Newbie class questions

[Taranaich]

Just picked up a copy of the latest EQ2, and looking for a little advice.  I've played EQ1 for about 6 years, but new to EQ2 and working under the assumption its very different.  I toyed around with a couple characters, nothing serious, just getting a feel for the game before I "get busy" with my first real character.After fooling around a little, and reading around on the forums, I think I narrowed down my first choice to either a fury or a shadowknight. (SK's and druids were my favorites out of EQ1)  For the first timer, starting from scratch, new to the game but plenty of MMO experience in general, which would make a better choice for a first character?  I understand they both can solo fairly well, so no issues there.  Are both easy to get picked up for groups with?  How bad is it getting them geared up, etc?  Which would be best for a crash-course learning experience?Thanks

[DwarvesR]

<p>Both are just fine for a 1st character.  </p><p>There's a reason why furies are the 2nd most popular class (just behind wizard, and tbh, I think the reason wizards are #1 is becuz of RMT plat farmers, but hey. . . .).  Furies abound because they're excellent.  They can root/nuke like a wizard (though slower, since they get 2 DoT spells until 23, when they get their 1st nuke, and at 32 they get their 2nd nuke).  Even with that, the 2 dots are sufficient for those levels and the nukes just make it that much better as you obtain them.  Beyond that they get good buffs, run fast, get portals, and healing ability makes them very survivable.  Basically, a fury is a good solid character.</p><p>Downside is that they are so common that there's a lot of competition for their master spell.  Personally, I have mostly Ad3's on my fury as a result, and I've never felt inferior, so it's not that big a deal.  Another downside is that furies are generally perceived as poor healers or as being played by "stupid noobs who want an easymode experience."</p><p>All groups want a healer or 2 along, but due to the fact that there are so many furies about and the perception that they are bad healers, it's a little tougher to get a group as a fury than other healers.  But still not that hard, especially if you can prove competence. . . . .</p><p>So far as gear goes, you want stuff with high WIS and INT.  Player-made jewelry with good STA, WIS, and INT can be found relatively cheaply.  Leather gear is a bit harder to find with both those stats, though.  The player-made "druid set" has STA and WIS only -- no INT.  But that's okay, since you self-buff INT anyway. . . .   Quested/dropped gear isn't hard to come by, but nothing really comes to mind as being "ideal" on the stat spread either.  Weapon doesn't really matter -- fury melee damage is a joke at all levels.  Carry it for stats, but not to beat on things with.</p><p>Spells are actually higher priority than your gear.  Keep your heals at Ad3 or better and groups will love you.  Keep your damage spells at Ad3 or better and you will solo quite well too.</p><p>At endgame, raids always want at least 1 fury, and pickup raids will often take as many as they can get, since they just want "enough" healers.</p><p>Furies also have it nice in that their AA choices enhance them, but a fury with 0 aa's isn't really all *that* different than a fury with a lot of them either.  I'm phrasing it badly -- what I mean to say is that furies are excellent anyway and their aa's improve the skills they already have.</p><p>-------</p><p>SK's are also a good starter class.  Plate mitigation enables them to take hits well, they do good damage, and they can self-heal with some lifetaps from level 13 on.  They tank well for groups, but are also effective soloers.</p><p>Downsides are that they are often perceived as being less-than-stellar in the aggro department and thus "subpar" as tanks.  This is due to the players, though, not the class itself.  I can hold aggro vs a lifeburning necro or manaburning wizard without using rescue if I have to (though admittedly that *is* hard to do and ya gotta be ready for it. . . ).  Still, a group looking for a tank isn't gonna turn you down either.</p><p>An adjunct to this downside is that it's hard to get on a raid as an SK unless it's on a pickup raid that isn't picky about what they're taking along.</p><p>SK's need to focus on STA, STR, and INT for their stats.  Player-made "devout" armor has those stats and is decent.  Dropped stuff with that mix is a bit harder to find, but still doable.  As a fighter, an SK will want the best armor and weapon you can find.  Beyond that they will want to keep their spells and combat arts upgraded as far as possible too, so the SK is a bit more expensive to maintain.  The rare loams needed for Ad3's for an SK also tend to be more expensive than the ones needed for a fury too, so that's even more cost.</p><p>Another difference is that SK's do rely on their AA's to shine.  The class is pretty good on it's own, but adding AA's makes major differences.  1st, the "INT line" on the crusader tree that bumps your spell crit % by 68 is a must have.  It's your 1st must have.  Your 1st 17 AA point *will* go here.  The soloing SK will then want to put at least another 21 points into the "Reaving" line of the SK tree.  This adds lifetaps to spells that don't normally have a lifetap component (or improves existing ones) and the Reaver end-line ability turns *all* of your spells into lifetaps, thus improving your survivability as well.  Count it up and that's 38 AA points you want to get a quickly as possible.  Fortunately AA's come pretty fast as you level anyway, but still. . . it's a good sized chunk you want to grab and does take a while too.</p><p>---------------</p><p>Based on this, fury does sound like an easier start, and perhaps better "overall."  But that said, I've got a 70 fury and a 72 SK, and I love them both to pieces.  Why not make both?  Swap back and forth as their vitality drops out or something.  There's so much to do you can take them to different places to level and experience more of the low-mid level content that way also.</p>

[Taranaich]

Thanks for the detailed writeup, that was pretty informative.Going to give a shadowknight a spin as my first character.  (At the time there were a bunch of furies in the starting area.. will have to try one later though.)Another silly question -- Starting to get into the tradeskills.  I'm kind of torn on which way to go, they all look pretty useful.  From what I read, I can level a character as a tradeskiller without worrying about actual quest experience and such.  What I was thinking of doing was creating a few tradeskill characters.  My shadowknight could do its own thing, plus gathering.  Then I could send the materials to the various tradeskill characters to make stuff for the shadowknight.  (Food, spells, bags, gear etc etc) The plan is to save myself as much money as possible, as I'm running on pocket change and a bit of lint to begin with.Is that a viable option? 

[Vendolyn]

That it is, and I recommend it.  The reason why, is because when I first started out, I picked a tradeskill that I thought to be "more utility" to my class.  I ended up not enjoying it, but my alts had ones I really liked.  Gather a bunch, make alts (all on either good/Qeynos or evil/FP makes it easier with shared banking), and test your waters.  It's the only thing I recommend to figure out which way you'll go in the tradeskill world.

[Syraxen]

Thats a great post jonna <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> if there was one of those for every class this board would be a lot quieter <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Taranaich]

<cite>Vendolyn@Unrest wrote:</cite><blockquote>That it is, and I recommend it.  The reason why, is because when I first started out, I picked a tradeskill that I thought to be "more utility" to my class.  I ended up not enjoying it, but my alts had ones I really liked. </blockquote>That's what I was thinking as well.  I figured for the SK I'd work on armor and weapons for obvious reasons, but I'll be lacking for spell upgrades and such too, plus it'll probably help down the road when I do decide to roll another character.   Although I didn't think about shared banks across faction.. ahh well just more for the to-do list I guess, can't say there's not a lot to do in EQ2.Thanks

[Vendolyn]

Shared banks make it easier for 1 harvester and multi tradeskillers.  It's not a necessity, but it does make things easier ; )

[Greenknight_036]

<p>My choice of starting class for a first-timer would be either the Monk or Bruiser.</p><p>Both are very durable, have excellent damage (for a tank class) and have a number of added features good for either solo'ing or grouping (the Monk's ability to go invisible, and the ability of both to self-heal and feign death are very useful).</p><p>Also, the brawler classes are inexpensive to keep equipped.  They wear leather armor and use wood, leather, or metal weapons... in terms of finding rares for mastercrafting, rare leather and wood are a lot more plentiful than rare metal (my Ranger was bankrupting me every 10 levels when he needed new equipment... the 9 pieces of ebon I needed for his last set of armor and weapons was painful to find).</p><p> My 2 cents</p>

[Spyderbite]

<cite>Syraxen wrote:</cite><blockquote>Thats a great post jonna <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY<img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />" /> if there was one of those for every class this board would be a lot quieter <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY<img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />" /></blockquote>*snickers*No it wouldn't. But, it certainly would make replying a lot easier.. just copy and paste link to class info thread!I'm beginning to wonder if after the initial install there is a big button on the launcher that says "Click Here to ask which class you should play" <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />Srsly though.. I do think we should preserve well worded and informative replies like jonna's and sticky them in the appropriate class forum so we can point these lost souls to consistent information instead "opinion of the week" replies. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />