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So...I'm trying to decide what race/class I should play, I did play a Progen Warrior back before sunset but I'm not sure if I wan't to go that route or not. With the way things are ATM what are each race/class best at doing? Any other advice is also welcome.

I also play Eve Online

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Welcome to the game! Glad you stopped in and are considering playing!

First thing's first, please forget any preconcieved notions based upon EVE. The only thing this game and EVE really has in common is the idea of flying ships around in space. You'll be doing yourself a favor if you don't try to compare the two.

The best prospector is the Jenquai Explorer; level 9 reactor, access to reactor-recharging passive and active devices at nearly all levels, a larger cargo hold and the fact that it does not need to clog cargo space with ammo means that nothing can strip an orefield bare quite like the JE. The downside is that it lacks offensive punch at lower levels, and is indeed quite helpless early on; you will be heavily reliant on your Cloaking ability to shake unwanted attackers. Also, your cargo hold, while pretty good, is still pretty small, so stick to single-type orefields whenever you can; the more time you spend mining and the less time you spend schlepping loads of ore to station to empty your hold, the bigger the profit in experience and credits you'll make. You can also Jumpstart and Wormhole, and you'll be called upon for both services quite frequently.

The best tanker is the Progen Warrior; it has a huge potential shield and reactor capacity, formidable firepower in the form of six weapon slots, and can drain enemy shields to restore its own. It also has the ability to slow and debuff enemies with Gravity Link and pull enemies off more fragile allies with Enrage. Kiting isn't as necessary because the Warrior is far tougher than any class; they can survive hits that would scrap a Defender or Enforcer. Just don't get cocky - even the Warrior isn't invulnerable. You get into fights that are too far above your combat level and you will come out of it a charred wreck.

The best kiter in both results and ease-of-use, is inarguably the Terran Enforcer; with weapon slots second only to the Warrior's, relatively tough shields and hull, excellent self and party buffing ability, high speed and a predilection for long-range missile attacks, the Enforcer is capable of running almost any enemy around until it dies, and emerging relatively unscathed in the process. If they botch it up, they can take a couple hits and still live to kite another day, too.

The best builder & trader is the Terran Tradesman; not only do they have the widest selection of build skills, but they also have high speed and the single biggest cargo hold of any class, making high-profit trade runs extremely easy. Being a Terran, you also have the widest selection of equipment to both use and build; few things are restricted to you.

The most versatile class is the Progen Sentinel; it can mine capably, fight hard, and even do a bit of trading and building, if you can get past the irritatingly-small cargo hold size. It's not a specialist in any of these fields, but the ability to boldly prospect in orefields and hulkfields that Explorers and Scouts would deem "too dangerous" can be quite an advantage, and Sentinels are the best class in the game to keep around for Jumpstarts - Sentinels have great survivability for an exploration class and usually are one of the last to die in a formation, and unlike an Explorer, you're not sacrificing offensive punch for utility.

The best soloist, I'd say is the Terran Scout. Current bugs aside, Scouts combine the Enforcer's ability to kite with a bit of the Tradesman's self-repair ability, speed, and cargo hold size. It's also an Explorer class, meaning you can Jumpstart wrecked players and Prospect for ores; as a Scout, you're never without something to do unless you choose to be, much like the Sentinel. I rate it less versatile than the Sentinel though due to the fact that it's more fragile and not as offensively capable. It's a great kiter, yeah, but if you're flying in a formation you lack the Sentinel's survivability and the Explorer's ability to stay safely out of the fight with Cloaking.

The easiest class to start with I'd arguably give to the Jenquai Defender, though arguments could be made for the Warrior, Sentinel, or Scout. The defender doesn't have to worry about ammo, and only has two real damage types to worry about (and you should always be using plasma whenever available anyway). They have a large reactor supply, being Jenquai, and can disengage from almost any fight with Cloaking. They're also great at separating one enemy out of a group, letting you take on one enemy at a time for less risk, where other classes would have to use careful kiting or charge in headfirst and take the beating. There's some tricks to playing one late-game (like fading in and out of cloaking to buff your shots and buy time for your shield to regenerate, or using foldspace to help you kite an enemy) but the Defender provides a nice smooth transition from easy to difficult strategies throughout the game and has arguably the best-designed starting sector for familiarizing yourself with the class and the game; admittedly, I may be biased since my first character ever was a Defender.

The oddball classes are the Jenquai Seeker and Progen Privateer - both of them are trader-classes, similar to the Terran Tradesman, but they sacrifice some cargo hull size and the ability to use level 9 engines, as well as some combat recovery skills, for the racial advantages of their specific race. The Seeker gains the ability to Cloak and Fold Space away from danger, and the Privateer gains the ability to fight capably, being second only to the Warrior when it comes to Progen face-to-face combat. If you want a trade class that can put the hurt on enemies every now and again, play the Privateer. If you want a trader that can escape dangerous situations easily, play the Seeker.

I can say that Scouts and Tradesmen are very popular right now; many high-level players have their onw personal trader and explorer alts that they use to mine ores and produce components and gears for their main toons, and usually these consist of a Tradesman and a Scout. Most people pick a combat class as their main, typically Warrior or Enforcer. Jenquai, with the exception of Explorers, are relatively rare.

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Great write up, though I'd say the defender is better than just being a good starting class. At the end game no class can make a mob hurt as fast as a JD can. All though the PW, and possibly the TE eventually will out DPS a JD (math-wise) the JD has such a great ability to "Frontload" damage that mobs are usually dead before other classes catch up.

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By alts do you mean second accounts or on the same one? If same one, can you trade between same account characters? If secondary accounts, how would that work...is it as easy as using Net7 twice or do I need a second computer or a Virtual machine. (I currently have Virtual Box, but I don't think it works with 3d games...)

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According to da rules, you are not allowed to log in multiple characters from the same account. Multiple characters from different accounts is okay, and most people maintain two accounts for this purpose. Keep in mind that you only need one forum account, no matter how many game accounts you have. I suggest making no more than three accounts total; there's not a lot of legitimate reasons a person would need more than three game accounts. As for how many hoops you need to jump through to get two or more instances of the game running concurrently on the same machine... I dunno. I don't do it; one account is sufficient for me.

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MJALowe did a very nice write up on the classes. However, I have a different perspective.

Actually, my recommendation is to start out with a Terran Trader. Why? Traders can make almost anything except reactors. Thus, I would level them primarily for building to the top level 9 of each building item and then stop. This way, if you play another class, you have a class that can build almost anything for you and can use items for obtaining schematics.

The Trader should be on a separate account than all your other classes. This way you can readily trade with them.

My favorite class for soloing is the Sentinel for many reasons. Although it is true that you will need to carry ammo since Sentinels use projectile weapons, Sentinels are very self sufficient. They can fight very well and can eventually get unlimited money and items by mining.Mining also gives unlimited exploration experience and trade experience too and can be useful in making components for your trader. I honestly think that they are the best soloing class.

I should note that although the PS isn't as good a miner as the JS due to more limited reactors and devices, a sentinel can mine in areas that others fear to tread. Most good mining spots have guardians. Sentinels can take on almost anyone at or even slight above their level with no problem due to their menace and critical damage skill. They are the wolverines of the ores fields in that they are VERY vicious.

Finally, Sentinels are the only class that gets an important skill: Call forward. Although very hard to come by, this skill allows a sentinel to change their own or other people's skill point allocations. This becomes very important at upper levels when folks realize that they could have used their skills more efficiently.

A good alternative to the Sentinel is the Progen Privateer,which is the Progen version of a trader. They get big hulls, extra experience and money on trading and arguably can be the second best fighter in the game with 5 weapon slots and recharge shields, menace and even critical strike. In addition, they have a number of good building skills including weapons.It is a very easy, self sufficient class to play. I always believed that if I had three privateers, I can take on any mob. Maybe we should call ourselves the "Three Privateers."

JD are good but can be a bit tricky to play. Sentinels and Priviteers don't involve any finesse. They just shoot till the mob is dead or fear the mob and reverse kite. All progens are "get in your face and take the hit" types.

SirmortePS

MorteTT

Mystical Knights Guild

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At the end of the day "best" is whatever you find you enjoy playing the most. Even then I can't imagine many people play only one char - being able to swap to different chars helps keep things fun, especially during those times when you might feel you've been *grinding* one char a bit much or there's a gameplay or mission bug with another char that you need to have resolved.

I played Live from beta until sunset and my initial primary char was a TT and then later, when I added a second account, my other primary was a JE. I've taken that same approach here in ST but . . . having recently started a PP (Progen Trader) I *really* like this chartype. Very TT-like from a building perspective, has the shield repair skill I grew dependent on as a TT, great firepower - really fun to play. I initially created him just to have a char that could build Progen reactors but I'm seeing this as a great all-around char . . . at least for *my* style of gameplay. Had this been an option back in Live it's quite possible that Jarod would have been a PP and not a TT. :D

The great thing is it's easy to try them out and see what *you* think - because that's what really matters.

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So...I'm trying to decide what race/class I should play, I did play a Progen Warrior back before sunset but I'm not sure if I wan't to go that route or not. With the way things are ATM what are each race/class best at doing? Any other advice is also welcome.

I also play Eve Online

PW = Best at shooting things, has some neat tricks.

JD = Best as shooting things, has some neat tricks.

TE = Best as shooting things, erhm.

TT = Best at building things.

PP = Good at shooting things, builds too.

JS = Uhm, has some neat tricks! Oh and better than a JE for building reactors.

JE = NOT the best prospector any more, has a neat wormholing trick.

TS = New king when it comes to prospecting (nav 7, negotiate 5, engines 9, 35 cargo slots).

(Must point out though, TS has iffy skills other than prospecting).

PS = Mixed bag of stuff, call forward is neat though.

p.s. CCP once had a good game but it started sucking 1-2 years ago.

Edited by Lot
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p.s. CCP once had a good game but it started sucking 1-2 years ago.

lol. I wouldn't recommend dissing EVE. I think there are a lot of EVE players round here, so chances are someone's gonna get all "RAWR" about it and this'll turn into an angry thread.

I would recommend the PP; they have good building ability and are awesome at combat, thanks to their ability to recharge shields and shield inversion. The PP is a great way to experience both the building/trading and combat aspects of the game. Of course, the PS is a fun class too, in that they can fight and mine. The TS is a great miner thanks to its speed, but it doesn't get L9 reactors (neither does the PS), which can be a real pain for prospecting at times, and its other skills are practically useless.

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One of the things that make JE-style mining different is how many mineables spawn near highly aggressive and dangerous mobs. The fewer interesting fields there are, the less useful and unique a JE becomes. And vice versa. It boils down to content. There's currently not enough content in support of the JE style that makes it a more viable miner class than the others.

As an explorer class though, the wormhole skill alone helps a great deal. Both in early game and late game, this one skill will allow a JE to level faster than most other classes (I'm referring to job terminals and just overall getting around the universe).

Combat-wise, shield leech in the emulator is very good and makes it reasonable to do combat, but due to range issues, falls behind the TS in this area. I picked TS as they also only have level 8 shields and potentially has the same paper hull issues. However their combat style means they can more effectively do combat better than a JE. PS are tank explorers. With L9 shields and a very useful Menace skill line, they offer the most balanced game play as an explorer class.

In terms of cargo space, JE's have the toughest time and either have to return to base to dump, dump unwanted ores frequently, or resort to cherry picking. This is also a content issue, more narrowly populated fields can go a long way to helping this condition. And Merlin has already done a lot to fix this, however now it's started going in the other direction again with the advent of hulks mixed into roid fields and non-stackable Unidentified Ancient Artifacts showing up in roids.

I don't suggest this be changed, just pointing out one of the "real world" issues with playing a JE. Cargo space is balanced though, as JE's don't need to carry ammo to defend themselves, so no complaints here, just stating facts. Also, both the TS and PS are unable to manufacture their own ammo at present and therefore require the services of a friendly weapon builder. Most will make a bulk build order and then squirrel a portion of their vault to house the rest.

The area where JE's may excel as a support class is the sheer amount of devices available as well as a L9 reactor to power them. (Both TS and PS are limited to L8 reactors and thus limit the total number of buffs they can put out before needing to recharge.) Also, once the JE max scan, max navigate and group cloak work properly, that will be another differentiator from the other explorer classes. (I know that TS have the same level navigate, but I'm unsure if it's intended to share/break out of grav well like the JE version is supposed to.)

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lol. I wouldn't recommend dissing EVE. I think there are a lot of EVE players round here, so chances are someone's gonna get all "RAWR" about it and this'll turn into an angry thread.

Well, I played it for 4-5 years so I should know.

Now I am a bitter veteran ex-player. :)

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imho.... ;)

tt and pt are the most fun and easiest to get going...

pw and te are fun too but a little harder....

i like ts as well

not real familer with jens, but i do have a je and jd growing

have fun playing and if you have questions, just ask in new player chat.

most of the high lvl players watch the channel and are always willing to help. :)

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Do what I did, start a few different ones that do different things and see what gets you going. I am starting to find now that my PP is closing in on 150, that I am in need of a JE (or other mining toon) to get ores to make comps to make ammo and stuff at higher levels so I am glad that I have a JE on their way to max prospect skill soon.

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Don't forget that ideally players would be relying on each other rather than another character they play. Our player base is a bit small, but hopefully eventually enough of all classes will be on to get what you need without need to resort to another of your own characters. For example, it can be a bit hard to get ore you need to manufacture, but ideally (and eventually) enough miners would be on and willing to go find some of what you need.

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Don't forget that ideally players would be relying on each other rather than another character they play. Our player base is a bit small, but hopefully eventually enough of all classes will be on to get what you need without need to resort to another of your own characters. For example, it can be a bit hard to get ore you need to manufacture, but ideally (and eventually) enough miners would be on and willing to go find some of what you need.

That is very true and there usually is at least a few people on who have a max level toon (and our guild usually maintains a collection of ores and comps for), but in the instance where nobody is available to provide what I need, I like to have that ability to provide for myself. And also have the ability to provide for others.

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