No-box viable?

Discussion in 'The Newbie Zone' started by Bitmask, May 16, 2020.

  1. Bitmask New Member

    I really, really don't want to have to mess with boxing. Maybe it's not as big of a PITA as I presume it will be, but I just want to play my character.

    I made a Heroic SK and did the J5 quest and now I am not sure what to do. Most of the posts I am reading describe your path in terms of how many boxed toons are in your group.

    So I guess I am looking for a molo-viable leveling path (with SK or with different class) that leads me to interesting places on my way up to 115. (I don't want to just sit on a wall outdoors and chain pull.) Or to be told that it's not at all viable and to suck it up and lrn2box.

    Cheers!
  2. Palamar New Member


    While I won't say it's not viable (it's your time, if you think something is fun then it's viable) I will recommend finding an active guild. Or even better advice, play on one of the new TLP servers when they launch.

    I was in the same boat as you. Made a Heroic Druid and started doing quests in Ferrott the Dream. Realized quickly that this is not a solo game. So I started boxing as there was no one to really group with at my level. I eventually found a guild, but they are all 110+

    I'm assuming you could just do the progression for the previous levels expansion? So maybe SoD stuff? Idk though.

    Also, whenever I play on Mangler there seems to be no issue finding groups. Especially if I take initiative.

    Good Luck! See ya in Norrath!
    Tuco likes this.
  3. Pelrond Elder

    You can. It's hard and slow though. I stopped before 115. I think I made it to 108 or something like that. It just stopped being fun. I honestly like the < 65 game more than anything else. Even 3 boxing with 3 toons and 3 mercs, the after 90-ish is just slow and hard. I'm tlp'ing now. More my jam.
  4. code-zero Augur

    It's absolutely viable to go quite a ways on an Heroic SK. Do the HoT progression quests to get a full set of AC augs for you Heroic, learn the in's and out's of pulling and managing aggro, use your pet to it's full power and work on maxing AA's for your level then on working for armor upgrades.

    I know the you'll be spammed with "join a TLP blahblahblah" but it's obvious that if you didn't join a TLP to make your heroic that TLP isn't for you. Anyway, there's a lot of stuff to learn and do just at 85 so go have fun!
  5. Tatanka Joe Schmo

    You picked one of the worst classes to molo with. The game is definitely solo/molo friendly, but only to certain classes.

    SK and Mage seem to be the most recognized as good solo/molo classes. Others can be decent, but druids are not among them, with certain exceptions.... those being certain camps with non-summoning mobs where you can quad/quint, or mass charm your way to some of the fastest XP in the game. However, you'll soon get bored, due to the lack of variety of hunting spots, and you'll make very little progress in questing, due to the slow killing when you're supporting/healing a tank merc. Note, I'm talking post-75 here, all classes solo/molo decently at lower levels.
  6. Palamar New Member


    Yea so catch 22 right? Play a class that you don’t really want to play and experience the content that you do, or play a class you do want to play but can’t really progress.
  7. Tuco Augur

    Find a social group and play with them regularly. Schedule times to play with each other. EQ moloing and soloing is viable, but there are better games to play if you're looking for that.
    Sagarmatha and code-zero like this.
  8. Tatanka Joe Schmo

    Or, box, and play the class you like, and one or two others, and see the content :)
    Pelrond likes this.
  9. Nennius Curmudgeon

    I got one character to level 115 and max AA's without boxing. It isn't easy and you have to network to do it. Or expect it to take a looooooong time. Make friends, join a good guild that helps each other, have a consistent play schedule and it can certainly be done.

    BTW, I started boxing another character to go with my main character and it has opened up many possibilities. A somewhat erratic play schedule and the retirement of some friends made it necessary for me.
    code-zero likes this.
  10. Palamar New Member

    Lol yea that’s why I said I box. To OP though, hopefully the class you like is a good solo/molo class. Looks like you picked SK which I hear is top tier with gear...
  11. Vumad Cape Wearer

    Everquest is designed for a group of 6.

    Playing EverQuest solo is like trying to play a match in Call of Duty without a team. 1v6 is going to be a pretty rough go. You could win some matches, but your experience 6v6 is probably going to be more enjoyable than 1v6.

    Molo at least brings the match to 1vs3. Better, but not as designed.

    People box for different reason. I 3-box with 3-mercs so that I can immediately get into a 6vs6 match. I want to switch out my mercs for real people, but if you like, for example, Modern Warfare 2, a lot less people play it, so it's a lot harder to get a good match going. Relate this to playing older content, where a lot of us spend our time.

    So yes, you can play, and enjoy the game, without boxing. This is especially true when you are in current content, and even more so when you are in an active guild, and very true when a skilled player with a good attitude that takes care of their character.

    But be a weaker player, or in old content, or low playtime/poor quality toon, or without a social group then your experience will be... less. And forget it if you are all 4.

    Unless of course, you just enjoy that experience. It is a open world RPG video game. You decide how to experience it.
  12. Vumad Cape Wearer

    Also, boxing doesn't have to be a pita. The worst part about boxing is when autofollow doesn't work. You can box a mage and CoH yourself, just tab over to send in the pet which is half the mage DPS anyway, and utilize the second merc.

    If CoH isn't appealing, slow is a greater benefit to you anyway, then you can box a BST, SHM or ENC. Just throw in a slow and a pet and then nothing else. The biggest thing you need is a slower and the second merc will take care of the DPS.

    A bard also matches great with a SK. A simple hotkey is just /assist /attack, melody can run all the time, and you can just drag the mob in front of your BRD (or BST) for melee. (remember, you can turn off combat music for the boxes)

    ETC ETC.

    I box a mage instead of the SK because I simply need one /assist /pet attack hotkey and I have a tank on auto pilot. Having a SHM that does /assist /pet attack /malo /slow /DoT in a single hot key is so worth the effort for you. Especially since a FTP SHM can slow just as well as a subbed SHM.
  13. Raptorjesus5 Augur

    Depends on what you want to do in the game. If you want to complete achievements and missions you are effectively required to box. Nobody else is going to want to run random missions from decade old expansions.

    If you are fine with grinding AAs and plat and joining up for raids then you don't really need to box, you just basically need to do any required progression missions in the first 3 or 4 weeks of expansion release when people are still doing them.

    I will say once you start it's hard to stop. I got used to blowing through mobs, now when I solo it feels soooo slow.
  14. Magneress Augur

    There is a lot of progression that isn't exp centeric gear, lore, quest and AA wise but it is all pre-85 content. I suppose you can get to 90 or 100 pretty easily off of exploring TSS+ zones with a merc and some pretty decent, but not end game gear.
    I never tried it but that is my goal once Mangler burns through GoD.

    I'll probably try to make a few friends to do stuff anyway, even if it's not a full group. I am not interested in chasing the latest carrot though.

    Getting 115 and participating in the end game probably requires lots of socialization. And time.
  15. Kurage_of_Luclin Augur

    One aspect you are missing is that you can also Raid with a druid or SK or what ever you want. Also If you join a family guild you will likely have plenty of people asking for help or offering help for quests and group missions. Either type of guild is a win. As your get becomes raid level , you require less help for group content.
  16. Jumbur Improved Familiar

    If you can get into a guild where people help each-other out, then no-box is viable.

    You need to take your time getting to know your guildmates though, and even help them sometimes, they will likely return the favor.
  17. Tatanka Joe Schmo

    Well, if you're looking to complete very old content, you don't need to box. Outleveling content makes it very easy to solo/molo. The boxing-or-grouping necessity comes into play as you get to content nearer to your level.

    I've been working through all the old HoT and VoA content from years ago, when I couldn't do it molo. Even as a druid (bad moloability in newer content), it's still a complete steamroll, doing low 90s content as a level 110.
    Magneress and Tuco like this.