If You Only Got to Play One...Follow

As is, a high elf mage. I've leveled two up past 60 now and enjoy the class but I like the HE model better than the Erudite model (and don't want a gnome or human). I suppose agnostic would make the most sense for deity since there's rarely any benefit to choosing one.

If I had to pick one race/class to start EQ with from the old days, it would be a half-elven bard. Back before all the nerfs and /melody put you on auto-pilot.

No matter how many new race/class combinations I try, I always go back to playing my Ogre Warrior. He was my first toon and I just enjoy being a tank. Some runner-ups would be an Iksar SK and my Dark Elf necro. Sometimes I like to cast spells and tank so I play my SK, then sometimes I just want to run around with mobs chasing me so I play my necro.

Then there are times when I play with certain friends that it does not matter what I play, it's just fun to group with them.

Ogre Shaman... Love being an Ogre. Love the shaman epics ( got 1 and 1.5 ) Love roaming the world as an Ogre, fearing nothing...love the spell casting...all of it...

and have to dual box with a troll warrior. Played so many warriors, but the troll is still a favorite. And with this combo, growing up in the Ferrott and innuthule, then leveling in both Guks...just a great combo all around....

and running over everything with a troll and ogre is awesome!!!!

Dwarf Paladin I like the tank style of this class. I like my spell sets. I have a big two hand bonker. I still use classic models so me soo horny

I'd go with a vah shir beastlord.

I like the race because it's tall and doesn't have a wide collision box like trolls and ogres, and that helps to climb out of some old world pits or hazards.

Now the class I really enjoy because it can do a lot of things: healing, SoW, slows, haste, dots, direct damage spells, melee damage, and they have a pet which can interrupt enemy spells and snare later on with AAs.

It's just a class that can survive anywhere.

looks like it's narrowed down a lot and there'll be some voting. ran into a chart of finalists

https://everquest.com/news/everquest-combo-clash-round-one

It sounds like the BL Gnomes pet would be mechanical - some kind of robot. That doesn't seem like the right type of 'savageness' for a beastlord.

I forgot how much I loved the Froklok. The Paladin particularly. Chain stuns were a hoot with all the flipping and flopping going on. There's value and virtue in worshiping Mithaniel Marr. Also I liked the Froklok as it was least humanoid of all the races.

Vah Shir Druid over Tier'Dal Druid -- Vah Shir already have "agnostic" shamans and beastlords and the whole cat thing feels more nature-y than Tier'Dal. I can accept naturalistic magic being in the hands of the agnostic Vah Shir easier than in the hands of the evil Tier'Dal.

Tier'Dal Bard over Erudite Rogue -- Having "crime" isn't the same as having the highly skilled and physically trained rogues of Norrath and the low strength, dexterity and agility Erudites just don't fit the mold. On the other hand, Tier'Dal are charismatic, dexterous and intelligent, prime attributes for a bard.

Wood Elf Beastlord over Gnome Beastlord -- Gnome beastlord? Seriously? Was this thought up by people who have no idea what the lore of the beastlord is? Building a robot isn't the same as commanding the naturalistic spirits of Norrath; in fact it's the polar opposite.

Iksar Berserker over Dwarf Shadowknight -- I don't dislike the idea of a dwarven shadowknight except dwarves have no arcane aptitude and so it opens the same question as SK ogres, trolls, etc: if you're smart enough to cast Creeping Darkness in plate armor, why aren't you smart enough to cast it in a robe if you wanted to? Iksar berserkers on the other hand fit into their savage lore just fine, having both warriors and beastlords.

I like that idea!

Give us a whole clan of Dwarves worshipping Rolf...

SK, necro, war, beast (batling from warrens as pet!), shaman, cleric, mage, berserker, rogue, ranger.

Now that would be fun...

A party of grim dwarves approaches the gates of Thurgadin, carrying a litter with a large bundle on it of considerable weight

Thurgadin Guard: "Who be you outlander? Your party is clearly not of Kaladim, nor do you reek of the scrubbed weakness of Shadowhaven, New Tanaan or Crescent Reach --what is your business at Icewell Keep?"

The strange dwarves halt their march silently. Among their party the Thurgadin guards note elementals beings, walking bones and ancient looking armor fashioned of a strange blackened material. As the group parts, a young dwarf with a plain black staff, taller than he is steps forward. His companions shoulder their weapons, a variety of halberds, ******* swords, crossbows and staffs, all dark like his own. Every battle hardened face male, female is still, eyes unwavering.

Young Dwarf: "We are the third promise. The first promise was to the old ways and our heritage in Kaladim. Long live those Dwarves that be true under the mountain! The second promise was to serve Brell and new learning. Long live your clan of the ice! The third promise is all life fails, even that of the Gods. By the will of Rolfon Zek we have emerged from the Plane of War, his sorrow bringers to Norrath! My brothers and sisters, take us to your Dain. This petty feud with the giants is over. War is coming from beyond and we have soul-steel to forge."

Thurgadin Guard roars with laughter: "Petty feud? Oh outlander, you had better come to the Dain with more than idle boasts and silly chatter to go with your strange looks and odd company.

A female dwarf from the strange party moves in a blink to the litter and pulls a dagger from her belt. Before the Thurgadin guards can react she has cut the rope holding the bundle, revealing a bloodied head .

Young Dwarf "Kael Drakkel has been purged of weakness. Our rangers patrol its ramparts. Our mages are filling the storehouses in preparation of the coming war. Our scouts in the Wakening Land tell us that our enemy comes via the Plane of Growth. The wurms are mustering to aid in the defense, the enemy must be broken there or Velious is lost. For the second and final time my brother, I ask you to take us to the Dain!"


...or something

Pretty much the same opinion. There are certain race/class combinations that you can't really justify without also adding a whole set of other classes to that same race. Some races just don't have certain kinds of magic for lore reasons. If you add/change the lore, you kinda have to add all the classes that said lore excluded previously.

Now, having said that, EQ has also somewhat moved away from the idea of hybrids simply being less powerful versions of the parent class with more melee capability and towards the idea of them being completely separate classes. Within that viewpoint, I could see justifying hybrids as a "lesser" form of the magic capability. Instead of looking at the SK as being a guy capable of casting a given spell while wearing platemail, maybe we should look at it as a culture that can't master the most powerful of a given type of magics, but can muster up some of the less powerful (and less magically demanding) aspects.

This might be harder to see with paladins and shadowknights, but with say a ranger, it makes more sense. I think we could easily envision a society where some of the woodsmen were sufficiently attuned to the forest and nature and whatnot to be rangers, but not enough to be druids. So it's less that rangers are an offshoot of druids, but that rangers are an earlier and less "perfect" version of druids. You could approach SKs and paladins the same way. So those dabbling in the dark arts are powerful enough to manifest a few of the powers, but not enough to channel the greatest ones, which might otherwise require them to fully commit to the magic (and thus lose their melee capabilities). Over time, and with sufficient study, some of those dabblers might become powerful enough to be true necromancers, but for now, they're just warriors with some small skill in those magics.

Honestly though, I still don't know if that works in EQ. But it's at least a justification which could work.

Edited, Dec 9th 2013 2:51pm by gbaji

I see people (especially on the official forums) talk about lore this and 'it doesn't fit the lore'. I have an honest question: Since when has lore mattered when the dev team wanted to do something? Almost every unique class feature has been farmed out to other classes. Where was the lore when that was happening? The lore itself is flimsy and contrived. If that's where the bar is set, then ANY race/class combo could be justified. Write some more flimsy lore (like they have on the voting page) and problem solved. The curse on the Ogres was broken, wasn't it? So where are their robe wearers like they existed before (SoD)? Kaesora Library has tons of Ogres casting Mage, Enchanter, Wizard, and Necro spells and they aint wearing plate (or chain) armor.

'Lore', as most people use the term, is very much 'history'. It's what occurred or happened in the past. NEW race/class combinations have zero to do with the past. It's the present and future. The only connection would have to be with how the present came to be and that, by its very nature, should be contrary to how things were. Anything 'new' happens like that. Cassettes were a perfectly acceptable means of media storage. That didn't stop people from trying to find something different or better (which led to the compact disc).

Anyway, I'm voting for Dark Elf Ranger every single day. It has almost nothing to do with Drizzt and more to do with hating all the other choices.

I agree.

Obviously I'm willing to make up lore though.