How to approach Alternate Advancement in practice?

Ok newbie question what is baubble? I am new having played 4 chars to 20 and love the game so much I went sub and bought both expacs but I am not understanding some of the lingo.

With the purchase of CoE, you get two /claim-able babbles that when you are level 90, you can claim on that character and use it, no matter what your AA total is at, it will take you to 280 immediately. Its meant to help new players get over the hump of needing so many AA's to pass level 90, which you will be locked at until you get to 280 AA.

What the other posters have said and: There's no 'rule' for AA grinding. Logically, it's about 3.5 AA per level till 90, so you can do quests and whatnot and move your AA slider to lock your level till you have those AA. I've tried it both ways. What works best is that - for seeing content. What works fastest is to just level to 95, then go back and chrono to grind for AA's. At 95 there are no Old World dungeons or places you can't pretty much solo (or have a merc if needed), and it does go fast.

It's more fun to actually do the content. It's faster to just level quickly and then grind AA. In my experience, anyway

I've found it more effective (for me) to get AA and levels as I go.. if I'm soloing (ie no other person or merc) because the AAs make my toons massively more effective.

I am not sure how many of the veterans on this thread have leveled up characters since the experience changes went into effect, but my experience leveling with some friends who have recently come back to the game is that a large part of the benefit from chronoing has been lost with the experience changes since you will not be getting encounter xp. Thus, when you chrono from 85 to 80, you are losing a lot more than 5% experience as you lose encounter xp as well. I am sure that chronoing can still have its benefits as even without the encounter xp, some dungeons may have enough clustered mobs to make up for the loss of encounter xp. However, I have found that in the long run fighting mobs that provide encounter xp yields more xp over time for a new player to the game.

My recommendation would be to lock in at sweet spots and to find a group (I know this may not always be possible). With groups no longer penalizing experience, heroic dungeon leveling in groups is by far the fastest theoretical way for a new player to level now (although I recognize that is probably not an option on many servers if you don't already have friends playing). Maybe the word will catch on and servers will see more low level grouping.

Expanding on the 55-60 Tenebrous Tangle suggestion: There is a fairly long series of quests called "Basket Quests" right by the river in Tenebrous. Those are a ton of XP, and can be done while doing other quests. Don't miss jumping off the waterfall, either!

Everyone has an idea on getting AAs while leveling. My 'zerker reached 320 AAs at low 50s in a slow and easy style that allowed me to explore Norrath, level up my crafting choice (armor) to cap, obtain all recipes from tradeskill including the items from the timeline, max out my harvesting skills and collect tons of collectables. Along the way, I killed a zillion starred names wearing nothing but mastercrafted gear and with harvesting rares was able to get expert spells and purchase which masters I wanted if I did not get a drop in a dungeon. I also transmutted and maxed out adorning along the way. Every piece of gear had adornments, no matter what level.

With the advent of mercenaries it makes dungeon runs solo style to be easy to do without a group. I never used a mercenary and still don't; have not used a chronomage which for coin will turn your levels back to what ever you wish in increments of 5; and have rarely used potions (I tend to forget to use them).

I played roughly 2 hours a week and accomplished the above in less than 200 hours of play. Yes, you can do it faster if that is your goal. This was mine.

Hit all zones beginning with 1-20 - there are 6 of them. Complete all quests - most give AA xp, kill all starred names above 10, make sure you discover all points of interest, harvest and learn a craft. Begin to transmute and learn adorning. All you need is mastercrafted gear and expert spells.

When you are 5-10 levels above a dungeon (depending the dungeon), you can hit the bosses at green and obtain the better loot which can be transmuted and turned into adorns for your gear. My 44 inquisitor still farms Ruins of Varsoon (26-34) in the Chamber of Immortality (dungeon within the dungeon) several times a day for items to transmute. She can also solo Kaladim (30-39) as well as Runnyeye (31-39). Those are all dungeons. And she does it without a mercenary.

Then move on up to the next tier level and so on. Depending on how fast you want to move on up with AAs and XP will be how you decide to use your slider. Using potions will assist you in collecting more XP for adventure and tradeskill and AAs.

There are some quests that don't give AA and some that do. Lower tiers give quite a bit of AAs. In mid tiers such as Desert of Flames, there are tons of starred names to kill for AA.

This link will provide you with detail information on how to obtain AAs and when you can spend them. My character had 320AAs but she could only spend 160 of them until she got higher in adventure level.

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

Even with the spending limits, she maxed her 100 AApoints to spend by the time she was in her upper 20s. She was very powerful indeed, even without master spells. Why? AAs didn't begin until Kingdom of Sky, and then you were limited to 50. When Echoes of Faydwer released, you could get up to 100. So, when you play in the Shattered Lands areas, you are playing with enhanced AAs that you didn't have if you played prior to Kingdom of Sky being released. Knowing that will help you figure out how you wish to gain your AAs & crafting/adventuring skills/experiences.

Here are some links to get you various information depending on how you wish to level and achieve AAs.

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

This link gives you over 3500 quests that give AA... http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Category:AA_Quests and yes, some include Heritage Quests, Lore quests such as the Qeynos and/or Freeport timeline.
http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/The_City_of_Qeynos_Timeline
http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/index.php?search=City of Freeport timeline&fulltext=Search
http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Heritage_Quests
http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Signature_Quests_Timeline

As for shiny collections - go for it..... you get AA/xp from most all of them, but some you do not. A shiny collected that you don't need can be sold on the broker to help increase your purse. http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Collection_Quests

For information, I use both EQ2i (wikia) and Zam. They are both decent sites.
http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/EverQuest_2_Wiki:Main_Page

http://eq2.zam.com/

If you want to learn more about your profession, you can look it up on these forums under "classes." You can also go to another site called flames.com but you will need to sort out the information since it is geared toward raiders and the end game which is currently at 95. Even so, there is valuable information to help you understand your class if you care to do the research.

Hope the above helps and gives you ideas. Good adventures to you.

Add this quest to your beginning quests.. need lvl 5 to obtain it in The Isle of Mara. It pays well for a new player.. around 35 gold for each one done.

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