Need help narrowing class choice decision....
 

ok I am narrowing down my decision some....

At this point some classes meet my criteria some do not.

I am interested in:

Necromancer
Bard
Enchanter
Shaman

I want a class that has some use in groups, Necromancer has the least other than damage from pet. The other problem with being necromancer is the server seems flooded with them as it is.


The last three have buffs, but the problem is which is least common and most needed in Raids? Should I even worry about Raids at all on my first toon in P1999? Should I worry more about getting a foothold on the server?

On the Bard I read there are bugs with the class, has that changed?

Also for Bard and Enchanter charm how reliable is it? How long typically until it breaks etc?

If I am looking at things wrong... I just do not want to get to a certain point in the game and be stuck with no one to group with because "that class is worthless" etc.

(I am still open to other suggestions if i am going about this the wrong way)

First things first don't worry about raids. If you want to raid and have the time and know your class you should be fine getting into any guild. Now what do you want to do?

Bards are jack of all trades master of none. In a group as a bard you will be pulling, CC, singing buffs, and meleeing all at the same time.

Enchanter you will be buffing, CC, charming for dps, and lulling for pulls.

Charm lasts as long as it lasts. You could tash and malo a mob and charm could break or it could last full duration. You have to pay attention anytime you have a pet charmed.

Shaman you will be buffing, slowing, healing, and casting canni the whole time.

Necro if you get a group you will be dpsing and spot healing.

But none of this matters if you don't like the role you do in a group. As for raiding don't worry about it till you get 55+.

The server is flooded with everything at this point, roll what you wanna roll!

I would pick Enchanter. They can solo with charm starting from 12 and groups love em. They do require a bit of skill to properly CC and soloing requires a bit of risk and staying attentive to protect against charm breaks/adds but its mad fun.

I am not sure how they are used on the raids other than for mana buffs but they can solo high end dungeons pretty well.

Don't worry about what the server is flooded with. Just play the class you enjoy. Shamans, enchanters and Necromancers are all good outside of groups. Even bards can swarm kite their way up to mid 50s by themselves.

Shamans and Enchanters will probably get the most use, followed by bards and then necros for their dots and pet damage.

Personally, I would go with Shaman, because I prefer priest classes over cloth classes, but that's just me.

If you think a necromancer is only pet DPS in a group, you're not looking at the amazing utility the class has. Roots, Fears, Snares, Undead focused lines, FD, Charm, temp mez, Heals, Mana Twitches, Decent Nukes, blah blah. A necro has some form of everything and if you utilize all it's tools you make a terrible group a good one, you can complement and strengthen nearly any role.

If you think a necro is limited to pet DPS stay the hell away from bard. Bard is my main, and my love. You may be a jack of all trades, but if you are willing to perfect the class you can be a master of it all. I have tanked in raids, CC'd fungi king, pulled in HS east....etc etc. If it can be done, a bard can find a way to do it, and do it well. As for your first class being a raid class, if you're willing to stick it out bard is the way to go. They are the most valuable raiding class in the game. Tanks are a dime a dozen, complete heal is complete heal, it's hard to find a competent bard that will stick thru to 60.

As for enc sham. Meh. They're good solo classes and pretty fun in groups. As for raiding the enchanter is GRM and maybe charm. Maybe. Shaman is a buff bot. Both are shit for raiding unless you enjoy buffing.

When I first saw this I thought Narrowing was some named drake and you had killed him.

This depends on a few things. Do you want to raid? Do you have an idea of what type of raid guild you want to join? How quickly do you think you'll acclimate to the server? In other words, what does "getting a foothold on the server" mean to you?

How common a class is generally doesn't matter much. I know IB and TMO both recruit based on player skill, not the class they play. A great ranger is worth way more than a shitty cleric. Guild rosters fluctuate often since the server has a high turnover rate.

I don't play a bard so I don't know exactly what this pertains to but since there's a lot of bards and I never hear anyone complaining, I'd say yes or they're minor.

Depends on mob MR, level difference, your charisma, and dumb luck.

Should be fine with all those classes. Necromancers will be a bit tougher to find a group with but there are certain necromancers that I loved grouping with because they were really good at their class. Not many, though. Your skill as a player usually means a lot more than the class you play, reputation plays a big part in how easy the game is for you.

Based on your questions/concerns I can't really narrow that list down to a certain class. You picked all of the classes that are great solo, in a group, or in a raid. So, it would really come down to a playstyle choice. What role do you want to have in a group or a raid?

Then roll enchanter or shaman. Even a terrible enchanter will get groups all the time.

Necros can be a fantastic group class: charm for insane damage, extremely efficient heals, snare (and a bit of fear for casters here and there), decent CC with root/screaming terror, FD splits, and so on. The problem is most groups will want a monk to split, an enchanter to CC, and a cleric to heal, so necromancers end up either soloing in HS North/West or doing a ghetto mage impersonation in groups, which only reinforces their reputation as being mediocre.

Bards are not as popular as enchanters because a) they don't bring charm wtfpwnage and b) they have a 40% xp penalty. Few people play them because they are so exhausting, and most of the people that do play them are bad. Getsmurfed to the contrary, no one wants a bard tanking raid mobs unless they mean hate/fear trash.

I would not roll a class with the endgame in mind. First, the endgame here kinda sucks (although it has improved greatly in the past year). Second, good players are better than good classes: there are plenty of terrible monks, warriors, clerics, and other nominally good raid classes out there. Third, raiding is actually fairly boring compared to grouping, because you get to use only the most basic parts of your class: Shadowknights don't get to pull, Clerics don't get to stun or blur, Necromancers and Wizards don't get to CC, and so on.

TL;DR: roll an Enchanter or a Shaman and enjoy leveling up and see where it takes you.

This is pretty inaccurate. Different raids require different things. Shadowknights pull in VP all the time, clerics are a really important CC class on CT, necromancers/wizards often CC other peoples' trains on Nagafen/Vox, etc.

If you're doing raids by the book and have all the time in the world then yeah, maybe these abilities go underutilized, but that's why they're secondary abilities.