Complete EQ noob - Questions about Clerics, grouping

[Honorata]

Hey guys! I think I posted here about a billion years ago thinking about making a character on this server and asking for "What should I roll?" advice, and then... completely forgot about the server and never installed.

For background: I have never played Everquest ever before installing Project 1999. I've been looking up what I can on the wiki, and I definitely understand a lot of things better now than I did initially, but I still have some questions.

I've gotten my little Erudite cleric to level 6 and also to Qeynos. It feels like level 6 is about the time to start looking for groups, and on that subject, I have questions.

1. Where should I be looking for my first group at this level? I leveled solo from 5-6 on the gnolls just outside Blackburrow, and never really saw any groups forming just outside. Do groups tend to form once you go inside the cave and zone into Blackburrow proper? Or should I be looking for groups in another area? (Closer to Freeport, maybe?)

2. What spells should I definitely have learned & memorized for grouping at this level? I'm assuming my buffs (or at least memorize them to buff everyone and then memorize something else in their place if I need the spell slots) and at least Light Healing (should I keep Minor Healing memorized for emergencies?), but what else is important to bring?

3. I don't really understand what Lull does/how it works mechanically. Can someone please explain it to me in small words?

Thanks in advance for the help. Sorry about the noob questions!

[DinoTriz]

1. Blackburrow has the occasional group or two, but recently it seems a lot of people solo mostly in there for gnoll fangs. You'll see people on the top level who should probably deeper, and they're farming fangs. That area is great to start in but it doesn't reflect the normal EQ grouping culture like say Crushbone does. You may find yourself solo more often in that area because you can level fairly well just off of soloing quests in that area. (Gnoll fangs/putrid ribs/deseased wolves, etc)

2. Clerics tend to get a heal and two AC/HP buffs, plus a "Symbol" buff every ten levels or so. You'll also get the occasional invulnerable self buffs that can help you survive at times. You get more than that, but that's the core. Your symbol buff is powerful but costs a gem to cast. You cast this on your tank, and then your two other buffs on everyone else. You also get a Magic Resist buff if there are caster mobs.

3. Lull works by reducing the aggro range on a mob. When it works, you can cast it on an enemy and pretty much walk by it without it attacking you. It can be resisted AND "crit" resisted. When it resists, the mob won't get angry and attack you, but the Lull won't take effect either. On a "crit" resist, the mob will attack you.

Lulls tend to be pretty unreliable but when they work, it's great.

Druids and Rangers get a version that is AoE and unresistable. It's often considered one of the best spells in the game.

[Honorata]

Thanks for the quick reply!

I ran into a shaman who wanted to duo a little in Blackburrow, and then we went on an adventure to Everfrost, but we're thinking about heading out to Crushbone to find a proper group. Too many high level soloers in Blackburrow for us to really compete.

Looks like for any extra spell slots I might have, look up the area I want to group in and see if there's need for any particular type of Curing/Resistance/etc.

Lull description makes sense and is kind of what I thought it did but I wasn't sure (probably because it's been resisted a lot). I've seen similar spells in some other games, and this makes sense to me.

Thanks so much again for the help!

[Frug]

> extra spell slots I might have


HAHahahaha... oh the joys of the early levels....

[kruptcy]

Sometimes it helps to do a search for players in your level range and shoot tells to ask them to group. Try to find people that would complement your class and that aren't too far away. You can also do an LFG check with "/ all LFG", or apply level bands to it "/ all 5 8 LFG"

If you like grouping with someone add them to your friends list. Eventually you'll build up a pool of players to group with whenever you log in :)

[Baylan295]

> extra spell slots I might have


HAHahahaha... oh the joys of the early levels....

Am enchanter. Can confirm, need at least 4 more spell slots and would still have to regularly swap.

[Gozuk]

Your level 5 stun is a very important tool and one I used in Sebilis even at level 60. It has a fast cast time, doesn't take much mana and is great for interrupting npc spells! It will be one of your best friends

[DinoTriz]

Looks like for any extra spell slots I might have, look up the area I want to group in and see if there's need for any particular type of Curing/Resistance/etc.



Yep, that's the right idea. Cure poison/disease (although it's rare you use cure poison).

Later on you'll get roots, stuns, and will use multiple heals (big and small heal, for an example)

[Jimjam]

Your level 5 stun is a very important tool and one I used in Sebilis even at level 60. It has a fast cast time, doesn't take much mana and is great for interrupting npc spells! It will be one of your best friends

This stun is especially good on account of it having no damage component, so no need to worry about breaking mesmerise effects.

In honestly, as long as you keep people healthy they will be happy.

Hell, some people will even complain if you use stun/root/calm/atone etc out of concern of the primary healer drawing too much aggro and dieing.

[Honorata]

Nice! Thanks for all the tips, guys!

One more quick clarification:
* It is my understanding that I can sit/med while in combat (although if something's going to attack me, it'll probably hit me harder if I'm sitting.)
* You regen more while sitting, especially once you can train meditate
* Each "tick" on the server is 6 seconds
* So if I sit and med, I should do it in 6 second increments, or are the "ticks" determined globally, and I just have to /sit before the next tick to get sitting regen?
* Or are damage patterns/healing cast times long enough that I won't normally be weaving in medding into healing, and mostly be doing my medding between pulls?

Just trying to get a sense of what the rhythm of this all is before I get in over my head and lose a bunch of people some EXP.

[Varren]

You’ll get your meditate in so long as youre sitting when the server ticks. There’s is often a discrepancy between what your client thinks is the tick and what the server thinks. If you sit and watch your mana, watch for it to go down by 1. That is the server tick. Be sitting six seconds later and you’ll get your mana.

[DinoTriz]

* Yes, you can sit and med while in combat. You also get hit harder while sitting. You also draw more aggro.

* Yes, you regen more health and mana while sitting.

* Yep, 6 seconds.

* As long as your character is sitting on the 6th second, you will gain the regen.

* Generally a Cleric stays sitting and only stands up to cast a spell, and then they sit back down. Shamans use a 'Cannibalize' spell which causes them to monitor mana ticks, etc. But most people (aside from Shamans) don't do this. Druids and Wizards sort of weave in mana ticks while kiting their mobs during quad-kiting, but again, it's situational. Most casters med as much as they can and only stand when casting a spell.

[Adron]

you sit just long enough to see your mana go up, then stand up...for 5 seconds. the ticks are global, so yeah, do whatever then dive to the ground like a soccer player getting flicked on the ear.
you will be medding in between heals a lot. you'll get whomped plenty before you gain an intuition for when there's too much aggro on you to sit and be safe. grow some eyes in the back of your head!

[dbouya]

I wanna mention, that you should probably try and remain sitting for about 0.5seconds after and/or before when you feel the 6th second on the server is.

If you stand up the moment you see your mana go up, a second later the server will tell your client, nope, actually you didn't get that mana! This can even result in weird errors where you can cast a spell but when the casting time is over you're told you don't have enough mana to cast it. This probably depends on your ping and lag, but especially at low levels that 1second every 6seconds isn't as important as making sure you hit that regeneration tick.

Also yeah, in parties especially at higher levels clerics are sitting down 90-99% of the time.


If you want to group, you shouldn't be near erudin or qeynos, head to freeport or kelethin. Most players looking to group at level 6 are in greater faydark or east commonlands. That's just how it is. Yes. You can find groups anywhere,everywhere but those are the most popular hubs (for non-iksar).