Hi All, So I have literally just created my account/Character (Wizard) on Xegony and just looking for some helpful tips or if anyone has a few things they think a new player should know right off that bat. I was a huge Starwars Galaxies player back in the day and for some reason I never did get round to giving EQ a shot, not sure why to be honest as I heard a lot about it back then as well and it's something I keep hearing about today and how the player base is still pretty massive, so thought I would finally give it a shot. I have picked the Wizard class, hopefully a decent class to get started on! I'm also curious about the actual story line for EQ, is this something that's worth doing these days or is it like other MMORPG's were you just forget about the story side and power level? Thanks!
Welcome! And honestly there are so many things to tell a new player it's hard to fit into a post without writing a short story. If anything I would say try not to get overwhelmed because the game is insanely old and throws waaaay too much at a new player and even returning players who have a grasp of the game mostly. I too played SWG but was playing EQ at the time and even as a teenager I didn't have the time for both. Wizard is probably one of the harder classes to start I would imagine. But with mercenaries (strong NPC you can hire to follow you) any class can do well for early game. EQ didn't have have a traditional themepark storyline.It used to be more like a combination of elder scrolls style lore (reading books) and dark souls style lore (paying attention to environments and names). In the lower levels it's mostly just about power level just due to the speed of leveling. There is tons of story in between but there's too many zones and expansions to keep up if you wanted to. One thing I will throw out is test the game for a while and if you think you like the general gameplay but don't like the lack of low level grouping. You might try a new Time locked Progression server coming out on the 26th. Which is essentially starting from the beginning of everquest and progressing through each expansion and they tend to have massive amounts of players.
Thanks! and yeh that sounds like a good idea to just start on a new TLP server for both population and overall experience with each expansion release, love that idea actually. Will take a look on the forums to find out more info on the new server, to gain access all I need to do is full sub and done right? I plan on going full sub anyway. What class would you recommend starting on, you think Wizard is a bit too difficult for a first?
Hello Akelon, Beginning your journey on a TLP will be more enjoyable than playing on a Live server. A TLP will let you learn your class level by level, expansion by expansion. You'll get to know what the game has to offer on organized and timed way. If you start on the new TLP, in 5-4 years you'll be on live. Altho it would be ideal to start on a new TLP, the new one have a very weird ruleset. If I were you I would go to Aradune/Rizlona and try the wizard. The wizard isn't a complex class but it also isn't easily rewarding on the early eras. You need to use brain on what nukes to use depending on the situation for max dps. If you are a min-maxer and want to dps; make a monk. Monk doesn't requiere you to min-max and theorycraft what spell to use on X situation but it's stupid overpowered and you do twice the dps a wiz would do by just pressing one button. BUT If you want to dps and don't care about min-maxin and also enjoy being able to nuke and root mobs to death while having the ability to use teleportation spells to move around and scape combat... pick wiz. The leveling experience will be mostly alone but on a Live server it would be worse (altho on Live server you can use Mercenaries to help you leveling). If you go to the new server, and after you have tried the wizard on Aradune/Rizlona, you'll experience a complete leveling experience where every 10 yards there will be a group killing orcs (or killstealing you). That said, if you are not interested on learning the game during a 5 year timespan, you should consider a Live server. There you can slowly catch up, you'll get to higher level faster (while being alone) and then you can experience the game current content. TL;DR TLP let you experience the game expansion by expansion during a 5 year timespan until they reach Live.The new server will let you experience a healthy and genuine leveling experience but it'll be confusing because everyone will be confused because of the new ruleset and, by extension, you'll be too. The Aradune/Rizlona option will offer you a consolidated new TLP experience that is just 3 expansions ahead of classic but you won't find newbie groups. Live is Live, the end goal, you can jump right there by going to a Live server. Good luck!
If you want to be a caster in a similar style to wizard I always reccomend mage for a new player. They got big nukes not quite as strong as a mage but have the strongest pets in the game and always wanted for groups in every era. They are also one of the best soloers if you can't find a group too! They have a pretty simple play style but can be rewarding when you save the group by bursting down a couple adds if you have to.
Hey! Yeh this sounds like a solid option, just join in on Aradune or Rizlona with it being only 3 expansions in, sounds like an ideal scenario instead of jumping straight into live with 20 odd expansions and would make for a cool experience as they release the next expansion. I was looking into starting as a Ranger now tbh, quite like the idea of using bow and I hear it's a nice DPS class. Is the population on both those servers quite high? and you think I won't get any low level groups at all? Thanks!
Hello again, Akelon! The new server will launch 26th may. It'll be probably unplayable. So I bet your best best would be to fool around Aradune for a couple of days. You got till the 26th decide if you want to join the new-server-rush! About class. Rangers are really solid, they are an hybrid so they are versatile but, as you may expect, versatility has a cost and this comes as lack of dps and tanking capabilities. Rangers are really great DPS with bows during the third and fourth expansion, but you shouldn't expect to be the best dps class besides that certain scenarios during this expansions. If you go beyond and deep on newer expansions Ranger get more complex and properly knowing how to play the class is rewarding since it results on huge burn dmg, but their sustained dmg is still bad. Ranger is a very punishing class, that demands a lot of APM to play and achieve a certain DPS, a DPS that other classes can achieve way more easily. Resource management on Ranger is terrible; When you go out of mana you can still melee/bow but that means you lose like... 20-30% of your dmg. Don't get me wrong, I love rangers. Easy to play, hard to master. Nice buffing and ADPS and awesome CC skills. I would advice a mage (like the previous poster suggested) or a monk before a ranger for a new player, unless you want the challenge. Anyhow, it will be easier to get a group as a monk than as a ranger. Ranger can tank on the early eras but that demands an extra bit of skill and knowledge that a new player may lack.
Best advice, don't roll a wizzie. They used to be pretty cool in the day (that was my main in a raiding guild before WoW was released and we all migrated), but currently really don't shine or excel like they should. Playing a wizard is probably one of the harder classes to play. If you want more fun/safe class, as others have said, try a mage. Especially if you will be playing on a live server, you have to look at what class you can solo/molo best with. I personally enjoy my mage and ranger. Ranger is amazing for solo/snare/root killing once you get head shot. Actually shelved the mage lately because the ranger does insane dps head shotting and quite a bit less down time than a mage while putting out better dps. Over all, play what you enjoy. As far as story line, I never got into that much. I just level so I could raid and do things w/ friends, lol.
Thanks for the advice guys, Mage it is and I'll start on Aradune. I can see some people saying put all stat points into Intelligence, others say some into STA - Any tips for stat points to focus on and skills? Edit - Also I can see race plays a huge part when it comes to stats, best to go Dark Elf or Erudite?
Generally int is the easiest stat to max for a caster so it may be more beneficial to not put any points into it. Sta could be more useful because it tends to be the harder to max, but Str could work too for carrying more weight. Ultimately any choice can work and you shouldn't stress too much about it. Dark elves are evil race so are liked less but as a mage you can choose a diety other thank innorruk I believe and be liked a little bit more? But they have a great starting area near the main trading hub for classic and the first 2 expansions. Erudites are generally tolerated by good races (unless you play sk or necro) but they have a god awful starting area since it's so far from everyone else. Though as a mage you can just bind pretty much anywhere which lets you cast gate spell to where you are bound so it isn't an issue. Though most these points are moot if Aradune is in the planes of power expansion since faction and traveling is pretty much a non issue for anyone by then.
Brewall's Map Pack, Lesson Of The Devoted, /Barter, Daily Task, Alchemist Redsa, Adept Jewelry Vendor.
