August 29, 2007

Another Great Update in the Works – GU38 Test Notes

stargrace August 29, 2007 4Comments

Is it just me who gets all excited and maybe even a little flustered when they see that the test server has been updated with the latest GU? Well, for those who are curious, the notes are found here. Be sure to check them out. As for what I’m personally interested in.. well:

• Bristlebane ReturnsDo you consider yourself a practitioner of pranks, a student of the silly, or even a fan of the funny? Does the idea of pulling a practical joke over on someone sound like your idea of a good time? If so, you might make an excellent follower of Fizzlethorpe Bristlebane, the Grand Prankster. Recently scores of puckish jesters, fanciful bards and quick-witted thieves have all been spreading rumors about the imminent return of their favorite Sire of Shenanigans. If Bristlebane has truly arrived and resumed his place aside the other gods who have also returned to Norrath, why has he waited until now? What sort of mischievous plans does the Royal Trickster have in store for his faithful followers? What about the other gods who have yet to reveal themselves since their departure? The answers to these questions are undoubtedly wrapped within a riddle only Bristlebane himself can solve.Those interested in devoting themselves to the Master of Mischief should speak with Tobel Patadash, the self-declared Prophet of Bristlebane at the docks of The Enchanted Lands. Be advised, however, that the Gigglegibber Goblins have their own nonsensical opinion of who they believe the real Prophet of Bristlebane is as well!

• Trivial Loot no longer includes Quest items, so Quest items will drop on gray encounters.

Probably what I am most excited about. This means (If I’m reading it right) Cloak of Flames will not have to drop from green mobs. Which is what people had to do before. A pain in New Tunaria where a few of the pages drop. It also means when RoK comes out you won’t have to continuously mentor to get the updates. Of course the BEST part – is that I’m hoping my book quest starters will drop from these chests. So I won’t have to mentor to finally complete my set of Obelisk books.

• Resistance Chorus Songs: Now affect the entire raid.

• You can now sort the quest journal by quest level

It’s the Little Treasures..

stargrace August 29, 2007 1Comment

This new quest UI from EQ2 Questlist is a handy little mod

If you’re anything like me, you like to customize your UI as much as you do your characters. It doesn’t matter if you use default or any other sort of mod, your user interface has as many or as few hotbars as you particularly like, it’s got everything arranged the way you specifically play, and I have to say, some times it’s the less-noticed but still valuable mods that really stick with me.

The one that I’ve most recently added to my UI is a quest journal mod, and it may not seem like much – unless you are an avid quester. The EQ2 Questlist site has been up for some time, but isn’t a quest walk through site like the rest of them out there. So what does it do? It keeps track of every quest in the game, where to get it, what level it is. What’s more, is you can create an account, and mark down the quests you’ve completed (as well as started) and keep track of your quest record. In the past, you had to do this out of game, or painstakingly slow, without really looking at your journal. But with the new mod, which you can get here you just click and input the quests that actually show up in your journal under completed and started. You can also search their data base from the journal browser, see how many quests you’ve completed in game without having to move over to Eq2players, and various other small nifty options. I love it.

I like being able to see that I have 11/33 L&L quests completed. I like to see which ones I’m missing without having to draw up huge graphs and charts. I like knowing there are 53 total quests in a particular zone, and what all their names are, and comparing them to which I have done and which I have not done. Again though, this is NOT for quest walk throughs. It’s just a way to keep track of statistics. Like a raider may keep track of their parses to see improvements.

So if you’re a quest person at all, and you’re looking for a few little spiffy toys to play around with, and you like to keep track of the quests you’ve done, be sure to give this very simple UI a try. It’s nice to find a little treasure like this every so often.

Healing can be a Thankless Job

stargrace August 29, 2007 12Comments

Working on those fun Lesser Faydark Quests

Over the years that I’ve played both EQ1 and EQ2, I’ve come to the realization that healers really get the short end of the stick a lot of the time. You’d think since I have 3 level 70 healers in EQ2 I’d have already come to this conclusion, and I suppose I have, but it really becomes more apparent the more you group. Now this is not to say it’s the norm for ALL groups – but these are the typical responses after a good run of whatever we’re up to.

“Wow that was some amazing tanking!”

“Look at that DPS parse!”

All the similar comments. Why is it that people are so reluctant to thank their fellow healers? The tank didn’t just stand up on their own the entire time did they? Well, maybe they did but if the healer is worth their grain of salt it wasn’t just all the dps and the tank that made the group. It’s a combination of players who know what they’re doing. Sure, a great tank makes things easier. Just like great dps makes things easier. But please folks, don’t forget to thank your healers out there! They need a little lovin’ too.

Goudia hit 69 yesterday. Meant I got to wear all of her new set gear. She’s got four pieces to the bard set. She’s 34% into her level, so hopefully over the next couple of days I’ll be getting her level 70. Then we’ll see where it goes. She’s got her two new weapons and her bow just waiting for her. I’m looking forward to it, even if it is my 5th level 70. I figured I should probably attempt to get them all at 100aa and level 70 crafters as well. What possessed me to do that? Not quite sure. Right now only Stargrace (illusionist) is at level 70/70/100. Arysh is missing 10aa, Misako is missing 5aa and she’s only a level 45 tailor. Goudia just hit 83aa, and she’s a 44 weaponsmith. Dasie needs another 15aa. I’ve got time before RoK to get them all where I want them to be at least.

After that? Who knows. I’ve been contemplating leveling up my coercer just for the heck of it (she’s sitting at level 42 right now, in level one gear with nothing but app1 spells.. yes, I just put her on auto follow..) but I’m not sure what I’d do exactly with six level 70 characters. So maybe I’ll just quest and work on their houses or something. I’ll have to see.

I’m looking forward to Kilanna coming back from her vacation, mornings are lonely without her around.

Did a very quick Obelisk run yesterday with Dasie (who does not have her shoes yet) which went really well. Bard shoes dropped for the dirge in group, go figure. No ring either, I’ve never even seen it on any of my runs and everyone else seems to always get it. I must be cursed. Expect an rp post in the near future, it’s been so long since I’ve really written anything and I don’t want to get rusty (code word for: Quick, run away! Stop reading now!). Safe travels!