Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Epics & Hearthstones





In my last post I had completed the 1.5 epic quest for my necro in EverQuest while sitting at level 85, which was really cool to do. After that post I figured I'd work on the 2.0 epic, finished that up in a couple of days, it was pretty easy with being level 100. I had my first go at Citadel of Anguish, where you need an orb to complete the epic. For years this was the hardest part. My son went along with his 91 mage and we ended up getting him an orb too, now he can do his also. He's not finished it but it is sitting there waiting on him. Dire also decided to do the 1.5 on the bard, which required me to port him all over with my druid, to speed things up. I also helped him forage several globes he needed for the quest. I'd have to say the necro 1.5 was a breeze compared to the one the bard must do. The bard has to do a lot of annoying and trivial things, I really felt for him on this part. Then he decided to also do the 2.0, so another trip to Anguish, we grabbed him an orb and he was extremely happy. A good weekend!



My necromancer is still using the epic 2.0, while many classes may use their 1.5 or 2.0 from inventory as a clicky ability, the necromancer has a worn effect that is very hard to top with even current weapons. I will be looking into finishing the epic 2.5, which is simply an augment with stats and boosts my innate effect on the epic. I'm so excited to have done so much in the last few weeks, so much I wanted to do for years. Levels certainly help acquire and do things we would have needed a huge raid force years ago. There is also reason to get many of these still. Some of them, like he magician 2.0 isn't as good to have because it won't stack with newer buffs but it is still cool to have, plus you get a snazzy new title for each epic you complete, 5 AA for the 1.5 and 10 for the 2.0.

Having the 1.5 and 2.0 done, it made me long for finishing the 1.0, the (classic) original epic. I had done about half of it years ago, when this content was still hard. I never had finished it, places like Plane of Sky were hard to clear out and could get annoying with super long respawns. To this day the necromancer epic 1.0 is still a royal pain. There are two bosses needed from the planes, if you can catch them up, if they don't death touch you! Death touch is a basic one shot. One item I picked up int he bazaar, the Slime Blood of Cazic Thule. That mob is constantly camped, no chance of even getting a shot at it. For that I was glad to get  that part out of the way. I still needed the other meanie which was a Pegasus mob, Keeper of Souls, thus I used an AA skill- Life Burn. He was down in one shot.



At one point I handed in the components needed for the 'Necromancer Test of Power' mini quest within the epic, for the Cloak of Spiroc Feathers. The NPC ate the Black Silk Cape and Spiroc Feathers! I handed in the wrong disc with them, but a nice GM helped me get my items back later that night. THANK YOU! A camp in Plane of Hate for an Eye of Innoruuk and I was done! Most of the other parts of the quest I had an easy time with. Plane of Sky was the absolute worst. Every time I went I had to wait on respawns, which were not spawning back to back because someone of a lower level must have been killing them slowly, they took a really long time to all spawn. This happened several nights in a row. I suspect it was someone playing a Heroic Character, sitting at 85 wanting to do the epic. At 100 it is a breeze.

I'm so happy to have my epic weapons! I got three nifty titles, Dark Apprentice (1.0), Deathspeaker (1.5) and Grand Occultist (2.0). The nifty thing now about getting old epics is you can do a quest to get an augment that makes your current weapon look like the epic. You can do this for each epic weapon, the quest has a 20 hour cool down. I'll be making my 2.0 look like the 1.0, lol. Duckstick for teh win!

I'm really enjoying the necro, it is great to solo with and I have fun grouping with the guys too. It was my first class I ever played, always my favorite. These days EverQuest feels pretty casual, laid back with lots to do. When I log into WoW I don't feel such a relaxed setting. On the Isle I am rushing around looking for rares, spamming buttons so my new monk doesn't die. I want to raid in LFR but just get a headache thinking about it. I still have time on my account so I am playing it, not because I feel I have to, but because I do like my monk who is now melee oriented. I got rid of my healing spec, it wasn't fun for someone who solos so much.



My brother, Heri, is back playing lightly. This time he brought his girlfriend who just got into MMO games, FFXIV is her game of choice though. She likes the questing in WoW but she says it is all too fast. The leveling, the whole pace. I don't think she has time to absorb it all with recruit a friend bonuses. And groups, she says she doesn't understand them here. Nobody works together, explains things, or waits on others. She said people were rude here and basically it doesn't feel fun or like a real group when compared to how players are in FFXIV. Which is a shame. WoW used to not be like this at all. It worked much like those tight little groups in FFXIV. But we've gotten too big for our britches in WoW. It made me sad to hear she experienced groups like that, but that's the WoW we play now (as far as randoms are concerned). In happier news I got my Hearthsteed from Hearthstone. My son finished it up for me. He wasn't happy about it but I pouted so much about how bad I am at those games , lol. I found him finishing up a battle in time for the screenshot :) Go, Joe! You Rock <3 nbsp="" p="">
That's it for today, safe adventures!

My boy and I in Anguish.

Medding up for a big fight. Or he was, I'm a NECRO, I don't need to med =p

Getting his orb, woot!

Doing a Heroic Adventure in EverQuest with the guys. 

A mob for the bard 1.5.

Rockin' the Wood Elf illusion. 

Dire's orb, yay!

Loot it! 

Summoned ontop of a building in Air by a mob, lol. 




Saturday, March 22, 2014

Streams (D3)




Real quick post today, wanted to pass this on from Arc, who is a guest poster here sometimes! He's currently holding a few contests on his twitch page. D3 streams, a chance to win the expansion, some other things too. Check out his stream here (also another streamer will be holding a similar one)- http://www.twitch.tv/Texans1231    http://www.twitch.tv/savagecutre

That's about it. I know, I know, really short post... Interesting post inc soon*!!


Monday, March 17, 2014

EverQuest- Heroic Characters





Need some help getting started?
This past weekend was full of EverQuest. We continued our journey with our fresh heroic characters. I wanted to touch base on some things that might help returning players. Dire and I play on a regular basis, I not as much as him, thus he knows things like newer zones a bit better than me. My son started last year around the holidays, he is still learning but he's never truly played the game and has been picking it up quite well. He was four when I started playing in 2000. Basically everything is fresh and new to him.

We started up with a me as a necro, Dire as a necro and my son as a magician, or as some like to say, Mage. All three pet classes. When you start out a fresh character it is easiest to hit the HEROIC character option on the right side of the screen when you are creating one. That way you start off with a spell line up, gear, ending up in the correct zone. If you are upgrading a character you will want to head to Feerrott the Dream, clicking the Oggok stone in PoK. A message will pop up and you will want to pick the option- The Dream (the other takes you to the older version of the zone). This is where you will need to complete your J5 mercenary quest, which you need a gold account to do so.

Other than that the world is your oyster. There are many players boosting, plenty of groups to be had, ask in chat for help, people are very helpful for the most part. Look for a group, get social. Some resources to help listed below:

Zam Directions- How to get to each zone through connecting zones, this is a fantastic resource.
Mapfiend- If you are going to play you will want all the maps.
Zone Level Chart- A basic chart to help you figure out where you can go. This really is great if you have no idea.
Heroic Character FAQ- Official Forum FAQ
EQ Quest List- Good list of quests to help you have an idea of where to get started or caught up with.
Daily Quests and Hotzone lists IN GAME- Check out Franklin Teek. This one is very important to look out for!
EverQuest Commands- Very handy as there are tons.

That is about all I can think of at the moment to help out those who might be a bit confused, it does require a bit of thought and research. The good thing is that there is a ton of information out there. Feel free to send me a tell in game to say hello or if you need some direction, I am on Firiona Vie and I am most always on Vanlorin. I don't mind at all if anyone sends me a tell! How?Cross server tells are handy. Type this in as a tell [t firionavie.vanlorin 

How did our weekend of heroic characters turn out?
Pretty freaking good! We all had a good time. Dire ended up swapping the necro out of our trio for his Mage, which is not a heroic character. My son hit level 91 with his mage and my necro finished up with a whopping level 100.

We did have the... where do we go now issue. There are so many places where we have to think. In the end we picked out a few, did the daily quests from Franklin Teek and grouped with Dire's SK a bit, while we also found out that SK's received a nerf with swarming. Though he is still quite good at it, it is harder than it was before. Yeah, not as many SK power leveling going on now. Which sort of sucks, it is still doable but I imagine it will be harder for some. It was still an impressive session with Dire.

I also managed to complete the necromancer 1.5 epic. I am wanting to do the 2.0 this week, and get my son started on his as well. I had a lot of fun doing this part, it was very easy to solo at 85, I imagine it will be a bit tough to get the orbs out of CoA (Citadel of Anguish), but I think we'll manage. We don't have a healer (mercs cannot enter) but I can always swap my cleric out for the necro if needed, I would prefer not to but the option is always there.

Again, feel free to say hello if you're returning or you need a little help! Safe adventures.


First part of the 1.5, kill some werewolves! 

My son and I finishing up the last fight for the 1.5, thought he'd get a kick out of this. 

Woot! Clicky summons a dumbfire skelly pet which life taps to the group (lasts 30 sec).

Epic Clicky pet!

Pretty :)

The three of us tearing through some mobs.

From left to right- My son, me and Dire. I named that character Candy after a transfer to FV *snickers* We laugh at him whenever he logs her on.










Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Anniversary's and Freebies- Happy 15th EQ!




Bhagpuss has a good post about spending time in virtual worlds, how we can get sucked into putting a lot of time them with building and such. Real good read, check it out if you haven't already. Lately I feel the same way, I just don't have the time to get sucked in.  I don't look at it as a waste of time, part of the reason I can't be bothered to play EQN landmark like I had wanted to is that I just don't have the time to spend on it, especially if it is going to be wiped (to a point). But, I still make time to play what I feel I can invest in. These days I am working hard on my jewelry business, I enjoy it immensely but it is also very time consuming. I am doing crochet and sculpting polymer jewelry. Today though is a day away from everything (besides cleaning my messy house... still getting around to finishing that).

So, what looks good enough to sink my time into? LoTRO, of course. It is really solid and fun still. However, today is pretty special for EverQuest, with the anniversary, 15 years! Happy Birthday EQ!!! What a milestone, many memories, many wonderful people across the years, and of course my dear husband whom I met in EverQuest, ten years ago, Jimboy. That was his name back then, today I refer to him as Dire.

This is heroes forge armor unlocked after paying* Incase anyone was wondering, you start in green colored armor.
Heroic characters have been added to EverQuest, much like those you will find in EQ2. For a limited time you're able to to claim them free (ahh free... they are 100% free but if you notice in the picture I have far more characters than a silver account will allow, requiring me to subscribe to unlock all eight eight in order to make another), level 85, full gear, 15k plat, a mount and so on... Oh, and a massive amount of AA points. Almost 5000, just under, though there are some of the essential basics spent when you log in so you really feel like you can jump in and go after checking to see what all you have. I am sitting here, writing as I go through all the goods, starting at the activated hotkey abilities, deciding which to hotbar where. It isn't hard though. Some might not like how they are spent already, then again I played in betas in the past and it is really not so great trying to spend all the points when you just want to get going and try things out. So, that part is out of the way, let's roll!



Also something to note, for additional heroic characters they are 35$, which seems, in my opinion, a far better price than what Blizzard or Turbine is charging for boosted characters. What I like about these is the fact that they come with a really solid footing. Decent gear (under raid gear for sure but decent, not the best but you should not need to stop to buy gear, go level and then focus on gear 90+ you don't need to stop to AA, you have a massive amount), mounts, money, really get you a feeling that you are ready to get rolling. You're not at the cap, still a ways to get used to the character. Most of these people that will stick with these characters are people who are invested in EverQuest. This game isn't really going to attract many 'newbs', it may snag some returning players, which is nice and give them a boost to get back into things and feel like they can catch up.



On my main account I went with a necromancer. It is odd that I don't have one on this account, though it is fairly a new account we made for the RaF benefits (which were grandfathered in). I have a couple 100's and another few in the 90's, for a newer account it has a lot to work with. This will be a lot of fun! Tonight we plan on playing the necros together, get a feeling for them again, have some fun and try not to die... I do that a lot these days. I am actually pretty excited, having a decent break from the game, jumping back in with a class I have loved for the last ten years. A great time too, with the anniversary events. Maybe I can even talk my son into playing too, so he can claim his and maybe we'll all play necros, lol. He's sat here with me going over all the perks, turns out he may go with a magician or rather boost his 50 up. You can boost a premade character. Careful though once you click that upgrade button it is final!



On another front, more free stuff, this time from Blizzard. Hearthstone has released and you can claim a free mount from it for WoW- The Hearthsteed. You must win three games, I think this is after you put your deck together because I am not seeing one yet, I need to play though all the beginning fights. Which it is a cool game but not my thing. I should just ask my boy to do it, he's much better at the card games than I am. I played through a bit, it is pretty neat. Would this cause me to play the game? No. For rewards, sure. If it were on the phone I'd play it more so. Something to sit down with and mess about with, but not on the computer because I already have too many other games, and again- it just isn't my scene. But it is a very polished and entertaining game.

Still chugging along to 80 on my necro in GW2, at a slow pace. Enjoying the game but just not having a ton of time to play, which really makes me appreciate having no sub fee. It is fun and easy to get in and out of, feel like I am enjoying myself and getting some things done. That is what makes it great for me. I really need to sit down and play my character to 80 once and for all. I am so close!

That's it for today, tons of screenshots to share, as always ;) Safe adventures!

Real life crafting. A sculpted baby dragon I sold last week. One of my favorites! 























Friday, March 7, 2014

The Destruction of Lion's Arch and Poking Along In Middle Earth...




Things are going well in LoTRO, we're still playing. I was starting to burn out running two characters, both so close to the 30 mark. I decided to drop the minstrel and just stick with the lore master as I enjoy the class far more. Since then I have leveled him to 32 and have enjoyed the newer, fresh areas much more. Dire is really diggin' it, he has passed me up in levels sitting at 36. I'm trying to catch up.

I had a bad experience with the online support trying to get my 500 turbine points for subscribing. All I can say is don't even try that route. Calling was a much better option. The issue was resolved within a few minutes, no waiting on the line, it was perfect. Props to the call center, the online support can... suck it, or something. Horrible, horrible. Which had me annoyed for a few days. By the time I had a chance to get around to checking on the game it was after hours so no calling for a few days. Soooo.... I waited several (eight days? four or five petitions?) days, I ended up having to call while out doing errands.

But, all is well. A very relaxing game, that is why I enjoy it. Great questing, lovely zones, a nice relaxing pace overall to the game. Plenty of room to explore, tons of fun clothing options for those more inclined to looking snazzy (which causes me to be constantly broke). I like the housing too, though I rarely use mine currently. I am sure I will once I get some items to decorate with and start needing more storage room.

I've also been dabbling with GW2. I wanted to check out the latest event. Which I have been enjoying a lot. It is also fun being back on my necro, who just hit the first birthday mark, sitting at 73 or so. Getting closer, lol! 80 is the current cap, so not much longer to go.

The destruction of Lion's Arch felt a bit weird at first, but I like the event well enough. I like running around with the zerg. Working with people at my own pace. I even got to do the scarlet fight once, but it bugged. I wasn't overly angry though, I did have fun and it all felt pretty epic. It is a great game to pop back in and out of.

My brothers are playing FFXIV and I've been thinking of starting over on their server, still not sure. My brother's non-gaming girlfriend has taken a real shine to the game, which is really neat. I'm still thinking on it. I have been for a couple of weeks, I'd be pretty far behind, but maybe I could catch up quickly, still thinking!

That's about all I've been up to. Dabbling in EQ2 here and there and Onverse a little, I just run out of time at the end of the day. Some of my new tattoos are selling in Second Life, but I need to make more. Which is nice because it is paying for my land there!

In other news my son turned 18 today! Happy Birthday to him <3 p="">
Safe adventures!


Checking out the destruction with my ranger.

Necro in LA.

Checking out the event reward area. 

Glowy, trying some new dye combos. 

Epix battle!

Following teh zerg!

One of the fights leading to scarlet.


Get out the way!

Scarlet fight, bugging.

So close... look at that timer.

My minstrel.

A weird dancing ogre thing.

Riding around the shire area.

Chicken?

Scenic.

I'd like to live around here, so nice!

Smoking a pipe... For a quest. 



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