Yet another "Coming back to the game, what do I do" question... I played release through OoW, have touched back here and there over the years, but I'm getting bored of WoW and miss the EQ dungeon crawl feel. I want to be desired for groups, like 5 minutes after I log in I've got a group. So first, which classes from each type are the most desired for groups (and maybe raids)? As a second level, which of those classes can solo well enough to level up quickly and pound out AA's on the way? I'm just saying, I don't want to level up a ranger or necro or something and find out that nobody wants them in groups or raids. I'd put group/raid desirability over topping dps meters and soloing all day. Also for Live I'll just be soloing/moloing, no boxes. All help is appreciated!
If you’re playing live, no matter which class you pick you will be on your own until the final 5-10 levels before max. It’s just a very top heavy game on live at this point. Not to say you can’t have fun and relive those old memories but it sounds like you’re looking for a TLP. Aradune or Rizlona are probably your best bets, both are in Ruins of Kunark and will be in Scars of Velious in the next month or so? Cleric, Enchanter, Bard are probably your best options for “getting a group quick”
Yeah I hear you, but if I were to go live and molo my way up, what classes are most desired? Cleric, Chanter, Bard, Shaman were always wanted before... is that still pretty valid? are clerics still a step above druid/shaman for healing? would there be much benefit to leveling up a warrior over sk/pal? i like the idea of a bard buffing up their group big time too.
Bard is probably your best bet in terms of raid/group desirability... It will be quicker to molo to max than if you main a cleric/dru/shm. Almost every guild accepts bards... its also a class with a high turnover rate from my experience, meaning it may not be the most "enjoyable" class to play due to the fact that you're not doing the "most" damage or healing the "best". If the boost that bards provide to a group was a tangible thing you could parse and attribute to the bard, a lot more people would play them imo.
Play what you enjoy, or else it will feel like a slog. That said, Bard is not a bad idea lol. They may require a good box or finding some other low level people and attempting to goad them into grouping ("Let me sing for you as you pay for my lutes" is always a fun line to lead off with) but yeah. Meanwhile I'm leveling a Mage because my Druid may have reached a point where moloing is hard. lv63, been doing Mesa, and I feel like I needed to add a mage for more dps lol.
I agree wholeheartedly with the above quote. My extra copper pieces here, all classes have the ability to solo and/or molo some are just faster then others. Any class with ADPS is generally valuable with Bard being the ultimate ADPS class. The best soloing classes will be your pet classes (Mage, Necro, Beastlord) and when you molo you can add in the knights (Pal/SK) with an edge to the SK due to the dps they can output. If you stick to undead zones Paladin dps is just fine especially post-59 with Slay Undead. This is also very true. The classes I see picked up for a group on live almost immediately are the tanks. The ones that I see LFG for the longest are your pure DPS classes (Wizard, Zerker, Rogue, Monk). The rest of the classes will see varying success. Anything below 85 is definitely solo and 85-110 is rather rare to find a full group to level with unless you get piggybacked by some 115's. Keep in mind the holy trinity of MMORPG is Tank - Heals - DPS/Utility, if you can fulfill 1 or 2 of those spots (with DPS and Utility being separate identities in a group) then your success finding a group goes up (Shadowknight can tank + heal themselves for example)
I enjoy helping my group more than just putting out dps... the CC, big buffs, key debuffs... I'm thinking either Bard or Enchanter. How are they around 100+? Actually, do their songs/spells stack for haste/mana regen? Maybe I could main ench and box a bard for passive boost from songs, then have 2 mercs for tank/heal.
They do stack, one is spell haste (enc) the other is overhaste (bard song). While there are numerous combos out there that can ultimately be successful the bard/enc may be too similar to be as effective as others. Also the tank merc becomes far less reliable the higher you level. My suggestion if you're willing to 2-box. Go SK/Bard... there really won't be much outside of raids and some more difficult group missions that you wouldn't be able to demolish.
I see you play both Monk and SK ... is Monk capable to tank or is it too great a difference from the plate armor? On your signature, it looks like they are very close in HP/AC. Also, with Ench/Bard, would it be effective to charm a tank and use mercs as heal/dps? I remember Ench getting a permacharm at 60 or so? Does that stay effective up through the levels?
My monk can tank most stuff but our snap aggro is no where close to that of a true tank. Monks also have far fewer abilities designed for tanking vs pure tanks. I basically tanked as a monk up until it got frustrating and inefficient to progress with. Enchanter charm is possible at higher levels but not with the OPness of classic eq. Basically you can do it but nobody is hunting down enchanters for charm pet dps or tanking in current content.
Thanks for the info! It's bad enough having to pick one class... now to level you've gotta pick two or three and consider group comps and synergies without even knowing how they'll turn out endgame! Tank seems like a must-have. I'll have to look at those. Then Bard to buff the tank and Mercs for heal/dps... Might try out bard/necro to buff necro solo skills to level faster. Dev's gotta come up with something to make leveling better (besides the hero journey) because it's kinda ridiculous to ask any new player to solo for months before being able to "play the game". WoW was having the same issues (with less than half the expansions of EQ) and their new system is kinda genius.
a good shaman is desired in group and raid , and can easily solo , aa root and aa ae root rock , you can kill several mobs at same time , root / doting.
Level-squishing wouldn't work quite as well for us as it would for WoW, nor really doing a region-based leveling system. I played during BfA and prior to that during the experiment that became the level squish, and honestly while I liked it, it also only really works for a quest-driven game. It also works better for a system that doesn't have a thousand-or-more point customization system beyond merely your character level. AAs are a big thing from the mid-50s onward. I suppose you could squish the level to 60 and have AAs be a sort of post-leveling thing, but that really breaks the spirit of the system too. Probably the best way to do it EQ wise is to reduce exp needed to level at certain ranges - 60-85 would probably be the ideal range. Then 86-115 would be the time-consuming levels, which would be fine. At 63 on my druid, it's already taking a good amount of time to get through any levels.
If you are actually good at whatever class you choose to play, you will be desired. After all, a good player increases utility.
Getting groups 5 minutes after you log in is less a function of what class, but rather, what guild you are in. I was on a level 48 paladin project toon yesterday and had at least two guildmates recruiting me to fast xp groups. Trust me, it wasn't the pally they were seeking to make their day. Secondly, fill your friendlist with people like this.
This is true. About your sigline here: Loose is how losers spell lose. Have you considered folks who are not native english speakers and on their 3rd or 4th language? Have you considered the victims of gutted educational systems? Have you considered young people who are dodging life's bullets, like abusive parenting, familial illnesses or dysfunction, like alcoholism and such? My wife is a trauma therapist who helps such people daily. Education shaming doesn't make you better than them. Just saying.
Even in a large guild, you can't expect group invites within 5 minutes of logging in. It can happen, but you can't count on it.
The class lines have blurred a lot compared to when you played. Lots of classes can fade. Monks can mez. Tanks get a belt that does 25% slow. A lot has been done to adjust for the changes in player populations. It's not the same game where you stand around looking for a cleric and if you don't find one then nothing gets done. We have cleric mercs. Druids heal awesome. Warrior merc, pet tanks, etc. Play the class you want. A guild would rather have a great druid than a mediocre cleric. So on and so forth. There are so many time sinks and so much to do to max out the strength of your toon that being a higher demand class will never makeup for having less completed. As for boxing... Tank, support, DPS, Healer. Tank - War, SK, PAL, Mage, MERC. Healer - CLR, DRU, ENC, MERC Support - Whatever you pick to split/CC/debuff. Just remember if you plan to go merc healer or tank, they can't be used in raid instances, so if you go back and do old raids, you will need a box or player to fill that slot.
