anchor of bazzul

Hunting those Elusive Shiny

stargrace August 27, 2009 2Comments

I love the island of Mara. It was an adventure pack offered to players for $5.99 (at the time, and free to those with station access) that eventually became free for everyone picking up one of the newer expansions (RoK, TSO). There are a handful of quests that involve this zone, though it’s also known as a crafter hub due to the Far Seas taking up residence in the buildings by the water front.

I spent some time this morning running through the Forsaken City (which is a zone just off of Mystic Lake – off of the Village of Shin) and collected pages and shiny all over. The zone is gray to me now but I still really love walking through the hallways and just exploring. Being able to auto mentor down to the appropriate level will be very nice.

Yesterday was a mixed bag of activity. I spent some time questing on Antonia Bayle with Wpus, on his berzerker Ibeogur (yes, he’s an ogre) and we ran around Kunzar jungle trying to get our footing. I haven’t quested there in quite some time, well not since the last 8 times I did the zone at least..

Later on in the day I did a quick Obelisk of Ahkzul run on the mystic (don’t ask) and then headed back to OoA again as well as Anchor of Bazzul on the illusionist. Nothing of note dropped but it was fun to get a few shards.

I spent the remainder of my evening relaxing, and harvesting shiny bits to sell on the broker. I finished off the TSO ‘epic’ shiny quest which allows you to see the blue shiny in instances, which is fantastic. It also cost me 200p to finish that collection though. Yes, it was worth it to me but it put me a little lower coin-wise then I’d like, so it’s time to make that back. I could always just go try to solo or duo shard of fear and get a choker or two to sell. Those are still going for anywhere from 50-100p depending on the time of day the sale occurs.

Unfortunately I’m in a lot of pain today, so I don’t know how much gaming I’ll be able to accomplish but I should be able to dip in a little later on. We’ll just have to see how it goes. The week has gone by fast at least. Lets hope the weekend decides to slow down a little!

Happy gaming, no matter where it finds you.

Gaming

Anchor of Bazzul? Don’t Mind if I do (times three)!

stargrace August 3, 2009 0Comment

Yesterday was one of those amazing game days that are just packed from start to finish with good friends and great times. I don’t have a whole lot of those days any more, because people are busy with work, summer vacation, and other random things that get done over these months (not to mention my own work and the fact that I’m still getting back on my feet after being sick for so long). I’ve finally settled (some what) to 4 mains – two per server that I play on. Instead of playing on three servers, playing on two is going much better. I don’t feel quite as torn when it comes to doing things. The ‘mains’ are my coercer and mystic on Antonia Bayle, and my swashbuckler and illusionist on the 2nd server. The swashbuckler is only level 72 so that hardly counts as a main but she’s on my 2nd account and it simply makes sense (the only other character on that account is my mystic). Anyhow!

My illusionist started the day by doing Necrotic Asylum, which is a zone I really enjoy because you have to pay close attention. When you get to the bridge where the spirits are casting their lightning bolts of death you have to make sure your positioning is perfect (or pretty close). When you get to the huge creature you have to make sure you kill the chums. When you are defeating the mobs before the final boss you have to make sure if your tank gets cursed it’s cured right away or they’ll go down.

The final boss is an amazingly scripted fight. Everyone in the group will get cursed, and chances are if you only have one healer (like my group typically does) you’ll have enough cures to keep the main tank cured and that’s it. The curse lasts roughly one minute – but don’t worry, there’s a cure! At about the 25 second mark, I jump off of the platform where we fight the named (you have to be within a protective bubble the entire time or you’ll take constant damage) into a pool of goo down below. The goo refreshes this curse so you don’t explode. Then you run back up to the platform and continue to kill the named. Typically I have to do this jump run routine a few times before the named is down, depending on DPS. It’s great that so much is happening at once, and I really enjoy the fight. Of course the first few times I was in the zone I hated it.

The daily double also happened to be another favorite zone of mine, Anchor of Bazzul. This zone is simple and fun, so my illusionist also headed over there to grab her shards. The illusionist is my original “stargrace” though she had to be renamed, I haven’t played her steady in quite some time (since the end of EoF really) aside from reaching level 80, so she’s still working on her gear. She has her fabled epic, and some nice gear from palace (group zone) but nothing too special. Last night marked my first piece of T4 void gear ever – there are certain benefits of being “friends and family” in a raid guild (I myself don’t raid in the guild, though that may change). For 20p I was able to loot the forearms pattern pictured above – so pretty! Some raid guilds handle loot differently, and I was exceptionally happy to be given an opportunity to get these cuffs, especially since they are a piece I can’t get via T1-T2 void shard runs.

Back over on Antonia Bayle Hamal and Ultann were knee deep in WoE – a zone I still haven’t even been to. One of these days I keep saying I will. I decided to stick up the LFG tag and within a matter of minutes had an invite to do Anchor of Bazzul on my coercer. I have to admit, I was a little leery of the group, we invited a dirge named “Bzzzz” and then shortly after they joined while we were waiting for them to head to Moors they said that guild things had come up and had to leave. Wish they had of told us that before we waited for them.

We found another dirge, and were on our way. The run actually went very smooth – and to sweeten the deal the fabled void transfer earring dropped, being the only mage in the group I rolled need and won. Upgrades are always wonderful. Since AoB was the DD (no longer called MoTD like Kithicor names it) it was a great four shards for my coercer – she’s working on her T1 set still.

By the time I was done my instance, Wpus had woken up, Hamal and Ultann were done their raid and we had just enough time for an instance run before everyone would have to go their seperate ways for the evening. I suggested if they had not done AoB yet we should do that, for the shards of course. This time I would be going along on Arysh, my illusionist. Since she’s on the same account as Sharatan (the coercer) it would be a nice 8 shards for the day instead of just 4.

We picked up a brigand and a templar and off we went. Nothing of note dropped (sorry Wpus, still looking for the void transfer earring for him) but it was quick and painless, I really love grouping up with my regular guild mates. When we headed back to hall I had Kasul make me the T1 shoulders, and with one more void shard I’ll be able to purchase the gloves, completing my T1 set. Then it’s time to save up for the T2 set.

It was after midnight by then, so I called it a night and headed to bed, pretty sure I actually dreamt of gaming which is just an indication of how awesome the day went. Today is a holiday in Canada, so it should be pretty quiet before the construction across the street picks up once more. What a fantastic day.

Gaming

Loot? Who needs it!

stargrace July 21, 2009 0Comment

The enchanted grotto event was a little late coming into game yesterday, but there were posts on the forums that suggested it should be fixed by the 20th of next month, not to mention the fact that the events are in place for 48 hours each time (so you have until midnight tonight to adventure to the mushroom rings). For myself personally, I ran the quest with two characters who had never done it before (the “new” main, Sharatan) and picked up some nice house goodies along the way. One being the flower wreath that’s pictured to the right. I wish there were some sort of circlet option like the one you’ll find in the station market place, but I figure I have spent more then enough money on station cash this month (close to $200) in order to move my characters to their new homes.

Kasul was off watching Harry Potter and enjoying an evening away from the game (something I understand in concept even if I don’t actively partake!) so that left an evening with Calreth, Wpus, and Ultann – which we made great use of. I played both the coercer and the mystic, and ultann played his inquisitor at least for the first zone.

We decided to try Najena’s Hollow Tower first thinking perhaps the cloak would drop off of the water named (the one where you have to spin the valves each time the water begins to rise) but alas we got some plate boots that no one could use instead. The shards were nice, and thank goodness Calreth logged in during the drake fight because our dps was fairly low without him. I’ve gotten used to having either him or Kasul around, and understand only too well now how essential dps is to a fight.

Even though we saw no useful loot from the drake, there was still the final fight in the zone to bring our spirits up. Perhaps the ring would drop (yeah right) or at least that’s what we told ourselves.

Eventually the zone was clear, our only rewards being the shiny we could find, and the shards. Ah well. It was off to Evernight Abby for a bit of fun. Again nothing of use dropped, our luck persisted. I did manage to complete a few quests on Sharatan though who had never even been to the zone before. In fact she has never been to any of the TSO zones before, I stopped playing her just as TSO came out. She hit 140aa finally and gained a few more shards. I had time for one more zone even though my eyes were beginning to close on me, so we headed to Anchor of Bazzul where again nothing dropped but I wasn’t expecting anything by that point, I just wanted to collect the two shards so that I could have another piece of set gear made (a robe, finally a robe!) and then I crawled to bed.

It’s neat to be on a server where 1-9 is so full you can’t even enter, and I love the constant conversation that is ongoing – though at times it can be a little much and I have to turn off one or two (especially the crafting channel) simply because I miss too much in spam. It was still a fantastic night none the less, and I hope everyone had a lot of fun. It’s Tuesday! I hope everyone has a great one!

Gaming

Over too Fast

stargrace July 20, 2009 1Comment

Where has the weekend gone! It was over far too quick and now it’s back to the week day grind which seems to include the heavy scent of tar since they’re working on the school across the street from me and that’s pretty much all I can smell. Gross. Anyhow!

It was a productive weekend game wise, and Ellithia (mystic) got her very first book randomly mailed to her to add to the library! I was pleased as punch, and sent a little coin in return. I’ll be adding it to the library list and will probably go into more depth about it before too long. Again, if you have a book that is NOT on my player-written book list and want to donate one please feel free to mail it to Ellithia on Antonia Bayle and I will mail some coin back in return.

Since I had two carpenters on Antonia Bayle (one level 80, the other 66) yesterday I decided to respec the 2nd carpenter and change her to a woodworker. Thankfully she is on my main account, which grants the 50% bonus for having other level 80 crafters, and it wasn’t such a big deal to me to lose the 66 levels I’d already gained. I decided to make her a wood worker, since we don’t currently have one in guild. We do have an 80 tailor, sage, armorer, jeweler x2, and carpenter. All we lack is the provisioner, wood worker, and weapon smith. I also decided to just simply get it over and done with, and moved my final characters over to Antonia Bayle, which means I am now done transferring characters, and won’t be doing that any more. It cost close to $200 to move everyone but I’m really pleased that it’s over with and that all my characters are on their respected servers. I had no issues at all transferring – so you can now find me on Antonia Bayle as: Ellithia (mystic), Arysh (illusionist), Sharatan (coercer), Petites (templar) or Satia (dirge). I also have a little bruiser named Stargrace, but I haven’t spent any time at all leveling her yet, the others are all level 80.

Last night saw the guild all together for a brief time before sleep and work pulled us in different directions, once Ultann was finished with his WoE raid (a zone I still have not been to, nor do I even have access yet) and we decided to head to Anchor of Bazzul and see if we couldn’t get something nice to drop. I started out the zone on Satia my dirge but mid way through relogging to Sharatan the coercer because we were having some difficulty with the named that requires you to wear the special void beast suits in order to attack him. The encounter itself was not what was giving us the problem, but we agrod him early on and he bugs so that he refuses to move from the very start of that small section, creating issues when trying to pull. It wouldn’t be so bad but we were not done pulling the rest of the alcoves nor the mobs at the end. Pet pulling just created a mess with all of the encounters running for us, so I relogged to the enchanter and mez’d him so that we could continue pulling, and then we all climbed into our suits.

What an incredible change to have Calreth and Kasul both along, we have so much DPS in our little group now, it’s odd. I didn’t box (which in itself is new) and Ultann boxed his healer since mine is already wearing a full set of T2 shard gear, Noc needs a few more pieces (and shards). I’m slowly gaining shards enough to make Sharatan her set, which will be nice.

Nothing of note dropped this time around, but yesterday when we did AoB the helm pictured above dropped, which was (needless to say) a significant upgrade for me. Still no sign of that void transfer earring, which seems about typical with us and our luck.

We do plan on trying palace for the first time ourselves, I don’t think we’ll have too much trouble until it comes to Varsoon. Even if we can take down the other named, that would be great. We’ll just have to see how it goes!

I hope everyone had an amazing weekend, and I hope this week is fantastic. No doubt you can find me in Norrath!

Gaming

A little of this, a little of that

stargrace July 19, 2009 0Comment

Having been on Antonia Bayle now for three days, I can say that everyone who moved over from Kithicor seems to be exceptionally happy with the change. While it was noted that there was a tiny bit of extra lag – I have not personally had to deal with any mishaps aside from my wireless going nuts yesterday during a storm. It’s been fantastic. There are conversations constantly, groups ongoing at any minute of the day (be sure to join both your highest level channels as well as the lowest to maximize this!) and the atmosphere has been great. Sure, there have been some rough groups here and there as we get settled, after all we don’t really know anyone aside from ourselves yet but we’re working on it.

Yesterday saw everyone on at the same time for once, Kasul, Calreth, Wpus, Ultann and myself. We headed to Obelisk of Ahkzul (before Kasul got home from work) and attempted to see if the shield would drop – which it did not of course. We also made short work of the Anchor of Bazzul which has a few nice pieces of loot (though we didn’t see any of those, either).

I was feeling slightly worse as the day wore on, and so the others went to do Maidens and Vaults of eternal sleep while I watched their excitement from the guild hall. No enchanter along with them and they still did fantastic. I believe a few TSO instances fell to Calreth and Ultann after that but it was past my bed time and so I called it a night.

I haven’t only moved characters to Antonia Bayle, but I also moved three of my characters (warden, illusionist, and troubador) to join a few other friends – the illusionist being the original Stargrace who was decked out in treasured RoK gear. I have had a few chances to play her in between health issues and playing on Antonia Bayle, and she’s come a long way already. She is sporting both of the fabled wrist pieces from Palace, and the fabled earring from Anchor. Needless to say her luck on drops is better then any of my other characters. She also managed to finish off her fabled epic (I’ve lost count over how many that is now) and got her first mythical update which was Thuuga. Illusionists get lucky with their updates, all that is required is Thuuga, Leviathan (which you need to get into VP to begin with) and Silverwing (which you can get to right away if you have Trakanon access).

Needless to say things in EverQuest II have been very busy, and I’m loving every moment of it. Lets not forget that Monday is the 20th, which is around the time that the enchanted grottos and all of their quests should be making their way back into game for a day or two – if you’re into the house items (and lets face it who isn’t!) and want some good achievements, these quests are perfect.

Now if only I could convince myself to stop spending all of my money on player-written books. I must have purchased another 15-20 yesterday and my funds are quickly running out. I have been amazed at the creativity that I’ve found and it’s been fantastic to see so many books for sale.

Eventually, the new guild hall has to be decorated which is something else I’m not exactly looking forward to doing simply because I wish we could have moved over our entire hall from either Najena or Kithicor. Calreth has been holding down the fort in my old guild Torrent Knights, which is level 30 (almost 31!) while I’ve been on other servers and we purchased a T1 Freeport guild hall. Right now it’s a mass of craft machines and npcs as most of the furniture lays packed away in boxes, but I’m sure over time it will get set up nicely. I really miss having the level 51 guild with more amenity, the five we have right now is alright but having no merchant and no harvesters and no mariners bell reminds me of all the work we did on the other guild. Ah well, I doubt we’ll be leaving Antonia Bayle any time soon, so we have plenty of time to set down roots!

See you in Norrath!

Hunting those Elusive Shiny

Anchor of Bazzul? Don’t Mind if I do (times three)!

Loot? Who needs it!

Over too Fast

A little of this, a little of that

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