It's been about 10 years since I played on a regular basis. I raided on my cleric through Planes of Power and continued to play with guildmates/friends through the next several expansions. I stopped playing during the Depths of Darkhollow expansion when all anyone wanted to do was monster missions. That just wasn't much fun for me. I've returned to the game many, many times over the years and managed to get my Cleric to 85 and several other characters on Drinal up to the 55-75 range. The cleric is equipped/flagged pretty much at the level of PoP with a few pieces here and there from later expansions. My questions are ... How difficult would it be to get my 85 Cleric caught up enough that she might be able to join a raiding guild within a few months? What kind of back flagging would I need to pursue? Preferred gear/equipment? Are cleric mains even needed anymore or, should I work on a different character or even start over again? Thank you in advance for any tips or advice you may share.
Pretty sure cleric mains are still highly desirable. Are you on bristlebane by any chance? I just returned a little over a month ago and just hit 95 (started from level 1). As far as I can tell there isn't really any back flagging required. Most raid guilds only require that you are max level have basic current gear and a decent set of augs. As well as being able to learn follow directions and play your class well etc... Leveling up solo as a cleric will be a tough task so if you need to join a casual guild or box or something to get you going that would be my suggestion. If you're on bristlebane let me know. We can level up together, send a tell to Fatalshots.
cleric info lvl 85 http://www.eqclerics.org/forums/showthread.php?p=273791 most raid guilds expect DoN AA min lvl 105 min lvl AA some times a Number and some times specific AA lines maxed.
You should be able to molo or at least start DH/HAs as a 85 Cleric without too much trouble. Add people in your level range as they sign in - or jump in any group willing to carry you. With lesson burn plus doing Teak's daily quests you should be to 105 fairly fast. Albeit with crappy gear. (Note as you do the DH/HA's you will be able to buy the COTF rank 1 group gear. You should probably buy it all as its better than most of what you can get yourself solo. As you ease into the low 100's throw in a few of the TDS HA's. With these you can get better gear than through the DH HA's. Anyhow once you hit 105 just burn on AA's. A realistic goal can be to earn 100 AAs a day until you reach any raiding guilds minimum standards. Actual Clerics are fairly rare now days so like someone said above I doubt they'll turn you away. Hope this is vaguely useful and enjoy the return. (KEY to acronyms: HA - Heroic Adventure - an instanced encounter somewhat similar to the LDON's of old. DH - Dead Hills a zone in the Call of The Foresaken expansion - this is now free to play COTF- Call of the Foresaken - a now free to play expansion. Has adventures in all of its zones that give big xp boosts when complete. TDS - The Darkened Shore expansion there are six zones each with varying degrees of difficulty)
Your best bet will be to transfer off Drinal and onto a server with more then only one raiding, Bristlebane and Xegony both have 3 raiding guilds that have beaten TBM ... Yi Min
Most guilds are lucky to have a recruit returning again. To join as an alt until they reach the raiding levels and up to par. People can work on their characters and take advice from heavy raiders. Apply anyway, and i am sure someone would be willing to mentor you through all of the progressions.
There are quite a few raiding guild in FV, and it doesn't hurt that almost everything on FV is tradeable. Off the top of my head I know Knights of Infinity, Prosperitas, Oasis, and there may be a few more. Most of these are no pressure/raid attendance required guilds and will help you get your character to raid level w/o a problem. There are plenty of people your level around and tons of gear to equip in order to get you where you need to be. My main is a 105 BL and I have been on FV now for 8 years since moving from Povar. Let me know if you want some more info.
I came back in September as an 85 cleric to the Cazic Thule server. I haven't experienced any difficulty advancing my character and with some help from guild and a friend I was back raiding end game content within a month. Flagging for raid zones is easily accomplished so don't worry about flags. Check out the raid guilds on your server (or whatever server you plan to play on) for gear and AA requirements.
"Are cleric mains even needed anymore or, should I work on a different character or even start over again? You do know that merc's are not allowed on raids? So whose your healer daddy? LOL
cleric mains are always needed. Clerics are 150% demand, and learn how to weave your spells by other top end clerics.
Drinal has raiding guilds of many types. What are you looking for, you could app to ours and be raiding once you are lvl100 (celestial navigators) or end game type Crimson Tempest, Undivided Faith but they I'm sure have slightly higher standards. You do have choices on your current server to investigate.
Yup...for many reasons FV is a great place. There are a select few who I would like to see banned because they are openly RMT to the point of listing $$$ in /tells, but overall an active and great server.
