Tales from the Druid newbee Volume 1

[Griffy]

Well I decided to start writing a little blog about the newbee experience here on Project 1999. Some days I will post more than others, and I will try to remember all the folks I group with "I'll start taking notes from now on " I know I am not a great writer, but I always regretted not documenting my travels in the original EQ. I hope to do it here and maybe inspire some better writers to do the same.

I started off the weekend at level 14 and went to North Ro. My favorite camp there is the Derv Camp closest to the water "Derv 1". only 4 spawns and I can easily handle the dervs. Dorn B'Dorn on the other hand is a little tougher ! He can crush me without a second thought. While I have been camping here on a regular basis I have met a few nice players. The one I have had the most interaction with is a Gnome chanter named Goliath. Seems whenever I see him or he sees me its buff fest time ! We shared the camp quite a bit on saturday and I managed to get all the way to 16 !

Saturday evening I had a bit of laundry to fold so I decided to just setup shop in East commonlands Tunnel and Buff folks as they needed :) Some even tossed me a coin or two ! I was able to pick up a couple low end druid pieces of gear and got my Wis up to a whoppin' 130 ! I was grateful some of the folks in the tunnel were willing to work with me on pricing. "its hard to go on a shoping spree when you only have 50-100 plat at any given time"



Sunday morning came around & I was pretty stoked to give Dorn another go :) He was also stoked to get to show me that he still owns my but ! :) so I spent a little time in the EC tunnel while i watched football. Then out of the blue I Was offered a group on the Orc highway in Oasis of Marr. "Sure I will come" I told them, happy to try something new. After a semi harrowing run to get to the wall "I had forgotten after all these years how much traffic there is in the oasis" I was able to get to the group. I was told ok were pulling in mass so you need to heal ! "Alrighty Ill do my best!" I told them. Inc 5-10 orc and there goes my mana pool. It went as well as you would expect med, heal, med, heal, med, heal, med med med, heal ...... you get the picture. I wasn't able to keep up with that kind of incomming damage. The worst part was that we had a killer SK tanking "Desroyyer" I would toss my lil heal on him and watch his HP increase by 1% /sigh. I had forgotten how bad druid heals can be from 16-18 "Cant wait till 19 to get the new heal !" I apologized for slowing the group down and the folks in group were pretty cool about dealing with my lack of mana. After about 45 mins we broke up. Good exp but i don't think I am ready for it yet !

Sunday afternoon I was back in the EC tunnel buffing my heart out and chilling while i did a little homework as to where I should be trying to level. I decided to go back to Oasis and give the gators a go :) As i zoned in and was running along the shore I hear a shout "Trading clarity for Sow" well I can't pass that up ! and said "I got your hook up and I will meet you at the docks :)" Made it to the Docks and Buffed the nice chanter who was offering crack. I also buffed a few other folks that were there because it never hurts to be nice :). As i finish buffing the last person at the docks I sat down and started memming my solo spell line up so i can get some gator work in ....... Sure enough I get broken out of the book by "and you probably already guessed it" Cazel !!! One hit and I am at the loading screen Lol. I think its been 8-9 years since I last got Cazel'ed !!!! Long run back to oasis but I made it. I sat on the pilar by the dock medding up and started hearing groups yell for more. Invis wall and Gator 1 both wanted a lil help :) After how badly I did at the highway in the morning I decided to give Gator one a try. They invited me and sure enough the same SK is tanking. To top that we had a bard out there pulling 1/5 the zone it seemed !!! she was doing a bang up job!! It was really impressive to see the bard running around with a mass mobs on her. Somehow the Agro got messed up and Gators and orcs swarmed the rest of us. Unfortunantly I couldnt keep up with the heals "Sigh I guess I need to stop trying to level and go farm cash for gear" The Sk was dead in 2 mins, and that was the end of the group :( We broke up. I decided that was enough for one day. I had managed to level in reverse !

Hope to talk to you all ingame sometime and don't ever hesitate to hail me if you need a SoW or Druid buff
Saum
16 Druid of Tunare
AKA The Druid who has a mana pool so shallow you couldnt drown a kitten in it :)

[Priamachu]

Great stuff, keep blogging away!

[Griffy]

Monday night 10/14/14

I logged in and found a nice Ranger named Bowand camping derv 1 so I decided to just meander about a bit. I wandered around the newbee zone and saw a little fella name mardical. He looked like he could use a buff so I hooked him up :) About that time a skeleton came along and started trying to wack on me. I Killed it like swatting a bug of course but, then it hit me! A way to make some quick cash I had completely forgotten about! Vender farming/Dumpster diving for the win!!! 15 mins later and I'm heading back to EC with 20 stacks of bone chips:)

I auctioned off in zone and found a ready buyer who paid me a fair price for them "Thanks again Snerp" I bought a couple lil upgrades and it was back to Derv 1 for the night ! I met a few nice folks while camping at derv 1. Legatus, Iamur Vader, Ohpy All stopped by and took a shot at getting Dorn Dirk. doesn't look like anyone had any luck though.

I killed derv after Derv and finally dinged 18 ! Bad news is my favorite camp just went green so I guess I'm going to have to move along.
If anyone knows an out of the way spot I can farm solo I'm all ears !

If I remember I'll start listing my gear so I can keep track of wear I started
Till Next Time
Saum

Oh & Thanks for the encouragement Priamachu I appreciate it !

[Stormlight]

You can try your hand at charming in East Karana. I did 14-24 there without many issues.

[Griffy]

Thanks for the idea Storm I might just give that a go tonight :)

I brought my laptop into work today since I knew it was going to be a light day. It gives me time to post my current gear layout. "Don't laugh ! Remember I'm not twinked and have been trying to do this on a very limited in game budget :)"

Ear - 1 Silver Bloodstone Earring +2 Sta
Ear - 2 Silver Bloodstone Earring +2 Sta
Head - Lumberjacks Cap AC10 +3Sta
Face - Burynai Hide Mask AC3 +2 Dex +2 Sta
Chest - Bear-hide Jerkin AC9 +2Sta +2 Wis
Neck - Black Iron Medallion +3 Wis +3 Int
Arms - Hallowed Bone Bracers AC 6 +15 mana +7SVM
Back - Kunzar Cloak AC7 +2 Wis +2 Int +10 SVF
Belt - Cloth Cord AC1
Shoulders - Burynai Hide SHoulder Pads AC4 +2 Str +2 Dex
Wrist 1 - Small Tattered Wristbands AC2
Wrist 2 - Ivory Bracelet +3 Agi +20 mana
Legs - Mammoth Hide Leggings AC6 +3 Sta +5SVC
Hands - Split Paw Hide Gloves AC4 +3 Dex +2 Wis
Feet - Raw Hide Boots AC4
Finger 1 - Silver Jasper Ring +2 WIs
Finger 2 - Silver Jasper Ring +2 WIs
Primary - Wraith Bone Hammer 8/26 +5 STR +2 Wis +2 Int
Secondary - Idol of Woven Grass +2 Sta +2Wis +10 Mana
Range - Nada :(

So a lot of area for improvement once I raise a little more funds for spells at 19

Ill be hanging out in the EC tunnel all day. stop by and say hi if ya want a SoW!
Just remember I am at work so I may miss you occasionally
Saum

[Velerin]

Keep in mind that as a low level healer it doesn't matter how much mana you have, druid/shammy/cleric etc., you'll never be able to heal melee twinks to their desire. Between hp gear/high level buffs your heals just won't do a whole lot. Don't let them try to blame it on you when they just need to slow down pulls.
In a fast paced group mana regen >>> mana pool which is the same naked or in 200k of gear.
Your gear looks great for your level (and as a druid gear really doesn't even help in leveling once you pass up your meleeing levels)

[DireBadger]

A lot of your gear is decent. Here is a few pointers for improvements.

http://wiki.project1999.com/Players:Gear

concentrate on the Pre-planar with a few pieces of Kunark gear mixed in

Especially this
http://wiki.project1999.com/Testament_of_Vanear_Quest
for a +10WIS off-hand is really the best you can get yorself at your level

[Griffy]

10/14/14 pt2
Here is your Tuesday part 2 log entry & boy is it a eventful one !!

I basically hung out in EC Tunnel during the day since I had brought my laptop to the shop. "I can't really actively play at work but I can watch the screen for good deals <evil grin>" I did pick up a Splitpaw Hide Belt "AC5 +5SVP" for 10 plat from A big troll named Scuzzbag. "A Troll Named Scuzzbag seems oddly fitting heheh"

I was doing my normal tossing Sow on Folks till I noticed Jezzabella doing the same. I decided to just sit and be quiet as I did not want to interfere with her business. I was hanging out at T2 just generally relaxing and SoW'ing folks as they walked past when I see a toon in plate walking veeeery slowly. So of course I Sow'ed him. Next thing I know he tossed me 775 plat ! I thanked him profusely and told him that was a monster amount of cash for a lowbee player and I was sure I could gear up with that! He told me "Don't go anywhere I'll be right back" 2 mins later he comes back with a bag full of gear !!!! Wow Sometimes it pays to be nice !!! after talking with him for a bit it turns out I know him in R/L lol. It really made my day. I purposely left his name off because I wouldn't want him getting hammered with requests :)

So when I finally got home and done with my "honey do" list for the day I decided to log in. I purchased a platinum ruby veil "+7 str +7 Wis"from one of the servers master jewelers. Dilaxzar gave me a really good deal on it ! So being geared up and ready to roll, I decided give the Karana's a shot at Stormlight's suggestion. I picked up a lift from Starbann @ the EC Tunnel and was on my way. I didn't have much luck charming but I was doing ok root/rot/DD'in mobs. I just decided to stick with that instead. I was doing ok and I really don't mind slow XP. I was just getting in a groove when I saw an OCC from a Druid named Mizmo in zone "HEY SAUM !! where ya at?". I sent him the loc and he came over and gave me a full buff run :) He also asked why I was hunting all the way over here instead of where the mobs were in mass. I told him I was just looking around & killing beetles since they were all blue to me. He said "Follow me and I will show you a good spot and P/L ya a bit." He guided me to the tower with 2 guards just above the gypsy camp "what a great spot !" He power leveled me there for about 10 mins and in no time I was a full yellow in!

Next he suggested we go across the bridge and try our hand at crag spiders. There were a few folks killing spiders, and I almost accidently KS'ed a guy. I felt pretty bad about that but I am glad he got the kill. I apologized to him and Mizmo suggested we stick to dogs in the open area instead of spiders. I wasn't about to complain ! An hour or so later I dinged 19 and didn't think I could be happier. Mizmo ported us to the common lands and said "I have one more surprise for you" He explained my friend from the EC Tunnel earlier in the day had told him I was playing. It turns out I know Mismo in R/L too ! what a great way to finish the night, and what a great day. I got to meet up in game with not one but two new/old friends

I had my best day yet in P99 and I am really looking forward to grouping with Mizmo's 28 tank as soon as I put on a little xp. I know that my friend from the EC tunnel also has a low level toon so maybe someday soon you can read about our adventures as a group :)

Till next time
play nice and have fun
Saum
19 Druid of Tunare
Bungler of spells & Forager of non edible stuff

[Griffy]

Not much to report the last few days honestly. I didn't get to play with any intent until Saturday. I sat in the EC tunnel auctioning WTB Light stones and Greater Light Stones. When I had a min I would run over to the Karanas and turn them in. I did all of level 19 and most of 20 "2 blue short of 21" with those turn ins !!!

How is that not broken? I got a smidge less than a full blue per turn in at 19 and I still get a half a blue + at 20.

so here is the math
27 Greater light stones at 19 to ding 20 "give or take"
GLS cost me 10plat per
Turning in the book yields 9.5p
27 X 5 gold "the loss from turning in each GLS vice price I paid"
Means doing the entire level cost me a whoping 13.5 plat ........ Broken

At level 20 the XP is still insane /shrug
Well my intent is to somehow get to 21 and then Head on over to loIo ! :) Ive been looking forward to it !!

Oh and While I was running around the karanas I kept running into Goliath "my old Enchanter friend from Nro". I'm convinced he stalking me :)

Till Next Time always remember to never let the halflings make the wine. You don't want them crushing the grapes with those feet

Saum
20 Druid of Tunare
more stomping power than a sex crazed Rhino on bad acid :)

[Jimjam]

Yea, it amazes me people pay 3pp for CB belts, but effectively pay less than a plat for GLSs.

Keep us updated

[Griffy]

last night I secured enough GLS to get to 21. Nothing like Ding'ing while watching football and drinking a beer ! :) So I decided to head over to loio. Funny thing though.... I had forgotten how to get there ! So of course I went to oasis of marr and that didn't quite do the trick. A little research and I am sitting in BB waiting on the transport. I swear I could have read war & peace by the time it arrived. I finally made it to FV and bound on the big bridge. I took a minute to steady my nerves as I remembered how hard the spider run to loio was. Invis and RUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNN

wait..... that's it?...... I thought I remember it being harder :) <insert that's what she said joke here> Re-bound myself inside of loio at the mouth of the river and started killing. already 1/2 way to 22 and I'm hoping to hit it soon :)

Till next time
Don't let Iksars use their tails to stir your drink, that's just gross

Saum
21 Druid of Tunare
EC tunnel SoW b*tch

[Griffy]

So Last night was my first full night in loio, I had a lot of fun solo'in at the mouth of the river. As usual I think I became every ones favorite SoW b*tch. I had folks running over for Sow Every few mins "no I don't mind" I met a really cool Necro named Kennenn there. he was soloing a little closer to the pillars than I was. He would help me out when a mob got a little too aggressive and I would do the same for him. Also tossed him the bones and weapons I had bagged. I wonder why others never think to hold that stuff for when you happen to come across a necro in need. "A little good will goes along way should you ever need a corpse summon !"

I felt bad watching zone chat though. seems a few folks were having horrid luck trying to get the courier. I guess the drop rate on the ring is pretty uneven. not sure why someone would want it but /shrug

Anyway I dinged 22 about 1AM thanks to Kennenn's help and then hit the hay.

Well I guess that's it for me this morning:)

Saum 22 Druid of Tunare
WTT Sow for coffee !!!!

[Griffy]

Well it was a long weekend of grinding in LiIO, Friday night and Saturday I spent time at the beach and occasionally at the mill. I grouped up with my R/L friends for a bit for the first time. we did pretty well. I really enjoyed hanging with the boys & it was nice to be able to semi keep up for a change. I also spent time hanging with Kennenn on the beach. I power leveled him a bit and he saved my bacon on a bad pull:)

I Also met Zlexx at the mill. always nice to meet a new enchanter. He would pop in and I would toss him a sow and he would hit me with breeze. this went on for hours hehehe.

On Sunday There was a shammy named Byde shouting for foraged crabs in /ooc. Man are those a rare forage. I was foraging all day in zone on Saturday & Sunday and only found 3 of those things. Sunday evening he popped back into zone shouing WTB Foraged Crab stuff. I sent him a tell that I had 3 for him at the mill. He asked what I wanted for one. Well I had only been saving them since he shouted and so I just gave it to him. I think it made his day.

Sunday Night was the most interesting thing that happened this weekened. I got a random tell out of the blue from a Bard
Bard "Hey man, Are you solo'in?"
Me "Yeppers"
Bard "How long you going to be on?"
Me "oh I don't know, till I get bored I guess"
Bard "If you have a couple hours I can get you to 30"
Me "umm Ok?"

Now I have never been power leveled by a Bard before, And man that was one insane session of P/L'ing. The truth of it was he had a little buddy that was a 20th level Iksar that he wanted to power level" I was only needed for PBAOE. He Guided his friend and me to a spot in the valley between the two towers at the fort.
"Stay here and invis up both of you" says the bard
Me "okey Dokey"
Bard "load up tremor and when I tell you nuke away"
Me "um Okey Dokey"
So I loaded Tremor and Invised the Icky and myself.
The bard dropped group and the fun began
2 mins later here comes the bard running past with a Monstrous amount of mobs on him heading towards the other tower. 2 mins later he is running them in a circle similar to a giant kite. he sang something that was similar to a snare and told me "ok now" !!!

I started casting Tremor and sure enough It hit all the mobs since he has such a tight circle going around me and the Icky. The problem was Tremor costs 200 mana and I only had enough for 4 casts. That took the mobs below 60% but didn't even come close to dropping them. After that it became a session of Med for 2 mins+ and cast 1 Tremor" All the while the poor Bard is running these mobs around us. The Icky was swinging as best he could but at level 20 he wasn't hitting much or hard.

We did this for I think 4-5 times and I finished the night 4 blue short of 26. The Icky finished at 22. The bard called it because we were going TO SLOW !!!! Now since it was my responsibility to do the damage... I am sure that was my fault. One day Ill hav a decent mana pool, but that day wasn't this day lol. Either way. the Bard had a killer routine going and I did all of 24 and most of 25 there in just an hour and a half or so.

While I don't think that is an illegal tactic I left their names off in case so I wouldn't get them in trouble. I am hopeful to get to 29 and be able to port for the events I hear maybe coming up this weekend :)

Till Next time !!!!

Saum
Lvl 25 Druid of Tunare
Tremor = the bomb !!

[BlkCamel]

love the live blog, keep it up. Gives me something enjoyable to read at work!

[Griffy]

Thanks Camel and I will. I also might just use your leveling guide. I am getting bored of Loio and wanted to try something diff. NK and KFC might just do the trick :) "Cant do the trents those as I'm sure that would mess up faction :)"

[Griffy]

Not to Much to report on last night. I did ding 26 though ! once I hit 26 I decided to take a little tour and try some of the other spots different guides had recommended. I started by running through loio from the windmill to Frontier mountains. I killed one giant that white conned at 26 there. Waaaay to much mana so I decided to keep moving. I took the long way since it seemed safer. I went through The Overthere to Warsliks Woods. The druid guide said this is where I should be.....

No not gonna do it. While I was able to kill a few giants in zone, but there wasn't a single time I didn't have to deal with adds. Waaaay to many hills and trees. It made it difficult to watch for wandering mobs. Sooo I finished the night back in loio again, at the windmill again , Killing Sabertooths AGAIN

good news is I''m half way to 27 and I made enough money to pay for the rest of my 24 spells, so now I am just gonna save my cash for 29 spells "Yeah ports !!" oh and some shoes I'm still wearing ones from crushbone belt turn-ins.

Till next time
have fun !!
Saum 26 Druid of Tunare
Explorer of Kunark

[Griffy]

Another long night in loio, grinded out 27 "2 more levels till ports !!". Cast Sow on a bunch of folks at the mill, tried to help out with a lost corpse for a guy named blaade. and helped out with a fungi transfer.

Nose is down and I am grinding my heart out. I hope to be 29 by the weekened

Remember Don't drink & Kite !!
Saum
27 Druid of Tunare
Horder of Grimalkin meat
Moving right along

Song for the grind = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6w316aA8ed8

[Griffy]

Still in loio and still grinding on grimalkins "starting to wonder if they will ever green out". So I have a bunch of Saber tooth / Excellent Saber tooth hides. Loio was pretty busy last night. A group was killing everything near the mill and it slowed me down a little bit. I moved up to the Astral Projection and hunted there but mobs were not as plentiful. I hit 28 last night "so I guess I fell short of my goal of 29 before the weekend."

Doesn't look like I will get to play much tonight. I'm in charge of handing out Halloween candy to the kids that come to the door. IF ANYONE COMES AS JUSTIN BEIBER THEY DONT GET SHIT!!!

Anyway Sorry for this lame nothing really happened update. hopefully the next one will be a lot better :)

Saum
28 Druid of Tunare
pre-port B*tch

[Griffy]

Well Halloween has come and gone. No kids came to the door dressed as Justin Beibers. So that's speaks well to the youth of our nation ! "Seems there were more Captain America's than anything else". I complimented a little girl on her princess costume and got berated "I'm Not a Princess I'm Elsa" well La Dee Dah, I guess Im not the guy giving you candy "I did give her candy but not the good stuff. Her brother the ninja turtle got the snickers bar she got smarties" Unfortunately I spent Saturday recovering from my self induced candy coma, so I didn't get to play much till Sunday.

On To EQ !! Sunday morning I finally managed to Ding 29 ! I had pre bought my port spells so I would have them ready. "I didn't have enough for all my spells but figured I could make a little cash porting to buy the others." My very first port was to BB. "Thanks Cereal for being my first port !" Man was I surprised how many folks were porting. It seems every zone I went to there was someone already there /ooc "I'll port ya wherever you need to go!" I was lucky to get the 7 or so ports I did get. Smallest donation I received was 5 gold, largest was 65 plat for those that were wondering. After an hour or two of porting folks I had all my spells. It was time to leave my beloved Loio in search of greener pastures.

I did a little Solo work in FM and decided to just go ahead and bite the bullet. I decided if I was going to spend this much mana I might as well do it in The Overthere since the mobs would be a little easier to see and avoid during kites. I took on exclusively yellow mobs and found that they take about 80% of my mana to drop. The good news is I have my new Heal so I think I can be useful in groups over there :)

Till next time
Saum
29 Druid of Tunare
P99 Port Bitch :)