A Question to those with multiple 60s

[cd288]

Originally Posted by zelld52 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Which class was the most fun / easiest / quickest or most painful / slowest / hardest to level to 60?

I've levelled Shaman, Necro, Druid, Enchanter, Ranger and Monk to 60*. Here's how I'd break my toons down. [Note: I soloed close to 80% of the time (or more) on each of these toons, so these are all mostly solo evaluations. In group, they all were slow to get exp.]


Easiest to 60:
Enchanter. The ability to charm any level appropriate mob in any zone made a huge difference. Levelled the ENC during the 7m pacify duration, so getting around any dungeon was a breeze. Dinged 60 in Sebilis @ NG. Honorary mention to NEC, DRU and SHM

Quickest to 60:
Druid**. Charm of course is super quick. Adding the ability to port around for clarity, PoTG, etc made it even quicker. Started charming around level 30 in Overthere and dinged 60 in Permafrost @ Bear Pits. Honorary mention to ENC, NEC

Most fun to 60
Ranger. Track is the most fun skill to have while levelling. Need to know where the dark blues are? Track em down. Want to snipe named spawns in KC? Track is the best for this. Outdoor pulling is great. SoW and Levi made travel less painful - and soloing wasn't too bad (once Earthcaller was obtained). Dinged 60 in PoM Rat Maze. Honorary mention to MNK, SHM, NEC

Slowest / Most Painful to 60
Monk. My second favorite class in EQ. First favorite to play on raids. But, compared to the other classes - Monk was painful and slow to 60 (Even with T Staff, Fungi Tunic, Cloak of Flames and other BiS droppable items). Compared to the ranger (w/ mainhand epic), monk doesn't get slow - so after EVERY fight against dark blues at 51+ I needed to bandage. Iksar, too - and the EXP penalty at 59 was B R U T A L. It would take nearly 10 dark blue kills in Howling Stones to get 1%. Dinged 60 in Howling Stones @ North wing. Honorary mention to SHM #3.***


Interested to hear others war stories about experiences on different classes getting to 60.

*My first shaman had mediocre gear, but then each subsequent toon was able to be mega-twinked from a combination of plat and DKP purchases.

**Druid had pretty wild gear, including Fungi Tunic, Fungi Staff, Elder Spiritst Greaves and Manastone. There was almost 0 downtime levelling this toon 1-60. Especially in the bear pits, without the need to port back to old-world to MS.

***After I'd reached 60 on a Ogre and Barbarian shaman, the Troll shaman with the 20% penalty was pretty brutal, despite being easy. I was also sick of all my old EXP zones on this 3rd shaman, by the time it was 55+.

I'm surprised Monk was that bad for you. If twinked, then pre-50s it's a lawnmower with minimal downtime just destroying everything which is pretty fun. Once I was high enough level in the 50s I went and did those three bodyguards upstairs in Highkeep. Once you split the spawn it's basically one kill every few minutes, so good frequency while also giving you time to regen up and get a little plat with their swords. But yes outside of that camp the 50s aren't the best if you're soloing (and I soloed most of the 50s because chain pulling for hours for a bunch of people so they can semi AFK isn't the most fun dynamic).

If we're talking easiest then I actually think Mage is up there. Limited solo options to 60, but not zero, and it's just pet attack and a couple nukes. Necro is probably up there too in terms of FD and just fearing and DOTing the mob (or root rotting once you get root); so simple.

I haven't taken a Shaman to 60 but I've messed around on an alt and they seem pretty fun if you get some decent gear. Face tanking mobs while being able to regen, slow, DOT, etc. seems like it's a good time.

[zelld52]

Originally Posted by cd288 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I'm surprised Monk was that bad for you. If twinked, then pre-50s it's a lawnmower with minimal downtime just destroying everything which is pretty fun.

oh yeah, 1-50 was a breeze. i dont think i was ever in danger of dying in a fight solo as a twinked monk. 51-54 werent even that bad. 55-57 not even that bad. but those last few levels 55+ were brutal. mostly because of the exp penalty of being iksar, to be honest. 5% an hour solo was just about the best I could do while giving myself AFK breaks and bandaging, etc. not a whole lot of places to fight blues and the alternative was

Originally Posted by cd288 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

chain pulling for hours for a bunch of people so they can semi AFK.

[DeathsSilkyMist]

Originally Posted by cd288 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I'm surprised Monk was that bad for you. If twinked, then pre-50s it's a lawnmower with minimal downtime just destroying everything which is pretty fun. Once I was high enough level in the 50s I went and did those three bodyguards upstairs in Highkeep. Once you split the spawn it's basically one kill every few minutes, so good frequency while also giving you time to regen up and get a little plat with their swords. But yes outside of that camp the 50s aren't the best if you're soloing (and I soloed most of the 50s because chain pulling for hours for a bunch of people so they can semi AFK isn't the most fun dynamic).

If we're talking easiest then I actually think Mage is up there. Limited solo options to 60, but not zero, and it's just pet attack and a couple nukes. Necro is probably up there too in terms of FD and just fearing and DOTing the mob (or root rotting once you get root); so simple.

I haven't taken a Shaman to 60 but I've messed around on an alt and they seem pretty fun if you get some decent gear. Face tanking mobs while being able to regen, slow, DOT, etc. seems like it's a good time.

Yeah a twinked monk with fungi, seahorse belt, and IFS or TStaff levels really fast. I was getting like 1 level per hour from 30-40 in Crystal Caverns.

Shaman is a lot of fun with all the toys leveling to 60. By 52 or so I had Fungi Tunic, Fungi Staff, JBB, and Black Fur Boots. Also had a Thurg Chest and Shawl 7 for some extra mana savings.

[PatChapp]

Originally Posted by cd288 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I'm surprised Monk was that bad for you. If twinked, then pre-50s it's a lawnmower with minimal downtime just destroying everything which is pretty fun. Once I was high enough level in the 50s I went and did those three bodyguards upstairs in Highkeep. Once you split the spawn it's basically one kill every few minutes, so good frequency while also giving you time to regen up and get a little plat with their swords. But yes outside of that camp the 50s aren't the best if you're soloing (and I soloed most of the 50s because chain pulling for hours for a bunch of people so they can semi AFK isn't the most fun dynamic).

If we're talking easiest then I actually think Mage is up there. Limited solo options to 60, but not zero, and it's just pet attack and a couple nukes. Necro is probably up there too in terms of FD and just fearing and DOTing the mob (or root rotting once you get root); so simple.

I haven't taken a Shaman to 60 but I've messed around on an alt and they seem pretty fun if you get some decent gear. Face tanking mobs while being able to regen, slow, DOT, etc. seems like it's a good time.

I've done that camp a lot as well,mostly on my magician.
Unless I'm wrong,they have been removed in one of the recent patches. Such a good spot

[kjs86z2]

Originally Posted by zelld52 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

oh yeah, 1-50 was a breeze. i dont think i was ever in danger of dying in a fight solo as a twinked monk. 51-54 werent even that bad. 55-57 not even that bad. but those last few levels 55+ were brutal. mostly because of the exp penalty of being iksar, to be honest. 5% an hour solo was just about the best I could do while giving myself AFK breaks and bandaging, etc. not a whole lot of places to fight blues and the alternative was

LDCs is where its at for monk - maybe neriak bouncers

and then when i found a shaman id bring em to freeti

[zelld52]

Originally Posted by kjs86z2 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

LDCs is where its at for monk - maybe neriak bouncers

and then when i found a shaman id bring em to freeti

yeah, solid spots. my friend levelled his monk exclusively in Sol A / Sol B from level 25-59.

i found the best exp for the work required to be PoM rat maze, with its obvious caveats. 2nd best was rat jail in the hole.

Both required about 1-2m of down time between fights for bandaging. And high average level of mobs netted 1% every 3-4 kills. compared to 1% after nearly 10 kills in HS North, for instance. (or Sol B efreeti more like 1% after every 20 kills in duo) - both of which didnt require bandages after each fight. but, in Sol B LDC @ 59 I could clear the entire camp, not require many bandages, but only net about 1% exp after 11 kills.

whichever way you cut it - the constant need to bandage and the time between pulls trying to split camps slows down exp, and it becomes a slog. if only monks got a single damn slow weapon

[cd288]

Originally Posted by kjs86z2 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

LDCs is where its at for monk - maybe neriak bouncers

and then when i found a shaman id bring em to freeti

Neriak bouncers always seemed too high on HP plus damage output, even with a fungi, Tstaff, and haste

[cd288]

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

Shaman is a lot of fun with all the toys leveling to 60. By 52 or so I had Fungi Tunic, Fungi Staff, JBB, and Black Fur Boots. Also had a Thurg Chest and Shawl 7 for some extra mana savings.

Yeah the main reason I haven't done more with the Shaman is just the current state of the server. I don't do a ton of end game raiding and so I suppose leveling is always just the fun of the journey for me, but when everything is so empty the world just feels lifeless so even solo leveling isn't as fun.

I'd love to really get into a Shaman if they ever start a new server though

[Jimjam]

At least LDC has good bandage and vendor banking options close by (not that you get much gold down there!).

[WarpathEQ]

Easiest/Quickest/Most fun = Bard

Slowest = Rogue

Worst = Wizard