Velks lab

[Oneiromancer]

I've heard that the planes actually have an experience penalty if you're solo.  Could be just a rumor, of course, I have no idea where my source for that is...although I have heard it in several places.

Game on,

[Eatbugs]

Dakat, that chart is wildly out of date, and was pretty inaccurate even when it was new.  (For instance, LOIO has never had a -20% ZEM - that rumor got started when they cut down the original ZEM by 20% because it was too high for an outdoor zone.)

[Hereki]

Exp in LOIO was cut drastically in a revision back in September 02, I believe.  There is no such thing as a negative ZEM, but only because ZEM numbers are all absolute multipliers - the ZEM for both LOIO and the Grey are lower than that for all other zones.

I don't place much faith in the ZEM charts, either - they are hearsay reports taken from other hearsay reports at random times, ultimately tracable back to the SEQ boards.  I think the eqdiva one was large copied from a chart on eqdruids (a long time ago) , which was a revision of one I posted on eqdruids that I copied from the SEQ board.  The same goes for a similar chart on the Runes, which was copied from the eqdiva one.

The way that it works in PoP zones is the same as everywhere else; the zone has a ZEM.  The tier 1 (and probably other) PoP ZEMs were all cut about the same time as the grouping bonus was introduced, with the reduction balanced in such a way that a soloer would get about 10-20% less exp than before, but a duo would get 1-2% more exp thanks to the compensating factor of the group bonus.  This was done simply by a flat cut in the ZEM.

As always, this isn't direct knowledge taken from the internals of Everquest, just an informed view based on comments that were made on boards and in the patch messages.  If you want to be sure, check the patch messages and other SoE souces from around that time, April - May 03.

[Bimboko]

Thanks Dikat,

Have been trying the flies in PoD, do fine until I get two..LOL. Have tried inching towards them to try to get just one.,but usually it is the 2.

Would love to go hunt in Krnor's but that is pretty much out of bounds Spent ages etting VS faction for my OT Gate Hammer.

[Taiglin]

No need to worry about OT faction unless you use that place as a home base. Nothing argos on you when you zone in giving you time to heal/sow/invis/etc and then run off to the PoK book.

[Frehtyar]

I would imagine that at too high a level, VL would be pretty slow.  My wife and I were grouping in PoJ on our new characters ( this bsat, and her new Wizzy) and we got 1% a kill.  Went to VL and duoed back wall 1st night and left wall 2nd night, got 1% a kill.  We just drug our chanter bot to help clear, then, we forgot she was even on at all after spawn was broken :)

[Sorien]

*edit* When I say Velks, I mean Velkator Labyrinth, not that zone off in LOIO pond.

Been to Velks a couple of times @ lvl 56 & found lack luster XP there.  I recently bought First Aid 1, 2, 3.  Now, I can chain pull with an ADD thrown in every once in awhile.  When I say chain pull, I mean it.  I leave when the MOB is 10 - 5% health & come back with another right after the other dies.  

I stay at the entrance & pull all the mob's on the floor and some on and up the ramps before I have to sit, re-buff, and wait for the next spawn.

I'm a mediocre 56 LVL BST with 850~ AC/2k~ HP unbuffed.  Self buffs take me up to somewhere around 920~ AC/2.3K~ HP.  Since I've gotten FA 3 I have never gone to Velks KEI'D or VIRTUE/TEMP'D.  Oh, & I got Regen3, Run3, MC1, & CA1.  Not to forget FA3 :))))

[Gharrik]

At 58, I've been exploring Velks looking for better loot/exp than the spiders I always have to compete for with everybody else.  I've found that the kobolds are much better experience and drop cash, 25pp paws, and pretty commonly spells.  They're about as difficult as the blizzard hunter spiders, just a little less melee damage and the annoyance of healing themselves.  I've also not been able to find a place that I can pull singles at 58.  But the notch up in experience and loot is plenty of reason to deal with the added risk, and their HPs are similar to spiders so my kill rate is mostly unaffected.

I started out in the basement maze, near the end of the kobold area where there is a safe spot to summon pet and buff.  This is a pretty safe spot with enough room to move around without aggroing more than 2 dogs at a time.  The downside though is that there's little hope of getting out alive since you'd have to run past tons of see-invis mobs.  Bring a gate potion or hammer if you fight down here and want to get out without the "return to home" button.

Now I'm hunting at the kobold village upstairs.  Still 2 pulls at a time, but much less room to move without getting into range of extras.  On the plus side though, you can (carefully) get back to the zone line from here so you don't need a way to gate.

Edit: At 59 I thought it'd be a good idea to try the gargoyles and golems outside the castle.  That was a bad idea.  Their resists are high, they knocked me around on the ice making it impossible to channel heals, and the 2 I got on my first pull killed me quickly.