Slower Paced Gamer Giving This Another Try

[Breidr]

I made an account a while ago, but never gave this game a fair shake. I guess life got in the way. That combined with the fact that I was dead set on Warrior at the time. it was possibly a bad mix.

Now I have time due to a change in circumstances. I've been trying to get back into MMOs but have been unable to find a fit. I've generally stuck to Vanilla WoW era Tab Target games, but even those are getting a little fast these days. LOTRO, a game I keep coming back to every once in a while, is even starting to wear on me. I guess things are hitting me harder than I thought.

Add to that the limited income I'm on and trying out a lot of the new "old-school" games isn't really an option. Embers Adrift looked cool but has a low population and a box price. TLP servers require a sub.

Well, I'm kind of getting off topic. I've got the game installed again. I've had a little EQOA experience in the past, but nothing that really amounts to anything. Just spamming LFG in Qeynos and playing my class wrong.

I love the social aspect of these games, and if I could group 100% of the time, I would. I know that's not a realistic expectation as the server is probably progressed.

I've seen folks recommend classes like Necro, Bard, and Shaman, and I can see why. My issue is complexity. How complex or "active" do these classes get? I'm pretty sure I can rule Bard out. I'm okay with low APM or "boring" gameplay. That's actually kind of what I'm looking for. I just want to chill out in an online world, and hopefully meet some cool people. Nowadays games have so much stuff going on, 30+ keybinds, I just can't keep up.

If I was going to give P99 another shot, where would be a good place to start?

[Toxigen]

For low apm /easy role: rogue, cleric, mage

Mage will solo best out of the 3.

[bcbrown]

If you want chill gameplay and want to group as much as possible, cleric is a good option. People tend to want a cleric in a group, and are generally fine if all you do is stand up and cast a heal every so often. It's also possible to play clerics more actively when you feel like it, with undead nukes, stuns, lulls. They're pretty terrible solo, though, so you'll have to stick with the popular zones where you can easily find groups.

Solo, mages are good, as Toxigen said, but root rotting also sounds like it might be up your alley. You cast a couple damage-over-time spells, then sit, watch, and wait until the mob dies or you need to re-apply the DOTs. Necro, Shaman, Druid are all good at root rotting. I really enjoyed a druid as my first character on p99, because it has good mobility with SoW and teleports, as well as a lot of versatility of playstyles available, but they aren't great in groups.

Shaman definitely needs a lot of clicking, but it's not "complicated clicking". You spend a ton of time casting Cannibilize to convert health to mana, but that's pretty straightforward. Solo, you can root rot, and grouping, you can focus on buffing up the other players, then casting a single slow on each mob as it gets pulled to camp.

[Rader]

I made an account a while ago, but never gave this game a fair shake. I guess life got in the way. That combined with the fact that I was dead set on Warrior at the time. it was possibly a bad mix.

Now I have time due to a change in circumstances. I've been trying to get back into MMOs but have been unable to find a fit. I've generally stuck to Vanilla WoW era Tab Target games, but even those are getting a little fast these days. LOTRO, a game I keep coming back to every once in a while, is even starting to wear on me. I guess things are hitting me harder than I thought.

Add to that the limited income I'm on and trying out a lot of the new "old-school" games isn't really an option. Embers Adrift looked cool but has a low population and a box price. TLP servers require a sub.

Well, I'm kind of getting off topic. I've got the game installed again. I've had a little EQOA experience in the past, but nothing that really amounts to anything. Just spamming LFG in Qeynos and playing my class wrong.

I love the social aspect of these games, and if I could group 100% of the time, I would. I know that's not a realistic expectation as the server is probably progressed.

I've seen folks recommend classes like Necro, Bard, and Shaman, and I can see why. My issue is complexity. How complex or "active" do these classes get? I'm pretty sure I can rule Bard out. I'm okay with low APM or "boring" gameplay. That's actually kind of what I'm looking for. I just want to chill out in an online world, and hopefully meet some cool people. Nowadays games have so much stuff going on, 30+ keybinds, I just can't keep up.

If I was going to give P99 another shot, where would be a good place to start?

Cleric. Shaman, if you want to be able to solo during those uncommon times when there are no groups to be had regardless of your class.

[Lune]

All things considered Mage is probably going to be as forgiving as you can get. Popular and effective in groups, but can solo and farm as well. Easy to play with low APM, but some complexity there to master if you ever want to. I would say this would be your best bet for "Chill out in an online world, hopefully meet some cool people".

[Seducio]

I recommend Cleric as well. An underrated ability for a casual is ressing abilities. By Level 39 you can res yourself at 50%. This cuts pain of death in half.

I've seen more casuals rage quit due to tough CR situations and exp loss around death than any other reason.

EQ isn't considered hard mode for vets, but for folks that only have an hour or two a week a death can mean they don't login again.

Vote Cleric.

[Vexenu]

Cleric and Mage are both good options as others have said. Both very low APM, both very welcome in groups. Since you know very little/nothing about the game, a brief primer on how each class plays:

Cleric: You are the best healer in the game, and in grouping situations will spend most of your time sitting down medding and casting the occasional heal. Clerics are always in demand for endgame raiding, as well. Not only do Clerics have the best heals in the game, they have very powerful buffs, resurrection spells to restore lost XP from death, strong CC (crowd control) spells and a line of undead nukes that allow them to solo undead mobs fairly well if no group is available. Clerics also need very little gear to be effective while leveling since they are mostly just healing other players. A really great choice if you want a low APM class that is social and enjoy helping other players.

Mage: You are basically a one-trick pony. You summon a powerful pet and it fights mobs for you. The Mage is a fairly limited, specialist class, but they are exceptionally good DPS in a group setting with their pet, damage shield and nukes. They can solo for XP very well from 1-50 but fall off a bit 50-60 due to increased HP of mobs and their complete lack of any CC. They are also in less demand for endgame raiding than Clerics, although they fill a niche role there as well. Like Clerics, Mages require very little gear to level effectively, since your summoned pet is doing the heavy lifting. The Mage is a good choice if you want a low APM class and enjoy doing a lot of damage and/or controlling a pet.

If you're on the fence between the two, I would go Cleric.

[Breidr]

Thanks for the help, guys! I went and made two characters today. I have a Gnome Mage and a Dwarf Cleric. We will see how to goes from here.

Navigation is currently what I'm struggling with the most. Also trying to learn how to correctly interact with NPCs. I can't seem to "talk" to the gnome guides past the initial hail. Good News is, I just stumbled onto my guild NPC on my dwarf.

[Vexenu]

Thanks for the help, guys! I went and made two characters today. I have a Gnome Mage and a Dwarf Cleric. We will see how to goes from here.

Navigation is currently what I'm struggling with the most. Also trying to learn how to correctly interact with NPCs. I can't seem to "talk" to the gnome guides past the initial hail. Good News is, I just stumbled onto my guild NPC on my dwarf.
Be patient starting out, and remember that the journey is the destination with EQ. This is definitely the sort of game you're looking for based on the criteria you provided, but it will probably take a bit of time for you to start figuring things out enough to feel totally comfortable. The wiki will be a great help throughout that process, as will these forums.

For talking to NPCs, look for [words] or [short phrases] in brackets [like this]. If you repeat those specific words back to them, that will advance their dialog. Ex:

NPC: Hail, young gnome. Have you come to learn about [the magical arts]?
You: I want to learn the magical arts.
NPC : Very good *starts talking more and eventually offers you a quest*

[bcbrown]

http://www.allakabor.com/eqatlas/atlas.html is going to be your best friend for navigation. Also, train a couple points in Sense Heading, put it on your hotbar, and add a keybinding for the same key as one of your navigation keys, like 'a'. That will let it level up as you move about as well as give you constant feedback as to what direction you're heading. What are your character names, and are you on Blue or Green?

[Breidr]

http://www.allakabor.com/eqatlas/atlas.html is going to be your best friend for navigation. Also, train a couple points in Sense Heading, put it on your hotbar, and add a keybinding for the same key as one of your navigation keys, like 'a'. That will let it level up as you move about as well as give you constant feedback as to what direction you're heading. What are your character names, and are you on Blue or Green?

In regard to where I'm at: I'm on Green, and both my Dwarf Cleric [Breidr] and Gnome Mage [Pedwidge] have not left their starting locations. I turned in the note on Briedr, but that's about it. I'm still trying to get the hang of this NPC thing before I venture further.

https://i.imgur.com/4qPz0Kd.png

This is what I've been trying, and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I guess I should look up what "valid destination" means. I'm sure this has been covered elsewhere.

Despite all this, still super excited to dive in.

[Deathrydar]

I can't read the text in the window....what does it say? What are you trying to do?

[Toxigen]

Thanks for the help, guys! I went and made two characters today. I have a Gnome Mage and a Dwarf Cleric. We will see how to goes from here.

Navigation is currently what I'm struggling with the most. Also trying to learn how to correctly interact with NPCs. I can't seem to "talk" to the gnome guides past the initial hail. Good News is, I just stumbled onto my guild NPC on my dwarf.

Bind sense heading to your move forward key. Every time you move, you'll try to sense the direction you're facing.

Eventually the skill will level up that you'll be able to reliably hit it 1-2 times and it will tell you.

Use the wiki: https://wiki.project1999.com/

Each zone can be searched for and has a map. There's also approximate coordinates as well, which will be displayed in game using /loc.

I can't imagine not using the wiki. Its an utter godsend for less experienced P99 players.

[skulldudes]

beyond your guildmaster / skilling, buying/selling, a few neat lowbie quests,and some end-game quests, NPCs are largely ignorable in this game and aren't programmed to be super helpful or interesting. you mostly just kill stuff.

there *are* some pretty cool equipment quests you can do on your dwarven cleric, i think. i just gotta echo everyone else advising you to use the wiki and cap sense heading ASAP.

[Cen]

The most important reason for handing in that guild note at that start isn't because it's a quest thats tracked (none are in this game) or the item you get (worthless for all non iksar immeadately and for iksar very soon) but the faction hits you get are usually pretty good. Otherwise, don't stress it. Any npc who trains you up is just as good as any other that's designated as a class trainer, so just explore the world and become a killer like the rest of us.

[unleashedd]

Be a wizard. Nothing is lower APM. Pick a target > cast strongest damage spell > if target not dead, run away to max range and cast spell again. Then sit and regain mana for many minutes. Can do the same with a druid, and the running away part becomes easier with Spirit of Wolf. Both of these classes get teleport spells so you can more easily access different parts of the world, once you outgrow your current location

[Breidr]

I can't read the text in the window....what does it say? What are you trying to do?

It tells me to ask 'where' and state a valid destination. I've tried every variation I can think of along the lines of 'where [is] the Library Mechanimagica'

[Deathrydar]

It tells me to ask 'where' and state a valid destination. I've tried every variation I can think of along the lines of 'where [is] the Library Mechanimagica'

I am not familiar with this feature in this game. Never heard of it.

[spoil]

Breidr, have you read the newbie guide on the wiki? https://wiki.project1999.com/Newbie_Guide

That's a good place to start, you can also search for p99 beginner tips or whatever on youtube.

[bub99]

It tells me to ask 'where' and state a valid destination. I've tried every variation I can think of along the lines of 'where [is] the Library Mechanimagica'

Are those the clockwork guides? I think they might turn in the direction if you say a destination.

[Spectrelight]

It tells me to ask 'where' and state a valid destination. I've tried every variation I can think of along the lines of 'where [is] the Library Mechanimagica'

Use this list to find your way around.

All zone maps by continent: https://wiki.project1999.com/Zones

Gnome city: https://wiki.project1999.com/Ak%27Anon

This game is very rudimentary so there is no in-game map. I wouldn't worry too much about what NPC's tell you either, EQ is mostly a "you're on your own" type of game. Your best resource for all information will be the P99 wiki.

Here's a pretty comprehensive beginner guide from the wiki: https://wiki.project1999.com/Dumbledorf%27s_Norrath_in_a_Nutshell:_A_Beginner%2 7s_Guide

There are others there as well - I would take some time and read through them to help you understand the game better and its non-guided nature.