Kind of Newb QuestionsFollow

I'm a 23rd lvl Ranger on Sol Ro who got to 22 back in 2001. I got out back then but decided on a whim a couple of days ago to give it another try. Now I'm back, and it turns out there are a few differences - :) Anyway, I have a few questions, and would love some opinions:

1. I only have the basic game + Scars. I plan to go buy Evolution today. But before I also plunk down money for the other two expansion sets: Should I? If I don't buy them, am I missing out on anything besides zones? Are they zones primarily for high level chars? Also, EQ2 is coming out. Do I spend $60 for three expansions when EQ2 is getting relatively close? Any idea when?

2. I've seen the phrase "AA" thrown around. What is it? I assume nothing to a 23rd Ranger. :)

3. Just curious what the Shared Bank Slot is for? I assume it allows twinking or something?

4. I noticed that my fletching kit has changed. Is there any site that explains the differences?

5. Where's the best place to go to buy/sell stuff? Where's the Bazaar - is that it? Is Kelethin no longer a place of hanging out? (ha ha, I made a funny!)

6. I'm currently in SK, soloing Yellows and Dark Blues. But a yellow takes me down completely in health and mana. Lots of sitting to get back up to 100%. I'm primarily interested in experience and assume that groups are better, but are they? Would a small group of 2 or 3 be better than soloing?

I have 100 questions, but these are good starting points. I'd REALLY appreciate any feedback.

Thanks!
Paerien

1)Evolutions will get you everything to date except for Lost Dungeons of Norath and Gates of Discord.

LDoN adds nice instanced dungeons for levels 20+.
GoD is primarily a 55+ zone expansion with some lower level content included.

IMO LDoN would be handy for you to have at this level, but GoD can wait until you feel comfortable getting it.

2)Alernate Advancement (AA) is a set of skills/stats you can purchase with AA exp. 51+ so you don't have to worry about that just yet.

3)Pretty much got that one yourself.

4)With GoD they updated the tradeskill UI, I'm assuming this is what your talking about. You'll be able to search out recipies and save them with this new UI. However click on the experiment button and your old kit should show it's face.

5)You can get to the Bazaar either via the nexus or through Shadowhaven.

6)I think you'd be better off finding a group to run around with. You'll kill faster have less down time which should net you more exp over all, plus with a full 6 person group you get a bonus.

Hope the info helps.

D

1) Buy Evolutions? - Actually from a cost perspective standpoint this is a little tough. Evolutions contains the EQ Basic, Ruins of Karnak, Scars of Velious, Planes of Power, Shadows of Luclin, and Legend of Ykesha. What the price of Karnak+Velious+Planes+Ykesha is I believe to be around $40 is you do the online download (memory tells me it is $10 per expansion-I may be wrong). Sometimes you can get Evolutions below this if you shop around. Remember to buy from a very reputable dealer, for there have be hacking of license codes so be careful.

Karnak is a good expansion to level past 30, but you can easily do the same with the Velious expansion. Planes of Power will allow you to travel from place to place using the Plane of Knowledge (a.k.a. POK books) stones, which is a huge reason to buy the expansion. Less running around and more gaming time is always a positive.

Shadows of Luclin introduces the Vah Shir race and the Beastlord class, and provides tons of new zones and items. Legend of Ykesha introduces the Froglock race and some questable spells in the new zone. Personally there is enough bang for the buck in my opinion to fork over the additional cash. The "tentative" release date for EQ2 is sometime in October/November, but software companies are notorious for pushing dates back (especially with feature creep). You may not get to level 65 by this time, but I'm sure you will still have a lot of fun with the new expansions.

2) Alternate Advancement is a way post level 51 in which you can begin to customize your character, gaining additional increases in base stats or abilities. In order to gain these you sacrifice XP and put it into AA points (you get to determine the percentage of XP to AA). Once you've "dinged" the AA bar you can choose a stat or skill to advance in. For example you can use your AA points to increase your base strength a couple of points, or increase your base running speed.

3) The shared bank slot allows you to transfer items and cash between characters. It's always a good idea to put some form of container in these slots (i.e. backpack), thus increasing the number of items you can transfer. Although it is obvious - you can't transfer items from different accounts on the same server using the shared bank slot.

4) At first I didn't like the new interface, but with a highly repetitive tasks it is a god-send. With the new interface you can search for a recipe, say Class 2 bone hooked arrow. It will then show you the ingrediants necessary to make the item. You can add the recipe to your favorites menu so it is remembered the next time you open your fletching kit. Clicking the combine button will automatically generate the item provided that you have all the necessary ingrediants. If you hate the new interface you can click the Experiment button which will bring up the old interface. This is also very handy for storing items inside your fletching kit.

5) The Bazaar is where everyone goes to buy and sell items. You need the Shadows of Luclin expansion in order to get it, for the Bazaar is located on the moon. If you have the Planes of Power expansion you can click on the Nexus stone in the Plane of Knowledge to get to it (the easiest way). Once in the Bazaar you need to buy a Trader's Sachel in order to sell goods. You simply put the items you want to sell in the sachel and go sit under the trader stalls. Type in /bazaar trader to bring up the trader window in order to set the price, or /bazaar welcome in order to bring up the buyer's window to search for an item. In the buyer's window there is a button called "Find Trader" that is very useful. From the list of items you are searching for, click the name of the trader offering the good and hit the button. A red line will then point you to the direction where the trader is located...very handy.

6) For a Shadow Knight at this level groups are probably a much better option, due to pretty weak healing abilities. Around level 24 quite a few people head out to Highpass Keep, but being a SK you probably are kill on site. Get a couple of invisibility potions (cloudy potions) and make a run for it.
You'll want to hunt the goblins in the basement, which there are almost always groups. You may have to wait to get into a group, for this is a very popular place. There are other places as well where you can hunt. Most people either start groups in the Plane of Knowledge (which requires the Planes of Power expansion), or if you are lucky consider joining a guild.


---I have know idea where I got that you're a Shadow Knight...nevermind. As a ranger there should be plenty of outdoor zones that will work as well as Highpass Keep.

Edited, Wed Jun 16 16:01:32 2004 by Valzarius

Wow, great responses! The one thing I have to say about EQ is the people are the coolest. Example: Last night I was killed in SK and was bound to PoK. I sent an /ooc "Died in SK. Would be happy to donate for a port". One gal replied: "I'll do it for free, meet me at the big bank". I ran over there and started to look for her. While memorizing spells, I got the prompt: "Do you want to be ported?" (or whatever). I said yes and after ported, she replied "where are you? Ready to be ported?" At that point I realized someone else just ported me. I thanked her for the offer and asked her to send an /ooc saying "Thanks from Paerien for the port, whoever did it..."

Sorry for the long post, but there really are some cool people in this game (and I'm sure some jerks, too, but the cool people seem to FAR outweigh the jerks).

Anyway, on to a few more questions:

1. Since I have the regular game and Scars, it wouldn't make sense to buy the remaining 4 or so expansions at $10 if I can get Evolution for $20. But if I buy a new copy of Evolution, can I NOT create a new account and just use my existing account with the new Evolution?

2. I have a Glowing Velium Axe (2HS), but haven't used 1HB or 1HS in quite a while, so I guess it'd be good to get those skills up. I have about 250pp to spend. Any suggestions on a good 1HS and a 1HB that might keep me alive that's in my price range? I do have a "Black Enameled Mace" - but have a feeling it's kinda sucky. :)

3. I assume skill level with weapon types determine how often you hit an opponent? If that's the case, I could have real troubles until I get those skills higher? Do my skills go up if I kill greenies? If so, I can just kill them with my 1HB/1HS and then switch to 2HS when a want to take a blue/yellow on?

4. I have a Trueshot bow, but MAN does it seem to miss alot. Plus I'm using arrows that I'm fletching (I think my fletching skill is around 125 or so). Those suckers are expensive, and if they're not going to hit more than half of the time, I might as well sell the arrows back to vendors and buy cheapies! Thoughts?

5. I have a fairly low wisdom for a Ranger (I think it's around 85). My understanding is that spells like Snare are more successful when I have a higher wisdom? It seems like Root or Snare NEVER work against mobs that con red to me. Is that generally true?

6. Can I heal myself? Is there anything I can buy, or do I have to rely on only "time to heal all wounds?"

7. How does Harmony work? As an example, if there's a group of five baddies, and I want to pull just one, what's the method for using Harmony?

8. I've seen some people posts links to their characters, so that you can click on their weapons/armor, etc. to see their stats. How can I do this?

Thanks again for all the help!!!
Paerien (Sol Ro)

Edited, Wed Jun 16 17:33:37 2004 by Paerien

Edited, Wed Jun 16 17:35:04 2004 by Paerien

I cherry picked a few questions out of the middle... responses in line...

No you can't skill up on greenies, you have to take the risk if you want the reward! Also if you wield a 1HS you'll skill up with 1HS... Wield a 2HS and you'll skill up in 2HS. You'll need to kill stuff with everything you plan to carry to get the skills for that weapon up


While a nice bow is important, it's not the whole story. What is your skill in archery? Chances are that if it's low, that is what is causing the *high miss* rate, not the bow. Also I tend to use cheap arrows for shooting (you can still make the cheap ones!), and make whatever is needed just to skill up my fletching score. The expensive arrows don't seem to make much difference for me yet. Also, to skill up in archery try shooting more arrows. The *root and shoot* technique is helpful here Just root the mob, back away and turn them into a pin cushion!


You can get plenty of +wis gear so that shouldn't be a problem.


You can heal yourself if you have a healing spell! 1st one comes in at lvl 9 and the next in the line is at lvl22 (I think) so pick them up in the PoK library and have at it!

Hope this helps...

Nope. Just click on your own name above your health bar and you will *self target* then you can cast away.


In that case, you will skill up in both. Offhand will skill slower though, so when the 1HS maxes for the level, switch weapons! And when 1HB maxes, switch out both for 2HS... and don't forget H2H and piercing and... /sigh So many weapons... so little time!!!

Again, thanks so much for the great feedback. I knew I could target myself back then, but forgot about it. :) The only buffs I was casting on myself are the "yellow" ones like Skin Like Wood and Thistlecoat. So now I'm getting close to being done with my newbie questions. ;) Here's a few more, if I can get a bit more help:

1. Is there an easy way to find out what my factions are? Can they ever get so low that they can't be raised?

2. I wask in PoK last night, hoping to buy a few spells: Skin Like Rock, Cure Disease, and Hawk Eye (maybe Invoke Lightning - is it worth getting?) but didn't see those from the two spell-sellers in PoK. Can they be bought there, or are only some spells available there? Do I have to go back to Surefall to get those?

3. I'm thinking about taking up Tailoring in my down-time. I like the idea of weight-reducing bags. Is it worth it?

4. My Fletching is at 125 (I'm a lvl 23) - I assume there's a max of skills based on level - can someone tell me what those maxes are?

5. I'm thinking about doing the Ivy Etched quests. Am I too low to do these at 23? Besides the experience you get for doing certain small portions of quests, do you get a big boom of experience when you actually complete a quest? Is it a lot?

Thanks again for everyone's help!
Paerien

Ummm... I thought there were 3 merchants with ranger spells in the PoK library... Did you check the guy sitting at the desk? I'm sure I bought almost all of my lvl 15 spells in PoK... Everything except the firefly spell which I got back in the Glades...

Anyway, I like Invoke Lightning but don't use it much since it has a high casting cost (high for me, anyway). If you do start using it, watch out for the *blow back*... That spell can splash on you and it smarts! Another ranger friend of mine likes it a lot and seems to get some on me everytime she casts it!

Good luck ranger...

Again, have a look at the spell list on the site here. Most of the time it will give you the names and locations of the vendors for every spell.

Some ranger spells are sold only in Shadowhaven. There is a large apparently empty building to the north of the spot where you zone in from the nexus. When you enter it there are only a few shaman vendors, however on the far side is a pad on the floor. This takes you into an underground area with the special spell vendors for rangers, druids, shaman and beastlords. To get out again click the tree in the middle.

There are some parts of the Ivy Etched that you could do now. However be very aware that you are doing it for the "fun" of the quest and not the equipment upgrade. With the LDoN chain recipes being used as a skilling path you can pick up things far superior to Ivy Etched for less than the cost of doing the Ivy Etched quest (the quests involve bought gems as well as quested parts).

By the time you can kill things like Grimfeather (level 37 griffon) you really don't want arms with ac10 and STR+4 to be an upgrade. You could probably buy Ry'gorr arms for less than the cost of the 2 Star Rubies. There is no exp from the mid-range armour quests. In fact there are very few quests that will show significant exp at 23. Obviously hunting places like Permafrost is good exp (apart from the dying)

There are definitely factions that are effectively "unrepairable". If you can manage to become too low on faction for the least fussy NPC available to raise that faction then you are effectively stuck. There are usually ways to get out of bad faction but they often involve long and tedious hand-ins. As a ranger you may well become sick of the sight of muffins and batwings.

OldBlue is right, there are more than two ranger spell vendors in PoK. There is one over by the table who sells the odder spells.

If you like the idea of WR bags then buy some They usually go for around 50pp for the 10-slot 10% WR ones. 50pp will not even get you started in tailoring and remember that every hide or silk you practise on is one you could have sold in the bazaar.