One More Reason to Love Player-Written Books #EQ2
stargrace 
August 2011
Expert Dungeons and Daily Raids #RiftGame
There’s no doubt about it, Rift changes at 50. Suddenly there are daily raids, expert dungeons, and other ‘things’ that need doing. This morning I was able to partake in my first daily raid, which took place in Shimmersand. At least I think that’s where it was. It’s a sandy place, although you can’t really tell by this screen shot. I do love the dragon flying over head that would be our eventual target. The raid was smooth and most of the technical bits are things I’ve learned from other MMOs. Don’t stand in anything that spawns under your feet. Dragons should always be flanked. If you see an emote with your name move out of the way, if you see an emote at all, move out of the way. Cures are important (for those classes that can cure) purge is my best friend.
Nothing dropped that I could use, but I was happy enough to earn my tokens (anyone besides me wish the currency tab held a few extra things like, oh I don’t know, dragon tears? Mountaineer plaques?) for the day. Last night also saw me in my first T2 expert dungeon, and queuing a second time brought me back to the same random which made things easier. It also helped that I had healed the regular version of the zone the night before, and what are experts but harder versions of the same zone.
Saving up money has become a small issue, as at this level everything is expensive, especially crafted goods. I’m hoping to figure out a good dungeon heal spec before too long, and then another spec as a raid healer. I don’t imagine I’ll be purchasing the level 50 mount any time soon, although I have been leveling up the event mount that I believe is a mossy turtle or some such creature.
I’d write more but honestly today I feel pretty crummy so I’m going to leave it at that and go curl back up in bed. As always, happy gaming no matter where you find yourself!
It’s Not Up To The Game To Entertain Me #EQ2
I never really understand some of the conversations that go on in the public channels of EQ2. Last night for example, the auction channel (which is the global 1-9 channel for those on the Antonia Bayle server) was filled with how much everyone dislikes EQ2. They talked about how there was no challenge, and how it was a horrible game. The part that always confuses me is – they’re talking about a game they supposedly hate, while paying and playing for it. It just doesn’t make sense to me. When I played WoW the channels were filled with childish rantings as well – but – I very rarely ever saw someone complaining about the game they were currently playing. I always saw insults to other players, and very minimal insults to other games.
For myself, the choice is pretty simple. If I’m not enjoying myself I won’t be playing. I’ll move to a different game, or go do something else. As far as what’s ‘fun’ in a game, that is completely up to the individual. Two guild mates and I decided to run through Deathtoll (which is quite a few expansions old now) just for the fun of it. We had a great time, many many MANY deaths (we took lowbies along who were power leveled without any real gear or spells above apprentice) and it was a blast. Some evenings I just want to decorate, and others I feel like doing DoV instances. While the game provides numerous tools for me to make use of, it’s up to me to figure out what I want to do as far as entertainment goes. Sure, not all games appeal to all people. It’s rare I’ll stick with a game long term if all there is to do is quest and blow stuff up. But the act of being entertained ultimately comes down to what I find appealing and that switches on a nightly basis depending on my mood.
I suppose at the core people just like to complain, and it doesn’t really matter WHAT they’re complaining about so long as they meet some sort of secret quota. It’s still something I just don’t seem to understand no matter how hard I try.
Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!
Duracell – My Latest Obsession #Rift
Last night saw me reach level 50 for the first time in Rift, on my cleric. It was a happy moment for me because I’ve been 48 for a few months now, I simply couldn’t find the motivation to push me to 50. I had been sporting a justicar / shaman / purifier spec as my solo build with most of my points into justicar (which is the cleric tank spec). I had survivability, ‘ok’ dps, and could hold my own most of the time. Then my other half suggested I take a look into something players call the “duracell” build (he plays Rift as his main game of choice where as I bounce around all over the place). Remember the energizer bunny that keeps going and going? That is the premises behind this build. I instantly fell in love with it, it’s amazing. This is a link to the build on zam. There’s also a very lengthy discussion with an explanation of how it works on the Rift forums.
It may seem a little drab, I mean if you’re in a solo encounter you’re using one set of macros and if you’re in a group encounter you’re using a second set of macros, but apparently that’s how a lot of people are playing these days, so you’re not watching 10 hotbars of skills, you’re just watching two macros set up. Or three, if you have one for mana. I have a few skills outside my macros, like purge (an amazing skill that removes a beneficial buff from the mob) and vex for pulling. I spent some time doing dailies and was able to very easily take down 7 level 52 at once and be full health and mana afterward. There are some who are saying they can handle 20+ at the same time. Since I very literally just hit level 50 I didn’t want to push my luck yet. Plus I’m still trying to get myself familiar once more with the game.
Now I’m looking to change up my single target and raid heal specs so I can be useful. I’m able to queue for T2 dungeons but I doubt I’ll be doing that for some time yet. My Artificer (the cleric), Apothecary (Mage) and Outfitter (Scout) are all 300, and I’ve been having a lot of fun harvesting and doing my crafting dailies, although I am quite broke from purchasing the new recipes that come with a 20 hour cool down. I’m happy to see the changes made to crafting and how gear made my players is quite nice. Anyhow, hopefully I’ll find my footing soon. I’m looking forward to trying some raids in the future and seeing how I fare.
As always, happy gaming no matter where you find yourself!
Crafters Spotlight: So You Want To Be A Sage #EQ2
Sages are wonderful crafters. Part of the scholar path they create spells for priests and mages – but not only that, they have the ability to create the blank notebooks used for player-written books. Considering my intense use of these notebooks it was a bit of a surprise that my sage was actually the last crafter I managed to get 90 on, but I’m glad I did. Not every crafter has unique quest chains, but sages do (there are a few others which I’ll get into details about another day) and I wanted to gather all these quests together in one location, so I’ll be posting them below. There are some people who think sages are useless with the competition of adepts and masters on the broker, but I tend to make fairly good money on mine. It’s just a matter of finding out what sells and knowing your market, which can actually be said for any crafter class out there.
Sage Specific Quests:
- Level 50+: In a Bind (Recipes for crafted notebooks)
- Level 50+: The Legendary Paper (Augren’s Auspicious Inkwell & Wantia Artisan’s Satchel)
- Level 80+: Sarnak Supply Stocking (The earring of the solstice chain, which leads to a scholar specific step)
One of my favorite sites has always been EQ2traders, and they’ve compiled a wonderful page filled with all of the crafting quests currently available.
General Crafting Quests:
- Level 10+ New Halas Level 10 Crafting Series – Level 10+ crafting series added with GU57
- Level 20+ Butcherblock Mountains Level 20 Crafting Series – Level 20+ crafting series added with GU57
- Level 20+ Tradeskill Writs – Work Orders and Rush Orders
- Level 20+ Journeyman Service – Level 20+ crafting quest for a free T3 advanced recipe book
- Level 30+ Steamfont Mountains Level 30 Crafting Series – Level 30+ crafting series added with GU57
- Level 30+ Crafter Leaper Mount Quest (added on June 24, 2011)
- Level 30+ Tradesman Service – Level 30+ crafting quest for a free T4 advanced recipe book and cloak (requires completion of Journeyman Service quest to obtain)
- Level 40+ Advanced ____ Service – Level 40+ crafting quest for a T5 advanced recipe book (requires completion of Tradesman Service quest to obtain)
- Level 40+ Crafty Sootfoots/Sootfoot Service – Quest series in Lavastorm for Sootfoot Magma armor recipes
- Level 50+ Advanced Journeyman Tasks – Level 50+ crafting quest for a cloak and a house item. (requires completion of the Advanced ____ Service quest to obtain)
- Level 50+The Shadow Odyssey expansion has many quests, some with pre-requisites.
- Cannons Away! – a small access quest that can be completed by level 50+ crafters to gain access to the cannon travel in the Moors of Ykesha
- Ship Out! – quest series to introduce level 50+ crafters to the Moors of Ykesha, this questline is required before you can perform missions for the Far Seas Supply Division.
- Far Seas Supply Division faction quests – requires completion of Ship Out quest before you can obtain these level 50+ quests.
- Survival Accord Daily Tradeskill Tasks – daily tasks for level 50+ crafters to earn Survival Accord faction
- Tupta Daily Tradeskill Tasks – daily tasks for level 50+ crafters to earn Guktan Guard faction
- Grobb Daily Tradeskill Tasks – daily tasks for level 50+ crafters to earn Clan Grobb faction
- Additional quests for Liaison Mug – available after the completion of Ship Out
- Additional quests for Liaison Varick – available after the completion of Ship Out
- Additional quests for Liaison Zubzub – available after the completion of Ship Out
- Level 60+ Crafter Glider Mount Quest (added on June 24, 2011)
- Level 60+ Senior Crafter Service – Level 60+ crafting quest for formal wear and a level 60-69 advanced crafting book (requires completion of the Advanced Journeyman Tasks quest to obtain)
- Level 60+ (Carpenter) Nurwin family Secrets – page collection that rewards a level 60 recipe book to craft Wantia furniture.
- Level 65+ Crafter Sokokar Quest – for crafters 65+ who are under level 65 adventuring.
- Level 70 (Alchemist) A bit of Fire, a bit of Ice – Level 70 alchemist quest for recipes to convert byproduct dusts into higher tier versions
- Level 70+ New Lands, New Profits – a level 70 crafter quest that will get you faction with Rilis and Bathezid’s Watch
- Level 75+ High Risks, Higher Profits – a level 75 crafter quest that will get you faction with the Shipyards of Danak
- Level 80+ Sentinel’s Fate Crafting Quest Series – series of quests in the Sentinel’s Fate expansion for all four SF crafting factions
- Level 80 (Alchemist) Distillation Inspiration – level 80+ alchemist quest for recipes to bulk convert byproduct dusts into dusts of the next higher tier (followup to A Bit of Fire … listed above)
- Level 85 Shadows of the Betrayed is a crafting signature quest that results in a crafting-class-specific level 85 item with a non-combat evac effect, etc.
- Level 85+: Destiny of Velious Crafting quests, released on February 22, 2011.
- DoV Crafting Quest Rough Overview
- Iceclad Ocean Crafting Quests
- The Return of a Gathering Obsession (level 90 with pre-requisite)
- City of Thurgadin Crafting Quests
- Crafter Flying Mount Quests Requires certain progress in the City of Thurgadin crafting quests to begin
- What Dreams May Come (Blessed Coldain Prayer Shawl HQ)
- Eastern Wastes Crafting Quests Requires that you have completed the Iceclad Ocean Crafting Quests listed above. NEW quest series added with GU60
- Level 90(?) Drunder Crafting Quests Unlocks the ability to buy heirloom recipe books for used in crafting Drunder-related drops for adventurers. NEW quest series added with GU60
- 90+ gathering skill Feeding Duggin – a series of repeatable harvesting quests with dishes as rewards (Additional rewards added with GU45)
- RoK: RoK Faction from a Tradeskill Perspective not only gives an overview of some of the RoK factions, but explains about special RoK tradeskill writs to obtain vendor access to your Advanced recipe books and more. Also check out the GU54 addition of RoK Daily Crafting Faction Quests
- Special Red glowie collections released with GU46, additional collections added with GU47
You can also find crafting quests written up on EQ2i, which is a fantastic resource for all things EQ2-related. No matter what path you choose to go down you’ll find a lot of quests related to crafting, and before too long you may find yourself with two, three, or even all 9 of your crafters at 90 (yes, all mine are 90).
Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!