Video of LotRO Combat
stargrace Just a random video I made with some Lord of the Rings Online combat. Enjoy!
January 2010
66-70 on the Inquisitor
Well, the inquisitor reached level 70 yesterday, and it took about 10-11 hours (her time is posted on the left) an hour or two (maybe even more, but I’m just guessing roughly here) was spent in transit between my leveling areas, and putting things on the broker, and goofing off talking to friends. The rest was spent leveling. Yesterday I took Lithe (as my inquisitor is called on the Oasis server) through Vaults (Barren Sky), and to each of the islands in Kingdom of Sky (for the discoveries) and then finished up in Palace of the Awakened (which has a LOT of named and discovery in each room, especially on a server that barely has anyone playing the hours that I do). Sadly, it will probably take me at least another 12 hours if not more to make the 71-80 grind, as I have yet to find a way to do it ‘quickly’. One method that I’ll probably try (more for gaining shards in preparation of 80 and aa then experience) is to run through the TSO instances – at 75 she can start getting the shard quests, and at 79 she can get the daily double quest. Since almost every instance (minus the Guks and Fens) mentors to some degree it works out nicely.
Again, I wouldn’t suggest this method of leveling normally. It’s not ‘fun’ unless you’ve already done the content numerous times before and are just interested in preparing for the next expansion. It leaves your character without a lot of achievements, but as I’ve stated, that’s really not a concern of mine. I’m looking forward to having a level 80 healer (in specific) on Oasis again, since I have moved mine off (not that I regret moving them off, I just enjoy playing a healer). I should be able to gain enough shards to get a set of gear made by the time I reach 80, and then it will be time to work on my epic (which I don’t think I should have too many issues with) in time for Sentinel’s Fate.
I can still squeeze out a few levels before I have to do any quests, if I can help it, I want to avoid RoK quest grinding all together. I’ve got a few more KoS instances that I can do (Halls of Fate, and the other Bonemire instances) that should help a little. I’ve been out of vitality since day 1, so that makes things slower then I’d like, but they still move at a steady pace.
I suppose one of the ‘best’ things I like about leveling up in this manor is that I don’t have to dedicate a whole lot of time towards getting where I want to be. I see a lot of people upset that games don’t ‘start’ until you’re end game – and I want to state here and make sure people know that this is NOT the case for EQ2. There is constantly things to do at all levels and the only reason I am eager to reach the ‘end’ in leveling is because I’ve already done this 13 other times, and I want to prepare (yet another) character for Sentinel’s Fate in February. I think it’s important that people know there’s constant game play in EQ2, and it’s not all about the level 80 stuff that I tend to talk about on this web site. As a veteran player my views (and I have no shame in this) are biased.
I also managed to get a little World of Warcraft time in, as well as some LotRO which was quite fun. My hunter inched towards level 41 (and snagged it, after a friend ran me through Uldaman) and my minstrel is almost 27. Those seem to be my three ‘main’ games at the beginning of 2010, and it’s been going pretty well.
Today I plan on picking up my ipod touch (32g) from the post office, and then hopefully I’ll be pestering friends for app suggestions (grins) and playing with that most of the day, maybe I’ll manage to squeeze some work in too I suppose. I hope everyone has a fantastic day no matter where you find yourself, and I’ll see you in Norrath!
Levels 31-66 in Four Hours
I had a pretty good day gaming yesterday, I have to admit. I didn’t play that much, I was out for a bit (groceries and some shopping!) but I did get three or four hours in which I spent leveling my inquisitor. She’s now level 66 – with just slightly over 8 hours played total. When I tell people about how many levels she’s gotten in such a short period of time, they tend to stare at me like I’ve got four heads.
When it comes right down to it, there’s really nothing unique that I’m doing, and it’s a combination of things that allows me to level that fast – which others could also do easily enough as long as they also had those means. So what is it exactly that allows me to gain the levels as fast as I do?
- I box an 80 Shadowknight who is geared in top end raid gear, which gives me a constant tank (or I make him play his own character, which is far better then me trying to play teehee).
- The Shadowknight has a recruit a friend mount, which grants anyone in the group a 10% bonus to experience
- I have other level 80’s, and for each one you have (up to a max of 5) you gain 10% extra experience. This gives me a 50% bonus to experience
- I have the five year veteran reward that allows me to replenish my vitality once every 7 days (and you can use jesters cap when you use this item to shorten the time).
- I have a HUGE stock of potions from various veteran rewards that grant 55% bonus experience for an hour (and some times two hours). I have more then enough for every level, as most of the /claim rewards come with 6 potions (3 adventure and 3 crafting).
All of these items stack with one another, and since I’m blowing through content fairly fast, the leveling comes easily. Of course there ARE downsides, like my huge lack of aa – I’m not concerned about that. I’ll have all sorts of time once I reach 80 to work on those. Also keep in mind that this is not my first character, nor my first healer, I’ve played through the EverQuestII content numerous times before, I know where to level – and I don’t see anything wrong with skipping content after the length of time I’ve spent working through it. I would never suggest this method of leveling for anyone who hasn’t played through at least once (or more) at a regular speed.
I have other characters who take their time and work through each and every quest, slowly leveling up (my level 22 shadowknight is one of those characters for example) and this is just ‘yet another’ way to keep the game interesting for me, getting to level 80, getting my epic, and waiting for Sentinel’s Fate. Actually that is one of my main reasons for wanting 80 before February, I still have no idea who I’ll be playing once the expansion goes live, and I’d like to have a good selection of characters to choose from. No doubt it will depend on my mood at the time, hehe.
Anyhow, I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend. I know Monday came too fast today, and it’s sad to be going back to a regular work week, but that just lets us appreciate the family times and holidays that much more.
Happy gaming, and I’ll see you in Norrath!
The Leveling Game
As always the hardest part for me these days in EQ2 is deciding who to play. I have three characters who are not yet level 80, and a few who are not yet level 80 crafters, so my ‘basic’ goal is to get each of them to 80 before the expansion hits. If I’ll actually manage that I’m not sure, but it would be nice. One thing I’m going to miss a lot is the 50% bonus I currently receive for having max level characters. It’s EQ2 equivalent to allowing people to skip levels I suppose, letting them level faster. It’s nice, but I’d prefer a different method, or removing the current cap of 50% bonus experience (this works for both adventure levels and crafting levels).
Lately I’ve been playing an inquisitor on Oasis, and leveling her up. Yesterday after a quick run through Klak’Anon and Mines of Meldrath she reached level 52, which is impressive for me considering she also just reached four hours played. I hadn’t realized that the difficulty of sinking sands was raised, but that’s where she’ll be off to next, and through Clefts of Rujark and Pillars of Flame to complete the instances in Desert of Flame (my favorite expansion by far). That should take her to 60 easily, where I’ll start on the Kingdom of Sky instances (Nest and Vaults being two of the first ones) and work my way through to the Bonemire instances.
Then comes the ‘long’ part, getting from 70-80 is always a grind and there’s no real way around it. Thankfully, at 75 she can start working on shards, and saving those up for when she hits 80. That’s more then likely what I’ll do, but we’ll just have to see. Whether or not I can get all of that done before February is yet another story, but I like a good challenge and it gives me something to do. I’ve played an inquisitor only for a very short time previously, I betrayed my templar to one. At the time the class wasn’t really for me, but I’m hoping this time around it’s more enjoyable.
I also created a new bruiser on the Antonia Bayle server named Minxes. She started in Gorowyn and is working on quests there (only level 4 so far). The bruiser class is much like my carpenter class – I started about 100 carpenters and finally managed to stick with one until level 80. Typically I changed their class or deleted. I’ve created about 100 bruisers (or brawlers in general) and always seem to level to 50 and then delete. This time around I’m hoping to stick with it.
I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend before heading back to work tomorrow (shudders). The holidays were fantastic, and I’m looking forward to what the rest of 2010 has in store. Happy gaming, and I’ll see you in Norrath!
What’s Next
I decided to move my little ranger (literally little, she may be level 80 but she’s a gnome) over to Antonia Bayle a few days ago. I’m constantly switching my characters from one server to another, it keeps things feeling ‘fresh’ to me and well, why not. Anyhow, the ranger doesn’t have her epic yet, not even the fabled version, but she’s got a few pieces of nice gear. A fabled shield from Guk (since rangers use their ranged slot more then they melee, and it includes a 45% haste) as well as a nice neck piece, etc. She’s only wearing T1 currently, but that’s better then what she COULD be wearing. Her aa on the other hand, have suffered greatly. I think she’s barely sitting at 106aa right now. Ouch.
It’s been nice to be back in game, but I’m having issues deciding who to play. There are so many alts that I could potentially work on. I’m comforted by the fact that at least my ‘main’ is taken care of and ready for the expansion. Ideally I’d like to be ‘complete’ in two more characters (one per server) but I doubt that will happen.
I’m really looking forward to Sentinel’s Fate, and new content. I’m not looking forward to 10 more levels, but I love new quests, and new areas to explore. I’m also not looking forward to how incredibly crowded the whole thing will be. That’s alright though, a thriving community is always a bonus.
While I’ve been pondering who to play next, I’ve been doing a lot of crafting. Trying to get everyone to level 80 before the expansion hits. Once more I’m so glad that the guild hall is equipped with harvesters for everyone to share, it makes leveling so much easier. I still wish EQ2 would adopt Vanguards method of writs where the supplies (minus fuel costs) are taken care of but eh, can’t have everything perfect.
My player written book collection is coming along perfectly. I have 205 books to date, and I’m looking forward to gathering more. I’ve probably spent well over 50 plat trying to purchase every book I possibly can from the Antonia Bayle server just so that I have a copy. I’m proud of the work I’ve put into the Norrathian Museum, and I’m excited that it’s mostly complete aside from filling in some blanks.
Speaking of which, that reminds me. If you haven’t done the quests in West Freeport and North Qeynos regarding the missing Soulfire and Claymore, go get them done before they vanish! Also make sure you take part in Frostfell before that is gone, as well as the new Kelethin City festival. Some nice house items to be had there.
I guess I’d better go complete those quests myself, too! Safe travels and happy gaming no matter where it finds you. I’ll see you in Norrath!