On midlevel thelanis PuGs...

[Waukeen]

Good afternoon.
I am 1/2 of Two Kings, and Pugging is really getting me down this week. I have two characters firmed parked at midlevel (9 and 10) respectively and 3 capped toons. I have no issue finding great groups to raid with on my capped toons. The issue I have is with the lack of midlevel PuGs on the server. I made the decision to leave the guild I was in along with Thorono to strike out on our own. I knew what this entailed, but this week while trying in vain to find parties for my barbarian that needs a paltry 4 levels in the next 2 weeks for crit rage, I find myself spending inordinate amounts of my limited gaming time sitting with an lfm up and getting no where. Even when posting for easy gianthold quests that yield massive xp I get no where. I have been a part of two failed VoN raids that involved a lack of a 20 wisdom, and (this one was great) someone destroying or hiding the ring.

/rant off

Mostly I am looking for responses or suggestions on how to weather the horse latitudes of Pugging that are levels 8-12.

[Visty]

do threnal, is xp too and easier then gh
or go into the desert

its not that there would be only gh around lvl10

[KingOfCheese]

Good afternoon.
I am 1/2 of Two Kings, and Pugging is really getting me down this week. I have two characters firmed parked at midlevel (9 and 10) respectively and 3 capped toons. I have no issue finding great groups to raid with on my capped toons. The issue I have is with the lack of midlevel PuGs on the server. I made the decision to leave the guild I was in along with Thorono to strike out on our own. I knew what this entailed, but this week while trying in vain to find parties for my barbarian that needs a paltry 4 levels in the next 2 weeks for crit rage, I find myself spending inordinate amounts of my limited gaming time sitting with an lfm up and getting no where. Even when posting for easy gianthold quests that yield massive xp I get no where. I have been a part of two failed VoN raids that involved a lack of a 20 wisdom, and (this one was great) someone destroying or hiding the ring.

/rant off

Mostly I am looking for responses or suggestions on how to weather the horse latitudes of Pugging that are levels 8-12.

Those are tough levels. The giant hold stuff is great xp and is very easy--WITH A GOOD GROUP. Otherwise it can be a disaster. I think many people "guild-only" these runs because of this. It seems the gianthold stuff is being run all the time--but not through public lfms. My suggestions: do one or more of 1) mine explorer areas for xp while waiting for groups to form; 2) short man these quests--don't try to fill a complete group; or 3) use these forums to find a static group to get you through this bump.

[Purgatory]

When I level toon especialy when I want to level one fast I fully expect to do everything.. That way when someone does something that actualy contributes to the speed and success of a quest then its a bonus if not you still got what you expected doing everything.

While leveling i shed the excess baggage as i put lfm up that say fast runs with byoh and map and remove members between quest that have failed to read and understand the lfm before clickty clickty..

This process does 2 things it attracks others that want to lvl fast and knows what it takes to do so it also gives you a valid reason to remove the players that have no intentions of contributing to the party in a meaningful way leaving room for a chance to pick up someone that can and will on your next quest.

Usualy keep my mouth shut when a coat-tail rider joins and politly ask them to leave after the quest is completed if they are not hindering my progress. If they become a problem I become very vocal about my dipleasure and make it clear what my lfm means and advise them to go read the lfm again so they get a chance to fully comprehend what it means. Usualy at this time feeling get hurt but that is no concern to me as im not the one that joined someone elses group with no intentions of fullfiling the expectations of the lfm posted.

and i never ever wait for the "perfect party" only gimps do that.

[Waukeen]

I totally agree and never wait for a perfect party. I just want a party. I even take people that I know arent worth their salt just to get it going (as long as it is a straight forward kill, shrine, kill quest). I just get frustrated at both the lack of Puggers on at these levels and moreover at the lack of any semblance of skill by many Puggers. I just did a 77 min madstone... Maybe it was me but I sincerely doubt it. My friends list is growing exponentially and feel like I need to be like a doorman at a nightclub, except no one is in line but, well not the best crowd...

Also an excellent response from u ace, exactly what I was hoping for and the allusion to me being gimped, spot on mate.

[Athermal]

Gunga and I should be 9 by Friday Night. We don't pug for two reasons:

1. The more people in party you don't know the slower the go.
2. We are new to the server and have fallen in with a kickass guild. The least amount of exposure we have to the general pop will definitely lessen the oppurtunity for us to sully the guild name.

Look me up on Coldsrevenge, I don't believe he is anon yet. Will run fast and hard with xph being the driving force.

[petegunn]

Good afternoon.
I am 1/2 of Two Kings, and Pugging is really getting me down this week. I have two characters firmed parked at midlevel (9 and 10) respectively and 3 capped toons. I have no issue finding great groups to raid with on my capped toons. The issue I have is with the lack of midlevel PuGs on the server. I made the decision to leave the guild I was in along with Thorono to strike out on our own. I knew what this entailed, but this week while trying in vain to find parties for my barbarian that needs a paltry 4 levels in the next 2 weeks for crit rage, I find myself spending inordinate amounts of my limited gaming time sitting with an lfm up and getting no where. Even when posting for easy gianthold quests that yield massive xp I get no where. I have been a part of two failed VoN raids that involved a lack of a 20 wisdom, and (this one was great) someone destroying or hiding the ring.

/rant off

Mostly I am looking for responses or suggestions on how to weather the horse latitudes of Pugging that are levels 8-12.

Ah!! all that money I spent on the voodoo dolls is paying off . That'll teach you to loot 20 million chests while I disconnected that fateful time in the shroud hause Buhahahaha !!!

[Clay]

I have a toon i keep at lvl 10 to help guildies and friends... look me up on Hemaskas. AS previously mentioned... threnal, the desert and co6 runs can all get you the xp to get from 10 to 11 should you not want to head into gh directly.

All GH quests are easily done with minimal groups and without clr or arcane.

Oh, one more thing:
You do realize that it is possible to put up an lfm and DO SOMETHING instead of waiting in vain, right? Also people like to join lfms in progress cus it means less time till it is finished! (at lease I do)

[Waukeen]

pete first, layoff the voodoo man I've paid for it already. I should just have an open mic instead of the push-to-talk filter. I actually heard my guildie thorono yell at someone last week (he never yells).

clay, I do put up groups but after about 15 min I get frustrated and switch to a capped toon to run a raid. *shrugs*
I have about 4 hours to play a day and this week I have spent a laughable amount of time waiting to get a group together, even if it has no cleric or caster (which is just fine by me).

Mostly I think that my frustration is based on getting a taste of the good life every once and a while. After doing some speed runs with solid players and zerging VoN 1-4 with no clr or caster at lvl 7, it pains me to be in a terrible group or put up an lfm and only get hits from people on my list.

I worry about the validity of my 2 man guild once free-2-play hits because we are gonna be in trouble except when duoing up to level 8 or so. We do just fine at cap, but are stifled at mid level.

Part of me putting up this thread was i just wanted to see the response I would get, so far not bad, keep em coming.

[Ladius]

Good afternoon.
I am 1/2 of Two Kings, and Pugging is really getting me down this week. I have two characters firmed parked at midlevel (9 and 10) respectively and 3 capped toons. I have no issue finding great groups to raid with on my capped toons. The issue I have is with the lack of midlevel PuGs on the server. I made the decision to leave the guild I was in along with Thorono to strike out on our own. I knew what this entailed, but this week while trying in vain to find parties for my barbarian that needs a paltry 4 levels in the next 2 weeks for crit rage, I find myself spending inordinate amounts of my limited gaming time sitting with an lfm up and getting no where. Even when posting for easy gianthold quests that yield massive xp I get no where. I have been a part of two failed VoN raids that involved a lack of a 20 wisdom, and (this one was great) someone destroying or hiding the ring.

/rant off

Mostly I am looking for responses or suggestions on how to weather the horse latitudes of Pugging that are levels 8-12.

Fret no more my friend just look me up when I'm on. You know how I roll

[Jonny_D]

Gunga and I should be 9 by Friday Night. We don't pug for two reasons:

1. The more people in party you don't know the slower the go.
2. We are new to the server and have fallen in with a kickass guild. The least amount of exposure we have to the general pop will definitely lessen the oppurtunity for us to sully the guild name.

Look me up on Coldsrevenge, I don't believe he is anon yet. Will run fast and hard with xph being the driving force.

Its a trick. I have my first thelanian toon .. a cleric named Skwatty. The trouble is Im such a jerk that I havent even joined the awesome guild Athermal mentioned for fear of tarnishing their great reputation. I will be level 11 tonight and most like will take myself from the Anon list as well.

[sirgog]

Doing GH at level 9 or 10 is a lottery - some groups are great and steamroll everything, most groups struggle a bit, some just take forever.

I recommend waiting till 11, then making a level 10-13 group for GH stuff. The quests are then smooth and fast.

To get to 11, run the following, in order of priority:

1) Shadow Crypt NNNHE (requires opener, Firewall caster, self-sufficient party members and at least some foreknowledge of the quest, if you have all of that this can be 60k XP in an hour)

2) Tempest's Spine NHE (only worth trying in peak times, start normal when you have 6 and post an LFM saying 'norm in progress, inside, must know lava run and be able to catch up')

3) DQ flagging, Normal

4) Random Desert quests, normal as virtually noone knows them nowdays.