Guild Update 46 has included a new diversion for epic crafters: red shinies! Also known as glowies, these are ?’s to be collected, like the standard collections seen in adventure zones, except you must be wearing your Earring of the Solstice (tradeskill epic) in order to see them and the shiny / glowy color around them is red instead of golden or blue.

Before you start, make sure that your Particle Level of Detail is set to max (Particle Effects can be found under Options → Display) so that you can see the ?’s from as far away as possible.

You don’t have to take collection items you don’t need - if you choose not to loot the item, the ? will fade in two minutes and a new one will appear in a separate location. However, if you are actively hunting for shinies it is faster to clear them.

You can use Gnomish Divining Rods (made by tinkers) which will show you the location of the shinies near you although you can’t tell if they are standard ones or the new tradeskill shinies from the display. You will need to have your Earring of the Solstice equipped for the red shinies to show up on the tracking window, so you can check the ?’s that show up by unequipping the earring and seeing which ?’s disappear.

Locations

The ?’s can be found in the following zones: [More...]

Posted by Taymar on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

The macro system in EQ2 is very simple to use and can save you a lot of hotkey space. Your macros are on a tab on your socials window. The default way to bring up this window is by pressing the letter “o” and you can create and edit your macros directly in the window. You can also turn any ability or spell hotkey into a macro simply by right-clicking on the hotkey and choosing the “create macro” option. That ability will now be the first step in your macro and you can add various other functions. [More...]

Posted by Taymar on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

One of the things that has amazed me with Paxmar is how much money she is earning by selling low level collection items and harvests. I usually store all these things on mules (unplayed characters, generated only for storage space) but as Paxmar isn’t to be twinked, I don’t see why she should help support my twinkers. So if she can’t use something, she drops it straight onto the bazaar at the going rate. Admittedly, she probably spends a lot more time collecting and harvesting than the average player and the lower tiers are probably least represented. But still, from these sales, she’s already got a plat of her own money and she’s only level 10!

It takes some time to complete low-level collections but there are some clear hotspots that can help you on your way and you’ll get lots of extras that you can sell on for a profit … or hand to your alts, collections being the best power-levelling system in the game. [More...]

Posted by Taymar on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

I was in a group with a transmuter and so we handed all the no-drop loot to him and then used a round-robin system for the result. One person handed the powder she received back to the transmuter, saying she didn’t want the hassle. When I asked, she told me that she didn’t really understand adornments and so the item would be wasted on her and she didn’t like to take it from the group just to sell.

If you could imagine doing that, then this guide is for you. Otherwise, skip straight to our definitive list of adornments. Sixes has made this table showing all the adornments and their ingredients. And because gnomes are clever, it’s got automagical sorting so you can list them by type or stat or tier or quality. Look, there’s more! Place your mouse over the tier of the item you want and a pop-up window will appear with a shopping list. This is the most second-most wonderful thing Sixes has done all month.

Meanwhile, let’s look at the basics you need to understand to get adornments for your character. [More...]

Posted by Taymar on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

All you need to know about Kunark Faction, collected in one handy-dandy place. Bookmark this page!

“For many years the Iksar wandered Kunark, seeking shelter and food. They began to form small packs, which formed larger tribes. After six decades, these tribes numbered five - the Kunzar, the Obulus, the Jarsath, the Kylong and the Nathsar. Feuds and skirmishes between the five tribes tore much of Kunark apart. Some shaman of the Iksar tapped into the powers of their original master, the god Cazic Thule, and their power grew. Others began delving into the darker arts left behind by the Shissar and others practiced hand to hand combat as an art.”

The Rise of Kunark expansion includes 4 zones with progressively higher NPCs and quest lines:

• Kylong Plains
• Fens of Nathsar
• Kunzar Jungle
• Jarsath Wastes

Traveling in Kunark

Travel in Kunark is primarily based on Sokokar posts. In order to use these posts, you must first do a set of quests which will reward you with a sokokar that will allow you to use the posts. If you are under level 65 in adventure levels [More...]

Posted by Taymar on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

Game Update 43 is live and includes new recipes for all tradeskillers. Hurray! However, there’s a catch: you need a significant amount of faction in order to get the recipes.

Kunark has three factions of interest to tradeskillers: Bathezid’s Watch, Riliss, and Legion of Danak. Tradeskillers have always been able to gain faction with these factions but up until recently there was not much incentive. Now each of these factions carries two new unique recipes (or sets of recipes) per tradeskill.

Each faction has the same timeline:

• Apprehensive (-10,000) You can purchase fuel (beware of Danak Shipyard!)
• Amiably (10,000) Quartermaster will sell you advanced recipe books and prov advanced recipe
• Kindly (20,000) initial faction-based tradeskill recipe(s)
• Warmly (30,000) secondary faction-based faction recipe(s)

In addition, -20,000 with Bathezid’s Watch gains you access to Tradeskill Epic Quest.

Note: Although you may be pleased when you gain the convenience of purchasing fuel locally, you should be careful. Not all merchants in Kunark are fair with their pricing.

Bathezid’s Watch

Bathezid’s Watch are located in the Fens of Nathsar. The tradeskill area is indoors at 1191,203,1444. [More...]

Posted by Taymar on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

There are five fast travel options in EQ2 which can get you to various points on Norrath without spending half an hour traveling. These abilities have a 30 second cast time, so are not usable as an escape mechanism and have a one hour cooldown. Every character receives a call spell at the point of character creation but there are additional methods of teleportation in the game which can be earned. [More...]

Posted by Taymar on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

I have been trying to work out which is better, a weapon with a
wide range between minimum and maximum damage or one with a narrower
range. The main difference appears to be when a critical hit (a “crit”)
occurs.

It seems that a crit occurring on a combat ability (CA) is
a straight 30% bonus; if you would have hit for 1,000, you will hit for
1,300 so the weapon range is irrelevant. The interesting time is
when you crit on autoattack. [More...]

Posted by Sixes on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

The Rise of Kunark has introduced three new languages to Norrath which must be quested as a two-stage process. For each language, you must first collect the pages from a mysterious tome. The page locations are all static. Once you have collected the pages, you can hand them to a collector NPC who will give you a book in return. Reading the book will give you a quest to find the owner, who will in turn send you on quests to help him. Once you have helped the owner of the book, you will gain the basics of the language.

You must speak Sathirian to do the repeatable quest for Riliss faction at the Ruins of Cabilis. The heroic quest For a Few Coins More (part of the Fists of Metal sequence) requires someone in the group to speak Di’zokian.

There is a full write-up for each tome and the resulting quests on MMORPG Info so it is quick and easy to gain these languages:

• Froak: A Mysterious Green Tome
• Di’zok: A Mysterious Red Tome
• Sathirian: A Mysterious Black Tome

Posted by Taymar on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

Our Druid Ring Guide has been updated to include the locations of the rings in Kylong Plains and Kunzar Jungle. Make sure to dash over and pick up the shrubbery from these two rings.

The Kylong Plains portal is easy to run to: from the docks head to the path at 997,67,-25 and follow it up to the mountains. There are KOS mobs at the turn after you hit the snow but if you keep left you can avoid them easily. Then just head north by northwest until you get to the rings at 1618,458,-803.

It’s a bit more difficult travelling through Kunzar Jungle, a wild and dangerous place!

To get to the druid rings there, stick to the paths and use sneak or invisibility if you can. There is a ramp at -147,-45,28: run up it and then climb the ladder at -227,-24,49. This is the Abandoned Village and you’ll find the druid ring (and a sokokar post) on your left after climbing the ladder.

Posted by Taymar on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.