by Paraclete » Thu Sep 03, 2009 11:08 am
Hey all,
I played EQ since 1999, but called it quits about two years ago and have returned in just the past month to give it another go. A lot of things have changed for the better (and many for the worse, but I don't want to digress...), and so far I'm having fun.
My main has always been a paladin, but even in those ~eight years I played, I never got him past 61. I worked a lot on tradeskills, questing, exploration, and just miscellaneous "playing the game" without concentrating on levels too much. So I returned to find a 61 paladin with ~25 AAs who is, at this point in the game's life, quite far below the standard. Pretty much everyone is level 85 and seems to spend their days in zones that I've never even heard of, while I've kept myself to the old familiar environs - PoK, the Bazaar, then a bit of exploration of the Old World, Kunark, and Velious to reaquaint myself with the world and revive some old memories.
But enough rambling. I have a few specific questions, but they're diverse enough that I'm posting here in the general forum rather than choosing one of the more specific forums. I'll number them, for your ease and mine...in no particular order:
1. What's the story with mercs? I've always preferred soloing (and clearly chose the wrong class for it), and it was cool to see that things have suddenly become much easier now that I can have an NPC tag along. But what are your specific recommendations? It would seem intuitive that a tank class like pally should be toting a cleric, but I've had a lot of success with a journeyman fighter instead. I let her tank mobs while I smack them on the back of the head, and I find it easier to heal when she's the tank because I don't have to worry about interrupts if instead I were the one with aggro.
But I guess the question is, would I have more luck with a cleric merc? Paladins' DPS seems to be as sorry as I remember it, so the merc's output is definitely a boon, but I haven't seen things from the other side so I don't know if a healer would make my life any easier.
2. How about exp spots? For a day or two I was camping in Nadox at the Hate's Fury zoneline pulling undead troll zombie pirates, but most were light blue cons (with only the odd dark blue). It was a real trudge, and got boring quickly, so I did my research and delved into Veksar. The highborns are all dark blue, and the occasional commander, which cons yellow, is no problem at all with the merc. But this is a rather safe camp, considering the ingenious way that those wooden planks are set up to allow you a quick route to the zoneline - and also considering that my merc and I handle single and even double pulls quite handily. I'm willing to take a bit more risk if there is a hunting spot that'll get me better experience - so, is there?
3. AAs. Before I left EQ, I'd only had enough for the prereqs and Holy Steed, but since I came back I've been hunting exclusively for AAs and have earned the first three ranks of Combat Fury and Slay Undead, and the first two of Combat Stability (I think that's the one - the AA for avoidance, not mitigation). Since I'm going solo, I imagine anti-undead AAs are what I should be keeping my eye on, especially since I've been letting my merc tank and I haven't had much use for defensives. Where should I go from here? Surely there are diminishing returns on SU at this point.
4. Gear. This Defiant stuff absolutely stunned me when I saw it - I was in mostly Magnetic, and the prospect of picking up a Time-level breastplate for 3.5k in the Bazaar is both awesome and kinda horrible. (Mudflation at its worst, after all. I've never raided in my life, let alone broken into Time, so in some way I wondered if I "deserve" this kind of gear. But that's another story.) So I've been decking myself in mostly Defiant, which is emotionally difficult (haha) because I then get to resell all the armor that I replace for, like, a tenth of what I once bought it for - if it will even sell at all, considering how cheap and available Defiant is. (And the Magnetic is attunable and therefore no-drop, so I can't resell and just have to eat that loss.) But what about other slots? Defiant is good for all the visibles, I guess, but what about jewelry, face, shoulders, etc? I think my weapons are ok for the moment - Blade of Disruption / Brightstar Buckler and an Edge of Envelopment - so it's mostly armor and jewelry that I'm thinking about.
5. The age-old AAs versus levels debate. With a double exp weekend coming up, should I put my effort into leveling past 61 so that I am just a little bit closer to the bulk of the population? Or should I keep working on these AAs, which will certainly be falling like rain when I have my merc + the double exp + Lesson + all this crazy gear that never existed when I used to play EQ? What's the common wisdom about AAs versus levels for someone in my situation?
I'm sure I have more questions, but I've already made your eyes bleed with this wall of text, so I will keep them to myself for now. Thanks for reading.