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| Finacols Secret Bard Guide to EverQuest - 1.3 SOLO QUESTS (2) |
Mar 24th, 2010 1:17:43 am - Subscribe |
| 2.1.2. Grouping The perfect group setup depends on the hunting area and strategy. In most cases there is only a limited choice of classes so you might have to vary the strategies described here to kill in the most efficient way. 2.1.3. Zones Levels: 1 - 4 Fight in the newbie zone of the city you are starting in. Nearly all mobs are between lvl 1 and 4 and you should have no problems advancing at the very beginning. You can also kill the rodents that roam your starting city. Levels: 5 - 9 Befallen A rather small dungeon with mostly undead mobs. A cleric or a necro would be perfect for the group in here because they have the most powerful spells against them, also a cleric will be able to cure the disease many mobs will proc on you. It’s quite a nice zone to obtain some money and experience. The only disadvantage is that you need keys, which are dropped by mobs in the zone, to advance to the next floor. Pick locks are a good idea in this place. Get some training before you go there. However, it’s not advised to go past the 2nd floor or you may have trouble. It’s extremely easy to make a train of spellcasters that will get you and your partner dead in seconds with no chance of surviving. Blackburrow Here you can find weapons that are very useful for you at low levels if you don’t know anyone who might help you out with a higher level char. Be careful with some rare spawnes, some of them are too strong for your group. Ask the mid lvl groups for some help in case you get into trouble. Respawn is slow but nowawadays it’s almost empty, with the exception of the occasional twink. Solo or duo recommended, mobs are pure melee (for the most part), therefore very easy for their level. Greater Faydark Very good for hunting, since the orcs located here drop belts that can be turned in to gain experience through quests in Kaladim. Also see exp quests - faction gained here can not only help you to shop cheaper (useful at early levels) but also lets you access more quests in this area. Levels: 10 - 14 Butcherblock Mountains The PoK book in the zone makes it easy to get there. The recommended hunting spot here is a huge chessboard located at the end of the right zone wall (coming from Greater Faydark). The king and the queen are rare spawns but haven’t got any special drops. Necros and others sometimes solo here, so striking up a duo with them can be very effective. The only drawback to grouping is that the respawn time at the chessboard is fairly slow. Crushbone You can get a lot of money for your lvl here by selling belts and legionnaire pads. There are also some items that are quite useful for an untwinked bard. The mobs mostly spawn close to each other, so it makes sense to pull several at once when the zone isn’t overcamped, which nowadays seems rare. Field of Bone This zone is a viable option because it has a PoK book. The pit area near the center of the zone is full of mobs that are ripe for the killing. They tend to chain aggro, so use your Lull song to your advantage. A group can make killing a breeze, and the experience rivals that of Crushbone. The mobs become increasingly powerful as you move northward through the pit, so be careful. Also, since you aren’t an Iksar, stay far away from the road leading to Cabilis; you will be KoS to the guards. Levels: 15 - 19 East Karana It's a good zone to gain experience: few people hunt here and there is a wide variety of mobs. Later on you will find the spiders around here to be a reliable source for making some extra platinum since spider silk becomes more and more requested with trade skills getting involved in many higher level quests (high level players pay up to 50pp for a stack of silks and 125pp for a stack of swatches). Unrest There are mostly undead mobs. It would be wise to invite a paladin, cleric or necro to your group. Some people claim that this is the central train station of EverQuest - the home of all trains and future dead pullers - they learned it here from scratch. In spite of the trains, it has a very interesting background and thus is a nice place if you are out for more than just experience and loot. The recommended place for groups is along the wall in the courtyard and later on near the fountains - also some mobs might be light blue already, it is rather safe and your puller will be able to zone anytime. Highpass Hold At the Kithicor zoneline there are enough orcs for one or two groups - good experience with a chance of getting a weight reducing backpack. On the other side of the zone it’s the same game with Gnolls - the Polished Granite Tomahawk (procs a damage-absorbing effect) is a useful weapon that you can acquire on your own at this level. Nowadays you will be lucky to find someone to group with here, like many other low level zones, it’s almost always deserted. |
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| Finacols Secret Bard Guide to EverQuest - 1.3 SOLO QUESTS (1) |
Mar 22nd, 2010 9:54:03 pm - Subscribe |
| 2. Groups In the following sections you will find some info regarding the role of a bard in certain groups. Of course it depends on your play style and with who and at what level you are playing together with others, so here you will find some general guide lines and hints for certain situations but a lot simply comes from experience - as in critical situations you often will have to act without a second thought. 2.1. Groups in general The bard is the perfect character for any group. He is able to replace nearly any other class to a certain degree. He can increase the speed of the casters’ mana regeneration and improve attack speed, strength and armor class of the tanks. Often a bard is requested to replace an enchanter in a group. He is very important on most raids, since many songs, like Elemental Chorus or Purifying Chorus, prove quite helpful in many encounters. At lvl 55 bards get Occlusion of Sound, which lowers the resists of the target. Without this song, slowing on raids would be a pain in the a...err, back. When leveling in PoP and beyond, bards initially lose most of their ability to do crowd control, due to the level limit on their mez and charm songs. In exchange, they become excellent pullers thanks to Silent Song of Quellious and the Fading Memories AA. During your downtime At level 6 you receive Hymn of Restoration, your first HP regen song, which should be your default choice during downtime until your group members are back to full health. At lvl 20 you get Cassindra’s Chant of Clarity – the first version of “the mana song” – a very effective way of speeding up your healers’ mana regeneration. I recommend always twisting your heal and mana songs (at least till as long as not everyone has full hp) until you get the level 34 Cantata of Soothing, which does both at once. During the fight Turn off all your songs during an incoming, otherwise you will aggro the mobs too soon and won’t be as effective during the battle. In case you lack an Enchanter, though, start off right away trying to mez any adds. If your group has many melees, you should stick to haste songs and other buffs during battle. This means a huge overall power increase. If your group has many casters, then a mana song and debuffing the mobs’ resistances can be very helpful. If you have an even balance of both, then compromise and try to help everyone at once. 2.1.1. Level A bard is a useful group member from the low levels on, due to his strength, dexterity and agility song, though it doesn’t make sense to team up till lvl 7. Before then, gaining experience would take much longer in a group than solo. The lvl 6 heal song makes the bard a famous addition for low level groups. The lvl 10 song is an expansion of the lvl 1 song that doesn't give strength and AC, but haste instead. With lvl 20 every bard should be in heaven - the first mana song! Now it’s even easier for you to find a group. Snare and Slow become available at lvl 23 and complete the all-round image. Level 32 gives you the 2nd manasong, and 2 levels later you get a song that regenerates not only mana but hitpoints as well. From lvl 36 on you get a better haste song that you use until level 42. Then you get a haste song with the same attack increase, but it adds strength instead of agility, which is much more important - 17 - for most melee fighters. Lvl 49 gives you a run speed song that lasts for 150 seconds. Lvl 60 is the real highlight. A new slow and a new overhaste song! The overhaste song is a drop from Luclin mobs, so check the Bazaar for it as soon as possible. But until you get there you have a slightly weaker level 52 song – also dropped, but easier to get. |
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| Finacols Secret Bard Guide to EverQuest - 1.2. SOLO QUESTS (5) |
Mar 22nd, 2010 1:20:01 am - Subscribe |
| Mobs: Seafury Cyclops (1000/-6700) Ocean of Tears is a very good zone to gain experience. The seafury cyclops are usually not camped because they cause severe damage. That should be the perfect enemy for a bard. Really good about them are the expensive gems, they sometimes. Drop. The only problem is Ocean of Tears is located in a rather remote area, you can only get there by ship. Levels: 50 - 54 Location: Cobald Scar Mobs: Wyvern They are often killed by quadkiters but since the spawntime is quite fast and the wizards and druids got a long down time you should do quite fine here. It's a good tactic to choose selected spawnpoints and split those. These mobs are almost definetely yours because you know when and where the next one spawns . a very nice way of getting experience even if an area is heavily camped. In case of an emergency zone to skyshrine. For hunting wyverns pro- dragon faction is recommended, since there are quite a few dangerous roamers. Levels: 54 - 58 Location: Burning Woods Mobs: Giants Very good experience for you! There are different mobs which are all rather easy to kill. Its one of the most interesting places for lvl 54-58 to fear kite. Hunt near the fort and pull roamers whenever you run out of giants. There are quite a few named mobs around there, but their items or the quests in which they are involved are pretty worthless. Location: Skyfire Mountains Mobs: Anything that cons blue. This is an excellent place to fearkite. The camp should be set up at the zoneline with Burning Woods and pull your targets to there. Be aware some of the mobs (wurms, wyverns) are very resistant to fire. The Chromadracs will dispell themselves and yourself if you get too close and they aren’t feared, so be careful. The loot is quite decent, they all have a chance of dropping spells. Levels: 57 - 60 Location: Cobalt Scar Mobs: Othmirs There are 3 different camps with pubs, warriors and shamans spawning in all of them. Camp 1 (easy to find - there are no named mobs in it) is the best choice since you don’t have to watch out for any overpowered named mobs. These camps used to be usually vacant because many people likes to keep intact their faction with them, as they sell some Baking goods that can’t be found anywhere else. Should they nevertheless be camped just ask the people around there (90% druids or wizards) if you may kill the shamans because they usually don’t. Should an Othmir drop any fur, don't destroy it. It's an essential ingredient to raise Tailoring and you can sell it for good money or keep it to raise your own skill. You can either pull the mobs up the cliff or look for a nice battleground on the beach. Levels: 60+ Location: Fungus Grove Mobs: Mushrooms This zone is well visited by many melees, since it is one of the few areas where you are able to solo better than casters. Mushroom mobs give the best experience and are the preferred targets of most players in the zone. The other opponents in the area (fungus beasts and aliens) are much stronger but hardly ever camped. The beasts prob a rather annoying snare spell, while the aliens got a hell lot of hitpoints and drop shards for the Vex Thal Key. Location: Western Wastes Mobs: Mammoths – Rhinos – Wolves Not many people knows this, but along with the wurms, wyverns and dragons, there are mixed animals that aren’t on dragon faction. You will need at least dubiously faction with the Claws of Veeshan to hunt here. The mobs are absolutely safe to kill, mammoths and rhinos aren’t KoS and they will not assist each other. The wolves are KoS and will assist eachother. You need to keep an eye out for the Ice Burrowers. Usually there are 2-3 of them spread in the area. They are very big so you shouldn’t have trouble spotting them. They’re level 61 and will kill you before you know what hit you, so stay away from them. |
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| Finacols Secret Bard Guide to EverQuest - 1.2. SOLO QUESTS (3) |
Mar 18th, 2010 3:14:29 am - Subscribe |
| 1.2.5. Locations Often there are many different types of mobs in a zone. This gives you a good opportunity for fearkiting since you can stay for a longer time in the same zone. This way you will get to know escape and fear paths very well and be able to develop a good sense of timing. Below you will find the best locations for solo fighting using this strategy: Levels: 26 - 28 Location: West Karana (Barbarian Village) Mobs: Lars McMannus, Junth McMannus Two mobs of equal strength with a short respawn time. Always ask if someone is camping Ulrich if you are going for Junth . otherwise you might aggro him while trying kite Junth. Fortunately Ulrich is camped rather often, so you shouldn’t have any problems there. Location: Lake of Ill Omen (Kunark) Mobs: Sarnaks Just near Frontier Mountains zoneline there is the Sarnak fort. The best part is the back door, pulling sarnak recruits from inside and fear kiting them outside. The surrounding area is completely safe and you shouldn’t see many wanderer mobs (if any). Respawn is quite fast so its best to stay outside instead of moving inside unless you’re really confident and close to level 30. They don’t see invis, so it should be easy for you to pull them and scout the inside of the fort. Some of them are spellcasters. Necromancers will fear you soon as they have the chance, and shamans will slow you. Both will cast direct daamage spells, so make sure you keep them feared at all times. Levels: 28 - 34 Location: Northern Karana (Treant Camp) Mobs: Treants A famous hunting ground because it gives very good experience and the loot is good as well. Nowadays it is rarely camped, but if it is, you can find plenty of other mobs around the area that respawn quite fast. Location: Great Divide (Velious) Mobs: Tizmaks At the NorthWest part of the area (between the dragon ring and Thurgadin entrance) you will find the Tizmaks caves. These mobs are rather easy and have low hp’s. Some are shamans and therefore can cast spells. There is nothing dangerous in the area so you can easily pull from inside and fearkite them in front of the caves. Be aware that while, at first, they are not aggressive, after a few kills you will become KoS. Location: Frontier Mountains (Kunark) Mobs: Giants Almost straight ahead from the LoIO zoneline (SouthEast part of the zone) you can find the giant fort. They are pure melee mobs and usually can single pull them easily, but be careful with respawn while pulling, they could respawn on you while you are pulling and aggro when you try to get out. The area in front of the fort is usually safe, you can fearkite them easily. You can almost always find a group or two there, too, but the fort contains plenty of mobs. Location: Iceclad Ocean Mobs: Snow Cougars You should camp around the gnome pirate igloos and pull them to that area, however be VERY CAREFUL that your AE songs do not hit the NPC’s or you’ll be in some serious trouble. The cougars are pure melees and have relatively low hp’s, but also very social, so be careful when fearkiting them. This used to be a heavily camped spot, but currently it’s rare to see anyone there. |
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| Finacols Secret Bard Guide to EverQuest - 1.2. SOLO QUESTS (2) |
Mar 17th, 2010 2:22:11 am - Subscribe |
| The best way to pull is to use snare. The mob will slow down and you can run to your chosen battlefield without being hit. If you have SoW you can also pull with a dot. From level 49 on you can use the song Selo's Accelerating Chorus that lasts for 150 seconds. This will be much faster faster than SoW. At 51 you can use Selo's Song of travel instead of Shauri's Sonorous Clouding to check the camp. This makes it a lot easier for you because you are not only invisible and levitating but also get additional runspeed. How to kill the mob It's important to twist the selected songs again and again ( more info about this strategy can be found in the twisting section ). After fearing it, follow the mob and melee it down. Always hit the enemies in their backs. If you play the DoT at the same time it will increase your damage output significantly. If you don’t have your Epic, you can usually kill faster by using a haste song. This will reduce your downtime to a minimum. 1.2.4. Specials Fear kiting with a partner Especially for camps with many mobs a partner is very useful. A duo can kill much faster and thus in a more effective way. The best partner for you is a damage dealer because the bard himself is not the best if it comes to causing severe damage. The partner has to watch out since fear might wear off during longer fights. Let your ally know exactly what you are doing if she/he hasn.t any experience in duo fear kiting with a bard. If fear wears of, you might want the mob going for you till you manage to get it feared again, depending on the armor class of your partner. Chant kiting You can use this tactic on mobs that you can't fear or snare. Basically it’s the same chase game again, just with you running away from the mob instead of the other way round. From lvl 49 you can use Selo's Accelerating Chorus, a version of Selo’s that lasts 150 seconds. This lets you twist up to 3 songs instead of 2 while kiting. This method takes time since you won’t be doing much melee fighting, but with a good drum, the amount of damage you can deal with your Chant DoTs is very nice. This is a very handy method, especially for killing tough quest mobs (as long as they don’t summon). Two high level zones where you can get fast exp with this method include Halls of Honor at level 62+ and Vxed at level 65+. See their entries from the “Planes of Power and Beyond” subsection of “Grouping” for more kiting information. Solo kiting those zones is just like kiting with partners except you have to do all the damaging and snaring yourself. |
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