As a returning player (from a 5 year break), this game is sooooo screwed up. I created a new character with another returning player and started leveling the normal way and it mostly felt normal. We were a bit OP but whatever. Then we got a merc.The merc instantly kills everything that we walk past. We don't do anything except walk run through a zone and then pickup loot. Which isn't really even a game. Then someone said to try something called Agnostic dungeons. So we queue for a random Agnostic (which aren't random at all it just keeps giving us Shard of Love until we unchecked it). Inside one of these dungeons we're doing millions of damage. We understand there's some level scaling happening but now instead of our mercs one shotting everything, it's us. Also, we're virtually immune to damage. Again, this doesn't even feel like a game. There is zero risk and nothing but endless "rewards". So we do a combination of these two activities until we hit 98. Then my buddy suggests we create our heroic characters. So I made a Fury and used the level 100 token. I organize my skills and head out to see what the class feels like. Back in High Keep (where my level 98 warlock's merc no longer instantly kills things) I'm excited to test this class out and get a feel for them... But at level 100 with the gear it gave me I'm doing hundreds of millions of damage with every cast. As a priest my auto attack one shots yellow heroic ^^^ mobs. What the hell is going on here? Why is this game so ****** up now? I want to play it and enjoy it but it's not even a game any more... Does DB just not care? Do they think a new/return player is so reluctant to be challenged that they removed ALL challenge completely? It's like playing tic-tac-toe with only one square and you always get to go first. I can't even try to play a new class because they one shot everything they look at... What has happened to my beloved game? I want to like this game so much, I'm passionate about it. I'm not here writing this post because I'm angry and want it to fail. I want this game to be awesome, but it's complete garbage. How did it get this out of control?
Ya some of the game is messed up, for me you are spot on with the agnostic dungeons queue. Always gives shard of love and if you do get a group folks immediately drop. Sometimes you get crypt of betrayal, which is a pl dungeon for folks < 85 but ya would be nice if that was reworked, same with The LFG dialog is also abandoned. So finding a group you use /lfg channel or join a guild and lfg in the guild channels. for the op merc stuff. Content < 100 you will typically blow through. Due to mechanics like resolve and potency obsoleting older content.
You could just take off some gear? Dunno. I have not played past the 50s yet. You could roleplay a beggar priest that only wears pants?
Low level merc is definitely messy with how OP mercs are, better off having them not attack and just be there for heals if you dont want that. There were many expansions between high keep and level 100, even though it's only a 5 level difference. The gear you got from the 100 boost is meant for the Plane of Magic zone.. you'll fit in much better there. As a returning player it's hard to know what gear is for what expansion in the 90s because we increased in power a lot but only gained a few levels.
Thanks for the thoughtful replies. I'll keep plugging away and hope I find the spark that kept me laying this game for the first 8 years of it's existence =) I do hope for the sake of the game that the devs are aware of how weird and messed up things have gotten. It's gonna be hard to keep new players like this.
At lvl 95 or 100 your merc will become weak compared to mobs. Then it'll mostly just try to keep you alive. At 110 it's you against the mob and the merc maybe curing you real quick so you don't die in 4 ticks of heavy curses and poisons, or healing you.
The game is tuned now more for higher level players and for faster leveling for lower levels so they can reach the harder content. Take your level 100 characters to Plane of Magic to start experiencing the difficulty you are looking for - your merc should not be OP there at level 100 and neither should you. When I hit Plane of Magic I found that I really had to start being mindful about gear, stats, AAs, ascension spells, rotation, etc. in order to succeed, and that continues with the Chaos Descending zones and hopefully in the new expansion.
As others have said. You are way over geared for the areas you are playing. If you want to play through those areas, I suggest you get appropriate MC or quest gear for those zones in order to experience it. If you want to use the new gear, the Plane of magic is where you need to be. And you'll be replacing that gear as fast as you can, lol.
You could also roll on Kaladim, which doesn't have mercs or as much stat bloat at low levels. Level 70 is the current cap, but you will find a little bit more challenging.
DB has replaced content with complexity. Nothing is easy anymore if you go up through the levels as you should. I just started a new account and my characters (except one) are leveling up the hard way as they are in the old areas we all loved so well when the game started. No one is giving them anything of superior value. What they get is what they earn. I am going up the hard way because there are things you are going to have to accomplished in order to do things at the higher levels. There are languages to learn, factions to get, etc. It is just as easy to level up doing these things as it is to go back and do them later piecemeal. I don't know if DB will ever again make us complete old content, before we can do new content, like they did with KA. But I wouldn't bet on it not happening even if it is just knowing a language such as orc or goblish. But levelling up, from 1, also helps you get familiar with how spells work (or don't work in some cases), what to expect from your merc, establish good faction, learn all the languages, etc. You won't find it nearly as easy to plow through old content as you are currently doing by being overpowered for the zone you are in.
^^^THIS. One hundred times this. Take the time to learn every learnable language (my good toons visit a sage NPC in Kelethin to get the language books, there's also one in Myrist... but some languages require a quest. Learn Draconic!) Review the wiki for the requirements for the Epic weapons and note the factions and prereqs there. You may not need to do every low level quest known to Norrath, but you might as well resign yourself to achieving max faction with whichever groups that you can, because inevitably a quest will come along later where you will have to have it.
Sigrdrifa is so right. There are many little, but time consuming, tasks that have to be done during lvls 1-100. Getting a level buff doesn't mean you are ready to jump right into lvl 100 (or 110) content. The buff helps you get through the lvls 1-100 content faster but the content needs to be done if you are serious about playing. If not, then you can just run around killing whatever you come across but don't expect to get much experience from it. Most high-level experience comes from completing quests and that sometimes require abilities or factions earned at lower levels. DB puts far more emphasis on questing than Sony did so it is hard to get around the crafty little time killers DB has planted in the game to slow players down. Many of these relate to, and involve, older content. So while you and your merc can run around one-shotting mobs by the hundreds it won't get you very far level wise. It's figuring out the quests, and doing them, that requires a lot of skill and dedication. This game isn't for the mentally challenged. The quests are often hard and complex. They require research and planning. These are all reasons why I used to recommend the game to parents who were having problems getting their bright kids to focus on something--even if it was a game. Being able to focus takes practice and this game demands a lot of focus. EQ2 may not have as many players, as other MMOGs, but that is because it requires a pretty high level of intelligence and skill to play it well. And as angry as some of us get, about certain aspects of the game, we keep coming back because there isn't another game out there that has such a high level of challenge. So follow Sigrdrifa's advice and work through the older content. It doesn't take that long and the effort will be well worth it when you start playing at the higher levels.
OP- Each expansion has a signature line to open up the more challenging zones . You have to do them to get to the challenging parts of the game.. it is set up this way I assume to cover all types of players. What is easy to you might be challenging to the next person type of thing. PoP is a breeze outside without a Mercenary. You have to do the signature line to open up the harder zones. Agnostic zones have been nerfed to death numerous times over the years. The only reason to be in them at 100 is to power level someone else and even then it's just so slow now, they can do it themselves.
Simple. Don't use a merc. I never use one unless I do a 3 star up boss and the game is lots of fun to level in. Remember, the original game and most of the expansions did not have mercs. They were a later addition in AOD or something. Came with the new expansion.
