Hello! I played EQ last probably around Planes of Power, always casually. Got the itch to try it again, to see what it's evolved into now (so not the TLP or P99 versions). It looks like mercenaries are a thing, which sounds pretty sweet since I expect to solo with that merc most of the time. I also have seen from different threads here that Almar's guides for leveling are pretty solid. My main question: will I be able to tackle the solo portions of his guides throughout the leveling experience with a mercenary regardless of the class? I know soloing used to be mainly the purview of a few classes like necro, druid, and mage. Could I follow Almar's suggested leveling path pretty safely with a merc as, say, a wizard? No interest in quad-kiting, if that's even still a thing. What about with classes like warrior or rogue, to take extreme examples that could never really solo before? Note that I won't have any twinking or starting plat. Thank in advance for sharing your thoughts and experiences!
Any class can solo xp easily up until around level 60-70 by using a tank mercenary. Around 70+ you'll find you either need some type of healing available in your setup (either via a healer merc, yourself, or another player) or you'll want to be kiting.
Thank you! That definitely helps. I'll go with either magician or beastlord in that case to keep going through to higher levels. Between those two, is there one that is more conducive to being poor and untwinked, or pretty comparable? Preference is mage, but I have no idea how rare or expensive the spells are.
The strongest merc is the cleric. So the best molo is going to be a class that can take a hit and do damage. Tanks, any melee that can take a hit and pet classes molo very well with clerics. ENC can molo very well with a cleric, but charming is more complicated than the others. Tank merc DPS is pitiful, so you are going to need to plan to molo with a rogue merc if you play a priest class. Wizard mercs are pretty much completely useless unless you are kiting, in which case, they are better than nothing.
Mage or Necro will give you what you're looking for. Mage is a bit more straight forward, but the Necro has fd and is pretty fun to play Also, mage has the best pets. If I was going to be playing 1 account And had to choose between the two, it would probably be a Necro.
