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So I've been thinking about my beastlord. He's 29, a troll, butt ugly, and a pain to level. I was also thinking of the hollowshade war, and then back to Vah Shir. I was wondering if it's stupid at my level to re-roll a Vah Shir beastlord or are Troll's a better race.

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Nerada 65 Necro

Don't know much about beastlords (one of the few classes I haven't really tried out yet), but in my opinion if you don't like the class/race that you are playing its never stupid to reroll since you won't be having fun with it.

If you have a character slot open roll up a Vah Shir beastlord and see if you enjoy playing him/her any better if so then go ahead and delete the troll. If you still aren't having fun with it try another race or maybe beastlords just aren't your thing, and maybe look into another class that you might find fun.

I play a BL. They don't get any special benefits, unlike say an Ogre would with stuns. Oh except for the built in 50 to safe fall. But with respect to xp, they are not penalized like Iksars, Trolls and Ogres. They are cuter, which helps with charisma and prices, though that you can make up for that with gear. No difference in pet except how it looks. Better vision too now that I think of it.

Re-rolling at 29 wouldn't lose you too much since you would be able to pass on what you have earned already and have probably learned enough about the class to do that same amount of leveling in a fraction of the time.

Iksar beast here, picked for the look. Scaled wolf so badass, exp penalty isn't that bad so play that ugly troll IMO gator pets are 2nd coolest.

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I have an ogre BST because of Boo-Boo the Bear.

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Aerili, Storm Warden
Officer of <Destiny>

Trolls and Iksar have a racial exp penalty of I think 10% until level 52. Ogres are 5%. A Val Shir doesn't have a racial exp penalty so it would level up a bit faster.

I know trolls have a 15% while Iksars have a 20% and leveling has been an issue. Also there isn't much open as far as exploring as a Troll which is why I was considering a vahshir. Do their skills level fast since their stats are higher?

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Nerada 65 Necro

Trolls and SK's are both 20% xp penalty.

I haven't played beastie much here, but I did on PC side, some time ago. Still, my advice is only mostly accurate, not quite 100%.

Maximize your warder damage in two ways. One, make sure he is always behind the mob (I'm assuming you are a battle beastie, not a sit on my troll lard ass and watch/heal beastie). If he is behind the mob, then he is not being blocked, dodged, etc. Two, give him a weapon (anything). The level 29 warder, I *think*, can dual wield, but only if he is given something. He doesn't do it naturally (the next one will, but not this one).

Second, maximize your defensive skills. At this level, that means needlites in easy echo. They will max your dodge and defense easily (or at least vastly improve them). At least kill a few of them.

And finally - your heading into a hard patch for beasties. Clear up to 50, beasties are pretty weak kittens. Every class has "its" levels, where they shine. Beasties reach this point in the 62ish range. Their weak levels are basically 29 through 49, (with a nice power jump at 44, and 54). BUT, the next 20 levels are so are still going to be a PITA.

Keep your divination worked up, by the way. Otherwise when you finally get invisibility at 49, you won't be able to cast it.

Trolls can explore very nicely - I'm not sure why you think they can't. You just need to know the "old school" travel ways. Both Iksar and Trolls can bank in the qeynos catacombs, or in Jagged Pine, evil entrance. You can swim under the bridge for the Karana's.

Hunting is either grouped in HHK (how I hate that zone), or you can solo Needlites in easy echo, or lizards in the Feerott. A host of other spots, but those two have some nice advantages.

Byaga Krool
Troll Shadowknight

I don't believe the exp penalty is that high. I also believe that class exp penalties were dropped in the first 2 years of original EQ.

The original idea for class/racial experience penalties was to balance race and class starting attributes. The original idea was that humans were to get an exp bonus due to their lack of inherent starting attibutes like night vision, etc. EQ dropped the idea and class experience modifiers were fixed, but the racial ones that had already been implemented were never fixed.

I am not 100% sure but I am pretty confident that the experience mods for races are: -10% trolls, iksar, -5% ogres, +5% halflings. I know a that a former guildie during the first progression server went back and read up all the patches for EQ and this was the numbers that were left in the game.

Also after level 50 or 51 there is no experience penalty for any race. Iksar, troll, ogre and halfling are same after that level. This was implemented after Kunark came out and the max level was increased to 60. AA exp is the same for all races.

I know folks will debate this...there are acres of discussion and debate regarding the issue (or at least there use to be) on EQPlayers forums.

I'm a vah-shir BST I picked the Vah shir for a number of reasons. Barbs are good but the one major flaw is vision. Trolls have better regen If I recall right (I don't play one so It eludes me, specially after a 5 year break) but their faction is like something that fell out of a dogs ass as well as lower wisdom/ Int. Iksar have the great regen also but again the faction thing becomes an issue. Ogres have the low wisdom/ Int, bad faction, but no stun. Vah-shir have good vision, the faction is good with a lot of races a safe fall of 50 which does help a little, and I have noticed that the cold resist was a little higher than other races. I personally feel Vah shir are a little more well rounded.

I'm a vah-shir BST I picked the Vah shir for a number of reasons. Barbs are good but the one major flaw is vision. Trolls have better regen If I recall right (I don't play one so It eludes me, specially after a 5 year break) but their faction is like something that fell out of a dogs ass as well as lower wisdom/ Int. Iksar have the great regen also but again the faction thing becomes an issue. Ogres have the low wisdom/ Int, bad faction, but no stun. Vah-shir have good vision, the faction is good with a lot of races a safe fall of 50 which does help a little, and I have noticed that the cold resist was a little higher than other races. I personally feel Vah shir are a little more well rounded.

I meant to say Trolls and Iksar are both 20% xp penalty.

Which they are. But to me, thats part of the fun - that and faction issues.

Well, trolls are obviously the best looking class in EQ. I chose a troll due to the clicky snare necklace that troll shamen can get, and the increased regen. I think if I had to do it over I'd pick an ogre for the frontal stun immunity. I really don't think any other race has a bonus that is that game changing(Iksars get an AC bonus, but I have never seen a calculation on the difference it makes), and I haven't used that clicky snare in over a year. Ogre's of course still get horrible exp, but that is the price you pay to play the best races.

On a side note, regular exp is so easy to come by that you really shouldn't worry about it. AAs will come the same no matter what race/class combination you choose.

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Don't Vah Shir get innate sneak still too? They also eat food faster.

hybrid/racial xp is all kinds of messed up here, see the thread in tactics.

AA xp can/will be effected by races and classes, see the threads on that in tactics. So your race/class never stops "mattering".

But is any of that important or trumps the basic look/flavor of the race?

No.

Pick what you think looks the coolest.

To the OP: sounds like you are "into" the vahshir race and lore/flavor more by what you said in your post. Reroll the bstlord into one then, and you will be happier long term.