3.5. Creating a Character

Click any Create a New Character slot to begin. This displays the Character Creation screen.

Follow the steps in the rest of this section to create a character. When you finish, you will return to this screen, and your character's name will appear in the slot you just chose. (In the future, you must select a server each time you log in, then click on a character slot to activate it.)

Then click Enter World to start playing.

This screen lets you build your character through a series of steps:

Step 1 - Pick a Race
Norrath has fourteen playable races, each living in a specific region of Norrath. All have unique talents and professions. For example, Humans are relatively smart and can pursue nearly all professions, while Ogres have fewer options, but excel in physical strength.

• Click a race to select it. The starting statistics and the list of available classes change for each race.

Races of Norrath
BARBARIAN: Warriors at heart, most of the Barbarians' history revolves around one war or another.

Starting city: Halas
Classes: Beastlord, Rogue Shaman, Warrior
Racial tensions: Dark Elves, Iksar, Ogres, Trolls

DARK ELF: Dark Elves share the heritage and features of other elves in Norrath, but they are more evilly aligned. Home is almost always underground, so darkness poses no obstacle for Dark Elves.

Starting city: Neriak
Classes: Cleric, Enchanter, Magician, Necromancer, Rogue, Shadow Knight, Warrior, Wizard
Racial tensions: Barbarians, Erudites, Half Elves, High Elves, Humans, Iksar, Wood Elves

DWARF: Short but strong, Dwarves outperform Humans in nearly all physical tasks. Their prominent facial hair is their trademark, seconded by their dexterity.

Starting city: Kaladim
Classes: Cleric, Paladin, Rogue, Warrior
Racial tensions: Dark Elves, Iksar, Ogres, Trolls

ERUDITE: Self-pride and intellect persuades most Erudites to forego physical activity in favor of mental challenges. Social grace is their forte, and they believe themselves to be the pinnacle of evolution.

Starting cities: Erudin or Paineel (determined by class)
Classes: Cleric, Enchanter, Magician, Necromancer, Paladin, Wizard, Shadow Knight
Racial tensions: Dark Elves, Iksar, Ogres, Trolls

GNOME: Distant cousins to Dwarves, Gnomes tend to burrow in the hillsides in underground communities. A lack of surface light lends a pale hue to their skin tone, and they rarely emerge to mingle with other races.

Starting city: Ak'Anon
Classes: Cleric, Enchanter, Magician, Necromancer, Paladin, Rogue, Shadow Knight, Warrior, Wizard
Racial tensions: Dark Elves, Iksar, Ogres, Trolls

HALF ELF: As Human-Elf hybrids, Half Elves share the prominent physical features of both races. Their intellect is a notch above most other races, though they suffer a lack of strength as compared to the other Norrathian races.

Starting cities: Qeynos, Freeport, Kelethin
Classes: Bard, Druid, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Warrior
Racial tensions: Dark Elves, Iksar, Ogres, Trolls

HALFLING: Short and Human-like, Halflings are by far the most nimble and mobile race in the world. Outstanding dexterity and agility come naturally, and they're natural travelers. Because of this, Halflings have developed peaceful relations with most other races.

Starting city: Rivervale
Classes: Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Warrior
Racial tensions: Dark Elves, Iksar, Ogres, Trolls

HIGH ELF: Though they have physical traits in common with Wood Elves, High Elves are far more developed in the ways of the mind. Pale and thin, they prefer to spend their time exercising the confines of the mind, and not the body.

Starting city: Felwithe
Classes: Cleric, Enchanter, Magician, Paladin, Wizard
Racial tensions: Iksar, Ogres, Trolls, Dark Elves

HUMAN: Humans epitomize the norm in Norrath.

Starting cities: Qeynos, Freeport
Classes: All but Shaman and Beastlord
Racial tensions: Dark Elves, Iksar, Ogres, Trolls

IKSAR: A tribal race, these lizard-like warriors carry on a rich heritage of conquest, enslavement and destruction. Iksar are quite intelligent (despite their large size and warrior-like ways) and prefer to socialize within their own circles.

Starting city: New Sebilis (also known as Cabilis)
Classes: Beastlord, Monk, Necromancer, Shadow Knight, Shaman, Warrior
Racial Tensions: All other races

OGRE: Ogres spend as much time on the battlefield as Erudites and High Elves do exploring their intellect. With their gargantuan size and strength, they pass most of their days munching on available game and rarely give any thought to pursuing other interests.

Starting city: Oggok
Classes: Beastlord, Shadow Knight, Shaman, Warrior
Racial tensions: Everyone except Dark Elves and Trolls

TROLL: Despite a two-foot height difference, Trolls get along famously with Ogres, sharing similar likes, dislikes and pastimes. Outdoorsy and not quite bright, they're easily recognizable due to their skin's natural green tinge.

Starting city: Grobb
Classes: Beastlord, Shadow Knight, Shaman, Warrior
Racial tensions: Everyone except Dark Elves and Ogres

VAH SHIR: Tall, noble feline humanoids, Vah Shir are agile and strong. They have no written traditions and pass on their lore verbally. The Vah Shir are in tune with the world around them and choose to be part of the living cycle rather than worship a deity.

Starting city: Shar Vahl
Classes: Bard, Beastlord, Rogue, Shaman, Warrior
Racial tensions: None

WOOD ELF: Yet another variation on the Elven-Human theme, Wood Elves are slightly weaker than Humans, but highly dexterous and agile. Despite their tendencies to be wild and secretive, they are very dedicated to the good of society.

Starting city: Kelethin
Classes: Bard, Druid, Ranger, Rogue, Warrior
Racial tensions: Dark Elves, Iksar, Ogres, Trolls

Step 2 - Pick a Class
Your class (your character's occupation) describes your career goal in the game. You can pursue any life you choose in EverQuest, so long as your race permits it.

• Click on a class to select it. (Note that each occupation gives you specific attributes that are marked with green numbers. When allocating ability points, concentrate on these characteristics.)

BARD: The Bard has the unusual ability to play magical songs whose supernatural effects last as long as the Bard continues to sing. She has some passing knowledge of the Warrior ways (self-defense), but her main focus is always her art.
Modifiers: +5 Strength, +10 Dexterity, +10 Charisma

BEASTLORD: Beastlords are the spiritual warriors of the primitive cultures of Norrath and Luclin. Like the Shaman, the Beastlords have a close relationship with the spirit world. The Beastlord's fighting style is derived from tactics used by wild beasts, thus they prefer to fight unarmed or with only small piercing weapons. But the Beastlord is best known for his life-long animal companion.
Modifiers: +10 Stamina, +5 Agility, +10 Wisdom, +5 Charisma

CLERIC: A Cleric is a holy woman born with the power to heal, and, to a lesser extent, call upon the wrath of her deity to smite her foes. Prayer is how the Cleric gains her ability.
Modifiers: +5 Strength, +5 Stamina, +10 Wisdom

DRUID: A Druid is the master of the outdoors and befriends all flora and fauna. Creatures rarely ever attack him unless he attacks first. He is a clerical spell-caster who focuses on all things natural, allowing him to call upon Nature for aid and defense.
Modifiers: +10 Stamina, +10 Wisdom

ENCHANTER: The primary focus of this art can be summed up by the name of the arcane order to which it belongs: enchantment. Spells are crafted to enchant people, places and things. An Enchanter can charm beings and make them fight for a new master, or magically enhance the capabilities of a sword-wielding warrior. She even has some proficiency in offensive spells.
Modifiers: +10 Intelligence, +10 Charisma

MAGICIAN: The Magician is the summoner of the arcane arts, and can conjure up everything from a loaf of bread to a huge Fire Elemental to fight on his behalf. While not as offensively adept as a Wizard, a Magician still possesses considerable spell power.
Modifiers: +10 Stamina, +10 Intelligence

MONK: The Monk is dedicated to honing her body into a pure weapon, shunning most weapons and forms of armor. She's very religious as well, and the gods are known to bless Monks by magically enhancing their attacks.
Modifiers: +5 Strength, +5 Stamina, +10 Agility, +10 Dexterity

NECROMANCER: The Necromancer belongs to the dark brotherhood of the arcane arts, dabbling in death. Through evil spells, he can animate dead bodies and skeletons to do his bidding, as well as cast spells to leach life from his victims.
Modifiers: +10 Dexterity, +10 Intelligence

PALADIN: A Paladin is a holy knight, fighting for the cause of good in all aspects of life. She shares some Clerical powers and fights nearly as well as a Warrior, and also possesses the innate ability to heal simply by Laying on Hands.
Modifiers: +10 Strength, +5 Stamina, +5 Wisdom, +10 Charisma

RANGER: The Ranger is a hybrid mix between a Warrior and a Druid, sharing the skills of both. He's most at home in the great outdoors. Modifiers: +5 Strength, +10 Stamina, +10 Agility, +5 Wisdom

ROGUE: Falling somewhere between an assassin and a thief, the Rogue belongs to the secretive class of Norrath. She's quite skilled in weaponry, but prefers to make sudden attacks from behind. Shadier skills include Pick Lock and Pick Pockets.
Modifiers: +10 Agility, +10 Dexterity

SHADOW KNIGHT: The antithesis of a Paladin, a Shadow Knight derives power from the evil gods he serves. He's part Warrior, part Necromancer and has the innate ability to damage flesh with his Harm Touch.
Modifiers: +10 Strength, +5 Stamina, +10 Intelligence, +5 Charisma

SHAMAN: Similar to a Cleric, but closer to a tribal witch doctor, the Shaman can be found amongst the more primitive races. Her primary focus is healing, but she can employ many augmentation and offensive spells as well.
Modifiers: +5 Stamina, +10 Wisdom, +5 Charisma

WARRIOR: A Warrior is a master of armed combat, in all of its forms. He's at home on the battlefield, and is trained to take as much punishment as he doles out. By nature, Warriors have more health points than any other class.
Modifiers: +10 Strength, +10 Stamina, +5 Agility

WIZARD: The Wizard is a seeker of knowledge, and her life is spent focusing on this goal. She uses powerful spells to see things from afar and transport them between places. A thirst for arcane knowledge has made her a master of magical translocation, as well as an offensive force of destruction.
Modifiers: +10 Stamina, +10 Intelligence

Step 3 - Allocate Ability Points
Your character has primary and secondary statistics. Primary ones are bright green, and represent abilities most beneficial to your chosen class. The others are secondary, which means they still affect you, but aren't quite as important.

The box in the top right corner of the screen shows your bonus ability points. The amount differs by race and/or class. You can add these points to any ability; but you should probably add most of them to your green "primary" abilities.

• Click "+" to add a bonus point to an ability.
• Click "-" to remove a bonus point from an ability. (You can't decrease any ability below its starting value, however.)
• Click the name of the ability to allocate the maximum points allowed to that ability.
• Click the Ability Points button to "take back" all of your choices.

Agility: Physical agility; affects your probability of being hit in combat, how much damage you take per hit, and how fast you learn some skills.

Charisma: How various factions react to you; affects prices for some merchants. Also affects spell effects for Enchanters and Bards, and helps Bards successfully play more notes.

Dexterity: Coordination; affects how much damage you deliver with a bow/thrown weapon, time between attacks, how fast you learn certain skills, and how often certain spells and weapons hit their mark. Also affects some skills and Bard songs.

Wisdom: Affects how fast you learn specific skills. For a Ranger, Paladin, Cleric, Shaman or Druid, it also affects maximum mana at each level.

Intelligence: Affects how fast you learn many skills. For a Necromancer, Wizard, Magician, Enchanter, Shadow Knight or Bard, it also affects maximum mana at each level.

Stamina: Health and constitution; affects your maximum number of hit points at each level.

Strength: Physical strength; affects how much you can carry, how much melee damage you deliver to a target, and how fast you learn some skills.

Step 4 - Pick a Facial Appearance
To change your character's face, click Set Face just above the picture of your character. Click the arrows to cycle through different facial appearances. To return to the full view of your character, click Accept.

Step 5 - Pick a Name
Either type in a name, or click Get Name to let the computer pick a name for you. You can't use spaces, dashes or special characters (#, ?, etc.). Use only one Capital at the beginning of the name.

• Click in the name field and type a name.
• Click Next to proceed.

Step 6 - Pick a Deity
The Deity Selection screen displays once you click Next from the Character Creation screen. Depending on your race and class, you can either choose from several of 18 specific deities, or remain agnostic (not a follower of any one god, perhaps unwilling to acknowledge their power).

• Click a deity to select it. The name of the god appears in the text to the right.

Here are some generalizations about the followers of each of the available gods:

Bertoxxulous: Lovers of decay and disease; dedicated to spreading both.

Brell Serilis: Choose to inhabit the underground; generally a bit solitary.

Bristlebane Fizzlethorpe: True believers of fun and mischief; doctrine disregards trust and honesty.

Cazic-Thule: Followers are ruled by fear; hate, cruelty and torture abound.

Erolissi Marr: Defend justice and innocence; love always overcomes hate.

Innoruuk: Fervid proponents of hate; no loyalty exists between followers, and all that is Good is weak.

Karana: Disciples of rain; respectful of the power of weather in the woodlands.

Mithaniel Marr: Seek courage, honor and good; leave frivolousness to others.

Prexus: Watchguards of the water; doctrine upholds that this deity will one day wash away all of Norrath.

Quellious: Masters of inner peace and enlightenment; knowing one's true self will help bring peace to Norrath.

Rallos Zek: Warriors to the end; emphasizes survival of the strong and the true value of conflict.

Rodcet Nife: Selfless servants to the weak and diseased; preaches healing and cleansing as one's life work.

Solusek Ro: Devoted followers of all things aflame; aggressive and purposeful in all that they do.

The Tribunal: Bringers of justice; the world is black-and-white, and all wrongs deserve an even revenge.

Tunare: Trustees of Nature; the land Norrath is to be protected at all costs.

Veeshan: Worshippers and servants of all Dragonkind; doctrine calls for sacrifice and dedication.

Step 7 - Pick a Starting City
The world of Norrath is populated with many cities, but not all are friendly to all races, occupations and beliefs. Race is the primary factor that determines your starting city. You'll always be able to start in at least one of the cities listed in Race. However, choosing a certain deity or occupation may affect your starting city.

You can start from any city with a yellow or white name. (You may be able to choose between two or more cities, or you might only have a single option.) The currently selected city's name is yellow; cities you cannot start from are faded out.

• Click a city to select it (you may or may not have more than one choice).
• Click Next twice to return to the Character Selection screen.

Tip: If you're planning on playing with your friends in a new city, make sure everyone has a compatible race, class and deity.