Hello, I have been thinking about returning to the game after being gone for so very long. I played the game the first year after it was released then left. I then came back for a short while down the line a little bit but it has been a really long time since I last played. I played a Warden to mid 20s and a sprinkling of other classes when I used to play. So I am thinking about giving it another go with a druid type character but I am unsure what to play. Is the Warden a good solo type class or should I consider maybe playing a Fury? Will I be able to bring decent healing ability to groups if I happen to find a group while leveling? From some of the talk here it seems I will most likely be soloing my way as I level. I have seen talking of this merc hiring with the Age of Discovery expansion, should I go ahead and buy the expansion to give me another edge while leveling? I used to play both EQ1 and 2 and I loved playing the druid and warden. I loved the fact that I could do some healing in groups plus I could run around and kill stuff solo half decently. I would imagine after all these years that the game has changed a lot so it will all be new to me again. Also any additional infomation you guys want to throw in to give me a hand would be great. Thanks for your time!
If anything, Warden is even easier to solo than when you last played. Hiring a Merc tank or dirge would make it that much easier by enabling you to do some content you might not get to do solo, if you can't find a group for it. Mercs aren't perfect and have their weird quirks, but even the quirkiest merc is easier to deal with than a noob tank that won't taunt on the pull. Just keep your gear and spells current when you are leveling and you will easily be able to heal a group should (as you have said) you find one. The class is battered and wishing for a bit of Developer love and some fine tuning, but it's still one of the more fun healer classes to play, IMO.
Welcome back I've enjoyed playing a warden for the past 4yrs. While there are a couple of broken aa and some issues that could use attention. (totally agree with Arielle about needing Dev love) I think you'll have fun leveling up. We have decent heals for groups and can put out a good amount of dps at the same time. I have a couple of links that might help along the way. 1) The solo progression list : http://eq2.zam.com/wiki/Solo_Progression_(EQ2) That should help you with those "Ok , I've done all the quests I can find where do I go next?" moments. 2) Check out Rosavita's Great Warden thread on eq2flames for tips on aa, gear, runes, adornments, casting order etc : Click here to go to the EQ2Flames Warden info posts Things have changed since you were here, we no longer use Str or Int for dps , Wis is now our primary stat. More Wis = more dps. However, it does not effect our heals. That is left to potency, crit chance, crit bonus, ability mod etc BTW, a little word of caution on mercs, they do take their share of experience away from you and their share of plat from the chests (on top of their 'hourly fee' Other than that, they're pretty helpful lol Best wishes in all your adventures
Thank you for the responses and the links, I definitely look into it. I got my Warden started a little while ago and I'm level 8 so far. I see they did away with the base classes like it used to be when the game first started. I am thinking I will also wait on buying that expansion with the mercs. I figure if I need them I can get it later, 15 bucks for a month to pay is a lot better than 55 bucks and finding out I wasted money hehe.
Since you can play to 90 without it, you can wait without being hurt unless you get hooked on eq2 again and want the extra perks.
