While questing around with one of Pid’s many characters, he asked me how I could run so fast. I explained to him that I was using a claim rewards cloak and a charm that grants additional runspeed, hence I was moving about as fast as a mount.
This simple exchange led me to wonder what other things EQ2 players don’t usually think about or know of in the process of playing the game, and I felt this would be the perfect opportunity to post on that particular subject.
Now, for most needs, I find this post on the little things about EQ2 very informative, even if some parts may be outdated at present.
As for me… here are a couple of things that I thought new EQ2 players might want to know if ever they need additional tidbits of information.
1. /CLAIM is your friend.
This is perhaps the most wonderful little device that most people may know about, but forget in the process of playing. Typing /claim in the chat screen will open up a claim rewards menu, allowing you to claim anything that shows up as a reward on that menu. Some of those can be claimed by each character you make, while others work only on one character, so you have to be careful about that.
2. Claim your runspeed cloak.
In the claim menu, there should be an option to pick up a Universal Trial package. When claimed and unpacked, you will receive some EXP potions, as well as a Green Journeyman’s Cloak. This cloak adds 25% to your runspeed, and we can add on it in a few moments.
Note, however, that it seems you will have to actually participate in the trial of EQ2 to get the cloak. Pid just told me in-game that he doesn’t have that option, and it appears he bought the game without actually doing the trial.
3. Starter Areas have the starting harvesting and crafting quests. DO THEM!
As stated above, the Starter Areas in the game now have a quest to teach you the fine art of harvesting. When you harvest materials, and complete the quest, you will receive a Storage Box that is disassembled. Right-clicking and assembling the box creates a 9,999 Weight box for you, which you should put in your bank promptly so you can actually move fast again. Obviously, do the assembly right beside the banker for best results.
After completing the harvesting quest, a nearby mender will offer players another quest, which is to teach them how to craft. Completing the crafting quest gives you a charm that, when activated, increases your runspeed by another 17%. In a nutshell, 17 + 25 = 42, which means that you have 42% runspeed before you even hit level 10. This is two percent faster than a 10 platinum horse, mind you, so be thankful that SOE did this to make your life easier.
Also, please note that for those folks who want to use this, you’ll have to equip the item first and then activate the item to get the benefit.
4. If you’re a crafter, then get Ample Harvest.
Now, this next one is just personal preference, but when you start a new character and decide to make it a crafter/gatherer, it would be most advantageous for you to get the above-pictured Ample Harvest skill in the Shadows Tree of your Alternate Advancement setup maxed out. This passive skill, when maxed out, gives you a 15% chance to harvest a second time on a material node when used. In other words, you get more materials more often, and the second harvest counts as a second chance to get a rare material.
Why is this my personal preference? Well, the next point sort of makes that clear.
5. Go to the Isle of Mara when you hit level 5.
This bit of information I picked up from Arkenor, and is currently the thing that makes me want to level up faster.
You only get the above-mentioned Alternate Advancement points after hitting level 10, but at level 5, you can begin a quest that makes full use of that ability when it’s finally maxed out. The Isle of Mara is a level 50 zone, but getting there using a one of those travel globe thingies at main cities will place you at the docks of the Village of Shin. On the opposite side of the river, on a small pond near where all the big houses are, is a little boy named Qho Augren who will offer you a quest (a series of quests actually, called A Gathering Obsession) to gather just about everything there is to gather on Norrath.
You’ll begin with the collection of starter area material nodes, moving onto to higher level nodes as you progress. Thing is, for a poor first starting character, the reward for the first part of the series is at least 17 gold. The Ample Harvest skill allows you to speed up the collection process, especially for annoying ones, like fish (which usually require a bit of swimming) or different kinds of trapped meat.
There you have it. Hopefully this post will help you folks out in making money and making the most out of your time when you start a character. If ever you end up on Lucan D’Lere, feel free to send me a /tell on my main or my alts, and I’ll be glad to help you out. Cheers!
EDITED TO ADD: Made some revisions and clarifications on some of the points, as per some additional information and questions by Pid and Sev.