Best Class/Race combo for complete EQ/MMORPG newbs

[Thulghor]

So a number of my friends are interested in trying this game out.

Some of these folks are completely new to MMORPGs in general. So I'm wondering, what's a decent race/class combo for utterly new people starting out?

I figured that good races would be easier than bad, and melee classes are generally easier to play mechanics wise, but can be largely unforgiving as time moves on. The hybrid exp penalty will probably be frustrating as well.

As far as casters go, supposedly Magician isn't that complicated. However, after that point things get fuzzy. I've been playing EQ for too long.

Any advice would be much appreciated. :-)

[Korain]

That one that does all of the things.

That depends on what the intent is. Are you all going to be a static group that will be consistently leveling together? Come August 2nd (for blue), hybrid exp penalties won't matter. It could be later into Velious, as I'm not positive when exactly those were removed.

Magician is mind-numbingly simple. Summon pet, sic pet, wait, nuke. Throw damage shields on your party, summon mod rods when need be.

Rogue is very simple if you need dps. Hide/sneak is an easy concept to grasp, and hitting backstab every 10 seconds in combat is also mind-numbingly simple.

I would recommend you start in Freeport, or at least have easy access to it, that way you have easy access to the rest of the world. People don't often come Qeynos side, as it might be considered out of the way.

Those are things I can think of at the moment.

[Omnifiend]

Honestly, I would recommend them playing what appeals to them the most in the description. Back in 2000 shortly after the game came out, I decided to give it a go. I was also a complete RPG and of course MMO noob. I didn't have any fun at any class I chose because they were "recommended" for noobs. I didn't start having fun till I played what appealed to me...Monk.

Didn't matter the game was harder because I had zero anything, and couldn't figure out how to get groups for a while. I was having fun even if I could only kill something once every 5 or 6 minutes.

In my experience making it work based off what people WANT to play is always going to be more succesful in the long run than trying to make that perfect group combo.

[gprater]

Play whatever race appeals to you. It really wont matter much in the end. afterall its a game. Too many folks treat it like a vocation.
While there are more people In freeport starting in qeynos will give new players the most starting money. The rabid pelts quest(doable at level 5) are great xp and coin. Gnoll fangs are great xp and bandit sashes are tremendous xp and coin for a level 12ish toon. After that nearby North karana offers the chance at more coin with the Greater lightstone quest.You could very easily make 200-300 plat by level 15.
my 2cents worth

[Barkingturtle]

Total MMO newbs, you say?

Best bet is probably Night Elf hunter, imo.

[Tann]

Total MMO newbs, you say?

Best bet is probably Night Elf hunter, imo.

Troll Hunter for 2 reasons:

1. Horde
2. Jahhh Mon

[Thulghor]

Closest thing I ever got these people to try MMO-wise was probably Marvel Heroes or Diablo 3.

[kremlar]

I'ld suggest things that are going to have some decent self sufficiency and also perform well in groups with mediocre gear. Which generally means any of the pure casters except cleric.

It's not that you can't level a warrior or something up from scratch, it's just way more of a hassle when you could be a necro with pets and CC and feign death and the ability to solo mobs that give xp. Or a druid with SoW and teleports and tracking and leather bucket seats.

Necros are druids are the two standouts in my mind, but they're all really in that same ballpark of being able to grind solo, move around the game world easily, and make great contributions to a group with just cloth and assorted bric a brac equipped.

[Credge]

Magicians make fantastic starting characters. You learn how to control a pet, how to nuke, how to hold agro, and how and when to heal. You get to mess with tons of summons, do not rely on food, and only rely on malachite and lapis (is that a thing here?). They are extremely self reliant and are useful in groups with the variety of pets.

[Vaelsek]

Troll Hunter for 2 reasons:

1. Horde
2. Jahhh Mon

There is no reason for recommending this ^. Let's not deter people from the community. :)

Also, the original comment was that "Some of these folks are completely new to MMORPGs in general." and this was all of us at one point on classic EQ, which is what kept us coming back after all these years. No other MMORPG could compare to classic EQ, so if these people enjoy themselves, then we will have some great new members to Project 1999.

If they are just starting out, I would suggest they try out a few classes and see what type of play style they enjoy. Also, try to stick with races that have good starting areas like Qeynos or somewhere on Faydwer. Perhaps classes like necromancer, druid, cleric, enchanter, paladin, and magician would work due to lower down-time than some others.

Whatever way they go, they will find what they like. I have tried everything and I always come back to wizard. I like seeing those big numbers. :cool:

[Lojik]

Probably let them see which description fits them, just don't let them choose ranger. If they're at all interested in monk, enc, sham, probably steer them that way.

[B4EQWASCOOL]

Anything that travels well and has invisibility. Druid/Wizard/Bard it's nice to be able to explore.

[Deckk]

Don't tell them to try anything. Let them figure it out. I'd just arm them with information:

1. Evil races/Neutral races/Good races/Hated by everyone races
2. Evil classes
3. XP penalties (they won't go away until a few months into Velious, from what I understand)

I wouldn't even offer your opinion to them. Arm them with facts and let them choose. It'll work out much better for them.

[Vaelsek]

Don't tell them to try anything. Let them figure it out. I'd just arm them with information:

1. Evil races/Neutral races/Good races/Hated by everyone races
2. Evil classes
3. XP penalties (they won't go away until a few months into Velious, from what I understand)

I wouldn't even offer your opinion to them. Arm them with facts and let them choose. It'll work out much better for them.

This is also a great recommendation. Whatever route they go, they will most likely want to have starting areas relatively close to one another. They are going to have a difficult time playing together if one person starts on Kunark, another in Qeynos, and another on Faydwer. You should let them know that low level traveling over long distances can be a bit dangerous if they do not know the game yet.

[Voland]

Necros are druids are the two standouts in my mind, but they're all really in that same ballpark of being able to grind solo, move around the game world easily, and make great contributions to a group with just cloth and assorted bric a brac equipped.

Druids and Wizards move around the world easily, all others pay them for ports :)

[Grombar]

Depending how many people you have in order.. the 6th slot can be occupied by anything. All but the druid can start Qeynos, or Freeport. The druids are short runs from either city.
Pally/SK
Cleric
Rogue/Monk
Mage/wizard
druid/sham/necro/ench

[Waedawen]

Any and all of the wisdom or intelligence classes are good to start out with. Necromancer, Shaman, Magician and Druid are all very good 'starter' classes, I think that have quite a bit of versatility and room for error.

Melee and tank classes suck for learning the game. And they are extremely weak in the early levels, too. Someone who plays a Necro as a first toon is much more likely to stick around than a Rogue as a first character. Pet classes are extremely powerful if your friends plan on leveling up together. You simply do not need a tank class. And you can always make friends with one.

[Millburn]

The fastest way to have someone lose interest in playing Everquest (who is new and unfamiliar) is to have them play a class that's boring and mono-faceted. Despite that class also being easy to play, that's not really the question though was it? The question was what is the best, not the easiest. To answer that I think the clear choice is Halfling Druid.

Halfling is self evident, they're halflings but Druid is the perfect class for a lot of reasons. See a druid will introduce a player more or less to almost every complex mechanic expected of a person in Everquest. Except you also get the leeway of not having a lot of stress on your efficacy at it. So it's a no-pressure role that allows a person to hunker down and just heal spam when they're confused or overloaded. Or it lets them spread their wings and start doing DS's, snares, TP's to pick up members, kiting, etc...

I guess what I'm trying to get at is that a Druid will keep a new person INVOLVED because it gives them a set of responsibilities that at face value are very easy to mete out but if given initiative and interest can do a lot more.

[Pyrocat]

I think caster classes in general will keep people involved. Melee don't really have the continual reward drip that casters do. It's important to give people stuff to look forward to, otherwise they just see it as an endless grind to 60. Being like "hey you're playing a necro? man I can't wait until lvl 16 when you get feign death" is a lot more likely to keep someone playing then "hey you're playing a rogue? man I can't wait until... uh... you do more dps? so like, 55?". Dual wield and other new skill milestones like feign death or backstab can fill that role to some extent but they are fewer and farther between.

For reference's sake, between lvl 1 and 50:
Int casters get 13 spell levels
Wis casters get 12 spell levels
Hybrids get 7 spell levels
and Bards get a new song every level (and a bunch of cool skills)

If you can try and find some videos of higher level gameplay for each of the classes it might give them a better idea of what to expect, and with that information they can better pick what interests them. Hard to tell what makes a class unique at early levels; until lvl 10 everyone is pretty much a warrior.

[Tyrrion]

Whatever you do, don't start in Freeport. EC is one of the most painful zones to level from 5-10 if you can't get an orc group (usually full). Things get better once you can go Dervs -> Oasis, but until then it really sucks trying to find pumas and scarabs (which are stretched few and far between) while constantly getting jumped by Air Elementals and Mummies.

I'd recommend Faydwer for newbies, Butcherblock being one of my favorite zones in particular. The continent in general is pretty well split up into level-appropriate groups with numerous camps for all levels, and the dungeon progression through Crushbone -> Unrest -> Mistmoore is great training for serious grouping (as well as a ton of fun).

[Rararboker]

I guess you've never gone to befallen. I highly suggest neriak and freeport as starting cities.

[Dabasher]

I would say the following three class/race combos are the easiest for a new player, in order:

1. Wood Elf Druid
2. High Elf Magician
3. Barbarian Shaman

Greater Faydark is probably the best starting zone in the game, and even now when you go there you see a lot of new players grouping. A lot of people think Freeport is the best area to start, but for a new player all that auction spam can be overwhelming, plus people are constantly giving you insane buffs/handout items which can skew your perspective of the game.

Everfrost isn't great for grouping, but it's a solid newbie zone with a steady stream of mobs and Halas is small (so they won't get too lost like in Neriak) and has everything you need. Really in the long run the shaman class is just convenient to play because they get so many helpful spells, and Barbarians are the only 'good' race that can be a Shaman. Druids are similar, and mages are just easy. So that's why I recommend those three. If one of each picked those three they could group together for many levels to come too =p

[Tyrrion]

I guess you've never gone to befallen. I highly suggest neriak and freeport as starting cities.

I've been, and I don't consider Befallen to be NEARLY as newbie friendly as Crushbone. Cramped spaces with lots of close-together spawns, lots of caster mobs with pets, and multiple key locks do not make for a good dungeon for newbies.

[Rararboker]

You don't learn EQ by taking the easy route.

[Tyrrion]

I wouldn't recommend learning how to use a hammer by pounding nails with your face. You won't learn much about hammers, and you'll just hurt yourself to the point that you'll never want to do it again.

You don't learn how to be a mountain climber by starting on K2.

[Rararboker]

Bad comparisons all around. If I could master befallen at age 12 then I am sure adults can manage. Have some faith in them.

[B4EQWASCOOL]

Try red, ladies.