shifting to pk

[Krakknot]

I have never been an active pk style player, however, I think that I am ready to jump into it. I do anticipate many deaths and I can accept this. My question is, what should I start with as far as a pk char? Is there one type of race/class combo that I would benefit the most from as far as improving my pk ability? I have been around AR for a good bit and I am aware of all the things like weapon and style superiority. I am not practiced in their uses though. I mostly play neutral type characters, and lean toward mages. But now I am ready to expand my playing experience and dive into the PK world. I'm not exactly looking for a debate on the best pk race/class combo, I'm looking for race/class combos that I can learn the most about pk with.

[Xerties]

First I'd avoid clerics. They're too easybutton. Warriors and berserkers are a little overpowered imo, so I don't know how much you'd learn from them, but it wouldn't be nothing.

I'd suggest a ranger. You'll have some weapon and combat style considerations plus herb and camo for when things go bad. Also it'll give you the need for preparation in the form of gathering sanc potions and whatnot.

Magi are rather difficult if its your first foray into real PK, but if you're determined I'd suggest invokers. You don't have to worry about charmies and you have sanc built in. Also, if you're smart, you'll learn about gathering preps.

[Olyn]

Join a cabal. It'll force you into PK situations and you'll learn much quicker.

[Krakknot]

doesn't joining a cabal require you to know how to pk already? I would just be cannon fodder.

[Xerties]

You could try Strife.

[Vevier]

Strife isn't really for newbies learning how to pk. Its for Old Farts who don't have anything better to do than log on, fight a few people and quit out, people who want a cabalish atmosphere without the need to do all the stupid defense stuff/politics that go with it.

Join Knights. Once you get squired, you'll have plenty of opportunities to fight even before you join, and then at 40, if you don't actually want to, or knights think you're too noobish, they won't induct. I have had two knights and my best pk record EVER was 7-61. You won't get very far in the ranks if you aren't good, but it's a great chance to force you to PK, which has always been the biggest obsticle for me.

I would second the ranger option. It gives you plenty of skills without having an overwhelming amount and you've got camo for survivability. I'd go human, just for the low ranking curve, since you really do want to get to 50 and humans don't have vulns that can be exploited. As much as it hurts my soul a little to say this, Xerties' advice is sound. ( Mystics 1, heralds 50) If you really want mage, invoker would be the way to go, and human invoker is a 0exp combo if I remember right, which adds up to be pretty sweet.

But then all this advice is coming from someone with like 10 pks to her name, so take it with a grain of salt.

[Kaniyre]

[Dogran]

werebeast is fun, but werebeast ranger is a huge exp gap, and a noob knight is going to want to rank fast because they are going to die a LOT. going to make it much harder to be so high of an exp penalty. Clerics are easymode really. You would end up learning much more on something less self suficient.

[Niusan]

Agreed with the Cabal voyage and especially Knights. This will definetly get you thrown into PK head first. As for the saying of warriors being not the best... I actually disagree. Warriors give you the change to experiment with the most basic fundamentals of PK (in the weapon type, etc situation). Rangers are definetly the next step of the learning process. I would say building a PK foundation with the basics is best and I feel that warriors are primo for such. Once you get a better feeling of how the PK situation goes, I would say dive into the magic type you said you seem to favor.

[Esivole]

I would go warrior to start, a bit easier to play over all in my opinion and far easier to rank. think about what aspects you like/dont like as your playing. then i would branch to... ranger/berserker or start clerics. just my thoughts on it.

[Xerties]

[Arishel]

Choosing to be a healer will get you into battles with a good escape plan. A healer can be a good pk'er, and you'll learn to track well with one. They're a good defense that can be a plus in a cabal. Like Davairus said once upon a time (can't remember when). A cleric in a cabal doesn't necessarily have to have a great record, support is just as important to the survival of a group as the tanker itself.

I guess I'm saying if you want to progress, but still get your foot in the water then Healer is the obvious choice for you. It'll teach you enough to move on to the harder classes.

As for the cabal: Knight with a Healer, because you will learn from all the fights you will encounter. A shaman with Justice, because you can't be a healer in justice anymore....

This was how I started, and I got whipped by Res alot. I eventually got him maybe once, but my (maybe) one victory was sweet enough to say that I had learned well along the way. Then the sky is the limit! Woohoo!!!

[Kaniyre]

Go Half-Elf Ranger if you want too, they are good due to their legacies plus accelerated learning.

[Erlwith]

If you enjoy mages I'd say go mage. PK is one of those things, you just jump into. Clerics are probably your best bet, because the best way to get better at PK is to not die so you can fight another day without a 2hour/2day reequip session. Healers can get to 10 hp and easily still escape, classes like warriors or necromancers are not quite as easy to survive with. Really the best way to get better at PK is just to do it and healer/shaman have the best potential to do that at a minimal skill level. Look at Azazhog, very little actual PK skill but does/did plenty of it. That's the way to get better, trial and error. Eventually you'll feel strong enough to switch to a more offensive oriented class and get tired of chasing people around for an hour to land that final hit. IMO

[Krakknot]

thanks for all the input. I think I was prone to mages, mostly invokers, because of the previousely mentioned perma sanc and weapon ward. I will be trying either a warrior or a ranger. Probably a ranger. Thanks again.

[Davairus]

1. bad idea, you should definitely just make a healer/shaman and get led around fights watching real pk'ers do it. prefer evil to maximize opportunities

2. you still are cannon fodder no matter what you roll..because the opposing cabal will have players that way out-skill you. at least a healer can gear everyone else up withuot itself being heavily dependent on it. dont make yourself a liability to your own cabal, ie. someone who just feeds the enemy with eq

[Zanderic]

would a cleric want to go almost all + mana gear? Ive never played a cleric and I am thinking about trying it out.

[Olyn]

I would never go all mana gear unless you're exclusively a winter-bitch healer or something. If you want to just survive, get hp and maybe saves. If you want to fight, get dam and maybe some hp.

[Ergorion]

[Xerties]