(N)EverQuest Scrolls

My mage is now 55, with all spells including the PoR pet buff (Earthen Strength), courtesy of 65/66 beastlord and cleric. The Hole massive constructs have turned green, so he needs a new spot, as he has to acquire another 58 (plus 30 banked) AAs before levelling again. I’ll update the following review as I experiment with AAs, there’s time enough to do everything, I’d imagine. Last update – 3 March, 2007.

Hot Zones – The Hole, Tower of Frozen Shadow, Sebilis, Chardok, Grieg’s End

In the Hole, the destroyed constructs, gargoyles and the first spirits area is working out. It’s more like 45 – 50 minutes per AA (roughly 120-130% per hour), which is slower than at 51, but it’s a convenient camp. There are several two pulls, with a very rare add, which is survivable. Now that I have 108 AAs, this area gives me 140-180% AA per hour/lesson, which gives some indication of the impact of AAs; the earlier figure would have been with just the basic 30 archetype + 9 general, including SCM3, SCF3, and MC1/2. I don’t have a record of the rate before spending those extra 30 at 55.

ToFS. Top two floors – top floor should be best, not sure of levels on the floor below; at 53, most things were still light blue. It’s a long run, and you need the master key if the top floor is the preferred one. Plus the exit has the level 63 Advisor in the way, but that’s not a problem for gating. However, at 55, almost everything, apart from some names and some enraged vampires, is green. Good exp for greens, though, and would have been good for levelling – if I had all the keys at 51, which I didn’t.

Chardok. I want to keep faction here for two reasons – CoTH to King and Queen, and easy access to Chardok B.

Sebilis. One problem – SoWed runner frogs. Deaths are certainly possible, and it’s a long run. Requires a key, which I don’t yet have.

Grieg’s End. OK for groups, too high for soloing at this point. Should be good for the level 59 AA break, though. I have test killed exactly one mob here at 55 – dark blue, gave me 8% AA exp, and it felt easier than my light blues in the Hole. If I could be sure of single pulls, I’d switch to here.

Other Zones

Plane of Justice. Known camp spots, one of which is close to the exit. Should be no adds at 55. Has PoP exp bonus. Boring as hell. I have my doubts about this spot, as the prisoners are all light blue, and rats are mostly green. Good exp would have to be Mavuin hall or caves, which are much higher level, and not safe; guards are all dark blue.

Howling Stones. Basement and North wing at this level. Requires a key, and zone in can be tricky (2 aggro mobs on zone in pad). Undead, shouldn’t run (but some do). Zone in and basement looks good, but the chance of higher level nameds makes it tricky; if none are up, it’s an easy camp, but one named anywhere can either make a very risky pull, or totally block off an area. Good exp for a non-hot zone: 120% AA in one lesson.

Nurga. I know it well, several tiers, and I would need to test each for a couple of AAs to see what works best. Middling long run, decent loot, low aggro range, relatively low hitters. Tiers 4 and 5 seem ok, but I still haven’t timed exp there; first impression is that it is no better than the Hole (but probably would be if made a hot zone). At 55 tier 2 is mostly light blue, some green, tier 3 and 4 are all light blue, tier 5 is mostly dark blue, some light blue.

Nadox. Several camps for varying levels. The Gunthak zone in (temple) has mobs up to 53, which is probably too high with no way of splitting them, but the inner troll camp with no wanderers is tempting (Lieutenant camp/vehement and furious) – there are mid 40s, all light blue, and some of the lowest mobs in Nadox. Temple steps is also an option, but might be too few mobs for ooc regen. Courtyard was very poor – roughly 1% AA per minute. I didn’t stay long enough (one clearing) to get a more precise figure.

Dulak. Would need to camp multiple boats, or possibly Dandolak plus storage trolls. 80% AA in one Lesson, so not so good – on Dandolak and docks. This is barely better than Nadox, although I imagine I could do better there if I had the storage attendants as well. This is only likely if I am alone in the zone. In a later session (alone in zone) I managed 140%; although this was with a few more critical AAs.

Veksar. Camp goblins and the first set of undead; the downside is that everyone in Veksar runs through here, and often kill a few on their way. Killing the goblins, and the first few (3) sentries/crusaders, I get 80% AA in one hour (no lesson). They have more HP than the destroyed contructs in the Hole.

Velketor’s Labyrinth. This is an old favourite, and popular on the various boards list of recommendations. Clearing the ground floor, I get 85-90% AA in one lesson. Not so good. Spiders have more hit points than the Hole or Howling Stones, and loot is limited to velium.

Too low for…

Grieg’s End. Scarlet Desert sun revs. Plane of Innovation.

In the last week, I have gathered 39 AAs at level 51. All were gained in the Hole, as was level 52 (plus a little level exp in Echo Caverns and the Deep zone in area). The 9 AAs are spent on run speed, regen and metabolism; I have avoided resistances, stats and plan on avoiding tradeskill AAs entirely.

My camp area in the Hole has been the zone in elementals (13, I think), the drop down massive constructs (7, but three of the respawn at double the rate), 2 crumbling gargoyles in this area, a couple (two or three) destroyed constructs, and maybe a spirit of the ruins. The latter area is often camped by powerlevellers; I have only found the zone in camped by a group once. All of these mobs are light blue (under the new scheme), apart from destroyed constructs and spirits which are mostly dark blue, and the named elemental, Elemental Striker, which is always green. At 52, a few elementals (only very few) are now green.

At 51, an AA would take around 30-40 minutes (15 if lesson was on). I didn’t time levelling, but I managed 70% of 52 in one lesson, so normal rate of exp would be 70% per hour.

If I wasn’t in the Hole, I’d have tried City of Mists stables or Nurga, possibly Dulak, and would have considered the entire high side of Echo Caverns (but quite a few greens, and turns mostly green at 52).

My plan is to stay in the Hole to 55, or until the quantity of greens becomes unacceptable.

Update: at 54 (same day as initial post), I have finished the last 30% of 52, cleared all of 53, and am 10% into 54; this was all in the Hole. Elementals are mostly green at 54, and destroyed constructs all turned light blue at 53. Massive constructs remain good experience, and are all light blue still. The epic pet is still dark blue, implying that his level is 49. Tomorrow is a patch day (12 hours announced), so I don’t think I’ll be 55 so soon.

Update 2: (next day) now 55, all in the Hole, but on massive and destroyed constructs and spirits only. 30% level per hour, close enough. At 55, the massive constructs are all green, so it’s time to say goodbye to the Hole. Having bought mnemonic retention, SCM 3, SCF 3, and MC 1, I can clear multiple boats in Dulak before respawn (Stormwave and Dandolak), but level exp for all that was about 10%, which is significantly slower than the Hole. I still have to earn my Prophecy of Ro spell (a pet buff), which should improve kill rate.

Staying with hot zones, I don’t see anything attractive, although a group in Grieg’s End may be the answer when I decide to start levelling again. Sebilis and Chardok don’t appeal, thanks to crowd control problems. Possibly Veksar, maybe a different approach in Dulak or in Nadox.

Next AAs will be CA, ND, CS, then either finish MC, or SCS. Then level.

Since AA exp was revised, I’ve been considering a plan, which makes the most sense with a mage. And just yesterday, I made a start.

I have several higher level characters on two accounts (and my wife has a mage on her account), which made most of this possible. My mage has been 51 for a couple of years while I took a break; when I came back, after taking a look around TSS and getting updated on changes, I decided to give this a try.

Stage one: for the last two weeks, I have been working on my mage epic 1.0, and, thanks to a lot of luck, I got it last night! I was working through the Power of the Orb step, spending two days solid camping the Power of Fire, and decided to put my druid into South Karana to while away the time between spawns. I found a couple of 90 second spawns south of the spires, and after a couple of hours working on them, Quillmane popped – with the cloak. The next day I got the Power of Fire (from the lava elemental), and saw a Crown of Elemental mastery in the Bazaar. That was too much coincidence for me, so I started on the epic seriously.

Most of the remaining parts I handled with my druid and beastlord; Hate staff dropped on second kill in zone (a male forsaken revenant), Neh’Ashiir on sixth – Phinny was an odd one, because I had been camping Undertow for two days before he popped, and I was watching the Phinny spawn. OK, so why is the mob Phinegal Autropos, and the faction Phingel Atropos? Never mind. Every time before, Phinny died after a short up time, and I never saw the killer in zone (I wasn’t looking very hard). After Undertow, I was camped on the ledge, waiting for Phinny to show just so I could get a timer on his spawn. I logged on the druid, and he was being killed – a bard (level 50) in zone told me that a 73 ranger arrived a couple of minutes after the pop. Luckily, he let the bard loot the backbone, and me the staff.

At the moment my gear is basic – Goru’kar Mesa quest armor and Blightfire augs, Silver Serpent Shield, mage ring (Chipped Ring of Bloodcalling), solstice earring, Eye of the Owlbear Mother, etc – total FT is 13, I think. One important point is that I don’t have a pet focus, and I don’t think any are available that will work at 51 – maybe the Diamond Prism of Companionship from LDoN (760 points in Tak adventures), but that has it’s own problems to get, and is recommended level 65.

Update: Summoner’s Boon has reccomended level 65, and focuses all pets 59 up – which includes epic (thanks to the non-existent spell Manifest Elements having a level of 59). The Enchanted Harpy Blade from Blackfeather Roost was selling for 200k, but I haven’t seen one in the Bazaar since I started this project; it has recommended level 65 as well. I ended up with a different Minion of Darkeness focus, Drowned Man’s Hair, bought for 1.5k.

My plan is to accumulate AAs that will increase my power as early as possible, and preferably while the epic pet is still a killing machine; as I get more AAs and increase level, I should stay at maximum power for each level attained, and thus solo/duo AAs faster than would otherwise be possible under a conventional levelling scheme. So I’ll start with run speed 3, regen 3, metabolism 3, then save 30 while at 51 – I’ll probably use the Hole for this, but I’ll consider other places, like City of Mist and Nurga, both of which I am (very) familiar with. That’s 9 AA; I don’t know yet if I’ll spend any on resists at this stage; it depends on the boredom factor. I can see that Discordant Defiance (resist cap raise) and Mystical Attuning (buff slots) start to become available at 51; these aren’t relevant unless I decide to try for Vox and Nagafen at 52 (which I don’t intend to, but you never know). Discordant Defiance is level 66, that was an error in the page I was reading.

I am also skipping Quick Draw (extra potion belt slot) and Battle Ready (extra bandolier slot).

With 30 banked, I’ll run to 55 for Mnemonic Retention (extra spell slot), SCM 3, SCF 3. Then I’ll work through Archetypes – defensives, CA, CS, and ND with MC somewhere in all that, and probably SCS. I am not sure where to work on this – Nurga and the Hole are both options, as is GE; I am not sure if Sebilis with its indoor SoW’ed runners will be a good idea, and there may be new hot zones to choose from by then. Spend in Archtypes with this approach would be 12 * 7 + 3 = 87 AAs.

Skipping SCE and SCD (anti-fizzle and quick cast buffs). Also considering Secondary Forte (9 points), and Persisten Casting (cast when stunned, 3/6/9 – I may just get the first level).

With another 30 banked, a run to 59 is on the cards. Priority will be Pet Discipline, of course, and I’ll probably get Mend Companion. I can see little point in Elemental Pact, and even less in Improved Reclaim Energy (although it is used for pet chaining, which will become relevant at higher levels). Which leaves Quick Damage and Quick Summoning as averagely OK AAs – 14 essential AAs, 36 desirable, and 8 low value.

That leaves the elemental forms and Frenzied Burnout – the latter apparently isn’t as bad as it used to be. These are on the list to get, at least the first level of the elemental forms. Being ignored are MGB, Quick Summoning, Improved Reclaim Energy, and Turn Summoned. I may reconsider Turn Summoned.

By this point, any advantage from the epic pet will be almost used up, compared to a run to 61 for Ward of Xegony. The advantage here is an ability to take on higher mobs compared to epic, but I’ll probably need 2 box support or a group. If I keep it slow, the AAs that open up are:

61: Lightning Reflexes, Innate Defense (6); Planar Power and Innate Enlightenment (5); Fury of Magic and Servant of Ro (3 + 3). Then from GoD, Swift Journey (5 + 10). Total 32.
62: LR, ID (6); PP and IE (5); Suspend Minion (5), which doesn’t seem all that useful now that we can invis without losing a pet. Total 16.
63: LR, ID (6); PP and IE (5); FoM (6), Hastened Mending (2), Servant of Ro (3), Host of the Elements (5). Total 27.
64: LR, ID (6); PP and IE (5); Suspend Minion II (3), Hastened Mending (2), Host of the Elements (4). Total 20.
65: LR, ID (6); PP and IE (5); FoM (9), Hastened Mending (2), Servant of Ro (3), Host of the Elements (3). Total 28. Plus all the GoD abilities kick in at this point.

I haven’t considered a path past 65 at this point. These AAs came initially from EQSummoners, which I know is desperately out of date; it also only considers AAs it thinks are “good”, although it’s opinions are generally good – so it skips the elemental forms, for instance, which get added back into the schedule later for the Omens upgrades.

There is an updated chart just published here.

Zone graphics have been changed for many zones. Along with these changes, new mobs and quests may have been added. This seems to be a part of ongoing revision of old zones, building in changes that seem partly to be derived from EQ2.

Revised Zones

This is from the perspective of someone leaving post-Luclin; there were earlier zone revisions and additions, like Split Paw, the Warrens, Stonebrunt Mountains and Befallen (which reverted back to it’s original form). New zones are only mentioned if they are available to everyone, regardless of expansion. In no particular order:

• Splitpaw. In original release it was upped from a teens level to 30-45 level.
• Runnyeye. Had a mobs and drops revamp before I started – which was early Luclin.
• Cazic-Thule. Just before the release of PoP, this was upgraded from a 20s/30s zone to a level cap (for the time) zone – 55-60. Mob changes only, but with new quests added.
• Jaggedpine Forest. This was added before the release of PoP as a 30-50 zone, available to everyone.
• The Hole. Was originally added, along with Stronebrunt and the Warrens, in the original era; but the Hole was revised (mobs and drops only) post-PoP.
• Grobb. was taken over by frogloks as a new home city for the new race, and trolls were moved into Neriak, at the time of the release of the Legacy of Ykesha. The frogloks renamed it to Gukta. Not long ago, sometime before the Serpent’s Spine release, trolls took back Grobb, and the frogloks were relocated to Rathe Mountains.
• Nurga and Droga. Were given new mobs, still goblins, but increased in level; Nurga is high 30s to low 50s, Droga high 40s to low 60s. This changed was made not long after PoP. Pathing was also changed.
• Chardok B. This is a completely new zone that was added not long after the Nurga/Droga upgrades, probably around the LoY era. It is on opposite faction to Chardok, and mostly undead. Level is 50-65.
• Sol C. Added at the same time as Chardok B and somewhat similar (apart from no undead), with entrances from Sol A/B.
• Plane of Hate. This was revised – new zone layout, but same mobs, same drops, in the general post-PoP era.
• The Mines of Gloomingdeep. This is the new tutorial zone. It was introduced somewhere around the release of Omens, and then expanded later, probably after the release of DoN. Now it is a level 1-10 zone.
• Mistmoore. This was “upgraded” to a 65+ zone (mobs only), but was reverted back to the old form after a short while; the change was around Omens, and change back was around Darkhollow.
• Split Paw. Now has new, elemental, mobs inside, 65+ (mobs only changed). The pathing has been slightly tuned. Changed same time as Mistmoore, Omens era.
• Veeshan’s Peak. No graphics changes, but converted to a hardcore, 65+ grouping zone. The only problem is that the key involves a raid in Skyfire that no one ever wants to do.
• Timorous Deep. This zone had some mob changes, but I have no idea exactly what, or exactly when! Possibly Omens. New, higher level pirates were added, and some new spirocs can also be found.
• The Bazaar. this was completely reworked, roughly around the release of Dragons of Norrath. The reasons behind this were largely outstanding problems with lag caused by line of sight issues. This was coincident with the introduction of a “buyer” system.
• Lavastorm. This has been considerably revised, with new mobs and the size increased. There are many new quests, very attractive for level 40+, and this zone is the gateway to the Broodlands. This was done as part of the Dragons of Norrath expansion.
• Firiona Vie. The outpost was taken over by dark elves, sometime before the release of Depths of Darkhollow. Everything else is the same.
• The Arena. A stone was added for this in the Plane of Knowledge, and graphics were revised. Not sure exactly when this was done, but somewhere between DoN and TSS.
• Nektulos Forest. This was briefly revised to a completely new layout, and was then changed again. Currently, it is more or less the same shape, with the same mobs and quests as of old, but with new graphics. This was done to add in the zone connection to Corathus Creep, as part of the Depths of Darkhollow expansion.
• Freeport. Is a new style zone, with new graphics and quests. This was done as part of the Prophecy of Ro expansion. The new zones are: West Freeport, East Freeport, and Freeport Sewers (a new, level 20ish zone, available to everyone). North Freeport is no more. The Academy of Sciences now connects to Arcstone.
• The Deserts of Ro. Again, this was done as part of Prophecy of Ro. The overall layout is the zone, but with Oasis merged into South Ro. Graphics have been changed, but most mobs are the same; a few were added (such as the Sand Giant Elites). There is a zone connection to a PoR zone, SW of the spectre isle.
• High Hold Pass. Now connects to Blightfire Moors in The Serpent’s Spine, and has new graphics, but same old mobs and quests.
• The Commonlands. No more East and West Commonlands; just one zone now. The mobs seem to be more or less the same, and the same quests, with a substantial graphics overhaul. This change was part of the December ’06 patch.

New Mobs

There are many other changes that may be less obvious to a returnee. A large number of extra, seemingly random, NPCs were added as part of the Lost Dungeons of Norrath expansion; these should all be indifferent, despite being “evil” when your character is “good” (talk about breaking immersion!); later expansions have added more, similar, NPCs. Some of these will give “tasks” when hailed. Tasks are mainly solo, and were added with Omens. These earlier tasks were criticised at the time for being incompatible with the levels of players they were given to, and highly class dependent. These tasks may or may not have been revised, I don’t know. Later expansions have added in new tasks, missions and quests; some are solo, some are group or raid. These later ones are considered to be better adjusted.

Some other extra mobs were added to existing zones; most of these are connected with the 1.5 and 2.0 epics, like the plains dragon in the Karanas (Bard), and so on.

Hot Zones

The last set of hot zones (Najena, Iceclad Ocean, Rathe Mountains, Frontier Mountains, Gulf of Gunthak, Velketor’s Labyrinth, Fungus Grove, Sebilis, and Cazic-Thule – this is wrong; it was the previous set, which included City of Mist), and the current set (Kurn’s, Unrest, Tower of Frozen Shadow, Lower Guk, the Hole, Sebilis, Chardok, Grieg’s End, Cazic-Thule and Split Paw), have had minor tuning done to them, that adds new rare/named mobs that drop new loot, which is more appropriate to the current era. This is something that will continue as each new set of hot zones is announced; the current plan is to change them every six months.

The zones of the Plane of Knowledge, the Bazaar and the Guild Lobby are available to everyone. The Guild Hall is still specific to DoN.

All are purchased from the Brewer in Crescent Reach unless otherwise stated. See EQTraders for recipes, etc.

Air-infused Spring Water 1 (foraged DoN)
Barley 1
Berries 2 (foraged)
Bottle 6
Brandy 1 (Barkeep)
Cask 6
Champagne Magnum 1 (JC – enc gold, opal, bottle)
Cork 1 (Alchemist)
Cup of Sugar 4 (Cook)
Fishing Bait 1 (Merchants)
Fruit 2 (foraged)
Gnomish Spirits 1 (Barkeep)
GM Brewer’s Corker 1 (previously made)
Grapes 2
Infected Rat Livers 1
Kromrif Spit Vodka (Thurgadin)
Lemon 4 (Cook)
Malt 13
Melted Glacier Whisky 1 (Thurgadin)
Pixie Dust 1 (Gfay/Lfay)
Rat Ears 1 (Commonlands, Katha Firespinner)
Rice 1
Short Beer 12 (Barkeep)
Soda 2
Spider Legs 1 (drop)
Steaming Water 1 (foraged DoN)
Straggle Grass 1 (foraged Omens)
Vegetables 2 (foraged)
Water Flask 20
Wine Yeast 1
Yeast 4

Look for the melee augments seller (Gemcrafter), there is one in Crescent Reach. Type 4 (weapon) augs in four styles: direct damage (Wulfenite), damage over time (Anatase), immediate healing ( Dioptase), heal over time (Erythrite). Prices range up to 510pp for the higher level (50+) versions.

Next, there are drops from the current ( December 2006) hot zones, all from an unmasked changeling:

• Minor Stone of Power Level 20: Kurn’s Tower (AC: +2, HP: +5)
• Lesser Stone of Power Level 25: Unrest (Mana: +5, End: +5)
• Stone of Power Level 30: Tower of Frozen Shadow (Wis: +5 Int: +5 Mana: +10 End: +10)
• Greater Stone of Power Level 35: Lower Guk (AC: +5, HP: +10)
• Minor Stone of Might Level 40: The Hole (Resists: +2, HP: +25)
• Lesser Stone of Might Level 45: Chardok (Mana: +30, End: +30)
• Stone of Might Level 50: Old Sebilis (AC: +8, HP: +30)
• Greater Stone of Might Level 55: Grieg’s End (Mana: +40, End: +40)
• Stone of Greatness Level 60: Cazic Thule (AC: +10, HP: +45)
• Splitpaw Lair Level 65: (Mana: +50, HP: +50, End: +50)

Crescent Reach

In Crescent Reach, get the quest for the Wanderlust Guild (Regan) to get the Wanderlust Guild Loadstone (sic). The charm item to attach this to is Serpent Seeker’s Charm of Lore, from Charm of Lore quest (Librarian Hemfar).

Historian Pewdri – Pieces of the Past (35), gives Sphere of the Ancients. FT1.

Akins – EverBurning (35), Treat Frost. +3 stats. Choice of 5 items, the last of which is the augment (this is not repeatable).

Blightfire Moors

Symbiotic Blightfire Moss, random zone drop. +15 HP/mana/end.

Petrified Bixie Pollen. From quest Fletcher Orshawn – Buzzazar. +15 HP/mana/end.

Mossy Stone. +10 HP, random drop.

Ruby of Screaming Facets. HP +5. Might drop from “an advanced scout”.

Stone Hive

(Quest/Raid for level 50ish) Warwing – The Queen Bixie, gives:

Honeystone of Buzzitude HP +30, Honeystone of Dream Delights (int caster) mana +30, Honeystone of Magicjum HP/mana/end +15 and Ext Range II.

Hive Worker’s Orb of Health, HP +15.

Orb of Flowing Pollen, mana/end +15. Drops from Slavemistress Hizja (42).

Bixie Zapper Enhancer, slot type 4, direct damage effect. From quest Scout Vreshnar – The Golden One.

Singed Orb of the Hive, ultravision. Drops from a finicky flower.

Hive Defender’s Orb of Stinging Fury. Ykesha proc (dd, stun). Random drop.

Goru’kar Mesa

Quest: Dorina – Dorina’s Lament. Choice of rewards: Dryad Maiden Bauble, +5 stats, +10 HP/mana/end; Dryad Protector Bauble, resists +5, HP/mana/end +10; Dryad Tender Bauble, slot 4, damage effect, HP/mana/end +5; Dryad Focusing Bauble, mana +20, Ext Enhancement II.

Quest: Reduce the Dromrek Threat, choice of: Crystalwing Goru’kar Scout Power Stone, mana/end +35; Crystalwing Goru’kar Scout Health Stone, HP +35; Crystalwing Scout Shielding Stone, AC +10, HP/mana/end + 10; Crystalwing Scout Striker Stone, DS +3, regen +3, HP/mana/end + 20.

Goru’kar Finger Bone, HP/mana/end +25. Random drop.

There are also a couple of additional drops from mobs level 55-60.

Dranik’s Scar

Dull Stone of Sorrow (+5 stats), drops from Ukun Gutfeaster near port in.

Eye of The Dragorn +5 resists, from Ukun Slavehunter (base of ramp, south of Bloodfields).

Natimbi

Glimmering Mind Sphere, +20 mana, from Vimidon, named crustacean in the stream. Rare drop.

Faceted Gem of Might +20 HP, from Tumia Lehio, named ghost. Rare drop.

Borrowed from a post in the Newbie Zone on EQLive, heavily spell-corrected by me.

SK:

1) Blade of Disruption (even at lvl 75 there is no upgrade to this 1-hander outside of No Drop items).

2) Festive Doll (15 to all stats) Bought in Anniversary month (price 0c). Or just farm the entrance of Veksar to get the 75HP/Mana +5 stats doll.

3) haste items (cheap Soulscream Belt 4-5k and 31% haste. High price Cowl of Mortality or Cloak of Flames/Cloak of Crystalline Waters. Both 36%)

4) cheap Black Sapphire Velium Necklace (65HP/mana) If you have more PP Zlandicar Talisman.

5) 2x 70HP AC rings Palladium Fire Opal Ring.

6) Fiercely Hooked Claw (ear with ATK and 100HP/mana)

7) Earring of the Solstice.

8) War Marshall’s Bladed Staff (it does more DPS then Windblade but costs far less because almost no one know about the DPS bonus for 28 delay 2-hander)

9) Magnetic Breastplate (cheap and nice A on it)

10) Mana regen and DS potions ( DS pot stack with all other DS spells even druid ones)

11) Misty Thicket Picnic and Grobb Liquidised Meat. They are cheap and, since SK don’t use a horse, a stack can last you from 40 to 60.

Shaman:

1) Quest for Fine Antique Ring. 30mana, 20HP and Mana Preservation 2 on it

2) Fist of Shining Faith (mana pres 3 and about 4-5k)

3) Mantle of Gunthak (Imp Healing 3; about 10k)

4) Tae Ew Shield is cheap or Silver Serpent Shield if you can affort it

5) Tae Ew Chain Tunic.

6) Talisman of the Spiritseer (1 mana regen and costs around 6k)

7) Mana regen potions (Clarity)

8) Festive Doll. 15 all stats so 15WIS and 15STA For The Win

9) If you can afford the nice +3% alteration item. Can’t remember its name but ask in general chat, someone will probably know.

This is also a reminder for returning players, too.

Get started by downloading the ‘new’ patcher, and using that to download the rest of the game; this is faster than installing from CD, as you would have to patch over the CD install anyhow.

If you are completely uncertain about starting/restarting Everquest, get the “Escape to Norrath” free download from SOE; it lets you play any race/class up to level 10 in the Tutorial (only). Upgrading to Trilogy from here is free, you just need to pay the monthly subscription, which is the same no matter how many expansions you have. However, this isn’t the best route: buy Everquest Titanium for $20 or so; this included all expansions apart from Prophecy of Ro and The Serpent’s Spine, both of which are available as digital downloads. I’d strongly recommend Titanium plus TSS (although TSS alone is a very viable option for EQ virgins). If you don’t live in North America, you can get the key code for Titanum sent to you by onlinecdkey.

Before playing, download the all maps file from Mapfiend. You should use the Advanced button in the Everquest patcher to set it download all expansions, not only the ones that you bought.

If you haven’t installed a PC game recently, you WILL need to install Direct X 9.0c (or higher) from Microsoft.

When you enter the game, set up some macros – one for /assist, one for /corpse, and one for /loc; put these on your action bar, preferably instead of the spell icons (you can cast spells by alt-n, where n is the spells position in your spell bar). Also put any racial/class skills (hide, sneak, forage) on your bar.

Make a new character on a random server, and play the Tutorial to get a feel for things.

After a little while, you’ll probably want to set up a few more things; use the EQ button to explore the available windows; make hotkeys for combat and AA abilities. You can find suggestions for macros at most of the class sites. I’d set up at least one extra chat window for combat spam as well (filter->combat->ALL and filter->spells->ALL).

Recommendations for gear while levelling. These assume that the character is self-funded and not being powerlevelled.

The basic principle is to work your way through quested/crafted armor, and pick up some items from the Bazaar. Worthwhile Bazaar items are old school armor, and weapons. Look for armor with focus effects and without recommended levels, as these were retrofitted onto old zone drops when focus effects were introduced around the time of PoP (a little earlier, I seem to recall – probably mid-Luclin). Level 2 focus effects are the best to get (in most cases), and they will work at least to level 44 on all spells.

Start in the Gloomingdeep tutorial, and stay there up to level 4/5. Get the kobold skull charm from talking to Arias and the other NPCs, a full set of stitched burlap from handing in gloomdeep silks, and any of the random armor drops that seem suitable; the latter are rare drops, so don’t be too hopeful; watch out for ooc’s while you are doing other quests.

Move to your original newbie zone around level 5, after first making lists of all the drops required for newbie armor (from EQTraders and/or Allakhazam). Many of the items can be found on vendors, only a few are no drop rare drops from rare spawns in the EQ tradition. Most items can be obtained before level 8; the exception is usually a weapon with extremely poor stats that requires killing mobs around level 12-14. Don’t spend too long doing this, as the experience isn’t as good.

Return back to Gloomingdeep before 10 to finish some tasks and possibly get more drops. This isn’t essential. Although you can’t enter Gloomingdeep after level 10, if you are bound there you can gate in, up to level 15 or 16 (not sure which).

If you have The Serpent’s Spine (TSS), this is probably the best levelling area, and some of the quest rewards are good for filling out slots. I know that I had a 1HB, ring, cape, hat, and mask, all from standard and easy tasks. Around 15, start the PoK quests, both the new tasks and the old ring/mask quest (both of which can be done much earlier if desired).

Then at 15+ consider starting the cultural tradeskills. As they need 100+ skills in smithing and tailoring, this isn’t going to happen unless you are a keen tradeskiller. The tradeskill quests in Crescent Reach will get you to 54 in all skills for free, and look on EQTraders in the guides section for further advice. I always used to reckon that it would take 100pp to take the average tradeskill to 100, and considerably more for some – brewing was the cheapest to reach 250 (the old max) with. It may be cheaper now, but I doubt it. The Drakkin tradeskill quest NPC is Artisan Irisi, in the raised merchant/tradeskills area on the upper floor in Crescent Reach.

At 20/25+, look at the Kimem quests. If you are in TSS, you will probably be seeing the required drops anyway. Kimem is in the upper forge area. Patterns drop from named mobs, and the blightfire-infused components drop at random from any mob (but are rather more common in the Bazaar).

Meanwhile, fill out and/or replace with Bazaar items according to your class. Weapon dependent classes should consider spending some time gathering pelts and silks to sell in the Bazaar to fund their weapons (Centi shortsword should be reasonably cheap still). Casters should be concentrating on level 2 focus effects.

There are more TSS armor quests at 45 (Goru’kar Mesa) and 70/75 (Crescent Reach again).

Way back when Everquest started, your first armor was either dropped, or made with tradeskills – banded armor, silk, or made from ruined cat (or bear) hides. As you levelled, there were certain items that were known to be good for your class, until eventually you ended up gearing from raids.

When Luclin was released, the new class, beastlord, had a set of quested (non-tradeskill) armor, but they were the only ones. Other Vah Shir had the quested Ghulam set, and some rewards (weapons) from tradeskill quests.

Then, some time later, after Luclin had been out a while, and starting before Planes of Power, most races and classes were given what has become known as newbie armor quests. These faked the involvement of trade skills, and so most of the quests were written up on EQTraders. But EQTraders eventually decided that these weren’t really tradeskills, and so stopped updating them. Plus some races didn’t have any of these quests (Vah Shir), and new classes for a race didn’t always have them – frogloks, after the move to Rathe Mountains, in particular.

So far, the exceptions are all beastlords, which only had their Luclin quests, and all Vah Shir, apart from berserkers.

There were some high level tradeskills for cultural armor, and a few minor variations like the plate armor made for the Coldain quests – all of which required expensive ingredients and high tradeskills, plus were markedly inferior to equivalent level raid drops (despite being a lot harder to get).

Planes of Power introduced some items that can be quested with tradeable drops in Plane of Knowledge (mask, ring), and the 50+ ornate semi-tradeskill quests, which all involve tradeable components. Again, markedly inferior to drops, even single group drops this time. See EQTraders again for all of this.

Another significant change in PoP was the introduction of recommended and required levels on items.

For lower levels, this was all sad, as mudflation was degrading what was possible for them to reach, and gradually removing all incentive to remain low level even for a short while.

After this, both Lost Dungeons of Norrath (LDoN) and Dragons of Norrath ( DoN) introduced a system of buying items with points earned in group dungeons; the DoN system used crystals that are tradeable in the Bazaar.

The next major change was with Dragons of Norrath. New, lower level, cultural/tradeskills armor was released; see EQTraders. Unfortunately, they only give a general quest outline, and don’t give links to the items themselves, unlike their earlier write ups. Search on Allakhazam for “Journeyman’s” items to find the lowest level DoN culturals. Even the new Drakkin items are listed on EQTraders under DoN, but you should be able to find them (if only in the Bazaar) as crystalweave, crystalskin, crystalwing and crystalscale. EQTraders has the Drakkin recipes under Recipes->Cultural->Drakkin. Required level to use the armor is 15, recommended 20. Skill level to make it is 115 to 139 (for tailoring, anyway); the crystalwing sewing kit and needle need 162 and 132 smithing.

The DoN cultural armors take three augment slots, and special reusable augments can be crafted with either smithing or tailoring for them.

At the same time ( DoN) some items were added as quest/task rewards from PoK; these involve items not covered by the standard newbie quest armor. NPCs involved are: V’Lynn Renloe, Castlen Drewe, and Barrenzin. The good (V’lynn) and evil (Barrenzin) NPCs give you items from your newbie quest armor; the neutral guy (Castlen, next to the soulbinder) gives you the additional items mentioned above. These quests come roughly one per level between 10 and 20.

Finally, The Serpent’s Spine introduced some new quested armors, for all levels. You need to search on “Kimem Saydel” to track these down. Levels for these are 20+; the components can be bought in the Bazaar, and the level 20 items drop in Blightfire.