R A I D S?

Esobella · 08-20-2008, 06:10 PM

Hi, I'm a total noob and was just wondering how raiding works? I was in the Forest Ruins when I was asked if I wanted to RAID with a group of players, how does this work, and what are the benefits of raiding? This is my first MMO and I've just been primarily completing quests and leveling up, thanks for any help you can offer!

serum321 · 08-20-2008, 07:48 PM

Raiding = content that must be done with more than 1 group of players (almost always 4 groups). So you get a group of 24 people together to kill the hardest stuff in the game and get the best loot in the game. It takes a lot of time/dedication to raid though, if this is your first mmo I'd suggest you join a raid and see how you like it before joining a raiding guild.

Revel · 08-20-2008, 10:38 PM

Raids are simply 2 or more groups put together to accomplish a goal.

To make a raid, you just need to /raidinvite a second group leader. The groups do not have to be formed. The raid leader sets the raid's loot options and may move people around within the raid. Basically, it's just a way to manage a huge group of people, up to 24 people in 4 groups.

Certain encounters require raids, but very few at low levels in this game. If you're in the forest ruins, there are very few targets that you can do. If you try to kill encounters in a raid that were meant for group only or lesser, you will not get any experience or loot. Raids offer very little combat experience, but do offer good achievement experience (if you're past level 10). So you only want to raid targets that actually require a raid. At your level, the "city" raids (for guild status) and a dragon in Antonica and Commonlands are the only possible raid targets. You can put together a raid for no reason, but of course then that servers no purpose.

So, why do people raid? It's what serum mentioned. Most people do not raid until they are level 80 in this game, because people raid for great items. And the best items are at the highest levels, since they're the ones you will use. In rare cases you will see people raid old content from old expansions, which would be either level 50, 60, or 70 otherwise.

Hope that answers your question.

feldon30 · 09-01-2008, 02:53 PM

There are some level 70 raids that still happen periodically. Laboratory of Lord Vyemm (Labs) is the best example as it still drops some useful loot and more importantly it updates the Wurmslayer heritage quest, known properly as A Thorn of Old.

One aspect of raiding is simply that of human nature.

If you put together a group of players who are Looking For Group (LFG) on the server, you will inevitably find one or two players who either have no clue how to play their class, have no self-discipline to play their role and end up getting the group killed repeatedly, don't play consistently, or are just plain assholes and through their comments make the whole group experience unpleasant.

Now muliply by 4 and you might have 6 players who really have no clue what they are doing or just don't want to put the commitment into playing well for 2-4 hours, or they would prefer to make the experience unpleasant for as many people as possible by showing their ass.

Most group zones have some tolerance and leeway for a mistake here or there. You can majorly screw up and pick up where you left off. The level 80 raids in EQ2 are not like that. Many of the bosses severely penalize the entire raid force for even minor mistakes. Some of the raid bosses have intricate strategies that must be followed to the letter.

Finally, Kunark brings about raid flagging. You must have participated in a raid to defeat A, B, and C mobs before you can have access to the next harder raid zone.

So unless your guild is on track to start raiding, you're pretty much limited to Shard of Hate and maybe Protector's Realm. SoH doesn't fall within the raid flaggging, and Protector's Realm is one of the first raid zones. Both have the chance of dropping some nice loot, and I'm seeing more guilds host these raids with a few slots available to the public. It really comes down to people screwing things up.

Right after we killed the 4 nameds skeletons which give the necessary keys to the next part of the raid in Protector's Realm, the player who received the 4th key ninja dropped group and never came back. So due to 1 player being a dick, we could not proceed and had to call off the raid.

It is nonsense like that that discourages raid guilds from hosting these things.

sillyputty · 09-09-2008, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by serum321

Raiding = content that must be done with more than 1 group of players (almost always 4 groups). So you get a group of 24 people together to kill the hardest stuff in the game and get the best loot in the game. It takes a lot of time/dedication to raid though, if this is your first mmo I'd suggest you join a raid and see how you like it before joining a raiding guild.

This is a great starting point for getting the feel of Raiding. However you will more then likely end up in a (pick-up) raid which is 2 or more groups of people that have no clue how to work with each other to obtain a common goal. that being said, you may want to join several raids or befriend someone in a raiding guild and get in on a few of those. then and only trhen will you be able to accuratly gauge if you like to raid or not. Personally i love to raid, but i cannot stand a pick-up raid and rarely will i consider doing them as the outcome is frustration. and VENTRILO or comparable voip is a must. just my 2cp.

Grymmstone · 09-09-2008, 04:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sillyputty

and VENTRILO or comparable voip is a must. just my 2cp.

The new ingame voice channels fix this obstacle in a pick up raid.

Calbiyum · 09-09-2008, 11:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by serum321

and get the best loot in the game.

Sure about that?! lol

But having this as your first MMO is actualy a good place to learn about raiding. In this game alot of people will explain to you what the situation is and have alot of patience. Try raiding in WoW and everyone is a know it all who is better than you and will kick you because you suck.

Calbiyum · 10-08-2008, 01:04 PM

Oh yea and btw Raid is actually short for Really Awesome In Depth Stuff.

Bitty Bear · 10-10-2008, 01:02 PM

There are actually raids for most levels. Check out the wiki page to see raid options at different levels. Raid Timeline - EQ2i

Oizen · 10-11-2008, 01:47 AM

Not to be argumentative Cal but since they capitalized every letter I bet they were asking if the OP wanted to become a (R)edunent (A)rray of (I)ndependent (D)isks with his group... at least that's how I read it at first glance. To further my suspicion, MMO raiding generally requires more than one group, otherwise it's just adventuring.