The announcement of Agnarr has got me excited to come back and actually play on a Live server, something I haven't done since probably 02 or 03. I know some of the basics on what is different on an TLP server, but am interested in a bit more of how the gameplay has changed since classic. My understanding is that mage pets were way too tough due to changes in later progressions leading to mage boxes killing things too easily. I also understand they've countered this issue with some sort of debuff that scales depending on how many pets are on a single target. Does this mean a solo mage still has a majorly debuffed pet, or does it only activate when multiple pets are used? I know about monk fists, no corpse runs, combined zones, etc... but what about general progression through classic areas? Do you still play the game as you would have in classic except with more powerful characters, or are there new zones and npcs that change how you approach the game itself? Is Cazic actually back to classic Cazic? Is Lower Guk still the king of farm zones until Kunark? Do people still hunt Hill Giants and Seafuries for pp? Etc... I guess if I could boil it down to one question, it's this. For someone who is extremely knowledgeable with classic Everquest, but not up to date with all the new little intricacies... "What are the important things I need to know regarding TLP servers so that I can hit the ground running?"
TLP economies are largely centered around Krono and what the current server's Plat:Krono rate is. What one week might be worth 3 krono a few weeks later will be worth 1 (at least at the start). Pickzones also create a situation where there is a lot more gear on the market which means that prices on items in new expansions start out really high then decrease far more rapidly than on traditional servers. Coupled with the fact that many more people have access to raid-tier gear.
The debuff you're referring to is called Mark of the Old Ways. It's only active on raid content, and scales more severely the more pets are on the target. It greatly increases the mob's mitigation vs. pet damage, and drops pet resists down to the point that pretty much any AE will hit them, so they die more quickly as well in many raids. For a solo mage in solo/group content, the pet is nerfed relative to how they are currently on standard (non-TLP) live servers, but it's still reasonably sturdy and does decent dps. Seems pretty well balanced imo. Cazic is classic Cazic to start with on TLP if you mean the zone full of lizards. It will change to new level 50-60ish Cazic with Luclin launch on a TLP server. If you mean the God Cazic in PoFear then no he isn't classic, he has substantially more hitpoints etc. Lower Guk is ridiculously crowded during classic. Usually multiple picks of 40+ people in each was the norm on Ragefire/Phinny, although amount of people needed to spawn a pick has lowered now, so it could be more tolerable. HG's in rathe mountains are always popular for plat farming, still are during PoP on Phinny for a few people. Kronos, pick zones, instanced raids, more powerful characters overall, advanced looting system... those will be the most noticeable changes during classic compared to p99. General game play is the same old EQ.
Can someone provide a little more detail on the strength of mage pets, necro pets, enchanter pets on the new TLP server? Specifically, Strength of pets in solo game - I know raid there is a debuff but how did they adjust pet strength in the solo normal game? Also how are monk fists now? Are they still better than raid gear or did they get adjusted on TLPs? I know on older TLPs they were extremely overpowered. What about enchanter charm? Does the mob you charm debuff down to pet level or does it retain its abilities/power of the original mob? Did they make it so charm is very hard to keep up on a mob on the TLP? Does mage pet recycle for mana work on the TLP? Are they making it so many dots don't stack on the TLP?
Still incredibly over-powered in the group/solo game. Particularly mage pets. Yes, still extremely OP. Better than raid gear for a few expansions. Basically until Velious, but even then they are stronger than most weapons with your epic. Charm is very powerful from Classic - GoD. You can expect to see many, many, many enchanters on Agnarr. Unsure. They currently don't stack. Will it stay that way? Probably, but they may possibly change it for TLP. There is a ticket open for it atm, so a very, very small possibility is there.
Do TLP Servers start with the tutorial from the beginning? Or does the tutorial get added later on? Just curious as I could imagine tutorial newbie armor to be kinda strong for classic Content.
It was added with PoP on Phinny. Still way earlier than it originally was put in but I would imagine the same thing will happen for Ragefire/Lockjaw/Agnarr
Enchanters and monks are OP lined up against the other classes in the begining. The population of monks and sks is kinda rediculous for first couple of xpacs.
Yeah, but monks and SKs keep their DPS in raids. Enchanters get pretty boring in raids. The More You Know.
What must-haves are on TLPs from the start? Are things like manastone and guise in? Jboots drop from Drelzna? Rubicite in CT?
melee are so op on tlp now that I doubt 5 regen from the rubicite bp would make as big of a difference as it did back in original eq.
one change is Focus effects remain on classic items, so things like the neck from runnyeye with mana preservation 2 become a much more desired item. The Guise is in Guk, J-boots are on the ancient cyclops and rubicite does drop. never saw a manastone so i do not think they drop. Also the current Spell research system is in, this means if you can quickly finance your way to 200+ in research you will make a ton of money in the first few months of the server.
Manastone, holgresh elder beads (drop, casino still works), and staff of forbidden rights were all left out of TLP
