Fun in Howling Stones

Discussion in 'The Veterans' Lounge' started by IblisTheMage, May 12, 2018.

  1. IblisTheMage Augur

    So I leveled up to 110, and snuk in to Howling Stones.

    TL;DR: boxer with no tank plays in HS and has fun.


    Smurf, it is tough. Wiped a number of times, often without knowing fully why: suddenly the extended target list started filling up, and I new it would be a question of seconds before I would be doing the mage version of Feign Dead...

    So, slowed down, way down. IVU, move ahead a short distance, group CotH, enchanter forward, CC, then move group forwad, keel. Or rez the enchanter... or get hit by a freight train...

    I haven’t been this carefull since... the old days?

    I box 3 mages, bard, enchanter, merc, with IS Boxer. In a big open space with blue mobs with low aggro range, this is a very strong setup. Crawling a high end dungeon with this group is a bit like trying to ignite the candle in a chinese paper lamp with a flame thrower... :).

    With the help of a guildie I got not too far from Deka the Reaper, and a few hours (and a number of almost wipes) later, I had my EM 19. Victory!

    I am guessing that having 4 cloth classes and a paper towel tank is making it hard for myself, but hey, it is a challenge.

    RoS is a lot of fun. I have zero clue on how to get high XP rates again, though. In EoK, a good session would yield a large chunk when I was 106, in HS in a quite long session for me, I got perhaps 20 or 30...
    Drogba likes this.
  2. Eaedyilye More stonehive bixies.

    I've been moloing in HS. I like the zone and the xp is nice. I found a nice place to molo and it's relaxing. No adds, just singles if you pay attention. And even a named to boot. Right now it's my favorite spot.
    IblisTheMage likes this.
  3. Sindaiann Augur

    Sathits Tomb is really nice exp with a full group and slaughtering mobs as fast as you can.

    Howling Stones is similar. The pit area is nice and you can pull both hallways on either side. However in HS there is quite a few pulls that net multiples, same with ST.
    IblisTheMage likes this.
  4. Zhaunil_AB Augur

    HS is about the only decent zone in the whole expansion.
    ST is ok too, but too small.
  5. bootman New Member

    And everyone wonders why botting is so out of hand yea,lets promote using 3rd party software to encourage more platy farmers lol shame people need programs to run there game WTG DB for lettin this be okay
  6. IblisTheMage Augur


    Difficult to understand the difference between botting and boxing?

    Not sure if you truly do not know the subject matter, or you are a troll. With 12 postings under your belt, none too specific, it is hard to tell.

    I guess I will cave in, and give you the benefit of the doubt.

    Botting is automation of gameplay, and is against the rules, because it makes UNATTENDED PLAY possible.

    Boxing is when a person controls multiple toons at a time. Using IS Boxer does not automate anything, it replicates keystrokes between instances of EQ, and can show small "windows" from the different instances of EQ, all on the same computer. Since the player very much has to do everything that is happening on the screen, there is NO UNATTENDED PLAY. And therefore it is not against the rules.

    Also, I have 4 subbed toons, all with RoS. This should answer why DB thinks it is a good idea.

    There is NO RULES AGAINST 3rd party software. You are free to use Gina, Gamparse, and IS Boxer. If you believe otherwise, then you either have a long memmory (rules have changed over the years), or you spend time in P99/TLP forums, where some confusion occasionally exist. Some TLP servers (all?) are True Box, meaning you cannot box on the same machine, that is, running several instances of EQ on the same computer. Using IS Boxer on True Box servers would be meaningless, since it could only be used to break the True Box-rule.

    It should be obvious that I play on AB, a Live server. AB is not True Box. So I can very much play in my preferred play style, which, besides being 4 x as profitable for DB as a single sub player, is also an enabler for a person like me, with limited play time, and the need to log of with no warning, when the family needs me.

    Now, your beef with plat farmers. Do you mean botters that are plat farmers, or players that are plat farmers? We can all agree that botters should be banned, IP logged, etc etc. But if a player wants to farm plat, then they can very much do so as much as they want, as long as they Play Nice (tm).

    So, Bootman, your comments are as uninformed as they are offensive, but quite honestly, also on the verge of being so ill conceived, that I am thinking that the principle that no one is obliged beyond their capabilities applies. You be you. And death to punctuation, it is clearly overrated.
    Felicite, moogs and Zhaunil_AB like this.
  7. Kelset Elder

    As a more traditional box group, it's.always interesting.to.see.what you get into without a main tank character. I agree on liking ROS, challenging but doable for non-raid groups, whether boxing or traditional group. I think I like Gorowyn better but enjoy HS as well. My only issue is they all have minimum time commitments to get to a camp, but that's more of a.me issue than a game issue.
    IblisTheMage likes this.
  8. kingragnork New Member

    LOL. How is using IS Boxer morally not cheating? It gives you an unfair advantage. Takes zero skill to do. I hope you people get banned.
  9. Drogba Augur

    I joined a pickup group on my wizard in sathirs tomb today.

    Sancus and IblisTheMage like this.
  10. Wizlard Augur

    I'll go old school battle station box style on you with 5 computers. You'll be sniffling about an unfair advantage then too because you ain't good. If you don't like boxing, don't.
  11. HanktheTank Journeyman


    So it seems that your life will be a cake walk after you get some better gear. You say boxer with no tank; however, pet's tank better than most group/merc tank classes.

    You say you have no tank. I see that you have 3 tanks.
  12. Sancus Augur

    You're one of the best players I've ever played with, but my god I don't know how you do it with all that clicking :p
    Drogba likes this.
  13. Dreadmore Augur


    Noooooooo way :cool:
    Or maybe it's situational. Depends on what you mean by "most" tanks. Also depends on play style. Maybe a pet tank works fine when single pulling, but who has time for single pulls anymore :D
    Sancus likes this.
  14. Denial_Sinfae Augur


    RIP Drogbless - Tunare. 2017-2018.

    Clicking on 1 toon looks relaxing. That's how I do my 4 boxing. I wanted to hidec npc every second I watched of this.
    Drogba likes this.
  15. IblisTheMage Augur


    A bit of a thread rez.... :)

    Since this thread, I have moved into mostly raiding.

    I disagree: having "tanking power", the ability to withstand a punch, is very far from having a tank. When a high level dungeon like HS decides to eat me, it does it by eating away at all the nice cloth casters. It goes like this: pets are chewing one mob, another mob decides to eat Ibliz, he then eats Ibliz, then decides to call a friend, eats the other mage, and the third. Gulp. Now there are no pets on the first mob, the bard goes down, and the enchanter is frantically trying to CC while keep runes up. Or maybe I just loose a mage, or a bard.

    I usually recover without a total wipe, but it is very clear for me that three mages no tank make. In an open field, where I have no surprises, I can handle myself a lot better, but that is quite a limited part of the everquesting experience.7
  16. Axxius Augur

    HS is piece of cake with a bard. Double invis rocks! Mez the golems and walk past them. And you even have an Enc for total security.

    HS is a cool zone. Requires some learning and playing well, but none of that super annoying crap seemingly designed to ruin the game for a boxed group in OT or Skyfire.
  17. Gundolin Augur


    An EoK group geared tank is going to tank better than a pet. Though maybe if you are strictly talking about taking hits from a single mob without using discs you are right. But grabbing and holding agro on multiple mobs and applying discs when needed, the EoK tank is much better.

    Merc's are horrible though, I'm wondering if that is the old shield bug coming back in. I haven't really experimented enough to figure that out.