Basic, Boring Question: What to Play?

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All you alt-aholics out there, I need help deciding which of my many noobs to focus my twinking funds and free time on. I have a bunch of contenders that are all pretty fun in their own way, but I need to quit jumping back and forth between them.

I'm looking for the following characteristics:

Idiot-friendly - I'm honestly pretty unskilled at EQ. The fewer clicks per minute required, the better for this fool.
Not too gear dependent - I'd like to farm my own upgrades as I go, but ideally I'll be able to get by mostly in rags (which a few exceptions - see below).
Great soloer - I'm an old man now with intermittent pauses in the action. Hopefully I can accomplish most of my fun on my own.
Able to find groups - For the times I have a solid opening, I'd prefer to group and not have too much difficulty landing a spot.


This is on the Blue server. I have the following available for twinking: a fungi tunic and roughly 20k in cash.

My current toons are:

Iksar necromancer (27) - Checks most of the boxes, but I'm not confident I'd get many groups. Possibly difficult to play at high levels in dungeons, etc.
Barbarian shaman (24) - Seems like a very powerful class, particularly with a fungi. I'm just afraid I'll get to the 50s and regret not having all the expensive toys shamans need to be their best (epic, JBB, big boy spells).
Human monk (21) - Very solid so far, though I expect my ability to solo will drop pretty dramatically at higher levels. Haven't minded being a human yet, but might regret that around Level 50 when regen really steps up.
Erudite enchanter (16) - Checks most of the boxes as well, but definitely higher on the difficulty scale. Doesn't benefit from the fungi, so might not be as smooth a ride for a while.


Anyway, sorry for the stupid question. I know this is asked about all the time. But if any of you have played most of these classes and have any advice, I'd appreciate it greatly!

[magnetaress]

Barbarian shaman. Or if you're ok healing. A druid.

Druids are the most friendly class.

I liked soloing out of doors on druid for exp and you can always buff and heal newbies when you're not feeling serious.

Plus. Ports!

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I do think Barbarian shaman may win the day. It's been very fun through the mid-20s, and I'm only just now getting some of the fun shaman tools like canni. My only real concern is I'll get to 50+ and be a little disappointed that I'm missing the big guns like the epic and torpor. Grinding the plat to obtain those items doesn't seem realistic at this stage of my life.

So before I focus on the shaman for good and spend what plat I do have, I want to make sure one of my other toons isn't a better fit for my goals and play style.

I do like the druid suggestion, though I've played a fair bit of druid in my day and need something different I think.

Thanks for the input!

[Fammaden]

Necro checks all the boxes. You are right to have concerns on the shaman spells as you get past 54 in to the home stretch. Ench is less idiot friendly, or at least not conducive to lazyness and afk'ing for your intermittent pauses. Monk will start to feel like you want gear you can't afford if you are soloing it on blue. It can certainly be done on a budget though if that's what really calls to you.

Shaman is a good choice for your desires as long as you maintain perspective on the real hurdles of getting those spells, thinking about a JBB or a fungi, and maybe wanting your epic. I'd go with it though if you really like it the most, its a great class and will get more groups than necro. You don't NEED most of the high priced spells pre-60 especially if grouping, nor do you need a fungi absolutely, and a JBB is within reach of just casual farming prices. If you end up 60 and motivated you can confront the torpor/spells issue when you get there.

[Toxigen]

Necro is your best choice.

Lazy necromancers get bad reps in groups. A good necro that will twitch, heal, CC, etc in groups is a great addition.

I have a 35 ish bard. Hit me up sometime we can duo / form groups.

[turbosilk]

I do think Barbarian shaman may win the day. It's been very fun through the mid-20s, and I'm only just now getting some of the fun shaman tools like canni. My only real concern is I'll get to 50+ and be a little disappointed that I'm missing the big guns like the epic and torpor. Grinding the plat to obtain those items doesn't seem realistic at this stage of my life.

So before I focus on the shaman for good and spend what plat I do have, I want to make sure one of my other toons isn't a better fit for my goals and play style.

I do like the druid suggestion, though I've played a fair bit of druid in my day and need something different I think.

Thanks for the input!

You don't need torpor and the epic to be successful as a shaman and it checks the box best where you can pretty easily get a group when needed. You don't need torpor and the epic for the content you will probably be doing.

Druids won't fit because post 50 they don't bring enough value in dungeons and people won't invite them to groups. You'll be LFG all the time.

Ench skill is too high.

Iksar monk is your best bet. You're low enough that it won't matter if you reroll and you'll get the bonus of seeing new content/quests from the iksar perspective. You don't have many buttons to push. FD pulling when needed is easy to learn and you'll get groups pretty easily. And with a fungi you can solo effectively all the way to 60 if you want.

[DMN]

If you have a tunic I'd strongly consider the shaman. Try sticking to high plat camps when you can to save up enough plat for the JBB. you can always resell the JBB for at least what you paid for it.

With bind wound in combat nerfed, monk isn't impressive at all when soloing 40+ , even when well geared.

Enchanter is automatic no.

Necro isn't bad but often to get most out of them at high levels you will be playing much like an enchanter( aka automatic no). You don't have to of course. You could just root rot or fear kite... but then you might as well just go with the shaman.

[E-Queue]

Great replies. Thanks everyone!

I've been enjoying the shaman, and it pairs so nicely with the fungi that I think I'm gonna stick with him. As turbosilk mentioned, the content I'm interested in doing doesn't likely require the super high-end shaman gear anyway. I should just not worry about it, and go have some fun. Who knows, maybe I'll luck into a torpor drop during a group session one day in the future.

Cheers!

[Gustoo]

If you spend time grouping where torpor drops you will get it.

[Gustoo]

I mean like maybe you can try to kill cliff golems or something look at the spells wiki to see where you will come across it and it’s no wonder it is priced so high

[Jibartik]

*spins wheel

[r]
[sm]
[wiz]
[nec]
[MAG]
[enc]
[clr]
[wr]
[m]

[E-Queue]

Haha I do actually have a Level 6 mage as well. I left him off the list because the play style may actually be too simple, even for me. :)

Bit of a tangent, and I'm sure I can find this info on the wiki, but aside from +hp rings, some banded armor, and a poison wind censer (along with the fungi of course) are there any must have shaman items I should be looking out for in the mid levels? Or should I just slowly swap out for nicer pieces as I adventure? Questing some obsolete Totemic armor could be fun as long as I can get XP at the same time...

[DMN]

If you had a haste item already on your account maybe switch it over.. but I'm not sure I'd blow the cash on one frankly. And you should be focusing like I said on squeezing as much plat out of your exp grinding as possible so you can afford a JBB by 45.

[chaser95]

fungi + haste item + granite face grinder makes lvling a shaman to 51 so easy

[DMN]

JBB spam will take a steaming dump all over that setup.

[chaser95]

Best JBB spot 45-51? asking for a friend....

[Stonewallx39]

Play whichever one lights your fire. They’re all great options that will definitely find groups (Necro charm DPS in KC/Hole, get outta here). My favorite groups in EQ are the weird ones where you find a way to win, sure it’s not max xp per hour, but isn’t “winning” EQ about max fun per hour?

For solo this is my thought on rankings but man it’s razor thin and depending on a few pieces of gear and your skill it’s could go anyway.

Solo ease: Necro > Shaman > Enchanter (can be skill dependent but really not difficult) > monk
Solo power: Enchanter > Necro > Shaman (ungeared) > Monk

[E-Queue]

If you had a haste item already on your account maybe switch it over.. but I'm not sure I'd blow the cash on one frankly. And you should be focusing like I said on squeezing as much plat out of your exp grinding as possible so you can afford a JBB by 45.

Pretty much my thoughts. I'll stick with the stuff I've already got (I moved my SCHW from monk to shaman for fun) and just add a few minor upgrades that I obtain naturally through play. Seems reasonable to think I could save up JBB money by Level 45 if I level in the right spots. I'm also assuming the wiki price for JBB is off at the moment. Looks like someone spamming a ridiculous number to me.

Thanks again for the insight.

[greenspectre]

Best JBB spot 45-51? asking for a friend....

I'm on green and only just now got my JBB, but I had a good time soloing temple in CoM for some steady, stress-free exp 50-52. Adding a JBB into the mix will only make things go faster.

[DeathsSilkyMist]

JBB is indeed the way to go. It will increase your kill speed faster than a Fungi. From 45-55 killing guards is the way to go if you can get the camps. Good money and XP, and no guards are especially cold resistant.