New player going to start up a shaman

[Basicbrute]

It's been a while since playing but had a 53 shaman on live back in the day. Going to start up a character on this server. Barbarian shaman.

Had few questions

Is halas area a baron wasteland ? Do groups goto blackburrow still?
Is it going to be hard to find groups as a shaman at lower levels?

Or should I just make a human monk so I'm close to ec tunnel to sale my goods easy?

Is this server now so top heavy that lower levels are almost impossible to find grind groups?

Thanks in advance!
Can't wait to install once I get home from work in hr or so

[Swish2]

Is halas area a baron wasteland ? Do groups goto blackburrow still?

It's definitely quieter here than it was on the live servers. Barbarians actually might be the least played race on P99? Certainly on the lower end of things. You'll still see a few people in Blackburrow, mostly people from Qeynos and Erudin.

Is it going to be hard to find groups as a shaman at lower levels?

No, but you'll need to leave Halas/Everfrost... and that has it's own disadvantages as a shaman as you'll need to either buy spells before you go or rely on someone who can go into another shaman city to buy your spells for you [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Or should I just make a human monk so I'm close to ec tunnel to sale my goods easy?

Monks are popular and a lot of people enjoy them - it's an option (would recommend starting in Freeport if you do).

Is this server now so top heavy that lower levels are almost impossible to find grind groups?

One thing that really separates P99 from other servers is there's always groups at all levels, and there's no boxing here so there's that sense of having to rely on a group and good teamwork ^^

[Xaeophi]

Human Monk? Thats one of the most common mistake you can do. Human anything = garbage.
Trying to be a bad ass? Pick Dark Elf, Any class = Win

[loramin]

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

Is halas area a baron wasteland ? Do groups goto blackburrow still?
Is it going to be hard to find groups as a shaman at lower levels?

I'm going to disagree with the other posters on this one. Blackburrow gets Barbarians, Qeynos Humans, and Surefall Humans. It also gets a fair amount of Erudites who leave Erudin shortly after creation.

I recently leveled my Erudite Enchanter there, and found that with all those people I could usually get a group, at least during normal hours. Not a full six-man group, but at least a duo or trio.

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

Is this server now so top heavy that lower levels are almost impossible to find grind groups?

Nah, everyone has alts. The only downside of that is it makes things a little easier (eg. if your tank wears a fungi tunic), but if you want "hard mode" you can always join ALS, the anti-twinking guild.

[ScaringChildren]

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

It's been a while since playing but had a 53 shaman on live back in the day. Going to start up a character on this server. Barbarian shaman.

Had few questions

Is halas area a baron wasteland ? Do groups goto blackburrow still?
Is it going to be hard to find groups as a shaman at lower levels?

Or should I just make a human monk so I'm close to ec tunnel to sale my goods easy?

Is this server now so top heavy that lower levels are almost impossible to find grind groups?

Thanks in advance!
Can't wait to install once I get home from work in hr or so

Halas the city, is pretty barren. There's usually only 2 or 3 people there at any one time.

Everfrost has more people, but most are higher levels. Barbarian newbies usually kill in Everfrost to level 5 or 6 and moved directly to Blackburrow.

It won't be hard finding a group at a low level shaman. The spot you start in is pretty unique though, as most people solo Blackburrow for the fang quest. However, you can find groups forming at deeper levels of Blackburrow.

As far as popular lower level dungeons go, Crushbone, Kurns Tower, and Befallen are the big ones. Oasis is popular as well.

You don't have to make a monk so you're closer to EC. I mean, unless you want to. Monks are a great class, I at least recommend trying them.

The server isn't top heavy, strangely enough. We have a ton of altaholics on the server and we have new people come in all the time.

However, you will see a lot of twinking going on. Which can benefit you if you group with them. I grouped with a cleric who had those group heal pants and our group took on a camp that was about 10 levels higher than our normal camp.

[Issar]

Great and accurate points by the above posters. My first toon ever was a Barb Shaman and I have a special place in my heart for Halas/Everfrost. There may be times when you're the only lowbie barbarian in Everfrost, but as a lowbie you won't have competition. BTW, save all your bonechips, Polar Bear Pelts, and High Quality Bear Skins. You can sell those in EQ when you get to level 14ish and venture out to the EC area. There you can make a few hundred plat and buy some great cheap starter gear.

I highly encourage you to roll whatever race/class that your heart is set on and don't worry about the conveniences. The low levels may drag a bit, but it's still a lot quicker than reaching 60 on a different race/class and deciding that you really wished you were a barb shaman.

Best of luck to you! When you have your toon rolled, be sure to post the race/class you went with along with your toons name. When I started here, I ended up forming some pretty awesome starter groups with friends made in the new player forums.

[aaezil]

Theres not a lot of barons in blackburrow but i did see a Lord in there

[caveslug]

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

Is this server now so top heavy that lower levels are almost impossible to find grind groups?

As a new player I have noticed sub level 30 one of two things, the area has to many people or it's dead. My 29 enchanter is in Mistmoore atm, Many a time I log on. And their people at the entrance waiting for a group, good for some bad for others who don't feel like waiting to play.

And don't be surprised if you see a twink taking everything from time to time, even when I'm soloing a camp on my enchanter. They will just come in and kill all the mobs, ignoring that I'm camping them.

Or you will see a camp taken by a higher level character farming some item.

[stebbins99]

@Caveslug:
Send a /tell to the offender and, if that doesn't work, take some screenshots anytime someone (twinked or even naked) comes in and steals a camp. You can then petition or, most preferably, call them out on the forums (hah!).

That stuff doesn't fly and people's reputation is one of the few things that get cared about on a server like this.

In terms of Qeynos area: I've leveled a couple of toons around the Qeynos area recently and have seen plenty of action at the city gates, Qhills, and the Karanas. Nothing like back on live, but that's to be expected as people seemingly loved to create human toons back in 99. The quests and nostalgia are top-notch in this area for lower levels!

[caveslug]

Originally Posted by stebbins99 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

@Caveslug:
Send a /tell to the offender and, if that doesn't work, take some screenshots anytime someone (twinked or even naked) comes in and steals a camp. You can then petition or, most preferably, call them out on the forums (hah!).

Seems like a huge waste of time for the devs to petition some low level camp, I have sent tells and they just ignore you.

Not saying this is a common thing, I would say vast majority of people on the server are super nice. I think that's the issue more then anything, when you do run into the rude person or asshole it's sort of a shock.