Visions of Grandeur

Greetings all,

I'm a new player to this server, and very excited about the format. I don't have the time to hardcore raid/camp anymore but I miss the EQ experience - so a server like this that is tuned with players like me in mind is a wonderful idea! Many thanks to Control for the effort.

I played from the original release date in 1999 until roughly halfway through Velious [EMarr server]. As a result, I am really in the dark when it comes to the current UI, the current world, the new races/classes, and frankly how to even get to my first newbie area for some xp. I have some questions below that i'm hoping to get some help with, and my thanks in advance for your responses.

1. Client UI
Can anyone recommend a clean, efficient, general UI that is useful/compatible for this server? It would need to work for casters, hybrids, and melee classes.

2. Newbie Areas
Back in my day (gosh I feel old) new characters started in their respective capital cities. On this server I seem to be in a zone called Plane of Knowledge, which is new to me. I saw some other players using /say commands to travel, but I don't know the syntax, the destinations, if you need reagants, etc. Can anyone give me a resource or a crash course on where I should go first to level (if not my racial home city), and how to get there? I feel kinda silly asking this. :)

3. Starting Out
Similar to question #2 above, I seem to remember starting with a letter to my trainer in my inventory which resulted in some newbie gear and a few initial quests. I don't seem to have those types of starting items, but I do have "a mysterious staff", "a mysterious dagger", and some kind of clicky charm.
Are the newbie quests/trainer elements basically obsolete and moot at this point? Can someone point me in the right direction of how to make use of the items I started with?

4. 2-Boxing
I plan to be largely solo, and I have never used more than one client in my EQ career. However, it seems I might want to eventually make use of two clients on this server to tackle some medium-weight targets as I get leveled up. I am a total newbie to 2-boxing, can someone point me in the right direction of a guide? Is there some software that manages your client windows and simplifies some commands - or, do you just have 2 clients running, /follow a lot, and alt-tab a lot? :)

5. Class Choices
I thought about playing a Vah Shir Beastlord, because I've never played the race or class, and the description of the class in the EQ client sounded like it's a well-rounded solo class that can also help in a group. EQ class descriptions can be, well.. misleading though. :) Can someone weigh-in on how that class fares overall on this server as a solo character?
I also considered a shaman, as I've read that they can solo all sorts of ridiculous content after they get their epic clicky DoT. Still true? Do Mages and/or Necros still own the solo world? I don't really want to play a bard, as the constant click-fest of twisting would drive me insane.
I'd love your advice on what some powerful/reliable solo classes are for this server, and also what might be really effective duo combinations.

6. Other Advice
Any other advice that folks might want to offer me about what zones to level in (maybe a guide from 0-30ish?), what items/gear to specifically make use of at lower levels, or any other advice for a total and utter newbie to this server and these EQ expansions. :)

Thanks all! Can't wait to get grinding again and to re-live some of my old adventures.

Welcome to the server!!

Some thoughts.

1) The new UI since Velious has improved greatly. I Started in Velious on live and was so happy when Luclin came out. The UI is customizeable and can be easily configured.
2) Newbie areas on this server are a moot point really. Use the clicky charm in any lowbie dungeon and you will be lvl 10 in like 5 minutes. I start in befallen then move to Unrest and work my way to the basement.
The Plane of Knowledge(POK) was added with Planes of Power and connects many of the main towns in the game going backwords in expansions. There are books on pillars through out the zone that will transport you instantly accross the world. They are marked on the map (backspace key brings up the map)
Control and Fatal (GMs and absolutely awesome people) have added Trans-locate NPCs in the POK that will instantly send you to many dungeons and locations throughout the world also. This is for those of us who don't have a bunch of time to spend running across the world.
From the inventory screen there is a button for alternate advancement. At level one you have access to the Origin AA, which is a hotkey to send you back to your starting point(POK). Supper useful.
3) You can look up newbie armor quests on eqtraders.com but honestly the gear will be obsolete quick. There are merchants near the start point in Plane of Knowledge that sell armor and weapons to get you started. After that you should be able to hit lower named mobs in dungeons for better gear. The vendor next to the soul binder near the origin point sells free backpacks and potions.
4) I have not done much with boxing but 2 boxing with alt tab and such is doable. Many people on here us MarcoQuest2 (MQ2) which will automate some things for you with a little configuration. Again, don't know much about it but there are links to guides within these forums. Plus there are a lot of player willing to help you out.
5) Any class is soloable here and fun. Once you get to higher raid content and the Planes of Power progression you will need to box or get help. There are a ton of great people on this server will help you out. (Shout out to Slumber Party)
6) Just have fun. This is a great server and pretty easy to get rolling on. /ooc broadcasts server wide and people will help.
Advice: Get the Discord software on your phone or PC and get connenctted. Voice chat during grouping rocks and players who may not be online are able to help with questions via the text chat.

pphhhhewww...... fingers are cramping. Look me up in game if you need anything.

Manaen

jbhuss wrote:2) Use the clicky charm in any lowbie dungeon and you will be lvl 10 in like 5 minutes. I start in befallen then move to Unrest and work my way to the basement.
There are books on pillars through out the zone that will transport you instantly accross the world. They are marked on the map (backspace key brings up the map)
Control and Fatal have added Trans-locate NPCs in the POK that will instantly send you to many dungeons and locations throughout the world also. This is for those of us who don't have a bunch of time to spend running across the world.
From the inventory screen there is a button for alternate advancement. At level one you have access to the Origin AA, which is a hotkey to send you back to your starting point(POK). Super useful.
3) There are merchants near the start point in Plane of Knowledge that sell armor and weapons to get you started. After that you should be able to hit lower named mobs in dungeons for better gear. The vendor next to the soul binder near the origin point sells free backpacks and potions.

Wow, these are fantastic suggestions that I had no idea existed - thank you for this kind of info!
Will make starting out on this server MUCH easier.

Great answers jbhuss!

And I'm glad you're enjoying things Zhenya!

Zhenya wrote:1. Client UI
Can anyone recommend a clean, efficient, general UI that is useful/compatible for this server? It would need to work for casters, hybrids, and melee classes.

It's possible to google up some ui's, just make sure they're ROF2 compatible. However, I've tried a few and could never find any that I thought actually worked better than the default UI once you move things around and tweak them as you like. Don't remember what the state of the UI was in Velious, but what makes the biggest difference imo, is that you can have as many chat windows as you want and can filter them in different ways. i.e. guild/group chat in one window, world spam in another, your hits into another, enemy hits into another etc. You can also change the background color of the windows and the text size. I can't stand to play without bigger chat text and solid black chat backgrounds.

Zhenya wrote:2. Newbie Areas
Back in my day (gosh I feel old) new characters started in their respective capital cities. On this server I seem to be in a zone called Plane of Knowledge, which is new to me. I saw some other players using /say commands to travel, but I don't know the syntax, the destinations, if you need reagants, etc. Can anyone give me a resource or a crash course on where I should go first to level (if not my racial home city), and how to get there? I feel kinda silly asking this. :)

So you start out in PoK with a bunch of NPCs in front of you, and any of them with a "Translocator" name will port you to places. You don't need to type anything, just hail them, and they'll /tell you a list of destinations. You just click on the place you'd like to go.

Zhenya wrote:3. Starting Out
Similar to question #2 above, I seem to remember starting with a letter to my trainer in my inventory which resulted in some newbie gear and a few initial quests. I don't seem to have those types of starting items, but I do have "a mysterious staff", "a mysterious dagger", and some kind of clicky charm.
Are the newbie quests/trainer elements basically obsolete and moot at this point? Can someone point me in the right direction of how to make use of the items I started with?

the staff/dagger will get better as you level, so they keep your melee from being useless if you don't run across a reasonable weapon.
Also, Peras, the general goods vendor, has free potions, backpacks and such.

Zhenya wrote:4. 2-Boxing
I plan to be largely solo, and I have never used more than one client in my EQ career. However, it seems I might want to eventually make use of two clients on this server to tackle some medium-weight targets as I get leveled up. I am a total newbie to 2-boxing, can someone point me in the right direction of a guide? Is there some software that manages your client windows and simplifies some commands - or, do you just have 2 clients running, /follow a lot, and alt-tab a lot? :)

I box a lot and use MQ2, but tbh, I don't use 97% of what it does. I also boxed extensively on live without it. It's pretty easy to box with alt-tabbing, especially if your 2nd is a support class. Ease back into things before poking MQ2. It adds a lot of complexity, and really, you'll still be alt-tabbing constantly anyway.

Zhenya wrote:5. Class Choices
I thought about playing a Vah Shir Beastlord, because I've never played the race or class, and the description of the class in the EQ client sounded like it's a well-rounded solo class that can also help in a group. EQ class descriptions can be, well.. misleading though. :) Can someone weigh-in on how that class fares overall on this server as a solo character?
I also considered a shaman, as I've read that they can solo all sorts of ridiculous content after they get their epic clicky DoT. Still true? Do Mages and/or Necros still own the solo world? I don't really want to play a bard, as the constant click-fest of twisting would drive me insane.
I'd love your advice on what some powerful/reliable solo classes are for this server, and also what might be really effective duo combinations.

Bst is a fantastic solo/duo class, mained one on live for a long time! Can tank well enough for xp groups, great pet which can also tank pretty well, can slow, buff, mana regen, great aggro, good dps. Soloing is probably pretty much the same here as it was on live, BUT mana/health regen is like 33% per tick out of combat, so you are ready to fight again very fast.

Zhenya wrote:6. Other Advice
Any other advice that folks might want to offer me about what zones to level in (maybe a guide from 0-30ish?), what items/gear to specifically make use of at lower levels, or any other advice for a total and utter newbie to this server and these EQ expansions. :)

Thanks all! Can't wait to get grinding again and to re-live some of my old adventures.

Lots of different possibilities for leveling of course (most old zones are still the same as when you played, though some have changed... and usually for the worse). I usually port to lavastorm to start (you might die a time or two, but no death penalty, and no corpse retrieval here), then sola, solb, chardok/seb, veksar/droga. That will get you 60+ and then you can pretty much go anywhere and level up while killing for some gear. You don't really need to worry much about gear until then. Just pick up whatever you happen to kill while leveling.