Character races
Players must choose a 'race' when creating a character. The choice of races include human, ogre, dwarf, wood elf and dark elf (and others which were available in the original EQ) along with new options such as the Kerra (a cat-person similar to the Vah Shir of the original EQ), the Ratonga (a rat-like people) and with the purchase of an expansion, fae and Arasai. The Froglok race was originally locked until a special server-wide quest was completed to make them playable. Some races are restricted to either Qeynos or Freeport, based on their alignment, but can turn traitor and move to the opposing city.

Races by Starting City (Alignment)
Qeynos (Good)	Kelethin2 (Good)	Freeport (Evil)	Neriak3 (Evil)	Gorowyn4 (Evil)
Barbarian Dwarf Erudite Froglok1 Gnome Half Elf Halfling High Elf Human Kerra Wood Elf	Dwarf Fae2 Gnome Half Elf High Elf Wood Elf	Barbarian Dark Elf Erudite Gnome Half Elf Human Iksar Kerra Ogre Ratonga Troll	Arasai3 Dark Elf Iksar Ogre Ratonga Troll	Barbarian Erudite Gnome Half Elf Human Kerra Sarnak4

1 Introduced on May 27, 2005 with a questline that was initially required to unlock the race.
2 Introduced with the release of the Expansion, Echoes of Faydwer.
3 Introduced with Game Update 35. (You must have Echoes of Faydwer to make an Arasai, but you may start in Neriak as another race without it.)
4Introduced with Rise of Kunark Expansion. Characters created in Timorous Deep are considered evil by other entities in the game, but the city itself is neutral as a mercenary city.
Adventurer classes
There are four "archetypes" in EQ2 - Fighter, Scout, Priest and Mage. When EQ2 was launched, a player chose the character's archetype during the initial character creation and then chose a 'class' at level 10 and a 'sub-class' at level 20. This system was changed in Live Update 19 in January 2006 so that a character's final class is chosen at creation. While archetype>class>sub-class system is no longer explicitly defined in the live game, it still defines the roles of classes. Broadly, in a group situation, any priest can be a healer, any fighter can be a suitable tank, any mage or scout can deal damage, with the mage classes typically being able to deal more damage than a scout class, but being more fragile. Evil classes, such as the Assassin, are only available in Freeport, Neriak, or Gorowyn, while good classes, such as the Paladin, are available in either Qeynos or Kelethin. Neutral classes, such as the Guardians, are available in all cities. Ivory background means the class is available in all cities, light blue background means Qeynos and Kelethin only, reddish background means Freeport, Neriak, and Gorowyn only.

Fighter Warrior Berserker Guardian Crusader Paladin Shadowknight Brawler Monk Bruiser	Scout Bard Troubador Dirge Predator Ranger Assassin Rogue Swashbuckler Brigand
Mage Sorcerer Wizard Warlock Summoner Conjuror Necromancer Enchanter Illusionist Coercer	Mage Sorcerer Wizard Warlock Summoner Conjuror Necromancer Enchanter Illusionist Coercer

Betrayal
Betrayal is a process allowing the player to change from a good or evil alignment to the opposing one, and convert to the good or evil counterpart of their current class. In this manner, one can play a traditionally evil-only race, betray their city of origin in favor of a good-aligned city, and play a good-only class. Naturally, the reverse is also possible-betrayal of a good-aligned city in favor of an evil one in order to access an evil class with a good race.
Artisan classes
A character can also undertake a tradeskill profession, completely separate from his/her adventuring profession. The tradeskill professions branch at levels 10 and 20, just as adventuring classes used to.
The Echoes of Faydwer expansion introduced two secondary tradeskills. These go alongside the primary tradeskills, and a character can switch to the other secondary tradeskill at any time (starting from scratch). Characters do not gain separate experience points for these tradeskills; maximum skill level rises with the primary tradeskill or adventuring level.

Tradeskill Class Tree
Archetype	Class	Subclass	Products
Artisan	Craftsman	Carpenter	furniture (including altars), strongboxes, and repair kits
		Provisioner	food and drink
		Woodworker	bows, arrows, throwing weapons, wooden shields, staves, totems, and musical instruments
	Outfitter	Weaponsmith	metal weapons
		Armorsmith	chainmail and platemail armor, metal shields
		Tailor	cloth and leather armor, backpacks, thrown-weapon bags, hex dolls, and with the Echoes of Faydwer expansion, cloaks.
	Scholar	Alchemist	potions, poisons, and fighter skill upgrades