Qindaar has found himself sucked into the “got to get to the next level” quandary.  While he has been trying to avoid this and experience every aspect of the game, as he nears the 105 level the pull is more intense to reach it.

He has been running daily’s everyday in the hopes of leveling faster, but now the daily’s are only giving 4 or 5 percent, he is currently 57% into level 101.  At the current rate of XP it will take almost two more weeks to get to 102.

I went back to reexamine the quest line that Qindaar was working and need to finish it up, the problem now becomes grouping and raiding.  We can manage all the solo aspects but trying to get up a group is difficult.  I hate to reach out to the guild since the hours I play are not conducive to the hours the rest of the guild plays. I have looked at other guilds, but there seems to be very few guilds left.  A server change may be in order to find one with more West Coast peeps.  But then again raiding has always been my issue since I do not want a game to control my RL.

Well, back to leveling….

Earlier today Qindaar hit level101.  Oh happy day he moves up another notch in the ladder towards 105.

The thing about leveling is that it takes over, you want to get to that next level so badly that you miss tons of game content.  It takes a great amount of strength not to succumb to the pressure to level.  I like many others want that additional power for your toon but on the other-hand there are so many great visual and challenging places you can go.  How do you balance the two, especially if you are in a guild and all they want is to see you progress and level so you can fight in raids.  If you solo a lot as Qindaar tends to do, to enjoy both the content and the leveling satisfaction, you find yourself lagging way behind and also not enjoying the social aspect of the game.  You truly need to build a social environment of like minded individuals, which I find very difficult to do.  The pressure is to great to level, level, level.

I have been playing this game since its inception some 16 years ago and there are still many, many places I have not been.  To take the time to explore these places takes away time to get to that next level.  In all the years I have been playing this is the closest I have ever come to the level cap yet I miss going to tall the places I have never been.

As in life we need to slow down and experience everything, live for the day, keep an eye on the future, but live each day to its fullest, don’t miss out on anything by living for tomorrow.

 Qindaar has been working diligently towards the 101 mark.  He is currently at 88% of level.  Been working hard in Tainted West Karana doing meanial tasks until he hits 101 and then he definetely needs to go back and pick up where he left off on the Hero’s Quest. There were about a third of the tasks left to accomplish.

This is not a bad zone to be in, with many different MoBs and several levels to fight for XP,  There is a wanderer named Roon that is bright red to me and can see through my invisibility spell so I keep a watchful eye out for him.

Well, back to the game, hope to catch you online.

Qindaar continues to progress in level but has not returned yet to his main Quest Achievement he has been working on. But in the meantime here are game updates:

December 16, 2015
_____________________
*** Items ***

– TBM items now have guild tribute values.
– Fixed items that had unintentional negative resist stats.
– TBM bows, shields, and weapons now have the correct ornamentation slot 20.
– Added focus effects to Deathseeker’s Loremaster Greaves and Vambraces.
– Swapped the focus effects on several raid arms and legs items. Arms should have Cleave and Legs should have Ferocity.
– TBM raid gear now has 75 purity.
– Fixed the descriptions on Form of Endurance focus effects.
– Fixed the description on Prismatic Ward focus effects.
– Deathseeker’s Soulrender Breastplate now has the Deflection Discipline Bonus focus effect.
– Fixed the description on Knowledge of the Past XXII focus effect.
– Fixed errors on several focus effects that were either backwards and/or more powerful than raid gear.
– Fixed the descriptions on focus effects: Geomantra, Expanding Mind, Form of Defense, and Soothing Breath.
– Sell back values for TBM raid items have been reduced.
– Wither and Decay Hero’s Forge Ornaments will no longer display as the wrong armor type.
– TBM Deathseeker’s helms now have Faerune.
– TBM non-bow ranged items no longer have a type 21 ornament slot.
*** Quests & Events ***

– Grannus no longer tells you that his spell resistance has dropped when it has not.
*** Achievements ***

– The achievements for wearing Vim and Vigor chain and leather sets now show the correct text in the achievement element descriptions.
– The challenge achievements for Wither and Decay now refer to them by their correct names, and not “Death and Decay.”
– Credit will now be given properly for the “Three for One” and “Seven at One Blow” achievements.
– The first and third achievement components in Vanquisher of Anashti Sul, Damsel of Decay are no longer reversed.
*** NPCs ***

– The vendors in Sul Vius: Demiplane of Decay are now combatable while at home and non-combatable while at work.
– Pathing in Sul Vius: Demiplane of Decay and Sul Vius: Demiplane of Life should be improved.
*** Progression Servers ***

– Corrected an issue where the level 1 necromancer pet Cavorting Bones would immediately generate low hp aggro with any attacker at full health.
– The EverQuest Team

Qindaar is now working his way through Tainted West Karana.  Here the levels are comparable to the MoB’s hitpoints so it is not as deadly when you go up against a MoB that is equal to your level or three below.  Qindaar has managed to get twenty percentage points into level one hundred so there is no need to worry about loosing the level should he die.  Tainted West Karana is also the entrance to the Hero Adventures for that extra little kick of XP but you really need to be grouped, three or more is comfortable or two with Merc’s can stand a chance.

Getting familiar with the lay of the land and accomplishing a few tasks, but really need to go back and pick up where Qindaar left off on his Hero of EverQuest Quest.

Qindaar made 100 today just in time for all the FrostFell fun in EQ.  Now he can venture back to the Hero’s Quest and wrap a few more of those to finish the Quest Line.

December 9, 2015
_____________________
*** Highlights ***

– Look to the marketplace this December! From the makers of Cat in the Bag comes Dog in a Crate. Each crate contains a random adoptable dog familiar. Trade them to your friends or collect them all yourself. Nothing evokes the true spirit of Frostfell like the gift of puppies!
– Two new sets of Frostfell-themed Hero’s Forge armor are now available! You can find one in the Marketplace, while the other can be acquired by completing certain Frostfell quests.
– New and returning festive Frostfell items are available in the marketplace, starting on December 9th, at 11am Pacific!
*** Items ***

– Added “standard” right-click buffs to all non-scaling items from TBM.
– Corrected tribute values for all TBM items.
– Increased the number of guaranteed item drops in all TBM raid chests.
– Added The Incomplete Face of Life and Decay container to merchant: Lyppsenfon Qeyton. Combining the appropriate items from Anashti Sul will result in something wonderful!
– Corrected augmentations with recommended level 110 to recommended level 105.
– Corrected the augment slots for all TBM bows, shields and caster 2-hand weapons.
– All type 5, 7, and 9 augs should now fit properly where they belong.
– Added stats to the Emblem of Antipathy, Mottled Gorgon Feather, Revolting Thought Spur, Mark of Unfeeling Flesh, Phased Distillate of Intolerance, and the Pupil of Stolen Light.
– Players without the Darkened Sea expansion and The Broken Mirror expansion should now again be able to receive stat buffs on their mounts/illusions, if the item has an associated stat buff.
– Fixed flagging on TBM items that were not able to be traded on Firiona Vie.
– Two new sets of Frostfell-themed Hero’s Forge armor are now available! You can find one in the Marketplace, while the other can be acquired by completing certain Frostfell quests.
– Haste has been added to some TBM type 9 augmentations.
– New and returning festive Frostfell items are available in the marketplace, starting on December 9th, at 11am Pacific!
*** Quests & Events ***

– Kerath in Sul Vius: Demiplane of Life can once again be attacked.
– Lyndalin Delwadamain, Kamiowe Ordup, and their allies now have something to say about their purpose.
– Grubbonion’s Locked Tower – The Healing Ward can be used to kill Korinth the Crusher even after you’ve completed the step to kill him. However, you must still be on the task and at least on the step to kill him in order to use the item.
– Grubbonion’s Locked Tower – The optional step is truly optional this time. We swear. Healing Ward and Decay Spike items should both work properly whether the optional step is completed or not.  Added a small reward for completing this step.
– The creatures inhabiting the Crypt of Sul during the Into the Temple adventure are no longer friendly.
– Reduced the cooldown on the Shard of Healing used in the quest The Lost Lexicon Explorers Expedition.
– After Depths of Darkhollow has unlocked on a server, the Qinimi court event can be requested with 1 player.
– Fixed an issue that prevented some rewards, like keys, from being given for Plane of Health raids.
– Added a corpse and PC location reset for Plane of Health and Sul Vius: Demiplane of Life raids.
– Bhaly Adan now has the proper chance to show up in the Bane of Decay adventure.
– In the Sul Vius: Demiplane of Decay raid as well as the group mission version, Anashti Sul, Damsel of Decay is less likely to get into a position where she is out of line of sight after teleporting between floors.
– Killing rares in the Plane of Fear: Revisited will no longer give credit for killing Maestro and Innoruuk in Plane of Hate: Revisited.
– Corrected a bug that prevented achievement credit being applied for killing bosses in The Broken Mirror raid zone Plane of Fear.
– Fixed a zone crash because NPCs don’t have chat filters and can’t filter their chat. This was causing The Triunity in the Sepulcher Event 5 to crash the zone.
*** Spells ***

– Modulation and cannibalization spells can no longer be cast if the damage dealt by the spell is greater than your maximum health. This functionality previously only applied to the items Summoned: Modulating Rod and Rod of Mystical Transvergence.
*** Mercenaries ***

– Removed Woeful mercenaries from the tab-target list.
*** Achievements ***

– Hunter of the Plane of Hate and Hunter of the Plane of Fear achievements now have half as many “the”.
– Corrected text error in the descriptions for the Defenders of the Faith and Bane of Decay Toughness and Time Trial achievement descriptions.
– Removed all achievements related to Bard’s Casting Proficiency as they were all redundant with reaching level 10.
*** NPC ***

– In the Plane of Fear: Revisited, the lockouts for nightmares and thought bleeders are no longer reversed. Previously, having a lockout for thought bleeders would prevent nightmares from spawning, and vice versa.
– Several boss NPCs in Argin-Hiz and Arx Mentis now summon: Arc Facultas Ingens, Efreeti Lord Aresh, High Keeper Arieal, High Keeper Jahar, Mayor Livio, Praetor Captain Tita Aragus, Principal Quastori Numicia, Arc Auctus Ingens, Calix Quirinus, Lanys T`Vyl, Principal Indagator Gordianus, a keeper of the flame, and a libre vitala.
– Lord of Ire has returned from his vacation and can be found in the Plane of Hate: Revisited.
– Adjusted how NPCs choose a melee target in relation to player pets:
– – It is now possible for a pet to be the target of an NPC’s melee attacks if it has the highest aggro with other players in range.
– – This behavior can be adjusted on a per NPC basis and will currently be disabled for all current and previous raid difficulty NPCs.
– – It is additionally possible for some NPCs to ignore the hatred generated by pets and instead attribute a portion of that hatred toward the owner. This behavior will be in play on raid targets on progression servers.
– Adjusted how NPCs choose a melee target when they are rooted:  NPCs will now choose to hit the target that they hate the most that is within melee range. Previously NPCs would simply hit the nearest hated target.
*** AA ***

– Monk – Corrected an issue that caused all three ranks of Thunderfoot to trigger 6% of the time rather than 6, 9, and 12% of the time.
– Updated the description on all ranks of Companion’s Wrath to clarify the functionality of the ability.
– Shaman – Corrected a bug with rank 11 of Group Pact of the Wolf that prevented it from extending the duration of the ability as expected.
– Shaman – Corrected the target type of Wind of Pathosis so that it will properly function when triggered by Wind of Malosinete.
– Druid – Added a spell landed message to all ranks of Spirit of the Black Wolf.
*** Progression Servers ***

– Made further adjustments to the power curve of pets prior to the release of the Shadows of Luclin expansion.
– Restricted the creation of Gnome Paladins and Shadowknights and Halfling Paladins and Rangers to Luclin so that their availability matches the availability of their guildmasters and supporting vendors. Any existing characters with this combination will be unaffected.
– Crusaders of Greenmist – The Goblin Penmaster and Enslaved Iksar now spawn in the Frontier Mountains on Progression Servers.
*** Collections ***

– The Shard of Cabilisian Diamond should now show up in the Crypt of Sul.
*** Miscellaneous ***

– Corrected an issue where the message that reports what zone the guildhall teleportation device is set to was not displaying when zoning into neighborhood guildhalls.
– Applying the heroic character upgrade to an existing character will no longer reset your casting specialization skills.
– Look to the marketplace this December! From the makers of Cat in the Bag comes Dog in a Crate. Each crate contains a random adoptable dog familiar. Trade them to your friends or collect them all yourself. Nothing evokes the true spirit of Frostfell like the gift of puppies!
*** UI ***

– Adjusted the default gamma behavior of the game in windowed mode.  By default, opening the game will no longer adjust the brightness of your desktop as it should no longer be necessary to increase the gamma slider in order to achieve reasonable in-game visibility. The option to revert to legacy functionality has been included in the advanced display options window with the button ‘Enable Windowed Gamma’.
– Removing a stat mount or illusion from the key ring stat slot will now properly remove it.
– Changed –
EQUI_AdvancedDisplayOptionsWnd.xml
EQUI_OptionsWindow.xml
– The EverQuest Team

December 2, 2015
_____________________
*** Items ***

– Changed TBM Weapons that formerly had DoT procs so they now have analogous direct damage procs.
– All items that drop from scaling content in TBM zones should now have type 9 aug slots so they can be used by higher level players.
– Fixed an issue that caused Raw Timorous, Crypt-Hunter’s, and Deathseeker’s items to sometimes offer incorrect items. – Fixed an issue that caused Raw Timorous, Crypt-Hunter’s, and Deathseeker’s Wristguards to grant the wrong number of items to some classes.
*** Quests & Events ***

– Beware, several raid NPCs that were not summoning and should have been, now will be.
– Grubbonion’s Locked Tower – Added a small reward for completing the optional step in this quest.
– Corrected a problem that prevented all of the intended items from dropping in TBM chests.

*** Previously Updated ***

– Grubbonion’s Locked Tower – Grubbonion will once again correctly assign this task to players who prove their worth.
– Remember the Good Times – Anna Broth will once again correctly assign this task to players who prove their willingness to help.
– Feather in the Wind – Kerath in Sul Vius: Demiplane of Life can once again be attacked when necessary.

– The EverQuest Team

November 25, 2015
_____________________
*** Highlights ***

– We tested True Box for the upcoming Phinigel server on Test.
*** Items ***

– Changed TBM Weapons that formerly had DoT procs so they now have analogous direct damage procs.
– Added stats to the Emblem of Antipathy, Mottled Gorgon Feather, Revolting Thought Spur, Mark of Unfeeling Flesh, Phased Distillate of Intolerance, and the Pupil of Stolen Light.
– Fixed flagging on TBM items that were not able to be traded on Firiona Vie.
*** Quests & Events ***

– Kerath in Sul Vius: Demiplane of Life can once again be attacked.
– Beware, several raid NPCs that were not summoning and should have been, now will be.
*** AA ***

– Updated the description on all ranks of Companion’s Wrath to clarify the functionality of the ability.
– Shaman – Corrected a bug with rank 11 of Group Pact of the Wolf that prevented it from extending the duration of the ability as expected.
– Shaman – Corrected the target type of Wind of Pathosis so that it will properly function when triggered by Wind of Malosinete.
– Druid – Added a spell landed message to all ranks of Spirit of the Black Wolf.
*** Miscellaneous ***

– Corrected an issue where the message that reports what zone the guildhall teleportation device is set to was not displaying when zoning into neighborhood guildhalls.
– Applying the heroic character upgrade to an existing character will no longer reset your casting specialization skills.
– Removed all achievements related to Bard’s Casting Proficiency as they were all redundant with reaching level 10.
– Adjusted the default gamma behavior of the game in windowed mode.  By default, opening the game will no longer adjust the brightness of your desktop as it should no longer be necessary to increase the gamma slider in order to achieve reasonable in-game visibility. The option to revert to legacy functionality has been included in the advanced display options window with the button ‘Enable Windowed Gamma’.
*** UI ***

– Changed some options to reflect the new gamma behavior.
– Changed –
EQUI_AdvancedDisplayOptionsWnd.xml
EQUI_OptionsWindow.xml
*** Previously Updated ***

– Grubbonion’s Locked Tower – Grubbonion will once again correctly assign this task to players who prove their worth.
– Remember the Good Times – Anna Broth will once again correctly assign this task to players who prove their willingness to help.
– Feather in the Wind – Kerath in Sul Vius: Demiplane of Life can once again be attacked when necessary.

– The EverQuest Team

Qindaar is just six XP percentages from level one hundred, he should easily accomplish this tomorrow.  He is still finding it difficult to pick up on the Hero’s Quest he was working on.  It seems that the game is skewed that as you near one hundred the lower level MoB’s give less XP but hit harder, so what is eight levels under you hit like equals.  This is making it very difficult to solo.  Since my guild is a raid guild and I live on the West Coast I rarely get a chance to participate.

Tomorrow will be a great day when I hit 100!!!

Qindaar went back to working on the Hero’s Quest once again after achieving enough XP in level 99 to battle in Sarith, City of Tides. These MoB’s are seven levels below Qindaar but hit like equals, obviously this is not a zone to solo in as a Wizard until you have sufficient XP. Another thing that makes this zone difficult for a soloing Wizard is the fact that the MoB’s all summon, so there is no root and nuke because they pull you right into the battle.

It is nice to get into a new zone to work after spending so much time in Shard’s Landing and running dailies.  Dailies are still a good source of XP even at level 99 but it is slowing down.  I imagine once Qindaar hits 100 dailies will no longer be worth running.

Back to battling in Sarith and hopefully level 100 in a weeks time!

November 20, 2015
_____________________
*** Items ***

– Added proc effects to all weapons that drop in The Broken Mirror.
– Corrected the appearance of plate wrist and hand pieces for Crypt-Hunter’s and Deathseeker’s armor sets.
– Corrected the appearances of several new weapons and armor pieces that were displaying the wrong art assets.
– Fixed the appearance and functionality of the Cynosure of Health. It can now be placed in all real estate types and will transport you to the Plane of Health as intended.
– The Pridewing Lion Mount now applies Mount Blessing Qela instead of Mount Blessing Beza.
– Corrected an issue that caused Radiant Pridewing Bridles to display as direhounds when previewed.
– Bard instruments dropped in Hate: Revisited count as their correct item types and have their correct resonance foci attached.
– Added override names for spell foci on The Broken Mirror items.
– Removed Berserkers from many one handed weapons that would just be too dainty for them.
*** Quests & Events ***

– All quest givers throughout The Broken Mirror can now be found using the Find window (Ctrl + F).
– All Heroic Adventures in The Broken Mirror now have 6 hour lockouts.
– The Lost Lexicon Explorers Expedition – Updated the task text to make it more more clear that you can loot Decaying Zombie flesh from all zombies, not just Guktans.
– The Lost Lexicon Explorers Expedition – The Un-Undead-O-Matic now works on all types of neglected citizen zombies.
– The Lost Lexicon Explorers Expedition – Twilius Quill is less greedy and will always return one Decaying Zombie Flesh if you need it for the next step in the task.
– Familiar Haunts: Bokon Boles’ summoned zombies now attack his most hated enemy.
– Remember the Good Times – Updated the task text to make it a little more clear how to find Silent Devotees for that step.
– Defenders of the Faith – Corrected a problem that could cause Xhut Adan and Kavilis Adan to spawn more than once.
– In Defense of Health – Fixed the issue that caused invaders to react to their allies from the other side of a mountain.
– Grubbonion’s Locked Tower – Grubbonion is now more selective of who he works with, and will only offer his task to those who prove their worth first.
– Grubbonion’s Locked Tower – It’s now possible to use the Healing Ward item even if you do not complete the optional step in the task.
– Anashti Sul: Lady of Life (Raid) – Holistic Health should no longer target pets or the main tank (unless there is ONLY the main tank) when fighting.
– Anashti Sul: Damsel of Decay (Raid) – Fixed an issue that prevented the Bokon and ooze interaction from working properly.
– Anashti Sul: Damsel of Decay (Raid and Group) – Anashti Sul will now remain stationary throughout the fight.
– Anashti Sul: Damsel of Decay (Raid and Group) – Anashti Sul will directly damage the player on the top of her hatelist if they are outside melee range.
– Anashti Sul: Damsel of Decay (Raid and Group) – Spells and abilities will not land on Anashti Sul if the caster is too far away from her.
– Anashti Sul: Damsel of Decay (Raid and Group) – Anashti Sul will summon the player on the top of her hatelist when she teleports between floors
– Removed some “global” group items that were showing up in raid reward chests.
– Raid chests should now correctly drop Rank III spells rather than Rank II.
*** Spells ***

– Ranger – Corrected the name of Copsestalker’s Enrichment in the reward window you get when using Glowing Essences.
*** NPC ***

– Corrected the spelling in the name “a nascent supplicant.”
– Cazic-Thule in Hate: Revisited should no longer pop and up down, visually, during his inactive phase.
– Inhabitants of The Plane of Hate: Revisited should correctly spawn in the quadrant that matches their lockout and should no longer wander outside their quadrant.
*** Achievements ***

– Corrected an error that prevented the Call of the Forsaken Conquest achievement “Greater Conquest Answerer” from being visible.
– Corrected an error that caused the Kunark Exploration achievement “The Temple of Droga Traveler” to not be visible.
*** Miscellaneous ***

– The skull monument (which allows you to exit the instance) will now appear in all instances of Crypt of Sul.
– Corrected an issue that prevented the zone connections in The Broken Mirror from showing up in the find window.
*** UI ***

– Fixed a possible crash when opening the new claim offer window using a custom UI.
– The EverQuest Team