More fun to start a new character naked/unfunded?

[Loadsamoney]

I've got 4.5k to my Rangers name right now, enough to buy the two weapons I want (Winter's Fury and Frostbringer), but I could also use it to cheaply fund a new Druid, which I've been wanting to raise for some time, mainly as a porter for some side money. At the very least I'd be pushing to Level 44 for all the Circle spells, playing further I guess depends on how much I enjoy sitting around rootrotting stuff, but 44 for sure.

So I can either spend a little plat to get some basic HP adders like Fire Wedding Rings and a decent weapon (thinking Skyfury Scimitar and Crystal Chitin Shield), or I can just invest in my Rangers weapons now and play the Druid naked, gearing up little by little along the way.

I'm leaning largely towards unfunded just because, having played this Ranger twinked since its creation (haste belt, lots of HP adders, Silver Chitin Wristbands, full Crystal Chitin armor, dual Lammies), I think playing a new toon butt naked and having to claw my way into relevancy would be a refreshing change-up, and kind of goes in the spirit of classic EQ anyway. Druids are less gear dependent than a lot of classes so I don't think it would be too hard to get some basic stuff after, say, level 19 or so (patiently wait my turn for Nybright sisters when open, start camping High Keep guards around 27-29 or so).

But I'm okay buying a few pieces of cheap gear as well just to keep things a little smoother. The only things I would really need are a half-decent Wis weapon and a couple of 65HP rings, and that's maybe 500-1kpp, tops. I can do fine on plain leather in every other slot. I just don't think I need to starting out because I can raise that money pretty quick doing the normal stuff, selling bone chips and crushbone belts, and I'd have what I need by the time I start camping sisters in lfay.

Obviously blue doesn't need another Druid, nor does Dial-a-port, but I feel like I want to anyway to have some variety from my Ranger/Paladin.

tldr, probably gonna do it, just curious if anyone is like me and prefers to start a brand new character with absolutely nothing even when you can afford to gear one up?

[Trexller]

thats not a bad plan for a new druid alt

or you could try the "self found" path, where you don't equip or use anything that you didn't quest/loot yourself

but otherwise equipping a druid with starting gear won't cost you too much.

[Crede]

That stopped being fun for me in like 2000 after I got my first fungi. Personally I’d spend that money on gearing an enchanter so you can eventually farm mass pp and twink the piss outta something else but that’s just me. Entire guilds have formed based off your ideals so that’s the beauty of the game everyone can enjoy it in their own way.

Good luck!

[Loadsamoney]

That stopped being fun for me in like 2000 after I got my first fungi. Personally I’d spend that money on gearing an enchanter so you can eventually farm mass pp and twink the piss outta something else but that’s just me. Entire guilds have formed based off your ideals so that’s the beauty of the game everyone can enjoy it in their own way.

Good luck!

Wait, twinking stopped being fun, or playing naked stopped being fun?

Also, was going to run Halfling Druid, but Halflings can't be Tunare, not sure I want to be shoehorned into Karana, or having butt merchant buy/sell prices cause of crap Charisma.

[DMN]

generally speaking, twinking a druid is akin to painting racing stripes on a geo metro.

[Crede]

Wait, twinking stopped being fun, or playing naked stopped being fun?

Also, was going to run Halfling Druid, but Halflings can't be Tunare, not sure I want to be shoehorned into Karana, or having butt merchant buy/sell prices cause of crap Charisma.

Playing naked.

And halfling is cool for sneak, but since Druids can port for easy vendor access, I’d recommend human Tunare druid for rarity, robequest, and obviously the Tunare gloves. Also Druids mostly make their money off selling ports/PL//MQs so I wouldn’t worry about charisma at all, can always supplement it with +cha items when selling.

[Loadsamoney]

Playing naked.

And halfling is cool for sneak, but since Druids can port for easy vendor access, I’d recommend human Tunare druid for rarity, robequest, and obviously the Tunare gloves. Also Druids mostly make their money off selling ports/PL//MQs so I wouldn’t worry about charisma at all, can always supplement it with +cha items when selling.

Wood Elf would be my first pick for a Druid, but I guess Human would be fine too. My Ranger is a Human. I don't see myself ever getting an Azure Sky robe though.

For reference, to gear up my Druid the way I want to would run me about 10kpp:

Skyfury Scimitar (2k)
Crystal Chitin Shield (800)
Withered Leather Set (13 pieces, 5k for full set?)
Golden Black Sapphire Earring x2 (400x2)
Velium Fire Wedding Ring x2 (400x2)
Frozen Orb (600)

And I can always just use plain Leather Armor for a while, until I'm ready to invest in Withered Leather.

[Trazic]

generally speaking, twinking a druid is akin to painting racing stripes on a geo metro.

They have the capacity to be stupidly strong though.

With SS BP and fungi tunic you have 30 regen which pairs really well with the damage shield druids get. Add in to that the mana-free drones of doom from SS bracer and you can really steamroll.

I was slaughtering the inside of castle of MM in my 30s.

And yes, you can click both of those SS items at low levels. I used both at level 14 just a few months ago. A lot of people said that you couldn't. I am glad I decided to test it out for myself.

[Loadsamoney]

There's also Drones of Doom from the Elder Spiritists Arms, and those are dirt cheap, like 500pp or so.

[DMN]

Bitches don't know 'bout my geo metro.

[xh311xb3ntx]

There's two kinds of rangers. Ones who use frostbringer, and ones who have learned their lesson.

[Loadsamoney]

There's two kinds of rangers. Ones who use frostbringer, and ones who have learned their lesson.

Currently I'm using dual Lamentations, so Winter's Fury and Frostbringer would be nice upgrades for me, and sufficient placeholders until the Epic.

I play a Ranger to dual-wield and swing like a maniac, not to two-hand, so Woodsman's Staff is blech.

[Crede]

Wait, twinking stopped being fun, or playing naked stopped being fun?

Also, was going to run Halfling Druid, but Halflings can't be Tunare, not sure I want to be shoehorned into Karana, or having butt merchant buy/sell prices cause of crap Charisma.

https://wiki.project1999.com/Robe_of_Living_Fungus

I like the fungi robe

[Loadsamoney]

I like the fungi robe

I happen to like the way armor looks on the Wood Elf, so I'll probably stick to Wood Elf for my Druid. Honestly, I think the only mistake you can make is picking Half Elf, because of their butt Wisdom.

[Blango]

As someone who has both a 60 ranger and 60 druid, I can tell you the plat will go much farther on a ranger as far as actually making a difference. Once you start quading on the druid a bigger mana pool definitely helps but a shit geared ranger can't even solo blues, a shit geared druid can still quad.

[Loadsamoney]

As someone who has both a 60 ranger and 60 druid, I can tell you the plat will go much farther on a ranger as far as actually making a difference. Once you start quading on the druid a bigger mana pool definitely helps but a shit geared ranger can't even solo blues, a shit geared druid can still quad.

Hence why I'm trying to upgrade my weapons with the plat I have. I feel I can play a Druid comfortably with just some HP jewelry and maybe a cheap weapon. By the time I get into porting levels I'll have saved up enough from killing High Keep guards, sisters, etc, to afford anything I need.

And if I can, I'd rather farm my own Withered Leather in The Hole, either solo or with a decent group, and save the money. Plain leather isn't that bad.

[nilzark]

Starting naked with no advantage items is a real slog. Good luck.

[Loadsamoney]

Starting naked with no advantage items is a real slog. Good luck.

Well, how are people going to start twinked when Green resets?

[Jimjam]

Well, how are people going to start twinked when Green resets?

It is gonna be a real slog.

[Loadsamoney]

I'm probably gonna send my pally with some cash to EC tomorrow and shop for the starting gear I want. For 5k I'm looking to get an Oakleaf Scimitar, Crystal Chitin Shield, 2 65HP rings, 2 25HP/35Mana Earrings, and a Frozen Orb. The rest of my slots can just be Leather until I can afford to buy, or am strong enough to go farm, Withered Leather.

I figure if I want to play a fresh character, I'll have a chance to soon once Green resets. That would be the time.

[Loadsamoney]

By any chance does anyone have a picture of what a full Withered Leather Set looks like? It's likely I'm going to try and assemble a full 13-piece set of Withered Leather, and I'd like to know if it just looks like normal leather or if it has a unique look or color to it.

And of course, if buying/farming all 13 pieces is a reasonable endeavor.

[MrSparkle001]

It can be fun to start naked/unfunded as I am forced to...

...except there are no groups for lowbies. Soloing naked/unfunded if you aren't a solo-friendly class is an experience lol (I started over as a wood elf ranger). No newbie lift groups, no Crushbone groups. Gfay is basically deserted actually.

[Toxigen]

generally speaking, twinking a druid is akin to painting racing stripes on a geo metro.

nah

twinking a druid is akin to racing stripes on a geo metro with cowpatch interior and pink fuzzy dice hanging off the mirror

[Gustoo]

Dang have you guys never given your noob druid a fungi tunic?

Level 1-30 or whatever with a druid is no better than most classes, and with a fungi you can basically melee solo to that point. It rules.

[Loadsamoney]

Dang have you guys never given your noob druid a fungi tunic?

Level 1-30 or whatever with a druid is no better than most classes, and with a fungi you can basically melee solo to that point. It rules.

Oakleaf Scimitar a good weapon to start within until the Epic, or can I do better?

[Gustoo]

That is an insanely good weapon, you can't beat that at all. At low levels and basically for the entire game, low delay is the very best and a 19 delay is on the very low end of the scale. 10 damage 19 delay is hyper super duper excellent.

That + fungi and any other gear would have you having a ball of a time getting a druid up to the levels when spells get really effective.

[Loadsamoney]

That is an insanely good weapon, you can't beat that at all. At low levels and basically for the entire game, low delay is the very best and a 19 delay is on the very low end of the scale. 10 damage 19 delay is hyper super duper excellent.

That + fungi and any other gear would have you having a ball of a time getting a druid up to the levels when spells get really effective.

Surprised it's so cheap at 2k if it's top tier until the Epic.

[Gustoo]

The ratio on that is insane, i guess no one cares about swinging blades on their druid twinks they just PL them to whatever porting level or somethin.

[Loadsamoney]

The ratio on that is insane, i guess no one cares about swinging blades on their druid twinks they just PL them to whatever porting level or somethin.

Is it dirt cheap because it's Druid only?

[Gustoo]

The only thing really better is the scepter of destruction.

Yes its dirt cheap because it is druid only. Its an uber item but at the same time a druid is going to use epic or a better stat raising item in 99/100 circumstances.

https://wiki.project1999.com/Special:ClassSlotEquip/Druid/1H_Slashing/AllItems

https://wiki.project1999.com/Special:ClassSlotEquip/Druid/1H_Blunt/AllItems

[Loadsamoney]

The only thing really better is the scepter of destruction.

Yes its dirt cheap because it is druid only. Its an uber item but at the same time a druid is going to use epic or a better stat raising item in 99/100 circumstances.

https://wiki.project1999.com/Special:ClassSlotEquip/Druid/1H_Slashing/AllItems

https://wiki.project1999.com/Special:ClassSlotEquip/Druid/1H_Blunt/AllItems

SoD is more of a melee twink item in my eyes, largely because of that proc. 12/18 is a ridiculous ratio too.

[Andyman1022]

Is it dirt cheap because it's Druid only?

It’s dirt cheap because Chardok is mega over farmed. Good weapon to start with.

[Loadsamoney]

It’s dirt cheap because Chardok is mega over farmed. Good weapon to start with.

Ideally I'd like it to last me until Nature Walker's Scimitar.

[Gustoo]

SoD is more of a melee twink item in my eyes, largely because of that proc. 12/18 is a ridiculous ratio too.

SOD is the best twink druid weapon because it has lower delay than your scimitar and higher damage. The higher damage doesn't matter all the way through level 20 basically but its still better, because of the delay.

With a 10/19 blade and a fungi and a haste item you will be soloing mobs through like level 20 or 30 with impertinence while stacking orc belts up for turning in at whatever point you decide to do that, at which point you will need to sit down with your level 1 spells and cast the lowest mana ones to get your spell skills up and then you go on to be a normal druid.

Fungi is best in slot for anyone that can wear it but if your budget is limited you will probably wanna sell it when its usefulness wears out and get other gear.

Best is to keep it and use a manastone.

[Jimjam]

I assume you got a lumni staff and ggr?

Anyone with experience able to comment if these are worthwhile?

[Loadsamoney]

SOD is the best twink druid weapon because it has lower delay than your scimitar and higher damage. The higher damage doesn't matter all the way through level 20 basically but its still better, because of the delay.

With a 10/19 blade and a fungi and a haste item you will be soloing mobs through like level 20 or 30 with impertinence while stacking orc belts up for turning in at whatever point you decide to do that, at which point you will need to sit down with your level 1 spells and cast the lowest mana ones to get your spell skills up and then you go on to be a normal druid.

Fungi is best in slot for anyone that can wear it but if your budget is limited you will probably wanna sell it when its usefulness wears out and get other gear.

Best is to keep it and use a manastone.

Why does everyone assume I have a Fungi? My Druid is going to be geared on a budget of 5-10k...

[Gustoo]

Lumi staff is very worth while once you can start using it. It doesn't make or break anything but its a mana-free AOE nuke so you can finish off mobs and stuff without wasting mana. If you're quadding you work it into a rotation with your regular AOE dd spell to minimize the cast time. Its a nice item.

lumi staff plus https://wiki.project1999.com/Elder_Spiritist%27s_Vambraces makes you a lot more efficient in a bunch of different scenarios

ES Vambs are way better than the lumi staff for me, but I did a lot of root rotting so the extra free DOT helped efficiency a lot vs wasting an extra mana consuming DOT

edit- i looked up the GGR (goblin ring) and i never used the ivu ring with my druid so how to abuse such a ring would be new territory for me, so no comments there.

[Gustoo]

I wasn't assuming you have a fungi I brought it up to counterpoint the people that think a twink druid is stupid. They are no more stupid than any other twink.

But also you never mentioned your budget unless I just didn't read it.

On a budget your scimitar will be a great weapon for a long time. I would still get a cheap haste item. You won't be blasting through low level mobs non stop but you will still be awesome.

You can start fear kiting and just shredding up mobs with the scimitar as one convenient leveling option pretty early on (vs animals) so many fun ways to go.

[Loadsamoney]

I wasn't assuming you have a fungi I brought it up to counterpoint the people that think a twink druid is stupid. They are no more stupid than any other twink.

But also you never mentioned your budget unless I just didn't read it.

On a budget your scimitar will be a great weapon for a long time. I would still get a cheap haste item. You won't be blasting through low level mobs non stop but you will still be awesome.

You can start fear kiting and just shredding up mobs with the scimitar as one convenient leveling option pretty early on (vs animals) so many fun ways to go.

If there's a cheap Haste item with Wis on it, maybe. It wasn't planned as one of the items I was looking for.

The exact list of gear I'm aiming for to start my druid:

Oakleaf Scimitar
Crystal Chitin Shield
Frozen Orb
2x Velium Fire Wedding Ring
2x Golden Black Sapphire Earring
Withered Leather Armor set (all 13 pieces)

But if it's not ideal to go for full Withered Leather, I can consider a cheap Haste item I suppose.

Silvery Belt of Contention I'd consider, since it has Wis. Eventually replace it with Planar haste belt, Honeycomb.

[Arvan]

You can charm kill for exp extremely efficiently as druid starting at lvl 14 using guards provided you picked a class that has hide or you have the invis animal ring. You need zero gear to do it and it brings you to high 30s where you start quadding and mana pool might matter then. Then lumi staff starts to matter. Druid is fun if you have fun soloing.

[Gustoo]

Arvan when you say using guards do you mean killing guards? What guards do you kill? Sounds evil.

[Loadsamoney]

I guess while we're talking about it, how much is it to MQ Druid Epic? I know it requires a VS stone, so at least 20k, but doesn't require a SEoC like Ranger epic, so I imagine it's a little cheaper than Ranger Epic.

[oldschoolguy]

Druid and Necro can be pretty easy unfunded anyway. If you gear them up, you miss the whole point of classic. It's pretty boring skipping the struggle, that difficulty is what sharpens the skill. That's why Classic EQ was the best, struggle was real, no way to twink.

[Loadsamoney]

Druid and Necro can be pretty easy unfunded anyway. If you gear them up, you miss the whole point of classic. It's pretty boring skipping the struggle, that difficulty is what sharpens the skill. That's why Classic EQ was the best, struggle was real, no way to twink.

Well, I always follow a pre-planned path when leveling to ensure I'm earning sufficient funds to gear up along the way.

1-5: Nothing but Decaying Skeletons. By level 5 I amass around 20 stacks of Bone Chips, and selling those combined with the coin I get from vendoring rusty weapons and cloth armor is enough to afford roughly 200pp worth of starter gear.
5-14: Crushbone, sell all belts and shoulderpads to players.
14-19 Lfay sisters.

By 19 my coin would be enough to get a full set of cheap Wis gear. At that point I'd go grind rep in Warrens to get a key into Paineel (and later a key into The Hole). That would be some extra coin to gear up a little more for the Paineel guards.

Then from 19 on it's Paineel guards until at least 39, and possibly as high as 51. Between 39-51 it's either the palace guards in Paineel, or Geodes in Crystal Caverns.

Then it's probably The Hole, or to root rot Freeport Guards or Grobb Bashers.

Edit: OR Ice Giants at the entrance to Permafrost, IF that camp is ever open.

[Andyman1022]

I guess while we're talking about it, how much is it to MQ Druid Epic? I know it requires a VS stone, so at least 20k, but doesn't require a SEoC like Ranger epic, so I imagine it's a little cheaper than Ranger Epic.

A full Druid epic Mq is going to run you anywhere between 70-100k depending on the seller. It’s a cheaper epic to buy, but not as cheap as the rogue or cleric epic.

[Andyman1022]

Why does everyone assume I have a Fungi? My Druid is going to be geared on a budget of 5-10k...

They probably assume you have a fungi because of your 2014 join date.

[MrSparkle001]

They probably assume you have a fungi because of your 2014 join date.

I have an old join date and you know what I have? Jack squat. Majority of my time was on Red back then and what little I did have on Blue was lost with the low level purge a few years ago.

Actually I still am a glutton for punishment. I started an untwinkable wood elf ranger that has to solo on a server with no low level groups lol. That's even more punishing than Red.

[Arvan]

Arvan when you say using guards do you mean killing guards? What guards do you kill? Sounds evil.

Nah there are certain lower level guards around Norrath who will kindly take an animal down to low hp for you then you charm the animal and pull it away then break charm and finish it off :)

[Gustoo]

Too elite

[Loadsamoney]

They probably assume you have a fungi because of your 2014 join date.

I guess 50k isn't ridiculous anymore, maybe I'll get one when I'm ready to play an SK. But I want to be able to afford Inny's Curse by then too.

[Gustoo]

It's funny how in norrath the animal lover non KOS to animals class (druids) use that ability to..slaughter animals more efficiently.

Good stuff.

[Loadsamoney]

Anyway, I think I'm gonna try to get my Ranger to 49-51 first, to the point where he's done milking Paineel and is ready to move on to something else, and then I'll probably start playing a Druid on the side.

I'm almost halfway through 45 right now, trying to push through this hell level by tomorrow.

[oldschoolguy]

It's funny how in norrath the animal lover non KOS to animals class (druids) use that ability to..slaughter animals more efficiently.

Good stuff.

weirdest part for me in classic is how druids can nuke summoned better than mages.

[Loadsamoney]

Hide sucks, but what about Sneak? Is Sneak useful enough to warrant picking Halfling and giving up Tunare gear?

[Tethler]

Hide sucks, but what about Sneak? Is Sneak useful enough to warrant picking Halfling and giving up Tunare gear?

Sneak is fantastic for turning in quests and vendoring with NPCs that don't like you. Depends on how much you care about the tunare quest gloves though. I'd say the QoL from sneak (plus the halfling xp bonus) will help you more than access to gloves that you may or may not get.

Personally, I went wood elf on my druid because I was recreating my old character from live, but there are definitely times when that sneak would have come in handy.

[Ghost of Starman]

Keep in mind the worst part of rolling Halfling is having to look at a Halfling all the time. I quit my Halfling druid when I tossed on a pair of Efreeti Boots and realized they didn't cover my feet they just turned my hairy feet bright yellow.

For druids minmax isn't a big deal, pick a race you like the looks of, I like human for the rarity and ability to wear robes.

[Loadsamoney]

Keep in mind the worst part of rolling Halfling is having to look at a Halfling all the time. I quit my Halfling druid when I tossed on a pair of Efreeti Boots and realized they didn't cover my feet they just turned my hairy feet bright yellow.

For druids minmax isn't a big deal, pick a race you like the looks of, I like human for the rarity and ability to wear robes.

I'd consider it for Robe of the Spring, but is it even reasonable to assume one can get it, or Robe of the azure Sky, if they're not in a prominent raiding guild?

The gloves are nice, the necklace I can take a pass on, a free crappy root when I already have a much longer lasting one doesn't seem like it's really gonna help me except in very, very special and rare circumstances.

[oldschoolguy]

if you really want to feel the game how it was meant to be played, don't fund a single item. start with nothing. the danger of being killed by orc pawn is real when you only have 23 hp.

if you twink even slightly, you miss out on that. there are no untwinked characters out there, i see it, everyone has a twinked out SK/Shaman/Monk just smashing mobs at least for first 40 levels. Twinking removes most of the danger. Once you remove twinking, suddenly the world is very very dangerous. It's why classic (pre kunark) was better. there was really no way to twink for most people. I remember some people got full banded at lvl 1, which was huge back then, and still were in danger of dying to your average yellow con npc. Very different game if you don't twink.

[MrSparkle001]

if you really want to feel the game how it was meant to be played, don't fund a single item. start with nothing. the danger of being killed by orc pawn is real when you only have 23 hp.

if you twink even slightly, you miss out on that. there are no untwinked characters out there, i see it, everyone has a twinked out SK/Shaman/Monk just smashing mobs at least for first 40 levels. Twinking removes most of the danger. Once you remove twinking, suddenly the world is very very dangerous. It's why classic (pre kunark) was better. there was really no way to twink for most people. I remember some people got full banded at lvl 1, which was huge back then, and still were in danger of dying to your average yellow con npc. Very different game if you don't twink.

BUT it's also meant to be played in groups, and on Blue good luck finding a newbie group. Not impossible but not common especially not at peak hours. You're forced to solo.

So to be untwinked and solo is a double whammy. Can't solo effectively (well druids are an exception I guess) and can't find groups to make up for that lack of soloing gear, as was intended by developers.

I restarted here and have a ranger, untwinked but the kindness of others has given me a decent weapon and some banded armor. It's much better than running around solo with a tarnished weapon and tattered armor lol.

[oldschoolguy]

BUT it's also meant to be played in groups, and on Blue good luck finding a newbie group. Not impossible but not common especially not at peak hours. You're forced to solo.

So to be untwinked and solo is a double whammy. Can't solo effectively (well druids are an exception I guess) and can't find groups to make up for that lack of soloing gear, as was intended by developers.

I restarted here and have a ranger, untwinked but the kindness of others has given me a decent weapon and some banded armor. It's much better than running around solo with a tarnished weapon and tattered armor lol.

yeah it's pretty bad in grouping department. i couldn't find a group most of the time leveling my enchanter. guild gave me a few items that helped early on. those 75 hp went a long way, used them till lvl 50+. could have probably used longer even, MR hasn't really mattered to me, i don't fight casters much.

that's why we need a pure classic server, groups will be kind of forced, there is no simply no way to twink in classic to be a solo killing machine. few classes can solo (druid/necro) but the rest will just be forced to group.