New player going to start up a shaman

[Basicbrute]

It's been a while since playing but had a 53 shaman on live back in the day. Going to start up a character on this server. Barbarian shaman.

Had few questions

Is halas area a baron wasteland ? Do groups goto blackburrow still?
Is it going to be hard to find groups as a shaman at lower levels?

Or should I just make a human monk so I'm close to ec tunnel to sale my goods easy?

Is this server now so top heavy that lower levels are almost impossible to find grind groups?

Thanks in advance!
Can't wait to install once I get home from work in hr or so

[Swish2]

Is halas area a baron wasteland ? Do groups goto blackburrow still?

It's definitely quieter here than it was on the live servers. Barbarians actually might be the least played race on P99? Certainly on the lower end of things. You'll still see a few people in Blackburrow, mostly people from Qeynos and Erudin.

Is it going to be hard to find groups as a shaman at lower levels?

No, but you'll need to leave Halas/Everfrost... and that has it's own disadvantages as a shaman as you'll need to either buy spells before you go or rely on someone who can go into another shaman city to buy your spells for you :p

Or should I just make a human monk so I'm close to ec tunnel to sale my goods easy?

Monks are popular and a lot of people enjoy them - it's an option (would recommend starting in Freeport if you do).

Is this server now so top heavy that lower levels are almost impossible to find grind groups?

One thing that really separates P99 from other servers is there's always groups at all levels, and there's no boxing here so there's that sense of having to rely on a group and good teamwork ^^

[Xaeophi]

Human Monk? Thats one of the most common mistake you can do. Human anything = garbage.
Trying to be a bad ass? Pick Dark Elf, Any class = Win

[loramin]

Is halas area a baron wasteland ? Do groups goto blackburrow still?
Is it going to be hard to find groups as a shaman at lower levels?

I'm going to disagree with the other posters on this one. Blackburrow gets Barbarians, Qeynos Humans, and Surefall Humans. It also gets a fair amount of Erudites who leave Erudin shortly after creation.

I recently leveled my Erudite Enchanter there, and found that with all those people I could usually get a group, at least during normal hours. Not a full six-man group, but at least a duo or trio.


Is this server now so top heavy that lower levels are almost impossible to find grind groups?


Nah, everyone has alts. The only downside of that is it makes things a little easier (eg. if your tank wears a fungi tunic), but if you want "hard mode" you can always join ALS, the anti-twinking guild.

[ScaringChildren]

It's been a while since playing but had a 53 shaman on live back in the day. Going to start up a character on this server. Barbarian shaman.

Had few questions

Is halas area a baron wasteland ? Do groups goto blackburrow still?
Is it going to be hard to find groups as a shaman at lower levels?

Or should I just make a human monk so I'm close to ec tunnel to sale my goods easy?

Is this server now so top heavy that lower levels are almost impossible to find grind groups?

Thanks in advance!
Can't wait to install once I get home from work in hr or so

Halas the city, is pretty barren. There's usually only 2 or 3 people there at any one time.

Everfrost has more people, but most are higher levels. Barbarian newbies usually kill in Everfrost to level 5 or 6 and moved directly to Blackburrow.

It won't be hard finding a group at a low level shaman. The spot you start in is pretty unique though, as most people solo Blackburrow for the fang quest. However, you can find groups forming at deeper levels of Blackburrow.

As far as popular lower level dungeons go, Crushbone, Kurns Tower, and Befallen are the big ones. Oasis is popular as well.

You don't have to make a monk so you're closer to EC. I mean, unless you want to. Monks are a great class, I at least recommend trying them.

The server isn't top heavy, strangely enough. We have a ton of altaholics on the server and we have new people come in all the time.

However, you will see a lot of twinking going on. Which can benefit you if you group with them. I grouped with a cleric who had those group heal pants and our group took on a camp that was about 10 levels higher than our normal camp.

[Issar]

Great and accurate points by the above posters. My first toon ever was a Barb Shaman and I have a special place in my heart for Halas/Everfrost. There may be times when you're the only lowbie barbarian in Everfrost, but as a lowbie you won't have competition. BTW, save all your bonechips, Polar Bear Pelts, and High Quality Bear Skins. You can sell those in EQ when you get to level 14ish and venture out to the EC area. There you can make a few hundred plat and buy some great cheap starter gear.

I highly encourage you to roll whatever race/class that your heart is set on and don't worry about the conveniences. The low levels may drag a bit, but it's still a lot quicker than reaching 60 on a different race/class and deciding that you really wished you were a barb shaman.

Best of luck to you! When you have your toon rolled, be sure to post the race/class you went with along with your toons name. When I started here, I ended up forming some pretty awesome starter groups with friends made in the new player forums.

[aaezil]

Theres not a lot of barons in blackburrow but i did see a Lord in there

[caveslug]

Is this server now so top heavy that lower levels are almost impossible to find grind groups?



As a new player I have noticed sub level 30 one of two things, the area has to many people or it's dead. My 29 enchanter is in Mistmoore atm, Many a time I log on. And their people at the entrance waiting for a group, good for some bad for others who don't feel like waiting to play.

And don't be surprised if you see a twink taking everything from time to time, even when I'm soloing a camp on my enchanter. They will just come in and kill all the mobs, ignoring that I'm camping them.

Or you will see a camp taken by a higher level character farming some item.

[stebbins99]

@Caveslug:
Send a /tell to the offender and, if that doesn't work, take some screenshots anytime someone (twinked or even naked) comes in and steals a camp. You can then petition or, most preferably, call them out on the forums (hah!).

That stuff doesn't fly and people's reputation is one of the few things that get cared about on a server like this.

In terms of Qeynos area: I've leveled a couple of toons around the Qeynos area recently and have seen plenty of action at the city gates, Qhills, and the Karanas. Nothing like back on live, but that's to be expected as people seemingly loved to create human toons back in 99. The quests and nostalgia are top-notch in this area for lower levels!

[caveslug]

@Caveslug:
Send a /tell to the offender and, if that doesn't work, take some screenshots anytime someone (twinked or even naked) comes in and steals a camp. You can then petition or, most preferably, call them out on the forums (hah!).


Seems like a huge waste of time for the devs to petition some low level camp, I have sent tells and they just ignore you.

Not saying this is a common thing, I would say vast majority of people on the server are super nice. I think that's the issue more then anything, when you do run into the rude person or asshole it's sort of a shock.

[ldgmo]

Ever frost actually has a good curve from 1-20 if you feel like staying close to Halas. Goblin beads will get you some good exp early on.

[loramin]

Ever frost actually has a good curve from 1-20 if you feel like staying close to Halas. Goblin beads will get you some good exp early on.

And polar bear skins for Cindl, and of course gnoll fangs (although those are better saved to turn-in in Qeynos, as you get more XP for them). Also if you want to work on tailoring there's the gnoll fur patches, but you need I think 64 (IF you don't have any failures) to complete that quest.

The nostalgia of remembering all that almost makes me want to start a new Barbarian ... almost.

[BarackObooma]

Cindl will give you a random piece of tattered armor for a polar bear skin or you can save them and sell them for 30pp each in EC to people who make the: https://wiki.project1999.com/Leatherfoot_Raider_Skullcap.

Rather than worry about the starting area which is a short term issue, you may want to think more about racial benefits. Most min/maxers for end game pick Barbarian as the worst choice behind Ogre, Troll and Iksar. Mine is Barbarian as that's what I had back in live. The benefit of Barbarian is you aren't kos everywhere in the beginning and you level faster (the other races get larger racial penalties). Once you get to Velious, everyone starts non-kos with Thurgadin so it's not as big a deal as it was pre-expansion.

Some call Ogre's frontal stun immunity as the best racial asset while others call it meh. Innate regen is hard to pass up. Troll gets that, can use a JBB (Iksar can't) and can do a snare necklace quest. Iksar get regen and higher AC but have more limited armor choices and are hated everywhere but their starting city until Velious.

[loramin]

Cindl will give you a random piece of tattered armor for a polar bear skin or you can save them and sell them for 30pp each in EC to people who make the: https://wiki.project1999.com/Leatherfoot_Raider_Skullcap.

Rather than worry about the starting area which is a short term issue, you may want to think more about racial benefits. Most min/maxers for end game pick Barbarian as the worst choice behind Ogre, Troll and Iksar. Mine is Barbarian as that's what I had back in live. The benefit of Barbarian is you aren't kos everywhere in the beginning and you level faster (the other races get larger racial penalties). Once you get to Velious, everyone starts non-kos with Thurgadin so it's not as big a deal as it was pre-expansion.

Some call Ogre's frontal stun immunity as the best racial asset while others call it meh. Innate regen is hard to pass up. Troll gets that, can use a JBB (Iksar can't) and can do a snare necklace quest. Iksar get regen and higher AC but have more limited armor choices and are hated everywhere but their starting city until Velious.

Pay no attention to this man (except the bit about WC caps, he's right on those).

There is no need to consider your race further: you've already chosen Barbarian, the correct choice! :)

[Asteria]

Is halas area a baron wasteland ? Do groups goto blackburrow still?

Not only is the Halas area devoid of barons but I don't remember seeing any members of the Norrathian aristocracy in the area when I have leveled several characters in the Qeynos & Halas area. Sorry! 😓😥

[Asteria]

Pay no attention to this man (except the bit about WC caps, he's right on those).

There is no need to consider your race further: you've already chosen Barbarian, the correct choice! :)

*Sigh* I have to agree very heartily with young Loramin this time! Barbarian is def the master race for barbarian even though min/maxers will usually say they are the worst. You cannot go wrong with any good shaman played & geared well...but you can go wrong aesthetically if you don't play a barbarian. ;)

[DromalPhrenia]

I'm pretty sure that tiny Ogre is the best looking race in the game, and since Shamans are the ones that shrink...

[ldgmo]

And polar bear skins for Cindl, and of course gnoll fangs (although those are better saved to turn-in in Qeynos, as you get more XP for them). Also if you want to work on tailoring there's the gnoll fur patches, but you need I think 64 (IF you don't have any failures) to complete that quest.

The nostalgia of remembering all that almost makes me want to start a new Barbarian ... almost.

I made the mistake of turning in 80 fangs in Halas once upon a time. Such regret.