EQ2 FAQ for new and potential playersFollow

How does this game compare to WoW?

EQ2 is more challenging, slightly slower leveling speed, more group oriented, though any class can solo to the top level. Grouping is encouraged in EQ2 by giving greater experience gain and/or loot when fighting appropriate enemies. Grouping in WoW was beneficial only in limited circumstances, and most players solo most of their way to the level cap. Since more people group regularly in EQ2, pick-up groups are less dreaded than they are in WoW. The EQ2 player community is generally considered more helpful and mature.

WoW is a fun game, and a good introduction to MMO's, but for many people lacks the depth of traditional MMO's. EQ2 is like a traditional MMO with the 95% of the tedious time sinks and balance issues removed. WoW is focused squarely on combat, and there is not a lot to do in the game that doesn't involve fighting. Many WoW plyers complain the there isn't much variety to your game after you get to the top level. EQ2 adds deep crafting, character customization via the Acievements system, quests that involve exploration and collecting and an extensive housing system. Any of the 16 EQ2 races can be any of the 24 EQ2 classes. There are no ques for login.


How does this game compare to FFXI?

EQ2 is more solo-friendly and balanced than FFXI. FFXI has "Gimp" classes ("jobs" in FFXI parlance) that make it difficult to find a group when you play that class. There are certain items in FFXI that players are expected to have in order to be considered for grouping (e.g "Sniper Rings"). EQ2's economy has not been ruined by plat farmers, and is quite healthy.


How does this game compare to EQ1 (EQLive)?

EQ2 is not as "hardcore" as EQ1, which is the definition of a traditional MMO, with most of it's tedious time sinks still intact. The interface in EQ2 is easier to navigate. Downtime for power (mana) and health regeneration is drastically lower. There are no corpse runs.

Grouping is not necessary for any class, and there are no "Holy Trinity" type class balance issues. EQ2 has much more solo content for all classes, and all classes can solo efficiently (some more so than others, though). You can log in for an hour or less and accomplish something meaningful. There are many more quests and they're much easier to keep track of and progress. EQ2 is not as Raid oriented as EQ1 has become. EQ2 can be more restrictive in terms of places to level and level requirements on gear, but the Echos of Faydwer expansion address that with new content for all levels.


Will my system run EQ2?

EQ2 was built with the long term future in mind. Even now there are no systems that can run the game at a smooth framerate in raids, crowded cities or in furious, particle effect laden combat with all graphics settings maxxed out.

Minimum Requirements on the Box are:

Pentium 3, 1Ghz
512 MB RAM
DirectX 9 Video Card with pixel and vertex shaders and 64 MB RAM
56K Internet Connection

This system will run the game at the lowest graphic settings and it will NOT look like screenshots you may have seen.

Recommended Specs are:

Pentium 4, 2 Ghz
1 GB RAM
128 MB Video Card
Broadband Intenet

The game will run well on "Balanced" settings, looking as good as any game on the Market now.


What types of servers are there?

Standard PvE

Roleplayig PvE
There are 2 of these, Antonia Bayle and Lucan De'Lere.
They are both quite high population.

PvP Standard (Queynos vs. Freeport)

PvP Roleplaying (Queynos vs. Freeport)
PvP servers were started about 18 months after the initial launch

Exchange Servers (PvP and PvE)
Players can buy and sell to each other for real money.
You cannot move characters to or from these servers.

Server List Page: http://eq2players.station.sony.com/en/servers_index.vm


How has EQ2 changed since launch?

Some of the major things that have been changed or added to the game since it was launched:

- Subclass progression is gone - You now start as the class you want. For example you no longer start as a generic Fighter, choose Crusader at level 10 and then Paladin at level 20. You start at level 1 as a Paladin. Certain classes are limited to one city.
- Qeynos and Freeport have their own Newbie Islands with different NPC's and quests. The struggle between the two cities has been given greater emphasis.
- Most gear is attunable, all crafted gear is and some dropped. Most quested items are no-trade. The better the gear, the less likely you will be able to sell or give it to another player after you use it.
- You no longer need to retreive a shard after dying, the consequences of death are experience debt, 10% damage to your gear and temporary stat reduction.
- A large amount of solo content, MoB's, quests and instances has been added to all zones - soloing to the level cap is easier
- Many major dungeons, like Blackburrow, have been overhauled to be tougher - i.e. pretty much group only - and provide better loot
- Almost all access quests have been removed
- No more tradeskill interdependency - you can make everything you need
- No more tradeskill subcombines - all recipes use only raws and fuel to create the final item
- Offline selling through Brokers and in-house sales containers. Other players can come to your home and buy direct from your containers and save the broker fee.
- You can mail items and coin between Qeynos and Freeport
- Imbued tradeskill items - adds a proc or clicky to a basic item
- Transmuting - break down items for materials to creadte adornments that add power to gear.
- Tinkering - Make items that offer abilities your class might not have or just-for-fun stuff.
- Tradeskill writs which give status and profit for crafting common items.
- Griffon Towers were built in Nektulos Forest and Thundering Steppes
- The Guild Patron system was removed and Guilds no longer lose status when members leave.
- You can mentor lower level players, reducing your level to theirs. They get bonus experience and you get experience as though you were at the lower level. You can do this without having to change your gear or the spells on your hotbar - they automatically scale down.
- Innumerable tweaks and adjustments to class skills, see especially Live Updates 13 and 24
- Dueling has been added on all servers
- Arenas on all servers for small group PvP using pets/avatars with different skill sets and spells. Think Counter-Strike in a fantasy world.
- PvP servers have been added. PvP is basically Queynos vs. Freeport. See the FAQ linked below for more information.
- New optional 'SOGA' character models were added with a more Anime look.
- The gods are back - Run quests to show your devotion to the god of your choice and 'sacrifice' your loot on your altar for limited use but very powerful buffs and spells

All live updates are summarized here: http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=stat&message.id=269


What is the best class?

There is really no class that is considered better than all others, and conversely no class that is unwanted. All classes have something to contribute to a group. Any "Archtype" (Fighter, Priest,Mage or Scout) can perform their function as well as any other in standard content. Each class has strengths they can put to use in taking on more challenging content in various situations for better experience and loot.


What is the best race for class X?

There is little advantage for any race over the others in terms of class performance. There may be a slight stat bonus at the beginning of your career but it will soon be unnoticable as level grows and your equipment gets better. The same applies to tradeskill classes, incidentally.


Can I solo?

Every class can solo to the level cap, and there are many solo MoB's and quests to be found in every zone. Some classes can solo more efficiently than others, such as Necromancers, Conjurors and Monks. Grouping, while not required, is encouraged and will generally net you a better rate of experience gain and loot.


What types of quests are there?

Heritage - Long quest with a detailed plot, hard to complete with a very good reward. They often tie into other quests like access or language. Usually requires at least a group, if not a raid to complete at the suggested level. If you have the MoB's involved well grayed out you may be able to solo it. Can also involve some camping for MoB's, but we're talking a couple hours max, not days a la EQ1. Awards lots of personal status and guild experience (even if grayed out), plus a very nice item which you can place on display in your home when you're done wearing it. A.K.A. "HQ"

Quest Lines - Quests that open up subsequent quests upon completion, extending over a half-dozen or so quests all together. Each quest gives a reward as opposed to a series of steps that must be completed to finish an individual quest. Like Matsy Rollingpin's quest line in Antonica, where each quest grants food items and experience. They usually have you speaking with someone who will offer another independent quest. Fill up that book!

Sabatoge - Solo quests to sabatoge an opposing faction of Qeynos or Freeport. They start off outside the city doing things like destorying their road signs or stockpiles. They move on to more and more difficult quests that involve sneaking into the cities themselves. They give you faction with the benefiting city. They are given by an NPC in Antonica (Name? A Dark Elf by a tree near the North Qeynos gate) or The Commonlands (Gil MacMartin). Obviously they will not give you the quests unless you're on their side.

Access - Some instance zones are restricted until you complete an access quest. Most of these were removed in a recent update.

City Task (Writ) - the four guilds in the city (fighter, scout, mage, priest) want you to do things for them. There are quests for each tier, so if you're lower end of a tier you might need a group, but they're usually solo. There are also raids for entire guilds to participate in. The quest raises faction with one guild and lowers with all the others (still true?). If you get enough faction with one of the guilds it unlocks special items on the city merchants and grants special titles. They also grant guild experience. You can also do tradeskill writs once you reach level 20 in a tradeskill which reimburse you for fuel cost, award some additional coin and give status and faction; these come in either timed or non-timed versions, with the timed version offering a bigger reward due to the chance of failure.

Tradeskill - Tutorial/quest granted by an NPC in any tradeskill instance to help you decide which class you like. You make crafted items between levels 1 and 9. Rewards tradeskill experience, free standard Artisan level 1 - 9 recipe books and ultimately a tunic which gives +1 to all crafting skills.

Collection - When you find items on the ground marked by a shimmering "?" or "!" you can gather it, then examine it to see if it can be added to a collection. "!" are for book page collections where some pieces are dropped by MoB's or found by examining an item in the world. When you complete a set you turn them in for experience and (usually) an item. Among the items granted are gear which will benefit you in the tier where you find the collection items, a non-combat pet or a item you can place in your home.

Language - Learn the language of MoB's (as opposed to player races). Usually started by inspecting an item which drops off the MoB type (e.g. a "Cananite Threat Totem" from a gnoll.) Complete by collecting and examine X number of the same item. Grants experience and the ability to undersand MoB's. Not only will you understand what they say when they're fighting you but sometimes you need to know their language to get or advance a quest.

Lore and Legend - Dig into the history and anatomy of a monster race, ostensibly to better defeat them, though no such benefit is granted. Usually started by inspecting items in the world. You need to get auto-updates for 3 things accomplished only by killing the MoB's. You also need to collect 5 body parts that drop off the MoB type (When inspected it will read "can be used to learn more about the ____"). You can get the drop items when you do not have the quest. They sell to NPC's for a few copper and can be purchased from other players via the broker. Awards experience and a book and a special display-only weapon that can be placed in your home.

Tomes - Granted by a dropped book. Reading the book starts the quest and gives a task, usually kill X of MoB Y. When you complete the task you can read the next page and so on until you finish 10 or so pages. Grants experience and a book for your home.

Catalog - Complete a catalog of various creatures in a zone for Norrathian Geographic or someone. They are started either by an NPC or more frequently in a dropped or purchased book. The first time you accept a collection quest you are granted new ability "Catalog Creature" which you can add to a hotbar. You will be tasked to catalog 15 - 20 creatures for a book version, mostly common MoBs but a few that are harder to find. You have to find the specifically named MoB to get the update. You need to get within cataloging range of the creature (which is just outside typical aggro range) and use your ability. If the MoB aggros you can still catalog it while you fight or before you run away. Movement interrupts cataloging. Once you have them all you get an automatic completion update, and are granted very good experience if you're in the same level range as the zone.

World Event - Major quest line that usually ends with a raid level encounter. Once the raid is done it's gone, but a solo/group quest may remain, such as the Unlocking Frogloks quest.

Hallmark - Racial or class quest, like the quests given by the racial mentors in your starting town. Class advancement Hallmark quests are gone since subclasses were removed.

Armor - Successive quest line grants pieces of a matching set of armor. Starts at level 20. A.K.A. "AQ", or "AQ1", AQ2", etc.

Diety - Prove your devotion to the god of your choice to get an altar where you can sacrifice loot and money to get very powerful buffs and limited use spells. Different dieties offer better rewards for particular classes.


How can I make lots of money?

There is currently no real need for players to accumulate large amounts of money. One can easily get by on the money they earn through normal adventuring and questing. If you want to make extra coin, the task can be accomplished in a number of ways: 1) Taking up a tradeskill can provide extra income, though it can be time-consuming. Plan to harvest your own raw materials because you will not be able to sell gear at a profit if you buy raws off the broker. (Don't take up a trade just to make money if you otherwise don't like crafting.) 2) Harvesting raw materials to sell to other players is very rewarding, just keep on top of what your server community is demanding - usually hard metals, pelts and roots. 3) Collection items can be sold to other players for good money. 4) Good old farming can provide income. Green MoB's drop all loot and coin and are fast kills for most classes.


How healthy is the game economy?

Generally very healthy. Higher levels somewhat more so than lower. At the high levels players can reasonably expect to afford the items they want to buy using the money they gained by normal adventuring.

When the no-subs crafting revamp went live along with the two T7 Heritage Quests that require fairly high crafting level to complete all servers saw a precipitous price drop in all tiers due to the number of new crafters. It is also much quicker and easier now for higher level crafters to create items in lower tiers. Prices on most crafted items have stabilized lower than they were proir to the revamp. This is a great boon for adventurers, not so much for tradeskillers, though there is still money to be made if you do some research into what sells and what may be in short supply on your server. Transmuting has generated a big demand for the better lower level gear drops. Broker prices on those items have risen sharply and removed most of them from the market, creating better markets for the crafted alternatives, and allowing lower level players to make more money than their predecessors by selling the loot they don't need on the broker.

SOE takes a hard line against plat sellers and their farmers on their non-Exchange servers. Accounts are regularly banned in large numbers for taking part in such activity. It seems that sellers of in-game items for real money have had only a minor effect on the game economy.


How do I sell to other players?

You sell to other players via the Broker NPC's, who are found in all tradeskill instances and in various places around town. Brokers for you home city charge a 20% markup. There are also black market, or fence brokers from the opposing city so players there can buy from you, but with a 40% markup.

To list items on the Broker, visit any broker and double click him or her. Click on the "Sell" tab. You will see a number of slots at the top of the window in which you can place any empty container into which you can place items for sale. The number of slots depends on the size of your home. Drag the items you want to sell into the main area of the screen. Drag like items on top of each other to stack them (on screen, not necessarily in the box). As the box fills up you are informed how many slots it has used and remaining. Next, set a price for each item and it will be listed for sale. These items will remain listed on the brokers for up to 24 hours from the time you log off, and if they are unlisted, they will return as soon as you log back in, you don't need to re-list them. Only one character per server can have items listed. If you log on another character with items for sale, they will replace the original character's items.

Sales containers (e.g. Weapon Racks) are placed on the broker as usual but can also be placed in your home and allow other players to visit your home to buy from the container and avoid the broker fee. Again, the number of containers you can place depends on the size of your home. You can access your containers to add, remove and change prices and collect your coin at any broker or a market board in your home. These containers hold many more items than standard bags or strongboxes, but be aware they are made from rare woods only, and can be pricey.

What is the crafting processs?

There are 9 primary and 2 secondary tradeskill classes in the game. You can only take up one trade and you cannot change it later, so choose wisely (or make an alt :)

Scholars:
Alchemist - Potions, Poisons and Fighter combat arts (Essences)
Sage - Spells for Mages and Priests
Jeweler - Jewelery, belts, Secondary slot items for casters and Scout Combat Arts (Runes)

Craftsmen:
Provisioner - Food and Drink
Carpenter - Housing Items (furniture), Containers and Repair Kits
Woodworker - Wood weapons (Bows and Staffs), Small Shields, Harvesting Tools, Ammo and Totems (work like potions)

Outfitter:
Tailor - Cloth and Leather Armor, Bags, Casual Clothing and Hex Dolls
Armorer - Chain and Plate Armor and Large Shields
Weaponsmiths - Metal Weapons

All classes can make adornments from transmuted materials.

Secondary Tradeskills:
Tinkerer - Gnomish items that give abilities not all classes have and some fun items
Transmuter - Break down items for materiald used by transmuters and other trades to make adornments

Everyone starts out as an Artisan, then at level 10 you choose a subclass from Scholar, Craftsman or Outfitter, then at level 20 you choose your final class. Each class has a main skill, such as Metalworking for Weaponsmiths or Fletching for Woodworkers.

Crafting is tiered the same way adventuring is, raw materials for each ten level tier are found in the appropriate tier zone, and the items you produce are meant to be used in the 10 level tier in which you made them, at either level x0 or x2. Crafting requires raw materials, fuel and sometimes components bought from crafting NPC's. Raw materials are harvested from nodes found throughout the game world. There are two grades or (confusingly referred in game as) tiers of items in each crafting tier, Handcrafted and Mastercrafted. Handcrafted items are made from common harvests and Mastercrafted from rare harvests which come from the same nodes, only much less often. Rare harvests are much easier to get on lower tiers, and become increasingly more rare as you go up.

There are types of harvest nodes and I'll show the main items they are used in as the primary component:

Ore:
Hard Metals - Metal Weapons, Metal Armor, Large Shields
Loams - Potions, Poisons and Fighter and Scout Combat Arts

Rocks:
Soft Metals - Jewelery and Mage Spells
Gems - Jewelery and Priest Spells

Wood - Furniture, Wooden Weapons and Containers

Roots - Cloth Armor, Paintings and Rugs and Hex Dolls

Dens:
Meat - Food
Pelts - Leather Armor, Bags and a few housing items

Bushes:
Coffee beans, Tea Leaves, Fruits and Vegetables - all for food and drink

Fish - Food

To harvest, you simply run up to a node and "use" it. You get three harvests from each node which will give you between 1 and 10 items and/or 1 rare item. Harvesting is based on a skill, one for each node. Your skill must be at a certain level to harvest for each tier, and is capped at the higher of your adventure or tradeskill level * 5. When your skill is at the lower end for the tier you can fail at your harvest, but you can keep trying until you get 3 successes. As you go up in skill you will stop failing, get more items on average from each pull and a better chance to harvest a rare item. Harvesting tools knock time off the harvest action. There is a set of tools for each tier with the appropriate level requirement (but adv. OR trade), knocking off more time as you go up.

Each node also has a chance to grant an item used in imbuing, which has a light based name (sparkling, Glowing, Luminous, Scintillating...). There is one type for each tier. Any inbuing item can be used in any imbued recipe for the same tier. Imbuing adds a proc or clicky effect to a regular common or rare item.

So now you that have stacks of raw materials how do you make something useful with them? The actual creation of an item requires you to have the recipe. Recipes are found in books and are scribed like spells into your personal recipe book. There is one book for each grade, level and class. Common recipe books are purchased from tradeskill NPC's. Recipe books for the rare items can be purchased from levels 1 to 10, thereafter they are fairly common drops by MoB's of the same level. You can usually find the book you need on the broker at a reasonable cost.

Items are created at crafting stations found in tradeskill instances and out in the main city zones. Each station creates different items and uses a certain kind of fuel. Fuel is purchased from a nearby NPC, who also sells other components you may need like dough, liquid or reagents. There is a different and more expensive fuel for each tier.

Forge - Hard Metal Items - Fuel: Coal
Loom - Cloth and Leather Items - Fuel: Filament
Woodworking Table - Wooden Items - Fuel: Sandpaper
Scribing Desk - Spells - Fuel: Insense
Stove and Still - Food and Drink - Fuel: Kindling
Workbench - Jewelery and Scout Runes - Fuel: Coal
Chemistry Table - Potions, Poisons and Fighter Essences - Fuel: Candle

Completing items gives experience just like killing MoB's, and you go up in tradeskill level just like adventure level. The first time you make a pristine version of an item you get a huge experience bonus. Make sure you make at least one of each item to pristine quality to get the most experience and level as fast as possible. Making items at your level will give you the most experience but once you hit level 20 doing tradeskill writs will cover your fuel cost and give you some extra coin on top of that. There are timed writs and non-timed and both grant oin, status and faction as their reward. Timed writs are harder, requiring you to make 6 items in 8 minutes to be successful, but they give more coin, status and faction. If you fail a timed writ you lose the reward completely and you have to start over. Untimed writs allow you to make 6 items at your own pace. You might want to grind on writs if you don't have money to burn on fuel. Your guild will appreciate it too. Writs are started by an NPC in the tradeskill instance or near the crafting stations outside in other zones.

To create an item, double click the station. Your recipe book will pop up showing all the items you have recipes for on that station sorted by level. You can filter to find the recipe you want. Double click a recipe and a window will pop up showing the components and fuel required. Components and fuel come from your inventory, so if they're on your person you can make the recipe. If you don't have an item or not enough it will show in red.

Click the "Begin" button to start the actual creation. The goal is to move the blue progress bar up as far as possible while keeping the green durability bar as high as possible. As progress increases you will step through each of 4 levels of quality - crude, shaped, reular and pristine. Higher quality items have better stats except in tier 1. The crafting 'encounter' happens in rounds. Each round will usually be either successful (+50 progress and -10 durability) or a failure (-50 durability). The success rate is tied to your skill level for your profession and the level of the recipe compared to your level. Occasionally you will hve a Critical Success (+100 Progress) or a Critical Failure (-100 Durability).

Now, you don't just sit there watching and hope for the best. You must participate in the process just the same as in adventure combat. This is done by way of your tradeskill arts. Every 10 levels you get a set of 3 arts. The first set basically adds to progress: one reduces success chance and adds progress, one uses power and adds progress, and one reduces durability and adds progress. The next set add to durability using the same concepts as the first set does with progress. The arts alternate between durability and progress from there. It's hard to get to pristine in levels 1 - 9 because you have no way to restore durability when it drops. Once you get to level 10 you can use your durability buffs to bring it back up. You can and should use up to 3 buffs in each round, and they remain in effect for 6 seconds. (Note that's longer than the round, you'll see why that's important soon.) If the art is in effect at the end of the round, you gain it's buff. You can use any level art at any time, however your highest level arts give you a much better chance at improving your skill than lower level ones. You will need to use lower level arts because you will want to add progress or durability depending on how your individual encounter is going. The gotcha is that lower level arts will not take effect if a higher level art is in effect. You will see a message stating that the art would not take effect even though it appears to have been used and the recast timer will be in effect.

At the beginning of each round there is a chance for an event to occur. An icon will appear at the bottom of the crafting window with the name of the event. You must note the icon and use the art with the same icon (from any tier) to 'counter' the event. If you use the wrong art the icon will turn red and you're screwed. There are three levels of severity for each event with increasingly bad effects if you fail to counter it. They all add to your chance for failure in the round and the worst one will hit you for health or power loss. If you counter the event sucessfully it will turn green and you will have a guaranteed successful round.

You can also get an event that will help you. To get the bonus you have to counter the same way you do with a bad event. The most common is "_______'s Insight" for your class. It adds 25 to your skill level for 8 minutes, thus effectively making you 5 levels higher than you are and making you more successful in general. Note that it will drop if you zone. You might see this event once every hour or so of tradeskill grinding. The next two events are exceedingly rare. You might see them once in your career if you're lucky. "Flawless ________" will give you all your components back and give you an instant pristine final product. It's nice if you're making a rare item at the time. The last in "Favor of Innovation" which gives you a free rare raw material and instant pristine.

The crafting buffs that use power use it as a percentage rather than as a fixed amount. That being the case it's to your advantage to have the smallest power pool possible while getting the best possible power regeneration. You can reduce your power pool by cancelling any buffs you may have that add to power and by removing any gear you're equipping that adds to power directly or indirectly through your primary stat. (aka "Crafting Naked") Power regenerates in crafting as out of combat. You can add to your regeneration the usual ways: drink, buffs, totems, potions or flowing thought gear. You can regenerate power the same fixed amount rate based on your level but since it's used as a percentage it will come off in smaller amounts when you reduce your pool, so you can spam the buffs longer and possibly indefinitely without running out of power.

My method of crafting pristine at the fastest rate is as follows:

First of all, I craft naked (actually I wear a fancy casual dress that has no stats). I have a hotbar set up with my tradeskill arts for progress and durability and I set it to the first hotbar slot so I use the number key row to cast the arts. When I start an item I use all three of my best progress buffs each round. (Note that your best buff is not necessarily attached to your highest level art. Look at your lower level sets to see if they add more progress or durability.) A round has started when you see the numbers float up showing your progress and durability changes. At that point hit all three and stop. You can que up arts, so hit all three in succession right away. It is not necessary or helpful to spam them all as fast as you can recast them. If I get an event at the beginning of a round I counter it, wait for the icon to go green and then hit the other two buffs if practical. If you're using more than one level make sure you hit the same level or higher to successfully counter. Countering can add an element of delay if you need the same counter you hit last while the recast timer for that art runs down, and may throw off the pattern for a round or two if you try to get the other two in, so you might want to skip hitting any more arts that round to avoid missing an event counter in the next. It would be exceedingly awful if you messed up countering a Favor of Innovation. When durability dips down below the last third of the highest bar, I switch to durability buffs to bring it back up near the top, then go back to progress. As you near the home stretch you can concentrate on progress more to finish off the item, bearing in mind that a bad round will knock off about half a bar of durability when you're using progress buffs. If the worst happens and your durability drops you to the next lower bar (losing pristine) you will almost always be able to bring it back up using your durability buffs because your progress will be drastically slowed down.

Using this method I get pristine 99% of the time, only failing if I get multiple critical failures (not counting the times I get distracted by Real Life. :P ) I also make things fast enough to successfully complete the hardest timed tradeskill writs every time.


How do I start tradeskills?

If you're still on the Newbie Island, hail the NPC behind the desk at the top floor of the tradeskill instance, where you zone in. If you've moved on to your starting town, you will need to join a wholesaler society (There is one in each town) and hail the NPC at the bottom of the stairs in Qeynos, or at the top in Freeport. He will give you the level 2 recipe book and allow you to start crafting. There is an NPC in the wholesaler instance who will offer you the "Choosing a Profession" quest which will net you all 3 - 9 recipe books for free, and a tradeskill tunic that gives +1 to all crafting skills. You may want to harvest a couple dozen of each item on the newbie island or in the outlying quest zones in your city (e.g. Oakmyst Forest or The Graveyard) before you begin the quest.

You can find extensive tradeskill information on this site and at EQ2Traders.com ( http://eq2.eqtraders.com )


How do I take up a secondary tradeskill? How do they work?

Secondary tradeskills are learned from NPC's on the ButcherBlock docks or in Kelethin (Yes, you have to own Echos of Faydwer). They are skill based rather than leveled. You get a chance at skillup by for each item you craft, and the crafting process is the same as for primary tradeskills. Transmuters can get skillups by transmuting items up to skill level 100. Your skill cap is limited by the higher of either your adventuring or tradeskill level, set at 5 skill points per level (max 350). Recipes are skill level based and get easier as you raise the skill. Recipe books are purchased from the group of NPC's that taught you the trade. You can drop either trade and learn the other by talking to a teacher, but you lose all skill earned and start from scratch.


How does one travel the game world?

You can get around by several means.

Running with (or without) speed buffs. Some classes (scouts and a few priests) get speed buffs as a class ability/spell. Anyone can buy totems or potions at a fairly low cost that will increase running speed, and there are equipment items (such as Journeyman's Boots) which add to run speed. Neither of these is as fast as the fastest horses. Everyone gets a "Sprint" ability that increases movement speed by 40% at the cost of their available power. Sprint ends after either 1 minute or when power runs out, whichever comes first.

Horses are available at level 1 that provide good increase in travel speed, between 26 and 47%. Horses are quite expensive. Belonging to a high level guild allows you access to the fastest mounts and gives you a discounted price on all mounts. You will pay roughly half the platinum plus a sizeable amount of your personal earned status.

There is a mid 40's level quest you can do to get a magic carpet with a 40% speed increase.

There are also griffon towers in certain zones. They don't take you to across the continent to other zones, but to the another area of the same zone. The will take you from point A to point B much faster than any mount or speed buff. If you know the flight path and have good timing you can jump off the griffon before it gets to it's end point, but be careful, falling too far will kill you. As big as these zones are, griffon rides are a huge time-saver.

Cities have piers with "bells" that will transport you to various locations within the city and nearby locations outside the city. You can also buy tickets in your city's harbor zone to get to the docks in the tier 3 zones of Thundering Steppes and Nektulos Forest, where you will find bells that will take you to the higher level zones. The continent of Faydwer is linked via boats to and from the docks in ButcherBlock Mountains, Thundering Steppes or Nektulos. These boats work differently from bells in that an actual boat shows up every 8 minutes (?) and you need to get on and ride it to your destination - it's not instant travel.

Other players can move you about. Druids can port other players between druid rings found throughout the world. You must visit a druid ring and gather a leaf from a bush therein to be eligible to port to that ring. Temlplars can send you home to your bind point when your "Call of..." ability is still refreshing.


How do I upgrade my Spells/Combat Arts?

Once you get to level 20 or so you will always want to upgrade your sells from the basic level. How much you want to upgrade them depends on where you want to fight and how much money you have to throw around. Each level of a given spell improves the previous level by a small margin, the percentage improvement stays the same as you go up in level. Improved spells are also harder to resist, which can make a significant difference when you fight yellow or orange-con MoB's.

Scholars will make spells for you (or you can be one yourself). Some compensation for their time and expertise (level) is appropriate. They will also expect a fair market price to cover a rare raw material, unless you supply your own.

A note on Master level spells. Consider your investment carefully. Master I's are few and far between outside raids and very expensive to purchase from the broker. Some popular classes see their master I spells selling at double digit platinum on the broker. Generally speaking it's not worth it to get master spells unless you're heavily raiding at your level or you're at the level cap. Consider the rate of diminishing returns when upgrading from Apprentice 3 to Master I. Some spells come in "lines" which offer an improved version every 14 levels. Apprentice level spells will be an upgrade from a previous version's master I or II. Also be aware of which spells you will be offered at Master II when deciding what to buy. Try to use your Master II choics as a core ability (e.g. healing for priests, taunting for tanks)

These are ranked from weakest to most powerful along with the place to get them:

Apprentice 1 - Given automatically at the beginning of a lvl up to 50.
Apprentice 2 - Purchased from NPC vendors - only way to get post-50 spells
Apprentice 3 / 4 - Player crafted from common harvests and sold on the broker

Adept 1 - MoB dropped and sold by players on the broker
Adept 3 - Player crafted from rare harvests

Master 1 - Named/Epic level MoB drops from "master chests" and sold by players on the broker
Master 2 - Granted as a free upgrade - choice of one of 4 spells every 10 levels (on the "6" lvl)



Do I need to get all the expansions and Adventure Packs?

The first two released expansions, "Desert of Flames" and "Kingdom of Sky" are pretty much strictly for high level players. 45+ and 55+ respectively. You do not need them to get started, and they will not add much for lower levels. KoS adds the Achievement System for level 20+ players. The latest expansion, Echos of Faydwer adds a new continent with content for players of all levels, a new face, the Fae (fairies) with their own starting area, a new City - Kelethin, the secondary tradeskills and several other minor enhancements. You can grow a character from level 1 to 70 entirely in the new KoS zones. The KoS retail box comes with the original game and both previous expansion packs for around $40.00, the best value for someone new to EQ2.

The Adventure packs are "The Bloodline Chronicles", which is for level 30+ and "The Splitpaw Saga", which scales to your level and is for player levels 25 - 45 or so and "The Fallen Dynasty" is for levels 55+. All three have solo, group and raid content. If you have an SOE Station Access account the adventure packs are included in your subscription.


Miscellaneous Links:

Trial of the Isle (Demo): http://www.trialoftheisle.com/
EQ2 Players: http://eq2players.station.sony.com/
Official EQ2 Forums: http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2?no_redir=true
SOE EQ2 Live Update Page: http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board?board.id=stat
Furniture Pictures: http://eq2.eqtraders.com/articles/article_page.php?article=g9&menustr=070000000000
Guide to Heroic Opportunties: http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/...035#M132685
User Interfaces: http://www.eq2interface.com/
Free In-game Map Downloader: http://maps.eq2interface.com/
EQ2 Daily Podcast: http://www.eq2-daily.com/
PvP FAQ - http://eq2players.station.sony.com/en/news_ff.vm?FeatureName=pvp_combat&section=development

If you have lost or damaged your original CD - http://everquest2.station.sony.com/en/install


Edit - PvP FAQ- 03/06/07

Edited, Mar 6th 2007 9:45am by Lydiaele

Edited, Apr 28th 2009 3:33am by Calthine

Nice post so far, just a few grammar and spelling checks needed.

Link for the furniture got truncated in teh cut/paste. Here's the full version:
http://eq2.eqtraders.com/articles/article_page.php?article=g9&menustr=070000000000

GAH! It got truncated again!

Edited, Wed May 17 16:23:54 2006 by tutanbriarpaw

Outstanding job, Lydiaele. Thank you for taking the time and effort to colate and organize all the data. Rate UP!

This is just what we needed.Thank you Lyd. :)

I'll leave a sticky request in forum=3 for a sticky. It shouldnt be hard for us to get it stickied since we dont make a stickyu a week, like alot of other forums.

Fabulous job Lydiaele!!

Only things I would add -

I would list the main EQ2Traders site for crafting info and guides, and I would list ogaming for quest information (although as Rrikor said above, soon ogaming/alla will be zam....)

Really really good job!

Edit: And right after I hit submit, you are now a sticky! Congrats!!

Edited, Wed May 17 21:57:12 2006 by Dellannah

When I requested this sticky, I also requested the removal of the other. They just kinda ignored the second part of my post.

Updated broker selling and added travel section.

I plan next to add a section with class information - the latest official description (which no web site outside SOE has) and comments. Comments from people who have played a class will be welcome additions.

Something to add with the ToTI... Like i've said in a couple other threads, the best use for it is to see if your PC can run EQ2 and get a general feel for the game/classes. However, basing your decision off of just playing that (whether to get the game or not) isn't a good idea because the starter isle is just a tad bit limited.

Thanks, I revised that item. When I was doing the sabotage quests a few months ago they did start giving you tasks that involve infiltrating the city. I tried one a few times and got annoyed with it. The guards didn't fight you then, they just instantly teleported you out of the city. I don't know how or if they've changed, I may try them out again with an alt (a scout...)

Do they allow you to select from a list of quests now or do you just refuse and get a new one like with writs? I thought they were a linked chain in a specific order.

"?" nodes is what you were thinking

Actually, interestingly enough, it is both. Starting about 30ish you will find ! flapping in the wind on the ground. These are pages to books you can collect, and some will drop of mobs and be find at various (static) objects in the world too.