simple class to learn that *is* soloable?
 

Newbie here. Hi. Almost entirely newbie, in fact, I played EQ for maybe a year. I split time between Saryrn with my brother and Fironia Vie by myself for roleplay, around the time Shadows of Luclin came out and the new models were occasionally and briefly bugged with anatomically neutral nudity. I was young enough that I was "permanently grounded" from EQ for staying up all night and sort of forgot about it after a while, probably wouldn't have remembered it either except for running into someone talking about "the good old days of EQ" on a different MMO. Anyhow. I never really had a chance to get good at any class I'd puttered around with, think I had an Iksar necro and some kind of druid I don't remember. Heh. In all honesty I probably won't get far this time around either.

But I'm looking for recommendations of a class - or several - to poke around with in the short spurts of play time I'll have this summer before the fall semester kicks up. I'm hoping there's a class that's useful in a group, in case I manage to find any at the low levels I'll be stuck at, but also wouldn't have to sit around doing nothing because I *don't* have a group. If that makes sense.

Ideas and suggestions for stuff I might not think to consider during character creation are entirely welcome. Thanks in advance! :o

Necromancer is a powerful solo class and really develops fast, by level 8 you are already cooking with decent spells.

The class also has a ton of group utility if you decide to group. Easy class to start with, very self sustaining and fun.

For added power, pick iksar for your race, the racial regen they get meshes incredibly well with the necromancer class.

While the iksar racial is nice for a necro, as a first character i wouldn't pick anything with an EXP penalty. Could level a human necro to 60 with 40%? less experience than it takes an iksar. Once 60 its a lot easier to farm gear or plat to fund more and more alts.

The thing about monks and necromancers is that, if you pick human you can't change your mind (and change your race) if you realize "hey, regen would be very helpful and worth the XP cost". It's totally possible you'll get to 60 and think "man, iksar are so ugly that even without the regen I'm still glad I didn't roll one" ... but you're making sort of a risky bet as you can't know if that's how you'll feel later.

My recommendation? Barbarian shaman or halfling druid. Both classes can solo very well. Shaman are a bit more powerful at the high end, and a bit more desired in groups, while druids get tracking and ports, both of which can help you earn plat in ways a shaman can't. Barbarians do have a small (-5%) penalty, but that's the smallest possible among shaman races. Halflings actually get a +5% bonus to XP.

(I should note that race regret is possible with a Barbarian shaman also. But once you get Torpor you won't regret the Iskar/Troll regen, and Ogre's frontal stun immunity (while cool) is not nearly as cool as the Iksar regen is to a necromancer.)

If you're not that in to grouping and not real fixated on level 60 I think Druid makes for a great starting class for anyone, and you can't beat an XP bonus. But if you are picking a class you plan to continue playing long after you hit 60, or if you want to do a fair amount of grouping, Shaman might be better.

Other options wold include Mage or Enchanter, both of which are also good soloers, with Enchanters being the better of the two. Both of them can be human if you want no penalty, and while you might regret it it a little at 60 (since a Gnome/Erudite/High Elf would have better stats), it won't be anywhere close to the regret you'll have if you pick a human necro and later want regen.

I would honestly go with mage. Easy to solo and group as. Necromancer and enchanter take a good amount of research and trial and error to master. Though necromancer much less so. Shaman requires levels and is considered pretty slow untwinked pre 34. Even then they are gear dependent to solo as efficiently a s I assume you want.

Mage is pretty much the coasting class that can solo and group well with minimal gear and effort. It's a great starting class due to its relative simpleness. But as with any class you will be expected to at least learn it. If you just send pet and nuke you can do well in a group. But you have a bit more than that.

clerics *can* solo but do better in the young levels grouped

+1 for mage. OP was asking for a *simple* class. Necro is of course more versatile, but a lot less simple than mage.

+1 for mage, given what he/she asked for

I'd say

#1 mage
#2 paladin

Definitely mage.