DrKvothe's Guide to Your First Character

[Menemas]

Its really surprising to me that I keep seeing the recommendation for people to level a solo character first, when the whole key to this game is to be social and make friends. Talk to people, make friends, join a guild, make friends, start groups, make friends. If you're not a dick, you'll do fine.

[Tecmos Deception]

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

Discussion
You'll notice some clear discrepancies between the information here and the information provided in Loraen's guide, which concludes:

"So in my opinion we have the overpowered classes (Enchanter, Bard, Shaman, Monk), the solid classes (Cleric, Magician, Necromancer, Shadowknight), the raid-specialized classes (Warrior, Rogue, Wizard), and the weak classes (Ranger, Druid, Paladin)."

Notice none of the overpowered classes are in my best category. Notice the 'weak classes' are ranked either best or good in my guide. Here's why: I'm assuming that you're starting absolutely broke, and that you care more about learning how the game works and getting some pp to deck out future chars than you care about endgame or raiding. This is, after all, your first character.

You are taking that paragraph from Loraen's guide entirely out of context. You're making it sound like him calling those 4 classes overpowered (which they are) is him suggesting everyone should play them (which he didn't). You're making it sound like he was only concerned with endgame or raiding when writing his guide, even though he specifically addresses lower levels and other types of activities.

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

Its really surprising to me that I keep seeing the recommendation for people to level a solo character first, when the whole key to this game is to be social and make friends. Talk to people, make friends, join a guild, make friends, start groups, make friends. If you're not a dick, you'll do fine.

The key to the game is to have fun. For some people that means being social for a lot/most/all of the time they're on... but that's not true for everyone. Also, what does soloing even have to do with being social? I talk to people on my friends list, people in my guild, people who randomly /tell me, people in the zone with me, all the time even though I'm basically always soloing.

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

I will clarify at the top that any class can be played through from beginning to end. I just think that a lot of new players are pointed to the most powerful mid to endgame classes instead of to the most newb-friendly classes.

There's definitely a focus on the long run among a lot of players on the server. But like I said before, basically anything in classic eq IS a long run. It's counterproductive to have a bad or an ok time playing p99 for a few days /played because your first character is one that you don't especially enjoy, but that you're trying to use to make a couple thousand play to give to your next character. Just do some research on the classes to begin with and pick the one that you think you'll like in the beginning, the middle, AND the end.

[susvain0362]

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

The key to the game is to have fun. For some people that means being social for a lot/most/all of the time they're on... but that's not true for everyone. Also, what does soloing even have to do with being social? I talk to people on my friends list, people in my guild, people who randomly /tell me, people in the zone with me, all the time even though I'm basically always

Because its WAY easier for anyone, particularly a mew player to make friends and form strong bonds being in a guild and grouping with people.

[Tecmos Deception]

Originally Posted by susvain0362 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Because its WAY easier for anyone, particularly a mew player to make friends and form strong bonds being in a guild and grouping with people.

As I said (twice now, I think), basically all of the strong solo classes are also great classes to have in groups. It's 90% about how the player players his character and only 10% about which class the player chooses. An enchanter can oh, so easily level from 1-60 solo. Or he can level 1-60 in a group. Or he can do any mix of things inbetween. And the same is true for necros, mages, bards, shamans, druids. Hell, even clerics can solo 1-45 quite nicely even when untwinked, so long as they do their research about leveling spots. Or they can (obviously) spend their time healing in groups.

Don't tell people to play a certain class because you think it's better for them to be forced to group. That's retarded. Tell people to pick the class they think sounds like the most fun while also considering that their playstyle can affect the networking they do ingame.

[Menemas]

In my opinion/experience. If you start a new game from scratch with a solo character, you're less likely to have people to talk to while soloing. Also, when I solo, I afk or read a book during downtime.

[Tecmos Deception]

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

the whole key to this game is to be social

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

when I solo, I afk or read a book during downtime.

Lol [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[DrKvothe]

I feel I must clarify that I don't necessarily expect players to end up hating their chars, quitting and restarting a more powerful twink. My point with the guide is simply to point new players to characters best suited to new players. Those characters, unfortunately, tend not to be the characters that are mid or end game optimal. Iksar is a stronger race for necro and monk, and monk is a stronger class than ranger. But iksar is not a particularly easy race, and monk is not a particularly easy class.

I'm sorry for misinterpreting Loraen's guide. If you wanted to use it to find the easiest classes, you could sort by low gear, drop the bottom 3, and then remove the classes with 8 or higher skill. You get the exact same list of characters I have as great or OK, except without necromancer (which I would argue is easier to play if you choose erudite). My point for deliberately misinterpreting Loraen's guide was that most new players will interpret it the same way. If you're new to the game, you might see Loraen's scores for bard or shaman and think they're the best for a new player.

Note that I've given the most new player friendly race even for the characters I don't particularly recommend for new players.

[Tecmos Deception]

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

My point for deliberately misinterpreting Loraen's guide was that most new players will interpret it the same way. If you're new to the game, you might see Loraen's scores for bard or shaman and think they're the best for a new player.

Ok, that's a fair point. I'll yell at him too next time I see him in guild chat [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Menemas]

Yes, yes, its a wonderful contradiction, Tecmos.

That said, I am not a new player. I am already established in terms of coin, gear, and relationships.

Let me offer advice from a slightly different angle. For a new player choosing what race/class to play, consider the nature of this server and where people can be found. An erudite necromancer, for example, is not going to find a lot of people to interact with in their starting area. A Dark Elf or a Gnome would be much closer to popular areas.

[Halfelfbard]

Make a bard people, and ill show u the light. Word of advice, where ever u start...find someone to port you pity port whatever...to WC, get a bind in Freeport and level there. The buffs u can get in the tunnel is worth it alone.