Returning player 95-115 leveling

Im returning from a pretty big break from the game (10ish years) I run a 96 ranger with my wife playing a wizard and my boxed shaman. What’s the best leveling path 95 to115 now? Not using a lot of acronyms as I don’t know the new stuff, a lot to relearn and catch up on

We have been doing Call of the Forsaken heroic missions and general grinding on mobs in the first zone of the expansion. Running mercs, wiz and sham are heroic 101 geared and gar is end game Thule geared atm. Is there better xp to be had or are we on the right track? Thanks for any info!

Make sure you start doing /overseer everyday and level up your quests - it will help you out in the long run. Id stick with the COTF HA to 105 (dead hills were good), then the path lots of people use is empires of kunark xpac zones to level to 111, specifically the revamped frontier mountains. As a ranger, you will be able to root headshot those sarnaks en mass. At 111+, the way to exp changes and doing merc / partisan / missions / collections and /overseer becomes the standard, starting in Eastern wastes in ToV.

Here is something I read elsewhere and it has helped me a lot for outfitting my characters at level 100 and it is something you can achieve quickly if your doing the HA in COTF Dead Hills, Tainted Karana etc which will build up a ton of those Marks of Valor.

From the other source:
Players are always talking about using TBM and remnants to get good armor but I wanted to post this guide in case others were not aware of another easy way to get level 100 armor.

Some of the armor guides can be very confusing as to what to combine where and how to get everything. Even after reading thru all the guides many of the procedures are not clear. I found this way while messing around with my new Berzerker and thought it was worth sharing.

This works off of Marks of Valor which are a reward for doing any of the COTF HA. You can collect a lot of them very quickly. Unlike remnants of tranquility these are not tradeable.

You will need to buy just 1 Ethereal Attuner (10,600 plat) from Blacksmith Cerray in Tainted West Karana. You will be able to reuse it.

Then go to Requisitioner Rhies who is just a few tents away from Blacksmith Cerray

Now purchase one of what ever piece you want named XXX of Latent Ether - this tier is 960 Marks of Valor.

The reason we are not using dropped or baz purchased Latent in this case is because it seems to require an additional agent (13,124 plat) later on in the combines and really jacks up the cost and takes away the simplicity of this way

Combine the one you bought with the 960 marks by itself in the box. And you will now have a Latent Etheric Armor of XXX.

Now purchase XXX of Manifested Ether from Rhies - the one that matches what you just made. Like arms of latent etheric goes with arms of manifested etc. These run 1056 Marks of Valor each

Combine the Latent and the Manifested item in the box again and that will result in a Manifested Etheric XXX of Carnage (for zerkers) or whatever your class is.

Latent Etheric has approx 2500 HP (free to play can wear)

Manifested Etheric will have approx 3000 (prestige so only subscribers can wear)

So for 2016 Marks of Valor and the cost of the box 10,600 plat. you have some nice level 100 armor.
​

This method is so clear and concise. Thank you!

The dropped pieces are exactly the same as the vendor purchased ones. So I'm not quite sure what you mean here. Perhaps you bought a Manifested Ether piece by mistake and confused it with the Latent.

In any event, it is good advice and certainly something I would recommend looking at for level 100 characters vs TBM gear (especially since Remnants can be hit and miss from the bazaar)

• For Tier 2 Group and Raid (which are the manifested) : In an Ethereal Attuner, combine:
  • Dropped armor piece + Etheric Energy Enhancer

The Etheric Energy Enhancer is 12,500 plat. This avoids that expense.

Yep, totally agree with you on those remnants of tranquility. That whole thing is a pain to trade out every 5 levels or whatever it is.

Small correction - Manifested gear is approximately 2850 HME. And it is exactly the same as Castaway from TDS.
Also, Castaway armor patterns cost 140'ish Pieces of Eight, which is sold by Overseer merchant for just 700 tetradrahms, so it is easier to buy than Marks of Valor (need less tetradrahms).
So, the same process as you've described done with TDS Castaway armor and it results with the non-prestive attunable armor with exactly the same specs as Manifested Etheric.
Also, similar quality gear in other slots sold for similar prices in TDS. All non-prestige at Tier 1, so it is a viable option for lvl 100 f2p.

I think this tip was made about the time Gribbles were first started and players were getting thousands of Marks Of Valor because there is nothing about buying the Marks. Perhaps since they mention TBM remnants they were doing a comparison? And I know it was far easier to follow than all the guides in Allah or Almars etc, at least for me

I would like to see a walk thru utilizing the ones you mentioned, step by step because if someone is not familiar with all that (which I am not) then they would not even know to use Overseer to buy tetra or where to get Pieces of Eight.

Currency Piece of Eight
https://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=120483
Quote from Zam on mission rewards:
191 - Shake the Citidel - Arx
387 - Kedge Couterblow - CD
215 - A Fateful Arrival - T-Island
180 - Castle Relic - Degmar
38/49 - Seductive Subterfuge - Endless Song
21 - Storm of Sorts - TT

Can be bought from Overseer merchant in PoK:
https://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/npc.html?id=55687
using Overseer currency:
https://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=138527
which you get as Overseer quests rewards.

Castaway Leggings (combinable pattern, also all slots possible)
https://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=120477
can be bought for 157 Pieces of Eight from the merchant:
https://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/npc.html?id=47687

Put the pattern into class specific container (reusable)
https://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=121492
sold for 12146pp by the merchant:
https://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/npc.html?id=47752

It will result in attunable class-specific armor:
https://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=118367
which is non-prestige attunable equivalent of
https://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=117202

P.S. Of course, castaway patters can be looted off nameds in Tempest Temple, and Katta Castrum: Deluge of from mission chests in TT missions.

I'd just like to do the math for people thinking about using Overseer currency to get Castaway gear.

It's 700 OS currency for 1 Piece of Eight.
You need 1206 Pieces of Eight for a full set of Castaway armor.
That's 844200 OS currency. You'd need 98k OS currency just for a single bracer (the cheapest piece).

Do a full rotation of OS tasks, choose the currency option, and see if it's actually worth it.

By the time you've gotten enough OS currency to buy even half a set of Castaway gear, you're probably gonna be high enough level to start farming something better.

Alternatively - do TDS missions, 973 pieces of Eight currency reward for Tier2+ mission run.
Do it today after work, repeat tomorrow.
Cha-ching, you can buy the entire set of Castaway. If you 3-boxed you can buy 4 sets. (Gear is tradable except TDS currency)
Another option - buy Castaway items at bazaar from people who have 1000's (plural) of Pieces of Eight collected years ago.

Also, when you have a chance, calculate the Overseer approach to buy CoTF Manifested gear via Overseer.
Just a note - Overseer was never intended to be used to buy the whole set of expansion gear. It's for those odd-ball situations when you are missing just a handful coins and do not want/can't do another mission run.

Almost 6 million in OS currency. Each piece is 1056 Marks, which works out to 739200 OS currency per piece.

It takes me about 3 months of doing Overseer once a day (sometimes twice a day if I happen to catch the timing just right) on alts to earn the 350k for a Type 5 aug from a previous expansion, just to give an idea of how long it takes to accumulate it.

Wow, someone returns from 10 years ago and asks a simple question about the best place to get some decent exp and the post just degrades into a low-level argument about how to get the best gear from the best currency which the OP probably has no idea about.

To the OP. I can only tell you what I did for levelling;

1. Do standard group stuff until around lvl 75.
2. Hit the Gribbles HA in Dead Hills over and over and over and over and over until around 95ish.
3. Hit some EoK zones like Lycenium and then Frontier Mountains until around 110.
4. Then you get to the progression stages where the exp amount you get from mobs drops off a cliff.
5. Look up EQ progression in Google and look at something like allakhazam.
6. The progression is usually a set of quests that are kill x mobs or running around like a madman for around 2-3% exp?!?
7. Following those, there is then a hard set of missions that usually require a group. However, if you can do these, they give you a large chunk of exp (20% of a level) for the FIRST time you do these. There is a progression path for each expansion set so you will do this many times.
8. You can supplement this exp via the Overseer tab which (when you get enough agents at the right level) will get you about 10% of a level per day if you log in twice a day at 12 hour intervals.
9. I understand the levelling gets a bit more easier at the LS expansion although I never did it, I went from 120 -125 on all my characters via Overseer whilst I debated quitting the game.
10. Also you can collect 'collectibles' that usually give around 2% of a level per completion (although nefarious people will charge exorbitant amounts for some of them).
11. You could also keep an eye out for bonus exp periods such as now (I think) and probably July 4th for the next one.

If all else fails, just google EQ levelling guide 125 - you've asked a question that has been ongoing since EQ began and there are multiple websites / social media sites and videos with everybody else's opinions.

If you can get beyond the exp grind (I couldn't in the end even though I have max level characters now), you will find a fantastic game and a great community.

I don't think anyone is arguing. And gear is fundamental to leveling - so how to get gear needs to be part of the conversation. Makes sense to me!

For gearing, watch the bazaar. I might advice against 10+ levels of gribbels and such. This is a game which is supposed to be fun. I can't imagine how anyone can do that many HAs over again forever and not just burn out.
For fun try progression. Do TDS, RoS, or whatever expansion you are in. Just the mercenary and partisan quests as a target.