Possibly coming back to EQ after may years, Need advice.

[itzmatt86]

Hey folks, looking at the posts its easy to see new people joining all the time. I am looking to do just the same. Problem is life isnt the same as it was 15 years ago, Marriage, kid, college, work, LIFE. Anywho, i browsed the boards awhile back, almost rejoined but never did. So now I am back, looking to play, hopefully. I am hoping for a chance to relive the nostalgia, while making new friends and memories along the way. I will have very limited play time, and do not expect to ever make it to max gear, may not even make it to raids. I played a bard and necromancer years ago and I am very familiar with the 2 classes, but enchanter also interests me a lot. Does anyone have suggestions for what to start as? Would prefer bard, but starting with nothing, and knowing nobody, I feel a necro would be a more realistic choice. Thought about a cleric or druid too, being I would have limited play, a cleric would more or less get me a group anytime i would assume.

[Hiragawa]

Welcome back to the game. Being in your boat (Marrige, kid, etc etc) I understand.

Necro is a great starting class, since you need nothing to get it going and it can do some crazy soloing through the entire game. Enchanter is also a super solid choice, as it's one of the best soloing classes. Very little can run into a dungeon and do what a skilled enchanter can do, and groups always want them.

Bards... Yes. You can swarm to 60 in about 5 seconds (Okay, you get the idea). But people tend to hate them here. You know us silly bards and our swarm pulls emptying zones. /heh

Cleric and druid are naturally great, with cleric giving you the edge in getting in groups of course. But Necro/Druid are great starter characters for making cash. Both classes can be played pretty much naked, and Druids have the bonus of getting plat from porting people around (and of course yourself).

Bottom line, anything you listed works well. But if you play a bard, just don't be a prick and pull every mob in the zone when people are obviously pulling from places. Feel free to invite stragglers to leech off your massive exp train etc.

But if I may make one suggestion as one parent to another. If you need to get up at a seconds notice when soloing for your kid, as a bard, that means your train eats you alive and you die like a little punk. As a Necro, you simply tap your FD hotkey and come back safely when you return. Food for thought.

[Daywolf]

enc & cleric easy to get groups. Cleric though it's good to have fair starting gear, though ok if all you do is group heal. Druid imo easiest class to start, makes it into groups, though not as easily near lvl-cap for groups, at least for pugs. If enc interests you a lot, roll it, better chance of sticking with it.

[itzmatt86]

I saw a post about spells for the bard, the faction song. Even without the modifier from instruments, does it still trump the enchanter one? Just looking at raw numbers it does, though i know illusions can make a big difference too.

[Hiragawa]

I saw a post about spells for the bard, the faction song. Even without the modifier from instruments, does it still trump the enchanter one? Just looking at raw numbers it does, though i know illusions can make a big difference too.

Agnostic Enchanter + Illusion + Spell = Winner

Agnostic Bard + Masks + Faction Song = Winner

Either way, they balance out to about the same. The difference is, while bards have a bigger modifier on the song (At the high end of course), they also have to farm the masks.

EDIT: Plus, you have to consider there are just certain Illusions that may never be feasible for the Bard. Gnome for instance: Drops from the Sleeper warders, so once she's awoken, they don't drop anymore. (Of course, this involves some guild actually waking her up...) Some of the other masks are super rare/a pain to farm. So take it as you will. But at the end of the day, Spell vs Song, both are going to get things done in just about the same manner, with perhaps the edge out to a high level bard given sneak/hide abilities and such.

[itzmatt86]

Do illusion spells drop when zoning? I do not remember when it was changed so they do not.

[Hiragawa]

Do illusion spells drop when zoning? I do not remember when it was changed so they do not.

Yes they do.

[Maldivas1972]

I did necro was easy as first toon to return to game with. I further used him to fund the gear I have on most other toons I play now. GL with whatever ya choose

[Menemas]

I started here as an enchanter and loved every minute of it. Easy to find groups, solo, or duo with a healer. You will find groups and make friends, everyone loves a chanter. You need very little gear to be effective, and you can make or cheaply buy what you need.

[Necran]

Necro is a great starting class, since you need nothing to get it going and it can do some crazy soloing through the entire game. Enchanter is also a super solid choice, as it's one of the best soloing classes. Very little can run into a dungeon and do what a skilled enchanter can do, and groups always want them.

I second this.