New-ish player unable to find groups

[Seiryu]

Hey all. I've been on here for a few weeks and am finally posting here because I wish to say a couple of things.

First, I love EQ. I don't mind the XP Grinds or camps. In fact, I finished the Paladin Epic back on live way back in the day if that says anything. My issue is that I have gotten two levels in the past two weeks from level 16-18 as a druid, solely due to the fact that I'm unable to find any groups at this level. I've attempted to solo kite, and without a clarity available, I'm able to reliably get two kills every ten minutes or so charm kiting.

As much as I respect the server for wanting to keep groups going, the population is way too low to bar multi-boxing. At least with a box alt, I'd be able to progress at a reasonable rate. There are times where I easily spend four hours at a time LFG with no luck.

Now, like I said, I'm an old EQ player, so none of my friends appreciate it or want to play it like I do. I'm generally playing solo and when I finally do get a group, it's usually at p1 in Oasis, which xp moves slow as molasses.

I'm going to give the game another week and see if things get better, but I feel I'll be leaving you guys very shortly. As much as I appreciate the option to play, the low level player base is too small to get anything done.

[fragmaster]

This is EQ, you've played it before, XP moves slow unless you have a great camp and competent players. Try Unrest.

If you're charm kiting, are you using camo to break the charm and then killing your pet and mob to avoid the pet xp penalty?

[Seiryu]

You're right, it is slow unless you get a great camp. The issue is just that. I can't port yet, so even if there is a group all the way in Unrest, It will take me about an hour of traveling to get there from Oasis/Highpass via boat, or I could pay for a port, which I don't really have the funds for since Oasis gives no cash drops and I need level 19 spells as well.

Also, you can't compare this to classic considering it was the most popular game for its time. Groups were never an issue. There were always an abundance of players in each zone and if you wanted a group, you simply put your name on the list. Now it's a matter of finding any, or enough players, to effectively group with in a zone. Even then you'll have to travel a considerable amount of time as a new player, since you don't have a main to fund it for ports.

[Expediency]

First off, the thing to do is start the groups. Pick a good group dungeon, cb, unrest, mistmoore, sola, solb, kc etc etc....

....

People are always WAYYYYYY MORE interested in grouping if they think the group is already established at the camp and doing well. So spam ooc with "MM pond group lfm"



This guy gets it. My main is a druid and I did 0-60 on p99 this year. You have to accept the fact that druids are not highly groupable. You can *not* sit around waiting on a group or you will not get anywhere at all.

Protips:

-Move around. You are a druid. You can self port soon. You need to be checking out sol a regularly for a group, its right by LS rings. You should check SK/Paw for groups, its not far from your NK rings. etc.

-Learn to quad kite. its fun and you can go afk for a while while you med. rotting things is not as efficient.

-at your level, check out upper guk. Excellent exp

-if you charm exp, remember you lose half the exp if pet does more damage than you and is still under your control when mob dies.

-root/rot either right outside or right inside dungeons while you wait. Slow but its something.

-Port people while you wait once you get high enough to do that. Make some money and ask people if they need a druid whereever they are going. I got tons of groups by asking the people I was porting if they wanted me.

-If a camp is open, as a druid you are very good at duoing/trioing. take the camp, and hold it, even very slowly, with one or two others until you can fill the group. Never turn down a bard or a monk, they work well with druids. Do not be picky about tanks, any will work. Dont give up camps that are desirable, like ones in MM/CoM/KC unless the zone is dead.

-If you want to box, go somewhere else, you *will* get banned here.

[Expediency]

Also you should join a leveling guild. You will meet lots of people your level and that will help you.

[Kowalski]

Quit while you can

[brinkman512]

Are you playing on GMT hours? If yes, i would suggest you start on red and play with us and join our social group "Euros for red". I personally have a lot of fun at the moment levling up with 2 very nice players that i have met on red. Also, the community seems to be very helpful here. I got quite some items for free and many offered to pwrlvl us also.
Send me a pm if interested.

Yours Brinkman!

[Gaunja]

If you were on red server I could help you out and provide free ports as a new player. If you are on blue I can't help.

[trite]

Sitting around LFG doesn't get you groups, most people on p99 blue server aren't newbs and will grab the classes they want who are spamming lfg in ooc....druid is only up to bat when clerics aren't around at lower levels...

Form groups or hang out at the camp with the group you want to join for awhile.

Don't be underleveled for an area since from most peoples perspective you are a gimp cleric. You will need to be in the upper lvl range for an area to be an effective healer and this is conducive to receiving a good share of the exp anyway.

Research druid soloing and how best to bother enchanters for Gift of Pure Thought (group clarity 2 since the single target version will be too powerful for you) and clarity...

[Crawdad]

... I've attempted to solo kite, and without a clarity available, I'm able to reliably get two kills every ten minutes or so charm kiting.
...

Everyone else has pretty much touched on all the other points so I wanted to comment on this. Thanks to Velious, Druids have plenty of charm spots from 14 until 60, and it is easily the best way to make exp (the only exception being quadding 46-49ish thanks to Lumi staff).

If you're unable to kill more than 2 mobs per 10mins charming, you're doing something wrong. Are you spending mana buffing your pet? What % are you breaking charm to nuke? What mobs are you trying to charm kite?

Especially at low levels, you should only be spending mana to snare, root, charm and a low level nuke/dot to kill.. this should only run you around 100mana per kill, and you'll be medding a lot during your charm shenanigans.

Gorge hounds and other fauna in East Karana are a great spot for your level and should get you a level per hour or two max. Honestly, Druids are possibly the best charming class (when there are enough charmable targets), so learning how at low levels will do you well.

Good luck! If you need any help/tips on charm kiting you should let us know, lots of people are happy to help you out with tips/demonstrations.

[Seredoc]

Everyone else has pretty much touched on all the other points so I wanted to comment on this. Thanks to Velious, Druids have plenty of charm spots from 14 until 60, and it is easily the best way to make exp (the only exception being quadding 46-49ish thanks to Lumi staff).

If you're unable to kill more than 2 mobs per 10mins charming, you're doing something wrong. Are you spending mana buffing your pet? What % are you breaking charm to nuke? What mobs are you trying to charm kite?

Especially at low levels, you should only be spending mana to snare, root, charm and a low level nuke/dot to kill.. this should only run you around 100mana per kill, and you'll be medding a lot during your charm shenanigans.

Gorge hounds and other fauna in East Karana are a great spot for your level and should get you a level per hour or two max. Honestly, Druids are possibly the best charming class (when there are enough charmable targets), so learning how at low levels will do you well.

Good luck! If you need any help/tips on charm kiting you should let us know, lots of people are happy to help you out with tips/demonstrations.


This, all of this. My only other advice would be to avoid oasis like the plague. Everytime I have tried to solo there I have lost more xp than I gained. Between crappy pullers, casters and giants it just isn't worth it.

Ek was stated and if you need any aid to learn the ropes to charm killing then lmk

[JackFlash]

You have to make your own opportunities. I started grinding on this server a long time ago by myself. It took me forever to get my buds to switch over but now we have a good group of friends and having a blast. Start slow and you'll end up where you want to be. Make your own groups, loot as much as you can, and have fun!

[chipz]

Your absolute best option is to form a group. I always get a reliable group that way when playing my alts. I just start doing /who all <class> <lvl range> and start spam whispering. I will grab a tank/healer first if I'm neither then work from there. If I get a monk early on, I'll even hold off on a tank, most likely he can do fine lol.

TLDR; Start your own groups, you get the camp you want, and it's insanely efficient and easy here.
Most people are willing to come to a spot if you are willing to form the group.


Edit:
Most DaP members will port you for free if you don't have the funds. This was my case when I first started, I would let them know I didn't have money for a tip and they would still be ok with porting.

[Tupakk]

Well, looks like I'm late to the party. If you are looking to group up and do the exp grind then you most certainly join a leveling guild. FoH BhP Kittens, are the top 3 worth joining.

As far as getting ports, that's easy give any one of a call and someone will squeeze you into their rotation if you are at some rings. If they are busy or ignore you then kindly ask if they could throw the message up in guild chat.

On the flip side if you need a guild to be social in and have a good time then join us we will show you the ways of the Druid as well as help you get gear if need be. Just type /who all dial in game if you have any questions everyone is able to answer your questions or point you to the right person.

Happy hunting.

[Faywind]

If you were on red server I could help you out and provide free ports as a new player. If you are on blue I can't help.

He's having a hard time finding groups on blue. There would be no way to finding any on red ;)

[Sebastionleo]

dats funny cuz i did 1-43 in the past 5 days all grinding in groups, 0 solo exp

He's saying that if he can't make a group on blue to get into a group, he definitely wont be able to get one on red, with a much smaller player base, where you definitely need to be /who to find people for a group.

[barrettdc1]

He's saying that if he can't make a group on blue to get into a group, he definitely wont be able to get one on red, with a much smaller player base, where you definitely need to be /who to find people for a group.

Or you just /ooc "level xx (insert class here)" LFG. It's not hard. Also he could join Thunderdome at level 1, and would have no problems getting groups.

[brecon]

It's relatively easy to form groups on Red, especially for a Druid, since OOC is global. You would need to pick people up usually. But for me, it's preferable to use global /ooc while soloing, than having to go sit in a leveling zone like MM and wait for a slot to open up like you do on blue. Also, given the lower population, players on red are much less sensitive to the class composition in groups.

Back to OPs point: on all my new toons, I find the grind from ~14 to ~20 the worst. You are getting too high for Crushbone, the only other established 'grouping' areas is Unrest first floor and Oasis, and neither are ideal. Most melee twinks can solo this range easily still, up to about 20, so that limits group options. Furthermore, for most classes you don't really have all your soloing tools yet. Druids can solo this range in Oasis, but you run oom pretty quick from all the charm breaks.

Once you hit 20 options really start to open up, both for soloing and for grouping. On both the Red and Blue servers, from 20-60 there is a pretty clear zone path for finding groups. Occasionally you just can't find a group because they are full, but as a Druid, you can always ask to get on the list and go solo or port a bit. A lot of people don't like the high-population grouping zone progression path and I understand why, which is why it helps to make some friends, join a guild, and start making groups yourself.

On this server, the group hot zones are:
4-16: Crushbone
14-22: Unrest (sorta)
20-40+: Mistmoore
40-50: CoM
50-60: KC, Seb

Sometimes you can add HHK to that list for 20-34 or Solb from 36-50ish, but on Red those zones require you to bring your own group.

Last note: druid are awesome, you can solo and duo with basically any class. I loved it up until 60, but EQ really went out of their way to fuck end-game druid soloing options.

[Gaunja]

He's saying that if he can't make a group on blue to get into a group, he definitely wont be able to get one on red, with a much smaller player base, where you definitely need to be /who to find people for a group.

I have no problem finding a group on red ever. Besides, the exp bonus is so nice, I don't have to mindlessly grind exp just to make gains and see progression. It's nice for casual pieces of poo like me.

[kjs86z]

I was going to make a new thread, but this one kinda covers it...


...How is Mistmooore on Blue these days? I'm a brand new EQ player...first character ever created a few weeks ago.

I have hit level 25 in Upper Guk and would like to make a move. I heard Mistmoore is the way to go if you're looking to group.

Can anyone confirm / deny this before I pack up and move?

Thanks

[bomaroast]

Quit while you can

This man is correct. Do something, anything in real life. Read a book. Go for a walk. Stretch. Pick an undergraduate subject and educate yourself.

If your dog sat in one place and stared at a screen for all day and all night long, would you think that dog was right in the head or would you think something was wrong with it? Think about physicality of playing eq for any length of time. What is actually happening there. Your body will show you, if you don't have the energy to imagine it. It's not good. For proof: observe the human waste that frequent these boards. I came here out of boredom on this day off, and am immediately reminded of why I loathe this place. Adios!

[Landael]

I love druids.
1) Find a charm-class to duo with
2) Provide Snare
3) ???
4) Ding