Brand New to EQ -- lots of questions!

[Honorata]

Hi everyone! I'm Honor and I am a genuine, never played before, newb to Everquest. I've played more modern MMOs and wanted to experience what the earliest MMOs were like. I haven't fully committed to playing here yet (haven't installed or anything), but I have some questions before I settle down to get started.

* Will I be able to find leveling groups?

-- I work weird hours, and mostly would only be able to play very late at night (starting at midnight or 1AM Eastern US). Are people playing then on red/blue? Would I be able to find people to level with? I'm nervous about getting stuck at a low level because the servers are dead when I normally would be able to play.

-- On a related note, what is considered a "normal" amount of time to spend grinding levels per day? If I can only stay with a leveling group for 2-3 hours would I end up having trouble finding groups?

* What class should I play?

--Generally, I prefer to play healers in the other MMOs I've played. (I play a holy paladin & restoration shaman on live/official WoW, and I played a Combat Medic for the 3-4 months I played SWTOR.) My understanding is that if I want to play a healer in EQ, I'd want to play a Cleric, but I don't want to ignore other classes that people might need, or that I might find fun.

I have never played a support/offheal class, but this style of play also interests me. (I'm more interested in buffing my friends than debuffing my enemies.)

Should I consider other classes & if so which ones? Or is cleric the way to go?

* Red or Blue?

-- How bad is low level ganking on Red? Does on-death EXP loss also occur when you're killed by another player? Is everywhere a flagged zone on Red, or are there safe places? Do townsfolk get mad if someone murders someone else in a city? When someone kills you, they can just loot your coin, not your gear with Red's ruleset, right? Do you just leave your coin in the bank in town or???

-- Red seems a lot lower population than Blue. How hard is it to find leveling groups on Red, particularly if you play weird hours?

* Will a guild adopt a newb like me and answer my questions?

-- I'm a slow leveler, but I aim to be a kind and sincere person! Please tell me I will be able to find a home.

[joedirt87]

From what I've seen there is a good amount of players who are on the west coast, europe, or australia. Don't think you will have too much of a problem finding players late at night. If you can get the same grp for 2-3 hours that is pretty good. From my experiences people come in and out of groups quite often. I think where you group plays an important role for time. Some zones are harder to find people and may be harder to bring in new members.

there are three priest classes - druid, shaman, cleric. cleric is obviously the best at healing of the three but shamans and druids get decent healing spells as they level and can fill the healer role in a balanced group.

don't know much about red, but i've read that people are pretty helpful there and grouping is popular because of the added experience bonus.

[simpo]

I can answer some questions from a blue perspective. There's people later at night to group with especially in the more popular areas. 2-3 hours with a group is plenty, unless it's specifically stated beforehand (doubtful in almost all areas) you're not going to be yelled at or anything for leaving early. Just try to give the group some advance notice of when you're leaving (like 20-30 minutes) and you're good.

The shaman is a fun class to play and is good enough as a healer in most situations, although a cleric is better. A cleric has better HP buffs, but a shaman has a host of other buffs clerics don't have. They have many de-buffs for mobs (including slow, which slows attack speed of the mobs and is one of the most powerful spells of the game) and a better package of offensive spells. A shaman can also solo very well in this game and clerics don't solo very well (or at least very efficiently). So that's something to keep in mind.

Another class you may consider, based on what you've said here, is enchanter. They're a huge support class that isn't really focused on offense usually (in groups). Their buffs are probably the most sought after in the game and are wanted in groups for them and also crowd control of mobs. They solo extremely well too. Just extremely versatile overall (but no healing at all on an enchanter).

You couldn't go wrong with either of those two classes or a cleric. Clerics are a great class, but being your first char you might want something that solos a bit better and something you can go out and farm some money with. You can only learn so much by looking at guides and reading up on spells. You'll find your niche as you play. Don't be afraid to create an alt or a new main character if you don't like the direction of the one you have.

[Estu]

You should be OK to find leveling groups on blue. You might have to be proactive at weird hours: don't be afraid to form your own groups, send people tells, rally people from nearby zones, etc. Although, in the most popular grouping zones, it should still be pretty easy, since those tend to be packed to overflowing during peak hours. On red, you would probably have trouble finding groups during awkward hours (or in general). Staying in a group for 2-3 hours is totally fine.

Here's a run-down of the healing classes:

Cleric: Best healer in the game. Also has a couple of useful buffs (HP, AC, resist buffs), spells to help pull (lull line of spells), and CC (roots, stuns). But they spend most of their time healing.

Shaman: Mediocre healer. Has a lot of useful buffs (lots of different stat buffs, HP buffs, AC buffs, resist buffs, haste, regeneration) and the most useful debuff in the game (slow), as well as root spells and (eventually) a weak pet. Also has very good mana regeneration due to the cannibalize spell, which lets them convert their HP to mana. Depending on whether a group has a healer already, the shaman either spends their time healing, buffing, and debuffing (slows are VERY useful), or mainly just buffing and debuffing. The shaman is a very busy and complex class with a lot to do, whereas the cleric is more straightforward.

Druid: Weakest healer of the three. Has useful buffs (HP+AC, damage shield, strength, regen), an extremely useful outdoor pulling spell (harmony, which is basically like a souped-up version of the lull line, but outdoor-only), good CC tools (snare and root), and the ability to charm animals for great DPS if there happen to be animals in the zone. Not as in-demand for groups as clerics or shamans since they are weaker healers, but still useful. In a group, their play style is in between that of a cleric and a shaman: they have more to do than a cleric, but are not quite as busy as a shaman.

In terms of soloability, at least when it comes to getting from 1 to 60 (there's also an idea of soloability in terms of doing challenging cash camps at level 60), the order is reversed: druids are excellent soloers due to their ability to charm, shamans are poor to middling soloers early on but excellent in their later levels, and clerics are very poor soloers throughout.

In terms of guilds, there are lots of leveling guilds that would be happy to have you, though I can't name them off the top of my head. Keep your eyes peeled and ask around.

[maskedmelon]

Estus summed up the healers pretty well. I thinking is also important to note that the pace of EQ gameplay is significantly slower than that of other modern mmos. As a cleric, you will cast your buffs every half hour or so depending on duration and spend the rest of your time sitting except to drop a heal as needed. If your group is wildly efficient, you may have mana to do other things (such as stun, root or if hunting undead nuke) as well, but managing your mana pool is critical. If you want to be main healer though, cleric is without question the class you should play.

I am not sure what things look like during your proposed play times unfortunately. I am fast asleep at that time ^^

I do not play on red, but red population lives at around 1/4 of blue's at prime time and EQ never had any sort of faction penalties or xp loss for PK. However, if you attack a player in town, and are seen by townsfolk, they will defend that player provided they are not KOS to the townsfolk.

[Honorata]

Thanks, everyone, this was all really helpful! I won't be able to install until sometime next week, but you've helped me narrow it down to cleric or shaman. I think I'll probably start with cleric since it seems more straight forward, and then try a shaman if I want a change of pace.

[sox7d]

Finding a group takes between 30 seconds and 2 hours.

For you, I recommend make character A, get them to level 20, then make character B and get them to level 10. If you can't find or manage to organize a group on the character A, try on character B. Once A hits 30ish and B hits 20ish, make character C and get them to 10. The difference in leveling areas will allow you not to waste time sitting on your ass LFG.

But if you wanna stick to one character, go for marketability. Rogue (can never have enough), chanter, cleric, shaman.

[Ac888]

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[Youchy]

Play what you'd like mate, you will have a good time no matter what.

[Macdeth]

Red may have a smaller population, but finding a group is pretty easy. Each additional group member brings a dramatic increase to bonus xp on red. People want full groups to maximize their efficiency, even if it means taking someone that isn't exactly the class they are hoping for.