EQ2: bonus XP is here!

On Friday last (28th) a week of bonus XP started in Everquest 2. This is what my Inquisitor has been waiting for ever since Daybreak announced the series of Gear Up, Level Up bonus events. Having a bonus XP event a little earlier than week 4 would have been nice but then I suppose the majority of veteran players need gear currencies or other rewards more than XP on their characters, but I have characters that need levelling!

The sprint to 100

I’ve found a grove in farming XP solo in Karnor’s Castle, a sprawling multi-level castle with inner keep, eyeball infested-moat and catacombs below. It’s mostly filled with werewolf like drolvarg monsters, although there’s a good number of undead too.

As a level 97 Inquisitor, chronomentored down to 70, my character can easily cut a rapid path through these opponents – taking packs on at a time. He lacks the supreme area damage of my Shadowknight so it can be a bit slower “time to kill” than on that other character but I feel no real need to pay the expense  of having a mercenary out. The fights are easy enough already and having a collector’s edition mercenary like Kluuron V’Lorn out, tends to make my character almost redundant in easier content.

When I’ve done other chronomentored content, mostly on my Shadowknight, it has been generally more recent, higher-level areas – so my character hasn’t felt quite so all-mighty. But I’ve enjoyed playing this way for a few sessions as it is relaxing to be able to explore an unknown public instance without the threat of my character’s demise to an accidental pull around every corner.

The XP rate seems good enough – even without the bonus event I was getting about one-quarter to a third of a level an hour. I’ve also completed several legends and lore quests and other collections for the zone. I’m making plenty of gold in dropped items, status from status-giving drops (with his home city of New Halas) and even have plenty of spare items to tithe for some favor with his deity.

Here’s hoping I can hit 100 before the end of the bonus week. After that I have a list of requirement tasks to consider before the expansion launches (details at EQ2Wire): it looks like my Inquisitor will have to learn a couple of new languages (Draconic and Sathirian) and do some serious questing before he’s fully ready!