Good grouping/solo class to play?

Hi guys,

Thinking of returning to EQ (after quite a long break) since new TLP is coming out. Since there will be no boxing im hoping that there will be a whole lot of grouping happening. I am wondering what class I should play because of this. I am looking for one which will be desired by groups as well as having the ability to solo decently if there are no groups around.

The classes I'm considering playing are;
- Necro (have played the class a fair bit but mainly soloing)
- Enchanter (have played a fair bit, soloing was a bit of an issue for me but grouping was good)
- Monk (haven't played in a while but liked their play style)
- Bard (hear a lot of good things about grouping but not sure how they solo [heard they are quite good solo's but when i've played them they seem to have very low dmg])
- Rogue (always liked the idea of playing a halfling rogue but feel that they are very hard to solo with, also not sure how desired they are for grouping)
- Cleric (Never played one of these but am assuming they're highly sought after for grouping, once again I dont think they can solo very well)

I know there's quite a few choices here on the list but any info you guys could give me would be much appreciated. At the moment im favouring Bard or Rogue.

**PS: Do any races have a hard time finding people to group with due to an unfavourable starting area?

In terms of finding groups, you would probably have no trouble finding a group if you played:
Cleric
Mage
Enchanter
Necro, although it looks like many are going necro

Edit for races: Erudites have it rough starting out, and I'm not a big fan of starting on the Qeynos side but that might just be me

IMO, mage would have the most trouble in that list, simple because there will be a billion of them. Healers and chanters, probably not so many around.

Maybe, but I think a lot of people have the philosophy that you can never have too many mages for a group .

If I were looking through the LFG window for DPS, I would definitely be looking for a mage.

My buddy and I are starting up again once the new server launches, send me a forum message and we'll see about all leveling up together!

Rogue would be the worst if you want a class that can solo. Soloing with a rogue later on when they get more powerful is painful and slow. Soloing with a rogue in classic is an exercise in futility.

Damn so no one likes bards or rogues for their groups? If this is the case, maybe ill go Enchanter. I've played them a fair bit so a little bored but they still are fun with the illusions and charms

Healers always do well with groups, obviously, as do enchanters and well played bards, although there are always tons of enchanters around. It's a unique class and really shines in early EQ. They take some hits a few expansions out so many like to jump on it in classic.

Honestly, during my time the first few months of Lockjaw it was always tanks just about every group was looking for. Especially upper mid levels and beyond early on. I had a lot of time at launch and was ahead of the levelling curve. There was seriously like one tank I knew at my level the first week or so. Got to 50 in short order and rolled the next toon, now slightly behind the levelling curve.....Every group constantly looking for tanks.

You feel dirty doing it, given the imbalances, but the 3 mage groups move the bar like no other.

Dont mages/dps in general replace tanks until raids? Also heard tanks are quite gear dependent which seems like they'd have a hard time soloing

Bards and rogues get groups just fine, though not the most high demand.

Rogue may be the worst solo class. Bard is not a very good soloer, though people often claim they are. Bards are a combination of weak melee and weak caster and at higher levels can kill some hard things in messy and dangerous ways. Often pretty slowly too.

The best combination of solo ability and group desirability is pure casters.

For casters whats recommended? I've never really played mage or wiz. Mage seems like the way to go but just seems like everyone goes them from what i've read. As for wiz do they suffer from a lot of down time due to no mana regen sources? From the last time I played on a TLP, for vanilla it seemed like mages did just as much damage as wiz.

SKs can solo fairly well once they get their toys, but yeah, tanks aren't the most solo friendly in general. Yes, rogues are definitely the least soloable class. I say that from experience, but in fairness, warrior is probably worse. Btw, there are situations where you could use pets instead of tanks but if you have any melee dps in the group it won't work. Tanks rule.

Bards are sick soloers if you know what you are doing and find a good spot. Not sure what the above poster is talking about.

Really, if soloing and grouping both are what you are looking for and you don't want to be a mage, I would suggest druid. I had zero problem with groups on my druid. Nice thing about classic is druids can main heal pretty much to 50. It gets painful after about 45 and you will want to strangle some pullers / entire groups at times before that because healing and keeping buffs up constantly has you squeezing mana out of your ears and it always feels dicey and you never get a break, but it's entirely doable. Shaman would probably fit too, for similar reasons.

Another approach would be to just focus on picking a solo class you like. Every class can find a group, some are just a bit more in demand than others.

Wiz is like the cleric of dps...It's all about mana management with a side of aggro management.

Most of your life is meddling. Don't go wiz or rogue unless dps eye candy in your combat spam box and kill shots are your thing. Wizzys do grow into great soloers, tho.

-Necro: You'll have no trouble soloing. You also get a decent Temple of Sol Ro quest line. Groups also like necros for damage

-Enchanter: Soloing won't be a lot of fun a lot of the time, but it is possible to be effective. I've seen some enchanters clean up on hill giant hill. You'll always be wanted for groups and guilds with this class, especially when you get clarity.

-Monk: Great class. You don't really need gear, so you can focus on saving up for the best in slot items. Hope you like pulling, because you'll be expected to in groups. Decent solo. You can bandage and mend, but you won't be nearly as good as a pet class solo.

-Bard: Ask for a group, and you'll get it. Everyone loves a good bard, but if you are a bad bard don't expect to find many groups if your name gets known. Usually expected to pull if there aren't any monks in the group. A good bard is a master puller. Bards aren't the fastest at soloing, but they can tackle some pretty nasty stuff, from cyclops for gems to Hate mobs for armor and gems.

-Rogue: Get prepared to LFG for hours on end. You need to meet up with some good friends and group with them as much as possible. Solo is not very fun for a rogue, and you are very gear dependent. Phinny will go through expansions quickly, so your power will increase quickly as well until you are highly desired.

-Cleric: Not much solo here, unless you like killing the undead. You'll never hurt for a group though. Everyone always wants a healer, especially one who can resurrect them.

Everyone plays mages (and wants them in their groups) for good reason unfortunately. If you want to combine group desirability + solo ability + road-less-traveled, there isn't much there.

And yes mages nuke comparably to wizards for solo and group content, it is only raids (and special situations like quadding and aoe groups) that wizards are superior. For the first few expansions anyway. So yeah groups tend to view wizards as petless mages so they're obviously less desired.

Necros are quite powerful as well (perhaps the most in fact), but not so ez-mode due to the weaker pet and slow killing + high agro of dots. If you're worried about downtime, they certainly have the least.

There's also druids and shamans which solo decently but also can play the healer role in most groups.

How are Monks at tanking? Loved playing my monk back in the day, FD was the best skill imo. As for other tanks and healers aside from Cleric what would you recommend?

Chanter for groups and soloing.

If you run as a cleric you will always have a group, no need to worry about soloing.

Monks do a decent job of tanking in classic. They put out some good DPS, so they can hold aggro somewhat. They don't have any taunt buttons to get snap aggro, but they do decent early on.

I suspect it's gonna be full of caster groups so if u go with a melee might be more difficult to find group.I also suspect that pally,ranger, rogue warrior gonna be the class less played. If it's like RF\LJ mage were way ahead of any other class with druid 2nd and chanter 3rd. Necro is still the best class if you have to solo and you should get group pretty easily but there might be too many of them on phinny due to the fact that most people gonna use only 1 account and people wants to be self-sufficient.Monk is 1 of the few melee who can be popular in group even on caster group.