Guild Quests, do we care?

[Ookii]

As I have started playing EQII now, and having been finally invited into the guild, I am seeing that our guild level is 5 or something.  It seems as if we should do some guild quests to get our level up, but in truth I have no clue what you get with a higher guild level (besides more guild bank space).

Do we care about doing guild quests? How hard are they, and what do you get in return?

I'm looking at all you vets out there.

[Cheddar]

List of stuff you can get: http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=tips&message.id=1095&view=by_date_ascending&page=1

The city writ quests are easy, and can be completed as you are doing other things anyhow.  Also they are level specific. 




edit. found a better link so redid entire post.  No post ++ for the cheeseman!

[shiznitz]

Speaking from a casual guild that has reached guild level 25, two words: Heritage Quests.

http://eq2.ogaming.com for walkthroughs

These quests will give 50,000 status each. If each of you does three, you should be guild level 15 pretty quickly.

Also, never leave Qeynos without a writ from each of the factions (guards: NQ on the stairs up to the castle, concordium: SQ mage tower, tunarian alliance: Eldar Grove treehouse, celestial watch: temple in NQ.) I actually stopped doing them for the CW because of the inconvenient location.  Writ kill lists will often overlap with your other quests so there is no reason not to have them if you are serious about guild level.

Lastly, the guild raids are maybe worth doing. They are fun, 2-group affairs but the loot was quite mediocre. They now scale with group level.

[UD_Delt]

There's a couple of ways to earn guild status which goes toward leveling your guild.

Doing Guild Writs - These are mini quests of the, "go here and kill 24x" variety. They don't give any exp on completion only the guild status. You will of course earn exp while killilng the 24x. There are 4 of these in each city that I know of on 4 different factions (priest, scout, fighter, mage). They vary in difficulty at different levels and some can be done solo while some need a group. Status reward is usually in the 1000-4000 range depending on level.

Heritage quests - These are long drawn out quests that reward a good bit of exp, status points, and usually quite a nice item which you may or may not be able to use. The status reward for these can vary between 30,000 - 60,000. These are well worth doing but will require a group to do them at an appropriate level.

Status Items - These are the Coral Amulet, Blackened Iron Relic, Opal Scrying Stone, etc... things you find on mainliy humanoid mobs. If you examine the item and it says this could be used by a powerful guild of scouts/mages/fighters/priests it's a status item. These can be sold back to the same people you get the guild writs from and each one is worth 100-500 status depending on the level of the mob you got it from. Edit: Oh yeah these also sell pretty well on the broker from rich folk who are trying to quickly level a new guild if you aren't concerned with guild/personal status.

Tradeskill writs - These are given in the Ironforge (Qeynos) and somewhere in Freeport as well. They are level appropriate tradeskill tasks that ask you to make 10 of some item. Good if you're still leveling a tradeskill and want to guild/personal status as well. These are in the 1000-4000 range.

Killing raid mobs - Certain raid mobs give status when you kill them. Not sure of the exact numbers as I've never fully kept track. There are at the moment certain tier 6 (Level 60-65) zones that give ridiculous guild status and pretty much any guild that raids in those zones will find themselves at level 40 in a matter of weeks without even trying.

Each of the above give both guild status as well as personal status. Guild status levels your guild and as your guild levels you gain access to more and more status items. These range from bigger apartments, cheaper horses/carpets, better tradeskill stations you can put in your house, titles (Sir/Lady), tradeskill recipe books (wyrmsteel may be the only one), various decorative armor and clothing, and I'm sure some other stuff I'm missing.

All of those items that open up have a monetary cost as well as a status cost. For example the new spirit steed you can get at guild level 40 costs I believe 10-12p and 400,000 personal status. The cheapest tradeskill stations (crude quality only) cost a few gold and a thousand or so status where as the best tradeskill stations cost somewhere in the plat & 200,000 status range.

There are also various guild raids that are opened up at certain guild levels but I've never participated in any of those so can't really comment.

I'm sure I missed something in there but that's the rough rundown.

[schild]

Ookii and I had some writs for Stormhold. We were doing fine up until some stupid aggro due to my inability to judge AoE distance (omfg do games need to put in a thing that tells you the range where the spell will hit while it's being cast), and a named heroic mob spawning in the hallway that just decimated us. It's a bit of a ball of bullshit that a level 17 heroic can kill 2 level 18 toons and a level 18 pet. And it's not like we couldn't hold our own, the fucker just had an obscene amount of hitpoints. They need to tone that shit down. It doesn't match up with the damage they do. I smacked him for about 500 in the first couple seconds and he wasn't even down 10% (If you're wondering, skeletal strike for 300ish and seism for about 205).

[Sky]

It's a bit of a ball of bullshit that a level 17 heroic can kill 2 level 18 toons and a level 18 pet

Hello reason #1 I quit EQ2.

[Murgos]

It's a bit of a ball of bullshit that a level 17 heroic can kill 2 level 18 toons and a level 18 pet

Hello reason #1 I quit EQ2.

Yeah, either it's level 17 or it's not.  The level 17 +++ stuff is just silly.  If it's actually level 26 say it's 26.

[Alkiera]

It's a bit of a ball of bullshit that a level 17 heroic can kill 2 level 18 toons and a level 18 pet

Hello reason #1 I quit EQ2.

Yeah, either it's level 17 or it's not.  The level 17 +++ stuff is just silly.  If it's actually level 26 say it's 26.

WoW does the same thing by having normal mobs, and 'elite' mobs that are the same 'level' just a lot tougher.

However, Wow doesn't make near the use of the system that EQ2 does.  Rather than 2 levels(normal, elite) EQ2 has about a dozen, it seems.

Alkiera

[Sky]

The WoW elite system shits the bed, too (imo).

Of course, there's also the fact that you don't have to level up your fucking skills and spells in WoW, you either have them or you don't. Goddamned microgrinds.

[Cheddar]

It's a bit of a ball of bullshit that a level 17 heroic can kill 2 level 18 toons and a level 18 pet

Hello reason #1 I quit EQ2.

Yeah, either it's level 17 or it's not.  The level 17 +++ stuff is just silly.  If it's actually level 26 say it's 26.

Except by making it a higher level it will target you that much later.  I like the new system.  At first I detested it when it first came out, but now that I understand and have played it for a bit I think it was a good idea. 

[schild]

The EQ2 skill microgrind doesn't really exist. I like that the skills actually get stronger and you get stronger. You tend to find the skill scrolls right when you need them, or a friend finds them for you, or they're magically in the guild bank which is about to fill up. Also, when I cast something in EQ2 it has an animation. My toon doesn't sit there and twitch like he did in WoW. I support animations.

[Rasix]

Also, when I cast something in EQ2 it has an animation. My toon doesn't sit there and twitch like he did in WoW. I support animations.

Did you actually ever play WoW?

Edit: Hello, EQ2 forum, I'll try not to troll you.  much

[schild]

Also, when I cast something in EQ2 it has an animation. My toon doesn't sit there and twitch like he did in WoW. I support animations.

Did you actually ever play WoW?

Yea, rogue.

[Rasix]

Lots of casting, that rogue.

[shiznitz]

The primary benefit of getting guild levels is the discount on horses, at least to me. My +32% speed horse is great and only costs 2p+80,000 status (or about 2 Heritage Quests.) Now that our guild hit level 25, I can buy the 40% horse for 5p+112,000 status but I am not going to.

[schild]

Lots of casting, that rogue.

Lots of twitching when pressing attack skills. It was pretty weak sauce.  I also tinkered with a warlock. I think I got him to level 15 or so. It too, was pretty weak when it came to character animation. Though, the summoned monster in EQ2 is ass for my summoner. So I'm gonna score them both on the same level as blechy. Blechy character design. My EQ2 character looks like a gay version of me though. Which creeps me out almost all the time.

[Rasix]

Lots of casting, that rogue.

Lots of twitching when pressing attack skills. It was pretty weak sauce.  I also tinkered with a warlock. I think I got him to level 15 or so. It too, was pretty weak when it came to character animation. Though, the summoned monster in EQ2 is ass for my summoner. So I'm gonna score them both on the same level as blechy. Blechy character design. My EQ2 character looks like a gay version of me though. Which creeps me out almost all the time.

Eh, well rogues pretty much have an animation or graphic change for anything they do that you'd expect something to have a distinct animation for (not sure about bladefury or adrenaline rush, I just got these so I haven't noticed much). They even use the gay little instacast motion for detect traps.  I know rogue animations were broken at a time, but I think this was only in beta. I think some stuff might be only sound/particle effect without a corresponding animation other than an extra base attack (cheap shot, backstab).  Most casting classes have about 2-4 standard casting animations (insta, regular, channeled and summon).   It's not great, but my wimpy graphics card is thankful.  But this isn't a very big issue for me, but I can tell in PVP what another rogue is doing just by watching them and not paying attention to the combat text.

Anyhow, sorry for the derail.  This system sounds great and I kind of wish there was something like it in WoW even though it might be problematic to balance in a game with PVP and rather sizeable population imbalances.

[Sky]

The EQ2 skill microgrind doesn't really exist

Will you ever get past the idea that things outside your personal experience exist?

[schild]

The EQ2 skill microgrind doesn't really exist

Will you ever get past the idea that things outside your personal experience exist?

Skills upgrades drop off enemies at a reasonable rate. Harvesting skills are handled the same way in this game as they are in nearly any other game short of Eve. There's no reason to grind the former and the latter is just the same old shit. As I said, the skill microgrind doesn't really exist. I'll eventually get the skills I need (though I'm not gimped if I don't) and I just harvest while I'm out doing other shit so it all just happens on it's own.

That's just how the game works, personal experience be damned. Microgrind implies doing something outside of your regular every day shit. I don't have to do that. Everything happens on it's own.

[Cheddar]

The EQ2 skill microgrind doesn't really exist

Will you ever get past the idea that things outside your personal experience exist?

But, there really is no feeling of grind.  I level decently while out questing, I level decently while out gathering, I gather decently as I am out adventuring, and there are enough quests to do while I am out adventuring.  Its all very harmonious and is a nice change of pace for a MMOG. 

[Lt.Dan]

The EQ2 skill microgrind doesn't really exist

Will you ever get past the idea that things outside your personal experience exist?

But, there really is no feeling of grind. I level decently while out questing, I level decently while out gathering, I gather decently as I am out adventuring, and there are enough quests to do while I am out adventuring. Its all very harmonious and is a nice change of pace for a MMOG.

It's significantly improved since release.  Drop rates have increased (even for yard-trash), you only need 20 skill to harvest in Antonica (was 40!).  However, I do expect a moderate grind to get harvesting up to 90 to be able to harvest in Thundering Steppes.  But that's partly my own fault for being a quest/xp whore and neglecting harvesting and crafting.

[Sky]

My biggest problem was that spell upgrades were so much better than starter spells, and even much better than the (then paucity) of spell drops. I couldn't believe my not-necromancer-but-beetle-lord could've had a spider if I had been able to make an even better summoning spell (which, at the time, was impossible, but the second time I played was possible by catassing trades for all pristine components all the way through).

I started to work on skills for my not-shadowknight and when I realized that quality mattered, I looked at my SPREADSHEET of components, listing all subcomponents needed for each spell from my not-necro days...I just shrugged and saved myself at least a week of sitting in a tradeskill instance (even forgoing the time spent harvesting) making subcomponents. When I'm spending a week doing something I don't find fun, just so I can be more effective (read:effective) at something I do find fun, that's a grind.

Before you say it doesn't take a week...I don't play as much as you.

[UD_Delt]

However, I do expect a moderate grind to get harvesting up to 90 to be able to harvest in Thundering Steppes.  But that's partly my own fault for being a quest/xp whore and neglecting harvesting and crafting.

Wait until you can pick up the Dwarven Workboots Heritage quest. I think you can get it at level 20. It requires you to harvest 100wood & 100 stone. During that time you'll easily be able to raise skills to 90 while finishing a very big pain in the ass first step of that heritage quest. Just pick an area and harvest everything you find in order to spawn the wood/ore nodes you need and all skills will be 90-100 by the time you have enough to turn in. Just make sure to leave lots of open bag space...

[shiznitz]

Harvesting is your best source of cash too. I still harvest in tier 2 and tier 3 zones when I pass through even though I spend most of my time in tier 5 because the t2 and t3 components still sell well.

[Murgos]

Wait until you can pick up the Dwarven Workboots Heritage quest. I think you can get it at level 20.

I did this, it was pretty easy to do 90% of it solo and then pick up a group of people finishing the quest for the group combat in the tower.

Really good boots at that level too.

[Cheddar]

FYI you can pick and choose your writ quests.  For example, the Octopi quest for TS sucks balls; just decline and talk to the quest giver again.  There are like 3 or so per level range!