October 2013

Adventures from 85 to 90 in Kael #EQ2 #EverQuest2

stargrace October 17, 2013 0Comment

(Side note, the screenshot has nothing to do with Kael, it’s Kingdom of Sky, one of my other favorite expansions). In a rare moment last night, everyone in guild was logged in (almost, we were missing one). Armed with our newly created level 85s we headed to Kael to get a little experience before one (or all) of us would have to log for the night. It wasn’t exactly an evening of astounding gameplay, but it was quiet, fun, and productive. Ibeogur has been leveling up a wizard and managed to level from 85 to 88 in our two hours of playing together. Ultann has a new templar who also dinged 88, and Zerrek (a new player all together) inched his way to 89 with his defiler. I decided to play my beastlord, a character I created on my second account, and she is now resting comfortably mid-way into level 91.

I’ve been having fun playing the beastlord, although it does take some time to get used to. The level 85 heroic characters start with a grandmaster bear pet, I’ve been leveling up a wolf. There’s a lot to keep track of with special hotbars all over the place just for this class, but I think I’ve managed to get the hang of it now. I’m looking forward to having a second 95 on my second account, after that I’ll have to decide who to level next, either the paladin or the coercer I created on the account. I’m going to (try) to limit the account to four characters in case I should ever drop from gold, we’ll see how that goes.

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Nights of the Dead Excitement #EQ2 #EverQuest2

stargrace October 16, 2013 0Comment

I admit, I love in-game holidays. I love the achievements that come with them, the special treats, and the fun and games. Nights of the Dead has started in EverQuest 2 and so I spent most of my evening working on the achievements for that particular holiday. In the past you could earn a title based on an item you would receive in the mail, becoming the nights of the dead devotee. However, that was removed and you now earn it for completing the in-game achievements. Two of the achievements involve crafting all of the special novelty items that are found in craft books. Another is for completing the ghost races in both Antonica and Commonlands. The final is for completing all of the quests involved in Nights of the Dead. This includes the Loping Plains and Freeport / Qeynos haunted houses, as well as the Hedge Maze, and the zone that emulates Plants vs. Zombie.

I managed to take down the Scarecrow King and made a discovery of his helm, which was pretty neat. Although none of the quests are new this year there are a few new rewards including one really awesome voodoo plushie that I am completely in love with.

There is an achievement for participating in all of the Live Events for EQ2, but I’ve never managed to complete it. See, I normally wander away in the spring months, and it shows. I’ve obtained the achievements for Tinkerfest, Nights of the dead, and Frostfell but I’ve missed out on Erollisi Day, Bristlebane Day, and Brewday. Maybe this year will be my lucky year and I’ll manage to obtain the bauble of Holidays past, and the Festive Spirit title. We’ll just have to see I suppose.

What is your favorite in-game holiday (if you have one)? Have you been exploring through the Nights of the Dead content? As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Tears of Veeshan goes into Open Beta #EQ2 #EverQuest2

stargrace October 15, 2013 0Comment

I’ve been participating in betas for various SOE games for a number of years now, always eager to help test content and squash bugs before they go to live. I don’t write a lot about it because it’s boring work, running the same content over and over again and trying to break it or reporting when something doesn’t work.

Tears of Veeshan, the next EQ2 expansion, is now live in Open Beta. You can copy your live characters over (practically) immediately from character select and to access the beta server all you need to do is when you load up EQ2 (before pressing play) change the version in the top left corner from whatever version you’re currently playing, to beta. It will of course require time to patch especially if you’ve never played on beta servers before. Characters from previous betas are wiped. Keep in mind if you’re looking to beta test items that you normally keep in your bank or house, you’ll want to have them on you when you copy your character. This goes for all crafting apprentices, for example.

Some things to mention? Well, Qho makes another appearance, and the maps may look familiar (especially if you’ve spent any time in Kingdom of Sky). There are of course glitches and bugs – it’s very important that you report these on the forums and in-game. Kander also mentions that there will be rewards given to players for helping out with beta testing, and while it’s certainly not required it is a nice little ‘something’ for those who are giving their time.

You can find me in-game on the beta server as Stargrace (defiler) or Seduisant (my shadowknight), if you’re looking to test some heroic content don’t hesitate to look me up.

Working the Alternate Advancement Window #EQ2 #EverQuest2

stargrace October 9, 2013 2Comments

I’ve seen a lot of people having issues with the new AA windows ever since SOE changed them, so I thought I’d explain how they now work. SOE gave us the ability to have and load multiple set ups, via the drop down on the right hand side (where you see (personal) Existing). This is great for people who like to keep a solo spec, a tank spec, and maybe different crafting specs. Especially with the addition of refining, experimenting, and mass production.

With the revamp also came the ability to spend those points BEFORE you earn them taking away the need to spend them as you obtain them. To do this you’re going to want to get OUT of view mode, and go into build mode. See that button on the bottom right hand side beside the commit button? Click that, it should be in build mode.

While in build mode the order you spend your points in every tree is the order that you will assign them as you earn them. Make a mistake and want to go back a few steps? Click on the spent points that are shown on the far right hand side column. It will ask you if you’re sure you want to slide back to whatever point in spending you’ve clicked on.

You CAN still also spend points the old fashioned way, as you earn them, by remaining in VIEW mode, and just clicking points in the tree as you earn them. If you want to swap out specs, click the commit button while you have the tree you want selected (from the top right menu).

That’s all there is to it.

A few things to keep in mind. Remember, just because you have spent all of your points does not mean that you’ll gain the abilities to all of the spent points right away! You still need to EARN those points and then they will unlock and be placed in the ability or spell section of your skill book, and you must commit the chosen tree in order to do that after spending them.

Any questions or comments? Feel free to ask and I’ll do my best. As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself.

Recent Changes #EQ2 #EverQuest2

stargrace October 7, 2013 3Comments

Every time I logged into EverQuest 2 over the weekend, I heard someone asking a question about the recent changes that they had some how missed, so I decided to post some of the most commonly asked ones here.

• ALL characters minus beastlords can now skip their fabled epic quest and move right on to epic repercussions. Speak to an NPC in TT to start this process just like you normally would if you had the fabled version. You CAN still do the fabled version. Beastlords are exempt from this because their epics are different, level 90 ones instead. They don’t have the ER quest.
• Chat channels have changed. That means you now need to right click on your chat window, and go to chat options and join the new ones. The level chats are gone, so join General or High_Level and LFG. Of course if you’re anything like me and you value your sanity, you’ll be avoiding General.
• Until October 15th all accounts are flagged as gold – this is to allow players to create their new heroic characters. Regular account restrictions will be put back in place after (remember those restrictions have also changed).
• Pre-Ordering Tears of Veeshan will give you access to Chains of Eternity (right away), but NOT to Age of Discovery which is now sold a-la-carte in the station cash store either as individual pieces, or as a whole. If you’re looking for confirmation on this one go visit the forums.
• Yes, experience has changed. You’ll want to be active in group to gain the most experience, otherwise you’ll take a hit of almost 3/4 what you normally would get. It’s a painful experience loss for people boxing especially when kills are so quick, so if you can, try to get that character onto the hate list in order to maximize the experience.

Those are the main changes as of late, there are others of course, but these ones seem to keep turning up more than the rest. As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!