New guy could use some advice

[Geek.Verve]

If you will indulge me a moment:

I've played EQ off and on since 2001 (more off than on the past few years). I've always been a hopeless alt-aholic. The highest level I ever attained was the low 80's on my ERU paladin and mid-70's on my DE mage, DE enchanter, IKS necromancer, HUM bard and BAR shaman, and this was with the max level being 95-100 at the time. I played most of the other classes into the 40s and 50s, though I never had much interest in monk, warrior, cleric or rogue (a bit too one-dimensional for my tastes) or the beastlord or berzerker (I just couldn't get on-board with the core concepts of those classes for a few reasons). I enjoyed raiding, but since I was always behind the level curve, I didn't get a chance to do much of it. That was ok, though, as I really enjoyed the non-raid game as well. My problem is that I really like most of the classes in the game, so I could never stick with just one.

I did the epic 1.0 quests on my mage, paladin, shaman and almost finished my bard, after the 1.0s had been rendered all but obsolete. I did them because the epic quests were some of the most fun and engaging things I had found to do in the game. I hope to be able to complete one or more of them on P99, where they are actually relevant.

These days EQ just isn't the same, though. I've tried getting back into it several times over the past year or so, but everything about it just feels trivial. If you're 20-30 levels below max, there really isn't much point in playing level-appropriate content, as better gear is available pretty cheap in the Bazaar. Therefore, I found myself simply on a treadmill, always feeling like I was playing catch-up. I longed for the days when I actually quested or fought for items that were actual upgrades for me, and I was thrilled to get them.

So here I am. I've heard about P99 for some time, and I've finally gotten around to giving it a try. So far it's really taken me back to a better time in EQ, which is kind of ironic, as it's a much slower and deliberate pace than that to which I've become accustomed. There have been a few unexpected surprises, like dying in the newbie yard and running back out to grab another mob, not realizing I'm naked (oh right, corpse runs - my H2H skill-up messages were what clued me in, as I'm not always in 3rd person view) and getting a cool, new pet spell, summoning one up, handing him a weapon and a shield, only to zone out to the newbie area and realize that pets don't persist across zone lines (wish I'd noticed that before picking a fight).

Now to my point. I'm trying to settle on a class for my main. Some of the most fun I've had in EQ was:

• Doing CC in groups, keeping a line of mobs locked down on my enchanter - my charm game was never very good, though.
• Ripping it up, pulling, ADPS, CC, reverse charm kiting and basically doing it all on my bard. The anemic DPS at higher levels was disappointing, though.
• Over-achieving on my shaman - I swear that class always felt greater than the sum of its parts. Canni-dancing, though - hated it.
• Going pretty much anywhere and fighting pretty much anything that didn't summon on my necromancer. Group mobs drop too quickly on EQ live servers for a necro to bring much to a group, though.

I guess that's what it boils down to - enchanter, bard, shaman or necro. Any thoughts from anyone currently playing those classes on P99? Heck, at this point I'm open to other suggestions as well.

Thanks.