What are the happiest classes long term?

So I want to make Coirnav my last server, been TLP hopping for last 4 servers and never played past PoP. What are a few of the classes that can take me long term as a main to 105 that seem to be the best balanced that people complain the least about needing fixing?

Only class I don't like playing are clerics and druids. I don't box and I tend to like raiding and grouping more than solo play. I have played Necros a lot and really like the class but I hear they lose a lot of steam after PoP?

Can I get some good info from people that have played a lot of classes to end levels?

Thank you

My answer: the ones you enjoy playing the most

Tanks are solid classes, monks, shamans, rangers, bards, beastlords, mages. But like Klanderso said whatever you enjoy playing.

@klanderso I like how your signature translates to...I never break things, ever.

Too funny

For me, it's always the class I played classic through pop. Paladin/bard. Go back your roots. See if that feels right. Hope I helped!

Play whatever you like and pray the devs don't come along and wreck it.

If I was going to play one class by itself, it would be a shaman. The DoT consolidation significantly boosted their DPS (although it is a bit mana intensive) in the early game, making the first sixty levels or so far less tedious. You'll have things to do when you can't find a group because you can solo a bit, and you are an absolutely essential class for raids, and everyone is happy to see you. You get spells, which is fun, armor that is fun, clickies that are fun. There's lots to collect and do, you get a pet, you get neat active and passive AA, there's just a lot going on.

I enjoy all the classes though. Lots of people find that there's only one or two classes they truly like though, and in that case it's best to play that.

Bards can do a lot... so many roles to fill. If you're in a small guild then you never run out of stuff to do.

You need to learn your songs, of course, which most bards don't care to from what I have seen.

The one that will be playing on the new 20th Anniversary server will be the happiest.

But otherwise, I seem to see people enjoy shamans a great deal due to the flexibility to solo and be valuable in both a group and raid setting.

Play what you want!

Seems to me the answer changes every expansion for many people. What makes them happy is playing whatever class is flavor of the month that will land them on the top of the DPS parses. I know people who have changed mains 3 or 4 times already always to a class that will "parse well" as their old class fades off the charts for whatever reason.

If you want a class that can always get a group and is always wanted by raid guilds clerics can get really beast mode if you build them right.

If you want to solo but also want decent group/raid desirability beastlord is pretty solid, slow gets them a spot in groups and paragon/sd gets them a spot in raids.

Monk and bard are great, especially if you like pulling. And both are less gear dependent than most, especially if you do the monk epic.

Druid is great if you're gonna hardcore raid and have guild groups, but really rough when pugging.

And as dude said, Shamans are just always awesome.

Ever since they changed stuns to work on yellow cons instead of just white cons back in 2014, paladins from PoP/GoD onwards have been absurdly powerful (especially when you get the Ancient stun that is on its own timer). In DoDH they really get a chance to shine since so much of the content is undead. Being able to completely stun-lock a single target while I'm tanking it is quite enjoyable.

I'm probably biased since I always main paladins, but on progression servers they are consistently excellent starting in PoP (although they are basically worthless pre-POP due to their stun spell lines being a mess and not having a lot of essential abilities like their fast root and fast heals)

shadow knights are probably one of the most consistent classes for a long while in EQ. theres never a period where they arent a strong tank, and from kunark till PoP you are very respectable DPS on raids. DPS starts to drop off after that, but you are always a strong group tank.

and, they are fun to play

Nothing is more valuable to a raid force than a well played Bard. I'm not talking about being one of the typical Bards who are barely better than an AFK box playing a melody, but a Bard who knows how to use all the tools in their expansive kit.

Wizards are sex on a stick. Ports and nukes, what else does a man need ?

An answer worthy of a politician! - when are you running?

On a more serious note - to answer your question: what do you mean by happy? This might sound pedantic, but it's not an insignificant nuance.

If by "happy" you mean "least attrition" it is probably Shadow Knights. To be honest, they are never really considered "weak" or "bad" in any expansion so there's never really a reason for a player to abandon his or her SK.

If by "happy" you mean "most proud" it is unquestionably Rangers. Rangers have some sort of a cult following - that is, the folks who actually play the rangers, and not just the ones who use them as Autofire headshot-bots. Maybe it's the fact that rangers were positively terrible in the first, oh, three expansions that some folks feel like they "weathered the storm" and earned their dominance on Live.

If by "happy" you just mean "least disappointed with their class over time" it is probably Clerics. There have never been any real "impact" expansions for clerics - they just heal, heal, and heal some more. Same thing for 20 years. People who have mained clerics over the years are true heroes of Norrath...especially thru the CH rotation era - yikes.

Personally, having played all the classes thru most expansions, I've always had a certain soft spot for my Bard. There's something about the bard that always made me like it the most. Maybe it was the fact that you can be proactive or lazy in nearly any situation and people still like having you around. Groups always love a proactive bard, but they tolerate a lazy one. Raids love a lazy bard and go absolutely bonkers over a proactive bard. Maybe they just love me for my run speed?

That being said - bards are pretty tough to tolerate in the early stages of the game.

Unfortunately, few classes are less exciting to play on a typical raid, too, especially post fade nerf.

I think the answer to this question is going to be very different depending on the person answering. Mages are very strong for example but I find them boring to play so I wouldn't consider them a "Happy" class despite how strong they are. However, if you enjoy the playstyle, then they could end up being a very "Happy" class over the long haul.

Another thing to consider is just how long you intend to keep playing Everquest. Corinav is years away from being able to level your toon to 110. If your not planning to play until every expansion unlocks, you need to look at how the class performs during the span of expansions you expect you will be able play.

Also some class might be flat now or early but become much better an expansion or two down the read. For example, I am looking forward to Luclin becoming available on Corinav so I can play a Beastlord however, from what I recall back in the day, the Beastlord kind of sucked a little bit until it got fleshed out a bit more when PoP came out. Therefore I am fully expecting a mediocre experience for the first 12 weeks playing the BL but know that I have alot of good things to look forward to down the road with them.

I rolled a cleric main last time around progression under the theory I would be helping my guild and be desired in groups. The group thing is a lie as most people have a box cleric or destroy mobs so fast a cleric is more of a buffer with nukes. The guild raid thing holds true but for me got so boring I wanted to shove a white-hot needle in my eyeball.