Which caster to start with?

[Troxx]

Twitching in a group is seldom worthwhile. There are exceptions (ie twitching the knight so that chain pulls can continue or twitching the cleric in an absolute emergency -- or any time you find yourself full mana with nothing to do immediately) but in general the 400:150 ratio on the high end twitch is mana better spent elsewhere.

[loramin]

I'd vote Necromancer, with Druid or Shaman as close seconds. All three can:

• solo with virtually no equipment (I leveled an almost naked druid to 45 without issue)
• are useful in groups (although Druids a bit less so)
• have ways of farming plat at higher levels (necros and shaman can solo valuable loot and druids can join dial-a-port)
• cover a broad spectrum of play: all three can heal, DoT, nuke, use pets, and charm (although Shamans only briefly)

All three are great up until 45/50-ish. At that point however Druids start feeling less powerful and desirable, while Shaman have to acquire two very expensive items (their epic and Torpor).

Enchanters are a good 4th option. They're not gear-dependent, they're pretty well-rounded and they are desired both in solo and in groups. However, they have a more unique play-style and can't heal, so they're maybe not quite as good for "re-learning the game". And Bard, Mage, Cleric, and others are all viable options too, they're just less self-sufficient and/or more one-dimensional than the above classes.

[Scrumtick]

Lots of good info here. Like others have hinted or said, any recommendation is highly dependent on whether you want to be most effective in groups or solo and whether you are thinking end-game roles. Any preference?

[Breton]

Apologies for the slow replies folks. I think somebody needs to review my posts before they show up which can take a little time.

[Baler]

I started p99 with a magician. I wish I started it with a necromancer.
I encourage you to go iksar necro and embrace being evil.

The reason I recommend necro over mage for a new comer is their superior utility spells. Root, Feign Death, Fear, mana regen, etc...

The reason I don't encourage enchanter or wizard is because they're far more gear dependent and in the care of the enchanter require far vaster knowledge and understanding of p99/classic mechanics and game play.

---
I see some debate on necros in groups. +1 for necros being good in groups at all levels. Heck they can even spot heal other players. No puller? With FD necro can pull, no joke. Extra roots/snares in group is always good. other stuff i'm forgetting.

[Expediency]

If you are brand new roll druid. At 60 they are not as good as most casters but they are easy to learn, versatile, not equipment reliant, can escape danger easily, and can port for pp starting at 29.

[Foxplay]

#1) Enchanter: if you want to learn the game and all its mechanics and how to abuse them. In essence how to "win" at EQ
#2) Necromancer: will teach you many of the lessons that you can gain from enchanter but offers a much easier learning curve and safety net, while also being a bit more powerful than enchanter in situations that call for direct damage sourced via the caster and not thru a charm pet (Necro has super DD, and DoT's, and a stronger natural pet vs. Enchanter charm is better and haste and buff spells beef up their charm to super saiyan levels of stupidity)
#3)Mage: Wont teach you much about the game with the exception of good pet control - and chaining pets at higher levels, but if you want a relaxed class that is fairly powerful, as well as having a certain amount of "guaranteed power" the mage is a sure bet with you are always at the very least as strong as your pet which are pretty decent. I have no personally leveled one up but I imagine mages being pretty much unmatched at farming lower level content as their hasted pet + dmg shield could just curb stomp it with ease.
#4)Wizard: Mathematically probably the worst class in velious, yes they can burst out a lot of damage and are fairly relevant in Kunark when bosses only have 32k hp. But their nukes just did not scale well in velious as mobs almost across the board received sizeable health increases. While they are not an amazing class by the numbers on at least one positive note playing a wizard will teach these players proper kiting and quadding techniques on p99 as it will be engraved in the back of your skull simply because getting into groups as a wizard may (will) be difficult.

[Foxplay]

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

If you are brand new roll druid. At 60 they are not as good as most casters but they are easy to learn, versatile, not equipment reliant, can escape danger easily, and can port for pp starting at 29.

I think your slightly understating the druid class... Imo only Enchanter and Necromancer edge out over Druid. Magician is pretty dang strong, but their epic is crazy hard and its a huge piece of their "end game power". Druids have Wizards beat hands down

[Expediency]

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

I think your slightly understating the druid class... Imo only Enchanter and Necromancer edge out over Druid. Magician is pretty dang strong, but their epic is crazy hard and its a huge piece of their "end game power". Druids have Wizards beat hands down

At 60 druid is possibly the least useful and least powerful caster. You need one druid at the raid for potg and thats it.

Necro/shaman/ench much stronger
Wiz/mage more useful to raids
Cleric is cleric

My main is a druid. I wish all this wasnt true but it is.

Edit: if the raid is outside and/or there are charmable animals around the druid gets much better.. but most raids are neither.

[Sorn]

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

At 60 druid is possibly the least useful and least powerful caster. You need one druid at the raid for potg and thats it.

Necro/shaman/ench much stronger
Wiz/mage more useful to raids
Cleric is cleric

My main is a druid. I wish all this wasnt true but it is.

Edit: if the raid is outside and/or there are charmable animals around the druid gets much better.. but most raids are neither.

You're just talking about raids, though. For everything else (and there is a lot of everything else) druid is quite good. Can solo quite a few things and duo even more.