My Krono wore out at 105, and a bunch of my gear has turned yellow (can't wear, because I'm not subbed). I've searched the web, and watched way too many youtube videos on gearing on EQ, and can't quite find a decent guide for gearing up as a free to play character. Do I just cobble together my gear, or is there something easy I'm just completely missing. I'm saving up for another Krono, but, it'd be nice if I wasn't half naked once it ran out next time. Thank you!!!!
You just need to find non prestige armor. Too bad you stopped 1 level too short. At 106, conflagrant is non prestige and pretty good. A lot of the early tier new sets seem to be non prestige. When I recently logged on my necro to do some overseer, only like 3 of my items were yellowed out. As long as my pet doesn't die (summon earring yellow), I'm fine, lol.
At 105 you can get the full set of https://items.eqresource.com/items.php?id=146420&aug5=147184&aug9=147200 (it's not Prestige, so you can wear it f2p) Or limp toward 106 and get yourself the set of Conflagrant: https://items.eqresource.com/items.php?id=152042 You can buy/join/ask for TA to ToV Hero missions (Griklor in EW etc). At level 105 a single TA will bump you up to 106, so you can start working on Conflagrant set.
Use this link: https://items.eqresource.com/itemsearch.php?s=advanced Search based on your race, class, level, by slot, etc. And for the radio buttons, make sure to check: Prestige - NO. I have a couple F2P accounts, and this tool has been invaluable in finding drops to finish equipping those chars.
Welcome to FTP ! Farm yourself T1 RoK gear from Frontier Mountains named mobs or other (harder) zones, until you are lvl 110. You will need help there; at least a good tank is needed. It is often rotting. At lvl 110 buy T1 ToV Snowbound armor. That one is a bit expensive but not as expensive as Conflagrant armor from RoS, that some players recommended. At lvl 115 farm and buy T1 ToL Waxing Crescent armor. Better spend your money on a Krono for selling it for platin pieces instead of running a 30 day sub, if your are short on cash. If you stay FTP, you never will have that half naked problem again !
Conflagrant is a bit more because the player who made it already had to buy 5Kpp items from vendors in order to make the combines. That is priced into what you pay in the Bazaar. ToV (Snowbound) and later expacs are reletively cheaper to buy in the Bazaar, but you then have to spend ~20-22Kpp per piece to "make" them. So, factor that into the cost. Also, to get the 20-22Kpp piece needed to "make" them, you have to go to the expac where they're sold, since they're NO DROP. So don't buy Waxing Crescent in the Bazaar, expecting to make the armor, unless you've purchased ToL (or NoS or LS). The ToL expac is not yet F2P, at least not until sometime this spring/summer.
When did they change that? The mediums have been tradeable since ToV...people sell them in the bazaar for the people that don't have the expansion can still make use of the armor. I admit, I didn't look at them on the LS vendor, but I would assume they're still tradeable.
They didn't, LS ones are listed as tradable on Alla https://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/npc.html?id=59139 Only about half the slots and augments (weapons, jewelry, shield, belt, charm, etc). Plenty of pieces (all visible, cloak, shoulder), are just 500 plat vendor cost. A full gear set and full augs will be pricey, but can sometimes get reasonable prices on those 10 slots, especially with people snapping out full visible suits for smith/tailor skillups.
I was wrong with the ToL armor. One piece is NO TRADE, but the two other ones can be bought. For LS armor, all pieces are tradeable. LS: Obscured Gallant Resonance Armor - drops from mobs - tradeable Class Emblems - Blacksmith Gerta in PoK and many other places - tradeable Gallant Resonance Faceted Emberquartz - a confused patron in Laurion Inn - tradeable
I was only talking about the visibles. Edit: And, LOL, you're right, the item for the combine is not NO DROP. Don't know why I thought they were!
Thanks everyone! This helps a lot. I've also realized most of my weapons/jewelry/etc are from Hunter mobs, which seem to only drop prestige gear. Any suggestions on where to find non-prestige gear? or is it just luck of the draw/check the bazaar?
The first and second zone in any expansion. If your play like in third zone it's be prestigious drops. First tier second tier usually non-prestigious. good way to tell achievement if it is a novice, adept hunter, thats non-prestigous expert and master prestigious. Some expansions everything prestigious like CotF. good expansion for F2P but you can't spend any of that HA currency because prestigious. So your basically screwed, you get levels but your gear is not improving. Then you get into other HAs and higher level and your getting stomped. because your gear is outdated and those levels hardly anyone sells those gear for those levels. I level up to 90 now. Whoa these mobs really hard now. Wonder why, I'm higher level it should be easier or same. Nope you don't got full 90 gear, you don't got it, too bad, start eating lot more damage. AND start dealing a lot less damage % wise. And so its tough higher level you get, still no gear upgrades, unless you subscribe, so you can spend your CotF currency and use the gear. They make the nameds require a group. Theres no simple nameds soloable nameds. Modern MMOs you got simple mobs that drop gear, and then gradually tougher. EQ, T1 nameds 90+ you gotta have a group, unless already overpowered and the stuff you kill isn't worth it. Which defeats the purpose of having to kill a named for a gear upgrade. It's sad. You gotta be really tough to solo/molo a named at level, 90+., so you can get gear upgrades, naturally. LS you can't even duo undergeared a T1 named with J5 mercs. They can obliterate the merc lucky 1 round or quick 2 round. Fights are 15 minutes long if you manage to stay lucky. Simple named like Ticktock, undergeared duo, J5 mercs, cant even do him, way too much hp, can 1 round the J5 tank merc. RoS ToV geared. Once that J5 merc gets 2 rounded quickly, its a wrap, and you got 15 minutes to try and stay lucky. Apprentice merc, they'll for sure get wiped quickly IN Tier 1. So the game nameds they just harder and harder. Your gear is gonna come from the bazaar because naturally is not possible anymore. Honestly the best expansion F2P is RoF. trash mobs will drop gear for you. Love that. if your 90s, just goto shards landing, kill trash, theres easy bugs, easy for real. kitable. old school style. It's old school, just like old school kill bandits or whatever they drop gear, its useful at the time. Same with RoF trash, they drop gear its useful for level 90. Non-prestigious too. Tradeable too.
As a general rule of thumb, anything that comes from a T1 zone is usually non-prestige. But, that will vary from expansion to expansion and zone to zone.
Novice Hunter zones are always T1. Adept Hunter are often T1, too, unless there are more than two teirs of armor which then they would be T2. Veteran Hunter are the next tier (T2 if Adept is T1, T3 if Adept is T2) If there is an Expert Hunter, that would be either the same as Veteran or the next tier if there are multiples.. The T1 armor will be 5 levels below the max level when the expansion launched. Since there can be more than one expansion with the same maximum level when it launched, the T1 of the same level will be different. For example Empires of Kunark, Ring of Scale, and The Burning Lands all had the same max level at launch. The T1 armor for EoK isn't as good as the RoS T1, and both are not as good as the TBL T1. A while back I had started a blog post to try to put it all on a single page with tables to try to untangle the armor 'levels' for a returning player. One of these days I will get around to finishing it, but I do cover most of the middle parts: https://rijacki-game.blogspot.com/2022/11/armor-set-by-prefixsuffix-with.html. I should add a 'non-prestige' note on the applicable ones, too.
Oh yeah one other thing. Current trend, don't bother paying for the 2nd in level expansion if your F2P. Pretty much all the gear will be prestigious. So NoS, skip LS 2.0 skip 2nd expansion at the same level in the current trend is usually worse too. Been happening since TBL, common sense trend. Look at NoS, CoV, TBL, LS2.0 gonna be same carbon copy. Prestige everything, tradeskills not worth anything because you need to be able kill nameds and those nameds they are no joke. T1 named, no joke trust me. In regards to newplayer fresh catching up, still lacking a lot of gear. You wont do squat on TBL+ named unless your already geared better or what the named drops. No point in being to beat a named when they don't give upgrades due to already having better. Should be able to casualllly get upgrades. Especially entry level at level upgrades, should be some beefed up named T1 gatekeeper for the upgrades that you gotta be overgeared to molo or group, and this is Live, LFG no one uses. When its time for catchup, as in not current expansion, that molo can't do it, no one around, no one cares. Thats why I really like RoF, and I hate this TBL blueprint that they have been following TBL to LS. Anyways, if your buying expansions and you like F2P, your support to EQ is buying expansions. Skip the 2nd one. Skip TBL Skip CoV Skip NoS Skip LS2.0 TBL has a nice clicky, but go and get it when you can easily do it, don't do it in era. Thats a nightmare. Especially returning/catching fresh 115, not overgeared and everything, TBL not fun. Everything past TBL honestly not fun. LS is kinda decent but those nameds still pretty beefy, they can knockout J5 mercs. 15 minute fight undergeared and you gotta be lucky they don't get lucky on the J5 merc. The HME gap gets really wide TBL and beyond, very difficult for them to balance, because 1 person 115 will be 175k HME, another 115 will be 420k HME. How do you balance that. That 115 175k HME really needs gear, yet nameds all 1 round or 2 that person swiftly, no chance for that 115 that really reallly needs gear badly to get the gear they need. Any easier, that 420k HME 115 gonna complain too easy. Thats why I like to promote casual game, (T1 nonraids, shouldn't need a group really) T1, dirt easy. nameds. Should be moloable. T2 can be considerably harder. T3 challenging for the 115s with 420k HME. T1 shouldn't be challenging no 420k HME players.
I'm actually glad this came up, and happy to be reminded of it! Bought NoS T1 visibles for my other three chars on F2P accounts. Those accounts only have ToL, but was nearing the LS drop, so figured I could go buy what I need to make the items then. Wound up not getting LS cause they disappointed me with the "feature" again this year. Was just about to start buying ToL T1 drops for them, but now I won't have to
