New player Sorta coming back

[Antmf612]

Hey all I have not played since game first came out so I can be considered a total noob and have a question or two about professions and grinding...

1- I am thinking of Trader - Shade - Crat - Adventurer - Doctor right now for solo mostly and group play and of course down the road pvp, pvp is what interest me more so than pvm. Which of these fairs well in solo pvm and pvp and what other professions do you recommend me take a look at?

2- How fast do you level and how is the grind?

3- And last but not least any server recommendations for NA if there are servers and how is community and population?

Oh and what are the benefits for a subscription as opposed to free play?

Thanks all...

[MrXaatXuun]

Hey all I have not played since game first came out so I can be considered a total noob and have a question or two about professions and grinding...

1- I am thinking of Trader - Shade - Crat - Adventurer - Doctor right now for solo mostly and group play and of course down the road pvp, pvp is what interest me more so than pvm. Which of these fairs well in solo pvm and pvp and what other professions do you recommend me take a look at?

2- How fast do you level and how is the grind?

3- And last but not least any server recommendations for NA if there are servers and how is community and population?

Oh and what are the benefits for a subscription as opposed to free play?

Thanks all...

Welcome back . . (sorta)
I'll answer this in the way I know, and my experience of off and on for the past 14yrs, returned full sub at beginning the year. My reply is my own, and does not reflect what others view are or may be on the same thing (most of my time on and off was as froob) also I don't have any character reach above TL6, so I may not be the best resource

1- Hey great you want to solo . . No problem with today's population compared to when you last played, that doesn't mean you can't find a team, just you're not going to have any issues solo with a team interfering , when I came back full sub I went MA, but switched to Shade, I don't have any problems soloing the shade, unless I'm doing a team mission, and trying to solo it then it's a struggle. So A shade is not a bad choice, Less IP spending then like a Keeper.

I have a Froob Trader as my main Froob, and it might just be me, but I struggle, I recently switch the Trader from Shotgun, to MA, that was some improvement, still struggle, but not so much as before, this may be due No perks to help.

I'm terrible at Pet classes, but do have a crat. I just can't give any comment on them

I find Adventurers are boring after TL3 is achieved, be it melee or Pistols, I just don't have fun after that level

2- it really depends on how much effort you want to put into it, and how much help you're willing to accept. it's not bad, and it depends what you would call a grind. There can be a variety of answers for this one. with help and knowledge, reaching 200 can be fairly quick. I've only read the quick ways, I just don't do them.

3- There is just the one server now, unless you count testLive

oh and - subscription and all expansions bought, you get 20 more levels and Perks, better choice of Items , and to me that's it, and if you can afford the Sub go for the Subscription

[Footer]

Hey all I have not played since game first came out so I can be considered a total noob and have a question or two about professions and grinding...

1- I am thinking of Trader - Shade - Crat - Adventurer - Doctor right now for solo mostly and group play and of course down the road pvp, pvp is what interest me more so than pvm. Which of these fairs well in solo pvm and pvp and what other professions do you recommend me take a look at?

2- How fast do you level and how is the grind?

3- And last but not least any server recommendations for NA if there are servers and how is community and population?

Oh and what are the benefits for a subscription as opposed to free play?

Thanks all...

Welcome back!

1) Id go for a crat. Crats are great soloers, usually wanted for teams so getting in raids should be easy, and they can be real good in pvp!

2) slowly. very slowly. Stack xp items and get a kite maybe? ;P

3)just one server now

4)Although its expensive, I think being paid is well worth it for endgame.

[Bluecheeze2]

Hey all I have not played since game first came out so I can be considered a total noob and have a question or two about professions and grinding...

1- I am thinking of Trader - Shade - Crat - Adventurer - Doctor right now for solo mostly and group play and of course down the road pvp, pvp is what interest me more so than pvm. Which of these fairs well in solo pvm and pvp and what other professions do you recommend me take a look at?

2- How fast do you level and how is the grind?

3- And last but not least any server recommendations for NA if there are servers and how is community and population?

Oh and what are the benefits for a subscription as opposed to free play?

Thanks all...

Welcome back!

As an old-timer myself who has been playing non-stop since 3 months after the initial release, these are my thoughts:

1) Shade, Crat, and Doc are sought after most for Team play - Shade for massive damage, Crat for XP and decent damage and the ability to calm and init debuff, and Doc for the ability to init debuff and heal, of course.

Shade is a difficult class to play and I don't recommend it if you are just returning, though it is a top tier class at endgame in both PvP and Pvm. Crat is fun and fast XP - Moderately difficult due to having to manipulate pets, but you'll get the swing of it pretty quickly. Doctor is relatively easy actually and has many weapon choices available (Pistols, Shotgun, MA, 1he). Adventurer is hella easy to play and has a nice spread of healing, survivability, and damage at level 150 and below - Though I agree with one of the posters that it does get boring. Don't play a Trader.

As for PvP:
Shade is amazing at end-game, but haven't seen very effective setups below 220.
Doctor is great at 150 and CAN be viable at 220 if played correctly (though it's usually a long, boring fight)
Trader's are good Support professions for PvP in mass fights (which rarely exist anymore). They are not good at endgame, but they are decent below level 150.
Adv's are always even across the board it seems - Except endgame. Level 200 and Level 220 Adv's are ridiculously good if played correctly.
Crat is terrible at PvP below level 200. I cannot speak for endgame, level 220 PvP on crat at the moment.

2) Leveling is now MUCH easier than it was before. More XP gear, daily missions, new zones with increased XP, etc. ShadowLands expansion gives much better XP than RK, though recent changes have been trying to fix this - Such as the introduction of 'The Reck' - A Level 90-150 leveling zone with a lot of soloable daily missions, and new missions from a mob called 'Arbitration Drone' which gives you increased XP when killing in certain zones.

3) All servers have been merged into one. Population has dwindled drastically since release and peak times in '06-'08, but recent changes have brought a fair amount of people back.

4) Benefits from sub over free-to-play are quite drastic in all honesty. More quests, missions, worlds to explore, easier leveling, etc.

My suggestion would be to play fr00b for a while as a Crat or Adv or POSSIBLY Doctor (in that order) to get a feel for the game. Find you a nice org and then you can make the decision on whether or not to make the jump to a paid subscription.

Hope this helps

[appolonia]

Fixer is great if you wanna remain froob, though it shines with GAs, which are ridiculously rare and expensive. Always nice to have a 150/200 Fixer on a separate froob account anyway (hots, speed, dmg, Fgrid...)

[Antmf612]

How is fixer on a sub account and what other professions are good on a subbed? I just subbed and am excited but dont know what to play. Oh the confusion lol. I dont think I wanna play a crat I am not much a pet type player. So I gues it is down to Doc Shade Fixer. I wish trader were good end game I really like the concept..

[Bluecheeze2]

How is fixer on a sub account and what other professions are good on a subbed? I just subbed and am excited but dont know what to play. Oh the confusion lol. I dont think I wanna play a crat I am not much a pet type player. So I gues it is down to Doc Shade Fixer. I wish trader were good end game I really like the concept..

Fixer was my first profession and still my 2nd or 3rd favorite profession. I got spoiled by being able to get just about anywhere I wanted super quickly. They are the masters of speed and Heal Over Time and Evades/Add All Defense (AAD). Someone mentioned using Grid Armor (GA), which is hella expensive, but VERY good armor - Truly the best you can wear as a fr00b and still a viable choice as a paid player as well (Until Level 170+). Weapon choices are limited to only MG/SMG, but there are a decent amount of good weapons.

Fixers are decent in PvM and definitely get better towards end-game when they add Full Auto to their list of specials In PvP - it's a matter of how you play. Fighting toe-to-toe, you may not win against people who know what they're doing unless you have Grid Armor. However, fixers are a TON of fun in mass PvP and the BattleStation (new arena pvp instance) because they evade so much and heal while making their escape if they get in trouble and they have the ability to root and snare people.

You can always play it on the fr00b account and then make the decision later to make the fr00b account a paid account.

[Bluecheeze2]

My suggestion for a returning player on a subbed account is to get to a level where you can make money pretty easily.

150 MA or Keeper for Sector 10 farming.
200 Crat for Sector 7 farming.
Any Level Fixer for blitzing.

Also, a fixer has the ability to grid out from anywhere on Rubi-Ka, which I found to be INCREDIBLY beneficial when I first started. The zones are so large and you sometimes get lost, so having the ability to quickly get to the grid is a huge help until you learn your way around.

Doc/Enf/Soldier are most sought after in raids and will allow you to get the items/gear you need for all of your alts.

It's all up to your playstyle though Do what makes you enjoy the game.