SK or War - casual on Teal
 

Which one would be better for a low play time scrub? I'd really like to enjoy some old camps I remember like South Karana Treants, Sol A gnomes, Cazic Thule, UGuk, etc. My play time is pretty limited, so I assume I'm more likely to be finding a someone to duo or trio with rather than find a full group. Probably a fair amount of solo too.

I like the utility of a SK, so I started there with a Troll SK who is level 5. That exp penalty is real through. Plus, warrior just seems like it would be the more powerful character with higher DPS earlier. Would a Troll warrior meet my goals? Or should I just stick with the SK?

Raiding is not a factor at all. Only concerned with the 1-49 game.

War's get the butt end of the stick in classic unless you got a group of friends with you.

Especially for non raiding, theres no reason to play a warrior at all basically.

Main reasons are a) if you like the class specifically and know what you're accepting, or b) want to be 50 for Kunark release since Kunark-era Warrior can be a powerful duo/etc partner for stuff like Donal's Clerics.

That being said the classic era isn't exactly a high point for Shadow Knights either. the class improves with both Kunark and Velious. Main thing going for an SK in this era is that there are no melee disciplines and hence no /defensive to have to compete with--which is a nonfactor to someone who doesn't want to raid. The SK gets around the world more easily than the Warrior can but doesn't even get most of THAT utility until fairly late, level thirty for both feign and invisibility. Between the two classes I think in the end it might be something of a toss-up.

Danth

Every class fuckin sucks in classic. This is what I hear in literally every thread about class x. Except maybe cleric which is equally useful in all expansions.

It's effectively true, especially for melee types, when answering someone who wants solo to be a substantial part of his gameplay. Nearly everyone's rather weak. That's the driving force making folks group up. Among the tank types I've always thought of pre-expansion as the Paladin's (relative) time to shine, but that class wasn't mentioned in the original post.

Danth

Thanks for the responses so far. I didn't mention paladin as that's what I played in '99 on through past PoP and I'm looking for something different this time. I know melee are rather weak, but that's what I enjoy.

My favorite parts of EQ are levels 20-40ish (and 61-65). I'd greatly prefer to group, but with play time limited to 1.5-2 hours at a crack several nights a week I'm realistic enough to know that a good portion of my time may be solo or in a small group. SK seems like the better fit, but the exp penalty has me questioning how long it will take to even get to the part of the game I enjoy the most. I guess my question I'm trying to answer for myself is whether a warrior will fit the role I'm looking for while also letting me get to the best part of the game sooner.

Warrior's main benefit to a low-hours player will be its vastly lower experience requirement. Compared to a Troll Shadowknight, a Halfling Warrior would require barely half the total experience. That's an advantage not to be underestimated by a low-hours player. That being said, at any given level the Shadow Knight will typically feel like the stronger character overall from level 9 onward. Warriors are at their best when surrounded by lots of allies--groups and especially raids. The Shadow Knight should give better service for what you want to do provided you figure on spending enough time in-game to level it. If you're really limited for time the Warrior might be worth a look because a level 40 Warrior is a stronger character than a level ~35 shadow Knight.

Danth

You're just gonna struggle in pug's with aggro as a war unless somehow everyone knows to root aggro (which, 20 years later people still don't know about apparently).

Yeah, that's the problem. The Warrior could be the stronger character on the basis of hours spent on it, but it'll almost never feel like it because for most of the leveling period it'll feel bad against level-appropriate content and it'll be hard to keep in mind that the SK would still be doing what the Warrior was doing weeks or months prior. I find it hard to recommend a Warrior to someone who doesn't want to raid. Problem here is I also find it hard to recommend a (troll!) Shadow Knight to a low-hours player. Lot of hybrids get burnt out and quit without ever reaching higher levels. The Shadow Knight is obviously what the guy wants, but does he have the time for it? Only he knows that.

Danth

Warrior you'll level faster, but you're far more gear dependent than knights.
Knights can also solo to a decent extent, while a warrior struggles.