I'm barely breaking into T1 and it's hellacious. I can't imagine what T9 is going to be like. Hope it all works out for you upper-tier folks!

Keep on truckin', Hate/Love!

42 accounts belonging to one player knocked offline for a week.

42 accounts to one player, seriously? I know that running multiple accounts is a hot commodity (and a necessity) on this server, but 42 accounts? On the other hand, I assume botters do what they can to maximize profits.

Either way, keep on swingin' the axe and spillin' that bot blood!

if you have a warrior,sk is worthless

and 2 zerkers w/ 2 groups isn't bad, but i'd not want them both if you are doing a single group

Alright, I'll be putting the SK on the sidelines then. And I see what you're saying regarding the berserkers - I can have one in the main group lineup, and keep the other one for use in the second group (if, or technically when, I need to use a second group).

Thank you for the clarification.

Kruc's outline for a starter group is spot on....but I'd consider a second group VERY soon after you start working your first group up. Eventually you'll want 12, unless Hate figures out a viable way to scale the game so that anything over 6 isnt necessary. But until he does.....12 is a winner. And TRUST me.....you will wanna get your second team in asap. Some of this content you just DO NOT wanna do twice (T5 for example).

I'll definitely keep this in mind. While I have little to no doubt that my PC can run 12 boxes simultaneously, I was hoping to keep it at 6 max, since my coordination isn't exactly the best. Then again, I guess that's where MQ2 comes in for the rescue. I remember it feeling like pulling teeth trying to gear up new characters in LDoNs and Qvic before group/guild instances were a thing (all the waiting in line... and waiting... and waiting), so I'll do my best to get all necessary characters running and up-to-date on their tier equipment and to keep backtracking to a minimum if possible.

And regarding your enchanter vs bard comments (I recall seeing the conversation in OOC last night), I never would have thought an enchanter could be that viable for DPS on this server. I guess part of that stems from my enchanter concepts after playing one on live and being used to sitting on my rump except for buffing, crowd-control, and vainly trying to outdamage the local mage/wizard/necro/anything that isn't a cleric. But, I will certainly work on an enchanter in the near-future, if not for the DPS, then definitely for the buffs.

I'd almost suggest against running 2 zerkers in a main group starting out, trash will die fast enough, you probably will end up wanting more single target dps, can use a ranger, monk, rogue or even a beastlord (beast gets ns's and the pet dps is nice early, but you probably won't use the pet much as you progress higher).

I see your point. I was considering those particular classes (as well as a mage) for a second group if/when I got around to working one up. But just out of curiosity, do you think substituting one of the two berserkers with my SK would be viable for the time being? He is mostly T1/T2 with 3.0, and I'd hate for him to sit around collecting dust. Or would I be better off giving that spot to a more DPS-oriented class, like the ranger/monk/etc.?

And as for talk of a second group, I plan on poking around the forums to see what others have been doing, but do you guys happen to have any further class set-up recommendations?

When most of us started, there were no strike augs. We just ran around with a warrior and army if pets :|

Honestly, this kinda relates to the "out of place" feeling I've had after returning to EZ after being gone for a few years. Back then, there were no icestrike or ninjastrike or whatever augs... no epic augs... no crafters guild... RoA capped at 100... no UWs... and UC was a super-rarity... So much has changed and I'm still trying to wrap my head around everything. But I'm starting to get a grasp of things after playing for a few days.

Anyways, you guys have been a great help and very informative. I really appreciate it. I wish there was something I could do in return.

Thank you guys for the informative posts. I have a decent PC, and I'll definitely try the UF client provided in the EZ Guide. After re-reading the optimization guide, I'll test how my PC handles 6 boxes in a good, heated battle, and then I'll fix or gut the graphics accordingly depending on performance.

Speaking of 6 boxes...

As for the class comp for a starting 6 man, I would recommend this setup:

Warrior
Druid
Berserkerx2
Paladin
Bard

I plan on following this build down to the tee. Glad to say I have a warrior, druid, and bard on the side from older endeavors (mainly for powerleveling when RoA used to de-level characters to 1 after each turn-in). Technically, I'm half-way there to a 6-man army! I just need to get the two berserkers and the paladin going.

Speaking of druids, I noticed that their epic(s) no longer provide a regen spell but some kind of root now. Looks like the change occurred while I was gone. That means I'll have to try it in action sometime (and most likely bite the dust).

Hello everyone. First off, thanks for taking the time to read. I used to binge-play EZ a few years ago, back when the highest tier was T2 or T4 or so. I mainly single-boxed as a SK back then, but I feel like coming back to EZ for good and creating my own box army. I've been reading over several guides here on the forums to catch up, and I have been hopping online some the past few days and very intrigued by all the new additions and changes. However, I just have a few questions before I get addicted again:

1) What is the currently policy on MQ2 usage, or rather, what plugins are or are not allowed?  When I played, the only permissible plugins were MQ2Maps and MQ2MoveUtils (for /stick command only). I see the guides linked to the left make mention of several other MQ2 plugins, and I would like to use the MQ2EQBC plugin to make sending commands to other boxes easier. However, I just want to double-check because I don't want to tempt the Akkadian banhammer.

2) Am I missing some files?  I have my SK 3.0 epic, but it's not showing up in my hand when I equip it. Alongside that, I poked my head into PoFire yesterday and noticed that the jopals were naked humans (everything else seemed fine). I'm currently running off a Steam-based Underfoot client, and I applied the EZ server/spell files located on the left-side bar. Kinda scratching my head on this one.

3) What classes would be recommended to fill up a 6-man group for the long haul?  A warrior and cleric would obviously occupy 2 spots, and one of the guides I read mentioned using a berserker for DPS as well. I thought maybe a paladin would be good since I recall their epics proc'ing a group heal, and I also recall rangers being pretty popular back then. But, things do change with time, so I'd like the scoop on this if possible.

Again, thanks for taking the time to read, and looking forward to seeing you guys in-game soon!

I would also like to extend my condolences to Hunter's family and friends. I haven't played on EZ in quite some time (probably years at this point), but seeing what crazy new ideas Hunter would whip up for EZ always kept my eyes glued to updates. He gave us a truly unique twist on a classic MMORPG and I am very thankful for the experience.

Thank you, Hunter, for your dedication and hard work towards a rockin' server and for everything that you have done over the years. You will be sorely missed.

So to be clear, the respawn time went FROM _____ to _____ ?

According to the code, from 6 minutes (or in LDoN6's case, from 5 minutes) to 4 minutes for all LDoNs.

As sad as I am that the server is down, it does give me time to knock out my homework for tomorrow.