New to P99 and looking for tips on starting and SK or Paladin

Gnomish Elite · #1 03-09-2016, 01:06 PM

So I'm excited to be back at classic EQ and am just looking on a little input for my first toon back. Used to play a Wood Elf Ranger in classic and wanted to try something a little different but stick to hybrid cause I like spells/warrior play style.

I'm looking to start off as either a Paladin or SK and am wondering what I can expect with roles in groups/raids, as well as solo ability in case I need to resort to it? Also I'm wondering how gear dependent these classes are at least early on, and what races I should consider for each?

I'm looking at Iksar, Gnome, or Dark elf for SK and Dwarf, Half elf, or Gnome for Paladin. Any thoughts on those options? I don't really care about min/maxing but I don't want to be absolutely awful either.

Other than that any other relevant comments or tips are appreciated.

Whirled · #2 03-09-2016, 04:54 PM

As a first character, most people will say that you should stick to a non-gear dependent class. Which does make sense, unless you are fortunate enough to meet & greet a bunch of others that unload a cache of items for you. At this point in the time line, the hybrid class penalties are gone & there are many players that are knowledgeable in helping you with any questions or difficulties you may have. You mention gnome hybrids which are not on this server (and never will be?) so that will lessen your choices more so which leaves you with Iksar or DE for SK and Dwarf or 1/2elf for Pally. There will be some that will tell you that High Elf is the better choice but in the end it's totally up to you in what you really want to log in and play.
Some people make a porting class as their first character to make some platinum & farm or buy items & twink out the more gear dependable classes but again, it's ultimately up to what you really want to play. It can be a long grind though the levels so pick what ever way you wish to play the game.

Pyrocat · #3 03-09-2016, 05:09 PM

SKs can solo better/faster than Paladins. Fear kiting is much more efficient than tanking and healing yourself. Shadowknights do better DPS as well. As far as race selection for SK, I'd go with troll or iksar. The regen is very helpful and iksar have a great starting area (Field of Bone -> Kurns -> OT/FM/WW .etc). The only downside to iksar, really, is their terrible 2hs animation. It's so bad it's almost beyond belief it is not a bug. Thankfully there are plenty of good 2hb/1hs/1hb weapons out there for SK.

Man people pick a caster class for their first character because they are less gear dependent and can be used to farm gear for a melee twink. However, SK or Pally is a perfectly fine choice as well and thankfully due to their relatively low popularity and plethora of specialized gear, you can get really good weapons/shields for super cheap.

For an SK you could buy both of these for a total of 5,000 plat
http://wiki.project1999.com/Deathbringer%27s_Rod
http://wiki.project1999.com/Noctivagant_Blade
http://wiki.project1999.com/Atramentous_Shield

on the cheaper end there's stuff like
http://wiki.project1999.com/Mace_of_the_Shadowed_Soul
http://wiki.project1999.com/Soul_Binder
and plenty of "shitty" (7/28, 10/30 .etc) SK only weapons that drop in Kunark that people will likely give out for free.

Swish · #4 03-09-2016, 05:26 PM

Read this thread, will help you to decide: http://www.project1999.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=216765

Vaderman · #5 03-09-2016, 08:23 PM

Make a human or Erudite SK. Flayed skin armor has great stats, it's practically free and it's super light. Even as a human you can get encumbered pretty easily so the leather weight really helps.

I've primarily soloed my way to 41 with my SK with some pretty skimpy playtime. This is my first character here and although I rolled a few years ago I think i was only in the upper teens in December. SK is nice because you can kill 1 to 3 mobs with a mana bar and keep most of your health. Then go AFK and do something productive for 5 to 10 min while you med =) If you are going to solo mana is really important. It regens so much faster than HP, so use your taps to keep your HP up.

Fear kiting work's pretty good, but it's slow. You have too keep on the mob really good and it suddenly changes direction while running. Snare and fear suck up the mana too, and you will take damage so you need to tap. I found it better from about 30 on to just tap tank and dot. I also make sure I use steal strength and heart flutter to cut down on the mob's DPS.

Nathsar Greatsword is a good weapon to grab if you can get it early. It's got a pretty low delay for a 2 hander, so it doesn't get killed as bad by the damage cap at lower levels.

Good luck!

Dacien · #6 03-09-2016, 08:34 PM

I picked up the game a year or so ago and went Dwarf Paladin. I have been almost exclusively solo since about level 20, and now am level 45. I was a Warrior back in the day, and it sucked having to wait for health. With Pally, I can solo a mob and heal right back up. Mana recharges WAY faster than HP.

Looking like it might end badly in a solo fight? Root 'em, back off, and heal up. Still looking dicey? Lay on Hands. As long as you're not woefully overmatched, just tap that heal for basically a full HP recharge and kill 'em. Paladin has survivability up the wazoo. You get great undead-theme spells, like Invisibility vs. Undead, direct damage Undead spells, Fear spells that affect the Undead, etc. Unrest is a great dungeon to level in, even solo, which I did plenty of. Having Root makes soloing much easier against enemies that flee. With Bash and a Stun spell, and Cancel Magic (which makes a great pull spell on casters), your effectiveness is really high against spellcasting mobs. DPS isn't mind-blowing, but with more gear it becomes decent enough.

My first tip would be to save up for a full set of Banded Armor. I think it's only about 100 plat. I got lucky, and a guy from Asgard hooked me up in exchange for getting him some mats from Kaladim. So be on the lookout, be friendly, and maybe someone can help you out. I wouldn't recommend begging though. Get a Sword of the Morning as soon as you can. It's cheap (I got mine for 700), and it should basically carry you all the way up into the 50's. Slowly build up your gear piece by piece. Sash of the Dragonborn is my most prized piece, since the haste allows much higher DPS. Costly though, about 8000 plat. Get some HP rings also, they're only about 250p a pair iirc.

There are classes that surely solo better than Paladin, but it's a lot of fun to be so tanky and be able to survive basically any reasonable encounter, even if it's just a Root and Run! Just don't get ganged up on.

Ennewi · #7 03-09-2016, 09:28 PM

For soloing, Paladins can joust, using root to keep a mob in place while moving in and out of melee range to take swings at it with a high dmg/high delay weapon. You can also sit in between swings to med up. However root can be really unreliable, sometimes breaking as soon as it's cast. Later in levels you can use the Deepwater Helm to heal to full.

Shadow Knights can fear kite, using dots and a pet to speed up the process to an extent. Polished Obsidian Great Axe is really decent for soloing as it procs at level 40, 9 levels before SKs even get Invoke Fear which costs quite a bit of mana. Procs aren't always the most reliable, even with high dexterity, but you can always use your short duration level 15 fear as needed to buy you time.

In groups, both classes can act as pullers with Shadow Knights using darkness with feign death and Paladins using lull with root. Most groups will likely only ask you to be on tanking duty since this server is overrun with monks. On raids it's usually just about offtanking and protecting the Enchanter. Think of yourself as a linebacker that can't tackle for shit but is really good at getting in the way. Paladin heals go a long way on raids where the mobs have aoe spells and damage shields, whereas Shadow Knights can only really help themselves on raids, other than by letting Enchanters Theft of Thought their mana pool.

Dacien · #8 03-09-2016, 09:40 PM

Quote:

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

For soloing, Paladins can joust, using root to keep a mob in place while moving in and out of melee range to take swings at it with a high dmg/high delay weapon. You can also sit in between swings to med up. However root can be really unreliable, sometimes breaking as soon as it's cast. Later in levels you can use the Deepwater Helm to heal to full.

Pardon my ignorance, but how does a Deepwater Helm heal you to full? I've put off upgrading my helm in favor of other pieces because Daring just didn't seem like a noteworthy clicky.

Ennewi · #9 03-09-2016, 10:07 PM

It's just something I noticed while duoing with a pally. It decreased downtime by a lot, allowing him to use aggro/cc spells more liberally. I imagine it's only better when soloing and even has its uses in groups without crack. Definitely seen it put to work on raids after a wipe. Pally oom after accepting rez, spam clicks the hell out of helm on everyone.

thufir · #10 03-09-2016, 11:07 PM

Quote:

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

Pardon my ignorance, but how does a Deepwater Helm heal you to full? I've put off upgrading my helm in favor of other pieces because Daring just didn't seem like a noteworthy clicky.

You just keep clicking it, targeting yourself. Assuming you don't have a better/higher level ac/hp buff, it'll heal you every time you cast it for the amount of the Daring buff.