Which is more solo friendly...

[DetroitVelvetSmooth]

Originally Posted by holsteinrx7 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Sk is group, monk most versatile melee. Monk does have penalty. Most sks quit from 50-54. Because of unlove and weak melee skills.

Monks have a 1.2x modifier to xp and sk have a 1.4x BEFORE racial considerations. Also remember to multiply mods, not add them. So a human sk would have a 1.4x modifier all told and a iksar monk would have 1.68x (1.2 x 1.4)

[Kutsumo]

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

a iksar monk would have 1.68x (1.2 x 1.4)

Eh?

[Danth]

Old computing saying: garbage in, garbage out.

Detroit: Your arithmetic is correct but you have the wrong value for the Iksar penalty. They have a 20% racial penalty, not 40%. As such you want 1.2 (monk class) times 1.2 (Iksar racial), or a 44% total penalty. It's still higher than a standard hybrid modifier , though only marginally so. As a side note, Iksar Necromancers also have a 32% penalty--not too much less than a hybrid--although nobody much cares since Necromancers hardly ever group anyway.

Prior to about level 22, Monks will solo more easily than Shadow Knights, even with bad gear. Shadow Knights can't fear until 15, and because the level 15 snare is so poor fear-kiting doesn't become practical until level 22. From 22 through the 30's I feel Shadow Knights have a somewhat easier time solo thanks to fear kiting with a lot of zones to pick from. At 40+ the places for good fear kiting become a lot more limited, and at 50+ there are only a couple places to do so effectively. Damage output is low enough that experience rates are charitably described as slow. Monk damage output scales a lot better past level 50 so they end up pulling ahead again, especially in conjunction with better equipment. That being said, neither class solo's terribly well at 50+ compared to any of the typical solo classes.

Long-term, it's worth remembering that the Kunark-Velious era was the heyday for the Monk class. Hybrids, including the Shadow Knight, also see improvements with Velious-era class changes, but the Monk remains the more powerful class overall. Folks who stick with hybrids tend to be the folks who want to play one in the first place and who are okay with giving up some raw power. Most players who have no preference between the Monk and the Shadow Knight will enjoy the Monk more overall.

Danth

[DetroitVelvetSmooth]

Danth ty =)

[webrunner5]

I have a level 105 SK on live with over 11,000 AA's, yeah really 11,000, hell I think you can go to 15k or more, and it still can't solo shit. A SK never had DPS worth a crap and never will. It is a gimped class just like a Pally.

And Damage Mitigation wise a Warrior still is a hands down winner on that part. A Monk is up there also. That is why they can Tank in KC nearly as good as a SK, Pally, and oh by the way, a Monk can actually kill something to boot.. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[bktroost]

Sks are great offtanks, tanks of trash on raid mobs and good for anything that doesn't hit terribly hard but needs high aggro, like Sister of the Spire and Venril Sathir... that's where they shine and really have a place in the world of EQ. Whether you get there by soloing or grouping is like focusing on what controller you want to use to turn on the TV. The real show is after 60.

That's true for most classes though, yet a lot of people quit after 60.

[Kutsumo]

Originally Posted by webrunner5 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I have a level 105 SK on live with over 11,000 AA's, yeah really 11,000, hell I think you can go to 15k or more, and it still can't solo shit. A SK never had DPS worth a crap and never will. It is a gimped class just like a Pally.

And Damage Mitigation wise a Warrior still is a hands down winner on that part. A Monk is up there also. That is why they can Tank in KC nearly as good as a SK, Pally, and oh by the way, a Monk can actually kill something to boot.. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Mine is level 100 with only 9k AAs, but if you blow your load with Visage, first spire, crimson blade, gouging blade you can do some serious burst DPS - plus with 2.0 up you're lifetapping 70% of that DPS back and don't need heals. SK is a hell of a class on live, and by far the best group tank with pally close behind and warrior needing to med for endurance on long grinds.

Anyway, that's not the point in this thread. We won't have any of that crap here. Monk is obviously a very, very strong class in this time period and it's hard for anything to compete when directly compared.

[Loke]

Normally Id say monk, but having helped some friends level hybrids recently theyre actually really easy to solo on. Monks are nice if you dont want to think as much and just grind, but the added utility from hybrid spells opens up a lot of options if you spend the time to maximize your efficiency. I dont have a ton of experience with leveling an SK, but pallys and rangers can solo very well if you gear and play the class to its full potential.

Personally id worry less about the leveling and decide which role you like more. Do you want to raid at 60, and if so, would you rather do it on a monk or sk? Do you like tanking or dps? Both will be able to solo, so weigh the factors other than soloing to decide which to play.

[webrunner5]

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

Normally Id say monk, but having helped some friends level hybrids recently theyre actually really easy to solo on. Monks are nice if you dont want to think as much and just grind, but the added utility from hybrid spells opens up a lot of options if you spend the time to maximize your efficiency. I dont have a ton of experience with leveling an SK, but pallys and rangers can solo very well if you gear and play the class to its full potential.

Personally id worry less about the leveling and decide which role you like more. Do you want to raid at 60, and if so, would you rather do it on a monk or sk? Do you like tanking or dps? Both will be able to solo, so weigh the factors other than soloing to decide which to play.

Well there is NO doubt when the Hybrid penalty comes off in Velious after a couple of months, well probably couple of years from now on here lol, we will see a LOT of SKs, Pallys, Rangers, Bards running around, including some of my lower level ones lol. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Grobb 1999]

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

Prior to about level 22, Monks will solo more easily than Shadow Knights, even with bad gear. Shadow Knights can't fear until 15, and because the level 15 snare is so poor fear-kiting doesn't become practical until level 22. From 22 through the 30's I feel Shadow Knights have a somewhat easier time solo thanks to fear kiting with a lot of zones to pick from. At 40+ the places for good fear kiting become a lot more limited, and at 50+ there are only a couple places to do so effectively. Damage output is low enough that experience rates are charitably described as slow. Monk damage output scales a lot better past level 50 so they end up pulling ahead again, especially in conjunction with better equipment. That being said, neither class solo's terribly well at 50+ compared to any of the typical solo classes.

You get -no debuff- or decent snare till 40s? And unless it's really different here compared to the live velious I remember fear kiting just reminds you how little DPS you really have and wasn't what I would call dependable xp