Bored on your nights off from raiding? I got you covered

TLP is great fun, and we all put an unhealthy amount of time in to playing our characters on EverQuest 1. But, as our guilds dial in the content, we find ourselves with more down time between raid nights. Heck, some raid nights aren't even full nights because WINNING.

So, what do you do with your off nights? Watch TV, Netflix and chill, go out to eat with the family, play some console games, or simply stare at the screen hoping someone says there is an open world target up?

I've got a way to use up your spare time. Come join me in EverQuest 2 on the TLE server Fallen Gate. What is TLE? Its the same thing as TLP. For some reason, they decided to call it TLE instead of TLP. Hell if I know why, but it is what it is.

EverQuest 2 is exactly like EverQuest 1 except it's completely different.

Why is it the perfect way to spend your nights off from EverQuest 1 raiding?

• You're already paying for it and didn't know it. It's part of your DBG subscription. Yes krono use covers it to. In other words, if you are playing on a TLP server in EverQuest 1, then you have full access to EverQuest 2.
• The game is ultra user friendly. There is no huge learning curve, and catching up is a breeze.
• Crafting... Crafting... Crafting.... Did I mention crafting? EverQuest 2 takes crafting to the next level, and then straps booster rockets on it and blasts it in to orbit. Every tradeskill is necessary, needed, and rewarding. It's not just an add on to a MMORPG. It is a big part of the MMORPG. There's a ton of crafting quest lines that result in crafting gear like cloak, chest, and even an epic weapon. Yes. You can wield a frying pan!
• Quests... Quests... Quests... and more Quests. There are heritage quests, lore and legend quests, language quests, collection quests, and tons more. If you like achievements, this game has you covered!
• You like your Epic quests in EverQuest? Well guess what. EverQuest has Epic 1 and 2 quest lines as well, and the weapons look amazing.
• Oh but wait. Your class-based epic quests don't stop with just a weapon. No no no. There's a class-based epic helm quest as well.
• Fashion quest is real. Does your appearance matter to you? Well if it does, EverQuest 2 has you covered. You can go to the appearance tab in your character window, and slot any item you have in to the gear slot to have that appearance. In other words, if you always want your Epic weapon to show up as your weapon, you can slot it there in the appearance. No lengthy quest to get an ornament. Just set it and forget it!
• Housing... they got it in a big way. It's just something you have to see to believe.
• Raiding is 2 and 4 group. Every member is ultra important to each raid's success.
• And... just so much more.

Here's the deal. The game is not for everyone, and a lot of people that like EverQuest end up hating EverQuest II. I do not deny that at all.

Some people like it, and as for myself, I like both EverQuest and EverQuest II.
Now by no means am I suggesting that anybody quit EverQuest to play EverQuest II. No no no... no. NO. NO!

I'm just saying that if you have some down time on off nights, and you are looking for something to play on those nights, come give EverQuest II a try. You're already paying for it.

I created a guild this past weekend named Dunsies Defenders on the Fallen Gate server. My character is a level 43 Dwarven Paladin named Dunsie. Send me a message on there, and I will get you guilded up if you want.

The Fallen Gate server is currently on The Shadow Odyssey which is the 5th expansion out of the current 14 expansions available for EverQuest II.

I played EQ2 at launch, and after spending 2 and a half hours crafting a single suit of chainmail for level 10-20 use (which dropped items were better than any crafted items, because dropped items had a level of say, 25-27 usefulness, while crafted armor only reached it's full potential at the even mark (level 20 for chain).....I refuse to do crafting in EQ2.

Yes, it did take 2 and a half hours to craft a full set of armor at launch, because you had to craft the padding, then the rings, then the studs, and each single one took minutes to craft.

I know it's simplified greatly, now, but I've been hurt.....too much.

Wow.... EQ2 crafting is nothing like that now. Nothing. Not even close.

I know. I fiddled with it again back in 2008 or so with some buddies who started playing again. I joined a guild, but I honestly cannot remember if we actually did any raiding.

To me, EQ2 is the game I play to relax. I find it very relaxing to come in after a long day at the office, and just go around harvesting materials and crafting for the night. There's tons else to do in the game, but that's the main thing I enjoy.

I know you were probably expecting replies like the first one heh. But here I am, with a real question!

Are all the classes able to solo at max? I'm sure some can solo harder stuff better than others, but is there a huge gap like there is in EQ1? If so, I probably need to do a bunch of research before I jump in.
Also, I don't really need to know which classes are fotm, but are there any that are considered useless, or mostly useless?

Low # raiding sounds amazing, and something i'd totally want to get into.

EQ 2's appearance system is pretty slick. I wish EQ 1 had it.

I'd even buy an expansion just for it.

I'm not an expert on end game by any means, but I can say that for the most part all classes can solo to a certain extent... on certain content.

In EQ2, there is open world, dungeon, and raid content. For the most part, all classes can solo open world content. Dungeon content (depending on the level range and expansion) usually requires some form of group, but not necessarily a full group like in EQ1. It is very possible to duo or trio most dungeon content in the game (as far as I know). You are more efficient with a full group, and even more efficient with an optimal full group obviously.

One of the things to keep in mind is that content below a certain level of you grays out. That means that you can't just go to lower level dungeons and farm it at high levels by yourself. BUT... and this is a HUGE BUT... you can mentor someone in your group anytime you are out of combat.

Mentoring is a hugely beneficial part of EverQuest 2 that I wish we had in EverQuest 1.

When you mentor someone in your group, it lowers your level to the level of the individual you are mentoring. That person gets bonus experience based on the number of people in the group mentoring them. Your abilities, AAs, gear, etc all still work, as if you were the higher level, but they are lowered down to that of the level you are mentoring (sorta...). I say sorta because if you have a level 80 person mentoring a level 20 person, and go in a dungeon to kill stuff, that level 80 person that is mentoring the level 20 will be the most bad @** person in that dungeon by far. It's not a one to one mentoring so to speak. They can still die if they do stupid stuff, but for the most part, they are over powered.

What this does is create a system where your friends are NEVER too low or high level to play with you. Again, I wish they had this in EverQuest 1.

Ok. I got off topic. /sigh

About classes...
The classes break down in to three archeotypes: tank, priest, dps.

Among those, there is every class of EverQuest 1 except more... sorta... again that sorta word.
Because EverQuest 2 was originally designed to have 2 factions, good and bad, there are two versions of every class in the game (or most... the classes that came later don't have 2 versions).

There are 2 warriors, 2 knights, 2 monks, 2 bards, 2 shamans, 2 druids, 2 clerics, 2 enchanters, 4 pet classes (summoner (aka mage), necromancer, beastlord, channeler (pet class healer)), etc.

For example, there are 2 bards: Dirge and Bard. The Dirge is the evil version, and is more advantageous for melee groups. The Bard is the good version, and is more advantageous for caster groups.

My best advice would be to try different ones, and decide based on your experience there in.

I find crafting in EQ2 to be miles more annoying than in EQ1. I want to make something, not play a mini-game.

Also, I cannot play any game for very long unless it is designed as a first person game. While you can play in first person, it is clearly not meant to be played that way, given the proportions of the environment.

It's not for everybody, but ultimately I was not referring to the minigame itself as what I enjoy. I was referring to the overall crafting system (quest lines, harvesting, usefulness of what you create, etc). That being said, I like doing more than hitting the combine button. But, as I said already, EQ2 is not for everyone.

Is this, like, a motion sickness thing or something? Either way, ouch, im sorry you are locked out of so many games then.

has the XP rate gotten any better? When I tried that server early on.. well I got to level 7 but had all the quests done through level 13 and couldn't do anything but mindlessly grind XP which.. ya.. I quit instead (HAAAATE crafting; but I did like selling fertilizer in the ah for lots of money )

I personally haven't had an issue with the exp rate, but that's just me. I think that the different newbie areas vary greatly on what you get out of them for your time. For instance, I get off of newbie island as quickly as possible because it's just not good experience. If you want to start in New Halas, Darklight Woods, or wherever instead of newbie island, just wait until the initial boat ride is over, and then go straight to the docks. Talk to the captain of the ship, and he will send you where you want to go.

Oh, and the best part about choosing somewhere else to level up as a newbie is that some of the newbie quest lines (like Darklight Woods and Frostfang Sea (new Halas)) wind up leading to you getting a free mount near the end of their quest lines (around level 20ish). It's a huge bonus to get that mount.

Also, if you do the crafting quest lines, you get a mount that gives you bonuses to crafting and harvesting if you do the crafting quest line in Butcherblock Mountains. That quest line is available to crafters of level 20+.

Oh.. did I mention that there are 2 separate levels for your characters? One for adventure level and one for crafter level. For instance, my 43 Paladin is a level 40 Armorer.

It is possible to be a much higher level crafter than adventurer. Some people play the game just to craft. Usually the crafting quests go out of their way to give you options to travel safely from crafting area to crafting area (but not all).

I tried playing fallen gate but the exp was horrible.

I've never had any interest in Everquest II but, I have to say, I absolutely love your enthusiasm for the game.

Like going from lightly stepped-on coke and trading that in for caffeine with a splash of splenda.

No thanks.

I think the only way nostalgia works for these type of TLP servers is if you had good memories of the game from before.

I can't find a single friend that would even accept free krono to play EQ2 for a trial run.

There is a double exp event every weekend for the next few weekends, just as an FYI. I've been frustrated with Coirnavs exp rate, and feel like i'd be WAY too far behind on the other servers, so I may just check out EQ2 again, thanks for the idea Risiko. Pantheon when though =/

Never mind. "If you don't have anything nice to say..."