Greetings Everquest 2 players...returning from a 4 1/2 year break...

[HmanFuryblade]

<p>Hey everyone,</p><p>I'm returning to Everquest 2 after a 4 1/2 year break. I'm just wondering if Furies are still a needed class to play before I decide to level up to max level or should I go with another more needed class?</p><p>Anyway, I'm not sure what server my toon is on but I cant wait till I see everyone in game!</p><p>Hman</p>

[PinChaser]

<p>welcome back! Be warned the game has changed alot after 4.5 years. I've played on and off since xmas of '04 and I'm still getting used to some changes.</p>

[HmanFuryblade]

<p>Anything important that I should know about? I know its tough to sum up all of those years of updates...but I'm a Fury, are they still a good class to  be? I was also a Adept spell crafter. Hows that business still doing?</p><p>Hman</p>

[Rahatmattata]

<p>IMO druids are the least useful healer, and there are tons of wardens and furys. But if you like playing it, go ahead. There will probably be some game mechanics changes coming up in Feb. so who knows what will happen. As of today, stay away from brawlers, druids, and summoners as far as usefulness goes. Stay away from shadowknights and guardians as far as overpopulated classes goes. Shamans, inquisitor, enchanters, and bards are in demand. Templars, predators, sorcerers, paladins, berserkers, rogues are pretty much welcome to anything too. But really, play what you want.</p><p>The only things I can really think of you need to know is make sure you get all the AA you can. Also, there is an NPC in the village zones that will make you a free master every few days if you have the expert version scribed. Just goto some village like Temple Street or Willow Wood and ask a guard for Research Assistant. You get 5 free booster packs of LoN once a month if you click the eq2 menu button and select Legends of Norrath and then goto your deck builder or whatever. Sometimes you get loot cards like mounts, illusions, and various other things. You can have a crafter make a mirror that you place in your house that allows you to store an AA spec. You can have 1 spec active and 1 in storage. You can respec your AAs at the mage's guild in your alignment's cities. Ask a guard for Achievement Councilor. You can buy crafting stations for your house if you talk to a city merhant. You can place mounts in your house. You can hold the control button on your keyboard and left click items (that have a model) to see what they look like.</p>

[Tehom]

<p><cite>HmanFuryblade wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Hey everyone,</p><p>I'm returning to Everquest 2 after a 4 1/2 year break. I'm just wondering if Furies are still a needed class to play before I decide to level up to max level or should I go with another more needed class?</p><p>Anyway, I'm not sure what server my toon is on but I cant wait till I see everyone in game!</p><p>Hman</p></blockquote><p>Right now druids kind of have it tough in the endgame, but they're supposed to be upgraded/fixed in the expansion coming out in feb. So depending on how fast you level/progress, you may not run into any sort of problems before they're buffed up. So I guess it depends if you're the type of player who'll hit level 80 and 200 AA in a week and want to join an endgame raid guild, or if you'll just kind of take your time getting there.</p>

[Seidhkona]

<p>All healers are welcome and needed in groups. As has already been mentioned, there tend to be a LOT of druids out there -- for a while they were the most popular healer to roll, for some reason.</p><p>If your goal is end-game raiding, then you might consider either betraying the fury to a warden (slightly more desired in raids than furies), or rolling another character. Shaman and clerics are always in demand, or if you wanted to go outside the healing role, people always need bards and enchanters, as well as big DPS.</p><p>If your interest is more in grouping and soloing, then by all means work on the fury! They're a lot of fun to play in a group or solo (I have a level 80 fury).</p>

[Banditman]

<p>Quite honestly, after four plus years away from the game you would be far better off starting over.  The progression will feel much more natural, and honestly, getting to Level 50 is not difficult at all these days, leveling is much faster.</p><p>The biggest challenge you'll have is learning how to split your XP between AA and regular in the correct proportions.  There is no magic formula for this, you have to figure out what works for you.  My general rule of thumb is that I want 2 AA points for every "regular" level I gain, perhaps a touch more in the early levels.</p>

[Seidhkona]

<p><cite>Banditman wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Quite honestly, after four plus years away from the game you would be far better off starting over.</p></blockquote><p>Good lord, don't re-roll! YOu'll get your AA and everything you need questing and grouping on yoru way to 80.</p><p>If you are on a PVP server, this advice changes. There it would be better to re-roll because of the importance of early AA to survival.</p>

[Banditman]

<p>I disagree.  You will not get NEARLY enough AA going from 50 to 80 to make up for a complete lack thereof prior.  I recently deleted a L80 Guardian for just this reason.  Especially as a player with basically no knowledge of the game in it's current incarnation.</p>

[Seidhkona]

<p><cite>Banditman wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I disagree.  You will not get NEARLY enough AA going from 50 to 80 to make up for a complete lack thereof prior.  I recently deleted a L80 Guardian for just this reason.  Especially as a player with basically no knowledge of the game in it's current incarnation.</p></blockquote><p>I started with a 59 conjy who had levelled completely via collections (she was my provisioner) and never adventured or quested. </p><p>I started letting her out of the house to adventure at 59 in May, and here she is today at level 80 and 184AA.  I have a number of other toons as well, so this certainly could have been achieved much faster. There are so many quests out there that it's EASY to get AA.</p>

[Gamer1965]

He could just 'reroll' his fury as a citizen of Gorowyn <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Shemyaza]

<p>like yourself, i just restarted after a long, long break. take the advice of the posters above and start again from level 1, you will reap the rewards very quickly.</p><p>ignore the old starter zones; get yourself to gorowyn on kunark and level to 20 there. the rewards and content there are vastly superior to the old starter zones.</p><p>put everything "treasured" that you can't use on the broker. people will snap everything up asap if you put it on at a reasonable price (i think they are using the stuff to use in the transmuting skill), use this to buy the biggest bags/boxes you can carry.</p><p>you will probably qualify for the veteren rewards which include a chest that you can use on the broker to reduce the brokers fee, and therefore undercut all those people that joined eq2 after you abandoned it. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" /></p><p>when you get to level 10 press "L" and move the AA slider to 50/50. this way you will gain some AA as you level. getting some good AA early on is a massive boon. if you feel you are still leveling too fast move the AA to 100% AA gain, then move it back again as required.</p><p>stare in amazement at shadows that don't poof after 20 minutes!</p>

[DukeOccam]

<p>I'm with the "don't reroll" camp. I came back after a long break too, at level 50 with 0 AAs. Through normal solo questing, I had like 120 AAs by the time I hit 80. This was just before the AA slider, so with that tool you can always tweak the formula yourself. I mean, the whole DoF expansion was designed before AAs were put in the game, so there's a bunch of content where having no AAs will make no difference.</p>

[Gilasil]

<p><cite>Banditman wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I disagree.  You will not get NEARLY enough AA going from 50 to 80 to make up for a complete lack thereof prior.  I recently deleted a L80 Guardian for just this reason.  Especially as a player with basically no knowledge of the game in it's current incarnation.</p></blockquote><p>Instead of rerolling, put your AA slider all the way to the right for awhile (perhaps the time it would have taken you to get a new character from 1 to 50).  You'll stop leveling but all your experience will instead go into AAs.  You'll initially be gaining AAs very rapidly but that will slow down.  Leave the slider there until you're comfortable with the number of AAs you've got and then move it to the left until you're gaining levels and AAs at a comfortable rate.  You'll probably have to experiment to decide what you're happy with.  My old rule of thumb was to try to have at least as many AAs as levels but I doubt  it's all that critical as you're leveling up.  Once you hit 80 you'll be working on your AAs anyway. </p><p>That's how I'm salvaging an old pally I've got. </p>

[Tro]

<p><cite>Rahatmattata wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>IMO druids are the least useful healer, and there are tons of wardens and furys. But if you like playing it, go ahead. There will probably be some game mechanics changes coming up in Feb. so who knows what will happen. As of today, stay away from brawlers, druids, <strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">and summoners as far as usefulness goes</span></strong>. Stay away from shadowknights and guardians as far as overpopulated classes goes. Shamans, inquisitor, enchanters, and bards are in demand. Templars, predators, sorcerers, paladins, berserkers, rogues are pretty much welcome to anything too. But really, play what you want.</p><p>The only things I can really think of you need to know is make sure you get all the AA you can. Also, there is an NPC in the village zones that will make you a free master every few days if you have the expert version scribed. Just goto some village like Temple Street or Willow Wood and ask a guard for Research Assistant. You get 5 free booster packs of LoN once a month if you click the eq2 menu button and select Legends of Norrath and then goto your deck builder or whatever. Sometimes you get loot cards like mounts, illusions, and various other things. You can have a crafter make a mirror that you place in your house that allows you to store an AA spec. You can have 1 spec active and 1 in storage. You can respec your AAs at the mage's guild in your alignment's cities. Ask a guard for Achievement Councilor. You can buy crafting stations for your house if you talk to a city merhant. You can place mounts in your house. You can hold the control button on your keyboard and left click items (that have a model) to see what they look like.</p></blockquote><p>Why Summoners? it is true as of right now we do not bring much to the group/raid table but if SoE sticks to it's plan, Necro's and Conjuror's will be highly desired with the new role of debuffing. Based on that, right now is the perfect time to level one up.. Good chance they can reach 80 before feb 2010 expansion.</p>

[Gamer1965]

The main reason I had suggested the OP reroll is simply that he's been gone 4.5 years. There's a dang lot of changes that have come since OP last played. The game is almost a 'brand new' game at this point. So, what would it hurt if OP started from level 1 in Gorowyn ? It's not really about the AA, as has been posted, there are many ways to gain AA to 'catch-up'. But what has the OP missed since he's been gone? He can experience a whole 'new game' from the ground up... <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Brigh]

<p><cite>Talsmar@Crushbone wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>Rahatmattata wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>IMO druids are the least useful healer, and there are tons of wardens and furys. But if you like playing it, go ahead. There will probably be some game mechanics changes coming up in Feb. so who knows what will happen. As of today, stay away from brawlers, druids, <strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">and summoners as far as usefulness goes</span></strong>. Stay away from shadowknights and guardians as far as overpopulated classes goes. Shamans, inquisitor, enchanters, and bards are in demand. Templars, predators, sorcerers, paladins, berserkers, rogues are pretty much welcome to anything too. But really, play what you want.</p><p>The only things I can really think of you need to know is make sure you get all the AA you can. Also, there is an NPC in the village zones that will make you a free master every few days if you have the expert version scribed. Just goto some village like Temple Street or Willow Wood and ask a guard for Research Assistant. You get 5 free booster packs of LoN once a month if you click the eq2 menu button and select Legends of Norrath and then goto your deck builder or whatever. Sometimes you get loot cards like mounts, illusions, and various other things. You can have a crafter make a mirror that you place in your house that allows you to store an AA spec. You can have 1 spec active and 1 in storage. You can respec your AAs at the mage's guild in your alignment's cities. Ask a guard for Achievement Councilor. You can buy crafting stations for your house if you talk to a city merhant. You can place mounts in your house. You can hold the control button on your keyboard and left click items (that have a model) to see what they look like.</p></blockquote><p>Why Summoners? it is true as of right now we do not bring much to the group/raid table but if SoE sticks to it's plan, Necro's and Conjuror's will be highly desired with the new role of debuffing. Based on that, right now is the perfect time to level one up.. Good chance they can reach 80 before feb 2010 expansion.</p></blockquote><p>Not to mention what is the problem with DPS as usefulness? When people parse in groups I am finally on the list (4k-5k) with the shard armor, upgrades to spells, pet tanking/dps equipment drops, and AAs that help the pet.</p>

[Rahatmattata]

<p><cite>Brigh wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>Talsmar@Crushbone wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Why Summoners? it is true as of right now we do not bring much to the group/raid table but if SoE sticks to it's plan, Necro's and Conjuror's will be highly desired with the new role of debuffing. Based on that, right now is the perfect time to level one up.. Good chance they can reach 80 before feb 2010 expansion.</p><p><em>The brigand nerf/summoner buff was Aerilik's plan, not SOE's plan. Now he is gone. Anyway, as I said</em> <em>"There will probably be some game mechanics changes coming up in Feb. so who knows what will happen."</em></p></blockquote><p>Not to mention what is the problem with DPS as usefulness? When people parse in groups I am finally on the list (4k-5k) with the shard armor, upgrades to spells, pet tanking/dps equipment drops, and AAs that help the pet.</p><p><em>Why bring summoner dps when you could have assassin/ranger/wizard/warlock/swashbuckler/illusionist? There are a lot of classes that can dps as well or better than a summoner, and bring a lot more to the table. Aside from that, on a personal note, I have rarely grouped or raided with a summoner that does decent dps since EoF. I'm sure it has to do with the overpopulation of the classes, but any time I'm in a group and a necro is invited, I sigh a little... it seems there is a 90% chance he will just suck at doing dps.</em></p></blockquote>

[Trellium]

<p>After so long away from the game, you don't need to reroll since most of the quests are still new to you! Mentor down to level 10, head to Kunark and do the newbie quests. Leave the AA slider at 50/50 or even 100% AA. Do the quests, kill the nameds, and have a ton of fun!</p><p>Heck, Frostfell will be out soon and you can do those quests at any level and they pay off with decent experience and AA. And the collectables there. And the traveling carnival.</p><p>And then there's dungeons you haven't completed that you can mentor down to and try again. Meet new people of all levels.</p><p>Sounds like you are set!</p><p>Have fun <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" /></p>

[Eyefon]

<p>I'd definitely agree with the folks that say mentor down to 10 and start in Timorous Deep (new area for low levels) and move through some old content. Have your AA slider to max. You might also think about getting EQ2maps and/or ProfitUI to help you plan your journeys.</p><p>Crafting is MUCH different.. no threat of death now! =)</p><p>You might also just roll up a lowbie of another class to check stuff out. Then head back to your old character and work on him/her when you've got a handle on all the changes. Just an idea.</p><p>Welcome back to Norrath! =)</p>

[Eriol]

<p><cite>Kiyran@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>You might also just roll up a lowbie of another class to check stuff out. Then head back to your old character and work on him/her when you've got a handle on all the changes. Just an idea.</p><p>Welcome back to Norrath! =)</p></blockquote><p>I endorse this idea.  Don't throw out your old character, but start somebody at level 1 in timorous deep and say "yes" to all of the "tutorial" messages.  Get them to 20ish (shouldn't be that long, and it'll be fun), and then go back to your "main" with full knowledge of what's happening now.  And go through the new crafting tutorial quest, as you can do that at any level if you haven't.  It'll give you a good rundown on what's changed and what hasn't.</p>

[SnowKnight]

<p><cite>Banditman wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Quite honestly, after four plus years away from the game you would be far better off starting over.  The progression will feel much more natural, and honestly, getting to Level 50 is not difficult at all these days, leveling is much faster.</p><p>The biggest challenge you'll have is learning how to split your XP between AA and regular in the correct proportions.  There is no magic formula for this, you have to figure out what works for you.  My general rule of thumb is that I want 2 AA points for every "regular" level I gain, perhaps a touch more in the early levels.</p></blockquote><p>I agree with this post. I too returned from playing at launch after about 3 years and have been playing on and off since then. It took me all of 2 - 3 weeks or so to get to 80 - as he said it just feels more natural, plus after 4 1/2 years youd have to relearn how to play your character properly. Levelling again definately helps here. In any case, just thought I'd throw in my 2 cents worth. Have fun playing!</p><p>Edit : It is worth levelling again just to do the new starter quests and other new quests that have been added. Dungeon loot has also been vastly improved. Then again I find levelling the most fun of any mmo.</p>

[hellfire]

<p><cite>Talsmar@Crushbone wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Why Summoners?</p></blockquote><p>Well dont just take the leap of faith because no one knows how or what will be implimented and for all we know its completly scrapped since the  developer in charge of this was fired or left recently .......so things change.....</p><p>Just as the fighter changes didnt go through nothing is set in stone and when the mastermind is no longer behind the controls anything and  everything is up in the air with no direction for it to go.</p>