View Full Forums : Solo Xp 66+


noirblood
07-28-2005, 05:57 PM
Hey all,

I saw this mentioned in another thread and was wondering if anyone has a list of places that are soloable for a 66 druid with mediocre (or worse) gear.

I currently solo in PoStorms when I can't find a group but I run out of frogs pretty quickly and the respawn is long. I'm not Fire flagged as of yet so that's not an option for me at this moment, and my mana pool is probably not big enough anyway.

I usually can start a group up in WoS or Creator DoN, but that gets boring and my playing time is limited so having to wait an hour for the group to get together and ready to fight hurts. Would be nice to have some places I can head to and solo at for either gear upgrades or worthwhile xp.

Thanks!

-Noir

Kzar
07-28-2005, 06:12 PM
Try and solo a creator mission, thats kinda fun ;).

Also the unrest mission makes for decent soloing.

Vekx
07-28-2005, 06:29 PM
Have you tried HoH?

Juniper
07-28-2005, 08:57 PM
I've been soloing in Causway on the walkway there and in the ditches near the zonelines when I can get them. You can pick up Drakescale Shield (http://lucy.allakhazam.com/item.html?id=70147) and Foresight Sash (http://lucy.allakhazam.com/item.html?id=70146) as random zonewide drops. Murkgliders there will sometimes drop quest pieces for Woven Cape of the Militia (http://lucy.allakhazam.com/item.html?id=71152).

You could also try Ascent root rotting for 'of the way (http://lucy.allakhazam.com/itemlist.html?searchtext=of+the+way)' items and Thundercrest Isles for Manabore Waistguard (http://lucy.allakhazam.com/item.html?id=71471)

Broodlands is pretty good for charm fighting. Get a kitty and go to town!

eternalruby
07-29-2005, 05:22 AM
One of the most unused zones for solo exp for around your level is Harbinger's Spires. I'm fond of it for a number of reasons. Some decent upgrades are available, experience and items for plat. Though certainly not common I've gotten a number of augs, slugworms, droppable armor, and quest items in this zone.
NC (as was suggested) is also a nice place, but the mobs hit a bit harder, I think and have fewer chances at upgrades (via selling other class gear, augs etc.) However, one thing to point out: NC will get your faction up (depending what you kill) and the gear quests are certainly worth going for.
All in all OoW has some of the best going there.
Best of luck to you :D
Eternalruby

dorda
07-29-2005, 07:00 AM
i soloed a LOT in NC, WOS valley side .. started with the murkies.. easy enough, but smethines blocked by the fecund murkglider .. DONT solo that, summons and spawns baby murkies. Also take care there are not the baby murkies running around they swarm you even if fecund not up.
Because of the problems, and to get Loyalist faction i started only pulling the dragorns.
The one on ledge are easily pulled from other side of canyon, off the range of the murkies, right on the edge. Take care, they warp if u get too far. The nearest pull needs harmony.
The ones in wos tunnel, near researcher room are lev 66 i think .. more xp. Take care, they warp if u get too far and a few of them cast slow. With some harmony work you can pull the researcher room too .. although not easy and the researchers are nasties (as all researchers, they are underpayed, they have an unsecure job position, variable duration contracts and they are all fighting to publish something meaningful before the others :).
Now at 70 I solo Wos murkies mainly .. root rot, stacking 8 dots (2 clickies) with buffs, ICA3 and some focuses i manage to do almost 2 AA in 30 mins with double exp and jester. Not too bad i think. Would prefer charming, but no spell yet.
Did solo RCOD and MPG dragorns, but they kinda hard and unreliable exp until now. Hope it gets better.
Anyway i hope that this is of any use. Good luck :)

noirblood
08-01-2005, 04:15 PM
Just to get the facts straight...

I can work on faction, rare random zonewide drops, and xp by killing the dragorns on the ledges/walkways in NC?

Awesome. Thanks for the quick info.

Will learn from experience, but to avoid any nasty surprises are there wanderers up on the ledges or is everything pretty much stationary?

Thanks again,

-Noir

Juniper
08-01-2005, 05:32 PM
There are some wanderers but they're pretty obvious, and over by Tarlang a nasty yellow-to-70 mob will spawn. If you see him, Egress/Exodus immediatly.

The dragorns that are by the Ridgerunners are generally stationary and have a workable aggro range. Almost everything should be single pulls.

duralupal
08-02-2005, 02:21 PM
Nadox isn't bad exp up until 68 or so. It's not gonna set the world on fire or anything, but, if other exp spots are busy it's not a bad alternative. Can get some reasonable coin and a few drops out of it to boot. Charm an enraged boar (or something like that), he's one of the toughest mobs in the zone pre-charm, so, he makes a nice pet.

Edit: Oh, can also farm our savage spirit clicky there if you so desire, drops from the undead weaponsmith. Bit on the rare side though, normally you'll get a 1.5k'ish tribute bow.

Tenielle
08-02-2005, 05:42 PM
Get your Fire flag!!

Get your Fire flag!!

Get you Fire flag!!

All you have to do is raid FR once and hail the projection. Make a friend in a guild that raids there regularly or join one.

Get your Fire flag!! :smile:

Thundercrest is good but challenging experience as well. I can't see quadding working out there, but rot/rooting has gone well for me.

noirblood
08-03-2005, 03:57 PM
Hehe thanks for the inspiration Ten.

What kind of mana pool do you need to quad effectively in Fire?

Also, how do you think the xp in Thundercrest compares to NC? I mean obviously it would be more xp per kill in Thundercrest, but taking into account the time it takes to kill a mob...which is better? I know they both have chances for random gear drops...but I'm enjoying the idea of raising faction in NC also.

Thanks again for all the info guys. I hate to leech off other people but I just don't have the time to explore it all on my own just yet.

-Noir

oakdad
08-03-2005, 04:38 PM
You need about 6k - 7k mana
Something to extend your det. spells
Your nuke AAs
Your dot AAs.
All AAs and focus to lower your mana cost on det spells.

winawum
08-04-2005, 01:54 PM
try vxed solo. there are only 2 summoning mob types but most of you hunting is near the zone line. ive been gone for a couple of months but if i remember right its the mites and ukuans that summon, im positive on the mights just cant remember the other mob i know you can pull the pookas and craigs safely though. in my opion its about as good xp as fire and alot saefer.

duralupal
08-04-2005, 02:36 PM
Doesn't require as large a mana pool either since it's root/rot rather than kite.

Nocs and klyv summon as well so steer close of those, but you won't see many of 'em near the zoneline anyway. Hynids don't summon, you'll see plenty of those.

The first two mobs are close enough to assist, after that it's single pulls pretty much. Hynids aren't harmoniable so those'll have to be pulled first (if the first two mobs are both hynid just snare one and zone, they'll be split when you zone back). If you get one summoner in the first two mobs you can still pull around it for a bit using harmony if you don't feel like getting a new instance right away.

Tenielle
08-04-2005, 03:44 PM
See my posts in this thread for Fire quadding tips.

http://eq.forums.thedruidsgrove.org/showthread.php?t=11432&page=2

It's been a good 3 or 4 months since I hunted in Thundercrest, but I don't believe the mobs there offer as much XP as Fire mobs. Fire mobs offer 11% AA per kill at 65 and 8% at 70, if I remember right (and correct me if I'm wrong) TC mobs only net 7% at 70.

Anyhow, for the solo druid there's still no zone that beats Fire for net experience.

duralupal
08-04-2005, 06:54 PM
Ten....check his mana pool before you keep directing him to fire. At 4.5 it's single kiting or root/rot, and at that point there are other places that'll beat fire.

Vekx
08-04-2005, 10:08 PM
Fire is 11% AA at level 70.

Tenielle
08-05-2005, 10:36 AM
Ten....check his mana pool before you keep directing him to fire. At 4.5 it's single kiting or root/rot, and at that point there are other places that'll beat fire.

He can kill casters easy enough with 4k mana.

Fire is 11% AA at level 70.

Holy crap!! You're SO right! It's been entirely too long since I went out there, I maxed my AAs 4 months ago and haven't had any reason to go since. It's 14% at level 65 and of course, 11% at 70. I don't know where I got 8% at, maybe that's the amount given in TC. Anyhow, the point is TC mobs give slightly less XP per kill.

oakdad
08-05-2005, 01:31 PM
"He can kill casters easy enough with 4k mana."
Without even looking at the magelo I can bet his resist are not all that great since he has 4k mana odds are those casters will just rip him appart with there spells.

I he may very well be better off going to Vxed and root / rotting.

noirblood
08-08-2005, 12:59 PM
Well if I ever get a chance to knock off Fennin, I'll let you guys know what I can do with 4.5k mana and unbuffed resists around 120 or so.. :p

For now I'm hitting NC and Thundercrest. You need to be flagged for Vxed, right?

Thanks again for all the info.

-Noir

duralupal
08-08-2005, 01:29 PM
Nope, no flag for Vxed. I would mix in a little Nadox if you get a chance if you like charm solo'ing. The exp won't be as good but it won't be bad and you could also look for some gear upgrades with the coin you'll make there (the undead pirate type mobs there like to drop gems). As an additional bonus it's someplace where KR can be reliably efficient!!!! :p

Tenielle
08-08-2005, 01:43 PM
You need to be flagged for Vxed, right?

No sir. Just go to Barindu near the Vxed/Tipt entrance and you can get an expedition by yourself NP.

Without even looking at the magelo I can bet his resist are not all that great since he has 4k mana odds are those casters will just rip him appart with there spells.

I disagree. I've taken newly flagged friend's druid into Fire with 4.2k mana and 100 resists to get him caught up in AAs with his limited schedule. The casters aren't THAT big a deal. Quadding is out of the question, there's no doubt there, but Noir should be able to finish off a melee mob with his mana pool, and they have 45k HPs. The casters only have 25k HPs and he's never gonig to get hit with a single nuke that'll drain his HP bar completely. He IS a druid, a can heal himself if the mob manages to land a couple of successive 1k nukes. There's not a single mob on the first floor of the entire castle I haven't been able to pull single, so if he's careful adds won't be an issue either.

Another tactic I've used is pulling 2 cleric mobs (30k HPs). They don't nuke hard and you won't be interrupted if you back against a solid surface when they do. Dotting them both evenly with Wasp Swarm and Swarming Death, by the time they're both 50%, they've nuked their mana away and won't do anything but occasionally dispell each other. You absolutely don't need a big mana pool or a huge amount of HPs for that, it just takes a few extra minutes. At nearly 450 magic resist, their damn nukes still hit me for near full damage more than half the time, an with regen it's really no big deal.

duralupal
08-08-2005, 02:33 PM
Lol, I guess this is a little silly that a thread meant to help is getting into a little bit of a back and forth debate. But, so goes it. Heck, long as it's stays civil (as it has so far) it's not a bad thing to break down solo'ing areas by where a toon's at "numbers-wise". I think the second part of Oak's post sums up my feelings as well.

I he may very well be better off going to Vxed and root / rotting.

I've no doubt he could kill mobs in fire, but can he kill them efficiently enough? 32k hp mobs in Vxed, they stay rooted nicely so can med while doing 'em fairly well, no real resist issues there unlike fire, and it's still 6% exp per kill (seems to bounce oddly between 4 and 8, but seems about half and half to average out at 6). And the medding part does matter, at FT7 when he's solo medding is a more significant % of his mana regen than for an FT20 druid (and an FT20 druid with clicky goodness, that part I don't have, /cry :p). Can get in some medding in fire, but, not as much and/or as consistently as vxed.

Tenielle
08-08-2005, 04:33 PM
Amen to that Dura, despite that I don't overuse smileys and "Don't take this the wrong way"s, I certainly don't mean to sound argumentative. Only to pass on what I know.

It's been a very long time since I've soloed Vxed. In fact, it's been since the OoW release when Fire was oversaturated with level 70 hopefuls from every class. I remember having to leave the expedition and go get a new one seemingly every 3 or 4 mobs because Harmony wouldn't affect a large number of the mobs. It was such a pain that I just stopped playing a few days at level 68 to resume when the crowd in Fire had toned down.

Has the new harmony fixed that problem?

duralupal
08-08-2005, 04:45 PM
It can still get annoying but in general I'll get about 10 mobs before having to get a new instance. If you get 1 mob that's a summoner but harmoniable on the first platform you can pull past it -- and really the only type of mob you get at that spot that's a summoner is a stonemite which is always harmoniable.

The thing about getting the new instance is my mana will typically be going steadily slowly down in vxed, so getting the new instance is more like a quick med break.

noirblood
08-08-2005, 05:27 PM
Are there any random drops off trash in Vxed? That's what has me going to NC at the moment, and WoS/Creator DoN's when grouping. Hoping to eventually get the gear to stretch the mana pool past 5k without having to raid.

For that matter, while you're all being so kind and generous with the knowledge, any other places I can feasibly get drops solo, preferably (but not necessarily) while xping?

Tenielle
08-08-2005, 06:16 PM
Sorry Noir, I can't say anything comes to mind. There are certain places you can get decent gear solo, such as the range item in Ferubi, but to get it you'd need better gear than you're trying to get. For instance, I can kill most named in NC while rune farming solo, but the drops wouldn't do me any good.

It's tough not raiding to upgrade as a soloer. Before I joined a raiding guild, I did LDONs up the wazzu for the points. I got 20k points all together but I had to pretty much organize every group I ran to get enough South Ro instances, cause NOBODY wanted to do them. Now LDON just stands for Lesser DoNs, since DoNs are so much the better bet now.

I'm not telling you anything you don't already know, EQ is designed to motivate you to group/raid to get the goods. If you have the plat/crystals, you can get a number of pieces of gear above 200 HPs or mana, but even the stuff most guilds see rot anymore is far better than anything anyone could get by themselves.

Tenielle
08-08-2005, 06:20 PM
Oh sorry, in answer to your other question on Vxed, I spent probably 12-18 hours there total and never saw a drop beyond a fur here, tooth there. Alla says there's a mask http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=26356 off random mobs but I've never seen it drop even in the numerous group Vxed runs I went on.

duralupal
08-08-2005, 07:08 PM
Mmmm, you could look at the following quest, the shoulder piece is an upgrade for you:

http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=23162

Before you head into Droga though and try to get the drops (or head to the bazaar to buy them), check Burning Woods to see if the quest mob is there. If he ain't there he hasn't been freed and at this point unless you organize freeing him yourself it's bad odds he'll be freed.

Nobody's mentioned PoM yet. I don't really know the zone that well, there are a few things there that would be small upgrades for you. Don't know if everything minus Bristlebane is solo'able there or what though, maybe somebody else has some good info on it.

Gear-wise if you could manage to get the new VP key you could do some of the quests solo, and the gear is nice. New VP key isn't completely trivial though, you'd probably have to get lucky finding a pick-up raid. Have to fix RoS faction but there's still a few reasonable places to do that.

New MM could be rough, but, with practice and care it'd be do-able pre-castle. The castle I think would probably be out.

http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=33693 can drop off random trash.

There are a number of mobs that would be kill'able now with only 12'ish people if your guild likes doing small get-together stuff (Korucust, Inny in Nadox, could do an MPG "raid", plenty 'o options really).

For grouping at 66, DoN/Creator like you've been doing is a good choice to get crystals together, should be able to really help yourself there.

Vekx
08-09-2005, 01:09 AM
At that level of AA etc, I'd go to NC, WoS side there are caves. 5 mobs give 6% AA per kill. The researchers give just 3% AA. (all root rot btw) Learn how to pull the ones you want. Harmony works and at level 70 no resists. Room enough to move and flat (unlike WoS murk caves where you can get that dreaded "you can't see you target" message even though you are next to it). Not that WoS murks are not about .5 AA more per kill (yes just .5) but is it worth it when the NC camp I'm talking about is way easier and faster? When you get a bit more gear and AA you might try WoS Murk caves but not that much better.

PoFire is still best if you can get the camp. Use the DoN snare, then regular snare, debuff cold, cold nuke and any mana free DoT's u got, then cold nuke till dead. You can't root them long enough for any root tactics. You can't quad with your mana/mana regen. But 11% AA per kill in about 10 min is good. Just a guess in time.

noirblood
08-10-2005, 03:57 PM
Hey, really awesome replies here. I am really appreciating this.

Those types of quests/random zonewide drops are exactly what I'm looking for. I do raid rarely as my guild is in an alliance that does EP's, but I just dont have the time to play often enough to make the raids or long enough to stay for the duration. Solo things like this where I can kill a few things every day and eventually get a lucky drop are exactly what I need.

Any others? :P

As you can see I got to 67! Got lucky with a few hard Creator DoN's with double xp on and am now going to head over to Vxed tonight to work on AA's.

Planning on checking out that NC camp you recommended as well Vekx...and will take a look at the MM drop and Droga quest when I have a chance.

You guys rock.

-Noir

duralupal
08-10-2005, 04:08 PM
MM can still be a little trainy, remember harmony and you'll be fine.

Lowerth
08-10-2005, 04:32 PM
The mask does Drop in Vxed.
It may take 2k expeditions but they do drop.
If you are soloing it's worth a shot at that lotto drop.

noirblood
08-10-2005, 11:33 PM
Went to Barindu and was trying to find Vxed Instances. I asked that G guy by the gardens and got a Purifying Plant trial...went inside and zoned in and got raped!

Is that what you guys were talking about? Most of the mobs were immune to root/snare. Or did you mean somewhere else?

Thanks!

-Noir

Sildan
08-11-2005, 12:35 AM
Went to Barindu and was trying to find Vxed Instances. I asked that G guy by the gardens and got a Purifying Plant trial...went inside and zoned in and got raped!

Is that what you guys were talking about? Most of the mobs were immune to root/snare. Or did you mean somewhere else?

Thanks!

-Noir

NOPE
Check the map I attached. The Red arrow points to an NPC named Apprentice Udranda (http://eqbeastiary.allakhazam.com/search.shtml?id=15145) . Shes standing in a puddle. Say "Vxed" to her to get the instance ( don't recall if you need any preflags ). The green arrow points to the expedition entrance. It IS safe to uninvis in front of the golem at the exped entrance and buff there.



Credit where credit's due!!
Map fragment is a screencap from http://www.mapfiend.net. Thanx to those folks for hosting all the awesome game maps!!

duralupal
08-11-2005, 01:57 PM
One more note about Vxed and tactics there, when the mobs are snared you're pretty much golden. But when they aren't, don't be bashful about evak'ing or zoning, they will take you down fast. Once you get into the swing of it you won't really have any problems.

Lowerth
08-11-2005, 03:39 PM
Mobs in Vxed unslowed can quad for 1100 and stun. Try not to get hit :D

noirblood
08-11-2005, 05:21 PM
Ah, thanks for the clarification and warnings. ;) Will try it tonight.

noirblood
08-17-2005, 12:13 AM
Well I gave it a shot and it worked out pretty well. Was able to kill about 10-12 mobs in Vxed before I got a group offer in OoW...perfect for me. They seemed to break root quite often and i kept having mire thorns resist on hynids, but all in all it was pretty efficient and a lot of fun to do it in a new place.

Thanks again for the tips :)

xyu101
08-17-2005, 03:43 AM
I don't have GOD, also not fire flagged. I'd love to solo OOW however it is way too crowded these days. DON solo is not good for me. Either the ground is not flat or there are too many caster type mobs.

I have two choices: either wait at lavastorm for a DON mission or solo in HOH with LFG on. HOH mobs give 1% regular exp every 2-3 kills. Exp wise may not be a bad choice, however the loot cannot compete with OOW or DON.

noirblood
08-17-2005, 11:38 AM
Xyu, try soloing in NC. Even if its crowded there are always places you can camp dragorns on the ledges for faction, xp, and excellent rare drops. Very easy to kill for a druid, just harmony, pull with snare, root, dot, repeat.

Also someone above mentioned soloing in Harbinger's Spire, but I haven't tried it yet so I can't comment. Also try soloing some named in DS and Bloodfields for augs and loot.

Might be worthwhile to pick up GoD when u get a chance too. Some of the AA's are very useful.

-Noir

xyu101
08-17-2005, 01:01 PM
Thanks noirblood. Here's what I did yesterday. I ported to WOS, egress, then zoned to NC. Right at zone in I turned left at tunnel and saw two dragon elite armsmen (sp?). Invis and explored inside there were like 6 more the same type of mobs. Came back, harmony one, level 61 snare the other got resisted. The other one didn't agro though. When I ran back waiting for spell to refresh somebody shouting train to WOS. I thought too dangerous so hit exodus. Will try again today. Can anybody provide information about this mob 'dragorn elite armsmen'? Also how often is the train? May not be a good spot if train is frequent lol.

Taeyn Kaidyrsi
08-17-2005, 01:07 PM
Isn't Harbinger's Spire indoors? My pally partner and I went there a few weeks ago. He would sometimes get 2 or 3 on a pull. Although, I can harmony higher than he can pacify, I didn't try as I thought it was indoors. We did not go far past the entry as it was our first time in the zone. Is it easier to get single pulls further in?

noirblood
08-17-2005, 03:07 PM
Xyu, the trains shouldn't happen too frequently, but they do on occasion. You can kill those two mobs you referred to pretty easily I'd think. They have a fair amount of hp but its pretty safe to pull there and you should be able to keep them rooted and snared easily.

If you're getting a lot of trains just move to another area on the ledges where you can find some dragorns and some space to pull them to. You can always go down in the canyon and pull some murkgliders also, but be careful to avoid the fecund murkglider as mentioned above cuz he'll swarm you with adds.

I'm still exploring the area myself but I haven't had any trouble so far pulling dragorns and rotting them down. All of the dragorns should be snareable/rootable and don't summon.

I'll let ya know if I find a better spot.

-Noir

xyu101
08-18-2005, 12:51 PM
Ok, tried the 'ditch' area near WOS and DC zones on murkgliders. They have a bit less hp than HOH human guards, give a bit less exp as well (that's my impression, maybe the same exp though). The drawback is that it's not as safe as HOH. Why is it not safe? It's because mobs are lined one after another, so you are always worrying about the mobs repop behind you. Some mobs wander a bit as well, not like HOH all stable. However, it is very easy to find a group so not too much to worry about.

The room with dragorn elite armsman I mentioned previously at WOS ZI is the so called 'researcher' room. There's not much space to kite and the mob breaks root several times. Hit not very hard (max 400ish) but has a proc (250hp?). Gives more exp per kill than HOH though.

I would prefer HOH for SOLO to all the places just mentioned. Haven't tried the dragorns at 'RR' camp yet, hopefully that camp is better.

Edit: just thought about and idea. I can pull the mobs in the researcher room to the 'ditch' and kite there. That should work.

Bacchuss
08-19-2005, 07:47 PM
I had a necro friend show me a spot back by the Bazu Smasher. There is Dragorn Elite Armsman and Curates? Level 65, they con even to me. I was able to harmony pull them, then root rot them. I even pulled 2 @ once and still killed em off, so it is relatively safe. I wanna say they were 9% per kill for AA. Never been to Vxed, I heard xp is comparable to this.

xyu101
08-20-2005, 03:11 AM
The upper-left corner of the NC map (just past RidgeRunner) has some space to kite, however not many murk's to pull and occasionally you get a cleric instead of warrior type. Not ideal for solo.

I find the best place is close to the lower-right corner of the map just before getting to the dragorn refugees, where there is a narrow path on one side of the big boulder clear of mobs. You can pull ferans from up the ledge (there is one wanderer, pull it first when it is in between the other two). The ferans have a bit more hp than HOH guards and give almost double exp per kill at 66. The only problem is that they run fast even when ensnared and break roots frequently. Since the path is too narrow, I got several hits for 300-600 every now and then when kiting. I have not yet get the level 61 snare resisted from them. I guess if that happens it's exodus time lol. BTW the other side of the boulder has one wandering feran.

I think for the sake of safety I'll check back at level 67 to see if roots stick better. Before that, it's still HOH. I can kill 7 guards in 30 min's time (using Elixir of clarity IX), then afk for several minutes, burn another elixir and kill 7, and so on. every 7 guards give like 2.5% exp. Slow but safe. OOW and DON mobs run too fast lol.

Juniper
08-20-2005, 06:01 AM
I don't have too many resist issues at 67 now in NC, if that helps any. I poke around and see what I can kill while LFG, though it feels like I have been 67 for ages now, lol.

noirblood
08-23-2005, 11:21 AM
The problem with HoH is there's not really a chance at any spectacular rare drops or useful faction. If all I care about is xp there's usually a camp open in WOS or a few people willing to join a DoN. If I'm soloing its gotta be for real good xp and a fun challenge (Vxed) or have a chance to get me something other than xp (Thundercrest, NC).

On a side note does anyone know approximately how many kills it takes to get Dranik Loyalists faction to Warmly from wherever it starts (dubious i think)? I've got the drops for 3 tier one oow pieces and 2 other oow quests but can't do any of the turn-ins.

Is there a big difference in faction gains if you kill in NC rather than greenies in DS? If not I think I'm just gonna spam kill in DS while checking for named.

Thanks again for all the responses on this thread, been real helpful!

Also, any ways to get larger faction bumps than just killing mobs here and there?

-Noir

duralupal
08-23-2005, 11:55 AM
There are a few rare drops in HoH, though I don't know if I'd call them spectacular (if you meant spectacularly rare, then yes they are).

Mana Pres range item (http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=17389) can drop anywhere, got one once pretty near the zoneline off just a scrub mob. I've only gotten one though and pre-GoD and OoW I 'dun killed a lot of mobs in HoH....There's also a cool bard ring (http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=17097), but I've never seen it drop and it may drop only further in. Not sure if there's anything else.

noirblood
08-23-2005, 12:26 PM
Well I stand corrected ;) Those two items are pretty cool (especially the bard ring), but still not really on par with the drops u can get with similar rarity in NC and Vxed. Cool though!

Any tips on quickest way to up Dranik Loyalist faction?

-Noir

duralupal
08-23-2005, 04:50 PM
Nope, the NC items beat 'em hands down. The ring probably sell for a fair chunk given the mod, but, again I've never seen one drop.

NC I've heard is good faction, it's where I did my factioning. If you know of mini-raid mob getting taken down might ask if you can faction tag (there are a couple of 'em in NC, mini-enough that well geared guilds could single group 'em comfortably).

xyu101
08-23-2005, 07:24 PM
The focus shield dropped in HOH seems to be useless. It's MP4 for beneficial spells only. The ring is good though. Also in HOH hero parts drop like crazy. They sell good at bazaar.

Kaio
08-24-2005, 11:14 AM
I took me forever to go from dubious to warmly on dranik loyalist faction. I think it was about 3 days or so constant killing in NC (6-8 hours) to get from dubious to apprehensive. Another 2 days to get to indiff and a couple more to get to kindly. Then comes the horrid part, going from kindly to warmly took me at least a week to do, again it was constant 6-8 hours of killing. This was mostly done at the packmaster/pixt camp in NC.

Edraith Rumblebelly
08-24-2005, 12:19 PM
If you are KT flagged you can try the primal reptile pit in Yxtta. The ravenous cragbeast are good AA at 70. Most yield 8% per kill and take about 3 minutes doing the old root/rot.

They don't summon and con dubious. Like Vxed they can drop a rare item, in this case a ring or an earing. Also BiC components and Taelosian mountain tea leaves if you are a brewer.

It can be tricky to get there so if you decide to try it, see if you can locate a druid in the know to lead you through the riddle to enter. It is a very nice camp in my opinion and rarely camped on my server.

duralupal
08-24-2005, 01:38 PM
What, beneficial spells like heals? :p

It's not a drop-dead item, it's not close. Was just letting him know that there are some rare drops in HoH. Did actually sell the shield I got to drop for something like 30k. That was a year ago or more though, now I wouldn't expect to get anywhere near that.

Daith
08-24-2005, 02:57 PM
-noirblood

You're looking at about 1300 kills from Dubious. In reality, though, it's gonna take you about 2400+ kills from a fresh start. This, of course, depends on factors like race, class, unknown previous faction hits, etc. This Dranik Loyalist faction chart should help illustrate what I mean:

Ally : 1100 to 2800
Warmly : 750 to 1099
Kindly : 500 to 749
Amiable : 100 to 499
Indifferent : 0 to 99
Apprehensive : -100 to -1
Dubious: -500 to -101
Threatening: -750 to -501
Scowls: -2800 to -751

Kaio, I am surprised that you advanced so quickly...my hat is off to you. I have been "factioning" (albeit lightly) in RCoD, NC, DS and some parts of WoS for 2 months now and I'm just about to hit Kindly. I am glad Kindly isn't as much a beast to do as Amiable at least :smile:

In case anyone wonders...you need Ally faction for Teir 2 armor.

Daith
70 Druid

noirblood
08-24-2005, 03:15 PM
Cool thanks for that chart Daith. Everything is easier when you have a quantifiable goal ;)

Are there any mobs u can kill that give more than 1 point of faction increase? I've heard there are named, etc. that sway faction more than your run-of-the-mill noc.

Do you get more faction from harder things like NC mobs rather than DS mobs? If not I think I'm just gonna get a group together and swarm pull greens in DS. Toughest part would be to ensure you get a hit in on everything before it dies.

I've got a bunch of Feran skulls but something tells me its not worth risking the turn-in...unless they count for a real significant amount of faction...although at some point I assume the WOS dragorns will not aggro anymore once you've worked the faction up to dubious? How much do the kyv hearts you can turn in to DS bump you up?

It seems like a lot of work but I'm so pleased to actually find a place where faction really matters these days.

-Noir

P.S. If you /con a dragorn in DS that will tell you what your Dranik Loyalist faction is, right?

Daith
08-24-2005, 04:56 PM
noirblood-

Amazing...you have asked the one question that has been driving me nuts...do certain Dranik Loyalist Faction MoBs give better faction hits than others. I have seen no other question generate more polar opposite responses. Keep in mind that most of the "opinions" I have solicited are from very very knowledgeable players.

All are in agreement that raid MoBs give you more than one hit. That's where the agreement really ends, though. If you wanna follow a similar post I made a couple days ago then click here (http://everquest.allakhazam.com/forum.html?forum=1&mid=1124725694790404999&num=1) - no one has really answered as of this writing though.

Skulls/Hearts - you only get one or two faction hits per turn in. Save 'em, but considering they are so rare, it sucks that the faction hits are so small. I invis, sneak up to Jarekiv, hand in the skull and then run like crazy for the zoneline. Never have come close to dying, but it sure does make for an interesting 45 secs :) As an alternative, just have a friend pull the baddies away from him then run over and hand 'em in.

Again, I find it interesting that we're both thinking along the same lines here...let me know if you find out anything.

Daith
70 Druid
Bristlebane

Kaio
08-24-2005, 05:50 PM
I did that feran skull turn in once and only once. Then again, I did get owned after the turn in so to me the risk vs. reward wasn't good enough. As far as the mobs in DS goes for faction hits, from what I have heard/read since OoW came out was that the raid mobs are the only ones who give higher hits. So it sounds like you could just swarm kill greenies in DS. Actually, when Brell was still around I heard of a guild putting a raid together and killing the entire zone over and over again just for the hits. Of course, they had a lot of wizzies and druids who hit warmly faction first because they AE'd the hell out of the mobs. I was just partial to NC because we were at a camp where you had a decent chance of getting runes from 2 different named mobs in pretty much the same spot. And Daith, I thought it took me forever to get that faction. I knew people that were ally before i was even indiff. It is by far the hardest faction I know of to raise. And I was wrong, it was going from amiable to kindly that took the longest.

Daith
08-24-2005, 08:21 PM
Kaio-

Yeah - I have read posts and had one guy on my server (Bristlebane) talk about that AEing technique in Dranik's Scar. From what I understand, get 4 full groups with at least one druid, one wizard, one enchanter, and one puller (any type) in each group. Send each puller out to gather up 5 to 10 MoBs on each pull and have the enchanters chaining stun, the druids and wizards chaining AoEs and everyone else all out DPS. Sounds fun but I have never gotten a chance to do it.

Noirblood, I forgot to answer your question about checking faction. Although there are several reliable MoBs to do it with, I prefer to check with Kirostall (http://eqbeastiary.allakhazam.com/search.shtml?id=16482) in Dranik's Scar or Barowsar (http://eqbeastiary.allakhazam.com/search.shtml?id=16051) in The Bloodfields.

Daith
70 Druid
Bristlebane

Lhittle
08-25-2005, 11:44 AM
If you are just looking for faction hang out in MPG and follow a guild that is going to a trial there. Mem your fastest debuff or low level nuke and then tag each mob on the way to the trial. Once they reach the trial area, egress and continue whatever else you wanted to do. You can get a lot of faction hits that way.

Ally faction isnt hard to get in a guild in anguish, the mobs there have a huge faction bump, and you have to clear it each time you go through.

Daith
08-25-2005, 04:06 PM
Lhittle-

Although I am not anguish level yet, that is really helpful information - thanks. That & the MPG information seems to support the argument that factioning in higher level zones provides, in turn, greater faction hits. I do not have empirical data to support either argument, but my feeling is that is the case.

Of course, like PoP planar progression, shawl questing, DoN progression, power-leveling, etc...I'll finally know the answer once I have already completed the task :lmao:

Thanks again,

Daith
70 Druid
Bristlebane

Drake09
08-25-2005, 04:23 PM
It's just like killing oh say a guard giant in Kael, and then Killing AOW, and King Tormax. Mobs on same faction, bigger hits to the faction. (ok, KT has some own faction of his own, but whatever, its the gist of the idea.)

noirblood
08-26-2005, 07:58 PM
NM

xyu101
08-27-2005, 10:10 PM
Level 66 HOH is best solo exp in terms of risk/return ratio. Other places may give more exp but way more dangerous. Just not worth the risk. Of course if you put phat loot in the equation, then HOH is less attractive.