Best class for solo

[rtobyr]

I've never played Everquest before, and I don't know anyone who plays (besides which I only game casually). What would be the best class to solo play? I like to have what I call "utility" abilities. I don't know what that means on EQ, but in other RPG's, it could be: converting items into gold, creating food, identifying unknown items, recharging magic items with limited uses... that sort of thing.

[chipz]

Necro

[Issar]

As chipz says, Necro is a great starting point. Probably the least gear dependent class, followed by Mage. Necro has way more utility than a mage, who is pretty much a one trick pony. Enchanters are a great solo class, but they have a steeper learning curve. They are always welcome in groups as well.

If cloth casters are not your preference, Druids are another great choice. They have utility, solo really well and are not hugely gear dependent. At the highest levels, Shaman are the solo kings. However, they are a very gear dependent class.

If you're not a fan of clothies or priests, your options for effective solo are, Bards. Bards are great solo or in groups. They are not a gear dependent class in the least. They are categorized as a dps class, but it is universally known that their dps is pretty bad. They are the ultimate utility class that can dual wield and wear plate armor.

Other melee runner ups are ranger and shadowknights. Both are fairly gear dependent to effectively solo. Without significant gear neither class will level efficiently enough to compete with the above classes, but it can be done.

[Shift]

Shaman

Necromancer

Magician

Druid

Them are the most utilities I can think of.

[thufir]

Necromancer or shaman.

Necromancer is a really good soloer throughout their lifespan - probably more efficient than the shaman on any camp with enough room to fear kite - and require almost no equipment or money. They also have a huge back of tricks; you'll probably be discovering new things about your necromancer even pretty late in the game.

Shaman is probably the best soloer in the late game. They can solo camps that other people would hesitate to duo. They do, however, require a lot of money to get there (you'll need to buy torpor at the very least, which is a six digit purchase, and invest time in getting epic and maybe a jbb).

If you are new, necro is probably the best choice. Easy to solo, cheap to equip, but still has a lot to learn, and will scratch your utility itch.

Enchanter gets an honorable mention here, but I feel they are more difficult to play than either of those classes. It's definitely more dangerous.

[Daywolf]

Other melee runner ups are ranger and shadowknights. Both are fairly gear dependent to effectively solo. Without significant gear neither class will level efficiently enough to compete with the above classes, but it can be done.
w/o gear pretty much to solo you will fear kite. But they do fine in player crafted armor for the most part. There are good drops out there to piece stuff in, but not something you can get solo until many levels after unless you had been in a group. Still, easy money to buy those pieces at EC. Armor quests are in game, helps a lot, later in game anyway.

But yeah, necro is the easy money class. If the OP is only playing to maximize profits, then prolly necro. Me, I recommend finding a class you like, play the game for fun, not as a second job. I've never capped a necro, I just don't find it a fun class, though I have played it up mid-lvl back on live. But i know lots of people like the class, and the SK is pretty nice with necro spells etc.

[DarthMartigan]

Might I bring Bard up as best solo class.

Step 1: Hit level 2
Step 2: Learn to AE kite
Step 3: Learn to not be a tool while AE kiting
Step 4: Level 60 pretty darn quick

Bard is best utility class by far. Not dependent on gear. not dependent on mana. Great for groups if you can figure out pulling or CC. Later on you become vital on raids because resist songs and what you can bring for DPS (as in buffing other dps... you will never do dps).

[Cecily]

Enchanter has the highest potential. Hardest though... Well guess more shaman actually, but that takes ALOT of plat.

[Hiragawa]

Alright let's see...

"Utility" eh? Well, seeing as most MMO's after EQ did away with utility classes, I'm sure you'll be in for a treat with pretty much any of them here. Anyhow:

Converting items into gold You can't break items down like that here. Just vendor them or head to the East Commonlands tunnel and start shouting "WTS <item> xx Plat"

Creating Food Spell wise, nearly every caster. Mages in particular summon pretty much anything you can imagine. Tradeskill wise, anyone that wants to skill cooking.

identifying unknown items Not a thing. There is an identify spell, but it's not that sort of thing.

recharging magic items with limited uses Not something a class does. Some magic items can be 'recharged' through some tricky merchant manipulation. (See the wiki), others can be recharged through an NPC item turn in. And more items just can't be recharged.

As far as solo classes that have a lot of general utility, you can't be Bard. It can do, well, just about everything. It just does most of them for 18 seconds at a time. If you want super fast travel, Druids are great solo and have the ability to port all over the place. Necromancers can do some fancy tricks in a group as well as feed mana to other casters and are the ultimate "Welcome to EQ, here's how you solo" class.

Other good ones would be Shaman and Enchanter, although Enchanter will kick your teeth in if you try the fancy tricks without any idea what you're doing.

Hmmm... Mage is a really safe bet as well. They're sturdy soloers for most of the game and can summon up just about anything you'd need from thin air. Just keep your pet reagent stocked up and you're good to go.

Honestly, the only thing I'd suggest is not starting as an Iksar for your first character. Dive into the game on a good/neutralish race and figure out how the world works first. Nothing like finding a port out of Kunark and then realizing the entire world wants to rip your face off anytime you try and go near a town and not knowing where/how to bank/shop as one.

Welcome to the game ;)

[Whoop]

How well does Monk solo in early and end game? Twinked vs not twinked?

[Pyrion]

Monk solos pretty well early game, but as mobs get harder your solo ability goes down. They are very cheap to twink to a decent level... good monk weapons sell for 100pp or less.

So if you want a solo melee class, monk is the one that can kill the fastest. It could be argued that SKs and rangers can solo harder content due to fear kiting (in case of the ranger that is limited to animals), but monk will do more DPS.

Monk really is a great duo class. Especially monk/shaman is seen as one of the best duos at all.

[Baler]

Iksar Necro is exactly what the op is looking for.

I've never played Everquest before...
I like to have what I call "utility" abilities.

Playing a Iksar Necromancer will allow you to group or play solo. You get a nice list of utility spells including Root, Snare, Fear, Mana regen, feign death and some others.
Necros are solid all the way through leveling and even at end game content. Far less gear dependent then many other classes. So you can focus on leveling / enjoying the game rather then plat farming for gear to make your class good.

Why iksar? There is no other good choice for necro.

[lovecraft]

I'm planning out a few characters out when I start out. Since I like the Misty Thicket, I was thinking of starting out with a halfling Druid. I also like playing Enchanters but while playing TLE, it was a very tough choice between Dark Elf and Gnome. I liked both a lot especially with DE's Hide. I did eventually decide on a DE on TLE since their starting area/city was so close to the EC Tunnel. I might chose DE Enchanter again for P99.

I'm still completely undecided for what race I want to go with for Shaman and Necro. My original EQ1 character was a Barbarian Shaman while on TLE I had a Troll. I played a DE Necro on EQ2 but never tried one in any form of EQ1. I'm looking froward in giving it a try on P99 and again I haven't a clue in which race to pick.

[Kileras]

iksar necro hands down.

[Pope Hat]

Necro race is easy, iksar. You cannot beat the Regen. Also starting area (and really all of Kunark) is awesome

Shaman race is a debate that literally had 5-10 threads on these forums with 100+ posts. Of you are looking to mainly solo, I would go with ogre. Frontal stun immunity is amazing for soloing. Its great low lvl and only gets better as you progress.

[SamwiseRed]

gnome warrior solos pretty good

[iruinedyourday]

Necro race is easy, iksar. You cannot beat the Regen. Also starting area (and really all of Kunark) is awesome

Shaman race is a debate that literally had 5-10 threads on these forums with 100+ posts. Of you are looking to mainly solo, I would go with ogre. Frontal stun immunity is amazing for soloing. Its great low lvl and only gets better as you progress.

uh i would like to interupt and say that regen from iksar or troll is more valuble to a newbie shaman

http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/do-not-interupt-me-26009152.jpg

that said shaman is a great soloer, but only if they have the right gear and experience..

enchanter is hard, so as a newb you could fail pretty badly at it.

necro is the easiest class to learn, and can be difficult to master, like an enchanter.

Druid is pretty easy to pickup and master. It can be a fine soloer, though limited as to what it is they can solo. Luckaly there is enough of what they can solo out there to get them to 60 xp wise though.

Mage is good, pretty much easy come easy go class.. I definitly think its the most netflix & chill of the options.

Bards obviously have thier +/- and can solo to 60 but its the kind of soloing where you're like, "what's the point of this? I don't even like this class".

hmm thats about it for me!

[Pyrion]

gnome warrior solos pretty good

You are cruel.

[Zill]

uh i would like to interupt and say that regen from iksar or troll is more valuble to a newbie shaman

http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/do-not-interupt-me-26009152.jpg

that said shaman is a great soloer, but only if they have the right gear and experience..

enchanter is hard, so as a newb you could fail pretty badly at it.

necro is the easiest class to learn, and can be difficult to master, like an enchanter.

Druid is pretty easy to pickup and master. It can be a fine soloer, though limited as to what it is they can solo. Luckaly there is enough of what they can solo out there to get them to 60 xp wise though.

Mage is good, pretty much easy come easy go class.. I definitly think its the most netflix & chill of the options.

Bards obviously have thier +/- and can solo to 60 but its the kind of soloing where you're like, "what's the point of this? I don't even like this class".

hmm thats about it for me!
Nah I disagree. Ogres make the best Shaman hands down; Regen is helpful but not nearly as helpful as having way better stats and frontal stun immunity. An Ogre has a bigger canni pool to work with instead of a smaller one with Regen and they quite literally mow shit down in melee. Plus Trolls have an xp penalty which is horrible for noobs in my experience

[elwing]

Bards are the only one to are able to selo

[TripleLegit]

Bard. No one else can kill 42 monsters at the same time. Plus they look awesome in armor and are great fun in groups CCing and twisting

[solutionx]

bard for the speed you can level up.

necro for the utility spells and versatility (my pick).

shaman for solo ability and group/raid desirability, and the best at soloing single targets at level 60, if you have the spare ~200k for the spells.

[eqravenprince]

I am guessing this guy lasted a day maybe two. Would love to hear from him again to know he stuck around but I have my doubts. But a class for someone brand new to EQ that wants to solo is a magician in a good aligned race. Necromancer would be second choice.

[Troxx]

Nah I disagree. Ogres make the best Shaman hands down; Regen is helpful but not nearly as helpful as having way better stats and frontal stun immunity. An Ogre has a bigger canni pool to work with instead of a smaller one with Regen and they quite literally mow shit down in melee. Plus Trolls have an xp penalty which is horrible for noobs in my experience

Ogre xp penalty -15%
Troll is -20%

Penalty and xp rate is shockingly similar and the starting stats are not all that different either.

Regen is more than just 'helpful' and a slightly bigger hp pool means ass when you're regening that much slower. Frontal stun immunity is cute, but not a game changer like regen.

[Thiefboy777]

How well does Monk solo in early and end game? Twinked vs not twinked?

A monk has utility:

Melee dps

Tank

Can replace a crowd control class by pulling single mobs

Can go anywhere without dying

[iruinedyourday]

Bard. No one else can kill 42 monsters at the same time. Plus they look awesome in armor and are great fun in groups CCing and twisting

OP did not ask, what is best class to solo in Over There DL and BW and NOWHERE ELSE :D

[Nixtar]

Frontal stun immunity is cute, but not a game changer like regen.

Neither are game changers. They're nice perks to have but that's it. As a shaman you've got heals, regen spells, canni, torpor(down the line). Also, the slow spells become so powerful that the stun immunity doesnt play a very large part either.

The shaman class has such a complete spell line it doesn't really matter. For me, I'd choose ogre because of looking adorable when shrunk.