Started EQ2 last month when the all-access policy kicked in and I am trying to level slowly and actually enjoy the game seeing all the content. I have reached 51/116 and am starting to struggle to find good XP areas. Currently doing Isle of Marr and Sands but find that many encounters give almost no xp and only way to level is through questing. However, I am running out of quests and have reluctantly decided to level up a bit so can anybody answer the following questions. At this level what is the correct ratio of levels to AAs. I can currently kill up to level 60 with my wiz/merc combo and to about level 58 heroics. However the inner quests in both zones require you to kill 59+ heroics where I get absolutely trucked. So basically, should I level to 55 using the few remaining easy and the repeatable quests or do I need more AAs? From what I can see I need more HPs and resilience which I think means levelling, is that correct. Am I missing any other areas to XP and I do prefer questing to mass killing. Any constructive suggestions welcomed as to best way forward bearing in mind I want to progress at a reasonable pace seeing varied content. I live in the UK and raid on EQ1 but US server raid times are impossible so just want to enjoy.
There are currently 85 levels where AA can be earned (from level 10 to 95), that's a steady rate of 4 - 5 per level. At level 51, you should be around 173 - 175 AA's. If you're running out of quests, try chrono mentoring down - see the chronomage in the main cities, costs a few gold/staus points, and whilst your xp is reduced by a percentage, you will get AA faster due to the speed in killing mobs. Start by mentoring to level 20 (or 15 - if you're feeling brave) and try out the original zones like Thundering Steppes, Nek Forest etc. Then mentor upwards as you clear zones and quests. Solo info at http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Soloing_Timeline. Have you completed any Heritage quests ? If not check out http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Heritage_Quests_Timeline There are 25 HQ's that can be done from level 15 up to level 50 all easily molo'ed (solo + merc), some will involve heroic dungeons, with plenty of named and heroic mobs to go at. See http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Dungeon_Timeline for other dungeon that you can try out. Note that kill most named mobs (the one with a star by their name) will grant you an AA bonus on the first kill, also you'll get AA for discovering new areas. Also, collect every shiny "?" you can find, completing/turning in collections, with your XP/AA slide at 100% AA will net you some decent AA experience. Grinding AA v grinding XP is choice and there's no right/wrong answer, sometimes, you just need to level, in order to get the next set of quests, just because they have a minimum level requirement or because the mobs are just too hard. Hope this helps
I found one of the best places to mentor done and grind exp and AA under lvl 60 is crushbone keep you can just rip it a new one the exp and spawn rate is good plus it has a private instance to clear out also. A little grinding while boring can get you the edge in the next question zone
If you are an all access member, I've found that there are sweet spots you can hit at the "2" levels. 32, 42, 52, etc. The reason being that those are the levels where Mastercrafted gear can be equipped. What I will typically do if I'm leveling a character from scratch is level to one of those "two" levels and then set my slider to 100% conversion and grind AA's until I get to where I should be. I generally find 4 AA's per level to be sufficient so as not to leave me with a massive grind at the end. At times, I'll do half my AA's at the 2 level, and then knock out 5 more levels to one of the 7's to grind the second half of the AA's, if I feel that the extra 5 levels will get me to a "better" zone.
At 50 something you can get started in Tenebrous Tangle as well. Solo timelines can be found here: http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Soloing_Timeline Quests in general here in categories: http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Quests If you find you are running out of quests (I don't think I've run into that problem much), make sure you have actually found the quests available for the area and don't disregard lore and legend quests, heritage quests, signature lines (many of those can be soloed at least part of the way through the series) and even city writs. You might as well get some faction for killing stuff you are going to likely be killing anyway. If you really are out of quests in an area, as other stated there is always chronomentoring to complete things you might have missed before.
Chronoing down and completing every dungeon/instance will generate a ton of aa in and of itself. That said, if you do get to 90 and are short of 280aa, the points absolutely fly in a Skyshrine group. My point that is kinda tucked away in there is ... don't let the drive for 280 by 90 consume you if you are otherwise enjoying the game however you're playing. If you find yourself having issue with even level content, then you may want to stop and grind some aa, but in any event, the points will come.
Finora's post about the tangle just reminded me of the Cloud Mount Timeline, see http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Cloud_Mount_Timeline Not only do you get the Cloud Mount, but also a full set of class specific armour, with increasing bonuses for the more pieces you wear, that will also last you until to get into the late 70's, perhaps as far as level 82, before you can get better.
