Class Spread

[knottyb0y]

Hey,

This is obviously a silly question, but I wanted to get a feel for the server. I have been enthralled with the idea of a classic server for so long, tonight will likely be my first night on the project 1999 server. Reading the boards for the past few days has me very excited for a chance at the everquest i know and love.

Of course I'm sitting here unsure of my class selection, I'm interested in grouping, exploration, eventually becoming part of a guild and hopefully rading. With that said I played Tallon Zek a long time ago as a warrior and loved every step, unsure if I want different I'm sitting here stuck between the prospect of a bard (see the world i couldn't see as a troll warrior), a cleric (loved by all groups), or a warrior (cause tanking is really fun when it comes down to it).

I guess my question is what kind of population do we have here, are we overflowing with warriors/bard/clerics or any other classes? What is the feel for guilds and their composition (obviously things will change over the next couple months as I level/explore and get to know the server). Any input on this would be much appreciated!

Thanks
Knottyb0y
Gagresh * Tallon Zek * Project 1999 * ?

[Lill-Leif]

There is always a need for tanks, atleast in the groups Ive been in.

[corradojeff]

Welcome.

As for Class selection, the biggest thing that most will tell you is to pick a class you love playing. That will make the level grind easier to swallow.

Bards are a great class to play. They are arguably the most difficult class to play very well. Because of this they are a little rare and at high levels that may make it easier to get in to a full guild because they may not have a lot of bards.

Clerics are always welcome in groups and you can't ever really have to many :). It may be hard to get in to a hardcore raiding guild because they usually already have their top clerics in place and the class full. That doesn't mean you won't find a guild that you will have fun in. Clerics can get a little boring to play at higher levels especially in classic because you just sit/stand/complete heal/sit rinse and repeat but it does get more exciting after Kunark release.

Warriors...well you know the drill here smashy smashy but in classic they could not keep agro very well so you may not be the most desirable tank. There does seem to be a lack of tanks on the server though so you shouldn't have too much trouble finding a group.

There are also the XP penalties to consider. there is a race and class XP penalty/bonus system in classic. EX: As a warrior you have bonus XP but most of the classes that can be warrior have a penalty. See below:

By Race:
Troll -20%
Iksar -20%
Ogre -15%
Barbarian -5%
Halfling +5%

By Class:
Paladin / Shadowknight / Ranger / Bard -40%
Monk -20%
Wizard / Magician / Enchanter / Necromancer -10%
Rogue +9%
Warrior +10%


But seriously just play something yo9u like to play XP penalty or not. It will make things a lot more fun.

[Messianic]

Welcome.

As for Class selection, the biggest thing that most will tell you is to pick a class you love playing. That will make the level grind easier to swallow.

Bards are a great class to play. They are arguably the most difficult class to play very well. Because of this they are a little rare and at high levels that may make it easier to get in to a full guild because they may not have a lot of bards.

Clerics are always welcome in groups and you can't ever really have to many :). It may be hard to get in to a hardcore raiding guild because they usually already have their top clerics in place and the class full. That doesn't mean you won't find a guild that you will have fun in. Clerics can get a little boring to play at higher levels especially in classic because you just sit/stand/complete heal/sit rinse and repeat but it does get more exciting after Kunark release.

Warriors...well you know the drill here smashy smashy but in classic they could not keep agro very well so you may not be the most desirable tank. There does seem to be a lack of tanks on the server though so you shouldn't have too much trouble finding a group.

There are also the XP penalties to consider. there is a race and class XP penalty/bonus system in classic. EX: As a warrior you have bonus XP but most of the classes that can be warrior have a penalty. See below:

By Race:
Troll -20%
Iksar -20%
Ogre -15%
Barbarian -5%
Halfling +5%

By Class:
Paladin / Shadowknight / Ranger / Bard -40%
Monk -20%
Wizard / Magician / Enchanter / Necromancer -10%
Rogue +9%
Warrior +10%


But seriously just play something yo9u like to play XP penalty or not. It will make things a lot more fun.

This would make a decent canned response for every day when someone posts a "what class should I play" question =)

Although I am curious about the active server pop which plays each race/class...

[Arclanz]

As a 22 chanter who has played for the last six weeks or so, I will say I have seen plenty of tanks to group with but only rarely saw a cleric.

other than that, i rarely see wizards.

lots of enchanters, necros, and druids, ogre/troll tanks, shamans

warriors can't hold aggro for shit until they get proc weapons (not their fault; it's game mechanics) but of course have better survivability and dps than their paladin/sk. (they have dual wield and higher offense and attack skills, defense, etc.)

edited to give more credit to warriors :)

[fugazi]

Clerics seem damn rare, but after having leveled mine to 7 I can easily say that they're damn boring .. unless you love sitting on your ass, healing and spending the rest of your time checking reddit.com and socialising in /group and /gu. Though opinions might differ on this one :p

If you have a buddy you'll be playing a lot with, a cleric/whatever duo would do wonders. You get heals, buffs, (good undead) nukes and lull to get single pulls. He can be a tank, dps or a caster with a pet and you'll be rocking. If not, I'd avoid the cleric unless you have a lot of friends you can group with from time to time. Solo life as a cleric will drive you nuts.

[Overcast]

Although I am curious about the active server pop which plays each race/class...

/who all 40 50 Warrior
/who all 40 50 Shadow
/who all 40 50 Cleric

etc.. (Mix that up if you like too /who all 25 35 class - etc) - anything under 25 would be 'questionable' if they even have an intent on sticking with it. It won't show totally /anon people that way - but I just have to 'suspect' that the number of /anon people is probably the same across the classes percentage wise. Although - you may actually find 'buffing' classes tend to run /anon more to not get pestered.

Should give you a good idea. Overall - doing that (can hotkey that of course) - I've found higher numbers of Necros, Druids, Mages, Clerics.

Shaman, Enchanter seem to fall in the middle - depends.. sometimes the numbers seem low.

All of the tanks seem on the lower end, along with Bards, Rangers, Rogues, and Monks.

Just my general observation. But keep in mind - Kunark could swing populations vastly different with newer gear, particularly Melee gear and Iksar's being out. I suspect the monk population will take a jump too. But from what I've observed, even if the number of tanks doubled, you could still easily find a group.

[Cogwell]

Volume and demand can be very different, though, so doing /who all might be misleading.

I find using "/who all lfg [class] [level range]" was effective in showing you what kind of demand there was for any class. The lower the number that popped up, the better the chance at finding groups with that class.

This is not exacting, of course, but will give you a decent idea if you do it multiple times over a couple nights.

[Dantes]

Clerics seem rare in mid levels, lately. The last few groups I've been in had a druid or shaman healer.

If you play a Warrior you will need funds for decent proc weapons. Warriors can hold aggro, it's all about the gear. It's just about impossible to taunt anything that cons yellow or red, so you need Obsidian Shards or Gnoll Hide Lariats to proc + a buttload of DEX gear if you want to proc often. It's hard to start out with a warrior as your main because you gotta come up with all of that plat for gear somehow. Also, after they added the hybrid exp penalty back in, there's been an influx of new warriors. Usually I'm either the only Warrior in my range LFG or there's 1 more, last night there were 4 of us.

[Arclanz]

Clerics seem damn rare, but after having leveled mine to 7 I can easily say that they're damn boring .. unless you love sitting on your ass, healing and spending the rest of your time checking reddit.com and socialising in /group and /gu. Though opinions might differ on this one :p

If you have a buddy you'll be playing a lot with, a cleric/whatever duo would do wonders. You get heals, buffs, (good undead) nukes and lull to get single pulls. He can be a tank, dps or a caster with a pet and you'll be rocking. If not, I'd avoid the cleric unless you have a lot of friends you can group with from time to time. Solo life as a cleric will drive you nuts.

It takes a special kind of person to play a cleric. Cleric is my primary alt on live (second character ever made; in 2000 some time). I always enjoyed playing him. It's more fun, of course, when AA was introduced with Luclin. But long before that I fully enjoyed playing cleric. Mana management; deciding who to heal when multiple party members are being beat; staying alive. Honestly I found it much more challenging and hence fun than my main (paladin).

And I can not imagine ever being LFG for more than a few minutes as a cleric. They are simply THAT welcome and uncommon as to be the most coveted class in the game.

[Enderenter]

Monks are somewhat rare it seems like, just based on how many I've seen/grouped with so far.

I'm pretty sure they'll more than double in Kunark in terms of people playing main characters. (probably more than triple the number of monks if you count twinks/alts)

[Edgetiq]

Pally Wizzy Ranger are rare and to an extent Monk & Bard are uncommon. What a lot of people are doing is levelling necros mages and druids to farm plat then twinking alts to make it easier. I for one are going to do a pally alt will farm cash to make him imba then get to 50 ready for Kunark. So 10 more levels then I'll be selling PLs!

[Itchybottom]

to make him imba

back to WoW!

[Arclanz]

Pally Wizzy Ranger are rare and to an extent Monk & Bard are uncommon. What a lot of people are doing is levelling necros mages and druids to farm plat then twinking alts to make it easier. I for one are going to do a pally alt will farm cash to make him imba then get to 50 ready for Kunark. So 10 more levels then I'll be selling PLs!

Take your time and enjoy. No rush. I doubt kunark will launch before 2012.

[oldhead]

Monks are somewhat rare it seems like, just based on how many I've seen/grouped with so far.

I'm pretty sure they'll more than double in Kunark in terms of people playing main characters. (probably more than triple the number of monks if you count twinks/alts)

lots of people are waiting for iksars.

There will be a monk boom when kunark hits.


As for myself... I made it two months then busted out the monk.
right now there are a decent amount of monk tho.

I would put main class rarity order as followed

--RARE--
ranger
cleric
war
shaman
enc
wizard
Rog
paladin
bard
monk
SK
druid
necro
mage
--FLAVA OF DA MONT--

[Reiker]

Seriously, clerics and enchanters rarer than wizards?

[Messianic]

/who all 40 50 Warrior
/who all 40 50 Shadow
/who all 40 50 Cleric

I wouldn't consider this accurate, since certain classes (Druid, Wizard, Cleric) are more likely to be /anon or /role.

[Troy]

I find that 75+% of all players over level 40 hide themselves so it's tough to learn anything at all using /who. I don't understand why, it was not like that in 1999. Are people afraid of others knowing what class they are?

(In my experience it's not restricted to druid/wiz/cleric - most bards I see don't even let their class show)

[oldhead]

I find that 75+% of all players over level 40 hide themselves so it's tough to learn anything at all using /who. I don't understand why, it was not like that in 1999. Are people afraid of others knowing what class they are?

(In my experience it's not restricted to druid/wiz/cleric - most bards I see don't even let their class show)


The asshats on this server keep the good people very defensive.

and of course asshats tend to be very offensive.

thus lots of anons

[Uaellaen]

high competition, need to move stealthy!

[inyane]

its annoying when you do a /who all oot, see 3 people in zone, wait 30 mins for the boat, only to get to seafuries and find 3 level 50 /role mages clearing out the place. and before you say i should know better, i was actually in zone with 1! other person the other day. i was quite amazed myself

guilds moving on raid targets, or looking for targets? sure, i get that. sitting around farming pp or doing exp? eh.

and yes, to some extent i can also understand it being annoying for certain classes that get requests for their services.

but, yeah, its like most ppl 45+ are /role. rogues, bards, mages, whatever

[Reiker]

Maybe they're roleplaying.

[HeallunRumblebelly]

Just remember that melees are brutal, and even moreso without twink gear. Making a melee as your first character is just masochistic. Also you should know that groups at level 50 DO NOT EXIST...outside of the very, very rare Efreeti or King group that isn't guild based. Lguk is held down by necro / mages / chanters, Efreeti in solb is held down by enc/ clr duos, Kedge is held down by mages / clerics / chanters, and the other named in solb simply don't drop things that sell for enough.

TL;DR -- Make a necro / mage / enc as your first char...yeah it's not rare, but they're the only ones who actually do things at 50 outside of poopsock targets ^_^ (it's a little better now that sky's out though).

edit: Druids can also make a little money camping bilge if you can get someone to teach you the cycle, but you'll hafta burn Ralph's house down to get him off the camp D=

[Kanz]

If I'm not roleplaying or anon as a druid you can guarantee I'll get tells asking for ports, or buffs from people regardless if it says I'm in lowerguk or unrest. When I hit 34 and was just trying to get a buffer, I was literally get tells for ports every 2 minutes from someone else.

[Overcast]

I wouldn't consider this accurate, since certain classes (Druid, Wizard, Cleric) are more likely to be /anon or /role.

Yeah, the /who all isn't really going to be 'accurate' - but it can give you a 'general' idea. Keeping in mind that buffing/porting classes may tend to be /anon more.

But.. if they are just /role - they will still show up on /who all :)

Although /role won't seem to show unless you are doing /who all 40 50 druid (for instance) - /who druid - in just the zone probably won't work, but I didn't try it.

I was kinda bad - so is my wife, for trying to lean on the more 'rare' classes. I mean, it's never fun to be the 14th Druid in a guild of 20 people, lol. But - guild populations shift, you may be in a guild with zero druids... err, ok maybe only 2, lol. Then Kunark/Velious will shift populations around. Some may just be leveling up mages/necros/druids to farm up gear for tank twinks, many (my RL friend) are waiting in Iksar to come out and are playing classes Iksar can *not* be to avoid repetition.

[madara]

Probably bards, exp penalty, the few pluses they had quite questionable with the server mob speed and charm issues.