athitchcock
02-24-2006, 06:45 AM
<div></div><div>I've been reading many posts all over the forums and I think I've come to the problem. Scouts are hard to classify and therefore balance in EQ2.</div><div> </div><div>I've been looking at this from the soloing standpoint. Each of the archtypes uses a different method to survive in soloing. Basicly, as I understand it, it is meant to work like this:</div><div> </div><blockquote dir="ltr"><div>Fighters solo by outlasting the mob through mitigation (warrior), avoidance (brawler), or heals/taps (crusader).</div><div> </div><div>Priests solo by outlasting the mob through heals. Some have higher heals (clerics), others have more dps (druids) and others buff/debuff (shaman).</div><div> </div><div>Mages solo by mob management. Some use pets (summoners), some use roots and high dps (sorcerers) and some use mind control and buffs/debuffs (enchanters).</div><div> </div><div>Scouts solo by , I'm not exactly sure how to classify it (that's the true problem). Some use buffs (bards), some use debuffs (rogues) and some use stealth and high dps (predators).</div></blockquote><div> </div><div>Now, I understand this is a simplistic way to look at it. I have not played every class, and I don't know which classes are broken where. I just wrote how the game was originally described, aka "as it was intended". If you look at it from this higher level, I believe it becomes apparent how the dps "teirs" must fall.</div><div> </div><div>The problem is, when you give predators the dps they need to solo effectively, they become too powerful in group situations. Since the majority of pedator attacks are positional (ranged and/or behind) they must be able to meet these criteria to solo. If you took any other class and removed their soloing method, they will be unable to solo effectively. Peg me as a whiner, but this applies to EQ2 during any stage of it's history and to any of the classes. A fighter without armor cannot solo, a cleric without mana cannot solo, a summoner without a pet cannot solo, just as a predator cannot effectively solo while facing a mob.</div><div>Pre LU13 the most effective way for rangers to solo was to kite with moving CAs. Post LU13 the effective way for a ranger to solo was to keep the mob from reaching you through dps. Post LU20, I'm not sure but I hope there is something.</div><div> </div><div>My suggestions for solving the overpowered Ranger problem would have been incremental changes, I think we would have all reacted better to that. </div><blockquote dir="ltr"><div>First I would have removed stun poisons, I believe they unbalanced the game, they allowed me to solo blue ^^^ heroics and that is not how the game was meant to be. I'm not sure what their true purpose is. </div><div>Then I might have reduced the proc rate percentage wise, we were proccing very consistenly at a high percentage on our CAs. </div><div>Then I would have done a multiple proc per CA change, however not the change they did. A triple shot used to have the possibility of proccing a poison, quick strike and weapon proc on each shot, then each of those quick strikes had a chance to proc another poison and weapon proc. If you were using just one poison, this would lead to a max of around 18 hits for a 3 hit CA. I believe they should have stopped quick strike from proccing poison and weapon procs. That combined with the reduced proc rate would have made a big impact. </div><div>Finally I would have made the multiple proc change that they implemented, which gets us to where we are today (minus the removal of stun poisons).</div></blockquote><div>I believe if they had done it this way, they would have stopped at the second or third step.</div><div> </div><div>Like I said, I realize that I don't know how all the classes work, but the descriptions are basically from the original generic class descriptions that were given. Also, I've really only focused on the soloing aspect of the changes as they apply to rangers. Would my incremental changes have helped reduce our dps in group and raids? I believe so. Would it have pleased all the other classes? That is impossible. It may have helped with some of the tears over dps teirs though.</div><div> </div><div>Gnaril</div><div><a target="_blank" href="http://www.eqsig.com/?ref=3479"><img src="http://www.eqsig.com/sig/3479.png"></a></div>