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Newbie Guide
Contents |
The Beginnings
For those who haven't played Everquest before (or even for those who haven't played in years), starting off can be rather daunting. Without much to guide a new player, the game itself can quickly become overwhelming and unforgiving. A few quick pointers can save a lot of time and a lot of frustration. To get an idea for your class/race check out the main page for some helpful links and character creation guides. After your initial character is made, you'll load into your home city next to the Priest of Discord. First off, each player starts with a few necessary items: food/drink, a training weapon, a note to their guildmaster, a Tome of Order and Discord, and a few spells if they're a casting class. The tome is used in a quest to become PVP enabled, but on a PVE server this will only hinder your progression. Destroy it.
The next step should be to find your guildmaster. Read the note given to you, take down the name, and find the NPC in question. Hand him/her the note to receive a training tunic/robe, a small amount of experience, and positive faction towards your guild. Lastly, scribe any spells in your inventory into your spellbook (ctrl-b or use the EQ menu) and memorize (left-click) the spells onto your spell bar.
Preparing for the Outside World
Before heading out, it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with the layout of your city, mainly where your guild is in relation to the town gate, the banker(s), and any merchants close to the exit for easy selling. To bolster your inventory, backpacks and other bags are usually available at a merchant in your guild. Always be sure to have adequate food and drink as well. Caster's will not be able to use their spells when they are thirsty, and melee's stamina will not replenish without food.
Where to Adventure
The best place to start off adventuring is right outside your city. Each starting zone typically has a certain area where players will meet to form groups. Greater Faydark has orc hill, Nektulos Forest has the newbie log, etc. These are great places to meet new players and get a feel for the game.
- Greater Faydark (Kelethin) - Orc hill is located north-east of the northernmost lift of Kelethin. Recommended for players 3+. This can be a challenging camp without the right classes; fortunately there will usually be a class (druid or cleric) that can lull/calm the orc camps to make fighting easier.
- Nektulos Forest (Neriak) - The newbie log is located due West of the Neriak gate, just beyond the large hill. Recommended for any level, this area has a wide range of mobs to pull and is a great landmark to regroup to.
- East Commons/West Freeport (Freeport) -
- etc.
Traveling
Safe travel will not only save you a headache, but will get you to your location quicker in the long run. A few things to note:
- Maps are only available in starting zones, but use them when you can. Otherwise, a good resource is an EQ atlas mirror [need link].
- Hug the walls. If a zone is unfamiliar territory to you, the walls are usually the safest route. In certain cases, the roads are viable paths to follow as well, although are usually more populated with mobs.
- Beware of Kithicor Forest.
Ports from druids/wizards are also available, but some form of donation is usually expected. If you do ask for a port, 1) know where you are and where you're heading, 2) be polite and don't spam the chat channel, and 3) offer a donation (either 1pp per level or 20-50pp depending on your generosity).
Quests
Quests offer a variety of benefits for both new and returning players. Experience, faction, gold, and even the odd piece of equipment; all of these can make the first few levels a little easier to handle. A few popular starting quests are:
Equipment
Equipment can be difficult to come by in Everquest. Most items of any worth come from named mobs, usually in dungeons, and almost always require a group. Depending on your class, finding and upgrading equipment can take a few different paths. The starting point is typically the same for all classes: Kill decaying skeletons (or humanoids such as gnolls, kobolds, orcs) for cloth drops.
Melee
For any class in close-combat there are two options available early: banded and bronze. Both typically sell for 1pp/AC, but banded is considerably lighter and, on characters with low strength, can mean the difference between being encumbered* (overweight) and not.
*being encumbered causes a loss in agility, movement speed, and AC
Banded mail is player crafted using Blacksmithing, while bronze is dropped from mobs level 20+. While a tanking (knight) class would benefit from the extra AC in bronze, melee DPS could just as easily use Banded for its lighter weight. It comes down to play-style as both are viable options for a new player.
For a young Monk, since patchwork is rather heavy, either raw silk or cured silk are viable until Wu's Fighting Gear.
- Raw Silk - consists of 13 pieces for 37AC
- Cured Silk - consists of 13 pieces for 50AC
Both are created by tailors. A common way to purchase raw/cured silk is to collect enough spider silk for the tailor to create a set and offer a tip to the player as well.
