Are there any strategies for getting better weapons/items in Realm of the Mad God?

I am constantly dying in this game, and I would like to be able to equip myself better/more swiftly. I haven't found any rhyme or reason to the way enemies drop weapons yet. Are there any specific ways I can go about finding better items/weapons?

Solution 1:

Here's a site to details just what drops what kind of items:
http://forums.wildshadow.com/wiki/realm-mad-god/equipment

These are determined by the type of item (armor, weapon, ability items, ring, etc.) and the item's tier (amongst its own type). Also remember that all the drops are random. Nothing is ever guaranteed to drop and more often than not monsters drop nothing. Bigger groups seem to generate more drops tough, so group up (more on that later).

For early game, go after the quests you get. Those should direct you to little boss monster (usually surrounded by smaller monsters) that drop low tier items to get you started. Pirate Cave is also a great place to get starting gear and it's easy enough to clear on your own.

For late game, to get usefull items, you'll need to find either

• Lesser Gods (these roam the woods near the middle of the map)
• Treasue Chest Bosses (special locations, higher tier nearer to the middle of the map)
• Gods of the Realm (volcanic area near the middle)
• or Dungeons, doors to which some of the above drop.

Problem with all of these (in increasing degree towards the bottom of the list) is that they are all quite deadly and you'll have a hard time dealing with them on your own, even at level 20. The solution is to not go at it alone.
Look the minimap in the upper right corner. Zoom it all the way out with your mouse wheel and find a big bunch of other players. Click one of them and choose "teleport". More often than not you'll be teleported smack in the middle of a fight. The closer to the center of the map the group is, the more likely there will be tough mosters of some sort around for you and your newfound friends to kill.

And don't worry too much about getting your loot stolen. The better gear gets dropped in a differently coloured, "soulbound" loot sacks that only you can see and open. However, they only drop if you did enough damage to the monster in question.

Solution 2:

From my playing of RotMG, I have found that the better loot drops from the stronger enemies so defeat stronger enemies and take their loot.

Many of the enemies yielding the best loot can really only be defeated with a larger group of mostly level 20s with better equipment and therein lies a large part of the problem as the best regular loot is often if not always ninja'd. Given the player turnover and the frequency of people teleporting into the larger groups to leech XP and ninja loot, it becomes increasingly frustrating. As lunboks has correctly stated, you usually need the better loot dropped by these tougher enemies in order to beat these tougher enemies, hence the necessity of ninja looting and leeching in order to do so. There is rare loot that drops if you do enough damage, but you essentially need such loot in order to do enough damage.

Here are a few strategies that I've used/seen.

The Straightforward Approach

One strategy I've used that mitigates the delay between attempts to get better loot after dying is:

1. quickly get on a train and level to 20 as fast as you can once you've entered an area. At least with the stat boosts from leveling, you stand a marginal chance of surviving against some of the marginally difficult enemies in order to get some basic loot.
2. Get some mid-level loot. Drakes are a good target as they lure easily, their pattern is easily avoided. There's also the hope for rare drops.
3. Once you're equipped a bit (I prefer all slots full, but that's up to you), you can join some larger groups to take on the harder enemies and hope your luck/skill can pull you through alive and net you some decent equips. I usually fail at this step either by dying or getting the good loot ninja'd before I can get it (stupid network latency). Playing with friends can help here a bit I would believe, but I can't really test that. Knowing how to play your class well and how to dodge the attacks is very important at this step.
4. Whatever your equips and level, when you get pulled into the castle of the mad god, be sure to hold back enough so as not to get slaughtered as your health can drain in no time here and your mana will get wiped often. Stick near some healers. Carrying lots of pots is wise. Mana pots for the healers are also a good idea.

The Pest Approach

Beg and ask for charity. If someone gives you the decent (or at least better than what you've got) equips that they've picked up, then you won't have to hunt them. This approach can get very annoying both for you and everyone nearby, but I've seen it work so it is one way to go.