Has anyone done the New Years Quest? Have heard coflicting accounts in game. Any info would be appreciated. Can you solo or need group, how long to complete, steps to complete?
Thanks for any input or links.

If you are doing Old Frostbeard (highest level on) - You need to kill 5 level 70 summoned storms and Old Frostbeard himself (yellowcon to 70).

The storms hit me (70 Pally ~450 AA) for between 200 and 500 - most around the 200ish range. They have a decent amount of hitpoints. Have an AE ~1300DD every 30-45 seconds or so.

Named hit for more. ~600 and 1000ish. Has same AE as the storms and also an AE knockback that likes to send you across the zone. (At least that is what I am told - I had infusion up and never got the knockback once). I'd like to add that this is the best looking Giant I have ever seen in EQ. =)

Group I had was Myself (Pally), 70 Shammy, 70 Cleric, 66 Mage, 70 Necro and a 70 Zerker.

With the group the fights were trivial.

I don't have a loc of where we camped - but if you go to the middle of the zone (from PoK book) and cross the river, we set up on the side of the mountain near where the Elder Mistletoe Giants were.

Has anyone done the New Years Quest? Have heard coflicting accounts in game. Any info would be appreciated. Can you solo or need group, how long to complete, steps to complete?
Thanks for any input or links.
You can get the tasks solo. If you just want the fireworks effect and the stats aren't important, you can grab the lowest level quest (Frostbeard's Lesser Minions). Should have no problem soloing that task.

If you want the stats, then you'll want Emerald of the New Year, which is the reward for Old Frostbeard. But, you will need a group with a minimum level of 68 to get the Old Frostbeard task.

Emerald of the New Year
AC: +20 Str: +9 Sta: +12 Cha: +9 Wis: +11 Int: +11 Fire Resist: +8 Cold Resist: +8 Magic Resist: +8 HP: +115 Mana: +115 End: +115
Avoidance: +5
Mana Regeneration: +2
Regeneration: +2

Each task has different requirements. Old Frostbeard task is to kill 5 Frostbeard's Summoned Storms and then Frostbeard. Once that is accomplished, return to M.C. Tinkerton for the reward.

The storms are white to level 70, and Frostbeard is yellow to a 70. Level 60 cleric had no trouble keeping a 70 pally alive. My partner 3 boxed with a 70 pally, 66 wizard, and 58 shaman. I 3 boxed a 70 druid, 66 enchanter, and 60 cleric. On Frostbeard, we dropped the shaman and cleric to add a friend who had logged on just as we finished the storms. She is a 70 druid and boxes a 70 enchanter. (The shaman and cleric couldn't be added to the task so wouldn't have got the reward.)

At level 65, you can get the third task, Frostbeard's Elite Minions. That task requires you kill 10 Dark Mistletoe Clan Elders and then Elder Gnarled Pine. You could probably solo the Elders. They hit pretty hard and take forever to kill. I had no problem rooting the Elders with Savage Root.

However, Elder Gnarled Pine summons, so he'd be a bit harder to solo.

The Clockwork Party Machine is found here
http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/quest.html?quest=3279

Sweet, thanks for the info. Will have to get a group up and complete this. :)