Which melee class solo levels the easiest / fastest?

[Vanessa]

Hello, I've been considering trying out a melee character soon and was wondering what some of your opinions were on which of the melee classes were the better soloers? By better I mean like in regards to their kill speed, downtime, efficiency, ease, over all speed it takes per level etc.

I'm assuming it would be between Monk, Shadow Knight, Paladin, and Ranger? But those classes all have pretty rough exp penalties, so maybe a Rogue or Warrior with a bow would actually be faster as a solo leveling melee class?

I'm not sure, what do you guys think?

[BarnabusCollins]

make a ranger track pays dividends

[Baler]

I got an untwinked warrior to 30, 100% solo in 2 weeks on green without going overboard on time investment.
Hybrids can not be the fastest due to the hybrid exp penalty, until velious.

---
edit: I did not see the solo part...
If you're not anti-social and can get a decent pierce weapon, Rogue.

Halfling Rogue is a fantastic raid character. Hopefully guilds start PLing some of them to use as guild alts. ;)
Halfling Rogue requires 85.45% exp

[Vanessa]

If you're not anti-social and can get a decent pierce weapon, Rogue.
Hybrids can not be the fastest due to the hybrid exp penalty.

I got an untwinked warrior to 30 in 2 weeks on green without going overboard on time investment.

---
edit: Halfling Rogue is a fantastic raid character. Hopefully guilds start PLing some of them to use as guild alts. ;)
Halfling Rogue requires 85.45% exp

The best Rogue weapon currently is that 9/31 Harpoon right?

How would a Rogue solo level? Just kill 1 or 2 blues until low hp then bow kite?

Halflings are too ugly though lol. I'd probably go either Human or Wood Elf...

[Vanessa]

make a ranger track pays dividends

How so? Do you mean for solo leveling, track helps a lot?

[Baler]

If you think bow kiting is fast exp you're in for a bad time.

---
If you can afford it, Bone Chips 1-10 in Kaladim (https://wiki.project1999.com/Bone_Chips_(Kaladim)) & then Greater Lightstones 10-15 (https://wiki.project1999.com/Research_Aid)
It only cost ~200-300plat for level 1-10 if you pay 5p per stack of bone chips.
& Greater Lightstones at 15p per, get you a container that sells for 9p so they're only 5-6p each.

[Vanessa]

If you think bow kiting is fast exp you're in for a bad time.

Hahaha I know it isn't the fastest .... but wouldn't it be better than sitting and regening HP on a melee?

[Baler]

Hahaha I know it isn't the fastest .... but wouldn't it be better than sitting and regening HP on a melee?

bind wound in combat Macro
https://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=222964
Merry Christmas

This has saved my solo warrior many, many times. And as long as you're going after the easiest blue targets you can easily do two spawns back to back.

[HalflingSpergand]

Monk is 1st by such a long stretch its not even questionable. Monk is the cheapestlamest class it shouldnt even be in classic eq

[Baler]

Monk is 1st by such a long stretch its not even questionable. Monk is the cheapestlamest class it shouldnt even be in classic eq

Monk -20% exp :rolleyes:
oops did I post that outloud.

Prior to velious human monk requires 120% & iksar monk requires 140%

[HalflingSpergand]

It really doesmt matter because they are about three times as efficient soloing so it could be -80% and it would still be a wash

[Baler]

It really doesmt matter because they are about three times as efficient soloing so it could be -80% and it would still be a wash

I challenge you to a level off, I'll play a Halfling Warrior, You'll play a Human Monk,
100% solo, no buffs, no twink. First to 50 wins.
Winner gets the other players main bank. :cool:

That's how confident I am with a 34.5% advantage.
If they killed the same exact mob(s) and it took let's say 30 days for a human cleric.
human monk = 36 days || Halfling Warrior 25.65 days (math is probably not correct)
even if mend saved 10 days, it's 0.35 days slower than the latter.

[DMN]

make a ranger track pays dividends

speaking of which, this is sort of unclassic. Ranger track was pretty shitty most places becuase the incredibly small track list. I remember even my druid struggling in places with any significant mob density to track anything because your tiny list was filled with trash.

It was useful in the planes for repops though.

[HalflingSpergand]

I challenge you to a level off, I'll play a Halfling Warrior, You'll play a Human Monk,
100% solo, no buffs, no twink. First to 50 wins.
Winner gets the other players main bank. :cool:

That's how confident I am with a 34.5% advantage.
If they killed the same exact mob(s) and it took let's say 30 days for a human cleric.
human monk = 36 days || Halfling Warrior 25.65 days (math is probably not correct)

Ill take that challenge but you might be a little underwhelmed by my main bank

Youre not consider downtime enough

Monk is so far out in front its not even a contest

Remove monks , disgustingly overpowered

[Zipity]

Hello, I've been considering trying out a melee character soon and was wondering what some of your opinions were on which of the melee classes were the better soloers? By better I mean like in regards to their kill speed, downtime, efficiency, ease, over all speed it takes per level etc.

I'm assuming it would be between Monk, Shadow Knight, Paladin, and Ranger? But those classes all have pretty rough exp penalties, so maybe a Rogue or Warrior with a bow would actually be faster as a solo leveling melee class?

I'm not sure, what do you guys think?

Monk, better dps, mend (25% instant heal lvl 20-50), FD for never dying and easily splitting xp camps to solo, however the same player with same skill running a halfling warrior it would be closer than ya think in a race to 50, I’d say the halfling warrior might be the first to 40ish. At this point though the monk is going to have access to camps in higher zem zones the warrior just wouldn’t be able to solo without help splitting. A monk soloing SolA gnomes or CT gators is gonna really close the gap over a warrior who doesn’t have access to 200% xp mobs etc.

[peterpal]

How so? Do you mean for solo leveling, track helps a lot?

He's been selling JBoots MQs for months. So most likely he's parked his ranger in Sro and tracks the AC every hour

[Fammaden]

Monk is absolutely the correct answer here to the degree that other melee should simply not be in the same category when it comes to solo xp capacity.

[RecondoJoe]

Hahaha I know it isn't the fastest .... but wouldn't it be better than sitting and regening HP on a melee?

I don’t think Baler has actually tried leveling with a bow. I just tried it for the first time and immediately felt like a fool for not realizing how broken OP it is, especially at lower levels where your bow hits harder and more consistently than your melee attacks. Around level 20 when the damage cap is released and hybrids get double attack I found myself melee’ing more, but that was also because I moved to cramped dungeons for the high ZEM.

[Castle2.0]

Rogue with snare poison and instill doubt...

Ha ha ha no....

Monk!

[Nuggie]

If you think bow kiting is fast exp you're in for a bad time.

---
If you can afford it, Bone Chips 1-10 in Kaladim (https://wiki.project1999.com/Bone_Chips_(Kaladim)) & then Greater Lightstones 10-15 (https://wiki.project1999.com/Research_Aid)
It only cost ~200-300plat for level 1-10 if you pay 5p per stack of bone chips.
& Greater Lightstones at 15p per, get you a container that sells for 9p so they're only 5-6p each.

I think i spent 6k in goblin ears to go from 14 to 22 on halfling warrior at 15pp/ear, if that helps.

[Tunabros]

monk is decent unless you want to spend money on a fungi or a crap ton of bandages
warrior can solo decently up to lv 20 ish
but really if you are a melee class, you should be grouping or duoing with a shammy or priest class

[HalflingSpergand]

He was asking about what melee can solo not whether or not its a good idea. Any melee soloing is going to use a fuck ton of bandages. Monk would prob use the least.

[A Knight]

i dont think paladins are the best soloers but if you have basic armor, deepwater helm, and baton of faith, it is doable i would imagine. I think Ive done it with similar maybe just slightly better. Its also easy as far as gameplay. The helm gives free heals. (At 45?) Yaulp sometimes is annoying in groups though. I dont remember if its required to press all the time or if i did it wrong.

Also may need some HP rings.

Oh I forgot, if you are playing green then most of those items are kunark items.

[TomisFeline]

also consider that a monk won't need to seek weapon upgrades. by the time they are 40 they have two 12/32s. can a solo warrior get something like that while soloing, and how much time will it take away from exping?

FD and the ability to split really pushes the monk over the edge on the contest, I think.

[DMN]

on green they will all have serious problems soloing after level 40-ish other than SK, but no sure they are being counted as "melee".

Would surpise me an sk with mith would outdamage a monk with whatever from 1-40, either.

[Vanessa]

on green they will all have serious problems soloing after level 40-ish other than SK, but no sure they are being counted as "melee".

Would surpise me an sk with mith would outdamage a monk with whatever from 1-40, either.

Sorry I don't quite understand what you mean.

Are you saying that an SK with a Mith 2 Hander out damages a Monk from 1-40?

Or that you would be a surprised if an SK could out damage a Monk 1-40, even with a Mith 2 hander?

I have about 6-7k to twink a melee alt with, so a Mith 2 Hander is def. an option. Although, it might be a bad investment now since Kunark is soon right? Doesn't that item drop in a price by quite a lot, as soon as Kunark item are available?

[HalflingSpergand]

Monks are broken. Sk doesnt hold a candle.

[Vanessa]

Monks are broken. Sk doesnt hold a candle.

Monk does sound pretty fun, and easy to gear as well. The only problem is, I actually prefer being evil because I like being able to kill guards and bard NPCs etc. >_<

So an Iksar Monk would be great, but that is still months away and I don't really want to wait that long to make an alt =/.

I suppose I could do a Human Monk, but, aren't they worse than Iksar in practically every way other than appearance? I feel like doing a Human Monk now would be something I'd regret in a few months after Kunark came out haha.

[kaev]

speaking of which, this is sort of unclassic. Ranger track was pretty shitty most places becuase the incredibly small track list. I remember even my druid struggling in places with any significant mob density to track anything because your tiny list was filled with trash.

It was useful in the planes for repops though.

All tracking is usable in a very unclassic way on p99. Back in the day, when a mob being tracked was of your track range (i.e. you and/or the mob moved away) you got random direction messages. Imagine how useless that made Druid track, couldn't even keep track of where a fleeing mob was while you med to kill it.

Regardless that bit of unclassicness, track is equally useful for soloing ranger here as it was on live: find the easy loot mobs, avoid the dangerous pathers while you killing something, find the xp mobs in the sea of greens in the rain.

[jadier]

Monks win by a huge mile. With a combat bind macro, you'll be in fantastic shape. Can essentially always pull singles, and no need to hug zone line camps like most other melee. Big limiter is weight, but if you're always near a bandage merchant you can just turn your heavy copper/silver into bandages so you never have to carry too many at any one time, and you can use gems to vendor bank gold/plat.

- Solo whatever to 15 (Blackburrow -> Karanas is good; Befallen is also fun).

- Solo in Gorge of King Xorbb from 15 -> 22 (once you have FD, you can roam the chasm away from other campsites and have infinite mobs + bandage merchants in NK a short run away).

- Solo Orc Chief in LFaydark to 25 (other mobs won't aggro ro heal, just one nice fast camp; bandage merchants at Wood Elf inn right there)

- Solo Slaythe in Misty Thicket to 29 (also try out Najena, lotta fun and the tentacles are good XP, though the repop timer is slow; bandage merchants in Misty)

- Solo in SolA from level 29ish to 45. Predator/foreman to 33ish, tunnels south of Kindle by gnomes to 36ish, Bar to 38ish, King to 40, Gnomes to 45 (goblin merchant sells bandages and food/drink, plus usually has gems for Vendor Banking coin).

- Solo Neriak guards (or Qeynos specs) to 50 (bandage vendor in Ogre section of Neriak; bandage vendors in Qeynos).

[Vanessa]

So would stacking HP on a Monk be better for soloing, rather than stats like str / agi, because a higher max HP would mean you could bind wound for more?

[DMN]

Sorry I don't quite understand what you mean.

Are you saying that an SK with a Mith 2 Hander out damages a Monk from 1-40?

Or that you would be a surprised if an SK could out damage a Monk 1-40, even with a Mith 2 hander?

I have about 6-7k to twink a melee alt with, so a Mith 2 Hander is def. an option. Although, it might be a bad investment now since Kunark is soon right? Doesn't that item drop in a price by quite a lot, as soon as Kunark item are available?

Yes, i meant I would be surprised an SK couldn't outdamage a monk from at least 1 to 40 with mith because there isn't shit for monk weapons on green. Mith will probably go down a it but it will still hold some decent value longterm as enchanters an necros still use it. I frequently use it on my level 60 necro on blue.

Also, I'd be very careful factoring combat bind wounds into your long term plans. It has no place on p99 green or blue and could be gone any given day.

[solleks]

So would stacking HP on a Monk be better for soloing, rather than stats like str / agi, because a higher max HP would mean you could bind wound for more?

Technically yes but its not with the time gathering the items, levels are king. A naked 50 monk is more powerful than a level 40 with a bunch of hp items

[drackgon]

I have 50 sk, 50 monk, 22 Warrior, a bard, and rogue. Clearly the SK was first and not twinked. I gotta say of these on green. MONKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK is king solo.

SK could solo, had generally long times, but was safe bet(so when I couldn't get groups I solo'd a lot even 1-46, wasnt able to solo after that but truly probably could of done specs just early green GL getting that camp)

Monk was my first twink, not huge twink(no FBSS) but this toon could solo and did all the time. I grouped with friends/guildies a few times, but pretty much solo'd until 44(then finished 44-46 at paw/lucan farms) Monk was like super easier then SK, with instant FD, wp dmg that constantly got better(unlike my sk who had Shiny brass halbard until what 35?) Monks bindwound also better and mend. Had little down time with this class

Warrior(major twink even dragon loot, haste items etc), So far 1-22 solo has been ez peezy, but can't split mobs. So have had a few times where its gotten a little sketchy, but even low hp getting those crits that pretty much one shot mobs. If its solo pulls no real downtime, but if its multiples I gotta generally sit back bandage and let rubi BP do its job.

Rogue (twink but around 25 I had to find groups)

Bard(atm my twink bard is a noob and dies alot:) )

[Vanessa]

I have 50 sk, 50 monk, 22 Warrior, a bard, and rogue. Clearly the SK was first and not twinked. I gotta say of these on green. MONKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK is king solo.

SK could solo, had generally long times, but was safe bet(so when I couldn't get groups I solo'd a lot even 1-46, wasnt able to solo after that but truly probably could of done specs just early green GL getting that camp)

Monk was my first twink, not huge twink(no FBSS) but this toon could solo and did all the time. I grouped with friends/guildies a few times, but pretty much solo'd until 44(then finished 44-46 at paw/lucan farms) Monk was like super easier then SK, with instant FD, wp dmg that constantly got better(unlike my sk who had Shiny brass halbard until what 35?) Monks bindwound also better and mend. Had little down time with this class

Warrior(major twink even dragon loot, haste items etc), So far 1-22 solo has been ez peezy, but can't split mobs. So have had a few times where its gotten a little sketchy, but even low hp getting those crits that pretty much one shot mobs. If its solo pulls no real downtime, but if its multiples I gotta generally sit back bandage and let rubi BP do its job.

Rogue (twink but around 25 I had to find groups)

Bard(atm my twink bard is a noob and dies alot:) )


Thanks for all the info! I have 2 questions for you though!


1) If your SK was average twinked (6-7k worth of gear, a Mithril 2 Hander weapon). How much closer in soloability would it be to your Monk?

and

2) You mentioned Monks Bind Wound was better than the SKs? Whats the difference between them?

[Jimjam]

Sk caps out at 100 skill (about level 20). Monks go to 200. Also starting to cast a spell while bandaging will cause that attempt to bind wounds to fail.

[Snortles Chortles]

SKs solo the easiest/hence biggest XP penalty

[solleks]

Cant split pulls as easy as monk, cant heal as fast since hp is huge and dont have the avoidance skills the monk does to not even get hit, have laughable dps compared to monk

Monks are broken

[theaetatus]

SKs solo the easiest/hence biggest XP penalty

By that logic Pallies would also solo better than monks.

Monks by a long way.

[Snortles Chortles]

hey dummy SKs can solo to 50 easily is the point

[Vdaria]

How are paladins at solo objectively compared to say rogues? I've committed myself to soloing a paladin to 50 for the lulz - just wondering how many lulz I'm going to have.

[Keebz]

It's not hard to solo better than a Rogue—they are the worst soloers in the game. Paladin will be slow, but steady. Can split with lull or root, can self heal, has oh shit recovery in root and LoH, has access to decent itemization and has good starting faction.

[Tunabros]

warriors can solo up to lv 20 no problem
but as a melee class its pretty rough to solo
i recommend finding a duo partner preferably a shaman

[drackgon]

Thanks for all the info! I have 2 questions for you though!


1) If your SK was average twinked (6-7k worth of gear, a Mithril 2 Hander weapon). How much closer in soloability would it be to your Monk?

and

2) You mentioned Monks Bind Wound was better than the SKs? Whats the difference between them?

Like someone said 2 SK caps vs monks. Yes Lifetaps are nice but no where near mana efficiency.

If the SK is twinked with Mt2h yeah I think It would pull closer to the monk. Some things to consider. Monks can split and fight w/o needing to move/kite and so able to do nice high ZEM dungeons. The SK truly needs to be able to fear kite. Which limits your camps you can do. Truly some areas SKs make it seem ez Fear kiting, but at same time even twinked our dps is lack luster compared to a monk. Our spells are great for utility but that is it, our dots our like lvl 12 necro dots. So killing slower then monk means your taking the same amount of dmg. Which monk generally recovers faster. Again tricks for SKs, is Life tap random greens if able, but then your mana starving yourself. Though SK can wear rubi BP if you currenlty have one(which I got mine on sk at 35 it helped, but trust me still doen't help enough)

Info on dmg My souleech BiS Planar geared SK vs Planared geared Monk the dmg isn't even comparable, I used to PL on SK all time for friends/guildies, Monk is gotta be 5x more effiencnt, taking less dmg, not mana starved, and self heals. Its insane the difference.

Also FYI if making SK plz pick DE(High int which SKs later on need the most, plus can self bind with ring of dead or Orge easier to cap 255 str super early, can carry more as your leveling aka free finesteel those flimsy wizzys cant carry, plus Frontal stun immunity people can say what they want. But when your tanking a planar mob or say Fire giants and need to FD split them, getting stunned while trying to FD. Can greatly increase your chance of dying(enjoy that xp penalty)

[drackgon]

How are paladins at solo objectively compared to say rogues? I've committed myself to soloing a paladin to 50 for the lulz - just wondering how many lulz I'm going to have.

I have a few friends whos done pallys.

A good thing to remember, Is pallys take 5 mins to kill the non undead, but very little down time. Vs undead their pretty efficient(which spoiler theres undead all the way from 1-50)

SKs take 2 mins to kill non-undead but 5 mins down time:)

Rogues Cant solo past mid twenty maybe to 30. Unless your farming High greens the whole time-_-

[Jimjam]

Cant split pulls as easy as monk, cant heal as fast since hp is huge and dont have the avoidance skills the monk does to not even get hit, have laughable dps compared to monk

Monks are broken

Snare fd combo pretty OP tho... so OP it highlights how godmode monks are as they are still even better !

[jadier]

hey dummy SKs can solo to 50 easily is the point

Except it isn't? The thread is about which melee class has the easiEST time solo'ing to 50.

SKs have an easy time solo'ing relative ranger/warrior/pally/rogue.

Monks have an easy time relative even to SKs.

[Castle2.0]

SK are slow, especially 40+ due to lack of DPS.

It's also a question of how twinked... If you're talking Kunark itemization with fungus tunic, monk takes the cake.

[Baler]

With so many people talking about how great XYZ class solo's I encourage everyone to Contribute to the P99 Wiki.

https://wiki.project1999.com/Per-Level_Hunting_Guide
Here is a great place to contribute camps!

Please consider taking some time to recall where you solo'd on a class and add it!
If you don't feel comfortable editing the wiki or don't know how. Please feel free to PM me and I will assist you in any way possible.

[DMN]

SK are slow, especially 40+ due to lack of DPS.

It's also a question of how twinked... If you're talking Kunark itemization with fungus tunic, monk takes the cake.

Not on green with a mith, not relative to any other melee class anyway. And ya monks get a lot of stuff in kunark but you can't those things now, and you can't play the minmax race for one either. Also there should be a good time period in kunark where Sks should be able to do the the FD and immediately stand up trick via CoS.

[kjs86z]

Monk wins by far...not even close. Anyone yapping otherwise is on drugs.

[Keebz]

I wonder if you could get perfect solo spawns whether the warrior would be faster.

Warriors have less penalty (potentially 86% vs 120% exp requirements!) and can wear better gear (Rubi BP, Mith 2h, +HP gear, etc.).

Monks of course have mend, a higher bind wound cap, and higher skill caps in general 40-50 (I'm ignoring FD, because we hypothetically have perfect solo spawns in this scenario).

I'm willing to bet the monk would still pull ahead 40-50. The simultaneous lack of skill ups and mobs beginning to hit like trucks really hurts the non-monks. But until the 40's it would probably be in the warrior's favor.

[DMN]

Again if talking twinked the warrior will have significantly higher DPs for the majority of 1-40 and significant boost in ac/tankiness since there isnt much good to twink non a monk for green. What, azure sleeves? BFD

[jadier]

I wonder if you could get perfect solo spawns whether the warrior would be faster.

Warriors have less penalty (potentially 86% vs 120% exp requirements!) and can wear better gear (Rubi BP, Mith 2h, +HP gear, etc.).

Monks of course have mend, a higher bind wound cap, and higher skill caps in general 40-50 (I'm ignoring FD, because we hypothetically have perfect solo spawns in this scenario).

I'm willing to bet the monk would still pull ahead 40-50. The simultaneous lack of skill ups and mobs beginning to hit like trucks really hurts the non-monks. But until the 40's it would probably be in the warrior's favor.

I mean, this is actually knowable. Slaythe in Misty is a "perfect solo spawn" for melee from level ~25 - 29. That said, I'd still bet the monk would win that race due to less downtime. When I did Slaythe, I could kill him twice, then mend, then kill him twice more while mend waited to refresh. Even twinked, I don't know that a warrior could keep up that pace. Plus, in an unlucky series of hits, the monk doesn't have to die or run while the warrior would. But maybe the XP would balance out given the +/- on the two classes? Maybe the uber twinked warrior could start Slaythe earlier than 25? It would be an interesting test.

(side note: even in perfect solo spawns, don't ignore FD: if you and an enemy are both at low health they won't flee. If you feign then immediately pop back up, they will. So even in perfect solo spawns FD helps monks take less damage than another melee might if both mob and player get low)

However, this sort of illustrates the broader point. In a perfect scenario, a super twinked classic non-monk melee is only maybe able to edge out a monk solo, and probably only for the faster pre-40 levels.

[Vanessa]

I was watching a Shaman melee today while leveling. I never really considered a Shaman before because I thought they were like Druids, just with more buffs and mana regen. However, after seeing him kill Gnolls earlier, it got me wondering ...

How well does a Shaman melee level compared to others?

I know they get heals, buffs, debuffs, DoTs, nukes etc. ... but how realistic is it for a Shaman to level by buffing herself, then meleeing down the enemies, and healing after the fight?

Will that have pretty much the same downtime as Monk / SK, waiting for HP or Mana?

[Zipity]

I mean really though if you count bard as a melee, it’s not close at all.... Zero downtime ever and the only gear you need is a grand total of 3pp and you can kill mobs at a much faster rate than all these other melee via swarming or charming. But bards aren’t melee let’s be real

[Vanessa]

I mean really though if you count bard as a melee, it’s not close at all.... Zero downtime ever and the only gear you need is a grand total of 3pp and you can kill mobs at a much faster rate than all these other melee via swarming or charming. But bards aren’t melee let’s be real

Haha yeah, true. But that's kind of what I am looking for. My main character is a Druid, so I do a lot of Root + DoTs, and Snare + running and nuking.

That's why I kind of want a melee character that I can beat stuff up with melee a bit. It doesn't have to be 100% melee, that's why I am considering SK / Pally and other things etc. But I def. want to be able to do some melee stuff.

Bard would be fun as melee also, but I've heard their melee is really really bad and that they are much more of a caster...so I didn't really include Bard originally, because of that.

[Zipity]

Yea really TBH if soloing is what you want to do and just beat stuff up and have an easy go at it, monk is going to be your best option by far and also pulling can be a lot of fun in groups and raids if you go that route later.

Paladins have Soulfires which are immensely useful on raids and extremely OP.

SK/Paladin are good Pullers/offtank and RT and group tank

Ranger is a lot of fun if you heavily twink and has track and later weaponshield to speedbump and pretty good DPS, great outdoor puller.

Warrior is basically a raid tank

Monk is just OP though with better DPS(gets ridiculous in Kunark) than everyone but a rogue, they also have best offensive and defensive skill caps, FD, mend, bonus AC for low weight and later come velious the best itemization in the game. It is for sure the most OP melee class in the Eras we experience.

Monk is basically Enchanter of melee
Paladin is like Shaman of Melee with access to 6 instant CH

[DMN]

Wait wut? They made soulfire clicks paladin only or something?

[drackgon]

Wait wut? They made soulfire clicks paladin only or something?

"when completing Soulfire quest, any none pally will receive the soulfire with 0 charges on the sword" Was changed with all the clicky nerfs.

Looking at this thread hands down Monk is the top class for solo melee. Good time to buy some cheap gear and make one.

[DMN]

"when completing Soulfire quest, any none pally will receive the soulfire with 0 charges on the sword" Was changed with all the clicky nerfs.

Looking at this thread hands down Monk is the top class for solo melee. Good time to buy some cheap gear and make one.

Well, that's pretty dumb to be messing with class balance so flippantly. Give it a cast time and be done with it.

And I'm not sure I'd be looking at this thread for much. It's full of blue-brained morons.

[jadier]

I was watching a Shaman melee today while leveling. I never really considered a Shaman before because I thought they were like Druids, just with more buffs and mana regen. However, after seeing him kill Gnolls earlier, it got me wondering ...

How well does a Shaman melee level compared to others?

I know they get heals, buffs, debuffs, DoTs, nukes etc. ... but how realistic is it for a Shaman to level by buffing herself, then meleeing down the enemies, and healing after the fight?

Will that have pretty much the same downtime as Monk / SK, waiting for HP or Mana?

With chain armor, and access to some decent blunt and piercing weapons, a shield, the ability to haste themselves, and the ability to slow enemies, shammies are pretty decent at melee.

But root rot with pets is gonna be faster xp. When Green fully unlocks and you hit 60 and snag torpor, you can melee camp lots of places, but by then you're leveling is over! So it doesn't help your question.

Melee leveling is possible, but slower than other options, for a shaman.

[jadier]

Well, that's pretty dumb to be messing with class balance so flippantly. Give it a cast time and be done with it.

And I'm not sure I'd be looking at this thread for much. It's full of blue-brained morons.

You're weirdly obsessed with the idea that better itemization in Classic equalizes warriors with monks all the way up to 40. Being able to split pulls and get singles, and have next to no down time, is still not enough to equal out leveling time between an FBSS monk and a Mith2hander/crafted war pre-40, and after the monk will just keep pulling ahead.

Like, what zone are you thinking for 35-40 for the solo warrior? Monk can do the gnomes in SolA for amazing XP in that level range. No twinkage on Green is gonna give a warrior that ability, because they can't split the pulls, and they have to run to a ZL early or risk death and lost XP.

I'm totally open to the idea that if we restrict both players to sitting on an outdoor 6:40 solo spawn, a twinked warrior will blow past a twinked monk. But the point everyone's making, that you're ignoring, is that monks *have better options than that*, and most other melee don't.

Hell, even as low as levels 17-22, look at Xorbb. Warriors have two camps they can solo, both at the zonelines, and they have to hope they aren't taken. Monks can just roam the gorge freely, relying on FD instead of zoning, and can thus camp way more spots.

So yeah, you can't really uber twink a monk right now. About the only worthy item is an FBSS and the same HP/AC rings you give a war. But the fundamentals of the class still open options that just don't exist for other melee. When Kunark drops, the valley between monks & other melee will widen to a chasm, but it's still there even now in Classic.

[Zipity]

I mean a monk with sky fist / belt is gonna out dps the fuck out of any warrior.

[jadier]

I mean a monk with sky fist / belt is gonna out dps the fuck out of any warrior.

Sure, but presumably that monk is no longer leveling :P

[DMN]

You're weirdly obsessed with the idea that better itemization in Classic equalizes warriors with monks all the way up to 40. Being able to split pulls and get singles, and have next to no down time, is still not enough to equal out leveling time between an FBSS monk and a Mith2hander/crafted war pre-40, and after the monk will just keep pulling ahead.

Like, what zone are you thinking for 35-40 for the solo warrior? Monk can do the gnomes in SolA for amazing XP in that level range. No twinkage on Green is gonna give a warrior that ability, because they can't split the pulls, and they have to run to a ZL early or risk death and lost XP.

I'm totally open to the idea that if we restrict both players to sitting on an outdoor 6:40 solo spawn, a twinked warrior will blow past a twinked monk. But the point everyone's making, that you're ignoring, is that monks *have better options than that*, and most other melee don't.

Hell, even as low as levels 17-22, look at Xorbb. Warriors have two camps they can solo, both at the zonelines, and they have to hope they aren't taken. Monks can just roam the gorge freely, relying on FD instead of zoning, and can thus camp way more spots.

So yeah, you can't really uber twink a monk right now. About the only worthy item is an FBSS and the same HP/AC rings you give a war. But the fundamentals of the class still open options that just don't exist for other melee. When Kunark drops, the valley between monks & other melee will widen to a chasm, but it's still there even now in Classic.

I'm "weirdly obsessed" with actually reading threads I respond to. You should try it.
I wonder if you could get perfect solo spawns whether the warrior would be faster.

[jadier]

I'm "weirdly obsessed" with actually reading threads I respond to. You should try it.

Between reframing your posts here to imply you’ve made only one response that was direct and clear, and calling others morons above, I think I’ve read plenty from you. You’re a cool dude. Have a good day.

[DMN]

Between reframing your posts here to imply you’ve made only one response that was direct and clear, and calling others morons above, I think I’ve read plenty from you. You’re a cool dude. Have a good day.

Great. Get to fucking off already then instead of making a post about it.

[Bigsham]

Haha yeah, true. But that's kind of what I am looking for. My main character is a Druid, so I do a lot of Root + DoTs, and Snare + running and nuking.

That's why I kind of want a melee character that I can beat stuff up with melee a bit. It doesn't have to be 100% melee, that's why I am considering SK / Pally and other things etc. But I def. want to be able to do some melee stuff.

Bard would be fun as melee also, but I've heard their melee is really really bad and that they are much more of a caster...so I didn't really include Bard originally, because of that.

Hey guys my main char is a druid so i do alot of rooting and dotting also some snares and heavy brain damage.

See you in thurgadin !

[solleks]

Monks and fd are broken. That is how this community likes it. DMN is playing heavy cover right now.prob has a few monks he does certain things with nam sayin

[Convict]

SK levels the "Easiest"

[Baler]

Bard is technically a Melee Class. Pre-not classic 25 AE limit, Bard would be the fastest.
exp bar go brrrrrrr

[Vanessa]

Bard is technically a Melee Class. Pre-not classic 25 AE limit, Bard would be the fastest.
exp bar go brrrrrrr

I know Bards have many different options for leveling. They can Charm, Fear, Swarm, DD Kite etc. I guess the safest / most reliable "melee" play style of Bard would be to Fear + Snare. Is that correct?

If so ... what do you think the killing speed would be on a Bard who hunted that way? Snaring and Fearing the target, then following behind and meleeing and it down?

I'm sure it's not as fast of a kill compared to another melees kill speed. But at the same time, a Bard wouldn't have any downtime between kills, right?

So I wonder how close it would actually be? For example, if a Monk / War can kill something in 2-3 minutes, but then has 4-5 minutes of downtime regening. Would it really be faster over all compared to a Bard fear killing that takes 4-5 minutes to kill something, but has 0 downtime?

Of course these are just made of numbers because I don't know actual times, I'm just talking more about the method of killing, relative to other classes.

I'd love to hear your opinion of that though =).

[Baler]

my opinion is that bards who disrupted zones on p99 blue were some the fastest leveling and powerleveling.
I even recorded some power leveling sessions prior to the 25 cap.

There was a forum user, who I regret forgetting but they had an exp bar gif of just how much exp they got in 1 pull. it went up almost 2 full levels.

---
To more directly answer you, bard melee sucks something awful. But EQ defined them as a melee class.

[Soothsayer]

Troll and iksar warriors with some light twinking can actually solo level decently. The extra HP regen is invaluable for uptime and their damage is really solid with good weapons. The problem is that they don't have any utility, so you have to be careful about where you pull and what your options are if things go south...