1st char suggestions

[mana]

Hey all, im settin my game up to eventually join HG and im really wondering what to do......
So i been reading threads here and there to see what ppl had to say but im wondering this:
what do you suggest for a 1st char, totally new to epic levels, i kinda like pallys,rdds, sorcies but i played mostly on vanilla PoA
so theres some classes i havent even made, also is there some ''required'' classes for some runs? like the infamous 4 doors in palace for example!?


anyways, send away ur suggestions if ud like,


 Thanx!


                  Mana

[arek]

There's no true "right" answer to this. Are you reasonably comfortable playing a sorcerer? If so, I'd recommend one of these builds:

• Red Mage (39 Sorcerer/1 Paladin): Made by a couple of the better builders/players on HG, this build seems to be a pretty good one with lots of good info in it.
• Yuan-ti High Mystic (40 Sorcerer): I'm not sure this build is quite as good as the above one, but there is an advantage to being a pure sorc on this server, so I'd like to present it as an option.

Or perhaps a wizard:

• Black Mage (39 Wizard, 1 Rogue): Wizards play a bit differently from sorcs, having access to more spells (you can literally learn every spell there is to know as a wizard), but with the disadvantages of not being able to cast them as often and having to "prepare" every spell in advance (you have to choose how many of each spell you want that day and you can't change your mind later). The biggest advantage to this build, however, is that it's able to search, open locks, and disable traps, making it a great asset on many high-level runs.

Also, you said you liked RDDs. If you're more comfortable playing a tank-type character, and really like RDDs, then the following build would probably suit you very well:

• Black-Hearted Dragon (4 Bard, 6 Blackguard, 30 xDD): This is an updated version of the very build I used for my first-ever immortal (and demigod) here, and I highly recommend it. Note that that says "xDD", not "RDD". This is because you can choose your "path of discipline" (dragon color) here. Neat, eh?
  

Finally, you asked about "required" classes. Yes, there are roles that are somewhat required for runs to form: Arcane, Cleric, Druid, Bard, and (somewhat to a lesser extent) Tanks. Arcane is covered above, as is a Tank somewhat...Here are other builds for the "required" roles that I'd recommend having a look at:

Cleric:

• Herald of Callarduran Smoothhand (58 Cleric, 1 Monk, 1 Ranger): This was written by a great cleric player, and there is a lot of good advice in this post for new cleric players. I highly recommend reading it if you decide to play a cleric here, even if you don't use this build.
  
• White Mage (38 Cleric, 1 Paladin, 1 Ranger): Another open cleric build written by 2 good players working together. Again, lots of info in the build, so it's a good read. This one even discusses what to do when it comes time to upgrade your race later.

Druid:

• Green Mage (38 Druid, 1 Monk, 1 Bard): An award-winning druid build written by the same 2 players who wrote the other "mage" builds I've listed above, and like the other builds there's lots of good info here. If you want to play a druid on an open subrace, you can't beat this build.

Bard:

• Troubadour (39 Bard, 1 Paladin): And a bard build, also by the folks that brought us the above "mage" builds. Has lots of info, yet again. I very much recommend it.

Tank:

• Moogle Knight (23 Paladin, 2 Bard, 15 Dragon Disciple): Since I linked the other builds, I might as well link this one as well. This FF-Themed tank is by the same 2 people that made the mage/bard builds above, and every bit as good. It also has a neat theme to it, if you're into that kind of thing.
  
• The Chopper (30 Barbarian, 5 Weapon Master, 5 Harper Scout): And one of my own builds, a barbarian that should be able to, with proper gear, top damage charts on any run and stand up to the toughest monsters on the server. Do be aware that this build is pretty gear-dependent, so only do it if you're willing to put the effort into getting good gear for it.
  
• The Shadow Smurf (8 Fighter, 2 Monk, 50 Shadow Dancer): Another of my own builds, this one got a runner-up prize in the most recent open-subrace contest, and I've run it myself through the shallow hells (had little problem with it through Min, the 3rd layer of Hell) as a test. It's actually pretty difficult to kill, and does reasonable damage for a dexer. If you like Shadow Dancers, this is a pretty good build.

One thing to note is this:  With the lowish population of the server, you might find yourself in small parties or even soloing fairly often.  Casters (Wizards/Sorcs, particularly, but also Clerics and Druids to a lesser extent) tend to be better at this than tanks.

I hope this helps you out somewhat.

--Arek

[mana]

Well that's more suggestions than i even hoped for thanks a lot for the help i guess i will be handlin some spell castin to start with and i have a friend who'll most prolly start a toon with me so he'll be doin the 'tanking'part..

I know the servers aint that as full as they might have been but i been playing on a server with a population of 2 (inluding me)really appreciate the run around classes suggestions and very detailed info; Amazing!!!!

Thanks,Mana

[Yojimbo]

Most the builds from the Open subrace forum section are good to start with. Sorcerers and Wizards are top choices for classes to solo with which is unfortunately becoming more common but I have had good luck getting some solo done with tanks so there is plenty of possibilities.

[mana]

yeah i realised i havent been looking at the right threads =D

[thomascovenant]

Arek gave you nice advices for wich build to follow , it's wise to when us begin on HG to follow the builds on the forum then your toon should have what need to survive in high lvl runs

For my part i think to start on HG with a caster type like Wizz, Sorc, Cleric and Druid is not the easyest way as you will not know where the loots are and if you use broken loot spells you risk to broke a bunch of them, then i suggest you to start with a fighter type or AA, as to have a party to do runs this is easy to find even to meet players and open a friendship relations with them when u play in party is a good thing as you will need to party with more then only your friend when you will be in high lvl runs

Another side you have to keep in mind it's the gears , to gear a tank is a lot easyer then to find the good gears for the caster types

[CataclysmicDeath]

It all depends on your playstyle and how quickly you want to progress to the end game.

Very few people are like me in the respect that I've never used a forum build. I enjoyed the lower levels and learnt as I went, some if my first toons were horribly useless but whatever, I had fun.

I learnt tho and my toons improved and I'm a better player for it. Most people prefer to start off copying, then modifying forum builds to suit themselves and learning that way.

Utilizing the forum is a good way to go as it will give u quicker access to end game content and the builds are good (wouldn't be there if they weren't).

My advice tho, whichever way you go, have fun with it, make some friends and just enjoy the game.

Cata

[Crazy]

Obviously everyone has different opinions,

But I would avoid Wizards, Sorcerer would be much easier to start with and are stronger overall.

Clerics are very solid to start with, less squishy than Sorcerers but just as effective leveling. The linked caster clerics above would be fine.

[hfb]

+1 to go with what you enjoy in your play style. That is THE most important thing.

But, also...

The essential difficulty is tanks need good gear to be effective later on in this PW.
Casters need good player knowledge of areas and mobs to be effective.

(Better gear helps casters and tanks benefit from knowledge; the above are basic rules of thumb.)

There is a development curve either way you go. If you like learning the details of areas/mobs, go w/ caster and many of the builds give some insight into what to cast at what. If you like striving after good gear (which is the flip side of not [yet] having the things that make your tank tanky), then go with tank.

An alternative is going w/ a Bloodfire Mage or Dragonstorm Mage tank, which gets you some fairly diesel casting and some pretty solid tanking all in one package. You get limited spell selection which means you get to dip your toes into the caster world. You get good AC, AB, and Saves and it is easier to gear a tank that needs to cover one less elemental resist/immunity type. You also get the flexibility of taking a run at a map geared for casting and if that doesn't work out, then regear for tanking and take another stab. The same is the case for flexibility on runs. If the party has some tanks already, slap on more spell slots and let fly or vice versa. Oh, and Hellballs are just super awesome in their coolness and you'd get 5/rest!!!

Railkin's BFM, Deadly Dreadnaught is a great build, though I switched it over to DSM. (Fire by and large doesn't work underwater, which for me was a bit of a deal breaker. Also, having electric immunity is nice because it is somewhat challenging to cover given some constraints w/ high end of gear.) There is an open subrace build for it, too.

Rock on w/ your bad self and I hope we get to run together at some point.

[Yojimbo]

I would also say that for a caster it is highly recommended you download and install the HGE Hak to enable all the HG specific spells as well as some other bonuses and using one of the modified NWNMAIN.EXE clients also helps in many ways. Don't be afraid to build your own but a good way to start would be looking over builds which seem similar to what you have in mind I tend to build my own toons while some end up very near others there is generally my own bit of work in each toon I play. I would say my most cookie cutter builds are my Turner and Bard which you can find builds very close to them my Turner more so than others simply because Turner is a build design which offers the least amount of build freedom/diversity.

[Deleted]

I highly recommend building a wizard and taking it to level 20 or so (by quests or just killing stuff) in order to gain easy access to scribing essential scrolls like Blade Black of Disaster (9), Greater Sanctuary (8) and helpful scrolls for leveling in 1-20 areas like Meteor Storm (9), Horrid Wilting (8), Weird (9), and Invisibility (2).

Then I recommend building a sorcerer, with leveling made easier by access to scrolls. They have a number of highly useful buffs (or defensive spells) that make you hard to kill even without good gear and gives you a variety of spells to disable, instakill and AOE damage enemies on a far larger scale than almost any other class. Just get used to examining monsters you haven't seen before to understand whether they are vulnerable to death magic, fear/mind spells, or a certain element.

Once you've gotten comfortable with 1-40 and legendary areas, having a lot more gear and knowledge of the server, and are more interested in some of the 60+ challenges I would recommend making a druid or bard as they are highly desirable for end game runs but aren't as gear/knowledge demanding (in my opinion) as playing a sorcerer, cleric, or good tank is (for those areas).

There are no "required" classes for runs except for one end game run where an arcane with death of magic necromancy epic spell is (almost) mandatory but only to kill 1 monster.

[mana]

well thanks i appreciate every1's advice, ima hit the grounds with a sorc though im comfy with it and if it takes a few broken loots to learn that wont hurt hehe

Can't wait to start, been waiting all day on GoG surfin threads, builds mostly and some essential stuff about the game,once again thanks every1 !