Can play almost anything underfunded if you're planning on mostly grouping (the right way to level as a new player).

Microeconomics.

Mage/necro -> ench -> bard -> sham/cleric/ Druid/wizard -> sk/pal -> ranger -> rogue -> war

This would be my “overall” list obviously tweaks would be made if you were after specifics like getting to 60 as fast as possible, or endgame farming, or if you were only soloing or grouping etc.

Easiest to level and play with naked? Bard Mage and Necro. All 3 of these are fully functional at near max capacity both solo and in a group while naked. Bards just need songs and vendor instruments. Pet classes need just their basic spells (can ignore bad spells) and just plow ahead

Honorable mentions go to druid and, to a lesser degree, wizards for being able to generate funds once they can port.

In a true classic fresh launch server environment, there will not be overpowered and underpriced weapons and armor in EC which puts tanks and real melee (ie not bard) at a huge disadvantage.

For green, those classes with a spell book will be much more functional much sooner than those without.

Bard.

This is pretty close. I'd kinda break it into 3 brackets like this though:

Magician
Necromancer
Cleric
Druid
Enchanter

Wizard
Bard
Rogue
Shaman
Monk
Ranger
Paladin
Shadow Knight

Warrior

Top category relies almost entirely on magic to be effective, especially while leveling up. Gear is generally for convenience... gazughi ring for chanter, more hp/mp for casters, etc; it doesn't really expand what any of the classes can do too much without truly obscene levels of twinking. Chanters probably need gear the most out of any of these to get some early charisma gear, but a naked chanter is still stronger than most classes are geared.

Middle category can do ok without "funding" but will definitely not be shining stars. Melees need weapons, tanks need armor, wizards need mana to do anything but root+nuke solo and they'll often need to do that since groups aren't always happy to have them, etc. Budget gear is relatively cheap and effective, but you do need it to really hit your stride.

Warrior is alone at the bottom. They need threat weapons that are expensive at low levels (good procs from <20 are hard to find I think, high DPS weapons are good threat but are expensive). They need haste to boost their DPS/threat. They need armor to take hits and to boost their damage/hp/resists/dex. They need clickies/consumables to get around solo. Etc.


On blue, 1000pp can give a new character better gear than months of effort on a new, classic server would get you, and even a brand-new character with no connections on the server can make that with most classes by 30 if they work on it. On a new server, the gap between the top and middle and bottom gets enormous because you just won't be able to buy gear. Bronze drops and 2 int rings and stuff like that will be luxuries for a lot of players. Casters will be running around in full cloth with a cracked staff because they spend all their coin on their essential spells. Etc. BUT, as I said above, the classes that are relying on magic operate at nearly full capacity naked. The top group become godly. Even wizards move up from being an "ok when played well" to "pretty dang good" group option when your DPS choices are 1) pet classes, 2) other casters, or 3) melees with fine steel weapons.

Yep, another good one. Only need like instruments.

Yep. The difference for most content between massively geared and twinked bard and a naked bard with vendor instruments is negligible. The most potent deciding factor is the skill of the bard followed then by the quality of instruments. Gear (Ac/resists/hp) only enhance durability for bards. Really the only armor piece or weapon that significantly impact bardly prowess is the epic ... which is a game changer.

I’d put bard above cleric druid and enchanter in terms of least gear dependant. Enchanters benefit hugely from charisma gear and some extra hp buffer. With the exception of lull resists, bard songs are so short that charisma is negligible.

Bard 1-60 in rags and 1pp vendor instruments is 100% manageable without taking any significant hit to effectiveness.

Bard is extremely powerful almost entirely naked, as mentioned above. It also has a high skill ceiling though, which can be a plus for many but might be rough for a brand new player.

Mage is very easy and can level naked, your only expenses are spells and malachites.

Enchanter doesn't NEED a GGR and a necro doesn't NEED a pre-nerf COS, these are both great items (more so the CoS) but you can solo no problem without them. For blue, gearing an enchanter is very cheap. For Green, it'll be harder to find CHA gear early on.

If you're looking for easiest class on a new server I'm pretty sure mage pets are OP in classic and summoning magic weapons is a godsend when melees are stuck with garbage classic loot.

You are sorely mistaken. If you think bards are going to be able to swarm in empty zones in an all classic green