Need help deciding what to play

[Caridry]

Hello all! I am coming back to the server after a year stint, and i have a 19 druid.. on live from 1999 to 2004 i played a high end druid, and its all i ever really played past 30.

My dilemma is... As much as i love druid, i want to try something different... a class that can solo well (and fast!) but is terrific with groups.

I was thinking enchanter.. i heard they can solo well, and i love the mez and mob control role they have. I just heard they dont solo very fast (by fast i mean casually getting to max level in about a month and a half or less.)

other honerable mentions i wanted to try, mage, necro, shaman (in that order).

again, fast leveling, GREAT with groups (main key)

thanks all SO much for your help! hope to fight by your side soon!

[Messianic]

Because you mentioned Druid up front, my recommendation is Shaman. First 19-24 levels are tough, but afterward you're golden.

[Sickle]

Great with groups Enchanter or Shaman. Solo and level fast would go Mage

[Caridry]

can enchanter level as fast as a mage? on the flip side are mages ever needed for groups, and on the triple flip side are necro's any good for groups as well? i know they can heal well when played right...

[Caridry]

oh also for shamans, leveling speed (compared to the mage/necro/chanter) i bring leveling speed up, because even though i love just playing this game, i enjoy knowing im making progress whether i have to group or solo when none are found =)

[Vondra]

If you don't want to be a druid...necros, bards, shaman, mages, and enchanters are other classes that both solo well and group well.

[Gorgoloth]

Start a Human Shadow Knight in freeport and ill help you level, / give you lowbie armor.

[valkabo]

No one's really mentioned bard..

They are one of the fastest solo'rs. Albeit it is a very involved and 'stressful' process, its crazy XP. You can easily solo aoe kite to 50. Bards rarely hurt for groups.

Also guilds like to recruit them :)

[Caridry]

think i might stick it out on druid, and level an enchanter on the side, you all have been very helpful! thanks!

[Heavydrop]

can enchanter level as fast as a mage? on the flip side are mages ever needed for groups...

Mages are useful in groups. Maybe not truly needed, but mages bring a lot to the table.
Damage shields, pets and good nukes.
Lets say the group has a good tank, mage can use a DPS pet (water, fire)
and it doesn't take up a slot a character could fill.
Lets say they don't have a good tank, an earth pet can do it a little (nowhere near as good as a real player but better than nothing)
and if that isn't the route anyone wants to go they can kite or something. I played druid for a long time back in the day and I love them but I tell ya what I am loving how a mage solos (and groups) right now

[Caridry]

ok so... i never thought i would get my friend to play but he agreed because he really likes the idea of an ogre shaman. which makes me want to level up with him, and starting over new i now im torn... I really want to level an enchanter, i just hope they can duo well with a shaman...

[Vondra]

ok so... i never thought i would get my friend to play but he agreed because he really likes the idea of an ogre shaman. which makes me want to level up with him, and starting over new i now im torn... I really want to level an enchanter, i just hope they can duo well with a shaman...

They duo very well with shaman.

It'll be slow going at first but as you both level and get more of your class defining tools, it'll be extremely effective.

[Autotune]

What you're looking to do, directly describes bards.

Roll a bard.

[Caridry]

i would play bard if i could twink one, they seem very gear dependant in groups in order to do decent damage =/

[Autotune]

i would play bard if i could twink one, they seem very gear dependant in groups in order to do decent damage =/

The bard class is not about doing dmg. However, I guess now that I think about it, only a handful of people are actually good at playing a bard.

[falkun]

LOL @ bards being "gear dependant". Bards need exactly 105pp worth of gear to get to planar level: a vendor horn (brass) for <5pp, and a MM battle drum for 100pp in EC. Then level to 20 and head to OT. Finally, leave OT at 46-47. Zero gear necessary.

In groups, bards just swing weapons to look pretty, not do damage. Bard melee DPS is mediocre at best.

[Caridry]

LOL @ bards being "gear dependant". Bards need exactly 105pp worth of gear to get to planar level: a vendor horn (brass) for <5pp, and a MM battle drum for 100pp in EC. Then level to 20 and head to OT. Finally, leave OT at 46-47. Zero gear necessary.

In groups, bards just swing weapons to look pretty, not do damage. Bard melee DPS is mediocre at best.

i remember when i played 99-04, bards where on par if not surpassing monk DPS... my best friend irl was a raiding bard, and i was the druid in guild, they were always extremely good at damage output... is it not the same on this server? i mean its supposed to represent that era right?

[Autotune]

i remember when i played 99-04, bards where on par if not surpassing monk DPS... my best friend irl was a raiding bard, and i was the druid in guild, they were always extremely good at damage output... is it not the same on this server? i mean its supposed to represent that era right?

you can think wow for the min/maxing of classes. Bards can do dmg, but doing dmg = not doing other things, things they do very very well. Bards are better suited filling other roles and doing support DPS.

Actually, Support is a good word for them. Bards = Support class. They make other classes better at what they do, as well as bring much needed utilities to a group.

[Caridry]

i understand that they are a support role, but to just shrug off their DPS is silly, especially with luclin? i believe when they got double attack, their DPS was through the roof. a well played bard could do it all, fill in the blanks wherever needed.

And honestly curious, what do you mean thank wow? they adjusted class's on p99 due to wow? not sure if i understand. Also, were illusion masks velious era? aside from mask of deception

[Vondra]

i understand that they are a support role, but to just shrug off their DPS is silly, especially with luclin? i believe when they got double attack, their DPS was through the roof. a well played bard could do it all, fill in the blanks wherever needed.

And honestly curious, what do you mean thank wow? they adjusted class's on p99 due to wow? not sure if i understand. Also, were illusion masks velious era? aside from mask of deception

We won't be getting Luclin, when people discuss classes here we discuss them in the context of p99. Things outside the scope of the servers progression just aren't really relevant.

[Caridry]

We won't be getting Luclin, when people discuss classes here we discuss them in the context of p99. Things outside the scope of the servers progression just aren't really relevant.

So lets discuss within relevance, with a bard twisting the {haste, atk, str, ds}, and multiple dot songs, the attack speed is unmatched, and the raw output of all of that combined, other than rogue backstab, is also unmatched, it was all the way up until luclin. A good, smart, bard should not be out damaged by another melee. Now granted that bard has other shit to do, he should not be concerning all of his efforts towards this because that is not the role, but if its needed it can happen.

[Vondra]

So lets discuss within relevance, with a bard twisting the {haste, atk, str, ds}, and multiple dot songs, the attack speed is unmatched, and the raw output of all of that combined, other than rogue backstab, is also unmatched, it was all the way up until luclin. A good, smart, bard should not be out damaged by another melee. Now granted that bard has other shit to do, he should not be concerning all of his efforts towards this because that is not the role, but if its needed it can happen.

The attack speed is matched by any melee wearing a decent haste item buffed with enchanter haste.

The general benefit of the bard buffing songs amplifies the potency of the melee classes that have double attack more than it does the bard itself, just due to the nature of double attack. Thus the "support" moniker. If you're referring to the bard self buffing songs, haste still caps at 100% regardless. As such, as said above wearing a good haste item and getting a haste spell or song buff will put you at or near that cap. Adding +str to self from the song does not compete with double attack either and becomes fairly negligible as gear increases and people cap their str anyway.

That isn't to say that bards can't or shouldn't be doing damage, but they are not top end damage dealers on single targets as parses will show pretty easily.

[Caridry]

The attack speed is matched by any melee wearing a decent haste item buffed with enchanter haste.

The general benefit of the bard buffing songs amplifies the potency of the melee classes that have double attack more than it does the bard itself, just due to the nature of double attack. Thus the "support" moniker. If you're referring to the bard self buffing songs, haste still caps at 100% regardless. As such, as said above wearing a good haste item and getting a haste spell or song buff will put you at or near that cap. Adding +str to self from the song does not compete with double attack either and becomes fairly negligible as gear increases and people cap their str anyway.

That isn't to say that bards can't or shouldn't be doing damage, but they are not top end damage dealers on single targets as parses will show pretty easily.

quite the interesting converstion we have here =), what about the addition of DD's and Dots from the bard? does that not at least bring them close to the standards of double attack?

[Vondra]

quite the interesting converstion we have here =), what about the addition of DD's and Dots from the bard? does that not at least bring them close to the standards of double attack?

It helps some but in the end it really just doesn't compete, mainly because double attack continues to scale in effectiveness at a percentage level with the character's general power, rather than simply adding flat numbers as is the case with DDs and DoTs.

The disparity in damage grows bigger and bigger the better players are geared (I'm assuming both the Bard and other melee are better geared here), because of the percentage based increase in power provided by double attack. With raid level gear and weapons the disparity in damage becomes very significant.

Of course, bards have some tricks making them suited to certain situations, and of course a bard could outparse melee in a fight with plenty of AOE targets for them to hit. I'm only referring to situations with two people both standing next to a single mob target beating on it.

[Caridry]

Hmm, maybe my stubborn memory is really just refusing to go pre luclin than. I know i know, this is p99 it will never have luclin, but i do know that bard DPS in luclin once they got double attack, was than just overpowered really...

[Vondra]

Hmm, maybe my stubborn memory is really just refusing to go pre luclin than. I know i know, this is p99 it will never have luclin, but i do know that bard DPS in luclin once they got double attack, was than just overpowered really...

It's all good.

It's also a lot easier to see the potential power of classes in classic at this point, since we're working largely with a player base familiar with what to do, when to do it, where to get the gear, along with being better at getting said gear. We know because the game is over 12 years old now and we have our past experiences along with the compilation of information from others making nothing a mystery.

In live during classic and kunark the average player base was simply not geared as well as the average player base here. Back then you had a core group of people toting the good stuff. Here half of your raid is. Then it is amplified even more by the fact that content comes out slower here giving people more time to farm the good drops to boot.

[Autotune]

you can thank WoW mainly because with it came min/maxing classes based on gear/skills/playstyle.

Idk how most people play on the server, i refuse to group with most of them. However, the best groups i've been in have never had a dps happy bard. The bard does dmg, but he doesn't focus on trying to be #1. He supports, increases the efficiency of the entire group and shit gets done better/faster.

i really don't care how you play a bard tho, I hardly ever group.

[Caridry]

you can thank WoW mainly because with it came min/maxing classes based on gear/skills/playstyle.

Idk how most people play on the server, i refuse to group with most of them. However, the best groups i've been in have never had a dps happy bard. The bard does dmg, but he doesn't focus on trying to be #1. He supports, increases the efficiency of the entire group and shit gets done better/faster.

i really don't care how you play a bard tho, I hardly ever group.

oh i wasnt saying that was going to be my role, i love the multi support role of a bard between mez, regens, and group haste/ds... i chose enchanter for about a day, and realized my 3rd kid is going to be born in less than 3 weeks, and i dont have time for leveling so i chose bard because of the mez support role primarily... I was just simply saying that damage is a tool that can also be used well for them -if needed- =)

[funhorroryes]

why do people make recomendation class threads.

choose what you want ffs

[Caridry]

why do people make recomendation class threads.

choose what you want ffs

some people need a more serverwide perspective as to what is most needed in groups, clarifying leveling woes, ups and downs of certain class's etc. for some it isnt just that simple =)