Hello! Completly new EQ player with a few questions

[Jester]

Hello everyone!

I have never played EQ before, I've just dinged a Lvl 2.5 Druid and have a question or two and I'm asking for some tips!

1. How do I find quests? I've tried talking to NPCs, but when I click them they just say "What does your tombstone want to read?" except if it's a vendor then I can sell stuff etc. Is there someway to see if an NPC has a quest ? (I've done my newbie quest to give a note to Te'Anark but doing only that one was friggin hard even with help :) )

2. Regging Mana/HP, is there a way to speed it up? So far I've just stod still and waited :)

3. Is there no map in EQ? Having a hard time finding my way around. I had help to find the NPC I had to deliver that note to, and without it I doubt I would have found the zone :)

4. Is it worth buying armor/weapons from NPC vendors? Does it make a big difference, or is it better to wait until I get some lucky drops off mobs?

5. I don't really understand the deal with the Training Points at that Te'Anara character who is my Druids go-to girl, the skills she can train me in I seem to be raising from running around and fighting monsters. Should I be investing all my Training Points in something specific which wont raise from combat/casting ? How many TPs does one get from raising a level and is it possible to re-specc incase I mess up ? Do I get TPs all the way to maxlevel ?

I can't think of anything else right now, highest priority would have to be my first question. I'd like to find a quest or something so I can find a little purpose, right now I'm just running from large rat to large rat and whooping them down.

I'll gladly accept any tips or tricks you might have!


Edit: I couldn't find any new player FAQ or even new player forum section, so I hope I wasn't to lame at searching and that I can get some help in here :)

[bruno.sardine]

First of all, welcome to EQ. It's a little intimidating at first, especially cause games just aren't made the same way anymore, but it shouldn't be too hard to get the basics.

To answer your questions:

1. To talk to NPCs, you have to hail them using the 'h' key. If they have anything to say to you, they'll say it back in /say with pertinent information marked out in [brackets].... The brackets are your cue to ask questions for more information, so in this case, you'd try saying "What brackets". Essentially, you have a conversation with the NPC to find out what they need. There are few, if any, level restrictions on quests, so just because someone tells you to go out and do something doesn't mean you'll be able to do it any time soon.

2. As a druid, the first 8 levels are gonna be pretty slow regenning mana. At level 8, you get meditate, which'll help out your regen speed while you sit. Until then, you're stuck sitting without it. /sit whenever you want to regen health or mana, it's not that much faster, but every little bit helps. When you get 8 and can meditate, nothing changes: you keep sitting to regen mana, but meditate will at least speed it up.

3. There aren't many maps in game. If there is one, you can hit the 'm' key to open the in-game map. Otherwise, there are some really useful resources on the internet... For maps, my favourite always was EQ atlas (http://www.eqmacwiki.com/eqatlas/atlas.html).

4. As for armor, it's probably worth it to buy at least the basics to start with, meaning a chestpiece, helm, leggings, sleeves, etc. Try to fill in the remainder as you go, but personally, I've always thought spells were more important, so make sure you save some up for them as well. Others may disagree, especially at lower levels.

5. You get 5 training points per level. Personally, I prefer to save them up in order to spend them on new abilities as they become available, or bringing abilities I haven't used in a while up to speed. Again, this is up to personal preference. Keep in mind that the higher an ability is trained, the more expensive it is to raise it using training points. It might be more efficient to simply cast a spell or use an ability over and over again in your downtime than to use your training points on it.
Another thing to look out for is that when you earn new abilities via leveling, you'll need to drop at least one training point in the ability to "get it going" and officially learn the ability.
No, there is no way to 're-spec' your training points. I wouldn't spend them in casting or combat stats at your level. They should level fairly quickly by casting your spells and using your auto-attack.

Long story short about training points: I wouldn't worry about 'em right now.


Another tip for you at your level: I see you've found the 'con' system, but if you're unaware, "What would you like your tombstone to say?" in all red means that the mob is very tough and very likely out of your league. You can consider or 'con' things using the 'c' key. Ideally, you'll be killing things that are blue and white to you when you're alone, and maybe some yellow things if you have a buddy to back you up.

Hopefully this'll help you out a little bit and clear some things up. I just started on this server as well after being away from EQ for a long, long time. Feel free to send me a tell in-game on my bard, Adakir, if you have any other questions.

Hope to see you in game!

[edit: 3 AM spelling mistakes]

[h0tr0d (shaere)]

1. Sometimes there are no brackets.

2. sit to regen mana, you also need food/drink to regen health/mana

3. Most newbie zones, zones connected to a city have maps. Simply hit m. Note the cursor on the map shows as a dot at first, a you work sense heading up, it becomes an arrow so you can see which direction you are facing. Your compass is also tied to sense heading so work it up.

4. It can, usually I would wait and loot armor and stuff off mobs. As druid you won't need armor as much, you rely on your spells mostly. Save the money for spells.

5. You will need to spend some training points. Put 1 into sense heading so you can start skilling it up. Take note of what level each new skill opens, some may require spending a point to unlock them. Mend for monks was one I had to spend a point on before it would skill up, sense heading it seems for all.

Look here http://moestaverne.com/p1999wiki/index.php/Druid

I may spend 1 point in meditate at lvl 8, one in dodge at lvl 12, one in forage at 15, and one in tracking at 20. Other then that maybe save the points. Perhaps skill up in a language, or a few. Or for tailoring, or some tradeskill.

And yes, killing rats is a huge part of eq. Try killing mobs you need first. Maybe bats if you need bat wings for levitate spell. If you are going to bake, maybe snakes for snake eggs, or animals for meat. Maybe animals that have hides/skins for tailoring. Use your coin to buy a few backpacks, for your bank slots, and your own inventory.

Do NOT use the shared bank slots. Do NOT hand coin to a banker, right click on him to open him up, THEN place your coin.

[DetroitVelvetSmooth]

Welcome to Everquest! Right off the bat I should point out that you are in a very small minority on this server, i.e. the vast majority of players have extensive experience with the game. This is going to present difficulties for you in group situations (with a couple exceptions, eq is a group-based game) as players generally expect a certain level of familiarity with both game dynamics and the zones themselves. My advice is to let people you play with know exactly how new you are to everquest. It's not rocket science, but the game is very unforgiving in several ways...

I also advise you to thoroughly explore the UI and read all the tips that pop up in tip windows... these can help you with mundane things like "how do i sit down?" etc...
Finally, what did you spend your stat points on when rolling your character? If you didnt put as much as possible into Wisdom, start over and do so :)

As for your specific questions -

1 - The game is definitely not quest driven. Until your late 20s you will be primarily occupied with gaining xp and sufficiently gearing your character. (Quest information can be found on many websites, although a difficulty you will continually run into is the fact that the game is being played as it was over 10 years ago, and present day sites are often no longer useful) Search the forums to find links to "retro" eq quest info, spell lists, etc.

2 - Regenerating health and mana. Sitting down makes health regenerate faster, but until you learn the meditate skill (one of those skills you saw at the druid guild trainer) at level 8 (12?) mana will regenerate at a slow rate. Once you have meditate, sitting will make mana regenerate much faster.

3 - http://www.eqmacwiki.com/eqatlas/atlas.html <<<< maps. Keep in mind, this game only contains the continents of antonica, odus, and faydwer. The newbie zones (zones where players start out originally) have maps enabled for some reason... it was not so at the launch of the game.

4 - Gear... you poor bastard. Luckily the druid is a caster, and so his performance early in the game is not dependent on having a good weapon or armor. But, you will soon find that acquiring money, even enough for new spells, is going to be a challenge. The weapon given to you at the beginning of the game is probly gonna be as good as you can do for a while. Save ALL the loot that drops and sell it to vendors. Scrimp and save, and hopefully when you level you will be able to afford all your new spells. (you buy spells from vendors located in your guild, where you turned in your note) As far as armor goes, cloth will be the first wearable loot for you. Keep an eye out in crowded zones (the east commonlands is the central hub of the game, where people meet and trade) for higher level people giving away old gear that they cannot sell. But don't beg. No one likes that.

5 - The training points are allotted at 5 per level, and you use them to "seed" certain abilities that are then improved through use. I would save these until you are sure how you want to spend them, and they will do you no good at present anyhow.

The purpose and fun in this game is not so much in completing quests and getting gear, it's learning to expertly play the role of your class in a group dynamic, in order to basically kill as high level mobs as your group can handle as fast as humanly possible. When a group is operating in harmony and efficiency, but at the same time pushing the envelope of what they are capable of handling (and maybe even having a few things go wrong), THATS when the game is its most fun.

As a general caveat here, I would advise you to make friends with someone in game. Get yourself to the east commonlands, and /shout about how you are totally new and are looking to be taken under someone's wing and shown the ropes; preferably a pretty girl with a strong maternal instinct.
See you in Norrath, and good luck.

[DetroitVelvetSmooth]

skillup sense heading as early as possible as well.

[h0tr0d (shaere)]

And avoid rants and flames.

[citizen1080]

^---Covered most of it..I will add don't listen to the unhappy trolls that may post here...they wandered away from their bridges some time ago and haven't been able to find their way home yet.

Welcome to the server...Find Bob in the tunnel and I will get you set up with a welcome gift.

[Fourthmeal]

1. Think outside the bun

[fresus]

OH YEAH - if you are trying to practice sense heading to get the compass to work be aware that the total possible skill you can get is [your level] x 5. Meaning, you wont be able to really use the compass at all till you are 10 or so.

The formula max skill = 5*(lvl+1) doesn't apply to sense heading.

EDIT: It helps to spend a few points (5-10) in sense heading. The first lvls are by far the toughest to gain.

[fischsemmel]

And yes, killing rats is a huge part of eq. Try killing mobs you need first. Maybe bats if you need bat wings for levitate spell. If you are going to bake, maybe snakes for snake eggs, or animals for meat. Maybe animals that have hides/skins for tailoring. Use your coin to buy a few backpacks, for your bank slots, and your own inventory.

I'd just like to add that one of the best sources of income for new, low-level characters is decaying skeletons. Weapons and cloth armor drop often, selling for 1-2 gold each, and they also drop probably an average of 1 bonechip per kill, and you can sell a stack of 20 bonechips for 10 platinum to higher level necromancers usually.


Edit - also, regarding your spells... either just don't buy them all period, or at least prioritize which ones you buy. At level 14 for example, you get a nuke that only works on summoned monster (pets basically), a spell that helps with seeing at night, see invisible... they aren't much help in a practical sense. But spirit of wolf (run speed buff!!!!!), stinging swarm, and bind affinity are must haves!

[h0tr0d (shaere)]

no. spend 1 then begin skilling it up. Better yet bind it to another key to help.

[Hobby]

I can not believe someone has not linked this to him yet

http://www.project1999.org/forums/showthread.php?t=19413&highlight=ehlusion


It might be an interesting watch as you try to med or something, I personally loved watching these when he was actually doing them.

[amanduhh]

go play wow haha

[Dr4z3r]

Only thing I'd add to all the above is to dump as many training points as you can into Meditate, once you can. Get that skill to level 20, minimum, ASAP; it will only speed things up.

[Ritley]

Only thing I'd add to all the above is to dump as many training points as you can into Meditate, once you can. Get that skill to level 20, minimum, ASAP; it will only speed things up.

I wouldn't waste the points on this. Once you put the initial point in meditate, it will go up to cap very quickly

[Duma]

The only thing I would recommend putting more than one point into is tradeskills. Even then it's really up to you.

[Tiggles]

ITT: People falling for the troll.

[xnolanx]

thought about that, but fuck man...

[Psionide]

man, what a joker

[stonebeard22]

I have to agree with what many people are saying about your points. Use 1 to simply unlock your new ability then save the rest for another day. Back in the day I believe I used my extra's on trade skills. But once I hadn't used them for a VERY long time. Points tend to be very important in EQ.

[Pasta Puppy]

How does one do this?

no. spend 1 then begin skilling it up. Better yet bind it to another key to help.

[Uaellaen]

How does one do this?

alt + o (options) => keys, bind a hotkey slot to the same key as your forward move, place the sense heading key into this hotkey, done ...

[Chicka]

alt + o (options) => keys, bind a hotkey slot to the same key as your forward move, place the sense heading key into this hotkey, done ...

WRONG! OH SO WRONG.

The D key DUFUSS! Then every time you turn right you sense heading. Youd do that way more then you move forward.

Tsk. humbug. Etc.

[Bodeanicus]

What's your druid's name? I'll help show you the ropes if I see you on.

[Dr4z3r]

WRONG! OH SO WRONG.

The D key DUFUSS! Then every time you turn right you sense heading. Youd do that way more then you move forward.

Tsk. humbug. Etc.

I bound mine to both A and D.

[Wotsirb401]

EQ is all about grinding for xp, unlike wow where a lot of xp comes from quests, Quests in this game are for item rewards and upgrades

[Striiker]

I bound mine to both A and D.

This is what I also did. The A and D keys are bound for sense heading. I have maxed my sense heading for all of my characters easily this way.