I found a matrix that showed f2p characters are limited to rank 1 spells and discs and apprentice rank 1 mercenaries but the information is so old I am wondering is this still in effect? Are there gear limitations as well such as only being able to use up to tier 2 (out of 4) raid or group gear? Is there any way to increase the AA cap? Are there any active f2p guilds who still strive for progression? Thank you for any feedback.
The Rk. I limitation is still in place. You can buy a Rk. II spell unlock, which is one of the only FTP unlocks I would recommend. Gear is limited, anything with the "Prestige" tag can't be used as ftp, there's no unlocks for that. Buying All Access is the only way to use Prestige gear. There are AA unlocks, but I wouldn't recommend buying them. Most people do All Access for a month and grind out as many AA's as they can in that time. When you drop back to FTP you can still use all of the AA's you earned, you just can't earn anymore. No idea if there is dedicated FTP guilds, you're probably better off just joining one of the casual guilds to start. The majority of Raid Gear is Prestige now a days so there's not much benefit to raiding as a FTP.
If you played many years ago, and ever subscribed, do everything you can to login to your old account. If it says "Silver" on the character select screen, you have a few more perks than a brand-new F2P player would get. While playing free, you have two more character slots available, you can use Apprentice mercs up to Tier 5, and you have a somewhat higher AA cap before you would need to subscribe at least briefly to grind some more AAs. It is unfortunately not possible to get Silver status as a new player today.
The closest thing to a FTP guild is the in game guild offered thru quest listed in Out of Gloomingdeep from a lady in POK. No officers but allows you to use the port feature. They don't raid or anything. It was really made for returning players who lost their guilds but anyone can use it. There is not really a divide between F2P/Silver and All Access. Most folks don't really care that much what you are. If anything they would be bummed for you to lose out on the raid stuff. But most raiding is high end game like level 100 and above so you have time to decide if you want to pay. The gear limitation is not that bad anymore. Cause there is a ton of non prestige gear in the game - like conflagrant that can come in around 5000 hp at level 106 ish. Just watch the augs cause you need those and many are prestige. Although this is older I still use it to look for stuff for my F2P alts: http://eqshadowknight.net/showthread.php?t=8817 Like was said most do not bother with the AA cap increaser in the marketplace. Pay a month (its cheaper) and auto grant which will give you about 4000 or more AA all at once - up to whatever level you are when you auto grant. So do it above level 85 to get the most out of it. If you are a true F2P try and pay for your first time with a Krono and then see what your account is when the Krono expires. If you are Silver already this won't make a difference. The biggest drawback to real F2P is lack of general chat. There is much help in there but only Silver or All Access can use it. And that J5 merc does help
If you either subscribe for a month or use a Krono, don't forget to turn on the autogrant for your AAs.
Silver Account Features : A5 mercs General Channel 2 more character slots 1000 AA cap higher loyalty token /mo Housing (iirc , F2p can not use or buy plots) those are the most beneficial that i can recall for having a silver account vs F2P so if you have an older account it would be worth you trying to get that account back if you can .. Don't buy the AA unlockers as was mentioned above waste of money better off spent on krono for a monthly sub .. Do buy the spell Rk2 unlockers for 5 bucks i think .. Wait till your lvl 95+ before you buy a monthly sub .. if you farm enough pp in game (depending on your server) you can buy a krono for 2mil pp (on my server) which sounds like a lot but it isnt.. take advantage of a guild casual guild .. they will help you out alot .. questions, gear, PLing (power leveling) heck they might even throw ya a few mill pp to buy your krono I know I would chip in .. farming pp is easy .. make multiple F2P accounts to box with .. will help you farm the pp you need if your not grouping or not in a guild .. and why not they are free. boxing def helps and its easy .. when your grouping with real peeps or guildies you dont need to box .. boxing is for downtime when no one on to play with .. use mercs even if they are only A2 or A5.. but dont always rely on them .. have a box'd healer type or tank type to assist you .. play what you like .. then fill the gaps with mercs or boxes when there is no one else online to help ya ..
F2P can buy plots and get free houses thru loyalty merchant or buy the houses. Its the Guild Halls they cannot buy, place or interact with items in it other than the guild bank. This is why folks who use houses for storage have at least 5 or 10 F2P accounts Each one can do 3 houses.
