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Old 02-15-2019, 01:41 PM
greenspectre
Fire Beetle
 
Join Date: Feb 2017
Posts: 13
Default AEQ 1-51 Review

Just finished hitting 51 (max level on this server) and thought I'd post my review for anybody wondering what the experience on AEQ is like. Bear in mind any criticisms I listed are ones actively being worked on by AEQ staff, who have been extremely responsive in my experience on the server.

(Copied from the AEQ forum and posted at the request of the AEQ GM's)

Upon initially reading server discussions, and feeling a bit nostalgic for my very first EQ main, a paladin, I decided to roll an Ogre Paladin, and paired him with a Troll Shaman. I figured this would let me cover as many bases as possible, role-wise, with 2 characters, only really losing out on DPS.

Nostalgia factor- 10.

This server is set to classic EQ and as a result, you cover a lot of familiar ground. Also, fwiw, the slightly lower experience gain on this server in comparison to other "solo plus" servers means you spend a bit more TIME in the grind game, but it was time well spent. I always felt like there was something to do, another goal to hit, something to aim for other than the next DING. During my grind I spent time leveling practically everywhere- Feerrott, Upper Guk, Oasis, Lavastorm, Crushbone, Unrest, SolA, Lower Guk, SolB, and LOTS and LOTS of Mistmoore (more on that later) as well as the Hole. There was a specific reason to be in each and every one of these zones when I was there, so I always felt like I was killing at least two birds with one stone and the constant change of scenery kept me from getting bored.

Complaints- None

Quality of Life- 7

Though this server is set to classic EQ, there’s enough quality of life improvement to keep things moving smoother than actual classic. Exp rates are improved, but not so much that you blow through content. Mobs feel a bit easier than live, and I didn’t feel that my shammy box was really “Necessary” at any point in the game, just helped keep this running smooth and let me take down important quest mobs a bit earlier than normal. Getting around is much easier here, though not so much easier that druids and wizards become useless- it’s a nice balance. Between the Gfay cloak and the travel NPC’s, as well as a somewhat reduced cast time on the Origin AA, even a melee character can easily hit their Bind Point, Gfay, EC, Qeynos Hills, and Rathe Mountains, which means no zone ever feels TOO far away. I think I only had to hoof it across the Karanas once, and that was to get my Qeynos Hills shard. Also, the death exp penalty is small enough that even ranger gating as a means of travel is not the worst. All in all, you can get around fairly easily, but will still do a bit of running enough that it feels classic-ish. Bring a SOW class or prepare to cry!

It’s also worth mentioning that this server takes a lot of the sting out of being Evil by giving you a good-race illusion item that can essentially be “bought” in highkeep for 50 plat. This can be exchanged down the line for an evil-race illusion item as well, so no individual city or quest is ever off limits. In addition to that, once you hit mid-level, there is a quest line that nets you an invis clicky and a levitate clicky, so the bottom line is a non-invis and non-porting class is going to have a decent time still.

My first real gripe, however, is with spell distribution. Not all cities carry all spells for the classes that come from there, so I found myself having to make a froglok newbie to buy spells in Gukta as I leveled, as Gukta seems to be the city that actually has everything.

My second gripe is with drops, most especially when it comes to rare or uncommon spawn mobs. Due to the nature of this server, questing mid-level gear is a must for some classes, usually your melees. However, a lot of these quests require drops from mobs that may have placeholders, may be roomers in zones like *groan* South Karana, or may have their item drop uncommonly or any combination of the three. This led me to some points of frustration, like having to find 3 roaming Nightfall Giants in West Commons before I found my Head needed for Greaves of Ro. To balance this out, it appears SOME items have been purchasable from merchants, such as Fairy Dust from the brownie town and Melatite from the Gnomes in solA, but some drops are weird.

Some loot-bearing mobs don’t drop ANYTHING sometimes. As an example, the Hooded Black Cloak has a clicky damage shield, so I tracked down the cloaked dhampyre and camped him. I understand it’s a rare drop from a mob with a placeholder, and accepted a few “Blood of the Dhampyre” drops to my chagrin knowing that’s just part of the game, but every time I killed him and saw absolutely nothing in the loot window it stung just a bit. I got all 3 Xicotl hilts I needed without the cloak dropping, and then resigned myself to parking the shaman in the fountain area while I ran the paladin around doing errands. I get placeholders, and rare drops, but in my opinion, a named should ALWAYS drop at least one of their loots, even if true classic wasn’t like that.

Complaints- Spell merchant distribution is a bit wonky. Looting a named with nothing on him feels really bad.

Gear improvements- 7

Currently a hot topic on their forums, but I’ll throw in my 2 cents. Some of the gear on this server has been buffed to make it more desirable. The newbie armor and weapon quests are excellent, and I was pleased to discover a follow-up quest available to my paladin by turning in both the paladin and SK newbie weapons to an NPC in Sol Ro Temple. Ghoulbane received a huge overhaul, making it a must-have and I finished my quested one at around 29 because it was a MUST. The Armor of Ro quests yielded amazing upgrades to my newbie armor, though I still can’t find that damned plague shark in Eruds Crossing. Either way, for the class with the most pain-in-the-ass Quest armor, the reward felt completely worth it. Some items have received SUPER buffs, making them must-haves. IGS, Hero Bracers, Hooded Black Cloak just to name a few. Loot in Blackburrow and Crushbone we’re both significantly overhauled and it was nice to have something to shoot for in my teens.

The flip side, mostly due to server infancy i’d imagine, is that some items are untouched, or still need more love. Totemic Armor as a whole is still unchanged from live, which posed a serious disappointment when I finally handed in my stuff. Glowing Wooden Crook was somewhat upgraded from live but still didn’t compare to newbie weapon plus shield. Marr’s Promise is insane, but it’s cousins Woe and Envy are anything but. Polished Granite Tomahawk has an illusion effect but no other changes. Some items feel changed in weird ways and there is an argument to be made for other items being buffed so much that there’s no point in seeking anything else in that slot. Especially if a wiki starts up and people can look up the gear ahead of time.

Gripes- some gear untouched, others improved but still not relevant. GMs seem to be fairly good at addressing these concerns as they pop up in forums. Some gear OP and making other gear at or above it’s difficulty level irrelevant.

Custom content- 10.

I have to hand it to Eld here. There is custom content interweaved with the classic content so seamlessly that you would have never known it was custom if you hadn’t played original EQ. I thoroughly enjoyed the Lucky the Beggar quests start to finish, and loved the GFay cloak quest, lavastorm earrings, and Mistmoore earring quests. I’m currently working on the Skyfall Seeker which isn’t custom per se but was given a very desirable effect, and the Timmothy quest line also yielded lots of fun and useful gear. I’ve just gotten my feet wet in Lavaspinner’s and the Hatchery, but so far custom zones feel as they should- more challenging but with greater rewards. Epic 0.5’s are being pushed out too and they sound exciting, but as far as I know nobody has finished theirs yet.

Also the changes to Paladins were MUCH appreciated. At higher levels, having Nuke-stuns didn’t feel overpowered, but at mid and low levels, having some form of additional DPS was SO nice. The class feels much better to play while still feeling comparable, not better than, the SK.

The only gripe I could have is that there’s still undiscovered content and I have no idea what it is, but that’s half the fun of playing a new server!
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