Returning player advice at lvl 85

[Gnogin]

Hey all,
Recently returned to EQ after being gone about 8 years.
I have been back a few months so I've got the hang of the new style with merc and little to no groupage.
In the past my main was an Enchanter. Back when the "Holy Trio" was king.. the Enchanter was a fun toon to play. Really enjoyed locking down trains and charming things.
However since the Enchanter is only a shadow of his former self.. I've been looking at my other toons to find something fun to play.
Over the past month I've been playing my Mage. He was 63 when I started and I leveled him to 73 over the past month mostly in Infected Paw, PoH, BoT and The Hole.
Then along comes an old friend who has a 95 Ranger. We got to chatting and soon he was power leveling me with Headshot in different zones.
Before you know it.. I'm level 84!
What a mistake!! All my skills are way behind and when I went to buy my spells Holy Crack! I am sure I spent most of the 65K plat that I had.. Just buying spells and I even skipped some.
Skills I can bring up with some time spent spamming the cast keys. Plat I'll get over time.. but the biggest thing is.. I am totally lost on how to play at this level.
I'm now level 85 and my grind from 84 to 85 has been the old fashion way.. Pet with summoned junk, nukes, pet buffs and healer merc. 2 to 3 mobs per 1% exp using Adventure pots and 2x exp weekend. Horrid.
Mainly.. what would you do different? What spells? Where to level?
I read about Beza but I am unclear how to get there? is it an instanced zone? How do I get there? I have several accounts and no problem two or three boxing if needed for an instance. Do I get the instanced zone and leave the rest of the group behind or bring them in the instance? (as far as I know I've never been in an instanced zone)

Help a fellow mage out.. point me in the right direction.
Thanks

[dorfillya]

There is both an instanced and a non-instanced beza. Non-instanced has respawns, but is a popular and sometimes crowded exp spot. The instanced beza has no respawns, but quite a few mobs. I loved instanced beza when I was around that level.

[Gnogin]

Got my booty handed to me trying to take on the mob in "steam factory".
Air pet was doing good against the two Steamsuits but got an add that took me down quickly.
Which brought up a question.
Using EMVIII item my air pet is yellow con to me.

1. Would it be worth the trouble to equip with armor? Say Manaforged Plate?
2. Any haste item that would be beneficial?

Other than that, 86 air pet with EM item, manaforged weaps is a beast.

Gnogin

[dorfillya]

With EM8, your pet should come already equipped with the summoned armor on it. And, yes, if you are soloing or moloing, you really have to watch for adds or overpulls. 3 mobs often going to overwhelm your pet.

No haste item is going to help your pet, shaman or chanter haste has a minor benefit. Your own burnout is the most important haste for pet. You want spell haste on your self, usually through leg armor and by cleric spell haste cast on you.

[Vincentt]

You should be 86 by now. You can go anywhere with the 86 air pet. I liked HoT lower, Beza (off of Fort Mech), and Zeka, and MMM.

Reminis in Old BB, FoS, Kurns. Mobs have 150k hp+ though.

Underfoot packs too much of a punch to be worthwhile. Ashengate. Best for last: Korascian Warrens.

[Potawatomi]

You should be 86 by now. You can go anywhere with the 86 air pet. I liked HoT lower, Beza (off of Fort Mech), and Zeka, and MMM.

Reminis in Old BB, FoS, Kurns. Mobs have 150k hp+ though.

Underfoot packs too much of a punch to be worthwhile. Ashengate. Best for last: Korascian Warrens.

Loved Korascian Warrens around this level. Gollems right up front and enough mobs around the entrance to keep you occupied if you burned through all the gollems.

[Goranothos]

No haste item is going to help your pet, shaman or chanter haste has a minor benefit. Your own burnout is the most important haste for pet.

Hmmm, I thought Shammy/Chanter haste had no effect at all if Burnout was on the pet.

[dorfillya]

No haste item is going to help your pet, shaman or chanter haste has a minor benefit. Your own burnout is the most important haste for pet.

Hmmm, I thought Shammy/Chanter haste had no effect at all if Burnout was on the pet.

Without looking, I think the haste portion of the spell is useless on a burnedout pet, but I think the spells also contains some ATK/DEX/maybe STR?, which does give some minor benefits to pet.

[Sillaen]

That, along with the increased chance to crit is why I always still get a chanter haste to go along with BO.

[Gnogin]

Had some trouble with my gall bladder and have been off work for the past 3 months.
Decided to setup to box two characters and the only two I had near the same level was my Ranger and Mage.
I sort of powerleveled both by doing headshot with the Ranger. Now both are 100 with a few thousand AA.
Did the quest for the beza transport device and enjoyed that area but have since outgrown it.
As you know, headshot gets very boring and now I'm ready to get away from that and start exploring some zones.

What path would you recommend to get back into a normal grind?
We just ventured into The Grounds and with Ranger + cleric merc, Mage + wizzy merc. We can plow through mobs pretty quickly and I feel we are ready to move on.
Where to go next??