2013

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!

Taking Down Trakanon #EQ2 #EverQuest2

stargrace October 5, 2013 1Comment

Friday night in game was fantastic. Ultann, Ibeogur, and myself decided that we would head to Veeshan’s Peak and see what trouble we could get into. In EQ2 this is a level 80 raid zone, and we would be going with our heroic characters (except for Ibeogur, he stayed with his regular level 95 main berserker and would be our main tank). I brought my necromancer and my fury, Ultann played his paladin and his brigand.

The zone still poses some difficulties. You can’t just blow through all of the encounter mechanics, some of them require some finesse. The zone is still quite lengthy with a lot of knockbacks and tail swipes – but it was also incredibly fun.

The gear is no longer upgrades to anyone but I kept defiler patterns so I could add the graphic of that gear to my museum. There is a section of my house dedicated to defiler gear through the ages, and I’m still missing some bits and bobs from various sets.

The experience was also quite good – as long as you were in combat. See, SOE implemented this new experience ‘feature’ to try to reward active players rather than bots auto following. You gain almost 3/4 more experience if you’re in combat and actively participating. Not that much of an issue for me, I would switch over to the second window and make sure my necromancer sent her pet into combat. The necromancer managed to ding 88, and the fury reached level 90. We also cleared the zone and earned a guild achievement for it which was awesome. Clearing VP grants access to Trakanon’s Lair (as long as you complete the quest you receive at the entrance of the zone) so afterward we headed off to do that. We required a Chelsith Stone which Ultann had on his main character and since he had never defeated Trakanon he decided to relog in order to get the achievements. Boom, down the dragon went. Another achievement unlocked.

Afterward we decided to head to WoE (Ward of Elements) which is a x2 raid (rather than a x4) and then we went to Tower of Frozen Shadows (another x2 raid). All in all, it was a fantastic evening hanging out with my small guild and doing something a little different. As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Heroic Characters and Much Fun to be Had #EQ2 #EverQuest2

stargrace October 3, 2013 1Comment

Pictured above, my new heroic 85 necromancer (formerly level 30). There has been a lot of debate about this new feature but one thing that no one can deny is that it has brought people back into EQ2 – whether temporarily or full time. People who would not have a reason to come back at all otherwise. I can’t help but be pleased about that as I saw 6 Great Divide instances on Antonia Bayle the day the heroic characters were released. If even 1/3rd of the returning people decide to invest a month into EQ2 and make some sort of purchase I would count it as a success.

How people decided to spend their time as a newly created 85 character was completely up to them, I saw everything from harvesting, to crafting, and lots of questing. When I first heard about these characters I was saddened by the fact that it would make 1-85 content obsolete – however – that content is still incredibly relevant, especially if you’re looking for experience. See, I ran a few DoV instances and barely got any experience. It was slow, and while the gear was amazing I wasn’t having fun. The next day I was looking at my guild window and I happened to notice that we now have guild raid achievements. They don’t really serve a purpose except for bragging rights, and my guild is so tiny we hardly have anything to ‘brag’ about, but still, I love hunting for achievements so I decided to mentor down and work on the raids.

I completed most of the Kingdom of Sky raid achievements, missing only Talendor (because you have to choose between two dragon fights and it gives you a lock out) and Pantrilla who is rarely ever up in the Temple of Scale (I’ve been trying to hunt this dragon for years now). In that time I also did a few instances because a newly created 85 is basically the same as a level 1 character when it comes to achievements and discovery. I ran through Halls of Fate, Nest, Vaults, along with the raid zones, and before I knew it my little beastlord was level 90. Last night the guild also headed to Spirits of the Lost (a level 50 raid zone that you access through the door to Cazic Thule) and then afterward we took a trip to Emerald Halls and defeated Wuoshi. I didn’t touch any of the usual Great Divide quests nor did I attempt any other level appropriate content. I was content to run around mentored doing my thing with a few close friends and it worked out great.

Again, don’t let others tell you how to spend your time. You’ll find a way to make it work for yourself, no matter what you enjoy doing. As always, happy gaming! No matter where you find yourself.

More Mysterious Books #EQ2 #EverQuest2

stargrace October 1, 2013 4Comments

I have posted a few times in the past, about these mysterious books that keep finding their way into my mailbox. I have no idea who sends them, or why, but each one is preciously added to my library in the hopes that one day someone can help me figure this puzzle out. Above is the book that was sent to Anastasie, my necromancer. I wasn’t expecting anything to be sent to her since she’s a relatively new character, but there it was.

Another, sent to my defiler. I’ll be adding them both to my library in the hopes that someone out there knows something about this puzzle that has been going on for many years now! Player made quests like this one are really exciting to me, and I’m very pleased that someone took the time to write all of this out. I hope that they are reading this post and know how much it is appreciated!

Making a House a Home #EQ2 #EverQuest2

stargrace September 30, 2013 0Comment

This weekend I really wanted to work on Jacquette’s house a little bit. I purchased the Galleon of Dreams for her quite some time ago, and it’s an amazing house (it’s a boat, and you control the weather) but I had not spent any time at all decorating it. What fun is having a pirate character who doesn’t even have herself a proper boat! So I made a start on it. Nothing much yet, the screenshot above is going to be an office of sorts. It needs a desk and chair, and then all those nautical things that pirates seem to have stashed about. For now it displays her trophies and greatest treasures, along with a shaggy rug. Upstairs is her living quarters, there’s a bathroom, living room, and her bedroom. Those quarters are quite posh, after all just because you’re a swashbuckler doesn’t mean you have to live with poor furniture taste!

When I wasn’t decorating I spent the majority of my weekend trying to get the swashbuckler to complete the signature line for Chains of Eternity. See, if you don’t complete that line your character is unable to see Drinal (who sells gear) nor can they see the obol and other tokens that drop from instances. This CAN be bypassed by purchasing a shard with a character who can see those obol tokens – but – it costs 50 obol, and I just don’t have that many spare. It was easier to run a character through the quest line. I don’t believe I’ll run all my characters through it, but since I spend most of my time playing Stargrace (defiler) or Jacquette (swashbuckler) it made sense to get it done on at least those two.

Characters on the second account are leveling a bit slower now. The paladin is level 84 and almost 85, the bruiser on my main account is also 83. When heroic characters come out tomorrow I’ve decided to add an assassin to the second account (or a mystic?) and my necromancer on my main account who is sitting at level 30. Of course knowing me I’ll change my mind a few more times, so we’ll see when the actual ability to create heroic characters comes around.

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself! I’ll see you in Norrath.