Opinions, I want them all

Bishan

I understand this is an oft asked and repeated request/discussion, but I'm returning after a significant dormancy, and have begun to catch up on the news.  I like the new divine activity and find that exciting, but my current class and title are relics of a bygone era it would seem.  I was a sentinel in the Empyreal Assembly when I left, and I see not only have forestal classes closed ranks but Shallam no longer exists so....this seems like a good time to start anew, without having to lose my levels/effort (nominal as some will view it).

Basic question is, with the world being in it's current state, what class would be recommended to someone coming back?  I'll list my interests for providing assistance in those willing to comment, so thanks in advance.

Note, these are not in any particular order

-Bashing

I know I know, bashing sucks according to most, but I need it and enjoy it enough to make it on the priority list.  This will be my means of skill transing, credit gain etc etc.   I am in no position to buy credits and as far as I can tell that's not changing anytime soon.  So yeah...

-Utility

I like having useful stuff, for myself and others, that's about it there.

-Combat

I want to get into it, don't know very much about it though except from what I remember about venom afflictions, which is sketchy at best.  So not a huge learning curve is ideal.

Again, thank you whoever deigns to answer, I understand coming at this from an IC perspective, but as of now I have no one...no house or city

Silas

Pick a faction that interests you and make your decision from there.

Oops, I mean, go paladin. Nothing else matters.

Daslin

I'd say runewarden. As they're pretty good with bashing, good armour, runes help with that, and I think it's Dagaz?(Someone will correct me, I'm sure) that'll heal affs passively for you. They're accepted in every city, always a fun class to have around.

They're great for doing hunting runes for yourself and others, there's part of your utility. And you get Forging. You can make armour and weapons for others, tada! Another utility, heh.

And with combat, you get runeblades, runic armour, different runes... (Can you tell the class is fairly centered around runes?) And you have normal knight combat put in there, two swords, two venoms at once. Learning breaks and venom combos, which is fun. 

I'm sure others have better ways of describing not only this class, but many others. So, I leave it at that.

Achimrst

No Sylvan love? Go Sylvan! All the perks of a Magi plus you get a grove! Win win!

Achilles

If arties aren't in the cards then based on what you are looking for I'd roll Paladin.  You only need to bi-trans for any of the knight classes right now, fullplate isn't a necessity and forging altogether useless otherwise unless you also buy a hammer of forging.  But back to Paladin, rites, hands, defend will make you a favorite to hunt with, bloodsworn is useful if you can find a priest around when you are who also shares a interest in hunting (its practically useless pvp though).  Runewardens also a good option, you have less support skills (no hands), but everyone loves an active runewarden (or hates them with a passion in a totem measuring contest).

Other options are horkval monk, terrific bashing, you don't need to tri-trans either to be useful.  Less utility for day to day stuff like travel but there's not a single city that wouldn't like more monks.

But roll Paladin, Targossas needs you!

Nim

Blademasters are pretty cool.

I can't speak about their bashing, not having much experience with long-term bashing with other classes, but you have a few options via stances - you can be tanky, quick, have solid DPS, or deal and receive an absurd amount of damage all around. Also there's Doya, but we... we don't talk about Doya.

Their utility isn't the most impressive ever, but Shindo is pretty cool. Dashing, leaping, evading, fullsense, mindnet, detect, and a few other things I'm forgetting at the moment.

Blademasters are pretty solid when it comes to PvP, but their learning curve is a bit hard for me to place. Some people think they're really easy to get into, some people think they're ungodly difficult to master (I personally think it's both - easy to pick up, but with a lot of room for mastery beyond the basics).

As far as skills/abilities go, though, you're set for killing people with one skill transed and only a couple hundred lessons in Striking, and a handful in Shindo (roughly 1.5 trans, possibly less). While bands are really amazing to have, unlike with serpents and artefact dirks, they're not a real necessity.

Talonia

The bashing for occultists is actually not atrocious, particularly once you're lightly artied (crit pendant helps a lot here). Transmogrify means you can basically never lose experience and often doubles as a stat bonus artefact (basically you can get +1 to +3 CON or INT for free on a regular basis). Astralform is fantastic for escaping denizens when you're low on health. Priestess lets you heal large amounts of health using balance and Fool lets you heal three afflictions at once using balance. And damage mitigation between armor, shield and simulacrum is decent. Shield of Absorption is probably a big help...that's what I'm saving credits for now. But bashing can still be great without it. I started out without any artefacts and have not bought credits through OOC means, and have managed to acquire a level 1 crit pendant, level 1 health regen ring, and will soon get a Shield - basically all through bashing/questing. 

Utility is where occultist shines, with tons of escape and/or travel methods (universe, pathfinder, hermit, xenophage, astralform), exploration (astralform), the ability to summon allies with empress, the ability to heal allies' health/mana/afflictions, make letters and journals secret or unreadable to non-occultists for sensitive matters, illusion (which can be huge for RP), and much more.

For combat it depends on what you're interested in, group or solo. In group combat occultists are seemingly gods. I don't know as much about this as I do about bashing/utility but from what I can tell or have been taught they have solid damage (star/warp is a good combo and I know personally it works great on lower-level or mid-tier combatants, particularly when combined with other damage-increasing tricks), hindering, and affliction both in-room and in-area, and stack very well together with one another.

Plus the feel/history/roleplay of the class is fantastic. You should really consider it.  

Korben

Monk is a great bashing class, you only need to learn one ability for bashing and armor costs are minimal, but you have to walk everywhere.

Sylvan is probably the best all around bashing/utility class. Some travel abilities, can refill for yourself, is tanky, can harvest moss for bashing.

Magi are another good bashing class, especially if you go Grook (flood rooms for regen). Once you get into your stride making gold, there's a ton of artefacts that improve Mage combat and bashing. Like Monk, you only need to learn one ability for bashing.

Alchemist is not quite as good as Mage, but you can refill for yourself.

Runewarden is good but expensive: there's weapons and armor upkeep, plus ink use.