Questions from a Husband/Wife Duo

[Braldar]

Hey All,

Long story short, I played EQ for a few years from '99 on Rallos Zek and later on a blue server to Gates of Discord. My wife is new to video games in general and I'm trying to get her on something other than Stardew Valley and she's up to try EQ. Since it's been a while for me and she's completely new, we have some questions:

Is P99 the place for us? With P99's strict policy on multiboxing, and her having never played something that controls this way, there will be some weird movements on her part for a while. If so, she'll create an account and we'll put in for an IP exception. If not, is there someplace better for her to learn? Live is a bit overwhelming right now.

What are some good duo class combos that will have something for her to enjoy? She was leaning toward Cleric, but I'm afraid it will be more on the boring side.

Would Blue or Green be better for us as a duo?

Is there still an xp penalty for certain classes?

Is there a guide for ideal setting changes, like rerouting the movement keys?

Thanks for any help!

[Duik]

Shammy and monk have good synergy.
Sham to start (for a beginner) will just be like a weaker cleric. But eventually less boring as she learns the class/controls.
If ya worried about failing a boxing test just get her to practice movement and a couple of levels. That shpuld be enuf to pass the boxing tests.
Maybe others can be of more help here. Ive never been tested as a potential boxer.
Im jealous. Current partner would rather shoot me in the face than play EQ.

[Snaggles]

Is P99 the place for us?

Geez, that’s a tough one. I struggle sometimes thinking if coming back to EQ in any form was a good idea lol. But that’s more an EQ thing over the specific sim/server.

Aside from the literal boxers, most people get in trouble for looking ultra robotic. Two person never moving at the same time, auto follow, or behavior that almost looks scripted. That and if the two characters are trivializing content or even monopolizing it. A level 60 Druid and level 12 monk in Befallen or Kurns for example. If two people are playing at even a mediocre level it will be obvious to anyone. As long as she is able to respond to text prompts at the same time you do it is also less likely to be an issue. If two chars are doing stuff just make sure they are able to operate independently with two fleshy pilots at the keyboards.

What are some good duo class combos that will have something for her to enjoy?

IMHO I’d have her pick and compliment the class. You might even pick the same race so it’s a shared experience. Barbarians and Ogres have pretty horrid starting zones though. There are some truly bad combos like two clerics, wizards, rogues, warriors and rangers. A lot passable setups and a few great ones. Casters and priests need less gear to shine. If you are a Druid, cleric, or Necro you can pull and split well. She can be a +1 with anything really. A mage is really simple and has some novelty. If she goes melee is make sure you are some type of healer. Also account for the run back to the corpse is very annoying for a new player (ie bind affinity and gate are great to have).

I reluctantly made and leveled a cleric and actually really like it. The spell kit is boring but handy. Plus at least you can lull stuff and pull in a pinch.

Would Blue or Green be better for us as a duo?
Green has more people, blue has cheaper gear and less camped spots.
You could duo and rarely need to interact past getting a port if you want. Even less if someone rolls a Druid.

Is there still an xp penalty for certain classes?
No, just racial penalty.

Is there a guide for ideal setting changes, like rerouting the movement keys?
I’m sure the wiki has some basics. I just set WASD as alternate keystrokes in CTL-O. And set a turn key to trigger a general slot. Change that out as needed…sense heading, tracking, forage, etc.


Im jealous. Current partner would rather shoot me in the face than play EQ.

100% with you on this, lol.

[loramin]

Is there a guide for ideal setting changes, like rerouting the movement keys?

https://wiki.project1999.com/User_Interface_Enhancements is the closest wiki page I can think of

[zelld52]

I briefly played with my wife before she decided the graphics weren’t good enough to continue. lol

She enjoyed cleric while I played monk and enchanter.

She also enjoyed magician and I played druid

[shovelquest]

I briefly played with my wife before she decided the graphics weren’t good enough to continue. lol

Hahaha

I will never forget the look on my WoW playing SO's face when I was like, oh you like wow? You're gonna LOVE this game!

https://i.imgur.com/9Sy23DW.gif

[Bluhblawblah]

I briefly played with my wife before she decided the graphics weren’t good enough to continue. lol

She enjoyed cleric while I played monk and enchanter.

She also enjoyed magician and I played druid


What a shame. The graphics is one the reasons why I enjoy classic EQ. Good choice on cleric/monk cleric/ench combo.

[kjs86z2]

enc / cleric or monk / shaman

green

[Braldar]

Thanks for all the pointers!

We decided to go with a SK (me) and a druid (wife) on Blue because we have a friend there. He gave us some plat to get gear so that leads to another question:

What are some good SK and Druid items to look for with 1.5k plat?

Thanks again!

[Gustoo]

Its like a kid playing 8 bit games. Once you spend a couple hours you can actually see what you're looking at. At first it just doesn't even make sense. Early 3d is my favorite, because it leaves a lot to the imagination rather than allowing the sub standard imagination of the average MMO programmer to be undeniably in my face. But that's just me. Nothing is scarier than goopy walls that you don't even know what they're supposed to be.

[Salaryman]

Blue and green are filled with nerds who do nothing but stand still in their full raid gear and kill the same boss every week,

RED99 is for cool and normal people who have real lives and dont need to have the best items to feel good about themselves

[Duik]

OMFG.

https://www.project1999.com/forums/search.php?do=finduser&u=111786

Peruse numbnuts' various posts proclaiming

i tried playing blue and was frustrated when I couldnt kill my incompetent group members,

Now Im the Top Number #1 PVPER in all of EverQuest History.

Virtually every post reads like this drivel.

Just an FYI.

[shovelquest]

Thanks for all the pointers!

We decided to go with a SK (me) and a druid (wife) on Blue because we have a friend there. He gave us some plat to get gear so that leads to another question:

What are some good SK and Druid items to look for with 1.5k plat?

Thanks again!

HP rings, and any cheap wis gear will do. you can get away with pretty casual gear on your druid.

For the SK, idk

[Swish]

Your SK basically needs a weapon...something like an ebon mace or a noctivagant blade (300-400pp range on blue). If you can find a good samaritan to make your SK a set of banded armor (size is based on race) that's just 100pp.

After that maybe the rest on some wisdom gear for the druid. +3 wis earrings are no more than 25-30pp for a pair (do a WTB in EC), +6 wis rings something like 200-250pp/pair? Then maybe some leather armor of sorts even if its just turning ruined wolf/cat pelts (wolf for small races, cat for medium) into patchwork armor to start with. The druid's spell purchase costs are basically your only noticeable outgoing as you level up.

I do remember low level druid mana pools being crap so anything you can do for her druid to help with that would be good.

[shovelquest]

OR just saying, a mithrial 2h sword would be super cheap and great to get started with on an SK because haste is expensive.

[Vexenu]

Magician/Druid is a good starting duo for two new players. Both classes are relatively simple to play, require minimal gear and peak early on the leveling power curve. And while MAG/DRU isn't a traditional endgame power duo like MNK/SHM or ENC/CLR, it is more than capable of leveling very effectively. Both classes also retain some value for farming/porting if you decide to switch to another combo later on.

[Duik]

What sort of mobs (55+) couldn't a mag/dru duo do?
Ive seen dru solo a dragon in WW. I could see a pet ping pong go on if timed right. Sorta like safe chain casting.
One charmed elephant dies and the mage pet is next (or at least very high) on agro list. Dru grabs another elephant. Even have them rooted like the solo boy did. As the mage pet succumbs the next dru charm is already got enuf agro.

Same for dogs in chardok and rats inPoN. Fish in Kedge. Sirens Grotto.
Other zones im sure.

Ive never done this but id like to try maybe. Thoughts?

[Vexenu]

What sort of mobs (55+) couldn't a mag/dru duo do?
Ive seen dru solo a dragon in WW. I could see a pet ping pong go on if timed right. Sorta like safe chain casting.
One charmed elephant dies and the mage pet is next (or at least very high) on agro list. Dru grabs another elephant. Even have them rooted like the solo boy did. As the mage pet succumbs the next dru charm is already got enuf agro.

Same for dogs in chardok and rats inPoN. Fish in Kedge. Sirens Grotto.
Other zones im sure.

Ive never done this but id like to try maybe. Thoughts?
Anywhere a Druid can charm you'd obviously do very well with the Mage pet off-tanking and DPSing. It's not an ideal duo for dungeon diving, though, lacking FD, lulls, slow and CH/Torpor. But it's a great duo for leveling into the 50s, learning the game and getting established on the server. The Druid brings a ton of safety and utility and the Mage is mechanically very simple to play and understand. Hard to think of a better starting point for two new players.

[kjs86z2]

Just make sure to make multiple accounts, 1 char per. You'll eventually realize the druid / mage combo isn't going to cut it...and thats okay. You'll have a coth bot and a porter.