Greetings! It has been YEARS since I last played EQ2 and I see that many things have changed. I am a current WoW player and have been feeling the itch to try something different. Since I have always appreciated the Race/Class combination in EQ I wanted to give it a spin for a bit. My intention is to start on F2P but then subscribe a month or so in. My Questions: Are there race/class restrictions to F2P players? Whats a solid solo class that would also be decent in a group? Which are the "Tank" classes? Is there still issues with playing as one of the evil races? Basically, would I be extremely limited as to the cities I can visit? I'm sure I have many more questions, but what advice would you give a new player? Thanks for your time! Krell ~
Hi, 1. There are not race/class restrictions that I am aware of for F2P, with the exception of the "premium" races (freeblood and aerakyn) and the "premium" classes (beastlord and channeler), all of which must be purchased before using regardless of subscription status. 2. Perhaps a summoner (conjuror/necromancer) best fits what you are describing as they can use a tank pet for soloing and DPS pets for grouping. 3. Tanks are Guardian/Berserker, Paladin/Shadowknight, Monk/Bruiser. 4. You will be Kill-on-Sight to the guards of any city that has the opposite alignment as you. This is true whether you are good or evil. The vast majority of guards are grey (so far below your level that they are considered trivial) at the level cap and will not attack you. But while you are leveling up this may present an issue. Really, though, the good/evil split is a relic of a bygone era and has a negligible effect on the gameplay experience, if it ever had an effect at all.
No Freebloods and no Aerakyn and no channelers or Beastlords (I think you have to buy them with DBC each, but not clear for sure). Necromancers is decent as well as the good version (summoners, I think). Not sure beyond that. Paladins, Shadowknights, warriors, monks and bruisers and berserkers, I believe. All are decent tanks and some are acceptable dps (for non raiders). Good classes should stay away from the evil cities and vice versa. But some cities are easier to get into than others, depending on where you go. Kelethin has agro guards around the Queen's platform but other guards there just occasionally wave at you even if evil. Advice. Find a good guild that fits your playing style and time and goals with their own. This way you BOTH grow to achieve those goals and have fun. This game is so much more fun with friends and guildies than soloing. Let us know what server you are on and im sure someone will offer you some free bags, some pocket change to help you and perhaps some starting gear also.
Berserker is a tank...interesting. Are they still able to DPS effectively while tanking? Are there different "specs" similar to WoW? Meaning, can a Berserker have a DPS spec but still be able to switch to a tank spec when needed? I was hoping to open with a Beastlord but since that option will not be available I may choose either Berserker or Ranger. Iksar or Sarnak a decent race? What about Kerran (that the cat race?)
I don't see many berserkers around anymore in all honesty. I won't definitively say that they do not have the DPS potential of true DPS classes but I'm pretty sure they don't. But I did want to touch on your question about specs. Tanks get offensive and defensive "stances" which can affect their abilities to tank and DPS. There are also many, many AA trees and when these were current they played more toward the idea of "specs," i.e. a class could allocate points toward increasing mitigation or allocate points toward reducing casting times, but there were more abilities than AA points available so players would have to choose the spread which best fit their playstyle. You could then save these and switch between them if you needed. However, the stances and AA specs are almost fully outdated. For most classes there are a certain number of essential AAs, some beneficial ones, and a lot which are not super important. At current content, all classes have access to 4 meta-classes called ascension, and three of the ascension classes have really, really, strong DPS abilities. The so-called "Tier 1" DPS classes are those which have profession and AA spells that allow the player to fill in the gaps between ascension castings with other strong abilities. And as before I'm just not sure that the Berserker has those abilities. Besides, I would think that a Berserker would lean toward Geomancer ascension which itself lacks the DPS potential of the other three classes. As far as your question about race, play whichever one you like. Race has very little impact after about level 20. And as far as class, what kind of playstyle do you prefer?
