Hello everyone. I'm new to Everquest

Sorry if this is the wrong place for this, but I've never played EQ before. I've heard about it obviously, and there was a lot of hype around mischief rules from friends I play other games with. I play alot of WoW, guild wars 2 and path of exile.

Anyways, I've got a question. I'm thinking of playing on the teek server when it comes out, I enjoy playing support, so I've narrowed my choices down to Druid, Cleric, or Enchanter. As a new player, which class is most forgiving / wanted / needed? I would Assume cleric, but if I suck as a cleric as a newbie, will I get flamed? Maybe Druid or Enchanter I get flamed less? Maybe Druid or Enchanter is more needed?

Once again, sorry for this question if it's in the wrong area or just dumb. Thanks.

Cleric is the most forgiving but after a few levels you will really want to be grouping with others.

Druid can do a bit of offensive dmg and some healing will some nice buffs and later you can teleport yourself and others, the draw back being that people really aren't looking for druids in their groups, you may get some, you might have to start some but there isn't anyone out there forming groups going "Gee, wish we had a druid"

Enchanter is a very powerful spell caster, but has a higher learning curve and can be played many ways the issue is that if you play this with others in a group you will likely be expected to charm which is it's own game altogether, the one saving grace is that if you tell your group that you are new to the game and are learning that many people will be happy to show you the ropes, most people grouping up are friendly, kind and helpful.

My suggestion personally would be Cleric if you want to group, Druid if you are fine playing slowly by yourself or forming your own groups or if you have lots of time and want a challenge then go enchanter

With Cleric you should be able to get a group, make some friends and the class is pretty basic, you will learn heal agro very quickly "or you won't" cause it can be painful quickly.

This is the perfect area for your question.

First of all, Welcome!!!

Cleric is far and away the option you are looking for. From a novice standpoint it is very straightforward and easy to play this class at the level needed for groups to find you extremely useful and the threshold for success is fairly low.

Ask a lot of questions, I would recommend actually jumping onto a server like Oakwynd and getting an idea of where to buy spells, etc. I'm not sure how new you are.

Enchanter is extremely advanced. Druid is not in big demand in almost any group.

If you have further questions post them here or message me on discord Vetis#1007 I'm happy to answer any questions you may have!

Enchanter is not for a new player. I would try Cleric if you want to be a healer. The easiest newbie class is probably Mage though since the pet will do a good portion of your damage and you just cast DD spells, mostly.

Cleric is the easy answer.
All they do is heal / buff / pacify / nuke if you feel frisky / melee early on since thats all you got.

Druid is not a bad choice but it will depend on what the group wants.
They can perform as a spot healer through most of classic but don't expect to do much else in the group setting otherwise you will run oom rather quickly.
If they want you to charm later you will need to learn how to manage the pet and keep yourself alive.
If you take this route, I recommend looking into Kunark clickies for snare/dot.

Enchanter is the high risk high reward choice.
They require the most attention, you will get limited bathroom breaks if you are charming and will be expected to keep clarity up on all casters / haste on dps / slow on specific mobs that hit hard / tash every mob.
Color spray for charm breaks + lvl 2 mez if your best friend.
You will also need to utilitize the /target hotkeys in game in order to cycle through mezable targets for multi pulls / tash / etc.

Tip : All 3 of these classes should be sitting 90% of the time or more if you are not Full Mana.
Do not sit directly after high agro spells, such as heals on incoming, slows, pet engage, nukes.

Thanks for the advice everyone
I was leaning toward druid, because I love the utility, but you guys say nobody wants druids so I guess cleric it is.

Go Enchanter one of the most fun classes to play. And groups will be looking for enchanters and clerics, enchanters are a lot more fun. IMHO...

Druids are fun but harder to get group invites but can solo well.

Groups only want well played Enchanters...a newbie is not going to play one well, for quite a while.

Welcome to the game! As a new player, please avoid enchanter. Veteran players will get frustrated and start telling you how to play and if you aren't good at controlling charm pets you will die a lot - it's a very important class the first 5 expansions and between shaman/enchanter the highest skill cap required with intricate knowledge of the game. Ench/Shaman are not for beginners. Easily going to get flamed the most as an under performing enchanter.

Druids are great for beginners but they don't get groups very often. They are a true support role. They can dps/solo/heal but they are not particularly great at any of it. Unless you had friends to play with to invite you to a group regularly. Druids are particularly strong in zones where they can charm animals at higher levels (chardok primarily) You will spend most of your time with LFG on and not getting anywhere until a big softy like myself rolls along and looks for druids to invite. A well played druid is actually a strong class - just there is a stigma against them by inferior players who look for meta classes to carry them.

Cleric - probably the 2nd easiest class in the game and the most needed. CH rotation is easily taught if you get into raiding. Always the ideal leaping off point - amazing buffing/healing power and resurrection is invaluable.

I have found the EQ community to be very forgiving of new or inexperienced players. Even if you make mistakes you are unlikely to get snipped at. Cleric is a nice solid place to start.

As a few others have said, Enchanter is hard. In classic/Kunark, it is going to be the main character in the group, you will be responsible for all the damage, as well as slow/haste/clarity. It can be pretty intense. Druids are only good for ports, and clerics are great, but they really do get a bit boring.

You should also consider Shaman. That is the king of support classes. They get a pet around level 35 or so, which is fun. They are second best healers. They are great for haste on DPS, and great for slow on the baddies. They also throw a few mean poison and disease spells to help with the DPS. Every group is happy to have a shaman on board. BUT, they are also one of the best classes to go solo if you cant find a group. And everyone loves a shaman in big raids, because you have all the buff spells to help every boost their damage output and defense.

I will also have to controversially suggest Warrior. That is often a good class if you are new. You just hit auto-attack and stand still right in the middle of the action. It is a very easy class to play. It does get harder on raids, and you do need to build some skills. But for the first 50 levels, you only use two buttons ... auto-attack and taunt. Everyone else does the work, you just stand still and take the damage. You will probably always be first to die, but you get rezzed up quick, then the shaman buffs you, and then you hit auto-attack again.

Welcome to the game! After 25 years, still my favorite.

Of those class options, I would probably go druid and here is why. Keep in mind its opinion, everyone has one, and everyone is wrong in some way.

Druid: A lot of different play options here. You have the options of being a healer or you can nuke or DoT or all three. You can also charm animals. You can also teleport around the world, and when you are bored or broke, porting people is one of the easiest ways to make money.

Probably one of the easiest classes to solo as well. And to top it off, if you get a second account its one of the best ways to powerlevel a new character.

As a new player to EQ, I would suggest mage as first char. A powerful class, not hard to get groups, good pet and not too demanding like enchanter (groups will expect you to do a LOT more than anyone else in the group!).

Oh and welcome - a new player to EQ is as common as a unicorn. Hope you stay

Welcome to EQ!

I will also agree with the vast majority of players here. Cleric is the way to go.

Clerics are always wanted and needed (find groups very fast). They have a very low skill cap ceiling and are pretty straightforward. They can get a little boring, but if you are used to playing support/healing its not too bad. Of the 3 this is definitely the choose for a newer player.

Druid would be a decent new player choice, but everyone here is right. Druids struggle to find groups, pretty heavily. I would never ever invite a druid to my group pre-OOW. They bring absolutely nothing to the group that another class can't do better. It has a lot of versatility, but that alone would make me never want to play one unless I just wanna solo (you dont).

Enchanter like everyone has said is probably the most advanced class in EQ. It requires a level of attention and knowledge to play effectively that I would only recommend to veteran players. While some people in this thread are correct people may be more forgiving of a "new" player, I can promise you 100% not everyone will. A chanter who doesn't charm will quickly be kicked from a group (I have kicked em from my groups). I would avoid this class if your new to EQ. It will just frustrate you and probably make for a bad experience. That being said, they get groups as easy or easier than any other class (Assuming your good and don't get kicked out lol).


I also agree Shaman is a very solid choice. It isn't as easy as cleric, but it is more fun. It has decent healing, and slows/buffs are super needed. I always find groups on my Shaman super fast. Maybe not quite as fast as Cleric, but its pretty close. Also shaman solos much better as well. This is a solid choice for a new player.

I'm going to second this. If you like support, you should def consider shaman. I have mained a shaman twice. Always gotten groups easy. Their mana Regen is best in game, best slows in game, and I think the best melee adps early on until bards reign supreme. Shaman will also be easy to learn.

It is a very busy class tho.

Also I don't think enchanter is as tough as everyone is making it out to be. It's buffs, crowd control, and charm.

You basically have 4 spells for this. Mez, stun, tash, and charm you learn how assist works and what those 4 things do and your pretty solid.

Eq is not a hard game it's very laid back

And WELCOME!!

I can try to compare and contrast some of WoW vs EQ for you. I dabbled in WoW and played EQ since launch. Its long ... and best advice is read up on a few of the classes and go with the race and class that most intrigues you - have fun with it!

WoW has lots of quests while EQ really does not have any in comparison. WoW has pvp; EQ's attempt at pvp pales in comparison - essentially wont exist on these servers. EQ is open world mob grinding to level and instances of raid targets at max level. WoW raiding 10/20 man will seem diff to the herding cats of a 54 man raid. Loot is on rare mobs spread throughout the different zones and in classic/kunark - loot is for people to make krono or gold on - its what people convince you to buy as you NEED it to LEVEL - but really - you dont. You dont need pre-raid BIS or any gear score to get into a group during this stage.

Let people know you're new to EQ after you join - find a guild - people are generally nice (even if they cant answer your questions).

Read about your class spells on sites such as EQ ALLA ( Spells :: EverQuest :: ZAM (allakhazam.com) ) and if you know what all your spells do - you already are ahead of more players than you would believe. WoW players overall seem to edge out EQ players on understanding game mechanics and class mechanics - so you will catch up fast!

EQ Class - WoW Class/Talent/ramblings below.

Cleric - Holy Pally or Holy Priest (with less cool spells) - pretty straight forward - few parlor tricks you will quickly learn - lots of heals - great heals - do you like healing - did I mention you will heal. Thought of as the premier healer in EQ.

Druid - Balance Druid (dots much stronger than direct damage) and a dash of mage (for the ports) - has some dots too, never seen as the best at anything but often times second best in alot! Lots believe you level a druid to power level your other chars or use for making money on ports and somehow many people dont seem to keep a druid as a main class past a couple expansions in.

Enchanter - hmm ... think BM hunter with overpowered pets (you get with charm at level 11) that you have to tame every few mins and when they break - they want to eat your face off - also Ice mage level of crowd control. Group game you feel like the Jeanie in Aladin - but during raids - its like you are in the bottle and can only cast buffs on other players. Probable closest to actions a class would perform playing a WoW character where a cleric or druid would seem like hit auto attack and 1 button for heals. Enchanters are very flavor of the month picks for many people.

Shaman - Dash of healing talented classes + couple warlock dots + the ability to debuff enemy mobs with a slow that is one of the most overpowered debuffs in the game. Slowly grows into a powerful char that can solo or duo with any class. The reason a shaman is essentially the best box for any character is because they can basically do it all solo if they wanted - just slower!

Hi, New to Everquest. I'm Dad

In my opinion, Druid or even Wizard may be a good first character as they are able to teleport and better explore the world. This also helps with questing or tradeskills, if that's your thing.

Druids can also be made a bit tankier with leather armor—which is nice in the early game—and along with damage shield it can give you a good feel for a more melee play style. They can also charm the wildlife, so there's some enchanter elements in there too and being able to heal yourself is always nice.

Have fun out there!

Hi and welcome.

Most important is to find a class you enjoy playing. Most players will be helpful if you tell them you are new and will answer questions you may have.

You say you have friends who are talking about Teek, if they are going to play also talk to them and see if you can all create chars that completment each other and play together. EQ is a lot more fun when you play with friends.

Enjoy your new journey, you won't be short on things to do and places to visit.

Groups do only want well played enchanters, however it takes no time at all to understand the class.

Groups also want well played clerics and druids also...