Troll SK

[ajdes]

So given that there is a year before Kunark, I have a sadistic desire to play a Troll SK, mostly because what else are you going to do for a year if you burn through an easy char in 1-2 months?

My question is, is there any reward to this endeavor? How good are SK's in classic? I know they can tank in groups, but are they capable soloers? What level do they come into their own? Is decent gear easily obtainable (enchanters start farming mithril two-handers soon right)?

[Graahle]

Just prepare for exp pain to be honest. Troll SK is like my spirit animal in the macrocosm of gaming for me. They are just dead sexy and quite a statement character/class combination.

But even back on Red where the base experience rate is higher I contemplated jumping out my second story window while leveling to 52 before the hybrid exp penalty was removed. It's that bad. Some will say otherwise and some.

The reward for maxing a Troll SK in classic is ultimate flex rights. You will have no problem getting groups right now because you're an aggro monster. They can solo DECENTLY with the fear/feign death/troll regen combo, but it's a massive slog. Just group as much as possible.

[Bazia]

SKs like lustrous russet armor and trolls like guise so if your gonna do an SK now is a good time

SKs are good in classic at the same stuff they are always good at, tanking anything other than dragon and gods and pulling with FD

Troll regen with FD is great too

[ajdes]

additional question, one starting guide recommends putting 20 points in INT and another guide says 20 points in STA. How important is an SK's mana pool?

[Pilgrimzero]

additional question, one starting guide recommends putting 20 points in INT and another guide says 20 points in STA. How important is an SK's mana pool?

Your spells are weak and dont cost a lot of mana. Summon a pet and both go hack and slash. I say Stamina all the way

[Fawqueue]

additional question, one starting guide recommends putting 20 points in INT and another guide says 20 points in STA. How important is an SK's mana pool?

Do 10 into each and you won't feel like you wholly neglected either.

[Zill]

If you don't do drugs, take them up. Numbing your grip on reality is probably the best/only way to get through the horrible hell grind.

[Gatorsmash]

Do 10 into each and you won't feel like you wholly neglected either.

^ this right here. If you go all STA you will have mana issues post 40 and maybe sooner when you solo till velius gear

I love reliving the first days of EQ on my troll sk, even seen Faw around but just be warned the xp penalty is like pulling a car behind you.

[TheDudeAbides]

So given that there is a year before Kunark, I have a sadistic desire to play a Troll SK, mostly because what else are you going to do for a year if you burn through an easy char in 1-2 months?

My question is, is there any reward to this endeavor? How good are SK's in classic? I know they can tank in groups, but are they capable soloers? What level do they come into their own? Is decent gear easily obtainable (enchanters start farming mithril two-handers soon right)?

If you roll Troll SK

Dump every starting point into INT

If you don't, you're going to have serious mana issues at 50

Trust me - I've been there. Just do it and thank me later

[ajdes]

well I started my journey through hell. got level 2, some cloth armor, and a few bags.

fwiw I put 15 points in INT and 5 points in DEX. I dug through some old posts which highlighted that dex is fairly important for lifetap procs and relatively low compared to str/sta on a troll. The INT is self explanatory, as I do plan to solo a bit.

[Vormotus]

well I started my journey through hell. got level 2, some cloth armor, and a few bags.

fwiw I put 15 points in INT and 5 points in DEX. I dug through some old posts which highlighted that dex is fairly important for lifetap procs and relatively low compared to str/sta on a troll. The INT is self explanatory, as I do plan to solo a bit.

Interesting info, I was tempted to be a SK as well, but was wondering about they xp penalty, have seen the struggle in Guk in one of my alts by hybrids to keep up with friends.

I was wondering if the xp penalty will be removed eventually in green?

[skorge]

Interesting info, I was tempted to be a SK as well, but was wondering about they xp penalty, have seen the struggle in Guk in one of my alts by hybrids to keep up with friends.

I was wondering if the xp penalty will be removed eventually in green?

I took a troll SK (with guise) to 60 during Kunark era. Listen to me when I say this: the ONLY way you can reach level 60 as a troll SK during pre-Velious is with Chardok AE. So, long story short: level from 55-60 in a Chardok AE group only. Drop 100-150k total to achieve this. If you try to level your troll SK the regular way it will take YEARS. It's that bad man.

Moral of the story: Chardok AE was INSANE EXP, lol.

[cd288]

IMO, they aren't really any better in classic than they are later. Some might even argue they are less useful in the classic era because of the ability other melee classes have to be decent enough tanks throughout most of the pre-50 level ranges, meaning that it's probably better to take one of those classes than a Troll SK. But if you're talking SK with no racial penalty vs. a Pally or a Ranger, such that it's the same penalty regardless, I'd rather have an SK over either of those. But if it's an SK with an additional racial penalty, I'd rather have the Pally or the Ranger (or a Monk or Shaman).

[Brut]

is there any reward to this endeavor? How good are SK's in classic?
Fashion? Class has Feign Death, regular invisibility and invisibility vs undead, so you have some ability to run around the world and go places, unlike pallies and warriors.

Hybrids are all bad all the way throughout the classic trilogy, every role they try to accomplish is performed by other classes better. Warriors will always be the best tanks, monks/rogues will outDPS you hard, monks are way better pullers, int/wis casters are way better at soloing, so forth so forth. You can write novels how your ranger can do this and that in a group environment, but by the end of the day you're not really filling a role a better class can't fill better. Snap aggro, that's about it. Your peak usefulness is probably right now, when warriors struggle to hold aggro without (and even with, har har) aggro proc weapons.

There's no "reward" per say. But I don't think the exp penalty is that horrifying, unless you really count every single mob slain and time invested grinding on a class with no penalty, you shouldn't be able to tell how much harder it is.

[drackgon]

Lol ok Brut let me tell you.. 31 Orge SK Vin on Green. at 26 In MM farming with a group. I was half way to 27.. Same group druid was 2 bars from 27. By time I hit 27, druid was 2 bars from 28 By time I was 1 yellow in 27, Druid was 28 with a yellow in already.

Another note, peeps probably see my name. I play a lot. I've grouped with tons and tons of players, who I /friend good ones and watch their progress. I constantly find a same level group and start leveling with them 1-2 levels. Day later, their 3-5 lvls above me. Its the struggle of SK.

Do I regret it.. Heck no Mama Vin Smash da faces in. <3 I died once to train.

*Edit" Druid was Puller in MM and died 3x ^-^

[cd288]

Fashion? Class has Feign Death, regular invisibility and invisibility vs undead, so you have some ability to run around the world and go places, unlike pallies and warriors.

Hybrids are all bad all the way throughout the classic trilogy, every role they try to accomplish is performed by other classes better. Warriors will always be the best tanks, monks/rogues will outDPS you hard, monks are way better pullers, int/wis casters are way better at soloing, so forth so forth. You can write novels how your ranger can do this and that in a group environment, but by the end of the day you're not really filling a role a better class can't fill better. Snap aggro, that's about it. Your peak usefulness is probably right now, when warriors struggle to hold aggro without (and even with, har har) aggro proc weapons.

There's no "reward" per say. But I don't think the exp penalty is that horrifying, unless you really count every single mob slain and time invested grinding on a class with no penalty, you shouldn't be able to tell how much harder it is.

*Warriors will always be the best tanks for group content if very well geared. If the Warrior isn't geared, then an SK or Pally will always be the better of the pure tank classes for group content.

[sentinel]

Warrior is great for raids only. I'll take a hybrid for exp groups every time.

[Lulz Sect]

CT speed lad

[ajdes]

Interesting info, I was tempted to be a SK as well, but was wondering about they xp penalty, have seen the struggle in Guk in one of my alts by hybrids to keep up with friends.

I was wondering if the xp penalty will be removed eventually in green?

It gets removed during Velious

[Vormotus]

It gets removed during Velious

That is a relief then ... guess I will shelve my SK dreams for a while, specially because I enjoy playing Iksar Sks.

I never got my epic on live but I got my Iksar SK Epic when I managed to finish my Greenmist.

Worst part of my camp was the green shard in Chardok , took me literally one month+ of parking a druid alt at entrance invised with track up all the time to spot the alchemist being up and then going down with friends or rarely alone to try get it .

Other pieces were just a couple weeks plus organizing my small guild back in the day so they could help me with the overthere invasion part, Everquest is full of little awesome quests like those.

Fun times ...

I think one of the most fun aspects of this game is that strange feeling of camping something for so long.

But that XP penalty is brutal when looked at that way.

[ajdes]

made it up to the double digits. got myself a boney friend and some basic equipment. so far im enjoying it. its definitely slow but im not in a rush

[slowpoke68]

Wow! I'm struggling with whether I want to continue on my ranger because of the 40 percent penalty. Good for you.

By the way whatever to Chortles? Did the grind drive him over the edge?

[Frug]

Did the grind drive him over the edge?

If there's any justice. Best I ever did was ignore that one.

[Lulz Sect]

i was suspended on Chortles with trumped up charges on day 2 after launch
started my CLR alt and made similar XP progress in 4 hrs
no longer have the red launch SK naïveté
the 68% XP penalty is real

[Noselacri]

I took a troll SK (with guise) to 60 during Kunark era. Listen to me when I say this: the ONLY way you can reach level 60 as a troll SK during pre-Velious is with Chardok AE. So, long story short: level from 55-60 in a Chardok AE group only. Drop 100-150k total to achieve this. If you try to level your troll SK the regular way it will take YEARS. It's that bad man.

Moral of the story: Chardok AE was INSANE EXP, lol.

What kind of nonsense is this? Do you even know how math works? It's a 68% penalty, not 5000%. In groups the penalty is even less severe. It'll take the hybrid a month or two longer to hit 60, maybe even just a couple of weeks if you have an easy time getting groups. It's this kind of idiotic bullshit that makes people think they need to decline hybrids for groups. Realistically speaking, a tank with snap aggro will bring no reduction in XP/hour over a warrior tank who struggles with aggro and people have to wait for procs before engaging.

[Madbad]

Don't die, the xp loss and the time required to regain it is soul destroying

[Coridan]

I'm 25 as a delf SK, longest I've waited for a group is about 40 minutes. Stcik to Befallen and Guk and you won't even notice the xp penalties because the zem is so absurdly broken.

[Palemoon]

Wow! I'm struggling with whether I want to continue on my ranger because of the 40 percent penalty. Good for you.

By the way whatever to Chortles? Did the grind drive him over the edge?

What ever happened to that one guy that was advertising a marathon group at server start made up mostly of mages? Never heard how they did.

[cd288]

What kind of nonsense is this? Do you even know how math works? It's a 68% penalty, not 5000%. In groups the penalty is even less severe. It'll take the hybrid a month or two longer to hit 60, maybe even just a couple of weeks if you have an easy time getting groups. It's this kind of idiotic bullshit that makes people think they need to decline hybrids for groups. Realistically speaking, a tank with snap aggro will bring no reduction in XP/hour over a warrior tank who struggles with aggro and people have to wait for procs before engaging.

Yeah most of the time you can just ignore his comments lol

[Danth]

I'm 25 as a delf SK, longest I've waited for a group is about 40 minutes. Stcik to Befallen and Guk and you won't even notice the xp penalties because the zem is so absurdly broken.

Not just that, but if you're grouping then your experience is being averaged out. The experience penalty mostly affects solo, then it'll affect the individual to a lesser extent for each person added beyond himself. In a full group it's no big deal, as you've noticed.

I made 60 on my human Shadow Knight while P1999 was in Kunark. Could've made it on a troll too, just would've taken longer. Skorge's comment might apply to him specifically, but trying to apply that mantra to everyone rapidly becomes absurd.

Danth

[skorge]

Yeah most of the time you can just ignore his comments lol


Amount of experience for a Troll SK to ding 60 pre-Velious: 862,591,800‬
Amount of experience for a Half WAR to ding 60 pre-Velious: 438,997,612.5


Note: the above includes zero exp in 60. It gets even worse if you add up the amount of experience you can receive in 60 (some people like to buffer their level 60 by a good amount).

Meaning by the time you level 1 troll SK to 60 you could have essentially leveled 2 guys from 1-60 twice. Yes twice.

To the guy above you who said, "oh it will just take another 2 weeks of playing" do you think you can go from 1-60 in just 2 weeks on any toon? Sure, maybe with a huge PL. Hence the reason why I brought up Chardok AE groupage option for the Troll SK.

The troll SK exp penalty is REAL. It doesn't become a thing until the mid-late 50s where it takes WAY more exp to ding. It's not an issue until Kunark.

[Gatorsmash]

Don't die, the xp loss and the time required to regain it is soul destroying

This right here is the key for a troll SK I've found, I must have been drunk to do this in classic with zero info. No deaths and a reg zone ZEM of 75 is better than UGuk with a single death.

[cd288]

Amount of experience for a Troll SK to ding 60 pre-Velious: 862,591,800‬
Amount of experience for a Half WAR to ding 60 pre-Velious: 438,997,612.5


Note: the above includes zero exp in 60. It gets even worse if you add up the amount of experience you can receive in 60 (some people like to buffer their level 60 by a good amount).

Meaning by the time you level 1 troll SK to 60 you could have essentially leveled 2 guys from 1-60 twice. Yes twice.

To the guy above you who said, "oh it will just take another 2 weeks of playing" do you think you can go from 1-60 in just 2 weeks on any toon? Sure, maybe with a huge PL. Hence the reason why I brought up Chardok AE groupage option for the Troll SK.

The troll SK exp penalty is REAL. It doesn't become a thing until the mid-late 50s where it takes WAY more exp to ding. It's not an issue until Kunark.

No, I don’t think you can do it in another two weeks, I think it will take longer than that. But saying the only way to get to 60 on a Troll SK is Chardonnay AE is just dumb dude lol. I was giving you the benefit of the doubt thinking you were just purposefully exaggerating but now it seems like you’re actually being serious lol. Smh

[drackgon]

just dinged 40 last night. on SK.. So many peeps dinging 50.. and I am just here like yeah... plz plz plz plz dont resist FD!.. FYI worst moment I have had has been level 36.. Died 3 times in that level. The xp loss was just mind numbing.

[Noselacri]

Amount of experience for a Troll SK to ding 60 pre-Velious: 862,591,800‬
Amount of experience for a Half WAR to ding 60 pre-Velious: 438,997,612.5


Note: the above includes zero exp in 60. It gets even worse if you add up the amount of experience you can receive in 60 (some people like to buffer their level 60 by a good amount).

Meaning by the time you level 1 troll SK to 60 you could have essentially leveled 2 guys from 1-60 twice. Yes twice.

To the guy above you who said, "oh it will just take another 2 weeks of playing" do you think you can go from 1-60 in just 2 weeks on any toon? Sure, maybe with a huge PL. Hence the reason why I brought up Chardok AE groupage option for the Troll SK.

The troll SK exp penalty is REAL. It doesn't become a thing until the mid-late 50s where it takes WAY more exp to ding. It's not an issue until Kunark.

You're not going from 1-60, you're going 1-50 (which is trivial regardless of class/race) and then 50-60 later. Probably 51-60 really since anyone who plays seriously enough to care about this shit will be 100% into 50 when Kunark hits. And yes, you can very much go 51-60 in two weeks if you're an invested player with a guild and network. That's why I said "a month or two longer, maybe even just a couple of weeks if..." I didn't say "it takes two weeks to level up, period." Stop being an imbecile. Quote what I said, not what you want to hear. You're not doing yourself any favors with that kind of fuckfacery.

And don't compare troll SK to halfling warrior. Compare it to the average xp penalty across the playerbase. All int casters have 10%, all bards/rangers/paladins have 40%, all ogres have 15%, etc. It reflects badly on you when you cherrypick the one outlier that best favors your flawed argument, especially when it's a class/race combo that almost nobody plays. The majority of warriors are ogres, trolls, barbarians and later iksars.

Most importantly, if you group, the xp penalty is way less, potentially nil in the right group setup. You're trying to compare a troll SK who solos 1-60 to a halfling warrior who solos 1-60, which is absurd. In a group, xp is divided according to how much xp-to-level-up each member has, so the hybrid takes a larger share unless he's much lower level than the rest. Nobody solos extensively on a tank class.

You made the retarded claim that it takes years to level a troll SK. Don't try to bullshit your way out of that piece of utter idiocy.

[Mankong]

This thread right here is why I play a half elf warrior haha. I don’t wanna deal with losing huge amounts of exp :(

[uygi]

This thread right here is why I play a non-tank race warrior haha. I don’t wanna deal with tanking unless none of the ogres, trolls and barbarians show up :(

FTFY

[Mankong]

FTFY

*Finger guns, clicks tongue.* Idc about optimal race choice, I'm having fun with my character :) And, tbh, I just wanna swing away with 2h weapons :P

I have respect for those who play Hybrids.