January 2009

Visiting Lucan D’Lere and the Moors of Ykesha (again)

stargrace January 12, 2009 No Comments

The coercer is resting comfortably at level 61, and part way into it so yesterday I decided it would be a good time to get the defiler started on the Moors of Ykesha quest chain. Grouped up with Wpus from guild, we set out to complete at least the first quest hub worth, so that I could move on to the ‘meat’ of the content. I’ve already done all of these quests on various other characters, so none of it was new, but having a duo to take them down with was a lot more fun – especially with the lack of dps on my little healer girl. 

By the time all was said and done I’d made a good chunk of coin and managed to get to 81% through my level. Not too bad considering I’d already dinged 76 the night before in Nizara. The only thing I dislike about the Moors quests is that they reward more coin then anything at all so there are very few gear upgrades. I suppose that makes sense when you think that TSO did not raise the level cap, so most people should already be sporting gear from the RoK zones. I’ve managed to (thankfully) avoid most of the quest grinding that goes on in RoK, the defiler has the sokokar posts in Fens of Nathsar and Kunzar Jungle, but has done relatively few quests. It makes for an interesting time when most of the locations she visits are still all agro. 

I meant to get a little crafting in, but alas that did not happen, maybe today.

I’m eager to see the next game update get implemented, though I’m torn between everyone else’ comments about the changes. It’s one of those wonderful things with MMO’s, their ever evolving and changing worlds. I don’t typically make too much of a fus, and just sort of roll with whatever happens. 

I’m contemplating starting (yet another) alt on Kithicor, so that I can work up a transmuter. Kasul has been leveling one on Najena, and hearing about his adventures with the shards and powders makes me cringe in fear – but it’s a good skill to have on at least one character. I enjoy being able to make my own adornments. Not owning them certainly doesn’t make or break the game, but the whole ‘self sufficient’ aspect comes into play. 

Hopefully everyone had an amazing weekend, I’m looking forward to reading about all of the fun that went on!

Unrest and Nizara Bite the Dust

stargrace January 11, 2009 No Comments

The night started innocently enough. I was a little worn out from leveling the coercer in New Tunaria (she managed to hit level 60, and is 4% away from 61) and was standing around the guild hall when Wpus asked if I’d be interested in helping him and Ultann out in City of Mist on my 75 defiler. Sure! Why not. I loved CoM in Eq1 and while it’s not the same (at all) in EQ2, it still brings back memories. The night was off to a great start as Wpus sacrificed himself time and time again to the great iron golems in order for me and Ultann to have a few laughs. That’s what I figured in any case. Updates were gotten and then the two looked at me, an evil grin on their face. 

“So, want to do an instance?” 

Sure! What instance? Are we going to fill out the group? 

Turned out that these two had spent some time trying to duo Unrest, “they” consist of a conjuror and a shadowknight. Being a defiler, I’d even out the group with tank dps and heals. While my two guild mates are level 80, I was still only 75, and still sporting adept1 of a few things until I got upgrades at 80. None the less, we seemed to be in the mood for a challenge, so the trio headed to Unrest. 

It was a blast. We pulled entire rooms and the mobs within the zone quaked in fear at our finesse. Ok, maybe not. In fact I actually died so many times I had to repair. We didn’t take anything seriously though and I still have the laughter ringing in my ears as I charged after The Bugaboo while I left the two of them there with a full encounter of ghosts on their hands. 

Ah, good times. 

We actually beat the zone, and then they looked at me again, and said those words I longed to hear – “What about Nizara?” 

This was actually a zone I still feared on the defiler who had never been. Once again we mended and head off – and cleared out the entire zone just the three of us, including the x4 epic and the x2 epic, and even the final named. I only died four times which was slightly disappointing, I had expected better. 

This whole experience was completely new to me. Laughing and kidding around and chattering. Taking down encounters with a less-then-optimal group. It was one of those rare nights I won’t soon forget in my gaming history and I thank everyone involved, especially the members of Eclipse. 

I meant to get a little LoTRO time in, but haven’t yet. I have some chores to take care of today and some writing to do and then hopefully I can play for a bit. There’s so much to do as of late. I love it. 

Have a fantastic Sunday no matter what you’re up to.

Necromancer Epic – Help!

stargrace January 10, 2009 No Comments

I was boxing through The Sancotrium last night with my baby coercer and a baby shadowknight when the call came out in guild, Craw was looking to gather folks together to help with Jessica’s necromancer epic. Of course I jumped at the chance to help. Due to one of “the Crew” being away for the weekend, it was discussed and decided that I would box Ellithia (75 defiler) along with playing a fury that belongs to said missing person. The rest of the group consisted of the 80 necromancer, 80 bruiser, 80 conjuror, and 80 shadowknight. First instance on the list? CoA in Sebilis. 

I was leery about boxing. Sebilis has a lot of lag from time to time and I didn’t want to kill anyone. Plus, I was using the fury as the ‘main’ healer, and since it’s not even my character that took some getting used to. I really wanted to be able to help get that necromancer a portion of her epic completed though, so off we went. 

The instance ran flawlessly, and epic bits were obtained. She also picked up an awesome caster ring which I was happy to see. After that it was time to head to Court of Korocust – also known as the zone that no one goes to any more since it’s been nerfed so many times. It took some maneuvering to figure out how the script was run and I think at one point or another Wpus broke the encounter that was supposed to port us up into the cage but it was still fun. Another necromancer epic piece down. 

We all talked for a bit about whether to bother doing Vault of Eternal Sleep, or Maidens – or just call it a night. Since I was boxing and we had no enchanter, I voted against doing Maidens. I know my healing capabilities and I just didn’t feel comfortable with it. Vaults was no issue though, and off we went. 

By the time that was completed (and another necromancer epic bit bites the dust!) it was after 1am, and I was dead tired. Boxing two characters, and two healers at that, takes a LOT out of me. It was fun in a weird stressful way but also relaxing as we all chattered on vent together. Time must have decided to fast forward a few hours because before I knew it, the clock was telling me it was almost 4am and I had better get to bed. 

It’s been a really long time since I’ve stayed up like that to game. I technically should have went to bed far earlier, but I really wanted to help out. You know when you just get that urge and you’re on a roll. 

Today, the coercer has managed to hit level 58, almost 59 in New Tunaria. I believe we’ll be making a go at Maidens (shudders) or maybe I’ll get the coercer a few more levels. Who knows!

Safe travels, no matter what game you’re playing!

Level 55 Coercer joins the ranks

stargrace January 9, 2009 4 Comments

Has leveling in EQ2 gotten TOO easy? 

That’s a thought that’s been going through my mind lately. People take a look at the characters I have and then usually gasp in surprise or give some other reaction. The truth of the matter is that it’s only been since the experience was increased in EQ2 that I’ve managed to get all of these characters. Until that happened I had three steady ones that I played, with a whole lot of lowbie characters. 

So just how fast is the experience now?

Well. I do have five years playing the game. There are places I head to right away, and others I tend to avoid. I do know what I like, and what I don’t like and I realize that this plays into it a lot. I met up with a group of very good friends on the Kithicor server and have been spending some time over there while Najena has been quiet. I moved one of my characters over (not one of my level 80’s) and it was going to take a week for the manual transfer to go through so in the mean time I created a level 1 coercer on my main account. This means there is a 50% bonus experience on the account for already having level 80’s. 

I have had the help of a level 80 conjuror, and a level 67 (at the time) shadowknight. Neither are ‘uber’ by raid standards, but know their classes and are great to be around. 

Today would mark day four of the creation of my coercer. She has 1 day played, and is 50% away from level 55. I did use the orb of concentrated memories, and I have been taking advantage of the experience potions I have. I lack in aa (sevearly) but I know I can catch those up later on. My main ‘goal’ was to catch up to the group of friends. When I created the character I (jokingly) mentioned that I would be level 80 before the transfer went through and I’d have no need for it. I had no idea just how close to the truth that was going to be. 

My issue with this whole theory is that having a level 80 doesn’t mean anything any more. People have multiple level 80’s. It’s not a challenge. So where is the challenge? You basically have to find it and create it yourself. For some that may be questing, for others that may be obtaining gear or master quality spells. Others may not need a challenge at all and play only for their friends and couldn’t care less about actual game play – which is fine too, we all play for our reasons. On one hand I enjoy the fact that I was able to catch up so quickly, but looking back I begin to wonder if it is too much of a good thing.

Game Update – TEST Notes

stargrace January 9, 2009 No Comments

The original post can be found here on the SoE forums.  PLEASE remember these are on Test server ONLY right now, and are subject to change. There has been a LOT of feedback about the changes, some like them, some do not. Some pretty serious things are incoming in this GU. Thoughts?

GAMEPLAY

• Taunts and detaunts can now critical similar to how melee and spell criticals work.
• Threat output and hate position changes will now be displayed to the chat windows. You can find it under Combat in the Hate Adjustment category.
• Hate gain mods will no longer affect taunt adjustments.
• Area of effect spells and combat arts will no longer spread hate to encounter members when damage is applied.
• Imprisoner Ynosii’s death now results in his weakened soul spawning. Killing the weakened soul gives a key that will open Ynosii’s treasure chest.
• Auto-follow:
  • Your character will now swim up and down to follow the target underwater.
  • Characters on auto-follow will always turn to face their target when auto-attacking.
  • Players on auto-follow now follow up and down climbable walls.
  • You may now /camp (and, incidentally, sit) while on auto-follow. If the person you’re following moves (causing you to follow) your camp will be interrupted.
  • The camera will now re-center on the person you’re following only when you’re moving.

ACHIEVEMENTS

• Bountiful Harvest should no longer displayed a combined harvest on root and foresting nodes. Instead you should see two harvests similar to how other node type work.

Warrior

• Executioner’s Anger now has a chance to increase your taunt critical chance instead of the player’s hate gain.

Crusader

• Idolic Axe has changed to increase the base amount of the crusaders taunts and gives them an additional chance to critically taunt an enemy.

Assassin

• Frontload will no longer cause poisons to cancel when it is toggled off or expires.

Berserker

• Perserverance is now a buff and works in a similar fashion to Reversal with a hidden spell that can only trigger once every 15 seconds.

Brawler

• Crane Twirl has been changed to increase the brawlers chance to aoe auto attack
• Eagle Spin now increases the threat of the brawler with their enemy.
• Eagle’s Talon now increases the chance of the brawler to critically taunt and increases the amount of threat applies by taunts.
• Monkey Dodge now increases the brawler’s defense and parry skill.

Shadowknight

• Enchance: Anguish will now increase the base damage of the combat art appropriately.

SPELLS

As a result of spell changes, the triggered effect on Charm’s Way has been changed to be upfront and target enemies in the area of effect.

Fighter

• Kick has been moved to level 3 to fill in a gap caused by spell consolidation

Guardian

• The Hold The Line spell line has been merged with the defensive stance lines.
• The Iron Will Spell line has been merged with both the offensive and defensive stances.
• The Battle Tactics line has been merged into the Call to Arms line of spells.
• The offensive stance line will now increase damage done to the guardian and also has a damage based proc while also reducing the hate gain of the guardian.
• The defensive stance will now also increase the amount of taunts and increase the hate gain of the guardian.
• The hate reduction of the allay line has been reduced.
• The Assault line now grants additional threat gains.
• Reduced the recast of the Shout line.
• The Kick line now generates additional threat.

Berserker

• Berserk has been incorporated into the defensive and offensive stances.
• The Battle Chant line has been merged into the Bloodlust line.
• The Bullying Defense line has been merged into the defensive stance line.
• Uproar has been moved to level 2 to fill in a gap created by the ability mergers.
• The Growl line is now 10 second reuse and more powerful.
• The Offend line has increased threat.
• The Whirl line now has a threat component.
• Reactive taunt strength of the Insolent Gibe line has been increased slightly.

Paladin

• The Redemption line now greatly increases your threat with the target instead of siphoning hate.
• The Incite line now increases threat initially instead of overtime.
• The Charge line now has a hate component.
• The Divine Circle line now has a hate component.
• The Blessing of the Penitent and Blessed Weapon lines have been merged into the offensive and defensive stances.
• The Blinding Rays line has had its reuse time reduced.

Shadowknight

• The Dark Caress and Unholy Weapon lines have merged into the offensive and defensive stances. 
• Defensive stance line will lower damage but increase threat output.
• Offensive stance boosts damage slightly but reduces hate gain.
• Sickening Circle will also increase threat now.
• The Kick line now has a threat component.

Bruiser

• The Roughhouse and Dodge and Strike lines have been merged into the bruiser’s stances.
• The Brag line is now more potent.
• The Kick line now has a threat component.
• The Blazing Strikes line now has a threat component.
• The Impose line has faster reuse speed now.

Monk

• The Martial Focus and Dragon stance lines have been merged into the monk’s stances.
• The Stare line increase threat by more.
• The Kick line now has a threat component.
• The Cobra Circle line now increases threat to any targets it hits.
• Beckon has had its reuse time lowered.

Swashbuckler

• The Swarthy Distraction line of spells has changed to be a short duration buff which greatly increases or decreases their target’s hate.

Assassin

• The Shadows line has changed to trigger a hate reduction effect.

Ranger

• The Reconnoiter line has had its hate reduction effect removed and has a chance on any hit to reduce the rangers hate.

Predator

• The Stalk line is now faster casting and lower recovery time.

Scout

• The Evade line no longer has any recovery time.

Sorceror

• Concussive is now faster casting and quicker reuse time.

Dirge

• Hyran’s line has reduced hate gain modifiers but also increases the threat amount.

GUILDHALLS

• Guild Hall Fuel Merchants will now buy back tier 1 fuels.
• The guild hall mender will now correctly remember the new coverage setting after it is changed.

ZONES

Veeshan’s Peak

• Milyex Vioren’s engineer should no longer occasionally become unkillable

Palace of Ferzhul

• Ferzhul should no longer fail to unlock his portion of Varsoon’s portal if players kill all of his adds before killing him.

Village of Shin

• Merchants in the Village of Shin will now buy as well as sell items.

Moors of Ykesha

• Spotting a business opportunity, a new fuel merchant has recently set up shop in Firmroot Moot near the mender.
• It should now be slightly easier to avoid the blood gorgers in the entry passage to Grobb, if you are careful.

ITEMS

• Overloaded heal procs will now trigger properly from reactives and wards.
• The Ferocious Presence spell from Stormbringer’s Bulwark of the Unstoppable will suspend if the shield is no longer equipped.

QUESTS

• Knight-Captain Santis will complete the quest, “Bog Sludge Hunt”.
• Zoning into the Nasin’s Library on Chapter 4 of The Shadow Odyssey should now automatically zone in a full party, regardless of whether all members have the quest.

MACROS

• You can now drag equipment from your appearance slots to the macro window.

GROUPS

• Group members can now use the /invite command to request that the group leader invite a player to the group. Just type /invite <playername>

UI

• The raid window has a new ‘Advanced’ mode that will display effect icons for all members of the raid. Right-click the raid window to switch views.
• The carat in text boxes will no longer render if the EQII client doesn’t have focus.
• Fixed a bug where damage reduction info was not displayed correctly in the mitigation tooltip.
• Fixed a bug in the raid window sometimes causing users to not be drag-able.
• The following modifications were made to UIScripting and are may be of interest to the modding community.
• UIScript now supports the following functions: int(), abs(), floor(), ceil().

• Results of math operations in UIScript now only return the required precision instead of always forcing 3 decimal places.
• Fixed a bug parsing negative floating-point numbers.
• The BackgroundEmpty image of a UIProgressbar will no longer render unless the progress value is zero.
• Support has been added for a new UIColorStyle object. Any object property that accepts a color will now accept a reference to a UIColorStyle object.