TWINKING
Even if this is just implants and armour it is still an important part of your gameplay (unless you want to be seriously underpowered compared to all the other players around you, which i KNOW is not fun) if you don't have money for implants and armour: there's a great money making guide somewhere in these forums and remember: clicksaver is your friend! download here
IMPLANTS
well you should be getting in ql 200 ones in now, but this will be beyond some of the newer players so ql 160-190 should suffice these can be obtained by blitzing missions for implants and then getting a friendly person with Breaking and Entering iped (usually these are fixers, traders, engineers and sometimes MPs) to clean them for you
Next implant them with whatever you want, an ideal pvm setup is this: Implant setup
The symbiants will set you back a few million a piece but this can easily solved by (again) using clicksaver. A good idea at this point is to stay at level 112 and roll lots of ql 200 missions for nice moneymaking items such as the
jobe made bladestaff which will sell nicely from 5-10million credits, also rolling ql 200 nano charged weapons sell nicely as well (2-4million a piece):
Nano-charged assault rifle
Nano-charged rifle
You could also stay at a few other levels to roll buff guns but I won't list them here as a blitz list can be found here
ARMOUR
First tier keeper armour is not half bad at all ( I know I was ecstatic when i got my first set) they add: HP
Melee init
Runspeed
Evade clsc
Fastattack
ACs are equal to enforcers Tier 1(very good). Fill up remaing spots with CAS, carb (sided), prowler, predator
The sided shoulderpads are very nice for your otherwise naked shoulders.
Neutrals can wear both for a +400 hp boost, omni can wear both upgraded and non-upgraded versions for a 350hp boost (clans lose out because were poor :<<)
Clan
Omni (these are made by adding an omnifier to the finished pad)
Here is something like what you should be aiming for: Armour setup
Predator is still a viable choice for the early tl4 as its evade and max hp bonuses are better than the ACs currently available but you need to start thinking about upgrading your armour class soon because mobs in SL hit HARD.
Apocalypse Leather and Omni-tek Steel ribbed are good alternatives for opifex (maybe even solitus?) keepers, they add decent evades and initiative bonuses and the AC they provide is enough to see you through tl5 to late tl6.
guide to Apocalypse Leather
guide to Omni-tek Steel-ribbed
If tier 1 is not an option for you then CAS and carbonum will suffice until you can grab yourself a set, prowler armour from CoH is nice for opifex evade keepers.
Pirateme suggests bellum badonis. This armour set has very nice stats though the high stam req might be a bit too much for most average players. With the introduction of LE and the vast amount of twinking items available to you now, it would be possible to get this on at about level 170 with a little effort.
Since the release of LE there has been a option to obtain the new OFAB armour from the vendors. These require victory points to buy and VPs can only be obtained from the battlestation or alien missions and with the new patch daily missions. They require a long time farming and unless you are staying at a particular level it is not worth getting a whole set of the armour.
The only pieces I would recommend getting if you are patient enough are the Chest and sleeves as they add a hefty amount to 2he and the chest piece has other nice bonuses too. They do however require you to upgrade them using the type-64 bio material obtained through alien missions or bought from another player as they are no longer nodrop.
In a highly unlikely situation that you are overflowing with credits then of course alien armour is the best choice for you. Strong/Enduring would be ideal armour for a keeper and if you have both then combnied mercenaries armour is the best for levelling up.
A good choice for the levelling keeper would be to obtain a full set of tier 2 about level 160ish, this armour levels all the way to 220 and you can then further upgrade it (UNLESS YOU ARE NEUTRAL) to Tier 3 when you meet the requirements. It is a cheap choice (considering you don't have to upgrade by buying new sets of armour) and very effective as the chest adds 2he, the sleeves add melee init and the pants add evade clsc. The other parts of tier are not worth getting at T2 standard.
Neutrals have an interesting option of armour which is found off the rafter dynabosses in Scheol, this nonpartisan armour adds decent ACs and max hp but has a horrible colour (same as the newland guards armour).
Also if you have way too much time and money to waste you could farm yourself a set of Infantry Crepuscule Armour. The stats aren't fantastic but at least you'll be unique looking.
This armour (not to be confused with crepuscule) can drop off any SL mob and the back and helmet pieces are especially exceptional parts that can fill gaps in your tier or other sets.
There are other miscellaneous parts of armour you can also use to fill in gaps of your armour sets.Dragon armour (from Tarasque) has two good parts in it: the pants and the chest. The pants add 25 to all evades and has reasonable AC and is around 10m for a pair. The chest however Is much more expensive (200m) and adds 42 to all damage and 300 max hp.
Also if you're really into your evades you can grab some pieces of this
This mystical force armour is very nice for add as much evades as you can to your keeper.
Luziciona suggest Knight's Armour, which is a very decent set for any melee class. There are two sets, one for each faction
Sworn Knights (Omni)
Conscientious Knights (Clan)
Notice that the helmets can be upgraded by the armour upgrade item from sector 13 in APF by Action Probability Estimator's
A new instance has been added to adonis which houses the Goddess armor. Basically this is an upgraded predator set for people who are above level 150, easily last you until level 200.
One really fantastic piece of back armour are the new cloak of the reanimated xxx's. The mobs that drop the parts are regularly farmed and if you cannot kill them yourself, many people just leave the parts since they just are there to finish daily missions and/or farming rarer items.
Finally the very very endgame instance named the Gauntlet has a backpiece and shoulders which are EXTREMELY good.
WEAPON
A very important aspect of your keeping life =) while you won't be doing as much damage as the MAs,Shades and soldiers, you will be pumping out decent amounts of solid regular damage if you are equipped right. Now this isn't true for me because i used a frosty til 125 when i got my FBR so don't take my example lol, try and get yourself a sacrosanct sword staff/inamorta naginata, the recharge might look unsavoury but trust me: adding a enel-thar glyph to it will make it OD the frosty by a large chunk and don't even think of using the stygian at elysium hecks you will hit maximum 400 a hit and crits won't be much better. If you're REALLY lucky and find a keeper turnspirit by some fluke then adding that to your swordstaff will make it even better. It will turn into a double sword of counteraction with a min dmg of 250 WITH fastattack and dimach, it also does cold damage which sets you up nicely for the FBR if you are going that route.
If you want to spend a week or two farming credits then i highly recommend getting a (long)sword of the illuminated, it absolutely rips apart all mobs from nasc-scheol that aren't hecklers. Another similar weapon to this is the copy of the excalibur and this REALLY does own everything up to adonis hecks. The bad thing is you will need a very nice crit setup as the low min damage will not grant you very nice regular hits. FBR is still the weapon of choice here but if you can get your hands on an abyssal desecrator then lots of people will gawp in awe at how you hold aggro with a styg
Heres a list of the weapons i've mentioned starting with the lowest level ones(and a few others):
Sacrosanct Sword Staff The next step up if you're lucky enough to find one of these, they boast a min damage higher than the frosty and also a higher MBS which means it will last you longer, these can be found from ql 100-300 but you would want to stop at about ql 180 as then you will have enough 2he for a FBR or other Inner sanctum 2he weapons. The things have the advantage of being upgraded: TWICE, and here's how:
clicky
Inamorata Naginata This is just the omni equivalent of the weapon above.
Longsword of the Illuminated One of the best keeper weapons, but works on low AC mobs only unfortunately (ie not hecklers) a very expensive and rare piece of equipment, don't get your hopes up for this one unless you're prepared to farm a long time.
Frost-Bound Reaper The big brother to the frosty, same advantages, same shortcomings except the slow attack is expressed in another way: the -1100melee init debuff on it, good news is you only need to have -100 or so melee init to make this thing swing at 1/1 but you must be at full agrro. A min damage of 386 makes it a very powerful scythe and a MBS of 1150 means you will be doing 1.3k-1.4k a HIT if you have hit the MBS of this beast, acquired at level 125 from the Inner sanctum, 2nd floor.
Abyssal DesecratorBig bro to the styg, again with the same good and bad things about it, although this version has a meaty max damage of 666 crits with this thing are not bad at all. Drops from HEZAK on the 3rd floor of the inner sanctum.
Permafrost cool name if you ask me, basically a toned down abyssal desecrator but in some respects better: it has a root proc which roots whatever you're fighting with a 7% chance. The recharge is lower so its possible to get this to swing 1/1.2 at full def. FA recharge will be quite long though.
Copy of the Excalibur This is by far the best choice for RK and low AC mobs in SL, a GIGANTIC max damage of 800 along with the respectable 100 crit will ensure your crits will make up for the 70-90million spent on this sword, may be difficult to equip before level 126
Kyr'ozch Sword type-112 The favourite sword for the high level keepers, high min damage on the alien weapon and the addition of Fastattack, Brawl and Dimach make this weapon extremely formidable, it is quite costly however as the type 112 bio material is used to make several other alien weapons. May set you back 20mil+ for a ql 200+ sword
OFAB wolf MKx The 2he weapon from the LE expansion and currently a solid keeper weapon for all purposes. Only downside is that it has to be bought with victory points (18k). Melee damage means it is now the same damage type as our perks and it is a very fast weapon (1/1 at full def with 300 ai scope in is very possible).
Edge of Tarasque/Honed Edge of Tarasque While the original edge was pretty shoddy for anything but rk and mid level pvp, the NEW AND IMPROVED edge is now the pvp weapon of choice instead of the Ofab wolf MK6. Hard to get since Tarasque is always contested and it has a horribly low droprate.
Blade of Khione/Blade of Khione's Will These are interesting pieces of weaponry, the first resembles the Frost-bound reaper with its init debuff, but its not as severe it also has fastattack and a much higher MBS making it superb PvM weapon for after the FBR. Blade of Kione's Will is a stopgap between the previous sword and the higher level alien and ofab swords, it's a pretty good weapon in its own right and the stun proc makes it even more interesting. The unfortunate thing is that it is cold damage, meaning it's less effective on absorbs.
Pride of the Xan This is probably the current top weapon for pvp and pvm, made by combining the Lady/Lord of Pride, which drops from the beast, with a Xan Weapon Upgrade Device found from the Mitaar/Vortexx/12man instances.