round slight incoming damage reduction.

For Cerberus, a combination of Hydradon Hide (+% less damage from Beasts) and Pristine Plumage (+% poison resistance) is a very powerful combo.

Marginally or situationally useful sockets:
Li-Nezha's Guile: flat +dex doesn't hurt but it's not the best bonus I've ever seen.
Jade Emperor's Serenity and Domain of the Dragon Kings: Excellent against the likes of Typhon, Talos, the Telkines and other fire and lightning-using foes. But not the type of thing I'd want to have on permanently. Ditto for Pristine Plumage and poison damage foes.

In conclusion, some relics and charms that I seldom use, if ever:

Amun-Ra's glory: a bit of life and energy, bleh.
Hecate's Crescent: only for the truly energy-challenged
Archimedes' Mirror: I guess it would be great for a Reflect Damage build. Too bad I don't have one.
Diseased Plumage: +% poison damage, urgh.
Vile Ichor: +% vitality damage, feh.
Fury's Heartblood: flat vitality damage, meh.
Albino Spider Web: You've got to be kidding me.
Lupine Claw: Yeah, OK, flat piercing damage. But there are better sockets even for archers and spear wielders.
Bat Fang: If you can find a use for life leech beyond Megara Normal, let me know.
Venom Sac: Flat poison damage, hurhur.
Boar Hide: The best that can be said about this is that they are very easy to find.
Saber Claw: The OA boost isn't awful, the bleeding damage is.
Persephone's Tears: less flat damage from ONE monster type in the game? Possibly marginally useful against Toxeus, rubbish everywhere else.
Yen-Lo-Wang's Bloodletting: Saber Claw without the OA boost. Er-hum.
Djed of Osiris: extra damage to Undeads, hmm. I haven't used it on Legendary, where the stun damage could work nicely with some builds.

There are probably lots of errors and omissions in the above, but that's more or less how I use my sockets. Also note that some specialist builds (like a specialist Vitality damage Spirit build) can use the less popular/effective charms/relics very well. I guess almost every charm or relic has its place. But the above applies to the most common mainstream builds.

It's also often a question of taste, and others are bound to have different ideas. Many people, for example, would think Viny Growth is awful. Why dedicate a socket to something that can be accomplished by just chugging a potion? Personally, I hate chugging potions at any time. So having high life regen (Viny + ToC) means I can be half-dead after a fight, stop for a minute to pop chests and pick up loot, and be at full health again by the time I've reached the next mob.

Edit: Galadd summed it up in about a tenth as many words.

[IRace]

Just one question though.....khmmmm why do you guys prefer rage of ares for wrist over herakles might?

Usualy on any melee or bow user i use hale rings and +36 str. bonus from herakles might really helps. On the other hand 15% of 450 damage is awesome . But if you compare the difference on average dps boost from herakles might and on the other hand 15% chance of 450 damage.......well, at least for normal mobs herakles might is better IMO.

On the other hand for bosses, well if you have a fast weapon with low base damage then the choice is obvious.

So the only problem with ares relic is 15% chance to have awesome bonus or nothing at all. What do you guys think? Enlighten me please

[Irma2]

Herakles fits anywhere, Ares only on gloves. So put your Ares in your SBC and save your Herakles for torso/boots/helm. That's what I do, anyway.

[Matseb2611]

Here's how I go on about it.

Weapon (melee): Valor of Achilles

Weapon (bow): Artemis' bowstring or Valor of Achilles

Weapon (staves): I don't really play casters so I am guessing it'd be either Zeus' Thunderbolt, Prometheus' flame or Chill of Tartarus, depending on which element you're associated with

Armor in general: Udjat of Horus, Herakles' Might or Li Nezha's Guile

Head: Crystal of Erebus or any of the above mentioned

Torso: Guan Yu's grace or any of the above mentioned

Arms: Rage of Ares or any of the above mentioned

Legs: the above mentioned

Shield: Shade of Hector or Rigid Carapace

Jewellery: Demon's blood or Monkey King's trickery (for rings) and Raptor's tooth (for necklace)

[Galadd]

Originally Posted by Irma2

Edit: Galadd summed it up in about a tenth as many words.

Im a man of action not of words

About Ares vs Herakles - Id say Ares gives some nice mods and looks better, herakles gives 36 Str, bleh

[Raven.rpg]

Originally Posted by Galadd

Im a man of action not of words

About Ares vs Herakles - Id say Ares gives some nice mods and looks better, herakles gives 36 Str, bleh

hahahaha
All power and hail to zeus thunderbolt jhhahahhaaaa

[Poinas]

Rage of Ares can have +15% attack speed completion bonus in legendary, Herakles can't have that.