Hardest Class for a New Player

[dookieshed]

What's the most difficult class for a brand new player and why is it Bard?

In all seriousness though, I convinced a friend of mine who's never played EQ to install P99, so I was helping him pick a class. I basically just gave him advice based on how difficult the classes are to play, how gear dependent they are, how good they are at soloing, etc, and from what I know about Bard (which isn't much), it's hands down the hardest class to play. But I don't really know to what extent that's true.

Edit: I forgot to mention-- HE CHOSE BARD

Is it a huge mistake for a new EQ player to choose Bard?
How tough of a time is he going to have learning this class?
Anyone have any useful advice for him?

Thanks!

[maskedmelonpai]

gotta push lotta buttons. it okay though, not many bards know what they doing anyway. he just need to know to play mana song and groups gonna tolerate him.

[Ravager]

Bard isn't the hardest. As masked said, they can just play either their heal song or mana song in groups and leech exp. And once they figure out how to kite, they can play easy mode for 50 levels.

For hardest class, I would say Enchanter, because no matter what they do they gotta pay a shit ton of attention to the game.

[Triiz]

Originally Posted by Ravager [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Bard isn't the hardest. As masked said, they can just play either their heal song or mana song in groups and leech exp. And once they figure out how to kite, they can play easy mode for 50 levels.

For hardest class, I would say Enchanter, because no matter what they do they gotta pay a shit ton of attention to the game.

That's the description of a terrible bard no one will want to group with in the future though. I have a bard and an enchanter and hands down the bard was harder to play in non-perfect groups while leveling.

Bard is often asked to substitute CC when there is no Enchanter and they have to do it without AOE mez, root, runes, stuns, long durations lulls, long duration charms.

Bard isn't really gear dependant at all though and relatively decent at farming low/mid end stuff for future toons, so in that aspect they are noob friendly.

[Samoht]

Originally Posted by Triiz [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Bard is often asked to substitute CC when there is no Enchanter

That is literally the role of a Bard...

[Tann]

Originally Posted by Samoht [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

That is literally the role of a Bard...

[Triiz]

Originally Posted by Samoht [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

That is literally the role of a Bard...

Literally the role of a bard when there is no enchanter, thanks for reaffirming my statement I guess? But if there is no enchanter or shaman, groups will ask bard to CC, mana song, slow, and maybe haste if it's a group with just a cleric for heals.

Even for a bard solely doing CC, CCing as a bard requires a lot more attention than enchanter. Puller brings 4 mob to group with Enchanter CC? Enchanter casts 1 AOE mez and has 4 ticks to decide what to do next.

Puller brings 4 mobs to group with bard for CC? Bard better start tabbing his ass off and spamming single target mez that lasts 3 ticks, maybe charm one mob for 3 ticks if it's manageable.

I'm not saying Enchanter is an easy class to play well, but even a shitty enchanter can manage a bad pull easily in a group setting.

[Samoht]

Originally Posted by Triiz [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Literally the role of a bard when there is no enchanter, thanks for reaffirming my statement I guess? But if there is no enchanter or shaman, groups will ask bard to CC, mana song, slow, and maybe haste if it's a group with just a cleric for heals.

Even for a bard solely doing CC, CCing as a bard requires a lot more attention than enchanter. Puller brings 4 mob to group with Enchanter CC? Enchanter casts 1 AOE mez and has 4 ticks to decide what to do next.

Puller brings 4 mobs to group with bard for CC? Bard better start tabbing his ass off and spamming single target mez that lasts 3 ticks, maybe charm one mob for 3 ticks if it's manageable.

I'm not saying Enchanter is an easy class to play well, but even a shitty enchanter can manage a bad pull easily in a group setting.

The Bard and the Enchanter fill the same in a group. That's like having a Paladin and an SK at the same time. If you already have an Enchanter, then there's not much contribution from a Bard. But if you do not have an Enchanter, it should be expected that the Bard play his role.

[Hitmonkey]

Any tank class is the hardest.

Bard is on the far end toward easy. The more gear dependent and less solo viable class the harder it is for a new player.

[Ravager]

Tanks are only slightly tougher than rogues. Rogues only have it easier, because a group can have 3 of them, but once in a group, their job is fairly routine, just like tanks. The clerics and enchanters do the heavy lifting of most good groups. Soloing, Tanks have an easier time of it than rogues.