Returned: Bards vs. Cleric vs. Enchanter?

[baalzy]

Originally Posted by Skittlez [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

If you play any caster it's gonna be slow going man. Even with shamans epic mana regen you will still be stitting 90% of your playing.

Correct. Just as the shaman gets higher they'll be sitting while things are sitting next to them, slowly dying. Instead of at lvl 20 where the shaman is sitting next to a corpse.

However, if you play a non-caster you'll be sitting while nothing is dying or you're sitting for 15-20 minutes per thing dying, instead of 3-4 minutes and the things dying will be much lower. Without a group that is.

I consider it a win when I can get slow, steady xp without a group while having a good chance of finding a group when I want to. It's why I'm soloing in the feerrott right now when I play my cleric, I don't often find myself with enough time to commit to a group without having to force them to stop because I need to AFK and take care of something every 20-30 minutes.

[Cynosure]

First off, thanks for the great number of responses. =)

Originally Posted by Harmonium [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

As for bards, later on they take on more responsibilities. Pulling and cc are things every bard needs to master. As for soloing.. No class can level faster than a bard solo. Hands down.

That's good to hear!

I checked out some kiting tutorials and gave it a shot after reading a leveling guide and heading to East Karana.. however, I quickly found that kiting in this way is quite difficult. You have to constantly be holding down 3 buttons + twisting songs + running in a decent circle + cutting in at some magical distance where my chords land and I don't get hit (haven't had much success).

Originally Posted by Calibix [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Enchanters bring more to a group than any other class imo. They are an immensely powerful class played well. Great solo as well. I wouldn't call them traditional casters in an MMO sense as there has never really been caster classes similar to EQ Enchanters again.

Clerics will never really be a solo class, but being the supreme healer grouping is never an issue. In a group, often times you might need to root cc, or lull mobs for pull or safe passage. Outside of that its pretty much heal and buff.

I might have to give the Enchanter a shot. I've only ever played one to level 8 which really didn't give me a great overview of what the class is all about.

I'm hoping to avoid the boringness associated with a single-click healer. =/ I guess cleric is out of reach for me, then.

Originally Posted by Sarajo [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

It sounds like a bunch of alt-itis, and there's never an easy answer for this. It's a time-consuming disease you can only beat by trial and error and determination. I played up to level 12 on every class before I decided that the (probability of success)*(potental happiness payoff) of bard was the best for me.
But the point of my comment is actually just to tell you about the /stopsong macro trick. Instead of tapping 1, 12, 23, 34, 41[...] (or 1, 22, 33, 44, 11[...]) you can just make it so you only have to tap a button once to get your song on.

/stopsong
/cast 1


That's it. Then substitute "2" for "1" or whatever. Then drag it to your hotkeys. It takes a little to get used to not hitting things twice as often as you need to, and also not spazzing out and spamming a key (because spamming it is also spamming the /stopsong command so you have to actually watch for missed notes) but over the course of your life as a bard how many millions of keystrokes will this save you?

One more thing, out of curiosity: If you made a cleric, which race would you go and why?

Extremely helpful advice, thanks so much!!

I've always had alt-itis. I was trying to nip-it-in-the-bud, as they say, this go around to avoid creating 1203912309213 alts and feeling like I'm never going to make any progress.

And hmm.. I was debating between a Dwarf and a Halfling. I love Dwarves and they surely seem like a good fit for a Cleric (and an interesting roleplay combination that I've not yet tried).. plus the roll is always funny to watch. However, I read that Halflings get hide (which is extremely helpful) and also gain EXP faster (a HUGE plus to someone with very little game time per week--for instance, my game time tonight is being spent writing these replies!).

Originally Posted by baalzy [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

http://wiki.project1999.com/Swish%27...ric_SOLO_guide

Cleric can solo 1-50 just fine.
Won't be swift, but it's just as do-able as a wizard soloing 1-50 (which is also not swift). I'm doing ~1% (slightly more) every 7ish minutes on my cleric at spectres in feerrott at lvl 40. If I catch a clarity/c2 from an enchanter heading into hate I can do 2 specs in that time if I don't get many resists.

However, you're going to have a lot more luck finding parties then a wizard and so you won't have to worry about soloing as much.

Thanks for the solo guide.

I see that it's possible.. but how deathly boring and tough is it? lol.

Originally Posted by Skittlez [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

If you play any caster it's gonna be slow going man. Even with shamans epic mana regen you will still be stitting 90% of your playing.

That's pretty much the *only* downfall I have with my Shaman. I wouldn't mind not being able to find a group if I didn't only get 3 minutes of play time before having to sit and meditate for 15 minutes.

However, I do know that grouping takes this pressure off as you are expected to be sitting and can still interact with your group while doing so.

[Brocktree]

If you are the 21 shaman I saw lfg in overthere this weekend you are probably in the wrong zone for people your level. If you are willing to try your shaman some more I'd try running over to loio to lfg or if you want to find a port you can try heading to upper guk or maybe MM for groups.

Shamans get infinitely better at 24 when you get regen and cannie. I'd suggest trying to stick it out if you like your shaman you will love it when you hit 24. There are a ton on the server though.

[baalzy]

Well, at lvl 40 my soloing (as a cleric) consists of root, nuke 6x, root, nuke 3x. Sit for 7 minutes.

So, pretty boring. :P

[Mandalore93]

If you want to kite the lazy way on your bard just use strafe kiting. Hold one key while swapping instruments and twisting two songs.

[Shaniril]

Originally Posted by Calibix [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Bard does not get less spammy. You will forever be hitting a button twice every 3 seconds or more with interrupts or fizzles.

/stopsong
/pause 1
/cast #

Now you only hit every button once! [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Calibix]

Originally Posted by Shaniril [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

/stopsong
/pause 1
/cast #

Now you only hit every button once! [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I don't macro anything if I don't have to. I feel like I lose control by using this particular macro so I don't use them. I know people gripe about how spammy Bard can be but its essentially 2 keystrokes every 3s. That is nothing compared to most modern games that probably a lot of a us have played. No big deal to me. /corpse though!

[Cynosure]

I will definitely stick with the Shaman. I just received good news that an old friend I used to play EQ live with is going to join me here at P99. He has always played a Magician/Necromancer (and sometimes made druid alts) during live. I believe he's rolling a Gnome Magician this time around so I will get to make one of those alts I had imagined to play with him until he hits level 21 at which point I will switch back to my Shaman for good.

I feel things will be much better with a duo partner.

Originally Posted by Brocktree [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

If you are the 21 shaman I saw lfg in overthere this weekend you are probably in the wrong zone for people your level. If you are willing to try your shaman some more I'd try running over to loio to lfg or if you want to find a port you can try heading to upper guk or maybe MM for groups.

Shamans get infinitely better at 24 when you get regen and cannie. I'd suggest trying to stick it out if you like your shaman you will love it when you hit 24. There are a ton on the server though.

That was most likely me.. breaking character and then losing my mind in /ooc after 3 days of no groups. lol.

Originally Posted by baalzy [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Well, at lvl 40 my soloing (as a cleric) consists of root, nuke 6x, root, nuke 3x. Sit for 7 minutes.

So, pretty boring. :P

How do you feel in duos/groups?

[webrunner5]

I play all 3 healer classes. It is pretty much sit on you ass stuff. Shaman is the hardest. Too many buffs all the time and Canni dance. You are so busy you can't pee. Cleric is the easiest but more boring. But their spells are mana efficient as hell. Don't REALLY need Clarity to make it. Druid was my favorite one till like level 52ish.

The Shaman is more powerful solo wise now in the 50's. They SUCK till level 24. But mine is a female Barb. Like I said a few threads ago I will regret not making a Ogre one because of the Stun and better stats when Velious comes out. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] Mobs hit a lot harder and summon more also.

I enjoyed the Druid because they can go anywhere in a heartbeat and also make a TON of plat porting, PLing. I probably charmed a lot more than I did Quading. And I still enjoy buffing noobs in the tunnel with it. It is a class that really helps people out on here in a lot of ways. So a lot of satisfaction with them. But they peter out healing group wise about level 50. Maybe a few more levels IF a Enchanter is in the group with C II. Slows help them also. They are pretty good damage dealers with their DD spells in groups. And they really help the Tank with Thorns and Snare. A GREAT class overall.

[Clark]

Originally Posted by Harmonium [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I don't mind the 50-60 grind. That's where the bulk of players are, and the rewarding content. 1-50 is just a giant time sink.

Hey 1-50 isn't that bad!