2013

An Evening in Nektropos Castle #EQ2 #EverQuest2

stargrace September 19, 2013 1 Comment

Nektropos Castle is another one of my favorite zones. It’s creepy, dark, filled with zombies ghosts and other denizens that go bump in the night. There are also three versions of this zone, so if you’ve only explored through one version (or perhaps none) be sure to check out the other two (more details about them in a bit).

My necromancer, her trusty zombie, and her gingerbread man (who I am thinking of naming Fred) traveled to this wonderful zone along with Ibeogur (who did the majority of the brute work, I admit). There is a LOT of discovery experience to be had within, as well as many named to defeat. The zone is perfect for anyone 30-37 or so, I believe we headed over there at 27. My favorite part is that the place is still quite a maze, even after all this time. It’s probably one of the few zones that I still use a map to find my way around in. Plus there are a lot of really neat quests inside. Not only are there heritage quests, but also a very neat house item with some pretty interesting lore ties.

When you finish the zone you’re given a quest called “Putting Maltena to Rest” and this grants you access to the 2nd version of the zone, Nektropos Castle: The return. This zone is meant for players level 50-55 but it has quite an unfinished feel to it and could really use a revamp in terms of monsters and loot. That shouldn’t stop you from making your way through the place at least once though, just for the atmosphere!

The third version is Nektropos Castle: Tribulation, and it’s for level 70 characters. This zone is much different than the first two, and you can only access it through the back of the original castle, in a crypt. You also leave it through the front door, and you complete the zone backwards which makes things nice and confusing (in a very good way). There are of course still glitches, like, the named not giving any aa at all, but if you’re looking for atmosphere and experience, this is a great place to explore. I think it’s very easy to adventure in zones that we are all familiar with, and some times we need a bit of a reminder that there is an entire world out there just waiting for our character. What are some of your favorite EQ2 zones? Let me know in comments!

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

An Arasai, zombie, and gingerbread man walk into the Ruins of Varsoon.. #EQ2 #EverQuest2

stargrace September 18, 2013 No Comments

I was in the mood for a little relaxation last night, so of course that means playing an alt for a bit (or crafting, but I was in the mood to work on an alt). My little Arasai (pictured above with her best friends) and Ibeogur decided it would be best to head to Ruins of Varsoon which is just off of Thundering Steppes. When we got there the zone was pretty empty aside from one character and their mercenary who were only killing the named mobs. Since I was there for experience (or rather, aa experience) I had no issues with that.

The Chamber of Immortality can be found within, which is where my screenshot is taken. You defeat rounds of mobs until you activate the mini boss and then the final boss. Guaranteed exquisite chests drop from these last two named which is a good reason for doing the dungeons right there.

The zone is also home to a lot of book quests, something I’m always interested in completing. I managed to get two of them to drop, but did not get very many updates on the individual quests. I’ll be back to the zone eventually to try to complete them. By the end of the evening the zone was starting to fill up and so I decided to call it a night. I love playing on Antonia Bayle but some times the lower level zones can get a bit crowded. This is a good thing, I love seeing an active game – however since mentored characters and people with mercenary tend to be overly powered, it means that it’s quite easy for a single player to clear a zone, leaving others without much to do. Thankfully, EQ2 has LOTS of zones, so you can typically move on to some place else (or a dungeon).

The progress was quite good. I locked the necromancer at level 30 for the time being, and she inched her way to 84 alternate advancement points. There are a few more zones I want to explore before unlocking experience, I’d like to be around the 150 aa mark, but we shall see.

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

Heritage Quests and (another) New Alt #EQ2 #EverQuest2

stargrace September 17, 2013 No Comments

One thing I love about EQ2 is the huge amount of STUFF there is to do, no matter what branch of MMO gamer you happen to be. I decided to explore some of the older Heritage Quests that I had yet to complete on my ‘main’ character (who at the moment happens to be the defiler). What I’ve been doing is slowly working my way through the list on the link above in the order that they show up (which happens to be by level of the quest). So far I’ve made it to 19 completed, which puts me at the Lost Legend of Lavastorm, and that rewards you with the Crown of King Tranix. The quest I worked on yesterday was the Bone Bladed Claymore – one of the more annoying HQ out there because it requires you to slay 1,000 sentient beings. This isn’t difficult, it’s just time consuming. In order to defeat mine I decided to stay in Runnyeye since it was empty, and I also ran through Runnyeye: The Gathering in order to obtain the timed achievement for the zone. In both cases I decided to just remain at my level of 95 instead of mentoring down, simply for speed.

Once I completed the Bone Bladed Claymore I looked through my journal and noticed that I had one very quick and easy HQ on me, for the legendary Grimblade. This heritage quest took maybe 30 minutes to complete, and was all solo except for the final encounter in Stonebrunt Mountains. The experience helped boost up the guild a bit, which is sitting at about 36% into level 65. I still have lofty dreams of reaching level 70 so that we can purchase a T3 guild hall (even though I know T4 are on their way) but we’re still quite far away from that.

Aside from the two heritage quests that I completed, I decided it was time for a new alt. I love making new characters, I have a tendency to delete them and re-create them on whims all of the time. The latest adventures have been with Anastasie, my fae necromancer. She started out at level 14 with 36 aa and by the end of the evening (thanks to adventuring with Ibeogur, a 95 berserker) she was 27 with 64 aa and a huge pocket of stuff to sell on the broker. Alts tend to be expensive endeavors, what with all the new spells and gear that they need, so I pride myself on being able to “do it all” myself with my crafters. I’ll make her a set of gear but will probably leave the spells for some time, until she’s a higher level. I’ve also locked her for a while so that she’ll gain aa but not levels, I don’t want her to be level 90 with less than 100 aa like some of my characters in the past have had to deal with.

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

Experimenting in EQ2 #EverQuest2 #EQ2

stargrace September 16, 2013 No Comments

Experimenting is a new process that was added to EQ2 with Chains of Eternity, and it is some of the most stressful (and yet rewarding) crafting there is. The ring pictured above has been experimented on 5x (which is the max you can do per crafted item). I added int, stam, a proc, and crit bonus. Now, one thing I forgot to do which I will certainly do for the next item I make is use a refined rare to make the object. Refining was also added with Chains of Eternity, and it allows for some extra stats on the item you’re crafting. So if you use a refined rare to create the base item, and then adorn the item, and THEN experiment on it, you’ll be able to gain full potential from experimentation. You can experiment on adornment stats too when they’re added (something else I didn’t realize).

It does come with one very strict side effect. If you fail at experimenting you lose the item completely. That is what makes the process so very stressful, at least on this crafter. Luckily I’ve not lost any items yet (of course I’ve just jinxed myself). There is a quested pair of fabled gloves from Cobalt Scar that helps with the experimentation process and I highly suggest players who are going this route work on getting those first.

It’s a lot to keep track of, especially if you’ve been away from the game for any length of time. These skills are found in your prestige tradeskill section along with mass production. With the ability to switch our aa spec’s on the go in a MUCH easier way, taking advantage of each of these new craft chains is pretty simple. I have three specs, one for each tradeskill chain. At least on my main. My crafting alts who have not completed all of the quests in order to get the best gear I just leave with the basics. Having nine level 95 crafters is a bit of an endeavour when it comes to completing each of the quests available. There are a LOT! Between the solstice earring, the epic weapons (for crafters), the prayer shawl, and now the fabled gloves, not to mention the ‘basic’ crafting quests that help you level up from 1+ as well as the mara chains. It’s refreshing to have such options for crafters. Adventuring is nice but sometimes you simply want a break.

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