[EQ2] The Ultimate Newb Thread

[Jysin-DW]

Mystic with the melee AA line is pretty unstopable for solo. Certainly wont hit the higher heroics that a solo Wiz or Fury could take out, but it certainly speeds up the leveling.

[Grave]

This may be a long shot, but I thought I'd ask anyway. I'm trying to convince a couple friends of mine who are not that interested in EQ2 to give it a try once more. They tried it once back when Neriak came out and greatly disliked the sheer amount of quests once they left the new 1-20 content heading into Nektulos/Commonlands, and ended up losing interest in the game.

I think I can get them to give it one more shot, but I want to be able to show them the best of EQ2 and try to avoid the areas that can cause extreme frustration. Is there someone out there who is familiar enough with the game that they might be able to give me a sort of "path" to take? I think if I could give them some guidance and talk to them about what we'll be able to do at later levels it might make it more exciting for them. Last time we were all basically newbs and they quit around the late 20s, I quit at 40 and didn't see anything past Zek/Enchanted Lands.

I know for sure we'll probably do 1-20 in Kunark (is this possible for all race/class combos?) but after that I really don't want to tell them we have to go to Commonlands/Nektulos/Butcherblock. We didn't like any of those areas. Oh, and it's worth noting that they are mainly interested in dungeons. I would like to spend as much time in dungeons as possible and any of the particularly good ones you could point out would help, as well as what to avoid.

Anyway, if you're bored, help me out.

[Aamina]

Sure:

1-20 in Darklight Wood/Timorous Deep.

Take a break at ~15 to do Wailing Caverns with a group.

21+, finish Wailing Caverns, picking up all the named you missed with a duo/trio.

Head into Stormhold, do the named there, and do Return of the Light HQ in Commonlands (easy quest with lots of AA and minimal running for an HQ) even though they don't like it.

Once you hit ~24ish you can do the first half of Fallen Gate. You can easily level to 28 in Fallen Gate, then you can do the Second Half, looking for the queen and doing the instance at the end taking you to 30.

Now, the way I do it is actually different.

Find a good duo (Assassin/Defiler, Necromancer/Fury are my top choices) or a good trio (even easier, just add a random Fighter class or a bard) and then make sure you're overleveled for the zone. 20 is good for WC, then you can mow through and do everything. Then 30 is good to go kill all the named in FG, with the caveat that melee classes need Mastercrafted. You can do the same with all the dungeons and they're a blast to duo/trio and also a bit of a challenge in some parts. This is how I've experienced the game 1-60 and I've had much more fun then I ever did in WoW living on the bleeding edge. There are a ton of nameds to kill, instances to do, and dungeons at every level. If you want more specifics for after 30, shoot me a PM.

[Grave]

Thanks. Could you give me some insight on those duos you listed? I would like to have a good duo/trio and those are some I would not have thought of. I guess I'm stuck in my old EQ way of thinking. Assassin/Defiler really works?

[Digits]

It's really important to note that you ought to be slightly overleveled for a dungeon to have the best time, and invisibility is a requirement as well to avoid slogging through trash endlessly. I cannot talk about best combos, because I just played as a necro, but I'm sure any set up will work just fine. I will say that I have yet to have a better time in the past 5 years whilst playing an mmo than I did fighting through Sol Eye and Permafrost. The atmosphere, flavor and style of the classic dungeons is top notch. This is seriously the -only- game where they overly focused on the later portions of the game at the expense of earlier content. Sadly, the dungeons take a turn towards 'No drop loot fuck fest with no named anywhere' after the classic game and it kind of starts blowing. Which is a god damn tragedy because EoF dungeons are superb. If I read in the next patch notes that they removed the no drop tags and put in -good- loot that is superior to player crafted shit I'd probably roll up another necro to experience it all.

[Grave]

Originally Posted by Digits

I will say that I have yet to have a better time in the past 5 years whilst playing an mmo than I did fighting through Sol Eye and Permafrost. The atmosphere, flavor and style of the classic dungeons is top notch.

Yeah, I really liked even the low level dungeons in the game, and that's the main reason I want to get my friends into it again. We've been playing EQ1 and discussing how much more fun the dungeons are to romp around in rather than rushing through an instance in 45 minutes or so. Still, it's ultimately stuff we've all done years before. EQ2, on the other hand, offers some similarly interesting dungeons that we mostly haven't seen. I think when I played I only went through Wailing Caverns, Fallen Gate, Stormhold and a brief stint in Nektropos Castle which was awesome. My friends I think only saw Fallen Gate, and didn't really get a great sense for how fun EQ2 dungeons could be.

[GrobbeeTrull2.0]

A good trio for friends is SK/Troub/Fury.

Great synergy, CC, healing, invis, 2 evacs, etc.

SK buffs:

Str, Int, Spell Damage
Relies on Spell Damage for agro/damage
Self-HP drain for mana

Troub Buffs:

Casting Skills, Spell Damage, Int
Relies on Spell Damage
+Mana/Mez/Charm

Fury Buffs:

Damage, Int, good heals, great damage

[Tyen]

EVERQUEST II THE SHADOW OF ODYSSEY

Word Mark EVERQUEST II THE SHADOW OF ODYSSEY
Goods and Services IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: COMPUTER GAME SOFTWARE AND VIDEO GAME SOFTWARE
Standard Characters Claimed
Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Serial Number 77451534
Filing Date April 18, 2008
Current Filing Basis 1B
Original Filing Basis 1B
Owner (APPLICANT) Sony Online Entertainment LLC LTD LIAB CO DELAWARE 10202 W. Washington Blvd. Culver City CALIFORNIA 90232
Attorney of Record Lynn S. Fruchter
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE

[Aamina]

Originally Posted by Grave

Thanks. Could you give me some insight on those duos you listed? I would like to have a good duo/trio and those are some I would not have thought of. I guess I'm stuck in my old EQ way of thinking. Assassin/Defiler really works?

Assassin/Defiler works. And all you need to be overleveled is to know exactly how high you can be before a mob grays out. 90% of boss mobs are 1-2 levels higher then the trash around them. Make sure you're close to graying out the dungeon, and roll in. Invis is NOT a prerequisite, and certainly for a trio its generally not an option (besides buying copious amounts of Totem of the Chameleon which is quite expensive). I do the dungeons when everything is green, I don't mind blowing through trash in a duo. If you're in a good duo, the XP is amazing and the times are good.

Assassin/Defiler is a good combo, but the Assassin REALLY has to be on his A game. And 5 points in Improved Cheap Shot. The Deaggros won't work to your favor (or at all), but for pulling nothing beats this combo. Out of combat: Group Ward. Defiler body pulls, taking no damage and staying at full mana. Assassin either Surprises (AE Melee attack) or Cut Throat/Ebon Blade/Assassin's Blade a single target for big damage. The ward is also on the Assassin; no damage there for about 15 seconds. Defiler recasts single target ward on Assassin when group ward breaks or expires, leaving autoattack on, pet on, and the occasional DoT or two. An easier (but I've found, slower in some situations) combo is Assassin/Bruiser or Assassin/Monk. You won't have as many options for damage or AE stealth moves but it is a bit easier.

Necro/Fury is my personal favorite. Its the one I started with and I don't think there is a better combo in the game. The necro gets tainted heals (obviously) and the Fury goes Int line, Energy Vortex, then Wis Line, then Animalism (really late game). DPS is great, the emergency heals that the Fury brings to the party have saved the day countless times. They both have invis later, too, so that's a plus.

Anyway shoot me a PM if you need any more info or advice.

[Kreugen]

What is useful about animalism? I have a 32 Fury myself, on Perma, that I dick around on a couple days a week. Its a nice class - none of the frenzied button mashing of the finger-bleeding melee, but more involved than a boring nuker. I may have finally found a class that makes EQ2 tolerable for me.

Timorous Deep was incredible, butcherblock was okay. I outleveled Crushbone without ever finding a group for it, everyone still just goes to RoV/Runnyeye. Won't stop me from mentoring if I get a chance, but its still disappointing.

[Pinski]

Animalism basically makes it so when you melee you have a 100% chance to proc yourself power. But it stifles you.

[Bristlebane]

I said the hell with it and started playing my berserker again. I'm not gonna bother doing any low level dungeons until I hit 80 and mentor for them.

I figure it'll be fun with max AA's / good gear mentoring a group, and really tearing them up.

I'm up to uh...43 now. I skipped 35 to 41 with 20 plat worth of collections. I think I've got 36 AA's at 43.

[ShroudedMist]

Personally I think that's a dumb way to do it man. It's so easy and painless to simply turn off combat exp from levels 10-20ish and crank out some easy, fast AA pts before levelling your toon normally.

[Bristlebane]

Originally Posted by ShroudedMist

Personally I think that's a dumb way to do it man. It's so easy and painless to simply turn off combat exp from levels 10-20ish and crank out some easy, fast AA pts before levelling your toon normally.

I've seen people say you're close to maxed AA's just by normal questing to level 80. Level locking is pointless to me.

I've got 36 at level 43, and that was with about 50 collection quests total. I also skipped from level 18 to 25, I believe it was.

[...]

The cap is set at 100aa prior to level 70, and 140 after level 70. I've known more than one person who quested and dungeoned their way up who hit the 100 cap before 70 and basically put all their questing on hold till they reached it.

Originally Posted by Tyen

EVERQUEST II THE SHADOW OF ODYSSEY

what a stupid expansion name.