New to EverQuest, but not Tanking, so....

[migori]

I have never played EverQuest, but I like tanking. Played one in World of Warcraft a while ago.
So, does anyone have a suggestion for a good class to start with?
I have read about paladin, warrior, and shadow knight, but I have no idea if one is a better or worse idea of if I am alone or in later game with others.

[Topgunben]

I have never played EverQuest, but I like tanking. Played one in World of Warcraft a while ago.
So, does anyone have a suggestion for a good class to start with?
I have read about paladin, warrior, and shadow knight, but I have no idea if one is a better or worse idea of if I am alone or in later game with others.

You'd be best served to go SK. Warrior is a weak class until later levels or expensive gear. You won't be able to hold aggro as a warrior because your weapons will be bush league. Just about every class will be pulling aggro off of you until you get better gear.

SK gets disease cloud, which generates a ton of hate. I've grouped my twink monk with ALS SK's and have had a hard time pulling aggro off them while grouped in upper guk. Disease cloud is some of the best snap aggro out there, which is strange because it's a super weak spell.

Lastly, while monk isn't considered a tank, in my experience, monks will tank just as well up to a certain point/level.. Even in Karnors Castle the other day, we had a monk tanking LCY with no problem, plus damage output was better with monk.

Warriors are just a bad class in classic EQ, yes they are needed for end game raiding, and yes, with hundreds of thousands of PP in gear, they can be great DPS, but for the casual first time player trying to make his way through Norrath, every other class is going to be a much better option.

[Halfcell]

You'd be best served to go SK. Warrior is a weak class until later levels or expensive gear....

I was so ready to hate this post and argue against it, but I wound up agreeing with you by the end. I would never roll an SK, but that is also because I have been playing EQ for the better part of 20 years and I know that if I want to tank on a new server, I roll a chanter first and then twink the balls out of my warrior later.

Starting from zero, no knowledge, no plat, and just knowing that you like to tank, SK is almost certainly the right call. They tank very well in all content before raids, they are far more versatile than warriors, and they are far more forgiving with regard to learning curve.

Just dont start as an Iksar SK, the XP penalty and the loneliness of starting in Kunark is too much for your first character. Later you may enjoy it, but as a first EQ experience I do not recommend it.

[Jimjam]

I've found troll SKs to start in a zone where the first few levels are well catered. If you hug the right wall you will find gradually higher level monsters until you get to a dungeon (guk). There are usually a few low level players levelling up here and your not too far from a levelling hot spot for the teens (oasis).

If you'd like less monstrous character and an even busier player environment try a human of Innorruuk in Freeport. A compromise between the two might be a dark elf. These two races start close to the common lands, a trade hub (so there are plenty of higher level players to help you or pass off handmedowns).

[elwing]

Warriors are the only real tanks when it comes to end raids, both paladin and sk have no defense disc at all. Also warrior do quite fine dps unlike the knights. But I would counsel not to start as a warrior, warrior is really gear dependant, with all the twinks around you'll be really agro challenged...
Sk and paladin tanks just has well, sk have slightly more dps due to higher offense and more offensive spell lineups but the difference is low and their overall dps is low, sk have more tools to pull and solo while paladin have more support tools for the group. Both class can easily tank in any group up to 40 with a plain set of banded and a 50p ec weapon... So your pick based on whether you like to pull/solo or heal the group...

In the end game, both paladin and sk have limited uses, both are low dps, can't tank much, sk can have great use in the pull team while pali have their 200hp buff and occasional patch heal

[port9001]

Warrior - only tank that can tank endgame content, so if you're raiding and want to be the man in front of the dragon, you'll have to pick this class; only dual wielding tank if you like that; extremely gear dependent but I wouldn't let that stop you, that's part of the adventure

Paladin - holds aggro easily with low mana blind spell; can root and stun mobs for in camp crowd control; surprisingly decent heals that can keep a suboptimal group humming; lay on hands will save you and others all the time; lull is a decent if sometimes problematic way to break camps; good faction in most cities

Shadow Knight - holds aggro easily with low level DoT spell; can snare mobs which is handy for runners; gets both types of invis; feign death is awesome for splitting camps and never dying; faction issues but easily worked around

Edit: I wouldn't say either knight tank is better for group content. They both do their core job of being a big wall of plate that never loses aggro about the same. What they bring in addition to that is different flavors of utility that will be better or worse depending on the rest of the group.

[Legidias]

All the talk of tanking end game only applies to 0.001% of actual tanks. Most warriors wont even tank AoW or ST or city leaders. For most of the stuff you will tank, even in raids, you can get the gear requirements very easily. Full crustacean armor will let you tank HoT fine with some healers. Bumping it up to Thurg plate will just be icing on the cake for that, and you'll probably tank Kunark dragons just fine too.

[kjs86z]

As a first character, your only two choices really are SK or Paladin if you'd like to be the designated group tank. Deciding between the two comes down to what you think is cooler. I'd give the edge to SK as they solo a bit better and can Feign Death...but if you like the pally archetype better then by all means...its a great class.

Warrior is way too gear dependent. If you roll a SK / Pally and really fall in love with the game and are certain you want to be the best possible class for the super end game, then re-roll warrior later.

Coming from WoW...you have to understand that the pace of EQ is going to feel agonizingly-slow. I played vanilla through wotlk as a top end raider and hopped onto P99 never having played EQ before. It was quite the learning curve...but you couldn't pay me to go back to WoW now.

Just always keep the wiki open. Look up stuff like zone maps, guides, etc. Be social and don't be afraid to ask your group mates questions.

[elwing]

The gear requirement is not about armor legidias warrior can tank in banded better than sk ot pali and crustacean and later thurg is cheap and enough for pretty much anything you would do in exp group, the issue is with good enough weapons and haste to hold agro... That or have to beg someone to root all your mobs

[Jimjam]

I did Jimjam as a warrior tank in only self found gear up to 60. It was fine. The chunk of the levels were in kunark era where monks still had access to many of their better weapons but warriors didn't. Indeed at this stage rogues would often wield their epic before 46.

Dps generally has the tools to dump excess aggro, or at least help the tank in ensuring they are focus of the mob's attention (root and tippy toe tank). That said, gearing was not super easy and required a lot of research to find weapons which were even passable. (Iksar berserker club, scimitar of ykesha and trochillic's skean I remember being important loots).

Times are different now; there are a plethora of cheap warrior items available and haste is much cheaper to acquire. Especially if, unlike me, you are willing to use the player market to source equipment.East Commonlands.

A new player can acquire decent plat by level 5 if they focus their XPing on decayed skeletons. They drop cloth armour, probably the worst armour in the game but enough to tide you over for the first few levels. More importantly they drop a lot of loot worth a few gold, and even cracked staves worth over 1pp. On top of this they drop bone chips; a stackable and highly desired spell and quest component. Each stack of 20 is worth somewhere between 5-20pp (depending on buyer). For the time being just use a rusty two handed weapon dropped by a skeleton. Possibly upgrade it to tarnished in a forge using sharpening stones. This will one hit kill those skellies!

My suggestion to an aspiring warrior is to use these loots and bone chips to fund your first weapon. A fist of Zek, Jarsath trident, sword of skyfire or green jade broad sword (listed in order of desirability) can all be negotiated down to 40pp (a realistic amount to accrue by the time the skeletons stop giving XP). You might even be able to get a good deal on a venomous axe of the velium brood. Basically a cheap one handed weapon with a 1:2ish ratio. Take the rest of your bone chips to turn in for XP at kaladim or bank them for your next purchase. Your weapon is good enough to keep aggro for now, if it isn't then you are probably grouped with a think that might tank better than you anyway.

Save your plat as you level, wear armour you find (raw hide, rhino hide, mesh; all of these are fine to start with. As will be ringmail and bronze armour as you level further). There are a couple of 'bang for buck' upgrades to save for. Platinum/velium Fire wedding rings will boost your Max hp significantly at low level (helping you survive emergencies). Even more important than these is haste which will improve your white damage, and hence threat generation. After you've got these, and your offhand weapon, you are then free to spend on other upgrades. Banded armour is a good start of you failed to find any bronze armour in the field.

TLDR: farm decaying skeletons for XP and gold/bone chips. Buy 1:2 ish dmg:delay weapon. Find XP/play elsewhere. buy haste, buy hp rings as you can afford them. Buy banded if needed. This will take you to 46. From here you can guild up and gear up on hate/growth plane armour rots and Kael arena/plate house groups or crystal chitin from velkator's labyrinth XPing. These will last you to 60 and carry you to Kael or skyshrine quest armour and in turn end game armour.

You don't need a cloak of flames, fungus tunic and swiftblade of Zek / blade of carnage to level a warrior (though it would help).

[port9001]

100% agree with the above about not needing to be a twink to be a Warrior. This requirement of Warrior requiring proc weapons to hold aggro is far more about other people (read: groupmates) being lazy than the Warrior actually needing these tools.

[Halfcell]

100% agree with the above about not needing to be a twink to be a Warrior. This requirement of Warrior requiring proc weapons to hold aggro is far more about other people (read: groupmates) being lazy than the Warrior actually needing these tools.

You dont *need* great gear to roll a warrior, but it is a lot more fun to play a bare bones SK than it is a bare bones warrior. You struggle much less, and you dont wind up with the geared out monk or level 20 rogue with his epic tanking the mob all day because you can't hold threat.

We can debate whether or not it's fun to play an undergeared warrior for a veteran player, but for someone new to EQ it's just not the way to hook this poor bastard in for the next few years. You gotta push the easy stuff first man.

[Troxx]

Boiled down:

Knights have easy on demand aggro and their spellbooks nicely supplement tanking to a point. Sks are user friendly and mobile. Aggro is easy and feign death is amazing. Paladins bring a lot more utility to a group. At high levels paladin heal potential makes possibly the best group tanks in the game for most content. With clarity and catching a few Med ticks, from 59 plus a paladin can average 700-875 healing per minute with a lightning fast heal over time targeting self while tanking. That’s 5-6 extra fungi tunics worth of sustained healing. Neato buffs to share, 90% rez, and cc/stun.

Warriors suffer from no on demand aggro. With good gear choices they can be highly effective even on a budget they always suffer from extreme gear dependence. At high levels they start to hit Demi-god status. Evasive/defensive is wickedly powerful. With good gear they put out solid damage.

If you want to tank the nastiest monsters go warrior. If you plan on mostly grouping, knights fit that bill well.

I have a 60 warrior and 60 paladin. Both are a blast to play but Paladins are more fun in general unless raiding.

[fadetree]

Disease cloud is some of the best snap aggro out there, which is strange because it's a super weak spell.


That spell has 2 aggro components - 1 is the damage and 1 is the disease counter increase, which generates a hate value on it's own. Flame lick is the same way - it's a small dot but it also has an AC debuff which is where all the hate comes from. Any kind of debuff adds a lot of hate.

[Classicranger]

If WOW tanking is your experience, I think an EQ warrior is going to get boring for you pretty quick. I play a warrior for the first few months of every WOW xpac myself.

I made a pally a few months ago after playing a ranger to 50 when it was max and a Rog to 60 before stopping two years ago. The paladin is 44 now and is a blast to play. Aggro is easy, unrest (as a pally) will get you hooked on the class early on as it’s probably the most powerful you will feel in the game as a tank.

[bradsamma]

I always say that untwinked, a monk will be your best tank. With absolutely minimal gear they tank great, hold agro better than a warrior (better weapons for less plat), and can pull singles much more easily.

After you level up your monk, twink out a knight or warrior :)

[port9001]

You dont *need* great gear to roll a warrior, but it is a lot more fun to play a bare bones SK than it is a bare bones warrior. You struggle much less, and you dont wind up with the geared out monk or level 20 rogue with his epic tanking the mob all day because you can't hold threat.

We can debate whether or not it's fun to play an undergeared warrior for a veteran player, but for someone new to EQ it's just not the way to hook this poor bastard in for the next few years. You gotta push the easy stuff first man.

Maybe? I find it pretty fun to start out fresh and each item you get along the way feels like a huge upgrade. You feel that with an untwinked Warrior more than any other class I think.

There's a whole guild of people on this server who play untwinked on purpose and have a lot of fun doing it. Fun, it turns out, is a very individual thing.

[Halfcell]

Maybe? I find it pretty fun to start out fresh and each item you get along the way feels like a huge upgrade. You feel that with an untwinked Warrior more than any other class I think.

There's a whole guild of people on this server who play untwinked on purpose and have a lot of fun doing it. Fun, it turns out, is a very individual thing.

As I said, it can be a lot of fun for a seasoned EQ player to roll a tough class and play it ungeared. But for an inexperienced person rolling a naked warrior is going to be a much harsher experience than necessary. Especially coming from WoW.

It's like taking someone who has never played Dark Souls before and telling them "hey man, it's a lot of fun to run this game backwards, using only the weapon you start with, and trying to never get hit." It is fun, but it's going to blow as your first experience. Let a guy get used to the new game first.

[Arcticflava]

As I said, it can be a lot of fun for a seasoned EQ player to roll a tough class and play it ungeared. But for an inexperienced person rolling a naked warrior is going to be a much harsher experience than necessary. Especially coming from WoW.

It's like taking someone who has never played Dark Souls before and telling them "hey man, it's a lot of fun to run this game backwards, using only the weapon you start with, and trying to never get hit." It is fun, but it's going to blow as your first experience. Let a guy get used to the new game first.

That is a dumpster fire of an analogy. Playing a class as intended is nothing like playing another game not as intended. Logical fallacies detract from discussion, they do not add to it. Do better.

You continually try to state a subjective opinion as fact, and on top of that, you are stating it as an open and blanketed opinion held by many unnamed people. You are only in a position to state your own subjective opinion.

[Halfcell]

You continually try to state a subjective opinion as fact, and on top of that, you are stating it as an open and blanketed opinion held by many unnamed people. You are only in a position to state your own subjective opinion.

Correct. I am advocating for the validity of my opinion. Please, name for me any objective or verified source of information that could conclusively tell this OP what class he should play.

Seriously, like what "facts" are there to even cite? The entire experience of playing a game is subjective.

Also, my analogy was fine. I am guessing you have never played Dark Souls. Not really the point. My point is that I strongly recommend that this new player not roll a naked warrior with absolutely zero experience in EQ. Especially on this server, since it's player base can be a bit hard on people who don't have a ton of EQ knowledge.

If I wanted to prove the fact that people on this server are often assholes for absolutely no discernable reason I could just link your post I suppose.

[Jimjam]

As I said, it can be a lot of fun for a seasoned EQ player to roll a tough class and play it ungeared. But for an inexperienced person rolling a naked warrior is going to be a much harsher experience than necessary. Especially coming from WoW.

It's like taking someone who has never played Dark Souls before and telling them "hey man, it's a lot of fun to run this game backwards, using only the weapon you start with, and trying to never get hit." It is fun, but it's going to blow as your first experience. Let a guy get used to the new game first.

Honestly, my first toon here was a troll SK, I was using EC to get the best gear I could and the experience sucked for me. Everything that dropped sucked compared to what I was wearing. It was like I was putting in lots of time and was only getting useless rewards and my success in raising my level was achieved by whoever had farmed the gear I bought not me.

In the end I got to the mid 20s and decided enough was enough. I rerolled to a halfling warrior using only equipment I had looted or quested to get to 60. I took great enjoyment travelling Norrath, visiting out of the way zones to fun items that were meaningful to me.

Obviously this is my own story, but to suggest playing through the game in an unintended way (twinked melee) is the proper route for all players is obviously not always right. Indeed playing through the game 'properly' first really helps you appreciate how much twinkling helps. Even if it diminishes the struggle, the overcoming of which is the source of enjoyment from the game.

Maybe I'm just a masochist.

[Tethler]

Maybe I'm just a masochist.

Anyone playing EQ is a masochist on some level.

[Benanov]

Honestly, my first toon here was a troll SK

Trolls have a huge XP penalty. Halflings have a bonus.

I submit that it wasn't the class that was killing your fun, it was your race.

[Xulia]

100% agree with the above about not needing to be a twink to be a Warrior. This requirement of Warrior requiring proc weapons to hold aggro is far more about other people (read: groupmates) being lazy than the Warrior actually needing these tools.

I can see this being somewhat acceptable up until SHM/ENC begin using Slow. You will 100% lose aggro to a Slow spell and your ENC/SHM will die if you follow this strategy. You cannot Taunt aggro off fast enough to save them, either. If you want to follow this strategy and forego getting a proc weapon, group with another class that can rip aggro with certainty - Like a SHD - and then the WAR can rip off of them. But in that position you're better off being a DPS and letting the SHD tank.

Don't listen to detractors - you can tank all non-raid content as a Knight. In a standard 6 person group a SHD or PAL is an acceptable tank and can often hold aggro better than a WAR. I think SHD regen mana enough to be able to cast Disease Cloud even when they're running on fumes.

Unless you want to be the Main Assist for Raid level bosses a WAR is going to be a big investment in time and money. If that's your choice, god speed you sir. Find me in game and I'll hook you up with some banded armor to get you started.

[port9001]

I can see this being somewhat acceptable up until SHM/ENC begin using Slow. You will 100% lose aggro to a Slow spell and your ENC/SHM will die if you follow this strategy. You cannot Taunt aggro off fast enough to save them, either. If you want to follow this strategy and forego getting a proc weapon, group with another class that can rip aggro with certainty - Like a SHD - and then the WAR can rip off of them. But in that position you're better off being a DPS and letting the SHD tank

If only those slowing classes had some some kind of spell to prevent the mob from ripping their face off. Some kind of way to root them in place, ya know? Alas, they never got it.

[Xulia]

If only those slowing classes had some some kind of spell to prevent the mob from ripping their face off. Some kind of way to root them in place, ya know? Alas, they never got it.

I forgot that Root spells work 100% of the time and never get resisted.

Or you can just group with a class that can snap and hold aggro without the need for a proc weapon. War's have raid tanking, Knights have all other aspects of the game.

[unleashedd]

dont forget that as you level, and the level range of groupies widens, a paladin who is at the top end of this level range can heal as well as dedicated healer class.

WAR = hard to fulfill tanking role if undergeared (some impatient groupies will hate you)
SK = best group tank
PAL = 2nd best group tank; can heal

play a monk

[Topgunben]

play a monk

I approve of this message

[wagorf]

Halfcell is the only person here who puts himself in the OP's shoes, while the majority bases on their current state of eq knowledge and past experience.

The grind and difficulty, the lack of transparency in game, the shitty graphics and animations, the high penalty, the stupid inconvenience, the e-peen issues in the player community - all these "hardcore" aspects are fun for you because you are not new to EQ in 2019.

Talking to a brand new player about min/maxing and end game raiding, seriously wtf is wrong with you people. 99% chance this guy is going to quit this game before his war hits lvl 52.

[fortior]

Playing a warrior without lots of friends/a guild/plat will suck. Here's why:

- You will have lots of downtime with your only healing coming from bandages. Without racial sneak, you'll either have to carry them and restock (can be problematic) or go without.

- You're dependent on other players for everything. Not just heals and CC, but invis, levitate, run speed, really basic stuff you don't even think about when you're an established player.

- You have no access to many of the good money making methods as a warrior. You're shit at soloing and without decent gear, so-so at duoing since you have no pulling tools. This means you're fighting uphill from day 1.

- No plat = no clickies to fix any of the above, and a lot of the stuff you'd need is nodrop/trade, which means you can't exactly transfer it if you end up not enjoying the class.

I leveled a warrior, monk, and shaman. A few months after I took some time to start playing semi-seriously (got the shaman to 55, monk to 51, warrior to 30 since), I received the funds from 2 friends to purchase a fungi and some nice melee weapons. Even then, playing the warrior felt like garbage. Having access to a fungi is basically OP's best case scenario.

In every other game, I play a warrior. In this game it feels like hell unless you're decked out. You can't do anything without help or clickies. Can't split spawns, can't outrun mobs, can't port, can't invis, etc. I guess you could make a halfling warrior for racial sneak, but I'd suggest playing a monk instead. Hell, even SKs can fear kite.

I honestly wouldn't suggest playing a warrior unless you either really, really want to and know what you're in for, or you have a fungi and enough cash for good haste and good weapons

[Xulia]

Talking to a brand new player about min/maxing and end game raiding, seriously wtf is wrong with you people.

I had a lot of sugar this morning.

We're treating OP like they're not new to Tanking - as OP stated in the name of the thread. The reality is that once you've entered the long-haul that is 55-60, WAR tanks own raid content, and SHD/PAL are more for single group tanking and aggro control/ripping.

They asked a question in a semi-public forum, and for the most part people have provided reasonable answers - why do you have a problem with a forum functioning as intended?