April 2007

A little trip through Lavastorm

stargrace April 12, 2007 1Comment

Misako making her way (invisible of course) through Lavastorm

One of the things I hate most, while leveling any character up, is the eventual need to obtain the port that brings you to the doors of sol eye without having to run through the entire zone. When I first did it way back when, on my templar, it was an amazing feat, to say that you had portal access (back when the level cap was 50, and Lavastorm was end game, so nothing turned grey on you). With the defiler sitting at level 44, I figured it was time for her to get access as well, should the need ever arise for her to travel down that way, or incase I wanted to smuggle her to the Maiden’s Gluch and pick up to speak as a dragon (which I will also need.. one day..). So I boxed her along with a shadowknight, and made the very slow treck through. She did get a lot of discovery and a fairly good size of experience, and after one death (from a named, and not from falling in lava, which is how I typically die there) she made it to the portal. One more thing crossed off the list finally.

In an adventure through DFC a few days ago she obtained the rare mossy armor patterns, as well as the commons, and three pieces of blood iron ore, key ingredients. The recipes are level 40 (though the gear itself is only level 37) so I’ve been trying to get her tradeskill a little higher. She’s currently sitting at level 37 tailor. This morning I quickly made a few random mastercrafted cloaks, and then attached the safe fall adornment to each of them. I also made a + spell dmg adornment for level 30 and attached it to some mage gloves. I’ve priced the items slightly above what the regular gear would go for, simply due to the adornments. I’m not even sure if people will mouse over the gear before buying it and notice the adornments though, so I’ll have to see if it sells at all. It would be nice if there was a special little flag as you shopped that told you if an item may already have an adornment without having to look at the physical stats of the gear. That’s probably just wishful thinking on my part though. I’ve put a few of the safe fall cloak adornments up for sale at 20g each and they’re typically fast sellers. Since it’s just level 30 stuff it doesn’t take me that much to make them and I was getting tailoring experience for pristine combines.

DFC, and another level (or two)

stargrace April 11, 2007 0Comment

Misako standing in the bank in Big Bend, wishing for something more

Made my way through DFC last night, and it’s by far one of my new favorite zones. At least for the first time through with a character. Not only is there a huge amount of discovery and named (my defiler went from 23aa to 29aa in the zone alone, as well as gaining a level) but there are also fairly nice drops to be won. I wish every tier had an instance that was along those lines. Though I suppose most do. I started her off in Ruins of Varsoon, moved to Runneyeye as well as Nektulos Castle (the named there do not give aa however.. a small disappointment), then moved to DFC, managed to get some discovery in Zek (hasn’t finished it off though) and then this morning made her way to Cazic Thul for some more discovery, hitting 31aa and level 43. I figure if I can try to average a level a day, or a level every two days, that’ll set me where I want to be as far as progress wise. I don’t like to play her all day though, I get bored. So it’s fairly limited to about 3-4 hours a day and seeing how far along I get. CT was slightly tough, especially with no power regen in the group. I can box the shadowknight and her fairly well, at level 42 managed to take down some level 46 named with ease. It would just be a lot easier if there were power regen in the group too. So my next project? Since the defiler is on my original account, and the illusionist is on the same account, I’m going to (eventually) level up the troubador on the 2nd account (which also currently hosts all of my healers + my conjuror). A little more difficult to level up a bard then it is a healer, but we’ll see how it goes. I always enjoyed little projects and who knows perhaps it’ll be my 5th level 70 character.

I haven’t been able to keep up with her gear too well, since once I get an upgrade it seems like she’s out growing it, I’m reluctant to spend much money on new items. I have purchased some T7 masters at bargain prices though, 2p or less for a few heals and dots. I also bought the defiler/mystic legendary set shoulders for 50g, couldn’t let that pass me by. She’ll need that stuff eventually even if it’s not for another month or two. I’m still enjoying the class a great deal, they get some amazing debuffs and lots of pure hp buffs for the group. They also get some very nice aa. I’m slowly working those up and aiming towards the pet aoe immunity since I think at least then poor scruffy will live a lot longer. He’s pretty much dead every single fight I think he’s got about three hit points.

My birthday is Saturday, though I’m not sure if anything’s planned for the day I’ll probably find myself leveling away in EQII. It’s been nice to also see some new faces, Cordanim has wandered back to the game and has a little fae warlock, and an old friend from EQI has also decided to start playing again. I always did like seeing new faces in game. The lower levels are also (typically) at least a bit more populated here on LDL, though CT was completely empty when I headed there early this morning, as well as RoV and RE, there is typically more people around by late afternoon. I do enjoy the quiet, it’s no fun having to battle other groups for encounters in a zone. I have not taken Misako to any EoF zones yet, so I’m thinking once I run her through the old world zones for discovery, I’ll have to pop into Steamfont and perhaps begin a quest or two. We’ll see how it goes.

Leveling is just an excuse for farming..

stargrace April 10, 2007 0Comment

Misako, the little defiler I have in the works, has been fairly busy

So after taking a look at my level 33 mystic last week, I decided it was time to get a fourth character to 70, I’d been dawdling quite enough. I’ve always started mystics and then just never gotten them anywhere. I just didn’t want a mystic though. So I spent a day betraying her to a defiler. Then I tried to level her over the course of the past week. Needless to say, it’s worked. I boxed her along with a 70 shadowknight, and she’s now almost level 41, quickly eating up the levels and soon to be my “newest” level 70 (I hope, I’ve still got a way to go yet). I did Ruins of Varsoon daily, the instance within the zone (Chamber of Immortality) is a guaranteed two masters each run, as well as the various named in the zone who probably have a 90% chance at a master chest or legendary at least. I spent a few days transmuting everything I looted and making level 30 adornments. The rest I’ve decided to put for sale, after all, my little defiler is going to need some gear eventually and some spell upgrades. Leveling is pretty much an excuse for farming. Once I’d exhausted RoV I moved on to Runneyeye which is also filled with various named who drop pretties, as well as two instances with named for aa / loot. The defiler hit almost 25 aa from grinding alone, she’s barely done any quests at all (which I will rectify in later levels).

The aa she got was just enough to get soul ward. Which is by far the greatest spell I have ever seen. It lets you ward a target for 90% of your health. At level 40, that’s about 3k. A 3k ward every 5 minutes is fairly nice at those levels. I’m working on getting some pet buffs (aoe immunity) for the next round of points. She will hopefully hit level 41 today, and if possible, 42. Then I can head to CT and soon after that, the DoF zones. She hasn’t even wandered into zek at all, DFC is not too far away. She’ll need the discovery from those zones as well. I’ve already been planning ahead and would like to get claymore done on her, which will be a pain but it’s fairly essential to a healer. She has yet to step foot in lavastorm, or sol eye, and she’ll need to get to speak as a dragon one of these days. Ah the joys of a new little character.

Out of all three of my healers (I have a 70 templar and a 70 fury for those who’ve forgotten) I am (thus far) enjoying the defiler far more then either of those two. Perhaps it’s just because she’s new.

I’ve also been working my other alts. My carpenter is 20, my armorer is 20, and I’ve been hoarding supplies for them. My transmuter is 310, almost maxed out finally. My tinkerer is taking a bit more time, but coming along slowly.

I also decided to no longer raid with Marauders. For a few reasons. After a month of 100% raid attendance, there was no progress being made with me ever being allowed to join the guild. I talked them through a few raids (Namely freethinkers hideout as well as Chel’Drak which we got down to 49% on the first attempt in the zone with the main tank missing) and it was very apparent that no matter how I helped, I was not going to be able to make that guild my home. I found it unfair, to be allowed to raid but not allowed to join the guild, and I voiced my opinion on such, and said that I’d no longer be raiding with them. I took silent satisfaction that the next time they attempted Chel’Drak (with a better raid force that I went in there with, including the guilds main tank) they only managed to get him to 80%. While I kept that satisfaction to myself (no need to rub things in) it made me feel at least that it was their loss for not giving me a chance to join. So the search for a new home continues, though I am also looking on other servers since the free transfers are weeks away (or so I’ve been told) we’ll have to see how it goes!

100 aa, and gnomeland security

stargrace April 6, 2007 1Comment

Goz Hepplewhite, self proclaimed genius, in one of the most amusing quests I’ve seen

For a change of pace I decided I’d quest in Steamfont. I’ve never actually spent much time there, and Stargrace was 20% into her final aa. Unfortunately there was a family emergency that came up and I had to head to my parents place for a bit, hence the lack of posts lately. Anyhow. Steamfont is just fantastic for quests. They range from 35+ and even a legendary one for level 55 (which was pretty easy, granted I was level 70…) I mentored down for each turn in to claim the aa from them. So. Goz Hepplewhite is performing experiments on a new type of stealth suit. He needs you to do a few things for him and collect some stuff in order to finish his experiment. The best part though comes at the end, when he decides to show off his new suit.

So he runs out of his hut all proud, to this small group of women who are gathered around. Of course they’re all very excited and simply can not wait to see this new stealth suit! He turns it on, as proud as any new parent can be… and all of his clothes, disappear. The ladies who are gathered around break out into giggles and point, while he, embarrassed beyond belief, takes off for his hut to hide in shame. As a reward you get some coin, a choice of gear, and you also get the stealth suit, though when I put it on it just sticks me in a green dress, so who knows what the effect is supposed to be. It was a great quest none the less.

So after completing that quest, the legendary one, the serillian language quest, as well as kobold L&L as well as starting on clockwork L&L, I finally reached 100 aa with Stargrace, the 70 illusionist. Making her my first 70/70/100 character. It sort of made me sad, after all, what do I do next in game with her? Do I continue to quest for coin and item rewards but gain no aa? Do I try to dig up quests that reward with house items perhaps? Do I move on to the next level 70 character I have (the fury) and begin doing the grind to 100 aa on her? (she’s sitting at 85 currently). There are always quests I could still complete, her hoo hat for example, DT access, Claymore… Sword of Destiny… important quests that the fury has completed that I’ve yet to really start on the illusionist. I find it amusing that she hit 100 first, before my other ‘main’ who has slacked so far behind lately. I meant to post her final “total” as I mouse over the aa screen, but I think I’ll wait until I get another character to 100 and then I can compare them. Hopefully things will settle down slightly, and I’ll get back to posting on a regular schedule. Easter is Sunday though, and that means more family events (as well as a wonderful dinner and meeting my brothers girlfriend for the first time!). Happy Holidays to those out there reading.