New necro

[jarshale]

So for the first time ever I'm playing a necro. Could I get some tips/advice or anything like that towards playing? Race is erudite btw.

[etplante]

Reroll as an iksar.

[azeth]

reroll iksar, pump str, buy 10 slot bags, bone chips, food, water, bind @ a bank, and be sure to leave your solo spot as little as possible. :P

[jarshale]

reroll iksar, pump str, buy 10 slot bags, bone chips, food, water, bind @ a bank, and be sure to leave your solo spot as little as possible. :P

Why str?

[falkun]

Why str?

Carry moar phat lewtz/plats. And as a necro with the lich line, you won't need the int (FM just means you need to cast more) and with iksar regen you should be able to roughly equal the DoT of lich.

[jarshale]

Carry moar phat lewtz/plats.

Makes sense. I'm guessing I wouldn't need to pump points into int because of gear?

[jarshale]

also ding 50 posts

[falkun]

Makes sense. I'm guessing I wouldn't need to pump points into int because of gear?

No, not gear. Dark Pact (http://wiki.project1999.org/index.php/Dark_Pact).

[jarshale]

No, not gear. Dark Pact (http://wiki.project1999.org/index.php/Dark_Pact).

I had no idea that existed. fantastic

[azeth]

yea your mana bar will be the least of your concerns once you're liching. if you plan to twink just grab some +mana stuff like Moonstone Rings. Stuff like that paired with inexpensive high int items, +7 int +7 str neck, will right off the bat make you sort of OP for ~1000 plat.

at lower levels dont fight yellow/red cons unless your snare is working reliably, b/c your pet is going to get rocked for a bit.

[jarshale]

.
at lower levels dont fight yellow/red cons unless your snare is working reliably, b/c your pet is going to get rocked for a bit.

how low is lower? like <20?

[azeth]

also, not to assume you're new to this, but just a tip in general to people who re-roll or twink on a budget -

The EC Tunnel is NOT where you should be garnering slot ideas for your new toon. Just because something is for sale, that you can use, does not necessarily mean it's price was evaluated for use by your class.

Determine what you want in which slot via allakhazam or lucy, then go hit EC.

[azeth]

how low is lower? like <20?

not going to lie to you, id have to dig for the necro pet spell levels to determine which one's i was referring to.

However, I was mostly referring to levels 1-10. I suspect folks roll necro based on consensus regarding their strength, however starting out you better not be /pet attacking on the Kodiaks and Centurions because they're going still going to wreck you until your pet can:

A.) do enough damage to hold aggro
B.) At least put up a fight while you dig in with dots/snare/root etc.

^ not happening til the 20's, like you identified.

[jarshale]

not going to lie to you, id have to dig for the necro pet spell levels to determine which one's i was referring to.

However, I was mostly referring to levels 1-10. I suspect folks roll necro based on consensus regarding their strength, however starting out you better not be /pet attacking on the Kodiaks and Centurions because they're going to rock your world unless you're a monk twink with a fungi and t staff.

gotcha. I'm doing this old school anyway. no twinking

[Nytewind TP]

I'll be rolling an Iksar Necro tonight as well. FoB for the win ;)

[azeth]

Even after 12 years, I am still amazed Necros can both FD & Rez.

fucking ridiculous. poor rangers.

[jarshale]

In game my nec will be seniksin. Message me if I'm on if any fellow newbies also wanna group up

[Nirgon]

How about don't be a fool...

Boost int like a normal human being. Get strength gear. Swap on str gear when you get heavied down.

Medding while alt tabbed somewhere safe with a higher max mana = profit.

Iksar all the way if you're starting new for sure.

Also, take some time to learn The Overthere leveling pools and buy spells in advance.

[azeth]

How about don't be a fool...

Boost int like a normal human being. Get strength gear. Swap on str gear when you get heavied down.

Medding while alt tabbed somewhere safe with a higher max mana = profit.

Iksar all the way if you're starting new for sure.

i guarantee int will be a burden the moment you're able to spend $ on yourself, or get into some nice item groups. Necros and Shamans are similar in that you ought to rethink boosting their "main stat" since you'll rarely need your mana pool to effectively kill whatever it is you're fighting.

[Nirgon]

You. Have. A. Birth. Defect.

Its. Ok.

Just.Dont.Tell.Other.People.To.Make.Casters.With.S tats.Spent.In.Str. (lol it appends a space on stats for some reason)

[azeth]

You. Have. A. Birth. Defect.

Its. Ok.

Just.Dont.Tell.Other.People.To.Make.Casters.With.S tarting.Stats.Spent.In.Str.

you arguing this is similar to a color-blind person arguing the sky is white. that is all.

Nirgon, please explain to the class why a Necro needs an above-average size mana pool to kill *anything?

[Nirgon]

You're right.

Going on with that, my first char will be an iksar warrior with starting stats spent in cha because that extra coin will help me afford my first suit of armor.

[azeth]

No really, please explain why you think a Necro would need, of all things, a large mana pool?

[Nirgon]

While mana is important to casters, having lots of str to carry all those rusty/bronze weapons and heavy cloth armor takes precedence.

I yield to you.

If the little bit of Str is such a big deal, just cast a siphon strength and save 5 start point stats.

[azeth]

I'm not talking about killing HHK guards Nirgon. I'm saying that even as a 58/59 necro, fighting solo mobs, in a group situation, even on raids (til Velious anyways), you have very little need to increase the size of your mana pool.

Again, please explain your scenario regarding why a Necro would need the entirety of his mana pool?

[Nirgon]

You ever had to recast a pet while soloing in a dungeon, brah?

Spamming anti-undead DDs.. being able to kill another mob or two before having to sit and med again. Lich isn't perma full mana.

[etplante]

I put my starting points into INT / STA and I'm happy with it. If I was starting over though I would add the left over to STR instead of STA and might even do a 20 INT / 10 STR mix.

Iksars aren't as weak as the other caster races so you already start out at 70 STR. Dump some starting points in there and grab a few cheap items like sapphire neck and iksar hide mask and you will quickly approach 100 STR.

[Nirgon]

I'll let someone else jump in here, I took it as a given int was a great starting stat for necro, sta being second best.

Not to mention on dragon fights when you load down on resist gear that int gets real useful, real fast.

And yes, a class that can spam damage while healing itself is useful on dragon fights. Dead man floating on Trakanon as well, herro.

[falkun]

You ever had to recast a pet while soloing in a dungeon, brah?

Spamming anti-undead DDs.. being able to kill another mob or two before having to sit and med again. Lich isn't perma full mana.

I wasn't saying lich is full mana. I am saying that when you have mana regen as high as a necro, your maximum mana pool matters very little. The ebb and flow of mana for a necro is very different than that of a wizard.

[etplante]

Breaking / splitting multiple mobs solo and twitching healers are the two occasions when I usually wish I had a bigger mana pool.

[greatdane]

The only ones who should care about the size of their mana pool are quad-kiters and clerics. It isn't even so terribly crucial for clerics until they start raiding, but it's not as if there's a whole lot else to focus on stat-wise. You could put points in strength to better carry that plate gear, but I'm not sure I could bring myself to doing that.

For anyone else, and especially those with mana regeneration abilities, the size of your mana pool doesn't really matter. It's so uncommon that you go from full to OOM in one sequence, and if you do, you're probably either doing something wrong or you're fucked no matter how much int/wis you had. For the most part, the vast majority of your playtime should be spent in situations where it doesn't matter how much mana you have because you either don't spend enough to care or you're never near FM anyway. While grouping or soloing, you're probably always hovering between 0% and 60% mana, or if the content is easy, you'll have a mana surplus and never risk going OOM in the first place.

Really the only situation where int/wis/mana matters at all is when you spend a full mana bar in one go and still need more. It can happen to healers and quadders, but for anyone else, this should be so uncommon that you'd be getting better long-term results out of focusing on survivability or some other form of usefulness. On a class specifically known not only for its mana flexibility but also its aptitude for farming shamelessly, strength is a viable choice. I wouldn't personally do it, but if it isn't an alt and every coin counts, that higher strength will put money in your pocket. It's very likely that you'll reroll a more meaningful class anyway once your necro is level 53 or so, and by then you'll have made a reasonable amount of extra money just from being able to carry an extra bag of loot back to the vendor every time.

[Ostros]

Good god the advice in this thread is either pointless or bad.

It doesn't matter if you go str or int. Having a big mana pool from the start means more up time between meds. For that matter it doesn't matter what race you start as. Iksar are made easier only by their regen. This does put them on top of other races, but it's Everquest: It doesn't matter what race you play. Higher base AC won't save you, you're fucking squishy anyway.

Don't kite until you get Engulfing Darkness. Clinging is kinda unreliable. Just don't use it on yellows or reds.

You can start on yellows and barely red cons as soon as you have Engulfing.

Don't use Heart Flutter. Darkness -> Heat Blood -> Fear is all you're going to be using for a while until you start getting poison DoT's.

Be prepared to have Darkness get resists no matter which one it is. It's a fact of Necro soloing that your snare pull will get resisted, and it's the most annoying part. I've had it resist three times in a row and it NUKES your mana pool. This is why I actually argue for bigger mana pools, it leave room for resists and other bad luck. Know how to strafe run. Get SoW if it's available.

You have any questions, you PM me or ask me here. I mained Necro from '03 till Secrets of Faydwer, I'm probably one of the most qualified people to answer your questions on this board.

And Christ's sake: please don't min max in this game. Just don't gear like an idiot and you'll do fine. The mechanics of classic Everquest don't give two shits if you're missing a point in a certain attribute here or there. Min-maxing didn't matter until about GoD when combat stats came into the game. Stack int and +mana, both are important, and +mana gear will end up being more important later on in the game. Any other attribute is useless to you.

[Nirgon]

I know its splitting hairs on a few points of int, but if I had to choose..

And a necro is rather similar to a wizard in my experience (and imo more powerful) killing undead. There'll be suprises on pulls and having an extra nuke or two is great.

[Ostros]

Oh and:

Breaking / splitting multiple mobs solo and twitching healers are the two occasions when I usually wish I had a bigger mana pool.

These are two of many reasons a necro will wish he had a big mana pool. Having Lich is just a bonus. Don't make it the central point of rolling necro. It only strongly helps your sitting mana regen. The extra regen isn't going to help you while you're up and about killing things or splitting or being the raid's mana battery as much as a big mana pool will.

[Nirgon]

Starting Iksar strength with (eventually) weight reducing bags is *fine*, int then stam it is. You'll be very happy with your char.

[Seaweedpimp]

Take all of azeths advice.

Hell i wish i had 20 more points in strength.

Especially if you happen to own a RoA.

[jarshale]

this thread got strangely negative. relax

[Ostros]

You literally don't need strength. Don't buy bags, they're 3.0 stone each. Get Large Sewing Kits :D. I'm serious. They're 1 plat and change, but worth it to bring your weight down. You won't need more than that as an Iksar from levels 1-50.

[azeth]

iksar's do start off strong, don't they.

i hadn't considered their starting stats tbh.

[Ostros]

iksar's do start off strong, don't they.

i hadn't considered their starting stats tbh.

Srsly. I'd agree if we were talking a Dark Elf or something, because they already have large amounts of base INT, but shitty STR. Iksar kinda have it made in the Kunark era.

[alexandervaccaro]

You ever had to recast a pet while soloing in a dungeon, brah?


This right here resonates with me. In my time as an iksar necro, I've had a couple hairy fights I've been able to pull through via resummoning pet-

Then again you can FD your way out of pretty much anything.

If STR is an issue later on when grinding specs or whatever try to get a friendly mage/shaman to summon you some 100% WR bags.

On top of that make friends with your neighborhood mages so they'll summon your pet weapons later on-

[Athosblack]

pfffffffffffft why be a Ikky if you could be a Gnome? Eff the regen. Height, hair style and shiny scalp. Laaaaaaadies

[Nirgon]

Pretty sure the buffed 49 necro pet can solo everything that drops a weight reducing bag. Given a lucky drop in a group, you could sell one item and buy 2 tinker bags here.

My point is there aren't take backs on the starting stats you pick. I'd rather stick on a strength ring if I got into trouble than sell myself to being stuck with a stat that might otherwise be worthless.

[Doors]

I don't understand why people love iksar necros so much. Shitty exp penalty, you need to grind faction to go anywhere other than cabilis, shitty intelligence. All for some bonus AC that won't matter at all past level 12 and medicore regen? Pass.

[Doors]

Not to mention they look retarded imo but thats just me.

[azeth]

Your eyes aren't working correctly if you don't think Iksar necros are good looking.

[Seaweedpimp]

Idk man i like the way they swing, and if you PL alot like me im sure that AC helps on those green mobs.

But yeah faction + exp penalty kinda blows, but youl end up looking alot sexier and im sure that regen is nice for after a rez.

[senna]

iksar necros are the ugliest thing in everquest

minus vah shir but that doesnt apply here

[Nirgon]

If you like your health not slowly but surely going down with call of bones up, iksar is for you.

You don't NEED the faction.. just learn a little Kunark.

Plus, if I recall correctly, the red wine quest should be a good/quick solution.

[Doors]

I mean usually people roll a necro and solo because they're sick of other classes exp penalties. By rolling an iksar necro you're not really escaping the slowness of the grind.

[azeth]

ah, to me Necros/Mages are created solely to beef the bank account

[Doors]

True, but you need to grind out a good bit of levels first. Just seems silly to play a solo caster class thats built to level fast as a specific race with an exp penalty all for a little bit of regen you'll hardly notice and bonus AC that won't matter past 12 or so. idk.

[etplante]

Iksar faction problems are overblown imo. As a necro you're going to be hated most places anyway. And there are plenty of vendors outside of Kunark that happily deal with Iksars. Skeleton illusion fixes a lot of the Iksar prejudice. With base faction I easily bank in Freeport, buy coffins in Neriak, and have purchased spells in Oggok SK guild.

[Desert]

Iksar faction problems are nothing on P99 compared to live. I'm willing to go far as to say they are not correct. Some factions that should be scowling, aren't. Some factions that are scowling, shouldn't.

2 hours plowing non-elites in BB and most of qeynos likes me. 6 hours killing and I can make it to the bank as long as i dodge the wizard gm's pathing. I've drank since I played live, but I don't remember it being this easy.

[jarshale]

How big of an xp penalty do iksars have?

[Ostros]

How big of an xp penalty do iksars have?

20%?

I don't really notice it. In the right camps you're popping yellow con giants half the time. They shit plat and exp.

[Ostros]

little bit of regen

It scales based on level (or should) like troll regen. It's noticeable. You should be at like 14hp a tick at max level iirc. Running lich without regen runs away from you pretty quick. It's good to be mostly or fully healed so you can take the occasional hit when something goes wrong and you need to run or FD.

It's a little thing, to be sure, but it's the little things that make it worth it. And the AC really doesn't matter past a certain point. It stands out for SK, Monks, and Warriors, but the regen is for the Necro imo.

[fuark]

So much disrespect on necros as a main class in this thread, they are great for farming sure but is there something wrong with thinking necros are just a badass class? Lol.

[SupaflyIRL]

Figure I might as well ask this here in a necro thread, is there any way for an Iksar Necromancer to do the mystic cloak quest? I have the key already, didnt even have to camp priest, he was just up.

[Akim]

necros are cool but i dont like playing one - too easy

[Mirakk82]

As a longtime Necro from '99 to 2005, I'll back up everything that Ostros has told you. They know what they're talking about. I really can't even add much more, except that the reason I rolled an Iksar Necro was for total and utter self-reliance (forage+necro abilities). This is also why I grandmastered spell research, but in the end I was able to turn that into a nice hobby.

I wouldn't worry so much about the race as you're going to be hated all over the place. Play what you want to play, and have fun. Necros are my favorite class from any MMORPG to date. Kiting is fun and rewarding, and virtually unheard of outside of EQ (Most call it exploiting!)

[Taryth]

Having played as an Ench in an Ench/Mage duo from 1-55, I can safely say that a Necro will probably want to invest some starting points into str. If my Ench didn't have Werewolf/Berserker Spirit, I'd be screwed. In fact, I rolled an Iksar Necro today, 15 into str and 15 into int. With extremely modest twinking (800pp spent) and two or three hours spent collecting items, I have 99 str and 148 int.

Int is very easy to cap if you know what items to look for. Str will come more rarely as a clothie, and as a Necro it only makes sense to invest a little into your capacity to farm solo (as a proper Necro should.) You'll have mana regen to make up for the ~100 mana & 5pts you lose to str.

[SupaflyIRL]

Having played as an Ench in an Ench/Mage duo from 1-55, I can safely say that a Necro will probably want to invest some starting points into str. If my Ench didn't have Werewolf/Berserker Spirit, I'd be screwed. In fact, I rolled an Iksar Necro today, 15 into str and 15 into int. With extremely modest twinking (800pp spent) and two or three hours spent collecting items, I have 99 str and 148 int.

Int is very easy to cap if you know what items to look for. Str will come more rarely as a clothie, and as a Necro it only makes sense to invest a little into your capacity to farm solo (as a proper Necro should.) You'll have mana regen to make up for the ~100 mana & 5pts you lose to str.

What items?

[Taryth]

Ears- Golden Sapphire
Chest- Advisor's Robe
Arms- Gatorscale Sleeves
Waist- Braided Cinch Cord
Wrist- Rotbone (other wrist currently empty)
Legs- Flayed Skin (add 50p to that 800, heh)
Fingers- Moonstone/Adamantite
Feet- empty
Shoulders- empty
Back- Onyx Drakescale Cloak
Neck- Sapphire Platinum
Face- empty
Head- Nightshade Wreath
Primary- Sacrificial Dagger
Secondary- Stein of Moggok

Everything is either easy to get, or cheap. No need to heavily twink an Int caster, especially a Necro tbh (not that I have a great deal to twink with in any case.)

[jarshale]

Ears- Golden Sapphire
Chest- Advisor's Robe
Arms- Gatorscale Sleeves
Waist- Braided Cinch Cord
Wrist- Rotbone (other wrist currently empty)
Legs- Flayed Skin (add 50p to that 800, heh)
Fingers- Moonstone/Adamantite
Feet- empty
Shoulders- empty
Back- Onyx Drakescale Cloak
Neck- Sapphire Platinum
Face- empty
Head- Nightshade Wreath
Primary- Sacrificial Dagger
Secondary- Stein of Moggok

Everything is either easy to get, or cheap. No need to heavily twink an Int caster, especially a Necro tbh (not that I have a great deal to twink with in any case.)

thanks man. only 700 more pp to go lol