Picking a class for a first time player

I've tried to play EQ a few times on various TLPs and p99 but never got very far, maybe level 12 or so. I'd like to give it a more serious go this time around but find it hard to pick a class to stick with. I'd really like to play something that will allow me to see as much of the game as possible. I want to group, solo, farm, explore, and definitely want to raid.

Im not worried about learning class mechanics, but more concerned with situational knowledge. For example, monk and bard are appealing but I have no idea how easy it will be to learn to pull. It seems like something unique to each zone or camp.

Any suggestions?

Play a mage. You'll always be wanted in a group and you can grind to 50 easy. When buying pet spells just buy the Water pet. If Water is not available, buy the Air pet for that level. And only buy the Bolt nuke spells. Look at the spells here: https://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/spelllist.html?name=&type=mag&level=1&opt=And Higher&action=search

Mage really is the good choice for a new player. You're fairly powerful even with bad gear, can solo, group desirable, not complicated, but also not inactive in groups and not too active on raids.

Pulling is not hard at all and most of what's called pulling today is simply training. The actual finesse of pulling is almost unheard of in day to day play. Nonetheless, pulling is definitely less newb friendly and soloing on a bard or monk is not as good as a mage imo. You cant really mow down packs on a bard so you're better off making a group way better. Kinda similar with a monk, they're just better off in a group.

All three of those classes, however, are very desirable on raids or in groups.

Thanks for the advice, Mage is definitely on my list and one of the classes I've tried and enjoyed playing.

I play other MMOs at a very competitive level and am used to being in the top guilds clearing content. I feel like that's setting some unrealistic and irrelevant expectations for EQ. This is a game where I can take it slow and level many classes to cap over time right? It would be nice to get a wide range of experiences.

+3 on Mage being an OK character. Much more punch you in the face then subtle faints and jabs. They do run out of gas around level 50 solo and grouping grouping 50 up is almost a must.

You didn't say if you intend to play a new TLP or an existing one. Magician is still a good choice, it is just on a new TLP server the choices vary a bit. Mage is faster 1-10 then a Druid on a new TLP, but you can't beat a Magician on an later stage TLP where they sell pet toys in the Bazaar. Later stage PoK servers also offer buffs that make just about any character type playable. Pretty much all TLP magic tossers are a bit on the weak side before Clarity kicks in and/or Breeze is added. Most of the melee types are so weak, they had to cripple spell focus effects for balance to lower magic tossers to melee levels.

Ah right, I'll be playing on Aradune

Shadowknight: This is probably the strongest class overall through every era & expansion of the game & they are easily the most consistently powerful, capable & reliable - one downside is they are super-popular so it can be difficult to get a spot on a raid when you are up against a big bunch of other Shadowknights & many of them are very skilled to boot.

Mage is a very solid suggestion as a beginner class low skill required to be effective with them to begin with and they are a lot of fun to play, in group content they are very strong though in raids they can feel a bit lacklustre they are however only as good as your pet management skills and if you don't enjoy a lot of micromanaging later on they can feel like you put in a lot of work to get not great performance out of them.

Shaman is also another strong starter class, but they can feel weak early on until you get familiar with their play-style, one of the stronger soloers once you become experienced with them and they are almost always popular for groups & raids.

Druids are also another very good starter class but they fade out a lot after 60 as the other classes start becoming stronger, they are excellent utility classes & can be amazing soloers but their weaknesses as a group healer early-game will leave them struggling to get group spots. Often players who start out as Druid keep them as a powerleveller class for what they eventually end up playing long term / on raids.

Necromancers: This can be a great or a terrible first class depending on how well you take to them.
Very powerful soloer and while they are not highly desired in groups they can manage without a group better than any other class.
On raids they are strong but they are only needed in low numbers, more than 4/5 Necromancers in a guild & you will run into some problems, this is rare though as they are a complicated class to play at higher levels.

Eq is thoroughly beat. Especially in classic there is literally decades of walkthroughs and its been crushed so extensively. Whatever the top guilds are I guarantee you there will be no talent check to keep you out. There is also no guarantee the other members will be good players but probably are on average.

The only real competition is racing to open world mobs but that's more mobilizing than actual skill in a game sense. It's a fun aspect to be sure, and probably a large reason why eq just dies when the large world becomes entirely instanced.

As far as clearing the content, every raid guild that can field 40 people will do so with relative ease. Itll just be instanced for most, which isn't necessarily bad or worse.

For what you are looking to do- roll mage. Other interesting choices would be shaman or Necro, but you probably won’t enjoy raiding as a shaman.

Probably wouldn't recommend mage if raiding is going to be your primary focus, raiding as a mage can be pretty frustrating during the early expansions due to a variety of factors you can read about in the mage threads. Mage does bring utility so it's not like you'd be excluded from raiding, but on most encounters you'll be playing handicapped until like Velious or really Luclin+.

You sound like me. I have had many a character never getting much higher than level 12 or so as well. ^^! Others are more experienced than I, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Pick a race and a class you feel the most akin too. Even if you have to learn something, if you are only doing it to be uber and then later it fizzles out and you don't feel any connection to it, it becomes a loss, minus the real world experience gained from learning the game more of course. But choose a character you can connect with, maybe even role play with, even if not the best character, you will feel more inclined to continue with it.

Right now I am a shaman. And as others have said shamans can be a good starter. They are fairly adequate in just about everything, a Jack of all Trades as it were. Maybe not the best at any one thing, but they have all the important areas covered. They can solo, they can group, etc. I feel the druid is in a similar position as well. A shadowknight can also do decently on their own. Really it just comes down to what you want to play.

I would try a monk or bard if your interested in those. Pulling is not hard and you will start to pick it up pretty fast. As for raiding as long as you don’t afk and are willing to learn almost any top raid guild will take you. If your struggling on something just ask in your class channel or general chat.

Anything is possible, so you should not be turned off by anything. It all depends if you are looking for a challenge and be prepared to do deep into a class. It does sound like you are prepared to do that, so while I would say Mage to any starter, maybe you should ignore that and go for a Monk. It's an easy (understatement) class gear wise in classic and beyond, is forgiving through feign death and packs a punch no pun intended.

However, Monks have a blessing and a curse, which is pulling. Despite you bring one of the highest dps in classic, you will be pulling, pulling, pulling and after that more pulling, and more pulling. Did I mention pulling? Love it, or steer clear of this class.

My only suggestion if you go mage and as a new player...if you ever go around solo, make sure to learn how pulling works(there are guides). The main thing that kills mages is aggroing too many mobs. Your only root is your earth pet, and if you do anything solo i'd also suggest using an earth pet as they.

But, as people have said, water is typically the best when in a group.

If monk and bard are appealing, play one. If you're used to being a top player in other mmos, you're not gonna have trouble learning to pull.

I'd first suggest that you go to one of the live servers, any of them will do, and run a number of characters of different classes through the tutorial so that you can get a feel for the controls and all. You don't need to keep them or be attached but when Aradune opens you can hit the ground running and not be trying to eternally play catch up

If you're looking to experience as much of the game content as possible, consider Wizard or Druid. Both can travel to lots of far-flung locations easily and are effective in solo and team situations. The first will be more desirable for raids, while the second will give you many more options in group and solo adventures. For myself, knowing that my stable of toons will expand over time, it's always helpful to start with a druid as the perfect "helper" to other characters.

Yakita- ROG
Stephie- DRU
Twistkita- BRD

I'd suggest monk, for a number of reasons:

1. Can solo if you have to.
2. Feign death is the single best ability in the game, and will save your life quite a few times.
3. Can literally level naked with no weapons to max. The least gear dependent class in the game, especially in classic.
4. If there is a bard around, they will probably pull as they are much better at it, so you may not need to be pulling all the time. Pulling is one of those things that does actually really benefit from some knowledge of each dungeon, but it isn't something you can't pick up. There are a *lot* of local knowledge peculiarities to each and every EQ zone.

I'd suggest against Bard as one of your first characters for a number of reasons:

1. Gear dependent. Any plate wearer is a pain to gear on a new server
2. Easily the most complicated class to play well if you're acting as puller. You really need to be familiar with, and creative with, the EQ macro system. Bards are constantly juggling songs/skills, they are a very "busy" class.
3. They drop off the edge of a cliff once the hole is released because a big part of their abilities no longer work on the mobs you have to fight past about level 45.

Monks are always at least good, through every expansion, and great to amazing for most of them. I found monk to be a really fun class to play as well. The mechanics are simple enough to get a handle on really fast, but there is a lot to keep your interest. Weapon skill training, learning different zones to pull, being able to explore because you can feign death your way out of trouble....great first character, and great server first character.

What are your thoughts on Necro? As a kid I always wanted to play necromancer or shadow knight because the games I played didn't have those edgy types of classes. I understand they're very good for solo play, but have heard they are complicated to raid with? Is it common as a farm character to fund alts and not much more?

Also, will that DoT revamp be on the new TLPs?

Or as a necro for the first year. It's not until mid-/late-PoP that necros stop being mana batteries for clerics, and in classic/Kunark the number of resists you get on raid bosses is...discouraging, to say the least.