Best newbie friendly class/race?(casual player)

[luckynclover]

Ok quick rundown..
I started eq right after kunark came out. I played a monk, then later on played a beastlord. Eq1 was my first mmorpg, i spent from kunark to just after luclin wandering around not knowing what the hell i was doing playing a bazillion alts never reached max lvl ect ect.

So now im older,wiser, and better at mmorpgs. Im looking to get back into eq but i need help deciding on my class. So im looking for a class and race thats great for a born again newbie, someone that will play about 3 hoursish roughly a day and about 10 hours on the weekend. I would like to group occasionaly if the oppurtunity presents itself. I really dont think im going to raid unless im brought in as a pug and it fits my play time. So....does anyone have any sugestions of a good class/race that fits that? i greatly appreciate the help. thank you

[RKromwell]

Druid...anything. Halfling if you just want the exp bonus. As casters go, they are pretty easy.

[eqdruid76]

For a TRUE newbie, I'd say wood elf druid. Halfling xp bonus is nice, but hardly anyone plays in Misty Thicket, and it's a long run to EC. Gfay is a much better newbie garden at this point. Furthermore, Crushbone Belts sell a hell of a lot better than Runneyeye Warbeads.

If you can get a free port and bind, more power to you. And if me saying that there really aren't many on P99 who would do that for you makes them offer to do so simply to gainsay me, then I'm more than happy to type it.

[Eternal-Elf]

and if you don't wanna join the 400 druids already online at ALL times.....you could go with something else.

[fugazi]

Like joining the other 600 mages or necro's? :p

A druid is a solid choice, even if you'll be one of many. You can solo, you can heal and nuke in groups and bring lots of utility with you. A good idea would be to see if you can find a buddy who'd like to play with you. Team up as a tank/healer combo and you're good to go!

[Lowlife]

Barbarian Shaman

[Shrubwise]

Halfling (any class)
Halflings are known to have been favored by the gods, granting them quick leveling, stunningly good looks and very attractive, hairy feet. They are by far the superior race without question, and anyone who isn't one should be jealous.

So pick Halfling.

[Dominick]

Halfling (any class)
Halflings are known to have been favored by the gods, granting them quick leveling, stunningly good looks and very attractive, hairy feet. They are by far the superior race without question, and anyone who isn't one should be jealous.

So pick Halfling.

They are also delicious when roasted over a slow fire. :D

[Serrack]

For a TRUE newbie, I'd say wood elf druid. Halfling xp bonus is nice, but hardly anyone plays in Misty Thicket, and it's a long run to EC. Gfay is a much better newbie garden at this point. Furthermore, Crushbone Belts sell a hell of a lot better than Runneyeye Warbeads.

Have to echo this, IMHO it's your best choice for an easy re-introduction to EQ.

I wouldn't worry too much about what class breakdown is on the server, with time people will gravitate towards what suits their playstyle best. When that happens, it's best to already be playing your preference. Power gamers will have a set of mains by then anyway, no point in trying to keep up.

Welcome, and enjoy!

[Reiker]

Halfling xp bonus is nice, but hardly anyone plays in Misty Thicket, and it's a long run to EC.

Yah running across 2 zones is tough.

[luckynclover]

K so it looks like halfling druid it is...i did some reading up on it and it sounds like a good foot for me, can heal can dps can port do some buffs. Master of none but fairly good at all. Thank you all for the input i appreciate it.

[Seritaph]

Barbarian Shaman

If you don't want druid, this is an excellent option. Everfrost is a bit brutal your first 2 levels, but then it opens up. You have access to everything you need to get going. Many of the newbie mobs carry weapons, and the trade district of Halas has sharpening stones (vendor hidden behind the cider building I think) to upgrade to tarnished weapons and start building your smithing. Sell off what you don't need.

Polar bear cubs drop all variety of skins, and the actual white polar bear skins can be traded to Cindl for starting armor. The ruined can be combined in a loom (just north of Cindl) with a pattern to try and create your own, and a high quality skin can be sold to another player for about 10pp. People will pop in OOC with an offer to buy, so just bank them and be patient.

There's a guy right outside the door of the shaman guild who will give you a container to collect wooly snacks from spiderlings and spiders, and in return gives you a random level 5 shaman spell. You can repeat this quest many times over and sell off duplicate spells.

The arena has a female warrior who gives you a bag to collect goblin necklaces for experience and money, /say I will protect the pass. It's a nice free starting container as well. When you're ready to go to Blackburrow, around level 5, keep the no drop gnoll fangs (they stack too) and turn them into this same NPC for some great experience and a light source. Blackburrow is usually well populated and getting groups is not difficult. Great experience, and you can hang out there until level 10 or more.

If you get tired of BB, there are goblin camps scattered around that are great experience until level 7 or so. I'd alternate between the one just north of Bandl, and south of him near the south wall. It's a pretty safe run if you hug the wall. By the time you clear one, the other camp has respawned. Save the necklaces for the quest I mentioned earlier.

After that, you can stay in everfrost and start camping the south wall for snow leopards starting at level 9, and work your way up to orc troopers along the east wall. This can all be easily solo'ed by a shaman assuming you've bought your dots from Starn in the northeast ruins and keep your weapon skills up to par.

If that doesn't appeal to you, at level 9 you get SOW, and can make it through BB very easily. Norrath is your oyster.

[Tunarian]

If you don't want druid, this is an excellent option. Everfrost is a bit brutal your first 2 levels, but then it opens up. You have access to everything you need to get going. Many of the newbie mobs carry weapons, and the trade district of Halas has sharpening stones (vendor hidden behind the cider building I think) to upgrade to tarnished weapons and start building your smithing. Sell off what you don't need.

Polar bear cubs drop all variety of skins, and the actual white polar bear skins can be traded to Cindl for starting armor. The ruined can be combined in a loom (just north of Cindl) with a pattern to try and create your own, and a high quality skin can be sold to another player for about 10pp. People will pop in a OOC an offer to buy, so just bank them and be patient.

There's a guy right outside the door of the shaman guild who will give you a container to collect wooly snacks from spiderlings and spiders, and in return gives you a random level 5 shaman spell. You can repeat this quest many times over and sell off duplicate spells.

The arena has a female warrior who gives you a bag to collect goblin necklaces for experience and money, /say I will protect the pass. It's a nice free starting container as well. When you're ready to go to Blackburrow, around level 5, keep the no drop gnoll fangs (they stack too) and turn them into this same NPC for some great experience and a light source. Blackburrow is usually well populated and getting groups is not difficult. Great experience, and you can hang out there until level 10 or more.

If you get tired of BB, there are goblin camps scattered around that are great experience until level 7 or so. I'd alternate between the one just north of Bandl, and south of him near the south wall. It's a pretty safe run if you hug the wall. By the time you clear one, the other camp has respawned. Save the necklaces for the quest I mentioned earlier.

After that, you can stay in everfrost and start camping the south wall for snow leopards starting at level 9, and work your way up to orc troopers along the east wall. This can all be easily solo'ed by a shaman assuming you've bought your dots from Starn in the northeast ruins and keep your weapon skills up to par.

If that doesn't appeal to you, at level 9 you get SOW, and can make it through BB very easily. Norrath is your oyster.

Someone loves to play Barbarians...

[Sinder]

halfling druids are great... cuz everyone needs a healer and sow and ports and all that. I love the gnome necro too, fun to play not the hardest. just learn or relearn to kite and you will get it

[Seritaph]

Someone loves to play Barbarians...

Yeah, I do. But mostly it's just one casual player trying to help out another.

[Wenai]

Before you choose druid I really think you should re-think. I feel like all the people who point newbies towards druids are really just not doing them a favor, especially when it is important to someone to be able to solo.

Can druids solo? Yes. Can druids solo well? Yes. Do they excel at it? In my opinion, no.

Druids get DoTs, DD, Snare, Root which all assist in soloing for a druid. The main problem lies in the fact that they have NO mana free damage. They have no pet, they can't deal good melee damage.

They have NO increased mana-regen. If you are limited on time (in your case only 3 hours per night) then I really think you need to focus on one of two classes:

Shaman or Necromancer.

Shaman is a decent soloer (post-34) but not excellent (in terms of speed). Shamans can handle pretty much any situation and make it out alive but they sure as hell won't do it quickly. Their nukes are worthless and their pets are a little bit weak (but sufficient with slow+haste).

Shamans also have excellent options for soloing techniques. You can root-rot with Root and DoTs. You can aggro kite by building your aggro and turning off pet taunt. You can solo similar to a mage by letting your pet tank (using slow so your pet doesn't get owned). You can tank yourself.. Whatever. You are extremely versatile as a shaman.


The king soloing class in EQ is 100% for sure Necromancer. You get root, snare, feign death, invulnerability, invis, invis vs undead, fear, mez, charms (undead), lifetaps (heal yourself), leaches (heal yourself)... Playing a necromancer it is almost impossible to die.

Necromancer pets are excellent. Damage just as well as mage pets (minus DS) and tank slightly worse. The tanking thing doesn't really matter since you will be aggro kiting (via Disease Cloud) or fear kiting (still my favorite option due to it allowing you to med while the kill happens)

Here are the two MOST important things to consider when choosing a soloing class:

1. Mana-free damage (ie. pets)
2. Mana recovery (ie. Lich and Cannibalize)

Life is hell when you are constantly begging for clarity or whatever and I would seriously consider a shaman or a necromancer if you are looking to solo or are short on time to play. Druid will work, just imo, not the best option.

[Seritaph]

^ Nice post.

Also consider when choosing class whether faction matters and how difficult or easy it'll be getting in and out of places... that is places you wish to go.

[Bubbles]

Wenai nailed it. I also like the Barb shaman idea as well.

Best case scenario, get like 4 friend to play with you and everyone chooses between mage and necro!

[Keebz]

I guess there is a merit to the barb shaman, because it is a non evil race and has less of an exp penalty and all. However, troll (hp regen) and ogres (no frontal stun) have better stats/racial abilities for shamans, imho.

That being said, necro for sure. They are cool, fun, and powerful. Also, root rotting as a shaman (ie how you solo until 34) is boorriiinng and time consuming.

[Drakul]

If you go shaman I recommend troll. I had a heck of a time soloing during level 8 until I realized we gets dots at 5 and 9 that stack. Once I got the dots things got a lot better.

Get a weapon that does decent damage, get whatever cheap armor you can find, get your dots, get the slow spell. Cast slow on a yellow, cast disease dot, case poison dot, melee until dead, sit for 2 minutes to regen health and mana super fast, then pull another yellow. Sometimes you need to cast a heal on yourself in close fights, but usually with the regen you won't have a problem.

I guess by level 14 mobs might be hitting hard enough that you have to root but so far my leveling speed solo hasn't been much slower than it was with my mage. Even with root I'm sure you can step in to melee a little bit if you want, and you will have SoW at level 9 in case you need to run away.

Go troll, it makes the downtime in the earlier levels almost nill.

[Ketsa]

I would not recommend Shaman for a beginner. Played one on live and another here i just leveled to 13. Shamans are OK past 24 or even 34.

i would suggest Necro or Mage.

[Vigilance]

If you want to solo effectively and still be valued in groups, go mage or necro. You'll always be wanted in groups when you actually want to group because both classes do plenty of damage. They are also much easier to level than a druid due to their pets.

[Estu]

Wenai, I like your analysis, but you didn't even mention Enc or Mag. How do those two classes stack up, in your opinion, as soloers?

[nalkin]

Wenai, I like your analysis, but you didn't even mention Enc or Mag. How do those two classes stack up, in your opinion, as soloers?

Enchanters are the best farmers in game hands down. They can solo camps that are ridiculous. Mages are the best single mob soloers and very good at xping. Mages are best with furies and allizewsaur, anything that is single a mage can kill. Its like mages and enchanters are at different ends of the spectrum with necros somewhere in the middle. Mages want single mobs and enchanters want multiple mobs.

[Morlaeth]

If you don't want druid, this is an excellent option. Everfrost is a bit brutal your first 2 levels, but then it opens up. You have access to everything you need to get going. Many of the newbie mobs carry weapons, and the trade district of Halas has sharpening stones (vendor hidden behind the cider building I think) to upgrade to tarnished weapons and start building your smithing. Sell off what you don't need.

Polar bear cubs drop all variety of skins, and the actual white polar bear skins can be traded to Cindl for starting armor. The ruined can be combined in a loom (just north of Cindl) with a pattern to try and create your own, and a high quality skin can be sold to another player for about 10pp. People will pop in OOC with an offer to buy, so just bank them and be patient.

There's a guy right outside the door of the shaman guild who will give you a container to collect wooly snacks from spiderlings and spiders, and in return gives you a random level 5 shaman spell. You can repeat this quest many times over and sell off duplicate spells.

The arena has a female warrior who gives you a bag to collect goblin necklaces for experience and money, /say I will protect the pass. It's a nice free starting container as well. When you're ready to go to Blackburrow, around level 5, keep the no drop gnoll fangs (they stack too) and turn them into this same NPC for some great experience and a light source. Blackburrow is usually well populated and getting groups is not difficult. Great experience, and you can hang out there until level 10 or more.

If you get tired of BB, there are goblin camps scattered around that are great experience until level 7 or so. I'd alternate between the one just north of Bandl, and south of him near the south wall. It's a pretty safe run if you hug the wall. By the time you clear one, the other camp has respawned. Save the necklaces for the quest I mentioned earlier.

After that, you can stay in everfrost and start camping the south wall for snow leopards starting at level 9, and work your way up to orc troopers along the east wall. This can all be easily solo'ed by a shaman assuming you've bought your dots from Starn in the northeast ruins and keep your weapon skills up to par.

If that doesn't appeal to you, at level 9 you get SOW, and can make it through BB very easily. Norrath is your oyster.

Great post!

[luckynclover]

So... just to let everyone know i read things over did some research and decided to roll with a barbarian shaman Totemicrage.. one of the main reasons is my play time with wow is dwindleing down to almost nothing opening more free time to play eq1 and thus opening more chances to group. Thanks all for the input and hope to see yall in game.

[mjrau]

I chose halfling druid, not because there were a gazillion other druids around but because I tried a wizard first and just impossible to get groups at low levels in my play time... Damn Aussies <j/k>

[Wenai]

Wenai, I like your analysis, but you didn't even mention Enc or Mag. How do those two classes stack up, in your opinion, as soloers?
Enchanters and Magicians are also good choices. Here is what I have to say with regards to the topic of this thread:

Enchanter is NOT newbie friendly in my opinion. You are incredibly weak at lower levels. However you will have no problem getting groups. At high levels enchanters are probably the most powerful class honestly. Mez, root, charm, gate etc. They somewhat fit my two rules when it comes to choosing a self-sufficient class:

1. They have increased mana regeneration (clarity).
2. They somewhat have mana free damage. Animation pets are terrible unfortunately. Charmed pets are spectacular but dangerous.

The one thing about enchanters is they have no way to heal themselves and thus are a little bit difficult for newbs if you aren't careful.


Magician... oh wow I could write a book on magicians. I kind of laugh at all the people talking about how great magicians are and how they solo single mobs better than any other class. I fucking disagree 100%. Why? How do you define better? Is better defined by speed, efficiency or a combination of the two?

In terms of speed, yes a magician is probably quicker than a necromancer. In terms of mana efficiency? Hell no.

Magicians have the best pet (and thus the best mana-free damage of all the solo classes). This is a huge bonus and I won't diminish this. Their pets are the best; end of discussion.

Here is why I hate magicians so much. They have a severe lack of diversity. You can't snare, you can't root, you can't mez... you literally can't do anything. You have no CC. You have no way to heal yourself (bandaids lol?), you have no way to regen your mana. You are limited to two things:

1. Pets
2. Nukes

If a kill is more complicated than that.. good luck. Yeah you can chain pets and kill something and claim you are a god... How much mana did you spend killing it? Mage pets cost 200 mana each. If you are chaining four, five or god forbid 6 pets to kill something like an Allizewsaur you are talking upwards of 1200 mana just to survive (this doesn't include burnout).

A necromancer would be able to kill the same target with nothing but disease cloud (5 mana spell), Dooming Darkness (120 mana).

So while you chain your pets at 200 mana each, a necromancer would spend that mana on actual DPS while keeping their comparable pet at full health because he never has to tank.

Enchanters are the best farmers in game hands down. They can solo camps that are ridiculous. Mages are the best single mob soloers and very good at xping. Mages are best with furies and allizewsaur, anything that is single a mage can kill. Its like mages and enchanters are at different ends of the spectrum with necros somewhere in the middle. Mages want single mobs and enchanters want multiple mobs.

I somewhat agree that necromancers are somewhere in the middle.

Enchanter - Elite CC
Necromancer -Great CC

Mage - Zero CC

Magician would be instantly twice as good if they got root. Honestly. As someone who did primarily ghetto CC and support healer as a shaman on live, root is all you need for CC honestly.

Magician is a spectacular class in a duo or trio situation. It really is. I think in terms of pure soloing, necromancer is a much.. much.. muuuuuuch better option than a mage. I don't know how many times I have had this debate. It always ends up being a bunch of people that only play magicians being like, " I can nuke for big numbers and my pet is awesome!"

Diversity goes a long way in EQ and a lack of diversity is the magician's biggest weakness.

[Seritaph]

Enchanter is a great class and a lot of fun, but I don't know that it's on my list as a good casual choice. I'm on the fence on this one, because there's certainly enough utility to make it work.

As stated they start out very weak and are difficult to get going. Very group dependent for the most part. It's possible to use the pet effectively and aggro swap even though it can't be commanded directly.

They also have a lot, if not the MOST, spells in the game. This is not only expensive but also makes for a steep learning curve. It's definitely not the most simple class to learn and play, though probably wouldn't be too difficult for a veteran MMO player like the OP, who understands basic mechanics.

It's most assuredly worth the investment, if a person can stick it out, but I'm not convinced is the best choice for a person with limited playtime. Assuming you can invest the time, practice, and patience involved with this class, the end result is nothing short of god-like.

I love the class, and there's nothing like it in any other game.

Edit: Unless you're just naturally good or lucky, will probably die a lot learning this class, and unless you can get rezzes, you will eat a lot of exp loss. Just a fair warning.

[mgellan]

Second the Barb Shaman, EF / BB / QH are excellent places to level, between Gnoll teeth in Blackburrow, rabid animals in QH, and the general density of mobs the Western part of Norrath can't be beat. When you hit 14 you can either stick around or make the 24m run to Freeport (seriously, I've done it a number of times and I can do it in one SOW, through the Gorge, Runnyeye route.)

There are too many druids IMHO.

Regards,
Mg

[Eternal-Elf]

I've always thought a monk was a terribly easy class to play.......and before you guys all flame me....
They don't need weapons to be decent. their fists damage levels as they do. and they get FD and several nice attacks at various levels which gives you something to really look foward to.
until 30 at least then it's just kinda a grind.
I leveled a monk to 65 on live back in the day and seriously think i died less than 5 times, just due to FD. It's seriously amazing.
I also like necro and mage, which is my favorite >? Don't even ask I am not quite as confident as Wenai is on that subject.
I think were magician is limited in their mana and root problem....a necro is also very limited in WHERE they can fight.
Go take a necro to upper guk, see if they can fear kite their. A mage would do much better soloing a dungeon than a necro i think.
Put them in the plains of the Karana? Sure the necro could solo circles around a mage.

Just depends on the situation I suppose.

[Maxium]

Yeah I didn't understand that comment, just run the wall in Kith and you in in West Commons. Straight shot to East Commons.

[Lusst]

If you don't want druid, this is an excellent option. Everfrost is a bit brutal your first 2 levels, but then it opens up. You have access to everything you need to get going. Many of the newbie mobs carry weapons, and the trade district of Halas has sharpening stones (vendor hidden behind the cider building I think) to upgrade to tarnished weapons and start building your smithing. Sell off what you don't need.

Polar bear cubs drop all variety of skins, and the actual white polar bear skins can be traded to Cindl for starting armor. The ruined can be combined in a loom (just north of Cindl) with a pattern to try and create your own, and a high quality skin can be sold to another player for about 10pp. People will pop in OOC with an offer to buy, so just bank them and be patient.

There's a guy right outside the door of the shaman guild who will give you a container to collect wooly snacks from spiderlings and spiders, and in return gives you a random level 5 shaman spell. You can repeat this quest many times over and sell off duplicate spells.

The arena has a female warrior who gives you a bag to collect goblin necklaces for experience and money, /say I will protect the pass. It's a nice free starting container as well. When you're ready to go to Blackburrow, around level 5, keep the no drop gnoll fangs (they stack too) and turn them into this same NPC for some great experience and a light source. Blackburrow is usually well populated and getting groups is not difficult. Great experience, and you can hang out there until level 10 or more.

If you get tired of BB, there are goblin camps scattered around that are great experience until level 7 or so. I'd alternate between the one just north of Bandl, and south of him near the south wall. It's a pretty safe run if you hug the wall. By the time you clear one, the other camp has respawned. Save the necklaces for the quest I mentioned earlier.

After that, you can stay in everfrost and start camping the south wall for snow leopards starting at level 9, and work your way up to orc troopers along the east wall. This can all be easily solo'ed by a shaman assuming you've bought your dots from Starn in the northeast ruins and keep your weapon skills up to par.

If that doesn't appeal to you, at level 9 you get SOW, and can make it through BB very easily. Norrath is your oyster.

Badass post - this almost makes me want to roll a Shammy!