Brand new monk looking for info!

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wiouxev

Dalayan Beginner
Hey guys, I am very familiar with EQ and have been playing since Kunark on live but have long since quit.

I recently started EQEmu on the EZserver (For those who are familiar) and I have been really digging it. But I am looking around for a little change of pace, and I don't like the playing style on the Classic 1999 server on EQemu.

So, now im here. Ive always been a Monk, always will be, so naturally my first question is this.

Looking seriously into starting on this server, what is a monk like? How close is the game experience on here as to live? What's the progression like, leveling? Is it faster than live?

How much (rough % maybe) of custom content is the game? Custom gear, skills, spells etc.

I know im asking for a lot but I couldn't really find any write-up to kind of get an idea of how this server is for a monk. Yes, I won't actually get it completely until I log in and play, but do your best! :D
 
---Is leveling faster than live?---

Yeah leveling is faster than say p1999, but not too fast. It can take you 5-7 days played to get to max level I think. I've been playing p1999 recently and group leveling on SoD feels about twice as fast as p1999.

---How much (rough % maybe) of custom content is the game? Custom gear, skills, spells etc.---

Gear is about 95% custom. Spells are about 5-10% custom(Only a few high level custom spells). Skills are generally the same as live. Zones geography is the same but they're connected differently and some have different names. No zones are intended to be copies of live zones but some are very similar(Qeynos/Newport newbie zones, blackburrow still has gnolls). SoD feels like a mod of live. New items, new monsters but generally the same game.

There's also a ton of custom raid content.

---How is a monk like?---

I've only played a monk up to 40ish but it felt the same as live. auto attack for the win. One thing to note is that there is no pathing in most zones. Monsters will run through walls at you. This makes fd pulling different but still very viable. Monks are the premiere pullers on this server and good dps and serviceable tanks.
 
wiouxev said:
Hey guys, I am very familiar with EQ and have been playing since Kunark on live but have long since quit.
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Alot of people here are from that era. If we were to be compared directly to any expansion, it would probably be early PoP. Big changes to the client after PoP, are not guaranteed to be here.

wiouxev said:
Looking seriously into starting on this server, what is a monk like?
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Monk is pretty close to live. Probably the least changed class now that I think about it. We have no disciplines here, instead we have styles, which are a bit more interesting in some ways. Monk is a very solid class.

wiouxev said:
How close is the game experience on here as to live?
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SoD is to Live as Counter-strike is to Half-life
Perhaps not THAT drastic, while you'll notice familiar sights and sounds, the more you play, the more differences you notice.


wiouxev said:
What's the progression like, leveling? Is it faster than live?
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Leveling is faster than PoP era live. Progression is very important, and you have to really know some people or get lucky to skip it. We try hard to keep everything from going obsolete (sometimes to our detriment), and in general a new player will have to go through the same things older players had too.

wiouxev said:
How much (rough % maybe) of custom content is the game? Custom gear, skills, spells etc.
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Gear is pretty much 100% our own stuff as far as names and stats, but there are only so many ways to stat out a rusty newbie sword.
Spells are mostly the same up to the end game, with a few exceptions, mainly for the hybrids.
I mentioned styles instead of disciplines. Alchemy can be used by anyone. We added mining.

http://wiki.shardsofdalaya.com/index.php/Differences_between_SoD
 
Thanks for that link. Very helpful information from you guys so far.

Is it encouraged to box on this server? Or even allowed?
 
I'm assuming all combat and normal animations are all identical to live? (all the same combat animations etc).

Is there the ability to use both models? (Luclin and old-school.)

Stances are cool, makes me want to start and play.

How are quests? All previous live quests + custom quests? or is it just mostly custom quests? How required are quests for progression? Are they used to gear your toon up as a main source? (think wow...)

And one more question. What xpac does SoD support up to?
 
wiouxev said:
I'm assuming all combat and normal animations are all identical to live? (all the same combat animations etc).
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Pretty much. Sometimes things bug out though. And we have a nasty Nvidia bug that plagues some people that you can read about in the technical forums.

Is there the ability to use both models? (Luclin and old-school.)[/quote]
Ya, you adjust that in the client just like you used too. Debate rages on which is better. Just use whatever you like.

For reference when it asks you about the models, it'll say you don't have a good enough computer to use them all. Ignore that and hit enter. It'll activate them all that way. Or edit your ini files.

wiouxev said:
How are quests? All previous live quests + custom quests? or is it just mostly custom quests? How required are quests for progression? Are they used to gear your toon up as a main source? (think wow...)
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ALL custom quests. Some may be similar (bring me bone chips!) but we wrote them all from scratch. Only the Main Quest is required, but you'd do well to do any available to you. The monk newbie quests in particular are good and help gear you out nicely. Unlike live, if there is a quest here it is probably worth doing.

That being said I've had plenty of friends who only did the Main Quest, and nothing else, and geared themselves up just fine via listsold.

wiouxev said:
And one more question. What xpac does SoD support up to?
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To do all of SoD, you need up to GoD. We don't use every zone from every expansion, but we use some from all of them up to GoD. (RoK, SoV, SoL, PoP, LDoN, GoD).
 
Excellent!! Is LDON legit as it was in live as far as usage? (Run instances w/ group, get points, buy upgrade)

That being said I've had plenty of friends who only did the Main Quest, and nothing else, and geared themselves up just fine via listsold.
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"Main Quest" -- what is this? I admit I haven't done as much snooping around the forums as I could have to read up on stuff, but answering all my noob questions really helps and is appreciated. :)

"Listsold" - Is this SoD's 'bazaar' per-se, on the forums? (I saw a section listing buying/selling classifieds)
 
You misunderstand. We simply use the zones in LDON for other purposes. There is NO instancing here aside from your house zone. The closest thing to the LDON game style are treasure maps.

The Main Quest is the plot of the game so to speak. It starts the moment you log in, and lasts your characters life time. 1 - 65 - tier 14 or so. There is a write up for it on the wiki, or you can just follow your starting notes. Main quest gets you access to some place that everyone eventually needs to be if they wish to continue progression, be it spells or tomes.

Listsold is sort of like a text driven bazaar with no search feature. You can browse it off line here. http://www.shardsofdalaya.com/vendorlist/listinvdata.php
 
You misunderstand. We simply use the zones in LDON for other purposes. There is NO instancing here aside from your house zone. The closest thing to the LDON game style are treasure maps.
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Oh ok, still very cool. House zone? Ala EQ2 style? When do you get your house and is it just for aesthetic purposes?

Thanks for the continous source of info. It's great. Is there any no drop gear?
 
Level 20 I think. You get a banker/majordomo who offers some decoration options. It useful for listselling as you can buy permanent extra sales slots for a nominal price.
 
wiouxev said:
So, naturally would I be right in thinking Shaman/Monk is a good combo?
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Yes, a very common duo for good reason.

This is a link to the SoD wiki. This will help you in many ways throughout your SoD experience, if you want it to. It is fleshed out by the players, and so is not perfect, but many things are here. Didn't see anyone else direct you here, thought I would. Good hunting :D

http://wiki.shardsofdalaya.com
 
wiouxev said:
Is there any no drop gear?
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There is a lot of droppable gear. All of it turns nodrop when you wear it (It's called [Bind on Equip]). Aevery single piece of raid gear and a LOT of high end gear starts out nodrop.
 
Considering the SHM/MNK duo, will I be faced challenges with the inability to REZ and complete heal? How big of a deal is this?
 
Monk and any healer is a powerful duo, each one has it's strengths.

I'm lazy so I prefer using a cleric, with their self procs and summoned hammers they do decent hands-off auto attack DPS, and with their heal over time spells I don't have to tab over to do anything that often.
 
Word. Im excited for the buff potential and slow potential.

Slow on SHM + Avoidance based tank = win. And I dont even lose out on being able to rez.
 
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