Top 5 most needed classes on both servers

I'm coming back in two weeks and can't decide what class to play. So I am curious what top 5 classes are in short supply for grouping mostly. I want to raid eventually, just not sure yet if I will have the time. I just would like a small pool to choose from since I enjoy a lot of classes.

Rogue, Ranger, Paladin, SK, Monk are the classes I run into the least. Wizards are the least played pure caster. There are twice as many mages as any other class and druids all over the place.

he asked for NEEDED classes.

1. Bard (not needed as much now but will be much more desireable kunark+, and main bards always quit so there's massive turnover).
2. Cleric (always needed. Same deal as bards, turnover rate means that old mains quit and need to be replaced basically every expansion. Guilds never stop recruiting clerics.)
3. Shaman (main shamans dont exist because they are basically buffbots. If you main one and don't complain about getting 100 tells per raid for buffs that half the people don't even need you have a spot in a raid roster)
4. Enchanter (same deal, turnover rate, needed buffs, boring playstyle in raids means people quit constantly)
5. Monk (personal opinion, monks are going to be in a good spot for the next few years and if you can pull decently people will want you)

Hrmm, I thought making a Druid was going to be a good idea because they wouldn't be over populated. Only level 9 so maybe I should reroll

More needed for raids or group content? Ducreux listed the needed for raids, and I will add I see more people asking for tanks than anything else when i bother to join the general channel. But that's just my observation, since I am a filthy boxer and rarely group anything but more dps.

Play what you want. It changes every expansion anyway. Pick something you want to play and just do it.

I want to play multiple classes, but only have the time for one.

It's that much more important that you'll pick a class that you enjoy playing then. I love my paladins on Firiona Vie and Lockjaw. Tanks are always needed in groups and raids and paladins can heal in a pinch. The main downside that I can think of for a paladin (or any tank or healer) is that when you have to go afk the group will often hang. I hate going afk in a group anyhow, but always more so as the group's only tank or healer.

so....depends on the server. If Ragefire, you have Kunark coming up. So you'll still see good population happening (and those who took a break coming back)

I'd reckon the following:

Bards - they only get better Kunark+ and always welcome to buffs for melee and casters
Clerics - always need clerics.
Shaman - torpor + mod rods = win
Wizards - not many of them atm, but lures = win

thats about it. offhealers heal better, but dont beat torpor in a non-moving-necessary raid situation.

If lockjaw, no idea - never know what they can use.

Is intelligent guild leaders a class? If so, it seems they need those the most.

/shotsfired.....sorry, after everything I couldn't resist

Maybe they are like Zerkers and BST and come out at a later date.

If you want to put up your lfg tag and be hit up in 2 minutes:
War, Cleric
If you don't ming waiting a little longer:
Bard, Enchanter.
5th (you asked for 5) Wizard

play a wizard, join a raid guild.

Why are warriors wanted this early though? Their HP/ac/aggro isn't significant over knights (especially aggro). I'm highly considering one as well as a bard and monk. Though I worry as a bard I will be bored.

You can play anything, though without some firm numbers based on the latest patch, you might want to avoid Rogue and Ranger. Only reason I say this is that pre-patch, their dps was lower than most other classes. I haven't found a new accounting post-patch (there was a melee buff).

In group content, you're always going to find the holy trinity to be the most desirable. This is crowd control, tanking, and healing. So far, the way content is tuned and the current state of classes, this is a lot more lax than it has been in the past in my opinion, but there is still a ranking.

Shadow Knight/Paladin -- Best snap aggro and group content tanking. Short lfg wait.

Warrior -- Best mitigation for raid tanking, less snap aggro than hybrids. Bad solo'ing. Short lfg wait.

Enchanter -- Most reliable crowd control, best slows, best haste. Incredibly dps with charm pets. There are a lot of enchanters on both servers, from what I can tell in class channel population, but this doesn't stop my enchanter from getting random tells to join groups despite not being LFG. Great solo'ing potential with lull, charm, mez/stuns, clarity. Short lfg wait.

Cleric -- Best healers, rezzes, always wanted in groups and raids. Terrible solo'ing. Short lfg wait.

Bard -- Decently reliable crowd control (though a lot more skill dependent), best resist buffs, stacking mana regen song. Desired in raids for mana song, resist buffs, later on (velious-era) stacking overhaste. Meh solo'ing though its doable with charm. Their melee damage is sub-par. Average lfg wait, slightly better post 32 (mana song).

Monk -- Best melee DPS and good at pulling due to feign death. No weapons needed due to hand-to-hand damage table (literally beats all available weapons). Decent solo'ing due to focused will regen disc (which is in the game for some reason), mend, and gnarly damage output. Without chloro/regen its still a little slow. Desired in groups and raids due to pulling and damage output. Average lfg wait.

Shaman -- Obviously great buffs, but they also get slows/haste and their healing is slightly superior to druids (they get healing spells a few levels earlier than druid counterparts). They are great solo'ers due to the power of their melee, their dots, slows and chloro/regen. Their pets also provide a consistent source of damage once you hit 32. Average lfg wait.

Wizard -- high damage, highly dependent on chanter/bard for mana/consistency. Rare. Average lfg wait.

Necro -- average to high damage, slightly less dependent on chanter/bard due to pet. Rarer than mages. Average lfg wait.

Personally I would avoid:

Mage - there are literally one million mages. And mages are dumb.

Druid - so/so healing, overlaps with cleric buffs, medium-low nuke damage. On the other hand, excellent solo'ing, hugely efficient DoT damage (which is not very suitable for most group content). They get a form of complete heal in later expansions and their healing starts to outpace shaman. Nice to have ports/track/sow, so if you're starting a second character on another account, this is not a bad choice.

Rogue - contrary to real classic (where rogue's were beast dps), these guys have pretty low damage, though I'd love to be corrected post-patch.

Ranger - same as rogue

As a classic mage (that went through PoP as a mage) and a single mage (no boxing here) on TLP

Screw you f'er.

I mained a mage in classic, you nerdlord. Don't you talk to me about mages. I dropped mod rods until I was blue in the face. My main purpose Call of the Hero, and half the time people told me to de-summon my pet. I sat in velk's lab for 4 hours LFG.

That is not what mages are today. They are the most overpowered, silly class on TLP, and there are more mages than any other class. In fact, I bet if you combined the 3 - 4 lowest pop classes into one group, there would still be more mages than the combined set.

http://tinyurl.com/tlpcommunity has some nice stats on how many of each class and their levels on each of the servers if you want some numbers... Last checked Mage was number 1 played char and Druid a close second... So probably none of those... Cleric is always a safe bet though.

Yep. Clerics always needed for groups and raids. Many guilds might only want 4-5 active members of most classes but cleric is one of those classes where guilds will almost always recruit since there really isn't such a thing as too many cleric on a raid.

Clerics are horrible at soloing, but incredibly useful and desired in groups and raids.
Enchanters are wanted for groups, and at least one is needed for every raid, and they can solo.
Wizards come into their own in Kunark and Velious, because they're consistent damage against resistant raid mobs.
Bards- makes any group better, whether it's a dungeon run or a raid
Warriors- not a popular boxing option, even more gear dependent than SKs or Paladins, but really good in groups or raids as a tank.