AA — Alternate Advancement

Alternate Advancement (AA) is EverQuest's post-level-cap progression system. Starting at level 51, you can divert a percentage of your XP into AA points and spend those points on class-specific ability upgrades.

On Crushbone, AA matters more than on canonical servers because class locks are off and spell-mem is unlimited — build differentiation happens primarily through AA spend.

How to earn AA

• Toggle AA XP slider. In-game, you can set a percentage (0% to 100%) of incoming XP to divert to AA instead of levels. Set it above 0 once you're level 51+.
• Kill mobs. Any XP-worthy mob contributes. Mobs of your level or higher give more AA XP per kill.
• Research and quest bonuses. Specific quests grant AA XP bonuses.

How to spend AA

Open your Alternate Advancement window (EQ menus). Points are spent on:

• General — passive boosts (health regen, mana regen, stat caps).
• Archetype — caster / melee / priest baseline upgrades.
• Class — your class's specific line (Warrior defensive, Druid nature, etc.).
• Race — race-specific (Ogre innate, Iksar regen upgrade, etc.).

Each tier costs progressively more AA. Early tiers are cheap (1-3 AA per rank); later tiers can cost 15+ per rank.

How AA shapes your build

Two characters of the same class with different AA spend play differently:

• Warrior A spends into Defensive: better tanking, higher mitigation.
• Warrior B spends into Offensive: better DPS, more discipline damage.

Neither is wrong. The right AA path depends on your role intent.

Common AA priorities by class

• Tanks: Combat Stability, Combat Agility (mitigation)
• Healers: Mnemonic Retention (mana), Divine Stun (cleric)
• Casters: Mental Clarity, Quicken, Combat Casting (cast while hit)
• Melee: Ambidexterity (dual-wield), Weapon Affinity (proc chance)

Play note

Spend AA early. Sitting on 30+ unspent AA points is a wasted advantage. As soon as you can afford a tier, spend it — you'll feel the difference.

Related

• Crushbone Custom Rules
• Classes