Non-Raider Advice

[FatherSioux]

I'm wondering if anyone can help shine some light on what people do on p99 who don't raid. I've raided with the big dogs here and for numerous reasons I won't be doing that and have little desire to do that. I'm trying to figure out which class is best for a non-raider to extract the most enjoyment out of this era of EQ. Right now I'm leaning toward a Necro due to the solo gameplay and the benefits of FD.


What Class is best for a non-raider?
What are some fun things to do as a non-raider?

[Deathrydar]

I'm wondering if anyone can help shine some light on what people do on p99 who don't raid. I've raided with the big dogs here and for numerous reasons I won't be doing that and have little desire to do that. I'm trying to figure out which class is best for a non-raider to extract the most enjoyment out of this era of EQ. Right now I'm leaning toward a Necro due to the solo gameplay and the benefits of FD.


What Class is best for a non-raider?
What are some fun things to do as a non-raider?


All classes are best for a non-raider.
Play the game. Help other players. Group with good peeps.

I have been playing this game since 1999 and I never raided. It doesn't interest me at all. I am a different type of player though, as I don't even care if I log on and just talk to others on the server. That is good enough for me.

[FatherSioux]

All classes are best for a non-raider.
Play the game. Help other players. Group with good peeps.

I have been playing this game since 1999 and I never raided. It doesn't interest me at all. I am a different type of player though, as I don't even care if I log on and just talk to others on the server. That is good enough for me.

Can you try and provide some insights into what class you would suggest as being the most enjoyable as a non-raider? You sound uniquely qualified to answer this question.

[uygi]

#1 is probably level alts. Definitely there are people who just farm and stockpile plat. Some people just hang around and do random stuff with friends/guildies. Some might just randomly run around and buff/PL lowbies, etc.

And then the biggest thing non-raiders end up doing, is leaving. They have that in common with the raiders BTW.

[Deathrydar]

Can you try and provide some insights into what class you would suggest as being the most enjoyable as a non-raider? You sound uniquely qualified to answer this question.

Druid would probably be the first choice. You get to run around and buff people and port all around. In fact, I remember just spending friday and saturday nights porting myself around and seeing if anyone else needed ports.

I know, pathetic right? I have no life!

Next I would say Bard. You can pretty much go anywhere with your invis songs and speed run songs.

[Argh]

It depends what your goals are. If you want to just farm gear for leveling alts the best classes for this are probably enc/shaman/necro/druid. With enchanter and shaman also being very good in groups as well.

Having some character that you can do solo stuff on is nice to have because if you play off-peak hours you don't want to be completely dependent on finding/putting together random groups.

What I've enjoyed most outside of raiding is just doing stuff with a small group of friends or finding new things I never experienced before on live or p99. For that it doesn't really matter what your class is, and is more about having friends that you enjoy doing stuff with.

[FatherSioux]

Bard isn't a terrible choice, I have a 60 Bard on Blue and grouping as a bard is some of the most fun in this era. Druid isn't a bad call with all the options to engage with the community.

The raid scene here is just so toxic, any reason to believe green will differ from blue as far as toxicity?

[Argh]

The raid scene here is just so toxic, any reason to believe green will differ from blue as far as toxicity?

Not a chance.

[FatherSioux]

Not a chance.

I didn't think so.

As a solo player with no one else playing p99 I guess my first job is to find some casual folks and get in their guild. Any guilds forming already?

[Argh]

This applies to blue, but Kittens is a great casual guild for playing at any level or doing some raiding with.

[Vexenu]

Some common non-raiding activities in EQ:

- Leveling alts
- Farming plat
- Tunnelquesting
- Tradeskilling
- Completing various quests
- Powerleveling other players
- Porting people
- Rezzing people
- Attempting challenging small group content
- Solo Artist challenges
- Exploring zones you're unfamiliar with
- Scavenger hunts for various rare items
- Role-playing as your character
- Starting or joining a gimmick or role-play guild
- Camping rare items/spawns
- Playing Auld Lang Syne style
- Working towards putting together entire gearsets for multiple alts

[Gustoo]

Literally the entire game is based around not raiding. You can spend thousands of hours doing things other than raiding for any 1 character.

Choose the class and race that makes you feel cool.

If you don't want to team up with people to accomplish things, choose a class that can solo well like a necro, druid, or enchanter.

If you want to be able to sorta solo but want to have weapons make a hybrid or maybe a monk.

All other classes are equally excellent.

[uygi]

You forgot shaman. Excellent solo class, excellent group contributor, excellent newbie buffer.

[bum3]

Start a guild. Help them in every way they need. Do events for them. Then when they are leveled up and wanting to raid.. merge with another guild. That's what I did on classic. Amazing how you feel like you don't have enough time when you just want to help people have fun.

[cd288]

Tradeskills could be a good option once you can start farming some plat to invest in them. You could be a big time tradeskiller and try and control the market on things like jewelry! lol

[Fuzzhead93]

I would recommend Shaman - amazing in groups, you can buff low level newbs, can solo challenging content, runs fast, has a pet dog

[Deathrydar]

I would recommend Shaman - amazing in groups, you can buff low level newbs, can solo challenging content, runs fast, has a pet dog

Don't forget Alchemy. You can make potions as a Thursday night hobby.

[El-Hefe]

This applies to blue, but Kittens is a great casual guild for playing at any level or doing some raiding with.

I really wish Kittens had something planned as far as Green goes. :(

[Fammaden]

I really wish Kittens had something planned as far as Green goes. :(

Seems like the big established blue guilds are mostly entrenched in what they've created already, both individually and collectively. Can't say that I blame anyone for that. Also there's the hope that somehow the OTHER guys will lose members to green and leave more raid mobs on the table. I guess that's already happened to some degree with AM losing numbers to WoWC.

Who knows maybe blue will continue to thrive and green will end up the niche experience, or maybe they will all be playing catch up on green in three to six months.

[toddfx]

I made my own adventure. I mastered Brewing, collected all the drinkable items in the game, visited every tavern in the game, updated the wiki long the way, and blogged it. Check out my sig! There are still a couple adventures I need to write up posts for, and hopefully more to come on Green.

[bubur]

i found mage to be pretty relaxed at max level

having a no-nonsense pet that can camp lots of things without much effort is enjoyable. other classes can do more, but for things in the 1-40 range, like hill giants or quest mobs for all of the class armor, a mage pet with a couple of summoned swords does just fine

plus the ds is welcome for helping newbs

[Gozuk]

What do you mean, "you people?"

[NegaStoat]

i found mage to be pretty relaxed at max level

having a no-nonsense pet that can camp lots of things without much effort is enjoyable. other classes can do more, but for things in the 1-40 range, like hill giants or quest mobs for all of the class armor, a mage pet with a couple of summoned swords does just fine

plus the ds is welcome for helping newbs

That's my take on it. In pre Kunark the Magician + pet are freakin' beasts and welcome in any group, and the moment Kunark hits you're able to summon your own 10 slot 100% bags for maximum farming. But my goal will be to gut it out to 60, have the lvl 60 water pet with a water staff to focus it for omgwtf free damage for chardok and other fun spots. I understand that the Enchanter is stronger in many ways, but the Magician is just so relaxing to play. It's my sincere hope that there's a number of gnomish tinkers on launch willing to rapidly raise their skill to sell spyglasses. I can't think of any other gem refresh clickies that are easy to get, aside from Najena's Jboots.

[Vizax_Xaziv]

Can you try and provide some insights into what class you would suggest as being the most enjoyable as a non-raider? You sound uniquely qualified to answer this question.

I would vote Enchanter or Shaman. Top-tier group desirability for high end camps (Fungi / Juggs etc) and simultaneously the best soloers/farmers.

ALSO the two best classes for the "Solo Artist Challenges" if you want some more difficult solo play once you're max level!

Oh and as others have noted Shammy is AMAZING for buffing lowbies (especially undergeared players on a fresh server)

[Vizax_Xaziv]

i found mage to be pretty relaxed at max level

having a no-nonsense pet that can camp lots of things without much effort is enjoyable. other classes can do more, but for things in the 1-40 range, like hill giants or quest mobs for all of the class armor, a mage pet with a couple of summoned swords does just fine

plus the ds is welcome for helping newbs
Oooh this too. No better class (IMO) for pure plat / tradeskill farming. Maybe not the FASTEST per se but incredibly hands-off and laid back playstyle

[Danth]

I'm wondering if anyone can help shine some light on what people do on p99 who don't raid. I've raided with the big dogs here and for numerous reasons I won't be doing that and have little desire to do that. I'm trying to figure out which class is best for a non-raider to extract the most enjoyment out of this era of EQ. Right now I'm leaning toward a Necro due to the solo gameplay and the benefits of FD.


What Class is best for a non-raider?
What are some fun things to do as a non-raider?


This thread seems right up my alley. Raiding has never been a big deal to me on P1999, and neither do I have a great deal of interest in alts. What I do have, however, is a built-in duo since the wife also plays. What do we do? Simple--play the game. There's a large amount of level 50+ content in this game suited for max-level characters, so we log on and do something that seems like it'd be fun. That might be anything from fighting hill giants to battling our way up Skyshrine to taking a sightseeing tour around in the Hole or Velketor or numerous other places. An important element of this is we enjoy playing the game for its own sake, outside a gear grind, although we do take breaks from time to time as with most any hobby. Players who're here mostly for a sense of gear/stat progression are usually mystified by us.

Necromancer is a fair choice if you're going to be solo a lot. I like it better than Magician because it offers better ability to get into difficult areas, easier time breaking camps, and better ability to escape bad situations without having to gate. As a pet class (and like the Magician) the Necromancer is not heavily gear dependent; I think being a non-raider goes hand in hand with not worrying about gear overmuch, at least to a degree.

It's difficult to find groups as a level 60 except with friends outside a handful of specific camps like fungus king. Even leveling guildmates (in a variety of guilds, I've been a bunch of them) often prefer not to group with 60's because of the notion that the 60 "sucks" up more experience. Fill out that friend list if you don't want to be mostly solo.


Danth

[Bazia]

I'm wondering if anyone can help shine some light on what people do on p99 who don't raid. I've raided with the big dogs here and for numerous reasons I won't be doing that and have little desire to do that. I'm trying to figure out which class is best for a non-raider to extract the most enjoyment out of this era of EQ. Right now I'm leaning toward a Necro due to the solo gameplay and the benefits of FD.


What Class is best for a non-raider?
What are some fun things to do as a non-raider?


very easy and that would be shaman and enchanter, they can do the most endgame farming outside of raiding and do it at will independent of other players

my understanding was people who dont raid just farm plat to twink alts

[Danth]

my understanding was people who dont raid just farm plat to twink alts

Not me. Don't care about alts. Don't care about raids, either. Probably true for some folks though; there are surely folks out there who simply level character after character because that's what they like.

Enchanter and Shaman are both good choices, with the caveat that Enchanters can be rage-inducing owing to how random they can be. I can't stand playing that class. Shamans are safer, but slow and only truly come into their own at the very end after a huge platinum investment.

Danth

[Bazia]

Not me. Don't care about alts. Don't care about raids, either. Probably true for some folks though; there are surely folks out there who simply level character after character because that's what they like.

Enchanter and Shaman are both good choices, with the caveat that Enchanters can be rage-inducing owing to how random they can be. I can't stand playing that class. Shamans are safer, but slow and only truly come into their own at the very end after a huge platinum investment.

Danth

ENC is really easy man, and shamans are still amazing before torpor

[Danth]

ENC is really easy man, and shamans are still amazing before torpor

Guess I'm too used to having access to the wife's Shaman, which has had torpor for many years. Feels dreary playing one that doesn't have it. Granted, I don't particularly like the Shaman anyway, the class is strong but its mechanics aren't much fun, which is why it's her character and not mine. She loves the thing, though, and can't stand playing much of anything else anymore.

Enchanter makes me rage. I hate it. Hate hate hate hate it. Too RNG dependent. Easy and fun aren't the same thing; I could run one but I'd always loathe every second of it. It's a strong choice for folks who can tolerate it.

Danth

[Bazia]

Guess I'm too used to having access to the wife's Shaman, which has had torpor for many years. Feels dreary playing one that doesn't have it. Granted, I don't particularly like the Shaman anyway, the class is strong but its mechanics aren't much fun, which is why it's her character and not mine. She loves the thing, though, and can't stand playing much of anything else anymore.

Enchanter makes me rage. I hate it. Hate hate hate hate it. Too RNG dependent. Easy and fun aren't the same thing; I could run one but I'd always loathe every second of it. It's a strong choice for folks who can tolerate it.

Danth

it's a good class for people who start nodding off when playing a melee ;)

[BlackBellamy]

What are some fun things to do as a non-raider?


Explore the world. As the expansion arrive, there will be places where it's really really tough to get in solo. See if you can. See how far you can get. Take some nice screenshots.

Try to kill crazy stuff. It's just you and a buddy, can you guys kill that whatever? Because corpses on the ground say you can't.

Buy low and sell high.

Help newbies. Everyone loves buffs and small amounts of plat to get them going. Provide out of group healing for guild groups making their way up.

Go on dungeon runs with a small guild group. A nice high-functioning group is such a joy it doesn't matter where you are.

Set some goals. As an Iksar, I wanted to be able to bank everywhere just because. So that was rewarding, finding ways to manipulate the faction system to get what I want.

You can do so much stuff.

[Danth]

As an aside, once you don't care about pixel loot anymore, the game suddenly becomes much more open. You go places to have fun and to enjoy the game for its own sake. "It's useless! Nothing for me drops there!" suddenly stops being a limitation. The game world becomes quite large indeed. Most people see ToV as a loot paradise. Me? From where I stand it looks more like a flytrap, complete with a bit of honey as bait.

it's a good class for people who start nodding off when playing a melee ;)

I agree, Enchanter's definitely a good choice for folks who want something that'll keep 'em on their toes.

Danth

[FatherSioux]

What are you playing Danth?

[Danth]

Since 2012 I've been playing a Shadow Knight as my primary character. It's my only level 60 on P1999 (indeed, my only 55+). Name's Andoric. It serves well for what I do, but note my primary mode of gameplay is duo with the wife on her Shaman. It's a very strong duo. The SK can solo well by melee standards--but that's faint praise. I do stuff on my own once in awhile, but if I wanted to solo as my primary mode of gameplay I wouldn't pick a melee in this game.

Danth