What persona combos are people planning on trying for the new server?

I am thinking Necro/Mage/Shaman(25)/???

Necro dark elf or iksar as the main persona, mage gnome and shaman barbarian That gives me origins to Nek/Cabilis, Faydwer and Halas. Covers most of the world pretty easily. Shaman potions give the necro regen, runspeed and a handful of ports. Mage will eventually give the necro nice pet toys, and for the most part can share gear with the necro.

I would say all classes? I'm not sure what the real downside is to use a persona for any alt you would otherwise want to play.

Bank space

And buying all the persona slots does get a bit pricey at $15 each after the first 4.

Can you link me the write up on how this will be available on a new TLP server?

Gee, I dunno. Maybe the fact that on the expansion advert it literally says *This feature is claimable on TLPs. Just like the Dragon's horde and Tradeskill depot before it. Oh, and the fact that it is on every TLP including Oakwynd.

But if you are really incapable of searching for the FAQ. https://www.everquest.com/guides/eq-alternate-personas

Q: Will this be available day one on all Time-Locked Progression servers when the expansion comes out in December, or will this only be available on Time-Locked Progression servers when they unlock this expansion?
A: It will be available on Time-Locked Progression servers when this expansion is launched in December.

Ah I see, hopefully they add some bank space we can buy for the personas in the store then to resolve or at least lessen this issue.

Currently looking at

Shaman Iksar

Enchanter erudite

Rogue Gnome

Ranger wood Elf Karana?

Beast Vah Shir

Druid - Half Elf Karana Surefall

Not sure which ranger is best for skilling up fletching. Druid may change to halfling, not sure yet.

I may also throw in a human mage, so I have someone in Freeport. I may also do a DE Necro. She will adventually be able to be all 16 classes, I have 7 from the expansion to play with already.

Initial class will be druid or shaman depending on which expansions we start on.

None - everyone complains FTE changed the game too much from the original. That is how I feel about Personas. Your class is your identity in EQ to just switch it on the fly (or at a designated area) does not feel like EQ to me at all.

Seems a strange hill to die on. I see this as no different than alts, just more convenient.

Are you able to change persona anywhere or is it still restricted to cities? If it still requires you to swap in a safe area, I don't see how personas are more convenient than an alt.

It is still restricted to cities. There are many ways in which I find it more convenient than an alt, you may use alts differently and not agree with me. That's fine, you do you. I use my alts to support my main. It is more convenient for me to funnel pet toys from my mage to my bst. It is more convenient for me to make potions on the shaman persona to support the main. Not having to log in and out and use the shared bank or find a spot to drop pet toys and hope they are still there when I log back onto my main is more convenient to me. Not having to flag/key multiple characters, not having to redo-slayer on multiple characters, not having to change my name if I do swap mains. All more convenient to me.

Loot as well.

Provided standard loot rules are in place (i.e. certain items are no-drop/no trade), then you can easily farm up gear for a persona. Loot it on your main, then wear it on that persona.

True, but Mischief has spoiled me and I doubt I will ever play on a non-free trade server again.

I think a lot of people feel the way that you do. I missed on Mischeif, but recently rolled up on FV and am parked at lev 60ish just grinding AA and messing around with a RL friend having fun duoing.

The ability to easily obtain solid loot/gear in the bazaar, and farm up quest items you want with higher level characters (and pass them off) is game changing.

Also, even with Free trade loot rules -- there are certain items that are not tradeable (i.e. certain Epic quest items, etc. Getting those items on one persona, for use on another, wont be an issue at all.

The bigger issue with the personas is the bank space. They simply need to offer up expanded bank space for a price - similiar to WoW. However, perhaps the whole Dragon Hoard thing will make that usable

So far my leading team will be PAL/ENC/SHM/DRU/MAG/BRD all good worshipping deities....This is a massive departure for me from my std all evil race/class combos I usually play. SHD/ENC are my usually go to starting points (and fav classes), so testing this a bit with some goofing off on Oakwynd in preparation. This of course assumes it is Truebox server and no RL friends join me.

I have to say I am actually liking the Pally more than I thought I would as this is the first time I have ever played one. I also will say that SKs have such a tremendous advantage early on with aggro, especially once they snare, almost fire and forget tanking with aggro lock. But with a little more careful planning of my macros for delayed tash/nukes/snares I seem to be able to handle it well enough so far. I know post Luclin Pallies get a better toolbox, and I am looking forward to the array of stuns they eventually employ. May just have to favor undead zones to really utilize all their abilities

Bard is also semi-new to me, I have played one here and there I have PL'd up but this will be a first time ground up classic start class.

All and all looking forward to a true restart, been Lockjaw launch for me.

But what personas will you use? Are you going to have the Pally have an SK persona. Ooooo that has potential. They share so many nice weapons. And each one has it's niche.

are Personas part of an expansion you have to buy?

Unlikely, I am not big on persona's. One toon, one class, one play....
Yeah I am old school.

Yes, the current expansion, Laurion's Song. You get three free with the base version, and increasing numbers with more expensive versions. You can also buy additional persona slots on the Marketplace. All slots are per character.

Does it make more sense to have people make their alts as Demetri - Demetrib - Demetrim - Demetriber etc to make sure that people can still find them under a host of different names when they're on an alt? Or that friends are impossible to find when on an alt?

In addition to all the benefits with gear switching for such and similar of course.