2013

The Perfect Group and the Best Night Ever #EQ2 #EverQuest2

stargrace September 28, 2013 No Comments

One thing I’ve never really been a fan of, is how players of XYZ video game constantly say you “HAVE” to have this sort of group make up to defeat a specific encounter. If my little guild has discovered anything, it’s that ANY group can be a great group if you know how to work together. I’ve known Ultann and Ibeogur (as well as Hamal who joined us later) for over 5 years now, and in that time EQ2 has been our main game of choice. So when the decision on what to do came out last night, we decided what the heck lets try Harrow’s End, just us three (to start).

The group consisted of:

• Shadowknight (tank)
• Inquisitor
• Defiler (myself)
• Berserker

That’s right, we went into HE with NO traditional DPS role, NO power regen, just two tanks and two healers. Ibeogur and myself are not raid geared, and the inquisitor was being boxed. Could we defeat the zone? We had no idea but we were going to try.

I won’t lie, it was tough. It also took quite a bit of time, but the joy of playing with friends is that it was 100% enjoyable. Ibeogur died, a lot. For some reason berserkers in reckless still draw aggro and gain hate positions even though they’re not supposed to. Plus it makes them as delicate as a baby so on memory bouncing encounters he went down quickly.

But we did it.

We made it all the way to Drinal just the three of us, and then Hamal (an assassin) logged in and joined the group. With him we defeated Drinal and decided to give the instance another run. We had been there so long that the timer had re-set.

So we did it again.

Unfortunately this time Drinal must have heard about us because we wiped to him at least 15 times. Was it annoying? Sure. Did we get frustrated and give up? Nope. We kept at it until we defeated him again. Of course he didn’t drop his mount, but that’s alright. It was one of the best game nights I’ve had in a long time. I doubt that a regular PUG would have stuck with the final named that long, and we challenged ourselves (and had a great time doing it).

So don’t let game mechanics fool you into thinking you can only defeat them one way. Don’t be afraid of trying new things. Most of all, have fun doing it.

Everything is Better with Guildmates #EQ2 #EverQuest2

stargrace September 27, 2013 No Comments

Yesterday was a great day for my small guild. With three active members, we’ve been a small guild for a very long time but while we’re playing EverQuest 2 we don’t let that stop us. We managed to ding level 66 yesterday (really makes me wish we had of been playing when double experience was ongoing) and I’m excited about us finally crawling our way to level 70 where I can purchase a T3 hall simply because.

Last night our little group consisted of Ibeogur, Ultann (boxing his two accounts), myself and Hamal heading to Dreadcutter for some obol drops and upgrades. The dungeon was nothing special, but because we ran it together it was just a lot of fun. Afterward we headed to Temple of the Faceless where you fight Venekor, and low and behold an ethereal tank belt dropped from the final encounter. A huge upgrade for our berserker tank.

In the meantime I’ve been leveling up my paladin on the second account. She is now level 81, as well as my bruiser on my main account. I haven’t decided what else I’ll create on the second account yet but I’m sure in time it too will be filled with characters. I’m already thinking of leveling up crafters on that account as well, even though I already have 9 crafters on my main account. You can never have too many crafters (or characters). I hope everyone has a wonderful Friday, and happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Dual Boxing in #EQ2

stargrace September 25, 2013 2 Comments

Ah, friends. Those people who can convince you (even without trying, or them being aware of it) to do pretty much anything. Ultann has been playing two accounts in EQ2 for as long as I can remember, and at one point in time I was too. I gave it up after a while because my PC wasn’t exactly handling it well, but things have changed. My second EQ2 account is 6 years old (roughly) but so neglected that the only character on it was a level 77 fury.

I decided to start dual boxing again in-game, and created a paladin on the account. I know that’s a bit amusing seeing as I’m leveling her up using my shadowknight, but hey why not. I prefer to have a tank and healer on each account, opening up more options on who to play and what to do. After an evening with Ibeogur (I played my bruiser along with the new paladin) she sits at level 60, which is a pretty good start.

Speaking of characters – October 1st to the 15th EQ2 will be allowing people to create ONE FREE heroic character. These characters start with gear, 280 aa, and the ability to fly. After this grace period players will have to purchase them. Now, I’m not the target audience for these level 85 characters because I enjoy the leveling process, have many level 90-95 and have no inclination to purchase them. HOWEVER I won’t turn my nose up at a free one, and I honestly don’t mind if other people purchase them. I do find it a bit sad that SOE is saying 1-85 content doesn’t matter any more so why not skip it – BUT – the game is aging, and chances are veterans have played through it MANY times before, where new players would rather be playing end game.

Do I think it’s going to create a surplus of players who have no idea how to utilize their characters? No. First of all, EQ2 isn’t that complicated. Second of all, there’s still time to learn, and third, I’m just naturally optimistic. I hope that this new mechanic works as it is intended which is to bring new blood to EQ2 and to revitalize the old. Yes, ideally I’d like them try to make 1-85 content relevant, but I understand that it’s a HUGE endeavor, one they probably just don’t have the resources for at this time.

I haven’t decided what characters I’ll be creating yet, we’ll just have to see. Are you going to be taking advantage of the new heroic characters? What are you going to create?

Shadowknight Makes Four #EQ2 #EverQuest2

stargrace September 24, 2013 No Comments

Oh Skyshrine. I wish you were not the best and fastest way to level any character from 90-95, but alas you are. That’s where I found myself for most of last night, helping a guild mate (as well as leveling my own character, a shadowknight). Ultann managed to get his defiler to 95, and then also got his conjuror to 95. My shadowknight reached 95, and also gained a handful of alternate advancement. Then I decided to go on a shopping spree and purchased what gear I could afford. I still need to make some expert spells but aside from adornments the character is ‘done’ – except she’ll need to either do the Drinal series of quests or purchase the 50 obol item that allows her to see obol and spirits. Since I don’t exactly have 50 obol to waste (I know they’re easy to get, but lets not forget I have multiple alts to gear up) I suppose I’ll be doing the quests. It should be easy at least.

I’m also contemplating subscribing my second account. Undecided at this exact moment but it’s something I think I’d like to do again. Problem is the account has lapsed for two years or so, and that means it doesn’t have AoD or Chains of Eternity. With a new expansion just around the corner, and AoD being sold a-la-carte (eventually) I’m thinking my best bet would be to use the account as a free to play for now and then purchase the latest expansion when it releases. It would be nice to be boxing again and there is a 90 necromancer as well as a shadowknight (and a handful of alts) to take advantage of.

I ran The Dreadcutter (also known as DC) last night with Ultann and his inquisitor, his characters are geared enough that they’re able to solo the zone so I tagged along on my 95 swashbuckler. The problem is she also has not completed the Drinal chain of quests, so she couldn’t see half of the items that dropped from chests. Only my defiler (Stargrace) has managed to complete it. Since I’m still “getting back into the game” so to speak I haven’t gathered a surplus of supplies yet, and I still haven’t LFG much because I’m not familiar with all of the zones. It was a lot of fun to dive into them with guild mates, and I’m hoping we can do more.

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

A Weekend of Alts #EQ2 #EverQuest2

stargrace September 23, 2013 No Comments

I spent most of this weekend working on alts, both my own and those of Ibeogur, who was deciding between a wizard and a beastlord (but eventually settled on the wizard). I created a bruiser, and she is now level 81. I figure that is pretty good progress for a non-double xp weekend. Of course now the real ‘work’ begins, but it’s still nice. I’ll have to get some gear crafted for her since I’m pretty sure I left her in level 30 gear, and I’m going to look into starting her epic quest so that she can do epic repercussions when the time for that comes around.

I’ve had a bruiser before, even geared her up with raid gear that I purchased. However I deleted the character for some reason (just something I do) so I decided to level a new one up. The necromancer is still in the 30’s but I did work up her crafting to 20 or so and put her on the path of the carpenter (which I already have one of, but why not have more). I’m leveling her crafting mostly for the status that comes from doing writs, the guild could always use more status. Right now Torrent Knights is 64% of the way through level 65. I’m still hoping we get reach level 70 and purchase a T3 hall, but we’ll just have to see.

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