There's one aspect about Everquest that I don't whether to rave or rant
about: how rare good plate breastplates are.
Monual began absolutely naked. Even though he was my second toon, my first
only got up to level 11 and had no money to speak of. Monual's first chest
piece was:
Cloth Shirt
AC: +4
Classes: All
This was my breastplate for a surprisingly long time. Keep in mind that,
back in the day, it took a long time for a non-twinked un-powerleveled
character to go up in levels. A few weeks later I was in the Oasis,
complaining about lack of plat, when out of the blue I was given a dagger by
a groupmate that I later sold for 200pp. I used this to buy, among other
things:
Before the Bazaar, the market area in North Freeport was where everyone
wheeled and dealed. Some of my guildmates were really into it. I dabbled a
bit but it just wasn't interesting enough to become a full-time activity.
But I did learn a bit of the art of buy low, sell high, don't trade for
equipment that won't sell, etc. Eventually I got enough plat to buy for
myself:
Chestplate of the Constant
AC: +20 Sta: +8
Magic Resist: +5
Classes: Cleric
20 AC, woot. Also, in the days before armor dyes, it had a nice gold look
that was really appealing.
I then began grouping in Eastern Wastes and the Crystal Caverns. One day
someone /auc'd in EW that they had this for sale:
It had a WIS bonus, and I was desperately looking for WIS items. So I
bought it, even though it cost most of my plat.
It was a great item for me, except for one thing: it was a robe. I looked
like an INT caster rather than a priest. People kept confusing me for a
wizard, and I just didn't like the way it looked. I'm not one to buy things
simply because they look good, but at the same time I was willing to get rid
of this because it just wasn't my style. So I sold it to a monk, making a
small profit, and bought once more:
Chestplate of the Constant
AC: +20 Sta: +8
Magic Resist: +5
Classes: Cleric
Lost my WIS but it looked really good. =)
I eventually went on a few Hate raids, hoping to get a cleric breastplate
there. Very few dropped. And when one did drop, it was automatically
awarded to another cleric based on the "last piece" rule. Ever heard of
this? I thought it was a ludicrous policy when explained to me. Basically,
if you had every single piece of Hate armor except the breastplate (or any
other item), you would automatically be awarded it when it dropped. Even
though this rule wasn't explicitly announced at the beginning of the raid,
the raid leaders seemed to assume that everyone knew this rule and that is
was always understood. I and a couple of other clerics were very upset by
this. The raid leaders pretty much brushed us off, which wasn't a good way
to keep clerics happy. Two clerics gated mid-pull; I waited until the pull
was done, then left the raid. This led to a merry rant on the old Drinal
forums. To this day I don't see the merit in a "last piece" rule, and at
the very least if illogical rules are going to be enforced, they should be
announced at the beginning of the raid.
I pretty much stopped going to Hate raids after that. By this time I was in
my high 40's and was beginning to fight in Sebilis. During an exit group
there, this dropped:
I piped up that I could use that, and the group decided to just give it to
me rather than roll for it, which was very nice of them. I equipped it
right away, and it had a nice red chain look to it.
I was still trading in NFP, slowly accumulating cash, until I had 16K to my
name, a fortune. One of my guildmates had just acquired a new breastplate
and was decided to sell me his old breastplate at 15K, slightly below market
value, as a favor to me:
I tried it on and it looked great. I commented that I thought it looked
better on a human than on a high elf (old models) and my HE cleric guildmate
agreed with me. This was my breastplate for a long time as well, through my
50's. The +20 WIS was awesome, pushing me above 200 WIS.
When I was 58, I was scammed out of this breastplate. I'd always thought of
myself as a careful person, but the person who asked to "borrow" my
breastplate was a fellow guildmate. Turns out this person had scammed my
guildleader into getting a guildtag ("Soandso is my main, could you tag this
toon, please?"). Because I trusted my guildmates implicitly, I lost my
breastplate and a shield. I petitioned as well as another guildmate of mine
who also got scammed, and eventually we got that account banned, although we
did not get our equipment back.
For a while I was running around with no chestpiece at all. It looked very
strange; your chest is the most visible part of your character, and mine was
naked, surrounded by other plate gear. I looked like a cleric that wanted
to be a monk. A few days later when it became clear I was not going to get
my Emerald BP back, I bought another:
Eventually my guild teamed up with a European guild we were considering
merging with and together we took down Wuoshi. Two emerald scales dropped,
and I took one and created another:
This felt a little better because it cost me no money and I made it myself.
My guildleader, who had been feeling guilty for blithely tagging the scammer
into our guild, was also quite relieved.
When Luclin came out we started doing some mini-raids in the Umbral Plains.
Those were perfect for my small guild (the merger with the European guild
fell through when it became evident they only wanted to tag our people above
level 50) because the mobs weren't too difficult and we could get some loot.
I found I like UP and eventually joined a group there. During one of our
pulls, this dropped:
I took it even though I'd be losing some WIS (I was still over 200) and
resists, because I'd be getting better AC and some HP as well.
This was my breastplate for only a short time. While taking part in a small
Halls of Testing Raid, we actually got a plate breastplate to drop - the one
and only time in all of my HoT raids I'd ever seen one drop. Four people
wanted it. The raid leader rolled. I squeezed my eyes shut, then slowly
opened them to see my chat box filled with "Grats Mon". Happily I looted it
and made this out of it:
This was an awesome breastplate for me... 50 AC, wow. 90 mana, wow. Look
at all those resists. And 15 WIS, helping to keep my WIS maxed as I swapped
out other equipment. Just breathtaking all around.
Good thing I was happy with it, because that turned out to be my breastplate
for the next 18 months. There was simply nothing better out there I could
obtain for myself.
When I joined my current guild, our raiding targets produced excruciatingly
few cleric-useable breastplates. One Ancient Hide Burrower Tunic - I was
too new in the guild to be able to think about getting it. One Ornate
Breastplate Mold - lost out to a Paladin. Vex Thal produced zero Mails of
Judgment, which our officers later expressed relief about as they were
certain half the priest classes would have /guildremoved no matter who won
it. Lord Inquisitor Seru never dropped a Heavy Yttrium Chestplate in the
few times we raided him. The one time I was present at Rathe raid where a
Chestguard of Enchanted Marble dropped, it was awarded to a shadowknight
(who stopped playing EQ a couple of weeks later, to my great annoyance).
I myself tried to do enough Takish LDoN's to be able to get Royal Attendant
Breastplate of Sand, but I had a heck of a time getting people who wanted to
do Takish. I tried farming the Plane of Mischief to get a Crazy Cleric
Breastplate, but the drops were insanely rare. I could maybe do all right
with the Elemental crafted armor, except the drops were also insanely rare
and difficult to get.
When my guild finally broke into Time, I swore to myself that I'd go on a
loot moratorium. My loot was already pretty balanced, with capped FT and
most of the focus effects I could really want. So just before Halloween I
stopped going in on loot. I was able to hold out until mid-January, when a
belt dropped that had the one focus effect I didn't have on my everyday
equipment - buff extension. I had a shield that I could swap out but it was
annoying and I often didn't bother, so it was nice to get something that
would, indeed, extend all my buffs without requiring me to change equipment.
Almost immediately afterwards, we finally broke into Phase 5. On our first
Rallos Zek kill, a Timeless Breastplate Mold dropped. This went to our
guildleader, who has consistently had the habit of nabbing equipment I
really really want before I do. =) I was melancholy but still upbeat; I'd
just wait for the next one.
Turns out I was overestimating how often these molds dropped. We killed
Rallos Zek a couple more times and he didn't drop another mold. Quarm, too,
wasn't dropping plate molds. It slowly began dawning on me that my wait
might yet be weeks more.
I took more of an interest in our loot tracking system. All of our loot is
awarded by our officers based on need and merit, a system I whole-heartedly
approve of. However, they use a DKP-like database to track who's been
awarded what, how valuable their loot is, and what their raid attendance has
been like. That database is available to everyone, so I started perusing
it. It was somewhat depressing to see how many people had more DKP than I
did. My problem is that I've been spending a lot of time preparing for a
bridge tournament at the end of March, so my attendance has dropped down to
just below 50%. Also, my work hours mean I don't log on until 7:30pm
Central, so I often miss the first raid of the night. So even though I've
only been awarded one piece of loot since October, there were still several
other people ahead of me in DKP. One of them was our warrior officer who
has also been holding out for a BP mold and who has much better attendance
than I do. There were also two clerics ahead of me. So, potentially, I
wouldn't get a BP mold for quite a while, maybe months.
In a very unsubtle manner I asked my fellow clerics what loot they were
holding out for. One of the clerics ahead of me in DKP indicated she was
waiting for Quarm's shield. The other wasn't holding out for anything
specific, just something good - which a BP mold would certainly qualify as.
As an aside, that attitude has been driving our officers crazy. When things
drop in Phase 4 and Phase 5 that aren't super-uber, very few people go in on
them. In fact, a couple of people have been really cleaning up on Phase 4
stuff because other people simply don't go in on them - they're waiting for
the really good Phase 5 and Quarm drops. Our officers have vented their
frustration frequently, although they themselves haven't been setting a good
example - all four of the chest drops we've gotten from Time have gone to
officers. Two of the first three Quarm drops went to officers. Our
guildleader currently has a Quarm loot in addition to his Time BP. No
question the officers deserve these loots - our guildleader, for example,
has a 90% raid attendance record. But they're certainly not setting a good
example - asking us to go in on Phase 4 stuff while they award Phase 5 and
Quarm loot to themselves.
While doing a GoD trial with my guildleader and going through a two-hour
Corpse Run, he idly commented that the only person who's been awarded less
loot in the past few months than me is someone who doesn't play any more.
That perked me up a bit - remember, the loot council doesn't go strictly by
DKP, it's just a guideline to help them choose. Perhaps the intangibles
would work in my favor.
The next time we killed Rallos Zek, a Timeless Breastplate Mold dropped. I
put my name in with little expectation, and indeed it took the officers less
than five minutes to award the loot to our warrior officer. Quarm dropped a
silk robe mold, so I was left waiting again. Still, I was not unhappy -
with the warrior officer out of the way, perhaps I was due.
I can't understate how badly I wanted a new breastplate. If you've ready my
previous journals, you'll find many of them tinged with my desire for a new
breastplate. My guildmates are well aware of this desire. Once I said into
the cleric channel, "I bet you guys can't guess what loot I'm holding out
for." This was answered by "BP", "Whatever it is, it can't possibly be a
BP" and "BP BP BP". Okay, so I'm not exactly subtle. =) I've just been
getting antsy because it's been a while; I'm not accustomed to going so long
without an upgrade. An earring that I won a roll on in a GoD exploratory
raid eased the cravings a little, but not much.
Finally, we did Time again. In a moment of high arrogance, I got everything
I would need to make a BP. Only then did I enter Time and join up with my
guildmates. Currently it takes us three days to clear Time, simply because
it took us that long to clear Time the first time we killed Quarm. We could
almost certainly do it in two days, but the spawns are spread out over three
days. Next time, we probably won't raid Time the same day the first few
gods respawn, holding off until the next day. If we can get Time down to
two days, we'll have more time to finish up our GoD flagging and the like.
I zone in, and we start with Bert. He goes down and drops a leather tunic
breastplate pattern. Nice. Then we kill Innoruk and he drops a chain
breastplate pattern. Great. We then attack Rallos Zek and, embarrassingly,
wipe the first time with RZ at 1%. Grr. We reform and take him down - and
there it is: Timeless Breastplate Mold, the plate mold I've been yearning
for.
I put my name in. The other clerics in the channel wish me luck. I
appreciate it, although I try to temper expectations (my own as much as
anyone else's) by pointing out that this other cleric is also due. She's
gotten more loot than I have but also has much better raid attendance - and,
subsequently, more DKP. The other loot is awarded but the announcement for
the breastplate mold hasn't been made yet. People begin zoning into Quarm's
Lair and I get to see who my competition is by who stays behind - a paladin,
a bard, a couple of warriors, and us two clerics. I'm drumming my fingers
nervously on my mouse, watching guildchat for the announcement.
Finally, it comes: grats other cleric on breastplate mold.
This hits me hard. I had wanted to be happy for the other cleric, but I
just can't. I do send her a "grats" and in the meantime zone into Quarm's
Lair. This disappointment tastes bitter. I can't begrudge the other cleric
her new breastplate - she's the nicest person - but man, man, I so so wanted
it. A couple of bitter thoughts well up inside my brain - "Do all my
contributions mean nothing?" - but I successfully beat them back down. I've
waited this long, what's another week - or two or three - for the next BP
mold drop. I can do it, in a few months I've have a breastplate and will
have forgotten all about this present disappointment. It's like Madonna
said:
Call in three months time and I'll be fine, I know.
Well maybe not so fine, but I'll get by anyhow.
I won't recall the names and places of each sad occasion.
But that's no consolation,
Here and now.
By the way, don't try to base your real life philosophy around lyrics from
an Andrew Lloyd Weber play. =)
Anyway, Quarm remains. We get set up, Quarm comes, we fight. For some
reason, this fight seems to be taking a long time. We keep healing the Main
Tank, but Quarm refuses to die. Finally the clerics begin running out of
mana. I ask what Quarm is at, and am told 37%. The druids announce that
they have all cast their MGB heals. The MT dies as the clerics begin
faltering. People try to run back and help, but the 3K AE wreaks havoc on
naked people. Quarm still has two heads. This is embarrassing: we're about
to wipe to Quarm, perhaps the easiest mob in all of Time.
I finally learn what it's like to get hit by Quarm. Back at my bind point,
I ask what went wrong. Bad luck, I'm told, in a number of combinations.
Quarm evidently quad-AE'd twice in a row, killing a few people right away.
Also MGB haste dropped right at the beginning, severely impacting our DPS.
Quarm grows back two heads and we zone in. It's gonna be a long time before
we can try again - we need to wait for all of our MGB's to refresh. The
guildleader sets a time an hour from now when we will try again. Annoying,
but we need to do this - we don't want Time to stretch into a four-day
clear. A few people log, but we get bots to replace them. An hour later,
we still have an almost-full raid, which is good news.
We rebuff and get ready. Quarm incoming - oops, the ranger pulled him to
the clerics. Quarm stops right on top of my head and twirls about for a
bit. My guildleader is shouting, "WTH is going on?" Finally the MT gets
aggro and drags Quarm into position. I resist most of his AE's so I'm all
right. The clerics heal, and this time the DPS is all right. We do begin
to run out of mana but that's only after Quarm is down to one head, so it's
not to worry. We lose the MT on enrage, but again we have plenty of DPS and
Quarm dies. What a relief; I'm not certain we would have had time for
another attempt.
Loot is announced, and my eyes quickly snap to the last item listed:
Timeless Breastplate Mold. Like, wow. Our fourth chest drop of the night,
a record by far. I put my name in and keep my eyes locked on guildchat.
Again my mind begins feverishly working through the ups and downs of my
candidacy. I now have the most DKP, I have gone the longest without loot of
all our active players, and it's a very clear upgrade. The downside is that
perhaps it's a waste to give two of these molds to clerics when warriors can
really use the aggro increaser on their version of the breastplate. My mind
goes around in circles.
But not for long. It takes the officers less than five minutes to make the
announcement: Grats Monual BP.
There is much cheering in guildchat and in the cleric channel. I get
inundated with tells. I rush to the corpse, loot the mold, stick it into my
portable forge, hit combine, and there, sitting gleaming (not literally,
only in my mind) on my cursor, is:
I instantly put it on and link it, causing quite a few chuckles - one person
comments that this is the first time he's seen someone make a BP before
people had even finished their congratulations. I go back through my list
of tells and thank everyone personally, as well as making general thanks in
the guild and cleric channels.
I bank my old breastplate - I may eventually destroy it, but I've had it so
long it has sentimental value. At the same time, I've wanted to get rid of
it for a very long time. =) I experiment a bit - I am indeed getting a
nice boost from Marr's Blessing, although I already had Marr's Gift, a 25%
bonus on healing. I'm interested in testing the Specialize Alteration mod -
this should make all of my heals use less mana, including Complete Heal.
I'll have to see if I can test exactly how much mana I'm saving.
But all that's in the future. For now, I am as happy as I can ever be about
a virtual event. I finally have a new breastplate! Hooray!
--
-Richard
Monual Lifegiver
Archon of Rodcet Nife
Silent Tempest
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This page is Copyright by Skaarak; Everquest (TM) is property of Sony Online Entertainment
All stories and art work are Copyright@ by the origial owner/writer.
Most, if not all stories, were taken from newsgroup alt.games.everquest (AGE), I recommend that anyone who gets a chance to read it should!