Advice for a returning player

[Greed]

Hello folks,

I am sorry for "Another returning player advice post", but I am looking for a little advice about my mage.
I have looked at various sites, and some of the sites I remember are no longer around. Luckily, I found this site. (and it's for mages too!)

Here is some info.

Background:
-Last played 8 years ago, Gates of Discord Expansion I believe. I think it was a month or two after the end of the 5th Anniversary I stopped playing (Fabled JBoots lol)
-65 High Elf Magician
-150 AA's (Sporadically placed...6/6 New Tanaan Crafting Mastery =P)
-Most, if not all 7 main tradeskills are roughly 250, Spell Research is at 200.
-Epic 1.0 obtained.

Currently:
-Silver Membership
-99% into 65
-Mostly solo play for now
-I do not have the newest expansion, VoA.

Goals:
-Casual play (Explore, Max Skills/AA's/Level...eventually)
-Epic 1.5/2.0 If possible (Because it is there)

In the past week, I have tried to read various posts, guides and FAQ's to refresh my memory, and to learn the new things, but I still have a few questions.



I used to have the augment [Diamond Prism of Companionship] with Summoner's Boon.
http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=23480

But the item it is in, is red and forbidden to me now.

Is it worth it to buy the [Intricate Summoner's Earring] now, or wait? (Summoner's Boon)
http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=83971

Wait as in, at 65 it doesn't matter, and I should just buy one at a higher "level"?

Or if not that item, any other suggestions, I might have missed for my level?


Which brings me to the next question,
At my current level, should I be trying to level up or get more AA's to help me level later?
(Level up quickly to gain access to more spells/items like the Elegant Summoner's Earring, the summoned pet focus, or the I think wire coil, etc.)

Any suggestions on where to go to level/AA? The current hotzone for 65 "The Steppes" or another zone?



Which pet, is currently the best to solo with for xp? (I think I remember using Earth, all the time solo)
I know Pet defensive/combat AA's are a good thing to go for first when soloing, any other suggestions on AA's to gain?
Are the Epic 1.5/2.0 quests able to be solo'd (eventually), and if so, around which level?

I thank you in advance for your time,
Kahmi, 65 High Elf Magician

P.S.
A little off topic, but I also have a 65 High Elf Enchanter on the same account if anyone has any advice for him as well =).
Khami, 65 High Elf Enchanter

[Miphon]

Is your Prism marked as Prestige? If not, it's whatever piece of gear it's embedded in. Either way as a primary solo mage you want a better focus. If you can find "The Sweeper" in the bazaar, get that for the time being, otherwise you probably want to hit 70 and get an Elegant Summoner's Earring. Once you hit 70+ the Wire Coil should also be your goal. Also hit up friendly 78+ mages for Cauldron summoned Shard of the First Minion which will give you temporary SS focus.

Definitely recommend getting 66 to get your new air pet. Air pet should be your go to pet until level 94 where earth pet takes over.

Get yourself a healer merc post haste. Even if you don't want to molo all the time they're worth it for the buffs and occasional rezzes. I completed 1.5 epics for my mage and druid grouped, both at 76 with supporting J1 healer mercs. Non raid mage solo would probably need to be 81+ with a good focus and plenty of AAs to complete it.

I think the Hole could be a decent place for you to xp at 65 with the constructs and gargoyles at the bottom of the pit. Steppes also perhaps, especially 66 and with merc, see how you go without one.

Aside from pet defensives - spell crit related AAs, Gift of Mana, Host of elements, invis, Companion of Necessity 1.

[Tweelis]

Fenden Helter in Dragonscale Hills has mini-quests called dalies. Some area easy while others take more time and effort. If you do these you'll get faycetum (alternate currency) for each task. You'll be wanting to save up and buy a Energized Wire Coil for 747 Faycetum. Although there are other pet focus items out there this one will be the easiest one for you to attain at your level. Here's Fenden's page so you can look things over: http://eqbeastiary.allakhazam.com/search.shtml?id=29799

Do A Quick Errand - Ladies of the Light and get 20 faycetum
A Special Favor - Special Delivery and get 30 faycetum
If you can get around quickly (druid/wizard friend or guild lobby portal) A Quick Errand - Fang Breakers is worthwhile, same with A Quick Errand - Crusaders of Veeshan.
A Quick Errand - Brownie Rebels is probably the easiest time/reward one out there.
A Quick Errand - Ak'Anon Strike Force V is also worthwhile but you might have some problem with see invis mobs.

I"ll recommend staying at 65 for lots of aa's. The hole is good if it isn't overcamped on your server but word has gotten out and a lot of people xp there due to the ease and fast rate of kills. Grieg's End should still be good for you. The Steppes will be xp but in general the older the zones the better xp will be.

Something else you can work on if you're not intending to grind to max level as fast as possible. One of my favorite quests of all time was http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/ques ... quest=4188 . Yea it can be replaced with better augs out there but the quest is fun and it is not marked prestige.

Which pet is best depends on your playstyle. If you get 2 or more mobs at a time stick with earth. If you intend on only getting singles then the air pet's stun proc mitigates the damage better.

My main theory behind how to spend aaxp points is first, don't die. Second is don't let my pet die. Third is kill mobs faster and fourth is get fun things to make life easier/more fun. I'd recommend getting combat agility/stability 6 (past that you'll get diminishing returns). Innate runspeed 5 and natural durability as high as they can get are good to have. Miphon gave a great list of where to start. Since I can't remember what level everything unlocks at it'd be best if I didn't comment any farther. g'luck

[Skrub]

What's the AA limit for Silver? 250 AA'S? If so that would probably make your AA decisions much more important. Do you have a magelo or can you put down your current aa's?

[Greed]

Thank you for your advice so far.

As for the question(s):

I do not have Magelo.

I am unsure if the Augment(s) themselves are the only cause, or the item has the "Prestige" label as well, as all the items that are red to me have Augments in them.
Items with "Prestige " on them are:
Range: Radiant Feather with the Diamond Prism of Companionship in it,
Shoulders: Blessed Coldain Prayer Shawl with Flawless Green Shard of Might (Why STR, I don't know)
Cloak: Cloak of Greater Pernicity with Flawless Turquoise Fragment of Intellect

Since I have this stuff all written down here is the rest of my gear too:
Head: Elemental Cap of the Prime
Face: Precious Gemstone Adorned Mask
Ear 1: N/A
Ear 2: Earring of the Solstice
Chest: Fabled Robe of the Ishva
Neck: The Binden Concerrentia
Arms: Elemental Sleeves of the Prime
Back: (above)
Waist: Buckled Shale Belt
Shoulders: (above)
Wrist 1: N/A
Wrist 2: Elemental Bracelet of the Prime
Legs: Astral Leggings of the Titans
Hands: Elemental Gloves of the Prime
Charm: Intricate Woden Figurine
Feet: Fabled Rain Soaked Sandals (Someone just sent me a tell to grab them last night)
Finger 1: N/A
Finger 2: Signet of Grisk
Power Source: N/A
Primary: Bejewled Dagger of Summoning
Secondary: Tactician's Bulwark
Range: (above)
Ammo: Small Black Drum

I don't know why the N/A slots...my guess is either summoned items went in there, or slots did not exist back then.
I will upgrade my gear as well.



I believe the limit for Silver is 1000 AA's

According to the AA UI:
AA Points: 8 (I got refunded some pet AA when I first logged in)
Assigned: 150/1000
Total Spent: 148

Here is a list of AA's I have writen down.

General
----------
Innate Regeneration 3/35
Innate Run Speed 3/5
New Tanaan Crafting Mastery 6/6
Origin 1/1 ( I don't know why I have this, I wouldn't have bought it. I have gate, unless I got it free?)

Archetype
--------------
Fury of Magic 3/21
Innate Enlightenment 2/5
Mental Clarity 3/33
Pet Affinity 1/1
Spell Casting Fury 3/3
Spell Casting Mastery 3/4
Suspend Minion 2/2

Class
----------
Elemental Alacrity 1/28
Elemental Form: Water 1/3
Elemental Fury 5/30
Elemental Pact 1/1
Host of the Elements 3/15
Pet Discipline 1/1\

Thanks.

[Conjurous]

What's the AA limit for Silver? 250 AA'S? If so that would probably make your AA decisions much more important. Do you have a magelo or can you put down your current aa's?

Isn't it 1k aas for silver. Which will give u more room to choose AAs.

[Miphon]

Spell Casting Mastery 4 would be my first pick, depending on when it opens up for you.
Theft of Essence 1+ if you're going to focus on summoned mobs much

Origin changed to freebie status at some point.

A lot of others will have to wait until you get more levels. I will say that you have the potential to earn AAs a lot quicker with some more levels under your belt. Do you see yourself going gold at some point? You're going to cap out at 1k AAs eventually, how quickly do you want to get there? I do think the fun factor ramps up with some AAs and new spells down the line.

Also, get your Raging Servant pet spell if you don't have it. That bad boy will save you plenty when things get hairy, even if you don't have GoM to cast him for free.

How bored are you of the content you already did at 65? Go for 66 at least and that new air pet, try some new zones and see what's fun.

Also, inspect the augs on your unusable items. Almost certainly it is the aug being prestige. If so, strip the aug and see if the item is ok to use. There's always defiant gear to replace it at worst.

[bobipet]

some good info on leveling / farming area.

http://almarsguides.com/eq/

[bluejaye]

most augs are prestige, although the last patch made a few augs usable by silver accounts. i'd remove the augs and check the gear. the prestige gear comes from the top two tiers of all expansions from sod forward. it wouldn't surprise me if they snuck in some other prestige items along the way, but that's what i heard for the most part. you shoudn't have to worry about prestige much until 80 or so, whatever the tosk/warrens gear is.