Day 1 player that's been gone many years now, what's the solo exp like these days?

Discussion in 'The Newbie Zone' started by Savatage79, Oct 17, 2019.

  1. Savatage79 New Member

    Firstly gotta say it just warms my heart that my most beloved game is still going after all these years, I was there day 1 in March of 99 and it was and still is one of the most incredible gaming experiences in my life given the era of gaming we had around then.

    Basically I've been gone since about seeds , but I'm debating picking it up again...but what's a typical week look like for a casual player?

    Or I should say what type of character building, gear etc. Is obtainable solo ? Not that I wouldn't group but I'm curious about what type of solo experience the game offers these days.

    How intense are raids these days compared to the old days?

    Any any all information is welcomed, thanks!
  2. TheAlpacaoutwest New Member

    Welcome back! you are going to have a fun timer leveling. There is currently a bonus exp that has been ongoing all week and should stick around longer as part of a fall festival bonus.

    I created a Druid and a mage to dual box about 3 days ago from level 1 and am already 40. Exp is in a good place. FV server :)

    For me... leveling either solo or even moloing content with a merc is fast experience, but if you are a priest class soloing will be slower.
  3. Savatage79 New Member

    That's great to hear! What about at cap, is it solely best to raid or is there a ton of content you can just work on even when capped?
  4. Kukaw Augur

    Welcome Back!
  5. Laronk Augur

    So here's how a regular day I think should go for a casual player.
    Have a plan and a goal before you login,
    Once you log in turn on LFG and ask can I do my goal with just a merc?
    If no, do a daily and find something you can do with your merc after the daily continue to look for a group in general
    If yes, work on your goal while looking for a group in general to make friends.
    When ever you see someone lfg invite them, if people want help with things help them


    Here's what really happens
    Log in without a goal or a plan
    Be lfg without any plan
    Don't invite the other lfg players because then you'll probably need to make a plan because god forbid they have a plan
    While lfg stay in pok and do nothing


    Really if you want a good game play experience have a plan IMO; be the leader, invite people, and help people.
    Owl56 likes this.
  6. KarmaKitty Augur

    Oooo, I can ramble on... Note: I have not played Monk, Rogue or Shaman.

    I believe, any class can solo without issue. Its basically all I do :p It is counter to EQ culture and the
    game design, but doable. If you are under somewhere near level 110, you may have no choice at times. Its what you do while LFG...

    If you do Solo, you may not be please with progress from time to time.

    Also, keep in mind, you will be locked out of LDON, Raids and most of the most recent expansion.
    Why ? Because you solo and fail to meet the three player minimum for a mission. Of course, you
    can fix that by not soloing (or get 2+ accounts and run your own bot group). I hear tell of bot raid forces.

    Anyway, they have added a number of features that help the solo player. Of course, that was never the intention. Fellowships and Mercenaries stand out. The perks you get as veteran rewards are gold
    as well, but if you been gone for years those may not apply.

    Fellowships provide a mechanism other members of the fellowship to donate XP to you. Once the fellowship is established, you are not required to play with them. You probably should, but it is not a requirement.

    Mercenaries (Tank, Healer and DPS caster) eat XP, but there will be cases where it will be difficult to solo without them. There are some restrictions, like only one up at a time, but they are generally worth the trouble.

    Example: taking down the Coldain king was a pain solo. Tried several different things with no luck. Finally, was able to take the court down first time using a DPS caster merc.

    Another tip, if you have loyalty points, the loyalty vendor in POK has potions to reset faction with several old world groups. There is also a new faction too, so you can ensure everyone hates you :D

    Nice thing about the higher levels is you can solo many raid targets in older content. Bad news is there are still people camping those old raid targets for whatever reason. Mobs like King Tormax
    are often killed as soon as they pop.

    Auto-AAs are good, but I have not played in the 51-64 range since implementation, so I'm not sure if you get the essentials early. At least with a pally, the defensive AAs made a massive difference on what I could take on when backed up by a healer merc.

    Defiant gear. This is a whole series of gear that drops from appropriate level MOB. It is way better than the old stuff from the first few expansions and is reasonably abundant. This will be your base gear or fill the gaps into the 70s.

    You can also drop cash, go heroic and bypass 85 levels. That could be important, since 1-84 puts you in zones devoid of players. Good news there is the old content trade skill items sell well in the bazaar. People appear willing to pay top dollar to avoid going to an old newbie zone to say kill a few dozen rats for a patch of rat fur. Boggles the mind, but there you go.

    Heroics also puts you all in the new ferrot zone, so there is a chance there will be some other heroic characters to play with. Most important, this is the zone were you do the quest to upgrade you merc. Since you solo with a merc (or molo as some call it), completing the quest is critical.

    Levels 85 and up don't overlook the partisan, mercenary and progression quests. While you may no longer need the progression tasks to open zones in some cases, the quests still give big bite of XP.

    They also added a number of ways to get around: ckickies, pok stones, nexus, guild portal. Even if you solo, a guild is useful for the guild portal alone. The in-game map and zone tool will help you move around. Even as a port class, the other travel options may not deposit you in the same spot.
    Even as a pally, I don't have too many issues moving around. Can't just snap my fingers, but its not too bad.

    Collections are another way to get XP. These can be ground spawns and or MOB drops. Extras can be sold in the bazaar. I recommend keeping sets set aside waiting for use and sale on XP bonus days.

    Good luck.
    Savatage79 likes this.
  7. Savatage79 New Member

    What I'm asking is what are end game activities these days that people put time into ? Is it solely raiding at cap or is there tons of end game quests for gear to do , just trying to gather what end game of eq looks like in 2019 before I really invest.
  8. Savatage79 New Member

    Thanks kitty, I think we posted at the same time there so my post was directed to the one above yours. Thanks for the info !
    KarmaKitty likes this.
  9. KarmaKitty Augur

    Some people put a lot of time into the (trades skill) Artisan Prize. It is a really nice ear (augment) with very nice stats. It requires completion of three major old trade skill quest and as a byproduct full Planar progression. It maxes out by getting your trade skills up to 350. 300 - 350 requires having actually executed a certain number of recopies. It really is a lot of work (time sink), but the results are sweet.
    No idea how item creep and the next expansion will impact it.

    I can't speak to the endgame, having only soloed/moloed my way to 107.5.

    Trying to get to 110 before the next expansion drops.

    All while listening to Sid Vicious sing "I did it my way."...or not :D
  10. Conq Augur

    There is more to do than there is time in the day to play EQ.
    Conq
    CatsPaws likes this.
  11. Laronk Augur


    Oh at high level the quests are all laid out nicer than they used to be and there's some progressing items that are best in slot that require you to do a ton of group content from collection stuff to quests to exploring zones several expansions back. A bunch of these can be done casually. There's also hard missions in the current expansion and its not a small effort to fully gear yourself out in group gear. There's lots of people that don't raid at level 110
  12. Savatage79 New Member

    How long are raids these days, are they a bit less intense or are they still fairly long jaunts ?
  13. Vumad Cape Wearer

    Solo'ing, or more appropriately molo'ing (solo with a merc) is just as it always has been.

    EQ is FTP now with no real impacts by being FTP until at least L65 when you need AA. So there is a lot of playing with a box for free. Even once you get to that point if you main is paid then you box is still useful even free.

    Pick one main you enjoy and 1-2 boxes. For example, mages, wizards, and other classes box easy. You can alt tab and hit a hotkey with 5 commands with pauses and continue your main. Say you want to play a warrior, you can cleric merc, mage shaman box and AFK bard in camp. Super easy box combination.

    Then, you LFG on your warrior and while you wait you can rock those boxes to keep things flowing smoothly while you wait.

    I main a chanter and I box a cleric. I can immediately form a group since someone can usually tank. If no luck on a tank for the content. I charm tank with a warrior merc (worth the DPS loss for charm breaks) and DPS merc. This 4-person team (2 xbox with 2 merc) makes it very easy to find group members. Then I drop mercs until I have 6 real people and drop my cleric.

    When I am feeling box lazy I'll just auto follow the cleric and use a cleric merc and wizard merc and stroll through old content working on hunter and such. It's not as productive, but it's still a good time while waiting for a ready made group that needs you help.


    I can't say for certain but I think 3 days per week @ about 20+ hours is pretty safe to call common for mid-to-upper end guilds that are farming the current expansion. Few guilds would expect 100% attendance so you should be able to find something enjoyable yet flexible. Maybe look into some of the guilds on your chosen server right away and just ask them what their raid schedule is. If nothing sounds acceptable, check on other servers before you invest too much on the wrong server.
  14. Laronk Augur

    There's raid guilds that also only raid one day a week who do current content. In the raid game there's something for everyone.