Hanging out in Tunaria, even the fire comes to life to talk to you

Alright, you’ll have to forgive my title for today, it was the first thing that came to mind, I’m sure it will be recognized. Anyhow, last night was Deathtoll. I’d never done DT on Dasie before ever, nor had I done it with The Inquisition (my guild going on.. three weeks now I think, I keep losing track). Plus it was my third raid as an inquisitor. I was a little worried about how her saves would be vs. cold and heat (those eyeballs are nasty) but she was in the MT group, and did just fine. Our typical templars all decided to go on vacation at the same time, so I was moved to MT group. Not a big deal, after all healing is healing, right? We had one wipe on Tarinax at the end which wasn’t really a wipe but someone had oodles of pets out calling oodles of adds on us as each one died (sighs) so we rez’d up and tried agian. Now, I always mention that each guild does things differently and Tarinax (and DT in general) is no exception. Everyone stands different places, pulls differently, some guilds mez the adds that spawn if someone dies, and some guilds (like I found out yesterday) just wack through the mobs and don’t bother mez’ing. They all work, just different ways of doing it, so of course I’m still in a process of learning the guilds quirks. I think I’ve done pretty much everything with them now raid-wise at least. I spend my evenings helping to level up some bards and warlocks along with the main tank, playing my healers typically. It’s good practice for me, to learn how much the tank can handle and where that “emergency” line is so to speak. To know how much they can handle before they’ll go down. I really do think it’s important to group up and learn how your guild members work.

Aside from the raid, I decided it was about time I did the Sword of Destiny quest chain with at least ONE of my characters. I picked the one I’m actually raiding on since the last chapter is going to involve a new raid zone in New Tunaria (Felwithe) and I’d like her to at least have a chance at completing it. Now, I’ve done the long chains of quests out there. Dasie has her Prismatic 1.0, Arysh has her Godking (Prismatic 2.0) and her Claymore (3.0 pretty much) and this quest was one of the most annoying quests I’ve ever had the pleasure of completing. Not because it’s difficult (though parts of it are) but because it requires a LOT of running around to a LOT of different zones. 47 or so zones in fact. I won’t get into too much of the lore behind the Soulfire (which is the sword) because I don’t want to ruin it for the junkies out there (chances are they’ve already completed this quest when it was first released a few months back) but be sure to read the text and books you get. Very well done. Of course, the main reason I completed it:

A wonderful statue house item, that give 300 rent reduction. Anything is worth having a new semi-rare house item added to my collection. Beside it is the spire replica from the live event a few months back. So, that’s one more quest under Dasie’s belt. There’s so many wonderful quests in this game and I really wish I had experienced more of them, though I’m hoping with time I’ll get a chance to. With RoK just a few months away now and the level cap raising to 80, now is the time to experience some of the older content before it becomes REALLY old. As I made my way through both the Qeynos and Freeport sewers, I didn’t run into a single soul. There are plenty of quests and mobs still in those zones, and yet they’re barely used. I miss stuff like that. I used to remember doing my quest to become a cleric at level 10, and needing those sewers and barely being able to find the mobs I needed because of the others in there doing the same quest. Ah the good ‘ol days.

As a side note, a huge thank you to both Dalthar and Shadowgeist, who helped me run around collecting the 50 statues. It was nice not to have to do all of unrest just for that one update, and Acada was a breeze. Kaladim didn’t like me or Dalthar very much, but at least we got a master out of the deal!

Qutey hit level 18 this morning, and 127 quests completed before I logged out in preparation for the newest GU (game update) today. I find that even with combat experience turned off, she levels quite fast. Not a bad thing, but not exactly a good thing either since I’m trying to complete a number of quests before they turn grey to her. As you can see by the list, she’s really not delved out too far, besides the smaller towns, the sewers and Antonica. There are still a huge number of zones and quests that I’ve skipped along the way already. I’m considering going back for them though, some were just far too frustrating to want to complete.

I do plan on making an evil fae (I know I know that’s not what they’re really called) today. However, I also know there will be a million other people making their evil fae and running around Neriak, so as I’ve stated a few times, I’ll create the character and then play someone else, I’ve got no desire at all to wander around with a bunch of others all trying to kill the same mobs and level at the same time. I’m thinking of moving Misako to Neriak depending on what the city is like and the housing. I do believe that they were supposed to implement a citizenship quest much like the one from Qeynos / Kelethin. I suppose I’ll look into it another time.

Another thing I really like about having my combat experience turned off is that my vitality does not go down at all. So I can quest away and then if at a later time I want to grind off a level, I’ll have the vitality to be able to do that. At level 20 I also have my armor quests, which they’ve downgraded to all be solo quests. I’m looking forward to that as it’s one of the main reasons I made my fae monk. I’ve been collecting “Gi” for my monk to wear. They start with one white one initially, and there is a quest in the Forest Ruins that rewards another white one. I know the level 30 player crafted DFC gear is also a dark red Gi. There’s also the raid set that’s fabled, and very pretty (which I know my little Qutey will never obtain) and a purple set. The armor quests at level 20 is a light yellow if I remember correctly. I really like the look of them (and leather in general) so that’s what I’ll outfit her in. I know it would probably be handier to outfit her in the T3 rare leather armor, but I’ll save that for the slots that AQ’s don’t cover, as well as her weapons.

Only.. 2 more hours of down time to go! *twitches*

Hmms some tunnel laborers traveling through the commonlands, they must be helping with Neriak

Misako frowned at the Ratonga who clung to her side. This was not exactly how she envisioned her day.

“Stop bouncing!” She hissed.

“I’m sorries Missums Misa!” Squeeled the little mouse, as she tried to control her hopping, “It has been so very long those! You knows that Missums!”

Misako sighed, Goudia had a point, it had been quite some time. Not since the ratonga had betrayed and became an exile had Misako needed her help or called upon her. There was much that needed to be done though.

So what have I been up to? Today’s a fairly exciting and busy day. Not due to anything in particular, but a number of smaller things. Number one, my characters are settling in yet another server. So that was me moving from Lucan D’Lere, to Kithicor, to Antonia Bayle. Why the move (again)? Easy, the community and atmosphere. The guild mates who had moved along with me did not like Kithicor. I can’t blame them, the 60-69 was a bit more then I could handle at times. I’m used to drama, but people were down right mean at times. I also missed the role play aspect that I could involve myself in on LDL. AB’s rp community is far larger, and I’m looking forward to it.

So Torrent Knights has reformed on AB. We’re actively recruiting, and hoping to form either an alliance with another raid guild, or even if people find their own new homes that’s fine as well. In the mean time, we’re working on leveling the guild. I did not complete a single heritage quest on Misako, and Goudia (previously known as Gouda, she had to be renamed), has only done one. With the former TK at level 60 there was no point to it, and alts were not allowed in the guild anyhow. So holding off on all of those heritage quests was a great thing. I finished off the greater lightstone early this morning, and also finished off Foomby’s stolen goods. Next I’m working on the Fishbone earring, and the guise of the deceiver. I’m doing them both with Misako and Goudia, in the hopes of pushing the guild towards level 10, we’re currently sitting at level 3. I love having a goal like this in game, while I make new friends and accomplish new goals. It revitalizes me.

Any ideas? One hint.. Rat Queen.

I spent the weekend relaxing before the server transfers go live (which I think will start on Tuesday now, since the EU PvP server merge is a 24 hour ordeal). I took everything out of my shared banks so that it wouldn’t get left behind, removed all my items from broker including the containers, and made sure my characters actually physically own everything in their respective homes, incase anything got lost along the way. I’ve had some issues moving once before and losing a few small house items, so I took care this time around. I’m hoping the move goes smooth. I did join a nice Labs raid, it went well, no wipes.

I also worked a bit on the new library and lore section of the site. It’s something I’ve had in the past, typed out the tomes collected in my library by hand for others to read, also describing where the book came from. Blame my obsession with house items. So once the raids were done, and my banks cleaned, I worked on book quests.

There are three type of book quests really. There are ones that are sold by merchants. The Sage located in the mage towers for Qeynos and Freeport, then there are also mob dropped ones. These ones are the most annoying for me, as I’ve pretty much out-leveled any place that has these drop. Examples would be Obelisk of Lost Souls, where there are at least 7 mob-dropped-only book quests, I tried farming as many as I could with the defiler, she has six on the go now I believe. There are also collection books, where you can find the pages scattered across Norrath, they can drop from mobs as body drops or they can be found on the ground as pages fluttering in the wind, marked by a shiny explanation mark. These ones are just as annoying, as you’ve no idea where to search for the specific pages that you need. My favorite by far are the ones sold by the sages. They’re interesting stories and send you all over the place. I wish that each side could complete the tomes, but since the sage in Freeport won’t talk to my Qeynosians and vice versa, I’ve betrayed characters just so that they could obtain books on both sides.

There are a LOT of book quests out there. I am missing so many of them, it’s sort of an inspiration for me to try to gather more, keeps me motivated. On the down side, I did not play the defiler at all this weekend (though maybe that is a blessing?) and saved up her vitality. I logged her in to make a set of tailored gear for a stranger (who was new to the server, I also gave them a plat to play around with) and that was about it. I need to do more farming for her at some point or another as she’s low on T5 stuff.

Other then that, things are quiet. Look for an rp-related post later in the day hopefully!

** Edit ** News about the transfers here! Looking forward to this.

Stargrace, sporting her new warg, which I’ve named Spit. For obvious reasons.

The new update went in yesterday with very little issues at all. I headed to Loping Plains (along with the majority of the server) and did the quests for the new wargs. Easy, simple, fast quests that paid some coin and a lot of ap experience. I did the quest on all three level 70’s, and I’ll head there and do it with the rest once they hit 55 (which is the lowest level you can be to get the quest). All you do is run around close to Somborn and charm three types of warg, you can complete it in less then five minutes. The wargs cost 5p each, and are 45% speed. So they’re slighty faster then the free carpet you can quest for, but slower then the guild level 60 mounts (which also cost status, and 14p each). There was a note on the forums stating these will not be the last wargs you see, nor the fastest. More will come.

They’re… interesting. The run graphic seems to be a bit off for my liking. They also drool. A lot. I do like the jump graphic. I decided to trade in my two 50% mounts and purchase this new warg, saving myself 5p on the return of my old mount, as well as getting the status back. Not that I need status for anything, but it’s always nice to have a little extra coin in my pocket.

Misako got level 54… I quested a little, and decided to do Hidden Cache with a friend. She also almost hit 52 ap, I’m heading down the int line for some nice debuffs.

With the new update yesterday was also a better chance for useful items to drop on your instance runs. Some people were complaining, because it does not seem to be 100% chance for a useful item to drop. More like 90% chance. I did Obelisk of Blight, where shadowknight boots dropped (and the tank was a shadowknight from guild who could use them, thankfully) and I also did Valdoons, where ranger forearms dropped, and low and behold, we had a ranger in the group who could use them. I had Dasie tag along on all these runs in the hopes that a piece of templar gear would drop… of course it didn’t happen that way but oh well I’ll just have to keep trying. I’m looking forward to being able to bring the defiler on these adventures.

Misako, sporting her new cobalt armor and a matching spear and buckler set

I slacked with the defiler, I admit. I leveled her to 52 wearing level 20 gear. I did upgrade her spells and she has adept1 of everything, made adept3 of everything important (which so far has been nothing except her 52 ancient teaching’s spell). I used her as a heal / buff bot and some dps with her doggy, but she rarely quested or did anything more. I didn’t join groups outside of my guild specifically because there’s no way she’d have the capabilities to keep up a “regular” player in her icky gear. So when she hit 52, I decided to go all out, and get her geared up incase opportunity ever arose that I actually wanted to, you know, PLAY her.

So I splurged, and spent about 11p. It was well worth it though. I bought 7 cobalt clusters and had a friend make me a full set of brigandine armor (which has +12 stam / int / wis) leaving them with a 2p tip for their prompt service. Then I bought 8 pearls, and made myself earrings, bracelets, rings, a necklace, made myself a belt with a scaled pelt, as well as a tome for ranged. Bought a cobalt spear for 1p50g since I don’t know any weaponsmiths, and made myself an imbued ironwood buckler with one I had sitting in the bank. Also bought her some level 50 food and drink, even though I have a provisioner, I had no supplies and wasn’t really in the mood to craft. Besides, what’s the point of even having money in game if I never spend it. My three level 70’s don’t need any masters any more, and their gear is no-trade stuff from raids and instances. There’s nothing to shop for.

I spent the day working quests in sinking sands and wondering why I had put off questing with her for so long. Probably because boxing two characters through quests is not actually something I enjoy. Especially because I box on one computer with one monitor. So I have to constantly toggle back and forth between characters while questing, checking for updates and seeing which part I’m on next and what I need, etc. I use the defiler screen far less, since I pay the most attention to the tank character. I managed to get almost 51 ap, and she’s 66% into her level from those solo sinking sands chains of quests. I also intend on getting her started on her godking weapon (which really is still the best weapon non-raid obtained for a healer) and I traveled to West Freeport and picked up the starter to Claymore which is how I figure I’ll grind her through the 60’s. She still needs to do the druzaic language quest, as well as pick up to speak as a dragon, but those can wait. I’m also looking forward to hitting 55, means she can group with level 70’s and get quest credit, even if the mobs are grey’d out, that doesn’t bother me so much. She’ll also get ap for the names killed.

Hoping to take her through Hidden Cache today in Sinking Sands. I did the Tomb of Dust in the Clefs of Rujark yesterday, three named and a bunch of discovery, nothing interesting dropped but that’s fine. Still eager to get her out of the 50’s and into the 60’s! When I was solo’ing the quests yesterday I realized just how much fun the defiler really is. Granted, I say that about every single one of my characters, I enjoy playing them so much.

While wandering through Maj’Dul for discovery experience, Misako ran smack into this gorgeous creature, Siyamak - level 65×4

I had no idea what I felt like doing last night, but knew plenty of things that I didn’t feel like doing. A lot of my friends online were doing their weekend raid thing (sighs, still going through my raid withdrawl!) and I found myself with a few hours to fill and nothing to fill it with. Eyeballing my defiler, who was 4% into her level with very little vitality left, I decided I would try to run around the DoF zones and see if I could not get enough discovery from places to ding. I didn’t actually think I’d manage a full level worth of discovery to hit level 50, but I was wrong.

I grabbed some invis totems (curtsey of my woodworker) and headed to sinking sands. She’d never even step foot into any of the DoF content before, having spent the past week grinding her contently in Obelisk of Lost Souls (which she still has some book quests for to complete some time). Thankfully, almost nothing saw through her invis. It was a bit of a slow run, since you get no movement enchantments as you’re running around stealthed, but it was a lot of fun none the less. Doing that one zone netted her to 37% through her level and I’d yet to touch a mob. I headed to clefs of rujark, a favorite zone of mine for the lower 50’s (until it was swarmed by bots, go figure) and netted a little more. Headed to living tombs, and noticed I was approaching 70% experience. I’d also gotten myself two ap’s from all of the discovery, sitting myself at 41 which I just find amusing. My first character in the game (Dasie, my templar) only has 55 ap, and she’s done so much more then Misako who’s barely even lifted a finger to quest in her short life. After Living Tombs I headed to Maj’Dul and then to finish off the level in Pillars of Flame, part way through my discovery adventure hit 50.

Now the real fun starts. I absolutely hate the grind from 50-59. It seems to take forever, the slowest of all the tiers and I’m not even really sure why. Does anyone else seem to have this issue?

As I was making my way through Maj’Dul, I came across the pretty in the screen shot above, Siyamak. They’re used in the quest “Capturing Night and Day” (that one being the silver dragon of course) and are spawned in the area with the beggars by using a silver dragon scale that you can get as a very rare drop from the Keeper in Poets Palace. There’s also a gold version of this beauty (also used in the quest) they’re epicx4’s and level 65. It’s so rare to see anyone doing the chain of quests these days though. No one happened to be around when I walked right into this beat, so I assume someone spawned them and then either decided they couldn’t handle it alone, or a raid may have come in and wiped or something. Either way, it was a very pretty screen shot to take, and I’m glad my defiler hit level 50. I figure I’ll get her two more levels, sitting her at 52, and then upgrade her gear. Since I’ve been playing her with a level 70 mentored… she has level 20 gear. Thankfully I don’t typically group up with her, she’s just used for heals and debuffs. I’d be embarrassed trying to keep a group up with the gear she has on currently.

Sure, they’ve removed that access quest that was needed, but quests are still fun.. right?

Quite a few updates ago, the access quest to the first floor of the Obelisk of Lost Souls was removed - by means of the Feerrott portal. However, if you die, you get stuck outside of the tower, and you’ll still be locked out. So it’s not *really* removed. I decided since the zone has been relatively bot-free in the early hours when I’m wandering around, it would be beneficial to finish off those access quests. I’d already finished the one that allows you to wander the bottom floor (which is still a tad bit above my defiler’s level so I’ve been holding off on that floor) and started on the outter access first thing. It helps that I have four book quests that also use some of the mobs outside in order to complete it (yawns.. 30 nightblood sentries are annoying to kill, but at least they’re gren!) and it’s been going fairly well. I’m still waiting on Soul Harvester Kul, as pictured above. Four clearings of his place holders and no sign of him yet.

Things have changed a lot since the first time I attempted this quest with my templar, almost a year and a half ago. I remember spending the entire day just working on the outter access quest. It was a huge deal because you needed into the place for “To Speak as a Dragon”, which was used in prismatic 1.0 and “the in thing” to be working on. I was exceptionally proud when I finally completed access on her with my good friends Albrta and Eyenstein.

So where am I headed to once I’ve completed my OoLS access quests? I’m not quite sure yet. I’m very eager to get the defiler to T6 and level 50+ although those are my most dreaded levels. They always seem to take forever, no matter if I am a crafter or an adventurer. I’m thinking of working some court faction though, and completing DoF quests like Godking and other things I have not touched in quite some time. It should be fun none the less and I’m actually looking forward to it. I am not grinding away needlessly, nor am I in such a rush that I can’t enjoy things. Also looking forward to posting more house screen shots, of my own home this time. Maybe I can pick up a few odd jobs decorating!

I’m one of those people who just love stats and charts and organizing all of my characters. I figured I’d check out how often / much I quest on each one. I always wanted to be one of those hard core questers who have done everything the game has to offer, but with 8+ characters, that gets.. difficult. So how have I spent my time? The first bit is my three level 70’s.

• Stargrace: 595 Quests completed - 205 Rares harvested - 62 days played - 100 ap
• Silverstep: 753 Quests completed - 385 Rares harvested - 93 days played - 88 ap
• Dasie: 659 Quests completed - 314 Rares harvested - 70 days played - 53 ap

Since it’s not really fair to jumble in all of the alts along with my level 70’s (who have far more levels / experience and what not) I’ll post them below.

• Yamini: 147 Quests completed - 12 Rares harvested - 10 days played - 21 ap - 48 Assassin
• Misako: 77 Quests completed - 0 Rares harvested - 5 days played - 35 ap - 44 Defiler
• Flirt: 19 Quests completed - 0 Rares harvested - 7 hours played - 0 ap - 6 Berserker (24 armorer)
• Faydai: 256 Quests completed - 29 Rares harvested - 10 days played - 31 ap - 53 Conjuror
• Tulips: 19 Quests completed - 0 Rares harvested - 9 hours played - 0 ap - 6 Troubador (20 Carpenter)

Of course these lists don’t include the (numerous) characters I’ve deleted over my 2+ years playing EQII, but it’s a nice representation at least.

• Total Quests completed: 2,525
• Total Rares harvested: 945
• Total Hours played (NOT including crating hours!): 251.6 Days - Remember this also includes all afk time, and online broker time when I used to leave my characters up to sell through the night, not continuous play time.

The ability to title your bags - always a lot of fun

Quite a bit of time ago, people were given the ability to place a title on their bags, boxes as well. I love this little handy thing, if only for the fact that when I put backpacks for sale (or boxes made by my carpenter) I can include a little bit of advertising on the label - such as the one pictured above. Does it actually work? Who knows, I’ve never asked, but it’s fun none the less to be able to leave a little bit of myself (so to speak) on each piece I make. Besides my character name at least.

After 5 days of being sick, (what a great birthday weekend…. wait.. no, no it wasn’t) I am finally over it (I hope..) and my Dad’s back from the hospital (who knew kidney stones could be so complicated) and I can get back to regular postings. After having such a good run for a few months I was disappointed that I couldn’t keep up but it was just too much real life stuff to handle.

Silverstep - diligently working away on her Steamfont quest line

I did an Unrest run yesterday, boxing my templar (who ended up being the only healer once the 61 warden had to leave) and my illusionist, nothing of any use to anyone dropped except for a belt with +10 flowing thought on it, which went to the templar. It was a rough run some times, we only ever wiped from adds, so it could have been more painful. Better then the time before when my group decided to leave early after clearing only a few of the named. I spent the remainder of the evening working on the Steamfont chain of quests - I had no idea this was a chain of 20 quests! What fun! One important word of warning though. As you progress this chain of quests, about the 5th quest in I believe, you receive not one but TWO house items. A day log, and a journal.

However. If these items are on you when you go to complete the next portion of the quest, they’re removed from your inventory! So if you’re a sucker for house items (like myself) once you’ve picked up these two items, go place them in your home and return to the quest afterwards, or else you’ll have them removed from your inventory on completion. There is a quest like that in Lesser Faydark as well, where you collect a Thexian log, and it’s a house item. Upon turning the quest in however, you lose the house item from your inventory. So now I’ll have to do these quests on an alt, just so that I can obtain the house items. I wish I had of known that before hand!

The quests in Steamfont in general, are just a lot of fun. If you have a lower level character you can mentor, or if you’re a quest junkie be sure to check this zone out. I’ve been parking my 44 defiler in the zone to mentor for a few named as well as my quest turn ins. Figured it was probably about time my fury reached 100 aa. I’ll have to work on the templar next, which is just going to be annoying since, well, we all know what a lack of DPS the templar has in general. I’ll probably attempt to box her with my illusionist for some added DPS, we’ll see how that goes.