Starting out, advice needed

[Grixxitt]

So I started out again, my old account has some characters in their teens but I lost the password so I just decided to reroll.

Now here's my conundrum: I want to develop a Troll Shadowknight but it's a bit tough with the -68% XP hit being a tank with no money and poor gear.

Should I just play another character that I can develop quickly and use that one to bankroll my budding Troll? Or just tough it out knowing I'll never get decent gear until endgame and everyone I meet will outlevel me on a weekly basis?

Also, what's the best class for rapid leveling and good farming solo/group? Druid? Necro? Something else?

thanks in advance

[Blink]

Dont make a monk

[evan1612]

Halfling druid so you can level faster and farm pp/port like a boss.

[Tecmos Deception]

You'll definitely lose time in the long run trying to level a necro/mage/enchanter/something to 50+ so that you can farm enough money to make a big difference with your troll... and then still having to level up with that crazy xp penalty. Cause unless you're twinking a melee with a fungi (and more), you're really not all THAT much better off than playing untwinked and scrimping and saving to buy banded and some cheap (but effective) weapons in EC.

If you enjoy playing the farm class along the way though, and then your play on the SK is more enjoyable too because you've got some gear to help you along, go for it. But if you REALLY want to play a SK, I'd say just go right for it and try to make friends with nice folk who can help you out with some PL, grouping with alts, handmedown items, etc.

[Grixxitt]

You'll definitely lose time in the long run trying to level a necro/mage/enchanter/something to 50+ so that you can farm enough money to make a big difference with your troll... and then still having to level up with that crazy xp penalty. Cause unless you're twinking a melee with a fungi (and more), you're really not all THAT much better off than playing untwinked and scrimping and saving to buy banded and some cheap (but effective) weapons in EC.

If you enjoy playing the farm class along the way though, and then your play on the SK is more enjoyable too because you've got some gear to help you along, go for it. But if you REALLY want to play a SK, I'd say just go right for it and try to make friends with nice folk who can help you out with some PL, grouping with alts, handmedown items, etc.

Honestly other than low level alts, Troll SK is all I know.

In live I didn't even have any alts, so it kind of feels weird when everything isn't beating on me at once.

I wouldn't have any problems being an undergeared, underperforming tank if everyone else was the same, but it seems like everyone here is twinked out to hell and the difference is pretty glaring. Also keep in mind that the XP hit really, really hurts when I die, and as a noobie tank with poor gear that will likely be a lot.

[Grixxitt]

Halfling druid so you can level faster and farm pp/port like a boss.

I could never be a halfling, the whole time I'd be playing I'd be thinking "Mmmmm, those little fat legs would be soooooo delicious"

Human's a possibility though, since they're a mixed bag to begin with

[Reapin]

What ever you pick to play, be sure you beg to every player with a <The Mystical Order> guild tag. They always give to newbies, but only newbies who persist and keep asking after they say no. Do this and you will be very rich in no time.

[eqgmrdbz]

All you know is Troll SK...!!!

Then you need to roll with something different, at least to see what the other side of the fence looks like. If you want some quick cash, I made a whole bunch of cash with my Iksar Necro collecting silks in the Pit, and selling em to vendors, i think a full load got me like 250pp, it takes time but if you starting fresh, that's my suggestion.

[Tecmos Deception]

I wouldn't have any problems being an undergeared, underperforming tank if everyone else was the same, but it seems like everyone here is twinked out to hell and the difference is pretty glaring. Also keep in mind that the XP hit really, really hurts when I die, and as a noobie tank with poor gear that will likely be a lot.

When the majority of your aggro comes from spells, it doesn't matter nearly as much if your gear is crappy. And if you're just sporting banded and something like a mace of the shadowed soul and firing off aggro spells, you'll still be taking less damage than the DPS in your group (unless they're REALLY twinked, I would think) while allowing rogues to be fighting from behind and casters to be medding, etc.

Everyone else being twinked makes your trip 1-60 easier, assuming that you're not just soloing 1-60, and it also should help you die less.

Don't let the fact that you're late to the party ruin your fun on the server. I didn't start playing until the very end of classic, when there were no more chances to get mana stones or guises, where the raiders all had geared 50s already, where people had been farming plat for a year+... but if you just ignore all that crap and play the game, you're good to go.

[Dragonmist]

Make a mage roll face/farm crap then transfer it to your SK if you have more time to invest roll a necro and play it as it will have a little more dedication than that of a mage and be better later on as they can do everything but port lol

[SamStripes]

Dont make a monk

Why not

[BiscuitBandito]

Play what you know and love, and the experience will flow. You'll have a far more entertaining time leveling slowly if you're making friends and people whisper you as soon as you login, than forcing yourself to grind out a solo class, get some cash, and then twink out a SK, only to have to grind it out again.

If you're a Imogen-Impatient-Pants, and you don't want to wait, then there's not much to do other than either having friends already playing, or a bunch of illegal/banned methods to get what you want.

So sit back, relax, and enjoy the (slow) ride.

[Dragonmist]

At least bum a Twink weapon of some sort! Thats all you really need to WiN!

[Grixxitt]

Okay, I think what I'll probably do is keep on with my main and start an Iksar Necro at some point if I need some quick cash.

Iksar necro was one of my alts on my previous account so I kind of know my way around Cab, and of course the spells and all from my SK. DE Enchanter is another possibility of I can't find a group, again I know my way around Neriak and gear won't be an issue.

But I'll stick with the SK until I can solo kodiaks effectively (if I remember right they drop HQ skins more than the other bears) and get at least some somewhat decent gear before I make a hard decision.

O and Tecmos, for the record, my level 40 SK on live was still rocking her MOSS with some Cazic-Thule quest armor (can't remember the name) when I re-activated that account a couple weeks ago =)


Thank you all for your input.

[Tasslehofp99]

Druids can be convenient to start off, and decent at making coin. Honestly though, a number of classes would be better for starting off/farming. Mage, Necro, enchanter, and shaman are all capable of farming way more plat than a druid can. Clerics are also easy to level/fairly easy to gear compared to other classes. They can also make decent coin doing rezzes at higher levels, probably a lot more than druids do porting.

[Tecmos Deception]

Okay, I think what I'll probably do is keep on with my main and start an Iksar Necro at some point if I need some quick cash.

You can't make "quick cash" with a brand new character; that's what I'm trying to tell you. Even if your money-making plan is to level a druid or wizard high enough to sell ports, you still will spend days /played to get up to 29/34 and you'll need a lot of time porting to make enough cash to make a significant difference for your SK. In the meantime you could have just been playing the SK, who at 40+ will be able to solo camp stuff like fishbone earring or shrunken goblin earring or goblin gazughi ring or something, or who at 50+ could be doing duos of frenzy or tactician or droga or something.

1000 or 5000 or 10,000pp isn't going to make a very big difference in your leveling experience with a SK, imo. You're still not going to be buying an ebon mace or any haste item or a fungus tunic. Having blood ember and an atramentous shield and a moss is only going to make you a little better at tanking and DPSing than having full banded and a charred guardian shield and an ebon razor, even though the former would cost you like 10k and the latter would cost under 2k (aka it would be the kind of stuff you could get for free as handmedowns).

[Grixxitt]

You can't make "quick cash" with a brand new character; that's what I'm trying to tell you.

Well yeah, but another character that levels twice as fast as my main should be able to provide PP quicker, or at least that was my reasoning for this thread.

It won't matter at any rate, I'll just play what I want. I suppose I'll wind up making a cash farmer once my main can't group effectively, but that shouldn't be a factor for some time.

[Tecmos Deception]

It won't matter at any rate, I'll just play what I want.

Good idea. That's why I said this:

If you enjoy playing the farm class along the way though, and then your play on the SK is more enjoyable too because you've got some gear to help you along, go for it. But if you REALLY want to play a SK, I'd say just go right for it and try to make friends with nice folk who can help you out with some PL, grouping with alts, handmedown items, etc.


Not trying to tell you what to do, just trying to give advice based on the things you've said in this thread. It sounded like you were only going to play a non-SK in order to make money to give to the SK... and as far as my experience with this game goes, that is just an all around bad idea.

[Ravager]

If it's what you're going to have fun with, play the Troll SK and don't worry about gear. Gear will come with levels just fine. You'll have your spells for holding aggro, just save up for 5/55 rings and a decent weapon as soon as you can. Don't think of everyone who is twinked to hell as people who are outshining you, and instead as people who are helping to powerlevel you. As long as you hold aggro, you can think of the Ragebringer in your group as yours when it comes to exping. Supertwinked groupmates will make your life as a Troll SK that much more bearable.

[Zeonick]

No one has mentioned this but your exp penalty applies to the group also. There is a troll SK in my guild who has been turned away from quite a few groups because of this penalty. He still levels faster than me though because of how little time I have!

[Ravager]

No one has mentioned this but your exp penalty applies to the group also. There is a troll SK in my guild who has been turned away from quite a few groups because of this penalty. He still levels faster than me though because of how little time I have!

This is easily remedied by being outgoing and building your own groups.

[Sarius]

The XP penalty is incredibly painful at higher levels.

[BiscuitBandito]

Now, is that actually true? Because the wiki (http://wiki.project1999.org/Game_Mechanics#How_Experience_Works) says this:

What does this all mean?!?

Group with people who have similar xp totals to you
Group with people who have similar xp totals to you
Group with people who have similar xp totals to you

See, it was so important, I had to say it 3 times. Please note what that really means. Race/Class combos with no penalty but who are 6 levels higher than you nerf your xp more than the hybrid who is the same level as you in most cases, especially at levels below 30. In your teens, a player 6 levels higher than you has 300 to 400% of your xp total... obviously much worse than the 140-168% of your total that a equal level hybrid has.

I think the whole thing is overblown and people who avoid inviting a hybrid strictly because of it are making a bad choice.

[Zeonick]

This is easily remedied by being outgoing and building your own groups.

That can be easier said than done in most cases, especially at these earlier levels. But that is still great advice for someone in the troll-sk position :)

[Ravager]

That can be easier said than done in most cases, especially at these earlier levels. But that is still great advice for someone in the troll-sk position :)

It's not too hard, you just spam everyone in your level range whether they're lfg or not. A lot of times folks are just soloing, or doing something mindless and when they see how slow the exp is, they're kind of quick to join a group. Plus, doing it this way you can make a short list of the folks who are always down for a group and before you know it you've got a regular leveling group of people who just fit together.

[Tecmos Deception]

Now, is that actually true? Because the wiki (http://wiki.project1999.org/Game_Mechanics#How_Experience_Works) says this:

What does this all mean?!?

Group with people who have similar xp totals to you
Group with people who have similar xp totals to you
Group with people who have similar xp totals to you

See, it was so important, I had to say it 3 times. Please note what that really means. Race/Class combos with no penalty but who are 6 levels higher than you nerf your xp more than the hybrid who is the same level as you in most cases, especially at levels below 30. In your teens, a player 6 levels higher than you has 300 to 400% of your xp total... obviously much worse than the 140-168% of your total that a equal level hybrid has.

I think the whole thing is overblown and people who avoid inviting a hybrid strictly because of it are making a bad choice.

"Your penalty is shared with the group" is basically true, yes. Someone with an xp penalty needs more xp to be, for example, level 40, than someone without a penalty does. And because of the way the xp formula works, if those two level 40s group together, the xp does not get split 50/50 between them.

The advice in the wiki to group with people near your xp total is totally unimportant though, compared to the importance of having a solid group of appropriate size in a good location though.

[Ravager]

Having a tank who can hold aggro, enough dps to cut the mobs down and a healer who only needs to heal one person at a time is the most important group combination when it comes to xp. A shadowknight of any race is a big part of that puzzle. More often than not, I prefer a SK tank to a War tank in xp situations, because they usually mean less downtime and more mobs, plus they're better equipped for pulling and splitting camps if it comes to it.