EQ

Dainty – The Rogue

stargrace May 21, 2008 5Comments

As most know, in EQ1 I have a plethora of alts. Always have. I originally signed up for Nostalgia the Guild with my cleric, however we honestly had enough healers – and so I switched to my necromancer who happened to be the right level when we were lacking dps. Upon further contemplation though, I’ve decided to level up a rogue to play with our Friday night groups. The big thing for me was to play something that actually relied on having a group, since that’s exactly what I’d have. The necromancer is fun, and a lot of dps – but she can solo just as easily as she groups. Not exactly what I was looking for there.

Along comes Dainty.

She’s a gnome rogue, sporting hot pink and black armor, with an affinity for shinies (which can be said for all rogues I’m fairly certain) and a fear of blood. I plan on working out some sort of role play story for her that I haven’t concocted quite yet. I love making up background histories and what not for my characters.

Last night thanks to temperance from one Brita, and buffs continuously from one very kind druid, I managed to make my way from 1-24 with relative ease. The goal is to be 30-35 by this Friday, and geared – with my skills worked up. Maybe not disarm trap as I’d have to actually go find, you know, traps. If there are lower levels where I can do this, please someone let me know. I’m already planning on a Befallen trip to work the lock picking (thanks Tipa for reminding me what that zones name was).

Aside from leveling up the rogue, I had the opportunity to tag along with Urtog while he worked on a weapon quest for a giant ancient road sign. Or at least that’s what the end result looks like. It’s either that or a primitive spanking rod, or perhaps a fly swatter. I’m not quite sure. Either way, congratulations to him for finishing that off.

It was also the Tuesday night Nostalgia run, they headed to Unrest and you can find Tipa’s amazing write up of the event. There’s still some time to join both the Friday and the Tuesday groups – and we’re also starting up a UK group (though there’s no set day yet that they’ll be meeting, there will be shortly). The level cap for the Tuesday group is (I believe) 25, the Friday group is 35, and anyone is more then welcome to come. Friday is looking for an enchanter, but as always we want people to play whatever they enjoy. What’s the point of paying $15 a month if you’re not playing something you have fun with.

As I leveled up the rogue I read over SOE’s emails to me (each ding) suggesting places to get experience. One place was Stonebrunt Mountains, a place I hadn’t been to in ages. I couldn’t even remember any camps for this zone. It was of course, empty. I also headed over to the Overthere, which was also – you guessed it. Empty. In fact the only places that weren’t empty, were Crescent Reach, and Blightfire Moors. Not that it bothered me too much since I was just trying to catch the rogue up for Friday.

Today I’m fairly confident I can get the rogue the rest of the way to 30-35, and get her skills worked on. I am also eager to not only begin poison crafting, but tinkering. The one tradeskill I’ve rarely (if ever) delved in. I’m looking forward to it!

Not our Corpse – Stonehive Fun

stargrace May 20, 2008 1Comment

“I’m sorry, but this isn’t my corpse.”

“What do you mean it isn’t your corpse, you know the people here are professionals, right? We don’t make mistakes.

“But it’s not my corpse, it’s all wrong!”

“We. Don’t. Make. Mistakes.”

“Look. If I was some two foot dwarf with NO hair, don’t you think I’d have known that before hand?”

“Perhaps you shaved, Sir. It’s not our concern to check the patrons before hand for their body hair.”

*Waving a beard around* “DOES IT LOOK LIKE I SHAVED?”

*A few feet away another discussion is going on*

“This is not my body.”

“Miss, we don’t make mistakes.”

“But look, the scales are a completely different colour, her hair isn’t even cut the same, and she’s at LEAST four times smaller then me!”

“Can you take another look? Our staff are certain this is indeed you.”

*Insert screams of frustration here*

It was late, but it was fun. Last night Tipa, Urtog, Lackey, and myself (on the cleric, not the necromancer) headed to Stonehive, a zone just off of Blightfire Moors. None of us had been there before, but Lackey had a few quests requiring the area. The mobs at the beginning were white and yellow to us. The further in we moved, the more red they became.

We died a whole lot at the start (well, everyone else did. Me, I ran in true cleric form) until Tipa joined up and we dropped one very disagreeable necromancer who felt the need to tell me for half an hour how it was our fault he had died (he had unscribbed feign death for the better of the group before hand) and how it would take him hours to get all those buffs he had again. That’s part of the game, was all I could tell him. Once Tipa joined we only died once – at the very end. By that point we were knee deep in bixie parts and having a lot of fun with it. Or at least I assume everyone was, it was late and I could have been hallucinating.

The best part, is I got to play my cleric in a group. I’ve gone on about how I loved to heal and not only how I loved to but how I was GOOD at it too (wow who’d have guessed!) for some time with nothing to back it up because I’m never healing. Last night everyone brought their A game though, and we did fantastic. Especially for four of us, in a zone filled with red.

Many levels were earned. Not sure about everyone else but I went from level 30-34 (almost, I’m 10% shy which is one kill in Blightfire). Tipa hit level 36, Urtog 35, and Lackey 34. A lot of quest items dropped which made me think I should have almost grabbed them first (the quests, that is) and a new cloak for Tipa and Urtog also dropped.

Before hand I got my monk to level 20, which was nice. Duo’ing with another monk when we both have feign death is also a good thing – though it’s too low on either of us to be exceptionally effective. I’ve been having a lot of fun in EQ1, and perhaps neglecting EQ2 some what – though I did manage to quest yesterday and finish off my Jarsath Waste gate hammer (finally). When I’m having so much fun in one game (for now at least) there’s no real desire to switch back and forth.

Thanks again Nostalgia The Guild for a fantastic night!

Butcherblock LDoN Still the same Great Place

stargrace May 17, 2008 0Comment

Last night was our weekly meeting of Nostalgia, and though we had a booming show up the week before with almost two full groups – this week we were reduced down to just barely 7 people. It happens, unfortunately. People get busy, life happens, they decide they don’t want to play any more (even though we’ve got the lightest schedule invented) that’s just the way it works out. It could have been disappointing were it not for the fantastic attitude of those who did show up. I of course have a pet peeve with not knowing when someone is going to show up. I understand things often happen that are beyond our control, but when a group of people rely on you – let them know some how you won’t be there, so they’re not waiting all night wondering. I have so much appreciation for people who managed to let us know they’re going to be missing for the evening. It also seemed to be the night for incidents – Aerrik had to leave early due to a sick wife (hope she’s feeling better), Relm left to help some friends in WoW, Urtog had a family dinner to attend, and I can’t remember what else happened but DESPITE all of that – we still had a blast. Lost Dungeon Of Norrath – butcherblock style, has always been one of my absolute favorites.

Of course, there was the theory that SOMETHING had to go wrong. Last week it was me dragging around Malfi’s corpse right out from under him, and then being agro to the clockwork and wiping the group. This week? It was that half our group were physically stuck in the instance until the completion timer went off. That’s right, attempting to use the door brought about nothing at all. Dying of course moved you out of the instance – but who wants to pay to retrieve a stuck corpse? So we waited it out. Laughing Fearful for our lost comrades. The LDoN’s appeared to give roughly the same experience as they did two weeks ago. A level or so. More for the hard ones vs. the easy which of course makes sense. I only did two of them and sat the third out (had to eat, plus we had 7 people again anyhow so they could make a full group) and got two levels on the necromancer, reaching level 32.

Which, is fantastic. It means I can wander around Blightfire (which is still a hot zone) and attempt some of the quests in the zone without having to worry about leveling past my 35 level cap for this week.

Last night I also managed to track down my second account, holding Ellithia – a 68 cleric (with her epic) who I had three years ago. I splurged, and spent the $50 to move her to my main account (no need to box, I have station access and don’t want two accounts) exceptionally happy. I haven’t tried looking for a group (yet) but I’m hoping I can drag Kragnn (necromancer) or Kuron (warrior) around for some experience. I doubt there’s really anything I can solo. I tried to wander around Goru’Kar Mesa (a zone off of Blightfire) last night in an attempt at obtaining artifact pieces for a quest – but it was slow going without invis and the guards around the humble town I was wandering across hated me, badly.

There’s nothing quite so embarrassing as getting beaten down by a small swarm (2-3) of gray guards.

Next week we are off to Mistmoore Castle – it should be a blast. We could still REALLY use a second tank, a rogue, and an enchanter. If anyone’s interested, please check out our forums here and let us know you’d like to join. If you’re afraid about being behind (Our levels this week should range from 30-35) I will personally help you get to that level by Friday — if you’ve got the time and are dedicated to playing with us. Please don’t let the level 35 current level range deter you if that’s all it is. Experience really is quite fast still and we really could use a few more players before we hit the more ‘difficult’ levels (which I assume are going to start mid 40’s low 50’s.. but I could be wrong).

Since I have two clerics now, and haven’t played Ishbel in Nostalgia at all – but also have a 31 druid who’s a lot of fun, I’m thinking of deleting Ishbel. Not just for the sake of deletion of course, but I really don’t need / want two clerics. I have a 31 druid who’s in range for Lackey / Nostalgia purposes, and I also have a 40 shaman should the need ever arise. I’m at 10/10 characters, and I wouldn’t mind having the freedom to make someone new if I wanted. I’ll contemplate it a little more today first before making the decision I suppose.

Back and Forth

stargrace May 16, 2008 0Comment

Yesterday was a pretty good day. I spent most of it flip flopping between EQ1 and EQ2, which I suppose is quite usual for me. I started out in EQ2. Invited a few new members to Nostalgia, and the guild dinged level 5 opening up our first bit of city merchant goodies. It was easy enough to get, since Stargrace (the 80 provisioner) gets 1.5k status for every writ she does, and the provisioner rush orders fly by. Plus since we’re such a low level, it only took four writs to get us a level and a half. At least now people can see our guild tag when they look at us. I also managed to ding 79 on the coercer, and finished the three factions she needs in order to quest for her Jarsath Wastes hammer. I remember doing this hammer on my rogue in EQ1. I had to work faction, a lot of faction. You turn in whips from local sarnak to the skeletons, and then once you’re done working up your faction it’s a simple little quest to complete it. I remember being so proud when I’d finally finished. One of the raid ‘requirements’ was to have a viable means of getting home again once you were done for the evening. Since the aa that sends you home was not out yet, that meant gate potions, or whatever else you could find that could port you. When Kuron, Tipa, and myself headed to Chardok to check on the royalties the hammer came in handy for me to get out without having to walk through the entire zone (again, and possibly dying to traps).

Next goal is of course to get the coercer to 80. Finish her Thuuga item, and start her epic. I also did the evil aligned quests that came out with GU45. Running around Timerous Deep spreading plague and blight made me feel right at home. A new house item (a book) and a fancy back scratcher (that coats you with flies when you wear it) were my rewards. Of course just as soon as I get settled in EQ2, I feel an incredible urge to wander back over to EQ1.

Lackey was on with his magician and we quickly teamed up, me playing my cleric. He was already in Upper Guk, and I headed that way. In typical Stargrace fashion I forgot how to get there. The PoK map may say Guktan, but the stone says Grobb. Either way, that’s where I was headed. We made our way down to the spawn area of ‘an ancient croc’.

Illia’s Everquest Beastiary says this about the mob: ”

The Ancient Croc is probably second only to the Shin Lord in terms of popularity. The Ancient Crocodile can be found in the very back of Guk, near the two watery enterances to Lower Guk.

He hits for 72 Max, but has relatively low HP for something which hits that hard.”

I had to laugh. The item he drops that was most sought after way back when are his gatorscale sleeves. They have +4 int, 15hp, and enchantment I. which means they reduce the cast time of long beneficial spells. The next comment below the explanation of the mob was even more endearing to me:

“Could a 34 pally farm this place and get some ok loot?”

Of course, it was posted back in 2003. Before Crescent Reach made its way into game and gave lowbies a new area with new loot. Above is what gear looks like ‘now’ in the newer zones. They actually have stats. A lot of stats. It dropped off of some random mob in Blightfire Moors.

Ah how things have changed. It’s nice to say ‘I won’t use any of that stuff, I don’t NEED any of that stuff’ but lets be honest here. It’s pretty. It’s shiny. We wants it. It’s natural to want to gear your character up to the best of your ability. We’re not talking twinking it out by means of bazaar, but quested items, loots and drops you can obtain yourself. We want what we can work for, and feel proud about.

We camped that croc spot last night for an hour and a half – spawned the ancient once. The sleeves dropped, and Lackey was all excited about it, until he saw his sleeves he was currently wearing (which is DE cultural armor) vs. the ones the croc dropped. His have 20 health/mana/end and +3-5 to all stats, plus a few saves. Hard to compare some of the old world drops with the new world items.

Part of me almost wishes devs took the time to revamp every single old world drop so that it could compete with the new world zones – so that they’re not constantly barren where no one has any interest in hanging out (Nostalgia the Guild being the exception to that). On the other hand, it’s a huge exciting thing to be able to go back and see these old items that used to be “so uber” back in the day. Brings back a whole lot of memories, that’s for sure.

Tonight is our weekly meeting of Nostalgia, and I’m looking forward to it. Fingers are crossed that I’ll get the chance to group with my favorite warrior and my favorite ranger (not to mention my favorite shaman, druid, wizard, heck wait everyone is my favorite), but if Tipa’s on tank duty it probably won’t work out that way. I’m also secretly hoping I may get to play my cleric (she’s fast approaching levels where I won’t be able to solo / duo quite so easily for my experience, and I’ve managed to keep her up with Nostalgia thus far for levels ‘just in case’) but the necromancer is always a lot of fun too. We’ll see how it goes, no doubt I’ll write about that tomorrow morning. We’re doing our Butcherblock LDoN’s in an effort to slow down the leveling and earn some more points. Looking forward to seeing everyone there!

Healing Time, and it’s all about the alts

stargrace May 11, 2008 1Comment

First of all, Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mothers out there! Hope today is wonderful.

Some how I managed to convince Growlius, who is a good friend of mine from EQ2 and also plays VG with me – that EQ1 was actually not evil, and he should come play. Not to be confused here, he’s played before. A level 70 necro with his epic 1.0, 1.5, and 2500 aa… No wonder he thinks the game is evil. Even though he’s got no interest in joining up with the Nostalgia bit I’ve got going on, he’s at least playing. This meant of course that I needed yet another alt. I used to have a beastlord some time ago but deleted it before I got station access. I already have three healers, I dislike playing a tank, and I wanted something we could duo with (though lately I’m beginning to think anyone can make a fine duo). So we both decided to make beastlords. I went with my troll on the left, Bhelly. I am quite partial to the alligator pets – though I was even more partial to them before they revamped them and stuck them with 6 ugly legs as opposed to the normal versions that had four. Growlius created a Luclin born one (fitting, for our server) and off we went. We stuck with the tutorial only until level 5, both of us becoming very bored with it very fast. After that we went to Crescent Reach, and completed the beginner quests there. We basically got two levels for every one quest we did, it was great. Before long we made it to level 10, and called it a night.

Well, Growlius called it a night. I hung around for a bit longer – low and behold Lackey logged in. Since I switched from my cleric to my necromancer because we needed the dps more then we seemed to need the heals, I played my cleric with Lackey. We also teamed up with Rogbog, Zerker from Nostalgia. It made me realize how much I LOVE playing the cleric class, and how much I’d missed it. It was the first time aside from the tutorial I’d actually been in a group (even if it was small) for any of the content and not just solo’ing on her. There are two classes I seem to be partial to. Healers, and enchanters. The rest are ok, but nothing beats those two. We ran around Blightfire Moors, all of us more concerned with just getting experience then with questing. Both Lackey and myself each won a very nice item (think his was a necklace, and mine was an upgrade to my range slot) and a general good time was had by all. The cleric hit 26 and almost 27, Lackey the same, and Rogbog hit his level cap of 30 for the week. We were taking down red Briar Thorns, and didn’t even come close to dying, even though we some times had two. The Moors can be dangerous if you’re not sure where to go, especially since the zone is essentially for levels 20-40.

I had actually meant to play EQ2 yesterday, and never got around to it. I had work orders waiting for me in Vanguard which I did manage to get done, can’t have guild mates going without a house. EQ2 however just couldn’t quite interest me. I had every intention of finally hitting 78 on the coercer, and just couldn’t bring myself to log in for more then five minutes. Ah well, as long as I’m enjoying myself, I doubt it matters really which game I play.