Top 3 Classes for TLPs

The big concept that surrounds these three classes is that they all have engaging and skill expressive play patterns and also maintain their power level through all the expansions which is something very rare among other classes. Most classes at some point in the EQ expansion line have times where they just feel inferior or one dimensional.
1. Paladin
-Sure you are never going to show up as a star on the parse but Paladins have a very diverse and strong toolkit that really compliments tanking. They have access to decent CC with access to some of the best roots and some of the best stuns, which for a tank is rare and powerful. They have decent heals often able to keep their group healthy in a raid or take some of the burden off the main healer when grouping. Paladins are also criminaly underplayed so there is always a place for you.
2. Shaman
-Shaman are probably just outright overpowered because they can do just about anything you would want out of a priest. Strong buffs that stack with most other classes buffs, access to powerful DPS abilities, One of the best healers in the game, and finally probably the best debuffer in the game. Shaman is also high energy for people who like to stay busy as your performance is directly related to how many spells you can cram in. Even downtime with a shaman is not exactly down time as even regenerating your resources is an active task. Very demanding class but also very rewarding.
3. Bard
-Bards like shamans are also one of EQs more active classes. Bards have access to just about every utility ability in the game which gives them more agency in the outcome of an encounter than just about any other class and have the adaptability to always be able to contribute. Bad pull? Bard have great CC with mez and charm. Group lacking in damage? Bards have powerful ADPS buffs and debuffs. Long downtime? Bard have the best mana/HP regen buffs and decent slows to keep a group killing. If you want to feel in control Bard is one of the best classes to play.

1 Monk 2 Necro 3 Rogue

DPS is king

"DPS is king"

Suggests playing a DPS class that's the worst DPS for 5 straight expansions

Necro DPS is not great for the most part. Rogues are never bad DPS but don't really contribute much else and Monks while OP out the gate slowly just fall off as the game goes on.

You didn't offer any other order so based on your post in the other thread can I assume your top 3 is
1. Mage pets
2. Monk
3. Necro
?

I say this as someone planning on playing a paladin on mischief, paladins are just not good until Luclin/PoP which is where a lot of people get off the ride at. Shadowknight maintains a much higher trajectory through the entire course of expansions and early on at least warrior gets to fall back on defensive for a class defining role. Paladins are amazing later, but if your goal is really a maintained power level through the expansions Paladin loses out to SK in my books.

Bards are almost in the same boat but the resist songs are just so raid critical that I'll give them a pass until later expansions where they are pulling gods belting out dps on top of being fought over by every group in the raid. Similarly this would bump mage off the list for me, good early, good late, some real rough spot expansions through the middle. Meanwhile monks just coast along near the top for years in a row.

Palie is the class you want to twink in PoP, especially on this server. Starting out as a palie, in no gear, is ....painful. SK are the only tank that really starts with the tools they need, and never sucks.

Bards also hit some really really bad spots...like...when the hole opens and none of your CC works any more. Very up and down class. I'll be playing one, again, and I love them, but they are a very long ways from smooth sailing through expansions.

Gear dependent classes in general are a rough go as a first character on a TLP.

That is mostly false. You can Charm almost every mob in the Hole save a couple rock golems and most mobs in the hole are bard mez able. Even in Kunark/Vel where bards can only mez up till 53 there are not a ton of mobs that fit into that category unless you are talking about raids where not even the enchanters can mez or charm.

I'm not like the many of the boards vocal members i don't feel the need to give my opinion on things i don't know about. I haven't played enough beyond TSS to give an accurate opinion, so i won't. But i do know Necros are laughable bad PoP-TSS

When I look at a Paladin I see a much better kit for tanking than an SK. You have cheap spamable aggro with blind/stun both which mitigate the DPS of the mob. You have better CC than an SK with stun/root. SKs can only heal themselves while you can heal yourself and the group. You have HP/AC buffs and SKs don't. The main areas where SKs tend to do better than Paladins are with DPS and you can argue survivability with the abilty to FD. Otherwise I just see SKs getting outclassed in every area until much later expansions where their self-healing becomes game breaking.

SK and SHM are the two most consistently powerful classes in every expansion. Monks and Bards are close seconds. Paladins start off a little worse but become a tier 1 class with raid gear starting in PoP imo.

Rogue without a doubt. Rogue in classic is broken. Deals less damage than a Warrior or Monk, but can backstab for almost as much damage as a Monk punches at high level. Especially if they get an over-powered weapon like a Serrated Bone Dirk. Kind of insane really.

In general, I'd argue Monk + Bard + Shaman. Always at least good, never even mediocre, often absolutely great.

If you plan to quit during pop and restart every fresh tlp launch, you can keep the monk and add necro and sk instead.

If you are just looking at leveling races or speed runs, its druid enchanter necro.

If you plan to just box your own group long term, its the 3 plate tanks.

Depends if you're talking raids or group content.

SK is the #1 best class forever for group content. SK/Shm is the strongest duo.

Warrior/Cleric are obviously MVP of raids.

If you're considering both Yerms Monk/Bard/Shm is fairly accurate.

I'd argue against cleric, and I say that as a cleric lover. Expectations are high, competition is high, rewards are low and generally 4th in line for plate outside of maybe getting ft15 early, and you usually are the first class replaced by alts or mercs. There's a reason guilds are constantly trying to recruit clerics - if the class was truly fantastic people would play it more, see monks.

Groups won't really care about mitigating incoming damage in classic content, both knights have dirt cheap easy aggro (and the first time you wipe a group because you cast blind incorrectly is always hilarious).

Snare comes up a lot more often and has less classes to provide it than roots/cc. Healing your group isn't nearly as useful as healing yourself while still targeting the mob. If you're using it in combat... good luck with those casting times.

You have the same buffs a cleric has, which means the majority of groups they'll never be used, and every raid. SKs get AC buffs that stack with cleric AC buffs along with ATK buffs that stack with druid attack buffs.

I mean there's only two things going on in classic EQ, getting exp and killing nameds, more dps is better for both of those. FD is... amazing. Heading to rep that group in lguk and invis fails, they'll love hearing that you need a drag instead of 'one second, waiting on aggro to drop'. Snare is huge. Self invis without dropping 10p a pop.

We haven't even touched the racial disparities, in classic people love the benefits provided by being an ogre or troll when playing a tank class, paladins get dwarves for the people who hate shrinking. Paladins don't get a single spell in classic that isn't on someone else's spell list already, and it takes several expansions before they really start getting the tools they deserve to make them an exceptional tank, instead they're stuck as the third tank in bimodal raid/group content.

I'm going to ignore soloing as it's really a bygone hobby in todays EQ but it's yet another checkmark for SK over Paladin.

Paladin is an answer to a question most groups aren't asking when everyone has a box cleric and enchanters are common.

I actually like paladins a lot tss+ when paired with a cleric. I like it as a tank option with mages where it can slide easily into and out of a tanking vs healing role. They are amazing for eventual raids where you have someone who can splash big numbers one encounter and offtank on the next.

But they just aren't consistent like sks and anyone arguing they are superior in general for groups is either lacking experience with competent sks or living in theorycraft world.

Yeah... paladins are terrible. SKs are purely better than Pals in 80% of scenarios. They have better threat and more reliable, better dps, better sustain.

For everything else you have to specify group vs raid. Group game its pretty much enc then like mag/nec, then peasants, then rogues.

Rogues on test were buffed.

I just saw it and it’s HUGE. Rogues will be unstoppable with this change.