Best Caster Class for a returning player?

[Gnomish Elite]

So, I used to play a Mage on live and I'm excited to be back.

I'm looking to rock a Gnome or Erudite pure caster again for my return to the game. Any suggestions on which caster class would be ideal for a guy who is starting from scratch?

Also any pointers for making some plat for spells early on is greatly appreciated. I remember you could always sell bone chips for like 5pp a stack back in the day. Is that still a thing?

:cool:

[Jimjam]

Whichever class you choose, just be wary of rolling gnome.

Gnome has a high association with RMT, two boxing, cheating, hacking, drug misuse and so on.

Knowing is half the battle. Enjoy your Erudite.

Oh, and all the casters are good for starting from scratch, but the other 3 are leagues ahead of wizards in most aspects.

Just save up the rusty weapons worth more than 1 gold and sell cloth armour if you have to.

At level 5 turn in your bone chip collection is Kaladim. Skip the unimportant spells when you have a limited budget. Don't waste money on equipment.

[Gnomish Elite]

Gnome has a high association with RMT, two boxing, cheating, hacking, drug misuse and so on.

Is this for real, or do you not like gnomes? Also what is RMT?

[Gnomish Elite]

Whichever class you choose, just be wary of rolling gnome.

Gnome has a high association with RMT, two boxing, cheating, hacking, drug misuse and so on.

Knowing is half the battle. Enjoy your Erudite.

Oh, and all the casters are good for starting from scratch, but the other 3 are leagues ahead of wizards in most aspects.

Just save up the rusty weapons worth more than 1 gold and sell cloth armour if you have to.

At level 5 turn in your bone chip collection is Kaladim. Skip the unimportant spells when you have a limited budget. Don't waste money on equipment.

Also thank you for the pointers. No wiz. Got it.

Where do I turn in bone chips in Kal? :D

[Scrapiron]

Also thank you for the pointers. No wiz. Got it.

Where do I turn in bone chips in Kal? :D

In the Paladin guild in Northa Kaladim

Enjoy your gnome. Also, if you go Gnome Necro or (Bertox follower) you probably won't have the faction to do the bone chip turn in for Kaladim.

[Jimjam]

Is this for real, or do you not like gnomes? Also what is RMT?

I just don't like gnomes ;)

RMT is exchanging money/services outside a p99 server for money/services inside a p99 server. It is not allowed. Basically people aren't allowed to make a profit off this emulator server (for legal reasons?).

There is a really good wiki (http://wiki.project1999.com/) for the p99 servers.

search "bone chips quest" click the link and select kaladim takes you to http://wiki.project1999.com/Bone_Chips_Kaladim

The one in kaladim is the best one for xp. You might not be able to do it if you are a necromancer as the hand in is done at the paladin/cleric area.

[Gnomish Elite]

In the Paladin guild in Northa Kaladim

Enjoy your gnome. Also, if you go Gnome Necro or (Bertox follower) you probably won't have the faction to do the bone chip turn in for Kaladim.

Awesome! Thank you. I'll probably avoid the bad faction headache and go good Mage unless anybody can persuade me otherwise. Thanks for the tips.

[Gnomish Elite]

I just don't like gnomes ;)

RMT is exchanging money/services outside a p99 server for money/services inside a p99 server. Basically people aren't allowed to make a profit off this emulator server (for legal reasons?).

There is a really good wiki (http://wiki.project1999.com/) for the p99 servers.

search "bone chips quest" click the link and select kaladim takes you to http://wiki.project1999.com/Bone_Chips_Kaladim

The one in kaladim is the best one for xp. You might not be able to do it if you are a necromancer as the hand in is done at the paladin/cleric area.

haha nice! The shorties are troublemakers I know. ;)

Thanks for the guidance. I'll make good use of the wiki and be sure to bone chip it up with the Dwarves!

All the best!

[Webeporting]

Imo go dark elf mage, gives you early access to ec tunnels while being able to farm bone chips, and you can get clarity 2/buffs at tunnel ent always to help 5-20.

[Gnomish Elite]

Imo go dark elf mage, gives you early access to ec tunnels while being able to farm bone chips, and you can get clarity 2/buffs at tunnel ent always to help 5-20.

Will DE give me a lot of faction troubles if I go agnostic?

[Scrapiron]

Will DE give me a lot of faction troubles if I go agnostic?

go enchanter and play as whatever race you feel like at the moment, and you'll have the minimum of faction problems.

[Spyder73]

Enchanter is a hell of a class to start with. You will always have a group and you can make millions of PP exploiting Chardok proxy sales when you get 55+ so that you can fund a super twink melee and face roll the game.

Mage/Wizard would be my least recommended - Echanter/necro the most if you are comfortable Charming

[kgallowaypa]

I'm going to say play an enchanter for a few reasons below:

1.) It is the most profitable caster class done right. You can solo most any camp at 60, duo/trio 99% of content, and begin twinking out your alts. see: https://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80165

2.) Its easy and cheap to get around as C2 and other mind buffs will greatly be appreciated by druids

3.) Its even easier to get around with faction spells

4.) Its the most rewarding active casting class, you are in control of the camp when your in a dungeon with CC. It also requires the most concentration so don't expect to AFK that much in an active camp, this returns a lot of satisfaction.

5.) Enchanter charming opens you up to a slew of mobs, both live and dead, that completely changes gameplay and in some events can downright break the game (See torch quad haste in the enchanter guide)

6.) On the wiki, there is a few VERY detailed and helpful guides that even I find myself going back to time and time to get reference points. As well as other enchanters in-game that are very friendly and willing to assist you since they all have done the grind and have a lot of dungeon/mob experience. See: http://wiki.project1999.com/Players:Adventure

Theres a ton of other stuff but I really enjoyed maining a chanter and having the ability to farm almost anything in the game and meet a bunch of great friends along the way.

As far as downsides, I can only speak from experience, but here is what I have found:

1.) Raiding with a chanter is basically a buffbot. There are save occurences when your needed to mez stuff in sky and potentially charm an add when going after world bosses, but this will be the 5 % of your raiding experience..

2.) Horrible 2 mobs to camp for your epic as they are extremely contested (Verina and Vessel) and on a 2-7 day variance... The rest of the epic is not as bad but due to the competition and static spawn, expect to be trolled many many times before you actually can down them both: https://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=243710

3.) Of the core caster classes, Enchanters are very gear dependent for soloing tough content: Stat gear, consumables, pet toys, etc and a few of bag of tinkerers can set you back really fast when you are just starting to amass your millions of plat (lol)

4.) Enchanters get the most lines of spells within classic everquest so expect to be constantly swapping spell slots and fill multiple roles [CC, DPS, mind buffs, haste buffs]. Even with top gear, the mana these spells cost, and even with tapping, can leave you oom if something goes haywire in HS/Seb which is usually often.

There's probably more but yeah, either way give it a shot, but don't stop once you get breeze. If your chanter goes past lvl 54 when you finally get C2, you either love this class or don't, you will find your niche :)

[Doctor Jeff]

Enchanters start getting rich at level 40 and never stop.

Solid first choice.

[Gnomish Elite]

Wow, a lot of love for enchanters. I'll be honest I'd considered/favored them the least of all the casters up until this point mainly because I'd heard they were very complicated to play.

I'll do some more homework on what they have to offer spell/role wise.

Very helpful feedback. Thanks all!

[Scrapiron]

Wow, a lot of love for enchanters. I'll be honest I'd considered/favored them the least of all the casters up until this point mainly because I'd heard they were very complicated to play.

I'll do some more homework on what they have to offer spell/role wise.

Very helpful feedback. Thanks all!

They tend to be the least forgiving of the squishy classes, and take some work to be good at, and even more work to be great at. But the rewards are greater.

[RDawg816]

You will die, a lot. If you can master them, however, they are very powerful. If so, you can keep you and your group from wiping where other players would have been demolished.

[Trungep99]

if you pick mage, id say gnome is the most helpful for the small size to help them look through walls; this is really more so for end game content when you are tracking a mob and have to look through the wall to see it spawn and then start casting call of the hero.

id say necros and mages solo the best at the lowest levels. chanters become great soloers later on. My personal preference is necro because they can fear kite, control their pet, and many anti undead spells. I can solo yellows on my necro at lvl 25 in an out door setting.

[QFuzzle]

Don't worry about that "Gnome = Higher association with RMT" crap. Choose what race you want to play and play clean. You won't get bonked for playing clean (and if you do for some reason, just let them know and GM/Admins will work to get things fixed).

Also, Gnomes can see through walls better than tall races. That's a pretty sweet reason to be a short race.

[QFuzzle]

Quick class breakdown:

Mage - very strong solo play at lower levels. Mob strength outgrow pet's ability to tank, but pet dps makes for decent constant dps on top of mage nukes (or when mage is medding). Pretty fun class. Can summon pretty much anything you need in the game (including lev rings and enduring breath items that are tradable and don't require a reagant; as well as people! (very handy in late game)). Closest thing to root or snare you have is earth pet root. Epic pet is very strong and worth having.

Wizard - hard class to start as. Eventually gets both root and snare (very handy). Can ae kite decently well with ae snare and ae nukes. Best teleporting class in the game (can teleport groups and single targets, and only class that can teleport people to their bind point). Best nukes in the game - some of the hardest hitting, as well as nukes that are very hard to resist. Can choose from multiple elements to nuke with. One of the least seen classes in the game. Also one of the best AFK classes to play.

Enchanter - loved by all. Illusions for days (can get into lots of cities). CHA buff. Mind buffs. Best hastes in the game. Able to solo very well late game (with charming). In charge of crowd-control (via mezzing, slowing, rooting, etc). A very busy class that always needs to be on their game or else crap can go south.

Necro - very self-sufficient. Usually picked primarily for their solo play. Jack-of-all-trades, but usually only for self. Pet doesn't do a lot of dps later on, but necro's dots add up pretty nicely. Mana for days through conversion and leeching. Can act as a mana battery to give mana to others (this is an important role as a raiding necro). Also able to heal others. Can self-succor at night in their 50's. Can mez. Able to charm undead and haste pet. Good snare ability. Gets root in their middle levels. Master of kiting via snare (doom line), fear, pet, dots, leech, and mana conversion.

As a rule of thumb, it's highly recommended to get jboots playing as any of these classes, although moreso as a kiting class.

[kgallowaypa]

Wow, a lot of love for enchanters. I'll be honest I'd considered/favored them the least of all the casters up until this point mainly because I'd heard they were very complicated to play.

I'll do some more homework on what they have to offer spell/role wise.

Very helpful feedback. Thanks all!

Enchanters are not complicated to play, just complicated to play well.

A barebones noob enchanter is only expected to CC and that's IT from 1-30 ish. Usually in groups, you will always have a Shaman so you don't need to worry about slows and sometimes haste up until your 40's. Once you start breaking into 40's territory its generally expected you charm and juggle CC with other things. but I have found the high level of play and skilled player on p99, a group will feel you out and ask if you are comfortable within your reasons. There's usually a monk that will love to tag with you for the haste bonus so you have 2 scenarios in a static mid tier group:

1.) A monk will split pull for the group so things are safe, but slow. Always have AoE mesmerization up just for the oh crap moment.

or

2.) You are impatient with the monk and ask for them to pull a train. Just kidding but you will see many different types of static groups and especially in 2016, a lot of twinked out chars with fungi's and stuff that can handle a few extra adds. root is also a CC

The proving grounds for an enchanter is grouping from 5-16 when you get almost all of your spell lines and get a taste for breeze. That usually weeds them out ;)

[Gnomish Elite]

First off, thanks to everybody for being so helpful. It's awesome for a new guy to get this much positive feedback from a community right off the bat. Very cool!

Second, based on everything I'm reading, I'd say mage & necro are most suited to my play style (although I will be reading up more on the enchanter since everybody seems to favor it). I'm a fan of the pet classes. I have a few questions about both:

Mage:
I remember solo being pretty easy with a mage. At what level roughly will groups become a must? I'm not all about solo but it would be nice to be able to if I am only on for a short bit or something.

How passive are mages? I seem to remember a lot of send your DS'd pet in, throw a nuke or two here or there and sit/med. That the case in P99?

Necro:
How big of a deal is bad faction? I seem to remember it being a pain in the ass being evil because I always liked to travel a lot. If it's just a matter of learning the best ways to get around as an evil toon, I'm good with that. If it's more than that I'd like to know up front.

I keep hearing be an Iksar or don't bother with a necro. Is this really that big of an advantage? I really don't like the look of the Iksar, don't want to be hated absolutely everywhere (although hated in most spots may not be a huge issue depending on the answer to my above question), and just won't enjoy the experience.

Also what are the raid roles for both? From what I gather Mage is a call of the hero bot/dps, and necro is a mana battery. Sound right?

[kgallowaypa]

I keep hearing be an Iksar or don't bother with a necro. Is this really that big of an advantage? I really don't like the look of the Iksar, don't want to be hated absolutely everywhere (although hated in most spots may not be a huge issue depending on the answer to my above question), and just won't enjoy the experience.


Ripped straight from Sesserdrix's guide:

Iksar is the ideal min-max race for a necromancer. Iksars have the ability to forage, they have additional AC, but most importantly, they have regeneration. Regeneration as a bonus to a necromancer is difficult to compare to any other racial. It is something that creeps up on you as a necromancer, as you don't really notice it until you're 49+. What is so good about regeneration is that it curbs off your HP loss from your lich spells. These spells reduce your HP and give you a lot of Mana. To curb the HP loss, you use lifetaps to get your health back. But using lifetaps is very low damage for the high mana it costs, resulting in low efficiency. This means that having regeneration allows you to use less mana on lifetaps, and more mana on efficient damage, which results in you killing more enemies in the same amount of time.

Iksars get an experience penalty, but in return for that penalty, you get a power that no other necromancer has, or ever can rival with gear, that makes you kill more stuff. I cannot stress to you enough how big a deal being an Iksar is, and how irreplaceable the regeneration trait is. I played Uteunayr up to level 60 as a Dark Elf, and rolled a second necromancer, Sesserdrix, just because of regeneration. I urge you that if you care about producing the best output you can, that you should go Iksar.

[Gnomish Elite]

Ripped straight from Sesserdrix's guide:

Iksar is the ideal min-max race for a necromancer. Iksars have the ability to forage, they have additional AC, but most importantly, they have regeneration. Regeneration as a bonus to a necromancer is difficult to compare to any other racial. It is something that creeps up on you as a necromancer, as you don't really notice it until you're 49+. What is so good about regeneration is that it curbs off your HP loss from your lich spells. These spells reduce your HP and give you a lot of Mana. To curb the HP loss, you use lifetaps to get your health back. But using lifetaps is very low damage for the high mana it costs, resulting in low efficiency. This means that having regeneration allows you to use less mana on lifetaps, and more mana on efficient damage, which results in you killing more enemies in the same amount of time.

Iksars get an experience penalty, but in return for that penalty, you get a power that no other necromancer has, or ever can rival with gear, that makes you kill more stuff. I cannot stress to you enough how big a deal being an Iksar is, and how irreplaceable the regeneration trait is. I played Uteunayr up to level 60 as a Dark Elf, and rolled a second necromancer, Sesserdrix, just because of regeneration. I urge you that if you care about producing the best output you can, that you should go Iksar.

Wow, sounds game-breakingly better. I guess mage it is haha.

[Trungep99]

First off, thanks to everybody for being so helpful. It's awesome for a new guy to get this much positive feedback from a community right off the bat. Very cool!

Second, based on everything I'm reading, I'd say mage & necro are most suited to my play style (although I will be reading up more on the enchanter since everybody seems to favor it). I'm a fan of the pet classes. I have a few questions about both:

Mage:
I remember solo being pretty easy with a mage. At what level roughly will groups become a must? I'm not all about solo but it would be nice to be able to if I am only on for a short bit or something.

How passive are mages? I seem to remember a lot of send your DS'd pet in, throw a nuke or two here or there and sit/med. That the case in P99?

Necro:
How big of a deal is bad faction? I seem to remember it being a pain in the ass being evil because I always liked to travel a lot. If it's just a matter of learning the best ways to get around as an evil toon, I'm good with that. If it's more than that I'd like to know up front.

I keep hearing be an Iksar or don't bother with a necro. Is this really that big of an advantage? I really don't like the look of the Iksar, don't want to be hated absolutely everywhere (although hated in most spots may not be a huge issue depending on the answer to my above question), and just won't enjoy the experience.

Also what are the raid roles for both? From what I gather Mage is a call of the hero bot/dps, and necro is a mana battery. Sound right?

yes about necros in high end raids

in addition to CotH mages are also mod rod mules too. they really dont dps in raids since mod rods are so important for clerics / healers to keep their mana pool up. + high level raid targets may have a very high resist to fire spells.

Pets can be problematic in high end raids (the ones that have aoe dmg spells) because if they get low hp the raid target will turn around to kill it and that means it wont be facing the tank (which can lead to other issues).

don't put so much care behind being liked in enemy towns because that means you have another location you can xp off of guards later on >=).
From my experience evil erudites and humans can travel to more cities than dark elves or Iksar. My erudite SK can safely travel through Rivervale, most of Qeynos, all of Freeport, some of neriak, some of erudin, i have tried the elf or dwarf towns. i dont know about evil gnomes

[DMN]

If I recall right at level 60 with the best lich spell at that level iksars only take half the damage of other races..

I've never gotten out a calculator to add up the difference between them as it relates to mana battery efficiency. But it doesn't take a genius to realize 30 damage a tick versus 15 is massive.

Half the necros in the uber guild I was in back in the day actually quit the game when kunark came out, the other half rerolled or just stopped playing the class(most rolled rogus which needed more of anyway -- thanks kunark!). Non icky monks bitched a bit but didn't seem to quit or switch as readily as necros.

As a necro,(iksar or otherwise) being hated isn't that big of a deal thanks to invisibility, feign death, harm shield, and skeleton illusion.

[Matalus]

Really depends on your play style. Me personally knowing no one when I came to this server, I made a wizard as my main(I was a mage on live also).

A. I don't need to rely on groups, I can afk when I want to.
B. I can get around a lot easier.
C. I can make a few plat selling ports here and there.
D. I would just quad kite till mana gone, then afk 10min or whatever and get stuff done around house. Where as other classes you would be at it with no down time.

If you're thinking long run and raids....every one of those classes are needed and of use. Sure there is more demand for certain vs others, but I promise you there won't be a guild saying, sorry don't need your class at this time. Downfall with wizard tho is odds are you won't get (pug)groups unless have some friends higher end as most other classes are more useful in groups. Knowing that I came to this server with intent of raiding high end also and didn't play that in a factor in my decision.

[Matalus]

nt

[Josa]

Read this http://wiki.project1999.com/Xornns_Enchanter_Guide
And you will want to be an enchanter. I've played mine naked with no problem, but gear does make it easier.

[Morningbreath]

Wow, sounds game-breakingly better. I guess mage it is haha.

What that regen graph doesn't show is all downtime incurred by being kos in the entire old world. Every town is like vendoring/banking in a dungeon and even necro guilds will kos you.

Never mind that both lifetap lines and the heat dots are the most reliable spells a necro has in terms of resists. Snare and fear are double save. Poison and disease dots have a DD compenent that any shaman can tell you cause a ton of resists.

So if you're tapping less often you'll be casting the above spells instead and there are no partial resists on any of them. In my experience its more efficient to use spells that land 100% of time as part of your rotation.

[JurisDictum]

Wow, sounds game-breakingly better. I guess mage it is haha.

To push back on this a little, I just want to point out that its very unlikely to matter much for grouping (conventionally) or raiding. It's really only in soloing or "combos" that you are likely to miss the regeneration.

So by the time you are late enough in the game for the starting stats to be trivial, you will probably end up grouping and raiding most your time. Before then, Iksar starting stats are kind of bad, it sucks to be KoS everywhere (especially on a no boxing server), and their regeneration isn't even that good until their 50s or something.

All that being said, it is really cool for soloing to have regeneration. I have a necro and it is Iksar. But I had plenty of pp to twink him out, and deal with the research problem Iksar have (no free research like every other race). I didn't have to worry about the small amount of pp lost selling stuff to vendors etc.. It would be a lot harder for a lizard starting from scratch.

[Gnomish Elite]

Thanks again all. I've done some homework and landed on a high elf mage. Are there any advantages of worshipping a god or should I just go agnostic?

[wisenhemier]

generally being agnostic is a good call, but if you follow Tunare you will be able to use
http://wiki.project1999.com/Chord_of_Vines

[NegaStoat]

There might be some Velious quests (plane of growth?) as well as cultural blacksmithed armor pieces a Tunare High Elf could access. It's not like High Elves will be welcome in any evil zones or outposts regardless of what they do so you might as well go for a god.

[JurisDictum]

Tunare wouldn't be bad. It's nice not to be KoS in Plane of Growth and to be able to do those easy quests. I don't think there is anything that hates Tunare worshipers but is cool with agnostic high elves. They tend to overlap.

Edit: I think there would be very few situations it would matter. But Tunare would probably make you unwelcome to all evil casters. Where as if you were agnostic, you could probably go to any non-Dark Elf evil caster hub like Paineel or East Freeport just fine. Its far more convenient to be good anyway.

[Gnomish Elite]

generally being agnostic is a good call, but if you follow Tunare you will be able to use
http://wiki.project1999.com/Chord_of_Vines

Oh that looks pretty nice

[Gnomish Elite]

Tunare wouldn't be bad. It's nice not to be KoS in Plane of Growth and to be able to do those easy quests. I don't think there is anything that hates Tunare worshipers but is cool with agnostic high elves. They tend to overlap.

Edit: I think there would be very few situations it would matter. But Tunare would probably make you unwelcome to all evil casters. Where as if you were agnostic, you could probably go to any non-Dark Elf evil caster hub like Paineel or East Freeport just fine. Its far more convenient to be good anyway.

Alright I'll likely go Tunare then. Thanks!

[Gnomish Elite]

There might be some Velious quests (plane of growth?) as well as cultural blacksmithed armor pieces a Tunare High Elf could access. It's not like High Elves will be welcome in any evil zones or outposts regardless of what they do so you might as well go for a god.

Good point. Tunare it is!

[Izmael]

As first char I suggest druid (free unlimited cash from ports), necro (charm solo to 60 easily), enc (steep learning curve but so rewarding in groups and solo).

Mage is great but quickly loses power compared to the mobs unless you get epic - used to be very hard on blue 99, I don't know about now. Even then, solo wise it loses to most other classes unless you farm low level trash lile Droga or Gazughi ring etc.
Having played Mage I'd say it's the hardest caster class to play because your toolbox is so little (but has a big epic hammer).

[mr_jon3s]

Awesome! Thank you. I'll probably avoid the bad faction headache and go good Mage unless anybody can persuade me otherwise. Thanks for the tips.

Mages suck. Go enchanter, necromancer, or wizard.

[Gnomish Elite]

Mages suck. Go enchanter, necromancer, or wizard.

Could you elaborate on this please? Why do they suck?

[Gnomish Elite]

As first char I suggest druid (free unlimited cash from ports), necro (charm solo to 60 easily), enc (steep learning curve but so rewarding in groups and solo).

Mage is great but quickly loses power compared to the mobs unless you get epic - used to be very hard on blue 99, I don't know about now. Even then, solo wise it loses to most other classes unless you farm low level trash lile Droga or Gazughi ring etc.
Having played Mage I'd say it's the hardest caster class to play because your toolbox is so little (but has a big epic hammer).

So you've played a mage and found it weak later on? If I get the epic does that change things? I have no interest in druid. Necro sounds fun but only if I can play a DE or something which a lot of people say Iksar or play something else. Everybody is saying enchanter but apparently they are super gear dependent and difficult. I don't have any gear and very little plat to acquire any.

[mr_jon3s]

Could you elaborate on this please? Why do they suck?

1-40 mages seem like a strong class. You can solo stuff but at 40+ the mobs you fight start hitting a lot harder. You are going from fighting mobs that are hitting in the 60s and 70s to 100+. Now you can still solo but only if you get 1 mob at a time. You have no CC but the earth pet and the root nets from perma frost, you have no real way to solo pull a mob, you have no way to increase mana regen but a mod rod.

But on necromancer, enchanter, and wizard 40+ is when they start to shine. Necros get a whole bag of tricks, enc can charm those mobs that are now hitting for 100 and reck, wizards can quad kite stuff.

[Gnomish Elite]

1-40 mages seem like a strong class. You can solo stuff but at 40+ the mobs you fight start hitting a lot harder. You are going from fighting mobs that are hitting in the 60s and 70s to 100+. Now you can still solo but only if you get 1 mob at a time. You have no CC but the earth pet and the root nets from perma frost, you have no real way to solo pull a mob, you have no way to increase mana regen but a mod rod.

But on necromancer, enchanter, and wizard 40+ is when they start to shine. Necros get a whole bag of tricks, enc can charm those mobs that are now hitting for 100 and reck, wizards can quad kite stuff.

Damn, now I have more consideration to do. Thanks for the heads up. I feel like with the time investment in this game, it will suck to have an under powered high level.

[wisenhemier]

all in all you should play what you enjoy

[Izmael]

all in all you should play what you enjoy

This.

Give then price of a P99 account subscription, just go ahead and try every class until you like one enough to stick with it. Sounds obvious but still.

As for mages, I played one to 60 so I suppose I have a fairly solid view of the class. Truth be told, mages aren't very useful at higher levels in a group context (the whole item summoning crap is barely ever used except maybe for a couple spells such as mask and daggers for necros/encs). A couple seconds of looking away from the screen to change the TV channel and your pet just brought a train and is wiping your group out. On raids you're basically a CoH / rod bitch. If you can find any fun in it, props to you.

But the one single deterrent to play mage is that their epic quest happens to be 1) the hardest epic in game, and 2) is pretty much class-defining. Many other classes don't have this problem because their epic is either 1) not hard to get - rog, enc, sham or 2) not class defining (nec, war, wiz, )...

There are a ton of places you can't even get around as a mage, while as an enc or necro you can just solo farm it for loot. I dunno, I might just suck at mage, too. Can a mage sucessfully farm HS? What about Seb?

But hey, as I said.. takes a minute to roll one and see for yourself :)

[Nagash]

First off, thanks to everybody for being so helpful. It's awesome for a new guy to get this much positive feedback from a community right off the bat. Very cool!

Second, based on everything I'm reading, I'd say mage & necro are most suited to my play style (although I will be reading up more on the enchanter since everybody seems to favor it). I'm a fan of the pet classes. I have a few questions about both:

Mage:
I remember solo being pretty easy with a mage. At what level roughly will groups become a must? I'm not all about solo but it would be nice to be able to if I am only on for a short bit or something.

How passive are mages? I seem to remember a lot of send your DS'd pet in, throw a nuke or two here or there and sit/med. That the case in P99?

Necro:
How big of a deal is bad faction? I seem to remember it being a pain in the ass being evil because I always liked to travel a lot. If it's just a matter of learning the best ways to get around as an evil toon, I'm good with that. If it's more than that I'd like to know up front.

I keep hearing be an Iksar or don't bother with a necro. Is this really that big of an advantage? I really don't like the look of the Iksar, don't want to be hated absolutely everywhere (although hated in most spots may not be a huge issue depending on the answer to my above question), and just won't enjoy the experience.

Also what are the raid roles for both? From what I gather Mage is a call of the hero bot/dps, and necro is a mana battery. Sound right?

From having a mage and a necro both at level 53, I can say xp is still faster solo so grouping is only a must when you get bored talking to yourself or want to explore some new places unsafe for a solo traveler.

Both classes solo really well although the only oh shit button a mage has is gate (mind you, your pet can usually tank two mobs at once, you have to be careful how you manage it and require some space (not great indoor) but it's doable) where a necro has many.

On the necro (mine is iksar and if it was to be redone, I would go iksar again but would dump all my point in int then strength strength then int). With no faction work, I never had any issue finding a seller not far away. Worst case scenario if you are near a newbie town, you can create an alt of the faction, drop the stuff to sell in bags in a remote and safe area or recruit a newbie to do the dirty work for you. Definitely a non issue.
Regarding the necro race, I would go iksar as the regen, especially at high level, is very good. However, you won't gimp yourself by going any other race, you will just have to use your drain life dot a wee bit more often. I just like the regen for when shit has hit the fan and I've FD with low hp which tends to happen a lot when you play like a berserker and try crazy stuff regularly.

[Gnomish Elite]

From having a mage and a necro both at level 53, I can say xp is still faster solo so grouping is only a must when you get bored talking to yourself or want to explore some new places unsafe for a solo traveler.

Both classes solo really well although the only oh shit button a mage has is gate (mind you, your pet can usually tank two mobs at once, you have to be careful how you manage it and require some space (not great indoor) but it's doable) where a necro has many.

On the necro (mine is iksar and if it was to be redone, I would go iksar again but would dump all my point in int then strength strength then int). With no faction work, I never had any issue finding a seller not far away. Worst case scenario if you are near a newbie town, you can create an alt of the faction, drop the stuff to sell in bags in a remote and safe area or recruit a newbie to do the dirty work for you. Definitely a non issue.
Regarding the necro race, I would go iksar as the regen, especially at high level, is very good. However, you won't gimp yourself by going any other race, you will just have to use your drain life dot a wee bit more often. I just like the regen for when shit has hit the fan and I've FD with low hp which tends to happen a lot when you play like a berserker and try crazy stuff regularly.

Very helpful! Thank you. I think I'm gonna roll a dark elf necro to try as well as keep playing my high elf mage and see who wins out long term. Good plan on the alts to sell for you.

Both seem fun and my playstyle so I guess the only way to know is to try both.

[Jimjam]

Is there a particular reason you want to roll dark elf instead of iksar?

[Gnomish Elite]

Is there a particular reason you want to roll dark elf instead of iksar?

Aesthetic/nostalgia. I know if I go Iksar I just won't stick to it and will just end up not playing the necro. If that means I sacrifice min/maxing, I'm okay with that.

Plus Innoruuk>Cazic Thule IMO.

[Gnomish Elite]

Mage is Telirim, Necro is Naxius. Drop me a line if you wanna group! :cool:

[mr_jon3s]

Mage is Telirim, Necro is Naxius. Drop me a line if you wanna group! :cool:

Named Gnomish Elite and you don't even make a gnome. You are a disgrace to the gnomish race.

[Jimjam]

Named Gnomish Elite and you don't even make a gnome. You are a disgrace to the gnomish race.

Ι'd suggest he is reformed and rehabilitated ;).

[Gnomish Elite]

Named Gnomish Elite and you don't even make a gnome. You are a disgrace to the gnomish race.

Oh man, Called out! Remaking one a Gnome ;)

[Gnomish Elite]

Ι'd suggest he is reformed and rehabilitated ;).

LMAO the Gnome hatred!

[Izmael]

Gnome definitely a great race choice for mage because of gnomevision. Props for not giving in to the iksar regen. I know I couldn't do it.

Quick tip - if you're totally new to the server, a quick way to make starter cash (other than someone just giving you like 200 pp for fun) is to hunt in Kurn's tower for levels 10-20. You'll make massive amounts of bone chips that you will be able to sell in EC for top pp hopefully.

[Gnomish Elite]

Gnome definitely a great race choice for mage because of gnomevision. Props for not giving in to the iksar regen. I know I couldn't do it.

Quick tip - if you're totally new to the server, a quick way to make starter cash (other than someone just giving you like 200 pp for fun) is to hunt in Kurn's tower for levels 10-20. You'll make massive amounts of bone chips that you will be able to sell in EC for top pp hopefully.

Haha thanks! Yeah, the mage is likely who I'll remake as gnome. Something about a DE necro just feels right.

I've heard Kurns is great XP too so I'll likely head over there for sure. Can always use plat for spells. I noticed a mage guide that helps with early spell selection for broke newbs like myself.

Gonna rock Blackburrow first and do some gnoll fang questing for a quick early boost in levels too. At least with the Mage anyway. If I remember correctly DE necros will have a lot of trouble without invis around Qeynos.

Let me know if you have any low level toons you wanna group with! :)

[Izmael]

Hah yes, as a necro you might find the Qeynos warrior guildmaster a little cranky.

Make sure to save your gnoll fangs until the actuall gnolls don't give you enough exp to warrant continue sticking around Blackburrow. Then just turn all your stacks of fangs in, get phat exp, and leave like a boss.

[Jimjam]

Agreed, I've generally found it better to hand in XP quest items in after you have outlevelled the mobs.

Obvious exceptions being if the items are lore, or you are running out of bank space.

... that said, if it is the bone chip quest in Kaladim you could accrue a huge number of bone chips from Befallen / Najena / Kurns and end up having to hand in a thousand of the things in your early 20s (which is basically trading RSI for an extra level, or more if you were a truly relentless collector)... Perhaps it would be worth selling some of the xp quest items to players for plat instead.

[Gnomish Elite]

Hah yes, as a necro you might find the Qeynos warrior guildmaster a little cranky.

Make sure to save your gnoll fangs until the actuall gnolls don't give you enough exp to warrant continue sticking around Blackburrow. Then just turn all your stacks of fangs in, get phat exp, and leave like a boss.

Agreed, I've generally found it better to hand in XP quest items in after you have outlevelled the mobs.

Obvious exceptions being if the items are lore, or you are running out of bank space.

... that said, if it is the bone chip quest in Kaladim you could accrue a huge number of bone chips from Befallen / Najena / Kurns and end up having to hand in a thousand of the things in your early 20s (which is basically trading RSI for an extra level, or more if you were a truly relentless collector)... Perhaps it would be worth selling some of the xp quest items to players for plat instead.


Good call! I can't believe I didn't think of that myself. I always just handed them in as I got them.

Never been to Najena before, could be fun!

[Nagash]

I've heard Kurns is great XP too so I'll likely head over there for sure. Can always use plat for spells.

There is no two ways about it, whichever character I level, Kurn is my home from level 8-12 (depending on the class, 8 for a necro or mage with a pair under their robe) to 20-22. Best xp at that level + many many many (I could add a lot more many) bone chips for your necro life later on. And you have a city nearby to sell (through an alt if you want as I mentioned, you will just have to get someone to help you with the money transfer when you decide to leave which is easy to come by).

[Gnomish Elite]

There is no two ways about it, whichever character I level, Kurn is my home from level 8-12 (depending on the class, 8 for a necro or mage with a pair under their robe) to 20-22. Best xp at that level + many many many (I could add a lot more many) bone chips for your necro life later on. And you have a city nearby to sell (through an alt if you want as I mentioned, you will just have to get someone to help you with the money transfer when you decide to leave which is easy to come by).

Works for me. I'll head there on both!