Greetings! I am currently level 79 on my wizard. Since I have to solo a lot I have been getting tasks in POK from Franklin Teek. I have a tank mercenary, I'm all access so its a higher tier one. We have been going splat a lot on dark blue cons. Well the merc goes splat pretty quickly, I am usually able to evac out if I have taken a lot of damage. And I have to do that often bc I steal aggro from the merc pretty easily despite stuns and concussions. All my exp is going to level up. I think I have 10 AA's banked. I was saving them for later. Is there anything I can do to make my merc last a little longer? I try to get buffs when I can but they aren't easy to find and I hate begging in POK. Can I give him potions or something? I feel like I spend most of my time waiting for him to revive, lol. Also does he level when I level? Or only when I actually have him hunting with me? Sometimes I suspend him if I am with higher level guildmates in a higher level zone. I didn't know if that affect leveling for him? Any advice? Thank you! Eindy
I’d avoid using a tank merc after 60-65 as a non heal class and opt for a dps merc instead. You have the ability to snare and kite mobs as a wizard, thus I’d use a caster mercy instead. Turn spell casting subtle off so you generate more threat, snare the mob, nuke and run while the merc nukes it as well. Focus on mobs that do not summon and you should be able to lvl much quicker/easier than with the tank merc. So far as merc leveling is concerned, the merc will ding when you do, though you may need to zone/resummon/relog to have his /con be correct. For exp, the merc has to be summoned to gain merc AA from kills/quest rewards.
Thank you for the advice! I'm curious though, some of the Franklin Teek quests have you kill mobs that are spaced pretty close together. Not sure I could kite in areas like that without getting multiple adds? Plus my only snare is an AE. Would you use a root/blast rinse and repeat in those situations?
Mercs don't get regular exp. They get AA exp. They level as you level. So if your level 79 and hit level 80 then your merc will also hit level 80. They have no experience bar. They do have an AA bar under your alt advance tab and they earn that super slow. They do not earn any AA exp unless they are active. Since AA is so slow for them it is not something to focus on. Just let it happen. Their weapons and spells change as they level. You cannot do anything to change what they have or use on those. You can start buying them armor and jewelry that will help them somewhat starting at level 75 using Marks of Valor from HA's in Tainted West Karana. If your all access you can turn on Auto Grant and it will give you free - all the AA for whatever level your at. None for the merc though. As you continue to level it will give you each level's AA as you hit the level. You do still need to earn AA for tradeskill and stuff like that.
Yes. I would probably go healer merc in those situations since root is going to break. Once you are done with Teek head to a place where you can kite DB or LB efficiently. I would focus on XP over time in your situation instead of XP per kill LBs may be better than DBs.
I've made a return trying to get into the swing of things. Is leveling from 70-100+ completely solo at this point?
I look at it this way. Your not the only one returning to the game. And there are many players starting new characters daily. So there has to be others like you out there. The tutorial is a great place to make new friends. Search out a guild. Each server usually has one that is good for new/returning and some servers have really good ones. Whatever mission or task your doing ask if anyone wants to join - you would be surprised how many other players need that one your doing too! Make groups by asking in General Chat - yes it does work. Players seem to be very shy about joining groups but throwing in something like "we can all die together!" or something funny to show your not an uptight stick in the mud raider might help bring some of them out of their shell. But a warning - I have watched numerous players in general starting and making groups all the way from level 20 until they reach level 100 or so. Then they start asking for just task adds. Then they quit. I think they found out there is no "end" in "everquest" Bottom line: enjoy the game!
