EQ F2P- Returning Players & Current Content

Saban_sl said:

What would you guys say are the recommended minimum stats for a tank to start in Rain of Fear? Not really talking AAs here, i'll have them all maxed, just AC/HP.

Click to expand...

You need to have 25+ AC augs in every slot, ideally 35+. That's the #1 most important. AC is the god stat for tanks, and (for example) the difference between a HoT Tier 1 bracer and a RoF Tier 2 bracer is only 40 AC. There are augs with more AC than that. Having good augs is worth more than several tiers of gear, unfortunately.

Xequecal_sl said:

You need to have 25+ AC augs in every slot, ideally 35+. That's the #1 most important. AC is the god stat for tanks, and (for example) the difference between a HoT Tier 1 bracer and a RoF Tier 2 bracer is only 40 AC. There are augs with more AC than that. Having good augs is worth more than several tiers of gear, unfortunately.

Click to expand...

This shouldn't be read that you shouldn't upgrade your gear as you go, just that you should spend a lot of time camping the best AC augs you can get. 45AC 1300HP>42AC1000hp by a good margin, even if the AC gain is minimal.

Big W Powah!_sl said:

Bard/Mage/Necro or Enc/Mage/Necro is about the strongest you'll get without doubling up on classes for a 3box.

Click to expand...

While the above is true - I personally find Mage/Bard/Wizard to be pretty good 3 box - wizard has port utility and braindead easy to box. Even though ports no longer what they used to be it does save some time.

Big W Powah!_sl said:

This shouldn't be read that you shouldn't upgrade your gear as you go, just that you should spend a lot of time camping the best AC augs you can get. 45AC 1300HP>42AC1000hp by a good margin, even if the AC gain is minimal.

Click to expand...

Sounds good, guess i'll make a list of AC aug droppers and start camping.

Easiest way to look up AC augs imo,http://raidloot.com/Search.aspx

hDex and hAgi are both worth more than AC in 1:1 ratio, but they never offer them to you in that ratio. Consider any AC+hWis/Int augs as replaceable as you get them. hDex is the single strongest tanking stat in the game, and eventually you'll want as many AC+hDex augs as you can get.

What does hDex do exactly? Hell, i can't even remember what most of the heroic stats actually do anymore.

Ahh, avoidance, i see.

From Allakhazam:
- Heroic Strength: Increases endurance pool, endurance regen, and the maximum amount of endurance regen a character can have. Also increases damage done by melee attacks and improves the bonus granted to armor class while using a shield. (10 Heroic STR increases each Melee Hit by 1 point)
- Heroic Stamina: Increases hit point pool, hit point regen, and the maximum amount of hit point regen a character can have. Also increases endurance pool, endurance regen, and the maximum amount of endurance regen a character can have.
- Heroic Agility: Increases endurance pool, endurance regen, and the maximum amount of endurance regen a character can have. Also increases the chance to dodge an attack, grants a bonus to defense skill, and reduces falling damage.
- Heroic Dexterity: Increases endurance pool, endurance regen, and the maximum amount of endurance regen a character can have. Also increases damage done by ranged attacks, improves chance to successfully assassinate or headshot, and improves the chance to riposte, block, and parry incoming attacks.
- Heroic Intelligence: Increases mana pool, mana regen, and the maximum amount of mana regen an int-based caster can have. It requires +25 heroic intel to gain a single point of +mana regeneration.
- Heroic Wisdom: Increases mana pool, mana regen, and the maximum amount of mana regen a wis-based caster can have.
- Heroic Charisma: Improves reaction rolls with some NPCs and increases the amount of faction you gain or lose when faction is adjusted.

From safehouse (http://www.evilgamer.net/forums/showthread.php?t=3508)
Heroic Str - This effect is supposed to increase your AC softcap and make you hit harder. The softcap increase is broken the last anyone has heard. The extra damage effect however works. It's a rather simple formula, H-Str/10 and that amount is added to each hit, damage modifiers however (crits, champion, etc) will not improve this damage.

Heroic Sta - Adds HP. Each point is worth what looks to be 15 HP, in addition to this however there is the +1 from the stat cap which will add a few more HP and varies by class. SK's end up with just over 18 HP per point in the end, at level 80.

Heroic Agi - Adds to Dodge, and supposedly Block (not shield block) fire rates and allows for the limit on fall damage before auto death to increase at an unknown rate. The formula on Dodge (and Block if that's true) is +.1% rate per point. The +1 Agi cap increase does very little however. While AC softcaps are determined by AGI, there's a 1/3 return softcap on AGI beginning at 200, and normal AGI itself hardcaps at 305 (235 real). Any increase to agility itself past this point, does absolutely nothing other than to increase your displayed (fake) AC by a rate of 18:1 and your displayed stats. Benefits come in bursts every 25 points.

Heroic Dex - The boost is +.1% to Parry and Riposte rates (Block too most likely, but not shield block if agi isn't adding it), also the stat increase actually does something which is just above doing nothing. Your real dex stat is used as the base of determining your critical hit chance. It doesn't add a whole lot of additional dps in the grand scheme of things though, as the base is a very small portion of the overall chance. Each additional +1 normal dex is something on the order of a 0.0000000000023429% higher chance to crit per point. So as I said, it's better than doing nothing like an agility cap increase, but not by much. Benefits come in bursts every 25 points.

Heroic Wis - If you use Wisdom for mana each point is worth 10 mana. In addition to this each point of Wis past 200 is worth 1/2 of the points below 200 and the formula for mana/point is a nice simple level/5. Which means each point of overcap gives you 7.5 mana at 75, 8 at 80, 8.5 at 85, and so on. You could also just think of it as level/10 at that point. So a grand total of 17.5, 18, 18.5, and so on mana per point depending on your level. It also adds to mana regen if you use Wisdom, 25:1 ratio. Does nothing if you're an Int caster or pure melee.

Heroic Int - See above, swap all spots where I said Wis with Int. Swap the one spot where I said int with wis.

Heroic Cha - Modifies faction both positive and negative. The effect this has on each faction is tied to the faction itself rather than to the mod. Currently it only affects SoF and later factions and the boost isn't much. Unlike most EQ math however having a 20% faction mod while you're getting 1 point of faction will actually give you 20% more faction rather than giving you 1 (1.2 truncated=1=no gain). I'm not entirely sure on how the coders accomplished this but I'm pretty sure it uses a random chance to give you an additional point of faction occasionally when the boost would simply truncate what you would normally have. SoF factions are boosted at a rate of 1% per 5 points, with a cap of I believe 100% (500 HCha). Since this is set by the faction however SOE can easily alter this to be either less or more on a particular faction, of course this also means people like me are going to have next to no chance of keeping track of it. SoD rates are unknown.

Heroics can be different for each class. The above list is completely incorrect for paladins, for example. Paladins prioritize AC, then dex, agi, sta, str....etc. Dex is our dodge modifier as well. Somewhere buried on the forums last year there was a post by a dev on the "primary" stat for each class.

Just starting to upgrade my loot from T4 HoT gear with RoF gear. I guess I'm going to have to hit 98 to get some serious real upgrades. Right now most of the gear I can pick up lvl wise out of RoF has more hps but a small increase in AC and about 1/2 the attack of the HoT gear I already have. I did upgrade my weapons and that was a pretty good upgrade. Someone parceled me a set of 92 required RoF weapons, a 1hs, 1hb, shield and a bow. No idea who they were.

krozman_sl said:

Heroics can be different for each class. The above list is completely incorrect for paladins, for example. Paladins prioritize AC, then dex, agi, sta, str....etc. Dex is our dodge modifier as well. Somewhere buried on the forums last year there was a post by a dev on the "primary" stat for each class.

Click to expand...

Generalized explanation of stats =/= priority list!

Gear

The stats after the main stats that are "+X" in green/yellow (hey I'm colorblind) are heroic stats.

The epic ornamentation quest changed (at least it did for me) so that if you had completed it now you can just ask for another copy of it instead of doing it again to get 2 of them if you dual wield. Maybe it was always like that but I did it twice and still couldn't get my second copy. Today I logged in and got an achievment right off that said I had earned the right to request a copy of my epic ornamentation. Went over there and got it right off. This was on test.

No tank class values AC higher than hDex or hAgi in general practice. You just can't get them in values that compete with AC augs. They're still the stronger stat. I play(ed) a paladin. Neither hDex nor Dex is the paladin dodge modifier. It is a mod for parry (or monk block, NOT shield block) and riposte. hAgi is the mod for dodge regardless of class. The tanking mechanics between classes are not distinguished in this way. That isn't to say, if the option was available, we'd all become evasion tanks. You need a certain amount of AC against whatever your target is to let you survive one round so you can be healed. But since we don't have the option to gear significantly less AC in return for something valuable, this is a fantasy argument.

All other heroic stats are worth ignoring. They do not scale worth a shit. This is true for all classes. An aug that gives +8 hWis and +100 mana, gives more straight mana than you'll get from the hWis, and the regeneration is insignificant. The same is sadly true of many hSta augs and +hp. Likewise, gear will have +3000 hp and +20 hSta. For classes without riposte/parry, the heroic to stack is hAgi, all the way. It gives you some tiny iota of measurable survivability (dodge) versus basically nothing. The only competing argument is +spell dmg +heal amount +clairvoyance on augs for spellcasters, but you can often get that in the mix with hAgi.

Kreugen_sl said:

So if for some godfuck reason I decide to make my own boxes for SOD and beyond (still a year away), I assume the best 3 box for a rogue would be shaman (duh) + bard, because that way I'd have pulls and CC covered. The other "best" option as far as I can tell would be SK, but that falls into the goddamn trap of having an alt that needs more gear and AA than the raiding main. rogue/bard/shaman seems ideal because of the low gear required + ability to handle lots of different zones and missions.

That said, I know jack shit about bards and I could be way wrong. But the idea sounds better than gearing a fucking tank, which I may wind up having to do anyway well before SOD ever gets released. Plus a bard seems like something I could tolerate bringing with me to raids, unlike nearly anything else.

Click to expand...

Been meaning to reply to this. Don't know how much you know about boxing Kreugen, but I'll throw a couple of ideas out there that may be of use to you or someone else.

Boxing used to be largely one PC per account with maybe a key broadcaster. Autohotkey was/is popular, basically a hotkey/macro scripting system.


Personally I'd recommend ISBoxer/Inner space :http://isboxer.com/It's very easy to get setup with an in built wizard. You can run as many clients as you want on one or multiple monitors, instantly switching between clients in the main window (pic is one monitor split into regions by ISBoxer) :





As you click on each client to the right of the screen it becomes the client in the main screen on the left. The ISBoxer set up wizard is pretty thorough - you can designate the size and placement of each client window - with numerous default options as above or you can customize - and it's easy to set up which keys broadcast to all/selective clients.

Macros in EQ1 have changed a little over the years - decent guide on allak :http://everquest.allakhazam.com/wiki/eq:macros

In the screenshot above I'm running four characters in a party with two Mercs and one character outside the party. They don't need to be in the party for broadcasts to work, obviously. For raiding I use the same as above and a couple of Clerics on a second monitor, same PC, which is just as easy to set up.

On character Flighte I pull and assist off of. Merc is set to tank (party leader assigns roles by right click on char name in party window). Make sure you have your puller defined or mercs will run outside camp to meet mobs way out far.

Flighte presses attack on button one once mob is in camp (tank merc will only engage if whole party is close enough/on aggregate) - '1' is broadcast to all other clients triggering any abilities or macros in that slot. Following ideas are macros for Shaman/Mage/Enchanter (pause does not delay the commands on the line it is on, but adds a delay after the line it is on is initiated, number is 1/10s of a second) :

/pause 5, /target Flighte
/pause5, /assist
/pause 5, /pet attack
/pause45, /cast 1
/cast 2

If you put this macro in hot key '1' as Flighte presses 'melee attack' in hot key one the '1' is broadcast across clients by ISBoxer. Above macro immediately targets Flighte, assists after 5/10 of a sec, commands pet to attack then casts spell gem 1 after a further 5/10 of a sec then fires spell gem 2 4.5 seconds later.

Using a similar macro across hot key '1' on all clients mob is tashed/malo'ed/slowed/crippled/debuffs/DoT's applied within a few seconds of entering camp, all by pressing one button on the character driving your set up.

You can make a single hot key for spamming DD's and a separate one for DoTs. Put dd spels in order of priority and make the pause on each line shorter than the casting time of the spell (eg pause 5) - if spell is available it will cast it, if it's on cooldown it will pause 5/10sec then fire spell on next line etc. You can use AAs with following syntax : /alt activate #### (see list of abilities linked below)




Random links/advice :

ISBoxer :http://www.isboxer.com/

ISBoxer forums :http://isboxer.com/forum/

Boxing community forums :http://www.dual-boxing.com/forum.php

Basic Bard guide :http://www.pakcafan.org/forums/index...laying-a-bard/

List of AA/abilities defining numbers to use for them in macros :http://everquest.wikkii.com/wiki/Alt_Activate_commands

You'll need a snare at some point, Troll Shaman are a good plan :http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=1254(clickies can now be cast from inventory)

Presume you know about Fellowships ? Three members of a fellowship create a campfire anywhere which lasts a few hours (6ish ??) any time that any member of the fellowship can port to once every 15 minutes, great for wipes or just getting around :http://www.necrotalk.com/showthread.php?t=11930

Be aware of an issue with eqgame.exe 'patchme' (may have to point ISBoxer at launcher for each client instead) :http://isboxer.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3684
Seems to be to do with upgrading to latest expansion. If you have to point at launcher to log in get all clients to server select screen before you login to character select screen or it screws with ISBoxer.

If you have individual clients crash be aware you can relaunch individual clients from your box set up by right clicking on the character set listed in ISBoxer app.


Audio triggers have been around since about '05 and are great for boxing :http://www.icynic.com/~don/EQ/triggers/
http://www.evilgamer.net/forums/showthread.php?t=135
http://www.guildportal.com/Guild.asp...opicID=5514758

If you go with a Bard and use it for pulling be aware of how much DPS you lose when your /melody gets interrupted, until you build up Persistent Casting and stun reduction. Time your Fade and use it as mob is getting to camp so your songs don't get interrupted. Also if you are looting using Bard as a song ends it will stop /melody so use a different character to loot.


Anyone looking at using a Mage pet to tank be aware Devs are finally looking at nerfing this (may or may not affect group mobs).




NOT FINISHED - editing to come

Flight,

How do you get your small screens UI's to scale down like that? I ended up using the stacked screens with hotbutton swapping instead as I could figure out the UI deal.

HAMsmith_sl said:

Flight,

How do you get your small screens UI's to scale down like that? I ended up using the stacked screens with hotbutton swapping instead as I could figure out the UI deal.

Click to expand...

They went like that by default for me mate when I ran the wizard. Have you made sure none of the clients are launching in fullscreen mode as per instructions ? Once you've run the setup wizard, saved and exported to inner space, it should ask you if it can resize each client resolution when you first launch the character set. UI needs no adjusting once that happens.

I've been there, Isboxer is pretty great. I usually had the most fun setting the whole kaboodle up though, finetuning the macro's, setting up the best sequences. Unfortunately by the time I have it all going, I usually lose interest in actually grinding with them. I had the same problem with GW1: lots of fun finding the right 7-Hero-party with the best spell-setup, but once I got it going I just could not bring myself to grind all zones on hard. But hey, it's still fun. Seeing your setup I am getting that itch again.....

I find it amazing how many of these EoE people weren't far from sperm when I started playing EQ. I thought only 30 something potheads played EQ, and yet we have people as young as 17 that weren't even bred by their parents to farm plat for them as a child.