Choose my next Alt... or even my future Main!Follow

Alex.... What is a Bard for $1,000

Maybe I'm biased, but at first reading I was thinking: Ranger.

But now that Bard has been mentioned, I can see that too.

I think for in-your-face survivability the ranger would be better than the bard. But for getting-away-from-it-all survivability the bard would be best.

With good proccing weps (the ones that have the 650+ procs) a bard's melee dps can be pretty good with all their attack songs running. But the ac return on bards shouldn't even qualify as plate, because they get the worst returns out of any plate class (some leathers too).

For being able to heal others, the ranger would be the better choice. With gift and adept aa's ranger heals can now crit for about 8k, which actually happens often when maxxed.

For pre-65 aa sweetspots, rangers can take advantage of headshotting in nurga. Granted this won't be as fast as mowing down trains in the Hive, but with pre-65 roots, snares, and if you can get the clicky root pants this will be a good spot for many many aa.

Groups pretty much always want a bard around...a pre-65 ranger: not so much. You can snare runners, and cast a couple group attack buffs, but admittedly and rightfully a bard will have more versatility for just about any group makeup.

I know you said you don't want to use mercs, but honestly, with a cleric merc, either bard or ranger would be able to do all the things you said you would like.

I have a feeling a Bard and Ranger are 2 out of the 3 you already had in mind. LOL=-)

I must have missed something.... because no one suggests Mage? It fits your bill perfectly except for 'healing others' & 'stopping runners'. But you can heal your pet and you can stop a runner with a giant mage bomb crit!

Couple things of note: Im always looking for a cleric on Mayong. Also the Hole is a sweet spot for xp for 'any' class pre-65 : )

Ok Just to clarify My most played toons at this time are 67 ranger human, 68 gnome paladin, 74 froglok cleric, and 74 troll shaman. I also dabble in drakkin druid, since i wanted to do a lot of tss zones, and 55 ogre beastlord.
I would have suggested beastlord over ranger but the lack of snare is a pain. heals of pets are good, self heal is poor, worse than a ranger I think, but the existence of slow mitigates that to some extent. They are also race limited so there are very few race/class combos you don't see. I made ogre so i could have front invun to stun. Iksar maybe second choice due to inherent ac bonus.

I would have suggested mage but they don't want to melee and they cant get away, chain casting pets is not great and they are close to the necro, at least in my mind, that snailish didnt want to play.

A well played cleric is better than a merc, we do so much more and can manage our manna better.
I mentioned erudin cleric as they are very rare, when I first played on Morrel Thule there was only 2 on server, and that was pre luclin.

Froglok cleric is not a rare choice, it seems they are a dime a dozen on Povar.

Another cleric choice is Dark elf, then you get the clicky snare as well!

Jonwin...Snail just mentioned that on
Mayong, drakkins and gnomes are the norm, hence why I said a frog...on FV frog clerics are also not really rare..not like froglok rogues

I was going to make a froglok rogue but when I saw they had to worship Inny I changed my mind.

Yes I did see what snailish said about mayong being gnome or drakkin heavy. Drakin is the new human only with a breath weapon.

Maybe I missed something. Why hasn't Druid been suggested?

They are the only class that meets both the needs and wants of the OP - with the possible exception of finding a unique race/class combo...oh and they kinda suck at melee.

They solo better than most, heal, transport, snare, disappear, track, charm....AND they are the ONLY class than can manipulate the weather.

I been out of the game awhile, but doubt that any other class has yet exceeded the drOOd in all around awesomeness.






Edited, Sep 14th 2009 4:23pm by Elinda

Jrmayyi Snailish has mounts on despise list, so aa mount is not that big a deal. When it comes to aa's spending the money on run 5 maybe a better idea even if horses are faster.
SK imho over paladin due to his wish list.

Elinda Please reread my second post. The one where I mentioned druids. .....<grin>

Edited, Sep 14th 2009 5:17pm by Jonwin

That you should be playing again...come to FV, I'll hook you up. And even though I gave you heck for being a Druid, they are pretty cool.

Thrilled to see Elinda posting under EQ again. Recognizable names from the past make me smile.

Great input all around, thanks to all that replied.

I have rolled Twomor (old name, story isn't that interesting) the male erudite cleric on Mayong. I will give him the first chance to crack 55.

I will roll a mage as soon as I figure out a race/gender that isn't already overwhelming Mayong (soooo many mages here).

I have made an SK but will probably delete and change name/race multiple times... If I play the SK I will want Greenmist and don't want the full faction grind so it is going to be a cazic worshipper of some form.

Druid makes sense too, stuck on race/gender. Too bad froglok can't be druids... I have never played a froggy far either.

I'll hold off on the ranger and beast for now as comparing 4 alts will take awhile in itself.


Edited, Sep 15th 2009 5:59pm by snailish

Stay away from the ranger class.

Snailish check your PM box.

[quote=snailish]

I need:

-to play on Mayong (at least I think I do...) as that is where my RL friends are[quote]

Errrr...where/what is Mayong?

-an alt character that will be efficient to solo (true solo, no mercs)

DRUID - I have soloed 99% of 7+ years in playing EQ.

-to not do tradeskills at all.

DRUID - No tradeskills needed

-to not be platinum intensive to succeed (i.e., requiring tons of potions)

DRUID - No potions, etc. required; Don't even have to purchase food/drink if you don't want to as druids can summon food/drink

-a class that has at least one pre-66 sweet spot to grind AA as I like old content, and it's nice to get some XP when doing it.

Trying to recall my grinding areas - but I primarily played old content and there are a lot of places to solo - outside areas preferred to run away fast if needed.

-to not need a raid guild to progress (my schedule will never allow me to be more than a casual guild type).

As a Druid I've never gone on raids nor do I want to. Admittedly since I solo most of the time, any progressions (not that I've done much, but from reading the Planes progression, I can now do those solo and with your skills you could likely solo, small group, or casual raid most places you would like.)


I want:

-to be a less common race/class/gender combination (Mayong's pop is skewed here btw --tons of Drakkin, Gnomes and Vah Shir for example)
Edit: my current main is human female so I want to avoid that again too.

There goes my idea of a Human Druid...lol. That is a fairly uncommon race/class combo. In the old days there were druids who chose to be Humans because their attire, unlike Woodelves, didn't scream, "I'M A DRUID" and thus weren't constantly asked to SoW/port. Drakkin is out per your preferences. Besides Woodelf, Human, and Drakkin, the only other race I can think of is Half-Elf. They are not as common as Woodelves. I'm not sure if they have some of the Woodelf capabilities like hide.

(I REALLY wish gnomes could be druids; I've been waiting for that combo forever!)

-being able to solo trophy-hunt or farm for fun at least up to Luclin

DRUID - Have I mentioned I've soloed 99% of my time in EQ? ;)

-playing a truly good character. I've never played a high elf past level 12 for example. Even my new monk is agnostic...

DRUID!!!!!! My personality is such that I absolutely cannot play an evil race. I tried, but felt weird. I've given most races, except Iksar and Drakkin, a try for fun, but the races that I have played for my entire time on EQ are High Elves and Woodelves. (A High Elf Pally -now there's an interesting combo, but at level 51 now it is MUCH easier than it was initially - a High Elf Chanter - and of course my beloved Woodelf Druid.)


I enjoy:

-getting places fast

DRUID - SoW, ports - followed by an entire line of wolf forms with faster run speeds and later on SoE.

-not dying

DRUID - I HATE to die!!! As a druid you can outrun mobs (SoW), get a Gate spell early on, and if you're hunting animals - the animal fear line will make them flee while you run or gate. Oh and there's snare and root so you can definitely outrun mobs. The Druid mantra - snare, snare, snare. Even now on the few occasions I group or duo I am asked to snare.

If you *do* die, I forget what the level is, but Incarnate Anew provides a 96% rez. Now I'm really not concerned about dying.

-healing others

DRUID - I like always being able to heal myself. The lower heal spells aren't as powerful as the same level cleric spells, but if there are no clerics around, druids are welcome in groups to heal or even backup heal if someone is using a healing merc. At higher levels druids can be decent main healers. I LOVE our 96% (I think) rez spell. (See above.)

-killing hard things

Two words: Root-rotting. As long as you have mana (and with the topiary lions or any mount this is not as much of an issue anymore) If you can snare/root a mob, then throw DoTs at it and wait til it breaks root, snare again, rinse/repeat - as a druid you can kill a lot of mobs that more tank-type classes would not be able to, at least solo.

There is also all the variations of kiting including using animal mobs as pets with charm.

-meleeing

I wait til a mob gets low on health if it doesn't hit REAL hard or once the root breaks and the mob is snared, once it turns around I slash away. Druids can also melee by fearing animals and bashing them.

-not depending on gear to be adequate at my group role (i.e., if the Mayong starter gear = me gimp at 60 then that is not a class I want)

Especially at lower levels Druids are not really gear-dependent due to all the resist spells we get. (And where is this Mayong place again???)

I despise, or at least do not prefer:

-summoned mobs equalling my death[/b]

At lower levels I stayed away from summoning mobs, especially if they hit hard. Now, again if they don't hit for most of my hps, I just back away after being summoned.

-getting stunned

Druids get stun spells - stun them first...mwuahahahahaha!!!

-not being able to control a running mob in some way

Druids excel at controlling mobs that want to run. ROOT!!! (And ALWAYS snare first!!)

-mounts being a big deal to the class.

I enjoy mounts to save mana and not attract aggro by sitting, but I didn't start using them until recently as the original horses were slow to start moving or changing directions. Even now I really only use them if I'm also using a merc.

-being seen as having no appreciable role in the typical group (might be my necro past coming out there).

DRUIDS are the "Swiss Army Knife" of EQ. They can always offer something to a group, and depending on the group, can offer a LOT. In the beginning I was asked to group to keep everyone SoWed, DS, to snare, root, DoT, and evac out if needed. Later on I was asked to be backup healer as well as some of the above. At level 78, I'm always wanted for DS and usually snaring & back-up healing. I'm the one turning down groups due to how I prefer to play, but if I wanted to group, I'm always welcome. For some reason, at least on FV or maybe it's the guild I'm in, I don't see as many druids as I used to.

As one of my guildmates says: "Never fear when a Druid's near."

OHHHH..and TRACKING!!!! Another of my favorite abilities!!!