Ding! Level 50 – 20 years later

My Enchanter hit level 50 on the weekend and it felt like an accomplishment. Which, of course, sounds completely ridiculous to say out loud. Or type out loud. Whatever, you get it. It is only the second character I have ever topped 50 with in any iteration of EQ. The other being my 55 Troll Warrior on the Test Server.

It was semi anti-climactic. It felt great. But I was solo, and none of my EQ friends were on to share in the news. There were 6 Anon characters in the zone so I OOC’d the news and they were happy to congratulate me. Funny how much people respect getting to 50 as the first big stepping stone.

I did so at the Entrance to the Hole which has been a really fun and challenging soloing spot. More fun and less dangerous in a duo+ but my time has been sparingly spent on gaming and with very little opportunity for me to group currently the Enchanter in some sweet spots has just been fantastic. Due to the nature of the dungeon it’s not a very popular spot (need to Port / Gate out, is in Paineel, etc. etc.).

The fun thing about leveling to 50 this time was that I did it in many places that I didn’t the first time around. Kaesora was a new adventure for me. City of Mist. And of course, the aforementioned The Hole. My new, not so easy goal is to get Clarity 2 which comes at level 54. I feel like that will take some time. I can’t recall how bad the post 50 leveling game is.

All this being said, there is a new(ish) conundrum in the Project 1999 Community. In October they are launching a new server. Currently there are Blue (PVE) and Red (PVP – largely empty) servers. Green will launch on the same timeline and restrictions that EQ launched back in the day.

What this will do to the community is anyone’s guess. And what that server does at it’s maturity is also an unknown. There have been rumours of recycling it – dumping everything on the server to the existing Blue server – but that would be disastrous. Manastones, Jboots from Delzna – basically it would be a 24/7 campfest of things you can’t get on that server anymore, and with more cash and time on Blue it could seriously upend the economy.

Another rumour is that it just wipes and starts a new – and many people say the true joy of EQ Progression servers is starting fresh. That is not true for me, I like having a character exist for as long as I want it to. So that would count me out.

Most likely, I think, it will just exist alongside Blue for those who missed the launch of Blue. It is a conundrum, though, as having well established high level characters able to farm and provide for your alts makes the game much more manageable.

I know one thing : my next character will be a Necromancer. I have never played one and they are similar enough to Enchanters in terms of solo-ability that it would work for me that way. The one thing I DON’T know is if I will do this on the new server, or in the comfort of the Blue server where I already have good capabilities. I am struggling leveling my Druid (29, not really fun but Porting and supporting the community is) and my SK is at a standstill at 27. I am toying with stripping her down and rolling a Ranger, only because the tracking skill i get to use while Druid-ing is my most favorite thing.

Still enjoying the journey in Project 1999 and all the good and the bad that goes with it.

14 comments / Add your comment below

  1. Grats on 50!

    Druid is a class that gets more and more fun the higher you level it. I didn’t really start appreciating mine until the mid-30s. If you dump yours now you’ll have done most of the hard work for none of the payoff. As for Necros, in the era P99 replicates, Necro was *the* solo class. I used to be in an all-necro channel and they were constantly bragging about all the things they could solo that no-one else could, or at least not as efficiently and safely.

    As for the 50s… hoo, boy! You got to 55 so you probably remember how rough it gets. I wasn’t sure if P99 had fixed “hell levels”, which were admitted to be unintended by SOE, but looking at the P99 wiki it seems they havn’t. Both 54 and 59 aren’t just hell levels – they’re double hell levels. I remember 59 being partiularly irksome.

    I never really liked The Hole and Kaesora is a deathtrap. City of Mist is great, though.

    The new server thing is interesting. Presumably they will firm up the ruleset and future plans before it launches. They have an agreement not to clash with the Live game over stuff like this, so I guess they have a lengthy window before DBG puts up another TLE server. If not there could be fireworks.

    1. I agree that Necros can solo more safely, but Enchanters are head and shoulders above them in the things they can solo. But it’s extremely stressful and you can never go AFK – hence why I rolled a shaman!!

      1. Do we know each other on the server Quin? Just checking and sorry if I missed it!

        And yes, my bladder is getting VERY strong as an Enchanter. Those charm breaks only happen at the worst times.

        1. Apologies, getting my CommentFu sorted.

          Unsure. My Enchanter is Celador and my Shaman is Quinok. I’m in Europa and play mostly in EU-friendly timezones.

    2. I have only done the entrance to the Hole in singles or Duos, and it is a good pace with some good chance for nice loot and cash – especially since named mobs can pop in any placeholder. And none of them are too hard to manage if the camp is broken or if you have a duo.

      I spent some good levels duo-ing with a Necro and it seems they are like a self-sufficient enchanter, just can’t share a lot of those gifts with others. We were really good together though, that’s for sure. And since a lot of my playstyle has been shading to the more solo style lately, it makes sense to have one in my repitoire. 🙂

  2. Congrats! My absolute record in EQ of an era close to what you are playing was a Shadow Knight that made it to level …27 maybe? I remember what an achievement it was to hit 50 back then.

  3. Congrats on 50!

    I feel the same way as you do about Green. I’m semi-excited, but also a bit reticent to abandon some established characters when I have no intention of going hard at release, and would probably just prefer server with slightly older population. My tendency in EQ has not ever to be competeitive.

    1. For me it just depends on what the longer term plans are. If it’s a server that is just going to end up in the same space as blue (eventually) I don’t really see the need to play it. I wouldn’t have fun competing with 100 other players for starter mobs, that’s for sure. And wh ile a fresh start would start off fun, I think you just end up in the same groove you would be in on Blue anyway at some point.

      Anyway, soon as I learn more about it I will think on it – currently that’s where I think I will play my Necro, if I do go there. Fresh start with a fresh character.

  4. Grats.

    I played a necro for a very long time in EQ. You learn to have a MUCH greater appreciation for AI pathing with a necro. And there are places that you can farm that others (‘cept monks) can’t get to. Takes a while for the class to really come into it’s own though – and farming bones was always a pain in the butt.

    1. The Feign Death is one of the few things I wish the enchanter had. Everythign else I can get by wihtout. Well, my dream list is:

      Enchanter class with
      FEign Death
      Tracking
      Ports

      That wouldn’t be too OP at all! 😛

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