I'm a returning player from WoW, got tired of the lack of exploration, repetitive endgame, and the kids. Prior to leaving EQ for that game, I was a pretty casual EQ player. I haven't even raided. ^^; I've been playing again for the past few weeks, gaining some more levels and starting to work on AA's. Thing is, I'm still; rather unfamiliar with the game mechanics (since they've changed a lot since 2006). As of late, I've mostly been grouping in hotzones for EXP/AA;s, and soloing AA's with Headshot, which I see is really overpowered. Profile: http://eq.magelo.com/profile/2581060 What I want to know is..... - At 81, are there any specific spells I should have in my library? I haven't bought a new spell since 62, and from the looks of it, most spells outside of Vinelash Cascade aren't really useful. - Are there any specific AA's I'm lacking that I really need to work on raising before I go back to leveling up? - Do things like tomes/disciplines and the like matter? I've been ignoring them quite a bit. - Any special abilities/skills I need to work on/attain for current and later levels? All I really do in groups is melee and autoshot. Thanks!
I can't even tell if this is a serious post. If all you ever do is Headshot... I guess you could ignore all your new spells except root/snare upgrades? But for everything else, to all your questions, yes, they matter. If you haven't updated your spells since level 62 you aren't using your much better more recent proc buffs, or your upgraded ATK group buffs, or damage shields, nor do you have very good heals, and you either aren't using or are using very old fast-cast nukes which add a lot of damage in group situations. Your discs/tomes are important, many of them are meant to be used on cooldown during fights to increase your damage. This is such a strange question. Should you upgrade your abilities so that you can kill faster? Yes you should. Or can you ignore everything about your class and you just hit auto attack and let a group do all the work for you? Yes you could, but... don't do that. Or can you just headshot your way to 100 and not group with anyone? I guess that'd be better than being that ranger in the group that hasn't bought a spell upgrade in 20 levels and is only using autoattack. Look at this list of stuff: http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/...ype=rng&level=62&opt=And Higher&action=search If you only have your 62 healing spell, Chloroblast, which does about 1000 healing, compare to Oceangreen which heals for 1720. You should be using defeaning blades, which adds a 344 damage proc, at 62 you'd only have Call of Fire/Ice which do 65. At 62 your group attack buff adds +92, and your self damage shield + other damage shield total to 34. Vs at 81 you could be 114 DS on self with +224 atk to yourself and +121 atk to group + 4% extra double attack chance. That's huge, especially for the rest of your group. Sorry if this comes off as rude, but... eek!
Thanks for the reply and advice. And yes, it is a serious question. Totally possible for someone to not be as skilled/knowledgeable about a PC game as you are, especially one they havent played in years.
First thing is get a worn haste item / aug. Hotzone quest from Franklin Teek in PoK can get you a defiant level belt with 35% haste; there's a 36% haste aug + optional attack, augs available from DoN merchants via radiant or ebon crystals (can earn them, or buy them in bazaar, and just invis to buy from merchants). There are lots of other options and easy to get haste. Or use Tribute haste which you can get upto 46% worn haste with. See http://everquest.allakhazam.com/wiki/EQ:Tribute -- Swift Arms entry. Definitely get Thundering Blades, and get Weapon Affinity to 6. Do you have 1.0, or 1.5 epics. I'd work on thost, as the earthcaller from the 1.0 pair is an awesome slow weapon, and the clicky from 1.5 and/or 2.0 are very nice, and the 1.5 should be moloable by your level. If not, just ask for another person to help with the what should only be 2 fights, that you would possibly even need it. Thundering Blades is a nice damage boost (300 base), and 30% chance of a Weapon Shield like buff for 6secs, 12 if you have 1 rank of Spell Casting Reinforcement. There's a ton more. You should try researching a Ranger specific forum like at http://www.eqoutrider.net/index1.html -- Read up on item info at http://everquest.allakhazam.com/wiki/EQ:Lucy_Item_Definitions - and mod2s and other effects at Samanna's Combat Effects. http://everquest.allakhazam.com/wiki/EQ:Spell_Data might be a worthwhile read too. learn about Haste. Worn Haste is capped at Level+1%; Worn Haste + Casted Haste (Increase Attack Speed) caps at 100%, Worn + Casted + Overhaste (Increase Haste v3) caps at 125%. And, use Distillate of Alacrity X potions if you don't have any better buffs from an Enchanter (Shamans get one single-target 60% haste also, but in general, Enc are the best and any one above level 60 is better than Alacrity X). Overhaste you don't really need to worry about right away. Let me know, if you need more basic info / guides like on mercenarires, game terms or whatever (just some examples) as I left any of those out. I'm pretty much like Mandelbrot, in that, you should keep most of your spells up. There are a few rare exceptions, but those are mostley < 60 where you'd skip some. Since you're 80+ you could probably skip most of the 66-75 ones, except Vinelash and Hail of Arrows (although it's not as important now-a-days, since nice AE). I didn't really look hard at your AAs, just made sure you had some of the basics. You were missing heal / spell focus AAs, that I would have gotten some of. You didn't have any Expansive Mind, which you're probably over the 15 worn cap, and would help out. And I like Mental Clarity at least 3 by 55, where you're at 2, and could be up to 14. I'm better with more specific questions, so I'll stop there. Yther Ore.
I always recommend getting a level of guardian of the forest, outriders accuracy, and outriders attack, then get as many passive AAs as possible and then go back to those activated ones. A lot of our damage is due to spells, mainly after focused and called shots get going, (which should be soon for you) so keep your spell skills up
