Rank the classes.

[slowpoke68]

Ok taking the plunge after a long break and need to get serious about making a new toon.

Alright, let me hear you rank the classes. First, in population from most common to least common, and second in groupability. Lets assign a number grade from 1-10 for each class. One being least seen or least desired in groups and Ten being most populous or most desired for groups.

I did read Loraen's class selection guide but wondering if things have changed. I remember hearing things like druids and wizards are blackballed in groups, but wondering if that is actually true.

This is for funzies so if you are bored I would love to hear your thoughts. For ease of use you can copy and paste this:



1. Druid Population: Grouping:
2. Cleric Population: Grouping:
3. Shaman Population: Grouping:
4. Warrior Population: Grouping:
5. Paladin Population: Grouping:
6. SK Population: Grouping:
7. Mage Population: Grouping:
8. Chanter Population: Grouping:
9. Necro Population: Grouping:
10: Wizard Population: Grouping:
11. Monk Population: Grouping:
12. Rogue Population: Grouping:
13. Bard Population: Grouping:
14. Ranger Population: Grouping:


Thanks to all for playing :)

[DiogenesThaDogg]

Druids and wizards (and rangers) indeed have a tougher time getting groups post 50. It's not so bad for dru/wiz at least, as they have the ability to quad/bear pits/etc their way to 60, but soloing can be boring. It's not that no one wants them in groups, its just that people often have a list of prerequisites that are perceived as essential for groups. Everyone wants a slower, a strong healer, strong sustained dps, a solid tank with good aggro, and a crack dealer for good measure.

Many groups would be otherwise happy to take a dru/wiz/rng, but once the perceived essential roles are filled, the group is often full. Wizzies are kings of burst dps, but they have to med a lot, and their sustained dps will lag behind mages. Druids are a jack of all trades just like bards, but unlike bards, druids don't get unique spells that are game-changers. Druids can't slow like shamans, their nukes and damage shields are on par with mages (but mages get pets), and druids can't compete with complete heal for efficiency. As for the poor rangers... :-(

I had a really awesome group in city of mist that consisted of 1 mage and 5 druids. This group ended up working well, but people often don't try nonstandard groups because the price for failure is high and people like easy, safe XP.

[Arakash]

I actually check out the class/race populations on occasion and it has been pretty consistent since that one post, years ago, that had a detailed list.
However, it does seem that the classes are actually pretty evenly distributed these days. Even quite a few Pally's running around recently.
I don't have enough info on group desirability to comment on that.

Class population:

10: Druid (by far)

6/7/8/9:Necromancer/Enchanter/Shaman/Monk (these classes trade places depending on day/time with Necro/Enchanter usually played more than Shaman/Monk)

3/4/5:Cleric/Bard/Warrior/Rogue/Shadow Knight (these classes are also evenly distributed with Cleric/Bard most popular and SK least popular):

2:Mage/Ranger/Wizard (Mage/Ranger more popular than Wizard but roughly the same population)

1:Paladin

[Bardp1999]

Above post is pretty spot on. I guess Druid technically is the most popular class just due to port monkey status. I actually hardly ever actually group with Druids though.

Everything else looks pretty accurate just from what I observe in game. Necromancer isn't as over played as some of the other classes but there are defiantly a ton of them lurking...mainly solo though. Necro seems to attract the unsocial

[kjs86z]

@op - let's focus on grouping, because EQ is definitely a social game!

Melee dps and group - rogue

Tank and care about raiding - war

Tank small group only: pally or SK your choice

caster (with solo): necro or enc

end game hybrid: shaman

king (queen) of heals: cleric

playing QB for the team: monk

[Nagoya]

my take.
ps: your template is ugly ;a;

1. Druid Population: 10 Grouping: 6
2. Cleric Population: 5 Grouping: 10
3. Shaman Population: 7 Grouping: 8
4. Warrior Population: 3 Grouping: 6
5. Paladin Population: 1 Grouping: 9
6. SK Population: 3 Grouping: 7
7. Mage Population: 2 Grouping: 7
8. Chanter Population: 8 Grouping: 10
9. Necro Population: 8 Grouping: 5
10: Wizard Population: 1 Grouping: 4
11. Monk Population: 7 Grouping: 9
12. Rogue Population: 4 Grouping: 8
13. Bard Population: 4 Grouping: 8
14. Ranger Population: 2 Grouping: 6

*grouping assuming untwink pug level 1-50

[Karthil]

I think you've gotten a lot of info I'd agree with, with a few caveats:

There are classes that are very sought after for grouping, but most groups usually only want one of them: Cleric, SK, Pally, Ench.

Sure, you'll get flexible people who have 2 clerics in one group, and I'm by no means suggesting that there should ONLY be one of each of these per group, but people do tend to think of groups that way. So even if I'd give each of them a 10 for grouping, they tend to be a one-and-done type situation.

Then you have rogues, warriors and monks. Because melee DPS is never redundant a group can easily have any number of these classes (once you have at least a healer, maybe cc, and in the case of the rogue, a tank). I would say that these classes in and of themselves might not get a 10 as easily as the previous classes (maybe an 8 or 9?) but because there can be multiples of each class in a group much more effectively, I'd actually rate them a 10.

Just my thoughts :P

[Troxx]

1. Druid Population: 10 Grouping: 3
2. Cleric Population: 5 Grouping: 10
3. Shaman Population: 8 Grouping: 8
4. Warrior Population: 3 Grouping: 5
5. Paladin Population: 1 Grouping: 9
6. SK Population: 2 Grouping: 6
7. Mage Population: 2 Grouping: 8
8. Chanter Population: 8 Grouping: 10
9. Necro Population: 8 Grouping: 3-9 (player skill)
10: Wizard Population: 2 Grouping: 1
11. Monk Population: 8 Grouping: 8
12. Rogue Population: 5 Grouping: 8
13. Bard Population: 3 Grouping: 3-10 (player skill)
14. Ranger Population: 3 Grouping: 3-6 (player skill)

Special caveats for some of the more capable classes with higher skill margins. The effectiveness differences for bard and necro is pretty huge. Bad bards/necros are bad. Good ones are gods and can carry groups.

[slowpoke68]

Thanks all. Very interesting and seemingly largely unchanged from when I last played. Was wondering if Velious release would cause an uptick in hybrids, but apparently not.

May dust off my Wizard, I did like him a lot, but have never ever played a Mage at all and that might be fun. Paladin is in the running, as is rogue. Of course Bard might be interesting but probably a bit too carpal tunnelly for me.

Thanks again to all for sharing their insights on the topic.

[kjs86z]

Thanks all. Very interesting and seemingly largely unchanged from when I last played. Was wondering if Velious release would cause an uptick in hybrids, but apparently not.

May dust off my Wizard, I did like him a lot, but have never ever played a Mage at all and that might be fun. Paladin is in the running, as is rogue. Of course Bard might be interesting but probably a bit too carpal tunnelly for me.

Thanks again to all for sharing their insights on the topic.

If you want a good social experience, don't bother w/ the Wizard. No one wants to group with a Wizard. Its just the mentality of a top-heavy, min/max server.

So it sounds like you're down to mage, paladin, or rogue. Pretty easy choice there... just decide if you want to caster dps, melee dps, or tank.

Good luck!

[kyrobo]

I did my own simplified spin on Loraen's guide half a year ago, except meant specifically for new players:

https://www.reddit.com/r/project1999/comments/9kb9do/for_new_players_class_recommendation_ranking/

It's not perfect but I think it mostly works.

The most glaring overstatement on Loraen's guide is the 10 rating for bard solo. That was true when they could pull entire zones but the mob cap and lazy agro set it back a few points, imo. Other than that it's still pretty accurate.

[Crede]

OP I revised your format. Class popularity can be found on the wiki. Here's all you need to know for any class on p99:

If you want a solo oriented class

If you want to be a raid buffer
Play Shaman, Enchanter, Druid, Bard
Else if you want to deal damage on raids & help mobilize
Play Wizard
Else if you want to be a Twitch bot on raids
Play Necromancer

Else if you want a group oriented class

If you want to raid tank
Play Warrior
Else if you want to raid buff
Play Shaman/Enchanter
Else if you want to raid dps
Play Rogue/Monk
Else if you want to pull on raids
Play Monk/SK/Bard
Else if you want to heal
Play Cleric
Else if you want to be a COTH bot on raids
Play Mage
Else
Play Paladin

Else
Play Ranger


There can be slight variations depending on players' skill level and your social circle

[Stroboo]

Necro is a twitch bot when you are doing farming type, long hour raids (HoT, Kael, hate farming) they have plenty of more utility in other raid situation - can pet track, train up, great taggers and goal keepers as well. They can help greatly getting dragons and such

[sox7d]

If a wizard ever joined my group, I'd be fine with them just afking. Theyre so awful in a group setting but great in other aspects of the game. Anyone that says differently is ignorant or in denial.

Source: 60 wiz

[bigjeff100]

If a wizard ever joined my group, I'd be fine with them just afking. Theyre so awful in a group setting but great in other aspects of the game. Anyone that says differently is ignorant or in denial.

Source: 60 wiz

Well aren't you a blast to group with.

[slowpoke68]

I did my own simplified spin on Loraen's guide half a year ago, except meant specifically for new players:

https://www.reddit.com/r/project1999/comments/9kb9do/for_new_players_class_recommendation_ranking/

It's not perfect but I think it mostly works.

The most glaring overstatement on Loraen's guide is the 10 rating for bard solo. That was true when they could pull entire zones but the mob cap and lazy agro set it back a few points, imo. Other than that it's still pretty accurate.



Very interesting, thanks for posting this link.