We are 6 returning players playing and we fresh rolled a Cleric, Warrior, Wizard, Bard, Enchanter, Rogue group. We are aproaching 50 now and we would maybe like to do the epic 1.0 (thats just "epic" to us actually) weapon quest. Now the game has changed a lot and I am looking for some infos about how it works nowdays: 1- Back in the time, as I remember, the min level to quest the weapon was 54. Is it still the same? 2- How "good" is it compared to, lets say, deviant 55ish? will it be junk right away or will we actually use them up to lvl 60? 3- How doable it is to complete the listed epic with a 6man group. I wasnt remotely possible and you needed a raid back in the taime but now? For what will we need help? 4- What is changed or cannot be done anymore? 5- Is there anything else I should pay attention to?
Officially the minimum level to start epic 1.0s is 51, but there's a lot you can do before then for most, if not all. In all cases, the reward is substantially inferior to Defiant as a weapon, but may have valuable effects - although they will typically be worthless beyond 60. Of your classes, I would say that the cleric epic is nice to have, the enchanter epic has some minor uses and the rest you can forget, except as a means to skip the 1.5 epic pre-quests. Six man group in Defiant should have little problem with most 50-55; and if you do, split into two groups with mercs! All of the epic 1.0 - 2.0 are still doable - some of the 1.5/2.0 (rogue/paladin) are much harder, due to the need to gather large raids. I would normally suggest taking a look at the iksar "epics", although you only have a warrior who could do them. All of these epics, normal and iksar included, are only really worth doing for the bragging rights - which could be more than sufficient justification.
Is that also true for Trak, or Plane of Fear golems, last mob from rogue epic, etc... ? What are iksar epics?
uhm long story short, all classes Iksar could be, had an "epic" they could do, shaman cudgel, necro hat, warrior sword (greenmist) etc. etc. check out the quests in both cabilis zones, they should all be listed there (look on Allakhazam for quest info)
Other than the Berserker & Beastlord epics, none of the others had a hard coded level that you had to be, in order to do them. Some like Druid & Ranger have faction req's lessened once you hit a certain level though. Though in order to do this, one had to get someone to multi-quest the drops from the planes. If you don't multi-quest then the min level is 46 to complete most of them. But you can start doing the sub quests at most any level. Generally it will be the effects, procs, and clickies that make it better over all. The Defiant stuff is likely going to be about even stat wise. It will honestly vary depending on how well geared you all are and how skilled you are. The classes which don't require drops from Fear, Hate, or Sky will probably be doable by a well played group in good gear. I would say give them all a go and see what you can do. If nothing else you can probably ask for help; one person could make it go from impossible to easily doable. I can't think of anything off the top of my head that would have changed about the 1.0 quests for those classes. Most of the class sites should have solid walk thru's on them. I would just say read through them and plan ahead.
In addition to what Zinth said, these all required high faction with at least your class's Iksar faction; which was generally a very long process.
Oh I remember those. It doesnt really feel "epic" tho. Wasnt Greenmist the katana looking thing? I thought it was an SK weapon.
Yeah it is SK, there is a Warrior Iksar epic (the Pride of the Legion is the final result); but Warrior is the only class that would get one out of your group.
Okay, the good news, it is nice to see some friends starting and working together- the bad news is that to complete this project, you will each be doing 6 epics. The cleric clickie is perma useful as a rez stick, but, in future levels there will be an AA that will do it. My enchanter still carries the 1.0 in a bag to click haste on low level characters/pets, and non of my characters did any of the other classes you list. Getting to and beating some of the high end (for level 55) encounters is going to be a problem and there are some serious time sinks in most epics, these days I would think anyone that does an Epic 1.0 has one or more high level assistants. Plane of Sky for warrior drop, Chardok for the king queen and prince, the general in Kithicor and others will be a pain on a good day for a below 60 group. You have made it to 50 as a group and that is a good effort, however if you split into two groups, and used 2 merc tanks and one healer per group (mercs auto skill and gear up) they could carry your characters to 65 at a quicker pace. Best have at least one able to root or snare in each group- suggest heading past 60, as very high end buffs become available and make facing mobs easier. While the low level grinding can be interesting a time or two, it gets old fast, if you maintain the 6 man group constantly the warrior will have to be well geared, should you follow my suggestion to split group, the tanks will have the gear and you can be semi power leveled by them. Depending on what you decide to do along your career path, i would suggest for sure at level 80 (or before if deals are found) getting 300 Dream motes each to buy non visible gear in dream feerott, and also looking for a HOT charm based on throwing or alcohol tolerance and preparing to be able to equip at 80. Gaining visble gear and weapons/shields could be a challenge as you approach current end levels. In any case remember to have fun, and despite wipes and other events, that is why you are here.
I did all my epics, and I'm about to do the 1.5 over again, just so I can have them all displayed in my house on the wall. Right now I have the 1.0 and 2.0 crossed on a piece of granite with a rose intersecting them because it looks cool. Once I get the 1.5 again, I'll have to come up with some other design. That's why I did my epics.
If the group did some 55 and 59 aa's (defensive and offensive), I really can't see the fights causing much of an issue. I could see the paladin epic books being a problem to get. Since the dragons that drop them do not stay alive for very long.
- We dont really want to wait till 60 because the weapon will really be rendered useless. At least at 50ish they can be equiped, I think. However it is sure that if we really need to ask for hight level outsiders help for raid content its not the same adventure. As for my question, you seem to imply that raid content wasnt changed or nerfed and it will be very hard to handle for 6 level 55 toons. - The goal is to play together, there is no way we'll start using mercs for xping. We did our way to 50ies playing in guk, najena, karnor and other old world stuff and we dont want to rush it to the places we never been (we left in 02). We will most definately take an AA break when we'll start aproaching over 60 content.
I say this not to dissuade you from your adventure, but to just be real with you... they are all useless even at 51.
I have to agree with Raptorjesus5. The epics(1.0's specifically) look like trash mob drops compared to just about anything you'll find in the bazaar for very cheap. The defiant gear drops everywhere, so as long as you're XP'ing somewhere, you should be seeing a steady stream of upgrades as you level up. That being said, this is EverQUEST, after all. Do the epics if you want. I, and others here obviously, just want to make sure you're doing it for the right reasons. Doing them to get "good" gear is not a good reason to do Epic 1.0.
Yes, you would like to do the Epic 1.0 at 50, - in Chardok, the Prince 61(enchanter), Queen 62 (warrior), and King 65(cleric), and getting to them without spending time in the frontier mountains or Temple of droga killing goblins to get non KOS, will be a pain as are a mix of live and undead mobs. There are other nasty surprises out there, even if you acquire full sets of Intricate defiant armor, I think you would need the assistance of a high end killing machine, to handle the hard places, a lot of the drop items can be Multiquested for you, but then that isn't doing it your selves. If you are absolutely determined to go ahead, I suggest you visit allakhazam and read up on each of the epics a base item to look up is the - Orb of Discordant Energy- it is for all 2.0, but from there you can path back to each 1.0 instead of trying to figure out how to find each of the epic walkthroughs. I suggest just leveling and having fun (my comment on splitting to use mercs was for faster progress) you will need to gear up your warrior first to take the hits. Once you level enough the mobs will have superior DPS and HP and progress will probably be thru light blue mobs, and yes you can do it as a group, and enjoy the progress as you will have earned your way. Eventually if geared and AA for it, you will be taking out yellow to red mobs, but, there is no rush, as long as you are all happy to be experiencing your way through. Certainly, you will learn more of how to get places then many, who just level to high end and AA, and learning some of the lore about expansions can add interest. I would abandon the Epic 1.0, but if you folk get a look at the walk throughs, can always do a test run against one of the big nasty and and see if the glory of the win is ready for you at this time. If not then carry on having fun, after all this is Everquest.
1. Most epics had no level minimum, as I recall. When I did mine (Shaman), I started around 39. When I did the Test of Patience, the sharks in Erud's Crossing gave me xp. 2. The Bard epic would be very useful to you, if only to swap it in for the Dance of the Blade proc. The Cleric epic would be great, even if you bag it. Wizard isn't worth the effort, in my opinion, given the random nature of the drops and the spawn times of the mobs involved. 3. 1.0s are easily doable by a single group. Heck, 2.0s are easily doable by a single group. But not a single group of low-50s. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't level factor in to resist rates? So a level 54 being hit by Poison Breath from Trakanon (who is 65), would get hit no matter what their poison resist is? Overking Bathezid would probably eat you alive due to resists and we won't even talk about the Queen (with her FlamesongofRo AE). It would be challenging though, as you figure out what levels you can handle them at. The problem with getting help is, most characters 75+ can wipe the floor with these mobs so bringing in say a level 100 will ensure you don't even get a lick in. You might need help with Overking, Queen, Trakanon, Broken Golem (if only just to clear to it. Low 50s in Fear have HUGE aggro radiuses, in my experience), Ragefire, Ixiblat Fer, and maybe the General (though I tanked him on a 56 warrior so I don't think he'd be too bad). 4. None. They're all doable. 5. Your gear. Much of the 1.0s is busywork, running hither and yon, talking to people, picking up stuff, delivering other stuff, etc. I'd also pay attention to your AA since that is one system that didn't even exist when the 1.0s were designed so it could give you a (however slight) edge. I think of the classes you all are playing, you'd get the most use out of Cleric, Bard, and Enchanter's epics. I'm currently working on several 1.0s (same reason Pizacatto gave) so gauging the relative difficulty is hard but I can say that at least you'll get XP from several of the camps (Hate for Essence of the Vampire, for example. Skyfire for the pearlescent shards as another). It'll all be fun if you do them together though. If necessary, you can always split up and form a "raid", adding some mercs to give you a bit more power.
I remember doing Chardok for cleric 1.0 with a part group of high 50s in Velious raid gear, and doing Ragefire and Ixi with similar groups several times. I expect a full group in Defiant wouldn't have too much trouble at 55, say; the key to this was having a good puller, and the stated group has a bard, but they wouldn't have the AAs to handle it until 60+. However, the enchanter and/or cleric should probably be able to pull Chardok ok. Fear is so often farmed these days that it's more a matter of finding the necessary mobs up. The General is another mob that can be handled with a good pull team in mid 50s - again, I did that a few times with the same format of group.
