New to P99 and looking for tips on starting and SK or Paladin

[Gnomish Elite]

So I'm excited to be back at classic EQ and am just looking on a little input for my first toon back. Used to play a Wood Elf Ranger in classic and wanted to try something a little different but stick to hybrid cause I like spells/warrior play style.

I'm looking to start off as either a Paladin or SK and am wondering what I can expect with roles in groups/raids, as well as solo ability in case I need to resort to it? Also I'm wondering how gear dependent these classes are at least early on, and what races I should consider for each?

I'm looking at Iksar, Gnome, or Dark elf for SK and Dwarf, Half elf, or Gnome for Paladin. Any thoughts on those options? I don't really care about min/maxing but I don't want to be absolutely awful either.

Other than that any other relevant comments or tips are appreciated.

[Whirled]

As a first character, most people will say that you should stick to a non-gear dependent class. Which does make sense, unless you are fortunate enough to meet & greet a bunch of others that unload a cache of items for you. At this point in the time line, the hybrid class penalties are gone & there are many players that are knowledgeable in helping you with any questions or difficulties you may have. You mention gnome hybrids which are not on this server (and never will be?) so that will lessen your choices more so which leaves you with Iksar or DE for SK and Dwarf or 1/2elf for Pally. There will be some that will tell you that High Elf is the better choice but in the end it's totally up to you in what you really want to log in and play.
Some people make a porting class as their first character to make some platinum & farm or buy items & twink out the more gear dependable classes but again, it's ultimately up to what you really want to play. It can be a long grind though the levels so pick what ever way you wish to play the game.

[Pyrocat]

SKs can solo better/faster than Paladins. Fear kiting is much more efficient than tanking and healing yourself. Shadowknights do better DPS as well. As far as race selection for SK, I'd go with troll or iksar. The regen is very helpful and iksar have a great starting area (Field of Bone -> Kurns -> OT/FM/WW .etc). The only downside to iksar, really, is their terrible 2hs animation. It's so bad it's almost beyond belief it is not a bug. Thankfully there are plenty of good 2hb/1hs/1hb weapons out there for SK.

Man people pick a caster class for their first character because they are less gear dependent and can be used to farm gear for a melee twink. However, SK or Pally is a perfectly fine choice as well and thankfully due to their relatively low popularity and plethora of specialized gear, you can get really good weapons/shields for super cheap.

For an SK you could buy both of these for a total of 5,000 plat
http://wiki.project1999.com/Deathbringer%27s_Rod
http://wiki.project1999.com/Noctivagant_Blade
http://wiki.project1999.com/Atramentous_Shield

on the cheaper end there's stuff like
http://wiki.project1999.com/Mace_of_the_Shadowed_Soul
http://wiki.project1999.com/Soul_Binder
and plenty of "shitty" (7/28, 10/30 .etc) SK only weapons that drop in Kunark that people will likely give out for free.

[Swish]

Read this thread, will help you to decide: http://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=216765

[Vaderman]

Make a human or Erudite SK. Flayed skin armor has great stats, it's practically free and it's super light. Even as a human you can get encumbered pretty easily so the leather weight really helps.

I've primarily soloed my way to 41 with my SK with some pretty skimpy playtime. This is my first character here and although I rolled a few years ago I think i was only in the upper teens in December. SK is nice because you can kill 1 to 3 mobs with a mana bar and keep most of your health. Then go AFK and do something productive for 5 to 10 min while you med =) If you are going to solo mana is really important. It regens so much faster than HP, so use your taps to keep your HP up.

Fear kiting work's pretty good, but it's slow. You have too keep on the mob really good and it suddenly changes direction while running. Snare and fear suck up the mana too, and you will take damage so you need to tap. I found it better from about 30 on to just tap tank and dot. I also make sure I use steal strength and heart flutter to cut down on the mob's DPS.

Nathsar Greatsword is a good weapon to grab if you can get it early. It's got a pretty low delay for a 2 hander, so it doesn't get killed as bad by the damage cap at lower levels.

Good luck!

[Dacien]

I picked up the game a year or so ago and went Dwarf Paladin. I have been almost exclusively solo since about level 20, and now am level 45. I was a Warrior back in the day, and it sucked having to wait for health. With Pally, I can solo a mob and heal right back up. Mana recharges WAY faster than HP.

Looking like it might end badly in a solo fight? Root 'em, back off, and heal up. Still looking dicey? Lay on Hands. As long as you're not woefully overmatched, just tap that heal for basically a full HP recharge and kill 'em. Paladin has survivability up the wazoo. You get great undead-theme spells, like Invisibility vs. Undead, direct damage Undead spells, Fear spells that affect the Undead, etc. Unrest is a great dungeon to level in, even solo, which I did plenty of. Having Root makes soloing much easier against enemies that flee. With Bash and a Stun spell, and Cancel Magic (which makes a great pull spell on casters), your effectiveness is really high against spellcasting mobs. DPS isn't mind-blowing, but with more gear it becomes decent enough.

My first tip would be to save up for a full set of Banded Armor. I think it's only about 100 plat. I got lucky, and a guy from Asgard hooked me up in exchange for getting him some mats from Kaladim. So be on the lookout, be friendly, and maybe someone can help you out. I wouldn't recommend begging though. Get a Sword of the Morning (http://wiki.project1999.com/Sword_of_the_Morning) as soon as you can. It's cheap (I got mine for 700), and it should basically carry you all the way up into the 50's. Slowly build up your gear piece by piece. Sash of the Dragonborn (http://wiki.project1999.com/Sash_of_the_Dragonborn) is my most prized piece, since the haste allows much higher DPS. Costly though, about 8000 plat. Get some HP rings also, they're only about 250p a pair iirc.

There are classes that surely solo better than Paladin, but it's a lot of fun to be so tanky and be able to survive basically any reasonable encounter, even if it's just a Root and Run! Just don't get ganged up on.

[Ennewi]

For soloing, Paladins can joust, using root to keep a mob in place while moving in and out of melee range to take swings at it with a high dmg/high delay weapon. You can also sit in between swings to med up. However root can be really unreliable, sometimes breaking as soon as it's cast. Later in levels you can use the Deepwater Helm (http://wiki.project1999.com/Deepwater_Helm) to heal to full.

Shadow Knights can fear kite, using dots and a pet to speed up the process to an extent. Polished Obsidian Great Axe (http://wiki.project1999.com/Polished_Obsidian_Great_Axe) is really decent for soloing as it procs at level 40, 9 levels before SKs even get Invoke Fear which costs quite a bit of mana. Procs aren't always the most reliable, even with high dexterity, but you can always use your short duration level 15 fear as needed to buy you time.

In groups, both classes can act as pullers with Shadow Knights using darkness with feign death and Paladins using lull with root. Most groups will likely only ask you to be on tanking duty since this server is overrun with monks. On raids it's usually just about offtanking and protecting the Enchanter. Think of yourself as a linebacker that can't tackle for shit but is really good at getting in the way. Paladin heals go a long way on raids where the mobs have aoe spells and damage shields, whereas Shadow Knights can only really help themselves on raids, other than by letting Enchanters Theft of Thought their mana pool.

[Dacien]

For soloing, Paladins can joust, using root to keep a mob in place while moving in and out of melee range to take swings at it with a high dmg/high delay weapon. You can also sit in between swings to med up. However root can be really unreliable, sometimes breaking as soon as it's cast. Later in levels you can use the Deepwater Helm (http://wiki.project1999.com/Deepwater_Helm) to heal to full.

Pardon my ignorance, but how does a Deepwater Helm heal you to full? I've put off upgrading my helm in favor of other pieces because Daring just didn't seem like a noteworthy clicky.

[Ennewi]

It's just something I noticed while duoing with a pally. It decreased downtime by a lot, allowing him to use aggro/cc spells more liberally. I imagine it's only better when soloing and even has its uses in groups without crack. Definitely seen it put to work on raids after a wipe. Pally oom after accepting rez, spam clicks the hell out of helm on everyone.

[thufir]

Pardon my ignorance, but how does a Deepwater Helm heal you to full? I've put off upgrading my helm in favor of other pieces because Daring just didn't seem like a noteworthy clicky.

You just keep clicking it, targeting yourself. Assuming you don't have a better/higher level ac/hp buff, it'll heal you every time you cast it for the amount of the Daring buff.

[Dacien]

You just keep clicking it, targeting yourself. Assuming you don't have a better/higher level ac/hp buff, it'll heal you every time you cast it for the amount of the Daring buff.

Oh wow, that is nice. Slow, but not slower than regular healing+med.

[Daywolf]

1st char? Yeah totally I go with "don't roll a gear dependent". Just jump in with something else and get to know p99 some. Take the time to plan out your ~main. By the time you hit mid-lvl with an alt, you can afford to equip your gear dependent char with something better than crud bronze plate (just horrible stuff).

You won't need to wait long, tank hybrid is not as bad as straight warrior for gear and being less wanted in level groups with lesser gear. I mean a DE SK in bronze is about face-palm, but nothing as sorrowful as a warrior in chain or leather getting his group outright dirt napped. A high elf cant even really wear a bronze set, apart from perma-encumbered. Don't trip to your death.

[Swish]

1st char? Yeah totally I go with "don't roll a gear dependent". Just jump in with something else and get to know p99 some. Take the time to plan out your ~main. By the time you hit mid-lvl with an alt, you can afford to equip your gear dependent char with something better than crud bronze plate (just horrible stuff).

You won't need to wait long, tank hybrid is not as bad as straight warrior for gear and being less wanted in level groups with lesser gear. I mean a DE SK in bronze is about face-palm, but nothing as sorrowful as a warrior in chain or leather getting his group outright dirt napped. A high elf cant even really wear a bronze set, apart from perma-encumbered. Don't trip to your death.

whoa there...actually a SK just needs to hold aggro, and in bronze or not that's not tricky on a SK. Don't taint the knight hybrids with your gear dependency. Sure it helps but a disease cloud is a disease cloud (10 mana), u no?

[Xaanka]

If you go with paladin and you're a new player, go high elf or half elf with the TUNARE diety. don't kill anything in the plane of growth or any druids/treants ever.

Do this quest chain later on http://wiki.project1999.com/Natures_Defender
It's almost as good as the paladin epic, and VERY easy to get one.

Don't listen to the people saying either class is gear dependent. They aren't, especially on the blue server. A 100 platinum weapon and a set of bronze armor will take you to level 50, and gear will start dropping after that. Both classes have near-zero loot competition later on, so you will get almost all the drops that you need easily, ESPECIALLY if you get into raiding. Paladins in my guild compete with 0-1 players for loot, my rogue competes with 20+ players.

If you go with a Shadow Knight, go with Troll or Iksar for the innate health regeneration bonus. You will thank me later. Trolls get access to classic/kunark plate armor, while Iksars have limited choices until the end game, but they also get an AC bonus to make up for the lack of gear. Going with a non-regen class is like gimping yourself, and the only way to increase your regeneration with items is VERY expensive. Plus it stacks with your racial regeneration, so even with the best gear in the game troll/iksar is gonna regen more health.

[Daywolf]

whoa there...actually a SK just needs to hold aggro, and in bronze or not that's not tricky on a SK. Don't taint the knight hybrids with your gear dependency. Sure it helps but a disease cloud is a disease cloud (10 mana), u no?Bronze just sux, especially the weight early on, it's a huge difference, and likely could be stuck with it for a while. I don't pound on SK as hard as warrior, but any gear dependence class, at least which isn't a large race, is going to just not be so enjoyable with the lack of stats and/or AC.

SK is less of an issue than warrior as I mentioned, but it goes a long way for an SK to have at least some modest gearing out the city gates. I like my DE SK, but ungeared, would pass. Doesn't really take too much to gear an SK for a start, but much harder using that SK to self gear... especially when you cant even hardly carry loot to sell.

I'm not saying absolutely don't do it, but would seem more frustrating to as a first character. By the time someone runs with an easy-ish class for a bit (call it a squire whatever heh), puts some research into the game, that SK what ever stats, planned armor and weapons with correct deity, is going to feel a lot better as a main character on a start. Some would disagree, but that's just how I sees it, take it or leave it.

And yeah, as above, if I were going to run a nekid SK, I'd go with troll as a choice, though I'd prolly choose a ogre over that. But neither are my first choice for SK, but personal pref, which is harder due to the str prob.

[Xaanka]

I agree that starting a caster first is a very very good idea for any aspiring melee player. A druid or necro or shaman etc alt goes a long way for someone playing a melee.

You can get geared without one or the need for any plat very easily through raiding, but even then there's always that droppable item or two that you need & you'll thank yourself for having the farm class leveled beforehand when the day comes. PoM flowers are good examples; roll a necro first and getting them isn't even that bad.

Paladin will be a much easier road to go down than SK, if a new player were to roll one as their first character with no twinking.

[Pyrion]

Both SK and pally tank equally well. If you are more of a selfish guy, go SK. You can always save yourself (beyond 30) by simply FDing. You can fear kite solo. Of course you can save others as well by gaining aggro, but if things really go wrong (healer oom) you can only save yourself.

Take pally if you want to be the group hero. Pally can root CC and lay hands on chanter or cleric (or self) when things get out of hand. For pally its easier to keep spell casters from casting due to stun line spells. Outside of combat pallies can contribute to recover from a hard fight.

SK can split with FD pulling, pally can do with lull line. Both have disadvantages in certain situations. SK is by far more popular because it is easier to solo (although a well played pally has some tricks here too, for example "jousting").

[Xaanka]

You can always save yourself (beyond 30) by simply FDing. You can fear kite solo.

or you can be a good player & kite the mobs away from your group so that they can zone or camp, and then feign death to save yourself, assuming you're not super deep in a dungeon. (even then, with resists you should be able to do this inside dungeons)

sometimes tho, they're on their own.

also should be noted: both classes are really bad soloers. you can solo some mobs in some zones, but they're both slow and inefficient at it. don't get the wrong idea from all the posts in this thread and think shadow knights are good soloers. they're comparing a terrible solo class to a slightly less terrible solo class. beats playing a class that can't solo at all, but you're not gonna want to level that way. biggest point of both classes soloing usefulness is being able to kill random weaker mobs that you need for quests without having to log on a different character.

[phacemeltar]

you probaby shoud roll sk, but youll regret not being an ogre. sk can probably do more with less, if youre planning this as your main. FD is invaluable.

[Xaanka]

I picked up the game a year or so ago and went Dwarf Paladin. I have been almost exclusively solo since about level 20, and now am level 45.

this post says why you shouldn't solo on a pally or sk better than i ever could

[Daywolf]

you probaby shoud roll sk, but youll regret not being an ogre. sk can probably do more with less, if youre planning this as your main. FD is invaluable.

Yeah bu but like they say, once you go blue, you never .. go .. back :o

http://i.imgur.com/1zWC5Sc.jpg?1

[elwing]

both classes are gear dependant, yes, but weapons on the server are cheap, and you can definately play until 30/40 with gear you find...

[Dacien]

this post says why you shouldn't solo on a pally or sk better than i ever could

Well I fail to mention I screw around a lot, exploring zones, and there've been a couple months-long breaks. It doesn't help that I was 42 before the XP penalty was removed. Doing what I've been doing without the playing around or downtime, I'd 60 without a doubt.

Let's just say I'm in no hurry to get into the raid scene.

[thufir]

My shadowknight was my first character and also my main. I have never felt the pinch of not being able to afford decent gear, and don't regret rolling a shadowknight as my first character, at all. Phacemeltar is probably right that you should roll an ogre if you do, though. Being an ogre is like being issued a special equipment slot at game start with an item that grants you +50 sta, +50 str, and frontal stun immunity. It's pretty ridiculous.

I did get some charity when I was starting out - some random guy gave me a Nathsar Greatsword in Nektulos Forest when I was level 8. (Thanks, random guy from 2 years ago!) But it wasn't difficult to find extra cash from there to afford things like bronze and banded (bronze is just fine if you are an ogre). And a Nathsar Greatsword really isn't that much money, anyway. A little patience farming up decaying skeletons and selling the bone chips in ec tunnel would let you afford one soon enough.

As was said above, knight classes can hold aggro without any special gear, and bronze and banded are cheap, easy to buy, and will tide you over AC-wise until you can get better stuff, many levels later. I was farming the divine aura idols in Highpass for awhile when I decided I finally needed to buy myself a few upgrades. So, yeah, if you decide to go that route don't worry so much about being poor or ill-equipped. Shadowknights are less gear-dependent and better at soloing up some money than most people give them credit for.

[Sage Truthbearer]

I'm looking to start off as either a Paladin or SK and am wondering what I can expect with roles in groups/raids, as well as solo ability in case I need to resort to it? Also I'm wondering how gear dependent these classes are at least early on, and what races I should consider for each?

- Your role in groups is to tank. Do you enjoy tanking? If so, both classes excel at this.

- Neither class plays a significant role in raiding, especially in Velious.

- Neither class is particularly good at soloing. Expect to mostly have to group to play EQ.

- Neither class is dependent on items when it comes to your primary job as a tank; to get and maintain mob aggro. You're thinking of a Warrior.

- If you're not min/maxing, then just pick the race that you think looks the coolest.

[mattydef]

I solo'd on my paladin to 51 in under 3 weeks. I also solo'd on my less geared SK to 35 so far perfectly fine. Play what you want don't just min/max. I usually make my decision by choosing a class that looks fun and picking the race that has the cooler looking armor.

[Tone23]

I rolled my first character who is a Human SK maybe little over a month or so ago, I am lvl 27 right now. I don't play all the time and I spend a lot of down time figuring out where I want to go haha. I went the first 15 levels with gear i looted and bought from NPC merchants. I was on my way to Freeport from Qeynos, when I was picking off some Gnolls outside of High Pass a lvl 60 druid came up to me and said my gear was terrible. I was rocking a mixture of patchwork/leather as I was saving my plat for a weapon, he asked me if this was my main and how long I had been playing he was then nice enough to port me to W Commons. When we got there he went to the bank hooked me up with a couple pieces of Sentient Armor and giant scalemail, along with a Sharkbone War Hammer. I got lucky, I then joined a guild and bought a 2hander for a decent price off a guildie.

My advice is start whatever you would like but don't get frustrated, I was worried about my crappy gear because i was proud to self finance myself. But a magic weapon is a must because you will run into undead which are invulnerable to regular weapons. I sorta feel like I cheated some by taking donations, but since this is my main and only character I dont regret it, if I decide I may do an alt and make the attempt to self finance my way.

[Xaanka]

Well I fail to mention I screw around a lot, exploring zones, and there've been a couple months-long breaks. It doesn't help that I was 42 before the XP penalty was removed. Doing what I've been doing without the playing around or downtime, I'd 60 without a doubt.

Let's just say I'm in no hurry to get into the raid scene.

hehehe i figured, and people play everquest for different reasons! nothing wrong with that! but to be fair, you set me up with the perfect quote to describe how good pally soloing is :D

[Danth]

SK is by far more popular because it is easier to solo (although a well played pally has some tricks here too, for example "jousting").

In this case, "Far" seems relative: Both classes are rather unpopular overall. Paladins are traditionally the least-popular class on Project1999, while Shadow Knights are usually about fourth from the bottom. The hybrids haven't really been able to shrug off the kunark-era bias against them.

Danth

[thufir]

In this case, "Far" seems relative: Both classes are rather unpopular overall. Paladins are traditionally the least-popular class on Project1999, while Shadow Knights are usually about fourth from the bottom. The hybrids haven't really been able to shrug off the kunark-era bias against them.

I think it's also the Velious "no raid role for you" thing. If you want to endgame raid, you're not going to roll a paladin or shadowknight. You'll roll a class that has a purpose there. In Kunark they could tank raid mobs so you weren't feeling totally left out.

[Rararboker]

Tbh that role of "no role" sounds good. Little responsibility, dont have to show up early and there is tons of knight specific loot with little to no competition for it. Sounds like you show up for the fun, dont deal with the drama and stress and come out with maxed fashionquest.

[Nixtar]

I solo'd on my paladin to 51 in under 3 weeks. I also solo'd on my less geared SK to 35 so far perfectly fine. Play what you want don't just min/max. I usually make my decision by choosing a class that looks fun and picking the race that has the cooler looking armor.

Most players are like this. Unfortunately the min-maxers like to be vocal about their opinion and LOVE to make anyone who isn't playing like they do feel like shit about their choices.

Classic example are the debates over monk/necro iksar. They make it sound like if you don't go iksar these classes are completely unplayable and will be worthless when in reality the benefit is nowhere near as significant as they like to claim.

In-game example, had people deny a rogue(post epic nerf) because he didn't have his epic. The rogue wasn't even lvl40. Promptly left the group, leaving them without a tank because f*** players like this.

[SirAlvarex]

You can play any of the race/class combos you want. Some will be easier than others but in general you should be fine.

Your first goal would be to get to level 9 for your spells. Depending on where you start you should also try and make enough plat to get someone to make you banded armor (90pp or so). EC tunnel should have someone that can blacksmith it for you.

Once you reach level 9 try and get a magic weapon. Any magic weapon will do. Kill willowisps until you have a bunch of Greater Lightstones. Go to South Ro's dark elf gypsy camp, turn in the stones, and sell the books for 10pp each. Once you have a few hundred (or thousand if you are into grinding) plat get a better weapon/shield. If you can get 500pp or so get a pair of 5ac/55hp rings. You can do this as a pally or a SK.

If you are a goodie and start in Qeynos I suggest doing the Rabid Wolf Pelt and Bandit Sash quests.

If you can be ~15 with banded and a decent ratio weapon (a .5 ratio weapon preferably, so like 9/18 or 20/40) and 2 55HP rings you'll be set up pretty well for the long run.

[thewrush]

Most players are like this. Unfortunately the min-maxers like to be vocal about their opinion and LOVE to make anyone who isn't playing like they do feel like shit about their choices.

Classic example are the debates over monk/necro iksar. They make it sound like if you don't go iksar these classes are completely unplayable and will be worthless when in reality the benefit is nowhere near as significant as they like to claim.

In-game example, had people deny a rogue(post epic nerf) because he didn't have his epic. The rogue wasn't even lvl40. Promptly left the group, leaving them without a tank because f*** players like this.

Thank you for this. Everytime I try (very rarely) to find a group as a WIZARD I get the vibe "We are waiting for hours until an epic Rogue shows up" before I get an invite. Seriously, people are so effing spoiled for groups on this server. Live was nothing like this with every rogue running around with epic since level 1....

[Fame]

Avoid blue and roll your new characters on red.

When you play blue you hit max level and unless you have 16hour play times you have little chance of doing anything new or meaningful and eventually burn out. Thousands and thousands of blue players have followed this path.

On the red server, you still have a majority of the people who were there on day one. Those who left have been banned or ostracized by the community. We run a tight ship.

It is what it is and those are the major differences. You can go blue and be char#1,245,576 or you can go red and be somebody who makes a difference.

[Kalex716]

Thank you for this. Everytime I try (very rarely) to find a group as a WIZARD I get the vibe "We are waiting for hours until an epic Rogue shows up" before I get an invite. Seriously, people are so effing spoiled for groups on this server. Live was nothing like this with every rogue running around with epic since level 1....

Its funny because I remember as a newb Wizard, I must have been completely ignorant of this. Most low to mid level groups didn't care who filled out the rest once a tank, and healer, got established. Things definitely started changing in the mid 40's. Much harder to get into groups, and if I didn't have clarity even I, as ignorant as I was, knew I was useless.

But by then I bought j boots and could quad kite.

[thufir]

Its funny because I remember as a newb Wizard, I must have been completely ignorant of this. Most low to mid level groups didn't care who filled out the rest once a tank, and healer, got established. Things definitely started changing in the mid 40's. Much harder to get into groups, and if I didn't have clarity even I, as ignorant as I was, knew I was useless.

But by then I bought j boots and could quad kite.

This actually happened to me on Live. I grouped up all through my lower levels following the nro->oasis->loio->fm->ot path that was so common in those days. After that things dropped off precipitously and quad kiting became my saving grace, or just dungeon crawling with friends.

I did get a fair amount of xp in raids, at least; as a wizard you can usually ensure your group gets xp at least every once in awhile.

[Daywolf]

Avoid blue and roll your new characters on red.

http://i.imgur.com/agVWA5M.gif

[Dacien]

Avoid blue and roll your new characters on red.

When you play blue you hit max level and unless you have 16hour play times you have little chance of doing anything new or meaningful and eventually burn out. Thousands and thousands of blue players have followed this path.

On the red server, you still have a majority of the people who were there on day one. Those who left have been banned or ostracized by the community. We run a tight ship.

It is what it is and those are the major differences. You can go blue and be char#1,245,576 or you can go red and be somebody who makes a difference.

Yeah but then don't you get ganked and lose items?

[thufir]

Yeah but then don't you get ganked and lose items?

No, there's no item loot on Red.

[Xaanka]

Avoid blue and roll your new characters on red.

When you play blue you hit max level and unless you have 16hour play times you have little chance of doing anything new or meaningful and eventually burn out. Thousands and thousands of blue players have followed this path.

On the red server, you still have a majority of the people who were there on day one. Those who left have been banned or ostracized by the community. We run a tight ship.

It is what it is and those are the major differences. You can go blue and be char#1,245,576 or you can go red and be somebody who makes a difference.

quoted for truth. most of the new red players i help these days are blue vets who came to this same conclusion hint: they all regret wasting their time on blue.

[Dacien]

No, there's no item loot on Red.

But I could still get ganked out of nowhere, right?

I just can't see playing on Red, trying to have fun with whatever I'm doing, and just getting killed out of nowhere by some rogue or something.

[thufir]

But I could still get ganked out of nowhere, right?

I just can't see playing on Red, trying to have fun with whatever I'm doing, and just getting killed out of nowhere by some rogue or something.

Yeah, +/- 5 levels, but yes.

The "plus" side is that the server is basically unpopulated, so if you don't go to one of the few popular leveling zones this probably won't happen to you.

[Swish]

4 level range ^^