Comments on: Instant-85s in EQ: But which to choose?

By: Green Armadillo

Green Armadillo — Wed, 12 Mar 2014 23:06:11 +0000

I’m in roughly the same spot – never played EQ1 at all, played part of the tutorial this evening. My goal is to say “oh, I had a level 85 in EQ” and not mention when and how I got it. 🙂 I went Wood Elf Beastlord (which they are advertising as a new race/class pairing) because I hear they can solo and I have nothing to lose.

By: flosch

flosch — Wed, 12 Mar 2014 12:54:06 +0000

You’re right, I was sloppy and didn’t mention how far I ever got level-wise, apart from the lvl5 on Project 1999. The bard on Fippy Darkpaw, my highest level character, is in its early teens I think, so nothing to write home about, either.

About your question whether I’m determined to proceed: I’m reasonably sure that I don’t. I can’t completely rule it out, but I think it’ll be very unlikely. I will probably end up getting the free 85, then let him rot for a couple of months before I even get back around to it for some sightseeing. And if I really get the itch to seriously level an EQ character (and want to start at 85, for that matter – you made a good point about how confusing that can be), I can always pay for one with the remaining station cash I have from a triple-SC sale.

Thanks for the input! Maybe I’ll wait until next week and see whether you’ll write about your choice and its reasons.

By: bhagpuss

bhagpuss — Wed, 12 Mar 2014 12:46:06 +0000

I’m a bit vague on how far you’ve leveled in EQ previously from the above. If you really never got further than level 5 then the chances of you having any kind of fun from jumping on an insta-85 are negligible, I’d say. Back in the days when I used to beta-test EQ expansions they had this thing where you could use a pre-made, geared max-level character for testing. I found that any class I hadn’t already played at high levels was incomprehensible and even playing a class I was very familiar with at low and medium levels was extremely challenging.

That aside, if you’re determined to proceed then I’d go for either a Necromancer or a Beastlord. Or I would if you hadn’t said you don’t like pet classes. Really, though, it isn’t going to make much difference. If you’re going to explore under-level content, (and under-85 is about a dozen years-worth, after all) I don’t think it is going to make much difference what you play. Any geared 85 with a Merc is going to sleep-walk through most things up to about 65th, raid content included, and have a good chance of handling a lot of content up to 75 or so.

I’m going to get started on choosing mine next week since I have some time off then.

If you’re seriously thinking of grouping at-level then I have nothing to offer – I have no idea what current group orthodoxy is. I very much doubt at-level groups are going to be looking for insta-85s who haven’t already played that class at close to that level, though, unless it’s guilds willing to train people up.