Hey Zax, this is Xen (x6) I was wondering about this myself. I've been boxing but been considering using a healing merc in place of one of my boxed characters.
It was hard, but possible, at the time of SoD to do the J5 sequence with a group-geared group. There were, and are, two problems: Murdunk (needs dps), and Disrupt the Siege (pulling is tricky). Given also the 15 level max gap (and yes, there is a trick to get around it), a group of 75 needs a level 90 that can pull and has sufficient dps.
https://forums.station.sony.com/eq/...can-help-a-level-75-with-j5-merc-task.203599/ If you're level 75+ on Bertoxxulous Server, I'll help you.
The last battle for the J5 needs damage dealers. My first attempt in my late 70's was with another druid around level 90 and an 90 SK. We could not do it. The 2nd round we brought in a mid 90 mage and J5 healer with us druids, SK and a caster merc. We mowed down 35 in a row and were done.
Also, there are changes on Test Server right now to these quests. I was going to run through them this week with my SK on Test just to see how it is. Mostly they reduced the requirements for the quests. The Test patch info is here.
Don't need too much dps to beat murdunks, like 5k sustained or something silly that was about average for a group at the time that wasn't all healers. Also, kiting 20 mobs while you pick them off one at a time till you win works. long as they don't get to the rathe, you can kite/snare/park/mez as many as you like. I don't think anything mezs but the generals and you can let them pass if you need to.
No, just reducing some unnecessary hardships from some of those quests. I'm thinking of the thralls in particular (without someone who can memblur).
One thing that won't change about Murdunk's is - it can still be challenging for someone of appropriate level IF they choose a bad spot to actually set up in (aka right in the mob's path). Best is to get out of the way and just tag mobs as you go by.
Perhaps a "hard mode" of Murdunk's could be added with minor tweaks (like shorter delay between invaders), allowing for the unending stream version to exist for those who want it?
I did the J2 and J3 series and had fun with them as they were. The "keep certain NPC(s) alive ones near then end of the lines are a hoot. Got a friend who's going to help run Rat and Jam though the A5 soon. Then again, both are pushing 90 and will soon be able to solo the event. -R
Hm, the thralls were a bit tedious, but I don't recall anyone dying on them. The part that usually gave me trouble was the catapult area, especially the shocktroopers (http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/quest.html?quest=4700). Some pulls were much too large to handle without CC/puller and even some pullers had trouble there.
Do the thralls solo around 80-85 pre-mercs, and you'll die a few times; more, if the RNG takes against you. Catapults were a big problem with anything less than an expert puller; I don't think the changes given for that area will make a difference.
Funny - I was indeed planning to do it this week!! I'm sure I'll like the new version better, but having not seen the old one...... -Rat
I had done the J5 quest 3 times before and could do the first part pretty easily with patience. But the last three tasks were beyond me without help (made notes elsewhere on these forums). Tonight I completed the whole arc for J5 with my 85 Shaman with his J1 merc (who died a lot, to the point I just left him dead). With the clean up near the catapults it is now a fairly easy task because you can now single pull most of the mobs ... they are still tough so you will need a pretty good group to complete the series ... but it is no longer the stretch it once was ... Still some bugs remain, at least for me ... the J3 Escort task would not spawn an instance and the mobs kept coming in Murdunk's which even with a good buff set and 208% haste my level 90 monk had troubles getting enough DPS to drop the mobs fast enough ... I will have to try it a couple times more to see if I can figure out what I might be doing wrong (still) ... but with a 4 member group it should be doable ... my trouble was I could not keep my J1 Rogue alive and my J5 cleric was OOM or close to it most of the way through the task ... thank heavens for mend (I may have had the SHM spell set wrong [almost certainly] but that is for a test on another day ...
