Help Deciding Class Please

Hello new friends! I haven't played eq in probably 5 or 6 years, and this will be my second tlp ever. I'm planning on starting fresh on Yelinak and would like some help deciding which class to play. Previously I mained a mage from vanilla to PoP, then switched to necro up until lvl 100, with various alts along the way. For a fresh tlp I want to main either a monk, ranger, shaman or a necro. Which of those three are going to get groups more often, be more desired, and also wanted for raids? How easy / difficult will it be to gear these up? How well can they solo if I can't find a group? Are there any races that have significant edge than others?

Also, I was looking at what spells will be available in each expansion, and according to Lucy, shaman seem to have much more powerful dots than necro? After the dot rework I can't really find any info on how necro dots were affected. In groups do necro just pet attack and nuke?

Last question; how strong / weak are necro and shaman pets? I could find info on mage pets, but not much else.

Thank you everyone in advance for your replies and help! Looking forward to returning and having a blast with you all!

shaman very strong class if you want to solo, group, or raid. if you're not boxing it's a top contender. monk's with bare fists are op damage on TLP, not very gear dependent either - but you'll run into difficulty solo'ing well without a fungi in kunark. Also, it makes more sense to wait for iksar for the bonus regen in kunark.

With that said, you can play any class and have fun and find groups, but choosing a class that has the ability to group or solo is really nice. Shamans and necro are both great solo'ers, but if you've already done the necro thing perhaps try something new? Rangers can be desired in groups as well if you're willing to learn the maps and pull for the team. Nobody wants to pull, and rangers are surprisingly tanky in classic - also their dmg blows up in luclin+ with AA's. And tracking is useful.

If you want to be overpowered and wanted in everywhere be an enchanter like the other 90% of population.

Will a decently geared ranger be able to solo fairly well? Are they good dps before Luclin? Able to get groups pretty often? Seems like if they can tank group content and/or pull, they'll be pretty group friendly. Having never really played melee, I'm kinda leaning this way if they won't just sit lfg most of the time, unless they can also solo good enough. But if it's going to be luclin before they're wanted, I'm not gonna waste all that time.

I won't be boxing, I just want 1 main toon that can solo decently, but is also highly desired by groups and raids. You make a great point about trying something new, since I've already done necro for the majority of the game. Do shaman just slow and heal in groups? Do they ever get into melee, or just dot and nuke if theyre dps? Do they ever really get to dps?

Every class gets into groups forever. Ranger dps is pretty atrocious until Luclin comparatively, but I wouldn't let that stop me from playing one. You'll still get invited to groups often, and quite frankly Rangers make excellent group tanks even in Omens and beyond.

Solo? Very few classes in EQ can solo well. I wouldn't play anything except a Necro if I was fixated on solo, otherwise I would just box a Shaman and call it a day. Or an Ench/Cleric box. Shamans can also solo very well, especially once they get Torpor.

Shamans can do great dps in addition to healing and slowing, but it's mana intensive/gear dependent.

Math class.

Monk is basically top melee dps for most of a TLP server's life, plus you have a role in pulling.

Shaman is great but raiding with one sucks for the first several expansions due to you will just be buffing, buffing, buffing, and then more buffing on raids.

Necro pets are very weak compared to mage pets and shaman pets are even weaker. Plus you only have one way to increase pet strength (focus) for the necro but the mage gets several levels of pet focus.

Out of those that you mentioned,

Most wanted for groups:
Shaman
Monk

Most wanted for raids:
Monk
Necro
Shaman

Able to solo:
Necro
Shaman

Able to do massive DPS:
Monk
Necro

Red headed step child out of the 4:
Ranger

Also, if you're interested in a guild, come check us out.
<Lost in Progress>.
https://discord.gg/V2ysqqUpc8

How did the dot rework go for necromancer? Looking at Lucy it looks like shaman get better dots than necromancer does, or stronger/ more damage per tick? Yeah, definitely interested in joining a guild! Especially day 1 to make some rad friends!

Shaman pets are super weak. Necro pets are just under mage pets in terms of taking ability. DPS, they are equal I believe

Necro got some dot revamps in the form of poison line. A Necro will out DPS a shaman. The full dot revamp for Necro happens after 70+

Rangers are underrated, especially in Omens and beyond. Their dps is very competitive undisc'd, and MGB Auspice is a pretty fat chunk of adps for an entire raid.

Weapon Shield is an amazing disc, and having a taunt button is underrated.

There's a lot more to Rangers than merely being autofire bots for a couple expansions, but you won't have competitive dps on burns for a very long time once GoD rolls around.

They never revamped early Necro dots, but did for Druids and Shaman. Therefore, the only early expansion dots that are good for the Necro are those also available to the Shaman.

How are rangers from classic to luclin? Easy to get groups?

I mean you may not get in an optimal group, but there's pretty much always groups. You might find yourself having to make your own.

Rangers are good tanks in classic but with 2 caveats.

1. You have tanked before and therefore having experience in the role (helpful with anyclass of course)

2. The group leader looking to fill the spot knows this. Half the server doesnt know that ranger tanks are equal/better than warrior tanks for leveling in classic unless they have played both.

The issue you will run into is players watch rangers that have never tanked tank poorly and think they cant do it. Or people are returning from 1999-2000 when all class powerlevels were lower and players were less geared and never give rangers a shot because they struggled back in the day.

As for DPS rangers are terrible pre luclin. Monks will crush them. Add rogues to that list as soon as kunark drops because of their both good and simple to complete epic.

Overall is it easy to get a group? No. Easy for groups in each role would be as follows: Tank - SK MDPS - Monk DPS - Mage CC - ENC Healer - CLR

Shaman - Most versatile priest with strong dots, a pet, and fantastic melee buffs. Your role in raids is to malo/slow everything, keep everyone buffed, heal, throw dots, etc. There is a lot to do, and with canni, you're never motionless.

Monk - If you like to pull and have strong dps your entire lifecycle, this is the choice. Monks tend to be expected to know zones and how to pull. Not a ton of variety, but fantastic at what they do.

Necromancer - Charm undead as you level in classic in Unrest and Lower Guk makes them solid DPS. Dots, a mez up to level 55, self evac (levant), feign death. This class has a ton going for it. It won't shock in dps charts on raids but it will be solid. I think somewhere in the 75-80's they become top dps at times.

Ranger - The most versatile melee class. For some stretches of expansions, they are mostly ranged dps, with the ability to get in close. For some expansions, they are primarily melee dps, with the ability to disc and dps from afar. Solid crowd control while leveling, tank in a pinch pre-GoD, and solid 1.0 and 2.0 epics. You aren't the top dps, but that's what monks are for, Rangers are for having fun.

Pick what sounds fun and go for it. 8 weeks of classic means you can probably get two to 50 and see what you like most. Rangers come into their own in Luclin/PoP. The other three are solid in Classic and beyond.

Does which race you play have much of an effect? Are there certain races that are the best at each class? Or is it mostly aesthetic??

Necro has some of the bar none highest dps in classic/kunark raid fights... do you even stack fire dots man ? LOL

Ogre frontal stun on the SK is game changing for a while. It's also decent on the shaman. Troll regen works well for the shaman.

Otherwise, play whichever race looks best to you. Yelinak's five years to get to Live is a long time to go for some early stun immunity or extra regen. Make sure you like the look and feel of your character.

They are all good.

Shaman will without a doubt be the easiest to find a group for, due to the heals -IN early TLPs healers are usually fairly scarce.

Second would be a Ranger, if you marked yourself a a tank - Rangers are excellent tanks and good pullers, if played well and really for the first 4 expansions, they have snap/sustained aggro like Shadow Knights.

Third would be Monks. Monks are good consistent DPS, but you'll be expected to do the pulling all the time, which can be tedious for some.

Necros are generally "disliked" in groups, because they only really shine on longer fights, which isn't what you want in group content. For this reason, i put them last on the list.

That being said, i think the differences between all classes is fairly small, and in early TLP life due to the high population, all classes can find groups somewhat reliably. I will always advocate that you play what you feel is most enjoyable.

Necros are only disliked in groups with inexperienced players. They literally shine in any fight lmao. They can mez/snare/charm/nuke/pull/root rot...... and the list goes on.

If Enchanters didn't exist Necro and Shaman would be tied for objectively best classes in the game, if we're talking at least Kunark.