Hey all! I recently stumbled on your server and decided to check it out. I never played on the original Al'Kabor but I did play back in the PoP era and really enjoyed it. After playing on Live for a while, P99, SoD, Al'Kabor looks really appealing for that old school EQ itch. With that, I have questions! I'll be double boxing, and I haven't decided on a pair yet. I'm not looking for min-max optimization or anything, but I want to make sure I'm not setting myself up for frustration later on. Paladin and Shadowknight are my favorite classes, and I'm thinking about making one of them my main, however on other servers it was a struggle to play these classes without decent gear. As a new player I don't have access to higher level characters to feed me gear, so it will all be self obtained/bought. Will I be setting myself up for frustration if I play a knight class? What's the general consensus on these two classes? I'll probably pair a Druid or Shaman with a Knight if I go with that. Trolls are also my favorite race, but with that -20% exp pen it makes me pretty hesitant to roll one. How bad is that penalty in upper levels? If you were starting from scratch again, what would you do? Are there any must do quests or zones I should be hitting up? I saw that the new armor quests are in the game, should I fill out my duo with these armors? Thanks for all the help, I'm excited to join!
Knights are great! They're definitely gear-dependent, but the flip side of that coin is that it's really noticeable how much better they get as you gear up. I think a troll SK/SHM duo would be awesome: buffs, slows, snares, heals, SoW, and you'd look badass. PAL/DRU is also fantastic: buffs, heals, ports, snares, stuns, SoW, rez, etc.
There is a blanket 20% bonus on the server which will basically negate your 20% penalty. You will level slower than other races but it won't be bad. Knight and shaman will work very well. Good community for handing out low and gear too, if you find me in game I've got pieces you could use for sure. The noob armor quests can be worthwhile, particularly if you are the independent sort. My HE cleric wore a few pieces of his into his 50s.
If you're planning on playing for a while then don't worry about the xp penalty because it doesn't effect AAs.
Thanks for the info guys! I'll probably roll with an SK/Shaman. Looks like there don't have newbie armor quests for Grobb/oggok, bummer. Is Temple of Solusek Ro armor quests in the game?
If I were starting from scratch again, I'd roll a Dark Elf Enchantress because that's what I do. I'm not familiar with SK SolRo quests, but the ENC ones work so I'd guess that yours work too
Always choose the class and race you most want, regardless of penalties or perceived lesser abilities. You'll enjoy yourself more. SK trolls are awesome looking, and you'll enjoy the regen. Shaman troll is also great, probably my favorit shaman, and definitely benefits from the regen as well. Don't worry too much about the xp penalty. The best thing about this server is there is no rush. It's stable and you won't be left behind since it stops at POP. Welcome!
If you go troll shaman definitely choose Inny deity. They get an easy newbie quest for a clicky snare neck with unlimited charges, Regent Symbol of Innoruuk I think it's called. It's a bit less useful in a duo with an SK, but still super cool.
Found it! It looks like a pretty nice amulet for a low level, I'll certainly be picking up with one these. http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=1254
Superindeed find Perin in game. I have a bazzar mule with a bunch of lowerish gear on it im sure we can find something for ya in there!
I got my swamp bros off the ground and running (shaman/SK), and thanks to some kind folks who donated me some starting gear and cash. I was thinking about adding a 3rd wizard box to the group for ports and more DPS. I've never 3 boxed before, thoughts?
Sounds good to me. Wizards as porter/nuker ought to be fairly easy to run without demanding a huge amount of attention.
I know its not the cool choice on this server, but I have had great luck in pulling using lull / calm / pacify on my paladin. Only thing I have trouble pulling is the "a Kromzek Captain" for Leuz's Task.
That actually doesn't sound too bad. The biggest issue I've had so far with an SK/Shaman is adds, I don't have an easy to way to split or CC adds. The other issue is with DPS, but that can be fixed with gear or getting higher level.
For the Leuz's task split, you can invis yourself, back *very slowly* into the Captain's aggro range, then run like hell as soon as he aggros. Only the Captain sees invis, so he comes single as long as he doesn't break your invis while you're still in the adds' assist range. Add handling will get better as your slow improves - 75% slow is pretty much as good as mez vs. melee mobs. Once the SK gets FD, you can also do some pretty cool pulling wibbles. Dark parking (snare a mob, run away, flop, wait for adds to go home, stand) is a quick and dirty way to pull singles for exp groups.
Yeah I figured once I get FD and better slows life will be much easier. So far my SK is a beast even with sub-par gear. I'm really looking forward to higher levels when I have more tools. On a side note, so far everyone on this server has been great. The community around here really makes the server. I've been given gear, random buffs while I'm passing through PoK, a few people have just power leveled me a bit just for the heck of it, and I lost my SK's corpse the other night deep in Kurns, and without an invis to grab it I was screwed. 3 people came over to Kurns to help me get my corpse when I asked in chat. You guys are great. I go out of my way to SoW/buff people, and I'll be donating the gear I've received to other newbies when they get replaced to pay the generosity forward.
Another random question I was trying to figure out about combat. When I swing a weapon then cast a spell, does the weapons "re-swing timer" pause while I'm casting a spell, or keep counting down? Example, When I hit a mob, cause a spell, does it take longer for the weapon to swing again rather then if I was just auto attacking? I'm using a Throneblade of Ykesha right now (33/56 I believe), I'm curious if when I'm casting spells in between swings if it's slowing down my auto attacks or not. If it does not slow auto attacks down, I could see timing spell casts right after swings being pretty important. Especially while my DPS is 90% dependent on my SK, and with low level taps I'm constantly tapping for extra DPS.
For hybrids, timing definitely matters. Slower 2 handers are nice for this. I don't believe in this era priests and casters weapon timers continue through casts. I could be wrong though.
I'm not sure the spell damage will make up for the loss of damage bonus on the MH to make the 30/40 worthwhile. Maybe on a bst? Edit: that should be the loss of attacks during spell casts not spell damage vs loss of damage bonus on faster weapon.
My secret to casting at low levels is to put every earned skill point into channeling and keep that skill maxed. Takes a few levels for it to make a difference, but you will get that 'soandso regains his concentration and continues casting' message far more often. Helps with fizzling too. With hybrids, timing your cast to just after a mob has started it's round of attacks is crucial. If the spell ends at the end of the mobs attacks you have a higher chance of finishing your spell. It's an artform if you do it right. If you see a cleric around, ask them for spell haste buff. Makes a huge difference at lower levels where cast times are already short.
That's a good idea, luckily my channeling is capped out now from tap spamming. I've noticed "weaving" spells between swings and taking hits has been really important. Makes for interesting game play, especially on top of boxing a shaman! SK and Shaman seem to be very active classes, so I'm glad I'm only 2 boxing so far.
Blam stick basically parsed around the same level as my Earthcaller but had substantially less agro making it a pretty good raid weapon.
