p1999 green endgame for casuals

[Anxarcule]

So I recently started a wiz character on green having played a number of years ago on red (57 Monk up until right before Velious), knowing it's a gimped class but wanting to try it anyway. I am having fun but since I haven't played on a purely PvE server I'm wondering what kind of endgame I can look forward to. I had a blast raiding on red, getting raided by another guild mid-way and if I'm honest I don't have the time to commit to 4-5 hour raids at odd hours of the day/night. I'd love to get JBoots for my wiz when I hit 25 but I don't think I have a chance which means I'll need to wait for AC ring quest to be implemented and try my luck there (not sure how much that will be camped, but I imagine like everything else will be locked down by people playing 8+ hours a day).

I am enjoying the leveling experience, but I'm wondering if I'll ever get to achieve the really fun content that I remember way back from live with my limitations. As a wiz I feel likel I'll never be able to hold down camps for gear to sell for good pp or earn enough from port to afford the obscene prices I'm seeing for some items. Maybe I was spoiled by red being less heavily camped or at least having camps be contestable by PvP that a PvE server isn't for me. I guess what I'm asking for, realistically speaking will I be able to participate in raids on a server like this at the endgame, or will things be locked down by top tier guilds that claim/flag things literally minutes after they pop?

[loramin]

Wow, lots to unpack there. But in short:

1) Wizards do have it rough ... but even so they can earn plat just as any class can

2) with enough plat, all non-/list items are solvable

3) none of that has anything to do with raiding (well, except that high-end raiding can help you make that plat), but really if Wizards have anything going for them it's raiding: their DPS is at its best for raid mobs, and you can't even get to certain raid zones without them.

My advice: have fun and stop worrying. Go try doing the JBoots camp: I got mine in like 4 hours on New Year's Day. Sure it all depends on the whims of RNG Jesus, but if you can play for at least that long at a time, give the camp a shot. Even if you sit for a few hours and have to quit, you'll get a sense of how doable it is or isn't.

Plus, while most people just sit in the Drelzna room, you can totally do the jail or the crystal room while you wait on the list. Both should give XP at your level and are within /list range, so even if you don't get the boots, your time won't be a waste. Also, those mages in the crystal room can give you a full suit of Damask Armor, which isn't terrible for Int casters.

And if you really can only play for a max of 2 hours, you're still not screwed. Start farming plat now, and someday you'll buy your AC ring MQ ... or whatever else you want. Just view everything as a marathon to someday get what you want, and not a mad sprint you have to make: that's only for the Guise and Manastone people.

[zodium]

green has many adventures to offer but vanilla has no endgame to speak of, let alone as a wizard. play blue if you want to endgame.

[Tecmos Deception]

I had a blast raiding on red, getting raided by another guild mid-way and if I'm honest I don't have the time to commit to 4-5 hour

...


I am enjoying the leveling experience, but I'm wondering if I'll ever get to achieve the really fun content that I remember way back from live with my limitations.

I don't see why a casual wizard can't do just about anything and everything on p99. Solo easier items for self or cash (think stuff like hadden, mortificator sythrak, hill giants, etc for solo cash), group anything with good friends/guildies, planar clears and stuff like fire giants with guildies, killing gods and dragons if you join a "competitive" guild, in classic and kunark and velious.

It's rare that a guild requires you to be around for ANY period of time, let alone 4-5 hours. You may not have great chances at any given piece of loot if you don't play as often as everyone else, but the warmbody zerg style guilds aren't going to turn away a wizard whose mana turns into damage just as well as any other wizard's does just because you don't play 8 hours straight every time you log on.


It's pretty safe to ignore the people who say "there's no endgame in [whatever]." Of course there's no steady diet of instanced raid content to clear at scheduled times on the same 3 nights every week so you can have all the same gear as every other member of your class on the whole server within 6-8 weeks of play. But that's not why we're playing EQ. It's not that there's no endgame... it's just different. "Endgame" in EQ is more about friends and guildies and alts and farming and exploring than pounding through a mudflation gear treadmill cycle every few months. Wizards can do EQ "endgame" stuff, especially with a supportive /friend list or guild.

[loramin]

what kind of idiot thinks wizard is gimped? its the best dps in everquest for raid mobs

There's a running debate between which is the worst class in this era of EQ: Ranger or Wizard. Without entering into that debate, suffice it to say that in this era those two are the very worst classes overall.

I'll let others explain the fine details, but the point is, OP has a legitimate basis for feeling his class is weaker than others: it objectively is. But at the same time, even the "weakest" class can absolutely be a valued and contributing member of a group or raid, and again with Wizards most of their weakness is in groups and other non-raid settings: raiding is more their strength.

P.S. I think that, because of resist issues, Wizards have some raiding problems in Velious? I'm not a Wizard player so I don't know the details: I just know that the community consensus, backed up with some very long "point by point" posts, shows that Rangers/Wizards are weak. Ultimately some classes are always weak in every era of EQ (balancing all those classes is really hard), and if we ever made it to Luclin Wizards would be on fire ... but we'll never make it that far, which just happens to be unfortunate for them.

[eqravenprince]

green has many adventures to offer but vanilla has no endgame to speak of, let alone as a wizard. play blue if you want to endgame.

Raiding does not equal endgame in my opinion. Endgame to me is getting to or near max level, getting the best available equipment, maxing out all skills, camping items for your alt, helping your guild and newbies out.

[Smellybuttface]

There's a running debate between which is the worst class in this era of EQ: Ranger or Wizard. Without entering into that debate, suffice it to say that in this era those two are the very worst classes overall.

I'll let others explain the fine details, but the point is, OP has a legitimate basis for feeling his class is weaker than others: it objectively is. But at the same time, even the "weakest" class can absolutely be a valued and contributing member of a group or raid, and again with Wizards most of their weakness is in groups and other non-raid settings: raiding is more their strength.

P.S. I think that, because of resist issues, Wizards have some raiding problems in Velious? I'm not a Wizard player so I don't know the details: I just know that the community consensus, backed up with some very long "point by point" posts, shows that Rangers/Wizards are weak. Ultimately some classes are always weak in every era of EQ (balancing all those classes is really hard), and if we ever made it to Luclin Wizards would be on fire ... but we'll never make it that far, which just happens to be unfortunate for them.

Wizards are good for raids, not for groups. Rangers are good for taking death touches in raids.

[Kirdan]

People who think wizards are gimped or the worst class have a very narrow view of what it means to play the game. OP: wizards can camp plenty and are one of the best raid classes in each era, there's no shortage of endgame experience as a wizard.

[loramin]

People who think wizards are gimped or the worst class have a very narrow view of what it means to play the game. OP: wizards can camp plenty and are one of the best raid classes in each era, there's no shortage of endgame experience as a wizard.

Apologies: I really didn't mean to join in on class-hating. There's a million details to making a class "good", and then a million contexts in which "good" can mean different things.

My point was just that in our era certain objective and measurable things, like say sustained DPS output in a group, are worse for Rangers/Wizards than other DPS classes. But someone is an idiot if they hate on Wizards as raiders ... because they jumped on a bandwagon of hate that was based on their grouping capabilities :)

And really even when it comes to (say) grouping, a lot of numbers-only comparisons miss out on other important details. It's hard to gauge, for instance, the value a Ranger provides as a backup tank, even though it's easy to measure their lack of DPS. So I was just trying to say that OP had a legitimate gripe if he felt that (again, in this era) other classes were being more useful in groups ... but I was not trying to say that Wizards suck!

[Corbin]

" Of course there's no steady diet of instanced raid content to clear at scheduled times on the same 3 nights every week so you can have all the same gear as every other member of your class on the whole server within 6-8 weeks of play.

Mmm, on live EQ during POP, GOD, OOW, DON, Demiplane and the few expansions afterwards, there was a massive difference in gearing levels between members of the same class on the same servers, perpetually. Often most players on a server could not even get close to entering higher tier raid zones while the expansion was current or even for a few expansions beyond. Scheduled raids and instancing didn't make it easier to see progression content while it was current. It just changed the primary nature of the challenge.

[zodium]

Raiding does not equal endgame in my opinion. Endgame to me is getting to or near max level, getting the best available equipment, maxing out all skills, camping items for your alt, helping your guild and newbies out.

my friend, i have bad news: my post did not say "raiding"

[Keebz]

There's a running debate between which is the worst class in this era of EQ: Ranger or Wizard. Without entering into that debate, suffice it to say that in this era those two are the very worst classes overall.

Woah woah woah. Why are we dragging Rangers into this? Also, this is actually a great time to play both classes. Are you trying to justify your lack of Wizard knowledge with baseless Ranger bashing?

OP: I'd just play your Wizard. You won't miss out on anything. Everyone is grouping with everyone right now and guilds will gladly snap you up for planes teleports. It is not a 'gimped' class.

[Tecmos Deception]

Mmm, on live EQ during POP, GOD, OOW, DON, Demiplane and the few expansions afterwards

Well that's totally irrelevant when discussing p99 now, isn't it? :)

[Malikail]

There is no end game for a wizard at this stage. There's no end game forecaster spell research is so f***** you might get the 40 and then you'll have trouble getting your spells. There's nothing to kill and the gear that is available is rare and the stat suck. There's a reason they were constantly updating this game in this era it was released unfinished and in a very uneven state. I've been trying to play the last four days I'm so damn bored I'm probably just going to drop out till at least Sol ro Maybe kunark. Go back to Blue and yeah kittens is doing well so I can read their but that's all it's a ghost town communities destroyed and the economy is dead. It's sad but I lives in the southern us so spring will be here soon and I've got stuff I can do that outside so my boredom will soon be alleviated

[Tecmos Deception]

There is no end game for a wizard at this stage. There's no end game forecaster spell research is so f***** you might get the 40 and then you'll have trouble getting your spells. There's nothing to kill and the gear that is available is rare and the stat suck. There's a reason they were constantly updating this game in this era it was released unfinished and in a very uneven state. I've been trying to play the last four days I'm so damn bored I'm probably just going to drop out till at least Sol ro Maybe kunark. Go back to Blue and yeah kittens is doing well so I can read their but that's all it's a ghost town communities destroyed and the economy is dead. It's sad but I lives in the southern us so spring will be here soon and I've got stuff I can do that outside so my boredom will soon be alleviated

Ignore this guy, OP. The only way the situation is this bleak on green or teal is if you avoid having any friends or a good guild, purposely avoid using your brain to find available camps, don't understand that the only gear a wiz needs in classic to do well is like +60 int which is easy to obtain even without expensive items like GEBs, and think that classic EQ is going to spoonfeed you "fresh" content on a schedule like a modern MMO's raid patches.

[Malikail]

Ignore this guy, OP. The only way the situation is this bleak on green or teal is if you avoid having any friends or a good guild, purposely avoid using your brain to find available camps, don't understand that the only gear a wiz needs in classic to do well is like +60 int which is easy to obtain even without expensive items like GEBs, and think that classic EQ is going to spoonfeed you "fresh" content on a schedule like a modern MMO's raid patches.

Yes do ignore me I was playing on this in live and it honestly sucked nuts on live. The only reason I'm here is because the game gets vastly better when kunark is released and I'd like a head start on that. All that crap about groups and Friends means nothing. It depends do you want to be like this s*** head or do you want to do your own thing. Classic EQ was designed to get your real world friends to play with you online but that's not how it happened so they radically redesign the game. You're right about one thing I don't want to spend hours sitting in a dumbass XP group in guk getting you what you need for your melee class. Kiss off with that nonsense. I always hated this era and I always will because of people like this guy

[Corbin]

Well that's totally irrelevant when discussing p99 now, isn't it? :)

Please forgive me OP, a sentimental segue over a non issue on p1999. Love your Videos Tecmos.;)

Endgame is whatever you choose to make it and revolves around social choices and time to play more than anything else. At least this is my assumption taken from live. Raid guilds usually love wizards. Few classes can do a lot solo in harder group content Wizards like most classes are not one of those, generally. Good players who are enjoyable to play with in group "endgame" probably wont care too much about your class in the long run, just your personality and willingness to help them as well.

[Tecmos Deception]

Yes do ignore me I was playing on this in live and it honestly sucked nuts on live. The only reason I'm here is because the game gets vastly better when kunark is released and I'd like a head start on that. All that crap about groups and Friends means nothing. It depends do you want to be like this s*** head or do you want to do your own thing. Classic EQ was designed to get your real world friends to play with you online but that's not how it happened so they radically redesign the game. You're right about one thing I don't want to spend hours sitting in a dumbass XP group in guk getting you what you need for your melee class. Kiss off with that nonsense. I always hated this era and I always will because of people like this guy

Lol. You're fucking all over the place. At least put together a coherent thought instead of just ranting and raving like a lunatic.

[Malikail]

Lol. You're fucking all over the place. At least put together a coherent thought instead of just ranting and raving like a lunatic.

What's your character name so I can add you to my blocked list in game?

[eqravenprince]

my friend, i have bad news: my post did not say "raiding"

You're right, you didn't say "raiding". But what else could you mean when you say vanilla has no endgame? Honestly that's the major difference between vanilla and kunark/velious when it comes to endgame.

[Malikail]

You're right, you didn't say "raiding". But what else could you mean when you say vanilla has no endgame? Honestly that's the major difference between vanilla and kunark/velious when it comes to endgame.

No there aren't even quests. Armor quests like velious had, spirit wracked cord and keys in kunark. classic really wasn't that good. I watched a friend play for 9 months back in the day, i used to make fun of him because he spent more time LFG or frustrated than having fun. It was when i saw the promotional stuff for kunark he finally got me to try it and because there was little competition and it was new to me i didn't understand why he had been so unhappy, i was barely lvl 20 when kunark dropped. it was a very different experience than playing in classic and from what i saw back then and am experiencing now it was a much better one.

[Tecmos Deception]

I really don't understand what you guys who say you don't have anything to do, or can't find anything to do, are, well, doing. I log in every day and always have something to do that entertains me. Maybe I'm more easily entertained than you, but I doubt that fully explains things.

Camping items, checking out new corner of dungeons I'm not familiar with, buffing random noobs, dabbling with tradeskills, fooling around on alts. And that's stuff I can just log in and do solo, and that most classes can do solo. I also group with guildies here or there at camps like freeti or am, nameds in kedge, etc. Soon, fear drops and will definitely not be kept cleared so that "the little guys" can't get some drops.

I play a lot, and I won't be done doing all that stuff before hate, then won't be done with hate before solro, won't be done with classic before kunark, etc.


Seriously. How do you end up feeling like there's nothing to do? Are you playing a rogue without a guild and just turning on lfg and standing there silently wishing for an invite? Logging off at the hbc camp and being surprised when you log on and there's still 1 of 300-900 other people who wants that camp? Playing for 10 hours every day and then being confused about not having enough dragon kills to keep you busy? Lol.


Mali, grinding mobs for armor quests or waiting in line for hs/Seb key pieces or sitting afk for hours leading up to drusella spawn? Lol. If all of classic eq can't keep you happy, you sure as fuck will be bore out of your mind doing those things too.

[Malikail]

I really don't understand what you guys who say you don't have anything to do, or can't find anything to do, are, well, doing. I log in every day and always have something to do that entertains me. Maybe I'm more easily entertained than you, but I doubt that fully explains things.

Camping items, checking out new corner of dungeons I'm not familiar with, buffing random noobs, dabbling with tradeskills, fooling around on alts. And that's stuff I can just log in and do solo, and that most classes can do solo. I also group with guildies here or there at camps like freeti or am, nameds in kedge, etc. Soon, fear drops and will definitely not be kept cleared so that "the little guys" can't get some drops.

I play a lot, and I won't be done doing all that stuff before hate, then won't be done with hate before solro, won't be done with classic before kunark, etc.


Seriously. How do you end up feeling like there's nothing to do? Are you playing a rogue without a guild and just turning on lfg and standing there silently wishing for an invite? Logging off at the hbc camp and being surprised when you log on and there's still 1 of 300-900 other people who wants that camp? Playing for 10 hours every day and then being confused about not having enough dragon kills to keep you busy? Lol.


Mali, grinding mobs for armor quests or waiting in line for hs/Seb key pieces or sitting afk for hours leading up to drusella spawn? Lol. If all of classic eq can't keep you happy, you sure as fuck will be bore out of your mind doing those things too.

I don't understand how you don't get this. I gain some benefit from farming those things that you say will make me bored I'm done farming everything that will even interest me in classic. Got to manastone got six boxes bunch of thex daggers one guise very little use for it cuz most of my characters are dark elves.

There's literally nothing left to do worth the time it takes to do. And I recognized that immediately that it was going to be this way. Don't go around acting like I don't have friends and I'm not in a guild I am in a damn big Guild. It's funny they disagreed with me they said the same things you did and now they're bored and back to playing on blue or not at all days go by and we don't even see them login anymore.

Maybe it's because I'm retired and have a lot more time on my hands in the winter than you do when it's cold so I really don't have much else to do while the kids were in school but the the game is still very very empty to what it will be after Sol to and kunark are released.

I think it's because happiness in human beings comes from making progress, being on the journey and progressing. We've hit a brick wall so we're unhappy, no surprise there.

Also I'd say were somewhat spoiled by Sony. They kept us reeling trying to keep up with new content because they released it so fast. I watched a guy play on povar for months before I started, In This Very era I probably didn't start until a month month-and-a-half before kunark came out. The most of that time he was miserable and his complaints probably sounded a lot like ours adding in the fact that plane of hate was so broken they could barely raid it. Bill through a couple of temper tantrums that I clearly remember over that zone. He was playing at work. Lol

[turbosilk]

Ignore this guy, OP. The only way the situation is this bleak on green or teal is if you avoid having any friends or a good guild, purposely avoid using your brain to find available camps, don't understand that the only gear a wiz needs in classic to do well is like +60 int which is easy to obtain even without expensive items like GEBs, and think that classic EQ is going to spoonfeed you "fresh" content on a schedule like a modern MMO's raid patches.

The voice of reason right here.

[zodium]

You're right, you didn't say "raiding". But what else could you mean when you say vanilla has no endgame? Honestly that's the major difference between vanilla and kunark/velious when it comes to endgame.

there are three high end dungeons in vanilla, all with at least twenty-two minute respawns, and one of them is kedge. several classes are capable of soloing most camps, and some can hold down several solo; maybe five camps in the entire game have any use for four or more level appropriate people of basically any class composition. the good news is, gear is just for flavor and watching number go up, as virtually everything is incredibly easy by kunark or velious standards!

i'll die defending vanilla as an incredible game for the early stages where every piece of copper and patchwork counts, and the staff bought some time with the server split, but the end stage of vanilla was always going to be a desolate mad max hellscape of roving solo class warbois farming items for the next stage because that is the only endgame that exists.

[Siege]

Ignore this guy, OP. The only way the situation is this bleak on green or teal is if you avoid having any friends or a good guild, purposely avoid using your brain to find available camps, don't understand that the only gear a wiz needs in classic to do well is like +60 int which is easy to obtain even without expensive items like GEBs, and think that classic EQ is going to spoonfeed you "fresh" content on a schedule like a modern MMO's raid patches.

It's not easy to obtain decent gear right now because prices are inflated and all of the decent camps are locked down during non-NEET hours. Kunark will probably alleviate these issues to a certain extent, but I suspect this will be a problem that will persist throughout Green/Teal's lifespan, especially after the merge.

[Malikail]

there are three high end dungeons in vanilla, all with at least twenty-two minute respawns, and one of them is kedge. several classes are capable of soloing most camps, and some can hold down several solo; maybe five camps in the entire game have any use for four or more level appropriate people of basically any class composition. the good news is, gear is just for flavor and watching number go up, as virtually everything is incredibly easy by kunark or velious standards!

i'll die defending vanilla as an incredible game for the early stages where every piece of copper and patchwork counts, and the staff bought some time with the server split, but the end stage of vanilla was always going to be a desolate mad max hellscape of roving solo class warbois farming items for the next stage because that is the only endgame that exists.

THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Erati]

It's not easy to obtain decent gear right now because prices are inflated and all of the decent camps are locked down during non-NEET hours. Kunark will probably alleviate these issues to a certain extent, but I suspect this will be a problem that will persist throughout Green/Teal's lifespan, especially after the merge.

FBSS is perma camped even in Kunark.

welcome to Everquest.

[Tecmos Deception]

It's not easy to obtain decent gear right now because prices are inflated and all of the decent camps are locked down during non-NEET hours. Kunark will probably alleviate these issues to a certain extent, but I suspect this will be a problem that will persist throughout Green/Teal's lifespan, especially after the merge.

I disagree. I found it easy to obtain decent gear right now.

Playing maybe 3-5 hours a day, I've almost perfectly geared my sham already, and I didn't pick up more than a few pieces of gear that I have now before I hit level 49 about a month ago. It will take much, much less time going forward to get the planar/solro upgrades as they come available, short of drops off gods and dragons.

If you only play 1-2 hours a day through classic, you can still "complete" a character (again, short of literal BiS dragon loot) before Kunark drops and still have time to spare for alts or other play. I contend that your believing you should be able to reach that point even faster than that is out of line with the classic experience, not that the current sort of busy-ness at desirable camps is out of line with it.

[Anxarcule]

OP here - thanks for all the replies and inisghts. My foray into a wizard is my first time playing as a caster and while I am enjoying it, it isn't as seamless as the Monk was and downtime can be a bit much (lvl 17 at the moment). I think once I get self ports it'll be easy to hop to ecommons for clarity/sow and then port somewhere. That's my hope anyway.

Good to hear that there is a chance of me participating in raids even if I'm not a hardcore gamer.

[Tecmos Deception]

downtime can be a bit much (lvl 17 at the moment)

Basically all of the caster classes run into this problem, though it's worst for wizards and solo clerics probably, since they just don't have the efficient kill methods that other classes with pets and charms and dots and mana regen have. Fortunately wizards do have quadding as an option later on, which helps, though you still have a short period of activity followed by a long rest. Grouping gives you more steady activity, plus sometimes chatting to keep things a bit more interesting, though finding groups with a wiz can be challenging.

As I've been suggesting, having friends who will play with you regardless of your class and/or having a guild to lean on to help find groups or other things to do is important with a class like wiz, imo.

If you do get fed up with wizard but want to keep trying the caster way of life, basically any of the other casters will play "faster" than a wizard does and many of them are more welcomed into groups... but anyone doing raiding really does love an extra porter and the hard dps burn a wiz can throw into a BBEG.

[zodium]

if you like casting spells but don't like sitting on ass half the time, let me introduce you to the magic of troll shaman, a race/class that can solo basically anything wearing a set of banded and a fine steel spear while having half the downtime of any other caster after 24

[Fawqueue]

I am enjoying the leveling experience, but I'm wondering if I'll ever get to achieve the really fun content that I remember way back from live with my limitations. As a wiz I feel likel I'll never be able to hold down camps for gear to sell for good pp or earn enough from port to afford the obscene prices I'm seeing for some items.

Part of this is just an issue of your perception of things. For one, not all valuable items drop from Lord/King/Efreeti difficult mobs. Mammoth Hide and Molten Cloaks, Impskin Gloves, Gatorscale Leggings...the list is pretty extensive of items you can farm easily that still sell for a reasonable amount. On top that, you have an advantage the other INT casters do not with your residual port revenue. Since we end at Velious, there will never be a point in time where porting is irrelevant...and as the world expands, the value of porting increases. This shouldn't be overlooked, because it offers you consistent income no matter how much time or effort you have available to devote to it. Only have 30 minutes to play? You'd never find a reasonable place to farm on any other INT class with that kind of time...but 30 minutes of porting can very easily earn you a few hundred plat, with absolutely no risk, and you can do it completely distracted or semi-afk. I take advantage of this all the time...whether it's porting while I'm doing things around the house, making dinner, or watching shows with the family. In those cases, I'd never be able to hold down Frenzy safely as an Enchanter, with a charmed pet to manage and timers to keep track of. However, as a Wizard I'm still making money even if I'm barely at the keyboard...and that's an asset in it's own right.


Maybe I was spoiled by red being less heavily camped or at least having camps be contestable by PvP that a PvE server isn't for me. I guess what I'm asking for, realistically speaking will I be able to participate in raids on a server like this at the endgame, or will things be locked down by top tier guilds that claim/flag things literally minutes after they pop?

As for this, you will easily be able to participate on raids. You could even argue that by attending a raid as a Wizard, you allow for your force to better contest the top guild because it's all about FTE and mobilization. The faster your raid force gets into position, the more likely your guild is to win the encounter. And the two most critical classes to mobilizing are Wizards and Druids. However, whereas Druids are sub-par additions after the mob has been engaged you are amazing burst DPS which you can never have too much of. On top of that, Druids are left begging for a ride along with everyone else when the target is in Hate or Sky. So don't be discouraged....you'll always have a place in any guild you join that intends to raid.

[Tecmos Deception]

^

[turbosilk]

It's not easy to obtain decent gear right now because prices are inflated and all of the decent camps are locked down during non-NEET hours. Kunark will probably alleviate these issues to a certain extent, but I suspect this will be a problem that will persist throughout Green/Teal's lifespan, especially after the merge.

I'm at these camps regularly on Teal. I can confirm they are not all locked down during non-NEET hours. OP can most certainly form groups and camp these areas.

Play the game and upgrade vs plat grinding and tunnel quest. If the game is plat grinding and tunnel quest I don't understand the why of playing.

[Tecmos Deception]

Play the game and upgrade vs plat grinding and tunnel quest. If the game is plat grinding and tunnel quest I don't understand the why of playing.

I mean... Is there really such a huge difference between camping 2 molten cloaks, keeping 1, then selling the other to buy some other gear... and camping 1 molten cloak then going to camp the other gear directly? Or whatever item you're camping, whether fbss or GEBs or fine steel weapons?

Maybe sometimes you get boned on rng and by the time you see 1 molten cloak, you're ready to gtfo. But you also might get 2 back to back.

[turbosilk]

OP here - thanks for all the replies and inisghts. My foray into a wizard is my first time playing as a caster and while I am enjoying it, it isn't as seamless as the Monk was and downtime can be a bit much (lvl 17 at the moment). I think once I get self ports it'll be easy to hop to ecommons for clarity/sow and then port somewhere. That's my hope anyway.

Good to hear that there is a chance of me participating in raids even if I'm not a hardcore gamer.

Yes. Don't get into the singular mentality of sustained dps because many groups cannot support constant pulls. Wizards can bring the heightened dps when it's needed and lay off (to recharge for the need for heightened dps) when the increased dps isn't needed. Cast between mana ticks to increase mana regen. Bad pull going to cause a wipe then evac the group out safely. Need snare to prevent trains and wipes, wiz have that covered as well. Top raid dps in classic and Kunark - check. Velious not sure but Luclin and beyond again yes.

I generally keep my mana bar around 70m and burn it down when needed. For example, if the cleric burns their mana to oom healing then that's a time you should be near oom as well because you brought extra dps when needed.

[turbosilk]

I mean... Is there really such a huge difference between camping 2 molten cloaks, keeping 1, and selling the other to buy some other gear and camping 1 molten cloaks then going to camp the other gear?

Maybe sometimes you get boned on rng and by the time you see 1 molten cloak, you're ready to gtfo. But you also might get 2 back to back.

You make a good point. I'm more referring to a decent number of people that grind plat in areas from finesteel to ore etc and then buy all of their gear tunnel quest.

[Tecmos Deception]

You make a good point. I'm more referring to a decent number of people that grind plat in areas from finesteel to ore etc and then buy all of their gear tunnel quest.

Ok, that's fair. Grinding 40kpp as a port bitch or off of guards would be miserable.

I think the naysayers underestimate how many 1-3k items are easily camped and available. Maybe not every second of you solo camping a 3rd mammaoth hide cloak is exactly stimulating. But hey, if you wanted to, you could make pals and join a guild and be splitting ssoy and geb loot instead. Or checking in on an easy camp like mortificator or hadden ocassionally on your offday/weekend, or coming to terms with the fact that classic EQ doesn't revolve 100% around your interests and schedule, etc.

Lke I've said elsewhere, some folks play p99 looking for the negatives. And those folks tend to find them.

[turbosilk]

Ok, that's fair. Grinding 40kpp as a port bitch or off of guards would be miserable.

I think the naysayers underestimate how many 1-3k items are easily camped and available. Maybe not every second of you solo camping a 3rd mammaoth hide cloak is exactly stimulating. But hey, if you wanted to, you could make pals and join a guild and be splitting ssoy and geb loot instead. Or checking in on an easy camp like mortificator or hadden ocassionally on your offday/weekend, or coming to terms with the fact that classic EQ doesn't revolve 100% around your interests and schedule, etc.

Lke I've said elsewhere, some folks play p99 looking for the negatives. And those folks tend to find them.

I agree. And there is plenty of opportunity for people to group at lower levels and camp that gear for the loot and exp at the same time.

Surprisingly some people that play look at all of the opportunities and positives. And those folks tend to find them.