Complete newb getting started

[wayne62682]

Hi all, I've decided to give EQ a shot and see what it's like since I'm a bit bored with WoW Classic and Retail WoW is pure trash. Never played EQ before but I've been watching a lot of Youtube videos and reading some of the Newbie guides here to get an idea of what I'm in for.

Should I pick Blue or Green? Most of the things I find online seem to be talking about Blue but Green as I understand it is basically the original game (or as close as can be gotten) while Blue is an expansion or two in and has stayed that way for a few years? Would Green be the better choice then since it's newer?

I've mainly played Warlock, Mage, and DK in WoW so I've been looking at some classes in EQ to get an idea of what I might like to play. The Necromancer seems like the ancestor of the Warlock (DoTs and fears) so that jumped out but being a Necromancer I can't go to some towns and some NPCs might attack me? That might not be such a good idea for a newb. The Mage class in EQ seems like a cross between WoW's Mage and a Hunter since it has damage abilities and a pet that can tank, which is interesting. I also have read good things about the Druid as a starter class but I've read a bit that they aren't too wanted in groups because they can't do anything really well. So I think it comes down to Mage, Necro, or Druid. I'm not sure how much time I'd have to devote to the game, likely only a few hours per week, so I'd want something that I can play solo if I only have limited time and may not be able to find a group. The Ranger as an interesting class popped into my head but I've read that it's really bad and a joke class so I quickly ruled that one out haha.

Any tips would be appreciated. It seems really daunting to come to EQ 20 years late especially compared to later games, but it looks really fun from the videos I've seen.

[Adron]

you've used pretty good logic, mage/necro/druid are excellent starter classes. if you aren't crazy about grouping, solo-wize, blue is easier, less crowded, far cheaper purchasable gear in the commons bazaar.
Don't go human as your first character, night vision is indispensible til you have the cash to buy an infravision item.
Don't go dark elf first character, faction is rough to deal until you know the zones well enough to avoid insta death

[tpgramlich]

Welcome! You're probably going to get a lot of opinions regarding Blue or Green, some that seem quite biased. I'll try to be as fair as possible.

I find Blue to be an easier experience for what is already a very challenging game. With the age of the server and expansions included, you will have a much easier time buying better gear for much cheaper than on Green. Many people are even happy to just donate starting items and even some money to get brand new folks going. There are also some quality of life improvements on Blue like custom UI skins being supported, a dedicated pet window (which displays pet health and command buttons), and Tab to cycle through targets.

Now, server population is skewed much more to the high end on Blue, but that doesn't mean it's impossible to find groups. You're just likely to have a harder time finding a group unless you go to specific popular leveling zones (like Unrest, Mistmoore, City of Mist, Karnor's for example). The higher population on Green, combined with a smaller world, means that you may have the opposite problem of zones being too full and contested where you end up waiting for a spot to open to get in a group.

Insummary, Blue is an arguably easier, likely more laid back, potentially less social, leveling experience. Green is an arguably more difficult, likely more competitive, potentially too social, leveling experience. Ultimately, my best suggestion may be you can start characters on both servers even and try out which one feels best to you.

For a class to start out, you've picked some good options. I don't recommend any evil character while you are just starting out and learning the game, so I would hold off on a Necro or any evil race (Dark Elf, Troll, Ogre). Magician is a good choice with strong solo ability but can be rather one-dimensional (strong pet and high damage nukes). I would ultimately recommend a Druid as a great starting character. You get a lot of great utility abilities, have good options for soloing during shorter playtimes, and you get ports. The ability to eventually jump yourself around the world close to practically wherever you want to go comes in very handy for so many reasons.

On a side note, if you do want to make a necro once you get a feel for the world, I would strongly recommend you do so on Blue, since you can make an Iksar necro. The racial regen combined with the necro health-to-mana conversion line of spells is one of the strongest race-class synergies that exist in the entire game.

Again, welcome. There is a whole lot to learn but you seem to have good instincts and you're already giving yourself a leg up in your research. Above all, the wiki will be your best friend.

[wayne62682]

Thank you for the advice!

Druid had caught my eye after watching some videos so I might try that out, my main concern was that I had read they are not often sought after in groups. As to Blue/Green well I'm still not sure of that :) Most of the videos and Guides that I've watched have been on Blue since they were before Green came out. I might end up trying both. A few of the videos I've seen on Green definitely seems like it's more limited in the UI.

[Izmael]

TL/DR:

Start on Green. It will give you a more authentic experience than Blue that is a weird beast at this point.


Good newbie classes are: Mage, Druid, Necro, Monk, to a lesser extent Paladin.

Pick Monk if you don't want to deal with any magic (EQ's magic system is not too straightfoward). It's pure melee, and you get a life-saving ability called Feign Death that you can use to survive 99% of dangerous situations. Monk doesn't need much gear either, as they can melee with their bare fists just fine.

Druid is great to discover the world. It can teleport around the world and has tons of nice utility spells such as runspeed increase or healing etc.

Necro is a strong offensive class. Allright for newbie but not the best for the faction reasons OP mentionned.

Mage is great for newbie because of the tanky pet although it's pretty much all they get and at mid-high levels their general power plateaus significantly because of that.

Paladin is allright as you can tank and heal and get nice spells, but it's a little more involving class for a noob I'd say. Just like any hybrid. You aren't really good at anything particular so it takes a little more game knowledge to achieve stuff.

Good luck and keep us updated in a topic somewhere. Starting EQ in 2020 doesn't happen too often.

[annali]

Green is a good place to start on as there are still lots of people levelling for you to group with.
Also the servers only been around for about 7 months so you wouldn't be that far behind people.

There's only the original game on Green so it shouldn't be too daunting; it's like stepping back into 1999 !

[Exard3k]

Good newbie classes are: Mage, Druid, Necro, Monk, to a lesser extent Paladin.


So many mages and necros on green. They even ganged up in north ro. 2x nec + 2x mage camping dervishes. It's a plague.

We need more tanks and healers!

[tankh]

I've been a Blue man and a green man, and i choose blue every time.

Me and a couple of friends rolled on green when in lunched and is was good because were was behind the curve as we have jobs/familys/life etc etc and cant play as much as we did 20 years ago, they split the server(created teal) due to the population being so high and the zones well full to the brim. Teal is now gone and has been combined back with green so again, you now have on average 1200+ players competing for mobs in a single expansion.

If you want to sit lfg waiting for groups to open up and most farm camps are taken go green.

If you want to sit lfg for hours (until you have friends to play with) farm stuff why you wait, get high level buffs, get gear cheap/free go blue.

[wayne62682]

Hmm a lot to think about it seems. I was reading a bit more last night about Shaman which seems interesting too but I'd likely pick Barbarian to not be evil.

Trying a tank class is tempting since those are always in demand but could be daunting for a new to the game (I tanked a bit in WoW but not a lot).

Thinking about it right now it's like... Mage, Druid, Shaman (Barbarian) or Paladin.

[wayne62682]

My posts don't seem to be coming in as they keep going to the moderator queue or something for review and never show up (so either someone is deleting them or ignoring them??), but I wanted to say thanks for the suggestions. I might try Druid as they seem like I can solo or group as I want, but will probably try other things too to get a feel for them :)

[Dirkdaring]

all the classes listed ive played to 60 to 65 and one to 85 over the years some twice on live , 60 sham, 54 sham, 65 mage, 60 mage 54 mage , 60 necro iksar, 50 necro human, 85 iksar monk, 60 monk 54 monk, 55 druid, and 60 druid, 65 pal, 60 enc, 54 enc, 65 wiz, 65 bard , 65 cleric, 54 cleric allare fun in there own way.

the negative about necro is somewhat true depending on race , human although are not kos in neriak except to the ghouls outside the necro guild, just invis undead past them, human necro is not kos in River vale, nor are they kos in freeport, or qeynos, they are a great group class, as well as solo class, and with self mana regen, and heals can easily solo when have limited play time , with little downtime .

monk can solo some now, but later in kunark, and velious they get very good, somewhat gear dependent , but gets groups easily

Druid great solo class, and good secondary healer, or support, good farm class , with track, ports to travel around, can charm animals as pets , and kite up to 4 mobs at same time for crazy solo exp.

mage good dps, and groups like them, can be boring at times strong pets, and second best nukes in the game .

[DMN]

From reading everything you said, I'd consider rolling a druid on blue. If you stick to playing the game, a level 19 or higher druid will always be a great asset on the account, especially an account of someone with limited time and tends to solo. once 19 and you have a better understanding of the game, then consider either sticking it out as druid because you enjoy what it has to offer, or consider rolling up one of those other characters. Or maybe you just decide the game isn't for you by level 19 and you are off to greener pastures.

[wayne62682]

At the moment I'm trying a Druid on Green, since their starting area seems like it's pretty good and offers some grouping opportunities (orc groups and then Crushbone). That way I can see a bit of that aspect and figure out if it's something I like or not.

[Midoo]

I actually wrote a guide for this exact purpose lol. I used to be in your situation, and funny enough the more I play EQ the less respect I have for Classic WoW. World of Warcraft really did to Everquest what League of Legends did to DOTA.

https://wiki.project1999.com/Midoo%27s_EQ_Guide_For_WoW_Refugees

[wayne62682]

I actually wrote a guide for this exact purpose lol. I used to be in your situation, and funny enough the more I play EQ the less respect I have for Classic WoW. World of Warcraft really did to Everquest what League of Legends did to DOTA.

https://wiki.project1999.com/Midoo%27s_EQ_Guide_For_WoW_Refugees

Your guide was actually what I read first :) But so far funnily enough I'm having the opposite: The more I play EQ the more I appreciate how WoW changed the genre (so far).

[nilzark]

I actually wrote a guide for this exact purpose lol. I used to be in your situation, and funny enough the more I play EQ the less respect I have for Classic WoW. World of Warcraft really did to Everquest what League of Legends did to DOTA.

https://wiki.project1999.com/Midoo%27s_EQ_Guide_For_WoW_Refugees

Great read!

[Naxy]

Indeed a good read.

[Exard3k]

Good read. But as soon as you come to different classes, I disagree on many points. I recommend reading all the differences but skip the class stuff, as it is not accurate in many aspects.

[Mackinz]

If you want the real EQ experience as it was in 1999, play on Green. It is harder, night time darkness is enforced, corpse runs absolutely suck, you will die and you will de-level as much as you level. But the people you meet out in the world make it all worth it. It is game where you must work to get value. It is annoying as hell sometimes, but well worth it, when I get to level 20 magician, I felt like "wow, that was some accomplishment". When I got to 20 hunter in WoW I was like oh cool that was nice. Wow classic to me is the complete dumbing down of everything that makes EQ great as an old school RPG person. EQ2 was a mistake IMO though I played the hell outta that game too. Getting from 1-5 sucks. The beginning grind will suck. keep at it and it gets fun.

[wayne62682]

I guess this was posted twice when my posts were under mod review, and I wasn't able to reply without it going to queue until now.

To avoid confusion use this other thread instead to consolidate (and so I don't have to follow two :) ):

https://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=360344