Best unfunded class?

[Kingmerciless]

So I'm super new to EQ, like this is pretty much my first experience with it. Question is what's the best unfunded class? Even if it's easy to make your first couple hundred plat, what it wasn't?

[Nagoya]

Top is easiest to play naked / self-funded, bot is hardest:

Magician
Wizard
Enchanter
Necromancer
Cleric
Bard
Druid
Rogue
Shaman
Monk
Ranger
Paladin
Shadow Knight
Warrior

My 2 cents [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

All classes are playable as a first toon np

[thediggler1]

And I'll just mention that having a druid as a first class will be great for getting around. They have a movement speed buff and ports eventually, and can do well without much gear.

[xabler]

Druid

[DinoTriz2]

Monk is up there

All you need is a Wu's Staff, and people practically give those away

[Kingmerciless]

WQS obtained at the moment, shout outs to the guild. Then a random druid grinding rep, plvled me 2 levels today and gave me a whole wu set.

[loramin]

Druids or Necromancers are the obvious answer, but I'm going to go with a less obvious one: Shaman.

Shaman are excellent soloers without gear, and can absolutely level all the way up to 60 without any gear except the stuff they loot on corpses. Furthermore they can do this either by soloing, grouping, or mixing the two, and I speak from experience (my first character here was a Shaman, and while a friend gave me a Barbarian Spiritist's Hammer which helped a little, it was far from necessary ... or even much of a noticeable improvement)

Now you (or at least other more knowledgeable posters) might be thinking "WTF? Shaman need a 15k Jaundiced Bone Bracer, an almost 100k epic, and an almost 100k Torpor, plus a few other level 60 spells that cost several K". And you/they are right: all those things do help a Shaman a lot, and do cost plat.

But again, you don't need a JBB or an epic to solo, and certainly not to group. Honestly I'd argue a Druid needs their (admittedly much cheaper) Goblin Ghazugi Ring to solo more than a Shaman needs a JBB or epic, and they need it even earlier (level 19 or so). Both the JBB and epic significantly increase solo leveling speed, but what often gets missed is just how fast Shaman can solo even without them.

And then of course there's Torpor, but the way I see it Torpor is like level 61 for Shaman. A level 60 Torpor-less Shaman is pretty much balanced with almost any other class at level 60; getting Torpor just moves them into the unbalanced realm. And while of course you need Torpor to solo the best mobs that drop the most expensive loot, there are plenty of places a Torpor-less (and JBB-less and epic-less) Shaman can farm plat (see the Treasure Hunting guide link in my signature [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]).

While Druids are getting 25p a port to make money, Shaman can make up to 500p/hour (or maybe even more) soloing in places like Droga (if they get say the Essence Earring camp, and then kill as many goblins as they can in between for fine steel). And of course, once they do farm the plat for all their toys (which, again, they totally can do without said toys) only Enchanters can rival them for soloing the most difficult/valuable stuff in the game.

So personally when Green arrives I'm going to be really torn. Part of me wants to do something different, like start a Mage, but part of me loves Shaman and knows what a great class they are to start with on a new server. Even though I've done him twice before, version 3.0 of Loramin (live was 1.0) may well be my first character in October.

[Jimjam]

Define best?

If you enjoy challenges, I'd suggest warrior. I've done a couple of unfunded warriors and I've enjoyed hunting for those few items which will 'get you by'. I remember saving up enough for a combine two handed sword on Jimjam and going nuts on willowisps from 12-17. I ended up with enough plat from handing in greater light stones to buy a full set of vendor bought plate in Kaladim! I then hit up highpass and kurn's tower to get an iksar berserkers club and polished granite tomahawk. These worked well enough in groups to get me to a level where I could travel Norrath and quest out a full set of crafted armour from the Karana centaurs.

I also discovered there were decent aggro weapons that were the side product to the rogue epic, which I was able to scrounge. All in all it was a great experience gearing and levelling a warrior from scratch without outside funding nor using EC to self twink.

However, if you mean 'best' as in most powerful with least effort or funds then I suggest magician is a really good shout. If you're willing to work hard then Druid, necromancer, enchanter or hard can all be pretty fearsome.

Honestly though, the need for funds/equipment is pretty overstated. Keep your key skills up, stick to the most important spells and if melee buy a 1:2 ratio weapon for 40pp and have enough AC to mitigate against mobs 5 levels below you and you're running at 80% efficiency of a character with a few k pumped into it.

[derpcake2]

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

Even though I've done him twice before, version 3.0 of Loramin (live was 1.0) may well be my first character in October.

Are you going to pick the worst available race again?

[Jimjam]

Originally Posted by derpcake2 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Are you going to pick the worst available race again?

Loramin actually plays barbarians, not ogres!

AKA best shaman race by far.