When I am able to log in, I have tried a few different toons to get a feel for what I want to play. I do enjoy SK's, but dang if they don't feel weak as heck in original EQ. The SK was one of the 5 classes I levelled up to level 4-5 and it took the longest by a large margin. The warrior, while boring, did far more dps in the newbie grounds. Will they pan out up to 50, or will they feel weak until they start getting some of their "current" class defining abilitities/AA's around lvl 65-70ish? Should I give the SK more time to flesh out the abilities or just wait for them to have more options available down the road?
All of the hybrid classes stay pretty weak until Luclin/PoP and the big AAs. Hybrids being Ranger/SK/Paladin. All 3 are pretty fun even in old EQ, but they aren't very well appreciated or considered overly valuable. SKs are a great group level tank though, all the way through... but their spells cost a ton of mana, which is pretty annoying. You will constantly find yourself need a med break. And you are right, all of the tank classes have incredibly weak DPS in the old eras. The SK pets are pretty terrible until you get into the Kunark era. I think at level 58 the SK pets start to catch up in levels a bit and contribute more dps. With the buffs pets have received though, even the low level SK pets are worth summoning and keeping up. If you are wanting to group and tank, SK is worthwhile. But, if you are thinking about soloing alot, it will be brutally slow killing any mobs.
The soloability of a SK is much higher than a pally or war. DPS is higher than the pally, but not as much as the war. I happen to love the class, extremely versatile and fun to play
The real answer: it doesn't really matter. If SK is your playstyle and you have fun with it, play it. This isn't WoW. EQ Vanilla has got no instanced content. People will be happy to have you in groups if you're competent and social. You're not competing with people for raid spots. In groups, if a group needs a tank - they'll take you if they know you don't suck, even if Warrior is the most optimal choice. Because God knows when a Warrior will show up. Oh yes, and SKs are decent DPS, so even if you have a tank, you might still get in the group if you have a 2-hander because of your reputation for not sucking. So just don't suck and you'll be fine. Sincerely, An Erudite SK - arguably the worst race/class combo you can have. Why? Because fun.
I would have to agree that SK's are always pretty awesome in EQ. Maybe the sole exception being the very end game raids when Warriors are simply better MT's due to certain disciplines and such. But honestly? For 95% of the game SK's are just more fun. Spells that include an undead pet, invisibility and feign freaking death? The ability to roll as a massive troll/ogre or a bad Dark Elf? Sorry, but SK is the way to go!
I hear you. I played an SK up to 92 with around 5k AA's (before autogrant). coming back and not even having the spike line to do some dps is frustrating. Maybe I'll give it another try tomorrow.
I've been wishing for years, that they would start melee classes out with at least 30 skill in all weapons. The disparity between melee and casters at low levels is just absurd. It's very very difficult to put up with any melee class for the first 20 levels or so. This becomes even more painful on a new server where you don't have any gear to give them. SKs are great once you get going, and fun to play. If you can suffer through the early levels, you'll probably be in high demand, as I doubt a lot of people will suffer them, when they can just go roll a mage or necro. Having feign death, troll regen, and a ton of hit points (relatively speaking) is pretty much awesome.
Play SK if you enjoy it. If not re-roll. I love my SK and I've never had an issue grouping/raiding. Even soloing isn't too bad. Do what you wanna do.
Classic SK was similar dps to Warrior, perhaps a little less. That was the trade off for having utility in the form of a pet, snares, DoTs, invis, ITU, lifetaps, etc. But as we all know, this isn't classic EQ. With the boost to pets and spell damage, and modern skill caps (previously knight's caps were lower than Warriors), I'd wager the SK comes out on top.
