Getting Started in Ballads of Zimara

Solisnight

Solisnight

Member
This is a guide to things I have learned or wish I had known about when getting started, Solo, in Ballads of Zimara, Hopefully of help to anyone returning or starting this expansion. ( I will be editing over the next couple of days )

This guide isn’t meant to be expansive, and one of the first things I recommend is to read Sigrdrifa’s Excellent Guide to RoR as many of the points remain true now.
Sigrdrifa’s Guide

Spirit Stones, Panda Quests and Kael Drakkel are available to members only.

Suggested Things to do before starting your adventure, these will make your journey to 130 and beyond easier:
  • Finish the 2023 Panda, Panda, Panda Quests
  • Complete the Legend Hunting achievement on the Kael Drakkel Server
  • Obtain a Handcrafted Zimaran Hackamore of Status and a Mastercrafted Zimaran Ring
  • Learn to speak Volant
  • Complete Imprinting History Lesson in Barren Sky
  • Complete the quests:
    • Blood of Brood
    • Culture of the Aviaks
    • The Hatchery
Now, Into the Sky Above
  • Make your way into Barren Sky (Fast Travel or Wizard Spire)
  • Pick up the Quest from Baoko, while in the area you may also want to make sure you know how to speak Volant from Turk Whooyip as this will be needed later.
  • You will be given an Introductory quest on zoning into Splendor Sky Aerie (For the Greater Good!), Completing this should give you Gear, Mount (Level 1), Familiar (Level 10), Unlocked Mercenary (Level 20), Ascension Mastery Primer
Gearing Up:
  • Swap out all your current gear for the new stuff with purple rune slots (you might need to remove the SpiritStones from the Rings/Necklace if you aren’t a member)
  • From Tishan’s Lockbox, Take:
    • 2 Tishan’s Zimaran Adornment of Augmentation
    • A Stack of Tishan’s Zimaran Adornment of Raw Power
    • A Stack of Tishan’s Zimaran Adornment of Increased Criticals
    • 1 each of the resist runes
      • Tishan’s Zimeran Rune: Adamant Defiance [Teir 0]
      • Tishan’s Zimeran Rune: Adamant Resolve [Teir 0]
      • Tishan’s Zimeran Rune: Astral Dominion [Teir 0]
      • Tishan’s Zimeran Rune: Blinding Gleam [Teir 0]
    • 2x Tishan’s Zimeran Rune: Blissful Thought
  • Grab a set of armour for your mercenary as well, equip it.
  • Make sure you have the 3 buffs scribed.
    • Jubilant Familiar Infusion
    • Monolithic Mercenary Infusion
    • Tolan’s Darkwood Mount Infusion
  • Take and use the Zimaran Consumables Bundle.
  • Using Adornment Reclamation Remove the Runes from all your new Gear
  • The Following won’t be used and can be deleted:
    • Zimaran Rune: Zeal
    • Tishan’s Zimeran Rune: Force Projection
  • Head to Raj’Dur Plateaus
    • Grab a set of accolades for your mercenary from the Tishan’s Lockbox, equip them.
    • Check Charifa <Status Merchant> for the Vah Shir Mount Infusion, buy and Scribe if you have this available.
  • Head to Sundered Frontier, From Pas Yu <Carrier of Things> Ensure you have claimed your Shadowed Ethereal’s and purchase the following:
    • Budding Botanist’s Adornment of Health
    • A stack of Budding Botanist’s Adornment of Extra Attacks
    • A Stack of Budding Botanist’s Adornment of Modified Power
    • The 4 Tol’Ren Runes
      • Budding Botanist’s Rune: Ascension of Tol’Ren
      • Budding Botanist’s Rune: Firmament of Tol’Ren
      • Budding Botanist’s Rune: Foundation of Tol’Ren
      • Budding Botanist’s Rune: Primus of Tol’Ren
    • 2x Budding Botanist’s Rune: Balanced Aggression
    • 2x Budding Botanist’s Rune: Blissful Thought
    • 10x Budding Botanist’s Rune: Force Projection
    • 1 of Each type of Combat Rune (Red or Blue)
      • Budding Botanist’s Rune: Evasion
      • Budding Botanist’s Rune: Expedience
      • Budding Botanist’s Rune: Rage
      • Budding Botanist’s Rune: Reactionary Strike
    • 1 of Each of the Charm Runes
      • Budding Botanist’s Rune: Critical Thinking
      • Budding Botanist’s Rune: Focus Defence
      • Budding Botanist’s Rune: Infusion of Qua’ddathul
      • Budding Botanist’s Rune: Resurgence
      • Budding Botanist’s Rune: Soul Shiver
      • Budding Botanist’s Rune: Vampiric Requiem
    • Budding Botanist’s Rune: Field Medic
    • Budding Botanist’s Rune: Gleeful Ire
    • 3x Zealous Rune of the Budding Botanist
  • Convert your Blue/Red Runes into Purple
    • Split Stacked Runes into individual items in your bags
    • Examine the Runes (you can stack the examines for unique rune types to save time, you just cannot examine 2 of the same type without claiming one first)
    • Claim your purple rune
    • Repeat the examine for all your runes
Adorn your Gear:
BB: Gleeful Ire is tagged lore not lore-equip so you need to buy and convert then equip before getting another from Pas-Yu
Purple Runes are shown in my personal order of priority.
  • Head
    • TZR: Raw Power
    • TZR: Practiced Maneuver
  • Shoulders
    • BB: Tol'Ren
    • BB: Gleeful Ire; TZR: Timed Attacks
  • Chest
    • BB: Tol'Ren
    • BB: Force Projection
  • Forearms
    • BB: Tol'Ren
    • BB: Blissful Thought
  • Hands
    • BB: Extra Attacks
    • TZR: Blissful Thought
  • Legs
    • TZR: Raw Power
    • BB: Force Projection
  • Feet
    • BB: Tol'Ren
    • BB: Gleeful Ire
  • Primary
    • TZR: Increased Criticals
    • BB: Reactionary Strike, Expedience, Rage, Evasion, TZR: Weapon Runes
    • BB: Zealous Rune
  • Secondary
    • TZR: Raw Power
    • BB: Reactionary Strike, Expedience, Rage, Evasion, TZR: Weapon Runes
    • BB: Zealous Rune
  • Ranged
    • TZR: Increased Criticals
    • BB: Reactionary Strike, Expedience, Rage, Evasion, TZR: Weapon Runes
    • BB: Zealous Rune
  • Cloak
    • BB: Modified Power
    • TZR: Temporal Preparation
  • Neck
    • BB: Extra Attacks
    • BB: Force Projection
    • Spirit of Drakkel
  • Belt
    • BB: Health
    • TZR: Immunity Runes
  • Charm's
    • BB: Modified Power
    • BB: Critical Thinking, Soul Shiver, Focus Defence, Field Medic, Vampiric Requiem, Infusion of Qua'ddathul, Resurgence
  • Ear's
    • TZR: Adornment of Augmentation
    • BB: Balanced Aggression
  • Ring's
    • TZR: Increased Criticals
    • BB: Force Projection
    • No Valid BoZ @125
  • Wrist's
    • BB: Modified Power
    • BB: Gleeful Ire; BB: Field Medic; TZR: Timed Attacks
  • Accolades
    • The only Free Adornments I could find for Accolades were Hua Jubilee - However these only work in the expansions leading up to VoV
      • Finger Wrigglin/Swishy-Poke (Combat Skills); Health; Increased Criticals (CB/CBOC); Modified Power
Final Check List:
  • Are your Ascension’s at least Level 20, You can get more primers from the The Tishan’s Lockbox
  • Cast your infusions
  • Resummon your mount and familiar
  • Double check your AA Spec (2b+ Hp and 1m+ Potency)
    • Save your Current Spec
    • Head to eq2u and the leaderboard (EQ2U Leaderboards: PvE Kills on All Servers)
    • Choose Max Melee Hit or Max Magic Hit (depending on class)
    • Sort by Class and compare your AA Spec with the top level 130 of your class.
    • Ignore any specs without 8 Enhanced Vigor and Ready Up on the Prestige (Class) AA
  • Read up on Green Runes and Solo gear below.

You should now be ready to run the signature quest and explore the lands above.
Ballads of Zimara Timeline | EverQuest 2 Wiki | Fandom
 
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Solisnight

Solisnight

Member
Posted here due to overrun

Things to Keep in Mind While Leveling:

Green Runes:
Currently there are 3 Green Runes/Spiritstones that are flagged for BoZ:

Spirit of Drakkel– Neck
This is an account unlock after completing the Legend Hunting achievement on the Kael Drakkel Server. (Lore and Legends Server with Level Matching / Combat Buff)Legend Hunting | EverQuest 2 Wiki | Fandom

Spiritstone of Zimaran Achievement– Only Gains Experience while worn.
To Maximise solo gained experience for this Rune:
  • Gain Level 126 through overland quests and repeatable’s
    • Following the Sig Line and Completing the Felfeather island quests and a few of the repeatable should enable you to reach 126,
    • Hold off on zoning into Marshlands Miasma, just do the overland quests
    • Do Not Kill any Named or Zone into Instances before Level 126
    • Also avoid doing anything that might gain an achievement like fully exploring the overland or marking all objects
  • Obtain a level 126 Ring
    • Mastercrafted Zimaran Ring of Fortitude
      • 2 Ammolite
      • 130 Jeweller with Advanced Zimaran Jeweler’s Volume II
  • Zone into an Instance (fully explore depending on size) or Kill a Named for the first time which will reward experience for this spirit stone and reward it to you if you do not have it already.
  • Slot and Wear this on a Ring
This Stone only gains experience while worn, however the amount of experience granted per achievement increases as more achievements are gained, So, even if you miss several achievements due to lack of a level 126 ring/necklace you should still be able to Max Level this rune

Spiritstone of Collected Ballads– Only Gains Experience while worn.
To Maximise experience for this Rune:
  • Do Not Complete any level 130 Zimaran Collections, Hold off on even completing them and not turning them in.
    • (As above turning in your first collection awards the spiritstone, each successive collection awards experience to this stone, but, ONLY IF WORN.
    • Obtain a 2nd level 126 Ring –
      • I recommend avoiding swapping between spirit stones if you only have 1 level 126 Ring keep the 1st one for your Achievement stone, as completing certain overland collections also awards achievement experience for that stone.
    • Alternatively You can obtain a 126 Necklace from a Jeweller, Complete and Turn-in 1 level 130 Collection, Slot the Awarded Rune in your necklace and forgo the KD Rune Buffs, until you obtain the correct drops/rewards.
  • Follow the Signature quest line
    • During the Quest: Hard Act to Follow, there is a Mandatory Collection to proceed, this will reward a book that needs to be read for the quest and the Spiritstone of Collected Ballads (if you have avoided turning in any other collections)
  • If you are unlucky in your drops while running instances you will gain a double purple, level 126 ring if you complete the Runed Ring POI quests in SSA, available after speaking to the Aviaks in the Aether Wroughtlands Camp.
  • Once you have 2 level 126+ Rings (or a 126+ Necklace and Ring) turn in your first completed 130 collection. Slot and wear the previously awarded rune, you are now free to complete and turn in any other 130 collections you have been saving.
As I understand as the time of writing, even if you complete all collections, only turning in 1 for the stone and all the others with the stone slotted, it is impossible to max level the stone, Through Collections alone.
Once you have completed all the collections for BoZ, the Weekly Dungeon Quests do provide additional experience to level this spirit stone

Solo Quested things to Aim for:

Band of the Five Maws (460 Resolve, Double Purple)
Splendor Sky Aerie: Dragon Runed Ring | EverQuest 2 Wiki | Fandom – Complete the 5 Runescribed Gem POI Quests​
Band of Ballads (460 Resolve, Double Purple)
Ballad of Antiquities | EverQuest 2 Wiki | Fandom – Complete all 15 PoI Quests​
Bonds of Bonanza (455 Resolve, Double Purple) - Defeat all unique [Solo] dungeon boss encounters
The Bottled Wish (460 Resolve, Chance at a Purple Rune)
At level 130, Possible reward from the Daily Signature Mission (Speak to Oonnora in SSA)​
Irreplaceable Amulet of the Fractal Chorus (480 Resolve)
Purchasable from Currency Merchant at level 130 after completion of the Sig Line/Achievements​
Flawless Zimara Buff
Purchasable from Currency Merchant​
High Resolve Gear from Year of Darkpaw Camps (No Minted Masquerade Token or Completion unlocks Required for these, only Minted Celebration Token)
  • 2H – 200 MCT for Rank I (Unlock and Appearance), 400 MCT for Rank II (960 Resolve)
    • Tarew-Marr: Crook of the Fathom Lord (Staff)
    • E’Ci: Trident of the Wintery Guardian (Spear)
    • Bertoxxulous: Plaguebringer's Staff of Bertoxxulous (Staff)
    • Innoruuk: Glaive of the Hateful Prince (2H Sword)
    • Tunare: Tunare's Gnarlroot Greatstaff (Staff)
    • Brell Serilis: Double-Bladed Greatstaff of Underfoot (Staff)
    • Drinal: Drinal's Scythe of the Ethernere (Scythe 2H)
    • Karana: Stormbringer's Archstaff (Staff)
  • 1H – 100 MCT for Rank I (Unlock and Appearance), 200 MCT for Rank II (480 Resolve)
    • Tarew-Marr: Tarew Marr’s Fathomed Cudgel
    • E’Ci: Frozen Scepter of E’Ci
    • Errolisi-Marr: Blade of the Loving Huntress
    • Bertoxxulous: Plaguebringer's Disease-Ridden Shank
    • Innoruuk: Innoruuk's Morningstar of Hatred (1H Crush w/Wary Protection)
    • Tunare: Crawling Vine Dagger of Growth
    • Bristlebane: Fizzelthorpe's Baton of the Trickster
    • Brell Serilis: The Duke's Illustrious Pickaxe
    • Drinal: Crescent Moon Blade of Drinal
    • Karana: Rainchain Whip of the Stormbringer
  • Shield - 100 MCT for Rank I (Unlock and Appearance), 200 MCT for Rank II (480 Resolve)
    • Bristlebane: Fizzelthorpe's Whirlygig Wall (Priests/Scouts)
  • Ranged - 100 MMCT for Rank I (Unlock and Appearance), 200 MCT for Rank II (480 Resolve)
    • Errolisi-Marr: Erollisi Marr’s Bow of the Hunt (Bow)
GU125 - Darkpaw Rising (Rough Guide)
  • Solo: Level 128 "Warband" items with 460 Resolve - HEIRLOOM
  • Solo: Level 130 "Foreshadowed" Rare double purple items with 460 Resolve
  • Effigy for the 7 Armour Slots (Combine 3 for a choice of "Tunnel" Armour (level 130, 470 Resolve)
    • Examine a Stack of 3 - Click the Text in the middle of the box that opens to select it - click OK
    • Delete 1 matching effigy from your inventory if you are unable to loot a stack of 2 and you already have 2
For those who Bought the Collector’s/Premium Editions:
  • Claiming the Upgraded Advanced Mount(s) from the Status Merchant (depending on the expansion version you bought) grants several tiers of Mount Research
  • Hold off on Mount Research until you Have finished the Sig Line and Essential Achievements and Claimed these.
  • The CE Celestial Familiar Looks to be Equivalent to the Researched Celestial Version, It is probably better to Research for the Celestial Mercenary first (In order to Research/Claim the next level of Mercenary you need to Sign the token do Not Sell/Destroy it)
    • With The Current Season Overseer (level 51+) you are liable to get multiple Kalidahd and Cintrina Ironwill's so you may want to use overseer system on alts to obtain these first.

Forward into H1 and Beyond:
TierResolvePotencyNotes
Solo9345
Heroic I9555 - 9570
Heroic II9665
Heroic III9710
Raid I9775
 
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Forestchild

Forestchild

Active member
Did this for one of my Illusionist, and made a whole bunch of survivability status for her. Health still goes down fast, but my merc keeps me up well enough and she does faster and more damage than before, was able to do the RoR sig line zones names without getting 1-shotted.

Thanks from a grateful Illy.
 
Circadian

Circadian

New member
I'm a returning player and can't seem to find stat caps anywhere. Could target goals for stats be added into this guide? What is suggested for HP, Potency, etc for the Zimara zones?
 
J

Jdark

New member
I just wanted to point out that this guide is great and all but none of this pre stuff is required to do the BOZ signature quest line...I would suggest any new or returning players that purchased the expac go right to barren sky get the sig quest and start the signature from there and just follow the quest...it goes over getting your mount, merc and familiar. In a really simple way... It gives you all the gear you need to do solo/duo zones. You may need to repeat the solo zones you can do a few times to get the few gear items with resolve for your class and your merc need.(don't forget to gear the merc as well) Even as you get into Heroic one zones, it's not needed...As you progress in heroic 1 and into heroic 2, you want to have all the pre stuff done...by that point you should have a really good grasp on things and not feal as overwhelmed... But first while doing the signature quest just enjoy it, keep it simple. It is actually fun I just returned to live and did this on a pally, inq and now working on a ranger. I was about to give up after reading these guides myself, but I said screw it and just started to do the quest with what I had, and it was fine. You may not one shot 20 mobs at once. And if you get stuck on a boss in a solo zone, just keep in mind it is a 2-person zone so I'm sure if you asked in chat a lvl 130 with all that great stuff would be more than happy to blow up everything in the zone for you.
 
Celestia

Celestia

Active member
Jdark said:
I just wanted to point out that this guide is great and all but none of this pre stuff is required to do the BOZ signature quest line...I would suggest any new or returning players that purchased the expac go right to barren sky get the sig quest and start the signature from there and just follow the quest...it goes over getting your mount, merc and familiar. In a really simple way... It gives you all the gear you need to do solo/duo zones. You may need to repeat the solo zones you can do a few times to get the few gear items with resolve for your class and your merc need.(don't forget to gear the merc as well) Even as you get into Heroic one zones, it's not needed...As you progress in heroic 1 and into heroic 2, you want to have all the pre stuff done...by that point you should have a really good grasp on things and not feal as overwhelmed... But first while doing the signature quest just enjoy it, keep it simple. It is actually fun I just returned to live and did this on a pally, inq and now working on a ranger. I was about to give up after reading these guides myself, but I said screw it and just started to do the quest with what I had, and it was fine. You may not one shot 20 mobs at once. And if you get stuck on a boss in a solo zone, just keep in mind it is a 2-person zone so I'm sure if you asked in chat a lvl 130 with all that great stuff would be more than happy to blow up everything in the zone for you.
Click to expand...


I don't think it's "we need this guide to survive," but it has some good pointers. For example, I never would have known about some of the adornments like the gleeful ire, or the field medic without this guide or a couple guildies. I mean they told me about it, but for anyone who solo's and isn't in an active guild it's nice to have. Not so much like I said because you need it, but because it helps improve your character out of just base stuff.
 
J

Jdark

New member
For sure i agree with you it’s helpful but it also comes off as do this before anything and that’s just not the case. The pre stuff is boring and confusing at first. I’ve been playing on Tle’s for years and prior to that i played live from launch till 2010, I’m not new to the game. But i still find this guide as a deterrent and most people i talk to on tle agree, is the reason they will never try live. Who wants to buy an expansion and be told you have to do old content first, when that is just not the case. Buy the expac, make a character, use the boost to 125, start the signature quest follow along that for character progression, get hooked cause there really isn’t anything that compares to eq2, then do all the other stuff to better your character. I didn’t even use a single ascension skill or upgrade a spell for the pally and inq. The ranger is proven to be a little harder but that could be because i never made one, put a shield on and defensive stance helped on the bosses. I’m doing a mage next, probably illy.
 
T

Taled

Active member
Jdark said:
For sure i agree with you it’s helpful but it also comes off as do this before anything and that’s just not the case. The pre stuff is boring and confusing at first. I’ve been playing on Tle’s for years and prior to that i played live from launch till 2010, I’m not new to the game. But i still find this guide as a deterrent and most people i talk to on tle agree, is the reason they will never try live. Who wants to buy an expansion and be told you have to do old content first, when that is just not the case. Buy the expac, make a character, use the boost to 125, start the signature quest follow along that for character progression, get hooked cause there really isn’t anything that compares to eq2, then do all the other stuff to better your character. I didn’t even use a single ascension skill or upgrade a spell for the pally and inq. The ranger is proven to be a little harder but that could be because i never made one, put a shield on and defensive stance helped on the bosses. I’m doing a mage next, probably illy.
Click to expand...
Agreed - This is a great guide, but as I had posted on the other forums, you *absolutely* don't need to complete it to be able to do the expansion content. This is by far the best expansion as far as being able to walk in as a brand new character at level 125.

Doing the panda quests (the single set from last summer) is a big help specifically for the Field Medic adornment, especially if you're a lower mitigation/health class, but it isnt *mandatory*. Otherwise, it's more about how much easier you want to make the new content.
 
Celestia

Celestia

Active member
Jdark said:
For sure i agree with you it’s helpful but it also comes off as do this before anything and that’s just not the case. The pre stuff is boring and confusing at first. I’ve been playing on Tle’s for years and prior to that i played live from launch till 2010, I’m not new to the game. But i still find this guide as a deterrent and most people i talk to on tle agree, is the reason they will never try live. Who wants to buy an expansion and be told you have to do old content first, when that is just not the case. Buy the expac, make a character, use the boost to 125, start the signature quest follow along that for character progression, get hooked cause there really isn’t anything that compares to eq2, then do all the other stuff to better your character. I didn’t even use a single ascension skill or upgrade a spell for the pally and inq. The ranger is proven to be a little harder but that could be because i never made one, put a shield on and defensive stance helped on the bosses. I’m doing a mage next, probably illy.
Click to expand...

I’m confused, what do you mean by have to do old content? Isn’t it just an adornment guide? What old content are you referring to?
 
T

Taled

Active member
Celestia said:
I’m confused, what do you mean by have to do old content? Isn’t it just an adornment guide? What old content are you referring to?
Click to expand...
A lot of folks get upset at the idea of 'having' to go to Kael to get that neck, when it certainly isnt mandatory, as silly as it is that it is the only third green adorn. Or 'having' to do the panda, though you absolutely dont HAVE to do it.
 
D

docdante

New member
Taled said:
A lot of folks get upset at the idea of 'having' to go to Kael to get that neck, when it certainly isnt mandatory, as silly as it is that it is the only third green adorn. Or g'having' to do the panda, though you absolutely dont HAVE to do it.
Click to expand...
Went with 2 accounts to Kael for the the third adornment ( Spirit ) and it was not that funny...just like an annoying job to do...nice to see old zones but you have to do all old access quests and so on...running, running, travelling..fights are very short..its too easy....maybe the devs give toons an upgrade for the Spirit and all other the Spirit or some other third green adornment...panda is a walk in the park compared to the green adornment...
 
Solisnight

Solisnight

Member
I don't think the gear crates are tied to resolve, but are tied into content.
I think you need to have finished a Weekly H1 quest and have the correct amount of tokens/status in order to see the first crate, Next needs the H2 Weekly and again Correct amount of tokens/status. 3rd Is visible after killing the first Raid Boss and having the correct amount of tokens/status (There does seem to be a theme for actually seeing anything on the merchants).
I am not sure what the requirements are for any further Crates though.
 
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