New P99 Pve player questions
 

hi i have not made a toon or finished installing the game yet but i have a few questions.

what class should i make for a first toon?

is it hard to lvl, find groups for xp or to solo?

what class can solo if groups arent to be found?

what is easiest to level.

are there many guilds around or people i can join for a community and advice or help with leveling or grouping.

i currently have been playing eq1 live and am used to how things are on there my main is a 95 monk atm. but have 91 ranger 81 sk 86 mag 68 necro 67 paladin as alts.

normally i enjoy to be dps but really anything that i can do well with surivive kill at a decent rate and not get completely burnt out by slow killing or dieing too much and can solo if or rather when i cant find a group to do anything with would be good.

up for any suggestions, info, group or guild invites havent made a toon yet still trying to figure out what to do to get the game installed all i know atm is i need to dl titanium other than that i have no clue so if you can shed light on that id appreciate it too ty for your time have fun in norrath.

youuuuu sound like a......

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...FLINGDRUID.jpg

>what class should i make for a first toon?
This can help you decide: http://wiki.project1999.com/Players:Newbie
Really you can go with whatever you want.

>is it hard to lvl, find groups for xp or to solo?
Leveling is time-consuming but not hard once you know what you're doing. Grouping is definitely doable although it's easier in peak hours (evenings American time) and it helps to be proactive (form your own groups). Soloing is nigh-impossible on some classes and a total breeze on others.

>what class can solo if groups arent to be found?
See the above guide.

>what is easiest to level.
Bard has the fastest EXP rate because they can solo entire zones at once (although it's tricky to learn). Druids, enchanters, and necromancers are all excellent second-place choices because they can charm, which is great EXP (although again, takes some learning). All of these are solo EXP choices since soloing tends to be faster EXP than grouping.

>are there many guilds around or people i can join for a community and advice or help with leveling or grouping.
Yes, there are plenty of leveling guilds around that you can join. Keep an eye out for people around your level with guild tags and ask them about their guilds.

>normally i enjoy to be dps but really anything that i can do well with surivive kill at a decent rate and not get completely burnt out by slow killing or dieing too much and can solo if or rather when i cant find a group to do anything with would be good.
In terms of DPS classes that are capable soloers, you have a few options:
- Monks are an excellent DPS class and can solo somewhat, although not very well. In terms of DPS they are second only to rogues, who can't really solo. Monks can be tough as first characters because of the weight limit.
- Magicians are a good DPS class and good soloers, but if you're soloing with them you should be mindful of the 50% EXP penalty when your pet does over 50% damage to a mob. The way people generally get around this is to get the mob to the point where it's fleeing and low HP, reclaim energy your pet, nuke the mob dead for full EXP, and then summon a new pet.
- Enchanters can add good DPS to a group with a charmed pet, although their primary role is crowd control and buffing. They are excellent soloers.

Then for druids, MT's make nice pets :)
Can also pretty much run nekid hugging trees well into the game.
10% server cap population rate, more than clerics, second to Nec's, and tied with warriors.

You will need to tradeoff between soloing ability, group desirability and overpopulation of your class. You also need to consider that a melee will be far more gear (thus pp) dependent and thus harder to do as your first char here.

WAR - You can get groups on tank/dps spot (unlike a knight), but you will suffer from aggro issues as tank and a be a worse DPS than equally geared DPSers. Gear dependent. Soloing will be extremely hard/impossible. You are -the- raid tank.

SHD - Excellent aggro, and more soloable than the warrior, however you can't fill the DPS slot. Gear dependent.

PAL - See SHD, but less soloable. Gear dependent.

ROG - You're the best melee DPS and the best sustained DPS overall. You'll be favored for DPS spots. You are an asset to fear kiting duos / ghetto groups, but your soloing is nearly nonexistant. Gear dependent, though a 500-1000pp dagger can get you set up quite well. At high level you are valued on raids.

MNK - You're a really good DPS and a puller. You can substitute as a tank sometimes. You're less gear dependent than other melees, though a good weapon and a pair of 5/55 rings can mean a lot. You have a weight limit so you won't do much looting. You can solo somewhat, but you're still a melee. At high level you can earn plat by powerlevelling others.

RNG - Don't. You bring a hybrid XP penalty, so a lot of groups will avoid you. You're not really a tank, but have good aggro. You do good melee DPS, but will end up tanking due to your aggro if you're not paired with a good tank. You can root CC but so can a ton of other classes. As melees go, you can solo some, but not nearly as good as casters. Gear dependent. Unlike live, your archery is not really a DPS option for now. You will often be nominated as the puller.

BRD - You are an excellent levelling soloer, through AE kiting. So if you want to level extremely fast and don't mind running in circles for hours, this is the class for you. You bring a lot to a group, but thanks to your hybrid xp penalty and the abundance of enchanters you'll have trouble getting groups. You will often be nominated as the puller. At high level you can earn plat by powerlevelling others.

CLR - You're the top healer for groups, but your soloing will be very limited. Also, you either get the healer spot or nothing. Rez can bring you income at 39+.

SHM - You don't heal as well as a cleric, but you have awesome buffs and slow. You can fit into a group that uses two SHM/DRU healers instead of a cleric or you can fit in groups with cleric for slows/backup heals. You can duo in a variety of pairs (SHM/MNK being the best one). You are an excellent soloer at higher levels, but it's something that takes a while to come into its own. You can solo indoor camps for loot.

DRU - You're the least favored healer since you can heal as much as a shammy, but don't bring their slows/buffs to the table. You will be able to get around easily thanks to sow+ports, and you have good PP earning potential after 29 with your ports. You are an excellent levelling soloer (outdoors) and can do it with quad kiting (mid-level+), root-rot (starting 14), animal charming (14+), or animal fear-kiting (14+). Your DPS falls low on the list and there are a million druids so you really need to work to get into groups. At high level you can earn plat by powerlevelling others.

WIZ - You're DPS, and in a group context not that great as you depend on mana regen. Once you get ports you have good earning potential. You can quad-kite (midlevel+) and will probably have to do so for a lot of your career. You're probably the best class if you need to let your attention wander away from the game / like to watch TV while you play. Like rogues, you are an excellent raid DPS.

MAG - You're an excellent soloer and welcome in groups as your pets provide sustained DPS. You have very little utility.

NEC - You're an excellent soloer. You'll be somewhat welcome in groups thanks to your pet's DPS, but mobs will die too fast for dots. You're an excellent part of a fear-kiting duo/group.

ENC - You're an excellent soloer, duo-er or in groups. Unfortunately everyone knows that and there's a million of you. You're a class that has a huge skill ceiling and will always have something to do. On raids you will mostly be a buff bitch.

"RNG - Don't"
Hehe.

Find a good ranger and have him teach you. Rangers kick butt, if played like a ranger.
And you'll need to guild, pugs are not always good for groups.

Now that I'm back to my pc rather than my tablet I'll address this:
Group XP is based on highest level player, how they con to the mob. The wiki (game mechanics pg.) explicitly says not based on class or race. So your penalty is personal, not bound to the group. Same deal as on live early on. Otherwise be fool er full groups of halfling druids or gtfo ;)

Yes, worst downside, especially for first roll, ranger is gear dependent. You don't need to be twinked out, but you do at least need a set of normal banded and a magic newbie weapon to start out. Oh and magic boots so your kick lands on magic based MOB's.

Archery is doable, but you need to fletch if you really want to do anything with it. Bow dps is more solo situational or in a pack of rangers, otherwise just use best range set in groups. Certain proc weapons will help with bow tactics.

You can root (CC etc), and other classes can root as well, yes. But... they are casters, they just landed big aggro and seem to be unable to cast getting meleed down, but you can still CC and protect your line of casters while MT doesn't need to break (be the group protector). Also if no evaq in group, you are the guy that is going to best control the retreat/zone, first in last out.

You solo fine, you use bandaids (a must!) and rocket through dark green and blue con MOB's. On casters, dark greens etc (ie lt blue) are a waste as they need to stop when out of mana so usually solo the hardest mobs they can manage or kite groups. Ranger is the energizer bunny if played properly.

Getting aggro in groups and out-aggroing the MT? Not playing it right, poor aggro management understanding (should be sliver below the MT on list). Seriously, you should hardly be getting hit in groups, and you CAN control your aggro, and save your health for when you need to pull the MOB off the cleric or enc (or wizard lol). There are ways that you can aggro really fast when needed, and even melee with no aggro progression much like the rogue.

I also agree with "not a tank" very much. The only time you should really be taking damage is pulling mobs off of casters and holding that aggro long for the enc to do something about it (if you can stand there and not attack long enough regarding non primary mobs). You should only be getting hit by primary as you adjust your aggro to the MT, very little, and hardly at all past ~50%.

1. Play something else first, such as a druid. Ranger is really just a melee-druid anyway. Use your druid in the teens to collect basic drop armor to start your ranger. Buy a magic newbie weapon and magic boots. To start, 2h and 1h+shield is good.

2. Train bind wound, hide, sneak (understand this skill, read wiki), sense direction, tracking set to distance, fletching ~150.

3. Use cam 1 and cam 3 a lot (that pan cam), switch often in groups, always keep your caster line in view during fights. Best to ask MT to keep back to casters and you stand behind primary target facing casters.

4. Get guilded. Bad pugs can be deadly to rangers. Hunt with at least a couple regular friend/guild players when in groups. Get good at understanding root and snare when soloing. Keep a root proc weapon with you to switch... though best to not use it in groups to better manage aggro.

If you like 'hard-mode' this is it, very different than pop/post-pop live. Anything else? yeah... certainly.

My advice: pick whatever class most appeals to you. Everyone I know whose ever picked a class because it seemed fun has enjoyed that class, whereas people that try and pick a class because of other people's opinions often wind up re-rolling.

As for soloing, just about every class can solo (even Warriors, and Clerics), but the classes that can solo well are generally considered to be: Druid, Shaman, Enchanter, Necromancer, and Magician. Bards and Wizards can solo well once they reach certain levels and can kite. Monks, Rogues, Warriors, Paladins, Shadow Knights, Rangers and Clerics *can* solo, but they all do much better when duoing with someone else.

Plenty:

http://wiki.project1999.com/Guilds:Guild_List

You'd want one of the "Casual Guilds".

I haven't played on live in awhile, but when I left the class roles were still basically the same here as they were on live. For instance, druids are healers on both servers, it's just that they're more like secondary healers here vs. primary healers on live. If monk is your favorite on live, go for it (they're pretty powerful in this era of EQ).

One caveat about Rangers: they're probably the least popular class here. That doesn't mean they suck, and they're certainly getting better in Velious, but just keep in mind that if you pick them other players will make jokes about how the best thing a ranger can do is take a deathtouch.