Lvl23 Pally here with terrible AC, any advice?

[higg]

Just turned 23, my AC is abysmal, around 7-800 I think, I have completed AQ1-3 and I’m about to start 4, I have about 60s as I always seem to lotto stuff like maggots and cloth <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />, and I usually play main tank which puts enormous strain on healers as I get hit for some whoppers!, is there anything I should buy or quest for to increase my AC, like jewellery etc or shields? I’m still using the sword we get for becoming a pally so I would need to buy a one hander. Go easy on me as well, I’m new to these mmorpg's & forums and just about getting the hang of all the abbreviations. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, not just by me but my wife and the group I regularly play with.Cheers.

[Jum]

<DIV>Well when I hit 20 I had about 6 gold and spent 5 on a full suit of carbonite plate then slowly replaced each part with AQ armor, Im baffeled by how poor you are, all I did was solo a little and gather a little to get my 6 g,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Only suggestion I can offer is get what ever piece of carbonite you can afford with that 60 silver (if any) and find some nice greens and blues and start farming. Of take up recource gathering and do wholesaler tasks</DIV>

[higg]

most of the people in my group are fairly poor also, any suggestions on how to get some some easy money quickly?

[Hoova_Dalewt]

<DIV>first, dont worry about being new to this hobby, noone is born knowing anything...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>second, know that your not alone... I see *TONS* of people at your level with grey gear...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Third, and heres the solution;</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Spend 1 evening chilling out and harvesting. Sell these harvests on your trader when you sleep for a fair price (it's better to be cheap and move stock then to sit on a bank full expensive crops). Wake up to 3gp (T2 crops) or 10gp (T3 crops). Buy yourself some nice gear <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Dont forget to learn your rares.. these alone can make you 10gp a day.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>People say harvesting is boring, but no more so then the xp 'grind' i feel, and if you turn on your local craft channel and chat in ooc you soon make friends with the people doing the same as you. Plus the fact that the best harvests are in dangerous mob areas (I wonder why...?) and so it's a constant challange to survive hehe</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>You wont make any money, unless your very lucky with drops, from just xping. Quest to supplement your gear, because free is good, but I wouldnt rely on them personally. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>remember that in this game xp is fast and it is very easy to leave your equipment behind... chill out on the levelling, take stock, and get your gear up to speed. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Good gear/skills = more mana/ heatlth = you die less and are more useful to your group</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Tell me if you play on lavastorm if u need any help ok? Im not ubr, Im only L25 as a pally & 22 as a Prov, but I have all yellow/ orange gear, 90% adept 1/3 skills, and over 30gp in the bank... Sure, I would be higher if I constantly Xped, but none of this would have been possible without taking time to consolidate my equip.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>This game is more then straight levelling <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV>

[Thrydwu]

<DIV>Solo and start mining. If you do a bit of solo-hunting, you're not restricted by the rest of the groups needs and you can get alot of adept drops. Start mining/foresting/gathering/fishing and sell what you get. That 10-20cp per unit adds up over time.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I've never done a Wholesaler task and I'm at 9gp, 30sp right now as a level 17 Crusader.</DIV>

[higg]

cheers for the advice guys, got a coupla questions as i really havent touched or chked out the whole crafting gathering stuff in much detail.1. My harvesting, mining and trapping etc are all in and around 40, i usually destroy the items, your saying i can sell these? if so wheres the best place to sell?2. Learn my rares? dont understand.3. Trader?, where do i find one and is it pretty self explanatory what i do once i meet him.4. Should i just gather and sell instead of learning a trade?I assume i need to improve my skills at gathering etc to enable me to gather in steppes etc, sorry to ask so many questions, but when i search i get an absolute ton of reponses and havent got the time to wade through them all.Again thanks for the quick response guys.K.

[Thrydwu]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> higgik wrote:<BR><BR>1. My harvesting, mining and trapping etc are all in and around 40, i usually destroy the items, your saying i can sell these? if so wheres the best place to sell?<BR><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE>Purchase a Merchant Board for your room and when you're ready to sell, put the items up for sale. Downside is you have to be in the room to sell so I usually do this when I'm not playing. The merchant boards cost between 50-100 copper. I got mine in Oakmyst Forest for 76cp I think.<BR><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> higgik wrote:<BR><BR>2. Learn my rares? dont understand.<BR><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE>Learn what the rare resources are. In Antonica I've found Steel, Coral, and Blackened Iron. There may be more, but I haven't seen them. These resources sell for far more than 20cp-30cp usually in the 1gp+ range.<BR><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> higgik wrote:<BR><BR>3. Trader?, where do i find one and is it pretty self explanatory what i do once i meet him.<BR><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE>Trader for what?<BR><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> higgik wrote:<BR><BR>4. Should i just gather and sell instead of learning a trade?<BR><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE>You can learn a trade. It would be better for long run, but if you don't like crafting, just sell them.<BR><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> higgik wrote:<BR><BR>I assume i need to improve my skills at gathering etc to enable me to gather in steppes etc, sorry to ask so many questions, but when i search i get an absolute ton of reponses and havent got the time to wade through them all.<BR><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P>20 for Antonica, 90 for Thundering Steppes.</P> <P> </P> <P>Hope that helps.<BR></P>

[higg]

Many thanks people.K.

[SK_Phantas]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Hoova_Dalewt wrote:<BR> <DIV>Spend 1 evening chilling out and harvesting. Sell these harvests on your trader when you sleep for a fair price (it's better to be cheap and move stock then to sit on a bank full expensive crops). Wake up to 3gp (T2 crops) or 10gp (T3 crops). Buy yourself some nice gear <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P> </P> <P>Good post Hoova! </P> <P>However, if you could expand upon what youve already said for harvesting, or point me to a faq/thread that details it, it owuld be much appreciated! Any detials woudl help (ie what to harvest, what sells good), etc. Im level 20 btw.</P> <P>Thanks!<BR></P>

[Grimme]

<DIV>Actually here is a simple list for harvesting, it doesnt apply in all cases bit it might help:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>First off, max out on backpacks / containers. Do the best you can. Harvest alot. I do it while I rest between fights. After a few hours of havesting, you will have a number of items in your pack. Your first instinct is probably to destroy the things you dont have much of. This is the opposite of what you should do.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The things you have the most of (tin, elm, for example, in the lower areas) are very common, thus aren't worth as much per unit. The things you might have one or two of are probably more rare. I generally dont destroy much. Put them in the bank, save them up. After a while, you will have a reserve of the more rare items, and these usually sell faster.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Lastly, just check the cheapest area of the broker, you will see many common resources. Keep moving up until you find the resources you have. This should give you an idea of what it is worth. Most are practically worthless (a few copper), some are worth alot more. If you dont see it at all, it's probably very rare / worth alot.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>All that said, I dont think harvesting is the easiest way to get cash (though tradeskills seem to currently be the most prolific). I make my cash while XPing: Soloing, selling the loot, or in a group focused on killing named mobs. Always go after the named mobs, they drop the best loot. Either you get better equipment and sell the old equipment, or you just sell it. Go after named mobs you can solo any chance you get.</DIV>

[Hawkt]

<DIV>I'd recommend that you try the Dane the Buerocrat quest that starts in Greystone. Nice plate boots, and its a pretty easy, <BR></DIV>

[SanJ]

<DIV>Higgik,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I have several suggestions for consideration.  Upon attaining the coveted rank of paladin, I found myself being shunned by groups in TS because of my 700ish AC.  Many players felt I would not be an adaquate tank because of the healer power drain to keep me alive.  At this stage in the game I was a 20 Pally/3 Artisan.  Likewise, I craved the pristine forged carbonite vanguard for several reasons including</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>- The armor quest from Ian in Qeynos Harbor grants 6 pieces of armor.  However, you must attain level 24 before equipping the last piece.  Likewise, you will require a group to complete many aspects of the quest and it might take some time to find consecutive groups willing to help with each part of the quests.  Don't get me wrong, the quests are fun and you'll earn nice XP along the way.</DIV> <DIV>- The armor must be attuned which means there's no coin "trade-in" value when it will someday con blue to gray.  This will be around the same time you are shopping for pristine forged feyiron vanguard (tier 4 player crafted).  I have sold my hearth forged quest armor simply because it's only marginally better then the vanguard and has 0 trade in value.</DIV> <DIV>- Vanguard looks sharp on a paladin with or without using the /showhood command.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I normally play with several RL friends that were starting to drop below levels capable of earning XP with me (6 levels).  I decided to start crafting since the word on the boards indicated that was the best way to earn a lot of coin fast.  Likewise, it would be an opportunity for my friends to catch up without me having to turn off combat XP.  I should probably take a moment to thank those before me who offered advice similar to the advice I'm offering now--thanks guys!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Being poor in the beginning created an obstacle with purchasing resources to craft.  I was left with one option and I'm certainly glad it turned out to be a GREAT option!  I had to harvest my own tier 1 (Peat Bog) resources until I had enough skill (40 at the time, now only 20) to access tier 2 resources (Antonica/Commonlands).  I suppose I could complain about the drop from 40 to 20 in skills since I had to serve my time, but in the mid 30's I looted two very valuable "rare" resources - a lapis luzil stone from mining and a bronze cluster.  I decided to sell them both in my inn room and netted a little over 1 gold.  Additionally, I would harvest every item in the surrounding area and sell all resources not required in the receipe book for items I desired to craft.  I quickly learned that harvesting and selling translates to coin very quickly.  It was only a matter of time and I had earned 2 more gold.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>For nearly a week I would harvest until I had stacks of 20 items overflowing in my inventory and then I would craft for XP dreaming of the day I would attain jeweler where I imaged very nice net coin gains.  I never really sold that many crafted items in tier 1 crafting (artisan levels 1-9), but I earned considerable coin selling unwanted harvested resources.  Slowly, but surely I would replace one or two pieces of armor with pristine forged carbonite vanguard.  When all my friends would log in, we would work on armor quests and attempt to kill Captain Hess in Storm Hold outside of Antonica.  He drops the Ancient Kite Shield that currently offers well over 200 AC and still at level 22 cons yellow to me.  It also appears bright white and looks great with the vanguard!  Likewise, I bought a new one handed sword to offset my new shield that likewise still cons yellow to me.  Two-handed weapons are great and I still use them a lot.  However, when you are struggling with low AC that 200+ boost from a shield will help you get back into some groups desiring a higher AC tank.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Once again, I sold very little crafted items in tier 2 harvesting/crafting (scholar 10-19), but made the bulk of my coin selling harvested resources.  I did earn a small amount of coin from selling pristine fashioned turquoise jewelry (tier 2), but it wasn't substantial.  The best part of tier 2 crafting for me was actually building myself a full set of turquoise crafted jewelry.  Each piece is AC 19 and includes nice resistances and nice stat enhancers.  I must admit that all my friends were happy to get a free set as well.  Many players only consider the left side of the inventory view as important (armor), while the right side (jewelry) may be equally impressive as we attain higher levels.  Several of my friends were working out of town for a few weeks so I managed to ding level 20 jeweler which opened tier 3 crafting.  Additionally, I had managed to increase all my harvesting skills into the low 100's  in tier 2 which had opened up tier 3 harvesting (TS/Nek).  Other then some of the meats you harvest, Najena server consistently sells harvested tier 3 resources from 1-3 silver EACH.  Harvesting in tier 3 alone may net enough coin to provide a comfortable living.  It will certainly supply enough coin to buy enough armor, jewelry and weapons so that at level 20-22 everything you own cons orange!  If you are very fortunate one or more rare harvested items in tier 2 and 3 might earn from 10-20 gold EACH.  I harvested two silver pieces in tier 2 of which I sold one for several gold and used the other to have a friend craft "Charge Adept 3".  In tier 3, I have already harvested 2 pieces of jasper and 1 piece of palladium.  All sold from 10-16 gold.  However, I've seen other players asking 20+ gold per piece!  I sold everything, but had a recent adept 3 upgrade for my blessed aid (paladin 22.6 spell that heals with only a 5 second recast rate--you'll love that!)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I recently dinged level 25 jeweler and now can craft the full line of agate and gold tier 3 jewelry.  Selling a complete set of 7 items should net between 4.5-6 gold per set.  Please don't think you'll be selling several sets every night of the week, but I consistently earn 2.5 to 10 gold per night selling jewelry and unwanted tier 3 resources.  Ironically enough, tier 3 harvested resource sales rival my jewelry sales.  If you toss in the rare harvested sales, they blow jewelry sales out of the water <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />  It's also important to note that the nights I earn coin crafting/harvesting/selling, I'm not earning combat XP!  There is a trade off that must be considered.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I'm currently 22 Paladin/25 Jeweler and have 40 gold in the bank, a house full of goodies including a cat (wanted one), all bank slots with 10 slot bags, my inventory with all 10 slot bags, recipe books through the mid 30's, all items that con orange, one or two yellows (oh no! <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />, artisan dependent components out the yin-yang and the list goes on.  Additionally, I have given away over 20 gold to friends and I have crafted entire sets of tier 3 jewelry for several friends all free of charge.  Please don't think I'm trying to brag as many other players heavily shame my "poor" state--no kidding--they do trust me!  I'm hoping to motivate you into investigating another fun aspect of the game that will more then cover your desire for better armor!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>If you'd like to examine my inventory - visit  <A href="http://eq2players.station.sony.com/en/pplayer.vm?characterId=112455102" target=_blank>http://eq2players.station.sony.com/en/pplayer.vm?characterId=112455102</A>  Pay special attention to my stats and especially my resists.  Jewelry has played a major role in the increased resistances.</DIV> <DIV>One last thing, I'm already shopping for feyiron (tier 4) vanguard.  The cost on Najena is ranging from 4-10 gold per item!  Start saving now, you'll ding 30 before you know what happened and unless you take action now to find a constant source of income, your carbonite vanguard will con gray or green like the tier 2 medium armor is now at 20.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Best wishes!</DIV> <DIV>Kalen</DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[SanJ]

<DIV>I'd like to add a few more comments to my last post.  I apologize for the excessive length of the first post, but it was such a strong reminder of my exact situation, I had a lot to say.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>- Moving from tier 2 to tier 3 jewelry (blue cons at my level to orange cons) is a minor AC increase from 19 to 21 per item.  However, the new resistance levels jump from 10's-20's up to 40's-100's per item!  Likewise, the +1 modifiers tend to jump to +2 to +4 range.  That's not substantial at first glance per item, but definitely comes into play when you add up the totals from all 7 new items!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>- Most players press "p" on the keyboard to determine AC (armor class).  Unfortunately, they rarely see the base AC.  Most pallys cast personal "buffs" that increase AC temporarily and most groups include professions that add to AC.  The best way to determine your "real" AC is to be ungrouped and to remove all buffs/wards/spells/etc. or to check EQ2 Players.  My base AC is now 1,233 at level 22.  You can not appropriately compare AC with fellow pally's until both parties understand the base AC.  I've been in groups with other paladins granting me Offering of Armament/Vigor of Trust/Demonstration of Faith/a recent HO of Hero's Armor/etc. and other professions offering a variety of AC buffs that has shot my AC well past 1,600!  However, the concept is that it's temporary.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>- Another concept to consider is that a higher color con item is not necessarily "better" then a lower con color item.  As an example, consider the Ancient Kite Shield (loot drop) vs. the tier 3 pristine fashioned Kite Shield (crafted).  The Ancient Kite shield cons yellow to me and will continue to increase in stats through level 24.  It provides a current AC boost in the 205-215 range at level 22.  The tier 3 crafted shield (which will increase in AC through 30) only provides a mid 100 AC at pally level 22 yet cons orange because it offers some bonus each level through 30 which I'm yet to attain.  My point is to closely examine two items before you purchase or decide to sell based soley on con color or current combat profession level.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>- Finally, crafting is not the only way to earn good coin.  Dozens of players could write detailed guides for making a small fortune through selling looted items in grouped combat (I couldn't write that guide, I rarely ever win the lottery <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />, through harvesting in various tiers and selling resources, through crafting and selling and even from buying cheap on the market and reselling for additional profit.  Just last night, I purchased several pieces of rough agate (tier 3) from the market board at 5 copper (doubt I see that ever again).  I was already selling a stack of 20 for 2 silver each (one of the lowest listed prices on the board at the time).  I picked up the 5 copper versions from the market and added them to my bags to resell at 2 silver each.  Every unit was sold at the end of the merchant session. (8 units x 5 cp = 40 cp / purchased and resold at 2 silver each = 16 silver for the lot less the 40 copper purchasing price = 15 silver and 60 copper net gain and at no invested time on my part / I was already in merchant mode selling stuff for the evening)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>- A different post in this thread mentioned buying larger backpacks/bags for harvesting--How could I have left that most important ingredient out of the formula? Kudos to the poster!  I have six inventory slots each with a 10 slot/10 percent weight reduction bag = 60 storage slots that could potentially hold 20 stacks of resources each = 1200 units @ conservative 1 silver each, but more like 2-3 silver each still equals = 1200 silver or 12 gold in goods I can carry on my person and more like 20-30 gold from tier 3 resource sales.  It would take some effort in harvesting no doubt -- several evenings if not the whole week, but doable!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I just realized I could be in-game now <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV> <DIV>Happy adventuring!</DIV> <DIV>Kalen</DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Gilasil]

My first thought when I had 60sp at 23 was you have horrible lock. My second thought when you mentioned most of the people in your group were also poor was that either your group has horrible luck or you're not hunting places with good drops.At 23 I had between 2 to 5 gold depending on the day and what I'd bought. This was ENTIRELY from drops while hunting NOTHING from gathering (I play these games for fun and gatherins is not fun for me) and almost all was from selling stuff to NPC vendors. Sure some crafts types are far richer then me, but I can afford everything I need and I don't have to turn what is supposed to be fun into something which isn't fun to do it.1. Find a vendor who gives you good prices for your stuff. I usually sell to the weaponsmith guy in the corner (not the woman) of the smithy in Greystone yard.2. Hunt areas with good drops. This seems to mean hunt areas which challange you. Thundering steppes is pretty good on average. Group mobs seem on average to have better drops then solo mobs.3. If you get something try to see if you can get more for it selling it to a player then you could selling it to the NPC. Just see what the NPC offers, then browse the market for that same item and see what like items are going for. If you can't sell it after a few days you can decide whether to dump it on the NPC after all.You should be able to at least afford at LEAST basic carbonite from drops in areas you should be able to hunt at your level without doing a bunch of trade skilling stuff if you don't want to.

[hawnz]

<DIV>i see a lot of tanks around my level 22-25 with low ac (900-1100).  i focus mainly on AC when it comes to items, because as a main tank, that's the main stat that makes a difference for you.  a shield will add a lot, especially a good one.  you can camp captain hess in stormhold for a really good shield that maxes out at 200+ ac plus stats.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>soloing and harvesting are your best money makers.  soloing will net you a lot of adepts you can sell or trade for the ones you need.</DIV>

[HordesLo]

<DIV>                Actually I can understand why you don`t have much coin. Like one of the other posters said it could be because your not fighting in a good area. First thing you should do that would help alot would be to join a guild. From there most guilds have artisians that craft for you next to nothing. A guild member of mine crafted me a full set of pristine jewelry that the stats stop rising at lvl 30. And he made them for cost for me which was only 20 silver for a complete jewelry setup. Also too look at the brokers and try to find an armorsmith who sells really low and start sending him tells letting him know your interested in gettinghis service. I got a full set of pristine vanguard for only 65 silver for the bp and legs each and only 50 silver for every other part of the armor set. And I also had him make my wife pristine chain for her dirge for the same price he charged me for the plate. He was a very nice guy and wasn`t out to get rich and overcharge people. I amreally grateful to him for what he did for us.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>                Some good ways to get some coin for yu now would be to take your wife to TS and go kill crabs near the docks. The small shore crabs drop chests that have carbonite bracers in them which sell to vendors for about 16 or 18 silver a pop. They is a huge flood of these bracers on brokers and some jokers actually try to get gold for them forgetting the armorsmith sells them for around 40 silver or so new. So we just hunt crabs gather some bracers and sell them to vendors. And since I am the tank We both put our coin to getting me armor and her dirge weapons. It works out pretty well. Also too theres a quest in TS that you hunt for the dwarf near the entrance cause he claims he hurt his back. This quest don`t make you rich but the little drops here and there from repeating the quest over and over a few times can add up. These are just some easy ways to make some fast coin that you could do solo or with the help of your wife. hope it helps.</DIV>

[Krikey]

<DIV>hmm, I'm 21st lvl with only the AQ1 done, I've bought some Pristine iron chain for my other slots and my AC is over 800....what are you wearing?</DIV>

[Oxboy5]

<DIV>Don't feel too bad, Higgik.....check out this story:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I'm a 23 pally with about 1200 AC.  I can solo most green double arrows but sometimes it gets close.  Last night, I buddied up with this unknown level 20 ranger at the TS QT1 who needed a few more kills to ding.  The guy has been OOC'ing for half and hour for a group, so I kind of feel sorry for him.  So I pull a green double arrow and a straight green undead, thinking it should be a good fight, but no real reason to panic (got LoH up, all buffed out, etc).   Fight draws out longer than I thought and I'm getting beat on pretty good.  I tell the ranger to see if he can agro a bit so I can heal/rebuff.  Dude does something, agros the mobs and his health starts dropping like crazy.  By that time, my power is pretty low.  I pop a LoH on him and try to re-agro.  Some adds join in....proverbial heck in a handbasket.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Long story short, things go bad....dude dies and I bolt to barely survive.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>So I'm scratching my head.  I ask the guy what happened and, upon revival inspect him.   Get this....he has on mostly Isle of Refuge armor and a few green items.  I say '[expletive ninja'd by Faarbot]' is up with your armor.  Says he's poor, never wins lottos, can't solo a thing, yada yada.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Moral of the story:  it seems there is always some other poor sap out there worse off than you.  How this guy got to 20 I do not know.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Oxboy5]

<DIV>Don't feel too bad, Higgik.....check out this story:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I'm a 23 pally with about 1200 AC.  I can solo most green double arrows but sometimes it gets close.  Last night, I buddied up with this unknown level 20 ranger at the TS QT1 who needed a few more kills to ding.  The guy has been OOC'ing for half and hour for a group, so I kind of feel sorry for him.  So I pull a green double arrow and a straight green undead, thinking it should be a good fight, but no real reason to panic (got LoH up, all buffed out, etc).   Fight draws out longer than I thought and I'm getting beat on pretty good.  I tell the ranger to see if he can agro a bit so I can heal/rebuff.  Dude does something, agros the mobs and his health starts dropping like crazy.  By that time, my power is pretty low.  I pop a LoH on him and try to re-agro.  Some adds join in....proverbial heck in a handbasket.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Long story short, things go bad....dude dies and I bolt to barely survive.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>So I'm scratching my head.  I ask the guy what happened and, upon revival inspect him.   Get this....he has on mostly Isle of Refuge armor and a few green items.  I say '[expletive ninja'd by Faarbot]' is up with your armor.  Says he's poor, never wins lottos, can't solo a thing, yada yada.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Moral of the story:  it seems there is always some other poor sap out there worse off than you.  How this guy got to 20 I do not know.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[hawnz]

<DIV>once you have finished your AQs, have a sheild and some crafted jewelry, you should be closing in on 1400 ac unbuffed.</DIV>

[SK_Phantas]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> hawnz wrote:<BR> <DIV>i see a lot of tanks around my level 22-25 with low ac (900-1100).  i focus mainly on AC when it comes to items, because as a main tank, that's the main stat that makes a difference for you.  <BR> <HR> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE> <P>Could anyone point me to a thread where someone fought similar mobs with a large sampel set with both low AC and a high AC? I remember back to the old EQ1 days were stats where everything until some people finally did research and found AC was what was really important.</P> <P>The reason I ask is, <STRONG>do we know for sure that AC is the important factor to being a tank</STRONG>? Its possible people are assuming it is from EQ1 days. (dont get me wrong, im sure it is - but it would be interesting to know for sure is all im saying).</P> <P><BR> </P>

[hawnz]

<DIV>i haven't run any parses, but it is clearly evident that if i am grouped with a paladin of same level/hp range as me, they will take a noticeable amount of greater dammage than me, even if i only have 100 ac on him.  if someone shows me a parsing program for eq2, i would be happy to run some examples.</DIV>

[MeridianR]

<blockquote><hr>Krikey wrote:<DIV>hmm, I'm 21st lvl with only the AQ1 done, I've bought some Pristine iron chain for my other slots and my AC is over 800....what are you wearing?</DIV><hr></blockquote>I just dinged L20 Paladin, have done none of the AQ yet (going to start tonight) and my AC is > 900.Wearing all Pristine Iron Chain, and bought the Kite Shield from Nettleville, along with new jewels (coupld pieces)....This is all with Medium armor still since I don't have the cash to shell out for heavy yet.The Kite shield in Nettleville though is a sweet upgrade from my leather straped defender which went grey at 20...

[Tur]

<DIV><SPAN>A quick question about selling via your apartment (total noob question I know, but): I have to be in my apartment and logged into the game? The computer is running, the game is running while I sleep, is that right?</SPAN></DIV>

[Ishtar]

<DIV>At level 24, assuming you have decent skills, here is my suggestion for you to make money and some nice gear.  Go out to Thundering Steppes, by tower 1, and wait for the overseer to pop.  Have Knight's Stance, Vigor of Trust, and Blessed Weapon as concentration slots.  When the overseer pops, if he is level 20 pull him, or if you feel that your gear is good enough you can pull and defeat a level 21 overseer doing this.  The biggest trick to pulling this off is trying to stack up on +agi items, coupled with knight's stance, and you will very rarely get hit(and if you do you have ward + heals).  Once the overseer drops dead the rest of the 7 mobs are very easy.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Many of the drops you can get from this you can sell for 1 gold each(at least on my server) such as firwood fighting batons and shortbows, as well as steel short spears.  He can also drop palladium bands which I usually sell for about 3 gold each(and are also very, very nice for a paladin).  He also has another drop that I have heard of that is very rare but is one of the best items I have ever seen for the 20-30 range.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>He spawns roughly every 35-45 minutes, but you may not be able to take him.  Usually I would gather resources while waiting on repop, but you could also solo some of the other undead out there for some exp.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I would strongly recommend two things before trying this though.  First, go with a few friends can camp Guard Captain Hess in Stormhold to get an Ancient Kite Shield, the extra defense from it will greatly help you while taking him on even if the rest of your armor isn't quite up to par.  Second, try to complete the cleansing of firemyst gully quest for one of the one-handed dwarven weapons of cleansing.  A majority of your damage done in these fights is from your procs, and having an extra one versus undead will help.  Even better if you can get and complete Berik, Sword of Thunder first(which I never got to do).  I ended up being able to buy all the nice toys for my paladin around this point, and have main tanked since simply because it's very rare to find tanks around my level with similar defense.</DIV>

[Tur]

<DIV> <P>As I was reading this thread, I did a mental inventory of my own gear, backpacks etc. and realized that my most lucrative asset has been my guild-mates. Higgik, you mention that you are new to MORPG’s (and I don’t see it mentioned in this thread) so allow me to suggest that you find a good guild for you and your friends.</P> <P>Most guilds have at their core an “understanding” (be it written or otherwise) that each member should help the others. This policy can translate into excellent gear being passed down from the higher-level players to the lower levels; craftsmen who are dedicated to serving the membership; balanced groups of players at various levels who can help with quest MOBS and a whole support system of like-minded players who face the same challenges.</P> <P>I won’t even attempt to outline the many purely social benefits of such organizations but suffice to say that guild membership can open up a whole new gaming experience for you and your friends.</P> <P><SPAN>If I may be so bold, judging from your posts, I would guess that your play style would fit very well into a “family style” guild of moderate size. I’m sure that you have encountered people that you enjoy grouping with outside of your circle of friends, look at their guild tags and ask about becoming a member. You’ll be surprised how fast the problems that you are encountering simply disappear. </SPAN></P> <P><SPAN>-Turi</SPAN></P></DIV>