Klank
CAGiversary!
This thread is about the granddaddy of all MMORPG's EVERQUEST
EverQuest, often called EQ, is a 3D fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) that was released on March 16, 1999. The original design is credited to Brad McQuaid, Steve Clover, and Bill Trost. It was developed by Sony's 989 Studios and its early-1999 spin-off Verant Interactive. It was published by Sony Online Entertainment (SOE). Since its acquisition of Verant in late 1999, SOE develops, runs and distributes EverQuest.
Everquest was a hard game when it first came out and even today it is often more of a challenge than the new MMO's of today.
Mirage Guild and Electric Funstuff put it best I think in this video
The Next Everquest Expansion Announced! #15 Seeds of Destruction
On Tuesday, October 21, 2008, the inhabitants of the world of EverQuest will explore the realm of time as they take a journey through the history of Norrath. Announcing EverQuest Seeds of Destruction, the 15th EverQuest expansion!
A shining portal leads to a distant future where Riftseekers have used the Plane of Time to corrupt the very fabric of reality. The world has been shattered into millions of pieces that spin aimlessly through the void. On the largest of these pieces is a shadowy figure tending to a lone seedling tree - the last living remnant of Norrath. This lone soul is the fallen god Zebuxoruk and the only being who knows the secret to repairing the shattered world.
To prevent the cataclysm and defeat the forces of chaos, players must journey through time portals to the greatest moments in EverQuest history. From the founding of Qeynos to the battle of Bloody Kithicor, players will be called upon to safeguard history and ensure that events unfold without interference from the gods of Discord.
Features
Along with the many new quests, items, spells, and alternate advancement (AA) abilities, Seeds of Destruction will include the following features:
* Mercenaries - For the first time in EverQuest history, adventurers will be able to hire non-player characters (NPCs) called mercenaries to aid them in their heroic endeavors. They will be valuable player assets as they thwart the efforts of Discord's dark god. The level and ability of the will scale to the appropriate level and will think and act for themselves with limited player guidance. They are designed for extra support or extra muscle in PvE encounters.
* Level Cap Increase - Players will now be able to achieve level 85! New high-level item sets, new alternate advancement ability lines and new spells await!
* 20 New Zones - Features re-imagined classic content and brand-new realms for adventurers to explore, including the eerie wasteland of the Void, the Battle of Rathe on the Plane of Earth, a smell of death in the Bloody Kithicor, the Oceangreen Hills before the founding of Qeynos, and the ultimate heart of darkness in the Plane of Discord.
* All Inclusive - The expansion includes all features and content from the 14 previous expansion packs.
* Legends of Norrath - The expansion includes Legends of Norrath digital card game client, with starter deck, booster pack and loot item.
Want to participate in the Seeds of Destruction Beta?
The Beta sign-up process has been made easier for you... and for us! The new system places you in a pool of potential beta testers. When the open stages occur, beta testers will automatically be selected from that pool. We will, however, still be limiting the number of participants during different Beta stages the difference is that now you don't have to wait for a window of opportunity. The Beta sign-up page will remain open throughout the Beta period. Once you sign up, you do not need to sign up again.
Sign up for the beta
Screenshots
A shining portal leads to a distant future where Riftseekers have used the Plane of Time to corrupt the very fabric of reality. The world has been shattered into millions of pieces that spin aimlessly through the void. On the largest of these pieces is a shadowy figure tending to a lone seedling tree - the last living remnant of Norrath. This lone soul is the fallen god Zebuxoruk and the only being who knows the secret to repairing the shattered world.
To prevent the cataclysm and defeat the forces of chaos, players must journey through time portals to the greatest moments in EverQuest history. From the founding of Qeynos to the battle of Bloody Kithicor, players will be called upon to safeguard history and ensure that events unfold without interference from the gods of Discord.
Features
Along with the many new quests, items, spells, and alternate advancement (AA) abilities, Seeds of Destruction will include the following features:
* Mercenaries - For the first time in EverQuest history, adventurers will be able to hire non-player characters (NPCs) called mercenaries to aid them in their heroic endeavors. They will be valuable player assets as they thwart the efforts of Discord's dark god. The level and ability of the will scale to the appropriate level and will think and act for themselves with limited player guidance. They are designed for extra support or extra muscle in PvE encounters.
* Level Cap Increase - Players will now be able to achieve level 85! New high-level item sets, new alternate advancement ability lines and new spells await!
* 20 New Zones - Features re-imagined classic content and brand-new realms for adventurers to explore, including the eerie wasteland of the Void, the Battle of Rathe on the Plane of Earth, a smell of death in the Bloody Kithicor, the Oceangreen Hills before the founding of Qeynos, and the ultimate heart of darkness in the Plane of Discord.
* All Inclusive - The expansion includes all features and content from the 14 previous expansion packs.
* Legends of Norrath - The expansion includes Legends of Norrath digital card game client, with starter deck, booster pack and loot item.
Want to participate in the Seeds of Destruction Beta?
The Beta sign-up process has been made easier for you... and for us! The new system places you in a pool of potential beta testers. When the open stages occur, beta testers will automatically be selected from that pool. We will, however, still be limiting the number of participants during different Beta stages the difference is that now you don't have to wait for a window of opportunity. The Beta sign-up page will remain open throughout the Beta period. Once you sign up, you do not need to sign up again.
Sign up for the beta
Screenshots
About the Game
Classes
Races
Good things to know
Right now thanks to the Living Legacy event there is a new type of armor dropping for all levels called defiant. It is much better than just about anything else you can get till the 70's. It can drop off any level appropriate monster. Unlike in some other games you still get loot of killing grays so you can farm this armor for alts or whatever or just to sell.
Money is easier to come by these days. One of the big money makers is legends of norrath booster packs. They drop rarely off anything in the game and sell for around 40K on my server and thats more than enough to deck out a low level character with some nice stuff.
Hotzones
There are now hotzones in the game. The hotzones have large XP bonuses as well as each having a new caster and melee item drop and an augment. The current hot zones are
Level 20 North/South Ro
Level 25 Solusek's Eye
Level 30 Blightfire Moors
Level 35 Stone Hive
Level 40 Dulak's Harbor
Level 45 Skyshrine
Level 50 Akheva Ruins
Level 55 Crypt of Nadox
Level 60 Riwwi, Coliseum of Games
Level 65 Torden, Bastion of Thunder
Level 70 Ruins of Illsalin
There is a map system built in to the regular UI but it does not have a whole lot of maps. However there is a set of maps you can download that are great. Just download the whole thing and put it in your maps folder http://www.mapfiend.net/mappacks
Yes people still play this
Currently I am in a guild called Nostalgia the Guild on the Luclin server. We have been slowly working our way through all the old content. Thats us at the top of the page there from a few weeks ago when we were killing Lord Nagafen and Lady Vox.
Currently we have 2 different group nights. Our tuesday group is in their 30's and our Friday group is level locked at 60 right now working on epic 1.0's and other content around that level.
We are always happy to have more people join us. On non group nights generally there are only 1 or 2 of us around as most people seem to play EQ2 as well.
I livecast all of our Friday group nights on my justin.tv page Klank_Smash Games
If you are interested in joining the guild or have any questions just post on the webste or just ask here. Also if you play EQ or EQ2 already and want to talk to us we have an in game channel.
If you are on luclin its
/join Nostalgia
If you are on a different EQ1 server its
/join luclin.nostalgia
if you are on Everquest 2 its
/join EQ.luclin.nostalgia
Besides our guild I often see other guilds recruiting and its really not so hard to level these days.
Classes
The fourteen classes of the original 1999 version of EverQuest were later expanded to include the Beastlord and Berserker classes with the Shadows of Luclin (2001) and Gates of Discord (2004) expansions, respectively.
The classes can be grouped into those that share similar characteristics that allow them to play certain types of roles within the game when grouped with others. One way of grouping classes is described below.
Tank classes
"Tank" classes are those that have high numbers of "health points" for their level and can wear heavy armor. They also have the ability to taunt enemies into focusing on them, rather than other party members who may be more susceptible to damage and death.
* Warrior: the prototypical tank class, able to avoid and mitigate more damage than any other class. In a way, this is offset by their inability to cast spells.
* Shadow Knight: a durable tank class; this Warrior/Necromancer hybrid has vampiric and damage-over-time spells. Shadow Knights also have the unique ability to Harm Touch (do direct damage) every 72 minutes, the power of which increases in absolute terms but decreases relative to enemies' hit points as a player levels up. At higher levels, Shadow Knights are able to summon a weak pet, summon players' corpses who are in the same zone as them, and are able to feign death. The feign death ability allows the Shadow Knight to function as a "puller" for a group.
* Paladin: the "good" counterpart to the Shadow Knight, a Paladin is a hybrid Warrior/Cleric. They are able to Lay on Hands (heal themselves or another player) once every 72 minutes. At higher levels, paladins also receive some resurrection spells. Paladins are tough in melee, with some healing, protective, and stun spells. At mid-range levels, they have a "pacify" line of spells that allows them to function as a "puller" for a group.
DPS
The following classes are able to produce large quantities of damage to the enemy in a short period of time. Within the game, these classes are often referred to as 'DPS' standing for Damage Per Second.
The melee damage dealers have a medium number of hit points per level, but cannot wear the heaviest armors and are less likely than a "tank" class to be able to survive direct attacks for a sustained period of time.
* Beastlord: The Beastlord is a unique class which combines some powers from the Monk and Shaman classes along with a powerful pet. Beastlords can imbue their pets with powers and combat enemies with hand-to-hand skills or with weapons. They can also "de-buff" enemies with spells, and possess modest healing abilities. This diverse array of skills allows Beastlords to be effective solo adventurers at many levels as well as handy in a group setting.
* Berserker: A specialist form of the melee type, the Berserker is primarily a medium-armored, high-damage dealer that uses two-handed weapons and who can hurl axes and other thrown objects.
* Monk: As masters of martial arts, Monks are the hand-to-hand fighting experts and are a powerful melee damage-dealer. Monks have the ability to feign death with a high degree of reliability and other skills that enable them to be a strong "pulling" class.
* Ranger: A versatile hybrid class combining some of a Warrior's ability with a Druid's spells, Rangers are able to deal large amounts of damage both from a ranged distance and in melee. Their most unusual ability is to track unseen NPCs, for which they can be used as "pullers" in outdoor zones. Rangers also have the ability to "taunt" and in casual play can sometimes play the role of "tank".
* Rogue: With their backstab ability, Rogues are able to inflict the highest rate of damage of any of the classes, if they are in a party that can keep the opponent facing away from the Rogue. Rogues also have the ability to make poisons, pick pockets, and pick locks. Their abilities to sneak and hide allow them to walk past both living and undead mobs without being seen.
The "caster" classes have the lowest hit points per level and can only utilize the lightest of armors.
* Wizard: The primary nuking class; these casters are able to deal catastrophic damage to enemies over a very short time, particularly with their Manaburn skill. Wizards also have transportation spells that facilitate group travel to particular locations. One of four classes able to make spells using the spell research trade skill.
* Magician: Usually referred to as Mages, Magicians are similar to the Wizard class but with somewhat less power. They are able to summon strong elemental pets (which they rely heavily upon), pet armor and weapons, food, drink, and mod rods, which allow players to convert their health into mana. Magicians can also summon party members to different parts of a zone with the Call of the Hero spell, which can be helpful in raid zones. One of four classes able to make spells using the spell research trade skill.
* Necromancer: These masters of death are able to summon powerful undead pets and use a large variety of poison and disease-based damage-over-time spells. Necromancers are able to feign death, snare enemies, and summon players' corpses in-zone. They have a combination of skills and abilities, most notably the ability to snare (make an enemy run slowly) and fear (run in the opposite direction) that allows them to function as an effective solo class. One of four classes able to make spells using the spell research trade skill.
Crowd control / utility
These classes share the ability to restrain multiple enemies from attacking the party and also have the ability to increase party members' ability to regenerate mana at a faster rate.
* Enchanter: A caster class that has few hit points per level and can wear only the lightest forms of armor, Enchanters are crowd control experts and are the most proficient class at Charming, Stunning, and Mesmerizing enemies. They have the ability to Memory Blur an opponent (causing them to forget they were being attacked) or Pacify an opponent (making them oblivious to antagonists in the area), both of which may be extremely useful in avoiding unwanted skirmishes. Enchanters also have a wide range of utility spells, including the Clarity (AKA "crack") line of spells, which when cast on a player allows them to regenerate mana at an improved rate. In addition to being able to both increase players' rate of attack (with the Haste line of spells), and Slowing that of enemies, Enchanters may also cast Illusions on themselves and others, which may have no real benefit (other than conferring a new look) or may grant tangible benefits such as underwater breathing, flight, or a vampiric touch. Lastly, Enchanters possess the unique Rune line of spells, which creates a magical protective buffer against all forms of damage until it is has worn down. This class is also uniquely suited for the jewelcraft trade, because it is the only class able to enchant metals. It is also one of the four classes able to make spells using the spell research trade skill.
* Bard: a jack-of-all-trades class with fair melee ability, good armor, and the ability to play songs that benefit all nearby comrades, such as "crowd control" effects as well as mana and health regeneration. Bards do possess the unique ability to 'fade' from their enemies memories. This makes the bard an excellent pulling class. Bards possess lesser versions of many of the special abilities of other classes. They are known for their ability to increase the movement speed of their party faster than any mount or movement buff. Bards can weave the effects of up to four songs at once to confer the greatest advantage to their group. Bards themselves often do not receive the full benefit of their songs, but they can still be an effective solo class at many levels, especially with their strong "kiting" proficiency.
Healers
The "priest" classes have medium level of hit points per level and have access to healing and "buff" spells.
* Cleric: The most powerful healer in the game, and for the first few years of EverQuest, the only class capable of resurrection and the powerful spell Complete Heal. Clerics can wear the heaviest plate-mail type armors.
* Druid: A priest class that can cast healing spells, teleport, snare (slow down) enemies, and cast moderately powerful nuking and damage-over-time spells. The range of abilities allows druids to play multiple roles in a group or to solo effectively. Druids may only wear "leather class" armors. Druids also have a number of transportation spells that allow speedy movement throughout much of the gaming world. Their combined tracking and foraging skills make them excellent trade-skillers, in terms of finding various components necessary for baking, tailoring, brewing and the like.
* Shaman: As a priest class, they have access to healing and many lines of "buff" spells. Shaman possess strong damage-over-time spells, and are able to slow an enemy's rate of attack. Shamans, or "Shammies" may cannibalize their health to restore mana and may wear "chain mail" levels of armor. Because of the range of Shaman's spells, they are sometimes considered a "utility" class. Shamans are the only class able to make potions with the Alchemy skill.
The fourteen classes of the original 1999 version of EverQuest were later expanded to include the Beastlord and Berserker classes with the Shadows of Luclin (2001) and Gates of Discord (2004) expansions, respectively.
The classes can be grouped into those that share similar characteristics that allow them to play certain types of roles within the game when grouped with others. One way of grouping classes is described below.
Tank classes
"Tank" classes are those that have high numbers of "health points" for their level and can wear heavy armor. They also have the ability to taunt enemies into focusing on them, rather than other party members who may be more susceptible to damage and death.
* Warrior: the prototypical tank class, able to avoid and mitigate more damage than any other class. In a way, this is offset by their inability to cast spells.
* Shadow Knight: a durable tank class; this Warrior/Necromancer hybrid has vampiric and damage-over-time spells. Shadow Knights also have the unique ability to Harm Touch (do direct damage) every 72 minutes, the power of which increases in absolute terms but decreases relative to enemies' hit points as a player levels up. At higher levels, Shadow Knights are able to summon a weak pet, summon players' corpses who are in the same zone as them, and are able to feign death. The feign death ability allows the Shadow Knight to function as a "puller" for a group.
* Paladin: the "good" counterpart to the Shadow Knight, a Paladin is a hybrid Warrior/Cleric. They are able to Lay on Hands (heal themselves or another player) once every 72 minutes. At higher levels, paladins also receive some resurrection spells. Paladins are tough in melee, with some healing, protective, and stun spells. At mid-range levels, they have a "pacify" line of spells that allows them to function as a "puller" for a group.
DPS
The following classes are able to produce large quantities of damage to the enemy in a short period of time. Within the game, these classes are often referred to as 'DPS' standing for Damage Per Second.
The melee damage dealers have a medium number of hit points per level, but cannot wear the heaviest armors and are less likely than a "tank" class to be able to survive direct attacks for a sustained period of time.
* Beastlord: The Beastlord is a unique class which combines some powers from the Monk and Shaman classes along with a powerful pet. Beastlords can imbue their pets with powers and combat enemies with hand-to-hand skills or with weapons. They can also "de-buff" enemies with spells, and possess modest healing abilities. This diverse array of skills allows Beastlords to be effective solo adventurers at many levels as well as handy in a group setting.
* Berserker: A specialist form of the melee type, the Berserker is primarily a medium-armored, high-damage dealer that uses two-handed weapons and who can hurl axes and other thrown objects.
* Monk: As masters of martial arts, Monks are the hand-to-hand fighting experts and are a powerful melee damage-dealer. Monks have the ability to feign death with a high degree of reliability and other skills that enable them to be a strong "pulling" class.
* Ranger: A versatile hybrid class combining some of a Warrior's ability with a Druid's spells, Rangers are able to deal large amounts of damage both from a ranged distance and in melee. Their most unusual ability is to track unseen NPCs, for which they can be used as "pullers" in outdoor zones. Rangers also have the ability to "taunt" and in casual play can sometimes play the role of "tank".
* Rogue: With their backstab ability, Rogues are able to inflict the highest rate of damage of any of the classes, if they are in a party that can keep the opponent facing away from the Rogue. Rogues also have the ability to make poisons, pick pockets, and pick locks. Their abilities to sneak and hide allow them to walk past both living and undead mobs without being seen.
The "caster" classes have the lowest hit points per level and can only utilize the lightest of armors.
* Wizard: The primary nuking class; these casters are able to deal catastrophic damage to enemies over a very short time, particularly with their Manaburn skill. Wizards also have transportation spells that facilitate group travel to particular locations. One of four classes able to make spells using the spell research trade skill.
* Magician: Usually referred to as Mages, Magicians are similar to the Wizard class but with somewhat less power. They are able to summon strong elemental pets (which they rely heavily upon), pet armor and weapons, food, drink, and mod rods, which allow players to convert their health into mana. Magicians can also summon party members to different parts of a zone with the Call of the Hero spell, which can be helpful in raid zones. One of four classes able to make spells using the spell research trade skill.
* Necromancer: These masters of death are able to summon powerful undead pets and use a large variety of poison and disease-based damage-over-time spells. Necromancers are able to feign death, snare enemies, and summon players' corpses in-zone. They have a combination of skills and abilities, most notably the ability to snare (make an enemy run slowly) and fear (run in the opposite direction) that allows them to function as an effective solo class. One of four classes able to make spells using the spell research trade skill.
Crowd control / utility
These classes share the ability to restrain multiple enemies from attacking the party and also have the ability to increase party members' ability to regenerate mana at a faster rate.
* Enchanter: A caster class that has few hit points per level and can wear only the lightest forms of armor, Enchanters are crowd control experts and are the most proficient class at Charming, Stunning, and Mesmerizing enemies. They have the ability to Memory Blur an opponent (causing them to forget they were being attacked) or Pacify an opponent (making them oblivious to antagonists in the area), both of which may be extremely useful in avoiding unwanted skirmishes. Enchanters also have a wide range of utility spells, including the Clarity (AKA "crack") line of spells, which when cast on a player allows them to regenerate mana at an improved rate. In addition to being able to both increase players' rate of attack (with the Haste line of spells), and Slowing that of enemies, Enchanters may also cast Illusions on themselves and others, which may have no real benefit (other than conferring a new look) or may grant tangible benefits such as underwater breathing, flight, or a vampiric touch. Lastly, Enchanters possess the unique Rune line of spells, which creates a magical protective buffer against all forms of damage until it is has worn down. This class is also uniquely suited for the jewelcraft trade, because it is the only class able to enchant metals. It is also one of the four classes able to make spells using the spell research trade skill.
* Bard: a jack-of-all-trades class with fair melee ability, good armor, and the ability to play songs that benefit all nearby comrades, such as "crowd control" effects as well as mana and health regeneration. Bards do possess the unique ability to 'fade' from their enemies memories. This makes the bard an excellent pulling class. Bards possess lesser versions of many of the special abilities of other classes. They are known for their ability to increase the movement speed of their party faster than any mount or movement buff. Bards can weave the effects of up to four songs at once to confer the greatest advantage to their group. Bards themselves often do not receive the full benefit of their songs, but they can still be an effective solo class at many levels, especially with their strong "kiting" proficiency.
Healers
The "priest" classes have medium level of hit points per level and have access to healing and "buff" spells.
* Cleric: The most powerful healer in the game, and for the first few years of EverQuest, the only class capable of resurrection and the powerful spell Complete Heal. Clerics can wear the heaviest plate-mail type armors.
* Druid: A priest class that can cast healing spells, teleport, snare (slow down) enemies, and cast moderately powerful nuking and damage-over-time spells. The range of abilities allows druids to play multiple roles in a group or to solo effectively. Druids may only wear "leather class" armors. Druids also have a number of transportation spells that allow speedy movement throughout much of the gaming world. Their combined tracking and foraging skills make them excellent trade-skillers, in terms of finding various components necessary for baking, tailoring, brewing and the like.
* Shaman: As a priest class, they have access to healing and many lines of "buff" spells. Shaman possess strong damage-over-time spells, and are able to slow an enemy's rate of attack. Shamans, or "Shammies" may cannibalize their health to restore mana and may wear "chain mail" levels of armor. Because of the range of Shaman's spells, they are sometimes considered a "utility" class. Shamans are the only class able to make potions with the Alchemy skill.
Races
There are sixteen playable races in EverQuest, and a considerably higher number of non-player races. There are several notable differences between races beyond the visual; several races get enhanced night vision, forage, slam, hide, or sneak. The races also start off with different statistics, something that is now fairly irrelevant because of the ease of capping your stats.
Barbarians
Size - Large
Alignment: Good
Innate Abilities: slam
Dark Elves
Size - medium
Alignment: Evil
Innate Abilities: Hide and Ultravision
Drakkin
Size - medium
Alignment: Neutral
Drakkin get a unique series of AoE breath skills (aka Dragon Breath), that are DOTs + resist debuffs, the exact spell depends on the color (aka heritage) of the drakkin. These progressive abilities are quested, and start here.
Dwarves
Size - Small
Alignment: Good
Innate Abilities: Infravision
Erudites
Size - medium
Alignment: Neutral
Innate Abilities: none
Frogloks
Size - medium
Alignment: Good or Evil
Innate Abilities: Swimming (begin with skill of 125); Ultravision
Gnomes
Size - Small
Alignment: Neutral
Innate Abilities: Tinkering, Hide - capped at 75 (?)
Half-Elves
Size: Medium
Alignment: Neutral
Innate Abilities: Infravision
Halflings
Size: Small
Alignment: Good
Innate Abilities: Infravision; Hide (capped at 50); 5% xp bonus
High Elves
Size: Medium
Alignment: Good
Innate Abilities: Infravision
Humans
Size: Medium
Alignment: Neutral
Innate Abilities: none
Iksar
Size: Medium
Alignment: Evil
Innate Abilities: Infravision; Starts with Swimming Skill of 100; Innate AC bonus (with the downside that they can't wear pre-Velious plate); Forage (capped at 50); higher regen (scales with levels); eats faster than other races
Ogres
Size: Large
Alignment: Evil
Innate Abilities: slam; can not be stunned from the Front (unique ability!); eats faster than other races
Trolls
Size: Large
Alignment: Evil
Innate Abilities: slam; higher regen (scales with level); Infravision; eats faster than other races
Vah Shir
Size: Large
Alignment: Neutral
Innate Abilities: slam; eats faster than other races
Wood Elves
Size: Small
Alignment: Good
Innate Abilities: Infravision; Hide (skill 50); Forage (skill 50)
Barbarians
Size - Large
Alignment: Good
Innate Abilities: slam
Dark Elves
Size - medium
Alignment: Evil
Innate Abilities: Hide and Ultravision
Drakkin
Size - medium
Alignment: Neutral
Drakkin get a unique series of AoE breath skills (aka Dragon Breath), that are DOTs + resist debuffs, the exact spell depends on the color (aka heritage) of the drakkin. These progressive abilities are quested, and start here.
Dwarves
Size - Small
Alignment: Good
Innate Abilities: Infravision
Erudites
Size - medium
Alignment: Neutral
Innate Abilities: none
Frogloks
Size - medium
Alignment: Good or Evil
Innate Abilities: Swimming (begin with skill of 125); Ultravision
Gnomes
Size - Small
Alignment: Neutral
Innate Abilities: Tinkering, Hide - capped at 75 (?)
Half-Elves
Size: Medium
Alignment: Neutral
Innate Abilities: Infravision
Halflings
Size: Small
Alignment: Good
Innate Abilities: Infravision; Hide (capped at 50); 5% xp bonus
High Elves
Size: Medium
Alignment: Good
Innate Abilities: Infravision
Humans
Size: Medium
Alignment: Neutral
Innate Abilities: none
Iksar
Size: Medium
Alignment: Evil
Innate Abilities: Infravision; Starts with Swimming Skill of 100; Innate AC bonus (with the downside that they can't wear pre-Velious plate); Forage (capped at 50); higher regen (scales with levels); eats faster than other races
Ogres
Size: Large
Alignment: Evil
Innate Abilities: slam; can not be stunned from the Front (unique ability!); eats faster than other races
Trolls
Size: Large
Alignment: Evil
Innate Abilities: slam; higher regen (scales with level); Infravision; eats faster than other races
Vah Shir
Size: Large
Alignment: Neutral
Innate Abilities: slam; eats faster than other races
Wood Elves
Size: Small
Alignment: Good
Innate Abilities: Infravision; Hide (skill 50); Forage (skill 50)
Good things to know
Right now thanks to the Living Legacy event there is a new type of armor dropping for all levels called defiant. It is much better than just about anything else you can get till the 70's. It can drop off any level appropriate monster. Unlike in some other games you still get loot of killing grays so you can farm this armor for alts or whatever or just to sell.
Money is easier to come by these days. One of the big money makers is legends of norrath booster packs. They drop rarely off anything in the game and sell for around 40K on my server and thats more than enough to deck out a low level character with some nice stuff.
Hotzones
There are now hotzones in the game. The hotzones have large XP bonuses as well as each having a new caster and melee item drop and an augment. The current hot zones are
Level 20 North/South Ro
Level 25 Solusek's Eye
Level 30 Blightfire Moors
Level 35 Stone Hive
Level 40 Dulak's Harbor
Level 45 Skyshrine
Level 50 Akheva Ruins
Level 55 Crypt of Nadox
Level 60 Riwwi, Coliseum of Games
Level 65 Torden, Bastion of Thunder
Level 70 Ruins of Illsalin
There is a map system built in to the regular UI but it does not have a whole lot of maps. However there is a set of maps you can download that are great. Just download the whole thing and put it in your maps folder http://www.mapfiend.net/mappacks
Yes people still play this
Currently I am in a guild called Nostalgia the Guild on the Luclin server. We have been slowly working our way through all the old content. Thats us at the top of the page there from a few weeks ago when we were killing Lord Nagafen and Lady Vox.
Currently we have 2 different group nights. Our tuesday group is in their 30's and our Friday group is level locked at 60 right now working on epic 1.0's and other content around that level.
We are always happy to have more people join us. On non group nights generally there are only 1 or 2 of us around as most people seem to play EQ2 as well.
I livecast all of our Friday group nights on my justin.tv page Klank_Smash Games
If you are interested in joining the guild or have any questions just post on the webste or just ask here. Also if you play EQ or EQ2 already and want to talk to us we have an in game channel.
If you are on luclin its
/join Nostalgia
If you are on a different EQ1 server its
/join luclin.nostalgia
if you are on Everquest 2 its
/join EQ.luclin.nostalgia
Besides our guild I often see other guilds recruiting and its really not so hard to level these days.