I recently had the itch to play EQ again and decided to come back after many years to try to relive some of the old content that I used to love so much. Have a few friends that have decided to join me as well, but we are a bit stuck on what to play. I know that its possible to make just about anything work, but would like some advice regardless. First off, we plan to play on live servers, but in a way similar to the TLP servers, in the sense that we plan on picking a certain range (probably 60 to start) and then stop leveling, work on AA, get good group gear, finish important quests where applicable, then move to the next decided level range and then repeat that, etc etc. Because of the way we plan on playing we are interested in playing classes that are strong at as many points in the game as we can, and not just what is currently the best at max level. We probably will not ever raid on these toons except in the sense that once we are higher level we will go back for necessary clickies, epics, and other such rewards like DoN progression. I am going to be the tank for our group, I have played a SK very extensively from 70-95 and feel very comfortable with the class, I have also played a paladin although not nearly as much, and have next to no experience with a warrior. I am however open to playing whichever tank would be good for us, I am looking to have a class that can keep me engaged, and provides the most to the group in the tanking role. I hear paladins are very good in the group game, and I hear warriors are better now than they were in the past, and when I played my SK I found them very capable with anything thrown at them in the group game. If anyone has any suggestions on what would be best I would love to hear them as I an torn on what to play right now, mostly because I dont know how the classes have evolved in recent years so can not make my own completely informed decision any more. My girlfriend is going to play a monk because she likes to play melee and be the puller. My brother is going to be our healer, but is unsure what would be best because he has almost no experience with everquest, but has healed in other MMOs and if very good at it, a cleric would be most like his traditional role he plays, but he has said that the shaman and druid both seem neat because he can also help by buffing the group/debuffing the mobs. so if anyone has an opinion on what heals are best, that'd help. That covers half the group, the rest are undecided, but currently the other toons we were thinking would be best would be: another melee (ranger or beast), a caster DPS (Wiz or Mage), and a support which we were leaning towards bard. A couple things we were wondering however was: 1) When talking we feel an enchanter would be a great addition to the group and something one of my undecided friends would probably enjoy very much, but we werent sure which of the three slots would be best to fill with it, if we don't get an enchanter and my brother doesn't go with a shaman are we hinering ourselves a lot with no slow? Bard feels more helpful than enchanter because it helps melee and casters where enchanters more so just help the casters dps. 2) Our friend that would play the caster dps is very open and doesn't really care what he plays, but I feel a caster dps will help more than yet another melee because some fights we will encounter will favor casters and if we are all just melee that will make them harder, is that true? 3) The person who is interested in playing a melee was leaning towards beast, but with a monk (and potentially druid) already in the group we didnt want to stack too many people all dependant on the same loot, is that something to be concerned about, or would a beast be a big enough boon to the group to spend the extra time double farming the same loot. TL: DR Group of friends returning to the game, plan on progressing through at our own pace and looking for a great group combo to run through all the expansions group game and old raids together. Only one set in stone in monk.
Welcome back! I believe there is/are guild(s) who do exactly what you guys are looking to do. I remember seeing in guild recruitment this guild advertising doing the tlp thing on live servers. I believe they were in anguish (omens of war expac) when I saw the ad which was in the early summer. Let me check into it lets see if we can't find that server/guild.
one thing, you will not have to stop at 60 and work on AA's anymore as they now can be auto granted each level up to 90 or so. you can of course turn off this feature but it really is a good time saver to let them get awarded each level. Enchanters are an awesome class in a group, best haste, second best slow, crack, super CC and decent nukes. They can also pull very well and at higher levels their aura's are the best in game. Any healing class (druid / shaman / Cleric) can support a group right to 105, Shaman and Druid do have good buffs but do not discredit Cleric buffs, they still give the best HP buffs and over the years they have some other really cool buffs added to them which makes them much more fun to play now.
I have played briefly since the auto-grant has been added, and while it is a great feature for saving time, we have no intentions of using it. We are looking to relive the fun we had in the game previously and not looking to rush right to the newest hardest content. As far as buffs go, that is another reason I personally felt a shaman or druid would be a good addition cuz we could pop a cleric merc for buffs and then suspend it and thats not an option with the other classes buffs. Also, as far as progression guilds go, they are something I've tried in the past and they are very fun. Not quite what we are looking for though, we just want to see the content in our own time and don't want to feel we need to slow down or speed up in order to stay in line with the guild, but I do appreciate the information that there is one available.
Looking at the preferences and familiarity with classes noted in your original post I suggest: Tank - SK Healer - Shaman (also buffs, debuffs, and DoTs. Cleric merc used for additional healing when needed and Cleric buffs) Puller/Melee DPS - Monk CC - Enchanter (also buffs, debuffs and nukes) Caster DPS - Wizard 6th - DPS probably. Up to preferences. Mage (Coth, pet), Necro, Ranger (for tracking, reasonable DPS/Headshot, ranged and melee DPS), Wizard, Beastlord, Bard (for utility). The group is already adequate with 5. Alternately Tank - SK Healer - Cleric Puller/Melee DPS - Monk Utility - Bard Caster DPS - Wizard Pet/Caster DPS - Mage and deal with not having Shaman buffs. You might consider the possibility of dividing into 2 groups and filling in with mercs should you require more DPS on occasion. My first suggestion is more healer/control/flexability oriented depending on the 6th toon, a little light on DPS, and might benefit from doing that when you need more DPS.
Battleaxe giving good advice. For sure you don't want to waste a player on a cleric. The few times you might need one will probably be covered by splitting into 2 groups and using a lot of mercs or God forbid you find a real one for the few tough spots. Maybe re-sort list by identifying least desirable classes. For example, I love my necro friends but other than dmf and dps they don't offer a group very much. Same with Berzerkers. On the other hand, running around zones gets old after a time and those wizzie or druid group transports are sure nice. Finally, if you have a person that really excels at living on the edge have them play an Enchanter. They are so much more than crowd control if played properly. (disclaimer, I'm married to one!)
1) I played a shaman til 100 and stopped. Most of the time I played with an enchanter. Two support classes in the same group is not optimal but there wasn't much we needed help. Towards the higher levels ENC start to get some decent nukes for DPS. 2) If going with a shaman, I'd recommend mage for the pet. It's another target for shaman <insert big cat here> maw spells and the pet can off tank if need be. Mage is close to WIZ in DPS and damage shield will be significant at lower levels. WIZ/DRU travel is not as important as you probably remember with PoK stones and guild hall portal. Everyone has some form of gate now. 3) I don't think overlapping loot needs will be an issue. You'll probably be spending a significant amount of time farming gear for the tank and people will probably gear out before your tank does. At least that's how it worked in our group. BST would add another maw target if you are going with SHM as healer and add another good buff. I don't remember too many group encounters where casters>melee. I think that's more of a raid thing. Shaman buffing and healing at the lower levels is very tedious. Don't be discouraged it gets a lot better. One thing that does not get better is that the class is very busy and requires a lot of focus.
Taking into account the posts above and recognizing that the first group I suggested is a bit llight on DPS: Tank - SK Healer - Shaman (also buffs, debuffs, and DoTs. Cleric merc used for additional healing when needed and Cleric buffs) Puller/Melee DPS - Monk CC - Enchanter (also buffs, debuffs and nukes) Caster DPS - Wizard (also ports) Pet/Caster DPS - Mage (also CoTH) It's not optimal DPS but it covers most of the bases and most of the ability overlap is situationally beneficial rather than wasted. There is no perfect group and people have their philosophical preferences. I favor control so you don't get into trouble, beefy well-buffed tank, multiple tanks/reasonable burn if needed to get out of trouble. Another might favor burning everything to the ground and not much can go wrong.
I know that travel is much easier with PoK, but I have several group configurations at different levels that I play and I have recently found that it's just too painful not to have the transportation (druid or wiz). EVEN if it's just getting back to PoK or the Guild hall at the end of a play session. It takes you a bit to get where you're going and once you're done, the run back is a pain I usually include a druid with each group because of the additional utility they offer (healing, de-buffing, FoE, dmg shld, calm/harmony, etc.) rather than a wizard.
I love my Druid. He has been my main since creation in 1999. At 100+ he can heal comparable to a Cleric. However, I remember back to levels 40's through 60's I think it was, when I was very sad because I was expected to heal but could not carry the load.
