Rogue or Necro for a "casual EQ explorer" wanting a Unique experience

[FAHall]

Hey Guys,

I'm debating between creating a Rogue and a Necro.

I'm not particularly concerned with leveling at the fastest rate possible.

My goal in coming back to EQ after such a long layoff is to get to really experience the world and explore zones and places I didn't go to before.

I've narrowed my selections down to either a Rogue or a Necromancer, and I need some help deciding which to go with.

Here's how I've broken it down for myself

Rogue

-Pros
-- Sneak Hide (Corpse runs, and dangerous exploring sound SUPER fun)
-- Pick Locks (I like the idea of having such a unique skill)
-- More well liked by NPCs (Can experience more of the Good Aligned content)
-- Strong Addition to Group
-- I just plain like the roleplay flavor of a rogue.
-- Somewhat Rare
-- Make Money easily

-Neutral
--No Magic (I find Magic to be both a pro and a con. I like the simplicity of not having to deal with Magic, but I also like the utility it brings)

-Cons
-- Terrible Soloers (I like to have soloing as a viable option because my play time will likely be sporadic)
-- Limited utility (They get some unique skills that intrigue me, but is this character going to get repetitive and dull?)


Necromancer

-Pros
-- Can solo like the dickens
-- Useful in Groups
-- High Survivability
-- Very Intriguing Spell set (I loved playing a Necromancer in Diablo 2, and some of the concepts are similar here)
-- Utility (These guys sound like they can do so much)
-- Evil (Get to experience evil content, and Evil gear can look pretty awesome)

-Neutral
-- Magic (like above, I like the utility of magic, and also the simplicity of not having to deal with it)

-Cons
-- Evil (will not get to experience some of the "good" faction content
-- Sounds like there are gazillions of these guys running around on the server (I want to be at least kind of unique)
-- I don't want to play just a Grind-a-thon, and I've heard alot of Necros end up this way
-- Generally disliked (Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but there seems to be alot of negativity towards people that play Necros on the forums. I don't want to be a "loner jerk" as it were)


Races I'll choose:

Necro - Erudite
Rogue - Dwarf, Half Elf, or maybe Wood Elf

I'm not interested in playing two characters, because I know I'll get stuck in the character hopping cycle I did back when I played EQ before... this meant that I played alot of the same lower level content over and over.


So, given my unique goals in playing the game (experiencing lots of zones, quests, unique locations) which of these characters do you think will be the most enjoyable for me?

Any suggestions are appreciated.


Thanks,
-Alex

[SupaflyIRL]

Being a necro you will fearkite different colored giants in slightly different settings, and you will never solo a mob as a rogue. If you don't like logging on and spamming LFG, necro, if you dont mind that, rogue.

[xshayla701]

I know you said you don't want to do both, but maybe you can make a necro first, level it to high levels, and then make your rogue? That way, you could twink your rogue with pretty good gear.

Also, you forgot that rogues get a DE mask from Lguk. So you can experience evil stuff too :)

If you decide to go necro, they aren't as gear dependent, and their gear is cheaper than a rogue's (I think?) Not that a rogue is since he's not tanking? But obviously a rogue will do more damage with better gear. Good luck deciding!

[azeth]

in the time it took to map out your thoughts here, you could have leveled a Nec to 50 and started twinking your Rogue :p

edit:: ^^^ do that!

[Dr4z3r]

There's no real "content" that you can't do for being good or evil - all the difference it makes is where you can bank/vendor. Of course, if you come at it from the right angle, sneaking & taking full advantage of skills like invis/sneak and FD can be its own content!

Of course, as others have said, rogues can get a DE illusion mask from LGuk + Iksar illusion mask from TT, allowing them to pretty much bank/vendor anywhere.

Also, if you're an Erudite Necro, your faction might not be as bad as you think. I made one once, and had very little trouble getting out of erudin, through Qeynos, and moving around Freeport. It's been a while though, so this might have changed.

Whatever you do, though, Have Fun!!!

[Cippofra]

Two important notes. Casual can be difficult with a class that can't solo. Eventually your rogue simply cannot solo. If you have the time to group, by all means play whatver is most appealing to you. And exploring is simply easier with a class that can solo. as a necro you have the option of killing/farming wherever you want

[greatdane]

I'd honestly recommend druid. It's the perfect class for a casual player who just wants to do whatever he feels like at the moment and doesn't care too much about being top DPS or whatever. You should have no problem finding groups, especially <50, and you can solo perfectly well. You can port, sow, PL, make money, track, all sorts of neat stuff that suits people who just want to go laissez faire and not scratch the surface too much. Rogue isn't a very casual-friendly class, and necro will have some trouble finding groups.

[odizzido]

Erudites are loved pretty much everywhere. As an erudite necro I imagine you can go to both freeport and neriak. If not you should be able to get the faction needed easily. My erudite wizard is welcome in both outpost and firona in kunark, and I can go to any city but the ogre/troll one. Neriak is slightly dangerous to me, but it's not a problem if you know where not to go.

One thing you should consider is a necro will be able to do a lot more than a rogue. You can go explore a dungeon and get xp at the same time. As a rogue you could only sneak around and look.

Rogues are more desirable than necros for groups though in general. Against undead however you will probably be pretty high in desirability so if you feel like grouping being in a undead area will probably help a lot.

[fuark]

I had the same dilemma as you when I started. I ended up leveling a dwarf rogue to level 21 before I just couldn't stand sitting around with my LFG tag on while hoping a group spot opened up in Guk, so I went with the other class that I love which is a Necro. Necro is up to 40 now and he can do very well in a group, and if there are no groups around I can just run over to a solo spot and kill for as long as I want. As others have said, once my necro is 50+ I'll just level the rogue for fun, but rogue is definitely not a casual-friendly class, simply because of the time involved in finding/running to a group.

[soup]

If you want to play casual and only want to play 1 character (for now at least) necro would definitely be a better choice than rogue. All that exploring you talk about wanting to do? You can do it just as well or better on the necro AND be able to kill anything cool you find while exploring.

Rogues are cool and all, but if you want to be casual and wont have a solo character to play you might spend craploads of time wishing you had something to do.

[Messianic]

If you're absolutely not interested in playing two characters, necro is better. You're never at a loss for something to kill for fast leveling.

However, if you really want to play a rogue, you can embrace and enjoy the difficulties the class brings - even if it's a pain in the butt to find a group.

[Ostros]

I know you said you don't want to do both, but maybe you can make a necro first, level it to high levels, and then make your rogue? That way, you could twink your rogue with pretty good gear.

Also, you forgot that rogues get a DE mask from Lguk. So you can experience evil stuff too :)

If you decide to go necro, they aren't as gear dependent, and their gear is cheaper than a rogue's (I think?) Not that a rogue is since he's not tanking? But obviously a rogue will do more damage with better gear. Good luck deciding!

This is literally the best path for you. Necros can solo hill and ice giants with alarming efficiency, and that's some decent income. I always found the IG camp in Everfrost to be almost meditative, but that's because I have a nostalgic softspot for Everfrost in general.

[FAHall]

Thanks for the input guys, I am going to go with a Necro.

While I love the idea of coping with the difficulties of a Rogue (part of the classic experience), the ability to play for 20-30 minute bouts and actually accomplish something wins out.


And, am I reading right that Kunark has been released?

If so, Iksar Necromancer here I come!

I love the Iksar lore... now I just have to figure out how to not be KoS in all the cities.


THANKS AGAIN EVERYONE!!!

[jarshale]

yep kunarks been out a while. it'll be good to see something besides iksar monks everywhere