I'm completely new to this game, I've been playing WoW but I feel like EQ2 is more my thing. I'm rolling a mage and am only like level 9 (just started yesterday) but was wondering what i should focus on right now. There is so much to do it's a tad overwhelming. (and exciting) I really like lore so I want to take my time leveling to experience as much story as possible. Should i be doing crafting as much as i can at the same time? Thanks for any insight.
I'd suggest joining a helpful guild. There is so much to do in Norrath As for the question on crafting, it is a valid part of the game. There are some harvesting quests, etc, that will help you get materials for crafting, so I'd suggest doing those, as well.
Welcome to the game! At your level you can really just follow along with the questlines in whatever starting area you popped up in. There are so many quests, particularly at low levels since there are several starting areas, you'd have to lock xp or mentor down to do them all at level. =) Mostly just have some fun. If you choose to do crafting (I personally enjoy the crafting side of things) you'll want to actually keep your crafting level higher than your adventure level to get the best use from it, but that's not terribly difficult to do. There are plenty of crafting quests available to help you along. Might I suggest Trader's Corner if you want to delve into the world of crafting.
Welcome to the game! I hope you stick around. Lots of gloom on the forums, but I suggest you play the game and YOU decide about it. Ask if you have questions, someone will answer you sooner or later and not with "Google it!" either!
Welcome to the game! What server did you roll on? It can seem a little overwhelming at first becasue there is so much to see and do, but I would say follow the starting quest line and let it lead you. Do side quest as you encounter them - sometimes they are really interesting. Don't ever feel like you are "behind" and need to "catch up". You are not. Just enjoy, especially if you like to absorb the lore. I enjoy the crafting side of the game, as well as adventuring, and it can give a welcome change of pace to the game at times. As Finora said, to get the best from your crafting it works best to keep it at a higher level than your adventuring - I have found that 10 levels or so is good to aim for. A friendly guild with a well appointed guildhall can be a great help. And as Meneltel said - ignore the gloom-sayers. There are plenty of players who will help if you ask.
Thanks for the replies everyone! I'm on Skyfire i believe, and i said mage before but should of actually said wizard. What tradeskill would be best for a wizard? Also what's the best way to find a guild?
TBH tradeskill class doesn't matter, but if you're interested in being 'self sufficent' (making your own spells) then go for sage but be aware you have to pick the right TS class at level 9 to aciever that (scholar I think but may be wrong). Easier to just buy the spells from broker though . As far as adventuring goes, google 'the golden path', the developers attempt to string all the zones together into a logical and enjoyable levelling experience.
To find a guild just press U and a listing of guilds which are recruiting will pop up. Look for one that has the "will train new players" selection in their description. If they have a website, check that out and then chat with someone to get a better idea if you're a good fit for them and they're a good fit for you.
It's like you're trying to kill him... remember, he came from WoW, the game beaten by a guy with a dance pad.
The sooner you get your crafting to level 86, the sooner you can fly. With flight, the game becomes much much easier.
I suggest you get a mercenary. If you want to experience the content at a slower pace so you can visit more zones and do more quests, then just hire a mercenary from your home city. I think you have to be level 10 to do so. If you want an overpowered mercenary that will speed your progress to 100 and still be useful after that, get Zhugrus Blightstrike. To get him, you'll need at least a jumping mount, which you can get from a short string of level 30 quests in Butcherblock Mountains. Once you have the jumping mount, you can use a wizard spires to port to Zek, the Scourge Wastes which is a level 100 zone. Use your jumping mount to discover every location in that zone, and you are awarded a token to get Zhugrus. Once you have him, you can molo (solo with a merc) any heroic content up to level 99 without worrying too much about your gear or spell tiers. If you have $15 to spare, you can by a krono from the marketplace and sell it on the broker. Then you'll have so much plat that you can basically afford anything you could possibly need or want from level 1-99 and well into 100, including buying Zhugrus off the broker at level 10. A very recent change to the game made the experience you get from killing everything in heroic dungeons for an hour roughly equal to what you get from doing quests for an hour, so you can play whichever way is the most fun for you. You may find a lot of info online about leveling through the use of agnostic dungeons, but the experience in there has also been recently modified to be in line with regular heroic dungeons and questing, so as far as I know, there's no fastest way to level anymore. Agnostics may still be a bit faster because you can find groups easier using the dungeon finder tool (which is level agnostic), and a group can blow up a zone a little faster than you could moloing.
The great thing about EQ2 is there's so much to do so my suggestion, don't rush through to level to 100. Take some time to try crafting, decorating, adventuring in as many of the zones as you can and develop your character. As far as crafting goes, my Wizard was my first character and I went alchemist because it seem to fit but its really your preference.
Only problem being that you dont get Zek access until a level 100 toon on your account has been there in the first place
To add to what's already been said, I would look at installing a custom UI (ProfitUI is my favourite, found at http://www.eq2interface.com/downloads/info5140-ProfitUICommunityEdition.html), and EQ2maps is a must, found here http://maps.eq2interface.com/index.php?action=download. It might take a few minutes to install correctly but it will save a bunch of time later on and makes questing a lot easier.
You'll see a lot of old crotchety nebercracker-esque posts in these forums (some by me) but don't allow that to discourage your adventure here in Norrath. The game is immense and much of the fiddly diddly issues I ***** about, you won't experience for a long while. Enjoy questing - the storylines are great! Level your crafting as you play. Since you're starting at ground zero, definitely take the path of being eligible for Epic 2.0 ! Do a few google searches for the walkthrough and take note of all of the prerequisites and knock them out as you level. Although you could level to 100 in a fortnight, I'll have to recommend against it if you want to "keep up with the joneses" so to speak. Many of us are having to go back into the grey zones to finish up something we bypassed previously. DarqUI Unified is also a good alternative user interface. For the most part - the communities on each of the servers are extremely helpful. As with any MMO, there are few feminine hygiene-esque people about, just ignore 'em.
My response was going to be to not listen to the negativity. They are a minority around here, generally the community is very good and mostly mature. It is a lot more quiet often as well. Don't let any of this sway you away from the game. I have been here for 13 years and love it. I haven't done everything this game has to offer, but I am a pretty devoted player to my play style which varies depending on time and mood. This game really gives something for every play style. In a different way than WoW, in that, you are stuck to the same "Rails" as WOW players tend to be. Gear progression is less obvious here as well. Someone mentioned mercenaries, they are worth the 15 bucks to unlock that feature. There are a ton of really cool mercenaries, and some that are just dumb. (I have heard KA comes with merc unlock? I don't know if this is true, I didn't really pay attention to included features since I really have everything already.) At any rate, mercs are great, you can find unique rare ones in the wild and in dungeons. Basically, do what you want, play your way. If you want to rush to 100 go for it. But, I suggest you enjoy the game however you like. This game, in my opinion, has so much more to offer than some other games out there and it gets sorely missed by many gamers. EQ2 does suffer some time sinks, but they aren't that bad and probably on par in comparison to WOW. (I keep mentioning wow, because that is where you have played before and I have played so its easy to correlate.) At the end of the day you want to have fun, this game has that. =) Have fun, if you're on Halls of Fate you can look me up...I'm the rat in a pirate hat!
