This was supposed to be a level 1-15 post but I didn’t quite get there last night and was too tired to continue. In it’s wake I do have an EQ2 levels 1 to 14 post that will just have to do. It is almost as good, I promise you! I can’t say I am wholly surprised but I have been really enjoying my time in EQ2. The quality of life changes from EQ1 (and no doubt, from itself, over the years) has been great. One of the big things you always had to be ready for as an Enchanter (ahem, sorry, Coercer – I will never get used to calling myself that) is when your charm prematurely ends. This is normally during a very hectic pull when you are low on life and you have to think fast, react, and use stuns and mezzes to get the mobs under control quickly – including your ex-friend. As a cloth wearing caster some of my best memories are pulling myself from the brink of death on a charm break. The opportunity to have to rescue yourself from over extension was fun. That is gone in EQ2 as I have a handy, 8 minute timer to watch after I cast charm 2. And to be even more concrete about it the whole screen flashes brightly when charm breaks. Still, as a solo player I appreciate that.
I read I should stick to caster mobs as charmed targets but I don’t think it matters that much t this low level. I enjoy certain “pets” due to look. Running around Kelethin win an Orc in tow seems like the right thing to do. I loved having this gigantic bear as my friend in Greater Faydark. Sometimes I just pick the closest one for convenience, not form or function. The questing has been as expected and I am really enjoying my run up to entering Crushbone. Crushbone was one of my set leveling zones in EQ1 and even when I went back to the progression servers I spent a lot of time farming the Shiny Brass Shield (SBS) as a force of habit. The familiar naming conventions to new spaces is still a hit with me – I just hope there are side bosses I can farm rare loot for in CB when I finally get there. The first time I went into Crushbone as a young gnome in EQ1 was a treacherous journey with a skilled group. Now I just run through and aggro mobs without fear. Again, modern conveniences that I appreciate.
I am still largely lost on the systems outside of the questing. I keep getting AA points but haven’t spent any – I don’t think. I believe they may self assign? There is a lot of confusion in a decades old game when you haven’t experienced it the first time through. I have close to a dozen housing items but not sure where (or when) to start there, so hopefully one of my EQ2 friends comes here and gives me an EQ2 housing starter guide in 100 words or less in the comments (or makes their own blog post about it! Hint hint!). I actually read somewhere that the 7 year anniversary is a free Mystmore Casle house? I should check my /claim. I did play at launch but not for very long. Still, those things – including crafting – I can revisit and any time.
I do get caught up in grinds here and there – there was one to learn the Orc language by finding 5 transcripts that drop from Orcs. I appreciated the fun text they use for Orc language but moreso curious what the heck they were saying. Especially if I had one charmed. Good news is that there were enough quests involving killing Orcs – and probably many more when the quest breadcrumbs lead me to Crushbone – that I didn’t have to specifically stop my questing for any length of time to get them all. That drop ended up being far rarer than I expected but there was a sense of accomplishment in achieving it. I actually don’t think a single Orc has said a things since I sorted how to understand them. That is probably also a feature.
MMOs are largely more fun when you aren’t racing to get to a game state to enjoy them – which always seemed the case for me with WoW and my raiding days. At this stage I am just playing and sorting things out in game as I go -Â I would love – and appreciate – any tips anyone has for me. I still have at least one free boost to 95 it keeps reminding me of but I am going to get there the old fashioned way the first time.
You mentioned the starter housing quest in your earlier post, I think. You get it as soon as you enter any of the starter cities, including Qeynos and Freeport. If you go where it tells you you’ll get a basic inn room, which would count as prestige luxury housing in most MMOs. The Halas rooms are particularly nice.
You also get a few bits and pieces as a reward for that quest but not anything you’d really want, like a bed. Quests throughout the game at every level give all kinds of housing items but you can also craft your own (Carpenter is the specialist but several crafts make some stuff). You can also get a wealth of housing items from every holiday and festival (loads on the Frostfell vendors right now) and there are also loads and loads of special crafting recipe books from holidays if, again, you want to make your own.
If you just want to decorate and don’t want to craft or quest specifically for furniture you can buy a huge range from players on the broker, much of it very cheaply, and there are NPC vendors in all the cities who sell furniture. They did remove some of those a long, long time ago but there are lots still there. You might need Status for some of that though. (Status being a kind of currency in itself).
As for actual Prestige homes, there are loads of them to buy for Station Cash and as you say there are some /claim ones. If you get to level 100 you can get the whole of the Isle of Mara zone from the Panda quest to use as your personal fiefdom.
Housing is effectively a full game in its own right. There used to be and probably still is a large comm unity dedicated to doing nothing but decorating. Mrs Bhagpuss spent years doing it. If you’re in a city zone you can use the Housing option in the main menu to go visit other peoples’ homes (if they’ve set them for visitors). You will be astounded by the creativity. You can also use that to access your own home when you get one – very convenient.
Honestly, the whole thing is just too complex and sprawling to explain in a comment. Try the links in this forum thread
https://forums.daybreakgames.com/eq2/index.php?threads/the-decorators-resource-guides-and-links.247/page-4
(These are the 2016 edited links that should work – the ones in the OP are mostly out of date so use the ones on Page 4).
I’m not on Maj’Dul server, by the way – or not with any of my main characters at least (I probably have some legacy characters on all servers by now). I often mention going to my house in Maj’Dul but that’s in the actual city, the longstanding home of my Berserker. My regular server is Skyfire.
I think AAs do sort of autopopulate these days but you probably have Traits and all sorts that need setting. They make a big difference – sub-100 AAs are very important. It’s a ridiculously complicated game these days though. I think you’re doing it the best way by just playing and forgetting about the mechanics. You’ll learn them when you need to learn them if you stick at it. There are a ton of good resources available when you need to do research. I posted a list once – I might have to update it though.
Turns out I do have the Castle Mystmore as a year 9 veteran – plus a ton of housing items to /claim as part of multiple.yesr veteranship. Funny I get all of those things even though I haven’t really logged in since launch. Still, and as you say, it looks like I will end up spending hours upon hours or just decorating with the base things I get from questing and /claim rewards.
I am particularly fond of the books. 20 pages of lore in the first one I received. I already see why you love this game so much.
Also – thank you for this detailed reply. I’m a bit far behind catching up on comments. 🙂
Bhagpuss gave a bunch of information here, but I did respond to your comment about housing on my blog as well.
As far as your AA’s go, they don’t self assign, you have to go into your Alternate Advancements page (default key L) and that’s where your AA’s, Character development and master spell choices are, which unlock periodically. I’d recommend just starting in the Enchanter or Coercer trees as some of the other trees are a bit more advanced (read: confusing). Find an end skill you like and start putting points in down the tree.
Thanks ! Took a look and it is a bit intimidating. Still, have to start somewhere. Looks like there are multiple setups you can run with so assuming there are reasonable resets If I screw it up 🙂
Looks like it’s kept you busy!