A different kind of "which class" thread

[Atlienz]

I've only recently started playing EQ again here at p99 and while I wish I'd known about p99 before now, starting out just before Velious has had its perks. The community has been incredibly generous and helpful and I've really enjoyed getting to know the few I've met along the way.

With that said, I've had a really difficult time figuring out which class to focus on. I've leveled a druid and bard to 20 and a shaman, necro and monk to low teens. I've had some limitations with the druid and bard because of my playing situation. I travel a lot for work and unfortunately right now I'm playing on a very small laptop (not ideal at all) and a lot of time I'm playing in and out of different locations using the track pad to target and move. While this is far from the ideal gaming I get with my desktop rig, it is the reality of my work right now. I wanted the communities help deciding which class I should play because of these reasons. I have found kiting (both bard and druid) to be difficult and it becomes inefficient due to having to zone or taking deaths. I've been thinking that a melee class probably makes the most sense to play as they are so boringly straight forward that a tiny laptop and track pad won't cause too many problems.

Do any of you veterans have suggestions on which class to play with the above limitations? I really want (and need) a strong solo class because my play time is sporadic at best and I really don't want to be dependent on groups and just keep letting people down over and over as I have to run.

I appreciate the thoughts and suggestions!

[Naxy]

I have never played a shaman, but isn't a shaman root dotting fairly static way of soloing? Wouldn't that work for you?

[Eredhel]

Mage sounds right up your alley. Might also buy a cheap wireless mouse.

[Sorn]

I have never played a shaman, but isn't a shaman root dotting fairly static way of soloing? Wouldn't that work for you?

Honestly, root kind of sucks in general for soloing because it breaks a lot.

I play a druid on a laptop with a trackpad :) Just gotta map out your keys right. The only time I break out the full-sized keyboard and tablet is if I'm in a group, just for more efficient targeting using the F# keys.

For a small laptop, I'd say monk would be easiest to operate, but they can be hard to solo in the upper levels. Necro, shaman, druid, and bard all have a lot of casting and strategizing to do because of the wide range of utility they have, which might be troublesome on a laptop keyboard. Necro and shaman both convert health to mana, so they tend to have less downtime than a druid later on.

Mage might be a good fit. They solo really well even if their pet likes to steal half their exp if they're not careful.

[Kowalski]

If you plan on soloing up then forget a melee class. Learn to quad kite or swarm kite. Before quading you can charm kite/fear kite.

[Tenlaar]

I would say make a mage to play while you're traveling, and once it has gotten a little higher in level you can use it to farm stuff to fund another character that you can play when you are home.

[Captiv8]

I also suggest buying a simple wireless mouse. I cant imagine playing with a touchpad

[Rararboker]

Necro. In your case being able to FD will be invaluable.

[pharmakos]

I also suggest buying a simple wireless mouse. I cant imagine playing with a touchpad

thirded. i played for years on a $150 asus netbook, and having a wireless mouse helped so much.

[Atlienz]

I appreciate all the replies! Here are some of the few thoughts I've had when thinking about it after your input.

Mage - seems like a very good class for what I'm looking for, but no ports, no speed, and a limited role in Velious raid environments has me concerned
Shaman - this could also work but the leveling up until 34 I heard is terrible without twinkage and there are so many shamans around
Druid - I would really like to at least level this toon to 34 for the ability to port to make a little money
Monk - Seems straight forward and has FD which as mentioned above would be great for someone like me; again very dependent on twink gear to be able to solo well and there are so many around
Necro - Is this a pretty straightforward class to play at higher levels (ironically never played one past early teens)? Or would this involve more micro management than what I'm looking for?

I'm thinking what I'll do is work hard at getting the druid to 34 (do some EK charming and then move to everfrost or something), make a little money porting, then really pick up with either Shaman, Mage, or Necro.

[nyclin]

Necro and Mage would be good options. Mage can solo static solo mobs all day long without any fancy tricks. Necro can fear kite or root rot, both of which are fairly passive in terms of mouse/camera movement.

[JurisDictum]

You might have enough combine wealth to start an Iksar necromancer. What (for some reason) is rarely said about them is that leveling research is a lot harder than other races, and their starting INT/STA sucks. However, regain is huge in later levels.
In general, it's a headache starting melee on a server full of twinks. I would level the druid first -- make some money and then make your melee character. Even a rogue (by far the least expensive) needs a good mainhand, offhand and haste.
A lot of people rec monks for new characters...I have no idea why you want to start with a character that cripples itself when it picks things up. You need to sell every stupid little thing starting out.
I've never really played bard yet, but I'm guessing their more expensive than casters to gear...they are a great class in demand though.

[Rararboker]

Iksar necro will be your best bet for needing minimal mouse usage. They can also solo large portions of kunark and old world undead for great money making. And like I said before, if you need to afk ever, FD is invaluable. Mages can't do that.

[Pipip]

I bring a mouse when I travel. I would be more concerned with unreliable hotel internet, but I also carry a wireless hotspot. Under those conditions, I play a Druid fairly often.

I wouldn't attempt bard swarm kiting with no mouse, but regular melee plus twisting is completely possible. It will seem really slow compared to swarming, but you'll have little downtime compared with most other classes

[Jimjam]

if you set up your keyboard controls and hot keys well you will barely need a mouse. alt 1-8 for spells. f1-6 for group members (double tap for pets). f7 for nearest player. f8 for npc.

bind a key to cycle thru npc targets. bind a key to tab between yourself and the previous target.

1-0 for hot keys. make a /ass key (use it to see which player a mob is fighting or on the main to see which mob is the groups main target).

learn to use the camera controls a minimised title window (shift t) makes an effective rear view mirror.

[jarshale]

I'd go with necro. Fear kiting is very hands off for the most part, you don't really need a full keyboard/mouse setup.

[curtischoy]

Necro root rot is so easy. You can even split pulls with fd, or in your case, use it while AFK. Not only that but they are a pretty fun class and have a ton of utility and are great soloers. So this way when you are not at work you won't be stuck with some lame character that you only play when at work.

Iksar is best race for necro because Dwarfs can't be necros.

[GreldorEQ]

I was able to play on a very old small laptop into my 50s as a druid. A mouse helped a ton. However, practice, hotkeys and screen setup really made it somewhat possible. I learned to trust the text more than the graphics.

Druiding is possible and completely doable on a terrible machine, as long as you're having fun!

[Charlievox]

I also suggest buying a simple wireless mouse. I cant imagine playing with a touchpad

I play exclusively on a laptop with a touchpad and do quite well regardless of what class I am playing. It's just a matter of setting up hotkeys, macros and key mapping. Once i figured out how to "right click" on my touchpad, everything else was easy.

Know your computer and your class and you should be fine.

[webrunner5]

Get a remote mouse, play your Druid, but Charm not Quad Kite. Win, Win. Great plat maker to help your drug habit on gear for other toons. :eek: