Help a completely lost newbie

Discussion in 'Tips, Tricks, FAQs, and New Player Discussion' started by ZackyBlaster, Sep 6, 2017.

  1. ZackyBlaster New Member

    Hi, people! Let me introduce myself real quick.

    I've been playing MMOs since I had a PC. My very first was Tibia (and the only for a good time, since my PC was terrible back then), then Ragnarok and a lot of other MMOs and games. I am a real addict. The last one was WoW which I stopped last week (since my PC is bad and it lags TOO MUCH to the point I don't even have fun anymore). In my journey to find a new, light MMO to play, someone recommended me EQ2 which I thought it was dead. I am pretty happy to know I am wrong.

    I created a Swashbuckler Ratonga and I am lost. After the initial quests on the Queen's Colony, i got lost. Too many systems at the same time, too many NPCs and systems which weren't shown to me by hand slowly. I am kinda slow, yes, sorry. I found the tradeskills and leveled my basic to 9. I quested a bit, and stopped after I ended a questline(it's called timeline here, right?) in The Forest Ruins.

    Now I REALLY don't know what to do, where to go, which quests to focus, etc. Can you guys help me? Also, is my class good for beginners? My mains on WoW were Demon Hunter (very fast and VERY mobile DPS, dashing and jumping around all the time) and Shaman (physical elemental DPS).

    Btw, I am ABSOLUTELY lost with the AA system. Too many tabs, too many options, I don't know how to invest (and the solo preset annoyed me, since it gave me a taunt skill).

    ANY kind of tip is appreciated. Links too! I am loving this game and already am thinking about subscribing and buying the expansion later.

    Thanks for all your patience. <3
    Kittybock likes this.
  2. Sigrdrifa EQ2 Wiki Author

    You need the wiki! I'd recommend bookmarking it.

    Specifically, look at the Soloing Timeline as a good guide to what's up next.
  3. Juraiya Well-Known Member

    What level have you reached, and what server are you on? If you're on Fallen Gate, our advice might be very different from what it would be if you're on a regular server. What level are you now?

    With tradeskills, once you reach 9 you can auto-level to 10 by talking to a crafting trainer. You just have to already know which tradeskill you ultimately plan on becoming, because you'll have to choose the main tradeskill class at this point. (Craftsman, Scholar, or Outfitter.) You can't get to 10 without speaking to that trainer; you'll be stuck at level 9 until you do.

    About the AA system, I only have one swash, and she's not one of my mains, so I can't give you specific advice for that class. I can give you general advice, and most of all I will say don't worry about it. Just play around and try some things; you can always reset it if you're unhappy about the way something works. One of the great things about the entire AA page is that you can respec at any time if you don't like what it's doing for you.

    For a low level character, I almost always start out with the first tab, and give myself one of each of most of the top items, just to get a few extra attacks. For some classes, at early levels this helps quite a bit. At higher levels you'll want to reset and do something different, of course, as you may not need those skills anymore.

    I usually read each description carefully, and if I'm doing this for a low level character, I ask myself, "Does the CA/spell that it's improving already exist in my skill book?" If the answer is no, then I don't put any points into it. No point in using the few points you have at very low levels to improve something you can't use yet. Once again, when you get a bit higher level (even 30 or 40) you may want to reset it and do something completely different. At even higher levels you'll want to do that again.

    Another thing is that if you're soloing as compared to grouping and raiding, you don't need to put points in things that would help out others. Or you can set up two specs - one for pure soloing (which is the one you'll probably tweak the most), and one for grouping.

    And, once again, you can reset your AAs at any time, so don't worry that something you want to try out will be set in stone. You can always change it later if you don't feel it's working for you.
    Justaplayer likes this.
  4. Kyrieath Member

    The Wiki is definitely a useful tool and will be a lot of help- this game's considerably more complex than WoW as it rarely replaces systems, it just adds a new one when it wants to create a different way to approach the characters.

    As to AAs, there's different builds for different playstyles. They're a bit dated, but if you go into the AA tab, there are pre-built templates you can enable. If you're not intending to be a raider or into min-maxxing, this can either be what you stick to using or you can study it as you get to know your class. If you're into raiding or min-maxxing, you'll want to study this pretty indepth. Once you enable a template, it will automatically spend your AAs as you get them.

    For starter classes: Swashbuckler wouldn't be my first recommendation even with previous MMO experience - there's a lot of positional attacks and ways around the positional requirements, as well as attacks reliant on being in stealth, to keep track of. For learning the game, I'd recommend a more straight forward class like crusader (paladin/shadow knight) or a summoner (necro/conjurer). Those classes are also pretty good at surviving while you're learning the system as well; a scout class, in my own experience, is a bit less forgiving of mistakes.
  5. Raff Well-Known Member

    Find a good guild Zacky. One whose play times work for you. That one thing will make your new journey through Norrath so much more enjoyable.

    All the websites in the world can never replace actually talking to someone who has been there / done that.
    Kittybock and Ceyllynn like this.
  6. CrimsonAvenger New Member

    Zacky, since you specifically mentioned level 9 tradeskill, I'm assuming that you don't know that you have to talk to the Tradeskill Trainer (the one who sells you the Essential books) to get to TS level 10. So if you haven't done that, talk to her, she'll give you a choice of Craftsman, Outfitter, Scholar, you pick one, you get 10 automagically.

    Same thing will happen when you get to 19, but the choices will be different.

    Craftsman will have choice of Carpenter, Woodworker, Provisioner
    Outfitter will have choice of Armourer, Weaponsmith, Tailor
    Scholar will have choice of Jeweler, Sage, Alchemist.

    Given that you're a Swashbuckler, you might incline in the general direction of Jeweler, since Jewelers make Scout (of which Swashbuckler is one) Experts, as well as all your jewelry....

    Oh, and you didn't mention which server you're on. If it's HoF, give a yell to Nadonn or Cirya if you need anything....
  7. ZackyBlaster New Member

    Thanks!! I'll bookmark it for sure.

    I'm Adventure Level 13 right now and level 10 Scholar. My server is skyfire. Thanks for all the tips, though! I'll take some time to read 'em all.

    I guess I got it. As for Swashbuckler: The flanking/back attacking skills are so much fun! I'm really liking it, tho.

    I'm focusing on Jewels as you recommended. I'm on Skyfire, though, kinda alone but found a guild with a very cool and experient person.
  8. Carynn Well-Known Member

    Also, don't be afraid to join Newbie chat in game. You will get a lot of help posing questions there. Right click chat box and pick chat options, and select the appropriate chat.
  9. Faeonara Well-Known Member

    I am also on Skyfire .What is your characters name there ? I will add you on friends list and send you a tell (message ) in game . Maybe I will be able to help you out a bit . I would tell you to look me up as well but I usually play on quite a few alts in the course of one day .
    It is a great game and for sure it's sort of overwhelming when you fist start out . As long as you are having fun I would not worry to much about aa points to much for now and just go with the preset . If it gives you something you don't like you really don't have to use it even if you have it .. Once you get another 10 levels or so you will have a better feel for what your ability and spell line up will be and can then tailor your aa spec a bit according to your playstyle . .
    Good Luck and Welcome to the game :)
  10. Grudgefrell New Member

    I'm also on skyfire. My main char is named grudgefrell. Add me as a friend and i can help you out with any questions, give you tips, etc. I'm on all throughout the day and night so I'm usually pretty accessible. Send me a tell msg and i can add you as well. Welcome to EQ2 and will see you around!!
  11. Tommara Active Member

    I'm a returning player who just stopped by to see how things are going, so I may be out of date, but if things have not changed, around the 20th of each month, special zones become active for one day which are great for new players, especially in Greater Faydark (which is safe for all factions, except near the Queen) where you can get a temporary mount for free (which I've found lasts until the next Mushroom Ring event, but by then, you can probably afford to buy a permanent mount, but I like the GF mounts better for my lowbies - there are also magic carpets in one of the zones), plus cool items for your house (even if you're not into decorating, you should get one - you get one for free, can have as many as most people can reasonably handle, improves your inventory space, and if you sell items out of your house - requires special boxes made by carpenters - removes all broker (AH) costs. http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Moonlight_Enchantments

    You can get free mounts doing other quests starting around late teens/level 20, the only thing special about the Mushroom Rings is that you can get the mounts nearly free at level 1. Plus get tokens to buy pretty stuff. And explore the world traveling to each Mushroom Ring. It's a beautiful world.
  12. Soara2 Well-Known Member

    U can do race at beginning of month also in city fest to get a mount. If memory serves me right, You do 5 and get the mount. It is permanent. Anyway, I suggest looking up your epic 2.0, they all require u to do a city's timeline, i.e. Qeynos or Freeport. I suggest starting with that. Or you can just fly to 100 real fast in agnostics like most people do, At 100 level, they give us so many quests that we have to do its unbelievable, so don't worry about not getting a lot of the low level ones done. I would see which ones of the epic I could do and do those while you level up. There is such a huge list of quests for epic on wiki, I would advise to print them out. This is assuming you even want to do quests. If you do not, agnostics. To do agnostics, at lvl 20 you just press eq 2 then dungeon finder, queue , or alt z, queue. Most people on skyfire only stick to Crypt of Agony.
    The timelines for the city should have a mount also, like a horse, but if you need one before that, type /who all ghostdragons, and I can help ya get one quickly.
  13. Soara2 Well-Known Member

    Sorry, adding -
    agnostics - under level 10- be in a group that queues you, or click on the portal to it in qeynos or Freeport, then select dungeon and go in.
    when in agnostics group ONLY
    - If there is a level 100 in the group, do NOT help, stay at the entrance and just collect the experience etc.
    - Take off all of your buffs if there is a level 100 in the group. A lot of them don't know how to pull without the mobs coming to entrance and attacking you if you don't. I may, it is slower then usual to get all the named mobs and nothing attack people but it is possible even with the people at entrance buffed up. comes from years of PL two boxing my alts.
    - Don't be a jerk. Yes some level 100s can kill faster then others. Some are in raid gear and some are not. They all can kill faster then YOU. (and yeah you would be surprised by how many jerks will trash the 100 giving them a free power level)
    - If you are leader of your agnostics group, make sure all but Crypt of Agony is unchecked before you queue, (this is Skyfire server only) or preferably, right click the person that is pulling and press make leader.
    - If you do not want to be leader of agnostics group to avoid previous instructions, do not hit accept button first when the group reque's, wait until the puller hits it, you will know when they zone, then hit the accept button. First one that hits the accept becomes leader.
    - If nothing is attacking you and you start losing life, you are in group with someone that is sucking your life to do more damage, try to stay out of range from that person. Preferably they would pull to the room near the entrance to avoid that, but I have seen one person running it that will kill her group members doing this.

    For those of you on other servers - Crypt of Agony only rule disregard, also haven't seen any jerks trash me or others on those servers (and my 100s are definitely subpar to my Skyfire gals)
    And if you want GEAR mostly, Stygian is the better zone to do that in. The armor there has better stats then the other agnostic zones. Again, anywhere but crypt of agony is unheard of on Skyfire. Got to love my Skyfire community!
  14. Illeara Active Member

    Tiy

    You probably know way better than I do, but don't you have to be level 20 or higher to get into agnostics, whether or not you are in a group? I could have sworn you had to wait until 20 to do any of those.
  15. Kittybock Well-Known Member

    Zacky,

    Welcome to Norrath.

    I wholeheartedly recommend joining a guild. It is especially helpful if you can listen in on voice. Folks get nervous of speaking on voice, but at least listening in makes a world of difference! Norrath has so much to explore and the various systems--which you've mentioned--will help tune your character further. Having friendly folks to ask about things is powerful.

    If you are a member, or have considered becoming a member, I'd suggest trying out Isle of Refuge server, which is also the Free Trade server. Basically, Free Trade allows you to trade/ sell/ purchase items that cannot be traded on other servers readily. If you decide to roll a new toon on the Isle, give me a shout. and we'll get you settled in. I am usually on Kittaene.

    Btw, a Swashy as a first choice is awesome IMHO. They have several AOE's, are fun to play and can do well in groups later on.

    Happy Adventuring,

    Kitty
    Chrome likes this.
  16. Soara2 Well-Known Member

    Sorry - meant under lvl 20 in the first sentence I wrote out in all of that paragraph, was directions how to get in without being lvl 20, but I said lvl 10, oops, Regardless, anyone between 1 and 20 can get a jump pretty quickly in Fyremist Gully if they don't want to deal with entering through the portal to agnostics in Qeynos or Freeport. I generally do that PL free for anyone that asks on Skyfire or Halls of fate, the Fyremist Gully one. Takes less then 10 minutes tops even with travel and group up time. .