1
Freelance Ramblings / All halflings, gnomes, dwarves... and especially halfling cleric raid leaders!
« on: November 23, 2015, 05:41:40 PM »
BTW Happy American Thanksgiving everyone!
SS
EQ Freelance Forum
Everquest Open Raid Team
News:
Checkout Upcoming Events board for future raids! Upcoming Events Schedule.
Show Posts
This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.
BTW Happy American Thanksgiving everyone!
SS
2
Freelance Ramblings / Pulling Changes
« on: September 27, 2015, 11:38:32 PM »
So I read about the pulling changes on Daybreak's site. So what's it like?
I guess being a monk way back in the old days, pulling was something I cared about. Of course, as the game progressed, everyone could do everything and so nothing was unique any more... sounds like they're trying to put some of that back, but I'm not so sure that's a great idea. A lot of the great pullers in the game retired when pulling was no longer an art form... and went on to play something else.
Or maybe the changes really aren't that big a deal. After all, a monk needs time to snooze during raids. /em ducks pie thrown at her head.
Hope everyone is doing well and had a great summer!
Cheers,
Ssark
I guess being a monk way back in the old days, pulling was something I cared about. Of course, as the game progressed, everyone could do everything and so nothing was unique any more... sounds like they're trying to put some of that back, but I'm not so sure that's a great idea. A lot of the great pullers in the game retired when pulling was no longer an art form... and went on to play something else.
Or maybe the changes really aren't that big a deal. After all, a monk needs time to snooze during raids. /em ducks pie thrown at her head.
Hope everyone is doing well and had a great summer!
Cheers,
Ssark
4
Freelance Ramblings / Call of the Forsaken
« on: August 03, 2013, 08:38:44 PM »
Basics:
Story said to be a dragon, Lendinaria from EQ2 that gets sent through a portal/rift/whatever and sent into the EQ1 universe. You will then begin from there to learn more!
Beta starts around August 14th, Release is in September
West Karana is the expansions hub zone
Staggered release like RoF
Zones so far: Dead Hills, Neriak D
T4 RoF gear will remain relevant all the way throughout the new expansion (New gear is a small or no upgrade)
Features:
There is No level increase
New spells and AA, design direction is convenience and consolidation
2 shared bank slots
Mercenary AA, passive, they extend to all mercs you own
Mercenary Gear, 4 slots (Primary, Secondary, Helm, Chest)
Mercenary stats page, can see all their stats
Heroic Adventures: Lots of instanced content ie LDoN 2.0, based on levels, gear and class makeup
Misc/Future stuff:
Plans to remove leader and raid AA and make them base default game
Fix necro epic
Fix quest and mission windows, Guild and raid windows to make easier, possibly adding assistant RL's
Small class balance changes that will happen more often
New AA, spells, and systems made with long term in mind
Less amount of raids will be complex -> more NToV style raids, lot of positive feedback on NToV
Undead in at least 2 zones (Neriak D and Dead Hills)
Simplifying raid currency system
New hero's forge bixie, clockwork, will be robes brought up to speed too and shrunk options
15th Anniversary next year:
Plane of War release
New class/race combo for players to vote on
New features for players to vote on
Story said to be a dragon, Lendinaria from EQ2 that gets sent through a portal/rift/whatever and sent into the EQ1 universe. You will then begin from there to learn more!
Beta starts around August 14th, Release is in September
West Karana is the expansions hub zone
Staggered release like RoF
Zones so far: Dead Hills, Neriak D
T4 RoF gear will remain relevant all the way throughout the new expansion (New gear is a small or no upgrade)
Features:
There is No level increase
New spells and AA, design direction is convenience and consolidation
2 shared bank slots
Mercenary AA, passive, they extend to all mercs you own
Mercenary Gear, 4 slots (Primary, Secondary, Helm, Chest)
Mercenary stats page, can see all their stats
Heroic Adventures: Lots of instanced content ie LDoN 2.0, based on levels, gear and class makeup
Misc/Future stuff:
Plans to remove leader and raid AA and make them base default game
Fix necro epic
Fix quest and mission windows, Guild and raid windows to make easier, possibly adding assistant RL's
Small class balance changes that will happen more often
New AA, spells, and systems made with long term in mind
Less amount of raids will be complex -> more NToV style raids, lot of positive feedback on NToV
Undead in at least 2 zones (Neriak D and Dead Hills)
Simplifying raid currency system
New hero's forge bixie, clockwork, will be robes brought up to speed too and shrunk options
15th Anniversary next year:
Plane of War release
New class/race combo for players to vote on
New features for players to vote on
5
Raid Performance / DPS, Mob Pins, Positioning and YOU
« on: July 19, 2013, 11:21:05 PM »
Mob Pins and Attack Arc
Please review the Mob Pins web page. While the page (written by Furro) has been around for a long time, it is still quite relevant:
By the way, with strikethrough and such, it is very easy to tell if you're not positioned directly: EQ will tell you that you are striking through your opponents' defenses. If this happens, you are positioned incorrectly. Strafe or adjust your position accordingly to flank or get to the rear of the mob. It does not matter if you're a monk, rogue, or paladin, if you're not the MT, you shouldn't be taking ripostes.
AE Rampage, Hit Box, and the Sweet Spot
In addition to pin positions, please consider AE Rampage and the Hit Box, defined as follows:
Often, the AE Rampage range is less than the Hit Box. In other words, there's often a small sweet spot just outside of AE Rampage range but inside the Hit Box where a melee character can strike at the mob without fear of AE Rampage. If the mob is held at a steady position (not always easy), one can literally find the sweet spot and park one's character right there and attack away. In practice, the boss mobs move, meaning you may have to reposition constantly to stay within the sweet spot.
In the diagram above, the the blue Smart DPS'er is in the green Hit Box, but just outside in the AE Rampage Range. You can think of the green ring there as the sweet spot. The dark black DPS'er is about to get an earful from the Raid Leader.
For some boss mobs, the sweet spot is larger making this task easier; for some it's really small, so it's a challenge. For others, the AE Rampage range is greater than the Hit Box of the boss mob, in which case we often will call for a ranged fight rather than try to heal through the AE Rampage. (This depends somewhat on the class makeup of the raid.)
Your goal as a melee dps'er is to find that sweet spot and stay in it as much as you can. You'll often hear the RL or the RAs say "max melee range!" which is another way of saying too many people are in the orange sphere and not enough in the green sweet spot.
* There is actually Full Rampage damage and Mitigated Rampage damage, the latter being a reduced melee damage amount. Sometimes Rampage will hit you for the max, sometimes it is mitigated, but either way it needs to be healed and is not optimal.
** I have found that some special attacks, like Flying Kick, will actually land at a greater range than my melee attacks. However, for the purposes of this discussion, since one wants to land full DPS, one needs to be in the closest range to land all of one's attacks.
Please review the Mob Pins web page. While the page (written by Furro) has been around for a long time, it is still quite relevant:
- Though a number of our events resist the use of pins (Chelsith and Zlandicor being fine examples), others do not (Grelleth, Evantil).
- More importantly, to DPS, notice the position is always to the rear or flanks of the boss mob. This not only improves our ability to land hits on the mob, but also lowers the damage we take from ripostes from the mob, aiding the healers.
- This positioning includes pets. You will maximize your pet's effectiveness if you can get it to attack from behind the boss. I know this is more difficult on non-pins mobs, but it is still doable.
- The section on early engages is also important, in particular, when the mob moves and wipes its aggro list a bit like the first boss in Chelsith. Engaging early often leads to dead characters. And while the dead do 0 DPS, the recently rezzed have just 95% haste for 3 minutes, which sucks almost as much (not to mention the loss of endurance and mana, as well as wasting time on the healers/buffers).
By the way, with strikethrough and such, it is very easy to tell if you're not positioned directly: EQ will tell you that you are striking through your opponents' defenses. If this happens, you are positioned incorrectly. Strafe or adjust your position accordingly to flank or get to the rear of the mob. It does not matter if you're a monk, rogue, or paladin, if you're not the MT, you shouldn't be taking ripostes.
AE Rampage, Hit Box, and the Sweet Spot
In addition to pin positions, please consider AE Rampage and the Hit Box, defined as follows:
- AE Rampage - a particular ability of a boss mob to, on occasion, hit everyone within a certain range, called the AE Rampage range, with a melee attack.*
- Hit Box - a distance from the boss mob in which melee characters can land a hit. Note that the term is a bit of a misnomer; original, it was defined as a cylinder, although these days it is like a sphere. Within the Hit Box range, melee characters can strike at boss mobs.**
Often, the AE Rampage range is less than the Hit Box. In other words, there's often a small sweet spot just outside of AE Rampage range but inside the Hit Box where a melee character can strike at the mob without fear of AE Rampage. If the mob is held at a steady position (not always easy), one can literally find the sweet spot and park one's character right there and attack away. In practice, the boss mobs move, meaning you may have to reposition constantly to stay within the sweet spot.
In the diagram above, the the blue Smart DPS'er is in the green Hit Box, but just outside in the AE Rampage Range. You can think of the green ring there as the sweet spot. The dark black DPS'er is about to get an earful from the Raid Leader.
For some boss mobs, the sweet spot is larger making this task easier; for some it's really small, so it's a challenge. For others, the AE Rampage range is greater than the Hit Box of the boss mob, in which case we often will call for a ranged fight rather than try to heal through the AE Rampage. (This depends somewhat on the class makeup of the raid.)
Your goal as a melee dps'er is to find that sweet spot and stay in it as much as you can. You'll often hear the RL or the RAs say "max melee range!" which is another way of saying too many people are in the orange sphere and not enough in the green sweet spot.
* There is actually Full Rampage damage and Mitigated Rampage damage, the latter being a reduced melee damage amount. Sometimes Rampage will hit you for the max, sometimes it is mitigated, but either way it needs to be healed and is not optimal.
** I have found that some special attacks, like Flying Kick, will actually land at a greater range than my melee attacks. However, for the purposes of this discussion, since one wants to land full DPS, one needs to be in the closest range to land all of one's attacks.
6
Raid Performance / Potential Stack Bug Caused by 7/17 patch: Glyph not stacking with Shaman Epic
« on: July 17, 2013, 11:09:09 PM »
From the SOE boards:
Glyph doesnt stack with shaman epic now, for rogues or any other class. Please fix, as a suggestion. I suggest moving the 2h piercing mod to slot 12. It has the least amount of things that will conflict with burns on a raid or group setting
[6273] Prophet's Gift of the Ruchu
Target: Caster Group
AE Range: 100'
Beneficial: Blockable
Casting: 0s
Duration: 60s (10 ticks), Extendable: No, Dispelable: Yes
10: Increase Critical Hit Damage by 110% of Base Damage
11: Increase Chance to Critical Hit by 65%
12: Increase Current HP by 500 per tick
Text: You are blessed with the gift of the Ruchu.
[21661] Glyph of the Cataclysm
Target: Self
Beneficial: Blockable
Casting: 0s
Duration: 2m (20 ticks), Extendable: No, Dispelable: Yes
1: Increase Critical 1H Blunt Damage by 60% of Base Damage
2: Increase Critical 1H Slash Damage by 60% of Base Damage
3: Increase Critical 2H Blunt Damage by 60% of Base Damage
4: Increase Critical 2H Slash Damage by 60% of Base Damage
5: Increase Critical Hand to Hand Damage by 60% of Base Damage
6: Increase Critical 1H Pierce Damage by 60% of Base Damage
7: Increase Critical Nuke Damage by 160% of Base Damage
8: Increase Critical DoT Damage by 60% of Base Damage
10: Increase Critical 2H Pierce Damage by 60% of Base Damage
Glyph doesnt stack with shaman epic now, for rogues or any other class. Please fix, as a suggestion. I suggest moving the 2h piercing mod to slot 12. It has the least amount of things that will conflict with burns on a raid or group setting
[6273] Prophet's Gift of the Ruchu
Target: Caster Group
AE Range: 100'
Beneficial: Blockable
Casting: 0s
Duration: 60s (10 ticks), Extendable: No, Dispelable: Yes
10: Increase Critical Hit Damage by 110% of Base Damage
11: Increase Chance to Critical Hit by 65%
12: Increase Current HP by 500 per tick
Text: You are blessed with the gift of the Ruchu.
[21661] Glyph of the Cataclysm
Target: Self
Beneficial: Blockable
Casting: 0s
Duration: 2m (20 ticks), Extendable: No, Dispelable: Yes
1: Increase Critical 1H Blunt Damage by 60% of Base Damage
2: Increase Critical 1H Slash Damage by 60% of Base Damage
3: Increase Critical 2H Blunt Damage by 60% of Base Damage
4: Increase Critical 2H Slash Damage by 60% of Base Damage
5: Increase Critical Hand to Hand Damage by 60% of Base Damage
6: Increase Critical 1H Pierce Damage by 60% of Base Damage
7: Increase Critical Nuke Damage by 160% of Base Damage
8: Increase Critical DoT Damage by 60% of Base Damage
10: Increase Critical 2H Pierce Damage by 60% of Base Damage
7
Raid Performance / Parses
« on: July 12, 2013, 11:37:22 AM »
I'm using this thread to post, and refer to, DPS parsing from past Freelance Raids.
Lord Yelinak
First up, a straight burn on the 2nd Lord Yelinak pop. In this raid, we had a decent selection of shamans for the melee DPS, enchanters for the INT caster DPS, a berserker, but probably short bards. Overall, we had good DPS going, 1M/s over the short 70s fight. This is about taking your best short DPS burn and applying it the mob. If you're lower on the parse than where you want to be -- and honestly, we all have room for improvement -- take a look at someone in the same class as yours, and go to the Show Discs, Spells and Actions. Select yourself and others, and see what they did differently. Discuss it with them, or here. Check the ADPS in your group and see what's going on.
For example, Xarlass and I parsed about the same. We both Glyph'ed (no one else did to my parse's knowledge). Did we use the same disc? What did he do that I didn't that could make my parse better (we certainly didn't do the same things)? I know it doesn't catch everything, because I hit some keys before I start attacking (like the Heel disc I opened with). You may have to go back into your log file, have GP parse out your actions and another's and make a comparison.
Very small changes can easily make a big difference in the raid's overall DPS. More DPS means the tank doesn't have to tank as long, which means less chance for some random spike of damage to kill him. And as we know, the healers can heal the best, the tanks can tank the best, but if there's no DPS, the mob never dies, and the raid never ends. Improving DPS means not only lessening the time of a raid (and hence we get more raids in), but increases the chance of us winning.
Lord Yelinak
First up, a straight burn on the 2nd Lord Yelinak pop. In this raid, we had a decent selection of shamans for the melee DPS, enchanters for the INT caster DPS, a berserker, but probably short bards. Overall, we had good DPS going, 1M/s over the short 70s fight. This is about taking your best short DPS burn and applying it the mob. If you're lower on the parse than where you want to be -- and honestly, we all have room for improvement -- take a look at someone in the same class as yours, and go to the Show Discs, Spells and Actions. Select yourself and others, and see what they did differently. Discuss it with them, or here. Check the ADPS in your group and see what's going on.
For example, Xarlass and I parsed about the same. We both Glyph'ed (no one else did to my parse's knowledge). Did we use the same disc? What did he do that I didn't that could make my parse better (we certainly didn't do the same things)? I know it doesn't catch everything, because I hit some keys before I start attacking (like the Heel disc I opened with). You may have to go back into your log file, have GP parse out your actions and another's and make a comparison.
Very small changes can easily make a big difference in the raid's overall DPS. More DPS means the tank doesn't have to tank as long, which means less chance for some random spike of damage to kill him. And as we know, the healers can heal the best, the tanks can tank the best, but if there's no DPS, the mob never dies, and the raid never ends. Improving DPS means not only lessening the time of a raid (and hence we get more raids in), but increases the chance of us winning.
8
Raid Performance / Circle of Power clickie
« on: July 06, 2013, 12:19:47 PM »
Please post/respond here if you have a Circle of Power (CoP) clickie, and what version you have. Minisca and I will keep a list so we can post out, in fldps channel, the CoP click order.
Circle of Power IV: (see note)
Kaloha
Mten
Padraigg
Circle of Power III:
Dahterrorizer
Darkenvoid (uses pally aura often though -- perhaps if he is assigned to heal INT caster group can be used)
Drasp
Eomir
Gimamam
Huevos
Minisca
Mulila
Poddo (when alive)
Rattman
Rulolin
Snakein (when not afk/fd)
Ssark (if ever plays again /sigh)
Ziktike
Zuhymn
Circle of Power II:
Deadjester
Circle of Power I:
Blackbird
Borean
Paye
Tyranosawr
Last Updated 4/26/2014
Circle of Power IV: (see note)
Kaloha
Mten
Padraigg
Circle of Power III:
Dahterrorizer
Darkenvoid (uses pally aura often though -- perhaps if he is assigned to heal INT caster group can be used)
Drasp
Eomir
Gimamam
Huevos
Minisca
Mulila
Poddo (when alive)
Rattman
Rulolin
Snakein (when not afk/fd)
Ssark (if ever plays again /sigh)
Ziktike
Zuhymn
Circle of Power II:
Deadjester
Circle of Power I:
Blackbird
Borean
Paye
Tyranosawr
Last Updated 4/26/2014
9
Freelance Ramblings / Happy Canada Day!
« on: July 01, 2013, 01:39:44 PM »
http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/01/travel/fake-canadians-canada-day-travel/index.html?hpt=hp_t3
-- The "Canadian Flag" about halfway down is pretty funny -- right idea, wrong leaf.
-- I did not see anything about liking pie, standing in lobbies all day, or calling people out as "amateur hour" in the article. Maybe those only apply to Halfling Canadians.
-- If I pretend to be a Canuck on raids, will that get me more DKP / better service? Doubtful but worth a shot, eh?
Ss
-- The "Canadian Flag" about halfway down is pretty funny -- right idea, wrong leaf.
-- I did not see anything about liking pie, standing in lobbies all day, or calling people out as "amateur hour" in the article. Maybe those only apply to Halfling Canadians.
-- If I pretend to be a Canuck on raids, will that get me more DKP / better service? Doubtful but worth a shot, eh?
Ss
10
Freelance Ramblings / Purple Dome Cracked
« on: April 07, 2013, 12:03:33 PM »
Congratulations Freelance Raiders!
We will continue to farm/repeat Rain of Fire Tier 1 events for upgrades and flags for Tier 2, so if you missed out, be sure to join us next weekend! If you haven't joined FL up to this point, now's a great time to get in on the action. Just make sure you've got the prerequisites to raid with us (see this thread), and then jump in channel FLRaids (password "raids") and watch for the call!
11
Freelance Ramblings / Freelance Completes Veil of Alaris
« on: March 31, 2013, 07:26:26 PM »
FREELANCE DEFEATS THE TRIUNE GOD
Open raid team completes Veil of Alaris expansion
We came, we saw... oh wait, looks like someone came again...
But of course, we had to go and DO IT AGAIN the following week, because Kotsukai kept bugging me with the same question over and over. So here, Kots, is your answer:
It's not "What color panties do you think The Triunity wears?", Kots. The Triunity goes COMMANDO.
Open raid team completes Veil of Alaris expansion
We came, we saw... oh wait, looks like someone came again...
But of course, we had to go and DO IT AGAIN the following week, because Kotsukai kept bugging me with the same question over and over. So here, Kots, is your answer:
It's not "What color panties do you think The Triunity wears?", Kots. The Triunity goes COMMANDO.
12
Freelance Ramblings / Now on Test Server
« on: March 07, 2013, 11:02:27 AM »
Test Patch Notes 3/5/2013
Could this mean... finally... no more... pet push?!?
I'll believe it when I see it.
Also, one of the most challenging RoF-T2 zones is about to get nerfed. Sorry Darkenvoid:
Quote
- "NPC melee combat will no longer cause other NPCs to move. Players can still move NPCs and NPCs can still move players."from http://forums.station.sony.com/eq/index.php?threads/test-update-03-05-13.4293/
Could this mean... finally... no more... pet push?!?
I'll believe it when I see it.
Also, one of the most challenging RoF-T2 zones is about to get nerfed. Sorry Darkenvoid:
Quote
- Many changes were made to creatures in Chapterhouse of the Fallen to make the zone more playable.
- - Wandering NPCs will be less restless.
- - Researcher Vespra, rats, and timeworn servants are no longer aggressive towards players.
- - The undead in the caverns have been moved around and their aggro ranges have been reduced.
- - Reduced the aggro range on all oozles and beetles.
- - Removed several NPCs from the caverns to create some safe areas.
13
Raider Essentials / Heroics
« on: February 05, 2013, 10:06:50 AM »
I found this nifty little discussion on (monk) heroics:
http://www.monkly-business.net/forums/showthread.php?t=37883
It's a quaint little discussion on the power gains of hStr, hDex, hSta and hAgi for monks. But not that's the point I'm trying to make here.
If you read the arguments, it's about 1-2 points of damage here, or 10 hp (out of 100,000), etc. The gains are so minimal compared to, say, a gear upgrade or a spell/disc rank upgrade, it's really about style and desire imo. Sure, with more hDex Ssark can riposte more, but on a raid does that really matter? If I don't even tank in a group because I can't hold aggro (even like a merc tank can), does it matter? Wouldn't it be better to survive more AEs, blah blah?
I know sometimes there's discussion on heroics and what to go for, but let's not have it at the expense of more important things like having one's epic (in some cases), knowing how and when to burn your disciplines or AA abilities, attacking from the back (if dps), knowing how to do more than just patch heal, which auras it's worth pursuing Rank 2 or Rank 3, etc.
I think having a basic plan for your heroics is good, because every little bit helps, but there are many other things that impact your success more.
http://www.monkly-business.net/forums/showthread.php?t=37883
It's a quaint little discussion on the power gains of hStr, hDex, hSta and hAgi for monks. But not that's the point I'm trying to make here.
If you read the arguments, it's about 1-2 points of damage here, or 10 hp (out of 100,000), etc. The gains are so minimal compared to, say, a gear upgrade or a spell/disc rank upgrade, it's really about style and desire imo. Sure, with more hDex Ssark can riposte more, but on a raid does that really matter? If I don't even tank in a group because I can't hold aggro (even like a merc tank can), does it matter? Wouldn't it be better to survive more AEs, blah blah?
I know sometimes there's discussion on heroics and what to go for, but let's not have it at the expense of more important things like having one's epic (in some cases), knowing how and when to burn your disciplines or AA abilities, attacking from the back (if dps), knowing how to do more than just patch heal, which auras it's worth pursuing Rank 2 or Rank 3, etc.
I think having a basic plan for your heroics is good, because every little bit helps, but there are many other things that impact your success more.
14
Freelance Ramblings / Halfing Superiority... and Danela Down!
« on: February 03, 2013, 12:18:51 PM »
Check out this action shot from last night's Danela's Stand raid... (our first win in CC):
And then, soon after...
I think that pretty much says it all. Careful, if you keep teasing The Hobbit, one day that could be you.
And then, soon after...
I think that pretty much says it all. Careful, if you keep teasing The Hobbit, one day that could be you.
15
Freelance Ramblings / Pillars of Alra finally smashed!
« on: February 03, 2013, 12:16:27 PM »
Nice perseverance everyone! Now just Windsong stands in our way...
