first character tank - should I even bother?

[Bunny Mage]

I'm new to the server and am interested in making a tank character, since that's how I like to play most in MMOs. However, after reading up on things on this board... I'm wondering if it's even a valid decision.


Firstly, it seems that tank classes don't solo all that well, especially warriors. And you need nice gear to either solo or tank in groups effectively, which requires having a high level character to farm with. I don't know if I really have it in me to go through the daunting time and effort to make a level 50 necromancer or magician when they're not even something I really want to play.

Secondly, I want to play as either an Ogre or Troll for their great stats, but both of them get huge XP penalties. And if I want to play a Shadow Knight, which seems to be the most suitable tank, there's a huge XP penalty on top of that. I had my heart set on playing a Troll SK then it sank when I found out I'd be having a total 60% XP PENALTY just for playing one. This is a staggering cross to bear in a game that is already hard to level in.

Then I thought about playing a Warrior since they get a bonus instead of a penalty, but then I found out that they grind slower than molasses and their Taunt doesn't even work effectively. Last thing I want to do is spend all that hard work on a tank that is gimped compared to others. From what I hear Warrior tanks get better in the Kunark era but not until they hit 50+. So I'd still be spending most of my leveling time being a "special needs" tank.

Paladin seems to be in the same boat as SK, so that's not much of an alternative.


So what should I do? Bite the bullet and make a super slow-leveling tank with crappy gear? Spend extra months playing a class I don't really like just to have money for gear? Or just admit defeat and forget it altogether?

[nilbog]

Create the character you want to play and have fun playing it, imo.

[hateshadow]

Come on now, no one will deny your access to their group because you are not twinked.

If you spend a few extra months on leveling a mage or necro to 50 to camp gear for your tank, well, you could have used that time to level up your XP penalty-affected tank to 50 and be able to group at the places where good gear drops!

I leveled a melee class as my first character and no one ever told me to gtfo because I did not have "good enough gear".

[stonebeard22]

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What he said. You won't even notice that penalty when playing, and if you enjoy your character more, you will play more to get out of those hell levels.

When the other people around you level a tad bit faster, then you just have higher level people in your group making it easier.

[Knuckle]

you can tank any of this shitty pve content as a gnome warrior with zero points into stamina with any guild or group that doesnt spend more time scooping melted icecream off their slobbering jowls than clicking their number 2 macro for superior/greater heal.

[dredge]

.

[Myrkskog]

A full suit of banded and something like a Gigantic Zweihander goes a long way.

[wodiranger]

the easiest of the tanks to lvl is a warrior, i lvld one myself to 30, then quit playing him, even though i got two shards, i could hold agro briefly, though my guy had decent gear for his lvl

sk's seem to hold agro very well, ive grouped with few paladins, but all palys were twinked, and held agro super well

but with kunark coming out soon, pick what you want, no matter what class by the time kunark comes out, has so many upgrades, ive noticed that theres several zones that has alot of no drop here, but are awesome upgrades if you hangout at these diffrent zones, theres one in field of bone, thats lvl 25-40, tons of great gear here, just dont remember the zones name

charasis is a bit higher i think 45-60? but anyways, yaks price's will drop down to 5k or so, by the time your lvl 40, to get 10k should be a bit easier to get these,

i play a ranger, and am saving up to get some, cuz some times i even find myself being a tank

[skipdog]

Make the race/class combination you want to, and don't worry about not having gear or the xp penalty.

You don't need to be able to solo. Find groups. There are plenty of people around and nobody will reject you for not being twinked. Just spend your money on the most important gear of the moment(bronze/banded armor and a weapon) and go from there.

Don't convince yourself that you must be twinked to get into groups. Tanks are very in-demand and 90% of the time, is the class a newly formed group needs to get started.

And no, warriors aren't horribly gimped like you seem to imply. It is only when idiots forget that a warrior is tanking that aggro problems occur. Also, they don't "grind slower than molasses" .... you are going to be grouped anyways. Don't plan on being able to solo.

[Pico]

You have to remember xp penalties are shared in groups, so as long as you don't plan on soloing to 50, it won't be as bad as you think.

My first character was a Rogue, and I had a blast grouping to 50 and collecting gear along the way. Give it a go, if you're not having fun you can always just quit but my guess is you'll get hooked like the rest of us.

[wodiranger]

pico, i think they they actually fixed the shared exp penalty, while lvling from 20-30 back in october i didnt get alot of groups because of the shared exp penalty, so i stopped playing for a month and a half because i could never get groups, and soloing sucked

but i am now lvl 41 and get groups all the time, and i think its been changed

[Shamalam]

I thought hybrid exp penalties were getting changed when kunark comes out?

[wodiranger]

nope, but from what i read, for the first 7 months those who had exp penalties shared that with a group when that class was grouped, has been changed now, but hybrids still have penalties till, i think luclin is when it was changed

[Ennoia]

Dark Elf SK>All other choices.

[Extunarian]

XP Penalties are removed sometime in Velious, prior to Luclin. They are still in game.

XP Penalties are only 'shared' insofar as group XP is awarded based on how much XP (not levels) each members has accrued. If a level 10 troll SK and a level 10 halfling cleric are grouped, the troll SK will get a larger portion of the XP per kill.

[Randy]

Play what you want.

You'll be able to get stun whips for your warrior early on for aggro, if you go that route. Plus with Kunark coming out in a couple weeks lots of gear will drop in price.

[NASA]

PM me and i can hook you up with a few pieces of gear to help you start out your tank.

Do not shy away from playing the class you would enjoy because you don't think his gear will be that great. We ALL had to start somewhere. You will have that much more enjoyment when you upgrade your gear as you level :)

[Droop]

I too started as a melee as my first character and it's still the only one I play. My gear isn't great but by the time you get to the planes (50+) almost all other gear is moot. The couple of pieces you need will be obtained through the help of friends/guildmates. You won't get rich though, at all. If you wanna be rich level a mage/necro/druid/enchanter on the side. Warriors/rogues are probably the 2 worst solo classes in the game. Hell, even rangers out-solo us haha. All the good gear is earned though, not bought.

Hybrid tanks do hold aggro very well. They are MUCH easier to play for that fact. I do, however dislike leveling with hybrids. The XP penalty sucks when you have a SK, a bard, and a ranger in your group...promise lol. Warriors who are played well are awesome and only get better with Kunark. In Kunark they become THE tanks. If you really study your class, ask questions, etc. you will be just as effective as any SK/Pal AND you won't leech so much XP. Be prepared to have to work hard to play your class well tho!

In the end, play what you enjoy. You'll eventually get max level and eventually get all planar gear. Unless you choose the class YOU want to play the most you won't ever be as happy as you could be and you'll always wanna make that other race/class combo.

[Gorgetrapper]

I would say go for a polished granite tomahawk and maybe bladed thulian claws. The proc from the tomahawk will help you get snap agro, and the speed from the claws will keep agro pretty well unless you have a group of cast-happy mages/wizards (LOL because they're so rare) and over dotting necros (if they even decide to group).

[Dantes]

Man up and play a tank! It's not supposed to be easy. This is a great community full of helpful and awesome people, play what you want and things will work out just fine.

[Chicka]

Kunark is around the corner. Whenever a new expansion comes out people get upgrades. When they get their upgrades they sell their old gear. The market floods, prices drop like a rock. You will be able to twink yourself for the modest amount you can make on your first toon.

Have fun.

[shuklak]

if you wanna play a tank, no other role will fill that desire.

unless you want to tank by proxy and then play a mage or necro...

[Tanj]

If you want to tank, play a tank, my first character on this server and still my only character is an Erudite SK, I may not level fast but I enjoy playing my character.

[guineapig]

As stated before, if you are going to roll a gear dependent class as your first character there is no better time to do it than right after a new expansion comes out. I remember having things just given to me on live that people charge 300 platinum for here, and these were considered solid non-planar armor pieces in classic.

[Bunny Mage]

I'm a bit confused...


So do players share the xp penalties now of the others in the group, or is that just a thing of the past?

[DetroitVelvetSmooth]

One of the problems with the server is that it is overrun with pet classes. Be a hero. Roll a paladin.

[Spewys]

One of the problems with the server is that it is overrun with pet classes. Be a hero. Roll a paladin.

Blahh.. Warrior all the way. I do have to admit it was my 1st toon ever on eq and it was tough with no gear. Try hard, listen to peeps and be a good friend in game to as many clerics and Druids as u can.. I have no regrets.. Though drunk tanks in planes catch a ton of shit from guildys.

[Dumesh Uhl'Belk]

I'm a bit confused...

So do players share the xp penalties now of the others in the group, or is that just a thing of the past?

If only there were a server FAQ that answered ?s like this...

[Tokum-6n0m3]

I'm a bit confused...


So do players share the xp penalties now of the others in the group, or is that just a thing of the past?



They do, and RARELY you will find someone that really cares.....My first char on p99 was a bard, and I think I grp'd with a warrior maybe once or twice leveling up, rest of the groups tanks would always be SK with a occasional Pally....it was very rare that grps complained about the xp penalty they were getting from having a bard AND sk in grp.

SK's and Paladin's hold agro amazingly compared to warriors at low lvls...not to mention they're agro is not gear dependant, 90% of the groups out there prefer this safety to getting around the xp penalty.

[Tokum-6n0m3]

If only there were a server FAQ that answered ?s like this...

And ya, read Dumesh's thread on this..........it puts all ?'s to rest 8)

http://www.project1999.org/forums/showthread.php?t=24405

Be sure to thank him too ;p

[shuklak]

up to the 20's I cannot imagine people turning away a tank because of the exp penalty. it makes no sense when usually it's a case of "if we get a tank we can do this camp, otherwise we just sit around and take something sub-par."

maybe at the high end where a few people are together and want to "seriously" exp would they consider foregoing a hybrid. but at least until then I've had more ranger tanks than war/pal/sk.

[DevGrousis]

send me a tell in game and i'll twink you

/thread close :D

[Falisaty]

hit me up in game ill make you a full suite of banded free and ill even give you some FS wepons to boot.... just have to ask man thier are enought of us nice ppl that do shit for the noobs

[Spewys]

Good job all on helping the new guy out!

[Dumesh Uhl'Belk]

And ya, read Dumesh's thread on this..........it puts all ?'s to rest 8)

http://www.project1999.org/forums/showthread.php?t=24405

Be sure to thank him too ;p
Give more props to Pyrocat though for maintaining the FAQ.

Sorry for the excessive sarcasm, but it really is amazing sometimes how often people still ask questions that are answered in the FAQ. Maybe Rogean can link it in the Getting Started thread?

[Simonlol]

If a group ditches a tank because of his gear, they've lost me as a healer in the process.