How important is how your character looks to you? Above is my swashbuckler, wearing her T2 void armor and her class hat from the Barren Sky Hoo’loh chain. Hamal was off yesterday and so we decided to work on the class hat, I’ve long wanted a hat with a feather in it (in game) and while I didn’t even know if this one would match what my swashbuckler was currently wearing (I found out it did) I wanted it ‘just because’.
Lets face it, for most people appearance slots in EQ2 are pretty important. Especially with a very limited amount of visually different gear available to players at level 80. There’s the T1 shard set, the T2 shard set, and T3, and T4. If we didn’t have appearance slots pretty much every class would look like every other class. With these appearance slots we’re able to (some what) customize how we look, and change that based on our moods (you have to be level 20+ to take advantage of appearance slots).
Have you ever done a quest (or raid) specifically for a piece of gear that ‘looked neat’? What about that black barrister’s robe that’s quested in Zek? Ever longed for the box of classless hats from the Legends of Norrath? These are hats that give off the appearance of a class hat but is made specifically for the appearance slot without restrictions of class. Ever purchased a clothing item off of the station marketplace? I have, I own the cowboy looking hat – now if only they were heirloom instead of no trade.
I don’t miss not having dyes (a la EQ Live) simply because we do have a large selection of colourful clothing available to us. I know a lot of people constantly ask why we don’t have dye available in EQ2 and the answer is always the same. Since tailors can make appearance armor, and there’s a lot of lower level quests that reward neat looking gear – not to mention some off of mobs (the black and white daring outfit that drops in sebilis for example) I’m confident that I’ll find something out there that looks good.
Now, with the station marketplace some times I feel a little peeved simply because some of the best looking gear is sold on there for real life money rather then giving players the option to find it in game. This can also be said for some of the best looking furniture. I’ve come to simply accept this, I’m not against these transactions (obviously I’ve purchased items myself) but that doesn’t stop me from wishing that some of the items (or all) were obtainable from within the game without having to spend real life cash on it (since I already pay for a subscription). Without getting into that whole argument, the appearance gear really is amazing looking. I still also wish it was heirloom so you could trade it between your account rather then having to purchase the gear for one specific character.
The later stages of the Hoo’loh helm are still green to a level 80, and I had fun doing Halls of Fate (Sothis) with Hamal, two scouts and no healers. The updates were far easier then I ever remembered them being, and the quest even rewarded status at the end which I was happy for. Once the hat was obtained (and login servers started working again, they were down for 2 hours yesterday morning) we decided to level Dragons Flight (my baby guild on the Oasis server) to 15, inching us closer to 30 (which is my level goal for December). The experience is still fairly fast at these low levels, it doesn’t feel as though it begins to slow down until around level 22 or so. I’m hoping to hit level 20 by the end of this month at the latest, and then have the months before December to hit 30 and purchase (yet another) guild hall. We’ll see how that goes, knowing me I’ll be playing some where else by that time, heh.
I hope everyone has an amazing Wednesday, no matter where you find yourself. Happy gaming!
I love the appearance slots in EQ2! I did the class hat quest to get my paladin hat and the MoA questline to get the glowing graphic necklace (Too bad this doesn’t have an appearance slot since I switched it out for a piece with better stats but I still have it!). :)
Appearance has always been extremely important to me even though I am a min/max player. One of the things I’ve always done with Ferrel was ensure my loot choices were effective but also stylish. In EQ2 classic Ferrel looked amazing (and still does thanks to the appearance tab). She wears all of the “heavy” plate from the original mobs that had the pure white/silver look. Simply wonderful!
I would much rather look unique than be the absolute best min/maxer.
Does anyone know what the Riliss faction armour looks like or does anyone have a screenshot?
I have several different appearance sets for most of my characters.
My SK has a bunch of the red stuff from the claymore line that you get during the SoS stages, plus I found some gauntlets on the broker that match it. Seems just about everyone either sold that stuff to the vendor or doesn’t bother with that questline anymore, so she gets a lot of comments on her appearance when she wear that suit. I’ve also got a suit of vanguard stuff that’s blue/black with a slight appearance of rust to it. I’ve cobbled it together over time — most of it is “treasured” level stuff from to DoF expansion, iirc. And I’ll admit that I bought the blackened vanguard from the station cash store for her too. . . . . She’s also got a full suit of T1 armor, but since it’s so bright white and she’s an SK, I can’t bring myself to actually show it. And I’ve got the full suit of the red level 77 Mastercrafted stuff as well. I just blew 20 shards on that kite shield from the “miscellaneous” shard merchant too, just for the appearance. And I soloed the Hoo’loh hat quest at level 78 in order to get it for appearance, but that yellow just doesn’t match anything, so I ended up not ever wearing it, even though it’s still in my inventory. And there’s also the Quellithulian plate too. Love that look!
I have several different gi’s for my monk, and swap them around occasionally. Don’t have multiple screenies though :(
My warlock uses a lot of the cloth version of the red Xhorroz stuff from the claymore quests. Bare arms and hands via the “imperceptible beauty” items we got a few world events ago, though that screenie was taken before I got the gloves to give her bare fingers. She also has some greenish robes that look like “disease and poison” to me, and since that’s the damage she does…… And I also bought the white robe set for her out of the station cash store.
My coercer sometimes wears black pants and boots along with the “opulent gold blouse.” She’s also got the full “black silk” set, and in NHT got that nice legendary robe with the dragon design on it. I swap around as the mood suits me… if in a shard group running multiple instances, I’ll change my look for each instance we do, just for grins.
My fury’s only got the 1 look — brown leather bp, matching boots and bracers, the matching white cloth pants with the leather pads…. bare arms and hands. I like the look a lot, so haven’t ever looked at changing him up.
My warden’s a green arasai with the leaf-wings and brown hair. I got her green/brown/white armor in order to try to keep with the leaf motif.
My brigand’s in a full suit of the “void chain” or whatever it was called from the world event prior to TSO coming out. My dirge is in the Quellithulian assassin’s set that looks the same but a little more gray/less black.
I have other toons with appearance stuff too, but no screenies and this is already too long, so…. no need to bore you more ;-)
I dwell on appearance armor — no lie. I’m almost obsessive about it. My main’s bank is full of T8 no-trade quest reward armor…these items are irreplaceable, and by golly, once I have all the pieces of a set, who cares if it’s just gathering dust? I just can’t bear to part with it, on the off-chance that one day its appearance will suit my mood.
Every single one of my girls gets their own appearance gear as soon as they’re eligible for it. The actual outfit may change over time, but I try to keep it relevant to each character’s class and personality.
Skittles are for eating, not for wearing! :D
It always sounds silly when I say it, but I think appearance is pretty important. I always like to play a cool-looking character – except in EVE, where I like to fly a cool-looking ship instead. Still, I’ll take a pretty world as an acceptable substitute.