Detailed (Real) Class Descriptions

[porigromus]

For old people like myself that have forgotten the real descriptions of classes (not EQs) since we played last and for new players that never played EQ in the past, it would be nice to have this information.
I searched the forums and this could have been brought up in the past but I was unable to find this information. I have looked at the Wiki but I am really thinking of more of a how it really was for the classes in each expansion (that will will eventually progress to). Below I will try to give an example, which may be wrong but you will get the idea.
If you would like please add to this so newbies and forgetful people alike will know what they are getting themselves into!

Class: Necromancer

Classic Pros and Cons:

Very powerful soloer, in classic maybe the best? Melee in classic don't have the access to the great weapons such as in Kunark. Necromancers kill slower than some other classes due to dot mechanic but are very self reliable with mana conservation. Maybe the only class in classic to not have any mana issues? Maybe one of the less desirable classes for groups.

Kunark Pros and Cons:

Melee are getting stronger but the necro is mainly a solo class and continues to do well in this arena. Grouping situation still about the same. There are more classes joining the ranks for better solo ability such as the Shaman.

Velious Pros and Cons:

The necro still stays one of the more powerful solo classes and I believe group desirability still is very low.


Class: Paladin


Classic Pros and Cons: Group functions and desirability, DPS versus other classes, special skills desired by others or that make them unique, changes in desirability and function per era.

Kunark Pros and Cons:

Velious Pros and Cons:


Class: Enchanter

Etc etc etc


I wish I could add to this but I am one of the forgetful ones that would like to know what changes a class goes through the trilogy, what are their weaknesses and strengths and desirability. What makes them special? I remember melee getting stronger as time passed. I do remember rangers having issues etc.

I would really like to know what an Enchanter is like through the expansions, do they get more desirable or less? How about rogues? etc

[ammut]

Necros power during kunark and velious droped alot. Necro pets didn't get much improvement compared to the 49 pet, even EoT wasn't that good. In the same time the only good upfront dps dot we got was Pyro and we lacked burst dps. Finaly our major force compared to other dps classes, mana conservation, vanished with KEI.

[Ralexia]

Necro- Maybe one of the less desirable classes for groups.

Considering the power of pets, necro's are very useful in groups for dps and offtanking. A max lvl pet that is dual weilding and hasted does a ton of damage. Plus you can use your lvl 24 poison nuke, 44 fire nuke or lifetaps for some more damage. They're a poor man's magician but pets are so strong that they're still very useful. Just don't dot anything until you're lvl 34 in a group setting.

Don't fights in Kunark last longer so a necromaner's dots are able to go their full duration?

[maegi]

KEI is Luclin, this server will never progress that far thank god. So stating anything about it was totally pointless.

[soup]

A GOOD necro is actually a great addition to many group compositions. They may do a bit less damage than a magician, but the ability to heal and mana dump can easily make up for it. The weak mez can also come in useful, as well as being able to snare.

Too many necros will just play like a subpar magician though and not utilize the massive benefits of their heal and twitch.

[Bubbles]

A necro can solo break and hold pretty much any camp in guk/solb short of efreeti and Frog King... And invite 5 other people to leech xp and call it a group.

You are 0 for 1 on descriptions, GL on the other 13. :)

Necro can pull for any xp group.. Be crowd control. Be main healer, backup healer.. Be dps.. snarer.. Once Shaman and Druids get better heals in kunark necros lose a little luster, but they are always going to be the same jack-of-all-trades class that a bard is.

[Knuckle]

Necros power during kunark and velious droped alot. Necro pets didn't get much improvement compared to the 49 pet, even EoT wasn't that good. In the same time the only good upfront dps dot we got was Pyro and we lacked burst dps. Finaly our major force compared to other dps classes, mana conservation, vanished with KEI.

C3 didnt come out till luclin jackass.

[Dr4z3r]

Well, this thread was de-railed pretty quickly. I think this might have been more useful, OP, if you'd just called people out to update the Wiki, rather than trying to gather it here. Just copy and past whatever's there, and (as with any opinion expressed on internet forums), people will be falling all over themselves to expand/edit it.

Also, this is going to be at least partially wrong (especially Velious stuff), but here's my basic recollection of roughly how relative power of the classes changed with the first 2 expansions:

Warrior
Classic: Low (aggro problems)
Kunark: Better (disciplines)
Velious: Better

Rogue
Classic: High (Low without a group)
Kunark: Better (new weapons)
Velious: Same

Bard
Classic: High (Lower in raids)
Kunark: Better (overhaste)
Velious: Same

Ranger:
Classic: Low (except Tracking raids)
Kunark: Better (itemization)
Velious: Better (itemization)

Shadowknight
Classic: High (Lower in raids)
Kunark: Worse (though not much)
Velious: Same

Paladin
Classic: High
Kunark: Worse (by attrition)
Velious: Same

Cleric
Classic: High (Low without a group)
Kunark: Same
Velious: Same

Shaman
Classic: High
Kunark: Better
Velious: Better

Druid
Classic: High
Kunark: Worse (rain spell)
Velious: Same

Magician
Classic: High
Kunark: Worse (by attrition)
Velious: Worse (by attrition)

Wizard
Classic: Medium
Kunark: Much Better (AoE grouping)
Velious: Same

Necromancer
Classic: High
Kunark: Worse (by attrition)
Velious: Worse (by attrition)

Enchanter
Classic: High (crack, soloing, crack)
Kunark: Same
Velious: Same

If you have some corrections to make (and I'm sure you do), please, just be specific about the what/how/when.

[ammut]

C3 didnt come out till luclin jackass.

I played a necro from vanilia classic to PoP, forget what i said about C3.. it isn't changing anything about the necro power trend.... weaker and then weaker.

The only thing i am not sure about is the impact of the dot stacking difference between the emu and official servers on the necro class usefullness dps wise during boss fights.

And don't fucking answer me that the necros are usefull because they can be twitch whores...

[Versus]

C3 didnt come out till luclin jackass.

That's a little harsh mang. Not everyone here has the razor sharp nerd-memory that you possess. :D

[Versus]

Also, Dr4z3r forgot Monks on that list ;(

[Dr4z3r]

Also, Dr4z3r forgot Monks on that list ;(

Ooooooooooops.

Monk:
Classic: High (pulling)
Kunark: Same
Velious: Same

[garyogburn]

I played a mage, and while in classic they are powerful, they become pretty useless later on when things actually hit hard. Without their pet, theyre useless and become a sitting duck, completely unable to defend themselves except by gating. Coth is a neat gimmick, but I always felt I wasnt contributing nearly as much as other classes.

I never did get the epic though. That would change things quite a bit.

[Chanus]

I think the problem with the Magician was when Fire Pet became a Wizard, and therefore couldn't tank everything in the game like before.

[garyogburn]

I think the problem with the Magician was when Fire Pet became a Wizard, and therefore couldn't tank everything in the game like before.

Its more of a design flaw imo. If a mage relies on aggro mechanics to survive, and we all know how those are in eq.

Mages should of gotten root, wore plate, something.

[Ponden]

Rogue
Classic: High (Low without a group)
Kunark: Better (new weapons)
Velious: Same


Classic: Lol
Kunark: Beast
Velious: Beast 2.0

[porigromus]

Well, this thread was de-railed pretty quickly. I think this might have been more useful, OP, if you'd just called people out to update the Wiki, rather than trying to gather it here. Just copy and past whatever's there, and (as with any opinion expressed on internet forums), people will be falling all over themselves to expand/edit it.

Also, this is going to be at least partially wrong (especially Velious stuff), but here's my basic recollection of roughly how relative power of the classes changed with the first 2 expansions:

Warrior
Classic: Low (aggro problems)
Kunark: Better (disciplines)
Velious: Better

Rogue
Classic: High (Low without a group)
Kunark: Better (new weapons)
Velious: Same

Bard
Classic: High (Lower in raids)
Kunark: Better (overhaste)
Velious: Same

Ranger:
Classic: Low (except Tracking raids)
Kunark: Better (itemization)
Velious: Better (itemization)

Shadowknight
Classic: High (Lower in raids)
Kunark: Worse (though not much)
Velious: Same

Paladin
Classic: High
Kunark: Worse (by attrition)
Velious: Same

Cleric
Classic: High (Low without a group)
Kunark: Same
Velious: Same

Shaman
Classic: High
Kunark: Better
Velious: Better

Druid
Classic: High
Kunark: Worse (rain spell)
Velious: Same

Magician
Classic: High
Kunark: Worse (by attrition)
Velious: Worse (by attrition)

Wizard
Classic: Medium
Kunark: Much Better (AoE grouping)
Velious: Same

Necromancer
Classic: High
Kunark: Worse (by attrition)
Velious: Worse (by attrition)

Enchanter
Classic: High (crack, soloing, crack)
Kunark: Same
Velious: Same

If you have some corrections to make (and I'm sure you do), please, just be specific about the what/how/when.

Thank you for trying to get this back on track! I agree, I should have tried this differently. I still want to thank everyone else as well for their input.

[Azimon]

Think you forgot monk :P

Anyways. Mages are far from useless in kunark, they could solo well, they just had to use their earth pet and throw a ds on it. Mages soloed very well all the way through kunark and velious and some in luclin, though they became shit for solo in planes of power. It's all about adaptation.

The mage epic is almost not worth mentioning, it's the hardest epic in the game and you wont see many with it.

[ukaking]

Mage epic is harder than warrior? =O

[Chanus]

Mage epic is harder than warrior? =O

Yes.

Well, maybe not if you can't MQ the Wingblade.

[Azzbad]

Yes.

Well, maybe not if you can't MQ the Wingblade.

Unfortunately (or fortunately for warriors) the Wingblade drops very Spiroc Lord kill (that isn't bugged).

[Chanus]

Unfortunately (or fortunately for warriors) the Wingblade drops very Spiroc Lord kill (that isn't bugged).

Yeah, but not all warriors can get to the corpse to loot it.

Without MQ, the Warrior epic is pretty difficult for most players... especially with the current raid culture.

Not saying it's harder than the Mage epic, though.

[Trademaster]

there are two huge stoppers for the Mage epic, Quillmane and island 7. I have heard tell that Quillmane is an easier spawn here, so that might have eased up but getting to island 7 in the plane of sky that's a real pain, with no other reason to go there except for the magician epic.

[garyogburn]

Think you forgot monk :P

Anyways. Mages are far from useless in kunark, they could solo well, they just had to use their earth pet and throw a ds on it. Mages soloed very well all the way through kunark and velious and some in luclin, though they became shit for solo in planes of power. It's all about adaptation.

The mage epic is almost not worth mentioning, it's the hardest epic in the game and you wont see many with it.

Solo is a good option for a mage because they lack group synergy. Theyre more a liability due to pet mechanics and their complete lack of any defense whatsoever.

Their epic is easily the hardest to get, thats for sure. Its also one of the best.

[garyogburn]

there are two huge stoppers for the Mage epic, Quillmane and island 7. I have heard tell that Quillmane is an easier spawn here, so that might have eased up but getting to island 7 in the plane of sky that's a real pain, with no other reason to go there except for the magician epic.

Ive killed Quill twice so far on this server, and the bastard dropped only the legs both times =/

The crown is droppable though, so a mage could save up 200k or whatever the asking price is for the few thatll be ever available in ec.

[Azimon]

The modulation rods was awesome for groups, but yeah, controlling your pet is hard, i remember the magicians in my groups very often had to kill their pet, because it refused to stop attacking the mez targets.

[Zereh]

Mage - Kunark - Call of the Hero

They win, obv ~

[Azimon]

Coth had its uses....hehe...had some funny moments where as we had someone train a shitloads of mobs away to get the rest of the group in place and coth'ed the sk monk..was cool..when it worked..Karnor castle for instance..oh ye

[Lelroni]

Mage epic is harder than warrior? =O

It is. The crown from island 7 will cost upwards of 200-300kp+ probably. I forgot exactly how the warrior epic ran (I actually got them on my warrior on live), I think the hardest for me was the prince (or was it queen?) in Chardok.

[freakyuno]

Hmmm, chumps playing "hard mode" epic classes. I remember doing the monk and druid epics both....easysauce.

[Azimon]

The monk epic is quite special too..hehe..you actually get an "epic robe" halfway, quite motivational ;)

[Cogwell]

Bard
Classic: High (Lower in raids)
Kunark: Better (overhaste)
Velious: Same


Overhaste in the current sense didn't come out til Luclin. One of the first two expansions had a stacking haste, but it wouldn't put you past the cap.


Enchanter
Classic: High (crack, soloing, crack)
Kunark: Same
Velious: Same


Should be noted that in Velious, virtually all the areas you'll be in outside of Velks are immune to mez and stun, often highly MR, and I'm not sure if they'll easily have access to a nuke that doesn't stun for super fun aggro.