Best Class/Race combo for complete EQ/MMORPG newbs

[Lojik]

Probably let them see which description fits them, just don't let them choose ranger. If they're at all interested in monk, enc, sham, probably steer them that way.

[B4EQWASCOOL]

Anything that travels well and has invisibility. Druid/Wizard/Bard it's nice to be able to explore.

[Deckk]

Don't tell them to try anything. Let them figure it out. I'd just arm them with information:

1. Evil races/Neutral races/Good races/Hated by everyone races
2. Evil classes
3. XP penalties (they won't go away until a few months into Velious, from what I understand)

I wouldn't even offer your opinion to them. Arm them with facts and let them choose. It'll work out much better for them.

[Vaelsek]

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

Don't tell them to try anything. Let them figure it out. I'd just arm them with information:

1. Evil races/Neutral races/Good races/Hated by everyone races
2. Evil classes
3. XP penalties (they won't go away until a few months into Velious, from what I understand)

I wouldn't even offer your opinion to them. Arm them with facts and let them choose. It'll work out much better for them.

This is also a great recommendation. Whatever route they go, they will most likely want to have starting areas relatively close to one another. They are going to have a difficult time playing together if one person starts on Kunark, another in Qeynos, and another on Faydwer. You should let them know that low level traveling over long distances can be a bit dangerous if they do not know the game yet.

[Voland]

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

Necros are druids are the two standouts in my mind, but they're all really in that same ballpark of being able to grind solo, move around the game world easily, and make great contributions to a group with just cloth and assorted bric a brac equipped.

Druids and Wizards move around the world easily, all others pay them for ports [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Grombar]

Depending how many people you have in order.. the 6th slot can be occupied by anything. All but the druid can start Qeynos, or Freeport. The druids are short runs from either city.
Pally/SK
Cleric
Rogue/Monk
Mage/wizard
druid/sham/necro/ench

[Waedawen]

Any and all of the wisdom or intelligence classes are good to start out with. Necromancer, Shaman, Magician and Druid are all very good 'starter' classes, I think that have quite a bit of versatility and room for error.

Melee and tank classes suck for learning the game. And they are extremely weak in the early levels, too. Someone who plays a Necro as a first toon is much more likely to stick around than a Rogue as a first character. Pet classes are extremely powerful if your friends plan on leveling up together. You simply do not need a tank class. And you can always make friends with one.

[Millburn]

The fastest way to have someone lose interest in playing Everquest (who is new and unfamiliar) is to have them play a class that's boring and mono-faceted. Despite that class also being easy to play, that's not really the question though was it? The question was what is the best, not the easiest. To answer that I think the clear choice is Halfling Druid.

Halfling is self evident, they're halflings but Druid is the perfect class for a lot of reasons. See a druid will introduce a player more or less to almost every complex mechanic expected of a person in Everquest. Except you also get the leeway of not having a lot of stress on your efficacy at it. So it's a no-pressure role that allows a person to hunker down and just heal spam when they're confused or overloaded. Or it lets them spread their wings and start doing DS's, snares, TP's to pick up members, kiting, etc...

I guess what I'm trying to get at is that a Druid will keep a new person INVOLVED because it gives them a set of responsibilities that at face value are very easy to mete out but if given initiative and interest can do a lot more.

[Pyrocat]

I think caster classes in general will keep people involved. Melee don't really have the continual reward drip that casters do. It's important to give people stuff to look forward to, otherwise they just see it as an endless grind to 60. Being like "hey you're playing a necro? man I can't wait until lvl 16 when you get feign death" is a lot more likely to keep someone playing then "hey you're playing a rogue? man I can't wait until... uh... you do more dps? so like, 55?". Dual wield and other new skill milestones like feign death or backstab can fill that role to some extent but they are fewer and farther between.

For reference's sake, between lvl 1 and 50:
Int casters get 13 spell levels
Wis casters get 12 spell levels
Hybrids get 7 spell levels
and Bards get a new song every level (and a bunch of cool skills)

If you can try and find some videos of higher level gameplay for each of the classes it might give them a better idea of what to expect, and with that information they can better pick what interests them. Hard to tell what makes a class unique at early levels; until lvl 10 everyone is pretty much a warrior.

[Tyrrion]

Whatever you do, don't start in Freeport. EC is one of the most painful zones to level from 5-10 if you can't get an orc group (usually full). Things get better once you can go Dervs -> Oasis, but until then it really sucks trying to find pumas and scarabs (which are stretched few and far between) while constantly getting jumped by Air Elementals and Mummies.

I'd recommend Faydwer for newbies, Butcherblock being one of my favorite zones in particular. The continent in general is pretty well split up into level-appropriate groups with numerous camps for all levels, and the dungeon progression through Crushbone -> Unrest -> Mistmoore is great training for serious grouping (as well as a ton of fun).