The Angry Raider

Shard runs in EQ2 are unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in an MMO. I’ve been running the shard instances on Grabthar the past few nights, and I’m up to 19 shards. The runs are pretty fun, and I get a nice chunk of XP and AA from each one, but I have to wonder: what are these like when done level-appropriate?

See, I’m doing what are called speed runs. You get the level 80 void shard quest (doable starting at level 75), mentor down to a 50-something in your group, zone into the instance, and unmentor. This means you can complete the quest by killing level 50ish mobs in your full level 75-80 glory. It sounds like cheating, but SOE says it’s kosher.

The interesting thing is, it almost seems mandatory. The TSO zones are very hard. Most groups won’t even take you unless you have void shard gear (known as Tier 1 and Tier 2). How do you get shard gear without doing shard runs, unless you speed run? I don’t know, but I’ll leave that discussion to the folks on EQ2Flames.

Once I ding 80 and put on my nice shiny new (but ugly) Legendary tier 1 armor, I’ll be ready to, well, run those same dungeons over and over for Tier 2. But at least I’ll get nice gear upgrades and AA from the names, since the mobs will no longer be gray. And on the plus side, I’ve learned how a lot of the encounters work, so I won’t be flying completely blind on day one.

Meanwhile, Grabthar is 78 with 15% to go, which means I’ll hit 79 tonight and hopefully 80 by this weekend. Last night I completed an interesting timeline in Kunzar Jungle that netted me a Legendary tank ring, so I am seeing some nice gear improvements. Tonight my plan is to get to level 79, finish my Jinisk faction, and then head to Jarsath Wastes!