Player Characters

From EQ2-Daily.com EQ2 Wiki

You, as a player character, are controlled by a player; these players may also refer to you as their avatar or toon. You have many attributes, abilities, and skills that allow you to survive in the world of Norrath and to participate and advance in your chosen professions.

This article covers those properties that make you you. Other articles of interest include:

   * abilities
   * Combat arts and spells
   * tradeskill arts
   * skills
   * Character Advancement
   * Character creation 

Contents [hide]

   * 1 Identity
   * 2 Base Characteristics
   * 3 Persona
         o 3.1 Class Level
         o 3.2 Attributes
         o 3.3 Stats
         o 3.4 Resistances

[edit] Identity

Your are known to other players by name and title:

   * You choose your first name during the character creation process. It permanently identifies you to other PCs; you will never run into another PC with the same first name.
   * You may choose a last name after you reach level 20 in either your adventure or tradeskill class and may change it at any time. You can have the same last name as other PCs.
   * You may earn prefix titles by performing great service to one of the factions in Norrath and can choose to display one to let others know how wonderful you are.
   * You may earn suffix titles through by accomplishing great things in the world and can choose to display one as well. 

[edit] Base Characteristics

During character creation, you choose certain characteristics that affect how others see you and have an effect how well you perform in your chosen professions.

   * Your race is, in many ways, your defining characteristic. It affects how others see you and determines your initial statistics. In addition, races have different racial traditions, which you can choose as you advance. 

   * Your gender (male or female) affects your appearance only. In Norrath both sexes have the same abilities (PC is also short for politically correct). 

   * Your alignment (good or evil) determines which city you become a citizen of and what adventure classs you can choose. You can change your alignment by betraying your city, allowing access to the other cities classes; although, you never fully rid your self of the stigma of your original choice. 

   * Your appearance is also set when you are created. This includes your height, age, and skin color, your hair color and style, the shape and characteristics of your face, and any body art you may desire. Rumor has it that the mages are developing methods to alter your appearance on request; we shall see. 

   * Your adventure class is your combat profession. This determines the skills and abilities that you bring to a fight and your role within it. 

You choose your tradeskill class from a class tree. As you develop your skills, you progress from artisan to a basic class and from there to a full specialization.

   Note: before update 19 a PC's adventure class was also chosen over time based on a class tree. 

[edit] Persona

As you progress in you adventure class, you become stronger and more able to survive in the wilds of Norrath. This is reflected in a set of basic values, which are displayed as your persona. [edit] Class Level

As you earn experience in your adventure or tradeskill class, you increase in level within that class.

   * With each adventure level, you get access to new abilities, combat arts, and spells specific to your class, as well as, the ability to use more advanced weapons and armor.
   * With each tradeskill level, you can learn more complex recipes and may have access to new techiques (tradeskill arts) to improve your crafting. 

The amount of experience needed to progress to the next level increases with level; the good news is that the amount of experience earned by killing higher level MOBs, doing higher level quests, and making higher level items also increases. [edit] Attributes

You have a number of base attributes that describe how affective you are in combat. These are affected by your level, statistics, and the weapons, armor, and accessories you have equiped, as well as, certain spell effects.

   * Your health is the number of hitpoints you have. This determines how much damage you can take before either falling unconscious or dying. Your current health can be increased by healing or regeneration up to your maximum health.
   * Your power determines how many combat arts and spells you can use, each removes power from the pool. Your current power can be regenerated up to your maximum power.
   * Your attack is your general melee prowess. It helps determine if you will hit your opponent.
   * Your mitigation helps determine how much of the potential damage an opponent would do is absorbed by your armor.
   * Your avoidance helps determine if your opponent will hit you.
   * Your concentration limits how many concentration based spells or arts you can have active at one time. These spells use one or more of your five concentration slots. 

You also have some non-combat attributes.

   * You have a weight limit; if the weight of the items you are carrying or have equiped exceeds this limit, you will become encumbered (you will move slower and perform less well).
   * You earn status by doing writs for the city factions or by completing certain advanced quests. You can spend that status for rent on fancy housing, to buy horses, and to buy special items from city and faction merchants. 

[edit] Stats

You have a number of statistics that determine how well you perform the various actions of daily life. These have a large effect on your attributes. Your initial stats are determined by your race and class and are modified by your equipment choices and various spell effects.

   * strength determines the amount of weight you can carry and affects how much damage you do in melee combat. It also affects the maximum power for Fighters.
   * agility affects your chance of avoiding being hit by an opponent in melee combat. It also affects the maximum power for Scouts
   * stamina affects the size of your health pool and how much damage you can withstand while unconscious before dying.
   * intelligence affects how much damage you do with spells. It also affects the maximum power for Mages, Troubadors and Dirges.
   * wisdom affects your resistance to magical damage attacks. It also affects the maximum power for Priests, Paladins, and Shadowknights. 

[edit] Resistances

Your have inate and equipment based resistance to various magic attacks. These determine what percentage of the potential damage you actually experience as lost health and/or power. You have separate resistances for cold, disease, divine, heat, magic, mental, and poison attacks.