Best solo melee

[magnetaress]

I would say after careful shower thought analysis and about 30 seconds of thinking done in actuality.

It starts of with Monk>SK>Ranger>Pally>Warrior>Rogue

but by the end of the game pretty much everyone solos about the same, with SK's taking the lead, and monks being able to do OK

And any class can mow down lvl 40's by lvl 51+ by 60 and some gears u can mass kill lvl 40s mobs on any character.

Maybe the break point for hard stuff to solo is mobs lvl 48-52 for melees in general. Then its just kinda not gonna happen without cheesin pots, groups, nets, bs.

Going down into the undead parts of the hole is probably the hardest stuff an melee can do with any actual feasibility and its going to be an SK doin it, because without FD ur pretty much ded. And Sk's can actually move around in there, lull, and dps/self sustain a lil with leach/nukes/fears. Were as monks are just gonna spend all their time flopping and not actually kill anything.

[kjs86z]

A monk can solo LDCs in solB / hole entrance and then move on to the rat jail in hole to 60. Easily.

No other melee is going to come close to that.

Thinking a SK will go down to the undeads in hole and get good solo XP is a big stretch. Go ahead and struggle down there while the same level / equipment monk just plows through rats at a superb XP rate.

[magnetaress]

Originally Posted by kjs86z [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

A monk can solo LDCs in solB / hole entrance and then move on to the rat jail in hole to 60. Easily.

No other melee is going to come close to that.

Thinking a SK will go down to the undeads in hole and get good solo XP is a big stretch. Go ahead and struggle down there while the same level / equipment monk just plows through rats at a superb XP rate.

This actually goes to show just how much I don't actually know since I never play a character past 40 and only read these forums.

[Danth]

I'd vote for Shadow Knight if the player is poorly-equipped, and Monk if you have top-end droppables. Bad-geared Monks took a serious hit with the combat bind wound removal. Shadow Knights can manage reliably even with mediocre equipment due to fear kiting, but it won't set any speed records. Most players will have pretty good stuff on P99-Blue, unless the player in question is a brand new player just starting out.

Danth

[Trainhop]

You're all wrong it's actually Shaman that is best melee.

[Barlu]

I’ve spent a ton of time soloing and did a monk to 60 almost exclusively soloing and my Pally is 55 from almost exclusively soloing.

I don’t see how you can make an argument that SK is going to solo better than a Pally unless you want to fear kite which sucks to do and also means you can’t solo in any dungeons. The downtime on an SK even if troll or Iksar is terrible. A Pally pops off 180 HP/tick regen using Deepwater BP and can do it in battle by casting a 20 mana root and backing up 3 steps. Add in that Pallys can handle adds far better than SK and it’s easy. Most dark blues that I solo take 60 mana which is the cost of Enstill and I’m back to full healthy 60-90 seconds after each kill. When exping on my Pally I can do 2-3 dark blues at a time and still have plenty of mana leftover by the time the fight finishes.

The general consensus in this thread is it is far and away Monk but from personal experience that’s just not the case. Monk may still be faster (I did mine before BW Nerf) but it’s not by much. My monk also has better gear than my Pally for what it is worth.

[Danth]

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

I don’t see how you can make an argument that SK is going to solo better than a Pally unless you want to fear kite which sucks to do and also means you can’t solo in any dungeons. .

Deepwater Breastplate is a great item that not everyone will have. Probably most will settle for the still-nice Deepwater Helm.

Beyond that, I've played both classes at high level extensively and I feel the Shadow Knight solo's more capably between the two. Yes, the Paladin, once in a camp, can hold a few dungeon areas more easily. On the other hand the SK has a much easier time traveling around the world, much easier time getting INTO a camp, can go AFK more safely, and doesn't die as often. At high levels (52+ and especially 58+) the Shadow Knight can deal quite a lot more damage than the Paladin thanks to its pet. Higher damage doesn't just mean faster killing of experience monsters, it also means faster cash-farming of greens. Unlike the Paladin the SK has actual burst damage available in the form of its damage spells (and harm touch to a lesser extent) if it needs to kill something quicker. The Shadow Knight is the better overall solo package. There are some specific situations where the Paladin outperforms it, but on balance I enjoy my Shadow Knight much more when I'm online by myself.

Shadow Knight and Monk have a lot of overlap, with the Monk being more offense-focused. Since EQ usually favors offense that's the class I typically recommend to folks who have no particular preference between the two otherwise. The Shadow Knight is less gear dependent due to its spellbook, doesn't need to fuss with click items quite as much, doesn't need to limit its weight, and has an easier time in the tank role due to on-demand aggro (irrelevant when solo!). I like the Shadow Knight's convenience and consider that a fair trade for reduced kill rate. Min-max'ers look askance at notions such as "convenience" so the Monk is generally more popular; in addition the Monk benefits more from very high-end equipment (north Temple Veeshan stuff, etc) and a lot of players pick their character with visions of end-game in mind even if they'll never actually make it there. With regular-quality equipment I find the two classes about equivalent in overall power. Nonetheless, the Monk'll usually level faster if alone so that's the one I commonly recommend to players who ask.

I don't discuss Ranger much only because I have less experience with it, having never leveled one to very high levels. The animal restriction on its fear coupled with its lower armor rating and outdoor restriction on Harmony makes it a bit dreary during the middle levels. Dedicated Ranger players suggest the class can do quite well if a player sticks with it past that point.

Danth

[Ripqozko]

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

Deepwater Breastplate is a great item that not everyone will have. Probably most will settle for the still-nice Deepwater Helm.

Beyond that, I've played both classes at high level extensively and I feel the Shadow Knight solo's more capably between the two. Yes, the Paladin, once in a camp, can hold a few dungeon areas more easily. On the other hand the SK has a much easier time traveling around the world, much easier time getting INTO a camp, can go AFK more safely, and doesn't die as often. At high levels (52+ and especially 58+) the Shadow Knight can deal quite a lot more damage than the Paladin thanks to its pet. Higher damage doesn't just mean faster killing of experience monsters, it also means faster cash-farming of greens. Unlike the Paladin the SK has actual burst damage available in the form of its damage spells (and harm touch to a lesser extent) if it needs to kill something quicker. The Shadow Knight is the better overall solo package. There are some specific situations where the Paladin outperforms it, but on balance I enjoy my Shadow Knight much more when I'm online by myself.

Shadow Knight and Monk have a lot of overlap, with the Monk being more offense-focused. Since EQ usually favors offense that's the class I typically recommend to folks who have no particular preference between the two otherwise. The Shadow Knight is less gear dependent due to its spellbook, doesn't need to fuss with click items quite as much, doesn't need to limit its weight, and has an easier time in the tank role due to on-demand aggro (irrelevant when solo!). I like the Shadow Knight's convenience and consider that a fair trade for reduced kill rate. Min-max'ers look askance at notions such as "convenience" so the Monk is generally more popular; in addition the Monk benefits more from very high-end equipment (north Temple Veeshan stuff, etc) and a lot of players pick their character with visions of end-game in mind even if they'll never actually make it there. With regular-quality equipment I find the two classes about equivalent in overall power. Nonetheless, the Monk'll usually level faster if alone so that's the one I commonly recommend to players who ask.

I don't discuss Ranger much only because I have less experience with it, having never leveled one to very high levels. The animal restriction on its fear coupled with its lower armor rating and outdoor restriction on Harmony makes it a bit dreary during the middle levels. Dedicated Ranger players suggest the class can do quite well if a player sticks with it past that point.

Danth

Ranger is the easiest if you have access to good gear and sky cloak/epic. After 50 having 91% haste and 50%slow is pretty dumb. Plus chloro and fungi

[magnetaress]

I don't play enough to have stuff like a DW bp...

so i would say troll in bronze is amazing

but yeah that is awesome Barlu, very impreessssed

i actually had one on my red pally before i quit last but gave it back to owner

[elwing]

I fear kite all my end levels in the hole... So yep, fear kiting is fine in dungeon... Named elemental? Fine, rock golems ? No problem... I wonder how well a monk solo the named clerics with their ch and 550 nukes... I agree that monk is probably better generally... But there's some case were a sk beat them