On Blue Server - Help me decide - SK, Pal, Rng, Wiz or Necro
 

Greeting folks,

Just started on the server....originally from Tunare, played from 99 - 03 as Khrah (human war), Orchestro (HE bard) and Grognak (Troll SK). So glad to have found P99, big thanks to the devs for all they've done in creating a home for this player and everyone else.

I am struggling with a class decision though, and am going to outline some points below and hopefully can get some feedback:

First I'll list my play style and attributes:

I play at night (MST), I prefer to group but would like to be able to solo if I only have an hour or so. I enjoy dungeon crawling the old haunts and overall exploration. Would like to get into a little bit of raiding once leveled high enough. Finally, I have a long term goal of completing a class epic and hitting 60.

With the classes listed above, what are the chances of satisfying all these needs? I am in no rush whatsoever.

What is the server in need of in terms of classes?

I don't mind tanking when I need too and melee / ranged dps is fine.

Currently playing a necro to get the feel of the game again, and I am getting rocked by mobs in EC. Pet doesn't seem to be taunting very well and one clinging darkness gets me agro. Thoughts?

So far I'm loving the server, and thanks for any help.

Sketelmona

Necros - plenty around. A lot of them solo, if you like soloing then that's perfect. Not great for much when it comes to raiding.

Wizards - more appearing with Velious on the horizon, but still lacking in numbers. Tough to get groups with as wizards have a reputation for mana burning and afk'ing for 5-10 mins to med up. Can quad so solo ability is there, plus porting will help you get some cash together (although wizards don't get the good ports til 34-39).

SKs - Best aggro tanks out there. As a rogue I'd order a SK to tank for me every time.

Paladins - Similar to SKs but carebear variety. LOH is handy, stuns handy, get XP rez in the 50s. Not many on the server at the top end.

Rangers - don't do it.

Welcome to the server! Hope you enjoy doing those early levels :)

Necro will definitely solo the best of those. Wiz will have the hardest time grouping until aoe groups. Sk can solo and will be desired for groups and raids. Pal to a lesser extent. Rng will probably be the biggest challenge although there wouldn't be much epic competition. Paladin probably has the easiest epic.

As far as your Necro now, pets seem to not hold agro as well as I remember, especially at low levels. Probably best just to use life taps and help tank for your pet. I would just use your poison dot and melee.

Why not ranger?

They aren't preferred in groups as they don't tank very well (chain class), but still have the hybrid penalty (40%)...and some people here don't like too many hybrids. In their eyes, if they're taking on a hybrid its better to make it the tank rather than a ranger. Rangers can solo, but not as effectively as a necro/mage/etc.

If you like a challenge, take it on... but its far from easy to hit 60 with. LFG time will be lengthy unless you're good at forming your own groups :)

Rangers can make good small group partners they just suffer from not being exceptional tanks or exceptional dps, they can also do some crowd control but because a more traditional group will have all those bases covered without adding a heafty xp penalty. Once velious hits and then penalty is removed I expect Rangers to start getting more love. Maybe not saught for but avoided less.

On rangers: You will almost never be in a full group and hear anyone say "Man, if only we had a rogue instead of this ranger for the extra dps." In full groups, mobs practically explode on contact. In groups small enough for individual dps to be important at all, a ranger has utility to fall back on.

On other classes: You're not limited to one. Roll one solo class (necro, wiz, etc) and one more group-oriented class. That way you can play whatever you're feeling like.

Don't be a wizard unless you plan to do lots of raiding.

I'm curious about this. Had always believe wizards were good soloers (once quadding) and a good help in groups. Not steady DPs I guess, but there when you need it?

Are critical blasts in on P99?

Slowly leaning to NEC or SK now. Is the exp penalty that bad?

Wizard. Best raid dps in velious, ports are awesome, ports are awesome, can level in AOE groups (best xp in the game), and you can be a gnome.