EQ2 – Page 129 – A Pixel Nomad

Into Chardok We Go

Yesterday was a great day for EQ2, and it wasn’t really because of anything in particular, but it was just one of those days. It started off with doing a tradeskill instance on Ellithia. Duo’ing with a carpenter, they each gained two levels which puts her at level 62. I haven’t even made any combines from the past 12 recipe books or so, there’s a lot of experience saved up if I want to use the supplies I have saved up. I’m so glad to have gotten through the dreaded sinking sands era without having to actually use any materials. From 70-80 I’m going to level up doing writs, no doubt the guild status will come in handy. Nostalgia hit 31 thanks to Kasul heading out on some pick up raids, he had a pretty good time. Anyhow, an hour later the instance was complete and we got a really nice chest drop. It had a legendary provisioner piece (which I won and gave to arysh). For once luck was on my side, and I won not only the legendary piece, but another manual (that puts Ellithia at owning two of those, which is great because she’s on my second account) as well as an extra Far seas token that was in the chest. She doesn’t have the faction to purchase anything yet, but she does have 10 tokens. If I had only done the solo quest on the first day when it gave 25,000 faction she’d be all set. I still don’t like doing the instances on level 80 crafters unless I have a full group.

A call came out early that evening from Azztec, a friend who used to play on Antonia Bayle but moved to Najena when his guild started going through some major issues. He’s a great player, and leveled up a templar not too long ago. He was working on his epic last night and needed the update in Chardok. I decided to tag along on Stargrace, who is still only level 78. I find it amusing that the online persona I use is one of my lowest level characters.

I died three times, one of those times was a wipe on the bridge. Someone managed to catch the attention of a golem who was standing off to the side and I got punted (and one shot) into the waters below. Being such low level (the encounters were orange to me) it was not exactly surprising. Stargrace ended the evening 66% into her level, maybe one of these days I’ll actually hit 80. Azztec got his update easily enough. Chardok is a fun zone, relatively empty these days with everyone doing TSO instances for their void shard bits. We first had to collect books upstairs and then pass them off to the NPC pictured above, who then opens and unlocks the doors for us to make our way to the library.

Earlier in the day I also wandered around Cazic Thul, three boxing. It’s not an event that occurs often because lets face it keeping control of one character can some times be hard enough, two is do-able. Three is just hectic. I had two accounts running on the PC, and a third on the laptop. My newly betrayed arasai (used to be a brigand, is now a swashbuckler) is now level 49, and lots of fun to play.

For some reason my computer is still having issues ever since TSO released. I find it amusing that I can play VG now on fairly high settings with no issue, but a few hours into EQ2 and to image to the left will happen. The entire computer will freeze for a good solid 30 seconds, and then everything will become distorted in some weird 2nd world way. Yesterday the wood in South Freeport changed into icons of death, patterns of bones, skulls, and chicken beaks. The NPC’s wore bright green clothing, and Shadowgeist (who typically is dressed in black) was sporting a bright shiny metallic garb. I already underclocked my video card and turned the fans on it up when I was having crashing issues in WAR and scenarios. This fixed the issue. I never used to have issues in EQ2 either, but since the day TSO went live, I’ve experienced it. It’s typically in TSO zones, most commonly the crafting ones. Yesterdays happened to be in CT though. I get no other errors or messages from my computer along with it, just this oddly scary version of EQ2. My text also messes up along with all spell icons so it typically always requires me to restart my computer, of course not without taking a few screen shots of the changes to post here (or send to friends) while I giggle and wonder what exactly is going on. Stargrace pictured in the 2nd shot looks like she’s been coated with a nice layer of some sort of acid. Anyone else experiencing this? I haven’t bothered looking at the forums because when it comes to technical issues everyone seems to experience something slightly different and the solution that works for one doesn’t mean it will work for everyone.

A few other events took place yesterday, I’ll write about those a little later today.

Round Two: Cavern of the Afflicted

That’s always the way it happens. Monday the ‘daily double’ (which seems to reward 2 shards for some people, while others only get 1 shard) was Cavern of the Afflicted – which is the zone I did Tuesday. Tuesday’s daily double was Halls of the Forsaken – which is the zone i did Monday. Ah well. I dusted Arysh (warden) off after dinner and headed to the zone. At least the zone in issues seem to be slightly under control. It does still take a few minutes to get anywhere, but it wasn’t near the 10 minute mark from the night before. Cavern of the Afflicted is a shadowknight’s dream. This zone has so many mobs. Warlocks love it too. We constantly pulled 2-3 groups at once and Shadowgeist was parsing 8-14k an encounter. Very fun stuff.

I want to thank the people at SOE who linked my site on their Tuesday Town Crier (it’s posted weekly) with six of my posts. I really appreciate the EQ2 community and readers.

I’m collecting a fair amount of void shards now, I’m almost up to 10. I haven’t even looked at the merchants to see what they offer and what would be upgrades. I believe that there are some pieces that cost less then what I have right now, so I should look into it today. I also want to find a crafter who can make the pieces for me so that I don’t have to pay extra shards. A lot of the crafters that can be hired on Najena are asking for 1p per piece, and I’m of two minds about this. The craft books are not especially hard to get, and they cost practically nothing to actually craft the piece. On the other hand, money is not hard to come by in EQ2 especially from level 70+ so why shouldn’t they charge this amount. I’m still hoping I can find friends and guild mates who have the books rather then paying coin for simple combines.

Cavern of the Afflicted is a fairly easy zone, though I was reminded some times how frustrating it can be to play a healer. During one encounter (the one that burrows) group members are hit with a noxious dot. This drains your power, and it drains it fast. The problem is that my group did not have a group noxious cure. The way I typically fight this worm is to bring it upstairs to the room with the well in it, and any time the worm ‘burrows’ and it’s stone shield is up, train it around the room in circles so that players avoid the nasty things that happen (knock backs, aoe’s etc). When they do this, their noxious aoe also goes off. One of the group members said in group that if the group didn’t get cured fast enough (while we all had the dot of course) that we’d not have any power, and would die.

Well, I know that. However when an entire group is spread out over a well, some times not everyone is range. Not to mention we’re constantly running around for that encounter, and I have to cure everyone one at a time. I wish I could do it all but alas it takes a second or two. For the most part I think I am fairly prompt on the cures, they’re one of the most important aspects for healers in EQ2 especially from level 70+ if you’re not curing things are going to go bad, and fast.

We defeated the encounter, and got the same cinch that just dropped off of another trash mob, even though the encounter was a named one.

Ugh. Transmuted it went.

Unlike my first trip through the zone, we found the key for the treasure chest at the end of this one along our way, and each of us got our two shards. Now it’s just time to find something to spend them all on! I’m still debating leveling up my templar, but I think I’ve come to an easier solution then just quest grinding in RoK or even TSO. The templar is sitting at level 77 and is on my ‘main’ account. She gets a 30% experience bonus for adventuring due to the others on the account who are already max level. I have been looking for an excuse to level my swashbuckler (newly betrayed from brigand) on the 2nd account. Swashbucklers get stances (All dps scouts do, except bards) and taunts, making them some what effective tanks, especially at lower levels. She’s 45, and has a lot of leveling to go. Even if the experience is significantly reduced for the templar, leveling along with a 45 dps is better then leveling alone, or leveling through more quest grinding. Don’t get me wrong, I actually enjoy the ‘questing to level’ method that’s implemented in EQ2 (I know a lot of people are quite tired of that) and I love seeing my achievements from leveling. Some times, I just want to play EQ1-style. Find a nice camp some place, sit down, and pull to the location for hours. EQ2 doesn’t do this very well, groups are constantly moving. Also not a bad thing, just different then another game.

Hope everyone else is having a great week thus far, happy gaming in whichever game you happen to play!

A Night of Instances

An ogre, a Tier’Dal, and a Gnome all walk into the Deep Forge, and the gnome turns and looks at the ogre and says ‘Oy, is it hot in here or is it just me?’

Ok lame attempt at some humor there, but that was the beginning of my night last night. There are some pieces of void shard jewelery that would be an upgrade for me (except I don’t have the book quite yet) that take relatively few pieces of shards to make / purchase (remember, this gear is cheaper if you have a crafter make it then if you find a merchant) so I was eager to add a few more bits to my collection. I didn’t end up doing ‘the daily double’ as they call it on Najena, but I did head to Lavastorm and get to wander around Deep Forge, which is a zone I had been to in beta only. I love the way the new TSO zones look, and Deep Forge is very nice and small. It’s one of those ‘quick if you know what’s going on’ zones. Of course, having never been there myself I didn’t have the faintest clue what was going on. Zones like that are the best zones of all. I grabbed the quests outside, and I think I grabbed a quest inside the actual instance too. The group consisted of a dirge, shadowknight, troubador, warden (me), illusionist, and wizard. The best part was after we had killed something (a named?) the GIANT group of giants (I crack myself up at 6:30am what can I say) down below in the pit of lava got flooded out. I tried to take a screen shot of their desperate cries before the lava swept them away, but alas, I was not so lucky.

We saw a few ornate chests drop in the zone but nothing astounding. The final named of course decided to port me into the center of the lava pit while we were fighting, so we had a few deaths right at the very end. I wasn’t expecting it, and no one (cough cough, Shadowgeist) told me it would happen, so one minute I was healing my little heart out and the next minute, bam into the pit I go. Woopsie.

I did get a pretty nice charm slot upgrade from a quest involving the zone. I can’t remember if this quest was given to me outside or if it was the one I found inside, but it’s nice none the less. There’s also a melee version. The only thing I dislike is that this isn’t really a healer version (and there wasn’t one). The wisdom and power on a charm item really makes me happy. While playing in these zones with friends, I realize just how under geared Arysh is. The downside again to having so many alts, not concentrating on any individual one. Yes, Arysh does still have her claymore, and I do have her fabled epic, and she’s close to 10k power self buffed with 1k wisdom, but it’s the +heals and +heal crits and all of the other little unique bits that make a character ‘good’. She doesn’t have M1 of her spells, etc. So now I’m contemplating settling down, especially if I want to work on void shard quests. I love playing my healers. I’m GOOD at my healers. The problem is that my ‘main’ healer is a warden, and they are everywhere. So my line of thought says that I should try to get my templar her last few levels (she’s sitting at 77) or my defiler (even further behind, at 73) and work on one / all of the healers. I love my coercer a great deal, but I’ve played healers primarily in every mmo.

Deep Forge also has a heritage quest associated with it – IF – you can see purple shinies. There’s a new quest implimented in game in order to obtain an item to see these shinies, so if you don’t have it, look into getting it.

Once we were finished in Deep Forge I took a few hours and headed over to Vanguard, then was asked if I wanted to go back to EQ2 and do another instance. I decided sure, why not. I haven’t really been to too many of the instances honestly. The group decided to head to Befallen: Halls of Forsaken (it may be halls of the forsaken, I can’t quite remember right now). This is in the Commonlands, and I’d never been there before. I wanted to do Cavern of the Afflicted (one since I’d been there before and was comfortable with it, and two because it was the daily double yesterday) but the group decided to go some place new. The zone again was quite beautiful, and we had fun figuring out what to do. Thankfully two people had been there before even if I had not. The zone wasn’t especially hard per say, we did wipe once, but only because half of the group charged ahead to destroy a statue while half of us stayed back and I wasn’t really sure what was going on. The group was a shadowknight, inquisitor, swashbuckler, illusionist, warlock, and myself as the warden. We did see a lot of ornate drops, and I did actually get a secondary item upgrade to the shield from RE2 that I was wearing. It’s one of the few upgrades I’ve actually had drop lately. The zone mostly decided it was plate night, and nothing was an upgrade for our two plate wearers. Thankfully, Arysh is a transmuter.

The nice bit of gear to the right also dropped, and this is why I wish there were more instances with smart loot. Perfectly good piece of fabled gear – that got transmuted (and it was a server discovery) because we didn’t have anyone in the group who could use it. I heard my little 61 necromancer cry from across the account. C’est la vie though. We got an infusion from that, my bank is filled with them so I just left it to the others to random on. The zone also has a few quests related to it, and I believe one of the items is an upgrade, or will be at least when I figure out how to complete it. So far I’m stuck on a few portions.

All in all it was a productive night. When the instances were complete I logged over to Silhouette to make some of the void shard armor for Shadowgeist. The only downside to owning the books on one character or another is that I can’t craft the items for myself because the characters are on the same account I use. Solution? Have one character on each of my accounts with all of the books, so I can craft for everyone. This is a perfectly good solution seeing as I am taking my time getting the shards to begin with. Misako already has one book, and Silhouette has another. Kasul and Tipa each have a book as well, so I know who to bug for future pieces.

Hope everyone else had a fun time in Norrath last night too (or whatever game you play!)

Halflings Need Baths Too

I love the way the graphics are in the Moors of Ykesha. When you head to one of the very first camps, you’re in the swamp and surrounded by flies the entire time you quest. It’s these great little additions that make EverQuestII come to life, and I’ll never get tired of them (even when they lag my machine up). I still haven’t managed to get enough faction to buy the recipe books or appearance armour, but I’m getting there slowly. So far I’ve been sort of two sided about the release of TSO. On one hand it’s very pretty, with nice rewards. On the other hand this is the fourth year (going on fifth) that I’ve played EQ2 (yes, I’ve been here from the start) and it feels like I’ve done all of this before. The void shards are great for those who can manage to get a group, but for those who are unable to it’s frustrating. It’s more or less because I still don’t know anyone on Najena aside from Nostalgia and a few Siege members, and those I do know already have their static groups. I’ll have to see if I can remedy this. The only real innovation that grabbed me right away was the crafting bits and I realize I talk about crafting an exceptional amount in this blog, but that’s not the only thing I enjoy in my games. It just happens to be a large portion.

I’d like to /wave and say hi back to Kilanna, who took a break from the blogging world for a while. She’s my aussie friend who plays on the Guk server, a templar. Her posts are filled with all of the good things about EQ2, so be sure to give it a peek.

Goals for me? More then likely leveling my paladin a little bit. Still undecided as to whether or not I’ll get her some gear. I probably should. I wish there were more armor quests (maybe legendary?) spread throughout the tiers that people could quest for. Though I guess crafters may find that annoying.

Other then questing in Moors, and doing those crafting quests, not too much is new EQ2 wise! Wish I had something more exciting to write about. Maybe later today!

Questing in The Moors

There’s only one major downside to having too many characters (two accounts, one with station access) and that is when it comes time to deciding what to do, or who to work on, unless you’re in a very specific mood, that process could take hours. I’ve been meaning to do the Moors of Ykesha quests (there are a lot of them) and work up my faction at least enough to be able to purchase the crafting books, but the lag on Najena has been so incredibly bad that after 30 minutes or so I give up and decide to work on something else, instead. I’m sure it will get fixed before too long, but in the mean time I’m content to work on other things. I still only have two void shards and I’ve barely seen a fraction of the instances available. Since the content has to last a year, I’m not in a great rush (even though the gear you can purchase with void shards is quite amazing for non-raiders, and even a few pieces for raiders).

The paladin who was at 35 ended up reaching 42 on that same day when I wrote about leveling her. Shadowgeist and I headed to Runnyeye, which is a zone that’s pretty empty these days except for level 80’s who are trying to get boarfiend parts. Those level 30’s boars within the zone drop the lore and legend pieces. In fact, I sold one single piece for 5p that’s how popular they are. The next closest price was 17p. For something that dropped off of a level 30 mob, I was quite happy.

At 42 the paladin is still wearing her level 22 and level 4 gear. I’ve been contemplating whether or not I want to bother upgrading it, or if I want to wait until 52, since that tier will last longer (I dislike leveling in the 50’s, always have). On that same note, I’m trying to decide where I want to level her. Perhaps purchasing some gear and heading to Everfrost to quest would be a good idea.

The alts are fun, I love leveling through the older content, even if it’s rushing by only long enough to have shadowgeist harm touch an encounter and have them instantly die. I also contemplated re-betraying my dirge back to a troubador yesterday. If it wasn’t for the fact that silicate loams are 4-5p a piece and I’d (naturally) want adeptIII of all of my skills. Perhaps a work in progress. I betrayed to a dirge because I wasn’t playing the bard and when I did play her I wanted her to have a little more group utility. I’m not playing her as a dirge either though and there are far more dirges around then troubadors. Plus, well why not. I betray all my characters all of the time, that’s nothing new. It’s one of the methods I use to keep things interesting. Weird? Of course, but hey that’s who I am.