Most efficient spot to root rot at level 85

[Idracab]

Well, I've decided to give the shammy another go at it. I quit earlier this year, but my 6 month routine (quit for about six months, play for about 3 months, quit for about 6 months, etc) has brought me back to EQ.

Thinking ahead, I remember it being hard to get pick up groups, so I'm looking for a good place to solo root rot as a level 85 shaman while I pop on lfg. Obvious requirements are enough single pulls before respawns along with mobs that don't summon and can be rooted (obviously! ). Other pluses are mobs with low HP, those that don't cast or have a ranged attack, in an outdoor zone (using a horsey), and/or a zone with a higher ZEM than normal.

So, any thoughts? Shamans are a bit unique because we can't easily kill swarms of light blue mobs, which I understand is the best way to rack up xp these days. It seems the best shaman soloing method is to get the highest con mob with the lowest number of HP, because if done right, the melee damage doesn't matter at all. So it really all comes down to how many dots you have to cast before the mob falls over.

I had fun in Old Kurn's last night at the zone in. There were 4 mobs that were easy to break with VP / zoning, and then enough mobs to easily park by the entrance. That being said, zone pulling only works when it isn't a busy zone. I'm not adverse to pulling a zone line, but I do enjoy being able to move deeper into a zone and carefully pulling from there (as an aside, I do have the iksar mask to let me move about FoB zones unmolested). However, from touring the SoD zones, it really does seem the majority of mobs are packed to always have at least two mobs on any given pull (ie. Kurns / Kaesora). Not saying this is bad design (it's probably good design) ... just pointing it out.

Outdoor zones are always viable, but I'd appreciate being pointed to a specific spot in the zone if that's the case.

Anyhoo, thanks for any advice you can give.

[Kumudil]

Easy camps:
Beza and Zeka non instanced if you don't want to zone in out. When non instanced taken, have a look at their instances.
Beza easy single pics and less HP. Mostly darkblue but some lightblues maybe within between. VP last almost always til end.

Beza instanced has 2 augs random rare and 2 random ultrarare clickies (snare + root) to offer, but with long recasts.
Instanced doesn't respawn but the questgiver is close to zonein. Just clear outside, levi, invis, leave instance.
After the usual 2 minutes you will come out close to questgiver.

Zeka has a little higher density more roamers and no light blues. 2 Augs and 2 clickies should be available also there but don't remember which. Apart from that same as Zeka. Not shure if Xp will be better, because the mobs have more HP also.

I like to have a chance to an upgrade when doing xp, even if its not some of category "musthave" or "shouldhave".
You may want to try also mechmatic guardian, got my fastcast shrinc-clicky from there 2 weeks ago.

The only thing with those instances is, you need atleast one + merc to request them.

Generally I think just for XP any SOF mob will net more than SOD mobs.

[Idracab]

Thanks for the advice on Beza and Zeka. I'll give that a try next time I play. I'll have to stick to the non-instanced zones for the time being, however. I used to two box with an SK (I actually 3 boxed earlier this year before I quit - SK, rogue, and shaman, with 2 healer and 1 tank merc), but this time around I'm just going to play one character (the shaman). Still, it is a pain because pulling with the SK would get rid of the toughest part of soloing as a shaman - namely, the pulling. Of course, it wouldn't be soloing then. Eh, I'm sure I'll get by. Hopefully soloing won't even be much required because the groups will be plentiful!

Anyway, next stop, Beza and Zeka!

*cough* I don't suppose you know if any mobs there summon, so I can avoid them?

[Huurgh]

[Idracab]

Because I'm in a chatty mood today, I actually got a pretty nice surprise soloing on my shaman. I'm a weird EQ player in that I jump between different characters and boxes quite a lot when I play. And I literally will play for about 6 months, quit for 6 months, and come back and do something different.

That last time I played, earlier this year, was with 3 accounts - an SK, rogue, and shaman (with 2 healer mercs and 1 tank merc). I pulled on my SK, tanked with the tank merc (amazingly enough), and dps'd with the rogue, SK, and shaman. It actually worked out really really well, and I got through some of the progression in SoD, before I stopped in the FoB theme. Still, it did get me tier 3 mercs, which is better than nothing.

Anyway, the point is I was mainly using my shaman to slow, talisman, then toss on three or four dots. I really didn't get the chance to go full dps (loading up and keeping 8 dots running). The last time I had done that was in SoF, where I exclusively played my shaman for a few months. I would root rot brownies in dragonscale - it was probably my favourite camp because the brownies were around level 75 with barely over 60k HP. By stacking dots, I was able to get around 1k DPS on each brownie, burn them down, and be ready to go exactly 2 minutes later for another VP. I was able to get a good rhythm and picked up quite a few AA that way.

So that was the last time I had exclusively soloed on my shaman - level 80 in SoF, doing about 1k DPS. I quit for 6 months, came back, and did the three box route, getting my shaman to level 84 before I quit.

So, to make a short story long, I just this weekend got my first chance to play with the new SoD spells in a full dot rotation, and WOW, I got the nice surprise. From about 1k DPS to an unoptimized 1600 dps. I like to get 8 dots up, and then time it so I know when to recast, so I start casting, the next tick of 8 dots lands with the spell I'm in the middle of casting wearing off, so that new dot lands a second or two after the last tick of the dot had taken effect, so I'm still working out the routine on how to best stack my dots to maximize dps. I'm a bit of a numbers geek when it comes to that. Unfortunately mob hit points seem to be HUGE now in SoD (iksar senties rang it at about 200k HP), so I don't think I'll be able to find a magic spot like my brownies in DSH again. *le sigh*

[Tharkis]

I like root dotting in FoS, just taging random single leezurds and stuff. Probably not hte fastest / most efficient spot, but it works for me =)

[Idracab]

[Rolane2]

I've been doing tosk (especially upstairs) there are some nice spots to single pull and the random augs + spells are a nice bonus. With 6 dots loaded, the 'generally' last until vp wears off, with the occassional need to add a root at the end. Just dont let them hit you too much

[Veril]

Old Bloodfields, just outside the castle, to left/right. These are spots where you can pull solo if you watch for pathing and root rot. Similar sort of HP to all other mobs, but slightly better XP

[Idracab]

Bloodfields was actually one of the first places I tried, back when SoD was first released. I remember being the only one in the zone and root rotting stuff down. Took like 4 minutes to kill something. I learned to stay away from the kyv's (*shakes fist at summoners), but that was a pretty fun place.

I tried Tosk last night, and you're right - the second floor is a pretty nice place. Lots of single pulls with a bit of moving around. I parsed (I loves to parse) and doing 1600 dps, it took about 2 minutes 30 seconds to kill something, then a bit of med time to be able to pull again. It's probably not the best place for grinding xp solo, but it's better than a lot of other zones I've been, there's always the chance for rotting loot if you're under-equipped (like my shaman is ), and spells / augs are a nice bonus as well.

I think I'll check out Beza / Zeka next time I play, but I also think I'll come back to Tosk again soon.

[Thyrm Jarlson]

[Retron]

Tosk, from halfway along the zonein tunnels to Warrens, is enough to fill a lesson. With group foci I've found I can keep 7 DoTs up and, with channeling, get around 4 AAs per Lesson. It's doubtless not as good as elsewhere, but the purity augs are a nice money spinner and there's the chance of augs too. I've done the progression and the frogs quest a few times, meaning I can have a nice instance all to myself (Hiding in Plain Sight). Moreover, I get even more chronobines if the RNG is in my favour - the mission is a simple "collect 4" from non-summoning mobs.

Bloodfields is interesting, I solo there by the zone to CoD. There are some very nice AC augs that drop from trash, as well as better purity augs. You can also get the "kill 10 x" quests, as well as memory orb and weapon quests for extra exp and chronos. Tip: the dragorn guards are great at getting rid of annoying kyvs. Just remember if the kyv kills the guards, you'll be next on its list!

[shamy60]

another zone you can kill if the other area are camped ,the orc camp (battlemaster )in looping planes ,the one not too far from hill of shade give not so bad xp,60% or so there are still dark blue at lv 83.those orcs and worgs are higher level there..to break the camp i was rooting one then aa root another one right away,then running for some let them loose agro.so u can kill the one u pulled and come back for the other one who lost agro...once the camp is broken it become easier to pull......
can add the kill 20 wereorcs and worgs at same time to add some more xp's....xp there still pretty good since most of the new zones xp suck.........in bloodfield or dranik you just have to cast like 5 or 6 dots then the fast dd to break root and bring the mobs to the guards(they don't agro you and kill the mobs you bring to them ) to finish them,and cast fast dd once it's gtg.if you do more than 50% damage you get the xp..