simple class to learn that *is* soloable?

[Village_Idiot]

Newbie here. Hi. Almost entirely newbie, in fact, I played EQ for maybe a year. I split time between Saryrn with my brother and Fironia Vie by myself for roleplay, around the time Shadows of Luclin came out and the new models were occasionally and briefly bugged with anatomically neutral nudity. I was young enough that I was "permanently grounded" from EQ for staying up all night and sort of forgot about it after a while, probably wouldn't have remembered it either except for running into someone talking about "the good old days of EQ" on a different MMO. Anyhow. I never really had a chance to get good at any class I'd puttered around with, think I had an Iksar necro and some kind of druid I don't remember. Heh. In all honesty I probably won't get far this time around either.

But I'm looking for recommendations of a class - or several - to poke around with in the short spurts of play time I'll have this summer before the fall semester kicks up. I'm hoping there's a class that's useful in a group, in case I manage to find any at the low levels I'll be stuck at, but also wouldn't have to sit around doing nothing because I *don't* have a group. If that makes sense.

Ideas and suggestions for stuff I might not think to consider during character creation are entirely welcome. Thanks in advance! :o

[Lhancelot]

Necromancer is a powerful solo class and really develops fast, by level 8 you are already cooking with decent spells.

The class also has a ton of group utility if you decide to group. Easy class to start with, very self sustaining and fun.

For added power, pick iksar for your race, the racial regen they get meshes incredibly well with the necromancer class.

[Maner]

Necromancer is a powerful solo class and really develops fast, by level 8 you are already cooking with decent spells.

The class also has a ton of group utility if you decide to group. Easy class to start with, very self sustaining and fun.

For added power, pick iksar for your race, the racial regen they get meshes incredibly well with the necromancer class.

While the iksar racial is nice for a necro, as a first character i wouldn't pick anything with an EXP penalty. Could level a human necro to 60 with 40%? less experience than it takes an iksar. Once 60 its a lot easier to farm gear or plat to fund more and more alts.

[loramin]

While the iksar racial is nice for a necro, as a first character i wouldn't pick anything with an EXP penalty. Could level a human necro to 60 with 40%? less experience than it takes an iksar. Once 60 its a lot easier to farm gear or plat to fund more and more alts.

The thing about monks and necromancers is that, if you pick human you can't change your mind (and change your race) if you realize "hey, regen would be very helpful and worth the XP cost". It's totally possible you'll get to 60 and think "man, iksar are so ugly that even without the regen I'm still glad I didn't roll one" ... but you're making sort of a risky bet as you can't know if that's how you'll feel later.

My recommendation? Barbarian shaman or halfling druid. Both classes can solo very well. Shaman are a bit more powerful at the high end, and a bit more desired in groups, while druids get tracking and ports, both of which can help you earn plat in ways a shaman can't. Barbarians do have a small (-5%) penalty, but that's the smallest possible among shaman races. Halflings actually get a +5% bonus to XP.

(I should note that race regret is possible with a Barbarian shaman also. But once you get Torpor you won't regret the Iskar/Troll regen, and Ogre's frontal stun immunity (while cool) is not nearly as cool as the Iksar regen is to a necromancer.)

If you're not that in to grouping and not real fixated on level 60 I think Druid makes for a great starting class for anyone, and you can't beat an XP bonus. But if you are picking a class you plan to continue playing long after you hit 60, or if you want to do a fair amount of grouping, Shaman might be better.

Other options wold include Mage or Enchanter, both of which are also good soloers, with Enchanters being the better of the two. Both of them can be human if you want no penalty, and while you might regret it it a little at 60 (since a Gnome/Erudite/High Elf would have better stats), it won't be anywhere close to the regret you'll have if you pick a human necro and later want regen.

[Malkavius]

I would honestly go with mage. Easy to solo and group as. Necromancer and enchanter take a good amount of research and trial and error to master. Though necromancer much less so. Shaman requires levels and is considered pretty slow untwinked pre 34. Even then they are gear dependent to solo as efficiently a s I assume you want.

Mage is pretty much the coasting class that can solo and group well with minimal gear and effort. It's a great starting class due to its relative simpleness. But as with any class you will be expected to at least learn it. If you just send pet and nuke you can do well in a group. But you have a bit more than that.

[Pokesan]

clerics *can* solo but do better in the young levels grouped

[Pyrion]

+1 for mage. OP was asking for a *simple* class. Necro is of course more versatile, but a lot less simple than mage.

[Mirakk82]

+1 for mage, given what he/she asked for

[Izmael]

I'd say

#1 mage
#2 paladin

[jolanar]

Definitely mage.

[kjs86z]

Mage

[Cambiant]

+1 barbarian shaman
+1 druid
-1 to any level 60 considerations

[Squabbles123]

Shaman is a great choice, its what I picked for my first character and I have absolutely no regrets on that, incredibly powerful and self-sufficient class that can do basically a bit of everything. Shaman is the true "jack of all trades" class.

Mage is also a great choice, however I hated having to "make" my spells past level 30 or so, finding the words/runes/etc for research puts me personally off casters in general, but Mage has this the hardest IMO, needing some of everything, not JUST runes or words. The only pure caster I'd probably ever make is Enchanter, the benefits are worth having to hunt for research.

Druids are also good, similar to Shaman in play style and power level. Similar but different.

Necromancer is the most powerful solo class IMO, and is a great choice for new players wanting something casual to play once in awhile as they have basically no dependence on grouping at all. From how it sounds like you'll wanna play, this is probably the best choice. You still have the issue with research here, but Necro only needs 1 type, so its not AS BAD.

Overall I'd avoid any Evil Races on your first character, it makes the game much harder in general, especially for a new player. Play Evil once you've gathered a bit more game experience and know what to expect with them when traveling the world (basically, 80% of the world wants you dead on sight)...this is ESPECIALLY hard on Iksar. Now if you plan to never leave Kunark with your Iksar, go for it, you can 1-60 and never leave the Island, but if you want to explore, pick a "Good" race.

Barbarian Shaman, Human Necro, Gnome Necro, Erudite Necro, High Elf Mage. Also avoid the evil gods, especially with Erudite or you might be murdered in your own city.

[Vandil]

Roll a wood elf druid and start in Kelethin. You'll soon get a decent weapon from a skeleton (spintering club, cracked staff, or rusty scimitar (sharpen the scimitar with a sharpening stone)).

Greater Faydark will offer tons of adventure for you, eventually you will gain access to Crushbone, and the belts there will lead to a journey to Kaladim once you are strong enough. Turn in the belts to get great XP and leather armor.

Then.... Norrath is yours to explore.

[trite]

Iksar Necromancer, good starting area, group with other low level iksars, turn in those scaled wolf hides for some curscale armor and do your helm quests. Have fun in field of bone and kurns tower

[Lhancelot]

Reason necro is so nice for soloing is it's so self suffficient. It also has so many different ways to kill mobs... Fear kite, aggro kite, charm undead, it's really endless what a necro can do solo or in groups.

It has lifetaps which do fair damage, it has a nice pet for added damage, it has nukes, it has FD, it has powerful dots, it has snares, it has mez, it has roots all great for soloing.

If you want to group, you can heal players, you can give them mana, you can do CC, it's just a very well rounded class.

It's not complicated, in fact honestly I grow bored on necro simply because the killing is so easy when you solo. It's truly that easy, of course I geared my necro very well so being ungeared would add some challenge to the class, which might be a good thing tbh.

If you try a necro, the regen Iksar get really is quite useful especially once you higher level. Even as a non-iksar, necros still do more than well in the killing/soloing department.

[alphys]

Druid -> Kelethin, best starting experience imo. Gray has a large population and people pay 3p per CB belt making saving money no problem. You can either solo sisters in pay or group after 14 ish

[Vandil]

If you decide to roll a character that does any kind of meleeing but isn't necessarily a tank, I recommend spending some early plat on a pair of AC5 HP55 rings for your fingers. You will be a god.

[dude]

enchanter * cleric if you want easy mode go High elf hard mode go Dark elf

[Amyas]

Necro, mage, druid, shaman

[Maner]

The thing about monks and necromancers is that, if you pick human you can't change your mind (and change your race) if you realize "hey, regen would be very helpful and worth the XP cost". It's totally possible you'll get to 60 and think "man, iksar are so ugly that even without the regen I'm still glad I didn't roll one" ... but you're making sort of a risky bet as you can't know if that's how you'll feel later.

My recommendation? Barbarian shaman or halfling druid. Both classes can solo very well. Shaman are a bit more powerful at the high end, and a bit more desired in groups, while druids get tracking and ports, both of which can help you earn plat in ways a shaman can't. Barbarians do have a small (-5%) penalty, but that's the smallest possible among shaman races. Halflings actually get a +5% bonus to XP.

(I should note that race regret is possible with a Barbarian shaman also. But once you get Torpor you won't regret the Iskar/Troll regen, and Ogre's frontal stun immunity (while cool) is not nearly as cool as the Iksar regen is to a necromancer.)

If you're not that in to grouping and not real fixated on level 60 I think Druid makes for a great starting class for anyone, and you can't beat an XP bonus. But if you are picking a class you plan to continue playing long after you hit 60, or if you want to do a fair amount of grouping, Shaman might be better.

Other options wold include Mage or Enchanter, both of which are also good soloers, with Enchanters being the better of the two. Both of them can be human if you want no penalty, and while you might regret it it a little at 60 (since a Gnome/Erudite/High Elf would have better stats), it won't be anywhere close to the regret you'll have if you pick a human necro and later want regen.

Unlike other classes, you can level a necro to 60 naked, maybe a bard can too, but the plat investment is very minimal with a necro. Even spells don't coast that much, excluding EoT.

Not taking 1.5x as long to hit 60 on your first character is huge, not to mention that necros can get to 60 faster than almost any other class just with how fast they can solo. You can level to 60 quickly and cheaply then farm gear either for yourself or other toons or just for cash. And since you didnt actually spend much on your necro you can reroll later as an iksar if you want to.

[loramin]

You can level to 60 quickly and cheaply then farm gear either for yourself or other toons or just for cash. And since you didnt actually spend much on your necro you can reroll later as an iksar if you want to.

Wow, to casually talk about leveling all the way to 60 on any character (even a necro), and then in the very next sentence suggest re-leveling that exact same class to 60 all over again ... you must have a lot of time on your hands.

But look I was not trying to start yet another race debate here; there are already a million of them already. I was simply trying to explain that most people do not find it so easy to level to 60 twice, and as a result they may experience "race regret" when their human necro (or human monk, or non-ogre shaman, or ...) hits 60 and all the other races have some cool power while they're stuck with a useless XP bonus. Many people on this forum have been in that position, and I'm sure they'd all say that warning new players of it is reasonable.

Also, I'm not at all against the idea of leveling a quick-leveling race/class up and then using that character to farm stuff for other characters. But not everyone wants to create a first character with that goal; some plan to keep playing that character as their main for years.

Finally just in case it's not clear, I'm a level 60 Barbarian Shaman (either the worst or second worst Shaman race depending on who you ask), and I have no regrets. "Race regret" is a real phenomena, but it most certainly does not affect everyone who creates a sub-optimal race character.

[Lhancelot]

I'm not trying to start yet another race debate here...

Ogre > all.

Size does matter, no matter what they say!

Oh shoot. I forgot, ogre can't be necro. :(

Well. I agree with Loramin, try to choose race wisely, most people don't want to go down the same 60 lvl road again, even if it's on a preferred race later on.

[Maner]

Wow, to casually talk about leveling all the way to 60 on any character (even a necro), and then in the very next sentence suggest re-leveling that exact same class to 60 all over again ... you must have a lot of time on your hands.

I was not trying to start yet another race debate here; there are already a million of them already. I was simply trying to explain that most people do not find it so easy to level to 60 twice, and as a result they may experience "race regret" when their human necro (or human monk, or non-ogre shaman, or ...) hits 60 and all the other races have some cool power while they're stuck with a useless XP bonus.

But just in case it's not clear, I'm a level 60 Barbarian Shaman (either the worst or second worst Shaman race depending on who you ask), and I have no regrets. I'm not saying a human necro will have regrets, I'm simply saying that if they do their only option will be to re-level to 60, and that's so viable for everyone.

Please do not take this as an attack on your particular race choice and then defend your choice: that's how the race debates start ;)

I started on P99 without knowing anyone on the server, picked a necro as my first character and hit 60 in under 2 months while working full time plus. That was whenever this account was made. Now i have 4 lvl 60s and one lvl 50, i have never bothered releveling an iksar necro though, because at 60 the regen really doesnt matter all that much.

You would only have to relevel if you cared about min and maxing. I would assume that starting with a 40% exp penalty would slow the game down enough to make a lot of new players actually quit.

This same line of thinking would suggest starting a halfling druid first due to the ability to make money from porting and it is even faster to 60 with the exp bonus. However i think a human necro would out level a halfing druid anyway.

[Lhancelot]

I started on P99 without knowing anyone on the server, picked a necro as my first character and hit 60 in under 2 months while working full time plus. That was whenever this account was made. Now i have 4 lvl 60s and one lvl 50, i have never bothered releveling an iksar necro though, because at 60 the regen really doesnt matter all that much.

You would only have to relevel if you cared about min and maxing. I would assume that starting with a 40% exp penalty would slow the game down enough to make a lot of new players actually quit.

This same line of thinking would suggest starting a halfling druid first due to the ability to make money from porting and it is even faster to 60 with the exp bonus. However i think a human necro would out level a halfing druid anyway.

I think this is the most important thing for a new guy to take away from this post.

If you hit 60 on a non-iksar and actually find it not a big deal that's reassuring to someone who doesn't really want to roll iksar necro, but feel they might regret it later if they don't.

Good to know.

[Tankdan]

There's some necros I know who'd laugh at the statements that iksar regen is negligible at top level. But tbh it was more important in Kunark when people actually grouped in Seb and shit, not what we have now where people just log in due to a batphone for 15 minutes then log out.

[Maner]

There's some necros I know who'd laugh at the statements that iksar regen is negligible at top level. But tbh it was more important in Kunark when people actually grouped in Seb and shit, not what we have now where people just log in due to a batphone for 15 minutes then log out.

Even if you're soloing, the HoT taps are very mana efficient and usually will just help you kill faster anyway. If you're duoing its usually with a shm or a cleric so you can get heals there or just regen from the shaman.

Anyone who laughs that iksar regen is negligible at lvl 60 either hasn't leveled a necro other than iksar or just hasn't played at lvl 60 for very long.

Not that its the easiest thing to get, but the VP necro staff also makes race choice irrelevant.

[originalman]

Monk is the best solo class. And keeping weight down makes it like a survival game! ^_^

[kjs86z]

I started on P99 without knowing anyone on the server, picked a necro as my first character and hit 60 in under 2 months while working full time plus. .


I'm calling bullshit on this unless you did almost nothing but come home from work every day and play EQ.

How could you ever be active and maintain relationships during those two months?
Unless I'm missing something there...2 months to 60 is insanely fast if you had no outside help (plvling, twinking, etc).

[Cambiant]

It amazes me how you guys always hijack these threads with race wars and level 60 considerations. The thread isn't titled "LF end game necro advice".

[SDWV]

Mage is a good class to pick. They get beefy pets and can put out good damage. I think most of the spells are self explanatory and straight forward.

[Muggens]

Make a meleé character, non-twink warrior is fun

[Maner]

I'm calling bullshit on this unless you did almost nothing but come home from work every day and play EQ.

How could you ever be active and maintain relationships during those two months?
Unless I'm missing something there...2 months to 60 is insanely fast if you had no outside help (plvling, twinking, etc).

Just because you have spent 2 years and still aren't level 60 doesn't mean it takes everyone years to do it. Leveling is super easy when you don't have to worry about gear or finding a group. Just find someone to duo with and it's done in no time. My twinked shaman hit 60 in just over a month as well.

And that was with an average of 2-3 hours playing after work, usually a little more play time on the weekends. All youre missing is how to actually play this game and level.

[Keggernuts]

He did ask if you were twinked ��

[Maner]

He did ask if you were twinked ��

As I said, my first toon was a human necro which wasn't twinked in any way. You just don't need to worry about gear while leveling a necro.

[articnv]

yes necros are very non gear depent plus side of being necro is there are cash camps u cna farm unlike a mage :)

[Village_Idiot]

Wow! I really wasn't expecting this to build the way it has, and I want to thank you all for cluing me in to considerations I might not have arrived at for a long time. I suppose I really should have checked back here sooner - as it stands, after looking at the wiki, I decided to create several and play them to about level 10 and see where that leaves me as far as interest and enjoyment goes. I was awake almost all night last night, and I've just done it again. Muahaha... nobody to ground me now. Mostly, the mobs are pretty forgiving for someone just starting out. All these lowbies' names begin with "Ven" so if any of you have small fry roaming around you may just catch me derping somewhere over the summer. XD

I've rolled a half elf bard (on the wiki it says bards are supposed to be sort of difficult to learn, so that's probably not going to be something I stick in a group because I'm bound to suck at it), a gnome enc (more fun than I expected), a dark elf mage because I am curious about Neriak (lol), an Iksar necromancer (regen sounds helpful and gear not mattering as much would be great), a dwarf cleric (I'm actually nervous about that), and a wood elf druid (I probably spent more time leveling lowbies in GFay than anything else back in the day). I didn't put out a shaman, but I might by the end of summer.

Tall order, I guess. BUT I'm telling myself that if I don't like them enough to continue past level 10, that's as good a stopping point as any, and there's at least plenty of solo and group potential in that lineup for the levels I'll be at for a while. So far I've only really touched the bard (10 now, decision time) and the enchanter (7 after a kind person helped me get to GFay). I like both actually, despite the bard getting trained hard a few times in Blackburrow and losing a load of exp doing it, and the enc being squishy as a dog turd.

[thebutthat]

I rolled a bard as my first character on p99. You can level quickly to a point where farming plat is very simple. It costs about a plat to gear a bard (basic vendor instruments). Zones you solo in, are pretty much restricted to outdoors, but it's good enough to get you to 60 if you choose to stick with it. It's also an extremely versatile class in groups that allows you to usually get a group.

Once you get to about level 40, you can go farm hill giants with reverse charming, or you can do some of the the other rare item drop camps very easy with track/aoe kiting. Like the gobby earring, see invis bracer, or the invis vs animals ring.

Fund alts, or a new main...of your choosing. Also if your reroll a necro as your new main toon, you level your bard to 50, and can sacrifice him down to 46 and relevel to 50 quickly for nice supply of essence emeralds so you can 93% rez.

[Troxx]

A necro untwinked can hit 60 easily in 2 months IF they have played Everquest in the past and have a good knowledge base. Charming for xp is quite legit and never requires you to suffer through being lfg or getting stuck in a bad group.

2 hours of focused and efficient charming yields a lot more xp than 12 hours in an average group.

[captainswjr]

Ranger is a good choice for the OP I think. They can solo faster than any other melee except bard, are welcome in groups for their dps.

Every melee is heavily gear dependant but Ranger gear is pretty cheap for the quality you can get.

[botrainer]

for play ability, and cheapness there are a number of classes. Cheap easy to level and solo is Necro (best one, they get snare, fear, dots, life taps, FD, , charm undead, and pets for added dps). The next cheapest easiest is Druid, they get snare, dots, heals, buffs, ports(for extra plat on the side), decent dot clicky that are cheap to buy, lumi staff which is cheapish to get for quad kiting, can fly into the 50s without blinking an eye. Druids also have charm animals.

Raising the difficulty some would be shaman's, they get heals, buffs, dots, direct damage spells, crappy pets way later, and get canny to help recover mana; however, the down side is they are costly spell wise, starting in your 30s (canny 2) is a hard spell to try to solo for on this server. So people sell that spell for 2k, then in your 50s has lots of spells ranging from few hundred plat up to 10k-ish then at 60 you have Malo, Torpor, Avatar, all costly as all get out, and people still pay them prices so the cost will not come down.

If you like the melee side more, and want the option of soloing Ive seen Sks use snare kite often, or rangers use bows with snares. Rangers do get panic animal but not many animals around in each level range to solo all the way up to 60. Also, if Rangers aren't tanking or pulling, they are not getting many invites to groups. Even then Rogues and monks provide more use to groups more often than not because Rogues do more DPS no question, and Monks are more DPS while also still being able to FD off a really bad pulls.

Whatever you chose, just remember to have fun, remember it's a game, and enjoy the people you level with or lack there of along the way!

[jerryR]

Just started here recently with the same ideas.

At first, I made an Iksar necro (never played an Iksar or necro). I found 1-12 pretty slow just learning the ropes (especially zones) again and getting my interface setup the way I like it. I actually ended up grouping at Kurns tower from 12-20 and it was great, quick experience. Groups seems to be pretty easy to get here, even when you aren't looking for them.. and can make it way more interesting. The basics are relatively simple, but I think to get good, efficient solo experience you need to commit to some learning.

Not wanting to stick to anything quite yet, I rolled a HE bard (another class I have never tried in live) out of Qeynos. The learning curve is certainly much steeper than a necro. I got 1-6 very very quickly, but the learning curve kicked in a bit again on the way to level 8 - where I was experimenting kiting things that would end me if I got hit. 8-12 was again super quick and 12-20 was ridiculously quick going from North to East Karana. Super quick leveling if you don't die a lot - but I found I had to pay close attention / stay focused if I didn't want to get 1 shotted and lose progress. I went through a lot of keyboard punching frustration with the bard, but now that I am in LOIO with the general skillset under my belt I am back to progressing relatively smoothly.

So to echo what people are saying - I would go with something that seems interesting and not worry about the solo vs group aspect. You'll learn a lot more about the game, zones and mechanics through grouping than soloing. It is nice to be self sufficient, so perhaps stick to necro/mage/bard/druid, but the game can be pretty punishing for a solo player with poor understanding of zones and mechanics. I am personally going to stick with the bard as I find it challenging and new

[Troxx]

JerryR just make sure you don't just kite your way up.

[Skinned]

Mage for sure.