Best unfunded class?

[Kingmerciless]

So I'm super new to EQ, like this is pretty much my first experience with it. Question is what's the best unfunded class? Even if it's easy to make your first couple hundred plat, what it wasn't?

[Nagoya]

Top is easiest to play naked / self-funded, bot is hardest:

Magician
Wizard
Enchanter
Necromancer
Cleric
Bard
Druid
Rogue
Shaman
Monk
Ranger
Paladin
Shadow Knight
Warrior

My 2 cents :)

All classes are playable as a first toon np

[thediggler1]

And I'll just mention that having a druid as a first class will be great for getting around. They have a movement speed buff and ports eventually, and can do well without much gear.

[xabler]

Druid

[DinoTriz2]

Monk is up there

All you need is a Wu's Staff, and people practically give those away

[Kingmerciless]

WQS obtained at the moment, shout outs to the guild. Then a random druid grinding rep, plvled me 2 levels today and gave me a whole wu set.

[loramin]

Druids or Necromancers are the obvious answer, but I'm going to go with a less obvious one: Shaman.

Shaman are excellent soloers without gear, and can absolutely level all the way up to 60 without any gear except the stuff they loot on corpses. Furthermore they can do this either by soloing, grouping, or mixing the two, and I speak from experience (my first character here was a Shaman, and while a friend gave me a Barbarian Spiritist's Hammer which helped a little, it was far from necessary ... or even much of a noticeable improvement)

Now you (or at least other more knowledgeable posters) might be thinking "WTF? Shaman need a 15k Jaundiced Bone Bracer, an almost 100k epic, and an almost 100k Torpor, plus a few other level 60 spells that cost several K". And you/they are right: all those things do help a Shaman a lot, and do cost plat.

But again, you don't need a JBB or an epic to solo, and certainly not to group. Honestly I'd argue a Druid needs their (admittedly much cheaper) Goblin Ghazugi Ring to solo more than a Shaman needs a JBB or epic, and they need it even earlier (level 19 or so). Both the JBB and epic significantly increase solo leveling speed, but what often gets missed is just how fast Shaman can solo even without them.

And then of course there's Torpor, but the way I see it Torpor is like level 61 for Shaman. A level 60 Torpor-less Shaman is pretty much balanced with almost any other class at level 60; getting Torpor just moves them into the unbalanced realm. And while of course you need Torpor to solo the best mobs that drop the most expensive loot, there are plenty of places a Torpor-less (and JBB-less and epic-less) Shaman can farm plat (see the Treasure Hunting guide link in my signature :)).

While Druids are getting 25p a port to make money, Shaman can make up to 500p/hour (or maybe even more) soloing in places like Droga (if they get say the Essence Earring camp, and then kill as many goblins as they can in between for fine steel). And of course, once they do farm the plat for all their toys (which, again, they totally can do without said toys) only Enchanters can rival them for soloing the most difficult/valuable stuff in the game.

So personally when Green arrives I'm going to be really torn. Part of me wants to do something different, like start a Mage, but part of me loves Shaman and knows what a great class they are to start with on a new server. Even though I've done him twice before, version 3.0 of Loramin (live was 1.0) may well be my first character in October.

[Jimjam]

Define best?

If you enjoy challenges, I'd suggest warrior. I've done a couple of unfunded warriors and I've enjoyed hunting for those few items which will 'get you by'. I remember saving up enough for a combine two handed sword on Jimjam and going nuts on willowisps from 12-17. I ended up with enough plat from handing in greater light stones to buy a full set of vendor bought plate in Kaladim! I then hit up highpass and kurn's tower to get an iksar berserkers club and polished granite tomahawk. These worked well enough in groups to get me to a level where I could travel Norrath and quest out a full set of crafted armour from the Karana centaurs.

I also discovered there were decent aggro weapons that were the side product to the rogue epic, which I was able to scrounge. All in all it was a great experience gearing and levelling a warrior from scratch without outside funding nor using EC to self twink.

However, if you mean 'best' as in most powerful with least effort or funds then I suggest magician is a really good shout. If you're willing to work hard then Druid, necromancer, enchanter or hard can all be pretty fearsome.

Honestly though, the need for funds/equipment is pretty overstated. Keep your key skills up, stick to the most important spells and if melee buy a 1:2 ratio weapon for 40pp and have enough AC to mitigate against mobs 5 levels below you and you're running at 80% efficiency of a character with a few k pumped into it.

[derpcake2]

Even though I've done him twice before, version 3.0 of Loramin (live was 1.0) may well be my first character in October.

Are you going to pick the worst available race again?

[Jimjam]

Are you going to pick the worst available race again?

Loramin actually plays barbarians, not ogres!

AKA best shaman race by far.

[kjs86z]

Can play almost anything underfunded if you're planning on mostly grouping (the right way to level as a new player).

[DMN]

Microeconomics.

[Wallicker]

Mage/necro -> ench -> bard -> sham/cleric/ Druid/wizard -> sk/pal -> ranger -> rogue -> war

This would be my “overall” list obviously tweaks would be made if you were after specifics like getting to 60 as fast as possible, or endgame farming, or if you were only soloing or grouping etc.

[Troxx]

Easiest to level and play with naked? Bard Mage and Necro. All 3 of these are fully functional at near max capacity both solo and in a group while naked. Bards just need songs and vendor instruments. Pet classes need just their basic spells (can ignore bad spells) and just plow ahead

Honorable mentions go to druid and, to a lesser degree, wizards for being able to generate funds once they can port.

In a true classic fresh launch server environment, there will not be overpowered and underpriced weapons and armor in EC which puts tanks and real melee (ie not bard) at a huge disadvantage.

For green, those classes with a spell book will be much more functional much sooner than those without.

[FatherSioux]

Bard.

[Tecmos Deception]

Top is easiest to play naked / self-funded, bot is hardest:

Magician
Wizard
Enchanter
Necromancer
Cleric
Bard
Druid
Rogue
Shaman
Monk
Ranger
Paladin
Shadow Knight
Warrior

My 2 cents :)

All classes are playable as a first toon np

This is pretty close. I'd kinda break it into 3 brackets like this though:

Magician
Necromancer
Cleric
Druid
Enchanter

Wizard
Bard
Rogue
Shaman
Monk
Ranger
Paladin
Shadow Knight

Warrior

Top category relies almost entirely on magic to be effective, especially while leveling up. Gear is generally for convenience... gazughi ring for chanter, more hp/mp for casters, etc; it doesn't really expand what any of the classes can do too much without truly obscene levels of twinking. Chanters probably need gear the most out of any of these to get some early charisma gear, but a naked chanter is still stronger than most classes are geared.

Middle category can do ok without "funding" but will definitely not be shining stars. Melees need weapons, tanks need armor, wizards need mana to do anything but root+nuke solo and they'll often need to do that since groups aren't always happy to have them, etc. Budget gear is relatively cheap and effective, but you do need it to really hit your stride.

Warrior is alone at the bottom. They need threat weapons that are expensive at low levels (good procs from <20 are hard to find I think, high DPS weapons are good threat but are expensive). They need haste to boost their DPS/threat. They need armor to take hits and to boost their damage/hp/resists/dex. They need clickies/consumables to get around solo. Etc.


On blue, 1000pp can give a new character better gear than months of effort on a new, classic server would get you, and even a brand-new character with no connections on the server can make that with most classes by 30 if they work on it. On a new server, the gap between the top and middle and bottom gets enormous because you just won't be able to buy gear. Bronze drops and 2 int rings and stuff like that will be luxuries for a lot of players. Casters will be running around in full cloth with a cracked staff because they spend all their coin on their essential spells. Etc. BUT, as I said above, the classes that are relying on magic operate at nearly full capacity naked. The top group become godly. Even wizards move up from being an "ok when played well" to "pretty dang good" group option when your DPS choices are 1) pet classes, 2) other casters, or 3) melees with fine steel weapons.

[DinoTriz2]

Bard.

Yep, another good one. Only need like instruments.

[Troxx]

Yep. The difference for most content between massively geared and twinked bard and a naked bard with vendor instruments is negligible. The most potent deciding factor is the skill of the bard followed then by the quality of instruments. Gear (Ac/resists/hp) only enhance durability for bards. Really the only armor piece or weapon that significantly impact bardly prowess is the epic ... which is a game changer.

I’d put bard above cleric druid and enchanter in terms of least gear dependant. Enchanters benefit hugely from charisma gear and some extra hp buffer. With the exception of lull resists, bard songs are so short that charisma is negligible.

Bard 1-60 in rags and 1pp vendor instruments is 100% manageable without taking any significant hit to effectiveness.

[DromalPhrenia]

Bard is extremely powerful almost entirely naked, as mentioned above. It also has a high skill ceiling though, which can be a plus for many but might be rough for a brand new player.

Mage is very easy and can level naked, your only expenses are spells and malachites.

Enchanter doesn't NEED a GGR and a necro doesn't NEED a pre-nerf COS, these are both great items (more so the CoS) but you can solo no problem without them. For blue, gearing an enchanter is very cheap. For Green, it'll be harder to find CHA gear early on.

If you're looking for easiest class on a new server I'm pretty sure mage pets are OP in classic and summoning magic weapons is a godsend when melees are stuck with garbage classic loot.

[Wallicker]

You are sorely mistaken. If you think bards are going to be able to swarm in empty zones in an all classic green

[Wallicker]

Plus in classic bard can’t mez a mob higher than lvl 45... and no pbaoe snare for dungeon swarming(which would be dope bc swarming efreeti and LDC would be funny)

[Wallicker]

And no cantana until Velious only pulses bois.

[Nirgon]

Enchanter too powerful here. Mobs aren't quite as resistant as live esp to charm/root.

[loramin]

Enchanter too powerful here. Mobs aren't quite as resistant as live esp to charm/root.

The one thing to consider about Enchanters (and actually Druids and Necromancers too for that matter, but to a lesser extent) on Green is that they won't have the Goblin Ghazughi Ring, or at least not at first. That item makes a major difference in charming effectiveness.

Resist rates may well be too low still; I'm not saying Enchanters won't be OP on Green. I'm just saying they won't be as OP without the ring.

[Troxx]

You are sorely mistaken. If you think bards are going to be able to swarm in empty zones in an all classic green

Who are you talking to?

My commentary was with regards to bards functioning in all environments. Group, solo charming, solo chanting, or aoe swarm dotting. In pretty much all situations bards can operate at near maximum potency naked as a jay bird. Our melee dps is “ok” up to about level 20. After that it becomes progressively more and more suckass. With regards to green, everyone will be sporting the same rusty/bronze/combine weapons.

Hymn of restoration (level 6 and modified by strings starting at 8) is stupidly overpowered in classic era groups. Bards bring their best to the table when their instruments are out and you can buy 2.0 mod instruments from a vendor for nearly the price of a cracked staff.

Swarming is lame and boring. I regret having done it at all.

[Wallicker]

I agree with that

[FatherSioux]

The one thing to consider about Enchanters (and actually Druids and Necromancers too for that matter, but to a lesser extent) on Green is that they won't have the Goblin Ghazughi Ring, or at least not at first. That item makes a major difference in charming effectiveness.

Because invis is so mana intensive? Ghazughi ring might be the most over blown item on the server.

[Tecmos Deception]

Because invis is so mana intensive? Ghazughi ring might be the most over blown item on the server.

It's ENORMOUSLY convenient.

It barely changes actual effectiveness.

[branamil]

Yeah, it's kind of a joke how effective vendor instruments are for the price of like, 4 gold? Like, the horn from deep Temple of Veeshan is only like 4 more damage shield or like 12 more aoe DPS, or close to that. Compare the effectiveness of vendor weapons to deep ToV weapons it's insane. Would have been cooler if the scale of instrument effectiveness was longer and there were more options.

[Baylan295]

It's ENORMOUSLY convenient.

It barely changes actual effectiveness.

I took my enchanter to the mid 40s without a GGR on a laptop with a touch pad. I started using a mouse and a GGR And suddenly became a God.

[Vexenu]

Mage is definitely the best starting from nothing. People forget how brutal leveling in EQ is when you have zero twinking and no friends to help you. You're literally saving every copper for your first few levels just to buy bags. It's very rough. Even as a caster that requires no gear, spells can be quite expensive for new players. This is where Mages really shine. Not only do they need no gear, they hardly even need any spells. Just your pet, a nuke, burnout and DS is all you really need. Everything else you can put on the back burner until higher levels. This is the big difference between Mages and Necro in this regard. Many of the best Necro spells are Research only, while a Mage is guaranteed at least one new pet from a vendor every 4-5 levels.

[elwing]

This also depend on how you want to play... If you want to group as example, pali and sk should not be at the bottom... You can easily tank group against twink rogues wearing banded and a 50p ec tunnel weapon up to lvl 30 or so... Now if you want to solo... That's possible but gear becomes way more important...

[Kingmerciless]

Woah did I spark some healthy debates? For green I'll probably roll a druid to make some money from ports and whatnot. Casters seem fun I could see them easily being best unfunded. Bard might take the cake though we will wait and see. I'll probably leave it to chance when the time comes.

EDIT: will also have to see what my friend rolls since that can seriously change playstyle. Shammy apparently is like one of the best class for duos. Might be mistaken.

[Wallicker]

Nybright sister camp day one of green /shivers

[DromalPhrenia]

Speaking of druids and ports, I wonder how the the green economy will handle port cost. You sure as hell aren't getting 1pp per level. With the exception of a handful of camps, making PP early on is very tough and every cent counts.

Speaking of nybright sisters, LFay is an outdoor zone. Hell, most good cash camps count as outdoors, for that matter. In outdoor zones, a "camp" is considered 1 mob. So 3 people (or maybe groups, since soloing isnt realistic for some classes untwinked), each with one sister. Yuuuuuck.

[Zipity]

Lol all 4 is one camp

[loramin]

Lol all 4 is one camp

By player convention. But if players want to force whoever has camp to share they can, as per normal server rules on outdoor/non-dungeon zones.

Each player can only claim one spawn point. Rest are FTE.

[Kingmerciless]

Best class for group play since funds are low? I know those casters are probably still best since they are not gear reliant early.

[DromalPhrenia]

Lol all 4 is one camp

That's how I see it, but that's not how the rules are written. A player could absolutely move in to take one of the spawns and the GMs would side with them. Potentially 4 people (or groups) with each taking one spawn. I absolutely wouldn't put it past people when green first launches and PP is extremely hard to come by.

[DromalPhrenia]

Best class for group play since funds are low? I know those casters are probably still best since they are not gear reliant early.
bard, cleric, enchanter... maybe shaman? crowd control and healing are crucial at any point, but especially with bad gear. I don't recall seeing haste and slow as often back when I played on Live in this era, but they should both be huge difference makers.

[Jimjam]

Speaking of druids and ports, I wonder how the the green economy will handle port cost. You sure as hell aren't getting 1pp per level. With the exception of a handful of camps, making PP early on is very tough and every cent counts.

Speaking of nybright sisters, LFay is an outdoor zone. Hell, most good cash camps count as outdoors, for that matter. In outdoor zones, a "camp" is considered 1 mob. So 3 people (or maybe groups, since soloing isnt realistic for some classes untwinked), each with one sister. Yuuuuuck.

I don't want to spill the beans, but sisters aren't the only bronze/bandit camp in lesser fay.

[elwing]

Lol all 4 is one camp

GM clearly defined that in outdoor, a camp is 1mob... You have the right to "claim" all four, but if someone contest you have no right on more than 1 of them... That's no fun, but that's lawyerquest at its best....

[DromalPhrenia]

I don't want to spill the beans, but sisters aren't the only bronze/bandit camp in lesser fay.

that doesn't change that nybrights might very well be split in such a way, and i would expect the same of any outdoor cash camp. nybrights is just an easy example.

each person gets 1 treant, each person gets 1 hill giant, eventually each person gets 1 paineel guard, etc.

[Jimjam]

And if there still aren't enough to go around? I guess we'll have to redefine the rotation of the guard!

[Amyas]

So I'm super new to EQ, like this is pretty much my first experience with it. Question is what's the best unfunded class? Even if it's easy to make your first couple hundred plat, what it wasn't?

Bard
Druid
Necro
Mage
Enc

[sacman08]

Druids easily best self funded. Wood elf specifically, they get forage and easy CB belts for newb armor. Friendly to animals so they don’t die outdoors naturally. With belts and other newb quests they can earn enough to get early spells. Summon food & drink early combined with forage means never having to buy food or drink. Yes port spells are expensive but after hitting 20’s do gobbos or unrest and you’ll earn enough to pay for ports. After 29 you live like a king making tips off porting and buffs.

[BarackObooma]

I remember on live each gnoll spire in SK was a separate camp. No wonder it took weeks for each level.

[Kingmerciless]

I had rolled a druid half elf on red, first experience with Gfay and Kelathin. I hate it :( but isn't as bad as I hate Misty Thicket.

[DMN]

Druids easily best self funded. Wood elf specifically, they get forage and easy CB belts for newb armor. Friendly to animals so they don’t die outdoors naturally. With belts and other newb quests they can earn enough to get early spells. Summon food & drink early combined with forage means never having to buy food or drink. Yes port spells are expensive but after hitting 20’s do gobbos or unrest and you’ll earn enough to pay for ports. After 29 you live like a king making tips off porting and buffs.

All druids get forage at level 5. Halflings are clearly the best race as they have a leveling bonus, a ghetto gnome wall hack, and get hide/sneak too.

By the time you even get summon food/drink as a druid you should be able to forage for all your food/water.

[loramin]

All druids get forage at level 5. Halflings are clearly the best race as they have a leveling bonus, a ghetto gnome wall hack, and get hide/sneak too.

By the time you even get summon food/drink as a druid you should be able to forage for all your food/water.

As someone with a Halfling druid I mostly agree. However, Wood Elves are a very solid choice also.

True they don't get the wall hack or XP bonus or hide/sneak ... but the wall hack is more fun than useful, XP bonus is minor for one of the best leveling classes (and doesn't matter at 60), and hide/sneak is extremely minor compared to Camouflage (personally the only time I ever use it on my Druid is to avoid the Satyr that paths through the Sentient Suits in WL when I'm AFK medding).

In contrast Wood Elves and Tunare worshipping Half-Elves get some nice items (http://wiki.project1999.com/Category:Tunare_Worshiper_Equipment), including a root clickie and those DS gloves (http://wiki.project1999.com/Gloves_of_Earthcrafting), so I think a very solid case can be made for them too. Truly the only "wrong" choice (purely from a power gaming perspective) is Human or non-Tunare worshipping Half-Elf.

[sacman08]

By the time you even get summon food/drink as a druid you should be able to forage for all your food/water.

Not disagreeing but my experience with forage is almost an 80/20 split, 80% food for about 20% water. and I hit it anytime it's up not just casual with it.
I have two characters with forage and both have the same results. Which means I have to buy water or summon drink: Summon drink is superior as it only takes a few minutes for me to cast up a 20 stack that's good for a full play session.
My preference against Halflings is purely aesthetic, I can't stand the first person camera view. I feel like I have my chin on the ground from such a short race. Wood elves are as small as I am willing to go.

[DMN]

I've got a max necro and high level monk and neither have had any problem with getting food/water purely from forage and the iksar cap is way lower than a druid will generally have.

[sacman08]

Not sure on that, I get loads of food so much I have 20 stacks in the bank. Pods of water not so much, I end up buying water flasks when needed

[Izmael]

Bard can be soloed or grouped to 60 absolutely naked, with maybe a couple 2gp items bought off merchants such as a Hand Drum or Lute. Has to be the easiest to play unfunded.

Necro probably close second, except at some point you'll want Jboots and a CoS for quality of life, which bard doesn't need.

[Jimjam]

Bard can be soloed or grouped to 60 absolutely naked, with maybe a couple 2gp items bought off merchants such as a Hand Drum or Lute. Has to be the easiest to play unfunded.

Necro probably close second, except at some point you'll want Jboots and a CoS for quality of life, which bard doesn't need.

Well there is the cost of songs/spells too.

[Izmael]

Well there is the cost of songs/spells too.

During your leveling, you inevitably kill mobs who will drop coin / trash weapons etc. That's enough for the most important spells to level to 60. For a swarming bard, it's like 5 songs total, all of them cheap.
For a necro, it's a little more spells, but not that much really. Undead charms, lifetaps, snare, bind, gate, FD... Mostly cheap spells.


I understood "unfunded" as "no external money supply". If it's "no coin spent during leveling to 60", then I guess the only real class for that would be Monk, just H2H melee to 60 and hope for the best.

[Jimjam]

During your leveling, you inevitably kill mobs who will drop coin / trash weapons etc. That's enough for the most important spells to level to 60. For a swarming bard, it's like 5 songs total, all of them cheap.
For a necro, it's a little more spells, but not that much really. Undead charms, lifetaps, snare, bind, gate, FD... Mostly cheap spells.


I understood "unfunded" as "no external money supply". If it's "no coin spent during leveling to 60", then I guess the only real class for that would be Monk, just H2H melee to 60 and hope for the best.

I appreciate those facts, it's just people like to misrepresent bards as '2pp on instruments and nothing else'. It's not just 60 levels of nonstop adding mobs to the kite. Occasionally you need to finish a bunch of mobs without adding pulls, to have a chance to loot, which does have an impact on efficiency.

[Izmael]

I appreciate those facts, it's just people like to misrepresent bards as '2pp on instruments and nothing else'. It's not just 60 levels of nonstop adding mobs to the kite. Occasionally you need to finish a bunch of mobs without adding pulls, to have a chance to loot, which does have an impact on efficiency.

I'm not sure I'm getting your point. I leveled (to various levels) a bunch of untwinked bards swarming naked when it was still really fun (pre 25 nerf). The hand drum and a lute were the only things I ever had to buy, along with 4-5 songs. Finishing mobs was never an issue, you can DoT them and/or melee with whatever janky weapon you picked up during your journey...

If you have several mobs to finish (example: cactus and chicken in OT won't assist each other so you can have both running), just charm one and stick on another. Or even just camp out to clear aggro and save time.

I'm not talking about the bard class in general, just about the "easiest unfunded class" aspect of it.