Love the game, but having a problem with quests.

[Jaisen]

Well, so far I've really enjoyed playing my level 21 Half-Elf SK, though I've encountered a problem after I hit level 19 and left TD. I've been to Nektulos(sp?) Forest, Thundering Steppes and Butcherblock Mountains, and while they had a few quests to do, after I finished them I found myself without much else to do. The next quests I find seem to be 4-5 levels above me. Is it just me or does it seem like there's a real lack of quests for this level?

[Razlath]

<p>Did you do the Butcherblock quests on the docks as well as by the Greater Faydark entrance?  Those along with the quests they lead you to should get you to 25ish no problem.  There are others after that, but Butcher Block does have a large gap in it.  I am fairly certain it is around 26 to 27 though.  I have not done Nek or Thudering Steppes in a long time, so I can't really say about theirs.  I know there are like 10 quests just across the bridge by the Commonlands entrance in Nek.  </p><p>Biggest problem I have seen is that the TD line brings you in on the wrong side of many of the zones.  The quest starters are often on the other side of the zone with no real clue you should go there.  I would recommend fully exploring Nek and Butcherblock.  You should find more than enough to keep you busy to around 30, at which point you can move on.</p>

[Malki]

Are you sure you did them all?There are loads of quests in BB especially, there is more than 1 quest hub there, there is the one at the docks, one near the Greater faydark entrance, and then the Irontoe forts that I have discovered so far.In Thundering steppes there are also several quest hubs.I currently have 10 between 20-25 each in TS and BBAlso, I got 2 levels in one run of Stormhold, so make sure to pop to those places too, if you can find a group (not usually a problem, on my server at least, dont know about the other ones of course), there is also Fallen Gate, and RoV around the same level, and Crushbone Keep.

[Brinelan]

I spent 10 - 15 levels in butcherblock on quests alone.  check out <a href="http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Butcherblock_Mountains_Timeline" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">eq2i.com </a>if you don't mind spoilers.

[Jaisen]

Ah, I need to find the entrance to Greater Faydark then. I've only explored the zones a little bit, I had just assumed that the areas they load you into would be the quest hubs. I appreciate the advice everyone <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" />

[Razlath]

<p>Yeah, that is one of the side affects when they do not create new zone progressions for new races.  The area they hook you into doesn't actually follow the standard zone progression.  Of course good old Thundering Steppes never followed the normal entrance, so you should be good if you go there.  ;}</p><p>For Nektulos find the commonlands entrance, that is a huge quest hub that will send you to the other quest hubs.</p><p>For Butcherblock, find the Greater Faydark entrance, is a small quest hub, but leads you to some others.  The docks is a decent quest hub as well, but doesn't really lead you anyway.</p><p>For Thundering Steppes find the docks.  Tons of quests there, and I think many of them have tie ins with the rest of the zone (been a long long time since I put anyone through TS and then only once).</p><p>Below are some basic directions, but I am horrible at giving directions when I don't have my map up so you will have to explore a bit.  ;}  You can always look them up on EQ2i for locs.  Most can be found just by following the paths.  In Nek you want to follow the path out the docks area and stick to right turns.  Butcher is harder, recommend you grab a loc, and like I said, the boat to TS dumps you on the docks, that zone was backwards from release until TD now it is spot on!  ;}</p>

[Kellin]

<p>This is one of my pet peeves with TD - it holds your hand, giving you a clear quest progression, then releases you into the regular game content.</p><p>Personally, my mystic did about 90 quests in TS alone, and I know she missed some.  Nek Forest quests aren't as easy to find; a surprising number of them start from drop items.  You might want to head into Antonica to go to Stormhold or Commonlands for Fallen Gate.  Those are some really nice lowbie dungeons.</p><p>Get used to hunting for quests, though it really isn't that difficult.  Just look for folks with feathers over their heads.</p>

[Elmoras]

<p>Actually, I am pretty sure you are introduced to the Greater Faydark side of BBM when you first visit the gryphon tower.  I think they have you find the others before you can be using them.  When you do, voila!  You have found more lowbie content.</p><p>As for Nek, poorly, poorly designed.  As is Qeynos, Freeport, Commondlands and Antonica.  There is no natural progression of things, and you sort of lose your immersion.</p><p>I would highly recommend all good characters begin in Kelethin.  All evil characters start in TD.  Just because quest progression actually makes sense.</p><p>Just my 2 copper.</p>

[Kahlef]

To add to others advice here you might also want to give a look at <a href="http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Solo_Timelines" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">EQ2i solo timeline</a>.It lists what zones have quest for a certain level range. Then you just click the link for that zone and there is a list of quests available on that zone. Again just click on the link for a certain quest and it will have the write-up on where to start it, what are the necessary steps to complete it, etc.Hope that helps. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Zwildstar]

<cite>Elmoras@Everfrost wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Actually, I am pretty sure you are introduced to the Greater Faydark side of BBM when you first visit the gryphon tower.  I think they have you find the others before you can be using them.  When you do, voila!  You have found more lowbie content.</p><p>As for Nek, poorly, poorly designed.  As is Qeynos, Freeport, Commondlands and Antonica.  There is no natural progression of things, and you sort of lose your immersion.</p><p>I would highly recommend all <b>good characters <strike>begin in Kelethin.</strike>  <i>and</i> all evil characters start in TD</b>.  Just because quest progression actually makes sense.</p><p>Just my 2 copper.</p></blockquote>Fixed that for you.  Even Kelethin can't beat TD's quests and OMG Phat Lewt.

[Kellin]

<cite>Elmoras@Everfrost wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Actually, I am pretty sure you are introduced to the Greater Faydark side of BBM when you first visit the gryphon tower.  I think they have you find the others before you can be using them.  When you do, voila!  You have found more lowbie content.</p><p>As for Nek, poorly, poorly designed.  As is Qeynos, Freeport, Commondlands and Antonica.  There is no natural progression of things, and you sort of lose your immersion.</p><p>I would highly recommend all good characters begin in Kelethin.  All evil characters start in TD.  Just because quest progression actually makes sense.</p><p>Just my 2 copper.</p></blockquote><p>But you see, that's the problem with TD.  The rest of the game does <b>not</b> work like that.  You have to explore, talk to people, IMMERSE.  Having someone give you a series of quests and then send you to the next guy in line doesn't allow for you to do your own thing, explore, see the world!  Following a series of instructions is fine when you're building a bicycle, but not much fun in a MMORPG.</p><p>The other problem with TD is the gear.  It's <b>too</b> good.  You won't really need to start upgrading until you're in your mid 30s, which leaves you with about 15 levels of saying "wow, what a crappy drop."  Maybe I'm weird, but I'd rather have lesser gear to start with and have more fun getting upgrades.</p><p>There's plenty of sensible quest progression in the older zones.  It just takes a bit more gumption to find it.</p>

[Jaisen]

<cite>Kellin@Permafrost wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Elmoras@Everfrost wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Actually, I am pretty sure you are introduced to the Greater Faydark side of BBM when you first visit the gryphon tower.  I think they have you find the others before you can be using them.  When you do, voila!  You have found more lowbie content.</p><p>As for Nek, poorly, poorly designed.  As is Qeynos, Freeport, Commondlands and Antonica.  There is no natural progression of things, and you sort of lose your immersion.</p><p>I would highly recommend all good characters begin in Kelethin.  All evil characters start in TD.  Just because quest progression actually makes sense.</p><p>Just my 2 copper.</p></blockquote><p>But you see, that's the problem with TD.  The rest of the game does <b>not</b> work like that.  You have to explore, talk to people, IMMERSE.  Having someone give you a series of quests and then send you to the next guy in line doesn't allow for you to do your own thing, explore, see the world!  Following a series of instructions is fine when you're building a bicycle, but not much fun in a MMORPG.</p><p>The other problem with TD is the gear.  It's <b>too</b> good.  You won't really need to start upgrading until you're in your mid 30s, which leaves you with about 15 levels of saying "wow, what a crappy drop."  Maybe I'm weird, but I'd rather have lesser gear to start with and have more fun getting upgrades.</p><p>There's plenty of sensible quest progression in the older zones.  It just takes a bit more gumption to find it.</p></blockquote>This was another thing I noticed, I have level 11 items that are far better than a lot of the level 20-23 items I'm getting from quests/drops. Is there some reason they designed it this way?

[Kellin]

<p>To be honest, I have no idea what they were thinking.  Maybe they wanted to make sure people would utilize the new zone?  I'd think there are better ways, ways that don't necessarily include ridiculously overpowered gear.</p><p>TD is fine if you're leveling an alt.  New zone to see, new quests to do.  But for a new player, it offers an extremely unrealistic picture of how the rest of the game plays.</p>

[Liral]

<p>Oh there are TONS of quests in Nek to do. A little advice that will make helping find the quests for you. Alo, you should eb abel to do quests even a few levels above you.</p><p> Go to the following sites.</p><p> <a href="http://www.eq2interface.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.eq2interface.com/</a> and download the EQ2 map mod. It will give you information on where everything is (mobs, quests, named, zone points, etc) with colored dots in a zone overlaid on your in game map. It is a VERY handy tool.</p><p> Check out      <a href="http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page</a> and check out the link to the Solo timeline in the Popular areas  on the right. Click on Nek forest and it has every quest in the zone and it's level listed and usually has a step by step guide I doubt you've done em all. :&gt<img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />)  You can also check out   <a href="http://eq2.allakhazam.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://eq2.allakhazam.com/</a> to get step by step guides on each and every quest in the game.  <a href="http://eq2.gamepressure.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://eq2.gamepressure.com/</a> Also has decent maps and some quest info.</p>

[Liral]

<cite>Kellin@Permafrost wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Elmoras@Everfrost wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Actually, I am pretty sure you are introduced to the Greater Faydark side of BBM when you first visit the gryphon tower.  I think they have you find the others before you can be using them.  When you do, voila!  You have found more lowbie content.</p><p>As for Nek, poorly, poorly designed.  As is Qeynos, Freeport, Commondlands and Antonica.  There is no natural progression of things, and you sort of lose your immersion.</p><p>I would highly recommend all good characters begin in Kelethin.  All evil characters start in TD.  Just because quest progression actually makes sense.</p><p>Just my 2 copper.</p></blockquote><p>But you see, that's the problem with TD.  The rest of the game does <b>not</b> work like that.  You have to explore, talk to people, IMMERSE.  Having someone give you a series of quests and then send you to the next guy in line doesn't allow for you to do your own thing, explore, see the world!  Following a series of instructions is fine when you're building a bicycle, but not much fun in a MMORPG.</p><p>The other problem with TD is the gear.  It's <b>too</b> good.  You won't really need to start upgrading until you're in your mid 30s, which leaves you with about 15 levels of saying "wow, what a crappy drop."  Maybe I'm weird, but I'd rather have lesser gear to start with and have more fun getting upgrades.</p><p>There's plenty of sensible quest progression in the older zones.  It just takes a bit more gumption to find it.</p></blockquote>I couldn't agree more. I LOVE the old zones. I like starting in Qeynos, Freeport and Neriak. Kelethin is just ok though. I really dislike TD and it's gear. If I had my way I'd nerf the crap out of it's gear.

[ke'la]

<cite>Zwildstar wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Elmoras@Everfrost wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Actually, I am pretty sure you are introduced to the Greater Faydark side of BBM when you first visit the gryphon tower.  I think they have you find the others before you can be using them.  When you do, voila!  You have found more lowbie content.</p><p>As for Nek, poorly, poorly designed.  As is Qeynos, Freeport, Commondlands and Antonica.  There is no natural progression of things, and you sort of lose your immersion.</p><p>I would highly recommend all <b>good characters <strike>begin in Kelethin.</strike>  <i>and</i> all evil characters start in TD</b>.  Just because quest progression actually makes sense.</p><p>Just my 2 copper.</p></blockquote>Fixed that for you.  Even Kelethin can't beat TD's quests and OMG Phat Lewt.</blockquote>Begining in Kelethin does not preclude you from going to TD to do 1-20, then when you get done you get to goto the original start point for the BBM Quests.

[Terron]

You could try doing the armour quest series.The gear isn't up to TD standards, but is class specific and you might wan to use it for appearance.The SK ones are given by a smith in East Freeport.They will send you first to Fallen Gate, and then to Nek.You could also start on the The Return of the Light heritage quest - by killing the Lightbringer Wisp near the druid ring in the Commonlands. It would be hard without a walkhrough, and you would need a group to finish.Fallen Gate and Stormhold are good dungeons for the early 20s if you can get a group.

[StormCinder]

<p>As mentioned above, TD is great if you need your hand held to guide you through quests and level progression.  It's great for beginning players and players who are more into the game for it's "action-packedness" rather than the RPG immersion.</p><p>The "old world" zones are much better for the "stranger in a strange land" type of immersion.  You are required to discover things on your own.  Encouraged to explore and work things out on your own.</p><p>It's all about the type of playstyle you prefer.  A lot of people that are switching over from WoW prefer the first option.  It's what they're used to.</p><p>SC</p>

[LordPazuzu]

<p>There should be more quests in Butcherblock than required to level out of the zone.  There are TWO entry level quest hubs in BBM, one by the docks and on the beach, the other by the Greater Faydark zone.  They will both eventually lead you to the dwarven forts in the middle of the zone and branch out from there.  My ranger can't keep up with them all.  Most have turned green before he can get to them.</p>

[Malki]

<p>I agree that TD "spoils" you if it is your first zone, I went there on my temp because everyone was telling me that it was the best zone to level in, and I had just done a chunk of Antonica on US servers, and didnt feel like it straight away again..I did find it fast going through, but, I am trying to level my other characters in their original home zones, to get more of a feel for the storylines instead of rushing through levels, but, it is a very different playstyle out there.</p><p> I am actually looking forward though, to getting gear I need from SH etc and the armour quests, instead of it not being needed due to the gear from TD.</p><p>At the moment, I am playing Kelethin, Neriak (love that zone), Freeport, and Qeynos starter zones, and one in TD, along with 1 in TS and one in BBM, havent done too much TS though (mostly levelled her through 2 long SH runs), so will take my other chars through Nek forest / TS depending on alignment, and see how it goes from there.  Will also check out the group zones more on my other chars..so much to do, so little time <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p> Luckily I am a patient little bunny!</p>

[LordPazuzu]

TD loot is a mixed bag.  It's obscene if you are a caster.  If you are a melee, the stat bonuses are phenomenal, but you hit the beach in BBM not being able to take a hit worth a [Removed for Content].

[Galn]

<cite>Sulan@Lucan DLere wrote:</cite><blockquote>TD loot is a mixed bag.  It's obscene if you are a caster.  If you are a melee, the stat bonuses are phenomenal, but you hit the beach in BBM not being able to take a hit worth a [I cannot control my vocabulary].</blockquote><p>AS I was reading this thread I was thinking about how the mitigation on the "TD Uber-loot" was severely lacking, especially once you get close to level 20. </p><p>I also noticed another "problem" with questing in TD, the AA given for quests is a bit lower than the same level range in Darklight Woods for example. This is mainly because if you turn off combat experience when you hit level 10 the quests turn yellow and even orange before you get to level 20, and a funny thing about yellow quests is they give 'slightly' better AA exp than a green quest but a LOT more adv exp. This means you can only fit a few quests in each level before the quests level you too much.</p>

[Seidhkona]

<cite>Ahkz@Butcherblock wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Sulan@Lucan DLere wrote:</cite><blockquote>TD loot is a mixed bag.  It's obscene if you are a caster.  If you are a melee, the stat bonuses are phenomenal, but you hit the beach in BBM not being able to take a hit worth a [I cannot control my vocabulary].</blockquote><p>AS I was reading this thread I was thinking about how the mitigation on the "TD Uber-loot" was severely lacking, especially once you get close to level 20. </p><p>I also noticed another "problem" with questing in TD, the AA given for quests is a bit lower than the same level range in Darklight Woods for example. This is mainly because if you turn off combat experience when you hit level 10 the quests turn yellow and even orange before you get to level 20, and a funny thing about yellow quests is they give 'slightly' better AA exp than a green quest but a LOT more adv exp. This means you can only fit a few quests in each level before the quests level you too much.</p></blockquote>I have to say that I got a belt in TD that wasn't replaced until that toon was 50-ish. But it was worthwhile because all a belt provides is stats.However, while the TD equipment is really good as compared to that in, say, The Caves, neither is quite as good as Bronze, then Blackened Iron chain/plate.  I'm not sure how it compares to mastercrafted cloth and leather armors, but I'd be willing to bet that in either case the mastercrafted wins.Timorous Deep is really great for lots of good places for aggro-free (or minimal aggro) harvesting. Harvest your rear off to get rares.  Any player can start training crafting and can make a full suit of bronze armor, or the equivalent cloth/leather mastercrafted.  You just have to find a crafting area and do it. You do need the advanced crafting books, but you only need to get to Gorowyn to have those available to you... you can swim there if nothing else with no aggro.