Can’t decide a class and can’t twink

[Alphablue]

Someone help me pick a class!
I have played on P99 off and on over the years and only really have time to solo.
I’m not concerned with raiding due to time constraints.
The only thing I don’t enjoy is strict healing.

I just need to focus on a single class because I have terrible alt-itis and haven’t gotten anything past 20-25 (besides my 46 bard, but that doesn’t count).

How can I decide? Should I just use an RNG and stick with what I roll?

This class will not be twinked, so I have to keep that in mind.

[AkashicRecord]

Why not try a shaman?

Very solid class if you need to be able to solo. Make one that worships Innoruuk and go for the snare clicky.

[Legidias]

Not twinked is gonna be druid, shaman, necro, ench....

[Scrumtick]

Although I typically despise druids, they are a great class for people on budgets who want to solo. Problem is, if you do have the time to group, druids are often overlooked in group formation, especially at higher levels.

Problem with shamans is that at high level, the spells are absurdly expensive. Maybe you’ll never get that high level though.

[Squabbles123]

Shaman is my favorite class, so there is that.

Necro is great for soloing and powerful in general (Iksar Necro is the most powerful race/class in the entire game).

Enchanter is also great fun.

[Shrubwise]

Not twinked is gonna be druid, shaman, necro, ench....

[Gozuk]

I vote Ranger

[loramin]

Not twinked is gonna be druid, shaman, necro, ench....


I vote Ranger

Untwinked ranger is a terrible choice for a solo class. Now don't get me wrong, I <3 soloing my ranger, but when he doesn't have a fungi on him it takes forever.

[Yoink1986]

Mage

[Alphablue]

Haha thank you for the suggestions so far!

I need to consider money-making as part of the equation as well.
I’m sure they all have the ability to generate income, but it’s so hard to decide!

[Pyrocat]

https://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=283193

my advice: Iksar Necromancer

[Amyas]

Someone help me pick a class!
I have played on P99 off and on over the years and only really have time to solo.
I’m not concerned with raiding due to time constraints.
The only thing I don’t enjoy is strict healing.

I just need to focus on a single class because I have terrible alt-itis and haven’t gotten anything past 20-25 (besides my 46 bard, but that doesn’t count).

How can I decide? Should I just use an RNG and stick with what I roll?

This class will not be twinked, so I have to keep that in mind.

Enjoy Alt-itis on red and earn levels and exp really fast ^_^

[Qtip]

https://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=283193

my advice: Iksar Necromancer

[Rivera]

Why not just play your bard? That's the best class in the game.

[Alphablue]

Why not just play your bard? That's the best class in the game.

Always an option!

[Arakash]

I like this selection guide. I used it when I began a few months ago.

http://wiki.project1999.com/Loraen%27s_Class_Selection_Guide

[Alphablue]

I like this selection guide. I used it when I began a few months ago.

http://wiki.project1999.com/Loraen%27s_Class_Selection_Guide

Fantastic link, thank you!

[dbouya]

I vote for enchanter!

[Baler]

Iksar Necro - Play at your own pace, do what ever you want. Gear requirements are low and you have a serious arsenal of utility spells to select from. Pet to tank, dots for dmg, undead charm, fear, root, FD, mana regen (Lich), snare, etc etc.

Iksar because regen will keep your health up while in lich form which means more mana.

[Shrubwise]

Iksar Necro - Play at your own pace, do what ever you want. Gear requirements are low and you have a serious arsenal of utility spells to select from. Pet to tank, dots for dmg, undead charm, fear, root, FD, mana regen (Lich), snare, etc etc.

Iksar because regen will keep your health up while in lich form which means more mana.

And because Iksars look the absolute best in robes, with dark elves a close second.

[Lhancelot]

If you hate iksar appearance as many do, feel free to not make the cookie cutter iksar necro and choose any race. Necros are super strong, even as non-iksar.

Mage is a great class that relies on the pet so gears are not a necessary component to be effective.

Druid gives you many ways to make plats as you level up with porting as a viable option, as well as giving you a class that can be used to easily gather mats for quests and tradeskills.

Enchanters are fragile without gears, but are very viable without twink gears. In the end the class becomes one of the most powerful, is always wanted for groups and can solo nearly anything.

Shaman is extremely powerful, but it's a slow developing class and you won't really feel it's power till you are in your 40s. The biggest drawback is the amount of plats you have to dump into their spells/gears to maximize their effectiveness. Still it's a beloved class in groups and can solo awesomely.

[Hordequester]

Druid can be risk-free-practically-afk money and leveling for sure with high demand TPs and Snare-Kiting. Quite quick if you go the animal route and learn to charm kite as well.

Shaman can easily solo to 40s without much gear.. I know many (including myself when I started over here) that are still wearing pieces of banded because it just wasn't all that important. More gear means less downtime though. The snare item suggestion is a good one. My recommendation though is either Ogre for face stun immunity (when you are trying to reapply spells or start Slowing+Tanking it pays off just in annoyance removal) or Troll for regen to help mitigate Cannibalize.

Necro Iksar is a good choice for low gear as well because the regen offsets lich and is a big help until your lifetaps start getting better returns. After that point, it doesn't matter But, they also get the best starting zone for Necro and one of the highest xp modifier zones for 10-20 (Kurn's). Being an undead area means you get huge mana value making use of undead nukes/fears/roots and enough chips to set you for most of your life. There's a reason it's popular. Of course, you could get a port over to there easily enough and I have in the past. But, time crunch easy method is just make an Iksar.

Magician is excellent and can summon a great deal of money savers. It does take good micro-management skills though to handle it properly. They're good solo and in groups it doesn't matter and they can farm pretty much anything anyone else can. Unfortunately they don't have a lot of tools for handling downtime. So, it does help to have some basic starter jewelry at least.

Enchanter can be great solo but they need a good base mp/hp pool to do it effectively. Their pets are not amazing and charms unreliable at lower levels so you'll be taking hits. But, you can get full xp at least if you kill off your charms right. They have Clarity for mana downtime but hp is another story.

Wizard I did solo to 50 on live classic. It was surprisingly easy but a lot of downtime until you can start doing quads. Root and nuke is pretty effective early on if you stick to low hp+resist mobs. But, again, it needs a decent mana pool or longer downtimes with no way to mitigate it solo.

Bard.. but you already knew that. Good grouped and solo if you know what you're doing (or just aoe kite..pff) and they aren't necessarily gear reliant thanks to hp+mp regen songs. You could use yours to farm jewelry money for another class with a few hours of bronze-drop-mob farming.

Pet classes are definitely at an advantage solo but you have to keep in mind they'll have lower xp if they don't have the stats to keep up with pet damage to stop them from leeching xp. Most of the other classes are pretty gear or party reliant... in my experience. Played everything to 40+ back before PoP came out and Bard/Shaman/Monk/Mage/Necro here so.. ymmv on p99.

[Alphablue]

Thank you all for the thoughtful responses!

Given all the info you’ve all provided, I’m leaning toward a few choices:

Druid: the ability to port is a big plus to me. I’ve done charm kiting and I’m ok at it, got to level 23. What I’ve heard about later levels / endgame scares me a little, but not something I’m focusing on.

Bard: being able to do everything is something I love, and I already have a 46 bard, so it’s kind of ready to go. I fell into just swarm kiting (and was pretty good at it, not that it’s difficult) but stopped playing once the exp slowed to a crawl. Fear kiting seems like it could be fun and I’ve done it a little, albeit a little tedious.

(Iksar) Necro: I have a level 17 and it feels a bit sluggish compared to other classes so far, but I’m always jealous of seeing Necros soloing guards and seeming super powerful.

Enchanter: the only reason I’m leaning this way at all is because I love the idea of providing absolute control over every fight, with the constant fear that one lapse in concentration could be death. I have a 17 enc but it feels slow at this level.

Shaman: I’ve simply never played a shaman and the thought of playing something new seems interesting. I’m open to trying it but I want to stick with whatever I choose.

[kjs86z]

Iksar Necro 100%

By far exactly what you're looking for.

[Hordequester]

Druid: later levels / endgame scares me a littleThey can use the same strategy til endgame no prob so long as targets are picked well.

Bard: exp slowed to a crawl. Fear kiting seems like it could be fun and I’ve done it a little, albeit a little tedious.I cant speak too much on it for p99 but charm swarming is some of the fastest solo xp in the game on live. Though here I'd imagine it's a bit harder since Mosquito boots aren't in yet and Gazughi ring is ever-camped.

(Iksar) Necro: I have a level 17 and it feels a bit sluggish They pick up steam after 20 with new lifetap that is big enough to do lifetap tanking and 24 with pet buff and proper dual wielder. Making use of undead nuke and fear/root in kurns leaves you with one of the fastest untwinked paths to 20.

Enchanter: I have a 17 enc but it feels slow at this level.They start to shine when you get a charm>break>kill groove going. I dont recall what level this clicked for me.

Shaman: I’ve simply never played a shamanThis would be my ultimate vote.. because you've never done it before, you're far more likely to stick with it longer than the others. It can easily fund itself if you stick to high plat camps for most of your time.

[Dreenk317]

Necro, can solo almost any camp youd want to be at, for exp or plat/items.
Can level to 60 pretty much naked.
Can be Iksar (for the winsar.)
Get to be a skeleton at lvl 30 ish +, which means you can sell in neriak, OT outpost and paineel without problems. Unless you wreck your faction in OT via kaesora/KC/HS which most necros do, and its really not a big deal, can still invis in and FD to bank, and EVERY merchant in that zone rips you off anyway, so no big loss there.

[Renlin]

Ever considered a monk? I made mine completely untwinked, and leveled him to 43 solo so far... obviously necro or druid would probably get there faster, but if you're interested in a melee I would say that it's the way to go.

[Vinylblair]

I have just bought the EQ titanium pack for the same reason of rolling a character. Note, I haven't played EQ since 1999, so this is going to be hilarious to say the least!

I have no idea how busy the server is going to be in my time zone (UK), and I'm going to need a lot of time to adjust back into it, so I'm also interested in a solo character to begin with, but I'm not ruling out groups either as they're great fun with like minded people.

My half baked plan at the moment, is to level to 12 or so, and then go straight to the estate of unrest, for mainly nostalgic reasons and I remember the xp was pretty good there, and I miss the trains. Even if there aren't enough people to make trains anymore, just revisiting the place will bring back some funny memories :)

I was thinking of a necro, but am I going to have a hard time getting to Faydwer from the Iksar starting zone?

I have zero knowledge on the game nowadays, but any advice will be gratefully received.

See you all soon!

[aubie]

Depends on your gaming style and time available.

If you truly don't care about end game raiding, and you like to hop on and solo for an hour, or solo afk and do stuff around the house, Druid is by far the best and easiest choice. No need to summon pets and if you go with racial hide, then you can treeform and afk fairly safely.

Iksar regen does make necro a lot easier.

I'm sure Troll makes shaman the same, but having an Ogre wedged into a corner and never getting a spell interrupted is pretty nice too. Can't count the number of times it's saved my life on a gate with a ton of mobs beating on me.

Enchanter takes practice.

Mage frustrates me because I like to armor up and weapon up pets, but it's just more efficient to chain fire pets and not worry about that stuff.

Pick what you like in the end, cause if you don't like it, you won't play it.

[Gwynn]

This is a wonderful thread. It should really be sticky.

[Shinko]

gnome warrior

[Vinylblair]

Depends on your gaming style and time available.

If you truly don't care about end game raiding, and you like to hop on and solo for an hour, or solo afk and do stuff around the house, Druid is by far the best and easiest choice. No need to summon pets and if you go with racial hide, then you can treeform and afk fairly safely.

Iksar regen does make necro a lot easier.

I'm sure Troll makes shaman the same, but having an Ogre wedged into a corner and never getting a spell interrupted is pretty nice too. Can't count the number of times it's saved my life on a gate with a ton of mobs beating on me.

Enchanter takes practice.

Mage frustrates me because I like to armor up and weapon up pets, but it's just more efficient to chain fire pets and not worry about that stuff.

Pick what you like in the end, cause if you don't like it, you won't play it.

Thanks very much for the information - greatly appreciated.

I've been waiting for my posts to be approved so in the meantime, I did roll a half elf druid, as it starts in Kelethin which is the only place I can just about remember. Like you say, I'm casual at the moment, but I can feel it's claws digging into me already!

I was quite torn about Druid / Necro / Shaman, so I'll probably try all three and see which one fits me the best.

At the moment though, I'm just having a blast with it. Brings back so many memories.

[A_Bomb]

I vote Ranger

Cruel

[demonith]

If you are going the necro route I highly recommend Iksar. Also regardless of your race this guide help a ton when it came to great camps that generate plat and exp.

https://wiki.project1999.com/Sesserdrix%27s_All_in_One_Necromancer_Strategy_Gui de

[Jimjam]

If you go down the iksar route I highly suggest you go down the route of female.

[Nagoya]

I {...} only really have time to solo.

Just want to address this misconception about "casual" and playing solo.

I think most people just don't want to spend the time and energy to group because they're antisocial hermits, but don't make it sound like a natural conclusion of being time constrained and casual...

Grouping on P99 is only clicking on "FOLLOW" - it takes literally 0.25 seconds.

I am, also, a "casual with no time" player (6 month baby and all, altitis and all the package deal), but I also happen to be a social person, and grouping is VERY easy on P99.

The population on the server is 750-1250 any time of the day and year, and basically all levelling zones from 1 to 60 are always full stock of players.

Every single "solo spot" that these guides write about you'll find players near or around, in and out, and because we're not 12 years old anymore and we all know basic math, pretty much everyone and their mother will accept to duo, trio and more.

Some camps are just very hard to share (i.e. the sisters in lfay, or the hermit in south karana, or the ice giants in everfrost peaks, etc.) but these camps are usually boring "AFK camps" ... i'm not sure it's such a nice nostalgia trip to go kill the south karana hermit solo style for 3 hours .... when you can just walk 30 seconds west and duo/trio+ at splitpaw entrance etc.

This takes no time.
Go there, if there is someone click on "INVITE", kill mobs.
When you have to go because baby is crying type in

/g baby is crying, i gtg sorry

then click on "DISBAND" and/or type /q
and nobody will be mad at you ever.

The state of the server today is that you can play 30 mins a day about 2 days a week (aka very very "casual") and still group 95% of your playtime.

Long story short; i am a filthy casual player with IRL obligations that force me to leave on a whim, and I still had much more fun on my SK or my Warrior (80%+ in group) than on the Mage and Necro I made to solo...

Play the class you want to play, play the class that looks good to you and you will feel powerful and have fun when/if you get to level 50+ - if that ends up being a squishy untwinked gnome rogue that can ONLY group past level 10 well so be it, you will be able to find groups no problem.

Finding a group being time consuming only starts kicking in at 45+ or so, and even then not for all hunting spots. Getting to level 45 untwinked casual takes more than 120h of gameplay, which is almost a year if you play 2-3 hours a week.

Casual != Solo

[aubie]

This takes no time.
Go there, if there is someone click on "INVITE", kill mobs.
When you have to go because baby is crying type in

/g baby is crying, i gtg sorry

then click on "DISBAND" and/or type /q
and nobody will be mad at you ever.



I agree with your entire post, but I feel bad when I have to ditch a duo, trio, or group on the spur of the moment and after a short time. So, if that's a possibility, I don't start something I can't finish. That's just me though. And, from using /tell to try to find people to group, I know it's common. But, to each their own. Depending on my class and the other classes in group, and where the group/duo/trio is, bailing without notice can be a big problem. If it's a simple camp and you're both soloing, of course it's an easy decision to team up. Going to a dungeon or hard to reach spot is a totally different deal.

[Nagoya]

Don't get me wrong, I feel bad too and I actually don't have to do it that much if at all :) usually you can still give a 15-30 mins notice or more before leaving. My example was unfairly exaggerated I admit ;) but you get the idea.

And I was talking of simple duo/trio camp, because this is what untwinked character lvl 1-40 can solo, the time and difficulty of going to a certain spot in a dungeon wouldn't change much if you're a group or solo... I just think you can decide to not have time to do these types of groups even if you are not a necro or a druid. You can play an untwinked paladin and decide that you don't want to commit the time for long groups and dungeon crawling and still group and level up easily on p99 in some short-lived outdoor (or easy to reach indoor places) improvised duo/trios.

[Arakash]

Nagoya this was a very good post that gets to the heart of what the attraction to a mmorpg, for many folks, is really all about. It's each other. Even for those of us who don't really like to group, we don't want to play a game all by ourselves or else we wouldn't even be here.

Recently, my low level necromancer was asked by several folks if he wanted to group and I kept declining. IRL I'm in school, writing tons of papers and in between papers I play this game to relax. EQ really does relax me. But my play is very inconsistent. Sometimes I'm on for a half an hour other times for 4 or 5 hours.

I want to get to level 60 and even raid but I probably never will. Still I'm here. I think I may group a bit more because, even though I sometimes forget, the real reason I'm here (and not playing chess vs the computer) is to play with other people.

Maybe I should roll a wizard :) Anyway, thanks for your post.

[Jimjam]

Just to add to what Nagoya said, don't forget to add a disclaimer, "hey guys, I may have to leave at any moment because I'm on daddy duty for a sleeping baby / I'm a paramedic on call / I'm a wanted criminal hiding out from the police" when you join and people will be even more cool if you have to leave at the drop of a hat.

It's actually pretty normal for people on the 'xp highway'* to join/drop groups at a high turn over so you needn't feel bad as reps are never too far between (and even bad group compositions can thrive).

*oasis, mistmoore, city of mist, karnors castle.

[A_Bomb]

Don’t listen to everyone saying you have to make an Iksar necro. My first character on this server was an erudite necro and he plays just fine. I might have to tap/ leech more than an Iksar but I’ve never found it to be a huge disadvantage and I still almost never run out of mana. He’s 54 now and his gear is awful but he’s still a ton of fun to play.

[Lhancelot]

Don’t listen to everyone saying you have to make an Iksar necro. My first character on this server was an erudite necro and he plays just fine. I might have to tap/ leech more than an Iksar but I’ve never found it to be a huge disadvantage and I still almost never run out of mana. He’s 54 now and his gear is awful but he’s still a ton of fun to play.

Erudite necros are awesome, they look the best in a Miragul's Robe hands down, start with uber INT and have some quest items no one else can get.

Anyone that proclaims you need to be Iksar as a necro to win is a liar and bad at EQ.

[Arakash]

Erudite necros are awesome, they look the best in a Miragul's Robe hands down, start with uber INT and have some quest items no one else can get.

Anyone that proclaims you need to be Iksar as a necro to win is a liar and bad at EQ.

I've seen this mentioned in a few threads, regarding the (quest) items that are limited to Erudite necromancers, but I've not seen a full list of what those items are. I know of mantle of souls and noclin's femur. Are there others?