Ok I read the sticky at the top for returning players and didn't see this mentioned so hopefully this thread is OK.
Basically I am trying to find out, before I purchase the Anniversary edition tomorrow and start playing again, the best way to start playing from scratch. I originally started playing when Kunark was the only expansion and played off and on until around Planes of Power where I "quit" for good...until now.
Anyways, since the game is apparently devoid of almost all "true" newbies now, is it going to be pretty much solo playing up until 70+? I'm not playing with any friends like I was years ago and from what I've read online it's mostly about end game content and raiding now, and players like myself that don't have a handful of level 70's (80 it is now?) and thousands of platinum, seem to be few and far between
I'm going to be playing by myself since all the people I used to play with quit years ago, so I'm wondering if it would be best to start off with a Necro or something so I won't have a huge problem leveling solo. I played one until level 68 before, when 70 was the level cap, so I know the class fairly well.
However, if I am mistaken and there are still plenty of people around in the 20's, 30's, 40's, etc, to group with, then I won't worry about picking a class that can solo so much. That's pretty much what I am trying to find out and base what class to start out with from that. Thanks for the help!
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There are still plenty of new players, but it doesn't take long to level now, even if just starting out. Plenty of grouping going on once around 50+. As an example, I started new toons on various servers and generally get them to 40 or 50 within a week or two, this starting with no money or equipemnt or alts what so ever.
Pretty much once you get some coin to be able to buy potions, you can solo any class to 50 without much difficulty.
Class to play is whatever you like.
Essential Potions for soloing:
Distillate of Clarity # -- Mana regen -- Player made or Vendor bought
Distillate of Skinspikes # -- Damage Shield (stacks with almost all DSes 'cept Rng GoE / Rathe line of DS) -- Player made only
Distillate of Regeneration # -- HP Regen (Shorter duration than player casted regens, but at various levels often way better) -- Player made only
Distillate of Alacrity # -- Haste -- Player made or Vendor bought
Distillate of Celestial Healing # -- Heal over Time (more total heal than Divine Healing potions with same 2min recast time on both) -- Player made or Vendor bought
Distillate of Immunization # -- Cure Disease -- Player made
Distillate of Antidote # -- Cure Poison -- Player made
Cloudy Potion - Invisiblity - Vendor bought (maybe player made too, not sure on this one)
Of course you probably won't need all of these, but depending on your class, many will be essential.
Healing potions are pretty much essential for all classes, even if only as an emergency, as they are instant casting.
The lower ranked potions you probably won't need more than 1 or 2 of, as it dosen't take mucht time at all to get to 10 or 15, especially if you get good buffs.
There's some older threads with lots of starting out advice, I'll try to find and add links to them as well, instead of repeating alot of it, and skipping some good points most likely too :D
Yther Ore.
Pretty much once you get some coin to be able to buy potions, you can solo any class to 50 without much difficulty.
Class to play is whatever you like.
Essential Potions for soloing:
Distillate of Clarity # -- Mana regen -- Player made or Vendor bought
Distillate of Skinspikes # -- Damage Shield (stacks with almost all DSes 'cept Rng GoE / Rathe line of DS) -- Player made only
Distillate of Regeneration # -- HP Regen (Shorter duration than player casted regens, but at various levels often way better) -- Player made only
Distillate of Alacrity # -- Haste -- Player made or Vendor bought
Distillate of Celestial Healing # -- Heal over Time (more total heal than Divine Healing potions with same 2min recast time on both) -- Player made or Vendor bought
Distillate of Immunization # -- Cure Disease -- Player made
Distillate of Antidote # -- Cure Poison -- Player made
Cloudy Potion - Invisiblity - Vendor bought (maybe player made too, not sure on this one)
Of course you probably won't need all of these, but depending on your class, many will be essential.
Healing potions are pretty much essential for all classes, even if only as an emergency, as they are instant casting.
The lower ranked potions you probably won't need more than 1 or 2 of, as it dosen't take mucht time at all to get to 10 or 15, especially if you get good buffs.
There's some older threads with lots of starting out advice, I'll try to find and add links to them as well, instead of repeating alot of it, and skipping some good points most likely too :D
Yther Ore.
Ah, I see. I was unaware of all those Distillates now. Probably does narrow the soloing gap between classes like you said. Also, getting to 40/50 within a week or two is a lot faster then it used to be!
I appreciate all the info. I didn't really want to start a character and get it to a certain level just to realize there's no people to group with and be stuck, thus having to roll a class able to solo until the higher levels. But that doesn't seem to be as big of a problem anymore.
Thanks again!
I appreciate all the info. I didn't really want to start a character and get it to a certain level just to realize there's no people to group with and be stuck, thus having to roll a class able to solo until the higher levels. But that doesn't seem to be as big of a problem anymore.
Thanks again!
Test server might be a good choice for a returning player. You get double the exp of normal servers, all the vet AA's, and you can use the /testbuff command to boost yourself to level 25 and you get a decent set of gear with it. And if you're interested in re-living some old content and want some folks to play with, check out the Unintended Consequences guild page. We're a progression guild working our way through the old expansions one at a time. Check out the link and read our charter to see if we might be a good fit for you. Typically we have 40-50 people online during the evenings, and normally we raid 2-3 times a week. You can go from level 25 to level 60 in normally a few days to a week, depending on how often you play.
As long as you are willing to be guilded there is a good population 50+ as many casuals still get bogged down 51-65.
Bristlebane and Stromm are often cited as healthy servers on these boards.
With Blightfire Moors as a hotzone it is crazy easy to go from 18-30 solo on classes that don't normally solo well in poor gear. The Serpent's Spine expansion brought out the Drakkin race and the low zones in it are generally busy enough for grouping without huge down time.
If you can get Secrets of Faydwer its a better buy than anny pack as it includes everything the anny pack has anyways. Unless of course you are snagging the anny pack from a discount bin or something.
Your old account can be reactivate with your characters in place. Contact customer support, as long as you are the origial credit card holder you can get it going again.
Bristlebane and Stromm are often cited as healthy servers on these boards.
With Blightfire Moors as a hotzone it is crazy easy to go from 18-30 solo on classes that don't normally solo well in poor gear. The Serpent's Spine expansion brought out the Drakkin race and the low zones in it are generally busy enough for grouping without huge down time.
If you can get Secrets of Faydwer its a better buy than anny pack as it includes everything the anny pack has anyways. Unless of course you are snagging the anny pack from a discount bin or something.
Your old account can be reactivate with your characters in place. Contact customer support, as long as you are the origial credit card holder you can get it going again.
Making money for gear,a decent weapon,spells and potions can be torture starting out,especially with no help.I would look into buying some plat off the internet.100k will cost you less than $10 these days.It works pretty easy.You buy it online and give them your server and char name.Wait in the bazaar for a few minutes and you will get a tell for a meet spot,usually a certain banker,then they hand you over 100k.Simple.
This may or may not be something for you.I recently made a couple chars on a new sever just for goofing around and its pretty lonly out there starting out.99% of the time there is no one in those starting zones.Sad really.So getting thru those first 40 levels as fast as possible is key.
This may or may not be something for you.I recently made a couple chars on a new sever just for goofing around and its pretty lonly out there starting out.99% of the time there is no one in those starting zones.Sad really.So getting thru those first 40 levels as fast as possible is key.
I got side-tracked on looking for the threads .. I had found one of them on making money starting out, but it's pretty simple, so I'll just restate it concisely .. Farm spiderling silks, bear and cat petls in Crescent Reach, as well as any other tradeskill supply .. they don't sell for huge amounts each, but easy to get 100s of the ones that sell for 5-20pp each (or more depending on server).
Also watching /bazaar and /barter for price differennces, you can make alot of money quickly once you have a starting pool.
Population is thin to non-existant on classic leveling zones, but if you follow your leveling with either as mentioned, TSS zones, or the current Hot Zones there is almost always someone in them, with a few exceptions of zones people just don't like to adventure in (Warslik's Woods and Trakanon's as examples of the previous set of hot zones :( ... I still like both zones 'cept for the new fog in TT is horrid).
Tutorial is generally packed with people to level to 10 in, and can get soem starter equipment there.
Crescent Reach 20 level quested armor is great to do as well, to save money over buying twink gear in the bazaar, also since you'll probably out-level it fast. Refer to Kimem Saydel
Whatever class you pick, working on the appropriate tradeskill to make your own cultured armor will be advantageous, if you want to go that way. It's my current plan with all alts on other servers than my main, where I have much less pp and cultured armor is often some of the best to get.
Think I'll stop there for the moment, until you have other specific questions, or I get around to making a list of good items / links / etc. to do as a new toon. So many options now-a-days for leveling, earning pp, and gearing up, it can be confusing and hard to pick the path for your toons.
Yther Ore.
Also watching /bazaar and /barter for price differennces, you can make alot of money quickly once you have a starting pool.
Population is thin to non-existant on classic leveling zones, but if you follow your leveling with either as mentioned, TSS zones, or the current Hot Zones there is almost always someone in them, with a few exceptions of zones people just don't like to adventure in (Warslik's Woods and Trakanon's as examples of the previous set of hot zones :( ... I still like both zones 'cept for the new fog in TT is horrid).
Tutorial is generally packed with people to level to 10 in, and can get soem starter equipment there.
Crescent Reach 20 level quested armor is great to do as well, to save money over buying twink gear in the bazaar, also since you'll probably out-level it fast. Refer to Kimem Saydel
Whatever class you pick, working on the appropriate tradeskill to make your own cultured armor will be advantageous, if you want to go that way. It's my current plan with all alts on other servers than my main, where I have much less pp and cultured armor is often some of the best to get.
Think I'll stop there for the moment, until you have other specific questions, or I get around to making a list of good items / links / etc. to do as a new toon. So many options now-a-days for leveling, earning pp, and gearing up, it can be confusing and hard to pick the path for your toons.
Yther Ore.
Again, thanks for all the feedback. A few questions though:
Someone mentioned something about buying Secrets of Faydwer instead of the Anniversary pack. Isn't Secrets just the latest expansion on it's own? I don't have EQ installed on my computer, nor the disks I had before, so I was planning on getting the Anniversary since it's the only one I saw that had all the expansions, except for Secrets I believe.
Also, 100k plat is seriously going for 10 dollars now? About the time I left I heard of some "plat dupe" bug or whatever that was going around, and people were starting to have large amounts of plat, but it was no where near as cheap as that is. I'm not going to purchase ANYTHING in-game for currency though, but that is almost a little disheartening to know plat is worth that little now. Is it that common for people to be carrying around hundreds of thousands of platinum?
I think my original question has been answered though. I basically wanted to know if starting over from scratch was going to leave me by myself in every zone I was in until 60 or 70 or so. It seems to be easier to solo up until the higher levels now though, so I won't base what class I choose off of that.
Sorry if these questions have been answered before I just thought I'd reply again in this thread since it's already open. I appreciate all the help though!
Someone mentioned something about buying Secrets of Faydwer instead of the Anniversary pack. Isn't Secrets just the latest expansion on it's own? I don't have EQ installed on my computer, nor the disks I had before, so I was planning on getting the Anniversary since it's the only one I saw that had all the expansions, except for Secrets I believe.
Also, 100k plat is seriously going for 10 dollars now? About the time I left I heard of some "plat dupe" bug or whatever that was going around, and people were starting to have large amounts of plat, but it was no where near as cheap as that is. I'm not going to purchase ANYTHING in-game for currency though, but that is almost a little disheartening to know plat is worth that little now. Is it that common for people to be carrying around hundreds of thousands of platinum?
I think my original question has been answered though. I basically wanted to know if starting over from scratch was going to leave me by myself in every zone I was in until 60 or 70 or so. It seems to be easier to solo up until the higher levels now though, so I won't base what class I choose off of that.
Sorry if these questions have been answered before I just thought I'd reply again in this thread since it's already open. I appreciate all the help though!
Yea, Secrets of Faydwer is a complete pack, you cannot get it as a single expansion (or couldn't, that may have changed now, it was everything or nothing with it).
Yea, platnium is pretty cheap to buy, but it's easy to make also. The best cultured armor goes for around 250-500K / piece + similar prices for the augs for them, to give an idea of how much money there is in game. Unique / No longer drop items often go for 4MP or more. Don't those numbers scare you tho, low level twink gear is still generally the same price it used to be, with some exceptions and variablility.
I can't tell you which way to go, it depends on you. Quested gear, you earn, but can't resell (it's no trade or no drop in old world terms). Twink gear won't last too long, but you can resell it to get your money back. Cultural gear is great, but like quested gear is no trade once equipped. Quested gear you can work on while experiencing, and getting cultural supplies you can work on while experiencing, but both require you to hunt either specific mobs or zones, or specific types of mobs. Cultural supplies are tradeable tho, and rather inexpensive at lower levels.
One big draw back to cultural is doing the quest to be able to make the armor patterns / molds is rather difficult if you want to make the 15-20 armor at 15 .. some of the mobs tend to be 20-30 level that you need to kill for most of the races. Some easier than others of course. But by the time you're in the 30s, the quests are easy and you can make the 35-40 armor. I only did the 15 level armor twice so far, and both times had higher level toons help me out with them. After that initial part, the aug pattern quests are sometimes a pita since they depend on random updates, but the mob difficulty is appropriate for the level of aug you're working on.
Stopping before I start rambling, if I'm not already! :)
Yther Ore.
Yea, platnium is pretty cheap to buy, but it's easy to make also. The best cultured armor goes for around 250-500K / piece + similar prices for the augs for them, to give an idea of how much money there is in game. Unique / No longer drop items often go for 4MP or more. Don't those numbers scare you tho, low level twink gear is still generally the same price it used to be, with some exceptions and variablility.
I can't tell you which way to go, it depends on you. Quested gear, you earn, but can't resell (it's no trade or no drop in old world terms). Twink gear won't last too long, but you can resell it to get your money back. Cultural gear is great, but like quested gear is no trade once equipped. Quested gear you can work on while experiencing, and getting cultural supplies you can work on while experiencing, but both require you to hunt either specific mobs or zones, or specific types of mobs. Cultural supplies are tradeable tho, and rather inexpensive at lower levels.
One big draw back to cultural is doing the quest to be able to make the armor patterns / molds is rather difficult if you want to make the 15-20 armor at 15 .. some of the mobs tend to be 20-30 level that you need to kill for most of the races. Some easier than others of course. But by the time you're in the 30s, the quests are easy and you can make the 35-40 armor. I only did the 15 level armor twice so far, and both times had higher level toons help me out with them. After that initial part, the aug pattern quests are sometimes a pita since they depend on random updates, but the mob difficulty is appropriate for the level of aug you're working on.
Stopping before I start rambling, if I'm not already! :)
Yther Ore.
Ok, I'm still kind of confused about the expansion packs. From what I've read online, Secrets of Faydwer is the 14th or so expansion. You're saying it is a "complete pack." Everything I am reading is saying it's just an expansion. The way I understand it is since I don't have the game installed right now and no discs, the easiest thing to do is buy the Anniversary Edition that comes with the original game and every expansion except for Secrets. Secrets is just a stand-alone expansion that still requires the original game and all other expansions...right?
Digital Downloads
NOTE: You'll have to log in prior to clicking the link .. and it may not show up but SoF is a complete pack.
Explains how SoF is a complete set of all expansions + original game + 30-day free for new accounts, etc.
Yther Ore.
==== EDIT ====
Link doesn't work right if not logged into Sony site first
==============
Edited, Mar 2nd 2008 4:14pm by Yther
NOTE: You'll have to log in prior to clicking the link .. and it may not show up but SoF is a complete pack.
Explains how SoF is a complete set of all expansions + original game + 30-day free for new accounts, etc.
Yther Ore.
==== EDIT ====
Link doesn't work right if not logged into Sony site first
==============
Edited, Mar 2nd 2008 4:14pm by Yther
Ah, ok. I was thinking to myself that everything I was reading just showed it as a single expansion so I didn't understand. I didn't see the Sony digital download pack that has it all, thanks.
sLarkin wrote:
Ah, ok. I was thinking to myself that everything I was reading just showed it as a single expansion so I didn't understand. I didn't see the Sony digital download pack that has it all, thanks.
Just to confirm whats already been said, if you goto the Digital Downloads section of the station store, and select the USD$39.99 "Secrets Of Faydwer All-In-One" at the top, it will give you _all_ previous expansions as well as SoF. As you can't currently buy SoF seperately, its a much better deal because otherwise you will pay for the $20 pack, then have to pay $40 for SoF. I was somewhat annoyed when I did exactly that when I returned.
This is the expansion by itself isn't it?
sLarkin wrote:
This is the expansion by itself isn't it?
It could well be, but buying the 20 dollar bundle plus that is still more then the SoF bundle.
Yah it is, but downloading 10gigs at 200kb/s would take quite some time too. I was just making sure I wasn't crazy when I was talking about just the expansion pack.
Also, maybe it's just OCD or something, but I feel a little more comfortable having the stuff on discs as well.
Also, maybe it's just OCD or something, but I feel a little more comfortable having the stuff on discs as well.
I know if you buy the Anniversary Edition, you will still have to download most of EQ, the majority of Anniversary Edition files are out-dated. Just a heads up on the amount of downloading by buying on the disks.
I'm not sure how much is required on the SoF disks since I did the digital download.
There's a thread somewhere that states the estimated download time of either upto TBS or SoF, and I think it's around 12hrs with high speed, and I was thinking it was around 8hrs with the Anniversary disks after the installation of the disks.
I don't even install disks even when I buy them, I just add the code and use the patcher to download them. Generally the majority of disks files are updated by the time the disks are published.
That's just me though, and if you were on modem, I'd say definitely buy them, as dial-up is around 7-10 days non-stop to downloading to do it from scratch, but eevn with the disks, will be several days of non-stop downloading, but days is a big difference versus a few hours :D
Yther Ore.
I'm not sure how much is required on the SoF disks since I did the digital download.
There's a thread somewhere that states the estimated download time of either upto TBS or SoF, and I think it's around 12hrs with high speed, and I was thinking it was around 8hrs with the Anniversary disks after the installation of the disks.
I don't even install disks even when I buy them, I just add the code and use the patcher to download them. Generally the majority of disks files are updated by the time the disks are published.
That's just me though, and if you were on modem, I'd say definitely buy them, as dial-up is around 7-10 days non-stop to downloading to do it from scratch, but eevn with the disks, will be several days of non-stop downloading, but days is a big difference versus a few hours :D
Yther Ore.
42 posts
If you haven't already bought the anniversary Edition... dont do it!!! Just buy the new Expansion Secrets of Faydwer... it comes with all of the other expansions as well, along with the classic EQ. And it will offer more game content, centralized around level 65 and up, but it is still a good thing to already have and have active. Plus you can either get the Anniversary edition for $20 (US), or you can pay $30 (US) for the Secrets of Faydwer.
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