I had no idea, that changes things. God this game is unforgiving to new/returning players.
This is a good thing, though. It makes EDs a lot more fun and flexible. You earn your 24 APs once and then you just manage twists and which ED you are levelling with.
With how many hotbars you end up using later on, they're already plenty big imo. I'd say 12 hotbars is what the average caster uses once they've collected a decent amount of clickies, pots, etc. Melees will use less probably, and some hardcore players fill their screen with hotbars, it's crazy.
Just a cap to displayed buffs. You should be able to examine yourself and see everything.
Once you get the hang of the game and learn some quests, you'll figure out how to maintain an elite streak from 1-20 and you'll be amazed at how fast it goes. I could probably level a brand new first lifer to 20 in 3 days, 2 if I had him twinked out.
You will be profoundly disappointed. Pure arti is pretty awful compared to a mech rogue. I'm actually planning to TR my pure arti into an 18/2 mech/arti. You can go pure mech if you're using Great Crossbows, but even with the mech boosts to greats I think repeaters are better and the thought of using repeaters without conjure bolts is not a good one.
Nah, I have done artificer in the past, was a lot of fun. The dps of repeaters is primarily in the repeater itself. Artis get a fuckton of spells and enhancements for that. Personal dps will be lower due to no sneak attack, but it will be offset to some degree. The extra pet will be interesting to see if I can do group content with it through 28. Then it's ER TR and off to druid. Right now I am still in first round of lives. I want to get completionist. Round after that will be all humans to see how the extra stats change things. Or maybe I'll burn out in a few months and go to EQ.
