Curious about P99 as a true new player.
 

Half the people i've spoken to swear by making a mage as my first max level so I can farm and have support for the main I plan to play.

The other half told me to just grind it out.

I'd like to be a hybrid utility class (bard, ranger, pally, etc) but they are pretty much dead set on the fact I will have the roughest time ever not only getting groups but trying to gear up to be useful.

What do you guys think?

Play what you want. I guarantee if you don’t enjoy your mage, you will abandon it. I started with monk. It’s not the easiest first class, but it was what I enjoyed and am glad I did

Welcome to the server!

As others have said, you should play the class that you will actually play. If you don't want to play the optimal starting class, don't! (Plus, even if you were going for the optimal class, I'd still recommend a Druid over a Mage.)

But beyond that the main things you should consider are solo-ability, gear requirements, and movement enhancement. Gear is relevant because it's much harder to get gear for your first character than it is for all of your other characters, and solo-ability matters because you may not always be able to find a group, and if you only have one character who can't solo that would mean you couldn't play. Movement enhancement isn't necessary, but you're going to be running (not porting) a lot on your first character, so it's nice.

Bards can solo, and they're not too gear dependent, so that might be the best of the three you picked (plus they get built-in movement enhancement starting at level 5). Rangers need about as much gears as bards (I think), but they can't really solo without twink gear (and they don't get their movement enhancement until level 30). Paladins ... I'm not sure how good Paladins are at soloing, but I'm pretty sure the answer is "not very". Also (as tanks) Paladins probably require the most gear of the three, and they never get movement enhancement.

Hope that helped and good luck picking your class.

As a followup question does anyone have a TL;DR about what classes do in raids? My friends gave me a very short answer being clerics heal warriors tank and monks do pulls while rogues carry the raid dps, is that pretty much the long and short of it?

Are guild actually wanting/looking for classes like ranger, sk, pally etc?

Holy crap,

An actual fresh to the game newbie? I... wow. Anyhow, if you want to play a class, just do it. It is a long road to 60 that many players will never, ever make. So if you dive into a class you wind up hating just because someone told you to make money with it, you'll probably quit before you even enjoy the game.

And yes, the hybrids you listed (With the exception of bards) need to be wicked twinked to solo "Well" (A bard needs a drum and some underwear). But any of them will do just fine if you aren't in a super hurry. The important thing is to allow yourself to be social. Most groups won't really care what class you are so long as you're willing to listen and learn.

If you've spoken to people here and already have friends, then it really won't matter what you play. Just make them group up with you! If not, simply ask questions. Most of us old timers will happily vomit up info at you. Your best bet would be to pick a class you actually want to play and go find a leveling guild.

I think Kittens is still very active at all levels, and if you're okay avoiding the EC Tunnel (Think Auction House) and playing by a specific set of rules, check out ALS (Auld Lang Syne). They 100% have content at all levels, and will certainly help you figure things out and group up no matter your class.

Also, Bard Life > All. RIP pain-free hands.

Far and away, pick a class that sounds interesting and go from there. The time investment for "just leveling a class to farm for your real main" is fucking titanic without tremendous help and you'll be happier growing a character you enjoy.

Any character at a high level can go and gather gear for lower level characters. I've been soloing a necro for exactly that reason and honestly I got so bored I made a dwarf warrior and joined Auld Lang Syne just so I can play a dude that kinda sucks but has a community around him and is forced to group--I just find it more fun.

What's auld lang syne?

With a few vendor instruments a bard is less gear sensitive than any other hybrid. A monk with a 100p Wus staff is a close second.

Im super new here too, is iksar necro a good choice? Can bards melody here? I loved bard on Live in ln progressive servers, but spamming songs old fashion is a bit hard on my arthritic fingers haha, Im old :P

No melody. You have to twist manually.

Iksar necro is the min/maxer choice. You'll level slower (Iksar have a 20% exp hit) but most people agree the regen outweighs it, since leveling is already slow. So if you're in it for the long haul, it's a bit whatever.