My EverQuest II character is a level 29 Coercer. I got him up to level 20 just doing the Neriak starting area quests and it flew by. There were some new things to get used to, and the Coercer was pretty hectic what with the charmed mobs turning on me, Mezes being resisted and my clothie but having nothing resembling a heal. There were some confusing things during the first twenty levels, and some really cool things that I learned.
Sadly it seems to have gone downhill from there. I am worried that perhaps it might just be better for me to wait for EverQuest III. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a lot of things about EQII still and I would love to figure it all out. Sadly it seems like I might have come in too late. It was easier to figure out EVE and Fallen Earth, for me at least, than it is to figure out all the facets of EverQuest II.
It doesn’t help that I got two dungeon runs from guildies. They came down, mentored me so we were the same level, got a group together, took me to the dungeon and we ran through two separate dungeons multiple times each. I have no idea what the mobs looked like, or if it was cool or not. It was all just a jumble of movement and non-stop action. Imagine if your first experience with WoW dungeons was 4 level 80s, and you at level 60, and then running you through Blackrock Depths. Mobs are AOE’d quicker than I can see them, and the bosses are dropped so quickly I hardly understand WHAT TYPE of mob I am fighting.
So maybe judging the early dungeons isn’t a good idea. The problem is that those two runs, on the same day, got me nine levels. Now I’m stuck at level 29. I know I need to go to Enchanted Lands at level 30, but I am scared of that place. Why? Because I am currently in The Forest of…Nukerot? (Apparently it is Nektulos Forest) The Forest is filled with level 20-26ish mobs. I generally die once every four or five pulls to the level 20 mobs, and once every other pull to the 26-ish mobs. I’m 29! It’s not the class either, it’s my nubness. I have no idea what I’m doing. Are there attacks that don’t break CC? I don’t know. Do I need more AA? No idea. How do I go about getting AA? Got me, should I set my AA bar to 90% and grind mobs? The problem with that is that I’m dying left and right.
Did I do myself a disservice by going to those dungeons? My guess is yes, but how much of a disservice? Everytime I use an ability it says my skill in the corresponding skill has increased. I’m 60-something out of 100-something on most of my abilities. Does that effect my spells? Do I need to get the next rank/tier of my abilities? I have no idea! My charmed mobs can’t tank and die if they try, meanwhile my charms, mezes, roots etc break or are resisted all the time.
Today has been a terrible gaming day for me, so that’s not helping. Am I giving up on EverQuest II? Not just yet. I think I might try a class that isn’t quite so involved. A Berserker maybe? Or I might just go back to a Necromancer. I think I need to learn a lot more about the game before I can start having fun again, which is sad, especially since everyone else playing already knows this stuff and they don’t think so mention it when I ask for help.
Doesn’t help that my guild doesn’t talk much, or respond much, either. Ah well, I’ll keep trying. Just in a really foul mood today and it’s not being helped by my sucking it up.
Manifest Pixel 
Can’t speak to the coercer, exactly, since I betrayed mine to illusionist quite a while ago (and only play him once in a while, anyway). But usually what I do when soloing is to hit the mob with a single target mez (the one with the red background, the green is your group/encounter one) from as far out as I can, then root. Since mez and root only break if actual damage occurs, or time runs out, this is a good time to hit the mob with any debuffs you might have. Then, sic the pet on it, and start blasting away. If the root, or your charm, breaks, use your single target stun on the mob to stop him in his tracks, re-root, and keep going.
Also, make sure you’re using the latest version of your spells. Generally, your spells update every 14 levels (i.e. if you got, say, Spiffy Nuke at level 15, the upgrade Spiffy Nuke II will come along at level 29). It’s very easy to lose track when leveling quickly and end up using the old version way past its sell-by date. Upgrading the quality is also helpful; even the cheapest journeyman-level upgrade off the broker is better than no upgrade at all.
As for AA, well, one thing to keep in mind is that pretty much every quest that’s over level 10 will award aa experience (if it’s repeatable, it will do so on the first time you hand it in, only), regardless of whether it’s gray to you or not. So if all else fails, head over to Commonlands (there is an entrance to it in southern Darklight) and grind out every quest you can find that’s over level 10. Along the way you’ll also pick up some more aa and regular experience from exploring, too.
This comment is getting awfully long or I’d keep yakking away, but hopefully that will help somewhat, at least.
Wow! I really appreciate the information. I wasn’t using my Mez unless I pulled an add or two, so I’ll try that. Also I have never bought a new ability, so most of them are the ones I started with (unless they automatically upgraded (some of them did)). I’ll upgrade those and see if things go easier. Also, if I’m grinding Commonlands Quests for AA, it probably won’t matter what % my AA XP slider is set on right? Or will I still get regular experience for grey quests, and I can convert it?
Glad to help…!
Technically, no, you don’t really need to use the mez, first, so it’s not unreasonable that you didn’t. I mainly do it that way because as long as the mez doesn’t resist, I can keep hitting it with the root until it takes. And at lower levels it seems like root gets resisted a lot.
As for upgrades, well, in EQ2 that sort of means two things. You automatically get upgrades to your spells about every 14 levels (a few are less often, or not at all, depending on what they do). Those upgrades are to a better version of the spell, though, like my hypothetical Spiffy Nuke, Spiffy Nuke II, Spiffy Nuke III and so on.
But each of those can be upgraded in quality as well. Your basic version you get for free is Apprentice, basic crafted ones are Journeyman, basic mob-dropped ones are Adepts, rare-harvest crafted ones are Expert, the rare dropped ones are Masters, and the ones you can take as training choices are at 14, 24, and so on are Grandmaster. And they go in that order for quality, Journeyman is better than Apprentice, and so on.
If it helps, think of them like, say, high school classes. The upgrades to slightly different versions is like, say, History 101, History 201, and so on. Same subject, just a bit more in-depth. Whereas the quality levels are like the grades you got in them- with Apprentice being about a “D”. You passed, but you probably don’t want to put it on a resume. 🙂
And yeah, you’ll get experience for those quests, as well as aa experience, so if you’ve got your slider cranked all the way up both types of experience will add to your aa total, as well. Just remember, that the quest has to be level 10 or higher, etc., etc.
Get yourself into a good guild, it makes such a difference. I know that’s a cliche but it’s true.
Or check out the PvP server (assuming your not already on it?)… it’s a real blast 🙂
Can’t do PvP servers anymore. I haven’t played a game on a PvP server yet that actually had PvP and not just ganking of lowbies. I gave up on that after six years of PvP servers only.
Also I found myself a very friendly guild that really seems to help each other out, but they hardly talk at all.