Class Selection

Everquest has fourteen different classes, which can be overwhelming when picking the class of your first character. To help make that decision easier this page summarizes the strengths and weaknesses of each class, with two sections.

The first section summarizes the classes, class groupings, and roles that different classes fill. The second section provides an overview of considerations which might make a class better or worse for a particular player (eg. solo ability, raid popularity, etc.)

Because "which class is better" conversations can easily become subjective, this page attempts to only present completely objective information, or at least information that the vast majority of players would agree with. For more subjective (but also more useful in some ways) opinions see Loraen's Class Selection Guide or the various class selections threads in the Project 1999 forums.

Basics

Class Groupings

Classes in EverQuest are divided in to four groupings, each with varying level of melee/spell-casting ability:

Group	Close Combat	Spell-Casting
Melee	Very Strong	Very Weak
Hybrid	Strong	Weak
Wisdom Caster	Weak	Strong
Intelligence Caster	Very Weak	Very Strong

• Melee: Monk, Rogue, Warrior
  • Close Combat: Very strong
  • Spell-casting: None
  • Melee classes get no spells (or songs) and are defined primarily by their ability to fight in close combat
• Hybrid: Strong melee ability, weak casting ability
  • Bard, Paladin, Ranger, Shadow Knight
  • Hybrid classes are somewhat similar to melee classes, but lack the raw melee power of those classes. Instead, hybrid classes are able to cast spells (or in the case of Bards, songs), albeit a lesser amount than "full" casters. This makes hybrids less focused (they can't melee or cast as well as other classes) but more versatile.
• Wisdom Casters: Strong casting ability, weak melee ability
  • Cleric, Druid, Shaman
  • Wisdom casters are primarily spell-focused, but can wear heavier armors and wield better weapons than intelligence casters. While they can cast offensive magic, their spell-casting focuses more on healing and defensive magic
• Intelligence Casters: virtually no melee ability, very strong casting ability
  • Enchanter, Magician, Necromancer, Wizard
  • While they can only wear cloth armor and wield weak weapons, intelligence casters have access to the most powerful offensive magic in the game.

Roles

There are five primary roles in a typical EverQuest group: tank, healer, puller, damage mitigator, and DPS.

Tanks (Paladin, Shadow Knight, Warrior) focus on two things: keeping the monsters' attention on them, and not dying. The two Knights classes (Paladins and Shadow Knight)s and Warriors avoid dying with spells and disciplines, as well as by wearing plate armor. The knights use spells to keep the monsters' attacking them ("keeping agro"), while Warriors keep agro mainly through the "procs" (spells cast by) their magical weapons. Against some (weaker) monsters classes such as Monks or Rangers can also tank.

Healers (Clerics, Druids, Shaman) have one role: keeping the party alive by casting healing spells. Clerics are by far the best healers, while Druids are generally second and Shaman third (although a level 60 Shaman with Torpor can heal very well). Necromancers, Paladins, and Rangers also have healing spells.

Pullers (Monk or Shadowknight). Since monsters are often found in clumps, but are easier to fight one at a time, a puller's role is to bring individual mobs back to the group to fight. Monks and Shadow Knights do this particularly well by using their Feign Death ability, but Necromancers (while less hardy) can also Feign Death, Clerics and Enchanters can use Pacify to pull, and (outdoors) Rangers and Druids can pull using Harmony.

Damage mitigators (Enchanter or Shaman) reduce the amount of damage done by monsters in one of two ways. Enchanters, Shaman, and to a lesser extent Bards can "slow" a monster's attacks, making them do less damage. Enchanters can also provide "crowd control" by using their mezmerization spells to temporarily disable some monsters so that the party can focus on just one (eg. when the puller accidentally brings back multiple monsters). Many classes also have a "root" spell: unlike mezmerization spells root spells allow the monster to keep fighting, but because they prevent the monster from moving they can be used to control crowds by rooting extra monsters away from the party.

DPS (many). DPS classes help the party kill monsters faster by providing more "damage per second". Rogues and Rangers do this primarily through melee damage, while Druids, Wizards, and Magicians cast spells which do damage, and Necromancers and Magicians can summon pets which fight and do additional damage. Enchanters can also charm pets to fight for them. Finally Druids, Necromancers, and Shaman get DoT ("damage over time") spells, which are usually too slow to use in full groups, but which can help add damage when soloing or in small groups.

Player Considerations

Ultimately you should choose whatever class appeals to you the most. However, the following considerations may shape that somewhat.

Desirability in Groups

Some classes are more desired by groups than others. For instance, Clerics are extremely popular, because they fulfill an essential role (healer) the best, and also have other useful contributions: protective spells, monster pacification, and even the ability to bring back the dead. Druids also have many ways to contribute to groups, but they are generally a group's second choice when it comes to healer. Similarly, while Druids have powerful damaging spells, they can't do as much sustained damage over time as (say) a Rogue (who doesn't have to meditate to restore mana), and so [Druid]]s usually aren't a group's first DPS pick either.

None of this is to say that groups don't want druids! It simply means that Clerics may, on average, find groups faster than a Druid, because of their high desirability for a key role.

• • More per-class group desirability coming**

Also keep in mind that desirability isn't relevant at all to soloers, or to anyone who starts their own group.

Soloing Ability

While Cleric may be popular for groups, they are one of the worst soloing classes. Conversely the less popular (for groups) Druid class can solo in three entirely different ways (DoT-ing, animal charming, and quad kiting).

The following classes are considered to be the strongest soloers: Bards, Druids, Enchanters, Magicians, Necromancers, Shaman, or Wizards. Monks, Paladins, Rangers, and Shadow Knights also have some ability to solo, while Clerics Rogues and Warriors can only solo very slowly.

• • More solo ability coming**

Gear Requirements

In general the more a class focuses on close combat the more important gear will be to them. For this reason classes which are heavily spell-focused, like Magician or Druid, require almost no gear to be effective, while a good weapon, haste equipment, and other gear are very important for classes like Warrior and Rogue.

• • More gear requirements coming**

Making Platinum

In general the better a class is at soloing the better they are at earning platinum, since they can solo monsters to acquire valuable loot. However, certain other classes have abilities which they can use to earn platinum in other ways.

Enchanters can enchant valuable metals and use them (along with Jewelcrafting) to make magical jewelry to sell, while Shaman can make potions to sell using Alchemy. Gnomes (of any class) can use Tinkering to make a few items which other players may purchase. Bards and Necromancers can help players find their corpse, and Clerics (or high-level Paladins or Necromancers) can resurrect characters. Players may "donate" in return for those services.

However the two main non-loot sources of income are "ports" (teleportation spells) and "power-leveling". Druids and Wizards are the only classes that can port, while the best power-leveling classes are Bards (using swarm kiting), Druids (using damage shields), or Enchanters or Monks (using memory wipe/feign death).