Originally Posted by loramin (Post 2517092)

The thing about monks and necromancers is that, if you pick human you can't change your mind (and change your race) if you realize "hey, regen would be very helpful and worth the XP cost". It's totally possible you'll get to 60 and think "man, iksar are so ugly that even without the regen I'm still glad I didn't roll one" ... but you're making sort of a risky bet as you can't know if that's how you'll feel later.

My recommendation? Barbarian shaman or halfling druid. Both classes can solo very well. Shaman are a bit more powerful at the high end, and a bit more desired in groups, while druids get tracking and ports, both of which can help you earn plat in ways a shaman can't. Barbarians do have a small (-5%) penalty, but that's the smallest possible among shaman races. Halflings actually get a +5% bonus to XP.

(I should note that race regret is possible with a Barbarian shaman also. But once you get Torpor you won't regret the Iskar/Troll regen, and Ogre's frontal stun immunity (while cool) is not nearly as cool as the Iksar regen is to a necromancer.)

If you're not that in to grouping and not real fixated on level 60 I think Druid makes for a great starting class for anyone, and you can't beat an XP bonus. But if you are picking a class you plan to continue playing long after you hit 60, or if you want to do a fair amount of grouping, Shaman might be better.

Other options wold include Mage or Enchanter, both of which are also good soloers, with Enchanters being the better of the two. Both of them can be human if you want no penalty, and while you might regret it it a little at 60 (since a Gnome/Erudite/High Elf would have better stats), it won't be anywhere close to the regret you'll have if you pick a human necro and later want regen.

Originally Posted by Maner (Post 2517635)

You can level to 60 quickly and cheaply then farm gear either for yourself or other toons or just for cash. And since you didnt actually spend much on your necro you can reroll later as an iksar if you want to.

Originally Posted by loramin (Post 2517638)

I'm not trying to start yet another race debate here...

Originally Posted by loramin (Post 2517638)

Wow, to casually talk about leveling all the way to 60 on any character (even a necro), and then in the very next sentence suggest re-leveling that exact same class to 60 all over again ... you must have a lot of time on your hands.

I was not trying to start yet another race debate here; there are already a million of them already. I was simply trying to explain that most people do not find it so easy to level to 60 twice, and as a result they may experience "race regret" when their human necro (or human monk, or non-ogre shaman, or ...) hits 60 and all the other races have some cool power while they're stuck with a useless XP bonus.

But just in case it's not clear, I'm a level 60 Barbarian Shaman (either the worst or second worst Shaman race depending on who you ask), and I have no regrets. I'm not saying a human necro will have regrets, I'm simply saying that if they do their only option will be to re-level to 60, and that's so viable for everyone.

Please do not take this as an attack on your particular race choice and then defend your choice: that's how the race debates start ;)

Originally Posted by Maner (Post 2517651)

I started on P99 without knowing anyone on the server, picked a necro as my first character and hit 60 in under 2 months while working full time plus. That was whenever this account was made. Now i have 4 lvl 60s and one lvl 50, i have never bothered releveling an iksar necro though, because at 60 the regen really doesnt matter all that much.

You would only have to relevel if you cared about min and maxing. I would assume that starting with a 40% exp penalty would slow the game down enough to make a lot of new players actually quit.

This same line of thinking would suggest starting a halfling druid first due to the ability to make money from porting and it is even faster to 60 with the exp bonus. However i think a human necro would out level a halfing druid anyway.

Originally Posted by Tankdan (Post 2517672)

There's some necros I know who'd laugh at the statements that iksar regen is negligible at top level. But tbh it was more important in Kunark when people actually grouped in Seb and shit, not what we have now where people just log in due to a batphone for 15 minutes then log out.

Originally Posted by Maner (Post 2517651)

I started on P99 without knowing anyone on the server, picked a necro as my first character and hit 60 in under 2 months while working full time plus. .