I am a WoW baby that grew up on pretty graphics, automatic dungeon queues, welfare raid-quality loot raining from the sky, Normal Mode raids that brought "faceroll" into common language, and solo questing that can be completed by a drinking bird aimed at your "1" key. My friend knows this, and recently noticed that EQ1 is part of my All Access account. Because she enjoys tormenting me, she keeps trying to coerce me into playing this, since I will "break like a twig" (evil laughter goes here). Now she's bet me a fairly stupidly large amount of money (there was alcohol involved) that I will never be able to reach max level in EverQuest without giving up and quitting. I want my money. However, I have no idea what's going on here. How do I play this game? Where do I even start? Help! edit: Some immediate questions I have: I hate hate HATE soloing in online games. Can I level by grouping? Are there dungeon queues? Anything? Please not a solo grind. >.< Does my race choice matter? Is this game split by faction? What class should I play? I want to either heal, tank, melee, wear plate armor, or dual wield. Or some mix of that. No running around in a dress screaming for help if I get aggro. Anything else a modern spoiled MMO player that's used to being lead along on a string by giant flashing arrows, should know For comparison, I've played EQ2 (recently) and basically every other MMO that has come out since 2009.
You can level by grouping fine, it might be hard to do that in the lower levels though (since not that many players at those levels), with a Mercenary they can basically power level you through half the game Race doesn't matter, pick whichever you think looks the best The game is a lot slower and clunkier compared to modern games
If your serious about playing, come see me on The Rathe server, but only if your serious, helping someone that far into the game is a significant undertaking, we have a friendly, active guild full of new and old players, all classes,all levels.
Pick the race you most like the look of; the stats don't matter (at this stage in the game). There's no faction split like in WoW, even less than there (used to be) was in EQ2. You might want to consider shadowknight - plate tank, can solo, can't dual wield - or paladin, which in addition to all that, can also heal. EQ looks clunky, but it really isn't. It's hard to get groups for the low levels, and you really need to be in a good guild (or be very outgoing) to consistently get groups at higher levels. A good guild really does make all the difference. Newbie tips: hire a tank mercenary as soon as you can (level 1 or 2). Complete the tutorial. You need to refer to Allakhazam to get details of quests. Once you get to level 16, you can get daily quests from Franklin Teek in the Plane of Knowledge, and hanging out either by him, or by the Magus in the Guild Lobby, will net you buffs. Don't be afraid to ask for buffs, either, getting high level buffs while you are still lower level will make a big difference.
Just to add a couple more tips..... Do the tutorial, there is a lot about this game that other games don't have. My kids started playing one year ago. I went through the tutorial with them and learned a couple new things (I started playing in Sept 2000). Please read the pop up screens. More people quit the game due to frustration, most of which is simply because they didn't read stuff in the tutorial. After the tutorial do the hero's journey line in Cresent Reach for gear. Also Franklin Teek in Plane of Knowledge has simple quests every day, do them.
Thanks for the info & replies ^^ And, oh gosh. This sounds a bit lonely and grindy. I guess the game is just top-heavy and skewed toward max content, since it's mostly veteran players, huh? Would the class I pick help? I'll play whatever you say if some class(es) has a way better chance of being able to level in group activity. Or is it just that there's basically no groups, period, leveling through the early/mid content? =/
There's pretty much no grouping up to level 70. But that's alright, because all you do is grab a tank merc and fly through those levels anyway. You can easily hit level 70 in a week. Or faster depending on how much time you have per day to play. Once at 70, groups start becoming more common, and then at 85/90 there's groups everywhere. As for which class...I'd personally avoid plate classes. They're strong in their own ways, but take awhile to kill things making the leveling slower, and they also require a lot of attention and dedication. You have the Shadow Knight (low dps, good survivalbility - yes made up word), the Paladin (even lower dps, better survivalbility), the cleric (lowest dps, best survivalbility due to best heals), the Warrior (arguable dps compared to the Knights, needs to be chained to a healer to survive), and then the Bard (great utility and survives the best, but probably the lowest dps - this class actually enhances other classes more than itself). Unlike WoW, most of your "dress wearing" classes in EQ have tools avoid being hit, or at least absorbing hits, so they don't go crying for help every time they get aggro. With that being said, for what you'd like to do, I'd say choose either a Ranger or Beastlord to play. Both dual wield, both can melee and ranged (Ranger with bow and spells / Beastlord with pet and spells), Ranger wears chain mail, Beastlord has leather. Both good on their own, and even better in a group, as well as both being pretty straight forward in their roles, so it wouldn't take a lot to pick up and learn. Makes things a lot less frustrating and a lot more fun.
Oh! TY for the awesome info, I appreciate all the detail. That sounds quite a bit less demoralizing. I don't have much time to play per day, but I don't mind being a little patient if it'll get me somewhere better (I am an MMO fan, after all ). 1-2 weeks to group content is fair enough — earlier I was imagining like... 6 months of agonizingly grinding bixies 16 hours / day just to get anywhere. ^^ So you're saying the plate classes are a giant PITA to solo with, basically? If we ignore solo gripes and just focus on group play, would your recommendations change? I'm a really stubborn grouper in online games. I'm perfectly happy just logging out if I can't find a group for the night. So my only real concern is stuff like "Do groups want this class?", "How useful am I in a group?" and "What am I doing in a group?"
Assuming you had a group available 75% of the time...I'd say it's like any other MMO: a good tank is always in need. Given that I'd say: SKs - like WoWs DKs. They heal themselves while damaging their foes Paladins - more akin to WoWs Paladins seeing as they heal themselves rather well. Also, imho, the best reactive tank Warrior - Best tank hands down. But needs the most attention of all tanks since they have no ways of healing themselves Bards - Enhances their group members through songs. Always a pleasure to have around. Will be kept busy in a group setting and has a fun way to solo. If you're okay not dishing out a lot of damage yourself but staying busy and being quick on your toes to adapt when things get hairy, these guys are fun. Monks - Different than WoWs by a lot. These ones are more fun and straight forward. They're great at mitigating damage and can dish quite a bit out. Used for pulling mobs to groups (as is a bard), and does it exceptionally well. I'd recommend this class for an alt (they dual wield )
Definitely need a guild who can help you appease that grouping need. There are a number of folks on Rathe server (in Roxxanna's guild) - who join there all the time so you'd be in good hands with similar people.
Now she's bet me a fairly stupidly large amount of money (there was alcohol involved) that I will never be able to reach max level in EverQuest without giving up and quitting. You can never reach max level with FTP, your friend had taken you for a ride !!!
No SK then, I can never get into dark knight / death knight / shadow knight characters no matter how many times I roll them in any game. I always start to feel depressed. Do Warriors dual-wield while tanking, or do they have to keep a shield out to do their job? (yes, I'm a nerd and really like dual wielding because dual wielding) Which tank would be better-suited to a totally new player, Paladin or Warrior? (I'm very familiar with tanking in other MMOs, just not how EQ1 specifically does it) I read over Allakhazam and the Wiki (after realizing they exist ) and I'm hovering between Bard, healer (I usually heal in other games), or tank. But I think I have a pretty good idea how the Bards & Priests work from the wiki explanations. ^^
If you just want to win the bet quickly, a solo class is your best option. Either mage or necro - both are casters. If you're dead set on melee, I'd recommend DPS melee's. The problem with tanks is they require a lot of farming for gear to do anything more than trivial stuff toward the high end. Whatever you choose, two thing that will make the journey to 105 quicker is starting with a heroic character (start at level 85 with ok'ish gear) and checking the autogrant checkbox on the AA screen. I think you would have to purchase the heroic character from the station store but you may get a free one from your account. sony did give every gold account a free heroic character a while back. Not sure if that is you or not. The autogrant option for AA's will automatically grant you all the AA's as you level. I think the reason why your friend made the bet is because EQ1 is huge and complex. It takes time to master and play well.It's nowhere near as hard as it used to be but it still is a steep climb. If all you want to do is win the bet, you could choose any class, buy a krono in the marketplace, sell the krono and hire someone to powerlevel your character. You will win the bet but will end up with a character you don't know how to play and will miss out on the fun.
Yes warriors can dual wield which is a good method while leveling. While tanking, sword and board is the way to go due to (in terms you're sure to understand) higher defense rating, resulting in lower incoming damage. But you can dual wield while leveling up Warriors are more straight forward and have better "oh sh*t" buttons to push when things go awry. But I'd still say a paladin would be more fun, and less frustrating. Plus they get damage bonuses and spells against undead mobs. Always a plus and always fun And this is in no way to insult you or offend you you, because I'm sure you're like me, and it doesn't take you long to understand a class and excell with them. But I consider tanks to be a textbook class...you read up on it, you go out and do it. Bards are more hands on with trial and error. You read up on it, you understand the concept, but until you go try it in game you cannot fully comprehend it. Now before anyone jumps down my throat, I'm not saying you can read up on a paladin and thus have it mastered. Tanks are just more straight forward with what they do, while a bard is going to take quite a bit more time practicing their role. Any and all comments I make are based off of my experience (have an 86 SK, 85 Paladin, 72 Warrior, 68 Bard)
Comparing warriors and paladins: All tanks (warrior, SK and paladin) require than you max out certain AAs and gear, especially augments, while levelling. You really can't skip this; although the AA auto-grant feature means that AAs aren't a big deal until 90. Tanks just level slow. Tanks have low dps compared to almost all other classes. Warriors are raid tanks. They have little utility apart from tanking. They can dual wield, use two handers, and they can sword-and-shield. Warriors get clickies (if you don't mind tracking them down) for a lot of standard utility, like invis, snare, slow and root. Paladins can't dual wield; two handers and sword-and-shield only. They do respectable dps against undead, if you want to go that way, and healing is best of all the non-priest classes. I could include SKs, but you've already indicated that you don't like the idea of the class. If you want to make it to max level as soon as possible, then the quickest way (without getting power-levelled, which I assume would be cheating!) is to play a solo capable dps class - that means magician or necro (there's a strong case for including enchanter in that list). Both classes have ways to avoid the WoW-squishiness problem solo, and with mercs it becomes even less of an issue. If you want to be max attractiveness to a group, then play any tank (provided you keep up your gear/augs/AAs and really invest some time studying the class), or cleric, or bard. Reiterating over some other points: EQ is hard (but no game is really hard, right?), compared to what you are used to. A lot of what you have seen in WoW/EQ2 are attempts to fix what the designers considered to be problems in EQ - but there are no problems, only opportunities . I can't emphasise joining a good, active, family guild enough; that's how you get groups, and decent advice when you need it, in game. Spend a little time researching how to play, where to go, and what quests to do before you start (Allakhazam, EQResource when you are higher level, look at the links in my sig, and even Almar).
You're probably correct. But I also know myself, and solo-grinding is a no-go. I know I would never be able to finish that way. I'd definitely go crazy and snap. Now that is something I didn't think about — I'm used to newer games where adequate gear rains from the sky and you can be group-tanking ready in no time as you level up. I might not want to combine being inexperienced and undergeared on a Tank. I've been both the tank and the healer in those situations in other games, and it's not a lot of fun for either — or the DPS that keep ripping aggro. =/ She's too smart for this, I have to level up from 1 or it doesn't count. And there's a specific "No powerleveling" clause to go along with it. I have to level "for real". >.< Is this only for Heroic 85 characters or available to anyone who's subbed? Oh yes, the odds are in her favour. I'm incredibly impatient with grinding and I always just want to get to group content ASAP in any new game. I know I'm out of my territory here, but I also hate backing down from a challenge!! >.<
Yeah I get this vibe very much. Healer would be mostly "Keep bars up / cast other useful stuff" (nothing new here from other games) and Tank would be mostly "Gear correctly → Run in → Hit stuff → Use defensive CDs → Apologize to the dead wizard because you got distracted and didn't Taunt". At least, that's the vibe I'm getting. Bard sounds like one of those John Madden flowcharts for the Feral Druid rotation that circled around during WOTLK. Actually, I'm not sure Bard resembles anything I've ever played in another MMO, which is interesting. Definitely looks nothing like the (imo) super-boring Bards in EQ2.
Well normally you have others hit mobs and bring them to you ;-) and as far as apologizing to the dead wizard: 1) Yes you screwed up and he pulled aggro and died. You apologize. 2) Wizards hit extremely hard...if they start nuking right away, they easily pull aggro...they learn this quickly. If they're still doing it, they're dead of their own accord, they apologize lol As far as the gearing with tanks, yes, it's a major pain...I advise against a tank as a first character...or any pure class to be honest. Bard seems like it would do you good. And a good Bard can easily make a name for themselves and always be desirable in groups. P.S. We do not speak of Ferals during the release of Wrath...no UI came stock with enough slots for all the bleeds they had to keep up
