Returning to everquest after a pretty long time. Just wondering what class would be a good easy one to main right now. To get the basis down as im sure a lot of the game as changed since i last played (Pre PoK).
I recommend Magician. They seem easier to play then melee characters. Most people I see playing melee miss out on a lot of opportunities because they don't position as well as they should. Another thing, I once knew a guy who played up to some very high level like 65 (hey, that was very high in those days) as a melee and still didn't know anything about the melee tomes and the melee abilities window. It doesn't automatically open up, and you have to read up somewhere to find out about it. He hadn't. He just played the game.
I'd suggest trying a couple different ones and running them through the tutorial and see what you like best.
^^^ this^^^ Really it's such a short time investment to try a few different classes and run them up to level 10-11 in the tutorial to see how they feel. The BEST class is the one who's style of play you enjoy and who gets invited to group with because you have mastered the class and Play it well. Ay class is fun and valuable under those conditions..
Traditionally - and I'm only saying traditionally - Magician, Necromancer, Beastlord, Druid are supposedly the "easiest" to learn. Bard is the most difficult, because it's the most unique. But as stated above, it comes down to your play style and preferences.
You can't go wrong with the suggestions. For things like a magician, they are a 'pet class' which gives you a lot of options you will only find out about through game play. For instance, they automatically defend you so they always have your back. If a battle starts going bad, you will know it from your pets health bar and have an opportunity to get out of Dodge before it's to late. Magicians are also pretty good spell tossers so they can double for wizards in that capacity, doing a lot of direct damage and taking kill shots on monsters that run away. My other favorite classes trend toward characters with innate abilities. There are just times you need skills like tracking and sneak so rangers and druids of elf or halfling persuasion are good. Druids are the best at travel given that they have spells that can take them and their party to many of the travel hubs in the game. If you are the type of player that just goes to a single location and stays there leveling, travel will be much less important. There is IMHO a bit of inversion in what is conventional wisdom that comes from games outside of EQ. For instance, the melee characters are just about completely gear dependent so it takes a knowledgeable person to equip and run them. Wizards, which you think would be a tough class to run are probably the easiest. You can pretty much just root<paralyze> monsters and burn them with spells through the first 50 levels. There isn't a need to buy every spell available, just the best burn spell available at a given level plus root. Ditto for equipment, good equipment means you die less and level faster but it isn't critical for the first 50 or so levels. With the ability to hire mercenaries, monsters breaking root and beating on you is much less of a problem.
When you say easy, do you mean easy as in at least understanding what the spells are, which to use etc. (aka you don't want a class with a lot of different things you have to do)? Or do you mean easy as in it gives you more flexibility to do things? Asking because everyone will have different opinions. For me, I found trying to play a mage incredibly difficult. I found that for me, pet classes are much more challenging (even more so than melee classes which I also tend to veer away from because all the time slash/hack isn't my preference). Note, I can't play the piano at all (connection here is mage + pet, two different things to keep track of and focus on). However ... mages are incredibly powerful if you find you like the playstyle. They're versatile - can solo, group and raid well. Have you played other games and if so what type of style did you prefer more? Tank - you are up front in the mob's face, tanking it and keeping mobs off of other people Melee - you are near the mob swinging your swords/axes to damge the mob Archer - you enjoy both melee and range fighting with a bow/arrow Spell damage caster - you sit back from a distance and use magic spells to blow up the mob with medium-to-high damage Crowd control - you like watching to make sure everyone is safe or to boost other people's abilities Healer - you enjoy keeping other people alive
Others may have a differing answer but when I think of supportive, these are the classes that come to mind. This isn't everything the classes do, but should give you a hint so you can see which way you might want to go. Bard - jack of all trades. Melee based who sing songs which can do the following and more: Pull, pacify, blur Mez/mesmerize mobs Slow mobs Boost caster DPS Boost melee DPS Debuff mobs by lowering some of their stats Melee mobs Other sings boost mana regen, resists, etc. for raid Enchanter - sort of the (lesser? to some) caster equivalent of bards and they do it with spells. Pull, pacify, blur Mez/mesmerize mobs Slow mobs Boost caster DPS Debuff mobs by lowering some of their stats Self spell DPS (nukes-magic and chromatic) Charm ability (charm mob and that mob tanks) Other crowd control abilities (knockback root, blur/banish, etc.) Other spells/auras which boost mana regen, resists, twincasts, add + damage for spells, etc. Those are the key two. Then there is a healer who has some similarities to these in that a large part of their role is boosting melee DPS by casting various spells on them, on top of slowing mobs and healing. This is a shaman, and a shaman who does all they can is always casting something on someone.
Addressing things in reverse order, until about 2ish months before GoD came out melee characters did not have to get any tomes and didn't have any abilities other than the skills as well as the Disciplines. So anyone who stopped playing as a level 65 melee character before December of 2003 would not have any idea what melee tomes or abilities are, because those things didn't exist then. Positioning as a melee character is rather different than it is for a mage; and on top of that those who "don't position as well they should" are going to position horribly regardless of what class they are. As for the OP, I would suggest trying the class you played originally unless there is a reason you no longer like it. Depending on the class a quick refresher through the tutorial and a few levels and you may feel up to playing your higher level one again.
Primarily in the level of sophistication needed to run the character. Your example of Bard and Enchanter are both good examples about the number of choices that have to be made with some character types. You didn't even get into Bards twisting songs! Little details like taking some damage to get your Enchanter pet into the fight, spells selection based on group make up. I'm sure you could write a book on it. Ditto for other classes like a Necro using life taps and health transfers to act as a meta healer to reduce down time. Fear and aggro kiting, DOTs, it can get complicated. To tash or not to tash, to snare or root, don't break mez, don't break root, don't draw aggro. Wizard can be pretty simple. Just buy the biggest damage spell available, root and burn<I know, cold and lightning may be the spell of choice at a given level>. I'm pretty sure someone new to EQ can make it the at least the first thirty levels with maybe five basic spells and their upgrades. You don't even need what used to be essential spells like bind and invisibility. A lot of group tactics, like ~save a bit of mana for the kill shot in the event of a runner, will be picked up while learning the game. Zoning is your friend, the guards mostly on your side, you can gate out of trouble, don't draw a crowd, all valuable lessons. Some group things, like don't out DPS your tank if you don't want to die, I'd kind of like people to figure out with their merc by the time they finish the tutorial. It's not that Wizards can't be run with a high level of sophistication, i.e. get a SoW and aggro kite, it is that they don't have to be.
? Fluid - sorry if this was misunderstood, but the part I quoted was a question to the OP (Subvaries).
IMO, the basic 4 classes that you can run as mercs (Warrior, Wizard, Cleric, Rogue) are the easiest classes. They have pretty low versatility, overall extremely simple characters. Clerics really only use 4 spells for 90% of the game (quick heal, mana efficient heal, group heal, symbol / aegoism line). Warriors get a bunch of abilities, but the majority of them come in the form of AA's purchased over time, so you get a chance to buy one, play with it, learn how to use it, and add it into your repotoire. Rogues are straight spank DPS. Again, they do get abilities over time, but one at a time allowing you to use them and learn them as you level up. Wizards, you get ports and nukes. The biggest complication with them is picking the right spells that don't share cooldown timers, but that's pretty quick and easy to figure out. The other easy classes are the ones that are straight melee, monks and berserkers. Same as I mentioned above. Monks get complicated depending on how fancy you are with pulling. However, a group's xp flow is insane with a solid, well-played monk. Pullers are very VERY important class types, as they can make you the most popular character or the most hated character just based on how skilled you are. When you deviate from there, you get classes that get loads of versatility, but that versatility costs you in ease of play. Bard is the one class I've never really learned how to play, but IMO, they are one of the most complex classes in the game because of how much they can do. Bards are amazing characters and you will rarely have problems finding a group as one. Shadow knights are another extremely diverse class that are simple if played averagely, but get complicated if you play it to it's full potential in a group. Chanters in todays game have value based on what zone you're playing in and the quality of the other characters in your group. If your puller sucks, or isn't taking the time to split mobs for whatever reason, a chanter can severely simplify encounters by keeping the train under control. I've seen chanters manage 10-20 mob trains, which is handy if your puller wants to be lazy (mobs are already pulled, just kill in order!). However, if your puller is really good about getting single mobs, a chanter will be next to worthless compared to another slow-capable class. Once you deviate into the other classes, you do tend to get much more complicated characters. Mages are truly amazing characters, but they can be really difficult if you have problems keeping track of too many things at once. However, if you can play it to it's max capability, and get the AA"s covered, you can do some truly incredible things that are the target of class envy. As a mage, I can solo current content missions, named, etc. Most people sit there wiping on certain missions that I walk in and solo without much trouble. Of course it will take me longer than a well oiled group, but to others, what I do is pretty intense. You can do a certain amount of crowd control using swarm pets, you can solo, you can beam kite (DON'T DO IN OPEN ZONES!!!!!), you can add a ridiculous amount of damage to groups and raids (I make top 10 parses every raid), etc. Sky is the limit in so many cases, and your limit is how well you can adapt to the class. As others have said in this thread, find the class that fits you best, and you will be happy. Don't worry about things like "easy" or "powerful" because this is a class you're going to be playing for months to years to come. You should love what you do, and enjoy it. That's the most important thing bar none. Think about it like a job. You're working a job 40+ hours a week, for the next 20 -40 years. Wouldn't you rather love what you do and look forward to going to work rather than hate it?
