Compiled starter guide for EZ server

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[Chunka]

Welcome to the EZGUIDE!

FAST RESOURCE LINKS

ITS HERE!! THE EZ WIKI! A better, easier to navigate version of this guide is at the EZ Server Wiki!

Updated EZquest info spreadsheet with armor and epic checklist, courtesy of Agio! Also a new spreadsheet for the most recently modified crafters guild recipes at http://tinyurl.com/ezcglist

- Download the right client to use on EZ! The best is the RoF2 client, linked below (Thank you Akkadius)

http://wiki.ezserver.online/Getting_Started

Click on the link above and follow the instructions on the wiki page to download and set up the client.

- http://tinyurl.com/ezsars is a good, working custom UI that will work here on the Underfoot client listed above. Or, you can also get a good working version of SARS for RoF2 client.

- http://www.mapfiend.net for maps!!

- http://mqemulator.net for a good working copy of MQ2 (use Underfoot, Classic download for UF, or Classic for RoF2, not just the version RoF).

- http://tinyurl.com/EZMapstuff for custom files for better map functionality, such as automatically performing /maphide npc or /mapshow, along with other MQ2 customizations.

- Also, you can find a list of slot names for /itemnotify commands HERE.

More detail in the guide on what these are for, but good stuff to download for EZ.

PREFACE

If you have any input or questions you can yell at Chunka in game, or email me at ezchunka@gmail.com.

When you are in game you can access this guide at any time by saying ezguide. Saying help will pull up a help menu with a ton of info (make DAMNED sure you read the rules!! Especially if returning, as some have changed), along with a link to the guide.

None of this is possible without tons of input from other players, including posts on the forums copied and pasted into this guide, or direct links to some posts. See something you like, send a tell to the author of those posts thanking them when they get on. If you want to add to whats here, please feel free to do so!

Lot of info here! You may wanna tackle this in chunks as it may take some a little. This is set up in topic sections that will make it easier to use "find" in the page. So far the topics:

CLIENTS AND SETUP; GROUPS AND BOXING; GETTING STARTED; WHEN TO START THE NEXT STEP; AN EPIC BEGINNING; GUILD QUESTS; CRAFTERS GUILD; RING OF AGES; CHARMS, ULTIMATE OR NOT; AN EYE ON EPICS; QVIC; CAZIC; PLANE OF DRAGONS; HOH; PLANE OF GODS B; MAKING MONEY; TOWER OF FROZEN SHADOW; T5 AND UP

Last word before we dive in! You'll always see in chat new players to EZ say, "Oh, I played live and P99 for over a decade....I dont need to read all this!" You are mistaken. This would be like someone coming to EQ back in 99 and saying, "I played NWN on AOL for years, this shouldnt be much different". Sorry, no. Not how it works.

THIS IS NOT EVERQUEST! THIS IS NOT P99! A lot of your EQ lore here will be changed, or just flat out wrong! In some ways this is NOT the same game at all! Zones, mobs, drops arent the same. Quests you used to work all the time probably wont work or even exist here. Alchemy, poison making dont work quite right here. Even classes and "traditional" class roles are different! So please understand that this isnt the game you're used to, and you'll have to relearn just like a newbie. And to you returning players, it may even be harder. A lot has changed in even in very recent months….so be ready to dive in and relearn.

***SOME IMPORTANT DIFFERENCES***
First, OOC isnt zonewide, its serverwide. This is our "general chat" Most players never have up those live channels like "general" or "bazaar" or the continental or class channels. Auc is also server wide, and what we use for selling (allows people to filter it if they like). Shout works only in zone.

Second, Commons and Overthere are PVP zones on EZ (we use Jaggedpine for GLS farming, not Commons). Commons is limited to level 60, and Overthere has no level limit. So.....if you love PVP those are the places for you (if you can find anyone on the server who PVP's). Third, Highpass on EZ doesnt work, if you use the right client (Underfoot). However, the zone's most popular mob can be found in East Karana with members of his family. Lastly, some familiar zones and mobs are CUSTOM on this server....so go carefully. For the most part you wont be able to enter a custom zone if its out of your level range, but some mobs in non custom zones are custom and can surprise you (such as a lvl 73 Fippy Darkpaw who hits 95K range and death touches). Con the mobs before you engage! Oh, and one big issue (see server rules for this): pull more than 15 mobs in a public zone and you get sent to jail, where you will stay for 5 minutes. No, not joking . Dont train!

CLIENTS AND SETUP

Ok, before we start, some tech junk! There are a few things you need to know:
NO PATCHERS!! NO WEBLOADERS!! IF YOU HAVE SOME FORM OF LOADER FROM THE EMU SITE OR P99 USE IT FOR OTHER GAMES, NOT EZ! EVER!! DO NOT EVER PATCH THE EZ CLIENT. While there is now a beta patcher (STRESS: NOT NOT NOT THE P99 PATCHER) that claims to work properly with the EZ Server many (myself included) have had issues with it ranging from odd MQ2 glitches to it not properly repatching files after you change servers. Bottom line....best method is to still to run the client directly using the shortcut method outlined on the EMU wiki: create a shortcut on the desktop to the eqgame.exe, and in the target line add "patchme" without the quotes at the end of the target line.....so if your target is C:\everquest\eqgame.exe, it would be C:\everquest\eqgame.exe patchme. Then go to the eqhost.txt file, and make sure after login it has this line: Host=login.eqemulator.net:5999.

Ok, now we've got that out of the way....lets talk about clients! NEVER EVER use a P99 use client on EZ past newbieland (before 70). You will have issues, and lots of them. Since 1 to 70 takes a couple-few hours, you'll probably use titanium just long enough to download UF client while playing. If you plan to play P99 and EZ, just have two separate clients (underfoot should be in its own folder anyway, not downloaded into titanium/P99 folder).

Next, and this is big, this server does not support Titanium. If someone tells you, "Oh, titanium works just fine" they are mistaken. You'll miss a lot without newer clients, and all of the new lvl 70 spells are unusable without the new client....in fact you cant even get the new buffs from another player. Many epic effects wont work on Titanium. Why? Titanium is limited to 9999 spells/effects. Newer clients have no such limit, and many custom spells/effects are over spell ID 10000. Regardless....SOE devs have admitted that Titanium was one of the most bug laden, underperforming clients ever made for EQ. Going to Underfoot or similar will provide noticable performance boosts....not to mention benefits from the newer client (no coin weight, loot all button, extra bank space and more).

****EDITED****
So...while the Rain of Fear client, found at the link above on Steam, is the preferred client to use, Underfoot will still work. If you are using a titanium client, I strongly recommend you download at least the UF client. REDTWO WAS NICE ENOUGH TO HOST SOME FILES, THE INFO FOR SUCH IS HERE:

http://tinyurl.com/ezclient1
http://tinyurl.com/ezclient2
http://tinyurl.com/ezclient3
http://tinyurl.com/ezclient4
http://tinyurl.com/ezclient5
http://tinyurl.com/ezclient6
http://tinyurl.com/ezclient7

$$$$$$$OR......you can get the EQ Free to Play RoF2 client (which will work better for EZ) here: $$$$$$$

http://tinyurl.com/EZROF1
http://tinyurl.com/EZROF2
http://tinyurl.com/EZROF3
http://tinyurl.com/EZROF4
http://tinyurl.com/EZROF5
http://tinyurl.com/EZROF6
http://tinyurl.com/EZROF7
http://tinyurl.com/EZROF8
http://tinyurl.com/EZROF9
http://tinyurl.com/EZROF10

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE SHOW HIDDEN FILES ON IN WINDOWS!! Just unzip all seven to the same folder (perhaps C:\everquestez or similar). If this seven part client wont download for you, I've heard some people have had luck using some torrents.

When you unzip the client, I recommend putting it in its own folder, not in with any previous clients, or writing over previous clients. In fact, I’d put it in its own folder in the base directory (I use c:\everquestUF.). You will also need the missing file pack, at http://tinyurl.com/UFmissing. ONE NOTE: some players get a download error when the UF download is almost complete. This client download is via a google doc folder, so some have had luck logging into a google account before downloading. Others have issues because their ISP doesnt allow large file downloads from google storage. If this seems to be you a torrent for a UF or HoT client is suggested (some still out there). This method makes downloading the missing files pack a MUST.

Make sure you ALWAYS have the zone files (find them in the link on the left side of the forum pages) and you always, ALWAYS want to make sure you have the up to date spell files! This is another reason to check the forums at least a couple times a week, as Management will change and update the spell files often. Again, check the spell file version for an update at least twice a week.

Need a custom UI that works? There are several you can use, including the good old fashioned default! In addition eqinterface.com has a lot of options as well...but finding one that functions with the client will be hard. I like the older SARS UI's, and you can find a working one (YOU GUESSED IT!!) on eqinterface.com, or http://tinyurl.com/ezsars. Or, you can also get a good working version of SARS for RoF2 client.

Want to use MQ2? Easy. Go to mqemulator.net and download classic for Underfoot, and you're GTG! If using the RoF2 client, then classic MQ2 for RoF2 is the download (NOT just RoF!!). One last: maps. Go to www.mapfiend.net for map packs for EQ. You might also want to go to http://tinyurl.com/EZMapstuff. This has map pack adds that will make your life easier on EZ....including the illsalin trigger locations, a nicer ToFS map and .cfg files.

The map files you drop into your map folder in your EQ Client. The .cfg files you drop in your MQ2 folder (NOT the EQ folder), and  they will automatically /maphide npc and /mapshow select NPC's in illsalin, loping plains, jaggedpine and Traks Teeth....the fhalls and illsalina.cfg files dropped into your MQ2 folder will make all logged in characters, ANY time they enter the caster or fighters guild hall, sit and memorize the spell list "main". If you change the name of your saved spell set to "main" they will do this every time you enter those zones. Dont drop them into the MQ2 folder if you dont want your characters to memorize their spells automatically any time they die.

Also, you can find a list of slot names for /itemnotify commands HERE. Comes in handy!

GROUPS

So.....lets play! To begin with: if you are looking for a game that will allow you to solo to end game, or that will have an abundance of other players who need help in groups, you may wish to rethink playing here. I'll be honest now: MOST people here box 3 to 12 characters. This is not to say you cant find groups, because you can....but to be frank its not easy. Best way is to get into a guild of people who enjoy playing 1 or 2 characters at a time and working with them. But....completely free to play multiple accounts here, and programs like MQ2 and others are allowed here within restriction (/stick, map, /twist and similar plugins). Boxing here is easy (more on that later)! Because of this many players who start out wanting to play 1 char or group with others will eventually start boxing their own crew. They may still like to work with others after, but it will typically be 2 or 3 people boxing a group or two in a raid. Learn MQ2: it pays off big.

I always hear newbies asking "whats the best class to play here?". Simple answer: whatever class you ENJOY playing is best. However, some classes here are easier to start with than others. Start with a strong foundation and the rest becomes a ton easier....and in a game like this a solid foundation is tank, healer, damage. Early on the best trio for that would be, IMO, warrior, druid, zerker. Warrior is easily the strongest tank in this game, by a mile. If anyone tells you otherwise they are indulging in wishful thinking or trying to sell you SK gear that no one really wants. A warrior will shrug off damage that a similarly tiered SK will get 1 rounded on. As for healers, I prefer to start with a druid. Early on the cleric is probably slightly better, though early on a pally comes close. However that all changes quickly, and druid becomes the best tank healer and a decent group healer. Look at the druid/shaman spell "breath of nature" (from the vendor in Surefall) for druid group heals. And while a pally does have a nice epic proc that heals and cures a group, and down the road they are far and away the best group healer,  the druid doesnt have to rely on a proc, and their heals are initially  stronger. Also after you hit Cazic Thule druids get a heal called "Skin of the Drake", which heals when the recipient is hit...and for a substantial amount. Use this often, and its upgraded versions later.

 For dps, I like to start with zerker. A zerker can take a pretty decent beating (better defenses than a ranger, and usually more hps) and they put out a good amount of damage. They have abilities that increase group damage. Also, their epic proc and click are both very strong AE damage (which is a huge help in progression). And while other melee classes will do more damage than a zerker on single targets, they rely heavily on expensive augs to DO that damage (most of which wont be available to starting characters). A zerker will benefit from those weapon augs, but they dont rely on them for dps. So....this is a good class to start with.

But...things can change! Management is always finding ways to improve EZ...and sometimes that means changing a class. Occasionally a class you'll have worked on, built up, advanced with flags/keys, etc becomes less useful than it was, or other classes become far more viable for their role. Also as you progress one class that worked amazing may be less than stellar in the next tier. Because of this its always a good idea to hedge your bet! EMU accounts are free, and unlimited. Make more boxes, try out all classes. I recommend 1 character per account, so there's no conflict. Work em up to 3.0 or 4.0, see what you think. Dont be afraid to "retire" a character in favor of one that works better for you....but dont delete those benchwarmers! Next month they may become godly! Flexibility is good here when it comes to making your box team.

BOXING

MQ2 IMO is the best choice for boxing software on EZ. Management allows it, allows EQBCS commands (as long as they DO NOT in any way automate kills....meaning bot killing with no one at the KB issuing commands). For /map and /stick alone, MQ2 is worth the use! But when you add EQBCS commands into the mix, its a boxers "must have".

The best source for MQ2 is mqemulator.net. You can get a precompiled, usable version of MQ2 that works with EZ clients. When you select your download, go CLASSIC then your client version (Underfoot or RoF2). I always load MQ2 before I load a client. Take the time to read the MQ2 wiki: http://www.macroquest2.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page. There is also a great post here about MQ2, suggested reading: http://ezserver.online/forums/index.php?topic=3803.0.

Regarding EQBCS….this is an application inside MQ2 that allows you to set up a "chat server" between boxes you run, and send commands from one box to any or all boxes loaded. These commands can be anything from /stick (an enhanced version of EQ's /follow) to telling boxes to assist and attack, or cast spells, or buff, or pet attack.....anything. Again, the MQ2 wiki above will outline a lot of these commands, and give you ideas on how to more easily run your box group from 1 screen. mq2emulator has a VERY good write up on setting up basic commands, and that can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/mq2hotkeykit. This will do a ton to help you set up basic commands for boxing. *****ONE ISSUE WITH THAT GUIDE! The "killthis" command is part of MQ2Melee, which is not allowed for use on EZ, so do not use.****

The last thing I would do is check a post Blarr made about optimizing box performance, shown here: http://ezserver.online/forums/index.php?topic=2988.0. Its very detailed, very long, and a MUST READ if you plan to box here. Check it out, read the entire thing. I strongly recommend using the 2 client folder, stick figure option from this post. I cant even begin to stress what a difference it makes! Just remember: when you run from 2 client folders, make sure to update spell files and character change info to UI in BOTH folders.

[Chunka]

INTERMISSION:

Some useful links to other guides/posts here. DISCLOSURE!! Some of the links inside these posts are dead, or obsolete, but there will be other good info in the posts as well. Sort through to find the gold!

http://ezserver.online/forums/index.php?topic=12.0

REALLY good post on epics.

http://ezserver.online/forums/index.php?topic=364.0

Great post on tradeskilling, great if you want to work crafters guild.

http://ezserver.online/forums/index.php?topic=2882.0

Crafters guild quest walkthrough

http://ezserver.online/forums/index.php?topic=1728.0

Info on player made weapon augs.

http://ezserver.online/forums/index.php?topic=2836.0

New spell list drop guide

http://ezserver.online/forums/index.php?topic=2273.0

Nice writeup by Strix on Ultimate Charm quest.

http://ezserver.online/forums/index.php?topic=406.0

Nice writeup by Swampy on making cash. Its a little dated, but great starter info for a new player!

http://ezserver.online/forums/index.php?topic=2243.0

GREAT bookmark list by Xiggy! I used this often!

http://ezserver.online/forums/index.php?topic=1760.0

Very solid post on armor sets by Stad

I'll edit this and add more as we go, but this is a decent start!

[Chunka]

GETTING STARTED

Ok, so you've picked a class to start playing. Where do you go? First step is to grab some gear! Qeynos Rangers Guild (AKA QRG, Surefall Glade, SFG) has two vendors you need to see first, both in front of the guild hall. One is a half elf, known as the newbie vendor, and the other is a big red fatass called the Epic Vendor. The epic vendor sells (you guessed it!!) epics. Get your 1.0 from this guy.  No, your aren't high (ok, maybe you are): 1.0's are free here to starting players. In fact most people starting pet classes use them as pet weapons!

Next go to the newbie vendor and grab arrows if you are a class that can benefit from ranged pulls or ranged damage with a bow. The fire tipped acrylia are free. Can also grab a "longbow" free til you find a better dropped bow (first decent one is in Mistmoore). Also, if you're gimongous you may want to grab some ants potions (free shrink). You'll also want to grab freebie stat jewelry, shuriken or throwing daggers if you dont use a bow, bonechips if a necro or SK, malachite for a mage, essence emeralds for necro rez. Make sure to get food/drink for stats. Bristlebane’s party platter and the Kaladim Koolaid are free. And lastly, the magic box. You probably wont need it til after you're 70, but in the meantime its a free weight reducing 10 slot bag. EDITED: Recently the magic box was made NON LORE, so you can load up on them! GREAT free 10 slot WR bag!

Also, one note on haste: on this server to combat lag Management artificially capped combat delay at 35. Haste really isnt important, except for spell haste. So worrying about haste spells or items is pointless for the most part.

Another few free items on the newbie vendor that you'll eventually want will be the waypoint (silver bar icon) and banker (gold bar icon) summoners. The banker summoner....well, thats self explanatory. The waypoint summoner calls up a waypoint that used to be required to create and/or enter solo, group and guild instances for any zone. With new coding you can do it without using the summoned waypoint, anywhere in any zone. Just /say waypoint! Note that you have to own the summoner to get decent pricing for creating a waypoint, and you still need a waypoint to hand plat to (though you can do so on static waypoints in Nexus, HoH, PoDrags, Sky, etc).

And about the new coding for instances: VERY slick improvement! There are 3 types of instance: solo, guild and raid. A solo instance is just that: solo! However, it also acts as a group instance, allowing up to 5 other characters to enter as well. Guild instances have no limit to characters you can have as members, and raid instances are limited to 76 total characters. How it works....you can /say instance to pull up the instance interface, and follow the links, type prompts in say.

Creation:

• create [solo/raid/guild] instance - Creates an instance of the current zone that you are in
• create [solo/raid/guild] instance [zone_short_name] - Does a remote instance create when you use zone short name

If you do not have the free waypoint reward item you will get a prompt of what the instance will cost, and a confirmation link that you want to spend that amount to create the instance. Thew cash is automatically removed from your inventory and the instance is created.  Thats right! No more feeding the waypoint cash! If you do have the FWP item it just creates the instance. When a Guild Instance is created, you will see a message that prompts other Guild members that it had been created, along with a link to immediately zone you into their instance. When you first create your instance, it is marked as a private instance in which others will need a direct invitation to join (see below), but if you wish to have this instance be open so people can just "enter raid akkadius qrg", you need to mark it as open in the menu.

Invite:

• raid invite templeveeshan player1, player2, player3 etc.
• solo invite nexus player1, player2, player3 etc.

Entering:

You must be added to someones instance in order to be able to enter it when it is private, however when it is public you can perform "enter" syntax to enter their instance without invite

• enter [solo/guild/raid] Akkadius [zone_short_name]

Alternatively, you can click the saylink in your 'instance list' menu to enter an instance

Deleting & Repopping

As long as you are the owner of an instance, you can delete your instance, however you have a 12 minute delay before you can create another instance. Repopping functionality still inherits the old systems 10 minutes repop delay.

Free Waypoint Reward Item

And while we are on the subject of waypoints...Management works their asses off providing the server, and keeping it interesting and fun. They listen to feedback, and quite often the changes you'll see here start with player ideas. The cost for the server and all involved with it comes from their pocket, and donations help out a lot. Without them I dont think EZ would last long! So....donate when you can, if you like playing here. I have, and will again. Management has "thank you" items available for EZ credits that he awards to donors and to people who help the server. One item thats a HUGE help (cannot stress enough just how much it helps!!) is the free waypoint creator. Its 100 EZ creds, but worth every bit of it. This will save you millions in instance creation throughout your stay on EZ. Also it allows you to "repop" the instance you've created to respawn the zone (10 minute cooldown to minimize bots) for no charge, which becomes more valuable than you can imagine later! This single item for me is the most important thing you can get for EZ! Visit one of the donation NPC's (Nexus and QRG) to find out how to donate.

ONE ISSUE WITH THE WAYPOINT MAKER REWARD ITEM: At the moment if you have the item equipped in power source it doesnt work properly. The system tries to charge you for the instance. But if you just have it in your bags it works fine.

And remember! While the "hard time" penalties for trains in public zones may have been removed, its still kind of rude to mass pull a public zone. Be kind, use an instance! It also makes it easier for you, no competition for spawn, no working around someone else.

Another item you'll want will be the summon teleporter. This allows you to summon a portable teleporter that acts like the teleport NPC's in starter and hub zones.

Now, once back in QRG lets revisit the epic vendor now that you have some bag space! Go to the epic vendor and get your 1.0 epics (yes, free). If you are a pet class, also grab a few epics from the epic vendor tro give to your pet. At one point the pally epic was weapon of choice for pets, but the heal proc on it was nerfed because of new pvp zones....so as it stands I'd say DPS is king. I like the rogue epic, warrior blue blade, BST epic, zerk epic....lots of choices. Play around with different combos and see which suits you best. Also go back to the newbie vendor and take a look at some of the items. If you save a little cash, you can buy some nifty items, like the fabled jboots, to increase run speed. Magic box as a bag, because its free 10 slot giant 100% weight reduction (awesome for monks!). And speaking of monks, the monk 1.0 is GLOVES, not a weapon....so when you get 3K or so may want to look at the fabled knuckledusters as a temporary weapon. I wouldnt bother with the platinum efreeti armor....no stats, just looks, It serves no other purpose.

Last stop: go past the guild hall to the practice dummy. The NPC nearby the dummy labeled Trainer (Spells and discs) will, when hailed, give you all your spells, songs, disciplines through 69. The merchants next to her sell lvl 70 spells for all classes, based on type. Get your spells and bag em....it wont be long before you're 70!

On to the adventure! Surefall has a chain of quest lines that will take you through the custom zones. Lets start by hailing the gnome at the end of the dock in QRG, Alcarmaba! Follow his text when you hail him, making sure to get BOTH quests (tails of woe and additional quests before you "enter the killing fields"). The one quest is simple: kill some skellies in Field of Bone til the quest completes (5, as I recall). The other asks for a "precious item" in FoB. The item drops from giant scorpions only in that zone, and looks like a gun. Once you finish both, click your rose again and port back to QRG. Go back to the gnome, and hail him a couple times til BOTH quests complete, and he hands you a "pre-nerf circlet of shadows", which is an instacast self invis item. Now....from here, go to the other NPC's around the zone for the level you're in, get their quests and complete. Following this chain will take you to lvl 70, and will net you 40 to 50K cash easily. Along the way grab all the armor and weapons you can in the custom zones. It'll serve you well as you progress. Best advice for fast leveling....work the QRG quests til you cant get them anymore, then go to the next as soon as you can. Its worth it. The exception: the Velks quest is IMO not worth the effort. The dogs are a pain to kill and they dispell constantly. If you do velks, work the spiders and gargs, and avoid the dogs (just my opinion). An alternative to Velks for 50ish chars is to either work the hell out of Dulak, or head to PoFear. When you hit 60 start BoThunder.

WHEN TO START THE NEXT STEP

When should I start my 1.5? Easy one. Level 70. You cant until then. Past that, I'd get a full set of at least Dulak armor, if not the named accessories from that zone or BoThunder.

When should I start my 2.0? Another easy one. After you get your 1.5's  But, while there, I'd also take some time to start farming charms, and also work on 1 if not 2 sets of Kings Chest cards for CG/FG (remember to hand them in before you sell your other cards!!).  I honestly dont see the need for spending LDON credits on old live version Anguish armor.

When should I work guild quests? Were it me....I'd start collecting items for them while I was leveling. Kills 2 birds with one stone  But definitely by the time your 2.0 are finished.

When should I start Qvic? I'd finish 2.5's on your characters before I bothered working qvic. They'll make a huge diff. I might also want at least lvl 1 on my main charm type on all characters.

When should I start T1? Get all your boxes 3.0, armor on all pieces through Cazic, maybe lvl 11 on primary charms for at least tank, healer and 1 dps. Might also do initial weapon augs (lvl 2 or 3).

When should I start HoH and 3.5? Here's where we'll see some people hate me. I would prefer that Management make, along with T2 armor and 3.0 epic, level 25 in at least 2 charms a must before entering HoH on any character. DPS is of extreme importance here on out in pretty much any zone, as well as tankability. Healers with lvl 21+ oracle, DPS with 21+ sorc, tanks with 21+ guardian all make a huge difference when clearing the zone and/or chasing down Shadow....especially after the changes. I will admit....I went to HoH before I had decent charms on my characters, and it was rough....even back when it was 10 times easier than it is now. I'd also make sure I had at least a few weapon augs for DPS. Again, you can go before, but you will need these items eventually anyway, so may as well work em up. Also, with changes to casting and resists, and the advent of stones of heroic resistance I’d try and get at least tank and healer to 1K+ resists, if not the whole team.

When should I start T3/4? When your whole team is 3.5....and preferably when you have some main charms 41+. Again, not a must, but REALLY helps. However....its around this point that I would swap back and forth, doing some T3/4, then some HoH. You'll probably need to for tokens anyway...but its in this stage that getting UC on at least tank and pally, and maybe a dps, is a very very good idea.

When should I start T5? Again, gonna piss off some people here. I think UC should be a req for zoning into T5. You'll at least want main charms at 41+. You'll of course need 4.0 and all T4 armor to get level 73, which allows you to zone in. But I'd do all the resist and strike augs I could to lvl 4 or 5, and as many UC's as you can stand doing. They will help you SO much, I cannot stress it enough! I'd also want to be as far done with T4 as possible....this means the class spells from T3/4 obtained, the armor and the accessories all done. Again, you're gonna need em to progress anyway, so may as well GED (git er dun).

When should I start T6? After you've done 5.0, of course  Its a req! But I'd definitely have UC's done all the way around, all T5 armor (now mandatory) and accessories done as well. Angst Squish mobs dont mess around. The added....everything really helps.

When should I do T7? Honestly, if you cant figure out T6 on your own, anyway, you shouldnt be THERE, let alone T7!  

Again, my opinion, but hope it helps some of ya.

[Kovou]

Good write up...but you make mongo's head hurt....so HULK SMASH!

[Chunka]

AN EPIC BEGINNING

This game starts at 70, really....and the next logical step in progression is the next area in the custom teleporter....PoTime! In Time you'll begin working your 1.5 epic, alone or grouped. The quest is simple, and is a similar pattern to later epics, too: get 10 pages from the named, then combine them in an epic book (container) you get from Terrorantula in South Ro. Talking to the epic ogre will give you info on how to proceed, but in general you kill spiders in SRo (say that to teleporter, NOT "southro") to get Terrorantula to spawn. He also summons adds, so be ready. When you have the book and all 10 pages, combine them and hand just the book to the epic ogre, and get your epic. Knights can hand in 2h epic (default) for a 1h version.

You do much the same for the 2.0, in LDON's. Hail the miner in Nexus, and go to LDON level 1. Clear your way to the end, looting all LDON 10 point coins and armor cards that drop (and all cash gems of course!). Make sure you also loot a stone of descent (looks like a blue marble). When you get to the end of the level, hand that to the gatekeeper (male high elf npc). He will teleport your group to the next level. Level two kill everything in your way, especially the named. All three drop decent loot and 50 credit coins, and two of them also drop pages. Again, gather all the extra drops (coins, armor cards and charm upgrades) and hold onto them. More with them later.

You'll do the same on each level, handing a stone of descent to the NPC at the end of each. If you die on these levels, you'll have to start again from level one unless someone rezzes you! So be careful. After you hand the stone to the NPC on level 5, you get a key for lvl 6, which also gives you the ability to hail the miner and teleport to ANY level you like. Oh, and on every level (especially level 5) make sure you save four kings CHEST cards. As soon as you get them the very first thing you do once you leave LDON is go to the NPC in nexus for either CG or FG quests (whichever you plan to do first....see below for more), get the quest and hand in the cards to the NPC 1 at a time (total of four needed). If you dont do that you may end up burning a card for points that you need for the guild quests.

****NOTE ON LDON KEY: IT DOESNT KEYRING, SO YOU MUST NOT DESTROY IT!! KEEP THIS KEY!!****

Once you've killed all of the named on levels 2 through 6 and gotten the 10 pages for the 2.0 epic, go back to nexus and hail the epic vendor, and talk to him about chambersb for Master of Weaponry. You'll want some help here, either your own boxes or another player...hard for any class to solo early on. When you attack him, every 20% or so he spawns a bunch of adds. Take care of them as you go or while killing MoW, depending on how powerful you are. When he's dead, loot the 2.0 book, combine the 10 pages in the book, and hand the finished book and your 1.5 to the epic ogre for your 2.0. Knights and zerkers, your epic has to be in 2h form to hand it. You may change the epic from 2h to 1h and back by handing the unauged weapon alone to the epic ogre.

Dual wield classes will want to initially get at least 2 epics (one for either hand), or you can try to find another weapon elsewhere (LDON does drop a few, as does PoTime). Later you wont need 2 epics, for the most part. Exceptions: sometimes beastlord and mage will want a second epic that doesnt go past 2.0, for the pet buff clicky. Its not that great on mage, but very good on BST. Also, knights might want 2 epics later, one for defense/heal and one for offense.

A good guide for the first few epics can be found here, on a spread sheet another player made (Wrett, Hagoth and others): http://tinyurl.com/ezquester. This will have maps with locs of bosses, armor sets, quests, more. This also has info on Fighter and Casters guild quests!

***ALWAYS INSTANCE WHEN YOU CAN USING YOUR WAYPOINT SUMMONER TO MAKE A SOLO, RAID OR GUILD INSTANCE!! ADDITIONALLY, DONATING AND GETTING THE FREE INSTANCE MAKER FROM HUNTER IS ONE OF THE BEST INVESTMENTS YOU CAN MAKE OF EZ POINTS!!*** (brought to you by Carl's Jr)

GUILD QUESTS

There are two initial guild quests....casters guild and fighters guild. These quests start in Nexus with 2 NPCs. They send you out to collect various goodies. I'll mention that spreadsheet again: http://tinyurl.com/ezquester. This will list all the items you need, where you can find them, what mob they drop from and where, alternative drop mobs if any....and probable spawn times. Most this info is still fairly well up to date, so I strongly recommend loading and saving this spreadsheet (there's a file button under the header for the page with save options)!

These two guild quests are invaluable! They give you decent stat food and drink, items that can help from the guild merchants and NPC's that can max casting or melee skills! And, just as important, the flag for guilding allows you to progress to 2.5 with your epic (which is needed to get to 3.0). Lastly, guild access gives you some nifty pet abilities, if you are able to summon a pet: CG members when they hail a pet can get two options: buff self (like the buffbot) or summon fireblades. The fireblades are....gnarly. They are for the pets only, are 10K hps each, great damage and a great proc. They make a MASSIVE difference on the DPS output of most pets, as well as dramatically increasing pet defenses. The FG members only get the buffbot option from the pet....no fireblades. This is why many beastlords go CG first (but always do FG, too). In addition, you MUST be a member of the casters guild to get the upgraded pet weapon quest finished, for the Ornate War Sword from ToFS 5th floor! This one's a must for higher end pet users.

Casters guild vendor has two items that allow you to summon a familiar/pet that will buff you. Some players see this as a good enough reason to casters guild their whole team.

FG/CG is one of the most important quests you can do for game progression, and its fairly easy. All of the items except for the kings chest cards from LDON and the trak idol are tradeable, so you can buy and sell them. Many players get starting cash this way. One last thing on the CG/FG items: Fabled versions of these items will not work for the quest....sorry!

CRAFTERS GUILD

Crafters guild access starts with an NPC in Nexus named MacGyver. He wants you to bring him several Grandmaster Trophies. This is one of the easiest quests in the game, but it gives you access to some of the most important goodies! The first thing you will want to do is spend some AA points Get baking mastery, blacksmithing mastery, brewing master and tailoring mastery, as well as Jewelcrafting Mastery, which is now available on any class, maxed. You'll probably also want to do the same for pottery mastery. With these AA you can make the trophies literally with 0 skill. However, I recommend at least getting each to 1 by visiting the NPC labeled "Trainer" in QRG or Nexus, then perhaps to 21 by visiting your class trainer and spending some training points if you have them. Once thats done follow the guide here or the visual guide Reddwarf made (which is fantastic!). This will walk you through creating the trophies, which you then hand to the NPC one at a time to get the access to the crafters guild hall. ****TWO THINGS!!! First in the visual guide you cannot at the moment use public zone PoK trade containers, you will lose any items you put into them and bug the client box that tries. Its best to make an instance of PoK, and make a new one for each new character that tries to use the containers! Its a known issue, and being worked on. Second.... again, you no longer need to level jewelcrafting for the quest. Now any class on EZ can get jewelcraft mastery AA, which will allow you to combine with nothing trained in the skill!****

You've seen mention of weapon augs, so lets take a sec to talk about those, starting with weapon augs. Weapon augs are player made items. Augs come in three flavors: ninjastrikes, the most expensive to make, and the heaviest damage, reserved for non tank melee....firestrike, which can be used by both knight classes and berserkers, and icestrikes, for warriors, priests and all non FS using melee. There are slot type restrictions on the augs, so examine the rank 1 carefully before you make rank 2.

Recipes for augs, and the ore to make them, are sold in the crafters guild. Buy version 1 of these strike augs, which cost 0 and are no trade, but are part of the recipe needed to make rank 2 augs. These augments are perhaps the single most important gear you can get on EZ server! They will make your epic aug'd weapons actually do damage

Buy the  recipe books from the vendor to learn more, but crafted items require a good bit of farmed material. Mostly this consists of essences and superior lightstones. An SLS is made by farming 10 greater lightstones (Commonlands is not where you get these here...its a PVP zone for lowbies. Most get theirs from Jaggedpine), and combining them in a magic box. Farming and selling SLS to other players, by the way, are probably the best source of income for new players early on.

Essences are farmed in progression zones, usually from named. They are tradable, so you can purchase them from players, but all will run several hundred K plat. So if you get em you can sell em, but you will eventually need them. Three new essences were recently added: Essence of Frozen Shadow based on which level of ToFS they drop. These are used for Ultimate Weapons. The other is called Essence of Norath, and is listed under the misc recipes book. It requires killing 10 mobs around Norath for their ores and combining them in a magic box. This essence is for now used for the Shield quest and for UW quest. Lastly, essence of platinum, which you get by handing the essence trader NPC 10 million plat. This essence is used to make Ultimate Weapons.

When you are putting more than one of the same type aug into a weapon, you often have to use "Dummy augs" to let you do so. Dummy augs will be found in the guild merchants in the guild halls, or on the aug sealer merch (gray gemstone of knowledge). The process....Dummy aug the top slots first, then put in the aug you want on the bottom most slot, then remove the 2nd from the bottom, and replace it with the next weapon aug you want, then remove and replace the top. If this confuses you, ask for help in game. One note: new RoF2 client wont allow you to stack identical augs in the same item! Do so in UF client!

You can also make mana necklaces, which give casters a fantastic boost to mana pool, as well as giving a right click cannibalize-like ability that converts hps into mana. Mana necks also add heroic stats (over cap) for casters. This is especially handy for resists, which recently became important again. Recently caster pets get an icestrike like buff from mana necks, triggered by casting damaging spells on the target mob (keep nuking/dotting and pet keeps proccing!), which really helps with pet DPS!

Farther along you can also craft the Shield of Ages, which is a VERY powerful shield/back slot that becomes doable at later tiers, and Ultimate Weapons, which are very time consuming and costly to make, but which are the most powerful weapons in the game. Also now available in the crafters guild hall is the quest for the Mask of Experience (see below).

So as you can see, the crafters guild is quite a worthwhile endeavor! Use some of the guides I posted links to above to start the crafters guild quests, and start saving your money, because this stuff gets expensive!  But its VERY, VERY much worth it.

RING OF AGES, MASK OF EXP

Next....you've seen mention of RoA here and elsewhere....but what does it mean?? Quite simply, RoA stands for Ring of Ages. This is a reward item you get for doing the "prestige quest" with the Prestige NPC in QRG, located near the tree with the buffbot. How this works: GREATLY simplified. Used to be you deleveled to lvl 1 and worked your way back up to 70 for every level of the ring. This was amusing the first time or 3....but got old fast, especially once it got to the point you could do 1 to 70 in under 10 minutes. It was also contrary to what Hunter wanted from the quest. Now you simply accumulate AA experience, and for every 100 points you advance one level of the ring. "Hell levels" happen every 25 levels, and take 2000 AA points to get through. After 100 the amount of AA per level increases, scaling upward as you progress, and starting at 250 points after getting 100....and the hell levels get worse as well (125 costs 5,000 AA). Gather all the AA you can, and the points will be extremely useful to you later! At the moment the Ring of Ages can go to level 1000, and is one of the best defensive items in the game.

Another item: Mask of Experience. This starts out in the crafters guild, and it advances by handing in to the NPC there, and consumes 1K AA per level (no hell levels). This mask can be cast with MGB to land on people in an area....and eventually can add (atm, I think) up to 300% experience. A lot of players are working the mask on one character before the ROA, or on a character that the RoA isnt that huge a benefit for, in order to make RoA faster for the entire team later.

CHARMS, ULTIMATE OR NOT

Charms are without a doubt one of the most important things you'll do in EZ server. Charms will have a huge, game changing effect on everything you do. Tanks with the right charm tank one hell of a lot better. DPS classes are dpsier! Healers are megahealers! Charms come in four flavors: oracle, which gives any heal ability more heal power...guardian, which has the best stats (AC, HPS, etc) and makes all buffs and disciplines last longer...sorcerer, which increases spell and proc damage....and brawler, which has decent melee dps stats, but the effect is broken. You get these charms by getting lucky with a drop in LDON. A lot of changes to this system recently. LDON mobs are once again trainable....and the chance for a drop in LDON skyrocketed (I believe 1 in 75 now, with another chance thats a lot more rare, charm on any level, 1 in 666, I think....unsure on the new numbers). Regardless, with the new changes to LDON getting V1 charms is very easy. You can also get charm upgrades by spending LDON points to buy them (2000 points each). Points are gathered by collecting no drop point coins, 10 point coins randomly from trash and bosses 2 through 5 dropping 50 point ones on bosses (VERY rarely you may get a 50 point coin on a level 6 boss, but not often). You can also collect the armor card drops and sell those for points. Anymore drop rates are fast enough that not many bother with points.

Ok, so now you've got your charm upgrade. If you have not yet already at level 70, go back to the newbie merchant and buy the newbie charm version 2 for 10K and change. Place this newbie charm in the magic box with the upgrade, hit combine and you've got yourself a new charm! Any time you get another upgrade, place it in the magic box with your current charm of the same type and combine to go up a level. Now...charm upgrades are divided into two types: v1, which are unstackable, and v2, which are stackable. V2 charm upgrades cannot be bought from the LDON merch with points. V1 cannot be used to upgrade a charm past lvl 25, and V2 charm upgrades wont do anything to a charm below level 25. Version 1 upgrades drop in LDON, or are rewards for LDON points spent...and will only advance your charm to level 25. Version 2 charms are needed to go from 25 to 50, and only drop in HoH (Plane of Gods on the custom teleporter....requires a flag to enter, gotten by getting a tier 2 chest from PoDragons....more on that soon). You can also, rarely, get v1 charm upgrades in HoH from the 3.5 book boss, Shadow.

Recently some alternatives have come up to LDON and HoH for charm farming. Later tiers, 5 and up, can rarely see v1 and v2 charm drops. Helps to back charm boxes J More importantly, however, is Tower of Frozen Shadow (ToFS). Will cover more on that later, but levels 1 and 2 are v1’s, lvl 3 v1 and v2, and lvl 4 and up drop V2’s. Currently, if you can survive it, TOFS is the best source for charm upgrades of any type.

Another new alternative for upgrading charms come from the new expeditions in the game (for Dranik, which is T4 or 5 in difficulty, and Abyss, which actually seems easier than T5). Bosses here drop Charm Prism Upgrades, which can be used just like a charm upgrade for either v1 or v2 charms. Easier than ever to advance charms!

Now....if you spend the time and effort and get all 4 charms to level 50, combine the 4 in a magic box and get the Ultimate Charm!

Meanwhile the effects from the charms through level 25 are substantial, and to be pursued. Next thing people always ask me, "Chunk, what charm should I work on for class X?" The obvious answer is work ALL of em, since the goal is the UC....but there are charms that help a ton before UC. However, fast and easy rule of thumb: healers go oracle, everyone else uses sorceror to start. If you are tanking for your group, may wish to go guardian. Overall I prefer pally for first UC charm, but I first get oracles to level 41 on other healers, and sorc to 41 on heaviest DPS. There are upgraded versions of the UC in T6 and T8 respectively, but the quests for these are explained once in those tier zones.

[Fugitive]

druid enchanter and shaman get them sorcs too..apparently you havent seen a lot.of the new spells..I got them UC'd anyways shaman heal with UC is Almost 400k ...and new dots and kraken make it well rounded... druid heals and damage spells make it rounded.. enchanter damage spells and able to mez in t6....



from phone I'll clean it up later

[Chunka]

Thanks Fugi

AN EYE ON EPICS

The 2.5 is very very easy. However, no one can help you with it, there really isnt any combat and it can be one of the most annoying parts of the entire epic process through 4.0. The 2.5 requires that you be a caster or fighters guild member. Once you are, you can go to the epic fatass, click the 2.5 link and enter the Hushed Banquet. I strongly recommend an instance here.
The Hushed Banquet only has one type mob: a red con roving eye that, if it "sees" you (line of site, any direction for the eye, within its agro range which is blessedly short) will eject you from the zone or DT you. Just go through the zone, smashing barrels, without being seen by the eyes. Rarely, randomly, the barrel will contain a key, which will appear in your mouse pointer. Then you give the key to one of the chests in the zone. Randomly, rarely, a chest will contain a 2.5 epic book, which you will hand in with your 2.0 to the epic fatass for your 2.5. Thats it. Sneak/hide/invis doesn’t work on the eyes, but FD will. The eyes cannot be killed; agro one and you get booted. Oh, and no pets in this zone! Pet classes will need to cast, range with a thrown item or melee.

A popular way to do this is to work a “safe room”, which is a safe haven from eyes, often with a few barrel pops. Pick one with a good number (dozen or so) of easy to get to barrels without multi eye traps. Good luck!

****EDITED, APRIL 4th 2014****

Ok, Hate and Akk made some changes to how epics are handled. Epics now are WEAPON AUGMENTS, not weapons themselves. How these are handled is pretty straightforward:

Step One: Find a weapon, range or secondary (anything with a type 21 slot, Class augment) in the tier you can farm in, or use a UW. YOU CAN ALSO FIND STARTER SKINS FREE FROM A VENDOR WHERE YOU ENTER PoDRAGS! You'll want this BEFORE you complete the new epic augment!

 Step Two: Take your old epic (or aug) and the new epic book (3.0 epic or epic aug, and 3.5 completed book, for example) and hand them both in to the epic fatass, and get the new Class Augment. MAKE SURE IF ITS A WEAPON YOU ARE HANDING IN THAT ANY WEAPON AUGS ARE REMOVED!!! Let me state that again:

MAKE SURE IF ITS A WEAPON YOU ARE HANDING IN THAT ANY WEAPON AUGS ARE REMOVED!!!

Step Three: combine in sealer box (or just drop in to weapon if using RoF2 client).

Ta Da! New epic! Easy stuff. After this you can slot any other weapon augs you may have. REMEMBER: If you're slotting into a tier 7 dropped weapon you MUST MAKE SURE YOUR WEAPON AUGS ARE RANK 9 OR HIGHER!

With the new epic system there really isnt a need for multiple epics past 2.5 for most characters. Warriors only need 1 epic aug as the system stands now. Same for bard, and ranger (no sword epic aug for ranger, its JUST bow epic). The only classes that seem to benefit from multiple epic augs would be knights who want both 1h and 2h versions of their epics, though some warriors keep one epic at 3.0 for range pulls (angerIII, 200 range) or mages and beastlords who keep an epic at 2.0 for the pet buff click.

[Chunka]

QVIC

Ok, so you have your 2.5! Next step is to become flagged for Cazic and later, and getting your 3.0! This will involve completing a quest in Qvic, which is our next custom zone, and the last custom zone you can enter without a flag.

Step one: go to Nexus, find the Qvic NPC and get the quest. Then go to the custom teleporter and go to Qvic (now called P1). When you arrive, there is one way thats a path down, and one thats back onto a bridge. Going the bridge way will zone you out of qvic, so lets avoid that direction. The few mobs on the "bridge" are non agro unless attacked. Dont AE or attack them, or they will debuff you.

Qvic mobs can be rough: they hit very hard compared to what new players are used to, they will gang jump you, and they hit fast! So be ready! While a 2.5 necro CAN solo Qvic, I dont recommend it (slow going, and solo here is silly). Bring in a group of 6, work on tokens and epic books. This also works better because you have a lesser chance of an armor piece rotting. Also make sure the tank has as many defensive AA as you can get: combat stability, combat agility, any durability, planar power….you get the idea. Give the other 2 some decent defensive AA, and on your dps class get some good offensive AA. On your pally/priest anything that improves healing will help. By now you should have collected a goodly amount of AA getting to this point.

When you head in, go slowly, stick to the center of the path. Mobs on the walls can and will agro and make life hard for you if not careful. Head up, and take the first path right. This will lead you to the temples.

Named here drop the tokens you'll need for the qvic quest. They also drop quest armor pieces and gear. Both named and trash can drop spells....and trash drops augs (that most people dont bother with) and no drop quest gems for the armor quests. Named are spawned instantly when you kill a specific, static spawn point placeholder. This spreadsheet, under the 3.0 and Qvic tab, lists the spots, named, and drops, as well as what armor spots need what gems: http://tinyurl.com/ezquester. Each player needs to get all 15 tokens, and you'll definitely want ALL your qvic armor, since its needed to progress armor. Armor no longer needs to be handed in to the quest NPC in nexus, just combine with the proper gem in a magic box and wear it! Also, be on the lookout here for “Essence of Qvic”, random rare drop from bosses, which looks like a pile of red dust. These are used for many different crafters guild items, and atm bring good cash if you decide to sell them (100K+ is pretty common).

Since the changes Hunter made months ago, trash and named both cast, the most annoying being dispell and root. Mobs here are no longer leashed, so mass pull as you like (though keep it to instances rather than mass pulling public).

One named in Qvic is NOT spawned, or static: Sand Monster. This mob when targeted has NO name, it just starts beating on you giving you the message about pain and suffering hitting YOU for 2596 points of damage! Keep an eye out for it (giant brown arthropod, hard to miss). It drops the last quest token. All the named will spawn adds as you kill them. Players may find it easier at first to kill the adds as they pop, then move back to the named. Recently Hunter made a change, and added an “Ancient Sand Monster” that pops after regular SM dies, usually at a set spawn point (not where SM was killed). This behaves just as the regular version, but he drops 3.0 epic book. Makes it easy to epic up your characters. Another recent addition: Angry Beholder. Tons of hit points, hits a little harder, but has a LOT of goodies, including charm upgrades!

Once you have all 15 tokens you can either stay to farm armor and essences, or go back to nexus to hand them in so you can get your 3.0. Handing in the tokens doesnt require any order anymore, just hand em in and the quest progresses. Once all 15 are handed in you will get some experience and a sellable plat bag, as well as your 3.0 flag.

CAZIC

Once you are done with Qvic armor, you can hit Cazic Thule (P2 or P3-Optional). This zone was recently revamped to replace Tacvi in the progression change, and in my opinion is a hell of a lot less boring! Move through CT, killing anything that moves. Armor upgrades drop from trash for CT1 armor (old Tacvi). Simply combine CT molds/patterns with your completed Qvic piece in the magic box to make CT1 armor. Certain named in CT will drop CT2 armor pieces, which is a stepping stone between the CT1 and PoDragons gear. However, its optional...you can do CT1 armor then go directly to PoDragons first tier if you prefer. Cazic Thule essences also drop, and you will wanna save those. Lots of nasty spells from these mobs, so a pally with a curing epic proc can come in handy.

Ok, that covers our current section of our progression guide! I hope it helped...and as always if you have any input or questions you can yell at Brickhouse or Chunka in game, or email me at ezchunka@gmail.com.

PLANE OF DRAGONS

We’ll start on PoDragons, which is commonly referred to as T1 and T2.

But before we do, a brief word on changes to how flagging and the teleporters work! Flags are now from level, and the levels now go up to 78. Once you’ve finished your Qvic hand in quest (the tokens) you can be flagged for Cazic and PoDragons, and level 71. To do this, go hail the Level Up npc in Nexus, and  you will get level 71. You may then zone in to PoDragons!

PoDragons is in the old Plane of Storms zone. You enter via the custom teleporter, and zone in not at the normal zone in, but in the giant camp back by what as the forest giant area. This is the start of T1. Inside the camp you'll find 2 NPC's at the gate....the merchant and the RotBot. The merchant will sell a ring that has decent stats and is a right click gate to PoDragons. Buy it. The book of recipes will list what combination of items in the zone makes what augs, but this same info is at tinyurl.com/ezquester (keep this handy as you work T1/2).

The point of this zone is gearing up armor and augments. You roam through the zone and kill dragons. Randomly the dragons will instaspawn a named, a chest or an ornate chest. The named and ornate chests drop aug components and crystals (fire and water), and armor archetype type ores. Save these. The chests drop a ton of gems, aug parts, class and armor archetype type ores and sometimes a spell (druid ancient regen v1). Gather up as many crystals as you can as you roam. Out and right from the camp along the cliff edge you will come across a water tiki. If you give this tiki a water crystal, it will spawn a random boss. Going out from camp and left and through a cave that leads underwater to the next forest side, then up out of the water and left along the wall will lead you to a fire tiki, who takes the fire crystals that spawn a random boss. Killing these bosses will always get you more aug parts and a random armor piece. Also, rarely, you will get spells for various classes and an item that looks like a clover leaf, the “Essence of Dragons Minor”. You know what to do with these

Armor will be in subsets: leather, cloth, plate and chain for each main armor slot. Randomly bosses sometimes also drop secondary slot items. But lets say that you dont get what you need (you want plate, but other stuff keeps dropping)! If you take two pieces of different armor type for the same slot (example: leather and chain boots, but you need plate) and hand them in to Rot in the zone in fort he will give you a mold/pattern for what you need. It makes getting past this hurdle one hell of a lot easier!

Now that you have your armor mold/pattern go find an archetype ore (plate, cloth, etc). Put the ore, the pattern/mold and a completed piece of Cazic armor for that slot in the magic box and combine to get your T1 armor for that slot. Simple and easy!

Once you have all your T1 armor, the next step is T2. This can be a little rougher. The trash dragons hit harder, have more hps and are generally more of a pain in the ass. The instaspawned named are tougher. Bosses can be positively gnarly, because along with increased defenses and dps they also summon adds (dragons) during the fight that make things more fun to handle...and to add to the fun those dragons summoned have a chance to randomly instant summon the named, chests or ornate chests!

To run T2, simply kill dragons as you did in T1, and get the chests, ornate chests and named. Crystals here are earth and ice. The ice tiki is just right along the wall from the tunnel from the T1 side. Same as before, hand in the crystal to pop the boss. Go left from the ice tiki along the wall to the tents, and nearby in a rock wall corner is the earth tiki. Same applies...get the items you need and complete your T2 armor set!

The bosses here drop class specific armor pieces, T2 secondary slot items, aug parts, random spells and dragon class armor. Dragon class armor is wildcard armor: T2 armor piece drops are class specific, but dragon class works for ALL classes. Once you get your mold/pattern, use it, the completed T1 armor for that slot and class specific ore in the magic box to make your new armor! ROT npc will not swap armor from T2, which is why Hunter added DC armor drops. The essence that drops here looks like a piece of broken branch, the Essence of Dragons Major.

Some info on the mobs here: silver and gold dragons are just straight forward melee, and seldom will they AE a small nuke. Storm and black dragons AE often T1 side, as do Lava and Red on T2 side. The worst: Shadow and Green dragons T1, and Brown and Tiamat dragons T2 will do an AE poison. This poison lasts a while, and is deadly. It will chew down lesser geared players and non healing pets quickly! Avoid it if you can....but the proc from a pally epic or cleric word of Vivification will cure the whole group instantly. Soloing cloth classes can also get armguards of purity from Vex Thal which will cure the poison. At least one of the spawned named on T2 side, Sethas, also uses this poison. The group cure clicky reward item, 5 ez credits, comes in very handy here! You can also use priest/pally AA “Radiant Cure”. Some mobs/bosses will use NPC root, which lasts a while. Any of the above methods will work for curing, or you can direct damage yourself to clear.

Most of the bosses have one trick or another. I'll try to outline them for you:
WRIST: Amun T1: nothing of consequence ---- Seth T2: poison AE
LEGS: Ptah T1: AE slow ----   Alfadir T2: AE stun  
GLOVES: Omm T1: AE root/debuff. ------Mentu T2: nothing of consequence.
HEAD: Khepri T1: nothing memorable ----   Okeanos T1: AE stun    
CHEST: Shia Hulud T1: heavy melee ----   Kronus T2: heavy melee, rampages, does an AE and spawns with 2 imposters. To find the real Kronos have a pet or box without a target, and have tank agro. When the AE goes off they will get the target for the real Kronos automatically. Also, watch which Kronos is crapping gold dragons. Thats the real one. Kill a fake and it immediately respawns.
FEET: Apophis T1: melee ----   Imsety T2: melee
ARMS: Heh T1: randomly casts an AE blind and debuff ----   Thur T2: Spawns with Magni, a giant storm. Kill Thur first then Magni, or Magni respawns instantly.

****EDIT****
Again, since some changes to the server made some months back, trash and named (mini and maxi) can also cast other spells, including dispell, slow, root and bind. Plan accordingly.

There are many different types of armor augs that you can create with T1 and T2 drops: hps, hp regen, damage shield (shoulder only), mana augs, mana regen, weapon augs that add to base damage, hps and stats for 1h, 2h weapons, and the warrior agro augs! T1 augs are rated as 4, T2 as 5. To make a level 4 aug combine the pieces in the magic box. Two of the level 4 augs in a magic box create the level 5 aug of that type. And no, there's no lvl 6 augs.

You can select what path you wish to take with augs, but initially you really cant go wrong with hp augs in every non weapon slot, at least until you can get resist augs from ToFS. Some like to do mana and mana regen, and the DS aug in the shoulders adds 100 or 200 to damage shield...but in general I prefer all hp augs. Collect the augs you want to use, then put one of them and the armor piece you wish auged into the sealer box and combine. If you dont get the group aug'd here dont panic: complete level 4 augs of all types can drop in PoGods 1 (HoH), so you can easily catch up while farming there for your next epic and charm upgrades.

If you upgrade an armor to the next tier and its aug'd, you will lose that aug....so remove them using the appropriate distiller in the sealer with the aug'd armor before you do. And just a reminder: dont aug and unaug using Titanium client or nasty things may happen (crashes, lost armor and augs, etc).

Oh, and lastly regarding T1/2: Hunter added a new mob, the Ancient Dragon. I quote, “It is harder than Kronos in terms of hp/damage it has, but no adds currently. Drops a ton of stuff like Essences for Dragons Minors and Majors, Dragon Class Molds, Charm v1/v2 upgrades, Spell Scrolls, etc. Will make a good raid boss for 12+ players of T1/T2 level. A high level player could probably kill this within a few seconds. Try not to grief public zone. This raid boss is meant for the T1/T2 players, not for the T5-T7 players to come in and kill steal it from lower levels, which will be a ban offense. This new raid boss will send a message to zone when it spawns. And it spawns in the big building in bottom left of the map. Has a 2 hour depop timer.” The mob does spawn in instances, is considerably higher hit points than Kronos and spawns Fire side in T1, south end of the zone. There are 2 buildings with a big temple type building right on the water (the one that has 1 Storm Dragon spawn inside). If you go around the side of that building there is a bridge across the water to another building. The Ancient pops in there, and does not roam. And no, sorry, no specific idea how to pop it yet.

HOH

When you complete all your T2 armor and have your 3.0, you’re flagged to progress on to Plane of Gods A/B! Don’t forget: go visit Level Up Wench in Nexus to get level 72, which allows you to teleport to HoH/T3/4. Gods comes in two parts: HoH (old PoP Halls of Honor zone) and PoSky. PoSky is for T3 and T4 armor (we'll cover that soon) as well as spells, accessories (rings, shoulders, etc) and 4.0 epics. Today however, we'll be dealing with HoH, which is for your 3.5 epic and V2 charm upgrades.

HoH is divided into several sections, with different avatars. I will describe each below, along with any special abilities they may have, as well as what tokens they most often drop (these tokens will be explained later....for now just know that you NEED these to spawn bosses in the next tier, PoSky):

Note that ALL avatars have a chance to drop ANY token (and v2 charm upgrades), but these have a higher chance to drop.

AVATAR OF....

Heavens: Epic Page 1. No special abilities to worry about, drops random tokens.
Earth: Epic Page 2. The Oceanlord (Wrist) Often ROOT, so kill FAST. Radiant cure AA will clear root, or self nuke.
Storms: Epic Page 3. The Lightbringer (Hands). These will grav flux, which can knock you back into adds. They also dispel.
Abyss: Epic Page 4. The Tranquil (Feet). Nasty mana drain and a bit of AE nuke.
Valor: Epic Page 5. The Faceless (Arms). These stun.
Skies: Epic Page 6. Splitpaw (Legs). Often blind.
Underworld: Epic Page 7 H1-N1 (Chest). These seem to flurry, and are heavier DPS than other avatars. They also root a lot.
Hate: Epic Page 8. The Prince of Darkness (Head). Often casts an AE debuff, lowering AC and offense.
Hell: Epic Pages 9 and 10. The MCP (4.0 book). These have a nasty damage shield. Not as bad as it was before, but pets will get chewed up fast if you’re still using pet classes. Use cancel magic to kill the DS.

If anyone has a decent map of the zone, that’d be great (cant find the one I used to have), but when you see the avatar you'll know it by the names above.

Ok, you'll keep working the avatars. Pages drop randomly, and are somewhat rare.....so it may take a few clears to get all you need. Avatars and their guards (these are trivial....mid teens for damage per hit, no special abilities, die FAST) will respawn in.....I think its 2 hours (feel free to correct me if I am mistaken).

Once you've been in the zone for a bit (as long as 30 minutes, randomly) Shadow will spawn. He spawns at one of several random points in the zone. Shadow is a bit of a brute.....rampages (AoE melee), hits up to 50Kish, can randomly fear players, and has a nasty cripple debuff (RC clears it). He no longer roots, thank god. He has a lot of hps, and a strong regen....so bring your DPS. Once you get Shadow down to around 25%, but as low as around 18%, he has a chance to shadowstep to another random spot in the zone (anywhere) at full health. Time to run him down and kill him again! Recently he was changed to jump a max of 4 times, so he's not as rough as he used to be.

Once you have him dead, he always drops the 3.5 incomplete book, and can randomly drop up to 2 charm upgrades (I think lots changed recently). Loot, insert your pages and combine, and go get your 3.5! One note: Shadow is no longer worth chasing for charms! He often drops ZERO.

Regarding charm upgrades.....the V2 upgrades are stackable. You use the v2's ONLY when your charm is at level 25. V1 upgrades will not upgrade a charm past 25, and v2's will not change a charm under 26. Other than that, very straight forward!

***EDIT*** ALL PROGRESSION/LEVELING FROM T2 ON REQUIRES ALL SEVEN MAIN ARMOR PIECES AND THE EPIC FROM THE PREVIOUS TIER (accessories/jewelry no longer checked). ONCE YOU HAVE THESE VISIT LEVEL UP WENCH AND GET NEXT LEVEL!

http://ezserver.online/forums/index.php?topic=4230.msg53904;topicseen#new

[Chunka]

PLANE OF GODS B

Which of course brings us to Airplane and T3/4! Yes, you guessed it: T3/4 takes place in the old PoSky (Airplane). If you can zone to Gods A (HoH), you can go to Gods B (Sky). Use the Universal Porter, click custom, Gods B to get in….or use the gate ring, bought from the vendor at no cost.

Once in the zone you will see the glowy waypoint just to the right of a doorway into a small building. Inside this structure is an NPC who will, when hailed, prompt you to port up to the battleground. You will want to port up your raid/group to the island. The spot you port to will be the spawn point for the bosses when you trigger them (getting to that). You’ll want to leave 1 character at the zone in spot, inside the structure, by the port up npc, as he will also trigger the spawn when you hand in tokens (patience, Daniel-San). I recommend either making this character one that’s not needed for combat up top (again, since zoning up lands you at the same spot named spawn), who can just stay and hand in rather than fight, or make it your tank, who will agro as soon as he ports up. You can also, of course, optionally port the hand in character up once battle commences.
Now, as to the hand in! Remember those tokens from HoH? This is where they are used! Handing in any of those tokens will spawn a T3 named, and combining two of the same type in a magic box will result in a new token that can be handed in to spawn a T4 named, as listed here:

The Oceanlord is T3 Wrist, X2 = The Burning Prince, T4 Wrist
The Lightbringer is T3 Hands, X2 = The Rainkeeper, T4 Hands
The Tranquil is T3 Feet, X2 = The Plaguebringuer, T4 Feet
The Faceless is T3 Arms, X2 = The Prime Healer, T4 Arms
The Split Paw is T3 Legs, X2 = The Mother of All, T4 Legs
H1N1 is T3 Chest, X2 = The Warlord, T4 Chest
The Prince of Darkness is T3 Head, X2 = The Prince of Hate, T4 Head
MCP token spawns the mob that drops the 4.0 epic book

And, as always, http://tinyurl.com/ezquester has the lovely spreadsheet with all this info and more!

The bosses all spawn adds during the fight. If you’re new to the zone and not heavily geared, kill them as they spawn then go back to the named. The named will all have bigger casting abilities, including knockbacks, roots (the nasty ones from T1/2 that require radiant cure or better to clear…and yes, sometime you will be knocked back then rooted out of melee range), debuffs, dots, blinds and occasionally fear. Be prepared to deal with any or all. The donation reward clicky that group cures comes in VERY handy here, as does group CoH clicky (because of knockbacks and fears). The best way to handle fears in these fights is to let the knights tank, after they have the fearless AA. Just a warning: feared players have a nasty habit of falling off the edge of the island, or THROUGH the island when feared pathing goes wonky. At best you will land in Freeport in the bay. At worse you fall to your death. Either way, if this happens, zone back asap and get to fightin again. ONE EDIT: FEAR seems to have been removed from the bosses in this zone because of fall through issues. However, pathing here is still weird, and characters using mq2 /stick or /follow often will at weird times just run off in random directions on their own and either nosedive off the island or fall through, causing them to fall to their death on another island or wind up in Freeport swimming in the harbor. So…check your boxes often!

When first starting most people start by standing their group on a ridge just above the zone down pool. That’s out of agro range for the spawned named, and it allows you to pull or rush at your leisure. Eventually most just stand the group at the spawn point and fight as you spawn them, limiting movement. Use what works best for you.

Oh, and a few other things: the H1N1 fight is a bit weird (unsure if this is intentional or not). You cannot target H1N1 with auto target key such as F8 or a cycle through nearest mobs key (set up in targeting options). Wont target him or his summoned piggies. You have to either mouse target or, as I prefer, set up a hotkey with /target H1N1 and another with /target virus, and use them to switch targets as needed. ONE EDIT: with the intro of the agro window you can easily change targets there between H1N1 and little pigs!

The MCP fight used to be rough because he feared often and has a VERY nasty damage shield. Lead off with someone casting cancel magic and its no longer an issue. The fear is gone!

As to loot….the named drop the pieces mentioned above. Any boss can also drop spells, secondary slot items (belts, cloaks, shields, jewelry, etc), class ability clickies (most fit in energy source slots) and gods minor/major essences. T3 bosses drop 1 armor piece, T4 drop 2 on all named except Warlord (just one BP at a time). T3 armor will be class armor: Tarew Marr for plate classes, Fennin Ro for leather, Povar for chain and Xegony for cloth. Combine the appropriate mold/pattern for your class with an unaug’d T2 piece in the magic box (no ores are needed). Combine the T3 with the T4 class armor item, also, of course, in ye olde magik box. T4 armor is as listed here:

Bard: Druzzil Ro; Beastlord: Veeshan; Berserker: Brell Serilis; Cleric: Tunare; Druid: Karana; Enchanter: Quellious; Magician: Prexus; Monk: Tribunal; Necromancer: Innoruuk; Paladin: Mithaniel Marr; Ranger: Erollisi Marr; Rogue: Bristlebane; Shadow Knight: Cazic Thule; Shaman: Bertoxxulous; Warrior: Rallos Zek; Wizard: Solusek Ro

Again, ezquest spreadsheet is your friend!

Pretty straight forward! As always, questions to me in game or a PM here or the email I listed above.

MAKING MONEY

ONCE AGAIN!! In Qvic, Cazic, T1/2 and on up you MAY get an "Essence of <zone title>", rarely, from named, trash, whatever (varies per zone). SAVE THESE! SAVE THESE!

Oh, did I mention that you should SAVE THESE?

Again, these are used for a wide variety of crafted items, including weapon augs, mana necks and more.....especially the new Ultimate Weapons. These essences can sell for a LOT of money....but you may wish to consider saving and not selling them, as eventually you'll need them for one thing or another. Speaking of money….

Money is important here. No cash, no weapon augs. No weapon augs, a lot of the newer content becomes a lot harder and/or damned near impossible. We've delved a little into how to make these augs, and covered some on the expense. Today we'll go into that a little deeper, and we'll also cover some ways to make cash.

One note: I am NOT going to tell you what to charge for an item. The first thing any budding capitalist should understand is that seller very seldom sets the price: the buyer does. You can put up any price you like, but if its more than a buyer is willing to pay, it will sit in your warehouse and gather dust. What I WILL tell you is to test the market, watch for what items are selling for, and charge every freaking copper you can. Most players arent in this to try and create electronic communism; they are playing to see and do more, and that means getting the best return you can for your efforts. Does this mean you shouldnt be nice to people and help? Of course not! I've undoubtedly given away 10 times as much as I have sold here! But if you're selling, maximizing your return IS NOT ripping someone off! If they don’t want to pay you amount X for that item, they aren’t forced to do so; they can quite readily find another seller or get off their butts and get the item the way YOU got it.

As stated before, the weapon augs require ore bought from a vendor in the crafters guild, essences, superior light stones and the previous level aug. You can farm the SLS easily enough (lvl 9 wisps can drop the GLS), and you can farm essences with time and luck...but you MUST purchase the ore to make these augs. The ore has recently been dropped in price, but you're still looking at 43K and change for the first made icestrike,  43K and change times two for the first crafted  firestrikes....87K+ times two for the first crafted ninjastrikes....and each next level aug pretty much doubles the price for the ore. As you can see, it can get pricey. So how do players make all this money?

First, as you progress the mobs in the upper tier zones drop a lot of cash loot items. On a normal day in Velk’s Lab farming  a player can walk out of there with several hundred thousand in gems. In many later zones coin bags (recently added to most zones qvic and after) drop often enough to allow players to make even more. HoH used to drop gems and coin bags, but to speed looting Hunter just bumped up the coin drops and got rid of gems. LDON farming for charm drops USED TO  yield a goodly amount of gems, but doesnt anymore. Some people still sell loot rights to charm upgrades here, though. Qvic can get you moderate amounts of gems, as can PoDragons. All these are ways to keep cash flowing while you are farming armor, charms and epics.

The best zone in the game IMO for gem drops is Velks. A trip to the castle (golems and gargoyles) can net you 100K to 200K an hour if you kill fast. Two things: training in Velks is a MAJOR no no, and will get you banned....but as Hunter has stated that requires someone send him proof that you are mass pulling in those zones. Also, competition can severely diminish your income in this small area. However, if you create an instance you own the mobs....and I doubt you'll report yourself for training! So...create an instance! A solo instance is fine for Velks. Instance costs are worth what you'll get from a few hours work here. If you dont have a zerker, make one, if only for Velk, and get them their 2.5 or 3.0. It'll pay for itself.

Pull as fast and hard as you can, from the castle and from the spider caves below (using the water tunnel just at the end of the walkway to the castle door). Loot all gems (normal and the Velious armor quest gems). They all sell very well. Go into the zone with packs as empty as you can make them. When full, open up your portable banker (purchased on the newbie item for one mil+ plat....it can rapidly pay for itself here) and deposit stacks of gems and press on. When you cant lewt no mo, go sell, come back and continue. Very easy to get 100K+ an hour solo using this method!

Another way to make cash is to sell what other people want. This could include tradable items like essences, crafted armor and augs or quest items, or it could be loot rights to no trade items, like epic books, armor patterns/molds or charm upgrades....or it could be services, like pushing players through Qvic, LDON or PoTime.

Lots of options here. I will tell you that one of the easiest methods is to check out the caster/fighters guild quests, get the drops for those and sell them, singly or in sets. These items typically sell for 50K+ each. But again, buyer sets the price! Sell accordingly. These days, with increased instance prices and competition in these zones you may want an alternative, such as SLS farming (below). One thing to remember: the shared bank slot will allow you to deposit lore tradable items and then pick up a new one, so make strong use of your portable banker when farming!

Regarding SLS: for a new player this may be your best moneymaker. Zone to jaggedpine, create an instance, and go to town. Use MQ2, and the commands /maphide npc, then /mapshow wisp. This will erase all the spawns shown on the map BUT the wisps, making killing fast and easy. Even a new player with a lower level character (bard works well) can make 2 SLS an hour (and at 250K, which seems a typical price when I write this, thats 500K an hour). With bazaar working again you can set up a trader and mark up your SLS even higher, if you like, and hope you find a buyer with more money than time

IMO the best place for an up and coming player to make money, aside from SLS, is Tower of Frozen Shadow! You can start clearing 1st floor around T2 (lvl 72ish), and you can get charm upgrades and resist augs (which you will need). Also, mobs drop tradeable items that can sell very well to vendors (even after the recent 40% nerf). Great place to cash up if you can kill here!

Lastly, we'll mention Qvic. Qvic is a huge pain in the ass for newer players, since its usually very hard to get what you need from it using characters with just 2.0 or 2.5 epics. So....some players sell "Qvic runs" for the tokens for the Qvic progression quest. Charge what you think you can get for the tokens! Some people, when they set up these runs, say that gems and armor are yours if you can use them, or they sell the drops to other players....or some even sell "armor spots" in a clearing group (one for each type armor) for a preset amount, and allow you all that type drop that drops, and a random for the armor gem drops. Another possible way to make cash. EDIT: Since the introduction of the Ultimate Weapon quest you often will see higher tier players mass clearing Qvic for essences, and quite often they will just give away all other drops….so selling Qvic runs isn’t as profitable as it used to be. But people will still pay for pieces they are missing.

So....now you have some ideas on how to make a little bank to fund your new toys! I hope this helps! As always, if you have any concerns or questions feel free to IM me here, or email me at ezchunka@gmail.com.

[Gilthanas]

Nostalgic read at work man, thanks a lot. I really hope the guys spamming OOC with questions lately read this!

[Chunka]

TOWER OF FROZEN SHADOW

I have to admit…this is one of my favorite zones in the game! Also like the lore. When you get a chance, check Tserrina’s back story!

Diving in! ToFS is 7 levels of fun! Each level is progressively more challenging than the last. In Hunterland, the Tower starts at around T2 level of difficulty, and progresses to (many claim) more challenging than T7.

A point to make…..ToFS initially was all about working on UC and increasing resists! And right now, the way Management has changed the server, resists are every bit as important as hit points, perhaps more so in some cases. I’ve removed about a dozen 4 to 6K hp augs from my main characters and replaced them with resists stones. Most of my team is 2500+ resists and I plan to be 3K+ on all by the time I finish T9. I would highly recommend that you make resists a priority by the time you are ready to work HoH. So….get used to the idea of spending some time here

Level 1: The combination of the Bone Pit in the center of the first room along with the icy slide floor can make this a huge pain in the ass. But, all in all, its not too difficult. If nothing else the EZ reward group level clicky DOES work here, and that helps a ton (can also lev then zone in). Regardless, kill all the bones, the gnolls and the specters. Randomly one of them (most commonly a gnoll) will spawn the large undead gnoll, which drops the key to level 2. Many mobs kick out a nasty little AE (skellies especially will AE damage and stun). Unlike live, EACH character must have a key to go to the next level. Fortunately, keychain works, so after you level up once you no longer need the key on that character (can destroy it, or if it makes you feel better just bank it, which may be wiser….who knows what quests may be added in the future).

Level one mobs often drop Stone of Heroic Resistance I, which are +5 heroic to all resists. But….combine 2 of those in a magic box and you get a rank 2 stone. Two rank 2 stones to get a rank three, and so on, to a max of rank XX (20) which gives 100 heroic resists to all resist types. Something to consider: a level 4 stone is +20 heroic, and takes 8 rank 1 stones. A rank five is 25 heroic for 16 rank 1 stones. Rank 20 is 1,024 rank 1 stones for 100 heroic resists. I wouldn’t go that far off the bat. I recommend starting with rank 4’s in all the slots you want to fill, then slowly upgrade them til you get to where you want to stop. Definitely, while working lvl 1 and 2 of the tower, limit yourself to rank 4 or 5 stones, and fill as many aug slots as you can on your armor.

Also, level 1 mobs can drop v1 charm upgrades, so this is a very good place to work up your crew’s charms while working up resists. In addition many mobs on 1 drop weapons with crappy stats that sell anywhere between 1500 and 30K plat, so this is a great place to make cash!

Far side of the bone pit is a walkway left and right: left leads to the old shortcut mirror (used to port you to Tserrina’s level 7 if you have the master key she drops) and the right leads to the mirror to…..

Level two is the library. The checkout desk is just as you leave the landing mirror from level one. Behind the desk you will see a librarian….but rarely the angry librarian will be there. This mob is the key holder to the next level. If she isn’t up in angry form, don’t worry! Killing the mobs here will eventually spawn her. Clear the mobs, get more rank 1 resists stones, v1 charm upgrades and ToFS trash loot (the level 71 armor everyone eventually lets rot)  Far left corner of the library, in the book cases, is a secret door that leads to a mirror than zones you out to Iceclad.

ONE NOTE on angry librarian, and most other spawned key droppers from here up: if you pull them already up (not spawn them while killing a lesser mob) they will not only mass dispel you (complete buff strip) they also activate a gnarly stonewall that makes them a lot harder to kill.

Far side of the double tables is the doorway that leads to the mirror up to…

Level three is the kitchen, dining area and servants quarters. The mobs here hit a bit harder….around HoH/T3 level. This level is gnolls, suits of armor, skeletons and undead maids/butlers. Nasty little AE’s from most of them, and often you will get clumps of 2, 3, 5, 8 at once if not careful. Go slow, ease your way in. A warning: this is the first level where the key holder (enraged shadow beast) is a LOT more powerful than the other mobs, and can self buff with its own speshul version of “stonewall”.

When the enraged pops, kill it asap! If it sits up, or if someone leaves it up, it self buffs and will take forever to kill. Level three also has some other fun upgrades: v2 charms can drop as well as V1, and the resist stones that drop are rank 2! This will make aug farming a lot faster….but kills will take longer. Many players work lvl 2 for augs because of this.

Go right from zone in, around the corner past the kitchen and dining hall to a small set of stairs down into the maid/butler area. In back by the maid’s beds is a mirror out to Iceclad. Past this area and down the hall, around several turns, is the mirror up to...

Level 4! The fourth floor is in some ways the most difficult, because of how the server handles mobs and walls (they ignore them). The entire level is a maze of mummies, shadows and oozes, with very narrow passageways...and all too often they will attack you from within the wall. The best way to do this level, if you can, is to pull clusters to a somewhat open area and kill. If you cannot do this, move into the maze a bit, and make sure you pull your characters back a bit to get them out of the wall (pet hold on this level is a MUST if you are using pets!). Rank 4 HR stones drop here.

This floor has a few named, two of which are important to continuing on, and two others which just drop goodies. The first loot dropper, maggot infested flesh, drops a clicky item of the same name that adds a small amount of extra experience per kill (15%). This ooze is to the left of mirror up. The other named is Narmak Berreka, a large armor that drops a few items, including a very good necro/SK shield and a ranged melee tome with 12,500 hps and great stats. The important named, however, are a linked pair: Amontehepna, a zombie model that is either already up or that spawns randomly when killing the oozes. He sometimes drops usable goodies, but his importance is as a trigger for the spawn of the key dropper for this floor, Cara Omica. Cara spawns in the room just before the mirror to the 5th floor, surrounded by mummies. She completely dispels when agro'd, and if she's been up for a few she will stonewall. So this may take a few. When dead she drops the key to the 5th floor (always) and can drop the Embalmer's Skinning Knife, decent stats, which summons very good stat food when clicked, or a Magnetic Dirk of Distraction, decent stats, which procs fading memories....and an offhand for casters/priests with excellent stats, the Sorcerous Bowl. Loot what you need, then once you have your team keyed move to...

Floor 5! This floor is the wedding party, the marriage of two of Tserinna's most loyal retainers, Nosja and Daman. When you land from the fourth floor, the mirror out to Iceclad is JUST behind you, to your right. Be VERY careful with stray clicks or you'll find yourself zoned out! This floor is probably the best drop rate of V2 charm upgrades per kill in the game. If you can kill here quickly its definitely faster than HoH! So you may want to spend some time here. On the plus side, cash here if anything is better than HoH, so it can pay off. You'll also find a mix of rank 3 and rank 5 HR. Golems will line the path headed to the wedding party. They are the easiest mobs to kill on this floor. You'll want to be careful here....there are some rather nasty AE's including a poison that might give you troubles. I'd have cure clickies ready. It's a good idea to have your entire group over 1600 heroic resists, or the AE's will give you a bit of trouble. Once you get into the wedding party area some of the guests may drop the Ceremonial Wedding Sword needed for the Ornate War Sword task you picked up on the first floor. In addition many will drop T6 level armor and items, some of them tradable. This can be a great area to gear up temporarily if you need.

Occasionally (more often from the head usher) the enraged relative will spawn. Kill it, loot the key, repeat as needed until your party is all keyed, then head to...

Sixth Floor! The first area is just after you come up from the 5th floor mirror, and consists of shadow beasts and icy shades. You're goal is to spawn a trigger from 2 different shade PH to spawn a BIG icy shade (looks like a regular shade, but bigger and robe is all black, no white border, and on the map shows with a # in front when using MQ2). For good or for ill, there are just TWO spots where this particular shade spawns. The first is found by taking the first left as you come down from the port in mirror, and following that path until it dead ends at a small room. The pop point is one of the shades inside. The second is found by taking the second left from the mirror, and down into the throne room. As you enter, the throne will be on your left. The shade on the left side of that throne is the PH or trigger. Keep killing until you find him, and he will trigger the spawn of VhalSera on 6b. ONE NOTE: it might be that the trigger is agroing through the walls and joining the bigger pulls I do here, or it may be that there's a PH I don't know about....but sometimes I get a VhalSera pop when I don't remember seeing a trigger. So you may want to check your map or /target VhalSera after each clear, just to make sure you didn't miss him! Once he's up go right from entry point, down the hall, around the curves and up the stairs. Then follow that around until you come to an open area above one of the shadow beast rooms, and stairs to the right. Up those stairs will be a mirror to 6B. Once up, you will encounter bats that shouldn't agro unless you have a bard playing an AE song that can agro (such as Harmonious Comp). Pull and kill the bats. When they die they spawn an enraged vampire. Once the platform is clear go up the ramp into a room with water on the floor, and in the center should be some bats and your triggerd VhalSera. This fight isn't that hard, but he does dispel completely when pulled, so may wish to pet pull him. When he dies you will get some odds and ends (usually a caster necklace or melee earring, T7 range) and the key to 7th floor. If you need to farm more keys, there is a mirror under the ramp to VhalSera's spawn that ports you back down to the start of 6A. Once you have all your keys, go into the watery room, around the corner and to the click up to...

Mobs on the seventh floor are T7 level of difficulty, and rewards are at least as good as you'll find there. You'll see a mix of rank 6 and rank 7 HR's.

The first real challenge here is the death trap, just at the end of the first hall from the mirror up. People walking through the trap take substantial damage, often enough to put someone under 750K hps down for the count. So....run through who you can after clearing any mobs you can see and pull, then rez up whoever didnt make it and press on. The room you want to work will have a spiral staircase and a bunch of torch mobs. The staircase is a pain to climb, easy to fall off....but up top you will find many bats and a mirror room (more on that later). Kill the torches, then start clearing bats. Some bats are upstairs, others are through a hidden door opposite to where you entered the stair room, behind a tapestry. Any bat kill has a chance to spawn Tserinna. When she does spawn it will be in the mirror room up top. Pull her down and kill (can take some time, she has heavy hps, regen and stonewall). She drops a bunch of goodies, including the whip (VERY high demand for dual wield melee, has slot 21 (epic), 22 and 8 type augs), the staff (nice stats and effects), a pet clicky buff, a VERY good caster neck, a robe and more. Also drops the Master Key, which will port you directly from first floor to Tserinna's Mirror Room (which has mirrors that can port you to any floor). She also has a chance to drop Essence of Frozen Shadow VII, used to make UW7.

Tserinna also, upon her death, has a roughly 1 in 20 chance to spawn Advisor Svartmane, who can drop the Master Essence of Frozen Shadow (for UW8+) and ninja clickies (deagro). You'll have to fight him around his spawn point (end of the hidden hallway). Be careful of the traps around him! After he died, hail his remains for added goodies.

Recently Hunter n Hate added 2 new items to ToFS....shoulder augs that drop from bosses, starting at 1st floor, that decrease agro for the user. Check these out....they can REALLY help heavy dps classes! Also new Essences of Frozen Shadow for the new UW recipes. First floor drops Essence of Frozen Shadow I, 2nd drops 2, etc, 1 through 6. These essences are UW's of the corresponding level.

T5 AND UP


BTW....adding more, thanks to the fine work on T5 and T6 done by Kruciel. In case they dont show on your browser, those two tiers are links to the posts.

Also, go to http://tinyurl.com/t5spawn to see what triggers spawn what mobs. Try http://tinyurl.com/t5armor lists what pieces drop from what bosses.

Also you can now find some fantastic write ups here for T5: http://wiki.eqemulator.org/p?EZG_Abyss&frm=EZ_Server_Main or http://www.ezserverwiki.com/Abyss

And for T6: http://wiki.eqemulator.org/p?EZG_Citadel_of_Anguish&frm=EZ_Server_Main or http://www.ezserverwiki.com/Anguish.

Hope that helps!

As for T7, I like Fugitive's write up, here: http://ezserver.online/forums/index.php?topic=3822.0, so much that I stole most of it for the ezwiki at http://wiki.eqemulator.org/p?EZG_Loping_Plains&frm=EZ_Server_Main. Can tell it also inspired Darpey's wiki: http://www.ezserverwiki.com/Loping_Plains

Shameless plagiarism for the win!

Thank you for listening, and I hope its helped!

[Warbash]

Brick,
I think it looks very good and is clear and concise. You could link to the emu starter page where it describes the eqhost etc... but without knowing what people are confused about I can't suggest anything else. Oh you could get rid of the arrow pointing to the server files and / or clarify their exact location.

[Chunka]

CREDITS

Oh, and I wanted to take a sec to thank some folks for all their help as I learned this stuff over the last few years! This list is by no means complete! Please pardon me if I've forgotten you!

Hustlin, for making EZ feel like home. His RL family, Mortixia, Swanger and Godzyla for more of the same! Crab, for helping a not so new newbie years ago! Fugitive for....well, bringing your own speshul speshulness to EZ. Laaros. Midgettron. Cepticon, Hateborne. Natedog. Revelations. Dimur. Empti. Xiggie....damn, and so many others I am sure I am leaving out (sorry!) because my brain is fried this week. But most of all Ergg and Haanorus, who showed me so much on EZ, and kept guildchat lively when we were, for the longest time, the only two or three there.

All these people and more, either directly in game or here on the forums made this guide, so far, possible. Thank them, not me! I just typed what they helped me learn.

And thanks Hunter, for making an aging, nostalgic pile of pixels come alive again. Hope your creation stays around for years to come....even after you've gone. We'll ALL miss you! And thanks to Basher, Crab, Secrets, Akkadius, Hateborne and I'm sure many others who are keeping Hunter's world alive....and with it, a bit of Hunter himself! None of us can thank you all enough!

Oh, and thanks Warbash for the encouragement!

[Warbash]

Eh don't let the forum hate get you down. Your consolsated posts are enough to get people pointed in the right direction

[Chunka]

Thanks War! BTW, kids, if you need to upgrade clients, might I recommend waiting til after Monday? Yeah, you wont get full functionality, but its better to deal with the limitations of Titanium for a couple days than to mess with setting up a new client during a double loot weekend! Maximize your time and work on the drops you need while they are doubled! If any of you need help setting up new clients contact me after Monday and I will do what I can to help. Luck!

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