Newb needs help picking class

[CylisyC]

Heya guys, just started EQII and loving it. Now for the classes, there are so many, its great!  But how do I pick? I want a class with loads of utility and versatility I want a class with high dps (burst dps can be fun) I don't want a pet class I also want to have a use for all my abilities.  I don't want to spam the same button over and over again. I enjoy group content (good challenges) and pvp.  Though due to my schedule I don't know how often I will get to group. That is about all I can think of.  If you need a more specific description of what I want I would be happy to give it.  Thanks ahead of time ^.^ (I was thinking of Swash, Fury maybe?)

[CHIMPNOODLE.]

<p>Probably Necro/Conj would fit that bill for you.....diff pets, nice AAs, Good DPS, power regen shards, FD/Rez/small heal for Necs, Call of Hero for Conj.</p><p> A more detailed description would be nice sure, what are you hoping for? Is your playstyle mostly solo, group...thinking about raiding?</p>

[CylisyC]

 Well I prefer to group and I love the challenge of raiding.  Though without knowing anyone I wonder how easy it is to find a good group.  Sometimes I play at random times so a little bit of solo ability would be fine. Now, I am not looking necessarily for an easy class to play.  I wouldn't even mind the most difficult class to play if once I mastered it , it would be loads of fun.  (I may prefer a complicated class)

[CylisyC]

Would love some help <img src="/smilies/ed515dbff23a0ee3241dcc0a601c9ed6.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Kellin]

<p>Brigand/swashbuckler or monk/bruiser would be my recommendation.  No pets rules out a lot of great classes.  Only other one I could think of would be fury, but if you don't like to heal, don't make a fury.</p><p>None of them will be everything you want, but you actually want quite a lot.  High utility doesn't really go with high dps; the ones closest to that are all pet classes.  Still, brig/swash are great damage, have good debuffs, can tank a little, invis, lots of nice stuff.  Monk/bruiser get devastation fist, a one hit kill on pretty much any solo mob (showoffs, they are), feign death, monks can invis, both get mend, can tank well...</p><p>For higher utility at the expense of dps, roll a bard.  They're pretty rare and highly sought-after.  The reason they're rare is because most people who play melee prefer higher dps, and bards aren't very impressive in that category.</p><p>If you can stand to try a pet class, necro, illusionist, conjuror.  Great pets, differing levels of utility, from decent (illus) to great (necro) dps.  Coercer can outdo them all, but it's a difficult class to master, and since you don't like messing with pets to begin with, having one you're scared of is no way to learn to like 'em.</p><p>Check out the class boards.  They'll give you a better overview of the classes.</p>

[CylisyC]

I am not scared of a pet class, I just have played them a lot in other games.  Also, usually classes with pets are at the expense of dps and such. I am a total newb, but Bard?  I can't find that in the character selection. Thanks again for the tips

[CylisyC]

which class would you suggest (pet or not) to be the one with the most abilities and one where all your abilities are used.  I hate button spamming and want to have lots of different spells to use for different situations.

[Melchiah]

<cite>CylisyC wrote:</cite><blockquote>I am not scared of a pet class, I just have played them a lot in other games.  Also, usually classes with pets are at the expense of dps and such. I am a total newb, but Bard?  I can't find that in the character selection. Thanks again for the tips </blockquote><p> As for DPS, the Necromancer and Conjuror dish out embarassingly high levels of damage, and they're very pet-reliant.</p><p>And bards are Dirges or Troubadors. Dirges are more offensive-focused, and Troubadors are more buff-focused.</p>

[Didi]

Have a read over <a href="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/posts/list.m?start=0&topic_id=346645#3932873" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">this post </a>which contains an overview of the classes.  I'd suggest perhaps brigand - good damage, nice debuffs, can tank in a pinch, difference stances to use and poisons which can change your damage options during a fight.  If you want to try a challenge, coercer might fit the bill - they can do great damage with the right pet charmed, but learning to manage charmed pets is quite challenging.  Normally you'd charm a pet when solo, in a group you've got buffs, damage spells, and of course mezzing.  I really enjoy a dirge for utility - all sorts of handy buffs and debuffs - but burst DPS is one thing you will not have as a bard, alas.  <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[ThE_GuN]

<cite>CylisyC wrote:</cite><blockquote>Heya guys, just started EQII and loving it. Now for the classes, there are so many, its great!  But how do I pick? I want a class with loads of utility and versatility I want a class with high dps (burst dps can be fun) I don't want a pet class I also want to have a use for all my abilities.  I don't want to spam the same button over and over again. I enjoy group content (good challenges) and pvp.  Though due to my schedule I don't know how often I will get to group. That is about all I can think of.  If you need a more specific description of what I want I would be happy to give it.  Thanks ahead of time ^.^ (I was thinking of Swash, Fury maybe?) </blockquote><p>People are usualy quick to dismiss alot of classes based on theyr rumors without experiencing them, so I would advice you to try out a few diffrent characters to level 20ish atleast, perferably to level 30 (as the game was originaly built you started off as an archtype at level 1, chose your class at level 10 and subclass at level 20, due to this some classes do not realy come into theyr own till you pass level 20, also unfortunatly some classes get some of theyr class defining spells at higher level than this, but you will get a basic idea of what the class is about).</p><p>I'm personaly playing classes that people usualy dont recomend, except my old main who is a Monk, my other often played characters are my Warden and my Coercer, as my Warden I love the rush of keeping my group alive through a tough encounter and enjoy the ability of beeing able to solo resonably well (can basicly kill the same things any wizard can, but alot slower <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />)) as my Coercer I love making the hard easy and the imposible posible, I'v been in groups where we'v fought through 6 blue encounters that would have undoubtly wiped us if I hadnt been there to mez them and to keep everyone with power so they were still able to push as we killed the last encounter. And the solo abilities of a coercer is unmatched, but it takes alot to realy master soloing as a coercer as you have alot to pay attention to.</p><p>These are classes where you "dont just spam the same button over and over", I often find that with my dps classes this is exactly what I feel I'm doing, but with classes such as these you have alot to do, your watching people's health, and casting the right heals at the right times, curing when that's needed, and even doing some damage while at it, or for the coercer your watching everything around you, always beeing in your toes to see if those mobs that are wandering this way will attack your group or not, do I need to mez him?</p><p>So, keep your mind open, try a few of the diffrent classes, and even look at what classes other people you group with play, and try to get a feel of what they are doing in the group, maybe what they are doing is what you would enjoy as well?</p><p> p.s. Yes I do feel furies and illusionists get an unfair focus, sure theyr great classes, but so are the warden and coercer as well <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />.</p>

[CylisyC]

Thank you so much for the wonderful replies. I have played an illusionist, fury and swash to lvl 10. A swash feels like it doesn't really have much utility, that it just does dps. I like the idea of a fury, though I don't want to become a heal bot all the time. The illusionist is fun as well, but I feel like dealing with a pet is kinda annoying.  Maybe this is because I have come from WoW and a hunter (a pet class) was my main.   Also, the illusionist pet, as it is just a clone of me is kinda weird to look at.  I will try a Coercer tonight I think <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Moongloom]

<p>Swash/Brig get great stuff later in their levels. Early on it pretty much is only DPS.  25 is when scout classes (which Swash/Brig are a part of) get Evac.  </p><p>Also, it won't be until after level 20 that they will really seperate from each other into their own strengths.  Pretty much all classes (except healers) get mostly damage spells/abilities until level 20.  Some do get some utility things (i.e. stealth for scouts, invis for mage types, feign death for brawler/SK types and buffs for many of the classes) but it always seems to me you get more damage type spells early on.  </p><p>Then it won't be until post 60 (and sometimes post 50) that you will get class defining spells/abilities.  </p>

[Wrapye]

A bit of advice regarding coercer, since you said you'd be trying one: The quality of a coercer's charm spell is probably the most sensitive of any ability in the game.  By that I mean for most spells/combat arts, there is a moderate increase in effectiveness from apprentice qualities to adept, and only about 10-15% increase when going from Adept III to Master I.  For charm spells, Master I >>> Adept III, to the point people will often continue using a lower level charm that they have at master I rather than a higher level one that they only have at adept III. You are likely to have App IV or Adept I charm early on, and it really doesn't reflect the power of charm that the higher qualities bring.

[CylisyC]

as far as tradeskill goes for this profession would you recommend tailoring or woodworking?

[Wrapye]

<cite>CylisyC wrote:</cite><blockquote>as far as tradeskill goes for this profession would you recommend tailoring or woodworking? </blockquote> IMO, it really doesn't matter.  You'll get some personal use out of any tradeskill class, except armorer and very limited from weaponsmith and alchemist.  The scholar classes (sage, alchemist and jeweler) are faster to level than the others, so you might want to try one of them first before trying a tradeskill class that only gets a couple recipes for a level.  You can't switch tradeskill classes once you've chosen one, but alts are good to try different things. Tinkerer, which is one of the new secondary tradeskills, is good for supplying abilities that aren't otherwise available to certain classes (feign death, temporary (a.k.a. dumbfire) combat pets, resurrection, etc.)  You don't need to be a tradeskiller to develop the secondary tradeskills, either.

[Didi]

<cite>CylisyC wrote:</cite><blockquote>as far as tradeskill goes for this profession would you recommend tailoring or woodworking? </blockquote><p>If by "this profession" you mean coercer, then of those who I'd recommend tailoring would be much more useful (make 7 items of armour + hex dolls and bags) rather than woodworking (all you'd use would be a wand/staff, and possibly some totems, maybe not either).</p><p>Sage would also be an excellent one to look into as a coercer as you'd make your own spell upgrades, jeweller and provisioner could also be handy.  And carpenter suit anyone of course *heavily biased view here* <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>That's assuming you want to try a tradeskill that actually assists in your adventuring -- which means you have to keep your crafting level equal to or higher than your adventure level.  If you don't care about making stuff for your adventuring, then as the above poster said, anything goes.  In this case pick whatever you think you'll enjoy, because you're going to spend an awful lot of time doing it!  <img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>