It was bound to happen, I could feel it. How long had it been since last time? Only a few months. Not even. It was like some disease slowly washing over me and I’d pick at it a little bit, and then a little bit more as time went on. No one who reads this site will be surprised, in fact I can hear Tipa shaking her head at me from here. That’s right, I did it. 

I betrayed my level 79 defiler over to a mystic. 

I had a good reason though! Well, I figured it was a good reason. I looked up the defiler epic quest (keeping in mind this will have been the 7th fabled epic I obtain) and then looked up the mystic fabled epic quest. Yup, that’s what I based my decisions off of. Without getting into too many details, I’m happy with the choice. Plus, who doesn’t like bolster?

This weekend has been one of the most relaxing days in a long time. Everything is out of my hands until Wednesday, and while I don’t know what the result is yet I needed these two days or I was going to go insane. So I’ve gamed, went out for some food, hung out with friends. The weekend has been great. The conjuror and shadowknight from guild and myself decided to trip Crypt of Agony, Vaults (in Jarsath Wastes), and Shard of Fear on Friday night. For laughs, we dragged along my (at the time) 68 coercer, more as a power bot then anything else (that’s her in the robe above). Because the coercer is on my main account with the other level 80′s, and had full vitality, she managed to ding level 70 in those instances, and a good portion into it. I decided she had gone long enough without her sokokar quest completed so those got taken care of. 

The defiler mystic managed to snag four more void shards yesterday with relative ease, bringing the total up to 8. Since I’m not even level 80 yet I think that’s great. I’ll have some void gear waiting for me when I finally make it there. A slow process but I don’t mind. 50% away from level 80, and starting yet another epic. It’s going to be great. 

Kasul also came to Kithicor to play for a little bit on a ranger alt he created, it was nice to have him meet the guild I’ve been playing with. There’s no way I can afford to move off of Najena especially since the automated transfer service is still down (le sigh) but kithicor has been a nice change of pace. Shadowgeist also moved off of Najena to join a new raid guild and I hope he’s doing fantastic there. I think it’s important for players to keep in mind (in any game, not just EQ2) that YOU pay your subscription fees (in most cases) and that means playing in the method that is best for you. Don’t feel bad if you decide to act on that, in the long run your gaming experiences will be far more fulfilled. 

Safe travels!

Screen shot is myself and three guild mates splashing around in a froglok pool that I added to the guild hall yesterday. The kerran is Craw, halfling is Egon, and the mouse is Wpus with his best friend Smiley watching from the back. Center is my little defiler who managed to ding 78 last night – and – brought her Tupta faction high enough to purchase the recipe book that allowed me to craft such a fancy little pool. I really do love those craft books. 

Just so people don’t think I’ve forgotten, I do still have big news in the works. Town Crier even mentioned it which surprised me (and flustered me even more). I haven’t wanted to release too many details yet in case I jinx it and it doesn’t end up working out. I should find out the remainder of the details either today or tomorrow – the suspense has been causing many a restless night and inane ramblings to my close friends to say the least. 

Wpus wanted to work on his conjuror epic a little bit last night and had very little left to go. I am always eager to get the group killed help out so off we headed as a duo to Sebilis. We actually made it quite far in our ‘barely a group’ group and when Craw (bruiser) had some spare time he came to help as well. The update was from researchers, though we did try the dreadmages in the blacksmith area first. Update obtained, that was the end of my evening. 

I’ve been thinking a lot about what a wonderful group of friends I have in game. How understanding they can be, how they listen (and how I hope they can say the same about me) and the entire support network. I’m so thankful every day that I have been given the opportunities in my life that I have, and I really appreciate what everyone has done for me. 

I do have two smaller projects on the go (or just starting off I suppose) that I’ll probably write about here as time goes on. We’ll just have to see where they go!

See you in Norrath!

I managed to do it – finally. On at least one character. I figure now that one character has managed to get this far, it should be easy to get the rest of what I want, right?

Of course I’m talking about housing items. In specific, the TSO faction recipes that come from one of the three main factions in the Moors of Ykesha. Still no idea what I’m talking about? Take a look here on EQ2 Traders and then prepare to drool. You need to be at neutral faction (0) in order to purchase these recipe books. The recipes themselves are level 65, thankfully my tailor is level 69 and was able to scribe them. They use the general craft skills that everyone has, so there’s no worries about having to be a carpenter or woodworker or any other particular class in order to make use of them. 

I spent the better part of the evening discussing when GU52 would be implemented (more like arguing), and crafting the new pretties and then wondering where I could stash them all. They really are nice. I can’t help it, I’m one of those people who just loves me some house items. 

The quests in the Moors were not too bad, either. I FINALLY learned Tik Tok. First thing I wanted to do was head to Steamfont and find out what all of the clockwork have been screaming at me. I’ve been waiting for this language since release. I also finished the other two languages within the zone, and worked on doing the first hub of quests along with resident conjuror Wpus. The defiler is inching closer to level 78, right now she’s about 60% into her level. While I’m not particularly fond of quest grinding, it’s not as painful as doing RoK quest grinding for the 7th time. 

Short term goals are to get enough faction with the other two Moors residents to purchase their craft books as well. In specific, Grobb. The grey stone items are wonderful and I can see so many possibilities with them. I’d like to build a cave of sorts surrounding the guild forge, and I have a few other ideas floating around. 

I also got a very odd tell about joining a raid guild yesterday. Not that I’m complaining at all. The odd part was not getting the tell to begin with, but the fact that it was asking about my 77 defiler. The majority of guilds that I know who raid want someone at least level 80. In fact on the Kithicor server alone I rarely hear anyone advertise their group is looking for more unless it’s followed by “must have mythical” or “must not suck”. Thankfully selective reading allows me to completely ignore those calls for help. 

Hopefully I can get a few more HQ under my belt, and earn some more status. Other then that, things in game have been pretty slow since I’ve had to concentrate on real life (ugh!) for a little. Hope everyone else is having a great start to the week, no matter where you are!

Yesterday was a little bit of everything game-wise, well EQ2 wise at least. It was great. The coercer crept into New Tunaria with Wpus and we lay waste to all the elves that came in range, dinging her 66. Out of vitality (and most of my experience potions now) it was still refreshing to hit that level with less then two days played. I also spent some time working her tradeskill level, and she’s sitting at an even 30. Out of vitality in that department as well. 

I also helped Kasul out with an epic kill in Neriak (assassin epic) which was no easy feat for me because I had to invis my little templar out that way. I thought the lag I was experiencing was going to kill me before any of the orange epic guards did. Glad to help him progress that though.

I was going to work on the defiler, who is sitting at about 30% through level 77 but wasn’t really in the mood to grind quests. Even though I’d love to get the Moors faction recipes that I’ve spent a few months talking about now. I just can’t seem to stick with the quest grinding. Upgraded the coercers clothes, and today maybe I’ll upgrade some spells. Aside from her charm, mez and root, she’s only sporting app1 of everything. When your charmed pet is killing things for 17,000 damage you spend most of your time just watching for adds and making sure charm doesn’t break. Have I mentioned how much I love that coercer? Thought so.

I’ve been spending a lot of time just thinking, too. I’ve been playing EQ2 since release,  something I never had the chance to do with EQ1. In fact I had just started playing EQ1 (had been playing for a year) when EQ2 released. Over the course of the years some of the memories I’ve had have been exceptionally amazing. I’ve met some amazing people. Before I started writing for Beckett I was a guide, and though it was really hard not to write about any of my experiences, it was some of the greatest (and also some of the most stressful) in game times I had. Being a guide fulfilled the whole ‘roleplay’ aspect to the game for me that my regular playing was missing. I loved the adventures and I loved interacting with the player base on that level. I won’t soon forget it. Not to mention the absolutely incredible people who run the program. 

When I started writing for Beckett, I found that between playing the game, being a guide, playing other games I was delving into, and keeping that thing called ‘real life’ going something was going to have to give. While I loved being a guide, writing for Beckett pays, so it was (in the end) an easier decision for me. I don’t regret the choice to this day but every so often I still get that roleplay urge and have to find a creative means of venting. 

I know that some people think these games are ‘just games’ but when I look back on so many years of memories and friendships that have grown into real life friends, all of the stories shared, it is just an incredible experience in general, and I’m so happy to have been a part of it all.

Up early yesterday for a family get together and then spent most of the afternoon napping (I wasn’t feeling too well) so when I finally got up around 7pm I wasn’t really expecting to do too much before heading back to bed for the night. Turns out, I was wrong. 

My ‘usual’ group was around, Kasul, Albrta, Eyenstein, and Shadowgeist, so we decided to do some instances. The daily double was Najena’s Hollow Tower, and none of us felt like doing it. So instead we headed to Scion of Ice in Everfrost. Before doing Scion I had done a quick maidens run in Jarsath Waste, first time running Petites (templar) through there so the experience was fairly good. Finished off the weapon quest from the zone too. Anyhow, Scion of ice hurt. Plus our second shadowknight was apparently fairly drunk and left unable to continue part way through the instance. I was the only healer, and everyone seemed to be getting pummeled by AoE’s and my templar (yet) is not exactly geared up for solo healing. But we managed it, cleared the zone. I picked myself up a new healer cloak, as well as a new ring. 

I was a little reluctant to solo heal, but some times you don’t always get the perfect group. After we finished with Scion we headed to Crucible which has always been the easiest of the Everfrost instances, for me at least. We picked up a swashbuckler who was LFG – and for the first time ever I had to ask someone not to use a particular piece of gear. Not because of them, but because of me. 

I was still 79 at the time, solo healing, without very good gear (my own fault I know, but what was the point of upgrading everything when I was wearing the EoF set gear and I’d just be wearing void shard gear before too long) my spells were all adept3 but I didn’t have any illusionist with TC or any of that stuff. Anyhow, the item in question is the Bloodthirsty Choker. If you’ve never heard of this item before it’s the one that quickly drains your health as you dps to boost your attacks with a proc. It drains about 10% health (at least on the swashbuckler) every tick or two. 

Being the only healer, I didn’t feel as though I could effectively keep my heals concentrated on both the tank, and this swashbuckler in group without letting someone die. If I were on my warden, I’d have no issue at all with this. Afterwards, I did learn a few tricks in regards to the bloodthirsty choker. For example, apparently shield of faith which is a magic ward / buff will work on the choker. Apparently so will a few other things, like shield ally. 

Was it unfair of me to ask them to remove the piece? Well, I’m not sure. It really did make me feel like a crappy healer, but I know my limitations, and I wasn’t about to risk heals because someone wanted to boost their dps. Not to speak down about them, but pet peeve of mine is someone posting the dps parse every fight into group chat. It’s fine to want to know your dps, but posting (and they’d only post the ones where they were on top) like that just rubs me the wrong way. Maybe even more so because I play a healer and I’m always at the bottom of that list, with big fat 0′s by my name. 

The fabled healer / mage item from Crucible dropped and Petites won it, all in all it was a very nice day for the templar. That also makes my 5th level 80 character which means my account has a 50/50 bonus for both tradeskilling and adventuring (which is the cap). I started the templar epic, which has been fairly smooth so far. Lots of running around, which seems to be the case for every epic. 

Next? Not sure. I’d like to work a pure DPS class up to 80 simply because I don’t have one. I have two healers, and 3 utility (two enchanters and a bard) and then of course there’s the paladin tank I have at 70. Still on burn out from that one though. So what do I have left? Well, there’s the 61 bruiser, the 61 necromancer (who I’ve had since 2004 and just never leveled), I have the 58 swashbuckler, the 70 paladin, and a 30 warlock, as well as the 74 defiler. It may sound like a lot, but keep in mind the experience from 1-70 was drastically increased, there’s mentor bonus, and there’s experience potions, AND there’s the account bonus I have. It really takes no time at all these days to level up a character in EQ2 and honestly as long as I’m having fun that’s all that matters. 

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend, and had some great holidays no matter where you game!