New Player - Starting Class Advice

[Cillaz]

I agree with Cyph, most people will take a pally - its only min-maxers or high lev's that will turn away a hybrid due to the exp penalty. A tank is a tank at the end of the day, ill never turn one down!
slower exp is still more exp than /lfg!!!
And yes there are lots of groups going and plenty of people in all level ranges to play with!

[Elements]

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

Ignore this cat. Hybrids can find groups just fine, and Paladins can solo just fine with there healing abilities. I play paladin and it's freaking amazing.

I guess I don't have much experience in the level 31 range lately, perhaps this is true up to 31?

[Shivilian]

A few groups in the 20 to 30 range I have been in have expressed concerns over the xp penalty. They've never turned someone away because of it, but you know, It would seem if they had the choice, they would have avoided it.

Personally, I don't care. But I'm playing for more than just pixels and numbers.

[fuark]

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

I guess I don't have much experience in the level 31 range lately, perhaps this is true up to 31?

This. Any class is easy to get to 51. I soloed my ranger easily through the 30s and 40s, with groups mixed in for fun. 1-51 is the blink of an eye compared to 51-60.

Things start to change drastically at 40 plus, when mobs start having their life and damage exponentially increased. You can no longer solo remotely efficiently.

If you roll a hybrid as your first char, just be prepared for how slow it's going to be 51-60. That being said, hybrids are especially fun to play.

IMO, cleric is a much better first choice since you're on the fence. 8)

[Splorf22]

Fuark has it exactly right. By 51 no one is twinked, the mobs take forever to kill, and the levels are so long that people start to min/max hard. If you join a lot of mediocre groups, it's easy to spend 50 hours per level in the dreaded Kunark levels. If you have a full group humming perfectly, swapping the warrior for a paladin will probably reduce your xp by 10% or so (40/6 + lower dps).

The problem with a hybrid is that your greater versatility is the most important in the worst groups. For example, I saw Harmon (ranger) CC'ing KC LCY. He was doing a fine job . . . except their group sucked without an enchanter for charm/clarity/haste.

I really want to like hybrids. Ignoring the XP penalty, I just think that being able to melee and cast spells at the same time is pretty cool and makes for interesting game play. My problem is the endgame: evasive and defensive are just so huge, to the point that SKs and Paladins aren't used much in Kunark and probably won't be used at all in Velious. I would be totally down to have Sakuragi converted to a L1 shadowknight if I could keep the disciplines.

[Zheta]

So many responses! [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

So far I'm only level 2, but I'm enjoying getting lost all over again. I've already had a couple people woosh by and cast SoW.

I have been doing a few /who checks just to see what people are playing. I wish it didn't cut the list so short! I do hope I made the best choice for finding groups and meeting people. I suppose you all are saying that class choice doesn't matter, but I know I worry too much. I am keeping in the back of my mind how long it takes to level! [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Eventually, if I did want to tank at all, I would need to play a Warrior (as opposed to Paladin and Shadow Knight)

***

Ding! Level 3! :P

[Cyph]

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

Any class is easy to get to 51. I soloed my ranger easily through the 30s and 40s, with groups mixed in for fun. 1-51 is the blink of an eye compared to 51-60.

Ouch... and I have no experience with Kunark nor with lvl 51-60!

[pharmakos]

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

I have been doing a few /who checks just to see what people are playing. I wish it didn't cut the list so short!

you can add the modifier "count" to /who all checks to get a number instead of a list of individual players

FOR EXAMPLE: "/who all count paladin" might say "There are 24 players on EverQuest.", so you'd know there are 24 paladins currently on the entire server

the "count" command sees through /anonymous and /roleplay, so the number you get is a true representation of how many of a particular class is online

(it also works with races and level ranges, btw)

[Zheta]

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

you can add the modifier "count" to /who all checks to get a number instead of a list of individual players

／人｡ ◕ ‿‿ ◕ ｡人＼

Awesome! Thanks!

Also, since you're being so helpful, is there a way to get rid of these messages?:

"Targeted (Player):Zheta
Right click on yourself to being up your own inspect window. Use the /toggleinspect command to enable or disable right-click inspecting."

"Targeted (NPC):X
Right click on the NPC to consider him."

etc.

***

WOW! Tierael just gave me some Platinum pieces and a set of bracelets! Thanks again!!! [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Vellaen]

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

Also, since you're being so helpful, is there a way to get rid of these messages?:

"Targeted (Player):Zheta
Right click on yourself to being up your own inspect window. Use the /toggleinspect command to enable or disable right-click inspecting."

"Targeted (NPC):X
Right click on the NPC to consider him."

etc.

Can't remember what the setting is in the client options screen, but I believe you can turn it off by opening "eqclient.ini" in your EverQuest directory and changing "LeftClickTargetHelp" from 1 to 0.