text: Thanks to Bhagpuss and Telwyn I learned that EQ2 was giving away a free level 95 Heroic upgrade to any character who has not already recieved said upgrade before. I have 3 level 90 heroics, including my “main,” so this is fine with me as the more alts I can level the better. And I have a lot of alts…
  I don’t know anything about how EQ2 classes play at higher levels, but I’d want something that I can have fun soloing with. I generally enjoy melee, but now days, I’ve gotten used to ranged DPS as well.
  I went through the list of alts and trimmed it down to these possibilities. So that there is no bias, I’m listing them in alphabetical order.
  The name. Somehow I managed to hold on to the name “Benjamin” even through the server consolidation.
  Nostalgia. He was the first character I rolled on Freeport when the game went F2P – I literally got in at the moment the servers went up to snag this name.
  The only character I have that doesn’t have access to a flying mount or the ability to fly. Using this boost will give her a flying mount.
  I don’t have a higher level healer class… but I don’t really do group content, and only care about solo-ability.
  I enjoyed what I’ve played of Beastlord and bought that one expansion just to have the class more or less.
  Pure nostalgia here. Zento is the oldest character still existing in my roster, created in December 2004 (I re-rolled my Ratonga main several times after launch).
  Cosmetics – he has a cool cloak I got from Legends of Norrath that I don’t think you can get elsewhere anymore.
  I voted Rawring because ratonga! I know Skedaddles is also a ratonga but I have a 94 Beastlord that I leveled the hard way and while I would certainly recommend the class for someone planning on playing a lot, you are quite right to worry about it being more complex than the average EQ2 class. BL is a lot of fun but it’s definitely fiddly. I’d make the BL second choice though.
  Fury is versatile and powerful. It’s a very dps-oriented healing class, like the Druid was in EQ. You’d have no problems soloing as a fury but then I doubt any of the classes you are choosing between would have much of a problem. That said, I’ve never played a Wizard and my highest Monk is somewhere in the 50s I think…
  After reading a bit of info on Beastlord, I think you’re correct — I might be better served to level it manually so that I get a feel for the class’s progression, rather than just be dropped into the middle of a level 95 class with no clue. Plus, it seems Beastlord is probably not too bad to level by itself given it’s a pet class (and I have tons of EX pots).
  A long time ago I wrote a guide to 85 with a soloing chart as it was back then. Its far from perfect but might help:
  Thank you so much for this! It’s super useful — I just remembered I have two more Daybreak accounts, so I am going to roll up level 95 alts on them, too. I’ll certainly use this as a guide for picking my other classes.
  Most welcome – EQ2 was my main game for many years before my group drifted away to various things. I still have two accounts on Antonia Bayle server – thanks to your post I’m now working out what to boost too 😀
  I’ve revisited EQ2 several times through the years (played at launch), though I’m terrible at progressing because the sheer number of race/class combinations always has me rolling alts.
  I’d vote Fury I think just because I’m biased towards playing self-healing classes. Warden, from the little I’ve seen, doesn’t seem that great a solo class.
  If it’s not too late for this, have you tried Shadowknight before? I’ve found it to be great fun and extremely survivable solo with all the life-drain skills. I generally prefer ranged DPS characters in group content but am not that great at kiting, which is kind of necessary if you’re playing a ranged character solo I suppose.
  I agree that Shadowknight is a fun solo class. The reason it’s not an option here is that I have one I’ve previously boosted, so I can’t choose to boost him again this time. 🙂