Hi guys. I am just trying to get a feel for things where I will not get slaughtered given my set up. So I have a level 85 heroic SK and chanter. I just did a couple of heroic adventures and those went pretty well. What I am thinking though is I need to see about opportunities to gear up a bit faster at least at the lower end of the spectrum. What I am wondering is if at level 85, this duo + mercs can handle the quests in feerott and HoT lower so I can work on augs and what not? Thanks in advance.
Yes, you can. Are they gold accounts? If so, get your J5 mercenaries first thing. Go for those aug quests if you can handle them. If they're giving you too much of a hard time, grind xp in a lower level zone and level up to 86. Your mercs will get their full level 90 stats at 86 and it might be enough to put you over the hump.
I liked Fortress Mech or Gyrospire Beza/Zeka for easy XP on my heroics. Good luck and please report back with progress. Just curious.
I will try to get some playing time in next weekend and will gladly report back. I like this duo with mercs so far and I am basically looking for optimal play with limited time
Moots has it dead on. I'd add that, if you can afford it, unlock the extra merc slots with SC on both accounts, as having options there can help a lot. If you still need gear, you should be able to buy the parts to make Rustic in the Bazaar, which is a big upgrade over Heroic.
You should be able to with your muo to work hot progression task. Start with your hotzone task for grounds. Upper hot should net ya some gear upgrades for your non visibles. and of course you have bazaar gear that you can upgrade to once you get 92. I wouldnt recommended going for the hot visible armor . gearwise you want as many ac 30 Plus augs that you can fill. you should be able to use your two hander on most content and go with the shield setup for named. you should focus on your sk skills and abilities and use your chanter for slows and the occasional crowd control. if one merc healer merc isnt cutting it try two. but Healer and nuker merc should work out for ya. it might be hard not to lean on the chanter since its your main but think of it as a helper. for leveling. sticking to the hotzone task of grounds and bloodfield will get ya up very quickly. once your comfortable tanking and feel ya have a knack for it.. gathered your augs and worked out an aa plan. level up to 90 round out your aa's and get to 92. Id strongly recommend stopping every 5 levels or so to round out your AA. so your not underpowered at 100. the augs are essential . I would suggest getting visibles upgraded in VOA or ROF then at 100 you might be in a position to work on tier 2 gear. oh yeah dont forget the fun aa's. unbridled strike for instance doesnt get me any more power but being able to reset the mobs positioning can save me from backstabs and control the mobs better. also shrink and horsey is great for tanking. you lose some mobility but you can always drop the mount. it does ensure you have virtually no knockback. Mounts, levi. or all situational tools for tank positioning. I only bring it up because its often overlooked as a tactic by new tanks. Personally i have stopped at level 90 for now for aa.I f I wasnt 85 raid gear. i probably would of kept going to 92. here is some good sources for gear and quest information http://rasper.samanna.net/ up to VOA Raidloot.com Full gear set base stats by expansion. Evilgamer.net.. mandatory sk reading. gambosoft.com if you dont have a parser get one.. great for seeing what you need to work on or what youve improved via parses. plenty of other resources but those were the first ones i went to when I returned from a hiatus and was setting up my return plan
Two problems: 1. Your SK will need some work before you can function as a tank in level-appropriate content. 2. Your group has no DPS Resolutions: 1. Level to 86 2. Make friends with a 3rd player character (DPS or healer, not another tank/support class) 3. Let the merc tank. Stack healers if you must, but use DPS mercs when possible.
Don't bother upgrading the enchanter's gear aside from useful foci and clickies. The rest is just fluff and your SK needs all the help possible gear-wise.
Do go farm an Unearthed Belt for your enchanter as soon as you're able. One of the best clickies (mem wipe) you can still get in EQ.
I disagree with this entirely. he is a tank so therefore should be tanking not relying on a tank merc. If your gonna have a merc tank. just petition for a different heroic class. SK isnt for you. The heroic sk will be able to tank the for the augs and the chanter slow tie a dps merc will allow him to tank tier 1 hot. I grouped with a pally at 88 in Valley. although I was a better tank for the content. He could do quite fine. Im not sure why you would tell him to get a tank merc and then tell him not to group with any other tanks. Using the hotzone task is the best way to level. if he can get a tank friend to help him get his valley task done. that is gold.. in eq dont choose your friends by their class. avoiding the min max game is the best way to have fun and give one a better perspective of the game.
I am tanking and the 2 mercs I am using are melee dps and a healer merc. As a tank in 'level-appropriate' content I am fine. The enchanter is slow/crippling and I am tossing challenge and dark constriction for all the debuffs on mobs. So far it's only been hairy on named mobs with crazy spells or crazy dps. So I learned a few things with this box duo plus mercs at level 85- 1) I should work on getting to 86 2) at 85 the Feerott named are nuts, especially with the AEs, knockback etc 3) at 85 do not attempt A Tearable Fear from Rupkerr lol
Id suggest continue working your quest lines and If Gardens is too hard for you do the level 85 nd 80 hotzone task. this will net you great xp for killing 10 to 15 mobs. If you havent done your epic. you should do so right away. Epic leach curse and leachtouch should help with healing if your merc is getting aed . you have a dot free snare AA you can utilize as well. be sure to always have skin up. and use defy throughout the course of the battle when your able to.. your mantle is a great tanking disc for named. If your gonna use the debuff id recommend upgrading to dire constriction. it last one minute and offers a bigger debuff.
So I completed the Hero of Feerott achievement and got some augs via the tasks (lost too much of my life chasing an adder egg). Also did all the thinning tasks from the frog at the entrance in House of Thule Lower. Now to do other tasks in HoT and see what more augs I can get.
Since when do Mercs get stats 4 levels higher? My understanding and experience has always been that as you level up they get upgraded to stats on par with the best armor available for that level; so now a level 86 merc would be around Rustic level hme, but a level 90 merc would be much more powerful. Did they change something recently and not put it in the patch notes?
I imagine that you are right, although we don't really know. All we can be sure of is that mercs level up when we do.
Mercenaries will /con your level as you level. They will get all of their spells and abilities one level at a time. But they get their HP/AC/Mana/End in chunks, 5 levels at a time.
