New(bie) Herioc: worth going back to do earlier progressions?

I just started playing again. I haven't played since 2003/2004 I think, so I'm totally, TOTALLY clueless. Everything since Planes of Power is ??? to me. It's amazing how much I forgot and how much interaction this game requires. I'm a week in and still clueless about everything. It's very overwhelming, but I'm slowly trudging my way through and it is fun. I use to be on a raiding guild on Vazealle, but those days are long gone.

I tried starting from lvl 1, but upon learning about "heroics" a day later I jumped at the chance and bought one (I'm a fully subscribed member from Planetside 2). I created a Shadowknight, all green-colored and new! The biggest issue was and still is the spells and AA skills. I honestly have no idea what is what and other than trial and error, I still don't know lol, but I think I found a good setup.

In any case, background aside, I spent a few days doing Ferrott, did my tier IV or V (forgot which) journey merc quest to get the cleric merc and now I'm wondering what to do. I can do the Ferrott quests just fine it seems, without dying (much), but I want to see the old expansions while still providing some experience.

So after some research I decided to go back to Seeds of Destruction. Everything is light blue to me in the first zone and dies very easily, which is just fine as I need training wheels. I found the progression quests and did everything in Oceangreen Hills (just killed the Blackburrow boss quest with my merc). I'm about to move to the next zone.

But:

1. Am I wasting my time?
2. Should I go back even further in expansions?
3. What am I missing out if I just start at Seeds?
4. Should I just start at House of Thule progression?

Thanks in advance.

Oh, I forgot my old Sony Station account and the email address I used no longer works (was part of my old ISP that is now defunct). Can I get my old account back and can they merge my characters to this account? I had some nice characters, although I think they were only 60.

All that matters. Keep doing it as long as it is fun.

You might want to check out this: SK Heroic Thread, and Almar's 1-105 Walkthrough, and at somepoint you'll want to get the Trials of Mata Muram done.

Oh, and do the Merc Journeyman Tier 5 quest for heroic chars: No Heroism Without Fear, and HoT(House of Thule) progression gives some nice augments. Good idea to grab those.

And Abazzagorath gives good advice as well.

Heroic characters actually come with Trials of Mata Muram checked off, as well as DoN up to tier 4. The final tier is something that could be pursued, but it's real small potatoes, character power wise.

The big thing to "go back" for as a shadowknight is the epic (and the associated Citadel of Anguish BP) from Omens of War expansion. Huuuge difference in character power having that pair (mostly the first) of amazing tools.

Thanks.

How much of the epic can be soloed with my tier V merc these days? That was definitely something on my eventual checklist to do having done them back when I used to play.

So it's pointless doing seeds progression on up other than to sight see?

All progression prior to HoT is basically just sightseeing for a heroic character (or anyone, really). And most be do just fine ignoring everything before TDS/TBM, if they were in a hurry.

However, the sightseeing is pretty good sightseeing, and, as the history of EQ is one of its strongest winning points, I'd encourage anyone to take the tour.

All epic 1.0 and 1.5 should be easily doable with an 85. Some portions of the 1.0 can be minor roadblocks for some classes (dragon and Fear drops), but 1.0 can always be bypassed to start the 1.5. The only 'hard' part of 2.0 is the Anguish globe/raid, but many classes can solo that at 85 (mercs not allowed in the zone). If not, it's easy enough to find a 105 who is willing to help.

Not pointless, but point…lite(?) from a power growth perspective. You may eventually go back to unlock the vendor for +bash augments, for instance, but those are literally +20dps when capped out, on a scale of ~40k dps that good max level SKs get.

Yeah, I don't even know what augment are, lol, let alone where to even buy them should I get the needed whatever. I have one augment I found adventuring somewhere I think. I put it in without much thought as stats itself are new to me again. I'm about as far away as possible in regards to maximizing effieiciency and min/maxing anything as I don't know what to min/max haha.

I think I'll forestall the sight-seeing tour and jump straight away into my epic.

1. Do I need to start my epic from the absolute very beginning like I did eons ago or is there a new shortcut considering these things may have progressed since 2003?

Thanks again for the help!

For epics you can just start 2.0 by doing the prequest first.

Question, would you have liked if heroic char was say lvl 100 or 105? Keep in mind you can go back and do everything at 105.

That's a good question, but unfortunately I'm not sure if I'm in a position to answer that as I'm totally new to the game, well long-time return new. I'm greatly enjoying myself as is, but mainly because I'm utterly ignorant to what is out there at that level. IF I know, then maybe my answer would be different.

In other words, if I'm fully familiar again, having had a max level character now, my answer might be different and I might want a higher level character right away. But right now, ignorance is bliss and I could care less. My answer may change later in hindsight.

However, maybe a choice in level might be good. For an absolute newbie or returning newbie, it might be good to learn things through trial and error like I am all over again, whereas if I'm a born again veteran and wanted another heroic, I would probably desire a higher level character.

You can skip the 1.0 totally, in which case you need to do a short pre-quest before starting the 1.5. And 1.5 is required to start 2.0. There's also a 2.5, but that's almost completely skippable.

You have received good comments. I'm going to take a slightly different approach.

Since you have gone heroic and you have a tank class character, I strongly suggest that you adventure some in Feerrott the Dream for quests/missions and then, more strongly, HoT courtyard/first floor. Almost every quest you receive will produce two important rewards: faction and heroic augments. The augments will go into specific items and are generally 20AC each with heroic stats. The faction option should be selected so that you will be able to get rank II spells at 89 and 90 from Stearns in the Dream.

When you zone into HoT, there are two immediate places to go. Start with the quest giver on the right who gives out the "thinning out" quests. On the left is an ogre who wants you to find his brothers. In the house (invis works) is the researcher who gives out four important quests as well. Start working on all of these.

Your starting gear is similar to abstruse (HoT, tier 1, group). Since you received 15,000 plat, you might want to ramp up quickly and purchase rustic (VoA, tier 1, group). It is a large upgrade and the augments work well there.

As for your spells, you might want to check the bazaar for fragments. They generally sell for less than the cost of rank I spells (86-88) and are a win-win in that regard.

Join a nice guild. Be friendly. Have fun.

What server are you?

The Heroic set of augments from Feerrott & HoTLower mercenary & partisan series, for tanks, are 30ac +3hDex

Thanks for the correction. I did not make an heroic tank class. At 30AC and hDex, they will last quite a few levels.

Thanks!

I'll do the Ferrott part probably after epic 1.5. I think I'm going to go as far as I can epic-wise, solo, then maybe do Ferrott or take my time and "sight see," going back and finishing Seeds, just so I can see the content.

All of the new equipment "augmentations" and the new AAs are really confusing to me.

Can I take augments out once put it or do I have to do something special? I'll start finding those augs soon.

Assuming you are All Access, do the J5 quest in the Feerrott (Investigator Drolmer) first thing. Any class can do it solo as heroic. Do epic 1.5 pre-quest and and 1.5 after that, if you want.

I think AAs are meant to be confusing . If you track down one of the heroic guides (on this forum, links from the guides in my sig) you'll get a better idea of what activated AAs are most important to you, and should be hot keyed ASAP.

You need augmentation distillers to remove augs; buy them from vendors in Bazaar, the Guild Hall, or other places. You just need the right distiller in your inventory and you can remove the aug. If you play a tank or melee class, you want to focus on AC augs (e.g. the achievement/quest rewards from Feerrott/House of Thule).

Just thought I'd try to address your questions about what you might be missing out on if you start at different expansions. When I came back about 3 years ago, my old toons were in their 60s. I think it took me about a year to get to max level, including a stop to complete the SoD expansion's group content (at the ~appropriate level). After that, I focused on leveling and hit max level before doing more group content (now generally working my backwards through the expansions). Here are some of my observations:

• I enjoyed my stop at SoD - doing group content is way better than grinding levels.
• Doing group content when you have "out-leveled" the content is far less frustrating and faster paced, allowing you to enjoy the content itself and not get bogged down in each trash mob fight.
• For me, what makes an encounter "challenging" can be broken down into two aspects: unique encounter design and numbers.
  • The "numbers" aspect just means the mobs have more HPs and hit harder. I don't need this part of the challenge, so being higher level doesn't impact my enjoyment.
  • The "unique encounter design" aspect is made up of all the storylines, quests, scripts and special encounter mechanics, which can still be challenging and interesting even if you have out-leveled the content.
• There are far more players doing current content at max level, so it's much easier to find groups if you are doing the current expansion's content.
• Conversely, below max level, most players are focusing on grinding exp and getting max level, so there are far fewer players to group with for doing progression.
• Rewards are generally going to feel more relevant for level-appropriate tasks, but the reward's "real" value is going to change based on your level.
  • There are a handful of rewards from earlier expansions that will still be relevant at higher levels, but most will not. You can (and will) go back and get them later.
• In my experience, the Achievement list is a great way to monitor your progress.
• You are only competing with yourself and your real-life commitments. EQ is a time sink.

In regards to the DoN progression for Heroic toons: I think that final tier is just a hail in Lavastorm for Heroic toons.

I did my j5 quest.

1. How much of my epic can I solo if I start at 1.5?

After my epic, I am going to sight see in SoD. I already finished Oceangreen Hills and was just about to start on Kithicor when I created this post.

Oh, I'm on Vox. Someone asked that earlier. Sorry.

Thanks again for the help and tips! Appreciate it!

I'm going to say all of it, with the obvious (possible) exception of the Anguish orb to complete 2.0. On the other hand... Anguish has been soloed by 85 SKs, enough to get the orb, certainly. You just need a group of six, not all of them need to be online; going in with a second account healer would help a lot. Kill two of the bosses and you get your orb, they come in pairs, so you have to get the right two (I think Keldovan and Ture are the easiest pair?).