Shadowknight over Druid?

[Picklechip]

Hey yall, I was interested in starting p99 earlier but got distracted by other stuff. Now Ive decided to begin in earnest. I heard Druid was the best beginner class but Shadowknight seems more interesting to me. I know reputation is a thing that matters and I have no idea how that works, but I know shadow knights have a harder time with that because theyre evil. Are the benefits of running druid for an absolute newbie better than just picking what I find interesting first? Or should I do what I want? Im also open to other class/race suggestions. thx :p

[DeathsSilkyMist]

Hey yall, I was interested in starting p99 earlier but got distracted by other stuff. Now Ive decided to begin in earnest. I heard Druid was the best beginner class but Shadowknight seems more interesting to me. I know reputation is a thing that matters and I have no idea how that works, but I know shadow knights have a harder time with that because theyre evil. Are the benefits of running druid for an absolute newbie better than just picking what I find interesting first? Or should I do what I want? Im also open to other class/race suggestions. thx :p

Druid will be easier, but SK's can solo quite well, even as a first character. My first char on P99 was an SK, and it funded my Shaman. They can fear kite guards for money to buy gear from players. The benefit of being hated by more cities is you have more guilt free guard camps:)

[Vexenu]

It's not so much about good or evil or evil faction, it's that the Druid play style is much more accommodating for a brand new player. Druids are an extremely versatile spell casting class and don't require much in the way of gear. They can also teleport themselves across the world and buff their run speed. They can heal, nuke, charm animals, and cast damage-over-time spells. Their spell book also comes online early, and you feel fairly powerful and capable by level 24. In short, Druids give you a lot of flexibility and options, which is always helpful but even more so while learning the game. In contrast, Shadowknights are much more reliant on gear, don't come online with their spells until level 30 at earliest, and have a much narrower play style. It doesn't mean they are a bad class or not fun (they can be very fun). But inarguably they will be more difficult to learn the game with than a Druid.

[kjs86z2]

Druid will teach you the basics of basically all combat mechanics outside of melee (which isn't really that important).

The problem with druid is at higher level they can't really solo heal a lot of groups. Has it been done? Absolutely.

If you feel drawn to SK, go for it.

[DeathsSilkyMist]

In contrast, Shadowknights are much more reliant on gear, don't come online with their spells until level 30 at earliest

SK's mostly come online at 15. That's when you can fear kite. Fear kiting reduces the need for gear quite a bit, and you can get good enough weapons for dirt cheap. A ~0.5 ratio weapon for 100pp will do quite well in the lower levels while you fear kite to avoid taking damage. 30 is when you get FD, but you can do camps that don't require FD pulling from 1-29. Sk's also get their undead lull at 15 to help with pulling if you stick to undead zones and/or undead camps.

[bcbrown]

It's not so much about good or evil or evil faction, it's that the Druid play style is much more accommodating for a brand new player. Druids are an extremely versatile spell casting class and don't require much in the way of gear. They can also teleport themselves across the world and buff their run speed. They can heal, nuke, charm animals, and cast damage-over-time spells. Their spell book also comes online early, and you feel fairly powerful and capable by level 24. In short, Druids give you a lot of flexibility and options, which is always helpful but even more so while learning the game. In contrast, Shadowknights are much more reliant on gear, don't come online with their spells until level 30 at earliest, and have a much narrower play style. It doesn't mean they are a bad class or not fun (they can be very fun). But inarguably they will be more difficult to learn the game with than a Druid.

This is a good synopsis. But more important than which class is easier is which class is more appealing and intriguing. Pick whatever you're excited to play and if it turns out you don't enjoy that class, it's easy to try something else.

But one important thing to be aware of is that all melee classes are much more gear-dependent than magic classes. This is a double-edged sword: it's much more frustrating playing without good gear, but it also makes getting that shiny new sword much more rewarding when you start hitting twice as hard.

[Snaggles]

Half the fun of playing a melee is gearing one out. I’d probably do a Druid or better yet, a necro. Once you get a bit of bronze or fine steel to sell gear a SK humbly and go from there.

It doesn’t take much to make one playable. Maybe a few thousand plat so you aren’t swinging a rusty scythe…

[Jimjam]

I’d say 200-300pp is good - a set of banded and a 1:2ish ratio weapon.

200-800 more (depending on server) will get you some ~20% haste like silver chitin handwraps. Enough to cap haste grouping with a decent level enchanter.

Another 200-800pp will get you some decent (Golden/Platinum/Velium) Fire Wedding Rings for a hp boost. It is sirprising how helpful an extra 100hp can be early on.

[Lampolo]

Starting a char to make a few thousand plat is retarded so don't go druid or necro for that. Sk's are gimp class so maybe not sk