Total newb looking for advice

[CroixRaoul]

So I have always wanted to play vanilla EQ but i thought it was gone until i saw this, so i immediately did everything to get P99. I have never played EQ, i just always wanted to. I was thinking of playing some of my old DnD characters.
I was thinking of a Necromancer dark elf (cliche i know)
Or a human female warrior and figuring i'd play tank for any party that'd have me.
But honestly i was just kinda wondering if i could get some starting advice/see if any guilds needed a specific character or just anything really. Any advice for me as a total newb?

[menadwen]

Half-Elf Ranger is good for starting out. Has a bit of everything.

[Ryanx3d]

I think you should play whatever you think you will have the most fun playing. Tanks are always needed, and if you are passionate about mastering your class you can do well with anything you roll. Just make sure you research your racial traits and primary stat. I guess it all starts with what role you want to play. Hybrids are pretty versatile and will let you get a feel for both spell and melee mechanics. My first toon was an SK and I loved it. Its all about what you enjoy really. Since you are new I would try a little bit of everything until you find something you like.

[Evia]

the human female warrior is a good idea. tanks are probably the hardest piece to find for me when I lvl alts up. So I don't imagine you'd have a hard time finding groups. It would be a struggle for gear lvling up but to me that is what makes the experience fun. Lots of great items to be had for a few hundred pp so you could manage.

[CroixRaoul]

So i spent quite a while looking up and reading Wiki's for the game, my problem is, even though i have been MMO'ing for years, it's always been with the same group so I dont really know how to approach players and ask for groupings and all that, if that makes sense. How do the groups on this game work exactly? i take it you shouldnt spam party invites and all that? what is the etiquette

[CroixRaoul]

I dont want to start a tank and not have anyone to play with is kinda my problem with that

[Kowalski]

Iksar necro

[Voland]

Look for people in your lvl range and send tells.

[Casteel]

You should just log in and play. Going to the message boards is informative, but you're never going to really find out what you really enjoy or really hate until you just do it. In that process, you can ask pretty much anybody in your level 1 starting area pretty much any questions and I've found that people are downright happy to help.

[Sorn]

You can send tells to people asking if they want to join you. It's perfectly easy provided you have manners. Stay classy, my friends.

EX:
Scenario: You're in Eastern Wastes and want a group at the giant fort, you've got your LFG tag but no one's biting, so you decide to be proactive. You need people in the 35-45 level range.

/who 35 45

Players on Everquest
-------------------------------
(38 Druid) Tadhg
(44 Bard) Dadian <Forsaken For Example>
(35 Cleric) Saldi <Bregan D'Example>
There are 3 players in Eastern Wastes

/tell Tadhg Hey, want to group/duo and kill some frost giants with me?
You tell Tadhg, 'Hey, want to group/duo and kill some frost giants with me?'

(You can get any sort of reply, but generally I give two different kinds depending on what I'm doing, as shown here)

Scenario 1: Tadhg tells you, 'Sure!'
(Commence meeting up with me for some fun giant killing times. You can also ask the others on the list the same thing and get a real group going.)

Scenario 2: Tadhg tells you, 'No thank you, I can't tonight. Good luck!'
(Commence asking the others on the list, search farther afield with /who all 30 40, or relocate to a zone that's easier to reach and try again.)

Some people might be rude about it or they simply never answer. Just ignore the rude ones (or /ignore if you never want to talk to them again) and consider those who don't answer to be actively declining your invitation unless they talk to you later (but don't sit around waiting for them).

Maybe it seems weird to go out of your way to send tells when you're advertising in OOC, which everyone in the zone can see, but I've noticed with most players you're more likely to get a response if you speak to them specifically. Occasionally I see two people calling that they're LFG in OOC and for some strange reason, even if they're in the right level range, they don't form a group on their own until one of them takes their fates into their own hands and contacts the other.

Once you have another player, you can hit OOC and say 'Giant fort looking for more/LFM' and name a type of class if you need that specifically, ie 'healer', 'tank', or 'dps'. People will go for the idea more often if you already have a group going.

TL;DR Be proactive! Decide your own grouping destiny.

[maskedmelon]

Sorn has the right if it! Just do a /who roses who is in your level range then send them a /tell asking if they'd like to party ^^ If you happen upon a group you can always ask if they have room for another too. People are much more open to casual inquiry here than some other games. I remember FFXI was like a gated community...

As for characters, warrior would be good for grouping, but cannot solo. Necro is great for solo, but not always desired for groups. A shadow knight might give you the best of both worlds. They can solo if needed (not the best, but certainly capable) and are well liked in groups for their pulling abilities (FEign Death eventually) and aggro management superior to warrior, but not as good as Paladin (who have more difficult time solo than SK)

Welcome to the server and good luck^^

[Charlievox]

Try to play solo at least as much as you play group. Leveling will be slower as a solo but it will give you the opportunity to learn what the class you are playing is capable of.
Experiment and improvise. Hone your problem silving skills. In the end this will make you a more skilled group member and folks you group with will think, "Wow! That guy really know his class!" And they will put you on their friends list and look for you next time they need a group or even reccommend you for membership in their guild.
The best and most failsafe way to make friends here is to play your class well and be polite.
It always tickles me when someone I am grouping with says, "Hey! I didn't know a [class] could do that!"

[SlankyLanky]

paladins are actually not bad soloers, i almost exclusivly soloed my paladin up until level 40. you just need good gear that i financed from porting. but as far as starting out with nothing casters are always easiest imo. but like everyone has said play what you want, welcome to p999!

[maskedmelon]

paladins are actually not bad soloers, i almost exclusivly soloed my paladin up until level 40. you just need good gear that i financed from porting. but as far as starting out with nothing casters are always easiest imo. but like everyone has said play what you want, welcome to p999!

I love my Paladin and mostly soloed 40 through 51, but if we are to say paladins are not bad soloers, I think we need to put that into perspective. Which classes are worse soloers than paladins? I can think of two...

[SlankyLanky]

I love my Paladin and mostly soloed 40 through 51, but if we are to say paladins are not bad soloers, I think we need to put that into perspective. Which classes are worse soloers than paladins? I can think of two...

yea i guess yer right.

[JurisDictum]

I'm not sure I'd recommend a warrior as a first character. They're the most gear dependent class in the game. On top of it the're aren't great at farming plat, traveling, or holding agro against everyone's twinked dps.

Starting tank will be harder than preist caster or dps. Unless you want to roll a tank -- its better to wait until you have a lot of money to level one. Shadowknight and Paladin are still difficult, but easier to start on than a warrior (and better group tanks).

If you want a list of classes that are good to be from starting naked to finishing in epics, my list would be:

Bard
Monk
Shaman

Monk is kind of annoying because of weight limitations and the fact that they are overplayed. But they are pretty decent naked and scale well with additional gear.

There are a lot of classes like Druid and Enchanter that are great naked...but they also don't get much better with lots of gear. So if you want a class that will keep getting noticeably better as you raid etc, I would pick one of the three I listed.

[CroixRaoul]

Would playing the current F2P everquest help me get a feel for the class without as serious penalties for dying? or is it just too different?

[Sorn]

Would playing the current F2P everquest help me get a feel for the class without as serious penalties for dying? or is it just too different?

You are looking for training wheels that are no longer there, unfortunately.

You don't lose exp until level 5 and usually you aren't that far from your bind point until then anyway. Other players will help you out. You just have to get out there and die a lot and maybe kill some stuff until you figure things out.

[CroixRaoul]

I wasn't looking for training wheels. I was wondering if the F2P everquest was as difficult as P1999

[Charlievox]

I wasn't looking for training wheels. I was wondering if the F2P everquest was as difficult as P1999

No, it's not.

[Sorn]

EQ live is easier to play than P99. They made it much more user-friendly over the years.

It might hurt a little transitioning from live to P99, though. You lose a lot of nice conveniences and have to work harder to get less.