Behind the DoV Curve #EQ2
stargrace 
It’s amazing how easy it is to fall behind the curve in any given MMO when you take a little break from it. As mentioned previously, I had taken a break from EQ2 right before DoV hit – although to be honest I didn’t play that much Sentinel’s Fate, either. It was getting hard for me to find inspiration within the game to keep me logging in and so in my true nomadic gamer fashion I wandered around to a few other games before eventually returning back to EQ2. One of my major issues has always been the number of alts I have. It’s incredibly difficult to concentrate on playing one character when you have 10 of them at max level and are not shy about volunteering whoever is required to get the job done. Sure, I have my favorites, but none of them are anywhere near the new cap of 300 aa, and I don’t even have any of them at 250 aa at this point in time. I need to work on that.
Of course after deciding to focus on my coercer (after all, I have 3 level 90 enchanters, two of them coercers, I obviously enjoy playing them) my group for the evening already contained one so I switched off to my troubador. Who then proceeded to get so many upgrades I lost count. The group consisted of Ultann (guild mate, Shadowknight), Ibeogur (another guild mate, berserker), and then three friends of Ultann’s, a wizard, inquisitor, and the coercer. We started out in Tower of Frozen Shadow: Shadowed corridors, and then moved to Umbral Halls, an finished off with Haunt of Syl’Tor. The zones are marked on eq2i as being ‘easy to moderate’ and they were. We had a little difficulty with the final boss of the last zone, but the group was amazing and didn’t wipe at all. Of course, myself and Ibeogur were completely new to DoV in general, and everything was an upgrade. We felt more like charity cases being pulled along then anything else – especially after I saw the parses that had everyone well above where I was. Granted, my coercer only has 175 aa at this point in time, but it was still really discouraging.
It will take me some time (and a lot of focusing and dedication) to get my characters where I think they ‘should’ be – but it gives me a goal to work towards and that’s always a great motivational tool. I also happened to pick up a few bits and pieces for my defiler, and at least the troubador is wearing some nice gear now. The rest of my evening was spent trying to decide if I wanted to 1. betray to dirge. and 2. switch from playing the coercer to the troubador (which is something I always end up debating when I switch characters, that’s why I have so many ‘mains’). I haven’t come to a conclusion yet, I suppose we’ll just have to see what this week brings.
Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself! If you happen to be playing EQ2 (or EQ2X) you can say hello with a /tell antonia_bayle.name I am typically on stargrace (defiler), although you can also find me there as minxes (the coercer), and goudia (my troubador), arysh (the warden), and a handful of other characters. If you happen to need an extra for a group be sure to look me up!
As a side note, the festival of unity starts next week – and I couldn’t be more excited! This will be the 5th year (I believe) that the festival has run, and I’ve had the pleasure of attending every year so far. If you’ve ever wanted to check out an amazing player run festival, this is the one for you.