Race/Class suggestionsFollow

Hey, My copy of the Trilogy, SoL, and RoK comes about Thurs to Fri. I know next to nothing about EQ, but am not unfamilliar with the MMORPG gametype. I guess I should start thinking about a Race and Class. Any suggestions? I think a Druid would be cool, but the thought of only being able to use a wooden weapon is just, eh. Beastlord is really striking my fancy, but how are they without a pet and such? Anyway, any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I recommend to start with either Beastlord, Ranger, or Pally. Beastlord without a beast, you will never be playing without your pet(unless he just got killed). These classes are good beginner classes, you will melee for the first 8 levels, then you get some spells so by the time you hit about level 20 you will have a good feel for the game... Then you could start a different class once you have some knowledge.

Druid, wooden weapon????? I think you are misinformed. Druids are not a melee class, after about level 10, 99% of the time it won't matter what weapon you are carrying.

Go to casters realm and read the creation guide for each class this will point you in the right direction... I don't agree with every single thing that is said there, but it does give you a feel for all the classes.

Play a halfling druid. Most folks dont care for them and you can always say its your first character and then they may feel sorry for you and give you nice items. Be sure to make it female.

I think you can choose two ways. One is go for the class you like example:I love necromancers, Wizards, Chanters, and Mages I'm an all out pure caster guy. Or the secon way is make a good solid main that can make you alot of money so your alt characters have it easier like the Chanter at 63 you get KEI which is THE money making source in EQ I think.

I honestly feel he class best for learning EQ is a Wood elf Ranger, you get good melee skills, get to learn about extra attacks <kick>, other skills <forage>, and you have the best skill in the game at low level in Tracking. So that you can run about after the correct Mob's and find the one for your newbie armour.

Once you are confident with the basics try all classes to see what you like.

At very low levels (under 40) druids can keep up with clerics, sorta. Its the cleric heal over time that kicks the druid **** as there is less 'heal aggro'. At over 63, when druids get their 4750 heal (and with aa's over 5k), they can usually act as main group healer if no clerics are around. It's the long grind between 40 and 63 where clerics are, and should be, the healers of choice. But then again, clerics can't solo the way a druid can. Neither is 'better' than the other - it all depends on what you're looking to act as in game.

Hmm, maybe a cleric would be a wiser choice. With all this talk about grouping, is it really that easy to find a group? In all other MMOs I've played, it takes some work to get people to go with anyone anywhere. If this is the case, a different class would be easily considerable, if it was not before. IE I would love to be a Beastlord, but fear of having to solo woulc mean I would die more easily than a Druid, having to wear leather armour. I dunno, but if grouping is really that easy, then a different beneficial class would be easier to play.

Druids also get a 2,925 hp heal at 58 which puts them back in business as MH. Thought they'll never actually rivel a cleric in the heal dept, they are often sought out when no cleric is to be found. And many guilds use their druids as MH in raid groups as the clerics are all in a heal chain.

I have a halfling druid as my main and it can be hard to get into groups when I dont want to solo. On the other hand, I can always solo if I want. But I do enjoy LDoNs. To answer your other question - yes it is easy to get into groups in EQ, much easier than in some of the other MMORPGs I've tried in some cases. Even if you don't know where to go you'll see requests for more people for a group or individuals looking to join a group in the starting zones. LDoN revolves around forming balanced groups so grouping has become even more popular. If you're not sure, the beastlord or shaman are popular in groups and can solo well. Pure intelligence casters can solo but usually excell in groups except for the necro that solos about as well as a druid, but is more popular in groups I find. Pure melee characters dont solo too easily after the lower levels.

BTW to solo as enchanter is great fun, but should not be your starting character since it takes a good familiarity with the game. Chanters though are just under clerics in their group popularity, especially with LDoN, but playing one well takes practise.

Overall, I agree with the others here - you can't go too far wrong, and don't expect the first few characters you make to be ones you stick with. A ranger or beastlord will get you into the game quickly with a character that can fight and give a you chance to learn the basics, before you have to worry too much about spells and such.

In general, people are very helpful to new players, and asking for help is fine. If someone's answer is to direct you to a website, its usually because the answer is too complicated or obscure to be given off the cuff. As a rule of thumb, castersrealm.com has good lists of who gets what spell and where, and allakhazam has quests written up well. If you like trade skills eqtraders.com is a good site, but only worry about that when you've gotten more than your feet wet in the game. It may be a good idea to let whatever group you do start in know that you are new so they can give pointers. And remember, things in the game can change, so even an experienced player may be asking you about something sooner than you think.

Longer than I intended, but I hope it helps.

Zenotex, you're getting all kinds of good advice but you have to evaluate yourself.

1. Choose between Good vs Evil
2. Choose Melee vs Healer
3. Choose Race

Let me share my experience.

When I began (after reading everything I could from this site and Caster's Realm) I started a Wood Elf Female Druid. She was a good choice because I didn't want to play evil, I love elves and I wanted to live in the trees. She was an all around character and wonderful to explore with. She lasted until level 20.

My next character was a Barbarian Male Warrior, because I was tired of being beaten up by Orcs. I just wanted to wade in and beat the brains out of anything that got in my way. I couldn't bring myself to play evil yet. He lasted until level 30.

Next I went through a series of casters, Mage, Wizard, and Cleric. All have their advantage and weakness. Most lasted until level 17 or 18. Also all were Good and Female.

I then chose a Dwarf Male Rogue who lasted into his 30s and I still have him but seldom play him. I got tired of being a half Tank. I learned to like pet classes.

I finally decided on an Erudite Female Enchanter, I could go into any good or evil city, had a pet and was needed in groups. She is my main character.

But recently, after playing for 2 years, I decided to create both an Ogre Male Shadow Knight and a Female Troll Beastlord. They both have been satisfying. But I still don't know if I would have created them without having Plains of Power because travel is much easier now then when evil classes had to sneak onto boats to go from place to place.

My rationale for choosing Male vs Female is in my head only. I view Melee types as Male and I view Females as casters. I prefer Good over Evil because I'm lazy, I want to have fewer enemies in the world, this is a hard game without making it harder.

I made my race decision based on advise from Caster's Realm and threads I read here in Allakhazam.

You WILL make mistakes about creating your character, but that's part of what makes that character unique. I have started about 20 characters and not one has been perfect, but they have all been fun to create and play with. If I didn't like them I deleted them and created another.

You should probably play what your heart tells you you want to play. Start there and have fun!

That's my .

Grothmar has a great post above, I just want to add a couple of thoughts.

To learn the game here is my suggestion.

1. Start off playing something very basic. A human warrior is a great idea. Yeah they stink, but you just want to get the basic controls down and learn the basics of combat and stuff. I say bring this character to about level 5 or so. If you really like it, cool (though humans unfortunately are a bad race overall). Otherwise next step.

2. Try your hands at a wis caster class. Cleric/Druid/Shaman. I actually suggest trying a barbarian shaman because they get buffs but can still kinda fight. You will also get a hang of now having spells to cast as well, both offensive and defensive with the shaman. Do this till about level 5 or so again.

3. Try next a INT caster class. Nec/Enc/Wiz/Mag. I suggest here to try a high elf or gnome wizard. this lets you try a class that is very innept at physical fighting, and some more casting. This I would do about 8 levels with.

Now you have tried the three main types of characters Melee, Wis caster, and Int caster.

Hybrids kinda fall inbetween these anyways so no real need to practice them just yet.

Now go on and make someone you want to carry on for a little longer.

As other said you will prolly make a few till you stick with one.

I myself went through about 35 characters ranging from 1 - 25 before I finally found I liked my barbarian shaman and stuck with him.

Well, wrote a huge post, then realized "Nobody's gonna read this thing, it's too freakin long". So, short and aweet:

1. Pick anything that looks cool to you. As practically everyone has said, you'll probably change toons several times before you find one you truely like. Even if you get "The One" on your first try, you'll probably make an alt of another class eventually.

2. Race doesn't matter nearly as much as it used to, so pick one you like. Starting stats aren't going to matter much, especially since you have a high level druid friend that's probably going to twink you (at least a little) and probably going to power level you at some point. The early levels are going to fly by and better gear and augments will make up for race short comings later on.

3. Sony's description of their classes are pretty much bogus. Expect the role of almost any class you choose to change dramatically several times on the way from level 1 to 65. Yes, clerics will almost always heal, but I've been in undead groups with multiple clerics where some would only nuke/melee. You'll hear the term "battle cleric" thrown around once in a while. Anyway, that's short for me at least. :) So, I'm done.

I see, don't tell Reinmon that!!!! I think Humans make excellent Rangers, it is nice to start with the extra Sta and Str. Also, human Rangers are much more dangerous looking characters, they just can't see in the dark very well. Gamma fixes this for the most part, and at level 30 rangers get an infravision spell. Anyway, I think pretty much all other classes humans are always 3-4 best. I see alot of human bards though, so maybe this is worth while???