scrat
02-15-2011, 11:51 AM
I've decided to copy this subscriber-lounge guide to the public forums; maybe it will give somebody something productive to think about / research while SoE is busy getting hacked. I have only copied my "guide" portions and left the original topic intact in the subscriber lounge with replies/commentary. I hope there are folks out there that didnt know about DoN or forgot about it - and this prompts you to power up your character some!
Dragons of Norrath Progression
There are timeless advantages for going back and completing as much DoN progression as you can -regardless if you are a solo professional, group nut or bleeding edge raider. The rewards are passive Alternate Abilities that are found in your "special" tab, and are under the category of Progression. Check out the final Augment reward:
http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n440/bandoslav/DoNProgression.jpg
Just kidding. Its not an augment. Well, not really. Here are the real rewards:
Tier 1: Gift of the Dark Reign - increases the maximum amount all of your stats can be raised by 10 points. You will need to find 1 real player to join your group briefly so you can solo a 20 minute group mission.
Tier 2: Tenacity of the Dark Reign - increases your HP, Mana and Endurance by 2%. You will need to find 2 real players to join your group briefly so you can solo a 10 minute raid, and 1 player briefly so you can solo a 10 minute mission. Dont think 2% is much? It adds 2% more HP than your gear advertises, adds 2% more hp per stamina point you have, adds 2% more hp to your naked self. So if you are walking around with 45khp unbuffed, you can expect this to net you 900hp. Thats alot.
Tier 3: Embrace of the Dark Reign - increases your maximum buff slot limit by 1
Tier 4: Power of the Dark Reign - grants you a innate 1% chance to score critical melee / spell / DoT hits, exceptional heals.
Tier 5: Ferver of the Dark Reign - grants you a innate 1% chance to resist virtually all detrimental spells.
Many players believe Power of the Dark Reign grants an extra 3% to crits, or 2%. I have personally seen multiple developers report the bonus as a flat 1 percent; therefore I am reporting the conservative number.
Yes - each and every DoN reward is a passive innate bonus to your base character, and it stacks with each and every other alternate ability / effect / bonus in the game.
Now before you blow this off, let me ask an interesting question: just how much time would you invest camping for an invisible augment like the fake one I created above? That is effectively...precisely what this is. Its just invisible.
For todays necromancer - wether you are returning as a level 80 soloer or end-game level 90 casual grouper - you can accomplish a large portion of this progression with minimal assistance. However, because DoN progression is group/raid based...you will need assistance even if its only finding people to join your group in other zones to give you minimum number requirements for missions/raids. Sorry, you cannot do this true solo - but you can get a lot done without needing anybody to actually help. And considering how aged DoN is - I imagine some general channel offers for credits / taskadds / raid credit loots will result in some interested helpers. I had absolutely no problem at all finding willing people to come fill slots & help out. No problem at all.
Regarding helpers...the max level spread for DoN missions (like everything else) is 15 levels. However, unlike LDoN...there is no maximum level limit to get the quests/missions/raids - so you dont have to find lower level players to bring down your average. So this is a good thing - a group of 90s can fully do DoN.
-----------------
Disclaimer: Just because this is old content that we can "shred" with little or no risk does not mean this will go superfast and with no risk. Silk AC caps are shockingly low, and our overcap return on AC is lower still...and we got crap for defense skills. Yes, even DoN isn't far enough back that our modern silk AC means much. Even as few as 4-5 grey-con mobs beating on you will toss you around from push like crazy and make it very difficult to cast spells. I know, because I have been wtfpwnd first-hand. Instead, make short work of these mobs by hitting them with a pyre, target next mob and pyre, tgt next mob and pyre...etc, and everything dies fast enough.
Progression is largely limited on specific minimum faction levels (in addition to solo/group missions & raids) - and from what I can determine? Heroic Charisma has not been enabled here, at all. So it will take the same number of quests/missions today to raise your factions as it did 6 years ago - and they still have the same lockout-timer for repeating stuff. So this will be a timely investment - but I ask you again...how much time would you invest camping for that augment above?
-----------
Where is Dragons of Norrath?
The "Starting Area" is Lavastorm Mountains. In the north-west portion of the zone is a couple tunnels - the western tunnel is Norrath Keepers area for "good" players, and the eastern tunnel is the Dark Reign for us "evil" players. Yes, you are KOS to the opposing side, but you are able to travel through them invisible and also purchase items from their vendor while invisible. Likely, you are already very familiar with this area as you used ebon crystals & such buying augs and/or gear back in your youth.
These two tunnels join in the center, and merge north through the giant maw of a beast - to the zone Broodlands. Broodlands is more-so a hub for all the connecting zones within the Dragons of Norrath expansion. In here there are static zone connections, and this is also the entry point for instanced zones for various missions & raids. You will be traversing all of them, and using your compass waypoints often.
http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n440/bandoslav/LavastormMtns-1.jpg
The two factions oppose each other. You cannot simultaneously have positive faction with both Dark Reign and Norrath Keepers.
This guide will only include Dark Reign paths. If you somehow want to follow the Norrath Keepers path - cool. Back in the day many players were forced to choose the path of their guild. If you are a norrath keeper kind of necro, then your best resource for info will likely be samanna's resource site at http://samanna.net/eq.progression/prog.don.shtml
Factioning i.e. repeating quests & missions will be your primary activity for increasing faction. You can also kill the opposing faction guards there in lavastorm, but that should be your last resort considering there arent many to kill, and the respawn is lengthy.
Each post from here on will include 1 full tier.
Each and every mission & raid you complete, you will be automatically granted a Dark Reign Token (http://lucy.allakhazam.com/item.html?id=57209) in your inventory. These are LORE. So after each and every mission / raid, you will be needing to go back to the lavastorm camp and turn in these to the Dark Reign Merchant Xeib Darkskies (http://eqbeastiary.allakhazam.com/search.shtml?id=17792) If you find yourself in a crew that is knocking out missions nonstop & fast...still go back and turn these in after each time. I strongly suggest you bind yourself in front of Xeib so it's fast to turn these in, and fast to get a new mission.
My favorite Missions to repeat for Factions!
I eventually got to the point of cycling in 4 missions and having just enough time for a smoke break before the 1st one done was done with lockout. So the faction got faster and faster. These were my favorites based on speed that I could go through them, though there are quite a lot to choose from. Some look easy and end up being a 2hr snooze-fest waiting for rare drops. I also utilized my warrior doing some of these as there's nothing like swarm gathering 60 mobs and going riposte disc to kill them all in 5 seconds. Fun. We cant do that.
Drake Eggs (http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/quest.html?quest=3298) - super fast. Invis at entrance, run to pair of drakes, one-shot hit with Nos and loot egg. Invis back to zi and kill goblin that spawned. gate to lavastorm, turn in egg for win.
The Creator (http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/quest.html?quest=4864) - very fast. Use Nos on everything you see, run to first big room & kill the 3 golems. run to back rooms and kill the other golem, loot the piece. run to zi and use identify on piece to spawn creator, kill it. done.
Diseased Pumas (http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/quest.html?quest=4860) - fast - Use nos on everyting you see, find the 4 pumas and kill them, loot their blood - gate back and hand in bloods for win.
Holy Hour (http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/quest.html?quest=4795) - fast - just nos everyting you can find until youve killed 50 of them. Can do 40 on the outside ring before you even go inside the building.
.
Dragons of Norrath Progression
There are timeless advantages for going back and completing as much DoN progression as you can -regardless if you are a solo professional, group nut or bleeding edge raider. The rewards are passive Alternate Abilities that are found in your "special" tab, and are under the category of Progression. Check out the final Augment reward:
http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n440/bandoslav/DoNProgression.jpg
Just kidding. Its not an augment. Well, not really. Here are the real rewards:
Tier 1: Gift of the Dark Reign - increases the maximum amount all of your stats can be raised by 10 points. You will need to find 1 real player to join your group briefly so you can solo a 20 minute group mission.
Tier 2: Tenacity of the Dark Reign - increases your HP, Mana and Endurance by 2%. You will need to find 2 real players to join your group briefly so you can solo a 10 minute raid, and 1 player briefly so you can solo a 10 minute mission. Dont think 2% is much? It adds 2% more HP than your gear advertises, adds 2% more hp per stamina point you have, adds 2% more hp to your naked self. So if you are walking around with 45khp unbuffed, you can expect this to net you 900hp. Thats alot.
Tier 3: Embrace of the Dark Reign - increases your maximum buff slot limit by 1
Tier 4: Power of the Dark Reign - grants you a innate 1% chance to score critical melee / spell / DoT hits, exceptional heals.
Tier 5: Ferver of the Dark Reign - grants you a innate 1% chance to resist virtually all detrimental spells.
Many players believe Power of the Dark Reign grants an extra 3% to crits, or 2%. I have personally seen multiple developers report the bonus as a flat 1 percent; therefore I am reporting the conservative number.
Yes - each and every DoN reward is a passive innate bonus to your base character, and it stacks with each and every other alternate ability / effect / bonus in the game.
Now before you blow this off, let me ask an interesting question: just how much time would you invest camping for an invisible augment like the fake one I created above? That is effectively...precisely what this is. Its just invisible.
For todays necromancer - wether you are returning as a level 80 soloer or end-game level 90 casual grouper - you can accomplish a large portion of this progression with minimal assistance. However, because DoN progression is group/raid based...you will need assistance even if its only finding people to join your group in other zones to give you minimum number requirements for missions/raids. Sorry, you cannot do this true solo - but you can get a lot done without needing anybody to actually help. And considering how aged DoN is - I imagine some general channel offers for credits / taskadds / raid credit loots will result in some interested helpers. I had absolutely no problem at all finding willing people to come fill slots & help out. No problem at all.
Regarding helpers...the max level spread for DoN missions (like everything else) is 15 levels. However, unlike LDoN...there is no maximum level limit to get the quests/missions/raids - so you dont have to find lower level players to bring down your average. So this is a good thing - a group of 90s can fully do DoN.
-----------------
Disclaimer: Just because this is old content that we can "shred" with little or no risk does not mean this will go superfast and with no risk. Silk AC caps are shockingly low, and our overcap return on AC is lower still...and we got crap for defense skills. Yes, even DoN isn't far enough back that our modern silk AC means much. Even as few as 4-5 grey-con mobs beating on you will toss you around from push like crazy and make it very difficult to cast spells. I know, because I have been wtfpwnd first-hand. Instead, make short work of these mobs by hitting them with a pyre, target next mob and pyre, tgt next mob and pyre...etc, and everything dies fast enough.
Progression is largely limited on specific minimum faction levels (in addition to solo/group missions & raids) - and from what I can determine? Heroic Charisma has not been enabled here, at all. So it will take the same number of quests/missions today to raise your factions as it did 6 years ago - and they still have the same lockout-timer for repeating stuff. So this will be a timely investment - but I ask you again...how much time would you invest camping for that augment above?
-----------
Where is Dragons of Norrath?
The "Starting Area" is Lavastorm Mountains. In the north-west portion of the zone is a couple tunnels - the western tunnel is Norrath Keepers area for "good" players, and the eastern tunnel is the Dark Reign for us "evil" players. Yes, you are KOS to the opposing side, but you are able to travel through them invisible and also purchase items from their vendor while invisible. Likely, you are already very familiar with this area as you used ebon crystals & such buying augs and/or gear back in your youth.
These two tunnels join in the center, and merge north through the giant maw of a beast - to the zone Broodlands. Broodlands is more-so a hub for all the connecting zones within the Dragons of Norrath expansion. In here there are static zone connections, and this is also the entry point for instanced zones for various missions & raids. You will be traversing all of them, and using your compass waypoints often.
http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n440/bandoslav/LavastormMtns-1.jpg
The two factions oppose each other. You cannot simultaneously have positive faction with both Dark Reign and Norrath Keepers.
This guide will only include Dark Reign paths. If you somehow want to follow the Norrath Keepers path - cool. Back in the day many players were forced to choose the path of their guild. If you are a norrath keeper kind of necro, then your best resource for info will likely be samanna's resource site at http://samanna.net/eq.progression/prog.don.shtml
Factioning i.e. repeating quests & missions will be your primary activity for increasing faction. You can also kill the opposing faction guards there in lavastorm, but that should be your last resort considering there arent many to kill, and the respawn is lengthy.
Each post from here on will include 1 full tier.
Each and every mission & raid you complete, you will be automatically granted a Dark Reign Token (http://lucy.allakhazam.com/item.html?id=57209) in your inventory. These are LORE. So after each and every mission / raid, you will be needing to go back to the lavastorm camp and turn in these to the Dark Reign Merchant Xeib Darkskies (http://eqbeastiary.allakhazam.com/search.shtml?id=17792) If you find yourself in a crew that is knocking out missions nonstop & fast...still go back and turn these in after each time. I strongly suggest you bind yourself in front of Xeib so it's fast to turn these in, and fast to get a new mission.
My favorite Missions to repeat for Factions!
I eventually got to the point of cycling in 4 missions and having just enough time for a smoke break before the 1st one done was done with lockout. So the faction got faster and faster. These were my favorites based on speed that I could go through them, though there are quite a lot to choose from. Some look easy and end up being a 2hr snooze-fest waiting for rare drops. I also utilized my warrior doing some of these as there's nothing like swarm gathering 60 mobs and going riposte disc to kill them all in 5 seconds. Fun. We cant do that.
Drake Eggs (http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/quest.html?quest=3298) - super fast. Invis at entrance, run to pair of drakes, one-shot hit with Nos and loot egg. Invis back to zi and kill goblin that spawned. gate to lavastorm, turn in egg for win.
The Creator (http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/quest.html?quest=4864) - very fast. Use Nos on everything you see, run to first big room & kill the 3 golems. run to back rooms and kill the other golem, loot the piece. run to zi and use identify on piece to spawn creator, kill it. done.
Diseased Pumas (http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/quest.html?quest=4860) - fast - Use nos on everyting you see, find the 4 pumas and kill them, loot their blood - gate back and hand in bloods for win.
Holy Hour (http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/quest.html?quest=4795) - fast - just nos everyting you can find until youve killed 50 of them. Can do 40 on the outside ring before you even go inside the building.
.