Question - Recommendations Before I Start

[DameNingen]

Hey everyone, looking for recommendations / advice before I deep dive and throw away all of my free time. Sorry it's another rEtUrNiNg PlAyEr post, but I'm clearly just lost in the sauce when it comes to the Live servers (when trying to understand all the content); I stopped playing during the Planes of Power expansion, and with that said I never really raided (to include vanilla, plus other expansions). What I would like your guidance on:

1. Should I begin my new journey on a Live server (no clue which), or Rizlona TLP server?
2. Is a 6-man able to do most of the older content? (would like to re-live, and see stuff I never got to [no clue what's feasible])
3. My proposed crew: WAR / BST / ROG / ENC / NEC / CLR - Assuming there's a min-max setup, but how viable is this and / or am I clearly missing something that I should have?
4. What can a 6-man accomplish, when I finally reach max level? (raids still require 24+ people?)
5. Should I even consider purchasing a Heroic characters?

Began watching the basics of setting up RedGuides Launcher, and said features; moved on to watching Sic's videos, etc. Kinda doing research early before I start, to include I'm in the middle of a move and about to lose access to my PC for a month or so. I figure reading / watching as much as I can will help once I'm back up and running. Thanks for your time, and help.

 

[Sic]

Hey everyone, looking for recommendations / advice before I deep dive and throw away all of my free time. Sorry it's another rEtUrNiNg PlAyEr post, but I'm clearly just lost in the sauce when it comes to the Live servers (when trying to understand all the content); I stopped playing during the Planes of Power expansion, and with that said I never really raided (to include vanilla, plus other expansions). What I would like your guidance on:

1. Should I begin my new journey on a Live server (no clue which), or Rizlona TLP server?
2. Is a 6-man able to do most of the older content? (would like to re-live, and see stuff I never got to [no clue what's feasible])
3. My proposed crew: WAR / BST / ROG / ENC / NEC / CLR - Assuming there's a min-max setup, but how viable is this and / or am I clearly missing something that I should have?
4. What can a 6-man accomplish, when I finally reach max level? (raids still require 24+ people?)
5. Should I even consider purchasing a Heroic characters?

Began watching the basics of setting up RedGuides Launcher, and said features; moved on to watching Sic's videos, etc. Kinda doing research early before I start, to include I'm in the middle of a move and about to lose access to my PC for a month or so. I figure reading / watching as much as I can will help once I'm back up and running. Thanks for your time, and help.

welcome back to EQ and welcome to RG

1. that depends on what you want for content, and think if you want a quiet server (like vox) or a busy server like FV/bristle - there is also the test server which includes free "all access"
2. yes
3. you have the basics covered (tank, healer, CC/ADPS), so you can do anything with that crew - many/most folks would suggest Shd for 6man/boxing just due to their toolkit - but play what makes you happy - MQ makes it easy to swap around if/when you need to.
4. raids are 54 people, "current" content may have some things with fewer toons, but they're going to require a significant amount of effort to get toons to that point. significantly older raids can be solo'd or 6-boxed without effort.
5. Heroics really take away some of the challenges of "catching up" to the current game - as there are few people hanging around lower/mid levels, which means less gear on bazaar, less lfg, less people to talk about that content with etc - they also give you some heroic AAs which are very handy - at least worth while considering for your tank


Sounds like you've already started looking, but if not, check out the RG Getting Started vids in the link below.

Getting Started / Returning user

Welcome to RedGuides, fellow EQ multi-boxing enthusiast!

The best place to begin is our "New User Guide" video series, click this TV to watch:


This step-by-step series will teach absolute beginners how to control 6 characters at once while highlighting Nav, AutoLogin, and DanNet, which are fundamental plugins that will enhance every aspect of your game.

Returning users check out - MacroQuest Release Party: https://www.redguides.com/community/threads/macroquest-release-party.80628/ for information about changes from the legacy MQ2 to the new and awesome MQ

 

[DameNingen]

Thanks for the reply, Sic.

I guess for the server, I almost automatically assume I'll be going at it solo for whatever I'm on. If there's other people around, that's a bonus / I don't mind. I say this because I'm playing from Japan, and unless there's a healthy Aussie community...I typically miss the heavier US-based playing hours (so current based expansion raids I'll more than likely not see).

I'll have to test out life with a Warrior before considering a Shadowknight, but I'll keep it in mind. I'm probably jus too fickle to accept anything else other than warrior should be the defacto tank.

For the Heroic characters, I'm jus worried I won't fully understand the character(s) I'm playing if I were to do this option. I'm sure I'll adapt and adjust, just feels like I should earn it first...if that makes sense.

 

[mortous]

If you are planning to go all access I would recommend Rizlona to start. We more mq friendly than most servers and being a tlp you will have more time to learn/relearn as xpacs release.

 

[DameNingen]

If you are planning to go all access I would recommend Rizlona to start. We more mq friendly than most servers and being a tlp you will have more time to learn/relearn as xpacs release.

To be honest, I was leaning that direction to begin with. Didn't know if there would be any immediate benefits to being on Live, minus full content availability. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Oldman66]

If you're wanting to do/redo old contenet, I don't think you will have any problems chosing any of the live servers. Most of those zones are empty. As far as tanking goes, if you aren't 100% stuck on warrior I would highly consider an SK. Besides being a good tank, they are also great for power leveling when you're ready to grow your army. Just have fun with whichever you choose. Lastly, as these are against DB's rules there's no safety in using the tools you will find here. Common sense and courtesy will go a long ways to keeping you under the radar and your army rolling along.

 

[DameNingen]

If you're wanting to do/redo old contenet, I don't think you will have any problems chosing any of the live servers. Most of those zones are empty. As far as tanking goes, if you aren't 100% stuck on warrior I would highly consider an SK. Besides being a good tank, they are also great for power leveling when you're ready to grow your army. Just have fun with whichever you choose. Lastly, as these are against DB's rules there's no safety in using the tools you will find here. Common sense and courtesy will go a long ways to keeping you under the radar and your army rolling along.

Dang, two recommendations for SK now. Already know I'm out-of-touch with the game, but didn't think SK would be so well rounded.

And thanks for the heads up on the DB policy. I have read it, and understand what I'm walking into. Definitely do not plan on being disruptive; would just like to enjoy the game I had so much fun with as a teenager, but with the added level of convenience sprinkled on it.

 

[Redmonkey]

You can make a free account on live servers. (Non TLP) I would do that and make a level 1 character and do the tutorial so you have at least an inkling of what has changed in the game.

TLP are good for the old slow grind but I ran screaming when I tried them when I returned. Was looking for that old nostalgia and I will admit it was nostalgic. It brought back all those memories of how long it takes to do anything like slogging thru mud and how it was all so stressful.

I ran to live servers and am perfectly happy there. You can do old expansions in Live servers. You don't have to go TLP to enjoy the old zones. Actually I enjoy them more with a more powerful character.

Test Server is free and might be something to explore

If you feel you can play a level 100 character with all the spells, AA and everything then go for it. But might want to learn the new ways first

 

[waybear]

Tank is Tank .. most will recommend the SK for group content, ( if you plan on end-game raiding and want to be the tank then warrior, sk would be off tanks) for their life tap utility, making it easier to power thru those damage spikes or rampages. especially if you happen to alt-tab away from the " driver" most make the tank the main toon. and if you happen to be on another toon .. those like taps can save you. generally, they allow enough time to battle rezz the clr back in case it grabs agro from a wandering mob. but as always , its your $$ and your time, play your way these are games meant for a break from reality and time to detox =) .. Nothing's better at the end of a crap day .. than beating the crap out of a dragon .. LOL.
Regarding servers, I would create a toon and go into the general chat to see if there are any guilds that play during your time on those servers. Welcome back to Evercrack I mean Everquest =P

 

[Wraith6911]

welcome to RG and welcome back to EQ

 

[One Cool Trick]

1. Should I begin my new journey on a Live server (no clue which), or Rizlona TLP server?
2. Is a 6-man able to do most of the older content? (would like to re-live, and see stuff I never got to [no clue what's feasible])
3. My proposed crew: WAR / BST / ROG / ENC / NEC / CLR - Assuming there's a min-max setup, but how viable is this and / or am I clearly missing something that I should have?
4. What can a 6-man accomplish, when I finally reach max level? (raids still require 24+ people?)
5. Should I even consider purchasing a Heroic characters?

Began watching the basics of setting up RedGuides Launcher, and said features; moved on to watching Sic's videos, etc. Kinda doing research early before I start, to include I'm in the middle of a move and about to lose access to my PC for a month or so. I figure reading / watching as much as I can will help once I'm back up and running. Thanks for your time, and help.

1. LIVE esp if boxing, in humble opinion, just more available to you that will help you enjoy the "catch-up" content as a casual boxer, solo/molo player
2. Yes, very much so!
3. I would only counter your setup with SK, Sham, Brd, Bst, Rog, 6th (would say Zerker or Monk or Mage(only for COTH))... nevertheless, as long as you have the trinity Tank/Healer/CC, you're OK to do as you please (just won't necessarily give you that min/max with caster/melee synergies...
4. Most of the OLD raids you can queue and conquer with a 6-man... starting out, you may not do that right away UNLESS (see 5 cont...) you heroic'd up and start with the 100 gear...
5. I would 100% encourage anyone to do the 100 Heroic... if not for the gear itself to help you navigate content a bit easier (some grace and mercy extended with the gear and level up)... then for the 2 40-slot bags... and the progression is just so nice! HOWEVER, if you're really wanting to "do it all" with the older content; then heroics may not be the answer

I had taken a long break, came back and EQ alone had a lot of changes, the walk throughs are nice, not everything is answered, but it's enough to be dangerous LOL... that said, I definitely found that learning and refining the INI taught me the most; experiment here, ask a question here, apply it there, seemed to teach me the most about it... I really enjoyed the older INI websites that walked me through (though I believe some are out of date or whatnot... they still were a really great place to learn a basic knowledge)

KISSASSIST

Still one of my favorites for learning and quick reference, if there's better, I am unaware... another one I liked for / macro commands was

MQ2MOVEUTILS

Just a couple nuggets that help me sort it out... and then again, asking questions of the community here @ RG has been HUGE!

Good Luck and Welcome Back!


Just my two redents.

[HINT: You too can help prevent forum fires by also "redenting" (click the icon to the right ---->)

 

[Turaj Steelfist]

I agree with what everyone said. I play a Paladin tank and a raid cleric. I will be the first to tell you that in group content I would much rather be healing an SK. That said warriors and paladins are suitable for your needs.

I usually stay an expansion or two behind (although I am almost done with current content) just to make the game more enjoyable. I don't like banging my head against the wall trying to beat a mission that requires uber gear to beat, My pally is actually in uber gear now (mix of ToL raid and ToL TS). I would recommend the 100 heroic toons if you have the disposable income. Someone mentioned the bags and the AA's, but they forgot to mention the amount of PP saved from not having to buy all those spells, not to mention the time saved from all the skillups. There is a nice macro on this site that will do skillups for you, but if you go the heroic route for the other goodies it will save you time.

As for not knowing what the toons are capable of doing or how to play them, just think of it as level 100 being the starting point. Heck before 100 it is really a different game anyhow. Take your level 100 any House of Thule zone and learn it there.

My choice for servers would be live servers. Like mentioned before the nostalgia is nice, but the drama is real. I felt like I was back in middle school when I tested out Mishief server. I really loved the idea behind the server, but they did not mention that it is a truebox server and I am not buying 5 more PC's to run a crew. I recently started a crew on FV and I am liking it there. I love how most everything is tradable and the permanent 50% exp bonus makes leveling a lot less painful. The economy is crazy there though, but you won't notice it because you are not used to any server's economy.

As mentioned you will be able to run some older raids with your crew, but in all honesty raids are going to be something far off in your future. Gearing up 6 toons is gonna take a long time. Don't be fooled into thinking "Oh great I have my own group and I am gonna crush the content" You will do better than your average pickup group because all of your toons will be doing what you want rather than relying on other players that go afk, faceroll the keyboard, or just don't have your play style. You will need to farm augs, clickies, armor, weapons, and AA. All of these take time because of well you have rare spawns to wait on. My question to you would be how many hours per day do you plan on playing? If we are talking 3-4 hours per night I would not expect to raid anytime within the next year or two.

When you finally make your crew make sure to make a fellowship and get them all a fellowship clicky device, it will make your life so much easier because you will wipe it will happen just prepare for it.

I like your group makeup as a starting group. Just know that you will tinker with different classes and eventually settle on your preferred group. My preferred group for most things I do is Pal, Brd (I hate brd and might learn to love it when Sic and CWTN are able to make a plugin), Zerk, Zerk, Zerk, Clr. With this crew I can destroy a lot of content, yes I run into issues, but I like this one. I sometimes go Pal, Enc, Zerk, Zerk, Bst, Shm (This makeup drops my fights by about 8-10 secs per fight in most situations and the Enc imo is WAY better than the Brd at CC, but that is mostly because I have no idea how to Brd and I played Enc for years. I prefer my Clr over Shm because well Clr is raid geared and Shm is ToL T1 group geared (Shm is on ftp account and Clr is gold).

When you finally reach max lvl you can do all of the group content. Your group makeup and gear will determine how difficult that will be. I can currently run the first ToL mission, but I have to replace the Brd with my Enc (for some reason my kissassist ini for Brd doesn't want to mez the adds so I just roll with the enc and I have a key on my Pal that tells the Enc when to AoE mez. My clr, using CTWN plugin only cures when it feels like it so I just handle cure using the Pal. I get totally destroyed on the other missions right now so I am going back to the gearing up phase to make them better. I am very limited by 4 of the 6 being FTP. If they were Gold with real gear and augs it would be a different story.

One of these days I will look at the Brd's ini and figure out what it is doing.

Welcome to Redguides. Once you box using MQ2 you will wonder why you didn't find this stuff earlier. Nobody likes logging in and spending 30 mins to an hour LFG. We have all been there and if you are like me, you log out after 10-15 minutes or go play your Nec because he can solo. Do not be afraid to ask questions. Post accomplishments and be an active member on the forums. They really listen and are helpful. Sometimes people will sound like they are cold and offputting, but they really aren't.

 

[One Cool Trick]

I agree with what everyone said. I play a Paladin tank and a raid cleric. I will be the first to tell you that in group content I would much rather be healing an SK. That said warriors and paladins are suitable for your needs.

Agreed 100%. I have MT'd for group content on both my Paladin and my SK... and the Paladin is truly squishier PERIOD vs the SK. That said, I have instead enjoyed playing an SK MT and then plugging my Paladin in as an OT/melee dps/healer role now in my 6-box... it's been more effective that way ... back up tank, back up healer, 18s curer, and has all the melee AAs minus synergy (which I use as an absorb for AE dmg on my group)...

That said, Warriors for me are purely just for Raid Boss Tanking LOL... SKs just bring so much more to the table in group content and require WAY LESS babysitting than either the Paladin or the Warrior... but again, play what you enjoy!


Just my two redents.

[HINT: You too can help prevent forum fires by also "redenting" (click the icon to the right ---->)

 

[Sifter228]

Don't burn yourself out trying to catch up. 1-100 is lonely. Just saying.

 

[DameNingen]

Wow, thanks for all the replies everyone!

I guess I'll have to heavily reconsider switching from a warrior over to an SK, since that seems like the go-to / preferred method for boxing groups. Again, sorry for my ignorance...but what makes the SK so much better? Is it just simply the spells they bring to the table? Do the three tanks end up with the same defensive capabilities, so warrior is jus kinda ass'd out in that regard?

Plus it seems I'll have to really consider the Heroic purchases too. I'll probably go with the advice of starting up on the Test server, or maybe a F2P Live server, to reacquaint myself with the game to include this new software; figure I'll get a feel for everything, look at the path the you all are suggesting, and make my final determination(s). You have no idea how excited I am to get back into the game, and now I'm frustrated that I'll be packing up my PC for this move this weekend. But like I mentioned earlier, definitely gives me more time to research and to get feedback from all of you. Again, really appreciate all the information and advice provided! Great to see the community of EverQuest is still pretty strong and positive!

Oh one last question... Did some simple Google searches, but seems all relatively old (2+ years or so) posts; you guys happen to know of any Australian / Oceania based guilds on the Live servers? Most of the searches lead towards Bertox, and a guild named Wreckers. I'm playing from Japan, so I typically miss a lot of the heavier US-based play times. I have the intentions of working my way up to current content, and I know it'll be a hot minute...would be a bummer find out once I'm there I'm just in an inconvenient time zone for the majority of the server population.

 

[Sic]

Wow, thanks for all the replies everyone!

I guess I'll have to heavily reconsider switching from a warrior over to an SK, since that seems like the go-to / preferred method for boxing groups. Again, sorry for my ignorance...but what makes the SK so much better? Is it just simply the spells they bring to the table? Do the three tanks end up with the same defensive capabilities, so warrior is jus kinda ass'd out in that regard?

Plus it seems I'll have to really consider the Heroic purchases too. I'll probably go with the advice of starting up on the Test server, or maybe a F2P Live server, to reacquaint myself with the game to include this new software; figure I'll get a feel for everything, look at the path the you all are suggesting, and make my final determination(s). You have no idea how excited I am to get back into the game, and now I'm frustrated that I'll be packing up my PC for this move this weekend. But like I mentioned earlier, definitely gives me more time to research and to get feedback from all of you. Again, really appreciate all the information and advice provided! Great to see the community of EverQuest is still pretty strong and positive!

Oh one last question... Did some simple Google searches, but seems all relatively old (2+ years or so) posts; you guys happen to know of any Australian / Oceania based guilds on the Live servers? Most of the searches lead towards Bertox, and a guild named Wreckers. I'm playing from Japan, so I typically miss a lot of the heavier US-based play times. I have the intentions of working my way up to current content, and I know it'll be a hot minute...would be a bummer find out once I'm there I'm just in an inconvenient time zone for the majority of the server population.

they just have a "better" toolkit for the group game, and they are less reliant on others.

I know of a few Aussie players, but not sure that their guilds are aussie based.

@Hylander do you know of any aussie guilds, mate?

 

[naamloseeen]

I guess I'll have to heavily reconsider switching from a warrior over to an SK, since that seems like the go-to / preferred method for boxing groups. Again, sorry for my ignorance...but what makes the SK so much better? Is it just simply the spells they bring to the table? Do the three tanks end up with the same defensive capabilities, so warrior is jus kinda ass'd out in that regard?

If you like WAR, go WAR. I traditionally used SKs because I like them everyone says they are best. I recently leveled up a WAR instead and he's a badass. The SK still beats the WAR in AoE aggro, but, for me, that hardly matters matters in most circumstances. There are some times that the AoE aggro is nice, so I just use the SK then. The SK also has good lifetaps to get back health, but the WAR just looks at the SK wondering why he's taking so much damage in the first place. The SK feign death and snare are kind of nice in the early game, but eventually it doesn't matter and there are other classes that can do that stuff.

If you are trying to go after some of the lower level raids while still low level, you probably want the WAR for tanking. At lower levels the WAR defensive line is unmatched. SK get better tanking stuff later on, but early game they are kind of lacking in the take-less-damage area. Even in group content, the defensive discipline let me do some content at the low level that SKs just couldn't tank. If you plan to plow to high level and then go back to do the old stuff, it won't matter as you'll just roll over it anyway.

Also, I still find that a high level SK is the best for PLing, so it's always nice to have one around just for that.

It doesn't matter what you pick now anyway, because you will change your mind and switch around your classes once you get going. That's one of the nice things about the MQ playstyle. So just pick one get killing.

 

[Hylander]

they just have a "better" toolkit for the group game, and they are less reliant on others.

I know of a few Aussie players, but not sure that their guilds are aussie based.

@Hylander do you know of any aussie guilds, mate?

hmm, wonder if you'd call my guild Aussie? we cover, US East Coast, Central, PST, and East Coast Australia. Don't think we could stretch, to anything west of that.
Zatox on RG here is aussie too. not sure if he's still around (or the suspension waves got him)