How to Survive "Da Swamp"

ROUQ is a young Troll basher who has survived the low levels of Warrior-dom and is just entering the teen levels. I am going to pass my knowledge on to any aspiring Troll who is looking for some advice.

First, some background. ROUQ is my first character ever on EverQuest, and not "knowing" all the tricks, I acknowledge I may have made some mistakes along the way. This is not a guide to Power Leveling, but rather the meandering path ROUQ took. Hopefully, it will guide you in the right direction, and lower your frustration level. Playing a Troll, whether for role-play or straight power gaming, is not easy.

RULE 1: Trolls are big. This seems obvious, but I didn't really understand how big until an elf showed up in the swamp for the first time. He came up to my waist. This really changes how you see the world. Monsters can hide between you legs and bite your ankles quite adeptly. Look down, and around. If you have played another race, your prospective is quite different.

RULE 2: Trolls are dumb. I don't mean "duh, ROUQ bash" thug type dumb, that's role-play. I mean straight game numbers dumb. Huge effect. I didn't know how much, until at level eight I started a Human wizard. Try a massive reality shift. My wizard maxed out his skills within a bubble or two every level. ROUQ still hasn't maxed out any secondary skills, only one weapon, and two thirds of another. Pick a couple of skills that you really want, and work 'em, because you are only going to get a couple. Sad but true.

RULE 3: Trolls are tough. This is your main advantage so remember it. They heal twice as fast as the other races, have infravision, and are the second strongest and most endurable race. (Ogres are bigger in both size and numbers) Regeneration cannot be under-valued. You heal 4 HP every 7 seconds when seated. This means you can out last any low-level poison, and take on relative White monsters with ease. One memorable moment ROUQ still carries is at level 4 and he got into a scrap with some lesser Kobolds. (more later) ROUQ had some armour, and a short sword. ROUQ was regenerating while fighting faster than the little dog boys could hurt him, and there were three of them. When the fourth showed, ROUQ started taking damage.

SUMMARY: I don't know how much of an XP hit the Trolls take, because I haven't played any other race high enough yet, but I would guess that they are close to base line; with their size and power balanced off against being brain-dead and hated by most other races. Trolls are (in my opinion) the best tanks around. Ogres are better pure fighters, but they are just two big. You can get two trolls fighting in the same space as an Ogre.

STARTING OFF: When you make the decision to become a Troll it means living in Grobb, a tiny little town in the far South. It's easy to navigate, and the map in your manual will get you around just fine. As usual, you will have your guild note, so use it. For warriors, your guild is Da Bashin' Place, and it should be within sight as you start, just cross the bridge. Embarrassing as it is, I fell in the water when I started, and it took me a while to get out. Just find a straight bank, and look up, you'll do fine. Get your armour and then you have to make training decisions. As a aspiring basher, I would recommend not following the standard newbie path: put three skill points into Sense Direction, and one into One-Hand Slash and Kick. Getting lost sucks, and it is very easy to do in the swamp. This also goes back to the dumb part. Learning intellect type skills is very hard for a Troll, while killing off monsters is comparatively easy. A beginning Troll can also kick, an awesome second attack, so use it. Head South out of the city into Innothule Swamp. Your adventure is about to begin.

THE SWAMP: After you follow the tunnel into the swamp proper you will see a duck-blind kinda thing, with a camp-fire and a Basher. Bashers are good, so remember them because they are going to save your watertight ass more than you figure. To the right (east) is another couple of Bashers, and two the left (west) there are a couple more camps running up the shore. The Innothule swamp is 90% water, and subject to Murphy's Law, which seems to work everywhere, you will always die in the water, so try to avoid this fate, as it makes finding the body so much harder. You should have about 30 HP at this level, and what CONs white to you will actually be more like a blue, so get bashing.

THE PLAN: Hey, what do you expect? You're a newbie. Kill snakes. Sorry, no magic wand for the first few levels. Keep to the shores, with a hill on your right or left, and remember to use sense direction ALWAYS. Its tempting to chase after some monsters, into the swamp proper, but I think this is a fools chase. Always keep the camp fires in visual range. The critters in the Swamp very quite a bit so get into the habit of CON'ing everything. Unlike, say, Qeynos, where the bats, rats, snakes, and decaying skeletons are about it (not counting the bugs), the Swamp has some serious Tombstones running about, and they come all the way South. OK, the bats, rats, and snakes are standard. I think the snakes are the best money, so you might as well beat on them if possible. However there are some other critters that aren't too bad, and unique to the swamp.

THE CRITTERS: First off are the Lesser Kobolds. The dog boys are really nice. They have the most cash money, which is good, and gang-pile, which isn't. Watch out if they run, don't chase them, but back off towards the Bashers in case they bring back too much for you to handle. When ROUQ started, the Lesser Kobolds were the only ones of their type; now there are Kobold Hunters too. These dogs are the pitbulls of the Swamp. Tombstone to the newbie, so run like a dog they are, and don't bother looking back. Swamp Crocs are pretty typical of their breed. Tough, deal big damage, no loot, but good XP. CON them, and if you are ready, bash em. Bull Crocs are a deep swamp breed that doesn't wander down too often. Like the Kobold Hunters these bad-boys are Tombstone all the way, and unlike most lizards, gang up. That's because they bodyguard a special croc called the Fat Croc. This unique beast is an Ogre warrior quest, so don't sweat it. Fungus Man Trackers are a Swamp denizen that will kill you now, but later you will want to seek out. Good XP, and tasty when deep fried. The other race that shares the Swamp are the Frogloks. These are the GEMS of the Swamp and come in many breeds, in ascending order: Tads, Froglok, Fishermen, Guards, Foragers. The last three have good loot in the form of Froglok meat and cash, but all stun and will rock your world at lower levels, so just avoid them for now. The Tads have Flesh, which sells for a bit, but more importantly is also half of a Warrior quest that is fairly easy to do, and gives big rewards. Ask level 5-7 trolls for a piece of Froglok meat, and that and two pieces of Tad Flesh will get you a BIG ax and some XP from the boss Basher. The real reason to hunt the Frogies though is to get netted armour. Weightless, magic, awesome. Never buy armour. Save your cash for weapons and special gear. As you get armour piece by piece just keep slaping it on, and selling/trading the extra, soon you will have a full suit of weightless armour, and not have spent a penny on it. When the time came I was able to buy ring mail because I never bought armour the whole way up. This magic armour is the best part of being a troll. No other race has access to starting equipment that is this good. Finally, keep an eye out for a skeleton with a weapon. Not only are they easy kills with good cash but rusty short swords suck, so you want to upgrade quickly, and following ROUQ's Frugal Troll Guide, you don't want to spend real money on weapons at all, so steal them.

FINAL NOTES: Well, I hope this helps you. I enjoyed writing it, so get out there and bash a lot, make rude noises, and offer to eat and elf that shows up. Great fun. One thing I didn't mention, but may have come out. I am cheep in my playing, I hate spending money I don't have too. Free armour and weapons abound in the swamp, and while not great don't cost you much. Fishing is the same thing. You have a lot of down-time healing, so buy a pole and some bait and fish sitting down while you heal up. Saves money for food and passes the time too. No other race lives in the water, why not take advantage of it?

Good luck all.