Returning, and LOST!Follow

Hello everyone!

I am FINALLY able to return to EQ, but the game looks sooooo different now, and soooo much LARGER (SWEET!).

I had to quit back when luclin came out, like 2 days after the release.

I don't know what to do. :P

I don't know what I need to buy now days. Should I just get the platinum edition? I can pick it up for 19.99 on my way home today. What else do I need to get started? I've read about a new tutorial that helps new players where you can get up to lvl 7 fairly quickly without haveing to kill fire beetle after fire beetle.... UGH.

Is eq dying out? I read about all these server merges, people leaving for eq2 and WoW, and it appears so. But then sony launches DoN (Thats one abbreviation I know, probably because it's my RL name lol...) and it appears they intend to keep eq going.

Which sounds great to me, a few less people means I can actually do some of the quests I've always wanted to do but never got a chance. At least in theory.

What about a good character to restart with? I'm having trouble deciding. I'm thinking I need to restart with a soloing character to refamiliarize with the game. I have experience with a druid made it to lvl 49 before I got burnt out on him, a necromancer, a Magician and a Shaman.

I would probably choose the necro if it weren't so tough being koS everywhere ya go. :P

Now I've heard the beastlord has become a soloist on par with druids and necros, is there any truth to that? If there is, I may go that route because I can start in my favorite city (halas) as my favorite race BARBARIAN!

A long time ago I started a thread somewhere asking what the best class was to solo frost giants. I think frost giants, maybe they were ice giants. The ones in everfrost at the fort entrance to perma. :P

I know it's not a druid, I solo'd them and it took forever kiting them all over EF lol... Thats why I started a mage and necro, but never got them high enough to kill the giants before I had to leave. Can a beastlord solo these guys efficiently?

I guess what I need is your opinions on a good soloist to return to the game with, a good server to start out on and just general advice on returning to the game.

I'm glad to see this site isstill active, alot of the old eq sites are dying out it looks like to me.

Well anyway, I'll be buying the game in a few hrs and if the install goes good (*dreads messing with the whole latest driver scenarioall over again*) will be playing by early afternoon.

So help me out with your hard earned wisdom eh??

thanks guys.

Well with the addition of Planes of Power, and especialy the Plane of Knowledge factions are not that big of a deal. Any level 1 on up can go to PoK and from there just about anywhere else.

I'd advise buying EQ Platinum, this will get you every expansion upto and including Gates of Discord. Leaving you with only Omens of War and Dragons of Norrath left to purchase.

A Necro would be a good choice for a returning player. Lots of soloability and very group friendly now a days. Be sure to go thru the entire Tutorial, you get a very nice Charm slot item and can easily get to 5th level. Not to mention the tutorial will walk you thru most if not all of the changes since you left.

Something you didn't ask about, but I feel compelled to infor you about is server selection. Since some servers are merging I strongly advise choosing a preferred server such as Morden Rasp or Maylin Saypere (I know spelled the last one wrong) or if your into PvP the Zek server. These servers all have a good selection of low to high level players. The older servers are pretty topped out with high level players (70 is the new highest level attainable) and few to none low level players.

Which ever descion you make good luck and welcome back!

For an overview of each expansion try this url. You might have to copy and paste to your browser.

http://eqlive.station.sony.com/

The expansions are listed on the lower left side of the page.

Another change was the Frogloks kicked the Trolls out Grobb, renamed it Gukta and now the Trolls are living in Neriak.

Welcome Back!

Yes, get Platinum set.
Yes, do the tutorial... it will get you to level 5, it will get you much better newby clothes and weapon than you ever would have had, and a very nice charm item. The tutorial is the normal place you will go when you start a new toon. Frankly after the first time, the tutorial is boring.. but takes less time than normal 1-5 levelling.

There's still life in the old EQdog, so get in and enjoy all you have missed. You do need a well populated server, Morden Rasp, Brell and Stromm are three options.

The shaman is a great call... barb or froggy. SoW at lvl 9, buffs for all, reasonable damage output for early levels (I still solo at 65) and of course, slows and buffs when you do want to group. Bye the way, everyone ELSE is sitting in PoK howling for buffs.. you just buff YOURSELF and get on with the job : )

Beastlord is a fun choice too.

ANY class can solo the Ice Giants. The question is.. at what level. I belive I did 'em at 36 with my Shaman, but that was far from efficient. Beasty will do em too, not sure of the level though.

Many threads here on various aspect of the game... but post your questions as they arise.

BTW I guess you want to kill Ice Giants for cash... you'll be doing Hill Giants in Rathe Mountains well before you solo Ice Giants.

When you installed your new drivers, your video settings probably reverted back to 800X600 resolution. You'll need to get into your display settings (from the control panel) to fix it to a resolution you like better. Welcome back. You shoulda rolled a bard.

When you get to Halas make sure you get info on your newbie Armor quest they wil get you a good set of armor and somtimes a nice weapons. Check here on this site to find out who you talk to.