First time EQing. I have played other MMOs, and find EQ the least explained and most frustrating for new players. Everyone on these forums speaks with game abbreviations, and as someone who's played a long time. I realize there is hardly anyone playing that is actually new, more returning players and people that have been playing for years. and you try to ask a question on the general chat to get more of the "duh" answers. How do you learn other languages? I see a lot of people use the words learn and teach, but that means nothing to me as I don't know how to do either of those things. How do you increase your skills? What use are these skills? Is there documentation somewhere of how to raise each skill. The only ones I have figured out are the ones that sort of happen as you play the game. Aka swimming, defense, poking people with a stick etc... How to bandage yourself or others? tried picking up the bandage and clicking on myself, does not seem to work? perhaps it only works if you are down health? I wouldn't know. Currently, still in the tutorial area at the moment. and I am waiting on a friend to continue questing and exploring, since we created these characters together. Would like to work on some skills or something while I am waiting. I would appreciate any genuine replies. Thank you.
Languages you learn later after being exposed to them and then buying 1 skill point in them from a class guild master. Then to skill them up you use them in say & group. You will also skill up if someone else uses the language and you hear it in group or say. /language will give you help on changing what language you are using. You raise your skill by using the skill; most skills you can also spend plat to skill up points you get from leveling up. You use bandages by clicking the Bind Wound skill. You and the person being bandaged have to remain stationary the whole time. I do not think you will be able to do languages until you get out of the tutorial unless your race has them.
First, welcome! Second, you're doing the right thing asking lots of questions. It's a video game, so lots of snarky children play, some of us realize that the game lacks good instructions. Destroy your bandages. Sit to regenerate hitpoints. You don't need to buy the first point of a language any more. Find a language enthusiast on your server and they'll teach you at least a point in all of them and then you can talk to yourself to raise skill. I suggest making a new character while you wait for your friend. It's not until high levels that you can stop gaining regular XP by shifting it to Alternate Abilities (AA). If you do, I recommend making it on a new free account using this link:
Languages have some uses, e.g. some quest givers will only talk to you in a certain language and some items gain stats if you have mastered certain languages, but they are not required. (Perhaps it's different on Firiona Vie, a special rules server.) As far as bandages go, they are mostly obsolete. You can hire a healer mercenary ("merc") who will heal you during and outside of combat. As Xianzu explained earlier, skills go up when you use them. If a monster tries to hit you and misses, there is a chance that your Defense skill will go up. If you try to hit a monster, there is a chance that your Offense skill will go up and so on. Depending on your class, you will learn new skills like Double Attack and Triple Attack later on (it happens automatically when you reach the right level.) Keep in mind that your ability to hit monsters depends on two skills: (1) Offense and (2) the weapon skill related to the weapon that you are currently wielding. So if you are wielding a sword and your 1HS (one-handed slash) skill is maxed, you should be fine, but if you switch to a mace and your 1HB (one-handed blunt) skill is very low, you will be missing a lot. That's why it's advisable to keep all of your combat skills maxed since you never know when you may come across a nice weapon. It's not a huge deal since you can always skill up later, but it's something to consider. Also, at later levels caster classes like Wizards and Magicians do very little DPS (damage per second) with their weapons, so weapon skills are less important to them. All classes want to keep Defense and Dodge maxed, because it increases their chances of survival when they get hit -- at higher levels a monster can kill you in a single round if you are unprepared or unlucky. As far as the tutorial goes, I would recommend staying there as long as possible, doing all the quests, hiring a mercenary, trying tradeskills and so on. It was designed to teach new players about the game, so it has more hand-holding than the rest of the game. Also, make sure to "attack" and destroy a bunch of barrels because some of them have bags and bows that sell for a lot of money. Or at least it's a lot of money for a new character
I just want to add one small thing to what has been covered in previous answers. EQ pioneered the MMORPG landscape; it was intended that there should be no need for fully detailed manuals, because we were all learning how it worked together (just like the other well known MMPRPG, "Real Life"). So you acquire languages and other skills just by using them; the details of a game interface just get in the way. Expectations may have changed, and there are certainly now a lot of people with years of playing experience who have uncovered all the tiny details, but at the heart there is still a sense of wonder and discovery.
What server are you playing on? Many people on the forums would be willing to help you in game which would be a lot easier. This game can be frustrating to get into sometimes. I was cussed out by a dozen players in general chat when I came back a couple years ago. For enjoying playing WoW. Even though EQ was my first and favorite mmo and I always came back to it. I almost quit playing on the spot. But some people from a great guild found me and I stuck with it. If you find a guild small or big with great people. That will make all the difference.
welcome to this great game : there are some links who could help you -------->> http://www.eqmagetower.com/wiki/ReturningtoEQFAQ http://www.eqclerics.org/forums/showthread.php?t=24035 http://almarsguides.com/eq/ http://www.paullynch.org/eqguide/guides/quests/ http://www.paullynch.org/eqguide/guides/what-to-do-when/ http://mboards.eqtraders.com/eq/showthread.php?37646-The-Ultimate-EQ-Tradeskill-Guide http://www.eqinterface.com/ http://www.elitegamerslounge.com/home/eqwizards/index.php?sid=809f4bdfc081aa61b3363fce333e6efd www.eqresource.com http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=53422 ---------> 10 slots , 75 % reduction bag... (5k tribute ). http://everquest.allakhazam.com/ ---> for spells check under database / spells & skills / choose the class ect. or database / zones / by era / --->> you can pick a zone ( hot zones ect ) , see the level range and how to go there with the connecting zones ect. for items / database / you could also ask any high level mage 87 or higher if they could cast you some temporary pet armor and haste mask . they are good , specially for lower level pets mage level 87 spell (grant visor of vabtik ) level 86 ( grant spectral plate ) or level 62 (fist of ixiblat ) temporary pet weapons who can proc at lv 10 you can see the stats there : http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/spell.html?spell=26746 http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=92557 http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=24510 ---------------------------------------- this.
Thanks everyone for all your answers and replies. I understand that MMOs are meant to be discovered and played and I don't want or need anyone to hold my hand. But the basic controls of the games are often taken for granted and it's difficult to get accustomed to a new set, especially after playing many other games. and quite frankly, EQ was the first of its kind in this arena, and as such, the controls and game play are not always intuitive because of no one having done it before. Playing this game makes me appreciate the improvements that games like WoW made in this genre. but they wouldn't be here quite the same without EQ. Also, I have read a lot of comments about this and that being obsolete, but as a collector type personality I enjoy skilling up things, even useless ones. But my problem being I don't physically know how to click the buttons to do the tasks. I did however, finally find the "bind wound" button. the piece I was missing was that you have to go to the ability tab and right click it to add it to you list of 6 and THEN add it your hotkeys... whew... I'm starting to realize a lot of what people do in this game is dependent on others, not just killing bosses and whatever form of raiding you guys have on here.
This is one of the bigger hurdles for new players. The EQ UI has been redone a few times over the last 15 years, but it's still clunky. It's not too bad once you master it, created hotkeys, button bars, perhaps switched to a custom UI and so on, but the learning curve is ugly. As you level up, you will encounter something that will be equally annoying -- different expansion do things somewhat differently. Something as simple as an instanced dungeon crawl may have to be started differently depending on the expansion that it was a part of. Even interactions with quest givers and different types of vendors can be slightly different. And with 20 expansions, the number of rules can get overwhelming if you try to learn all of them at the same time. Having said that, a lot of these complications have been streamlined since the game went FTP. For example, there were many different systems for getting spells, roughly one per expansion. When EQ went FTP, all level 1-85 (and now 1-90, possibly even 1-95) spells were added to the Library in the Plane of Knowledge (PoK) where anyone can buy them for platinum. Another thing to keep in mind is that you can skip many older expansions because the content is no longer required to progress to higher levels where you get vastly better gear/spells. There are still some "nice to have" things, which increase the power of your character modestly, in earlier expansions, but you can always come back and do them when you are high level and can two-shot everything. In general, the rule of thumb is that older expansions have wimpier mobs with fewer HPs and lower Attack (ATK) ratings, so the optimal path from 10 (after the Tutorial) to 100 often leads you through a few select expansions with relatively mobs. Alternatively, you can try to follow the Hero's Journey -- it's under Achievements -- which will take you through one of the modern expansions, TSS (The Serpent's Spine). Not only is it a well designed expansion with a more modern quest system which can easily take you from 10 to 60 (it gets harder at 60+ and you may want to consider other zones at that point), but you will also get level-appropriate gear as your complete quests. There are also zones that are temporarily designated as "hot zones", i.e. zone where you get better XP for killing monsters and can do special quests for gear/extra XP. Most experienced players mix and match these approaches based on their knowledge of the game. For example, they know that some "hot zones" are relatively difficult and the bonus XP that you get for fighting there doesn't offset the extra difficulty. So they just go there to do a daily quest to kill 5 mobs, which yields a lot of XP as well as a decent item, and then go adventure elsewhere. Also, keep in mind that some of the quests that you will run into in the Plane of Knowledge (one of the main "hub" zones) are really old and their rewards are not nearly as good as what more modern quests yield. Don't despair -- there are also good quests there, you just need to learn which is which. You may want to do at least some beginner quests, basically Tutorial 2.0, from the tutorial NPC in POK. You will learn about the Bazaar (the EQ version of an Auction House) and get a weight reducing nag for your effort. You will also learn about guilds and how to create a guild of your own. There are advantage to being in a guild, including having access to a Guild Bank, a special teleporter to some zones and so on. Oh, and don't feel obligated to buy every spell as you level up -- many of them are only marginally useful and/or become obsolete quickly. Since characters level up much quicker than they did in 1999, buying all of your spells along the way can be a drain on a new character's resources. Don't worry, leveling slows down after 70-80 and you will have plenty of time to get all level-appropriate spells.
Most of those "how to use the interface" type questions should be covered by the walls of text in the tutorial. Of course, I understand that WoW/EQ2/etc has taught everyone to click past walls of text, but you have to start somewhere.
lmao Borek with the burn! He's right though. There are a ton of questions that get asked here on the forums that are covered in detail in the tutorial.
click on a barrel in the tutorial, and then type /open in your chat window. That will open the barrel and I have been told less likely to reduce the items found in the barrel. Borek's site and Almar's guides are very good.
Welcome, Kikya. It's refreshing to see a true new player post here. Yes, learning the UI, how to make your own hotkeys, and just to the basic things in the game can be daunting. You have already received many good responses in this thread. The EQ community is top notch, and that's what makes EQ great. Since EQ has been around so long, and many of us have been playing for years, you will discover that the players you meet in game are, for the most part, older and more mature than the ones you will find in some other MMOs. Another thing you may find is that EQ can be very deadly. If you go to a zone that is too high for you, you can wind up at your bind spot within 5 seconds of your first pull. Though a lot of the pain of dying in EQ has been lessened to a great degree since I first started playing, it's still annoying. Just yesterday, I was trying a new named that I had never seen before, pulled him with my two box team and forgot to /assist (be sure to make an /assist button) the puller. The extra 3 seconds it took me to manually target the mob and send my pet in to tank was enough to wipe us. Like I said, it's a bit unforgiving, but if I wanted to play an easy game I would play something else. The biggest strength of EQ is making some in game friends that you can share your journey with. Finding a good guild is the best place to start. Good luck and have fun!
Burn? Is that the EQ spirit there? I played 10 hours in the starting zone, mostly learning to level up some skills, how to fight, opening barrels, thanks for the /open tip btw, I had been attacking them to open them! and trying learn the UI, which is complicated at best. and I DO read text, though just because you read something once, doesn't mean you'll always comprehend the meaning of it or its applications, until you have some more experience in navigating the UI in the first place. I kept reading the words but they did not make sense to me until further down the road. That is how people learn. as far as WoW and EQ2(I can't speak for EQ2 because I have never played it), the interface is much better so most of the things you do are intuitive. It is hard to adjust to a game where things are not as such. but that is why I am here. To see the game that started it all. it's just a shame it's fallen into the free to play/pay out the nose if you actually want to progress thing, that a lot of mmos are switching too. it's interesting to see the perspective of other players in the game. yes the game is deadly lol, i have died a couple of times. right now, I'm mostly wandering aimlessly, doing random quests, not understanding the long term implications of everything I'm doing yet. Exploring the world and trying out abilities...
and I think you may be the first to ever type out "plane of knowledge" I had no idea what PoK was until I finally got there lol
Regarding the free to play......I always keep my two accounts gold. If I went silver I would lose the use of most of my gear and thousands of AA. I've always expected to pay for any type of game I play, be it MMO or single player. It doesn't bother me in the slightest to pay a monthly subscription fee for an MMO. In my very short time with WoW, I recall paying a monthly fee. Not sure how they do it now....
Whoa! EQ is not one of those Pay-to-Win games, or even pay-to-play. You can really play for free and gave a great time. The stuff for sale is not better than stuff you can earn in-game, in fact, it's generally worse! The game is like 14 years old and the first dozen years are free! Only the most recent 2 expansions aren't free, and if you buy the most recent, you get all of them. They could easily charge $5/mo for Silver, but they don't, it's a 1-time charge, and if you ever paid for a month of Gold, you get it free! Stuff for sale is almost all look stuff like different looking mounts (not even faster) and not as fast as can be found for free! The only big problem is that you can't expect to be a tank in new content without a Gold account, but that's only 3 classes you ought not select if you don't want to pay.
Yes, but learning that one interface will serve you for every character you create. The major changes will be new strategies for different character types which is IMHO the best part of the fun. Within the limits of the game there will be a basic similarity with the interface for all character types and it will stay consistent throughout leveling. Melee attack button is the same for a Rogue as a Wizard. Wizard leveling just adds more powerful spells that replace most of the ones that came before them. Ditto for all other magic spells in the game. You never have to know more then 4-5 spells and their effect, for the next 100 levels! Magicians use a lot of burn type spells, Shaman use cold based and poison/disease damage over time<DOT>. You get in a fight, just mash the buttons. Learn one, you know them all.
