Must have purchases

Which purchases are a must have in you opinion so as to maximise the f2p playability?

And no, sub is not an answer because it lasts for a month, not even a minute longer duh! I am looking for more...far affecting purchases. Stuff like mercs etc.

The expansion? hehe

Joking aside, mercenaries would likely give you the freedom as a F2P player. Can't find a group because Daybreak won't let you use the chat channels? NP, bust out your mercenary (at least up to a point).

I never bought mercenaries on my free account though. I just go beat things up solo. Though I might want a mercenary on that account should I ever decide to buy the post 95 expansions.

Unless you're rolling a heroic toon, there is nothing you need to buy.

Reforge.

You don't need that till around level 95 though. And certainly not if you don't have AoM.

I don't think I'd need reforge lol. It deals with fabled and mythical weapons lol!

Can you unlock conveniences like broker, chat, that sort of thing? This could alleviate some pretty large issues I have.

Yeah and given that main EU server is kinda dead...they should be a worthy purchase indeed. Plus they'd allow me to play classes as they should be played instead of forcing everything into dps mode-which is an awesome feat to be sure.

Still the chat and the broker bother me because I feel that they ought to be restricted NOT forbidden to f2ps lol. Like lessened ability to use them not the inability to use them. But hey! At least we can use Experts now and actually be useful(can't imagine how it felt when f2p was limited to Adept tier...).

I know i saw the phrase broker tokens. So pretty sure that is doable. chat shrug... find a good guild maybe.

Duck Mount.

Because, you know, it is a must have.

Yah, I know about those tokens. It was just that I was looking for a more...constant solution than that. I can't be arsed to pay 50DBC everytime I want to purchase a thing lol-it's not even about the amount of money, it's more about the principle and the general hassle. Is just why I would prefer 10$ -> unlock broker(or whatever) even if character based.

I don't know if I would even accomplish anything by enabling world chat on splitpaw. It kinda seems a pointless endeavour .

So, in summary:

-> I only need mercs(and not even this provided I play a pet class). Right gotcha!

OH and as far as spell restrictions go you can actually use up to master quality as a free player. The only spells that are restricted to all-access are scribed grandmaster spells and ancients. As for ancients, I haven't gotten one any of my horde of alts could even use yet (appropriate classes & levels).The only one I personally have had drop was a low level fury one hehe.

I have several accts - 2 full access, 1 silver (grandfathered) and 3 free.

The 2 full I have everything except the newest xpack rummmers or whatever it's called - IMO too expensive for what it is. Anyway, the only thing I notice I miss on my free accts is mercs.

Also, I purchased the CE on one full access acct for AOM and the standard edition on the other full access and I'm glad I did. The merc that came with that Kurron is fabulous!

So, my advice if you can afford it - get the mercs and get CE for AOM and get Kurron - great merc and does incredible amt of damage and great healing! Makes soloing much easier and more fun IMO.

Dunno where you got the idea that it's only for Fabled and Mythical weapons. And it's not a 95 only thing, can use it at any level to help balance your stats. Or you could listen to the Necro who reforged into Reuse and has 116 even though the hard cap is 100 and that extra 16 is completely wasted.

...Ancient spells? I haven't even heard of those. They're neither on wiki nor anywhere. Must be RARE **** yo!

I've begun to understand EQ rather nicely. I worked my table of coefficients for skills(I had to do it in order to make a choice on a Swashbuckler):

APPRENTICE: < base dmg > (B)
JOURNEYMAN: 1,2 * B
ADEPT: 1,33 * B
EXPERT: 1,6 * B
--------------------------------------------------- (f2p cutoff line)
MASTER: 1,8 * B
GRANDMASTER: 1,9 * B
ANCIENT: ??? * B

In reality, after researching up to Expert, you rarely need a Master version and by picking GM choices wisely...all troubles are relieved.

Ok, if I'll purchase anything, it'll be mercs. Just to check: how is a BL as a class? Can it solo at least like a Conjuror(I always wanted a melee version of a Conj)?

Every class in EQ2 can solo from 1-100. It's a little easier with a mercenary.

How's BL in general?

They are a melee pet class, that much I get. Can their pets tank(at least during solo)? Can they actually heal their pets?

Don't take my word as 100%, I do tend to play my characters however I feel like no matter what conventional wisdom says, but in my experience (beastlord up to level 42 ish) the beastlord and the warder are more like partners. You are more powerful with the pet, not only because the pet does extra damage but because fighting with the pet triggers abilities you can not access with out the pet.

I don't really ever have my pet tanking, but I tend to use the DPS pets. Of three beastlords I have scattered around I'm using a feline, reptile and an avian pet.

I have on a couple of occasions been the "healer" for a duo and broke out a reindeer (defensive warder) and dropped into spiritual stance but it's not normally something I've needed to do. Obviously at higher levels and in groups and raids things might change.

Here's Feldon's write up: http://eq2wire.com/2011/12/07/beastlords-frequently-asked-questions/

and a warder guide: http://eq2wire.com/beastlord-warders/

And finally:

"Is there any way to determine which class you'll like WITHOUT playing it to lvl 40-ish?" See, I am not keen on repeating content.

You can make a trial herioc character. They'll pop up decently geared at level 90 in a high level zone. I think adept level spells.

The game will let you play that character for 1 level before it's locked. That will give you plenty of time to see how it plays. However, I don't know if you can make a channeller or beastlord without unlocking the class first =(.

IMO they really should have all classes & races available in the trial heriocs and lock them after they've been played for X level or time until everything required gets unlocked. They might actually sell more of them that way than they do now.

There are a number of different routes to 40. Even if you just quest there are at least 4 different starting locations wihich yeilds 4 different starts to 20...
Also, if you don't like redoing content, you're going to get bored really fast at top level (whether or not you raid), because it's all about doing the same zones over and over to get your gear.z
If doing early content 2, 3 or even 8 times when you start new characters is too boring, you might want to consider how you'll feel about doing the same zone (whether it is solo, advanced solo or heroic) every day for weeks or even a few times a day.