Shattered Kingdoms

Haven't started playing yet because I figured id ask a few questions, mainly what classes are good choice for newbs? Mainly interested in Sorcerer, Merc, Rogue and Scout.

What are your guys opinions? I don't want to start out as a class that's hard to play haha.

Thanks!

(If it helps id like to be competent not always relying on another class((also interested in PK))

Those are all viable choices for someone new to the game.

Sorcs are very self-reliant, completely OP, and don't require a huge amount of skill to be effective in solo pk with.

Scouts are pretty self-reliant, but require a bit of skill and game knowledge to be especially effective. They are not a very strong class imo.

Rogues are less self-reliant, but require absolutely no skill to successfully gank people with. They are less survivable than sorcs or mercs in general, though.

Mercs are not at all self-reliant because they require a lot of brewing and enchanting if they want to stay alive. The advantage of going with a melee class, however, is that even a complete newb can roll one and be stuck in the front row and be a spam-bashing meat-shield. A good player can do a lot more with the class.

My two cents. I'm sure some of the more veteran players will disagree with me on some of these points.

Of those four, sorceror is definitely the one that relies on other classes the least, is excellent for exploring, and is overall very powerful: However, sorceror is also one of the biggest finesse classes, so if you're learning the game for the first time you'll probably end up dead a lot while you learn the ropes of not only SK, but also of playing a sorc in general.

I'd shy away from playing a mercenary as a first character personally, as while they aren't incredibly complex, it's never fun to choose a permanant weapon specialization that turns out to be less than you thought it would be. If you want to play a heavy armor wearer, I'd think that barbarian would be a better choice, but if you're dead set on mercenary just be careful on choosing your specialization, and ask around. Mercenaries and barbarians are also -very- EQ-dependant and also reliant on other players for locating/identifying/enchanting items, which makes things really hard for a new player as you're prone to die a lot.

Scouts and rogues are reasonably self-sufficient in and of themselves, and can be pretty deadly in PvP without having to learn a whole lot about the game. Rogues get backstab and circle stab, which if utilized correctly can be very dangerous, and next to mercenaries scouts are the kings of ranged combat, which is also very deadly when properly utilized. Scouts also get access to herbalism which allows them to find nice herbs to buff/heal themselves with during fights.

I think sorc is a fine choice to learn pk with, personally. Just keep mirror image and detections up, stay behind a pet (and a charm as well, preferably), keep an etherealform wand/scroll equipped, enchant your gear, and keep recall in your inventory. If you follow those basic guidelines, they're the best class in the game for staying alive.

Shaman would make a great learning character. Very easy to play and to stay alive. Great survival skills, healing + brewing potions to self and others. A lesser resurrect to the dead if necessary. Able to cure ailments of all kinds. Able to create food and water. Able to change weather. Access to staves. One of the best newbie, exploration spells in the game is refresh, and it is very, very hard to beat. Useful all around. Easy to make friends with and not boring.

I would argue that, to the contrary, barbarians can be very easy to play. They can use a wide variety of weapons effectively, don't necessarily require high-quality armor, and can tank like a mofo with good ol' mood defensive. Likewise, mercenaries aren't difficult (assuming you're playing a human, giant, or maybe a half-elf), and assuming you can get two decent specs. Personally, I'd recommend katana and pike for a new player, since they're both well-rounded (if not devastatingly overpowered), and easily available subtypes, each with a wide spread of good materials up to adamantite.

Shamans would be good, but they're not the easiest to level from what I hear.

And Prince has shown that you don't have to be at all skilled to be semi-effective with a merc, so long as you choose the right race and cabal

I, however, have shown that both sorcs and rogues completely own face, even if you have little skill and are new to the game.

In my opinion, a swashbuckler would be a good class to start with. They have many automatic skills and are pretty easy to level. They're not the most durable of classes, but they're certainly not the least durable either. As for doing things solo, they can explore some places on their own, but like most classes, they cannot do -everything- alone.

Well since it's your first character PvP probably won't be a successful endeavor regardless of class, I think Prince has a valid point in that Mercenary or barbarian could be a good starting class due to the damage output. But I would say Min is right that a shaman is a great starting character for a new player because of the ability to do damage, put out damage, and heal themselves of all those nasty maledictions that I remember plagued me as a starting player. I don't know how many times I died in the middle of no where of poison.

Between the two of us, we're completely disproving any claims that skill has any bearing on SK.

EDIT: Shamans aren't so good as a starting class because of the necessity of mods/stat point distribution difficulty.