I'm an EverQuest player and this year's TLP's are so lame that I'm considering playing on Varsoon instead, and I'm not the only one. Varsoon is a big opportunity for EQ2 to possibly steal some players from EQ1. I don't know if EQ2 would even be a fit for me, so I'm looking for further insight. I have a job where I'm on call 24/7 and so cannot make any raid attendance whatsoever... maybe one night per week I will randomly be home to raid, but this day will vary by week. I'm hoping to either find a VERY casual raiding guild with no attendance guidelines, or play a healer and catch last minute raid pickups for raids needing more heals. Now that I type this, perhaps I should be asking if a pick-up healer would even be in demand in EQ2? I was assuming it would be easiest to get groups as healer, based on my EQ1 experience. What classes are typically in short supply in EQ2 TLE? Up until this minute I thought I'd make a Templar, but the Ranger and Troubador appeal to me if they are more sought after. Thanks for any information or suggestions!!
You shouldn't have any trouble finding PUGs as a healer, although tanks are generally higher in demand. Being a tank requires you to actually know the zones you're running though, as you're expected to lead the group and do the pulls. Templar is good, especially now that both clerics can cast their heals (spot heals and reactives) while running without interruption, the only healers that can do that. Inquis is pretty good for the same reason, but weaker than Templars for the next couple of expacs. Wardens/Furies are also good; the former has the highest HPS potential in vanilla, and the latter has the highest DPS potential of any priest. Shamans are pretty hard to solo-heal as in vanilla, so I would advise against rolling Mystic/Defiler unless you're already experienced with them or plan on having a 2nd healer in the group. (All of this is kinda moot if Heroic content stays as easy as it currently is on Beta though) Troubadour (and Dirges as well) are sought after for raids because of their buffs, you shouldn't have too much trouble getting groups with them for the same reason, but keep in mind they don't bring much DPS and their buffs don't stack, so a group generally only needs 1 bard at most. Ranger has good DPS and is a strong solo / group class, but if you intend to raid you're going to want to roll something else; Predator DPS currently doesn't outweigh their lack of utility, and Summoners are more prioritized due to having both better DPS and higher utility.
You should really give EQ2 a try. The combat system is miles ahead of EQ1 and is much more engaging. You are going to love it's dungeons such as Stormhold, Sol Eye, Runnyeye, Cathic Thule and Everfrost. There are pickup raids as well as casual raid guilds that will allow you to attend whenever you want. Healers are in high demand and so are tanks. As the post above said tanks are expected to lead and pull so it's better if you know the dungeons but they are so much more engaging than healers in group situations. I would highly recommend you to roll a Shadowknight and learn how to tank because they are so much fun. If you are rolling for a healer, Templars wear plate and they heal A LOT but they do nothing else. Shamans (mystic and defiler) heal a lot too, but they use ward spells instead of reactives. Druisd (wardens and furys) heal over time with HOTs and they can port themselves and the group. Furies also do plenty of magelike DPS. Also if you want to be a good soloer and still have spot in groups you can play a necromancer or a conjuror. They are also T1 DPS.
Honestly leaning strongly toward EverQuest Vaniki because I have been attempting to set up my UI in EQ2 for over 8 hours and I am so frustrated by the keymap. I'll spend 20 minutes changing it to put commands where I am used to them, try to save it, and then it reverts to some crazy default spec. I'm too old to remember hundreds of ALT and CTRL key combinations while playing. Have fun guys, but I don't think it's for me. <Next Day> I think I found the solution... see a few posts down.
The Ui is the simplest thing, I don't know what's causing the issues but try load_uisettings and bear in mind that resolution changes will cause issues in your UI.
Healers and Tanks are in short supply for groups mostly. I am also a EQ1 veteran who has raided 5+years and played 15+ characters to max level and maxed AAs. I got bored of the TLP and time commitment. EQ2 is much easier with time on that front. It lacks the player base, but the lore and class ideas are mainly shared. I love that familiarity. Also, boxing isn't much of a thing over here and lets you focus on your character. The server unlocks are once every 4months and there will be plenty of time to keep up. Raids also are only 24man over here so you could be a backup or 1 day a week raider in a few guilds I've seen offer it for their Varsoon rosters. Tradeskills being a major part of the game is neat too. I think they're both hard to compare but EQ2 is very much an old style game too. All the classes you mentioned will do great. Rangers are looking very good for the upcoming TLE, although they're stigmatized as a damage only class which may give you less welcoming response from groups than a bard or cleric class would! In the end play what you like because you can find your own play style and people to play with on that class. Also, EQ2 is more forgiving with balance and soloing than EQ ever was.
Huh, I've never had that problem with keymapping, but then again I've been doing this since 2004. They do have several pre-made keymaps, including one for EverQuest, if that helps.
I looked into this again after a night's sleep, and found the solution in an ancient forum post from 2008. I'm reposting it here in case someone finds this, fifteen years from now, while having a similar problem. From EQ2Interface forums on March 31, 2008... a user named Drumstix42 says:
I was trying to make the same decision, honestly the biggest reason I'm going EQ2 Varsoon is because they have a handful of people who are spending time listening to beta feedback and revamping itemization, difficulty (higher difficulty), and addressing the summoners (necro/conjuror) reign as top dps which will hopefully give some other classes more raid representation. Looks like they're doing it on the fly without the need of patches which is really cool, it's nice to see content actually catered to feedback quickly and make this TLE feel unique. I don't know about templar or ranger, but I know troubador is very high demand and most raids would prefer to bring several, and most who do play them are out of necessity than choice so if a raid did have a spot open would probably be happy to bring in a pug troub so their troub can play their alt.
When setting up your UI, hit F10 to show windows that may not be visible, and right click to lock/unlock. I'm a returning player and forgot that, just set mine up for the TLE. I'd recommend looking at DarqUI (and the patreon version if you want a good 4k UI). Very powerful but also pretty easy to get a very usable UI.
Me too, I think! Found a toon on Halls of Fate with a Creation Time of November 9, 2004... he's level 16! We'll see if I can get one higher than that on Varsoon. Once I got the keybindings to stay put, I tried a dirge this morning and he seems pretty fun. Can't believe a dirge can use a bow, evac, rez, track, run fast, invis... lots of things that are fun.
Just posting here to let you know that you are not alone! Brother and I were up in the air on which to do, but ultimately decided EQ2. Server setup is a lot better for Varsoon IMHO.
a lot of people i know just play both. to me they're both two completely different games. I cannot think of any EQ2 players who weigh out a new EQ2 TLE and a new EQ1 TLE, it's always been EQ1 players wondering if they should check out EQ2 instead. They play so different from each other it's hard to say that "this one is better because.." id pay krono to see everyone in forums posting about T5 play the server out, that would be nice.
