Looking for Help

[urchinhiro]

I have recently picked up RoK because I am looking for a break from my non-raiding nights in WoW.  This is not a WoW vs. EQ thing, I am just looking for something to enjoy on "off nights".  I have made a Shadowknight and a Troubador.  Both are now level 24.  I like them both, but I know I will enjoy the Troub more in groups.I come looking for help.  My troub does "ok" with single blue cons, but there are quests where you have to fight harder/groups mobs, and that causes me big problems.  I have not spent any of my AA's because I thought I would get a feel on how to spend them, but I still do not know.  I have read STA 4-4-6-8 is a good place to start.  Is that the best route?To be honest, I am still learning about the game, and there is so much more I have to know.  I am basically running quest reward gear (1hand and shield) with no AA's as of yet.  I recently abandoned my "WoW questing" mindset of doing quests at my level, to doing blue and green quests.  I try and read as much info, and learn as I go.  Does anyone have any tips/help regarding AA's or even just general info that would help someone that is early in learning the game?I do enjoy EQ2.  The one thing that I found is that I have gotten used to the WoW cookie cutter mold where everything is black and white and simple.Thank you

[Banditman]

You should be able to quest at or above your level.  You just need the right tools.  Mastercrafted armor should serve you very well all the way until you get to the level cap.  Mastercrafted weapons are also quite attractive to the leveling Troubador.

[Spelchek]

As far as AA's go, this is what I did... may not work for everyone, but worked well enough for me.  I went down WIS line first.  I created my troub for groups and when you get a group and they see they have better casting times and everyone has higher crit chance; by 7.5%, you often are sought out for groups after that.   I next went through INT line to ensure casters found plenty of love in my buffs.  Being spec'ed that way didn't hinder my soloing either since troubs are pretty good kite'ers without any special help.  Just don't get discouraged if some dork in the group has parse going and points out that you aren't doing as much dps as the other scouts, just have them look at their buff window and smile. 

[urchinhiro]

Thank you both for your posts.I do not think I have much hope for mastercrafted gear/weapons since my crafting is minimum, and the items on the broker are 3x my gold.I have been coming along with blue quests.  White cons are a 1 fight and rest type for me.  With double xp, I always have plenty of blue quests to do anyway.If anyone else has any other AA or general tips/info to share, I would be grateful.

[Aaramis]

Regarding AAs, I'd say go with the WIS line as well.  Don't Kill the Messenger is great not just for groups, but for you as well.

As for soloing, it does get better.  I struggled with blues and whites, the same as you, all the way to 27ish.  When you get your second DD shout, your dps will go up significantly.

As for equipment, I'd suggest doing the Timorous Deep quests levels 15-19 which will give you equipment that will last you until level 30.  By this point you should have enough money saved up to possibly get pristine forged feyiron melodic armour, which will make a big difference (or feysteel if you have the cash to spare).  Same with the weapons, unless you've found better elsewhere.  But once you do that, you'll find life significantly easier.  My bard at 24 could barely handle blues;  at 32 with new armour and weapons, he could tackle yellows with confidence.

I'd argue that Bards, of all the Scout classes, need the best gear to solo effectively, unless you prefer kiting.

PS - if you're really low on cash, a simple suggestion is to farm those "?" glowies.  The rare ones and/or the ones used for the expert collections can sell for a LOT.  This should help you to get on your feet.

[Jehannum]

Before you spec into wisdom fully, you may want to be aware that the Bump skill (second row in the Agility line for bards) allows you do deal damage while entering stealth and thus enabling the stealth attack, without the cast-time investment of our normal stealth.  As such, it's a huge efficiency boost to solo, group and raid play.  It's also a substantially cheaper initial cost than the entire wisdom line.  Sta+wis+bump should be more than sufficient to make you a grouping powerhouse; while the buff enhancers from the int and str lines can be somewhat helpful, their impact tends to be fairly small in anything other than an optimised group.  It becomes much easier after 70 when you go beyond the initial 50 points, but I'd recommend considering Bump until you have sufficient AA to respec into the full wisdom line at least; where you go from there is your call.

[Banditman]

Aaramis wrote:

I'd argue that Bards, of all the Scout classes, need the best gear to solo effectively, unless you prefer kiting.

I would totally agree with that.  Nothing makes a bigger difference for a leveling Troubador than having top notch gear.

[Jeger_Wulf]

> I would totally agree with that.  Nothing makes a bigger difference for a > leveling Troubador than having top notch gear.

Unfortunately, we are talking about someone new to the game. He won't have top-notch gear, and soloing his troub will be tough. I'd recommend finding groups as much as possible. When you solo, try for whatever level quests seem to suit you at the time. Do blue or green ones if necessary. Get your harvesting skills current, and sell rares for money.  Get in a guild that is looking for a Troub. If you are on Najena, shoot me a tell - my guild will help.

Levelling an untwinked Troub can be a pain. On the bright side, you are highly desired in raids at 80.

[Banditman]

New to the game these days isn't nearly the burden it was "back in the day".  Doing the solo questlines in BB can really bring in a lot of cash, easily enough for Mastercrafted weapons / armor.I remember when I leveled my Mystic, the character I created the day the game released, he never held a platinum until he was L50, which at the time was the level cap.  Uphill, through the snow, both ways . . .

[Jehannum]

Banditman wrote:

New to the game these days isn't nearly the burden it was "back in the day".  Doing the solo questlines in BB can really bring in a lot of cash, easily enough for Mastercrafted weapons / armor.I remember when I leveled my Mystic, the character I created the day the game released, he never held a platinum until he was L50, which at the time was the level cap.  Uphill, through the snow, both ways . . . " width="15" height="15" />

Heh... It wasn't all uphill through the snow both ways... I had multiple plats in my 30s when others were broke, because I was able to solo the EpicX2 groups in the overland zones prior to LU13... Then they fixed defense and I got poor quickly   Other than those of us drunk on our own power though, I'll grant it was a lot tougher to make cash back then (except broken crafter sellback, but let's not get into that)

[urchinhiro]

All very helpful advice. I decided to take some time and stop leveling and backtrack to skill up my gathering skills. I didn't gather while leveling simply because it was filling my bag space so fast, it was a pain when leveling. After reading your posts, I went looking for more info on how to make gold, and most everything said "you will be surprised how much you can make by just selling what you gather". Also, I did read that I should be selling all my treasured loot on the broker as well. I feel stupid because I have been just vendoring it because I thought it was lesser gear than what was out there in TD quest rewards. So, these lesser weapons/armor treasured drops are worth something even though there is better out there?I didn't realize that Bump in the AGI line could be that useful.  I was thinking that the STA would be benefitial because of the double attacks.  That sounds good, but is it as good as it sounds? My questing has actually become more blue/green oriented simply because I have so many quests it is hard to keep up. I love questing, so that works out well. I can take on white cons if necessary, but there is no need because I can stealth past them to get to my blue quest mobs. Currently my gear is still better than what is on the broker, and what is rewarded from quests simply from doing the TD quests (that place is great for a new player). I've read that most of the TD gear will get you to around 30. So, being 26 now, I do have some time to slow down and make some gold before upgrades are available. I enjoy my troub, and do not mind that it is not as easy to solo quest. Sure my shadowknight can do far more things solo than my troub can do, but I know troub is the class for me because of the difference in group roles.

[Jeger_Wulf]

> but I know troub is the class for me because of the difference in group roles.

Cool! Move to Najena and join my guild.