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Well we're all relatively new to GW, so I figured it might be handy to share some tips that others might find useful. Either stuff we've experienced in-game or have read into. Feel free to ask if you've got questions about anything, too. I'll go first with a few things I've been asked about recently.
Runes
Runes are a way of upgrading your characters armour to give extra bonuses. To get runes, you need to find unidentified salvage items, those are ones with blue, purple or gold writing. When you identify them, they'll usually say you've 'unlocked' the rune for PvP, but that doesn't give your regular character access to it. You have to salvage the item with an Expert Salvage Kit, if you use a regular one you'll lose the rune. The item should salvage into the rune. You then just double click the rune and click on the piece of armour you want to slot it in. There's a couple of things to keep in mind, though. Firstly, you can only use runes that correspond with your primary profession. So my Warrior Monk can't use Monk runes, just Warrior. The only exception is in the Runes of Vigour, which you can use as any class and which give you more health.
Also, there are several grades of rune. There are minor runes, which give you +1 to a stat and have no penalty. These are the basic kind you should be using most of the time. There are also Major runes, which give +2 but have a penalty of -50 max health. Finally there are Superior runes, which give a whopping +3 to a stat but have a pretty nasty -75 health penalty. Be wary of using major runes, although the extra +1 compared with a minor rune is nice, they're the least efficient of the three when it comes to pumping stats with the least health loss possible. And the other thing I have to say about runes is that each piece of armour can only hold one rune, and you can't have more than one of any type of rune. If you have two of the same type equipped, only the better one effects you. So if I had a Minor rune of Hammer Mastery equipped and a Superior one, only the Superior one would do anything. I believe if you try to attach a rune to a piece of armour that already has one, you override the older rune with the newer one.
Weapon Upgrades
Hehe, hopefully I can explain this one more concisely. Weapon upgrades are kind of similar to runes, in that you use an expert salvage kit to get them from weapons you identify. Unlike runes though, you don't always manage to salvage them, sometimes they just salvage into crafting materials, so don't do it on anything too valuable. Each weapon can hold two upgrade components, but they're different types. So a bow can hold a bowstring and a bow grip, but not two of either. There's a larger variety of things that weapon upgrades can do, like giving you extra health, giving you the 'vampire' effect of leeching health when you attack, having a small chance of a +1 stat when you use skills, etc.
You can only use an upgrade component with its weapon type, so sword hilts can only be used with swords. I think that just about sums that up, make sure to ask if you have any questions. I haven't actually used any components on my weapons, but I've salvaged a few and read into it a bit, so I hope everything there is accurate.
Positioning
This is a little more theoretical, been looking into the mechanics of the game a bit, haven't had a chance to test it out personally. There's some useful stuff to keep in mind, though. Firstly, if you're under heavy attack then one of the worst things you can do is run. While running, everything that hits you will be a critical hit, hitting harder than the max hit of that weapon. There are situations where running around and positioning yourself is advantageous, but be careful about it too. A loophole seems to be that you can sidestep around without getting critically hit, I believe the default keys to this are 'Q' and 'E'. This brings me onto my second point. Classes that use shields (mostly Warrior primaries, sometimes secondaries) have a pretty big advantage defensively, that defense bonus gets added on every time somebody hits them. You can work around this by hitting them from behind. It might even be worth your time using sidestepping and rotating your camera to pivot around behind them, you'll do more damage in the long run. Another factor to keep in mind is terrain. If you're got tanks in a narrow passage, you may be able to block access to your more vulnerable mage teammates, keeping them safe and able to keep you alive. Using hills to your advantage can be good too, not only do you deal more damage if you're higher up but you have a higher chance of hitting people in the head. People often have a lower defensive rating on their helmet, as they're using stat-raising helmets as opposed to top-of-the-line ones. Skills can have the same effect, skills like Fire Storm which hit from above usually hit the helmet.
Oh, and an interesting point. For Warriors and Rangers, the damage you do is based on your weapon mastery skill of choice, and on the defense of the enemy. For the mage classes however, your weapon damage is based on what level you are and their defense. Interestingly the same is true of skills, most damage dealing skills will get stronger as you level up, even if you're not allocating any points into their stat. Doesn't work for all skills, especially not the ones that deal a certain damage ignoring defense, but it's good to keep in mind.
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Tips, Tricks & Advice
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#2
Cspace 
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Posted 20 July 2005 - 07:30 AM
I'll post a few things now, though plan to post more later as well. Nice topic Goto 
- If you're just grouping with henchmen and are not a tank class (or are, though you'll probably do the group more damage if you do this), if you get jumped by some angry mobs you can sometimes get them off of you by running through the battle or the nearest tank. Won't always make a group of human players happy unless you're a healer (lol), but at least from an EQ standpoint the tank should try to be a mob magnet if possible, and if you're dealing with henchmen you can sometimes enforce this to stay alive.
- If you have a ranger pet, all except a quested spider late in the game are basically equal. So don't feel funny about holding onto the starter cat if you like it (for example), it will be just as good as the stuff you find later in the game.
- If you're starting a new character and want to hit the highest possible level pre-searing (for whatever reason), don't do quests at first except for the skill ones that you need. You can level pretty easily off of mobs at the early levels. When you no longer get experience from them, then breeze through the quests. You'll get full experience for them even though you're above all the mobs they involve. I think you can get to at least lvl 8 by doing this (solo), and all pre-searing. For some less soloable class combinations this may be a good head start for when you go post-searing.
- Traveling can be easy, if you really want to get somewhere for armor or whatever reason you don't need to always do the missions right away. I was experimenting some and with the exception of two missions in the shiverpeaks (which can probably be bypassed if you really want to race for Kryta, but I'm not positive), I soloed my way all the way to Beetletun before I hit lvl 12. I was mainly just seeing if it could be done, and it seemed to work out pretty nicely. I'll post some tricks for traveling later for those interested.
- If you're just grouping with henchmen and are not a tank class (or are, though you'll probably do the group more damage if you do this), if you get jumped by some angry mobs you can sometimes get them off of you by running through the battle or the nearest tank. Won't always make a group of human players happy unless you're a healer (lol), but at least from an EQ standpoint the tank should try to be a mob magnet if possible, and if you're dealing with henchmen you can sometimes enforce this to stay alive.
- If you have a ranger pet, all except a quested spider late in the game are basically equal. So don't feel funny about holding onto the starter cat if you like it (for example), it will be just as good as the stuff you find later in the game.
- If you're starting a new character and want to hit the highest possible level pre-searing (for whatever reason), don't do quests at first except for the skill ones that you need. You can level pretty easily off of mobs at the early levels. When you no longer get experience from them, then breeze through the quests. You'll get full experience for them even though you're above all the mobs they involve. I think you can get to at least lvl 8 by doing this (solo), and all pre-searing. For some less soloable class combinations this may be a good head start for when you go post-searing.
- Traveling can be easy, if you really want to get somewhere for armor or whatever reason you don't need to always do the missions right away. I was experimenting some and with the exception of two missions in the shiverpeaks (which can probably be bypassed if you really want to race for Kryta, but I'm not positive), I soloed my way all the way to Beetletun before I hit lvl 12. I was mainly just seeing if it could be done, and it seemed to work out pretty nicely. I'll post some tricks for traveling later for those interested.
#3
Goto
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Posted 20 July 2005 - 12:08 PM
I've explored an alternate route all the way to Lion's Arch without doing a single mission. It wouldn't be easy though, without all that experience from the missions I'm not sure I'd have been able to get through it. I'll post a screenshot showing the route there if anyone is interested in it.
When partying with others, especially during quests or missions, it's best to elect a leader. By preference this should be somebody who knows what to do, but otherwise a ranger or a Warrior by preference. Follow their lead, there's nothing more detrimental to the success of a mission than people trying to do their own thing. And don't charge straight at a large group of enemies if you can avoid it, especially not if you're a tank and figure you can survive it. Tanks are good at dealing with damage, but without support they're dead and if you charge straight in your support is most likely going to die. There's a technique known as 'pulling', where the leader of the party tries to lure just a few of the monsters towards the group, leaving the rest where they are. Rangers are particularly well suited to this, although they should have a long range bow of some description with them for this purpose. Draw a couple of enemies, backtrack back into the party and let them come at you. You're much more likely to survive, and your less defensive allies will appreciate it a lot.
When possible, rangers should have at least two bows with them, a short and a long. Shortbows are faster, but they have somewhere around half the range. Both have their uses, know when to switch and you'll be a good asset to the party. Rangers aren't tanks, don't put yourself in too much danger if you can avoid it.
And I've been hearing some interesting tactics for R/N or N/Rs, if anyone is interested.
When partying with others, especially during quests or missions, it's best to elect a leader. By preference this should be somebody who knows what to do, but otherwise a ranger or a Warrior by preference. Follow their lead, there's nothing more detrimental to the success of a mission than people trying to do their own thing. And don't charge straight at a large group of enemies if you can avoid it, especially not if you're a tank and figure you can survive it. Tanks are good at dealing with damage, but without support they're dead and if you charge straight in your support is most likely going to die. There's a technique known as 'pulling', where the leader of the party tries to lure just a few of the monsters towards the group, leaving the rest where they are. Rangers are particularly well suited to this, although they should have a long range bow of some description with them for this purpose. Draw a couple of enemies, backtrack back into the party and let them come at you. You're much more likely to survive, and your less defensive allies will appreciate it a lot.
When possible, rangers should have at least two bows with them, a short and a long. Shortbows are faster, but they have somewhere around half the range. Both have their uses, know when to switch and you'll be a good asset to the party. Rangers aren't tanks, don't put yourself in too much danger if you can avoid it.
And I've been hearing some interesting tactics for R/N or N/Rs, if anyone is interested.
#4
Cspace
- Previously Cspace
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- Group: Administrator
- Posts: 9,756
- Joined: 03-August 02
- Location:Australia
Posted 20 July 2005 - 07:14 PM
How To Race To Kryta Mostly Solo
Although this is applying to my R/W build, I highly believe that other class combinations can formulate a build to do the same or similar. The levels may be slightly different for different characters, but for traveling they shouldn't be too much apart.
To get to Kryta and some other places mostly solo (with henchmen), I'll explain the path I took:
- First head straight to Sardelac Sanitarium with henchmen (after Ascalon City).
- When you hit about lvl 8, you can potentially get up to Piken Square. Grab a few quests there, there are some decent ones practically right outside the gate that will help you get experience.
- Head back to Ascalon City, then with henchmen go around to Fort Ranik, Serenity Temple, Frontier Gate, then Ruins of Surmia. You'll get some experience along the way and will hopefully hit lvl 9 (or at least be close to it). You don't need to do the missions right now.
- Go back up to Piken Square, then head to Grendich Courthouse. If you want to complete your access to Ascalon, after the courthouse head on down to Nolani Academy, that trip will be easier than the one to the courthouse. Don't need to do the mission.
- You should be about half-way through lvl 9 at least. Now go back to the courthouse and head up to Yak's Bend with henchmen. On the way you'll come across some Hydras, they are tough for your level. Whatever class you are, do what you can to take them down first, they can potentially wipe your party if you don't focus on taking them down. It will be tough, you will die, but you can get through it if you work at it. If you conclude that you can't, just do the Nolani Academy mission. That'll take you there as well. Once you get through the Ascalon Foothills, the rest of the way is pretty easy in comparison.
- From Yak's Bend you have two choices. You can either do two missions to get to Beacon's Perch, or you can fight your way to Ice Tooth Cave and then down. Regardless, you should probably head to Borlis Pass first since it's there. If you want to do the missions (which is fine, you'll get experience and it'll take about the same time, just can't solo it), do the Borlis Pass mission and then the Frost Gate mission. If you want to go by way of Ice Tooth Cave, start at Yak's Bend and work west. At lvl 10 I thought Iron Horse Mine was easier than the Ascalon Foothills, and is definitely doable if you are careful. When you get to Anvil Rock though... Don't think about fighting the mobs there. You'll probably get jumped right when you start, but don't worry. Those henchmen are nice meat shields, hehe, run through them and just run straight for Ice Tooth Cave. You'll lose the first group and the area is wide enough that you can avoid all the other mobs. My entire group of henchmen got killed and I arrived at ITC unscathed. You can also just head down to the Frost Gate, although it'll probably be good to get refreshed in ITC and then head down there after that if you're taking that route.
- To get to Beacon's Perch, I am not entirely sure how difficult it is to travel there by way of Deldrimor Bowl, I went back and did the Borlis Pass and Frost Gate missions with Goto (which also gives some experience that you'll need later). My guess is that if you want to go with the ITC route, that it would be best to do the Frost Gate mission to get to Beacon's Perch. By the time you get there, you should be lvl 11 or close to it. If you're close to it, get it by killing things in the area.
- From there, at lvl 11 you can get to the Gates of Kryta with henchmen. In Griffin's Mouth, keep in mind that there is a quest that will have a couple nifty NPCs assist you through, this is something you will need to do. In Scoundrel's Rise, just take it bit by bit and you should get through without a whole lot of difficulty. Just go along the east and south walls.
- From the Gates of Kryta, you don't need to do the mission if you don't want to. Go up to the North Kryta Province and head practically straight south to Lion's Arch. Be careful, some groups there are quite tough to fight... But you can potentially avoid them. One section you can actually outrun if you don't attack. Don't be afraid to fight though, some groups there can be taken, you should have a sense of which can be defeated by you and your group of plucky henchmen (and some parts will require you to fight).
- From Lion's Arch, you can pretty easily head to D'Alessio Seaboard.
- From D'Alessio Seaboard, head to Nebo Terrace. You have a choice of heading to Beetletun or Bergen Hot Springs. You will die some along the way, but just avoid what can be avoided and fight what can be fought. If something is trapping an entrance, just go all out and try to take them down one-at-a-time. Once you get to the destination of your choice, you can pretty easily head to the other from it.
- By the time you get to both, you will probably be about lvl 12.
******************************************
Some Traveling Tips
- If you're near the destination and your group is about to get wiped, unless you're facing spellcasters you can sometimes run the rest of the way alone (although not as easy if you're a tank).
- When picking henchmen for solo traveling, I would not recommend the ranger henchman (even if you aren't a ranger). I'd recommend a healer, nuker, and tank... And if more are available, get another tank and another spellcaster. Just what I think is most effective for solo traveling. This way you have more tanks taking damage for the group and you have more damage being done to the mobs at the same time.
- If you are really set on getting to some place quickly when you're a lower level, focus on one aspect of your build and make it as good as possible. Could make things easier for you, although you won't be as versatile.
- Don't bother with runners charging money... And if you want to feel like you accomplished something, don't worry with runners at all (at least up to the point where the above guide takes you). When I say "runners", I am talking about (usually) lvl 20 W/Mo characters just running the entire way without fighting, dragging the group with them.
- If you're soloing with henchmen and aren't a monk, don't worry about having the rez signet up.
- Don't give up if you die, even if your stats are completely destroyed to the maximum you can often finish up the last part of any trip up until half-way through Kryta.
- If your stats are full and a group cannot be avoided, don't attempt to run unless you're really close to the destination. You will probably just get killed and then be worse off than when you started. Fight if you can, and flee if you must. But when your stats aren't hurt much by death, try to do as well as possible in battle. Then when you die (if you die), when you return things will be easier for you. Then if you want to run, maybe you'll leave an opening for you to do so.
******************************************
Hope this helped some people
Although this is applying to my R/W build, I highly believe that other class combinations can formulate a build to do the same or similar. The levels may be slightly different for different characters, but for traveling they shouldn't be too much apart.
To get to Kryta and some other places mostly solo (with henchmen), I'll explain the path I took:
- First head straight to Sardelac Sanitarium with henchmen (after Ascalon City).
- When you hit about lvl 8, you can potentially get up to Piken Square. Grab a few quests there, there are some decent ones practically right outside the gate that will help you get experience.
- Head back to Ascalon City, then with henchmen go around to Fort Ranik, Serenity Temple, Frontier Gate, then Ruins of Surmia. You'll get some experience along the way and will hopefully hit lvl 9 (or at least be close to it). You don't need to do the missions right now.
- Go back up to Piken Square, then head to Grendich Courthouse. If you want to complete your access to Ascalon, after the courthouse head on down to Nolani Academy, that trip will be easier than the one to the courthouse. Don't need to do the mission.
- You should be about half-way through lvl 9 at least. Now go back to the courthouse and head up to Yak's Bend with henchmen. On the way you'll come across some Hydras, they are tough for your level. Whatever class you are, do what you can to take them down first, they can potentially wipe your party if you don't focus on taking them down. It will be tough, you will die, but you can get through it if you work at it. If you conclude that you can't, just do the Nolani Academy mission. That'll take you there as well. Once you get through the Ascalon Foothills, the rest of the way is pretty easy in comparison.
- From Yak's Bend you have two choices. You can either do two missions to get to Beacon's Perch, or you can fight your way to Ice Tooth Cave and then down. Regardless, you should probably head to Borlis Pass first since it's there. If you want to do the missions (which is fine, you'll get experience and it'll take about the same time, just can't solo it), do the Borlis Pass mission and then the Frost Gate mission. If you want to go by way of Ice Tooth Cave, start at Yak's Bend and work west. At lvl 10 I thought Iron Horse Mine was easier than the Ascalon Foothills, and is definitely doable if you are careful. When you get to Anvil Rock though... Don't think about fighting the mobs there. You'll probably get jumped right when you start, but don't worry. Those henchmen are nice meat shields, hehe, run through them and just run straight for Ice Tooth Cave. You'll lose the first group and the area is wide enough that you can avoid all the other mobs. My entire group of henchmen got killed and I arrived at ITC unscathed.
You can also just head down to the Frost Gate, although it'll probably be good to get refreshed in ITC and then head down there after that if you're taking that route.- To get to Beacon's Perch, I am not entirely sure how difficult it is to travel there by way of Deldrimor Bowl, I went back and did the Borlis Pass and Frost Gate missions with Goto (which also gives some experience that you'll need later). My guess is that if you want to go with the ITC route, that it would be best to do the Frost Gate mission to get to Beacon's Perch. By the time you get there, you should be lvl 11 or close to it. If you're close to it, get it by killing things in the area.
- From there, at lvl 11 you can get to the Gates of Kryta with henchmen. In Griffin's Mouth, keep in mind that there is a quest that will have a couple nifty NPCs assist you through, this is something you will need to do. In Scoundrel's Rise, just take it bit by bit and you should get through without a whole lot of difficulty. Just go along the east and south walls.
- From the Gates of Kryta, you don't need to do the mission if you don't want to. Go up to the North Kryta Province and head practically straight south to Lion's Arch. Be careful, some groups there are quite tough to fight... But you can potentially avoid them. One section you can actually outrun if you don't attack. Don't be afraid to fight though, some groups there can be taken, you should have a sense of which can be defeated by you and your group of plucky henchmen (and some parts will require you to fight).
- From Lion's Arch, you can pretty easily head to D'Alessio Seaboard.
- From D'Alessio Seaboard, head to Nebo Terrace. You have a choice of heading to Beetletun or Bergen Hot Springs. You will die some along the way, but just avoid what can be avoided and fight what can be fought. If something is trapping an entrance, just go all out and try to take them down one-at-a-time. Once you get to the destination of your choice, you can pretty easily head to the other from it.
- By the time you get to both, you will probably be about lvl 12.
******************************************
Some Traveling Tips
- If you're near the destination and your group is about to get wiped, unless you're facing spellcasters you can sometimes run the rest of the way alone (although not as easy if you're a tank).
- When picking henchmen for solo traveling, I would not recommend the ranger henchman (even if you aren't a ranger). I'd recommend a healer, nuker, and tank... And if more are available, get another tank and another spellcaster. Just what I think is most effective for solo traveling. This way you have more tanks taking damage for the group and you have more damage being done to the mobs at the same time.
- If you are really set on getting to some place quickly when you're a lower level, focus on one aspect of your build and make it as good as possible. Could make things easier for you, although you won't be as versatile.
- Don't bother with runners charging money... And if you want to feel like you accomplished something, don't worry with runners at all (at least up to the point where the above guide takes you). When I say "runners", I am talking about (usually) lvl 20 W/Mo characters just running the entire way without fighting, dragging the group with them.
- If you're soloing with henchmen and aren't a monk, don't worry about having the rez signet up.
- Don't give up if you die, even if your stats are completely destroyed to the maximum you can often finish up the last part of any trip up until half-way through Kryta.
- If your stats are full and a group cannot be avoided, don't attempt to run unless you're really close to the destination. You will probably just get killed and then be worse off than when you started. Fight if you can, and flee if you must. But when your stats aren't hurt much by death, try to do as well as possible in battle. Then when you die (if you die), when you return things will be easier for you. Then if you want to run, maybe you'll leave an opening for you to do so.
******************************************
Hope this helped some people
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