New to live servers HELP!

So my friend and I played a LOT of EQ1, but we're really only played on the TLEs on EQ2 and have very little live experience.

We wanted to try out live for the new expansion (as PoP was a high point for us in EQ1), however after doing some reading it looks like the grind to catch up is far larger than we had anticipated.

My question is:

Generally when a new expansion drops in an MMO there is a sort of 'player power reset', where everyone is kinda on the same footing for a time, then as players reach the new max level that gap begins to widen again.

Do you think this will be the case for Planes of Prophecy? Or will there still be a multiple month grind stacked against us because of epics/ascendancy classes/ect?

Thanks!

They put in a Summer Event and merchant to gear up and give players a boost to start / complete the KA timeline. Which includes a boost to level 5 of a single ascension class so you can start your epic timeline (provided you have completed the prerequisites)

In most cases over the years, just doing the new expansion's timeline, will get you items that will allow you to "catch up" gear-wise and be able to start heroic content. As far as "epic 2.0", I don't see an equivalent anytime soon as we were promised it would still be BiS in the next expansion.

No, it won't happen this time because of "Resolve". The Yun'Zi quests won't get you close to current people on resolve.

It is possible that a person 'could' catch up with the right stuff.

It's also possible they do something uber crazy with the expac. But the ascension grind is 3 months of work for a new person, and the Epic 2 is more grey grind. So I don't think you should 'expect' to be grouping any time soon.

The Epic 2 may not be 'required' by the game, but it will be required by the players that can do the zones. without a doubt.

For players that are willing to really push it and put in the time, how long do you think it would take get get through the ascension grind, Epic 2, and get enough resolve to be not just groupable, but competitive?

Also, is most of this work done solo/groups, or will I need to raid in order to get the gear/items needed?

Check my troubies playtime and tell me if it takes a long time to get stuff. Mostly solo and groups, no raid gear is ever necessary.

You should ask someone else, I'd guess that person is looking at 3-4 months of real life time due to gating mechanics on ascensions. Someone on here will have an exact day count. Depends on lots and lots of things.

"Played time" is hardly relevant, because you could have a 'ready group' willing to go the moment you log on, go do the ascensions and log off. If you have access to that it is a breeze and then only gated by ascension scroll mechanic.

so make some friends?

It's a few weeks and not months. If you work a few hours each night, you will be caught up by expansion launch... assuming you have a friendly guild/friends.

I really hope this is th case. We’re ready and willing to put the solo/duo time in, whatever it takes but our primary goal is to be content ready when PoP comes out next month.

We'll likely put in 3-5 hours per day 4-5 days per week. I would like to know an exact path to take though and I think that has already been answered in this post.

Thanks!!

So with a set plan in mind, a tank and DPS duo with mercs we are looking at about 5-6 days of played time to get content ready?

mercs? God no. But get a decent group together and in less than 10 days of playtime you can get to current content, following the right paths.

Is there a guide for what paths to take, or is it more tribal knowledge at this point?

It's pretty cookie cutter - solos, tier 1 heroics, tier 2, tier 3, tier 1 raids. tier 1 raids are doable with 4-6 well geared individuals. Grind ascension xp, get 2.0, profit.

It really is not that hard to get your resolve up. The Days of Summer quests netted armor where each piece has +11 resolve, as a start.

Running the Obulus Frontier Treasure Hunt quests (aka Key Quests) can get you +20 resolve shoulders and hands from the polished incarnadine keys.

The main Kunark Ascending Timeline gives you:

• Hazrat Kingfeather (mount, +8 resolve: the crafting timeline also gives a +8 resolve mount. You can also get Amenophas Livingspirit, who has +15 resolve)
• The Achievement Quest Ascension in Kunark, rewards a secondary item that can be upgraded by speaking to Sarya Val'Sara in Nye'Caelona for +20 resolve

The Kunark Ascending Tradeskill Timeline gives you your Grandmaster Artisan Cloak (Speak to Scribbleclaw in Twark to upgrade it and get +20 resolve).

The Proving Grounds gloves (+20 resolve), pants (+20 resolve), and ring (+22 resolve) are pretty easy to get. You can run any level 100 toon through, no matter how they're equipped, because you run the solo zone as an avatar anyway, in order to get the Marks to buy these.

The rest of your slots fill with +9 resolve gear from Public Quests, questing, etc.

The numbers given means you need at least 90 days from 1 to 10 for the first ascension class, if you pickup a scroll every day.
to get all 4 classes you need to spend 90 + 44 + 23 + 12 =170 days minimum

http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Ascension

I am very sorry for my ignorance, but I guess I still do not understand how the end game currently works.

When PoP comes out next month, I would like to be at least viable to do the entry level 110 group content.

Are you guys telling me that I will need to play for a solid 170 days of solo grinding to level up all 4 ascension classes to max just to do content that is in the following expansion, and 10 levels higher?

That just makes no sense ...

I get the whole resolve thing, thank you Sigrdrifa for your great write-up! But telling me that my friend and I are basically stuck behind a 6 month solo grind before we can even think about playing with people is outrageous and such a bad MMO model to the extent that I cannot even imagine what they were thinking! I truly hope I am just misunderstanding something here ....

Once you figure in the five bonus weekly scrolls (for completing weekly missions), that number goes down to 132 (60+33+23+17). It's still a chunk of time (and an annoyingly artificial mechanism), but combined with the Panda's "instant boost to level 5 ascension" bauble, you can get started on your epic far sooner than when everything was first introduced. You'll also have the benefit of walkthroughs, better gear, and better-geared groups, so the steps themselves will go faster than they did for many.

Yes, if you want to do progression or high-end grouping/raiding, you'll need to get your epic2, but hopefully you'll be able to find some of the many guilds and players who are happy to help out. KA was definitely a very grindy expansion once ascension and the epic2 were introduced, so those of us who played through it are a bit jaded and worn down.

But there is hope. Devs have said they were going to mitigate the grind and make the next expansion more alt- and catching-up friendly. The new expansion will bring a new quest line, new gear, and folks grouping, which will buy you time to get your epic2 if that's your goal. I'd say it's worth giving the new expansion a chance if you want to play.

You can't do it by yourself and you likely won't be able to figure it out by yourself before the new expac. EQ2 has a steep learning curve. Its not easy for newcomers to come in and jump right into end game content. This isn't GW2...

Best advice....You need to find and join a guild full of helpful people that will work with ya'. And that fits your play schedule.

You might have to jump around a bit to find a good fit.

You're overlooking the tears of ascension. It may or not be a glitch, but you can get them on accounts with no tome. So ascension is not time gated at this point.