lvl 85 progression?

Discussion in 'The Veterans' Lounge' started by Ghilran, Dec 26, 2017.

  1. Ghilran Lorekeeper

    Ok so every once in a while i log back to see what the game's up to.

    Last time I soloed my rogue from 66 to 70. This time arround I upgraded him to heroic (with DB cash i had lying around due to its subscription running after my TLP adventure) and went to Feerrott, the Dream, with a 85 cleric box.

    I was able to complete the quest to unlock rank V mercenaries, but even with a rank V warrior merc I get destroyed by white and blue cons in this zone. Am I missing something? Does it absolutelly require a PC Tank? Where should i go for progression at lvl 85?
  2. Tatanka Joe Schmo

    Are you missing something? You're a rogue, so sounds like you're missing a healer ;)
  3. Ghilran Lorekeeper

    Nah I have a warrior rank V merc, me 85 rogue and a 85 cleric. The tank get shredded no matter what, then of course the rogue follows. Even then rogue+cleric may not be able to kill reliably but should at least be able to hold the mobs for a little bit?
  4. Tatanka Joe Schmo

    You can't keep the tank up with a level 85 cleric? (and sorry, missed the part about the cleric box).

    That doesn't sound right. I can take on dark blues with my tank merc, as a druid. I'm higher level, but still, dark blue is dark blue.

    This definitely shouldn't be happening, so let's keep talking and figure it out.

    Tat

    First idea, you just said rank 5 merc. Make sure it's JOURNEYMAN rank 5, and not APPRENTICE rank 5.

    Second idea, make sure you set the tank merc to the group TANK role. Otherwise it won't taunt, agro will bounce around, and the cleric may get bogged down swapping targets a lot.

    Third idea, have the cleric box get a wizzy or rogue merc, for more DPS, and kill the mobs quicker :)
    Cazmac and Risiko like this.
  5. Tatanka Joe Schmo

    Fourth idea, just really planning, shouldn't be necessary to solve this.... make sure to use your merc AAs as you earn them. You can increase merc's health, tanking ability, and agro generation.
  6. Ghilran Lorekeeper

    Hmm i'll check the type. Actually i started with a rank 2 who couldn't hold aggro off me, now the rank 5 taunt just fine but get destroyed all the faster :D

    I don't have all access anymore, i'm not really eager to shell yet more money on EQ, 18 years after :p but if i get the ball rolling I might if it gets me the AA i need to play correctly.
  7. Tatanka Joe Schmo

    If you don't have all-access, then you can't have a J5 merc, I'm almost certain all-access is required for the journeyman mercs.

    I don't have much experience with apprentice tank mercs, but still would think a cleric of the same level could keep them up. Could you provide more details, such as what mobs, what con (db, etc), and what spells the cleric is casting to heal the merc? Again, more details should help us solve this.
  8. AlmarsGuides Augur


    Without all access you should stick to enemies that con 'relatively weak' to you or light blues/dark blues. It's pretty common to get rolled in EQ by enemies your level once you reach 85+ without a proper tank. The Journeyman Tank mercs kinda do ok, the apprentice ones though will just get rolled.

    If you'd like to get some other ideas for leveling I would recommend my leveling guide:

    http://www.almarsguides.com/eq/leveling/RoS/

    Feerrott the dream will be too difficult unless you sub your rogue and get a 'real' tank merc... still maybe even then it may be too difficult depending on what you're expecting your characters to do.

    The easiest enemies you can find in the game for level 85 that will still give 'decent' EXP are in Katta Castrum: http://www.almarsguides.com/eq/leveling/BuriedSea/Locations/KattaCastrum.cfm

    I'd recommend though you hunt in Seeds of Destruction zones if you want a little bit of a challenge and pretty good EXP for your level (Ocean green hills, toskirakk, bloody kithicor - zones like that)

    Feerrott the Dream has relatively weak enemies too, I have a guide that's like 90% completed for that zone which you can find here: http://www.almarsguides.com/eq/leveling/HoT/Locations/FeerrottTheDream.cfm
    Cazmac likes this.
  9. Ghilran Lorekeeper

    Thank you both for your help. Indeed, I have an apprentice Tank and he gets stomped.

    I targeted both db and white con. I picked them because I had a task that required these, but I suppose i'm not going to do this anytime soon. Cleric and rogue are the only two classes i really played in EQ, but rogue up to lvl 65 and Cleric up to 60 on TLPs, so i'm still trying to figure it out. I use the regen and "promised recuperation" mostly, and the occasional direct heal when needed.

    Almar I'll use your guide as a... guideline, I used your TLP crafting guide back on ragefire and it was great :)
  10. Tatanka Joe Schmo

    OK, another problem identified.... don't be sad, that's a good thing :)

    Don't use the "Promised" heals EVER. Well, one exception. Drop a Promised heal on the tank before the pull arrives, so that the tank can get an early heal without the healer drawing any agro. Other than that, never use them. I have them all blocked on my chars, so that healer mercs CAN'T use them on me :)

    Look through the clerics spell lineup (sorry, I'm not very useful here) and pick an assortment of quick and normal cast-time heals, and mix those up, along with some group spells, and any HoTs they may have.

    Even though it will be an extra challenge using an apprentice merc, I still think a real cleric char should be able to keep him up.
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  11. Tatanka Joe Schmo

    Also note, clerics have a couple lines of spells which throw a heal and a nuke on the target's target, so that's double duty :)

    And don't forget reverse damage shields on the mob, and buffing the merc with the big cleric HP/AC buff.
  12. AlmarsGuides Augur


    This used to be good advice until they added/tweaked the Promised Interposition AA line for Clerics earlier this year (or maybe late last year I forget). Now Promised line IS extremely useful to use for clerics. The line of spells will still suck for mercs though since they don't get that AA. You're gimping yourself pretty hardcore if you're a tank though these days who has it blocked.

    Rest of what you said works though. On my Clerics the most common heal they cast is Remedy (Graceful Remedy/Spiritual) which are both .5 second heals that don't share a cooldown. I also use the Renewal line of spells as well as Ward of Surety/the Ward line of spells.

    I try to avoid using Ardent Light/the 'Light' line of spells as much as possible as the cast time is really long for them and the two line of Remedy spells you can use are seldom both on cooldown simultaneously.
  13. Tatanka Joe Schmo

    Thanks for the additional info, Almar. I didn't know about the AAs for Promised heals on clerics. For Druids, they're still mostly worthless.
  14. Ghilran Lorekeeper

    Wow I still have things to figure out it seems. Sad how eq traded depth for complexity over the years... but I digress.

    When I created the heroic cleric couples of years ago, I looked into the spells but I think I did a pretty job q: I think it could maybe be done but I would have to stay on the cleric almost all the time.

    Speaking of which, another question if you don't mind. I have another two eq accounts, I could be tempted to throw a third heroic character in the mix. Tank obviously comes to mind, but with the increased level of complexity/ key presses, is it viable to play 3 chars on the same computer? Back on Ragefire I had 4 boxes but I had to use keyboard/system macros to make it work, in a poor man's version of that software boxers are using.
  15. Scorrpio Augur

    An apprentice tank just ain't gonna cut it. As you head into higher level content, mob damage output curves way up. Even a J5 tank will be barely adequate until you pump some AA into it.
    Also, while real cleric is better than a merc, boxing a cleric at higher levels where damage comes fast, and namers often have nasty procs, you want a human with undivided attention on heals. For boxing, especially 3, a merc healer might be a better option. Thing is, apprentice healers go OOM awfully fast.

    If you want to add a 3rd box as tank, probably good idea to use SK so you can split pulls. Would also recommend getting rid of cleric and using the freed up heroic slot to make a shaman or druid.

    My own setup: chanter, druid, mage with tank, healer, wizard mercs.
    For mobs that output nasty amount of damage, mage also switches to healer. Also have mage turn on pet taunt on tough mobs. With aggro bouncing between merc tank and mage pet, group heals become more effective. Note however that all 3 played characters are casters, so no positioning is not critical.
  16. Risiko Augur

    A journeyman mercenary is a must if you are going to be playing alone. That is going to require a monthly subscription with DBG as pointed out by others in the thread already.

    The only way to get around using a journeyman mercenary is to play the game with friends.

    The House of Thule expansion is an amazing expansion, and well worth playing through. My suggestion would be to pay for one month of subscription, so you can get the full enjoyment out of the expansion. The $15 for a month of fun in House of Thule is cheaper than going to see a movie these days, and those only last 1 to 3 hours.
  17. Niskin Clockwork Arguer

    There aren't a lot of good options to advance with F2P accounts in the 85+ game, even dual boxing. A2 mercs are just bad. I'd recommend subbing your Cleric account to use a J5 Tank Merc on it. Or better yet, change Cleric to Heroic War/SK/Pal, and use J5 Healer Merc. Then you can play your Rogue on F2P with or without a merc, and still have a solid group that can kill in The Dream.
  18. Gundolin Augur


    I'd disagree with that advice. The promised heals are great to cast every 20 seconds or so any time your tank is taking a lot of damage. I wouldn't count on their healing but if you ignore them they are a good way to make sure your tank is constantly reaching max HP. Kind of like stacking a HoT in your heal.

    Your bread and butter of course will be your multi-bind direct heals on your tank. My multi-bind is

    QH-QH-UL-Int-Int Where QH is my fastest casting "quick Heal" on the list, and the second QH is #2 on my list. The third spell is my Undying Life which will usually be cast before the first QH has cycled back in. By the time I am done casting UL both of my QH's should be up and ready, at which point I'd cast them both again, followed by my fastest casting Intervention spell. This would then be followed by my two QH's again (Probably). which may then be followed by my second Intervention again. If all five are grey at the same time (shouldn't happen in a group unless your tank is a berzerker) you can add a sixth QH to your multibind, but that gets pretty mana heavy for a new cleric and requires level 106 I think. You could add a "Light" heal or a Renewal to your sixth slot if you are hitting five greys.

    But while you are pumping through your multi-bind having a Promised sitting in the back on hard hitting mobs isn't a bad thing. It just kind of makes sure your tank is topped off every 20 seconds or so. Promised isn't an instant cast, but its very fast so its not a problem.