Don't hate me for picking dark elf
 

I'm an old EQ player from long ago, bringing myself into P99 because I miss that old school EQ.

But I think I will go with dark elf over Iksar, because the XP penalty just seems unbearable. Is it really that bad to not pick Iksar? People seem set on Iksars on these forums, so I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing out on some other detail aside from the regen.

Any thoughts before I make this choice permanent?

The hard core nerds do rage about their Iksar Necro's and Monk's.

That regen does save lives!

I have a 22 DE necro, but reading these forums makes me feel like a horrible person for making this choice. It might be a swift kick in the nuts later since I don't have regen, but I couldn't imagine rerolling and going through those horrible early levels again.

I have mostly done the bard diet so far, so rolling an ikky would only make leveling longer on timed spawns. I may never make it high enough level for it to matter, we'll see. FML till then.

This type of stuff is for the min/max type players. Those who focus on the perfect setup. As long as you're having fun do what you want.

And those same min/max players are the same folks who we all laugh at for their nerdrage. Nerdquest brings out the worst in some of us! Don't be one of them, play the game how you want and enjoy yourself.

It's just from a min/maxers standpoint. I can tell you in just the 11 or so lvls I've gone up with my ikky compared to my Erudite on live. The regen is just stupid fast. The XP penalty is meh, as I have my Hi Elf chanter that seems to lvl just as slow. Late game though if you're a necro the lich line can get ugly. Iksar counters that via regen all a matter of flavor/opinion. =] In the end its all about the funsies, so if the XP pen is too much, you'll be just fine. You'll just have to lifetap, and leach more late levels.

EDIT:
Nerds on the wiki have shown that you don't take ANY dmg from lich while sitting until like 49+.....

I say play what you want.

Most of my character races are "sub-optimal" at best...
Cleric: Human. Because Mithaniel Marr, obviously. I've already gotten several "why human?" queries, and he's not even level 10. Plus, high elves look dumb.
Shaman: Iksar. Despite no plate/no JBB, Iksar are great. Plus, the whole monitor lizard/mouth full of germs thing fits shaman spells.
Enchanter: Gnome. Lowest starting CHA, wooo! Arguably bottom of the barrel for enchanters, but the idea of a tiny little gnome mind-controlling things much larger than him is fun. Plus, high elves look dumb.

I picked them because I like them. If we had frogloks, I would have just made one of each froglok class and called it done... but I can't :(

I agree to play what you want but while we're on the subject on min / max you should also remember that this game isn't going to get further than what it is.

Dark Elf til i die unless its a class i can't play as dark elf then i will pick another, DARK ELF PRIDE~!

Now I'm starting to think mage instead of necro lol. If the game won't get many more expansions, and will stay old school rules, then what does that mean for the pet classes? Which would be better? I like grouping, but I will probably solo more often just because I hate waiting for people.