Old EQ Player, New P1999 starting out

[Yttrium]

A bit about me, I played EQ from beta through SOV (then quit to play DAOC). My mains were a 54 enchanter, 58 monk, 51 rogue, 50ish warrior. My favorite by far was the enchanter, though feign pulling dragon/plane raids on the monk was an awesome thrill.

I just started on P1999 as an Ogre Shaman. Fun so far, though as I do my research I see a ton of shamans. I don't know how this will impact end game raiding. I am not 17 anymore and my playtime is not what it used to be, stupid family. The reason I came back to EQ instead of playing a modern game is I miss the community that existed in EQ. Games like WoW with their autogroups make it a soul-less grind. I like to explore zones, run into strangers, band together, and see what we can accomplish. Since I have limited time, I can only play 1 character. I can't change my mind at level 40 and start over, so I need to get this right! So this is what I am striving for:

Ability to solo (doesn't need to be the best, just need some solo function)
Highly desired for small pickup groups
Long term viability

Classes I am looking at primarily in order: Shaman, Paladin, Mage, Enchanter, Monk, Shadow Knight, Cleric

Thanks for the advice!

[eqravenprince]

You really cannot go wrong with Shaman. Only thing missing that keeps me from enjoying a Shaman is I enjoy melee. So I would choose Monk out of that list. Plus, having feign death is almost a necessity now that I have a family. You can't be in the middle of SolA and go afk. Well you can, but it's running a big risk. As a Monk, feign death and take as long as you need before coming back.

[Squabbles123]

Shaman is very popular "new to the server" class, its what I picked myself, mostly because I wanted to be as self-sufficient as possible, but I had already played Necro on live and Druids don't interest me as much.

Bottom line is play what you enjoy, you have AWHILE till you should care about raiding anyway, and raiders will take just about anyone these days, there isn't the "You do 1% less DPS than everyone else you can't go" bullshit like you see in WoW.

[Yttrium]

Good stuff. I almost hit 10 last night, so far it is going pretty well. I get some odd looks as an ogre wandering Steamfont (I caught a port from a druid heading that way and now I am a bit stranded... but its fun!) but it is a lot more fun to dive back into this game than I expected. I even got some free gear just for being super ugly.

[acidtone]

There are so many of these threads but I never mind reading everyone's stories of old eq and then returning....ahh the memories are indeed grand!

[Yttrium]

My favorite moment... my first Nagafen raid on my monk. We were clearing Fire Giants and the main puller had to go afk. They prompted me to go pull the next set. I walk around a corner into a giant open room filled with giants and just sit there stunned by the view for a moment. Then I run up a little too close, toss a shuriken, and go "Oh crap oh crap oh crap" as I am running back to the raid and feign. Thankfully it worked and I was able to pull a few rounds before the main monk came back. Ended up getting the haste cloak out of the deal when it dropped later on the raid.

Best day ever. (Don't tell me wife I said that).

Playing on Rharg right now until my fickle brain makes me pick a new class.

[GraveD]

Sounds to me like enchanter fits the bill the best from your criteria. As you say you mained an enchanter on live, you're aware of what they are capable of both in terms of charm soloing and small group desirability. That said, shaman is a fine choice too. Welcome and have fun.