Ancient player returning

[Diosces]

hello all, thanks for the wonderful resource here.

Been quite a while since I 'actively' or 'frequently' played. Mostly played a druid and necro until Planes of Power was launched, just didn't game much after that.

Looking to recapture some of the "magic' and try all the new features. Played the trial a few times and I like the magician, especially it's a strong solo class now.
Bought the Underfot complete pack but forgot /movelog the toon so created a new high elf Magician on Prexus/(terris Thule) my old server-but dont see anyone I remember..

I been reading most of the advice on these and the official Sony EQ forums, lots to absorb & make decisions about. I'd really appreciate some hunting and gear advice (flat broke so probably need to know where to do some starter armor quests.

I'm really dedicated to just a few hours a week and do NOT wish to grind, just want to revisit some old school zones as well as some of the 'new' content. Would like to experience a good story and adventure but 400+ zones (yes I know over 3/4 are for high level toons) is a lot of choices.
Any starter suggestions for pure 'lore experience' and adventure? leveling is good but not the most important factor right now.
If any from here are on Prexus my starter magician's name is Diosces

Thanks in advance.

[Glaven]

If you're starting from scratch, I'd head to the serpents spine expansion...that is the newest expansion that has low level zones (they started a new race that expansion). It's content you haven't seen and there are some good low level armor quests there as well. Crescent Reach is the name of the city you can use as a home base.

[Diosces]

Thanks Glaven, thats exactly what I did. Nice content and fun quests!

[Kshipper]

I have done this exact thing so many times, I have it down to a science (including starting from broke). You are going to level up so fast that the only type of gear you will need is for a level 47 and up and it's called Intricate Defiant Silk in the bazaar. Some wearable armor will drop while you are leveling so you can of course equip stuff as you find it. The trick with leveling the mage is to find yourself some friendly mage that will summon you some pet armor. The pet armor will add over a 1000HPS to your low level pet effectively making him a beast. You will also want to grab a mage summoned muzzle and 2 Fists (pet weapons). As for your self you can usually beg some buffs in the Guild Lobby (that zone is just off Plane of Knowledge). The buffs will be way better then the gear you can get and should last a long time. Temp from a CLR and Harness from a SHM should be all you need with SoW (for fast feet). You only need to do a little damage to the mob to get your experience share from your pet. You don't want your pet doing ALL the damage so pull mobs with a low level nuke and re-nuke if your first case is resisted. Don't worry too much about burning everything down. Just use small nukes to work your skills and mix it up to work all your skills. You should also tank some to work defense and offence skills.

Save everything since most stuff can be sold to vendors for cash and some items are tradeskill loot. The items will say right in the description if it's for tradeskills and some of those items sell for big bucks so be careful what you assume is only worth 1silver (since you are cash poor). After Cresent Reach head over to the next zone Blightfire Moore and kill stuff there for a while then move to the next zone Goru'kar Mesa. When you get bored there you can head to the next zone Blackfeather Roost or you can grab a Merc Healer and head over to Dragon Scale Hills (that's my fav zone for 65 to 75). It's there where you can make yoru first 100,000pp just in vendor loot of lowly animals (serious!). By this time you will be wearing the next level of armor for level 59 Elaborate Defiant Silk and that will last you a long time until you get to 70s and get Elegant Defiant Silk. There is a pet focus item you can get one of the armor sellers in PoK zone near the stone to Blightfire Moor that you will want and there is an even better pet focus item to get from a Faycite vendor in the Fairy tower in Dragon Scale Hills that you will want (even has a pet shrink click on it).

Scope out Allakhzams for all your buyable spells and only choose the spells you absolutely need. You only need a pet here and there so you dont need every hard to get pet spell while your leveling up. Stick with Air or Earth all the way. I know I'm leaving out loads of detail but with this general idea and some research you can get to where you need to be in less then 1 month. Oh and one final note...you should get yourself some player made jewelry. There is a site that will help you figure out what to get right here http://www.kyros.info/Tradeskills/JC-Calc/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I recommend the Paladium Trio at level 60 with the Shimmering Nihlite+Emerald+Opal. That jewellry will give you 320 mana AND 320 HPS on each piece! You can get rings, bracers, neck, earrings and even face. That will round out your Defiant armor nicely. You will need a kind player to show you how combine the items in a birdbath (they players call it the birdbath and the closest one is just inside the bazaar on the right).

Welcome back =)