You can get a very impressive aug for your gloves, by doing all the solo-quests on the different islands in TBS. Dagmire's skeletal hand or something like that. That is In addition to the Hero's Gear. Its a worthwhile project imho. https://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/quest.html?quest=4188
Hi Vhivi, I'm also a recent returner (although its only be a 5year gap for me); I'm levelling two chars up currently (just dinged 92); One thing that helped me enormously, is high level buffs; Below level 65 you are blocked from receiving buffs higher than lvl65, but after 65, it starts to open up; i don’t know the specifics, but by lvl75, level 120 buffs will stick on you. This makes a HUGE difference, particularly with Damage Shields; around lvl111/112, the DS buffs got a huge boost (almost an order of magnitude improvement) - with the 120 Mage/Druid & Ranger DS buffs, a mob will take over 8000 damage every time it hits you! - a level 75 mob will be dead in seconds... - and these buffs last over 2 hours. (i think you need to be lvl71/72 for the lvl112 DS's to stick on you, which is when it gets good...) Also the lvl120 regen buff gives you about 1500 health back a tick, that’s as good as a lvl80 cleric heal over time running on you constantly... I found buff soaking in the lobby over night very effective, or failing that just asking folks for some buffs before going on a xp session. A full set of 120 buffs transformed the game for me - i could plough through yellow/low red con mobs easily without pausing, and i didn’t worry so much about gear, as for a DS to be effective the mob needs to hit you, so super high AC actually slows things down... (Now i'm in the 90's, its not so OP, but it still makes a huge difference over just having level appropriate buffs...) In terms of zones, one i liked around lvl70, that you can Guildhall port to, is Arcstone - there is a central valley with a ring of undead 'fallen spirits' around it, there are loads of them, well spread out, that are not very tough, and as they are undead do not run, so your DS works until they die - i got several quick easy levels there just doing laps of the valley... After that i think i went to Direwind Cliffs, which also has a lot of undead that were easy kills, but the TSS zones are all quite good i found, if Direwind is too tough, try the Steppes or Sunderock Springs...
You still need a group for those, but they otherwise are quite faster. Vhivi does mention a partner so them + 2 mercs is maybe a group but a druid + random and 2 mercs might have a lot of difficulty doing Heroic Adventures. So when you zone into Undershore if you go other enterance, not leaping off the waterfall you can walk right down. I've even made a short video, excuse my terrible UI and ingame camera control skills! So if you have a paid (gold) account in the aa window check the box that says autogrant and then you won't need to worry about those for a long time, they can increase your power quite a bit. If you're just free to play for now, you could get some bang for your buck aa's but you would have to focus on those. Lastly, you don't include your server! There might be people here who would like to group with you in game that might be around your level (though maybe this game time is just for you and your partner and that is also alright!) If you include your Server, Game name (I assume Vhivi in this case) and your play times you might be able to put together regular groups other people in game are all going to have places that they enjoy playing for each level range. Also people you meet here on the forums might be more into getting into Discord and hanging out with you there if you're into the voice chat kind of thing.
1) Yes, I have (2) gold accounts with auto-grant on alternate advancement (AA) points. Both of my highest level characters have also accrued points and spent them where I could. Vhivi reached a max limit on AA a few times so even spent them on crafting enhancements while holding level in place waiting for Lhumari (the other highest level character) to catch up. 2) I did not list servers because I actually have numerous characters on several. Firiona Vie, Erollisi Marr (where Vhivi and Lhumari are), Cazic Thule, Vox, and others although none of them are higher than their 50s. The Erollisi Marr characters were actually merged in from Morell Thule, and the Cazic Thule characters from Torvonnilous. 3) On the Undershore issue. I first tried to get there with Vhivi, but that was years ago. I also tried with an enchanter near that time and that is where I discovered the levitation issue. Upon first entrance into the zone I knew about the falls so cast levitation when first entering. It was gone when I reached the falls. Upon recovery I tried casting inside the zone, and discovered that it did get cast and took effect but that it only lasted a few seconds. After trying several times I looked for a different path down but could not find any other but the falls. Maps were not that great back then and none listed any zones or hidden doors. That is when I threw in the towel on the zone and never went back. That memory has stuck with me. They must have fixed that issue and the maps have since included other ways in. Bully for them. Just like Western Wastes (in fact most of Velious) I never wanted to suffer just getting into a zone again.
It's not just you, this game is a really really big game and not all of the zone design was well thought out. That's why I even included a video because even the new zone guide just brings you to the waterfall. It's not straight forward, even when you do find the other way to zone in it's not fully apparent where to go. Unfortunately even some of the newer expansions don't have friendly zone design (for example The Burning Lands) The zones in TBL are very pretty but you get 1 zone and everything else is locked behind progression
I finally made level 70 with both Vhivi and Lhumari (Rogue and Enchanter). Probably not the best combo for getting all the way to 120 but they work well together for how I play. I did it by doing some high difficulty Lost Dungeons of Norrath adventures and as I mentioned before will likely keep going on normal difficulty to buff up the adventure stones. I shall now have a chance to check out the recommendations all of you gave and maybe get a chance to find groups again down the line.
Definably check out the Dragonscale Hills Farm location for quests as earlier posts have mentioned, they are repeatable. As I read the Almar's guide, you have to kill 12 mobs to complete the quest and exps should add up over time. If you happen to wonder around the Dragonscale Hills, The animal seems to be weak and mechanical mobs seems to be hard, especially the mechanical spider, it will rip your party apart really fast. When hitting level 75, go do the Gribble HA with grouping. Completing the quests should give you a chance to accumulate the Alt. Currency to purchase better equipment. Exps were really great back then, 4-5 years ago but no clue how it is now.
Just follow this simple guide. Its about as "up to date" as any other guide, and honestly, IMHO, is leaps better than Almars. https://www.reddit.com/r/everquest/comments/5gyani/guide_to_leveling_on_live/
I had to take another months long break with a new job and moving. Still at 70, but maybe I will be able to work up the nerve to go exploring again.
The grind does start at around lvl 85 which is maybe the half of the experience to lvl 120. You just had a walk in the park yet. Really ? Searching Google does take 5 seconds and does bring up good results like that but you are to lazy doing that ? Let me Google that for you ! Experience at Firona Vie is about double as high but you would miss 95% of the content there during leveling up, and it has special rules like the elvish language and most items are tradeable. That and many more infos on my website which does include links to other usefull sites. Click on the green sig ! Interesting class combo, seeing that the first time. It definetly will work up to 120 with the right zones. You might get stuck in EoK or TBL tho, depending on your gear (merc gear/AA) and account type.
Thank you for the feed back and the links, I do appreciate it. Yes. Really. Walk in the park? I got to 67 with Vhivi in ... wait for it ... 2004. I got to 70 in ... 2022. That only by getting a second account because a rogue with only a tank or a healer was very tough to advance. That was the easy part? Seriously? Of course there were several years where I did not play at all, and when I did come back I played other (younger) characters. The grind from 65 to 70 was that onerous. Am I too lazy to go search? No. However, since I never experienced much of Gates of Discord, and many releases came out while I was redoing old content, I have absolutely no knowledge of any places beyond what I knew which was up to and including Planes of Power. So, when I searched the information it did not help because I did not understand what they were talking about. Remember the too much jargon and initialisms thing? Yeah. That. Too lazy to learn? No. I just can not keep all of the meaningless gamer names in my head. I am not good with names. Never have been. Maybe now you have an inkling why I prefer to go solo. I need not deal with abrasive guild mates lording their accomplishments over me day after day. Maybe I will get there. Maybe I will not. Even being spoon fed some of this stuff may not be enough. To you it is second nature. To me, this is brand new virgin territory and nobody is there as I explore it to team up with me as I discover it. P.S. I checked out your guide. It was exactly what I expected, a list of zones with nothing more. Wall of Slaughter 70-80? Uh uh. That was barely usable 65- 70. I tried since it was a zone I was at least somewhat familiar with. Most was light blue by 68. Even worse, there was hardly anything there to fight. A few minutes of action then wait around half an hour for respawns. No, Bastion of Thunder even though it was a tedious grind was better experience and non-stop fighting. As to quests, Hero's Journey and what not. I tried the quests. They were long, with vast amounts of camping and the rewards were not worth the effort, nor was the experience. Same with Hero's Journey. Nothing I got from any of that was usable at the level I received it. Unfortunately, that leaves grinding. Unless there is something I missed. That is where lack of experience with those zones is a real impediment to essentially a new player.
Yes, seriously. The game does become more challenging slowly but everything is much easier today because of mercs, more abilities, heroic stats, defiant and prestige gear. Leveling with a rogue is not harder than with other classes, it does just take more time because you have to stick to blue and light blue mobs mostly and you have to buy your gear at the bazaar instead of being able to kill mobs that do drop gear that is equal to the PC level. It definetly is better to restart after such a long break with a new PC and changing back to or adding old ones later. Just take your time, all returning players had gone throught that. There is MUCH to learn since 2004. The game will not pamper you, so you have to explore and try out much on your own and accept that you will fail often. It is a well known problem that new and returning players have to molo through all that alone most of the time. The guide has a few flaws and seems to refer to special camps with higher level mobs that you would have to find. There are level 70 mobs in WoS and even lvl 65 mobs are still interesting at the lower 70s, especially for a rogue. I just think that you are to impatient in leveling up. I will add a few other zones that would fit. The zone spot does not really matter, you have to find the best spot by yourself anyway. lvl 55-75 Estate of Unrest: The Curse Begins [Adventure] - Butcherblock -> Savil Tranquilsong lvl 63-80 The Buried Sea - All isles do have mobs of different levels, races and difficulty. Plenty of humanoid mobs (Pirates at W and N, sirens at NW, galigabas at NE, goblins at E). lvl 66-77 Arcstone (Hotzone) - Start with wolves to the left, then try the undead riders upon the hill. lvl 67-82 Icefall Glacier - Animals; kobold and goblin caves to the NW. lvl 68-81 Jewel of Atiiki (Hotzone) - Plenty of spots; try the pyramid dungeons if you need a challenge but stay away from the sand golems as their xp is capped by an anti-grinding mechanism. You can enter the pyramids by climbing onto the top of them. Nothing in the zone but mummies does see invis but the dungeons do have monster traps. lvl 70-80 Vergalid Mines No, you do just expect to much and that does make you unhappy. The xp in TSS is good. Try Vergalid Mines.You can always quickly upgrade your PCs by buying level 100 Heroic at the character selection or in the marketplace. Enough pampering and spoon feeding for now.
Are you using the Bite of Shissar poisons? You can buy them at the poison merchant in Pok and these are more damage than backstab. With poisons, a Rogue+healer merc should level faster than most before ~70/75 or so. Nostalgia aside, I would re-evaluate your class choice if this is your playstyle. Multiple times I have molo'd Rogues up to 80/90/100 - it is not an enjoyable experience and it only gets worse beyond 85. Beyond just getting help with the leveling up process (buffs, PL) higher level Rogues really need a group to shine, and by "group" I mean a real tank, Bard, dedicated puller... not just a boxed caster with a couple of mercs. If you are the 1-2 boxing solo player that never groups/raids, this is not a great combo for higher levels (try SK+Sham)
Yes, Dre, I have used them for years. That did not change the difficulty with a rogue and only a tank or a healer. In fact, the tank was the better match. However, without a healer, that tank needed continual bandaging, and going to tougher locations (Wall of Slaughter or Plane of Fire) was way, way, way too slow and any adds from the runners were ... let us just not go there. It was slow then and has not changed. The biggest benefit of adding the second account was the healer mercenary to go along with the tank. That is what picked up the pace and got the character rolling. The enchanter just added stuff that was fun as well. As to other combinations, I do have other characters in many combinations. Some are more fun than others. Shadow knights and shamans are two classes I occasionally play, and only occasionally because they feel clunky to me. Rogue with Enchanter, at least up to 70, is fast paced and interesting. Having the buffs is great, and crowd control is extremely useful. Oh, before you ask, no I do not use charm with the enchanter. Too hazardous. The slowest, toughest combination at least for me so far is the warrior/cleric combo. They add in DD mercenaries but keeping aggro with a warrior is often frustrating. Rangers with Druids are fun. That, by the way, is why I choose the combinations. The fun factor. Shadow knights with necromancers can also be rather fun.
I ran that on Bertox and yes, very fun though I was charming a lot. And just about anything works with a Bard
That guide is good in that it lists some places that might work. Kind of have to go to different places and see what works for you. One spot mentioned that he doesn't really like, but was great for me is Fortress Mechanotus and Meldrath's Mansion. Once I was able to get high level raid buffs (75ish, maybe a little earlier), I zoomed through the 70s molo on my necro. Just trial and error, end up finding some good zones along the way.
Goodness gracious! I made 71 with both my Rogue and Enchanter partner, got new spells for the enchanter and went to Dragonscale Hills. What did I discover? The new mesmerize and pacify skills have horrendously long recast times, for the mesmerize it is well over the length of time it lasts and do not even ask what to do if it gets resisted. Why in blazes would they do that? Those are the most oft spells that character uses. The whole point of the enchanter is utility and the most used utility is crowd control. Now the class cannot even do that. What am I missing here? This makes leveling practically impossible.
Pacification is indeed get a bit slower in the 70s. However, what mesmerize spell are you using? The level 69 Euphoria is 2.5 seconds. That's the same speed almost every single-target mez has been since mid-Classic.
