Somewhat confused...

[Daspian Dra'thir]

At a loss where i should be hunting or doing, i've lost 2k exp which took me about 2 days to get (off and on, about 5 hours each day) in a short time frame of 20-30 minutes...kinda fed up, can't progress, i know underdark is hard, and i know playing a caster is exceptionally hard but still, =S
would be easier if there was a clear route i needed to be doing, but just farming beetles which give 7 xp each, is rather slow when i need 6000 to next level, and the slaves are out of the question, they hurt to much, as are the goblins.
thankfully i've someone who's been amazingly kind and been helping me when she can, taking me along to hunt with and rp with.... i feel bad that i can't do anything, and then when i try and go off on my own (when she's offline) to progress on my own, i wind up losing all that i just earned with her, counter-productive...pretty much redundant how i can't do anything on my own at all, i just walk around the empty streets of Sshamath, or sit in the tavern chatting a storm to the silent Minotaur....most of the time i spend in the Underdark, i see via the scry everyone else is on the Surface, rarely i see on some days, some players show up in the UD.

My question i suppose to simplify:

* is there nothing i can do short of just farming beetles for what will probably be days or a week as the safe route? or having to rely on my friend which i feel bad enough already. I'd like to be able to at least progress when she isn't online and not be forced to just log on, see she's not online, and then just log off.... i'd sit in the tavern or walk around in Sshamath if i saw the potential to meet someone and RP and group with them, but it's pretty much a ghost town, save for a few rare occasions i've had ( one time i was amazingly able to stumble upon a DM event, had no idea it was planned but it was an amazing experience and i loved that, wish i could keep track of when they are gonna happen so i can plan to show up to that, instead of being in the "right place at the right time". the few players that sometimes do log on for the UD are off deep in the tunnels and generally in the Tar Pits, or Basilisks.
i apologize if this seems like a rant, it's not, i'm not necessarily mad, just somewhat annoyed and generally want to progress so i can actually participate in more RP events at higher levels, that one event i did i kinda didn't do anything save die a ridiculous number of times and had to be ress'd a bunch of times, and was probably there as comedic relief to laugh at lol, it was fun, and had a blast... but really felt like i didn't contribute at all as much as i could have.

if i truly am forced to just pretty much farm these beetles for days then so be it, that or is there a way i can track DM events and be better prepared rather than stumble upon one?
that or maybe i'm better off just relenting and going to the surface permanently, have a level 4 dwarf there to split time between him and my drow to see the difference ( and there's a huge difference...both in levelling and population lol) i'd hate to though...

[NeOmega]

been there. Eventually got out of the hard phase, but it was extremely frustrating. The beetles are giving you gp, so you can buy better equipment (always buy from auction).

There are potions of stoneskin for sale in the underdark, might want to try those. The area with lesser displacer beasts and umberhulks is probably your next stop. Same with the dungeon with the slaves... ...wands of burning man help greatly, as well as the spell, which I can't remember at the moment, but it's a level 2 spell that always hits and burns.

[Tsidkenu]

Potions of Vigor are also a lifesaver. They cost like 50-60gp ea, they'll heal you 2 hp a round for 13 rounds, meaning if you get knocked unconscious they will often revive you again before you are killed, giving you one more chance to flee! The trick is to drink them as soon as you take damage, and let the heal-over-time have its fullest effect.

Some other tricks include:

Rest more often, esp. if you are a lowbie caster. You can rest every 45 sec multiplied by your character level. Spam as many spells as you can, run away. Rest. Rinse. Repeat.

Scrolls of Summon Monster - Summon Monster II is a cheaper option: that dire wolf packs a punch against lowbie mobs. Duration isn't that great but better than soloing. If you prefer you could try a Scroll of Summon Monster VI, VII or VIII, or Planar Binding/Greater Planar Binding, or Animate/Create Undead. For a 800-1200gp investment you'll get a strong summon that will save your bacon plenty of times. However im not sure if the beholder scroll seller has them though. You could even go to the displacer beast area with such a summon accompanying you.

[Aelcar]

If you are not a particularly expert wizard player, you need to farm beetles for gold (pincers and drops), buy consumables and go kill the slaves in their cave. There is only one you need to be wary of, and you definitely can deal with that.

Just be careful when Myconids are around. At lvl 1, they are lethal. Don't do stupid things like...getting distracted, getting a drink while farming, and so on, because it will cost you hours. Better to take a proper break. Also, farming with a friend does not have to make you feel bad: you can boost her abilities with your spells, and contribute decisively even with a lvl 1 wizard (there are some 1st Circle Spells that are fantastic at every level of play). The important is, contribute WHEN NEEDED, not every time a monster shows up.

[Daspian Dra'thir]

thank you for the feedback, the potions i did not know about and i will look into those, i have been using my spells like crazy and resting as much as i can, and my deaths hehe weren't because i was afking or nothing, but because a monster would come up to me and get a lucky critical hit on me, knock me down and nothing i can do. Aye at level 1 the the Myconids were lethal, but at level 4 now they are actually pretty easy when around the beetles, it usually only takes a melf's acid arrow and 1 magic missile, maybe two if that magic missile didn't hit hard enough. i have alot of wands of frost ( they were cheap) and have a wand of fire but i haven't used it yet, saving it, and a wand of cure serious wands i found a few days ago, i've been using my spells as often as i can, or shooting with my longbow +1, and then in melee range take out my Longsword if they have a few hit points out and either bash'em or finish em off with my wand.

my other question i suppose, is as a wizard i know it's going to be incredibly difficult to solo for a while, but when does it start to "pick up" so to speak, it seems like not for awhile, like 9 or 10.

[duracele]

Don`t hoard your usables. Use them. Try going mellee for a few levels. Your ab will be bad but with the right buff spells (cats, mage armor, shield, heroism, mirrors) your ac will be way better than a comparable mellee toon. Always a good idea to go for prey that reliably drops loot when you need coins. On surface the minos are awesome for that here we have to put up with beetles... Don`t progress to the next hardest area too soon. If you need double time to kill a critter it isn`t better than killing two easy ones in the same time. And probably much safer, too. Meet someone at your level with whom you clear the area faster than it respawns then you can go on.

i forgot about ghostly visage. level 2 spell your wizard should have access to? 5 DR makes you untouchable for most. save crits.

[Aelcar]

my deaths hehe weren't because i was afking or nothing, but because a monster would come up to me and get a lucky critical hit on me, knock me down and nothing i can do. Aye at level 1 the the Myconids were lethal, but at level 4 now they are actually pretty easy when around the beetles, it usually only takes a melf's acid arrow and 1 magic missile, maybe two if that magic missile didn't hit hard enough.

If they come in melee and can KD you, you're making a mistake. When you're under Mirror Images (at lvl 4), this will not happen, and when it does, you dont die.

Magic missiles and Melf's acid arrows are useless spells in your present condition, by the way.

my other question i suppose, is as a wizard i know it's going to be incredibly difficult to solo for a while, but when does it start to "pick up" so to speak, it seems like not for awhile, like 9 or 10.

As a wizard, soloing starts to be risk-free and fast at lvl 7, more or less (meaning: you have 7 levels of wizard, or comparable). Wizards in the UD are almighty, since the dispels are next to nonexistent.

If you party with someone, you'll greatly enhance the farming speed of the whole party.

[Deathgrowl]

Giving party members AC spells (spiderskin, ima) and heroism/greater heroism is a fantastic way to make friends. And if you on top of that prepare a few extended hastes, people will worship you.

[duracele]

Buying low level hp gear from stall can get a level 1 char to over 30 hp, which is just huge.

[Styxwash]

There's an alternate way to speed things up, it's abit unorthodox and counter RP, but you could make a strong surface char powerbuilt to grind and do quests, get him to level 10 or maybe even more and use the RCR NPC in the Nexus, reroll your XP into a Underdark char with the build you want and bypass some of the worst levels killing beetles and goblins. You could also transfer the gear and coin gained to the new char.

[Aelcar]

There's an alternate way to speed things up, it's abit unorthodox and counter RP, but you could make a strong surface char powerbuilt to grind and do quests, get him to level 10 or maybe even more and use the RCR NPC in the Nexus, reroll your XP into a Underdark char with the build you want and bypass some of the worst levels killing beetles and goblins. You could also transfer the gear and coin gained to the new char.

It's not at all faster than playing directly your Drow, though.

[NegInfinity]

There's an alternate way to speed things up, it's abit unorthodox and counter RP, but you could make a strong surface char powerbuilt to grind and do quests, get him to level 10 or maybe even more and use the RCR NPC in the Nexus, reroll your XP into a Underdark char with the build you want and bypass some of the worst levels killing beetles and goblins. You could also transfer the gear and coin gained to the new char.

It's not at all faster than playing directly your Drow, though.

It can be a LOT faster if you want to play something that gets power late or ecl (like drow).

With certain builds or classes it is very easy to get stuck without advancing for week or two if you honestly play them from level 1.

[Aelcar]

It really is not. When I started in the UD, we were extremely few somewhat "regular" players in there. I didn't know the areas, I died 3 times on Valshar at lvl 1 just trying to find out what the enemies could do (I came from another server, it was smaller and telegraphed, so I needed to adjust. Took an hour, more or less).

I still leveled Valshar to lvl 30 in 5/6 months. He was epic in a month an a half, with one of the worst builds to level in the game. Joining Storm Munin (we REALLY werent many back then...) whenever possible sped up the process greatly. For the both of us. The rest, soloing.

When you have this kind of timeframes, creating a surface character and grinding to 10, only to drop half the XP to make an ECL +2 race character cannot be effective. And in fact it isn't.

[NegInfinity]

It really is not. When I started in the UD, we were extremely few somewhat "regular" players in there. I didn't know the areas, I died 3 times on Valshar at lvl 1 just trying to find out what the enemies could do (I came from another server, it was smaller and telegraphed, so I needed to adjust. Took an hour, more or less).

I still leveled Valshar to lvl 30 in 5/6 months. He was epic in a month an a half, with one of the worst builds to level in the game. Joining Storm Munin (we REALLY werent many back then...) whenever possible sped up the process greatly. For the both of us. The rest, soloing.

When you have this kind of timeframes, creating a surface character and grinding to 10, only to drop half the XP to make an ECL +2 race character cannot be effective. And in fact it isn't.

How much time ago was that? My guess would be 2 or 3 years ago. Even if that was recent event, then you were already armed with knowledge of the server and general dnd mechanics.

First that was you, back then, with specific character. He's playing NOW with different character. Server changed, and his character is different from what you were playing, and he is not you. People tend to forget that.

Now, ECL hurts the most and is the most noticeable at levels below 10, especially at levels 1..4. In places where humans will get 40 xp per kill, tiefling will be getting 25. On surface, with a human, at day 1 you will hit level 5 or 6, depending on your luck, easily, probably without dying even once. With tiefling you will hit level 2 or 3 max, and it is very likely that you'll die few times. If you were playing ecl+2 you would probably land around level 2.

That's first half of the problem. Second half of the problem is choice of your class. Meleers can slaughter through most low level obstackles easily (strength build, fullplate, longsword or greatsword + heavy shield. One hit = one kill, in many cases), and then will start losing (relative) power around level 12. With spellcasters it is opposite. At low level you're shooting pretty lights that maybe can hurt a fly if the stars are aligned in the right way and gods smile on you and things that pack more punch cost gold, which you do not have enough of (if you burn through your starting money, you're screwed and things will be hard for a while till you get more gold).

That's the logic with rcr xp transfer. You switch to race/class play them for a while, then switch back (via rcr) to different class at higher level to avoid portions of leveling process where you could otherwise get stuck and where things get frustrating. Might not be faster, but most likely will be more entertaining. Even if it isn't speeding anything up (which is possible), it is definitely going to be less frustrating AND you'll save up some gear/gold for the next character.

I vividly remember getting stuck at low levels with different builds. Spellcasters and low level dexterity meleer can be extremely dependent on presence of comparable party, and in some cases there will be no such party for weeks. SO you will be trying to get over that obstackle dying over and over again and again, especially if you're playing for the first time and don't quite know how things work yet. So while you were epic in a month, I met people that were stuck below level ten for two months. This is also possible. I also remember not having a party for weeks.

So yeah, if things are getting frustrating, leveling via rcr is a decent solution.

[Aelcar]

How much time ago was that? My guess would be 2 or 3 years ago. Even if that was recent event, then you were already armed with knowledge of the server and general dnd mechanics.

It was 2,5 years ago, but the server isnt harder than before, tbh. It's getting a bit more user-friendly, actually. The team works in that direction since even before I came here.

First that was you, back then, with specific character. He's playing NOW with different character. Server changed, and his character is different from what you were playing, and he is not you. People tend to forget that.

I also wasnt born learned, you know ! Besides, I'm willing to help. I'm not forgetting anything, no worries .

Now, ECL hurts the most and is the most noticeable at levels below 10, especially at levels 1..4. In places where humans will get 40 xp per kill, tiefling will be getting 25. On surface, with a human, at day 1 you will hit level 5 or 6, depending on your luck, easily, probably without dying even once. With tiefling you will hit level 2 or 3 max, and it is very likely that you'll die few times. If you were playing ecl+2 you would probably land around level 2.

That would be correct, but it's still better to play in the UD. The connections you create, both on the surface and in the UD, speed up your leveling. If you RCR a surface character, there are no such connections for you in the UD. As a result, you "missed the train", so to speak .

Best thing you can do with leveling ANY character, is stay where you are invincible. 13 XP per kill that you can grind in coma is better than 40 XP per kill where a monster in five has a chance to kill you.

That's first half of the problem. Second half of the problem is choice of your class. Meleers can slaughter through most low level obstackles easily (strength build, fullplate, longsword or greatsword + heavy shield. One hit = one kill, in many cases), and then will start losing (relative) power around level 12. With spellcasters it is opposite. At low level you're shooting pretty lights that maybe can hurt a fly if the stars are aligned in the right way and gods smile on you and things that pack more punch cost gold, which you do not have enough of (if you burn through your starting money, you're screwed and things will be hard for a while till you get more gold).

This is a mistake. Fighter is better than Mage only if you pick and memorize those "pretty lights", which in fact are useless, as you correctly evaluated. When you're low lvl (even more so...), your first concern is to be unkillable. The consumables will do the kills for you.

You wont burn through the starting money AND the quests' money before you obtain the means to farm beetles comfortably (which he already has, mind you! He's lvl 4) or find someone else to play with. Granted, you can make mistakes, but mistakes are factored in. It's not so dark guys .

That's the logic with rcr xp transfer. You switch to race/class play them for a while, then switch back (via rcr) to different class at higher level to avoid portions of leveling process where you could otherwise get stuck and where things get frustrating. Might not be faster, but most likely will be more entertaining. Even if it isn't speeding anything up (which is possible), it is definitely going to be less frustrating AND you'll save up some gear/gold for the next character.

I understand some can find it entertaining (personally I wouldnt, wizard is my favourite class, at all levels). I questioned the leveling speed, but I see you agree on it. I realize it's a sort of "last resort", I just try to discourage people from thinking it's the only sure-fire way. Leveling a drow is okay, and wizard better than most (I personally dislike leveling Drow Rogue much more, even if some would disagree because it's more straightforward than wizard).

I vividly remember getting stuck at low levels with different builds. Spellcasters and low level dexterity meleer can be extremely dependent on presence of comparable party, and in some cases there will be no such party for weeks. SO you will be trying to get over that obstackle dying over and over again and again, especially if you're playing for the first time and don't quite know how things work yet. So while you were epic in a month, I met people that were stuck below level ten for two months. This is also possible. I also remember not having a party for weeks.

I am giving specific advice against that, mind you. When I was playing Drow, I helped several players get their bearings in the UD, and used my mage to show them the UD, and "train" them. I know there are others doing that nowadays! Players are nice in BGTSCC :=).
Still, even alone, my advice stands: farm safe, be immortal. You will never, ever get stuck. Ever. Weekly quests, some 1k XP per day (you play like 1h safe, there you go), RP XP and whenever you party, the gain is multiplied and you made some friends.

I am sorry you had trouble, and I realize others can. That's why I have that post count on my avatar XD. I posted a few hundred of suggestions in the years.