Back in EQ (again)!

[Aragir Lancot]

My wife and I have returned to EQ for a second time. Last time it was because I was overseas in Afghanistan and we wanted to be able to spend time together. This time, it's because we have six kids and a busy life and want to be able to spend at least a LITTLE time together.

With a bit of experimentation, we've discovered that we can easily duo the undead in Loping Plains. I can also solo in The Nest. I suspect we can probably also duo Direwind Cliffs undead, but not yet Frostcrypt.

When we left the game 3 years ago, we had done about 3 months of heavy raiding, and so we were wearing a mix of gear from Plane of Time, Anguish, and Serpents Spine (tier 2 stuff only). We also had a few items of the new Secrets of Faydwer expansion.

I've only spent 485 AA's so far, and in rather eclectic fashion, so I don't feel qualified yet to tank tier 2 group content in SoF. Right now I'm focusing on maxing Combat Agility, Combat Stability, and Armor of the Inquisitor. Are there any other AA's that I should regard as essential in my first round of advancement?

I already have 11/20 Lay on Hands, 1 rank of Hand of Piety and 1 rank of Radiant Cure. My wife's main character is a level 80 cleric, and her alt, on a third account that we don't have access to yet, is an 80 ranger, so I don't have to be able to DPS or heal, just tank (mostly). I do have Slay Undead 9, and so we regard it as a given that we should be focusing on undead camps for xp. If there's another, better camp I should be aware of, I'd also like to know that.

[Candara]

I remember seeing your posts many times over the years on the boards. Welcome back to you and your spouse.

[Hammerdahl]

Welcome back!

The game has changed a LOT since serpent's spine, as I'm sure you're finding out. Nowadays most mains are 85+ and most people have 1000+ aas. Many people are focused on House of Thule since it was just released. It will be difficult finding lower level exp groups unless someone is leveling up an alt. Fortunately, Sony has put in a lot of things to help people in your situation catch up.

(You didn't indicate what level your main is, I assume you are close to level 80 like your other toons. I also assume you have all expansions.)

For starters, level specific "defiant" armor randomly drops in all zones. You won't be able to tank past SoF with it, but it will be a pretty big upgrade over the PoT and anguish stuff you are using. Best of all it is droppable so you can get it in the baz for next to nothing. Not sure what server you are on if it is xegony send a tell to Hammerdahl and I'll try to score you some, at least to temporarily fill any weak slots you have.

From there you might want to try the boomerang missions in Brells rest (assuming you have all expansions). The boomerang is basically a video game where you run around and try to hit gnolls with colored boomerangs, you need three people so you may need to box your ranger or recruit someone else to join, but you win silver tokens which you can spend on gear that will allow you to tank the first level of the UF expansion.

You may also want to consider the "classic monster missions" in Plane of Knowledge that you get from Old Man McKenzie, which are instances in old school zones where you play a level 50 toon of any class you want. Unfortunately, those missions no longer give any exp since the release of HoT (I guess Sony didn't want people leveling in the new expansion by just running these missions). But the missions still give about $2000 plat plus a chest at the end which contains an item that is a huge upgrade over the defiant gear, plus one "brew" for each participating toon (currency that can be used to purchase gear). The classic mission gear is just under Underfoot group in quality, an enormous upgrade over Anguish. The first couple of missions may be time consuming, but if you run many of them you will be able to do them in 30 minutes no problem. Hopefully they re-implement the experience reward because people with less than 1000 aa's were getting like 8 aa per mission, good regular exp too. Keep an eye on this.

From there I would focus on armor from UF and the new expansion HoT. The exp in those expansions is significantly better than seeds of destruction/SoF. Also, It would be a little difficult for you to find enough groups to progress through the prior expansions. And armor becomes obsolete very quickly in the modern game so I wouldn't kill myself getting any complete set, move on to later expansions as soon as you can tank them and you'll get the armor you need quickly.

For aa's, I would continue to focus on defensives the way you are doing you will need them in UF/HoT. Also focus on aggro grabbing aa's like hand of disruption/force of disruption and disruptive prosecution (i think that is the name). Get deflection discipline if you dont have that disc. IMHO, self healing has become a much bigger part of tanking as a paladin in the last 3 expansions - especially in fighting names. So get healing mods when you can and focus on healing aa's once you get the defensives done. Get burst heal spell as soon as you can, and aurora group heal. Heal over time potions too.

For exp'ing, I would recommend getting to Ruins of Illsalin, the aa's come very quickly there. It actually is an excellent solo spot over 80 using a swarm killing technique. For lots of info on that, see the recent thread called "solo spots over 85" or something like that. I'm not sure what the exp penalty would be duoing it at 80, probably not too awful and you definitely won't have to worry about dying if you get some good armor. You will kill so much faster than LP or Frostcrypt that you should pretty much live in ROI until you are satisfied with your aa's and are ready to level up over 85.

For grouping, you might want to try riftseekers, if exp is too slow try dragonscale hills. If you like Loping, you might want to forget the undead and run worg missions (the kill x worgs and turn in) the exp from those is good. Seeds of Destruction is a fun expansion but the exp is slow so I would be tempted to skip it and go to UF as soon as you can tank it. If you get mercenaries for your toons, you can have a full group when the two of you box the ranger. Unfortunately, there are no slower mercs yet, but if you get a healer and the cleric and ranger get dps mercs, you have a group of a puller, tank, 2 clerics, and 2 dps, you will be in good shape against anything pre-UF.

Good luck!

[UDP13]

[Aragir Lancot]

Thanks for the advice! So far, using all my vet rewards and re-learning how to fight undead, I've managed to solo about 14 AAs, and grouped for another 10. Sadly, I spent the first 10 on Planar Power, thinking that increasing my stat cap would increase hp, AC, and mana. Clearly, this was a waste, as newer items will increase all three MUCH faster, as well as give me more mod 2's.

So, I've purchased more levels of Combat Stability and Agility, and intend to alternate between those two, and Armor of the Inquisitor, until I have maxxed all three. And buy/beg new equipment. I've looked in the bazaar, and while there are items available that are definite upgrades, most of them run 40k+pp, and I have a mere 60k in the bank. With only a few hours a day to play, I prefer to grind AA's rather than try to get cash.

In addition, a guildmate gave me five newer items (Req level 80) which are MASSIVE upgrades, so I'm headed in the right direction, and with a few more item upgrades like that, should be able to tank Hills of Shade and/or Frostcrypt. Speaking of, which one of the two is a better xp camp?

I'm interested in loyalty tokens though. Someone in my guild was saying something about those, and that you could get decent gear in exchange for them. What expansion is that, and how many people does it take to do them? They sound like the old "Monster Missions" which were kinda fun...

Thanks again for the suggestions. I'll continue to check in here.

[varutia]

Loyalty tokens are given for free, just check your inventory screen.

[Hammerdahl]

[Aragir Lancot]

On the subject of mercenaries, since I have a cleric in the group, would it make sense for the cleric and paladin to get DPS mercs and the ranger to get a cleric merc in case she gets hit (she does draw aggro sometimes on a multi-pull)? I haven't experimented with mercs at all, obviously, and want to make sure we maximize our potential DPS, since that seems to still be our major drawback.

I bought some whip in the bazaar yesterday, to replace my Jagged Pureblade, but 1h and Shield combo only seems to have about 500 more hp than 2hander, and maybe 50 more AC. Is it really worth the reduction in DPS?

I checked my inventory this morning, and no Loyalty tokens. Where do i get those? Is there an NPC I need to talk to?

Again, thank you for all the suggestions. I'm catching up on 4 expansions, and was never really on top of some of the older ones, like Prophecy of Ro and Depths of Darkhollow, so it's a real struggle at times.

[Luthair]

Particularly if you have shield block using a 1h is the way to go unless what you're tanking is trivial for you. There is also an AA called shield specialist which significantly increases your 1h DPS, this is a big reason why you see knights running 1h weapons 90% of the time.

The cleric merc will heal anyone in group, it won't only heal its owner.

[varutia]

[knytul]

some do because they dont trust cleric mercs at all (bards and monks especially). Other than that, some bring their cleric bot along and camp em then pop the merc to keep cleric bot on hand for CR's.

[Brohg]

Healer mercenaries are particularly bad with pullers like you say, but also with AE damage. They're easily distracted, let tanks die when others are taking damage also. That's not as big a concern for you guys as paladins since you cover group damage yourselves, and emergency heal yourselves, but it's a big deal, big potential downside/risk, for war & sk tanks.

[knytul]

if u can get a healer merc to work toward your style of play though, they can be better than probably most player clerics out there. i know a few clerics id group with AND pop a merc just bc i didnt trust the player. They also work decently when groupd with Shammies as the shammy can backup heal and do group stuff like Champ, Lynx, or do dd's and dot's.

[Brohg]

Handling steady heals over a long time period without flaking off or whining is indeed their specialty

[Aragir Lancot]

I wish they had slower mercs. My wife two-boxes a ranger and a cleric, like I said, and the only slow we have in-group is Earthcaller. We should really get her Ranger a fabled whatever-it-is that procs slow in the spring...

Anyway, I'm up to 22/28 CA and CS. I only have a Dragonscale Whip or something as a 1hr, so my DPS suffers a LOT when I switch to 1h and shield (not 81 yet, so i don't have Shield Specialist yet). It looks to me like I need to focus on getting better gear to improve my tanking, since I'm still sitting at about 22.6k hps and 3350 ac when buffed (ac goes up by 200 when I switch to 1hr and shield, though). If I switch to DPS AA's, will I be able to get my DPS back up to where it is with the 2hr fairly quickly? Or am I looking at needing to spend 100AA's (about 3 weeks, it looks like) just to DPS to where it is right now with the 2hr?

Thanks again for the input.

[Brohg]

Earthcaller procs Earthcall: 2: Decrease Melee Haste by 50%

Fabled Willsapper procs Willsap: 2: Decrease Melee Haste by 35%

That is not an upgrade.

[Normy]

if you are able to keep yourself alive while using a 2h weapon, then use a 2h weapon. It comes down to how well you can tank the content is all.

If you are comfortable healing on your bot cleric, then pick up DPS mercs. Unless you have a way to haste others, pick a caster DPS merc.

Gear should be your primery focus at this point. Problem is getting into a group that you can upgrade in. Most zones in HoT you are not likely to be able to tank very well yet. The boomerang missions could provide a few more good pieces of loot and you don't have to rely on tanking 10k hitting mobs!

In my opinion you could probably hold off on the last ranks of defensives at this point. The later ranks have been parsed to be extremely small for the AA investiment. If you are seriously lacking on other critical AA's, it probably wouldn't hurt much to start funneling them somewhere else.

[Aragir Lancot]

Well, on the advice of the serverwide paladins channel, I'll be investing in Knights Return Strike next, so as to stop getting Riposted. That'll help my tanking some. I also spent all last night in Vxed, getting the stonemite shells I need for the Lizardscale girdle, so I can get 50% haste for free. When you're a casual gamer, dropping 300pp on haste potions, 600pp on clarity potions, and 500pp on heal potions is worrisome. Now I just have to put the money into clarity potions.

I"m currently tanking one mob at a time just fine, at the Blackwater camp in Hills of Shade. These are mostly 79-81 mobs, I suspect they average out to about level 80, as we have dark blue, white, and yellow pulls all the time. Two mobs at a time is survivable, but I usually burn a discipline and epic effect doing it, and we have to med up for a bit afterwards. Three mobs is bad, bad business.

I figure eliminating ripostes will help with this some, but I still need more survivability. Granted, that is largely a function of the massively outdated gear that I have, and improving that will be the best way to improve my tanking ability. I don't think that AA's will provide me all that much more in the way of HP or AC, so I need to figure out what's the next best thing. What about that AA ability that has a chance to heal you every time you attack? Is that any good?

[Brohg]

Stopping AA altogether would provide the most ridiculously massive jump in ac almost immediately. 81 is the required level for Stalwart cultural armor with Venerable symbols, which should be pretty darn cheap now since it's not the top of the line, even if you don't have the Smithing skill to put it together yourself.

[Aragir Lancot]

I didn't realize the willsapper and earthcaller were both primary only. Was hoping to find an off-hand slowing item for her ranger, but I guess we'll just keep doing what we're doing.

I got a Jumping Axe from a guildmate last night, so I'm back to working on Shield Block AA's and will hoard AA's for when I level to 81, so I can get shield specialist.

[Beldukil]

Hey Aragir. Remember me from the early days. Haven't played in 10 years but I pop in here from now and again to check in on my Paladins.

[Boleslav]

Aragir, good to see you playing again.

Beldukil - I do remember you from the good old days! It was cool to see your post here a bit ago.

You know... you can come play for Free until Feb 21...