Necro help

[xarilzir]

Hi

I am returning to p99 after along time off and decided to try my hands again at a necro
I was thinking between dark elf or erudite soo did a who all and noticed erudite was a low choice compared to dark elf. Any major reason?

I know iksar is normally the way for a necro but i thought would try something slightly different, i would guess erudites are still hated in places but not as much as a dark elf or iksar?

Any tips/ advice would be welcome

[Swish]

Erudites have the highest starting int so they're not a bad choice. I think a lot of people these days twink their new characters and having one starting in Tox can be a pain in that sense.

Not sure how eru necros do in Freeport versus Dark Elves etc. Perhaps not as bad. I know evil (bertox) eru clerics are safe in North Freeport so that could be something to go by.

I know you didn't mention iksars but their regen is godly at later levels versus non iksars... don't rule them out completely ;)

[Estu]

Dark elves have hide, which can be useful for breaking charm or for AFKing in dangerous places. Other than that, not a big difference between dark elf and erudite (maybe slightly easier to get around as erudite).

[Ando]

Dark elves have hide, which can be useful for breaking charm or for AFKing in dangerous places.

Necros also have Circlet of Shadow to break charm, and FD to afk, though, so while hide is nice it's not super important to necros.

I say go Erudite! Be different.

[xarilzir]

Thanks for the response it is appreciated.

I have finally downloaded and patched etc, had issues with memory something kept crashing game :(

I am swaying towards erudite as its a race i never played on live much so may have to give that a go!

[Potus]

Erudites used to be a popular choice because they get some nice items, notably the Mantle of Souls.

http://wiki.project1999.com/Azraxs%27_Legacy

[Tuljin]

Erudite also has high sta - 25 points into STA and 5 into INT is a great roll and gives you highest possible sta/int totals. Eru still doesn't have regen though, and hide isn't useful in combat. Paineel is also one of the coolest cities in the game.

[baalzy]

If you aren't going master race (Iksar), gnome is the next best choice. See through walls is a good dungeon crawling tool and being able to tinker stalking probes for lifetap targets is ncie too.

[Barnes]

Hi

I am returning to p99 after along time off and decided to try my hands again at a necro
I was thinking between dark elf or erudite soo did a who all and noticed erudite was a low choice compared to dark elf. Any major reason?

I know iksar is normally the way for a necro but i thought would try something slightly different, i would guess erudites are still hated in places but not as much as a dark elf or iksar?

Any tips/ advice would be welcome

Erudite has nice faction with most city's, go erudite. that is what i went with.

[Potus]

Stalking Probes are awesome when you get invited to Trak raids and can't land lifetap on him and you get poisoned. Ugh.

[Uteunayr]

Iksar > Gnome > Dark Elf > Human > Erudite IMO.

Just be sure that before you go a non-Iksar route (on Blue, note that on Red, Gnomes have a really great advantage of small stature), be completely aware of why Iksar is the master race for necromancers.

Believe me, be informed before you make that choice. I got to 60 on my Dark Elf because none of the necro resources on the wiki spoke about the strength of regeneration for necromancers because of Lich. I don't mind if people don't go Iksar, but be informed about the decision you're making. A character in EQ is such a time sink, and later down the line, you may, like I did, get pissed at the choice.

Be informed, and make the choice for the right reasons. If you care about minmax, go Iksar. If you place much greater value on the race of your classic toon, or of a different model, etc., then by all means go that way race wise. Just be aware, so you don't hit level 49+ and start saying "Damnit, I wish I knew how much better Iksar was dealing with this."

[ctre]

There is 1 major advantage for iksar, they are better for mana production in raids.
If you want to level fast then going the gnome path is better.
By the time you hit lvl 60 as as Gnome you will be 50 as an iksar, (iksar xp penaltys hurt).

However you will be a bit more powerful necro as an iksar, however some correct gear and playing skill is more important than the race.

So the bottom line is, if you want to raid and be the best to contribute to that, be an iksar.
If you want to level fast, not be hit by race hate all over Norrath, then choose a low xp penalty and liked race. EG: Gnome

[ctre]

I wish I was able to edit my last post.. remove a however.. lol

[Uteunayr]

There is 1 major advantage for iksar, they are better for mana production in raids.
If you want to level fast then going the gnome path is better.
By the time you hit lvl 60 as as Gnome you will be 50 as an iksar, (iksar xp penaltys hurt).

However you will be a bit more powerful necro as an iksar, however some correct gear and playing skill is more important than the race.

So the bottom line is, if you want to raid and be the best to contribute to that, be an iksar.
If you want to level fast, not be hit by race hate all over Norrath, then choose a low xp penalty and liked race. EG: Gnome

I am not sure I buy that being 60 as a gnome is being 50 as an iksar time wise. The mana efficiency you produce as an Iksar has an effect on how many mobs you can kill per hour, which in turn means you can gather more experience in the long run. This may not mean much early on when efficiency doesn't matter too much, as you have a weak lich, but in the 50-60 range, for certain, Iksar are able to kill more, more often, and although they gain less XP each, they get more instances of experience. 50-60 takes a great deal longer than most levels before.

At least from my personal experience, 50-60 went much faster as an Iksar than as a Dark Elf, and by that time for both, I knew what I was doing, and how I was going to do it. Neither suffered a learning curve efficiency loss.

[ctre]

I am not sure I buy that being 60 as a gnome is being 50 as an iksar time wise. The mana efficiency you produce as an Iksar has an effect on how many mobs you can kill per hour, which in turn means you can gather more experience in the long run. This may not mean much early on when efficiency doesn't matter too much, as you have a weak lich, but in the 50-60 range, for certain, Iksar are able to kill more, more often, and although they gain less XP each, they get more instances of experience. 50-60 takes a great deal longer than most levels before.

At least from my personal experience, 50-60 went much faster as an Iksar than as a Dark Elf, and by that time for both, I knew what I was doing, and how I was going to do it. Neither suffered a learning curve efficiency loss.

That is because an iksar's and DE's cannot make stalking probes.
Gnomes never go oom, or low health.

[Infectious]

I rolled dark elf on my necro before kunark was released for hide. But what I know now, go iksar 100%. At lvl 60 sittin regen is like wearing a fungi tunic on a necro( makes a huge difference). I would say go iksar, if you dont wana be kos everywhere go dark elf. Erudite sucks cause you will be kos in little spots( gettin thru qeynos is hell with that pathing wiz by the docks)

[Uteunayr]

That is because an iksar's and DE's cannot make stalking probes.
Gnomes never go oom, or low health.

Stalking Probes are not lore, and last I checked, rechargeable for cheap (like 20pp buyback). Additionally, come Velious: http://wiki.project1999.com/Holgresh_Elder_Beads completely replaces Stalking Probes.

The only problem with Stalking Probes is that they take your pet slot, so if you're using a pet, you gotta shaft them before the probe. Still, most necros should be carrying a pair of stalking probes.

Further, using Stalking Probes as HP/Mana sustain is great in a pinch, but I'd rather not lose the HP in the first place. The main reason why regeneration is so good for a necromancer is because lifetaps are so bad. They are really high mana cost for low damage and low healing. At the top, I believe they are a 2.2 efficiency. That's terrible. Being an Iksar, you lose HP less, so you need to lifetap less. Sure, gnomes may always have something to lifetap (as Iksar can with some pocket probes), but they will have to do it more than an Iksar who loses HP less.

I rolled dark elf on my necro before kunark was released for hide. But what I know now, go iksar 100%. At lvl 60 sittin regen is like wearing a fungi tunic on a necro( makes a huge difference). I would say go iksar, if you dont wana be kos everywhere go dark elf. Erudite sucks cause you will be kos in little spots( gettin thru qeynos is hell with that pathing wiz by the docks)

Yeah... The hide argument used to hold when racial hide was both IVU and Invis, but since they changed it a year back to make racial hide simply invis, Dark Elf Necros have a choice between an instant invis that sometimes works, and an instant invis that always works (CoS).

[xarilzir]

Thanks again all for the input I thought I would update how I got on...

So in the end I rolled an Iksar and to be honest.. I'm glad I rolled Iksar for a few reasons.

The regen that iksars get is in my opinion worth it, I never needed to worry about allure of death being up, the damage i took was low.. the race feels alot more mana efficient than its counterparts.. again this is my opinion.

Forage.. great tool! spam that button and no need to worry about food stops.. well.. its a good boost.

Yeah it sucks not having anywhere to get spells on the main land however

a. pay a new char to buy them for you.
b. set up a mule and ground transfer them.
c. run back to cab via the pots (done this a few times was not bad at all)

Tail.... enough said..

I am currently level 34 and really enjoying the class and race that I selected.. I can also understand why people decide to go with a different race, my advice after doing this is play the class/race you enjoy as lets face it.. you will spend alot of time looking at it and if you dont like it... you wont play!

Thanks again all for help on this! really appreciated.

[Priceline]

Technically post call of bones you'll be looking at a skeleton the entire time!

I tried Iksar after getting my human nec to 18, lasted a few hours and went back to my first one. Sure at the "end game" it would be more efficient but that would just make things easier, I'd rather gimp myself in some way to make it more interesting.