Everquest 2 (returning) newbie guide?

[Feneant2]

I played the game for many years but quit before Sentinel's Fate. But I was looking around and saw that the next Eq2 expansion is coming out in November and re-introducing the beastlord class (!!) along with building on the Velious story.

So because of that I'm going to reactivate an account and go have a look and see. The issue though is that it looks like a LOT has changed in the past few years. I assume that when I log in everything will be very new and I won't have any idea what the heck I'm doing. When I quit I had a number of toons at 80 in both adventuring and crafting and at least one master transmuter.

Is there a place I can go to catch up and learn what I need to know? I remember that some changes were coming in that you no longer needed to buy master spells as much since you'd get one for free every so often... I also remember hearing about changes to transmuting to make it useful, etc. I am sure that there are a LOT more changes that have happened in 3 years.

Being a newbie is tough... being a newbie with a mythical weapon will be much tougher I am thinking.

Oh, and is the game any friendlier to people who can play maybe 3-4 hours a week?

 

[s1njin]

I played the game for many years but quit before Sentinel's Fate. But I was looking around and saw that the next Eq2 expansion is coming out in November and re-introducing the beastlord class (!!) along with building on the Velious story.

So because of that I'm going to reactivate an account and go have a look and see. The issue though is that it looks like a LOT has changed in the past few years. I assume that when I log in everything will be very new and I won't have any idea what the heck I'm doing. When I quit I had a number of toons at 80 in both adventuring and crafting and at least one master transmuter.

Is there a place I can go to catch up and learn what I need to know? I remember that some changes were coming in that you no longer needed to buy master spells as much since you'd get one for free every so often... I also remember hearing about changes to transmuting to make it useful, etc. I am sure that there are a LOT more changes that have happened in 3 years.

Being a newbie is tough... being a newbie with a mythical weapon will be much tougher I am thinking.

Oh, and is the game any friendlier to people who can play maybe 3-4 hours a week?

I started up new w/ some friends a few months ago. I definitely wouldn't say the game is unfriendly to those who can spend the time that you can. Your schedule is essentially mine. While the game is harder than WoW, its nothing like EQ1.

RE: Spells. You can now research them. Once you gain access to a apprentice spell you can research your way up the chain to expert I believe.

I have only scratched the surface. Sadly it still doesn't satisfy like EQ 1, and I see my time on it is slipping away. Here's hoping Diablo 3, or Skyrim can scratch the itch I just can't seem to soothe.

 

[Feneant2]

I'm in a bit of the same boat, just looking for something to kill the time until Diablo 3 is released (and comes on sale!). I've been playing LoTRO but losing interest since the server I'm on is mostly barren and other games I've tried (such as Rift and Eve) couldn't keep me interested. I'm thinking most of my time will be spent making platinum and possibly completing heritage quests. I don't have time to group much and no interest whatsoever in raiding any longer.

The spells sounds interesting, it will be good if I no longer have to spend a fortune buying master spells. I would be happy if rare items were tradeable but I figure that won't have changed and you need to either repeat the same instance a few dozen time or buy loot rights to get what you want*.

*that's my beef in any game sadly- I play mostly to amass wealth only to find there is nothing to spend it on!

 

[s1njin]

You may still have to find master spells. Can't remember researching anything beyond expert.

 

[glen]

We must hope for EQNext.

 

[Ross Ridge]

Sony just sent me e-mail saying the reactivated my EverQuest II account for free for the weekend, so they probably reactivated your as well. I don't think you'll have much trouble getting up to speed, but now's your chance to find out.

Oh, and I wouldn't hold much hope for EverQuest Next being more like the original EverQuest. It wouldn't surprise me if it's free-to-play.

 

[Bateluer]

Sony just sent me e-mail saying the reactivated my EverQuest II account for free for the weekend, so they probably reactivated your as well. I don't think you'll have much trouble getting up to speed, but now's your chance to find out.

Hmm . . . I didn't get an email yet. That a Labor Day weekend promotional thing?

Oh, and I wouldn't hold much hope for EverQuest Next being more like the original EverQuest. It wouldn't surprise me if it's free-to-play.

Bleh, DOA then.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

We must hope for EQNext.

Here here!

 

[Feneant2]

I never got any Emails from them or I don't check the right account but I'm told there was 45 days free after the big Sony hacking snafu.

Anyways, the games is MUCH different, moreso than I ever expected. It looks the same but man oh man stuff changed. They redid all the gear so you now have items that with adornments can have +200 to some stats and people all have 30k hp or power at 90 (the non ubers that is).

Apparently there seems to be some positive additions such as public raids which appear to be a bit like Rift, you get somewhere, join a group and do a short raid together. At the end a big box drops and everyone gets a piece or armor. I haven't done one as I don't have the expansions but that's neat. There are also new crafting quests I think and lots of solo instances.

The next expansion appears to be adding something like dynamic dungeons but I don't know much about it.

Anyways- I think it's worth a look if anyone is interested. The graphics are a bit dated but it's still enough to tax my i5 laptop in the heavily populated areas.

 

[Ross Ridge]

I never got any Emails from them or I don't check the right account but I'm told there was 45 days free after the big Sony hacking snafu.

This Labour Day thing was actually the third free reactivation period they've had this year. They had their semi-regular free week, the 45 days because of the hacking, and this past weekend. This past weekend might not have been open to every old account. In the past they've restricted these events to accounts the have been active in the last couple of years. Although I haven't subscribed to EverQuest II since the start of 2006.

I haven't done one as I don't have the expansions but that's neat.

I don't know which expansion added the public raid feature, but SOE periodically updates everyone to a certain older expansion for free. Currently all accounts should have up to Sentinel's Fate.

 

[Ross Ridge]

I just saw on thier WWW site that the Labour Day thing was limitted to just "players who have quit the game between November 5, 2010 and August 2, 2011."

 

[SirFelixCat]

As a former WoW player (non-hardcore, just a casual player), would EQII interest me?

 

[Schadenfroh]

We must hope for EQNext.

Indeed, I need a challenge.

 

[s1njin]

As a former WoW player (non-hardcore, just a casual player), would EQII interest me?

Possibly, though I would lean towards not. A little more challenge in certain areas but not overly so. Graphics are dated, but in some cases better than WoW. In many cases not so much.

 

[Feneant2]

I don't know which expansion added the public raid feature, but SOE periodically updates everyone to a certain older expansion for free. Currently all accounts should have up to Sentinel's Fate.

Seriously? I will check this out. I also saw yesterday that you can buy expansion with the Sony Cash... I'll just need to find myself someone I can trust to sell me some for platinum so I don't need to spend real money.

Originally Posted by SirFelixCat
As a former WoW player (non-hardcore, just a casual player), would EQII interest me?

Go read about the new expansion, it makes Eq2 look like it should have been. They are adding dynamic dungeons, mercenaries (!) and a dungeon creator for players to use. I think you should definitely check it out.