Choosing a Race

You'll want to consider the following factors when picking a race for your character:

Class

Each race can only play certain classes, so this is a major limiting factor

TODO: Add class/race options table (hopefully wiki has one already that can be copied?)

Size

There are five race sizes, defined by what size armor they can wear.

Race Armor Options

There are three armor sizes, small/medium/large ...

• Small: Dwarf, Gnome, Halfling
• Small/Medium: High Elf, Wood Elf
• Medium: Erudite, Human, Iksar
• Medium/Large: Barbarian
• Large: Ogre, Troll

The in-between sizes will have the most clothing options when leveling up, but all races can find wearable gear if they hunt the right zones. Also high level gear typically fits all classes, so size matters much less for gear later on.

Race Size Perspectives

In EverQuest you literally see the world from your character's perspective, so if you choose a small character you will be staring at everyone else's knees for the rest of your EQ career. Conversely if you pick a large character, you will likely want to acquire a way to Shrink yourself someday, simply because of the inconvenience of being large in small dungeons.

Starting Areas

Every race has a unique starting city, except for Erudites/Humans/Half-Elves, who get to choose (based on their religion) between two cities (Erudites can choose between Erudin/Paineel, while Humans and Half-Elves can choose between Freeport and Qeynos).

The locations of these cities result in new players falling into certain starting "hubs". These hubs only really matter for the first few levels, because once you level up travel becomes easier. But if you want to start out playing with friends, you should all pick races with the same hub.

Odus Hub

Only Erudites start on Odus. On Blue this hub has Paineel and The Warrens, but on Green at launch the only leveling areas will be Toxxulia Forest and Kerra Isle. Because these two zones are considered to be some of the worst options, many Erudites take the boat to the Qeynos hub instead.

Qeynos

Humans and Half-Elves can start in Qeynos or (for Druids/Ranger)s nearby Surefall Glade. Barbarians start in nearby Halas, but will have to level up a little (maybe level 5?) before they can safely run through Blackburrow to join their Qeynos friends. Erudites can safely take the boat to Qeynos at level 1.

Because of Qeynos Aqueducts, Qeynos Hills, Western Karana, Everfrost, and especially Blackburrow, players starting in this hub have many great leveling options.

Swamp Hub

Ogres and Trolls start in the "swamp hub", at Grobb and Oggok respectively, with adjacent Innothule Swamp and Feerrott as starting areas. This hub also has South Ro, Rathe Mountains, Temple of Cazic Thule and Upper Guk for low-level players to level in.