What NOT To Wear, Norrath Edition

[Manatee]

If ever there was a "part time" adventurer, I would be it. I've been a
subscriber since the year EQ launched, but I've never managed to play in
anything but spurts with large gaps in between. While others got
"uber", I simply crawled along. I was reading this newsgroup when it
took nearly an hour each night just to read the threads that interested
me. My intermittent play style has left me in a state of having
forgotten much more about EQ than I currently know. And I have not kept
up with all that the newest expansions have to offer. As a result, I
have what may be considered an odd, and perhaps backward set of equipment.

In the spirit of helping my crew of fashion victims, I ask those
adventurers who still stop by this newsgroup for some desperate help.
With only about 10k in the shared bank, and a playstyle that isn't
conducive to raiding or even a lot of what players today would consider
adequate grouping, how can I best address any deficiencies in these
fellows' gear?

THE FASHION VICTIMS:

Okosar
Male Gnome Enchanter
Level 55
Profile URL : http://eq.magelo.com/profile/1367187

Okosar is the oldest fellow I regularly play. I thought he was on the
way to being a sharp dresser, but I woke up one day after he won his
Grandmaster jewellcrafting trophy after much work to max it out at 250,
only to discover that he'd been demoted as the level cap raised. A trip
over to the Trader's Corner to see what he'd have to do revealed to me
that to really be considered a tradeskiller, you have to have 300 in all
tradeskills (2100 Club?). Is that even possible without getting the AA
skill? Speaking of AA's, Okosar was so distraught at the tradeskilling
setback and the very slow leveling after hitting 52, that he never
earned any. He has the veteran rewards. This little Gnome needs some
direction.
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Saurthos
Male Iksar Shaman
Level 33
Member of <Triumvirate of Hate>
Profile URL : http://eq.magelo.com/profile/1367188

Saurthos has been hitting the hotzones, and he loves it. Iksars have
very specific fashion needs, though, as much of the gear available seems
to rub his scales the wrong way. I have a feeling he's going to go on a
growth spurt soon, but I'm sure his wardrobe isn't up to the task. This
Iksar needs some soloing gear.
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Zeyos
Male Vah Shir Warrior
Level 28
Profile URL : http://eq.magelo.com/profile/1367190

Zeyos has been partner to a shaman since they were both kittens.
However, his feline friend has become an even more sporadic player than
I. At one time, a long time ago, a rich benefactor retired and willed
Zeyos some higher end warrior items (Zeyos didn't even ask "CIHYS?" -
begging has never been our way). Because of this, he might be okay in
gear, but a lot has passed since then, and some other caster friends are
nearing his level, so he might have some new partners to tank for soon.
This Vah Shir needs to be ready for them (and a potential "regular"
group).
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Asiphlan
Male Erudite Paladin
Level 26
Profile URL : http://eq.magelo.com/profile/1367191

Probably the oddest character I've taken under my wing, he's the most
obvious example of my penchant for making unusual race-class
combinations. Not only is this Erudite indeed a paladin, he's not a
Prexus Deepwater Knight one, he's a follower of Quellious. He has an
odd collection of things from the time he's spent in the bazaar selling
my old odds and ends. He's also in that mid-twenty "sweet spot" where a
couple of my RL friends have characters nearing, so his grouping time
may be on the rise very soon. This Erudite needs to be the best
"tank-like" character a hybrid can be.
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Amphar
Male Froglok Cleric
Level 25
Profile URL : http://eq.magelo.com/profile/1367192

My new favorite, this guy's been hanging out with casters too much.
He's served as a tank for his 20's, and probably will for awhile longer
as his best friend seems to be a wizard. Still, this "Battle Cleric"
would like to start acquiring things that might allow him to expand more
in the traditional cleric way at some point in the future. This Froglok
needs to grow.
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Caedwin
Male Human Bard
Level 27
(no Magelo profile)

My original character is probably the worst dressed. *No magical
instruments* and only a couple of Lambent pieces along with a couple of
cold iron pieces. Want to start playing him again, after I learned
about the "melody" command in the FAQ. This human wants to be a REAL BARD.
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If one of these oddballs happens to share your class, any easy to get
upgrade advice would definitely be appreciated. Feel free to tear into
their gear, they won't cry...I think. Well, they might, but after their
makeovers, they'll thank you. I thank you in advance.

[Prelgor]

Hehe.. I'll do what I can to help you, dahling. :)

Post by Manatee
Okosar
Male Gnome Enchanter
Level 55
Profile URL :http://eq.magelo.com/profile/1367187

I see from your magelo that you've already discovered the armor quests
in Gorukar Mesa. You still don't have the best pieces, the legs and
robe. The legs are difficult, but mostly because of waiting for
Fantoma to finally spawn. By contrast, people seem to always be
killing the bears, and it's easier to find the named bear for the
robe. The named bear is a tough fight, particularly because of the
DoT proc. My 55 druid had little trouble, since druid soloing is a
non-contact sport.

My 52 enchanter got creamed until I discovered a trick. Remember
those charm spells? No, don't charm the bear. See those "agitated
skeletons" wandering around, right near Scout Madu? Yep, level 51
skeletons wandering among mid-40's mobs. What's great about these
skeletons is that, like spectres, they move naturally at snared
speed. See where I'm going? Yep, charm a skeleton, and it will mow
through any mob in that end of the zone. The best part is, on a charm
break, you only have to run away from your target (which you've
hopefully rooted anyway). The perma-snared skeleton gives you lots of
time to run away and safely re-charm, even if you've made it a hasted,
dual wielding buzzsaw of doom. This makes charm soloing so easy, it
almost feels like cheating. :) Oh, a hasted, dual wielding skeleton
should be able to take out Fantoma with minimal help (slow) and the
named bear (Ursulua?) with substantial help from you (slow, nukes,
rune, etc.). Berserker Strength, a level 47 rune with no gem
component, is a beautiful thing for cheaply adding extra resilience to
your pet.

At this level, you should be able to get quite far on the Charm of
Lore quests out of Crescent Reach. With enough pieces, this becomes
unquestionably better than the Kobold Skull charm. At level 52,
you're right at the threshold of being able to get that many pieces
easily. Also check out the Slipgear's Gem quests in DoDh. You can
adopt a level 5 goblin rogue shroud and easily hit all of the
locations in 4 out of 5 zones (except the Hive) with no danger. This
will give you +10 to all stats and some AC and HP (+15, if you can
finish the Hive part too; this is harder since a few mobs there see
invis, and there are some webs that strip invis/hide in the tunnels).
I recommend taking 2-3 SoW and levitation potions to make the run more
bearable. I haven't yet run the TSS equivalent quests, so I don't
know how they compare.

Post by Manatee
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Caedwin
Male Human Bard
Level 27
(no Magelo profile)
My original character is probably the worst dressed. *No magical
instruments* and only a couple of Lambent pieces along with a couple of
cold iron pieces. Want to start playing him again, after I learned
about the "melody" command in the FAQ. This human wants to be a REAL BARD.

Check out the armor quests in Blightfire Moors. You can probably pick
up the patterns and needed drops for a song in either the Bazaar or
even buyback from area merchants! In particular, look for the helm
pattern. While the stats aren't anything special, the helm also has a
Wind instrument mod! OK, it's not about how good the mod is, but that
it has one at all! Several songs (invisibility, charm) simply won't
work without *some* kind of wind instrument, and this is the easiest
way I know of to get a Wind mod on your gear. This lets you, say,
turn invisible without the hassle of swapping in a flute every time.
I believe other pieces also have other instrument mods, although I
don't recall specifics. I make no pretense of being other than a
flaky, fair-weather bard, so you can discount this if avoiding
instrument swapping is too soft for you. :)

Your other low level characters will probably also appreciate the
Blightfire gear. Lots of yummy effects abound (e.g. Spell Haste, Mana
Regen, etc.). If you don't have better, do the quest from the
Crescent Reach blacksmith for the 75% WR bag. There is a repeatable
quest in Blightfire to kill witchlamps (aka TSS willowisps) for a
modest clarity potion (5 mana/tick or so).

The classic advice for newbie bard instruments is to run to Katta
Castellum (on Luclin, not the newest expansion) and buy some Combine
instruments. They're a bit pricier than the run-of-the-mill vendor
instruments (~100 plat, as I recall), but the mods are around 10%
better. If you're patient, you can hunt some goblins in Warslik's
Wood for a Tambourine of Rituals.

Good luck!

- Prelgor

[Manatee]

Post by Prelgor
Hehe.. I'll do what I can to help you, dahling. :)

Post by Manatee
Okosar
Male Gnome Enchanter
Level 55
Profile URL :http://eq.magelo.com/profile/1367187

<snip>

Post by Prelgor
See where I'm going? Yep, charm a skeleton, and it will mow
through any mob in that end of the zone.

What great advice! I had been using Berserker, Rune, and Haste on my
Animation, with slow and nukes on the monster, which works on everything
around there *except* Urusula, who sent me to the zoneline with
double-digit hit points (I have yet to see Fantoma). I hadn't thought
of using the skeletons there, figuring I'd just have to gain a couple of
levels and try again.

Post by Prelgor
At this level, you should be able to get quite far on the Charm of
Lore quests out of Crescent Reach. With enough pieces, this becomes
unquestionably better than the Kobold Skull charm. At level 52,
you're right at the threshold of being able to get that many pieces
easily. Also check out the Slipgear's Gem quests in DoDh. You can
adopt a level 5 goblin rogue shroud and easily hit all of the
locations in 4 out of 5 zones (except the Hive) with no danger. This
will give you +10 to all stats and some AC and HP (+15, if you can
finish the Hive part too; this is harder since a few mobs there see
invis, and there are some webs that strip invis/hide in the tunnels).
I recommend taking 2-3 SoW and levitation potions to make the run more
bearable. I haven't yet run the TSS equivalent quests, so I don't
know how they compare.

I hadn't found these quests yet. Thanks very much for the tip!

By the way, I've also started doing some of the hotzone watchmaker
quests. The rewards seem to pretty much always be upgrades to what I
have at the appropriate level of the hotzone.

I'm also making some plans to get started on your bard and general
twenty-thirty-something hybrid class goodies you spoke of in Blightfire.
As for the Katta instruments, I've been there a couple times with
Okosar, but Fungus Grove is one scary zone. Is that the best way to get
there, or is there a safer way for lower levels to make it?

Anyway, Prelgor, you are very knowledgeable and if I could hire you as
my personal "stylist", I would. You've helped get my oddly-equipped
crew back on track again, and I am very grateful. If you're on Prexus,
let me teach you some languages or something (do people still learn
those these days?).

Take care and safe travels!

[Prelgor]

Post by Manatee
By the way, I've also started doing some of the hotzone watchmaker
quests. The rewards seem to pretty much always be upgrades to what I
have at the appropriate level of the hotzone.

These are indeed quite nice. Not only are my alts enjoying them, they
also give a bit of purpose to liven up the grind. I'd love to see
more quests like this added. Don't forget to keep your eyes peeled
for the augment drops!

Also, all of the past hotzones still have their special drops, just
not the XP boost any longer. Even if you can't use the drop, they
often sell well to vendors. In the previous round of hotzones
(Grieg's End, Old Sebilis, Chardok, etc.) any mob in the zone had a
very small chance (1%-ish?) to morph into an "unmasked changeling" at
50% HP and drop an aug. These tended to alternate between either
+mana/end or +HP augs, with a few exceptions. If you are lacking
augments, this is a cheap way to get some at low levels. Even Kurn's
Tower can give you (AC:+2, HP:+5). :) The cost, of course, is the low
drop rate.

Post by Manatee
I'm also making some plans to get started on your bard and general
twenty-thirty-something hybrid class goodies you spoke of in Blightfire.
As for the Katta instruments, I've been there a couple times with
Okosar, but Fungus Grove is one scary zone. Is that the best way to get
there, or is there a safer way for lower levels to make it?

All classes have yummy armor from Blightfire, not just hybrids.
Warriors get effects like Attack and HP Regen, and Shaman get focus
effects (Spell Haste, etc.) and Mana Regen, for example. I suggest
looking it over and deciding which pieces you want for which
character. My iksar necromancer would have loved the boots with mana
regen, but I can't realistically acquire Burning Affliction II on
anything other than Kobold Hide Boots (the common BA2 bracer from
Lower Guk is not iksar wearable).

I've never yet made the run through Fungus Grove. That's a quick
teleport to Twilight Sea, but I usually go the other way. PoK book to
Shadeweaver's Thicket, through Shar Vahl, Hollowshade Moor, and into
Grimling Forest. You won't meet anything nastier than mid-20's or so,
so far. Past the outpost in Grimling Forest, just run invisibly to
the zoneline to Tenebrous Mountains. There are a few mobs in
Tenebrous that see invis, so this is a bit dicier. With invis, a bit
of care, and a run speed buff you should make it through OK. Two
cautions: Katta Castellum does NOT like dark races. (On the other
hand, my troll loved hunting guards here, once upon a time...) Also,
levitation does not work in Katta Castellum. That means, when you see
the long ramp leading down to the bank area, and are tempted to
blindly levitate and float down, you will go splat. (I think levitate
spells will be dispelled on entry and be unable to complete casting,
but I forget.) Just carefully follow the path down/up. As a bonus,
I've frequently found the grimling runner (for the Rallic Pack drop)
in Tenebrous not only uncamped, but on Track. Bring his drop to KC,
hand it to Rallic, and you can either finish crafting the pack or sell
the pattern. Heck, I'd recommend hunting the western grimling cave in
Tenebrous to anyone around 39-42 or so - nice money, a shot at the
runner, albeit an empty zone. Anyway, you can decide if this route
sounds like more or less hassle than via Fungus Grove.

Good hunting!

- Prelgor