Grind AAs - Level 76, 81, or 85?

[Corlenx]

Hi all. I'm newly returned to Everquest, and my magician is the character who inexplicably caught my interest this time around. I've leveled him from 74 to 75 in the Barren Coast, and I'm starting to work toward 76 now. However, that leads me to my dilemma ... my mage only has 400 AA, evenly spread between pet and nuke power. Looking ahead, there are hundreds if not *thousands* of AAs that I'm going to have to really work on in order to be effective in the higher level game.

So my question is - what is the best level for an under-geared mage to stop at and work on AAs? I'll be able to get bazaar geared focus effects and EM1 (finished OGH progression, but that's it). Should I stop at 76 and grind out a wackload of AAs? If so, where's a good spot? I went to Eldaar Forest yesterday, and everything was dark blue, and I was able to kill stuff there (albeit expending A LOT of mana). Would that be a good place to stop at 76 with a stronger pet and nuke, or can anyone recommend somewhere else where a mage, his pet, and his dps merc can make their home for a while?

Or would it be better to work through the 70s and hit 81 as fast as possible? If so, where will a good spot be to sit at 81 for a while?

Or, finally, should I just bite the bullet, set my xp to 100%, and get to 85 asap, remaining at 400 AA, and just working on AAs once I'm max level?

A couple of things to consider - I'm newly returned and unguilded. None of my old EQ friends came back, so I'm allll by myyyyself right now. I'm not really looking for a guild just to say I'm guilded, and I'd feel guilty about being on so infrequently and not having much else to contribute. So basically you're looking at a group / bazaar geared mage hoping to find the occasional pickup group while working on core AAs for the next few months ... before I suppose I'll be put even further behind by the new expansion. But I will be having fun in the meantime!

Anyway, any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time.

[Merlaina]

My suggestion would be to hit 76 and park yourself in either Splitpaw or by the weak elementals in Katta Castrum. Max out theft of essence and use your anti-summoned nukes. Also be sure to get some tonics of resonant magic (I believe for 76 the highest you can use is XII). Once you get a few more AAs you should be able to drop the merc entirely and just solo, which will net much better xp. Also try to run as many of the OMM classic monster missions as possible, as these will give you huge AA rewards for completing them at that level. At 76 I think you should be able to find groups running them where 4 levels won't throw off the group average too much.

[deadman1204]

id stop at all 3.
At 85, grinding places become limited by gear, not just level. 76 and 81 are sweet spots.
Take old field of bone with a 81 pet, the mobs are still red/yellow to you, yet cake to kill

[Wati]

Id vote for 76 in paw.

With max theft of essence you could solo very well here even at 71 not usnig a merc. Only reason I left 71/76 was to get into OMM's easier. Quite close to what Merlaina mentioned.

At 81 the xp has dropped alot in paw, but I still go there every now and then for some relaxed killing.

I do guess the dps merc just slows down your xp in paw.

If you need plat, keep the merc up. Almost double the killrate will grant you some nice plat.

/Wati 81, 1700 AAs

[deadman1204]

grinding at 85 solo just isnt the same. I would wait until your ready before hitting it

[Corlenx]

Thanks for the advice all. I think I'll hit 76, pick up ToE, and try out Splitpaw. In between I'll see about doing some of those MacKenzie missions - I haven't done any yet, but I played EQ back in 99 when those dungeons were new, so I have some experience with them. Hopefully I'll also meet a good bunch of people and maybe find a guild one of these days. I miss the 'multiplayer' aspect of EQ sometimes, although I do enjoy the game itself and how things work, so even if I have to solo for a while, I'll still have fun.

Anyway, thanks again for the advice. Off to do some research on if it's possible to get an improved pet focus without being in a raiding guild!

[fordse]

When you talk about Splitpaw, are you referring to the instanced zone called Splitpaw or the regular zone called Infected Paw?

[Merlaina]

Infected Paw. Sorry, I think it used to be called just plain Splitpaw long ago before the revamp, so that's what a lot of people are just used to calling it. Or maybe it's just because it was filled with splitpaw gnolls. Regardless, I don't think I had ever actually heard someone call it infected paw.