ToFS Merc Quests

Discussion in 'The Veterans' Lounge' started by Runcible, Jun 24, 2020.

  1. Runcible Journeyman

    I've been working my way through all the ToV merc quests and have them all completed now except for the ToFS ones. Reading around on various boards, it was my understanding that the merc quests were designed to be soloed (moloed) and that's what I've done up to this point. However, ToFS has me at an impass. I believe most of the drops you need for the merc quests are from mobs on the 5th floor. With each floor being keyed, this presents a huge problem for the solo player. As an example, the first floor is setup so that (as far as I've been able to accomplish) there is only one pull on the entire floor that's a single. Rarely is anyone else ever killing on the first floor so while I've killed this single mob well over 100 times, the key holder has never spawned in his place. At the rate this is going, it might take me a year to get a key just to the second floor playing solo. Not sure about the other keys but I'm guessing they will present similar issues.

    None of the other ToV merc quests were like this as I was able to complete each zone (except for the sprite one in the great divide) in less than a day of playing.

    So I guess the question is, does the ToFS Merc quest HAVE to be soloed or can it be done in a group?

    I don't belong to a guild as I've never thiught it would be fair to a guild with me just popping on to play an hour or two here or there and rarely being able to devote 5+ hours at a single time to raids and such. If anyone reads this who plays on Vox and who is in the same boat as me and assuming these quests can be grouped, feel free to shoot me a tell and we can team up sometime. My toon is Dyspaire (115 mage} and I'm typically on between 11pm and 1am EST as well as during the afternoons some on Mon and Tue.

    Would really like to get this done so I can continue the ToV earring progression so if anyone has any other advice it would be appreciated.

    Thanks everyone and take care.
  2. Cadira Augur

    Not sure what implies that these tasks are designed to be soloed but that's def not the case.

    Good news, you can absolutely invest in the help of a group to get your tasks done.

    Like most Merc tasks, these are categorized as "solo" tasks. However, in this context, the term "solo" is not referring to how many people can partake in helping you with the task, rather, is merely means that it is not a "group task" aka a task that all those in the group/task can actively update and turn in parts of the task, and all receive credit for the completion of.

    Group tasks appear in your upper part of your quest log with purple letters, whereas solo tasks appear in the bottom with white letters. Neither (necessarily) requires a group to do. You can do a group task by yourself for instance (other than possibly needing x number of people in your group when you request the task to begin with).
    Fenthen, Dibab and Fanra like this.
  3. Nniki Augur

    Another player with the appropriate keys can take you with them to the various floors in the tower if you aren't able to obtain the keys on your own.

    As Cadira said, you can still complete solo tasks with a group. "Solo" just ended up being the word used to contrast with "Group". It does not actually mean that you need to or even can complete it alone, just that the step progress is not shared directly with other players.
    minimind, Fanra and Cadira like this.
  4. svann Augur

    A solo task just means that if you accept it when in a group you alone get the task in your log, not the rest of the group. If they want it they have to each pick it up themselves. If you pickup a group task when in a group then every member of the group automatically gets the quest.
  5. Bigstomp Augur

    As said above. Solo means the entire group does not necessarily get credit together.
    Many many solo tasks you really want a group, but the individual members have to do the hails/collects on their own.
    svann and Yinla like this.
  6. Nadisia Augur

    ToFS merc quest are solo quests, but better to be done in group.

    The main issue is : getting the keys to teleport you to the right floors.
    For blood vials and golem shards, you'll need to kill vampires and golems on the 5th floor.

    And for the letters, scholars on the 2nd floor.

    So, if you don't have the keys, you'll need someone to help you.
    Mage CoH do work in ToFS.

    And finally, even if these merc quests are technically solo/moloable, it'll be pretty hard, or long, to solo for classes without FD/pacify.

    There's one golem roaming solo, and single pullable, in the main circular corridor of the 5th floor, and another one in one the stairs leading to a balcony.
    Same for vampires, most are packed in tight rooms, but there's at least one roaming in stairs, and single pullable without pacify.

    For scholars, it's easier, as you have 2 static spawns in the 1st room of the 2nd floor, single pullable, one on each side.

    So you'll have to wait for respawns.

    So yes, it's technically soloable, but way easier with a group (and it's T2, so mobs do hit pretty hard, at least for group geared characters. ToV expansion is easier than TBL, the mobs are less nasty in general, but if you're not full AA with good gear, it's not really a pushover)
  7. dubblestack Elder

    If you are planning on doing the rallos zek earring, you may as well get every key for every floor anyway and just get ready to devote a large amount of time to that zone, all the keys are required to advance it to one of the final steps. What server are you on? Whoops saw your on vox, not on that server unfortunately, I hear that is relatively low population, may want to think about switching to bb or xegony and joining a raid guild as a casual member, or a bigger family guild.
    Nadisia likes this.
  8. Nadisia Augur

    Yep, and don't be silly (like me), don't destroy the keys once clicked and scribed into your /key list, because you'll need the keys for the questline, the physical items.

    So if you destroy them, you'll need to refarm them all :D

    Yeah, I'm blonde ... so what? :p
  9. Liin Edud (Tunare) Augur

    Can't help on Vox but I'm glad to help on Tunare if anyone needs a trip up to the 5th floor to do Merc in TOFS.

    I have all the keys and if you catch me online I'm glad to move your group up there and if nothing's going on I'm glad to help get these drops with you.
    Grove likes this.
  10. Sokki Still Won't Buff You!!

    You can just click on the mirrors if you destroyed the keys to update the quest, you don't have to refarm them all.
    Fanra, svann, Yinla and 1 other person like this.
  11. Crystilla Augur

    FYI, on the first floor (unless they changed it), you have to kill different mobs. You're correct that only one mob on the floor has the key, but you have to clear the floor until you find it as you can't just keep killing the same set of mob(s) over and over.
  12. Nadisia Augur

    Hmm ... good to know lol :oops:
    So I guess I'm even more stupid than I thought

    Luckily, it was only the first 2 keys ... but getting the 1st one in this «ever sliding on a banana skin» part of the zone was probably not the most enjoyable part of my ToFS experience :D
  13. Zamiam Augur

    well at least you aren't stupider :p I'll take stupid over stupider all day long
  14. Runcible Journeyman

    Thanks so much for all of your replies. Totally makes sense on the "solo" aspect of the quest. It looks like ill probably have to put this one on hold until I find some like oriented folks who want to devote some time to the zone with me as killing the only single pull mob on the first floor hoping for a key is not only arduous but also fruitless after days of hunting. I played EQ from 99 to 04 so Im certainly familar with long camps, rare spawns, etc, but what has been so refreshing (up to this point) has been how much eq has changed since then. As a relatively new player back on the scene its been fun to actually log in and be able to accomplish quests, farm aa, etc without having the repetiviness and time dump of eq of old. The merc quests up to this one have been awesome as they were challenging but doable in a short time frame so I guess Im just surprised to see a zone where not only do you need keys, but instead of having keys drop off random mobs, they only drop off rare mobs. Thanks again for all of the input and take care.
  15. Yendar Augur

    You just need to find someone that
    has the keys already & get them to help you so you can continue to advance your earring while you are farming keys.
    I farmed all the keys for 4 of my toons & the first floor seemed to be the worst. You sound pretty frustrated, but just realize the rest of them won’t be so bad. Although as a mage you will need help for a few of them.
  16. Runcible Journeyman

    Thanks Yendar, ill see if i can track down someone who has the keys on Vox who worst case could just get me to the next floor where i could camp on my own. Is it possible to bind yourself to a particular floor once you are there?

    I guess I am a little bit frustrated, but also just a bit disapointed because things were going so well and I was making so much progress on my own only to get to this last quest before i can move to stage 3 of the earring evolution only to hit a roadblock that ive so far been unable to remove.

    Again, really appreciate all the feedback.
  17. Crystilla Augur

    One suggestion, if you have space on a 2nd account and an open heroic slot, make a mage and heroic it. Then ask someone to bring you to the 5th floor and you can coth yourself up there (keep the mage there). Then it's a one time request.
  18. yepmetoo Abazzagorath

    Also, /tar # is your friend for farming keys.
  19. Zamiam Augur

    Have you thought about boxing a 2nd F2P toon . a 2nd toon with a merc especially one that either has good pulling or CC abilities or druid or wizzy .. bard, enchanter, druid or wizzy would be one of my choices for a 2nd box .. depending on what you need most of ..
  20. Runcible Journeyman

    Thanks again everyone for all the support and suggestions, they are really appreciated. Just wanted to post a quick update. I logged in tonight and after killing the placeholder the first time, it instantly spawned the key holder to the 2nd floor. Honestly freaked me out for a second as i wasnt expecting an insta spawn. Luckily was able to handle that fight after the shock wore off and made it to the second floor where i was able to get the 5 notes for the first part of the ToFS merc quest. While there, on the 4th kill, the key holder to the 3rd floor spawned (again an insta spawn but at least this time i was a bit better prepared) so now ive got that key as well. Karma ended up leveling things out a bit. Will see how the 3rd floor goes, but for the short time I was on the 2nd floor, it was way more fun that the 1st. With all that said, if anyone happens to be reading this and is from Vox and needs a way to either the 2nd or 3rd floor, i can help with that. Take care everyone.
    Yinla likes this.