I Will Be Your Tank!

I made a pact with myself last night…..

With Mrs B out for most of the evening I sat down in order to start some gaming, but what to play?  I think I actually logged straight into EQ2 and didn’t even look back.
First on the agenda was some action on my little Assassin, well he got level 53 before I stopped with him (He started on 48), he really is a lot of fun now im getting used to chaining the stealth attacks.  Solo is bad since you can only really take single mobs and get a max of two stealth attacks off before your single stun is down.  Grouping is much better since you have enough abilities to get into and out of stealth reliably.

 

However what is this pact I speak of?  Well to be honest im a skittish tank in EQ2, if I haven’t tanked a zone before I wont go to it… see the catch 22 there?  Well what I mean is I want to do it with my steady guild group before I do it with randoms since my guild group is a lot more forgiving.  Im not a crap tank, I hold aggro, grab adds and turn mobs as needed but the intricacies of the zone which people EXPECT others to know I may not.

The pact I have now made is: If I have time to spare I will answer the first call for an instance group that needs a tank.
What did this lead me to tank last night then??? CoA……….. HAHAHAHA!  Honestly I tanked CoA, the zone I have tanked about 100-200 times.  Well the run was uneventful but it felt good to flex my tanking muscles again.
Group was: Zerk, Assassin, Brigand, Defiler, Fury, Illusionist (I think)  I cant honestly remember which caster we had, all I know is I had Assassin aggro transfer and that was it.  However the assassin wasn’t geared at all… it looks like a scrub char that hit 80 and has never got geared up.

The Brigand on the other hand was full VP and new raid instance loot… SHIT!  I find it hard enough keeping aggro off of Brigs anyway.

It went well though, utilising everything I had I mostly held aggro, occasionally losing it when the assassin went to sleep but was all good.

After we were done in there I went to help a guildy level, he was level 79 and needed 20% or so to level, so myself, out guilds main brig (on his Shadowknight) and Mrs B (who had come home at this point) hit Shard of Fear for him.  Nothing dropped…. Bah!  The other guild group in there got the choker but we were unlucky.

After that I did CoA AGAIN!  This time swapping to the Pally since I was locked on the zerk and again fuck all dropped.  I was then kinda tired and went to bed.

So the new pact leads me to tank CoA twice…… yay?

Mrs B Dings 72!

Im finding a little more time to write now, mainly as im starting to do it from work again, the downside as always is that there are no pictures.  I may start writing it here then not publishing it till I get home, who knows.

Well last night my first point of call was Warhammer, I checked the zone map as usual and saw Order were pushing in the Orc v Dwarf pairing so off I set, they were one zone away from the fortress!!  Only I find that there are no destruction anywhere in sight…..

I find the destruction in Praag, attempting to lock the zone, I help for a little while, roll high on the keep PQ and come 10th and win nothing, I soon logged off again.

Mrs B soon wanted help with her wizard so I ran through her quests with her and soon she hit level 72!  She was so happy as she could get a new set of shiny gear to outfit herself with meaning that killing things will be a lot easier for her.  She actually spent so long at the broker that I logged off haha!

While waiting for her I played castle crashers and hit level 13 on my Blue Knight.  Still fun as hell I had fun casting spells, I even downloaded the king pack and used him for a couple of kills, the healing is nice but I miss the mass firepower of regular magic.  I can really see this as a great filler game to jump into when there is a break in other games as there was last night.

Plans then, help Mrs B level some more and stay on the lookout for other things to do.  T2 Void Armour is still on the agenda but ive stopped grinding shards hardcore and will pick them up in time, when im good and ready.

Veeshans Peak: My First Foray!

Ive been a member of the Harpers of Norrath for a while now but always in a non-raider role, this is something that doesn’t sit well with me but im used to it, it still narks that im sat on the sidelines and sometimes the raid leader will go in with spaces free but still not take me.
Anyway our MT, who happens to play the same class as me, (go figure why I cant get in the raid 😛 ) decided to do a “fun run” of Veeshans Peak and kept whispering me in the weeks preceeding to find out my availability (We have been friends since before I joined Harpers)  well last Saturday was THE day, time to hit Veeshans Peak for my first time!

Now im no VP noob, ive watched Mrs B run it numerous times on her Warden while I sat there and brooded, but it was my first time in there on my Zerk (and Pala, more on that later) so felt relieved once we started.

Well it went smooth as you like, I was never called upon to tank although I did end up picking up Nexona once when the MT dropped, having your grps healer sat next to you in the room helps when you can turn and say “Maevs dead, im tanking!”  Still lead to a wipe though hehe.

My rewards?  Boots and Shoulders from the old VP set as well as my Fabled Altar.  Not too bad and for someone like me with no hope of much better gear after the T2 Void then its great.

I even got most of the Trakanon access quest done, now why most do you say?  Well I subbed in my Paladin on Hoskar and got his Mythical update!!!  Now all I need is PR and one other raid and his Mythical is mine! YAY!

I keep asking myself why I keep bothering with my tanks since I wont get the chance to raid on them, but its just the class I love in EQ2.  You see groups always shouting out the need for tanks but any guilds never need any more, its barking!

I have however rolled an Assassin and a Defiler who are both nearing level 50.  Defiler was rolled to raid in a guild who offered me a spot but I don’t think im really getting on with it, it’s a good enough class but the soloability is throught the floor, I rely on a mentor to get me through content.
The assassin is fun as hell though, loving him and his damage, I didn’t use to like the stealth gameplay being more of a straight up fighter sort of guy but the more I practice the better I get at comboing his attacks.

Also on the EQ2 front Mrs B has been making a serious effort of levelling her Wizard.  She wanted a dps toon as “My warden kills so slow” so wizard it was, now granted the bonus exp weekends are the best thing since sliced bread but I have been mentoring her with my Zerk and she is now 71!  Its so great to see her having a blast (Literally) with her Wiz.  As soon as she catches up with my Inquisitor (73) I think ill be levelling with her.

On other gaming fronts I have been having a little dabble in Warhammer now and again, I was trying to level my marauder but soon stopped and played the chosen some more, nothing really to report here, im interested in seeing how the Str changes will affect my character when they come in.

I also finally got my XBOX 360 back from my mate who borrowed it when I went to Afghanistan. The best thing on there is definitely Castle Crashers, Mrs B and I have been having some retro fun with this, its great to just blow off some steam with it.  Im the Blue Knight and up to level 9, Mrs B is the Red Knight and is level 5.  Watching animals shit themselves as you walk past makes me laugh.

That’s about it really, Everquest will remain the main focus and getting Mrs B up to 80 then I think it will most likely be shard run city.  Warhammer will remain a backup game, but right now its not got a lot to keep me in, the keep sieges just aren’t as good as DAoC!

Indecisiveness Sets In

Once again im at that point in my gaming circle where the grass is greener syndrome is setting in.  It all started on my return to EQ2,  I find that in my absence that the OT of our guild left (YAY!) but they already recruited another fighter to replace (BOO!) which means im stuck again as not being able to raid,  the other thing nagging at me is that I think im done with EQ2 tanking.
I dont mind tanking but its the big numbers I love and want to put them out, the only problem is I want a straight up melee class with none of this stealth crap.
So im sort of in Limbo in EQ2 in that there isnt one.  Sure I should just tank on the zerk since I get the cream of the buffs and get to see the fun numbers but something about having to memorise the zones so I know every pull inside out just grates at me.
So now im sorta just floating in EQ2, I log in, attempt to do the shard daily and give up and log out (tonight I managed to kill a whole two mobs)

Warhammer too im suffering from tank rot (I dub it that) my chosen has gotten stale so im playing my marauder again for some fun, however he is so squishy its not fun at all really.

Ive also fired up EQ1 again and played my Berserker, if only EQ2 had a class that was like that I would be set.

So yeah, im being indecisive again and cant decide what to play… yay for me 😦