Which Class to Play (Mangler)

Shaman has much to much utility to be main healer (again in the perfect group anyone can tank and anyone can be main heal). I have no desire to main heal every group as a Shaman so I just stopped playing that class. My main when EQ very first launched was a Cleric so I have no issue being main healer I actually like it, with a Shaman it’s like I have 25 tools in my bag and only get to use two doing that.

having an extra 20 sta is better than not having it, and can just do it again for the race change if u want

Id love to meet these mystical amazing Druids out there that outparse everyone and out heal all healers and do it all the while doing the fortnite default dance and listening to renditions of Rick Astley's Together Forever.

Sorry been doing TLPs since the first and I have never seen these Albino White Tiger Whale Druid's that are showing everyone else how to TLP it up.

Druids are bad in general. Can they do a bunch of things? Sure, but they do none of that stuff good and other than Powerleveling with a single toon there is no situation where you would ever want a druid over a better class.

But ya know, maybe the Dhali Lama of Druids is out there somewhere and I just haven't run into them in my 6 TLP servers and 4 guilds where I was a raid leader of a top 10 guild.

I was DPS Druid on Agnarr. Its rare. I have met 1 or 2 others. I made top 10 in parses during Velious/Luclin era, mostly Velious when I was active. What you do is throw 3 dots, then melee, then cast nukes on the boss mobs. The E[ic helps.

In most groups I am in on my shaman, with proper use of canni, and even moreso once you get torpor.

You should be able to.
Slow every mob
Heal when needed (with high level slow, you might heal once every pull)
DPS (at least throw poison dot on every mob)
Keep buffs running
Avatar your main dps
etc etc...

This is as the only healer in the group

Canni III if used correctly is equal to FT35, assuming clarity 2 and bard song you are pushing 100 mana/tick (if you dance properly). Once canni IV gets released its FT80. It gets even easier once you get your horse.

It is a lot of work, but its one reason I love Shaman. You pretty much have unlimited mana unless the puller brings in like 4-5

If you really dont like main healing thats one thing, but saying you only get to do "2" things when your main healing as a shaman is a proper play issue.

I’ve got an older iMac I’m going to wrangle out of storage and see if it can run EQ. I think I can wineskin EQ on it. I know I ran WOW- Legion on it less than a year ago (at like 10fps with all settings as bad as can be). Think it has 512MB dedicated GFX and an okay 2-core processor. Anyways, I don’t play EQ with advanced lighting or new models anyways, so that’s a plus. If it does work and I can set it up side-by-side, I’m leaning Enchanter/Druid GFay wombo, or Enchanter/Magician DE combo. Idk.

*edit* wineskin is okay to play EQ on TLP, right? Or is that bannable?

I think just running EQ on a Mac under Wine is probably punishment enough.

i have seen druids at the top of parses on multiple mobs from classic to velious, including during dps races between two guilds. now, they generally dont do that at the same time as healing, but if a druid focuses on damage they can do quite well. those dots are mean since the revamp, and their nukes dont suck.

people just pigeon hole druids into the healer role, when they really arent just healers.

same reason that rangers STILL carry a stigma to many players despite being a really well balanced class on TLPs now. old memories are hard to let go of.

What's the hot take on bards in classic thru PoP? How good/bad a choice would it be?

lol, please produce these parses of these magical druids that top dps race parses. lol, I've heard it all now! Next your gonna tell me you saw a Ranger solo tank AoW in era I'm sure!

just look at druid nukes and compare them to wizard/mage nukes, then look at the druid dot line that they can use on top of the nukes. its not hard to see how druids can parse well.

I now know that I won't have a second box until near the end of Classic or until we're into Kunark. For now, I am leaning towards a Mage as first character. Strong leveler and farmer of PP/mid-game items.

As for Necro and Enchanter--my playtime will be limited once Monday evening rolls around. My hope is that I can do a short burst of play (30hours or so) from Sat until Monday evening and still have it be productive currency-wise. I worry if I go Necro or Enchanter, by the time I get to the point where each can really shine for farming, I'll have to go back to work and spend time with the wifey again, and I'll be one small fish in a sea of 500 farmers and multi-boxers of Guk and such places when I do get the playtime. Whereas, with a Mage, I can effectively farm PP spots along the way of leveling and be productive along the way.

As for Leveling an Enchanter or Druid for PLing my box, I think that I can use the mage's fire shield to get enough of a jump-start, or the real possibility that a few weeks into the TLP, I can level one of these or both up as well.

I believe everything you say, I was lower level and didn’t have the greatest of canni, not a bard and half the time not an enchanter in them groups so it wasn’t near as efficient. Nor did I have my best slow to use plus as you get higher level you can use group buffs more and things also get more efficient I understand but to start out and through the low to mid levels just being main heal wasn’t great as a shaman.

Shaman really sucked in the late 40s. It's better now that we get Superior Healing earlier. But buffs are still tedious.

Well damn. My dad is going to sell me his older desktop (should crush EQ though) so... looks like I'll be 2-boxing with 2 desktops setup on the same desk. Will be interesting with keyboards/mice. Now to figure out what my 2-box will be. Oye!

I definitely think that I'm going to have to focus on one main character with kind of a supporter as it probably will be tough to pull off this 2-desktop setup flawlessly (kind of a small desk). A laptop would have made it easier, but here we are.

1) Druid / Enchanter --- tons of awesomeness potential here. Worried that it'll be a slow trog to level up and play them both effectively, though. If I'm the only healer and the only enchanter in a group and goes down, it'll be pretty tough to effectively play both classes. The duoing is off the charts though, plus all sorts of utility.

2) Paladin / Druid --- great combo, great for grouping and adventuring. I really enjoy playing Paladins, and they're chill enough to help make it work. I have experience running Paladin/Druid on Ragefire. Definitely a lot weaker in terms of duoing content, however, as the DPS is low, plus there is no hasting the paladin or slowing the mob. However, I do really enjoy the playstyle and grouping with the playstyle.

3) Druid / Wizard --- great combo. Druid goes and pulls, they nuke'm down together. Wizard meds almost full-time and just stands to throw 1-2 haymakers every so often. Amazing adventuring potential over the Karanas and similar places. Whatever account I make alts on, they'll have ports. Downside is that there is no dungeon-crawl potential if I can't straight-up blow'em-up.

4) Enchanter / Wizard --- great combo. Solo on the enchanter, use the wizard for executing the charmed and near-death mobs. Wizard will have clarity. Good ports. Evac if needed. Can really spike the damage if desired to burn a mob.

5) Cleric / Enchanter --- great combo. Maybe the best in terms of duo-ability. Weakness is the attention to detail required, especially when grouping.

6) Mage / Druid --- good combo.

Anyways, just some thoughts. IDK what to go and only a few days left!@!@

My first thought in agreement with others, is play what you want to play first and foremost. All of the classes you listed are great in their own ways, which ultimately asks which of those factors do you enjoy most? If you really want to be a ranger a necro isn't going to scratch that itch.

With that said, the idea of making some money or farming is never a bad thing. I had a druid alt/box that I absolutely loved and he really was able to do so many roles that was great. As said, it really is mistakenly underrated and an excellent class when you learn to play it. The downside is they are so incredibly mobile that most anything else really is tough until PoP when it's less of an issue. Being able to track, charm, heal, solo, port, bark, evac, buff, and really whatever your mood requires. Also, I really enjoyed the epic and while it's not Shaman easy, it's a very easy epic to obtain. And who doesn't want a leaf blower?

I desperately need you folks to decide whether I should be Bard or Enchanter.

I love support classes. I love enchanter's control over the field. But I've also played an enchanter a couple of times, and have always wanted to level a bard.

Going to be paired with a Paladin.

Help!

Paladin/Bard is sweet as heck. If you aren't interested in duoing off on your own then you can just take paladin/bard and start your own groups very easily. If you want power to do your own thing with just your duo then enchanter is way too good at that to miss

Shaman/Monk or Shaman/Shadowknight

Would consider this but you need good gear , shaman is great buff bot + slows . Also the poison nukes are very good dps.

Mage/Mage dont need gear and super OP for farming . Easy to play .

Enchanter if you're basic. Bard if you can truly embrace the class and do things that will impress friend and foe alike.