24:24 This face is the reason you go ogre. And always remember, if your class of choice can go ogre, it's the best race pick every time. Frontal stun immunity is the most OP racial trait in game, once you experience it as a shaman/SK, you'll never want to go back.
I’m conflicted with this video. Everyone was a noob at one point. Not everyone rolled a shaman or druid. We played what we played. I started as a paladin in 2000. Was it the best choice? I don’t know, but it took me on the adventure of my character. Tanked in crushbone, met players who the next night /tell me to meet them in north ro. Had no idea how to get there, they talked me through it. Couple nights later, ended up in unrest, then oasis, then lake rathe aviaks with a ranger… back and forth multiple times to qeynos to sell/train. South karana gnolls, hhk, runnyeye, guk, killing HGs in RM, it was about playing with others and damn there were plenty of them. Point I’m trying to make, is… this was the adventure my paladin took me on. I learned where Druid rings were, what classes I could ask for sow from… it wasn’t about being the best choice. It also wasn’t about just leveling. EQ was something different then. It wasn’t just a game to hyper play to get to end game. It was an experience and it was awesome. It feels like nothing will ever recapture those days for experienced players. However, for completely new players… the best advice I can give, play whatever you want. You are in for one hell of a ride!!
Unfortunately, I've been an alt-aholic since around 2000. First character I turned into my main was my gnome Necro. I remember following a friend I made in the beginning in steamfont mountains. I forgot her character name ages ago, but I always remember her being in Caer Cadarn (might have spelled it wrong). They were a pretty good guild on whatever server I was only. I only managed to get my monk up to 43 (Iksar). The days were fun when the zones were full. Groups for camps, trains to the zones, learning languages in EC tunnels, corpse dragging for people with your corpse macro. I never cared that it was hard or grindy. These days, Mmo's are so easy and forgiving in the early and mid levels. They let you speed through to end content. I've never spent much time in the end game. Sorry if this was ranty/run-on.
Yeah, the game is all about making friends. They will be able to fill in the gaps you might lack as a class. The most important thing is to play as the class you enjoy.
New players in 2024 will be surrounded by veteran players that have been playing for 25 years ;) Back in the day not everyone knew much about the game nor did we know much about what the other classes could do. Everything was new and it was fantastic.
Necros are tier 1 for new players... the amount of tools they get and their ability to solo is needed is unmatched. I don't understand why you put them so low... they are DEFINITELY better than mages for first time players.
I think his concern is that this flexibility wins up a negative because it's too confusing or overwhelming for someone not familiar with the game mechanics
Because mages are easier to play from the start, just send in pet when you get it at level 4. Necro takes a lot of learning to know how to do all that and many levels to get the full kit unlike mage when they get their first fire pet they can easily take yellow con mobs without anything extra, same with beastlords later on.
5:00 "the way you play a magician at 5 is pretty much the same as you play it at 50" one one hand, its nice to dip your toes in to see if you like the class at 5 or not.
Iksars always get a bad wrap for being the most hated, but no one ever points out that they never really need to leave the continent they start on. Not great for exploration, but Kunark has some killer leveling spots all the way up. Just another viewpoint. Love your content!
I really should do an Iksar run one these days. I usually am a High elf Cleric when i join a progression server or p99. But Iksar don't have a huge selection of classes I like personally.
i started eq p99 as a brand new player and after looking at thr wiki i decided to play wizard since i really liked the nuking aspect of it :) that was back in november 26th 2023 and today i hit lvl 60!!! eq has such an awesome community and your videos helped me get into the game and lore even more than i was. and i wad already OBSESSED lol! as a ffxiv i highly enjoy the change of pace in your class and gameplay this older mmo brings.
Some great memories playing Shammy back in the day. Casting SoW on someone slow running by you and watching them stop, tank turn to face you, and then 3 seconds later receive a "I love you bro" whisper is just the best.
Necro as a "probably not" literally the hands down easiest and safest class for a new player on P99 Shamans unless you have a a couple hundred k, are not a good choice either. They don't really come into their own until the mid 30's, but end game you need a lot of cash to buy spells "stupid" amounts for a new player.
solo, having bind Affinity is amazing. It's one of the abilities that prevents people from quitting. Do not underestimate giving a new player access to bind... so this means tell them to play A Healer or enchanter or a mage.
monk fd also helps, i think this wasn't expanded on properly, but monk barely ever dies unless taking extreme risk or killed by unexpected guards or smth.
The day I learned bind affinity can be cast on other players in city zones made the game a lot less intimidating when I was away from kunark as a monk. Definitely one of the best perks of a caster class to bind anywhere though.
As someone who started as an iksar shaman and had never played EQ at all before, I can say it was definately a tough experience, altho for me thats what made it so fun ! Great tips in this vid tho, love it ! Keep it up :)
Love your vids! I played for years as a bard. Hands down my favorite class across all MMOs. They are tricky to play, but they can do almost anything. Plus having a guaranteed invis that will never drop is nice. For a brand new player you can't go wrong with a druid. Healing, porting and SoW is going to make you a lot of friends.
Enchanter and bard too. The learning curve isn't as high as most people think and they are extremely powerful unique fun classes you won't find in any other game.
Bard is hands down the most fun class I have ever played in EQ. For some reason I just love them. But I love playing them in groups, not solo. Druids are the #1 best starting class imo. Not gear dependent. Easy in raids (you basically just spend the whole raid buffing people and occasionally throwing out heals). And the easiest class to traverse the world on... teleports, movement speed buffs, levitation, invisibility, harmony. You can basically go anywhere you want. One thing not addressed in this guide is what classes to pick if you are a new player starting with friends. For duo, the most powerful duo is probably Monk/Shaman. A Monk/Shaman duo can go all the way to 60 together. Trio, I would still do Monk/Shaman but add a porter (druid or wizard). In this case, a wizard might be the slightly better option since there is a good deal of overlap between druid and shaman. But a Monk/Shaman/Druid would also be strong with all the buffs they can give to the Monk and having 2 healers will trivialize a lot of content. A Monk/Shaman/Wizard would just give you the trinity of Tank/Healer/DPS.
Bard requires a lot of eq specific knowledge and experience tho. Healing, DPS, Tank, you can grasp what you're supposed to do if you ever played any mmo. With bard, not so much. But I agree, once it clicks it's hands down the most amazing class design of any game ever.
At 26:38 Sneak.... I believe Wood Elves get sneak as well..... As rangers, Wood Elves get sneak set at 25 as innate to start with, Haflings get it set to 50 as innate to start with, all other races it is a class skill....some high level druids told me it was the same for them.
I got asked this recently on everquest by a brand new person.I told them magician and rogue are 2 classes perfect for noobs. halfling rogue is good combo i said any sort of elf for a mage preferably though highelf since you get access to good side areas. Monks not bad starter it has a bit of stuff to learn but its not too terrible. I got a recommendation:Change enchanter from probably not to HELL NO!!! enchanters are extremely hard and stressful to play.I wouldn't recommend enchanter for a newbie.
I would absolutely put a necromancer in the maybe if not yes list because of their survivability. A necromancer can win with a bad pull, even solo, that other classes simply don't have a chance. It was the very first class I ever played. Aside from the faction, they are more survivable than others. As for the most soloable class, enchanter. They have all the tools to solo almost anything once you know what you are doing. I'd never recommend an enchanter to a brand new player. They are very involved as a class.
I would agree, necro is a great new player solo class. Race would have to be Iksar for p99 due to regen working with the lich line of spells, that said any race will work fine as a necro. You will just need to manage your health more with drains / lifetaps then a Iksar will. That said if you don't hate Iksar be an Iksar, and if you do hate the race / model. Take some comfort you will be a skeleton most of the time. Enchanter feels like you're playing a game within a game, and might be a lot of a new player to jump into. And while the basics of charming are easy on paper, in practice it's a lot of spell management / juggling.
Necro appeal to me is the lore/rp/soloability of the class. However, having done the necro grind to 50's, it's not as fun as it's cracked out to be, although quite powerful. Better like root rotting.
@@marklalonde7996 I love necro, I played undead army in Warhammer years ago so I love that "lore" And EQ has been one of the few games I think they got the class right in a game. And I too burned out on mine at 53 lol, I think that's fair with any class in this game in the 50's.
Story time: I started right before Kunark came out. I worked at Sam Goody's and a customer came in and was telling me about this crazy game. I'd only played Doom, Duke and Quake 2 online for the most part so I was super intrigued. My first character was a barb warrior named Baalcarth and quickly realized that this is gonna be tough. I talked to the customer again and he suggested shaman. So I rolled a barb shaman named Grisok (yes, I stole the name from the Gnoll named High Shaman Grisok in SK lol) and mained that from then to the OoW expac. I was between jobs when PoP came out and was the first lvl 65 on Drinal grinding for literally 12-14 hours a day. So many good memories from EQ! The raiding guild I joined wasnt cutting edge, but usually the 4th or 5th guild to down a boss on our server. The top guild was called Cats in Hats and were in competition for WF. Crimson Tempest and their sister guild (I can't remember the name) were in 2nd n 3rd on the server. The guild I was in was called Unconquered and our main competition was Undivided Faith and Guardians of the Keep. Lol we used to use ogre illusion to block off the entrance to Emperor Ssraeshza so we could get the pull first. Things were so much simpler back then lolol
When I first started... I thought I was going to roll a Barbarian warrior and run to Freeport (or was it Qeynos) and work on being a blacksmith. I made it a good bit, about halfway. Fumbling around in the dark. After that, I never played a race without night vision agian! Then I got hooked on Gnomes, and have been hooked on them ever sense. Take that as you will. haha.
At 18:23 Dexterity as a magician.... There used to be the idea that there was a dexterity check on spell fizzles.... Also sometimes the caster's need assistance with their mele skills, dexterity and agility are the two main ones on that. All classes max should out their mele skills!!
I remember back when Kunark just launched my starting character was a Troll Shadowknight. You can imagine what an uphill battle that was for a 1st time player back in 1999... Then I rolled an Iksar Shaman...
Really this is a video about what you would play for a new character, not what you would recommend to a completely new player. Lets be honest, most people starting EQ for the first time are not going to go raiding and do a lot of endgame stuff. They're gonna spend 99.9% of their time on the journey and exploring the world, and will be lucky to reach max level. So why should they care that Magicians in endgame raids are mostly just summoning stuff for other players? They shouldn't. They should play what's fun and interesting to them. The reason most people get hooked and stick with EQ is because of the expansive world, the mystery, figuring out things you didn't understand and seeing and learning about new places and monsters all the time. It was about the journey with a character, getting strange new spells/abilities and drops, and growing in knowledge of the game alongside your character. You don't get into EQ because you enjoy playing in the most efficient way possible, and having the easiest go of it. That's not the thing that hooks people on this game. No EQ player I've met ever said anything like, "the thing I loved about EQ was how simple and unchallenging I made it for myself. I loved how not hard it was". lol. Any actual newbies watching this, take this rankings/recommendations with an enormous grain of salt. They weren't actually made for you, they were made for people who already play EQ to argue about and drum up views/comments (success!). In fact, stop watching/reading info about the best thing for you to play, and just go play. Go through the character creator and read the race/class descriptions, and roll the elf simulator character that excites you, and just jump into the world.
Mr. Freke (if that is your real name!) I played EQ from 2001-2005. I have never tried Project 1999, but I love your videos. It's an intravenous injection of nostalgia that crosses the blood-brain barrier. You're the only RUclipsr producing quality content about old school EQ. Everyone else has either disappeared (Flatts, Michael's Shenanigans), or are just mumbling into a microphone. Meanwhile you're doing the lord's work, keeping interest in this fantastic game alive. And we appreciate it. Please don't ever think to yourself, "nobody cares about this game," because that isn't true.
You're totally wrong about the Iksars! tbh THE MOST important thing is liking how your character looks, followed by how your character plays. I first started as an Iksar monk back in Kunark and it's still one of my favorites, even with the huge hassle the faction issues cause for new players. I eventually played a Wood Elf druid and raided in PoP-PoR and ended up switching to Iksar shaman, much to the chagrin of my guild, because as much as I liked druid I couldn't stand playing a Wood Elf anymore.
Iksar monks have one massive advantage over humans and that is regeneration. You feign death and your health goes up. Combine that with a Fungy Tunic and you are totally overpowered. The faction issues don't matter at all in Everquest. You don't do quests and you don't even go to towns anymore.
My favorite class is enchanter, and I spend 100% of my time shapeshifted into an iksar haha they're just so cool. My favorite lizard-humanoid design & lore of all time across every medium.
26:30 Halfling charisma does not matter for charming, Druids charm formula doesn't use the charisma component. It moves past that as an autofail and does the level / resistance checks only. This is the case with P99 and Quarm both. Half Elves still suck though of course with their wisdom ;D Only bard and enchanter charms use the charisma check on the per tick.
for new players i'd also suggest races with quest availabilities. not sure about evil races but good ones have the Mail routes which are good for exp and low level money to buy cloth/leather gear. good ones are kelethin/kaladim ones too, not to mention dwarves are pretty nice as a class.
No problem with your pov on anything. I went with Iksar Monk as my main to level 85 and 1300 AA before I stopped playing. The regen and ac bonus were a big factor for me because I solo'd a lot due to my schedule and it minimized my down time. 🙂
I actually think Wizard is pretty good for new players, being a new player myself that leveled one up to 48. The playstyle is fundamentally very simple and you're not managing a pet or anything like that. Just nuke things and wait for mana. They're more boring than difficult I think. Having ports around the world is a huge advantage which can't be understated though.
Pantheon- an EQ inspired mmo, i like the music, classes, and item system. Playble now in Nov 2024 up to level 25, more features coming in Dec 2024. Please roll a tank
Paladin was My first and only character playing everquest back in 2001, WAY BACK THEN, it was ok, i dont think it was that bad, first you look forward to getting those spells, second, lay on hands is really convient, its like having two lives, ive had many running stories where i was almost dead and LOH saved my butt. as you mentioned a paladin is not great but if you have a tank and a cleric is OOM, first then you can buffer their mana using yours while they med second and if its a dire situation, you can sacrifice your LOH so they can live stronger i've done that a few times and it really saved our group the only thing as you mentioned is all of their spells are wayy under leveled.
This is a really good video! I would push for necro to be higher on the list only because they get a lot of tools for travelling the world easily and getting out of sticky situations: invis, IVU, feign death, levant, skin of the shadow, harmshield / quivering veil of xarn. Plus the ability to fear kite and eventually root rot along with a great pet selection makes them a pretty noob friendly class, imo, as long as the noob uses Google to figure out what spells they get. :) Edit: also, Iksar necros become very powerful later on as Iksar regeneration counteracts the life drain of Lich
Hey、just stumbled on this channel and I gotta say I'm loving it lol. Only played retail eq up to lv 15 (several separate times lol) and p1999 up to like lv 30 once. Loved but don't really play. Love old school mmos, love your channel. :)
Played from 99-2007 on Luclin, then tons of Quarm/P99 servers over the years. Somatice/Venrah/Volari of Legacy of Sorrow & Strageme.This video is GREAT advice for new players. I know lots of vets will have specific advice & suggestions, but if you're new to original EQ, WATCH THIS VIDEO!
My very first class was a barbarian warrior. A monk ran up to me and gave me a few stacks of bandages and said I would need to learn bind wound. If you can stun, root or slow with a poisoned arrow on the pull you can kite and bandage but some of those skills were later level. Rogues got even more fun with weapons like dual bloodpoints and haste stacks. There used to be a camp group list leaders shared on who got called to farm next hahaha.
As a veteran player I still enjoy hearing this video bc its such a great game. Only thing I'd point out is rangers can actually solo very well with fear kiting, which is a fairly easy way to get progress without a group.
Please add a macro guide as well. Things like '/hidecorpse all' are very underrated, and maybe a trade skills guide. 1-10 guide for each class would be cool too
Really good video, I've tested Ogre and Iksar racials using warriors with a Half Elf Warrior as the control on the EQ Test server and both the AC bonus on Iksar and the frontal melee stun immunity for Ogre's are completely broken at pre- 50. It'd be hard to say which is more overpowered though as I didn't continue past 50. On live the advantages go away at higher levels
Don't forget that gnomes have one of the best starting areas and best cities with a newbie area with in the city!!! I love gnomes all my casters are gnomes.
If you like playing an MMO like a busy hands on action game Bard is amazing. My favorite class by far in EQ. You can cast spells while running. You have access to a range of diverse and useful abilities. You can solo fast and easy all the way up (DoT kiting, then Charm Kiting). You do run into problems indoors with the loss of speed song. But you can get J Boots ("Journeyman's Boots") or Traveler's Boots to get some speed back indoors. And that should be enough.
I agree with almost everything in the video except for two things. First, Iksar are a great race for a beginner. Iksar Warrior, Monk, Necromancer, and Shaman are all superior to all other race options, except Ogre on earlier locked expansion servers. Iksar are fairly limited to Kunark, but Kunark has some of the best leveling areas early on. By the time you want to go do Lguk or Hole, you should be experience enough to make your way around even with the reputation pentalty. Second, Monk makes a great beginner class. You don't need gear, you are top tier DPS, and you are always welcomed in a group, right up there with Cleric and Enchanter. The only thing that would worry me about a beginner being Monk is that you are pretty much the puller, which takes some nuances and experience.
I won't argue with you about bard, but I think essentially getting a new spell every single level can be exciting for a new player, and if you stay engaged and read/watch guides you will never stop bringing value to yr friends in the game.
I fully agree about not taking buffs and free loot from a matured economy. I do that on Asheron's call, by avoiding buff bots and using loot I pickup and low level buffs. It gives me that 2000 feel
IMO starting with a shaman really teaches you the value of utility in a party. Buff/debuffing, providing essential heals in a pinch, alchemy, and having a pet (although weak) is a nice mixed bag that nakes each engagement unique. You also get to learn how well ( or poorly) a pure melee or magic class) operates. As a notorious two boxer, the shaman/monk combination is ridiculously good. Edit: All gnolls must be purged from blackburrow!!! 😂
I think the most important thing is to like your character and stick with for at least a few levels because they all have goods and bads. I would say Druid is the easiest with harmony, sow, snare, heals, ports, decent buffs... My main is usually a Troll Shaman because I know it so well and, well, Slow is huge, but on P99 it's harder with no buff duration AA's, no AA canni and no alternative to Torpor (which is a biggy). So constant buffing and doing the canni dance is a bit of a chore. chanters are the godly class, they can do it all if you know how to play them, but as with all classes, there are good players and bad ones so sometimes a class might get a bad wrap because they are hard to learn, yet their potential to be fun and satisfying in all aspects might be exactly what someone is looking for. Have fun, be nice, talk to people, don't be in a rush and Learn! P99 is very friendly and civilized. Good Video :)
>Necro not 1st pick for newbies No way, no way. Show a newbie how to fear kite and you'll have them hooked on EQ. Their kit is missing sow, other than that they do everything, often better than others. I put them right up there with dru/shm >don't go iksar WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!? Crazy!
I needed this, stoked to play tonight, it was a bit overwhelming coming off wow classic. Made a halfling ranger, haha. Maybe I'll change that after watching this--I do love Riverdale tho.
First time playing EQ (picked TEEK) and my first char was a wizard. Found myself spending half my time sitting or just meleeing everything because my mana got burned after each kill. Then I tried mage and I can actually play the game without having to constantly wait for my mana to regen.
i would also add that shaman really doesnt come into its own until 24. if it feels a little slow to start just keep in mind that you get regeneration and cannibalize, two backbone spells for shaman, at 24
I just tried playing this a few days ago and got to level five. I was disgusted with how long you have to sit there and wait for your mana to regenerate. I gave up.
Double comment! I am just going to go over what class/race Id pick just for fun! I am going to start with INT casters. Enchanter- Id go Human, they have tools to deal with being blind and I like there starting stats tbh Magician- I think Erudite Lots of of INT and good STA. This class can deal with being night blind too. Necromancer- This one is hard? I am not sure but I do really like the idea of Iksar for that AC buff and HP regen. I don't know hard for me to pick. Wizard- I am going with Gnome not sure why, I feel like why not? Less Next the WIS Casters. Cleric- Human worshiping Innoruuk! Why? That snare necklace just looks too good for me to pass up! They also get a helm that helps them with the night blind. and I think they can get a shield that is not to bad too. Druid- This one I really want to go Human but I just can't. I have to give it to Halfling. Being able to hide is nice I find when I am solo and need to AFK. They get good stats and 5% less exp needed to level wow so good. Shaman- This is the one I am not sure on at all. I really like the 3 evil races for this all for different things. I am going to have to give it to Troll for the reason I said with Cleric, That snare necklace and the HP regen is really nice I think for less down time. BUT OGRE is so good omg I am really tied on this one. Melee is going to be next Bard- I have no idea what to pick or play as to be real. Whatever does not matter your hands will hurt no matter what? Maybe the wood Elf? I like Foraging and hiding so they get that. Monk- We all know what is the 'right race' for this bad boy. Ranger-This one is hard to pick for me too. They all seem good? Yeah human get blind at night but I think rangers have tools to deal with it at level 30 so that is a bit far for me to like. I really like Wood Elf becasue the higher WIS but the lower STR and STA kinda hurts? I am not sure for real. Rogue- This... This is the one I am going to do a bit of a not sure split pick too. Barbarian and Dwarf is what I think. You are only here for one thing and that is damage! STR is your best friend. I don't like Barbarian as much BUT you can get that Dark elf mask to help with the night blind (or i guess that ring?) Dwarf do however get that sweet ass Barrel Roll and we all know that a cool jump matters more then anything else! Dwarf also have more DEX then Barbarian so that helps them weapon proc more. AW this one is hard. I am going to say the last 3 are Tanks cuz I am going from the p99 wiki list Paladin- Dwarf the end. Strong, wise and really dexterous. Everything a Paladin needs. (Also Barrel Roll FTW!) Shadow Knight- I have no idea I never really looked into SK so I can't really say. Sorry :( And the all star! Warrior- This is not easy. Ogre, Iksar or Dwarf... maybe Halfling for the hide/sneak and WAY less exp needed to level mod? 14.5% less Exp needed for each level is kinda nice not going to lie. You will be dying a lot because you don't have the tools you need to help keep you alive so that less exp needed to level thing kinda makes up for it. You can get tools to help you but it costs money or time. Jboot, snare nets, and all other types of goodies will help you stay up or get away from a bad pull. Ogre Stun immune is just so good also the STATS omg look at the stat! Iksar armor buff is kinda nice not going to lie. They also like picking up trash off the floor and eating it too (Foraging). Less down time because the HP regen is kinda nice also.
I'd have to argue for Rangers. Items that make them very good at early levels are dumb-cheap, and lots of Rangers seem to have this sense of brotherhood in helping eachother out with handmedowns and the like. New players may feel disoriented not having a map, and having the maximum-potential of Tracking will help to an extent. Plus the ability of having Levitate, Invisibility and SoW to give them mobility for traveling versus the other hybrids. Harmony will also make pulling super easy and fear kiting with their root introduces them to a plethora of unique styles of gameplay. It's extremely easily to solo once I learned how to make use of my toolkit, and the fact my spells were cheaper meant I could afford other things. Ranger isn't bad because it isn't good at any specific thing, it excels because of that utility.
The best new class / race combo is to make a Barbarian Rogue named Hadden, put on /roleplay, and sneak strut towards all the PCs who cast spells offensive spells on you in a vain attempt to get your Fishbone Earring.
@@cmdrfunk That camp used to be pretty brutal on vanilla if you didn't have good luck. Took my warrior something like 20 hours straight before that POS finally dropped an earring for me, lol.
Back in the day I started in the ykesha era, my first toon was a barb warrior. Bad idea to choose such a gear dependent class for your first. If I could go back I would choose mage
Dwarven women often grow beards across most fantasy worlds containing. Sometimes they are almost indistinguishable from the makes to people outside of their own race.
My first was a dwarf rogue 😂 I loved it. I didn't necessarily roleplay in game, but my internal monologue was absolutely into being the sneaky, little guy but who was relatively strong. I'm currently back in P99 Green with an enchanter because I never played one before. I'm not loving it, honestly, and was going to start an iky monk... Now I'm remembering playing a barb shamy and loving it but always hating people asking, "Why Barbarian?!" My race choices were always contrarian, made for the internal monologue RP'inh instead of powerplaying.
2:57 I wouldn't say Rogues apply there because Rogues don't entirely rely on you grabbing aggro. They can also choose to drop it manually themselves with the evade mechanic. I'd specify more a Rogue that doesn't know what they're doing. I also wouldn't disregard casters entirely as an option. The first class I played was a Necro, and I didn't even know english at the time xD I trust people would be able to get hang of the basics of a caster with relative ease. Wizard is the only one I'm iffy about in the category. Enchanter could possibly go in probably not because of the dangers of a high level charm in the hands of someone who's not aware that thing could turn on you any moment For healers.. I can see Shaman, sure. Druid? No way. It's nice that they can solo, but imagine you're the new player that's joined the game as a healer looking to group, and find out that no one.. Absolutely no one.. Not a soul.. Wants to group with you because Clerics exist. I mean, sure. You might find a group now and then, but it's not because they want you. It's because they had no other choice You just wasted a whole lot of time and all you got was a disappointment. If you're okay with being primarily solo and unwanted unless someone needs a buff so they can solo, or a teleport, okay sure, fine. I'd say Cleric's a better pick for a newbie also, simply because of the healing power being higher, so you wont struggle as much with keeping someone alive
idk figuring out iksar faction is pretty fun especially as a monk with access to sneak AND FD. You basically don't have faction issues if you know what you are doing. And it teaches you about faction. If you're worried about new players not being able to figure out how to play as a iksar, how do you expect them to learn how to play a monk?
That's a consideration, but workable. The biggest warning I would give anyone playing a monk would be having to pull all the time in every group. It can become exhausting over the long haul because EQ has a grind and you basically get no downtime.
First character in EQ was a Human Paladin on Project 99 Red, second character was an Ogre Warrior on Red. During Classic era, server pop was sub-50 almost always, which meant most of my journey was solo, untwinked, with PvP enabled. Most of the other players were playing Druids. I got my ass whooped alot, I remember spending so much time trying to get as much Magic res as I could, camping the Earrings of Magic Reflection in the Karanas, trying to get the Deepwater Harpoon so I could do a decent bit of dmg in a jousting battle, trying to get any clicky I could to bury important buffs from dispells, spending hours to get Jboots and peggy cloak so I could have some mobility. Fuck I loved it so much, that Paladin is now 60, wielding either a Rocksmasher or a Great Spear of Dawn. Hits like a bus and can survive damn near anything with all the HoTs and heals, Holyforge once an hour lets you land critical hits on anything(at an increased chance as well). Lets just say in the end, I got my revenge on those fucking Halfling Druids. My warrior is in the mid 50s I believe. Also have a Shaman in the 50s, numerous alts in the 30-45 range. Play what you want dude. I'm maining a Human SK on Quarm right now, playing self-found only (I play groups but only equip items if I helped kill the mob that drops it, items that are crafted/vendor-only are purchaseable) and having a ton of fun, just hit 22 today.
Hahahaha. My first class was a wizard back in 2000. Now on project 99 its a wizard again! Actually I am having a lot of fun as a wizard however its DEFINATELY hard to solo with. I can usually get into groups though as im lvling which is awesome! I'd say wizards secret hidden ability im finding is that of being "master looter". Basically I bind at the zone entrance to a dungeon, loot everything, port to greater faydark, run (or try to run) to felwith, sell everything, go to the bank and turn it all to plat, then gate back, invis and split the plat with everyone so everyones making money! Takes a few minutes but isnt too bad. And I can even grab ppls copper and silver, convert that as well to plat at the bank to help out.
When you get a backstab pet the mage playstyle evolves a little, you have to worry about positioning a little more. You get more prep work with pet toys and other summoned items. Call of Hero changes playstyle a bit and gives you another fun tool to improve the group's QOL. You are right though, it doesn't evolve much. But other classes have pretty simple playstyles as well. Once you get backstab on a rogue you pretty much have the same playstyle until 60. Warriors playstyle doesn't change either, if you lose aggro taunt and it hope it works, or just keep hitting it and pray you get aggro back or someone roots it. You do get flashy gear for procs and other clickies, but what you are doing is the same thing mechanically. I think the main thing that sucks with playing a mage main is they don't really get much out of gear upgrades, unless its like their epic or focus items. Having more mana or health is helpful for everyone, but it seems like mages get the least value from it because of the way they are setup. I think druids make a good starting class for a beginner to learn the game and get a foothold on a server, but a bad class to main for the last levels if you enjoy big groups. They work best in groups of 2-3 people, but really bad with full groups comp that are diverse and more ideal. The value a druid brings to group also dips significantly in the 40s range as they lag behind other priests healing output. No one will want you for a dps spot unless you can charm a pet. They can aggro kite with snare and spells, but a lot of people dislike this playstyle and not every area or mob type will allow it. Their other major group contribution, the DS, gets weaker as slows get stronger and the the mobs health pools get spongier. If all you really need is a snare, it'd be better to bring a ranger, necro or SK, they all bring steadier dps or more utility. They do get one of the best buffs in the game, but by that time you are already 60. Sure you can solo, either root rot, quad kite, or charms, but the areas that's easiest in are often camped by others, and it really just never ends up being that great in my opinion. Being able to port around is great though.
Bard always No.1 mez lull charm super run speed (2-3x sow) single high dmg dot aoe dot swap kite (fastest way to exp) shadow step (short distance random teleport) mpk invincible, dmg shield, regen, resist, haste and the most op gm move: bard can gate target back to spawn point like a gm(I gated aow once)
GATE, GATE, GATE. Gate alone is +1 tier to all casters, except wizards are still awful. It gets you out of so many bad situations. Saves your life all the time when soloing. Saves a huge amount of travel time. Saves you from getting lost (just gate). It's the most useful spell in the entire game. T1: Necro, Shaman, Druid T2: Mage, Shadowknight, Cleric T3: Paladin, Enchanter, Ranger, Bard, Monk T4: Warrior, Wizard, Rogue Bard & Enchanter are my two favorite classes (shaman close 3rd) and they are powerful in groups & solo, but they require knowledge of nuanced & esoteric mechanics about agro, pathing, timing, resistances, etc to reach full potential. They're Tier 1 classes, but not for new players. If someone happens to gel with the way Bard works, it's could be a great starting class though. Monk is a T3 class. T2 if Iksar, but Iksar is only okay for a new player if already connected with a veteran EQ player so they can ask questions. They're mid soloers, mid at DPS, & their primary value in groups beyond mid DPS is to pull & split pulls, dangerous & nuanced activities ill suited to a new player. Cleric & Mage are both a bit boring, but strong classes. Cleric is super high value to groups & have a lot more utility than people think with clever use of their spells. They can solo undead fairly well too, so they aren't totally reliant on groups. Mage mostly just suffers from doing only two things, nuking & sending in their pet, but the fact they have strong pets & Gate still makes them a great starting class to play up to level 20 or 30 & feel out the game with minimal frustration... see other people playing their classes & try out one of those if they look cool.
Ouch, Necro especially Iksar with thei regen is a Definitively. They can mez (undead or not) they can single pull with FD, they can fear (not anymore on live but on 1999 wow). They can tank many thing with their lifetap, they have a nice pet, this is definitively a yes for me. Magician are a definitively yes too for new players. They are easy to play, they have a really nice pet especially epic pet at 60 it is amazing. They cast Damage shield who is a must they have very decent DD, they have Malo. It is a simple class but you talk about newB to the game. Shaman are good but i would take a necro before a shaman anytime.
@@CAiNiAC It really depend how you play. I prefer a necro but i can really understand you prefer a shaman. I love the FD and necro can slow too. The pet is way better. Just the fact than they REALLY change the way necro were playing, i regret the Fear that they completly removed from the game.
I know these lists are all opinions but this list is awful sorry... casters are so much better to start with, necro is OP from the start and can level to 60 naked, mages strong strong but get weaker, wizards are a great afk nuking class. Enchanters are bar none the strongest class in the game but they start out weak. Shamans are ok once they sink about 100k into the spells they need and another 100k in gear. Completely baffling about the iksar comments.. they have the best starting out of all the races.. you can level 1-60 and never leave kunark, 1-40 just one to two zones away from Cabilis. It's clear the devs made huge improvements from classic to kunark in terms of racial starting areas.
I think it's because of the massive hate penalty. New players may not know about the reputation factor and walk around willy nilly, not realizing everyone and their mother hates you. Other than that though, I agree. Iksar are the best class due to their race passives but I'm still a gnome bot since I want to be someone everyone loves lol
Definitely - Necro, SK, and Shaman Maybe - Mage, Monk, Enchanter, Druid (druid on the fence because of levels 9-14) Probably Not - Ranger, Cleric, Bard (My fave class, but on the fence. They're very hard for new players.) Def Not - Pally (On the fence, not as handicapped as a warrior), Rogue, Warrior, Wizard Also, for any class that can be troll, pick troll. Love me some trolls.
Great video! If I didn't know better I'd say your plan to dissuade people from starting as iksar was simply a clever ruse to drive more engagement in the comments... I mean, just LOOK AT ALL THE COMMENTS lol. Yup, I'll add mine as well. Specifically for monk - you only get to choose human or iksar - Starting as a human, the only benefit you really have at all is... faction. Yes also lacking the XP Penalty but that kinda cancels itself out... Dear Human, You are blind at night: Everquest sucks without night vision, especially at low levels. Stock human regen is garbage: Imagine getting rabies from a mummy at lower levels... pretty much the end of fun soloing unless you go on a side quest and find a healer class to cure disease. Otherwise you're better served to just sit /afk in a safe place for 2+ hours for it to wear off naturally. AC bonus isn't something you've heard of - definitely something that's a big help soloing at lower levels and throughout the game. You drown too easily, and water is basically quicksand until at least level 20 where you'll be able to match iksar innate. You can't forage: better get your porn mustachio and side burns down to whole foods and start cooking! Now let's look at Iksar... Dearest anthropomorphic evil lizard person, You have an XP Penalty: Basically the gods want to foster equal opportunity for you AND the human, so you'll need to pay a tax in experience points so they can keep up. While they're drowning, starving, taking more damage and healing more slowly - you're killing more for poppa CT. You're also better equipped at any level during a corpse run ;). There's this thing called FACTION: Basically, No one likes you. But see, that's ok. You don't need them to like you. You just need them to die and give you their things. You could spend days/weeks/months of your life trying to convince them you're not all that bad - or you could just decide to be what you are and simply out play them. Treat their city's like any other dungeon. You're a monk, you can literally bank and shop any where you please. Freeport is your Oyster - you're just another (fake) corpse in the bank or behind the vendor. Those guards running after you just want your autograph, but they'll mope back when they see you tripped over a dust bunny and are now just another (fake) corpse in the streets. Why bother trying to get on the good side of those monks in Freeport just for a silly sash? If you really want that sash (needed for epic), simply take it from one of the lower level sparring monks near the guild master (guarantee'd drop). Qeynos? Well my friend. They're definitely not worth bothering with for a silly headband (again, epic). You can simply have an agent of their guild be bribed into getting them for you (farm quest items on the iksar, have a low level monk alt in qeynos do the turn ins - quest rewards are tradeable). And don't forget all the culture, tradition, and heritage we have here in old Cabilis town. The monk shackle quests are something that are your birth right, and it would take a human about 40 metric tons in bone chips and at least 5 random harm touches from wandering crusaders before we even think about giving them the opportunity (not to mention having to have another iksar monk vouch for them (MQ no drop foraged items) Ok yeah - in my opinion (based on experience as a new mmo player back in 2001) Iksar is the much better choice, and faction really ended up being a paper tiger (actually it gave me more fun and content in the game!) Thanks again for the video, and the excuse to write a silly comment while I enjoy the nostalgia.
@@CAiNiAC and even before epic, human bare knuckle ratio is literally a tenth of a second faster - anyone using bare hands before epic (other than skilling up h2h) definitely isn't going to be concerned about that.
I've been really getting into the game since May and I primarily started on dark elf necro. I haven't had much group experience but fear kiting is cool.
Yes Iksars are hated by everyone but they have their own continent so they do not have much need to go back to the initial zones (Antonica). Vah Shir and Drakkin also get their own continents although they are not available in P1999. However Everquest is free to play and available on Steam. New players start in Crescent Reach and if they follow the quests from the Hero's Path they receive a ton of armor and weapons that makes the game so much easier to play than on P1999. Shadowknights get Deadeye at level 17 (and necromancer at 5), which grants Infravision and See Invisible, altough it may be bit far for brand new players. Every player should start a Human Shadow Knight following Innoruuk and travel from Freeport to Neriak at level 1. All those neon signs are beautiful when seen from a blind human's eyes. Shadowknights get a weak pet compared with the pure pet classes but it still packs a punch. And you get Darkness which prevents low HP mobs from running, which is essential in dungeons. And Feign Death and lifetap and can buff your strength and damage over time spells and damage shield and invisibility and invisibility to undead and... Shadowknights are the best at very rapidly getting aggro from a fragile caster that blasted too much or a healed that healed too much, and they are very good tanks. Yeah, I've played many shadowknights and love them. A shadowknight plus a healer is a group, they are not required to include more. I've dual boxed shadowknight and cleric often and they are a very tough team to kill. If we get in trouble, let the shadowknight tank while the cleric gets out and then feign death. Once aggro has been removed use invis and more feign death to get out of the hot spot. I think I talked myself into starting another team...
Whether or not someone is going to get a bunch of +int items, or +wis, or in case of a rogue +str, early in the game entirely depends which server they're playing on. To pump int for a new character on p99 blue is a horrible idea because there are TONS of cheap options for int gear being sold in EC almost daily. Sometimes even people giving stuff away. On project quarm that just started it's a completely different story. Your starting stats really should be determined if you want to min/max and which server you're playing on.
24:24 This face is the reason you go ogre. And always remember, if your class of choice can go ogre, it's the best race pick every time. Frontal stun immunity is the most OP racial trait in game, once you experience it as a shaman/SK, you'll never want to go back.
100%, not touching on thisnis wild. Particularly for any class that doesn't get a stun immunity AA
Also that 24.24 face is indeed the top tier face
Remember as a Monk you are going to be expected to pull. As a new player keep that in mind.
Great point!
I’m conflicted with this video.
Everyone was a noob at one point. Not everyone rolled a shaman or druid. We played what we played.
I started as a paladin in 2000. Was it the best choice? I don’t know, but it took me on the adventure of my character.
Tanked in crushbone, met players who the next night /tell me to meet them in north ro. Had no idea how to get there, they talked me through it. Couple nights later, ended up in unrest, then oasis, then lake rathe aviaks with a ranger… back and forth multiple times to qeynos to sell/train. South karana gnolls, hhk, runnyeye, guk, killing HGs in RM, it was about playing with others and damn there were plenty of them.
Point I’m trying to make, is… this was the adventure my paladin took me on. I learned where Druid rings were, what classes I could ask for sow from… it wasn’t about being the best choice. It also wasn’t about just leveling. EQ was something different then. It wasn’t just a game to hyper play to get to end game. It was an experience and it was awesome. It feels like nothing will ever recapture those days for experienced players.
However, for completely new players… the best advice I can give, play whatever you want. You are in for one hell of a ride!!
Unfortunately, I've been an alt-aholic since around 2000. First character I turned into my main was my gnome Necro. I remember following a friend I made in the beginning in steamfont mountains. I forgot her character name ages ago, but I always remember her being in Caer Cadarn (might have spelled it wrong). They were a pretty good guild on whatever server I was only. I only managed to get my monk up to 43 (Iksar). The days were fun when the zones were full. Groups for camps, trains to the zones, learning languages in EC tunnels, corpse dragging for people with your corpse macro. I never cared that it was hard or grindy. These days, Mmo's are so easy and forgiving in the early and mid levels. They let you speed through to end content. I've never spent much time in the end game.
Sorry if this was ranty/run-on.
Yeah, the game is all about making friends. They will be able to fill in the gaps you might lack as a class. The most important thing is to play as the class you enjoy.
@@CrazedPop I read and devoured the lot my friend. Beautiful and keep the gosepl being spoken haha!
New players in 2024 will be surrounded by veteran players that have been playing for 25 years ;) Back in the day not everyone knew much about the game nor did we know much about what the other classes could do. Everything was new and it was fantastic.
Necros are tier 1 for new players... the amount of tools they get and their ability to solo is needed is unmatched. I don't understand why you put them so low... they are DEFINITELY better than mages for first time players.
Fear kiting anyone?
I think his concern is that this flexibility wins up a negative because it's too confusing or overwhelming for someone not familiar with the game mechanics
@The_left_hand_pillar eq necros are now obsolete. EverQuest is merely just practice for pantheon.
Because mages are easier to play from the start, just send in pet when you get it at level 4. Necro takes a lot of learning to know how to do all that and many levels to get the full kit unlike mage when they get their first fire pet they can easily take yellow con mobs without anything extra, same with beastlords later on.
Addition to Troll Shaman if you pick inny as the diety you can do a quest line in neriak that gives right click snare.
Good call! I definitely left some useful tidbits out, and this is one of them
Good comment, bishyaler
Love my Regent Symbol of Innoruuk. Makes solo dungeon so much better!
5:00
"the way you play a magician at 5 is pretty much the same as you play it at 50"
one one hand, its nice to dip your toes in to see if you like the class at 5 or not.
Iksars always get a bad wrap for being the most hated, but no one ever points out that they never really need to leave the continent they start on. Not great for exploration, but Kunark has some killer leveling spots all the way up. Just another viewpoint. Love your content!
Iksar monk / necro / SK, can bank anyplace.
@@spencers4121 so can shaman abusing invisibility spells, just warrior is boned
You can get positive faction with FP, rivervale, and neriak with quests. But not with the GM's in the city.
shamy or necro iksar
I really should do an Iksar run one these days. I usually am a High elf Cleric when i join a progression server or p99. But Iksar don't have a huge selection of classes I like personally.
Thank you for this, I've been wanting to get back into EQ. DAOC is dark age of Camelot a game I highly recommend you cover
i started eq p99 as a brand new player and after looking at thr wiki i decided to play wizard since i really liked the nuking aspect of it :) that was back in november 26th 2023 and today i hit lvl 60!!! eq has such an awesome community and your videos helped me get into the game and lore even more than i was. and i wad already OBSESSED lol! as a ffxiv i highly enjoy the change of pace in your class and gameplay this older mmo brings.
Some great memories playing Shammy back in the day. Casting SoW on someone slow running by you and watching them stop, tank turn to face you, and then 3 seconds later receive a "I love you bro" whisper is just the best.
I always go Oger for Shaman, that frontal stun immunity makes it less aggravating for noobs.
This is answer I came to add. Ogre >
Necro as a "probably not" literally the hands down easiest and safest class for a new player on P99
Shamans unless you have a a couple hundred k, are not a good choice either. They don't really come into their own until the mid 30's, but end game you need a lot of cash to buy spells "stupid" amounts for a new player.
solo, having bind Affinity is amazing. It's one of the abilities that prevents people from quitting. Do not underestimate giving a new player access to bind... so this means tell them to play A Healer or enchanter or a mage.
monk fd also helps, i think this wasn't expanded on properly, but monk barely ever dies unless taking extreme risk or killed by unexpected guards or smth.
The day I learned bind affinity can be cast on other players in city zones made the game a lot less intimidating when I was away from kunark as a monk. Definitely one of the best perks of a caster class to bind anywhere though.
Until you bind yourself into a death loop. I did that once. Oh, the good 'ole days.
As someone who started as an iksar shaman and had never played EQ at all before, I can say it was definately a tough experience, altho for me thats what made it so fun ! Great tips in this vid tho, love it ! Keep it up :)
Iksar Shaman was my main on live!
Love your vids! I played for years as a bard. Hands down my favorite class across all MMOs. They are tricky to play, but they can do almost anything. Plus having a guaranteed invis that will never drop is nice. For a brand new player you can't go wrong with a druid. Healing, porting and SoW is going to make you a lot of friends.
Great video. I am sure opinions are abound here. My 2 copper is that Cleric and Necromancer should've gotten a 1 rank bump.
Enchanter and bard too. The learning curve isn't as high as most people think and they are extremely powerful unique fun classes you won't find in any other game.
Bard is hands down the most fun class I have ever played in EQ. For some reason I just love them. But I love playing them in groups, not solo. Druids are the #1 best starting class imo. Not gear dependent. Easy in raids (you basically just spend the whole raid buffing people and occasionally throwing out heals). And the easiest class to traverse the world on... teleports, movement speed buffs, levitation, invisibility, harmony. You can basically go anywhere you want.
One thing not addressed in this guide is what classes to pick if you are a new player starting with friends. For duo, the most powerful duo is probably Monk/Shaman. A Monk/Shaman duo can go all the way to 60 together. Trio, I would still do Monk/Shaman but add a porter (druid or wizard). In this case, a wizard might be the slightly better option since there is a good deal of overlap between druid and shaman. But a Monk/Shaman/Druid would also be strong with all the buffs they can give to the Monk and having 2 healers will trivialize a lot of content. A Monk/Shaman/Wizard would just give you the trinity of Tank/Healer/DPS.
Bard requires a lot of eq specific knowledge and experience tho. Healing, DPS, Tank, you can grasp what you're supposed to do if you ever played any mmo. With bard, not so much. But I agree, once it clicks it's hands down the most amazing class design of any game ever.
DAOC = Dark Age of Camelot, a RvRvR game that was pretty amazing. I still prefer EQ, though.
Dude, Druid is so fun. I just hit 24 and I’m having a BLAST in Southern Karana.
At 26:38
Sneak....
I believe Wood Elves get sneak as well.....
As rangers, Wood Elves get sneak set at 25 as innate to start with, Haflings get it set to 50 as innate to start with, all other races it is a class skill....some high level druids told me it was the same for them.
I got asked this recently on everquest by a brand new person.I told them magician and rogue are 2 classes perfect for noobs.
halfling rogue is good combo i said any sort of elf for a mage preferably though highelf since you get access to good side areas.
Monks not bad starter it has a bit of stuff to learn but its not too terrible. I got a recommendation:Change enchanter from probably not to HELL NO!!! enchanters are extremely hard and stressful to play.I wouldn't recommend enchanter for a newbie.
I would absolutely put a necromancer in the maybe if not yes list because of their survivability. A necromancer can win with a bad pull, even solo, that other classes simply don't have a chance. It was the very first class I ever played. Aside from the faction, they are more survivable than others.
As for the most soloable class, enchanter. They have all the tools to solo almost anything once you know what you are doing. I'd never recommend an enchanter to a brand new player. They are very involved as a class.
I would agree, necro is a great new player solo class. Race would have to be Iksar for p99 due to regen working with the lich line of spells, that said any race will work fine as a necro. You will just need to manage your health more with drains / lifetaps then a Iksar will. That said if you don't hate Iksar be an Iksar, and if you do hate the race / model. Take some comfort you will be a skeleton most of the time.
Enchanter feels like you're playing a game within a game, and might be a lot of a new player to jump into. And while the basics of charming are easy on paper, in practice it's a lot of spell management / juggling.
Necro appeal to me is the lore/rp/soloability of the class. However, having done the necro grind to 50's, it's not as fun as it's cracked out to be, although quite powerful. Better like root rotting.
@@marklalonde7996 I love necro, I played undead army in Warhammer years ago so I love that "lore" And EQ has been one of the few games I think they got the class right in a game. And I too burned out on mine at 53 lol, I think that's fair with any class in this game in the 50's.
Story time:
I started right before Kunark came out. I worked at Sam Goody's and a customer came in and was telling me about this crazy game. I'd only played Doom, Duke and Quake 2 online for the most part so I was super intrigued. My first character was a barb warrior named Baalcarth and quickly realized that this is gonna be tough. I talked to the customer again and he suggested shaman. So I rolled a barb shaman named Grisok (yes, I stole the name from the Gnoll named High Shaman Grisok in SK lol) and mained that from then to the OoW expac. I was between jobs when PoP came out and was the first lvl 65 on Drinal grinding for literally 12-14 hours a day. So many good memories from EQ! The raiding guild I joined wasnt cutting edge, but usually the 4th or 5th guild to down a boss on our server. The top guild was called Cats in Hats and were in competition for WF. Crimson Tempest and their sister guild (I can't remember the name) were in 2nd n 3rd on the server. The guild I was in was called Unconquered and our main competition was Undivided Faith and Guardians of the Keep. Lol we used to use ogre illusion to block off the entrance to Emperor Ssraeshza so we could get the pull first. Things were so much simpler back then lolol
When I first started... I thought I was going to roll a Barbarian warrior and run to Freeport (or was it Qeynos) and work on being a blacksmith. I made it a good bit, about halfway. Fumbling around in the dark. After that, I never played a race without night vision agian! Then I got hooked on Gnomes, and have been hooked on them ever sense. Take that as you will. haha.
At 18:23
Dexterity as a magician....
There used to be the idea that there was a dexterity check on spell fizzles....
Also sometimes the caster's need assistance with their mele skills, dexterity and agility are the two main ones on that. All classes max should out their mele skills!!
I remember back when Kunark just launched my starting character was a Troll Shadowknight.
You can imagine what an uphill battle that was for a 1st time player back in 1999...
Then I rolled an Iksar Shaman...
Your videos are simply the best. Thanks for the awesome content sir!
At 40:49
Forage....
I believe halflings get that as well. I think what else may get it, I don't remember offhand....
Really this is a video about what you would play for a new character, not what you would recommend to a completely new player. Lets be honest, most people starting EQ for the first time are not going to go raiding and do a lot of endgame stuff. They're gonna spend 99.9% of their time on the journey and exploring the world, and will be lucky to reach max level. So why should they care that Magicians in endgame raids are mostly just summoning stuff for other players? They shouldn't. They should play what's fun and interesting to them.
The reason most people get hooked and stick with EQ is because of the expansive world, the mystery, figuring out things you didn't understand and seeing and learning about new places and monsters all the time. It was about the journey with a character, getting strange new spells/abilities and drops, and growing in knowledge of the game alongside your character. You don't get into EQ because you enjoy playing in the most efficient way possible, and having the easiest go of it. That's not the thing that hooks people on this game. No EQ player I've met ever said anything like, "the thing I loved about EQ was how simple and unchallenging I made it for myself. I loved how not hard it was". lol.
Any actual newbies watching this, take this rankings/recommendations with an enormous grain of salt. They weren't actually made for you, they were made for people who already play EQ to argue about and drum up views/comments (success!). In fact, stop watching/reading info about the best thing for you to play, and just go play. Go through the character creator and read the race/class descriptions, and roll the elf simulator character that excites you, and just jump into the world.
Based and 100% accurate
Mr. Freke (if that is your real name!)
I played EQ from 2001-2005. I have never tried Project 1999, but I love your videos. It's an intravenous injection of nostalgia that crosses the blood-brain barrier.
You're the only RUclipsr producing quality content about old school EQ. Everyone else has either disappeared (Flatts, Michael's Shenanigans), or are just mumbling into a microphone.
Meanwhile you're doing the lord's work, keeping interest in this fantastic game alive. And we appreciate it. Please don't ever think to yourself, "nobody cares about this game," because that isn't true.
You’re too kind sir. I plan to keep the content flowing!
You're totally wrong about the Iksars!
tbh THE MOST important thing is liking how your character looks, followed by how your character plays. I first started as an Iksar monk back in Kunark and it's still one of my favorites, even with the huge hassle the faction issues cause for new players. I eventually played a Wood Elf druid and raided in PoP-PoR and ended up switching to Iksar shaman, much to the chagrin of my guild, because as much as I liked druid I couldn't stand playing a Wood Elf anymore.
Iksar monks have one massive advantage over humans and that is regeneration. You feign death and your health goes up. Combine that with a Fungy Tunic and you are totally overpowered. The faction issues don't matter at all in Everquest. You don't do quests and you don't even go to towns anymore.
My favorite class is enchanter, and I spend 100% of my time shapeshifted into an iksar haha they're just so cool. My favorite lizard-humanoid design & lore of all time across every medium.
26:30 Halfling charisma does not matter for charming, Druids charm formula doesn't use the charisma component. It moves past that as an autofail and does the level / resistance checks only. This is the case with P99 and Quarm both. Half Elves still suck though of course with their wisdom ;D Only bard and enchanter charms use the charisma check on the per tick.
for new players i'd also suggest races with quest availabilities. not sure about evil races but good ones have the Mail routes which are good for exp and low level money to buy cloth/leather gear. good ones are kelethin/kaladim ones too, not to mention dwarves are pretty nice as a class.
No problem with your pov on anything. I went with Iksar Monk as my main to level 85 and 1300 AA before I stopped playing. The regen and ac bonus were a big factor for me because I solo'd a lot due to my schedule and it minimized my down time. 🙂
I actually think Wizard is pretty good for new players, being a new player myself that leveled one up to 48. The playstyle is fundamentally very simple and you're not managing a pet or anything like that. Just nuke things and wait for mana. They're more boring than difficult I think. Having ports around the world is a huge advantage which can't be understated though.
Great work on this. I closely agree with everything but two on recommended class :)
Pantheon- an EQ inspired mmo, i like the music, classes, and item system. Playble now in Nov 2024 up to level 25, more features coming in Dec 2024. Please roll a tank
Paladin was My first and only character playing everquest back in 2001, WAY BACK THEN, it was ok, i dont think it was that bad, first you look forward to getting those spells, second, lay on hands is really convient, its like having two lives, ive had many running stories where i was almost dead and LOH saved my butt.
as you mentioned a paladin is not great but if you have a tank and a cleric is OOM, first then you can buffer their mana using yours while they med
second and if its a dire situation, you can sacrifice your LOH so they can live stronger
i've done that a few times and it really saved our group
the only thing as you mentioned is all of their spells are wayy under leveled.
This is a really good video! I would push for necro to be higher on the list only because they get a lot of tools for travelling the world easily and getting out of sticky situations: invis, IVU, feign death, levant, skin of the shadow, harmshield / quivering veil of xarn.
Plus the ability to fear kite and eventually root rot along with a great pet selection makes them a pretty noob friendly class, imo, as long as the noob uses Google to figure out what spells they get. :)
Edit: also, Iksar necros become very powerful later on as Iksar regeneration counteracts the life drain of Lich
Hey、just stumbled on this channel and I gotta say I'm loving it lol. Only played retail eq up to lv 15 (several separate times lol) and p1999 up to like lv 30 once. Loved but don't really play. Love old school mmos, love your channel. :)
Played from 99-2007 on Luclin, then tons of Quarm/P99 servers over the years. Somatice/Venrah/Volari of Legacy of Sorrow & Strageme.This video is GREAT advice for new players. I know lots of vets will have specific advice & suggestions, but if you're new to original EQ, WATCH THIS VIDEO!
necro is too low but other than that i honestly completely agree with most of what you said
One word, DRUID (Otherwise you wont earn any pp from ports) They were made for new players.
just started a human necro in qeynos on p99 Blue, just casually leveling and exploring qeynos and black burrow again
My very first class was a barbarian warrior. A monk ran up to me and gave me a few stacks of bandages and said I would need to learn bind wound. If you can stun, root or slow with a poisoned arrow on the pull you can kite and bandage but some of those skills were later level. Rogues got even more fun with weapons like dual bloodpoints and haste stacks. There used to be a camp group list leaders shared on who got called to farm next hahaha.
As a veteran player I still enjoy hearing this video bc its such a great game. Only thing I'd point out is rangers can actually solo very well with fear kiting, which is a fairly easy way to get progress without a group.
Ranger and Rogue make a great duo so long as you're somewhere with animals since the rangers fear is only for animals.
Please add a macro guide as well. Things like '/hidecorpse all' are very underrated, and maybe a trade skills guide. 1-10 guide for each class would be cool too
Really good video, I've tested Ogre and Iksar racials using warriors with a Half Elf Warrior as the control on the EQ Test server and both the AC bonus on Iksar and the frontal melee stun immunity for Ogre's are completely broken at pre- 50. It'd be hard to say which is more overpowered though as I didn't continue past 50. On live the advantages go away at higher levels
Great guide thank you!
Don't forget that gnomes have one of the best starting areas and best cities with a newbie area with in the city!!! I love gnomes all my casters are gnomes.
Thank you for this!
If you like playing an MMO like a busy hands on action game Bard is amazing. My favorite class by far in EQ.
You can cast spells while running. You have access to a range of diverse and useful abilities. You can solo fast and easy all the way up (DoT kiting, then Charm Kiting).
You do run into problems indoors with the loss of speed song. But you can get J Boots ("Journeyman's Boots") or Traveler's Boots to get some speed back indoors. And that should be enough.
I agree with almost everything in the video except for two things.
First, Iksar are a great race for a beginner. Iksar Warrior, Monk, Necromancer, and Shaman are all superior to all other race options, except Ogre on earlier locked expansion servers. Iksar are fairly limited to Kunark, but Kunark has some of the best leveling areas early on. By the time you want to go do Lguk or Hole, you should be experience enough to make your way around even with the reputation pentalty.
Second, Monk makes a great beginner class. You don't need gear, you are top tier DPS, and you are always welcomed in a group, right up there with Cleric and Enchanter. The only thing that would worry me about a beginner being Monk is that you are pretty much the puller, which takes some nuances and experience.
I'd argue ogre is a better warrior for access to slam and immunity to stun from the front tbh
I won't argue with you about bard, but I think essentially getting a new spell every single level can be exciting for a new player, and if you stay engaged and read/watch guides you will never stop bringing value to yr friends in the game.
I fully agree about not taking buffs and free loot from a matured economy. I do that on Asheron's call, by avoiding buff bots and using loot I pickup and low level buffs. It gives me that 2000 feel
IMO starting with a shaman really teaches you the value of utility in a party. Buff/debuffing, providing essential heals in a pinch, alchemy, and having a pet (although weak) is a nice mixed bag that nakes each engagement unique. You also get to learn how well ( or poorly) a pure melee or magic class) operates.
As a notorious two boxer, the shaman/monk combination is ridiculously good. Edit: All gnolls must be purged from blackburrow!!! 😂
I think the most important thing is to like your character and stick with for at least a few levels because they all have goods and bads. I would say Druid is the easiest with harmony, sow, snare, heals, ports, decent buffs... My main is usually a Troll Shaman because I know it so well and, well, Slow is huge, but on P99 it's harder with no buff duration AA's, no AA canni and no alternative to Torpor (which is a biggy). So constant buffing and doing the canni dance is a bit of a chore. chanters are the godly class, they can do it all if you know how to play them, but as with all classes, there are good players and bad ones so sometimes a class might get a bad wrap because they are hard to learn, yet their potential to be fun and satisfying in all aspects might be exactly what someone is looking for. Have fun, be nice, talk to people, don't be in a rush and Learn! P99 is very friendly and civilized.
Good Video :)
>Necro not 1st pick for newbies
No way, no way. Show a newbie how to fear kite and you'll have them hooked on EQ. Their kit is missing sow, other than that they do everything, often better than others. I put them right up there with dru/shm
>don't go iksar
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!? Crazy!
I needed this, stoked to play tonight, it was a bit overwhelming coming off wow classic. Made a halfling ranger, haha. Maybe I'll change that after watching this--I do love Riverdale tho.
Nice video my friend!
I'm new to eq and playing an enchanter. Def is a steep learning curve. Level 17 on quarm
My first character was a Dark Elf and I was shocked at how hated I was across the world
First time playing EQ (picked TEEK) and my first char was a wizard. Found myself spending half my time sitting or just meleeing everything because my mana got burned after each kill.
Then I tried mage and I can actually play the game without having to constantly wait for my mana to regen.
Thank you for the guide man! I will take your advice and try out shaman, on p99 green ill definitely hit you up if I can!
I know I rambled and I’m sure I missed a few things but I hope this will be helpful on your journey
i would also add that shaman really doesnt come into its own until 24. if it feels a little slow to start just keep in mind that you get regeneration and cannibalize, two backbone spells for shaman, at 24
I just tried playing this a few days ago and got to level five. I was disgusted with how long you have to sit there and wait for your mana to regenerate. I gave up.
First Quarm video when??
Double comment!
I am just going to go over what class/race Id pick just for fun!
I am going to start with INT casters.
Enchanter- Id go Human, they have tools to deal with being blind and I like there starting stats tbh
Magician- I think Erudite Lots of of INT and good STA. This class can deal with being night blind too.
Necromancer- This one is hard? I am not sure but I do really like the idea of Iksar for that AC buff and HP regen. I don't know hard for me to pick.
Wizard- I am going with Gnome not sure why, I feel like why not?
Less Next the WIS Casters.
Cleric- Human worshiping Innoruuk! Why? That snare necklace just looks too good for me to pass up! They also get a helm that helps them with the night blind. and I think they can get a shield that is not to bad too.
Druid- This one I really want to go Human but I just can't. I have to give it to Halfling. Being able to hide is nice I find when I am solo and need to AFK. They get good stats and 5% less exp needed to level wow so good.
Shaman- This is the one I am not sure on at all. I really like the 3 evil races for this all for different things. I am going to have to give it to Troll for the reason I said with Cleric, That snare necklace and the HP regen is really nice I think for less down time. BUT OGRE is so good omg I am really tied on this one.
Melee is going to be next
Bard- I have no idea what to pick or play as to be real. Whatever does not matter your hands will hurt no matter what? Maybe the wood Elf? I like Foraging and hiding so they get that.
Monk- We all know what is the 'right race' for this bad boy.
Ranger-This one is hard to pick for me too. They all seem good? Yeah human get blind at night but I think rangers have tools to deal with it at level 30 so that is a bit far for me to like. I really like Wood Elf becasue the higher WIS but the lower STR and STA kinda hurts? I am not sure for real.
Rogue- This... This is the one I am going to do a bit of a not sure split pick too. Barbarian and Dwarf is what I think. You are only here for one thing and that is damage! STR is your best friend. I don't like Barbarian as much BUT you can get that Dark elf mask to help with the night blind (or i guess that ring?) Dwarf do however get that sweet ass Barrel Roll and we all know that a cool jump matters more then anything else! Dwarf also have more DEX then Barbarian so that helps them weapon proc more. AW this one is hard.
I am going to say the last 3 are Tanks cuz I am going from the p99 wiki list
Paladin- Dwarf the end. Strong, wise and really dexterous. Everything a Paladin needs. (Also Barrel Roll FTW!)
Shadow Knight- I have no idea I never really looked into SK so I can't really say. Sorry :(
And the all star!
Warrior- This is not easy. Ogre, Iksar or Dwarf... maybe Halfling for the hide/sneak and WAY less exp needed to level mod? 14.5% less Exp needed for each level is kinda nice not going to lie. You will be dying a lot because you don't have the tools you need to help keep you alive so that less exp needed to level thing kinda makes up for it. You can get tools to help you but it costs money or time. Jboot, snare nets, and all other types of goodies will help you stay up or get away from a bad pull. Ogre Stun immune is just so good also the STATS omg look at the stat! Iksar armor buff is kinda nice not going to lie. They also like picking up trash off the floor and eating it too (Foraging). Less down time because the HP regen is kinda nice also.
Nice list. Necros are easy mode, though.
Great video!
Let’s goooo Quarm Server!
😺👍
CHA doesn'tatter to druids for charming......it's level and magic resist that gets checked on each tick....
You have Janes and you forgot the most important tool in a gnome's arsenal! 'Gnome-vision' to see through walls! :)
I'd have to argue for Rangers. Items that make them very good at early levels are dumb-cheap, and lots of Rangers seem to have this sense of brotherhood in helping eachother out with handmedowns and the like. New players may feel disoriented not having a map, and having the maximum-potential of Tracking will help to an extent. Plus the ability of having Levitate, Invisibility and SoW to give them mobility for traveling versus the other hybrids. Harmony will also make pulling super easy and fear kiting with their root introduces them to a plethora of unique styles of gameplay. It's extremely easily to solo once I learned how to make use of my toolkit, and the fact my spells were cheaper meant I could afford other things.
Ranger isn't bad because it isn't good at any specific thing, it excels because of that utility.
The best new class / race combo is to make a Barbarian Rogue named Hadden, put on /roleplay, and sneak strut towards all the PCs who cast spells offensive spells on you in a vain attempt to get your Fishbone Earring.
Quarm has Hadden on a 15 minute timer now
@@cmdrfunk That camp used to be pretty brutal on vanilla if you didn't have good luck. Took my warrior something like 20 hours straight before that POS finally dropped an earring for me, lol.
Back in the day I started in the ykesha era, my first toon was a barb warrior. Bad idea to choose such a gear dependent class for your first. If I could go back I would choose mage
Why DID that woman have a beard? It's like you were verbalizing my thoughts.
Dwarven women often grow beards across most fantasy worlds containing. Sometimes they are almost indistinguishable from the makes to people outside of their own race.
They predicted the future
Cool video
My first was a dwarf rogue 😂
I loved it. I didn't necessarily roleplay in game, but my internal monologue was absolutely into being the sneaky, little guy but who was relatively strong.
I'm currently back in P99 Green with an enchanter because I never played one before. I'm not loving it, honestly, and was going to start an iky monk... Now I'm remembering playing a barb shamy and loving it but always hating people asking, "Why Barbarian?!" My race choices were always contrarian, made for the internal monologue RP'inh instead of powerplaying.
2:57 I wouldn't say Rogues apply there because Rogues don't entirely rely on you grabbing aggro. They can also choose to drop it manually themselves with the evade mechanic. I'd specify more a Rogue that doesn't know what they're doing.
I also wouldn't disregard casters entirely as an option. The first class I played was a Necro, and I didn't even know english at the time xD I trust people would be able to get hang of the basics of a caster with relative ease. Wizard is the only one I'm iffy about in the category. Enchanter could possibly go in probably not because of the dangers of a high level charm in the hands of someone who's not aware that thing could turn on you any moment
For healers.. I can see Shaman, sure. Druid? No way. It's nice that they can solo, but imagine you're the new player that's joined the game as a healer looking to group, and find out that no one.. Absolutely no one.. Not a soul.. Wants to group with you because Clerics exist. I mean, sure. You might find a group now and then, but it's not because they want you. It's because they had no other choice You just wasted a whole lot of time and all you got was a disappointment. If you're okay with being primarily solo and unwanted unless someone needs a buff so they can solo, or a teleport, okay sure, fine. I'd say Cleric's a better pick for a newbie also, simply because of the healing power being higher, so you wont struggle as much with keeping someone alive
idk figuring out iksar faction is pretty fun especially as a monk with access to sneak AND FD. You basically don't have faction issues if you know what you are doing.
And it teaches you about faction.
If you're worried about new players not being able to figure out how to play as a iksar, how do you expect them to learn how to play a monk?
Monk is great but can be tedious for one reason - they are the only class that has to worry about encumbrance.
That's a consideration, but workable. The biggest warning I would give anyone playing a monk would be having to pull all the time in every group. It can become exhausting over the long haul because EQ has a grind and you basically get no downtime.
First character in EQ was a Human Paladin on Project 99 Red, second character was an Ogre Warrior on Red. During Classic era, server pop was sub-50 almost always, which meant most of my journey was solo, untwinked, with PvP enabled. Most of the other players were playing Druids.
I got my ass whooped alot, I remember spending so much time trying to get as much Magic res as I could, camping the Earrings of Magic Reflection in the Karanas, trying to get the Deepwater Harpoon so I could do a decent bit of dmg in a jousting battle, trying to get any clicky I could to bury important buffs from dispells, spending hours to get Jboots and peggy cloak so I could have some mobility. Fuck I loved it so much, that Paladin is now 60, wielding either a Rocksmasher or a Great Spear of Dawn. Hits like a bus and can survive damn near anything with all the HoTs and heals, Holyforge once an hour lets you land critical hits on anything(at an increased chance as well). Lets just say in the end, I got my revenge on those fucking Halfling Druids.
My warrior is in the mid 50s I believe. Also have a Shaman in the 50s, numerous alts in the 30-45 range.
Play what you want dude. I'm maining a Human SK on Quarm right now, playing self-found only (I play groups but only equip items if I helped kill the mob that drops it, items that are crafted/vendor-only are purchaseable) and having a ton of fun, just hit 22 today.
Hahahaha. My first class was a wizard back in 2000. Now on project 99 its a wizard again! Actually I am having a lot of fun as a wizard however its DEFINATELY hard to solo with. I can usually get into groups though as im lvling which is awesome! I'd say wizards secret hidden ability im finding is that of being "master looter". Basically I bind at the zone entrance to a dungeon, loot everything, port to greater faydark, run (or try to run) to felwith, sell everything, go to the bank and turn it all to plat, then gate back, invis and split the plat with everyone so everyones making money! Takes a few minutes but isnt too bad. And I can even grab ppls copper and silver, convert that as well to plat at the bank to help out.
When you get a backstab pet the mage playstyle evolves a little, you have to worry about positioning a little more. You get more prep work with pet toys and other summoned items. Call of Hero changes playstyle a bit and gives you another fun tool to improve the group's QOL. You are right though, it doesn't evolve much.
But other classes have pretty simple playstyles as well. Once you get backstab on a rogue you pretty much have the same playstyle until 60. Warriors playstyle doesn't change either, if you lose aggro taunt and it hope it works, or just keep hitting it and pray you get aggro back or someone roots it. You do get flashy gear for procs and other clickies, but what you are doing is the same thing mechanically.
I think the main thing that sucks with playing a mage main is they don't really get much out of gear upgrades, unless its like their epic or focus items. Having more mana or health is helpful for everyone, but it seems like mages get the least value from it because of the way they are setup.
I think druids make a good starting class for a beginner to learn the game and get a foothold on a server, but a bad class to main for the last levels if you enjoy big groups. They work best in groups of 2-3 people, but really bad with full groups comp that are diverse and more ideal. The value a druid brings to group also dips significantly in the 40s range as they lag behind other priests healing output. No one will want you for a dps spot unless you can charm a pet. They can aggro kite with snare and spells, but a lot of people dislike this playstyle and not every area or mob type will allow it. Their other major group contribution, the DS, gets weaker as slows get stronger and the the mobs health pools get spongier. If all you really need is a snare, it'd be better to bring a ranger, necro or SK, they all bring steadier dps or more utility. They do get one of the best buffs in the game, but by that time you are already 60. Sure you can solo, either root rot, quad kite, or charms, but the areas that's easiest in are often camped by others, and it really just never ends up being that great in my opinion. Being able to port around is great though.
Bard always No.1
mez lull charm
super run speed (2-3x sow)
single high dmg dot
aoe dot swap kite (fastest way to exp)
shadow step (short distance random teleport) mpk
invincible, dmg shield, regen, resist, haste
and the most op gm move: bard can gate target back to spawn point like a gm(I gated aow once)
GATE, GATE, GATE. Gate alone is +1 tier to all casters, except wizards are still awful. It gets you out of so many bad situations. Saves your life all the time when soloing. Saves a huge amount of travel time. Saves you from getting lost (just gate). It's the most useful spell in the entire game.
T1: Necro, Shaman, Druid
T2: Mage, Shadowknight, Cleric
T3: Paladin, Enchanter, Ranger, Bard, Monk
T4: Warrior, Wizard, Rogue
Bard & Enchanter are my two favorite classes (shaman close 3rd) and they are powerful in groups & solo, but they require knowledge of nuanced & esoteric mechanics about agro, pathing, timing, resistances, etc to reach full potential. They're Tier 1 classes, but not for new players. If someone happens to gel with the way Bard works, it's could be a great starting class though.
Monk is a T3 class. T2 if Iksar, but Iksar is only okay for a new player if already connected with a veteran EQ player so they can ask questions. They're mid soloers, mid at DPS, & their primary value in groups beyond mid DPS is to pull & split pulls, dangerous & nuanced activities ill suited to a new player.
Cleric & Mage are both a bit boring, but strong classes. Cleric is super high value to groups & have a lot more utility than people think with clever use of their spells. They can solo undead fairly well too, so they aren't totally reliant on groups. Mage mostly just suffers from doing only two things, nuking & sending in their pet, but the fact they have strong pets & Gate still makes them a great starting class to play up to level 20 or 30 & feel out the game with minimal frustration... see other people playing their classes & try out one of those if they look cool.
I would put sense heading as a line on every one of my macros to constantly improve it.
Ouch, Necro especially Iksar with thei regen is a Definitively. They can mez (undead or not) they can single pull with FD, they can fear (not anymore on live but on 1999 wow). They can tank many thing with their lifetap, they have a nice pet, this is definitively a yes for me. Magician are a definitively yes too for new players. They are easy to play, they have a really nice pet especially epic pet at 60 it is amazing. They cast Damage shield who is a must they have very decent DD, they have Malo. It is a simple class but you talk about newB to the game. Shaman are good but i would take a necro before a shaman anytime.
Taking a necro before a shaman is literal insanity
@@CAiNiAC It really depend how you play. I prefer a necro but i can really understand you prefer a shaman. I love the FD and necro can slow too. The pet is way better. Just the fact than they REALLY change the way necro were playing, i regret the Fear that they completly removed from the game.
I know these lists are all opinions but this list is awful sorry... casters are so much better to start with, necro is OP from the start and can level to 60 naked, mages strong strong but get weaker, wizards are a great afk nuking class. Enchanters are bar none the strongest class in the game but they start out weak. Shamans are ok once they sink about 100k into the spells they need and another 100k in gear.
Completely baffling about the iksar comments.. they have the best starting out of all the races.. you can level 1-60 and never leave kunark, 1-40 just one to two zones away from Cabilis. It's clear the devs made huge improvements from classic to kunark in terms of racial starting areas.
I think it's because of the massive hate penalty. New players may not know about the reputation factor and walk around willy nilly, not realizing everyone and their mother hates you. Other than that though, I agree. Iksar are the best class due to their race passives but I'm still a gnome bot since I want to be someone everyone loves lol
Wizards are pretty weak until 44.
You can sometimes quad. And that helps a lot, but if camps are taken it's single target nukes and it's rough til 44.
I started with enchanter and by soloing was able to gear all my other toons much easier.
Definitely - Necro, SK, and Shaman
Maybe - Mage, Monk, Enchanter, Druid (druid on the fence because of levels 9-14)
Probably Not - Ranger, Cleric, Bard (My fave class, but on the fence. They're very hard for new players.)
Def Not - Pally (On the fence, not as handicapped as a warrior), Rogue, Warrior, Wizard
Also, for any class that can be troll, pick troll. Love me some trolls.
i tried to play this server but after 2 hrs of working on the resolution and the camera view i unistalled.
and I remember people telling me noobs were extinct back in 2005
Druid first. Used to power level alts
Great video, thank you.
Ive never played a rogue - they squishy AND gear dependant - but they are so valuable as a DPS late game.
Definitely. And they're lots of fun
Most fun class to raid with in the game, IMO.
Great video! If I didn't know better I'd say your plan to dissuade people from starting as iksar was simply a clever ruse to drive more engagement in the comments... I mean, just LOOK AT ALL THE COMMENTS lol. Yup, I'll add mine as well.
Specifically for monk - you only get to choose human or iksar - Starting as a human, the only benefit you really have at all is... faction. Yes also lacking the XP Penalty but that kinda cancels itself out...
Dear Human,
You are blind at night: Everquest sucks without night vision, especially at low levels.
Stock human regen is garbage: Imagine getting rabies from a mummy at lower levels... pretty much the end of fun soloing unless you go on a side quest and find a healer class to cure disease. Otherwise you're better served to just sit /afk in a safe place for 2+ hours for it to wear off naturally.
AC bonus isn't something you've heard of - definitely something that's a big help soloing at lower levels and throughout the game.
You drown too easily, and water is basically quicksand until at least level 20 where you'll be able to match iksar innate.
You can't forage: better get your porn mustachio and side burns down to whole foods and start cooking!
Now let's look at Iksar...
Dearest anthropomorphic evil lizard person,
You have an XP Penalty: Basically the gods want to foster equal opportunity for you AND the human, so you'll need to pay a tax in experience points so they can keep up. While they're drowning, starving, taking more damage and healing more slowly - you're killing more for poppa CT. You're also better equipped at any level during a corpse run ;).
There's this thing called FACTION: Basically, No one likes you. But see, that's ok. You don't need them to like you. You just need them to die and give you their things. You could spend days/weeks/months of your life trying to convince them you're not all that bad - or you could just decide to be what you are and simply out play them. Treat their city's like any other dungeon. You're a monk, you can literally bank and shop any where you please. Freeport is your Oyster - you're just another (fake) corpse in the bank or behind the vendor. Those guards running after you just want your autograph, but they'll mope back when they see you tripped over a dust bunny and are now just another (fake) corpse in the streets.
Why bother trying to get on the good side of those monks in Freeport just for a silly sash? If you really want that sash (needed for epic), simply take it from one of the lower level sparring monks near the guild master (guarantee'd drop).
Qeynos? Well my friend. They're definitely not worth bothering with for a silly headband (again, epic). You can simply have an agent of their guild be bribed into getting them for you (farm quest items on the iksar, have a low level monk alt in qeynos do the turn ins - quest rewards are tradeable).
And don't forget all the culture, tradition, and heritage we have here in old Cabilis town. The monk shackle quests are something that are your birth right, and it would take a human about 40 metric tons in bone chips and at least 5 random harm touches from wandering crusaders before we even think about giving them the opportunity (not to mention having to have another iksar monk vouch for them (MQ no drop foraged items)
Ok yeah - in my opinion (based on experience as a new mmo player back in 2001) Iksar is the much better choice, and faction really ended up being a paper tiger (actually it gave me more fun and content in the game!)
Thanks again for the video, and the excuse to write a silly comment while I enjoy the nostalgia.
I will say that SoW pots make banking in Freeport a whole lot less complicated ;)
There is actually one other bonus that human monks get: a faster hand to hand ratio. I just recently learned this.
@@SageFreke1while true that doesnt matter at all once you have the epic. The effect overrides it.
@@CAiNiAC and even before epic, human bare knuckle ratio is literally a tenth of a second faster - anyone using bare hands before epic (other than skilling up h2h) definitely isn't going to be concerned about that.
Where is optimal to place initial points for shaman?
I've been really getting into the game since May and I primarily started on dark elf necro. I haven't had much group experience but fear kiting is cool.
Yes Iksars are hated by everyone but they have their own continent so they do not have much need to go back to the initial zones (Antonica). Vah Shir and Drakkin also get their own continents although they are not available in P1999. However Everquest is free to play and available on Steam. New players start in Crescent Reach and if they follow the quests from the Hero's Path they receive a ton of armor and weapons that makes the game so much easier to play than on P1999.
Shadowknights get Deadeye at level 17 (and necromancer at 5), which grants Infravision and See Invisible, altough it may be bit far for brand new players. Every player should start a Human Shadow Knight following Innoruuk and travel from Freeport to Neriak at level 1. All those neon signs are beautiful when seen from a blind human's eyes.
Shadowknights get a weak pet compared with the pure pet classes but it still packs a punch. And you get Darkness which prevents low HP mobs from running, which is essential in dungeons. And Feign Death and lifetap and can buff your strength and damage over time spells and damage shield and invisibility and invisibility to undead and... Shadowknights are the best at very rapidly getting aggro from a fragile caster that blasted too much or a healed that healed too much, and they are very good tanks. Yeah, I've played many shadowknights and love them.
A shadowknight plus a healer is a group, they are not required to include more. I've dual boxed shadowknight and cleric often and they are a very tough team to kill. If we get in trouble, let the shadowknight tank while the cleric gets out and then feign death. Once aggro has been removed use invis and more feign death to get out of the hot spot.
I think I talked myself into starting another team...
wow another Sage Freke video so soon wow am I dreaming?
This is what I say evry time I come back.. what is the best or what is the least played that is needed. Then I relise just play what is fun.
Whether or not someone is going to get a bunch of +int items, or +wis, or in case of a rogue +str, early in the game entirely depends which server they're playing on. To pump int for a new character on p99 blue is a horrible idea because there are TONS of cheap options for int gear being sold in EC almost daily. Sometimes even people giving stuff away. On project quarm that just started it's a completely different story. Your starting stats really should be determined if you want to min/max and which server you're playing on.