New Player - Cleric

[Jeeden]

Hey guys.
I'm an old player that played up to Luclin? (when they got PoK and PaludalCaverns?).
I was on Erollisi Marr as a Shaman - Urugal. Got to 64 before I quit - I basically went to college/didn't have time.

I did play EQ2 for a while, did raiding on there, main was a Ratonga Assassin (believe I was on Crushbone). EQ2 was a disappointment as far as challenge, but it worked out since I was in college and didn't have the time lol.

So I'm starting a cleric in classic EQ for the first time. I made a Dark Elf. I'm finding it pretty hard/slow at the beginning. I'm level 6 now and camping the undead obelisk in Nek Forest. I'm finding strength a big issue/encumbered.

Anyone have any suggestions? I know bronze armor is suppose to be pretty good/affordable - but it's pretty heavy, I almost want to get full raw hide instead (found a couple pieces).
I've got about 6 backpacks now, and all this room, but get encumbered pretty quickly.
Should I just worry about leveling and not cash? What are some decent pieces I can pick up?
My friend gave me some plat.

[Jeeden]

Here is my current gear. I'm not sure how I want to gear yet - essentially, I don't know if I should spent my plat on battle cleric if I'm able to find groups easy. If that's the case, then I'll need WIS gear. I suppose for levels sub 15, solo'ing is fine.

http://wiki.project1999.com/Magelo_Blue:Jeeden

[Pyrion]

Welcome!

Dark elves can be nice clerics for sure, but as you have discovered already, you will have that strength problem. If you want to minimize that, you can try a dwarf cleric which would have the same wisdom starting score (but you wont have that nice hide ability).

Personally i just started a little cleric as well. Mine is halfling cause i thought the combination of hide + sneak would be really nice on a cleric (its also a bit stronger than DE). So, if the weight issue is "crushing" you, consider restarting. But of course there are other solutions... light gear, gear with str, having a druid or shaman as a partner who can buff you (or even an enchanter)...

There are some low level options to make nice money. At first bone chips come to mind. The sell for 10pp a stack to players. A bit later kill wisps. Don't sell the greater light stones immediately, do this quest with them:
http://wiki.project1999.com/Evil_Research (there is a good version as well)
And then sell the quest result. Will be worth much more than before.

I would not worry too much about money at the start though. Later getting money gets easier and you don't really need great gear for quite some time.

[Allaanna]

I played a DE cleric on live and recently on P99 as an ogre shaman. My wife plays a DE SK though so I feel your pain because she is always getting encumbered (even with my strength buffs) and I end up being her pack mule. I got spirit pouches that I summon for her too which helps a ton because they have 100% weight reduction.
With that being said, the DE cleric was very rewarding on live, and eventually you will outlevel this inconvenience. You will get EE bags, tinker bags, ect... but you are going to have this challenge to contend with until then.
As previously stated, you could try a dwarf, human or Halfling for a little more strength. They are all pretty similar choices and honestly you are going to have roughly the same problem... 70 strength is only 1 or 2 weapons difference from 85 or 90.
You will be fine, strength is pretty common on gear, you will just have to suck it up for now.