EQ2 - Server population

[Ellay]

Could anyone tell me what servers are generally High Pop :) I like those!! :P
Also for a 4 boxing group, thinking of SK/Troub/ Warden or Templar / and Illusionist or Wiz, hows that look!

[Frosty]

For servers, (I'm looking right now, it looks like they are all Medium except for:

Vox (EXC)(PVP) = Light... I have no idea what EXC really means, but it says it's an exchange server. :P
Venekor (RP)(PVP) = Light

Nagafen (PVP) = Heavy
Antonia Bayle (RP) = Heavy

For the group, what are you wanting to do? If PvP I will be the absolute worst person to ask.

But then again, I probably won't be the greatest person for PvE.
I have played a SK, Paladin and Guardian though. The SK was really fun, but I am used to the Paladin type of tanking in WoW.
So when I pull too many mobs, I get my butt handed to me. Paladin was pretty decent, but for the way I really wanted to play, the Guardian is what I went with.

Granted I'm still in the 20's, but I just pulled 2 groups of even con, Heroic mobs (6 total) and only had to heal once and never lost agro.
I'm finding the Guardian is giving me more time to learn what I should do when the $%*@ hits the fan. :thumbup:

After I learn the ropes a bit, I may bring up another team with an SK (really was fun/neat).

[Ellay]

I'm definitely not looking to PvP in EQ2 :) thanks for the input!

[Alemi]

Could anyone tell me what servers are generally High Pop :) I like those!! :P
Also for a 4 boxing group, thinking of SK/Troub/ Warden or Templar / and Illusionist or Wiz, hows that look!I haven't played in a few years, right after they added in Haven. Did they make it so you can roll a SK on Qeynos?

Otherwise, the only problem with this is you'd have to betray to Qeynos which you'd have to do "solo" on your SK, until they could do quests since the factions will prevent you from doing any city quests or first tier quests.

Personally, I loved my Inquisitor. DPS/cc/fat fast heals and coercers were my fav too just for charm. You could do a SK/Inquis/Dirge (or Troub, but Dirges get nice melee boosts)/Coercer (threat boosts) and get a nice benefit.

[Noxxy]

EXC = exchange - i.e., gold farming, botting and character selling - no, I'm not being sarcastic - that's the total purpose of Vox

Lot of ppl go RP on Antonia Bayle


SK/Troub/ Warden or Templar / and Illusionist or Wiz

I've mentioned it before in previous posts that 4mans are prob the hardest to pick a group but let's analyse it...

heavy (plate) tanks a given
1 or 2 healers (following applies to a group of FOUR OR LESS, i.e., in a group of 5 or more, 2 healers is definately the norm)

2 healers --> lower overall dps --> longer fights --> tank taking more damage --> tank requiring more healing --> healers need more mana to heal --> good chance they go oom --> dead tank --> wipefest
1 healer --> more dps --> tank takes less damage --> tank takes less healing --> yadda yadda yadda --> loot / rinse / repeat

DPS character is a given
CC or bard

CC has mana regen, some DPS increases and of course crowd control
Bard is mainly utility - it will buff up the other chars to perform better. It has run speed, heaps of buffs and debuffs, mana regen
tbth, I'd prob go with a bard for a 4 man as the CC requires a lot of spell casting to benefit from such things as perpetuality



So for a plate tank - you got the 4 choices. You've suggested SK.

If you've gone the 1 healer approach, you may find that your short on heals at the end game
they are know for DPS and AOE - but they are also considered one of the 'softest' plate tanks
TBTH, and IMHO, I would suggest going a pally for a group of four - mainly as it can heal / ward - if you go the 1 healer approach + the pally - you have in effect got 1.5 healers in the group whereas going SK would mean you only have the 1.0 healer
Downside to the pally is lower DPS than an SK but you do get increased survivability
a MASSIVE bonus for going either of these two crusaders is the 100% fear resist deep down the WIS line - we all know that fear is a killer of any boxing team - both have 100% fear resist but comes at a cost to DPS...


Healers, druid:

fury, high DPS, low healing (and that 'low' comment will cause some angst - but I say that from exp)
warden, high DPS (melee spec), high healing
BUT - both use HoTs to heal...with the odd minor DH - therefore, if you have huge dmg inc...and only HoTs healing...


Healers, shaman:

Main healing is through preventing damage, i.e., wards - BUT - not so good at 'repairing' damage once it has been done
good handful of DHs


Given you only have a group of 4 - and possibly the 1 - 1.5 healers - it may be better for you to prevent the damage (i.e., wards) than to heal it (via HoTs)

So which to choose;

SK+defiler, pally+mystic


DPS

personally, for boxing I would not recommend a wizard. I do run a fully dec'd out wiz with everything that opens and shuts and I am still disappointed with the DPS output. Wiz has long cast times which doesn't meld itself well to a boxing group.
rouges - I am totally bias towards rogues - smuggle (group stealth), HUGE dps (easy 3k avg boxed), lot of debuffs, evac!


DPS, caster
- honestly, prob go something like a lock over a wiz anyday

DPS, melee
- rogue
- SK + brig
- Pally + swash

So assuming you've gone MT + 1 healer + bard + DPS - personally, I'd lean towards Pally + Mystic + Swash + Troub (all good) - if your set for an SK - SK + defiler + brig + dirge (all ebil) - one team has more survivability - the other is definately more DPS

[Ellay]

That's some amazing information!! Thank you sooo much for the detailed response.
I am planning on running 4 because I like to have the option to do my own thing, but at the same time play with friends or invite random players to join in on the fun, yet still be self sufficient, 4 worked for me in WoW, FFXI, hopefully it works in EQ2 and it sounds like it if you make a solid group.

I'm not totally set on having to have an SK as a MT, I want whatever holds aggro the best, as well as being able to snap AoE aggro so my other characters are safe. Looking at eveyone's abilities it appears all tanks get some type of AoE snap.

Melee sounds very doable and is definitely opening up more options for me, or did the latest update really hurt the ability for melee followers?
Either way.. what is the big thing about defiler? I've seen them mentioned a ton! I dual-boxed EQ2 quite a while back and did Berserker + Warden and had quite a bit of fun with that, the Warden overall seemed pretty solid.

I really want a bard, so I'm glad that's included, it's still a toss up, would you suggest a monk at all instead of the rogue type to compliment a dirge for extra haste + decent dps?

Wow this is a mess of stuff, I need to pull myself together =D
To wrap it up, so hopefully your responses are easier to digest what I've said.. I want a solid tank, any of the 4 (Guard/Bersk/Pal/SK) is in my realm, I was leaning for Troub but if I'm going melee, I'll have a Dirge, and I am leaning towards Warden, but if you can tell me what all the hubub is about Defiler's and the like I'm all for it, last slot is open to a fun melee dps aka monk or brigand!

Thanks again, whew!

[Noxxy]

Just thinking about it - all of the suggested specs you'll get for a 4 man wil be one of the three following combinations:
- MT + MH + Util + CC
- MT + MH + Util + DPS
- MT + MH + DPS + CC

So we may be able to work out the combos based on the assumption you'll go a crusader and have wards for heals
- SK + Def + Dirge + Coer
- SK + Def + Dirge/Troub + Brig/Lock
- SK + Def + Brig/Lock + Coer

- Pally + Mystic + Troub + Illi
- Pally + Mystic + Dirge/Troub + Swash/Lock
- Pally + Mystic + Swash/Lock + Illi

All combos have their merits - with only the real difference between the groups being where they sit for DPS and survivability curve

DPS <-------------------------------------->Survivability

I would suggest any group with an SK tank leans more towards the DPS end (at the cost of suvivability) whereas Pally teams tend to be more towards the suvivability end with less DPS

[HomersDonut]

+1 to the SK/ Defiler/ Dirge/ Warlock group :)

In addition to Noxxy's info I would add that with the right AA's an SK can life tap on nearly every combat art they use. Also, all of these characters either debuff disease resists or cause disease damage - they all work well together.

Finally as a general comment, while after level 20-30 it doesn't matter much which city you come from it can be annoying in the early game just getting your toons around their individual towns. It just slows down your pace.

Monks can be fun and go well when paired up with a Mystic or Defiler, but they are no match for DPS when compared to any of the scouts. My highest level 3Box group is Monk/Mystic/Swashbuckler :)

[Noxxy]

Looking at eveyone's abilities it appears all tanks get some type of AoE snap.
Pretty much - even if a tank doesn't have many AOE spells/CAs they can aquire AOE attacks (fired off auto attacks) through spending the AAs - i.e., crusaders have trample (agi line 4 4 8 ), warriors get dragoon's cyclone (agi line 4 4 8 ) - and of course there's always the hate transfers coming off other group members (swash and coer, etc., only for the encouter though not adds)


Melee sounds very doable and is definitely opening up more options for me, or did the latest update really hurt the ability for melee followers?
Yes it is totally doable - and a source of consistent DPS - not hurt at all really - just a bit of a pain at present but can be side stepped through a bit more extra jiggling


Either way.. what is the big thing about defiler?
Defiler buff more hp than mystics, plus have a pretty tasty attack speed debuff - but - for a pally lead group I still prefer the mystic (remembering I am biased towards 'good' characters - not necessarily the 'best' characters).


...a monk...
There are a few ppl on here that have a brawler in their 6 mans who would be best to answer this for you. Personally, I feel you would give up more utility by including a brawler in a boxed group - but that's my own opinion. From memory, the monk gets a few special benefits when it's close to death (speed and dps inc???) but if your tank is tanking, the chance of that occurring are slim. Also, it won't be taunting much (except maybe enough to stay 2nd on the threat meter perhaps). Plus, from memory, brawlers don't seem to have many mob debuffs (correct me if I am totally mistaken) so you'd be giving up the debuffs which another class can offer.


I want a solid tank, any of the 4
Well that opens up some more choices.

Guard + Def + Dirge + Coer
Guard + Def + Dirge/Troub + Brig/Lock
Guard + Def + Brig/Lock + Coer

You'd be pretty hard pressed dying with a Guard + Def + Dirge + Coer...

[Ellay]

Opinions on Guardian / Warden / Brigand / Dirge, or is a Defiler just that much better?


Edit ** or even Berserker I suppose for the Tank. I am trying SK right now, and I don't really care what the tank is, I just want it to be highly effective :P as well as the healer. The dps is my flavor I can play around with.

[Herc130]

I used 3 healers in EQ1 and will use 2 in EQ2. I expect with a guardian tank, I will really only need 1 for the most part, but difficult fights, probably 2 healers will come in handy. Not to mention if you pull multiples....it's nice to have a second healer to heal your support classes, while the primary healer keeps healing the tank or whatever the situation may be. I am going with Guardian, Templer and warden for sure. It was a toss up between the guardian and berserker, but I am sticking with EQ1 mentalities and choosing pure classes. I don't have experience in EQ2 to really support my choices, but if EQ2 follows EQ1, pure classes are always the way to go and guardian is a pure tank.....berserkers are DPS tanks (they made a trade off.....I think it's a trade down, sure they can tank same encounters, but how much more healage? Tank DPS in the scope of a raid is a non-issue. For a group, still not a big deal) .....I want a tank, I will have DPS classes to do DPS. I think it is very important to pick the right tank for what you want, because if EQ2 is like EQ1, your groups (guilds) capabilities is almost always based on what your tank can tank. I have wiped plenty of times with my box crew and it's never been because my rogue couldn't fight anymore or my mages went OOM or my healers went OOM, it is always because my tank didn't have the metigation/AC/hitpoints to flatten out the incoming damage to allow my healers to safely heal him or he couldn't keep agro. So, guardian and templer was an obvious choice, Warden for the HoT spell to complement the templer, but besides that you get a pretty good utility, travel and DPS class, so again an easy choice for a multibox crew. Even a 4 box crew. After that, I am not so sure, but I think I will go with a scout class (probably trabadour) and two casters (probably conjuror and illusionist). Not sure if I want warlocks or wizards as they may pull too much agro. Conjuror and pet probably does as much DPS...without the really big booms and if conjurors are like mages in EQ1, then their pets are a great offtank. I don't want my DPS class to do huge spike damage....at least not so spiky that they draw snap agro from the mob. I want a DPS caster class that does close to their potential without drawing too much attention on themselves. I still might do 2 conjurors lol or maybe a necro and a conjuror. ALthough an illusuionist gets pets too from what I hear and at higher levels can perma charm mobs to be pets (sure that comes with limitations).

Server population, I leveled a guardian and berserker from 1 to 10 on AB, Nek and Crushbone this morning. AB usually had 50 to 60 people in every area I was at. The other two servers were usually 20 and below.

[Starbuck_Jones]

I'm not sure how it is now, but I played a paladin. Using player crafted normal gear with imbued chest/legs and rare metal weapon and shield. Combined with alchemy for more procs and damage shields, I just auto attacked my way through everything and cast heals if needed and it was rare, usealy just boss or group ^^^ mobs. I was able to solo everything but for the hardest encounters like Nek Forest castle and that weird epic blob thing in that stormlord castle in Antonica. Granted I only got to level 40+ and Desert of Flames was the expansion that came out when I quit.

I remember doing the math on all the procs from the weapon, imbues, self buffs, and alchemy, I had 6 potential procs on each swing and the math was like a 63% chance of one of them going off. It was crazy. More if you used a mastery cooldown.

[Noxxy]

...or even Berserker I suppose for the Tank
I totally agree with Herc's explanation re pure tanks - and this is one of the reasons it's hard to pick a 4-man.

Basically, the smaller the group the more 'hybrid' the classes (to double up on the missing chars). The larger the group, the more 'pure' the classes. IMHO a 4 man is just on the crux between between being called a small or large group.

As for a zerk - sure, fantastic DPS, but if he's your MT... To better explain myself, I am basing my group assumptions on the gear you can easily obtain either through drops or camping - AC on the MT is critical - MIT IS KING - this is where you will be concentrating the most of your time (and pps if you can buy anything but you won't) obtaining stuff, other classes AC comes a very distant second.

Now - if you asked could a zerk be a MT and run RoK and simple TSO stuff before last week I'd say sure - you'd get beat up a bit but your Advanced shard AC and jewelry could take it - now...The latest issue with obtaining tank (or any class) AC is that 'grey sharding' is now illegal (i.e., starting a TSO instance with a lvl 50, then all unmentored back to 80 and basically grey ganking) - before, this was 'acceptable' or more appropriatly, SOE turned a blind eye to it - what it basically meant was that a geared bunch of 80s could grab 8 shards a night each for somewhere around 1.5hrs

What this means was that a team could grind its way to 80 - in basic hand me down grey cr@pola - then when they dinged 80 - could grey shard (still in their grey ac) and within a few weeks be in the top of the range advanced shard AC + jewels - now, the cost in shards for that setup is easily in the hundreds of shards - let me see, off the top of me head a 3 set of jewelry costs 45 shards so grab 2 of those = 90 shards per char, then add in basic AC at 110ish?? shards then upgrade to advanced AC for another 100shards?? So let's make it 300 shards per character at 8 shards a night = say 5 weeks - So 5 weeks to go from crappy grey ac to the highest easily obtainable AC you can get without raiding

Now...if you wanted to get this uber set - you could 'maybe' get say 4 shards a night (I am assuming you do Icy Scone and DF plus get the bonus shards) but that would take at least 2+hrs every night all night - your eyes would be bleeding by 100 shards let alone 300+

So - in consideration of the 'now' and the fact that you may be in some pretty basic legend stuff for quite some time till you gear yourself up - life will be a lot less painful in getting yourself a beefer tank - and the zerk just ain't beefy!


Guardian / Warden / Brigand / Dirge
There is nothing wrong with a druid at all - they have the fastest HoTs in the game plus you get ports which are unreal for travel speed - plus you've mentioned it multiple times now ;)

[Noxxy]

I don't want my DPS class to do huge spike damage....at least not so spiky that they draw snap agro from the mob.
Why I like the swash - they have a hate transfer ('http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Swarthy_Distraction') plus detaunt ('http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Avoid_Notice') procs and if that's not enough - toss in an evade ('http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Evade'). Placing the hate transfer on the tank is a sure fire way of getting the tank some aggro.

You raise a good point Starbuck - master crafted AC will probably fill in the gap between when you ding 80 to when you can get any good legendary drops - be prepared though, it will cost you - but tbth, if you stepped into a TSO dungeon with full MC'd they'd be wiping the stains off the walls for weeks!

Re the procs - unfortunately, not anymore - all gone bye bye - just left with the chest (small heal), legs (small DD) and weapon (whatever you like) now

[Ellay]

Basically, the smaller the group the more 'hybrid' the classes (to double up on the missing chars). The larger the group, the more 'pure' the classes. IMHO a 4 man is just on the crux between between being called a small or large group. I think the pure classes will do fine with this method, there is no reason why I can't fill the rest of the group with other real players, trying to find a balance of what is flexible and what isn't when adding just random players into the mix. Tomorrow I'm going to try to test out melee while on auto follow and see how that works, will make an easy decision for me if multiple melee is a reality or not :)

[Ellay]

I tried out the melee attack dealio today, with the circle strafe around the mob, it's a little bit iffy. Is everyone's hit box the same? Trying out a few half elfs and making them as small as possible, I would circle strafe a scout type character behind the mob and it would be out of range and not want to auto run back in many times. It felt like there was too much focus to actually get going with it to make it worthwhile, spending that 2-3 seconds felt like an eternity, although in eq2 it does seem like there is a larger room for error where split decision in wow cost you a match.
Perhaps focusing on a more caster based system would be beneficial.

[Ellay]

Well playing around with melee more, and not really enjoying it - even a bard type - unless they are more effective just sitting back and playing songs, I don't plan on utilizing them in a group.

My next test is a more caster oriented group..
Thinking this Guardian / Warden / Wizard / Illusionist.
I'm opening to switching the Guardian/Warden to a different tank / healer with insight on why they work better with a Wizard/Illusionist. Thanks!

[Noxxy]

Just a note on how to effectively use melee.

Several ways to slash poke stabby stabby:

Leave the trailer attached

Run through the mob
So let's draw a piccy; say the blob of followers is 0, the MT is > or < or v or ^, depending on which way the tank is facing, --- is the leash or the distance back to the followers and the target is X, the '.' represents the distance

You'll first spot your target in something like this formation:
0------>......X

If you run through the mob you basically want to run far enough to ensure your followers are in melee range of the mob (i.e., the tank has actually run 'too far') - so you will have this type of situation - (please note - if you position the mob dead middle between you and your blob - it will be out of melee range of the blob and prob yourself till it moves)
0-X----> (facing away)

The tank then turns and closes the distance to the mob (make sure not to stand still or the mob will close the distance resulting in the blob once again being out of melee range)
0-X-< (facing towards)

Everyones in melee range and autoattacking

Body pull and use the bungy effect of the /follow command
All your blob is still attached (on follow) but your target has some other mobs close requiring you to bodypull back to the blob - (target in bold)

0------>......X X X

One effect which you can utilise in this situation is the 'bungy effect' of the leash between you and your trailer - basically - the distance bwteen your MT and the blob is not static/fixed - if your MT stops, your followers will spring/bungy up a few steps before stopping - like they are on a big rubber band basically

So you have the following situation

0------>..X X X Body pull the target

..0-->..X even though the tank has taken a step backwards toward the blob - the blob has continued to move forwards (i.e., bungied) thereby reducing the length of the leash

Then a simple tactic to spin the mob so it's back is facing the blob
..0-X-< whack away

Using bungy whilst range pulling
Sometime you just want to break out the bow and pew pew - but you also want the blob to get a whack in - no worries

So we start again:
0------>......X hit the pew pew

..0------>....X the MT steps towards the mob thus forcing the following blob to move foward

..0-->..X tank then takes a step back thus shortening the leash, blob bungies forward

Now have two options - step back even further then spin the mob or step through the mob as per above

Everyone will be in melee range

Detache the trailer
Sometimes you just want to leave the blob behind (delicate pulls involving lots of mobs or geometry [i.e., ledges, steps, etc.]) - no worries

Pull through or around your blob
The blob is stationary, so it's just easy to pull the mob back through the blob, spin then whack
....0..........>..X (blob sitting off in a safe place)

....0....<.. X (angry mob inc)

<...0X (pull 'too far' through your blob)

....0.X.> (do a 180 charge back through your team)

....0.X.< (spin whack loot)

A simple variant of this appraoch which I use a lot as it works so well - instead of running 'through' the team I basically do an anti-clockwise (can be either) circle round the team
....0......>..X (blob sitting off in a safe place)

....0...<...X (angry mob inc - toss a taunt back over your shoulder if no other mobs around)

....<
....0....X (start circling your team)

v..0..X (keep going - drop another taunt)

...0.X (nearly there)(
...>

....0.X.^ (nicely in front of your team with the mob between you both)

....0.X.< SLAM! Whack fest

[Ellay]

Hmm!!! I'll try that on my lowbies :P

[HomersDonut]

It sounds like you are experiencing the 'improvements' to autofollow that came in with GU51 (just last week). I'm hoping we can get some traction on this problem and get it reverted to how it used to be cause right now it is hopelessly useless.

[Frosty]

You could also keep a key bound for only your slaves to move forward.

Then if you run through the mob and they still aren't close enough you can tap the key a few times to get them closer while your tank is building agro.

On the bard: I have a bard in my group and it grabs agro more often than the other classes...so it has to be doing something.
But since I'm a slacker and haven't installed that mod Noxxy was talking about, I don't have a clue what. :P
That being said...since I found the new spell/song that I got about 5 levels ago to reduce group agro if not a fighter..I haven't lost agro on the tank yet.

[Ellay]

Do you melee a lot with your bard Frosty? or just let it hang in the back? :)

[Ellay]

With melee not being that fun, I just rolled with

Guardian / Warden / Wizard / Illusionist, hot damn that shit is fun and enjoyable. This is most likely what I'm running with! yahoo, I'm so indecisive it's crazy.

[Starbuck_Jones]

I 3 boxed a Paladin, Bard, and Ranger and it was all park and pull. Park the slaves, then pull with the paladin. I would run and stack on the slaves and when the mobs got in range, I just walked to the other side so the mobs back was to the slaves. I don't recall ever having the whole group fight with follow on like WOW.

[Khatovar]

Do you melee a lot with your bard Frosty? or just let it hang in the back? :)

My troub melees whenever he can.

[Frosty]

Do you melee a lot with your bard Frosty? or just let it hang in the back? :)
I don't focus on making the bard melee, but I have "/autoattack 1" set at the beginning of my macros for all toons.
I have most of the bards abilities/spells both ranged and melee in the DPS macro. I am not 100% sure, but it looks like if the target is out of range it just continues on.

I'll try to duel one of my tank tonight and see for sure. But I see those flying musical notes smack my tank's target all the time.
So I know the bard is doing something.

What I don't usually try to do is get the bard at the back of the mob for the special attacks.
Last night I did try the run through method just for the heck of it and all of my followers were always at the back and within melee range with little effort.

[Zerocool2024]

Lol, whats with everyone jumping to EQ2?

Sorry, don't mean to hijack thread or anything, but I see more and more people going to EQ2.

When WoW and EQ2 came out (think it was the same night, or, with the same week, I can't remember). I remember my Wife at the time was working at EB games, and while the line was wrapped around the world, I just sat in line for 20 minutes till she saw me, and walked out and handed me my Special edition of EQ2.
(envy was all around) lol.

Anyway, I played it for most of the month while my wife played WoW.
I leveled a Monk, and on my server (Bertoxxulus *spelling*) I was one of the few that leveled the fastest and so forth.
I quickly got bored of the idea of the game because of the lack of soloing content.
There were a lot of other things that made the game not where as near and enjoyable as wow, (mainly the control system).

I could go on and on about it, but I am sure all the things that made me hate EQ2 are probably gone, or been polished from the Original release.

The game is probably fun when you Box it, and I have looked into boxing it, but not enough to make the jump yet.

Do they still have that stupid 20 levels of (Hey, pick this class, play it for 20 levels, and see if you REALLY want to play this class... even though you picked it... so stupid, lol)

[Frosty]

Lol, whats with everyone jumping to EQ2?
I got bored with WoW.




Do they still have that stupid 20 levels of (Hey, pick this class, play it for 20 levels, and see if you REALLY want to play this class... even though you picked it... so stupid, lol)
I played it when it first came out and didn't care too much for a lot of the stuff either. A LOT of things have changed since then. ;)

[Ellay]

The game has changed entirely from when it first came out. I also tried it as well and the release was terrible upon terrible. I'd say it's almost a new game. It runs a lot smoother now or perhaps it's because pc's have finally caught up with the graphics it's spitting out. Soloing is a lot easier, though boxers never solo :)

The biggest thing right now for me is that at the high end there is tons and tons and tons of content in eq2. WoW's content is about as bad as you can get, by bumping the level cap up and not scaling the old raiding dungeons, they become completely obsolete. PvP is definitely not what it used to be and the fun factor has diminished greatly, Eq2 for me right now is fresh and invigorating - I hope it lasts :)

[Zerocool2024]

I've been looking into from time to time, but getting into it is a little difficult for me.

I loved EQ1, and I played the hell out of it, and stopped about half way through Planes of power and walked away (I forget why), I think my guild pissed me off or something. (Shadow Knight/Rogue at heart in EQ1)

But when it comes to Sony and games.... eh.

Maybe the one thing holding me back is lack of info (even though a lot is popping up on these Forums :thumbsup: )
And maybe the lack of people I know... if anyone... Playing the game.

If I were to play, I would do the 4 man thing as well. And I would have no problem trying to learn another game, that's half the enjoyment.

Can you now box more than one toon on a single computer>? or is that impossible with EQ2?

[moosejaw]

I got my collector's edition of EQ2 also. :thumbsup:

Frosty and myself are currently guilded together but our levels are still miles apart. I am about to make my first appearance in Blackburrow today which was my favorite lowby zone in EQ1. I just loved that zone and massive trains you could get. :D

But it is a completely different experience now. I remember starting as a priest then doing the class quests and picking the final class, what a chore. Questing sucked as there were so many linked mobs I couldn't solo sh!t. I started a DE Necro first and solo'd a few days to see how it felt and it was super. You straight up pick your class at character select now and the starter zone quests are very giving.

To make a comparison in populations of the two games ..... there is no comparison. There is a global chat channel and it is usually very quiet. I was running around Antonica last night and I felt like it was MY continent. The griffon flights inside of the continents is not useless but you can't follow up the ramps to them. Using the Bard's selo's is almost as easy sometimes.

I drag my mobs back to the blob (lol) so the bard can stabby stab. Note that your caster/healer can get melee style special attacks that are beneficial to use so getting the mobs close to the group is desirable. Back on the bard, he has ranged special attacks as well as the bow autoattack so leaving the bard at range is not a bad thing. The min range on the bow is 2yds and most melee max range is 5yds so there is a spot where you can melee and fire off ranged specials at the same time 8o . I think a bard of some type is necessary for any caster heavy group for the mana/power regen. I loved my bard in my boxed groups in EQ1, awesome utility and tons of dps.

Overall I am liking my experience so far. I even got a comment from another player that my group looked silly. I also mentioned in global chat that I was going to box and no one flamed me. Cruising the EQ2 forums you will find lots of people who 2-3 box. We need to get some of those folks heading over here to input knowledge also.

[Zerocool2024]

Could anyone post some EQ2 boxing videos?

I would like to see how it plays out.

[moosejaw]

If I posted a video it would be from my camcorder. Running 6 on my machine is quite the load and doing video would probably crash it. :rolleyes:

[Khatovar]

Can you now box more than one toon on a single computer>? or is that impossible with EQ2?

Yup. Like Moosejaw says, he's doing 6 on one box, I do 5 on mine. Back in the day, I couldn't pull off 2, hehe.

Personally, I'm also really, really liking the fact that I can go ahead and upgrade to the Station Pass and play any SOE game. So if I start to get burned on EQ2, I can go to EQ or Vanguard. But I'm really enjoying EQ2 now. It's worlds better than it was when I first tried it, and there's just so much more to do now than there was when I first really spent any time playing it.

[Zerocool2024]

Back in the day, when I was... say 14ish, 15ish, 10 years ago, lol.

I was playing EQ1.

I got an account from a friend who left the game about a year into EQ, and from then, I two-boxed the hard way (Two keyboards, two mice, two Monitors) and Manually clicked, pressed, everything with both hands, (Ambidextrous FTW!).

Till I came across one person in the game, (Forgot time and person, but he sent me a pic of his setup).

6 comps, 6 monitors (Baddass setup at the time), but it took me that pic to be like OMFG I SO WANT TO DO THAT!...

So when it came to EQ2, I couldn't do that, (Main-Rig at the time had a hard enough time running the game single).

But all it takes is a good idea (Pics, videos, certain things) to intrigue me to the point of jumping into it.

I ran into someone Boxing WoW, a hunter, who had 4 other tards with him and I got hooked the second I saw it. ( I was already two boxing hardware style, but only because my guild needed a Healer and DPS), I never thought of doing it as my own group.

After seeing that tard, I was hooked.

So if anyone could get a vid of sorts, I would be much obliged.

[Noxxy]

Having to do all those class quests died a long time ago - as did sub-combines in tradeskills - roving packs of triple^s in ant/commons or any overland area tbh - proccing rings - wands (which were unreal on a caster - extremely overpowered), having to do those incredibly hard access quests to unlock places like EL (i.e., impossible to solo - Full group being a must), the incredible toning down of FG (used to be a real ball buster) and a lot of the other dungeons, the incredibly hard / long betrayal quests requiring a pretty full group - sheesh, when I think about it there is so much you guys didn't see / experience tbh - today's game is nothing like the original

As a matter of fact - a disctinction can now be made between 0-79 which is definately solo friendly (in most overland areas), 80 onwards ummm...no, that's when the game reverts back to 'old EQ2' albiet a toned down version

[Ellay]

I'm reading more and more that Guardians have issues holding hate... from their spell list it looks like they have a ton of tools to maintain it. With my setup, I'm not using a dirge or a coercer so I don't have any extra tools to hold it. Will this become a problem or are they over exaggerating the ability for the guardian to maintain hate. If it becomes a problem I may have to switch it up to Paladin ><

[Frosty]

I'm reading more and more that Guardians have issues holding hate... from their spell list it looks like they have a ton of tools to maintain it. With my setup, I'm not using a dirge or a coercer so I don't have any extra tools to hold it. Will this become a problem or are they over exaggerating the ability for the guardian to maintain hate. If it becomes a problem I may have to switch it up to Paladin ><
I'm not having any problems at all keeping agro on my Guardian. And I've been pulling mass groups of mobs on purpose.
But, I am not focusing on AoE either. (not that I don't use AoE).

I haven't checked into the benefits of damage shields, but I do keep thorns, fire shield and some other warlock spell on my tank.
Anyone know if those spells add to the threat for the tank?
Then I also keep him buffed with +damage melee spells.

I spam my DPS key like a mad man and have never seen any other toon go above about 46 on the threat meter.

[Frosty]

Frosty and myself are currently guilded together but our levels are still miles apart. You are going to pass me. I have a 4 day weekend...and I just found out my "to do" list tonight! :P

[Noxxy]

One of the mistakes ppl make when going any heavy tank is basically spending all their AAs into such things as taunts and other aggro management tools - this leads to --> low dps tank --> poor aggro holding --> wipefest - idea is to balance between the two, and if a choice were to be made, go the DPS route - yes, I know that doesn't sound intuitive but DPS plays a pretty big part in being able to hold a mob/s attn.

When it comes to the guard, the easiest way to increase his/her DPS (and thereby aggro holding) is through spending up big on the warrior tree - in particular, STR for melee crits (4,4,8 ), WIS line for dbl attacks (4,4,8 ) then moving down the INT tree for hastes/attack speed. If you wanted, some ppl go 4 4 8 in the AGI tree for attacking multiple targets. At a later date, dumping points into the STA line will be required but at the start you can get away with it (plus, you'll have a healer under your control so can manage your damage pretty well vs a pug).

By doing this, your DPS will increase and, in turn, so will your aggro management

As for increasing aggro towards the tank - dirges and coer certainly help as do swashies - but all is not lost if you don't have one or more of those - it just comes down to timing you spells and maybe a little spell manipulation.

For instance, all tanks get a single target taunt plus an encounter taunt. So say you place the single on 3 and the encounter on alt+3. Make sure that your heavy hitting or casting chars either have detaunts on those keys OR something small like a debuff (check the descriptions as some debuffs certainly aren't small) this way when the tank taunts the rest detaunt or just cast little, but necessary, debuffs

Another method you can see being used is basically the 'start off slow' approach:
- tank pulls, throws a few taunts on inc, when the mob is close enough then the rest of the team joins in with a few debuffs, tank retaunts, throws in a decimate ('http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Decimate') maybe even touch the mob up a bit via an infraction ('http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Infraction') and there's a good chance after all that the mob will remain pretty interested in the tank

Don't forget also that some classes have hate control spells, as an example: gibe ('http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Gibe') and sleight of hand ('http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Sleight_of_Hand') which can be used in emergencys to protect the ultra-squishy

[Ellay]

I looked further into it, and my combination seems to work out ok, was just reading stuff and reacting on impulse. The Wizard in my group will be doing the most dps but the illusionist can throw up like a 35% aggro debuff on him forever, and the tank gets a ton of just natural hate in all types of ways. After reading through the forums more it came down to these problems for not holding hate
They spec'd bad in their aa tree's undergeared compared to the dps performing the wrong movesSo all in all, I'm pretty excited after what I found today. I'm going on vacation for about 9 days, and it sounds weird but I can't wait till I get back!! that's when the fun begins.. my final dilemma now is which race to pick haha, I wanna look sexy but slim.!! down to High Elf or Human, and High Elf definitely has some pretty strong advantages for being a caster.

[Crayonbox]

Ellay, did you pick a server yet? I quit WoW in December and I haven't been on DB much since, but I did pick up EQ2 in the process.
I am on Antonia Bayle. Its an RP server, but there are plenty of regular players here as well.

Hit me up on Roirrawa. I am usually on crafting or farming a dungeon :P

As for boxing, I like wizards. Sure they do a little less damage, but I don't have to worry about position and I can root and nuke if stuff gets crazy.

[Crayonbox]

I'm reading more and more that Guardians have issues holding hate... from their spell list it looks like they have a ton of tools to maintain it. With my setup, I'm not using a dirge or a coercer so I don't have any extra tools to hold it. Will this become a problem or are they over exaggerating the ability for the guardian to maintain hate. If it becomes a problem I may have to switch it up to Paladin ><

the problem I have with my guardian is not holding agro, its running out of mana. haha. If i try and throttle my hate gain, my wizzys will gain too much agro too quickly and pull. now the other problem is if i go all out tps, i end up running 10-15% of my mana pool per mob even con ^^^ heroic group mobs.
Also as you said. As I think frosty said, gotta spec down the dps AA lines for more threat. Bit odd but thats how it works out.

Also ellay if you care, on my guard I went down
str 4 4 5 8
agi 0
sta 4 4 8
wis 4 4 8
int 4 4 8

[moosejaw]

Holy crap, welcome back crayon. :thumbsup:

[Frosty]

As I think frosty said, gotta spec down the dps AA lines for more threat. Bit odd but thats how it works out. Thanks, but I can't take credit for the wealth of knowledge that is Noxxy. ;)

[Crayonbox]

Oh yea it was noxx haha.
Sigh, reading you guys are boxing it up on EQ makes me want to start heavy boxing again. only playing 3 characters is so weak when listening to noxx talking about pulling epic x4s by himself. /cry

[moosejaw]

Frosty and myself are currently guilded together but our levels are still miles apart. You are going to pass me. I have a 4 day weekend...and I just found out my "to do" list tonight! :PHehe, good luck on your list. My 4 day weekend just ended and it was a good time to get the game setup and fix my mistakes. I might catch you in few weeks but I need to stay on top my aa's so that will slow me down a bit.

[Crayonbox]

Adventure level is the easiest thing to do imho. It takes me about 2 days relaxed play to get the 10 levels for the next tier and i lock every 10 levels at their masterlevel gear level and do dungeons and finish up quests and zones for AA which takes me a good week to week and a half.
My guardian was recently locked at 42 doing zek, enchanted lands for quests and runny eye and dfc for aa and brokerable items.