Dungeons are massive - enjoy the crawl

[Ellay]

Wow. I didn't even finish it up, but Solusek Ro. Great memories from EQ1 transferred extremely well into EQ2. I usually skip most lore items in game but the dungeon is MASSIVE, you literally feel how large it is. Which brings me to my point. I've been leveling up doing straight Shared/Instanced dungeons this go around. I do have a high lvl SK that is mentor'd down which makes it considerably easier but hitting up the broker and re-gearing your characters every 10 levels or so is just as doable. It's nice to break away from the questing grind if you want and I haven't grinded in a single dungeon. I just explored the entire area and moved on to the next.

[Lyonheart]

Wow. I didn't even finish it up, but Solusek Ro. Great memories from EQ1 transferred extremely well into EQ2. I usually skip most lore items in game but the dungeon is MASSIVE, you literally feel how large it is. Which brings me to my point. I've been leveling up doing straight Shared/Instanced dungeons this go around. I do have a high lvl SK that is mentor'd down which makes it considerably easier but hitting up the broker and re-gearing your characters every 10 levels or so is just as doable. It's nice to break away from the questing grind if you want and I haven't grinded in a single dungeon. I just explored the entire area and moved on to the next.

I have an SK as well..only 78..but will get a team to 70+ prety fast. I also "mostly" did dungons, for the same reason you mentioned. I dont think they even had a dungon finder when i played.. but it was a lot of fun.. great loot. I loved clearing a dungon and going back and forth to the "named" spawn spots. Was reminiscent of EQ in the old days.. but prettier graphics hehe

I did quest though, I think somewhere in the 70s the dungons became a lot harder...major gear check type thing I think ( Karnors Castle rings a bell ) So i started questing. Not sure if anything has changed in that area now.

[Meeo]

i was an EQ1 player for a very long time, i never did move to Eq2, makes me wonder what i missed lol.

[Meeo]

what server and class make up is everyone using? i may check out Eq2 solo to see if i would like it over rift.

[Lyonheart]

im on Guk.. there used to be a boxer friendly guild.. im still in it.. but looks like it has been months since people have played.. there were a few players that logged in the last few days. Not sure where everyone else is.

[Ellay]

I am on Crushbone. I'm not sure of any other boxers. I think I saw a person playing 2 at one point but most of the lower levels areas don't have much traffic. Which is amazing for multiboxing since it doesn't effect us :)

[Starbuck_Jones]

When it was sub only, I played on Guk. But all my toons are on Freeport. That was the f2p server at the time.

[moosejaw]

I believe I have 6 toons in the boxer guild on Guk. I also have a few Guk toons in a guild with Frosty.

Ok the large (boxer?) guild on Guk is "Pain for Glory". More than 100 toons in that guild. I logged in my Paladin (inside a dungeon) and was promptly killed, LoL.

The guild with Frosty was "Disinclined to Acquiesce". Less than ten toons in that guild.

I have been leveling up a few toons in EQ to get back in the groove. Maybe I should now dedicate some time to EQ2 and see which game I want to settle into.

[Ellay]

The restrictions in eq2 aren't that bad after I've been playing it. You can potentially purchase station cash cards from someone in game for currency and as a multiboxer isn't that hard to obtain. a 2k station cash card will net you 80 item upgrades. As long as you are equipping good quality items at max level this should last quite a while. Other than that everything else is pretty much free besides the expansion pack.

How does that compare to Eq1?

[moosejaw]

I did a station sub for the lead account and the others are FTP. I have been working on a low level 2 box group (my max levels are 70's). Plat is more plentiful now with more sell-able trash off mobs. I don't have a good idea of the cost to enable Prestige items, yet. I think that may be a huge cash sink because it is not restricted to gear only. Prestige items can extend to mounts, bags and maybe even crafting (not sure there). I imagine the gear cost is very similar to EQ2. All the other FTP restrictions seem similar.

How is the dungeon finder in EQ2? I opened it up this morning on my paly and saw about 5 instances available. Can I que as a group and are merc's permitted? Looked very similar to wow's DF.

I might play 3 accounts with merc's to level up/quest to simplify things. I really like EQ2 more (for play-ability) but the nostalgia all resides in EQ. ;)

Edit: I really like that all my EQ2 character macros were saved server side. This reduces my team setup time considerably. 3 thumbs up for that feature!!

[Ellay]

I am not sure on the dungeon finder feature yet either because I am mentoring down other characters so they cannot queue together and playing 6 total.
So far having 6 different classes is amazing because there is so much to learn from it all.

[moosejaw]

Are you using "hotzones" for leveling? I found recommended leveling paths/zones for both games using the extra exp zones. Also, this weekend begins double exp for the anniversary celebration.

[Ellay]

Nope, not even sure where to see the hot zones thing. I've literally been jumping from dungeon to dungeon. With a druid and wizard in the group getting anywhere is very easy but if you have a guild that has the portals (most do) it's the same thing. Travel in this game is much easier, then buy a mount for each char (can use at lvl 10) and you now have 130% run speed.

Just finished up Mistmoore castle, and the fights are getting better. I've had to go through my hotkeys and actually work out defensive cooldowns and coordinate cc better. So far level 72 and have yet to "grind". I've explored an entire dungeon and kill everything on my way and move on.

[Lyonheart]

The exp is way faster than last time.. i was using RaF before FTP and im leveling close to the same now.. with just rested exp. But I did the same thing, mostly dungeons and some questing.

[Lyonheart]

Are you using "hotzones" for leveling? I found recommended leveling paths/zones for both games using the extra exp zones. Also, this weekend begins double exp for the anniversary celebration.

Will this be for both EQ1 and EQ2? and where you get that info.. i only see people talking about it in teh EQ1 forums. ( its EQ1s anniverary )

[moosejaw]

Here are some zone guides for EQ and EQ2

EQ: Zone level chart (http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/zlvlchart.html#The_Serpent_s_Spine) that shows the hot zones. Using the Serpent spine zones netted my team 31-46 in 2 days. About 3%/kill at even con.
Leveling guide (http://everquest.allakhazam.com/forum.html?forum=1&mid=1257135258250254861&h=50) that is a little dated but still useful.

EQ2: Progression charts (http://eq2.zam.com/wiki/Solo_Progression_(EQ2)) showing the "golden path" and normal paths.

[Lyonheart]

Well, i spent the day getting to 20ish so i could start doing dungons ( you can start earlier, but i was enjoying the starting area quests ) I did ok with just my two BLs and their warders ( pets ). On yellow ^^^s i needed to pull out my two mercs.. mystic and paly for now.. going to try different tanks/healers as i level. The paly held agro well! He might be a keeper 8) Im going to upgrade my 3rd account for a a wiz for ports. You dont really need them for that..but they do crazy DPS as well, will be nice, and ill give him a healer type that can dps when the extra heals are not needed.

I had a blast, i was so happy to get to 20, i dont mind questing, but I forgot how enjoyable dungon crawling is! And the FEEL like dungons! Im in Stormhold now, tight corridors , maze like hallways.. multi level greatness! I love doing the quests you find inside them, and clearing rooms for nameds! If you dont have EQMaps..GET IT! it's great.. tells you all the quest objective locs and named locs 8). I have a ton of exp potions from all the vet rewards.. i am using the lesser ones ( 20-50% exp boost ) for these lower levels ( after vit is used up ) And ill save the better ones for high levels.

[Starbuck_Jones]

The paladin and shadowknight mercs are crazy tanks. They can literally powerlevel you through content and dungeons up to 80. The assassin merc will make you cry with it's dps. The inquisitor merc is the only heal merc that actually knows what it's doing. He wont mess around getting rid of debuffs and healing you, but I found it hard to keep him alive if he participates in combat inside dungeons. Just stick him on follow and enjoy the 5 group buffs or so and let him herp-derp it up as he heals/cures you all day long.

[moosejaw]

I just bought the Age of Discovery exp today and plan to test out a merc tonight. I took my 6 box team back into Stormhold last night and it was much easier than I remember. Damn I love the server side settings of EQ2. All I did was setup Isboxer and my macros were still saved where I left them 3 years ago. Jumped right into the dungeon and started fighting. I'm Lovin It!!

[Lyonheart]

I just bought the Age of Discovery exp today and plan to test out a merc tonight. I took my 6 box team back into Stormhold last night and it was much easier than I remember. Damn I love the server side settings of EQ2. All I did was setup Isboxer and my macros were still saved where I left them 3 years ago. Jumped right into the dungeon and started fighting. I'm Lovin It!!

Yea..love that the macros were saved! I had some wrong though.. was lowest recast time to longest.. that's backwards 8(.. i am using my dirge atm with an Ing merc ..paly merc and mystic merc for my two BLs( going to change the mystic i think ). My dirg is 79, mentoring down. About to go test harder content. team is 27 now. people are saying what i have is overkill lol.. that is good 8)

[moosejaw]

Hey Lyon, are you Sinsing on Guk? That is the 79 dirg in Pain for Glory who has been active but I haven't chatted them up yet.

Edit: I just saw Darklyon on the roster so that must be you. lol

[Ellay]

Tell me how is multi melds teams?

[Lyonheart]

yea thats me! my new toons ( the two BLs ) are not in the guild.. have not tried to invite them yet..not sure i can?

[Lyonheart]

Tell me how is multi melds teams?

multi melee? Its easy.. just run through the mob and you alts will be on the mob. they will also turn and face whatever they are fighting and not break follow. its hard to tell at lower levels, but this team does "feel" a lot more deadly than anything i have ever run. Stuff just melts. ( orange cons and bellow 3ups ^^^ ) Have not found a raid boss yet.. some group zones have a raid boss or more.

[Ellay]

multi melee? Its easy.. just run through the mob and you alts will be on the mob. they will also turn and face whatever they are fighting and not break follow. its hard to tell at lower levels, but this team does "feel" a lot more deadly than anything i have ever run. Stuff just melts. ( orange cons and bellow 3ups ^^^ ) Have not found a raid boss yet.. some group zones have a raid boss or more.
Auto correct on my phone is brutal.

Damn thinking about buying the xpac x6 so I can level beyond 90 on my main team and now to make sure I am making the right choice getting 3x optional xpac for the beast lord class... For being free to play they really know how to pull your strings :)
For a 6 man team still going sk/mystic/dirge/triple beast. Someone mentioned a brawler but I think they have aggro issues for tanking.

[Pazgaz]

A bit off topic:
Is there an IWT button? If not, how do you talk to npcs? Broadcast?
What's the best way to level? Questing?

[Ellay]

There is no magical way to talk to npc's although there might be I just don't know what it is, if someone else knows that would be amazing. Currently I just talk on my main grab the quest and share it. Turning in takes a bit of time sometimes.

The followers can target the main character and you can hit a hostile spell and it will automatically assist whatever the main is targeting. Works extremely well and is fast to update. Literally switching targets all activity is instantly on the new one.
Melee works the same way, there is a decent range for the melee hit box. If you are tanking a monster your followers are usually within range to swing. They also auto face whatever they are assist attacking.

[Pazgaz]

What about the leveling itself? How do you do it? Grind, quest or instance spamming?
Another question, do I need a unique email per account, or can I use the same email for all of them?

[moosejaw]

Use the same email for all of them. You can use multiple accounts per authenticator and multi authenticators per account. Gonna test that one this week.

Leveling: I am using a combination of questing and instances. The Dungeon finder instances are +25% exp and good loot. There are several short instances that are scripted waves of mobs. Lots of fun and quick. I am usually waiting on the lockout timer on the short instances. So I will zone out of the instance into whatever dungeon it is attached to and start killing stuff till the timer is up.

I noticed I got rewarded for doing DF with a gift box that contains random loot. Gear, potions, housing items etc. The gear was level appropriate and Heirloom.

You will get good gear by questing. I have found some ground spawn collections that are not group collect and they are painful. Respawn times are not in line with groups doing the quests i.e. painful.

[Lyonheart]

Use the same email for all of them. You can use multiple accounts per authenticator and multi authenticators per account. Gonna test that one this week.

Leveling: I am using a combination of questing and instances. The Dungeon finder instances are +25% exp and good loot. There are several short instances that are scripted waves of mobs. Lots of fun and quick. I am usually waiting on the lockout timer on the short instances. So I will zone out of the instance into whatever dungeon it is attached to and start killing stuff till the timer is up.

I noticed I got rewarded for doing DF with a gift box that contains random loot. Gear, potions, housing items etc. The gear was level appropriate and Heirloom.

You will get good gear by questing. I have found some ground spawn collections that are not group collect and they are painful. Respawn times are not in line with groups doing the quests i.e. painful.

i wish you could do them with 3 mercs hehe ( the instances )

[StephenMB]

I am looking to join that guild... Are there people on much? I still havent seen anyone.

[moosejaw]

I am looking to join that guild... Are there people on much? I still havent seen anyone.
I suppose you mean Guk? I am on midnights this week and haven't been on much. When I have been on it was to do tradeskills on an alt. Lyon and I can both invite but that is about all of the permissions that we have right now. I saw one of the officers on this week and he said he going to become more active.

Right now with all the guild hall amenities there isn't too much more we could need. The guild bank makes moving goods around easier but I can use alts for that too. And I don't want to clog the bank with low level mats. My main inviter is in my signature so check for me when you log on.