Finally ALL classes Reviewed!

[Crippler]

<div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>Ok first off I just wanted to say thanks to SOE for making the changes in thegame. I was a WoW addict but left because of the dreadful community. Istarted playing EQ2 right before the class changes went on to the test server.I am also waiting for the pvp servers so I didn't really know what to do untilthen. So I figured I would try this new class system on the test server. Thiswould also help me figure out which class would suit me best on the pvp serveras well. Below is my opinion (like it really matters lol) of the classes. Ihaven't gotten to them all but I will be back to edit the post as I complete thelist. Also because I am new to this particular MMO, I have no bias towards anyclass and have not heard about what classes have been nerfed or buffed. Thisis meant to serve as mainly an opinion trying to portray what a new player toEQ2 might think. This also is just taking characters from level 1 to level 6-8on the newly created islands.Scout ClassesSwashbuckler- I picked a dwarf for this class so obviously ran on the QeynosIsland. Even with a stealth attack I found it difficult to solo this classeffectively. I realized at level 3 I could buy a second dagger to duel wieldwith. After that it was much much easier. Also I did not realize that westarted off with poisons that you could put on your daggers. It would havebeen nice to have some sort of tip to let me know about the poison. This wouldbe something I am sure a lot of new players would miss. Also having a seconddagger to start with would make it a much more playable class when you start.It would also give the person playing a better feel for their class.Troubadour- I played a Halfling for this class so played on Qeynos Island.This was another class that I think having a 2nd wpn. Would really help tostart off with. I did the first few quests and I was still level 2 when I hadto kill the level 3 spiders. I had several deaths fighting the spiders so Idecided to farm deer to get to level 3. I hit level 3 and still had adifficult time killing even level mobs. So I bought another dagger and thingswent great. It still took awhile to kill even level mobs but I never cameclose to dying.Ranger- I played as a Woodelf so also on Qeynos Island. This is the onlyclass that I played so far that I am really baffled with. Again you start offwith a poison in your charm slot but again it would be nice if you got a hintor tip to apply the poison to your wpns. Now speaking of this poison it isGodlike at levels1-8. It has a 25% chance to proc, but if it does proc itblasts for 22 points of damage and 22 every 6 seconds after. The other poisonsthat scouts get hit for around 6-8 initially and 6-8 after that. Hitting for22 made it extremely easy to kill higher level mobs. The problem I had is thatwhen the poison didn't proc I died very fast. At level 5 I was fighting thetreants (spelling??) who were also level 5. On two occasions I didn't get theproc and I died while the treants had over 70% health. So playing this classwas almost like gambling. You were either going to kill very fast or die veryfast. My opinion would be to lower the damage on the poison and maybe yourskills like defense and parry would rise, then you might not die so fast.Brigand- Played as a Troll on the Freeport side.  What a very fun class to</div><div>play.  I think this would be the perfect class for a complete newbie to start</div><div>as.  You get two daggers to start off with and a good poison to boot.  I had</div><div>no deaths at all, and a lot of times wouldn't even stealth to kill.  This class</div><div>may be a bit overpowered at the start, but was a complete joy to play. You</div><div>got the feeling right up front as to what this class is all about.Dirge- I played as a Ratonga on the Freeport side.  This wasn't a bad class</div><div>to start with.  The singing strike was very helpful as it gave you a very small</div><div>heal.  It would've been nice to start off with two daggers but I seemed to do</div><div>ok with just 1.  I would really recommend this class to a new player to the game</div><div>who wants to try something different.  Death was never an issue and I had an</div><div>overall good experience with it.</div><div>Assassin- Played a Barbarian on Freeport side. This was by far the most fun Ihad with any scout class. You start the game with two daggers equipped and thatin itself made it far easier to play. I had no deaths at all, just a fun classthat from the beginning makes you feel like an assassin. My only gripe was thatat level 3 you get a spell called double shot which is a range spell. Howeveryou have no bow with you. It just seemed odd to me and I heard other peoplesaying it was strange as well. Its not a big deal to have to buy a bow but italmost feels like you shouldn't have to. I know it sounds lame but at least Iwasn't alone hehe.Fighter ClassesBerserker- I played as a Human on the Qeynos side.  I also played after the</div><div>changes but I don't know if that made a difference or not.  I found this class</div><div>to be like most of the fighter classes.  I had a very easy time leveling and</div><div>running through mobs.  No deaths at all, and easily was killing above my</div><div>level. Bruiser- I played as an Iksar on the Freeport side.  This was another easy class</div><div>to get into.  You come equipped with a wpn in each hand.  You can easily tear</div><div>down mobs in no time.  The self heal I could see would be real helpful as well.</div><div>The only thing I don't quite understand is the actual role of this class later in the</div><div>game.  Is this class actually considered a tank because of the ability to taunt?</div><div>Anyhow absolutely easy class to start on the island with. Paladin- I played as a dwarf, so I played on Qeynos Island. This class caughtme off guard to be honest. I think of all the classes I have played this isthe easiest to solo. The 2 point heal really helps when you use your firstspecial attack. Sorry I cannot remember the name of that spell but it is verynice. The same mobs I had a tough time with as other classes I could easilyhandle with the pally. It didn't matter if I went offensive or defensive I wasable to kill very easily. Even mobs above my level and with the occasional addI could handle.Guardian- I played as a gnome on the Freeport side. I picked a gnomebasically because I thought it might be the most difficult of all the races.In every MMO that I have played race has never really mattered as much as theskill of the player. A lot of people will disagree with that but that's just my2 cents. Anyhow even with my tiny little gnome I had a very easy time gettinginto this class. I had no deaths and was able to kill with relative ease. Youget what you expect when you play this class. A nice well balanced tank.Monk- I played as a Woodelf on the Qeynos side. This class was fairly easy toget into. It came with 2 wpns which made for easy killing early on. As I gota little bit higher level I did have to use a lot of heroics to survive. Itwas a fun class with just the right amount of difficulty.Shadowknight- I played as an Ogre obviously on Freeport side. This is anothergreat class to get started with. The killing didn't seem to fast or to slow.Just like the paladin death was never a concern. A great tank class thatoffered a little bit something different.Mage ClassesWarlock- I played as a Highelf on the Qeynos side.  I also played this on Thursday</div><div>after the updates.  This was a challenging class for sure.  It was made easy by</div><div>having the experience go faster through the first few levels though.  You have to</div><div>really watch the area effect spell or you might bite off more than you can chew.</div><div>The root spell at level 5 made it much much easier.  I was able to control the linked</div><div>mobs much better.  Fun class but pretty tough still.Illusionist- I played as an Erudite on the Qeynos side. This class was mymost difficult class to level. I had absolutely no chance of killing thespiders while I was level 2. So I had to farm again for experience, whichagain a new player could be bothered by this. To kill things up until level 5was nothing but chain casting. I was just spamming my direct damage all thetime and watching my timer very closely. It seemed as if I missed 1 cast I wasdead. However at level 5 I believe you get a root spell. This helped outtons. I was able to kill things much more easily and sometimes could handlemultiple mobs. Regardless it is a very challenging class to play if you wantto solo on the island.Necromancer- I played as a Darkelf on the Freeport side. This was the mostfun I had playing as a caster. It was very easy to solo multiple mobs. My petrarely lost aggro and it rarely took a lot of damage. At the early levels Imight say its overpowered a bit, but its better than taking multiple deaths.Wizard- I played as a Ratonga on the Freeport side.  I also played after the</div><div>new updates.  I didn't have a lot of trouble with this class.  Everything was</div><div>pretty straight forward and I didn't have to chain cast as much as some other</div><div>similar classes.  Just nuke and move on.  Very fun for a straight up dps class.</div><div>Coercer- I played as a Halfelf on the Freeport Isle. Almost everything I saidabout the Illusionist could be said here. You have to spam your direct damagespell to stay alive. Sometimes as much as 10-12 times in a fight. It justseems like to much. If you don't however you will die. Not a class I wouldwant to play if I were just starting out in the world.Conjurer- I played as a gnome on the Qeynos side.  This was a very very</div><div>easy class to start with.  Your pet tanks very well and does not seem to</div><div>take a whole lot of damage.  I actually had to call him off several times</div><div>just to get my defense skill up.  Seems like a very good class to play</div><div>if you are just starting out in the game.Priest ClassesTemplar- I played as a Halfelf on Qeynos side. Here we go again with thespiders at level 2 hehe. I think I am starting to see a pattern. Anyhow Iobviously could not take down a higher level mob, so I had to grind to level 3so I could do the quests. At level 3 I was able to take down the spiders. Ihad to use a full heal to do so but at least I could do it. It was actuallykind of funny because I had people cheering on the spiders thinking I was goingto die. These same people later complimented me saying they didn't know how Ikilled them. So it is basically what I would expect out of a healer type ofclass. Long long battles but it is possible to survive.Warden- I played as an Iksar on the Freeport side. This was a pretty funclass to play overall. I liked the damage shield you got early on as it was alife saver. I did have to spam my dd fire spell a lot but it wasn't tediouslike some of the other classes. I had no deaths and no problems killing thehigher level mobs. Very fun class to play.Defiler- I played as a Kerra on the Freeport side.  I didn't have any problems</div><div>at all with this class.  It seems as though improvements had been made in</div><div>this last update.  So like others who had some healing issues, I was lucky</div><div>and didn't experience this problem.  I think this will be a class that I take further</div><div>as I didn't get a great feel on how this class will be at higher levels. Inquisitor- I played as a Troll on the Freeport Island. This was just anaverage class to play at least for me. Death was never really an issue but youhave to love to spam your spells to live. I had no trouble killing higherlevel mobs it just took forever. It seems like it could be a fun class if thegameplay picked up just a bit. It brought back memories of playing EQ 1several years ago hehe.Fury- I played as a Kerra on the Qeynos side. This is a class that I spent alot of time dying at the spiders again. Even level mobs were ok to deal with,but I had a hard time with multiple/linked mobs or mobs higher level than me.I played this class again after the new updates and found it much easier</div><div>this go around.  I still had some trouble with higher level mobs but that</div><div>is to be expected.  Kinda slow killing but I would expect that our of any</div><div>healer class.Mystic- I played as a Barbarian on the Qeynos side.  This class was very</div><div>easy to play.  I didn't have any deaths but like most of the priest classes,</div><div>killing was fairly slow.  Handling multiple mobs became easier as I leveled</div><div>because of the nice buffs you get.  For whatever reason I had the most</div><div>luck with this priest class.Final Thoughts-  There seems to be a little bit of tweaking for some of the</div><div>classes but overall I think they did a good job with this major overhaul. Things not</div><div>related to this change that I would love to see as a new EQ2 player would be the</div><div>following.  First I would really love to have my hit points and power points displayed</div><div>on the character portrait.  I know you can mouse over it and see but to me it seems</div><div>like a wasted action in the middle of a battle.  It also seems like it would be extremely</div><div>easy to implement.  I also know they just increased the run speed, but it seems a</div><div>little much to me.  It just seems to cause more lag than anything.  Overall though I</div><div>really look forward to advancing in this game.  It is very nice to be a part of a great</div><div>community that likes to help each other out.  Any other feedback would be appreciated</div><div>as I didn't go into a whole lot of detail.  Also if you get bored you can look up either</div><div>Johndus or Fizmond on the test server, as that's where I will be until the pvp servers</div><div>come out.  Take care all and I look forward to seeing you in game!! <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></div><p></p><p><span class="time_text"></span></p>Message Edited by Crippler66 on <span class="date_text">01-26-2006</span><span class="time_text">11:40 PM</span><p>Message Edited by Crippler66 on <span class="date_text">01-27-2006</span><span class="time_text">12:23 AM</span></p><p>Message Edited by Crippler66 on <span class="date_text">01-27-2006</span><span class="time_text">01:36 PM</span></p><p>Message Edited by Crippler66 on <span class="date_text">01-27-2006</span><span class="time_text">05:09 PM</span></p><p>Message Edited by Crippler66 on <span class="date_text">01-27-2006</span><span class="time_text">05:50 PM</span></p><p>Message Edited by Crippler66 on <span class="date_text">01-27-2006</span><span class="time_text">06:36 PM</span></p><p>Message Edited by Crippler66 on <span class="date_text">01-27-2006</span><span class="time_text">06:36 PM</span></p>

[arathym]

<div></div><p>Thank you very much for the input, it helps a lot.</p><p>A few things I'd like to point out:</p><p>1)  With the next push (very soon) experience is significantly increased at the low levels.  This should allow you to make the levels that are required in the chain towards the cave.  You shouldn't have to grind much to take out those pesky spiders.</p><p>2)  All classes will now have a damage art or spell from lvl one.  Some classes had to wait until later to get them.  This should also help with the difficulty factor.</p><p>3)  Some spells were doing 0-1 dmg at first, these should all hit for a min of 1 now. (lol that sounds funny)</p><p>4)  There should also be spell and combat arts merchants with the next push.  Upgrading your spells will also help with difficulty.</p><p>5)  What I am currently working on is re-evaluating the starting weapons.  We'd like to give everyone the weapons that will work best for them.  Some of them are not the case right now.</p><p>Hmm... I feel like I forgot some things, but I'll jump back in if I can think of them.  Again, thanks.</p>

[Ivellious]

<div></div><p>First off, I'm really glad a new player to this game would consider making a character in the test server and see what class they like and how that class could appeal better to new players.   you right now are doing more to improve the game then, i'd say a safe bet, of more then 85+% of the user database here.  Big grats to you.  back to the subject, I'm really happy this is appealing to the "WoW refugees" to make this game thrive a little bit more, and I'm happy you actually took the time to try as many classes as you could to see how WoW people would like them in a way.  Many of the current existing characters, the 50+ ones don't really think of this change as a way to appeal to the WoW people but more of the old EQ1 people, kinda a step backwards, but a good step none the less.  Many of the people here would disagree with a couple of the things you've said, because things, as of right now not sure about when lu 19 goes live, change drastically when you hit the tier 3-6 lvls.   You've made alot of good points such as scout classes being able to use poison and your right new players don't know of this, it's kinda considered an intermediate lvl skill.  I personally play a Guardian on Antonia Bayle and I for one hope these changes help my class in it's tanking ability.  You said in your post that guardians were a well balanced tank, i pray this is true end game.  Right now we can do some dps, no where near the dps of other tanks, but that doesn't mean we dont' do any at all, dual weild offensive stance guardians can dish out some dmg.</p><p>ok now your styles of finding the race you wanted to test your classes.  One love the gnome guardian. Ofcourse gnome is not the best type of guardian to play, and this is wehre powergaming plays a factor.  First, Powergamers will chose either Barbarian or Ogre to be a Guardian because of race traits that give signifficant sta or str, which ofcourse is the 2 most important guardian skills, more life, more power.  You however chose gnome, because it would be fun, and that makes you a better gamer, you play for fun not career.  One game I play sums it up real nice, "this is your story, noone elses." so your one up in the begining then all the powergamers out there, they will lvl faster, but in the end you have more fun. </p><p>Well again good job in the work you put together, I would really like to hear that your putting forth the effort to do something, and thanks for the feedback on how this game could change to help beginers in the game.</p>

[Crippler]

<div></div>Hey there a quick thanks for the good feedback already.  Ya I will admit that I am a WoW refugee but before that it was EQ for 4 years lol.  I am sure that as these classes go further in level most of what I had to say will be useless lol.  I am very much looking forward to the higher levels of this game.  I just hope that my little post could at least give some insight on what new EQ2 players might be thinking.  I am just amazed that I like this game as much as I do, and I want people who are trying it out to feel what I do and not be turned off by those deaths.  I was going to add to my post as a wizard but somebody had to shut the server down lol. 

[HaCkHaCkER]

<div>i really liked this post, a good objective post well accepted.</div><div> </div><div><blockquote><hr>5)  What I am currently working on is re-evaluating the starting weapons.  We'd like to give everyone the weapons that will work best for them.  Some of them are not the case right now.<hr></blockquote>as your re evalueating the weapons for starting, one thing i have noticed, is about the stats that are on those weapons.  iirc the wizard starting wep and the illusionist wep had +wis on them, i would have figure they should be +int. </div><div> </div><div>i might be wrong on this point.  as test just came down for this push i think.  so i will edit this post when it is back up to be more accurate or retract.  thanks</div>

[landru]

<div></div><div><blockquote><hr>Crippler66 wrote:<div></div><div></div><div>Defiler- Havent played yet but will play on the Freeport side.<hr></div></blockquote><p><span><font color="#ffffff">Hey, just thought that I would chime in on this part.  I played a defiler on test for about 7 levels and found that their sacrificing heal would suck down the life of the defiler by 20%-50% depending on level.  That made for a few quick deaths since it put me at a major disadvantage against the mob since using it equated out to a sudden large drop of heal with no real heal effect.  I understand that it was made for healing a group member, but at such and earlier level I don't feel that it would leave a good taste in a new players mouth.  All-in-All the rest of the spells was fine and the class played well.  The sacrificial heal pretty much removed it's usefulness from solo'ing though.  Made it leveling a bit slower than some of the other classes that I've played on test during this patch.</font></span></p><p><span>Crippler66, please double check my assessment of the class and tell me if you feel the same way.</span></p></div>

[ReynardTheFox]

Why title the post "All classes reviewed!" when quite obviously they are not?The info on the classes you did review will be useful for newcomers to the game.<div></div>

[Seffrid]

<div></div><blockquote><hr>ReynardTheFox wrote:Why title the post "All classes reviewed!" when quite obviously they are not?<div></div><hr></blockquote><p>There's no reason why the others shouldn't be added in later - by you, even.</p><p>Nitpicking!</p><p>An excellent review, well thought out and put together and obviously really helpful to both devs and players alike. Thanks for all the effort that went into it.</p>

[Galn]

<div></div><div></div><blockquote><hr>arathym wrote:<div></div><p>Thank you very much for the input, it helps a lot. <font color="#ff6600">Glad we can help. :smileyhappy:</font></p><p>A few things I'd like to point out:</p><p>1)  With the next push (very soon) experience is significantly increased at the low levels.  This should allow you to make the levels that are required in the chain towards the cave.  You shouldn't have to grind much to take out those pesky spiders. <font color="#ff9900">This will just mean we are level 4 by the time we get to the spiders but they'll still be difficult for some classes at that time. My Berserker had to be level 5 before he could kill them with a margin of safety, at level 4 the fight depended on how many times the spider parried or riposted me. Sometimes I'd die fast, sometimes I'd win fast. </font></p><p>2)  All classes will now have a damage art or spell from lvl one.  Some classes had to wait until later to get them.  This should also help with the difficulty factor. <font color="#ff9900">Perhaps for a few levels, unless the CA's are increased in power some. </font></p><p>3)  Some spells were doing 0-1 dmg at first, these should all hit for a min of 1 now. (lol that sounds funny) <font color="#ff6600">Seriously though, why should there be CA's that only hit for 1 point off damage, these CA's need to last the character until the replacement is learned in tier 2. 1 hit of damage on a level 9 mob is a "merely a fleshwound!" :smileytongue:</font></p><p>4)  There should also be spell and combat arts merchants with the next push.  Upgrading your spells will also help with difficulty. <font color="#ff9900">To be honest, I never update to apprentice 2, even once I reach Qeynos/Freeport. Most Tier 1 skills gain 1-2 points of damage. Now if we could get Apprentice IV's...... :smileysurprised:</font></p><p>5)  What I am currently working on is re-evaluating the starting weapons.  We'd like to give everyone the weapons that will work best for them.  Some of them are not the case right now. <font color="#ff9900">This may help the difficulty depending on how much difference there is in the damage ratings.  </font></p><p>Hmm... I feel like I forgot some things, but I'll jump back in if I can think of them.  Again, thanks. <font color="#ff9900">..and thank you for taking the time to keep us informed. </font></p><hr></blockquote><p><font color="#ff9900">One question I had... </font><font color="#ff9900">Why do the combat arts on the new isle's do so much less damage than the old counterparts for the fightes/scouts/mages/priests? Edit - To clarify this... "for some classes"</font></p><p>Message Edited by Galn on <span class="date_text">01-26-2006</span><span class="time_text">02:12 AM</span></p>

[Magu]

<div><span><blockquote><hr>Crippler66 wrote:<div></div><div></div><div>Swashbuckler - [snip] Also I did not realize that westarted off with poisons that you could put on your daggers. It would havebeen nice to have some sort of tip to let me know about the poison.Ranger- [snip] Again you start offwith a poison in your charm slot but again it would be nice if you got a hintor tip to apply the poison to your wpns.</div><hr></blockquote>Most people check their inventory though to see what they're given at the start. Once you do that, it's pretty clear...</span></div>

[Yirabeth]

<div></div><span><blockquote><hr>ReynardTheFox wrote:Why title the post "All classes reviewed!" when quite obviously they are not?The info on the classes you did review will be useful for newcomers to the game.<div></div><hr></blockquote>lol maybe he (she?) shoulda titled it "Most classes reviewed, and I'll fill in the rest as time permits, and you all can also fill in your impressions below too!" except that probably wouldn't fit in the title line...so he named it appropriately considering he fully intends on reviewing the other classes too, and maybe some other players would like to give their impressions... thus covering all classes.  Cut the guy a break, he's spending all his playtime really reviewing the game and seeing how things are, so when he DOES pick a class it's one he really likes and can get into without constantly feeling 'cheated' by how the class works <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />Good input there, OP, it's funny/interesting to see how classes within the same 'archetype' (I know they're doing away with archetypes..but healers are all still healers, etc) function on the same content.  I'm sure the input you and others provide will help the devs get them all  balanced for the best possible game play.To Magus -- while it's true the 'oldtimer' will check inventory and make use of what they have, if a newbie comes along, or an oldtimer that starts a scout type for the first time ever, even if they DO see that poison they're not gonna have the slightest idea how to use it. A small tip regarding its use would be nice for them. (I've played EQ/EQ2 for 4 yrs now, never done a poison using scout --- maybe I will someday, I dunno --- I would have no idea on how to apply that poison.)  You know, just something along the lines of "Scouts use poisons to help in their kills. To apply the poison to your weapon, do x with y etc."~Yira</span><div></div><p>Message Edited by Yirabeth on <span class="date_text">01-26-2006</span><span class="time_text">07:10 AM</span></p>

[mochl]

To the OP- I did pretty much the same thing you did and rolled many different classes and i agree with your assessment on most of them. I play both a 60 Guardian, 60 Ranger and a 52 Warden on live so i concentrated on those classes.After reading your post i was kind of doing a double take... i didnt realize that my newly created ranger had poison in the inventory at all. On the live servers i dont even start a fight without checking to see if my poisons are up yet it didnt even occur to me that i had poison on test. I didnt have near the trouble you had with any of the mobs though even without the poisons. It might have something to do with my experience playing a Ranger on live im not sure.Arathym- While youre looking at the weapons the different classes start out with.... would it be possible to give the Guardian, Paladin and maybe the SK's some light shields? Unless its changed within the last few days, new Guardians start out with the 2H halberd. It reminded me of getting Delecar's Halberd of Defense on live when i did the class quest way back then. Just seems, i dont know... wrong. Im not saying give new characters massive tower shields, just maybe a decent buckler/round shield with some decent STA. Throw in a low level sword while youre at it.<div></div>

[Korb]

<blockquote><hr>Crippler66 wrote:<div></div><div></div><div>Illusionist- I played as an Erudite on the Qeynos side. This class was mymost difficult class to level. I had absolutely no chance of killing thespiders while I was level 2. So I had to farm again for experience, whichagain a new player could be bothered by this. To kill things up until level 5was nothing but chain casting. I was just spamming my direct damage all thetime and watching my timer very closely. It seemed as if I missed 1 cast I wasdead. However at level 5 I believe you get a root spell. This helped outtons. I was able to kill things much more easily and sometimes could handlemultiple mobs. Regaurdless it is a very challenging class to play if you wantto solo on the island.Coercer- I played as a Halfelf on the Freeport Isle. Almost everything I saidabout the Illusionist could be said here. You have to spam your direct damagespell to stay alive. Sometimes as much as 10-12 times in a fight. It justseems like to much. If you dont however you will die. Not a class I wouldwant to play if I were just starting out in the world.<hr></div></blockquote>I have to agree 120%! played both an illusionist and coercer as well as a number of other classes and had a terrible time with them. I deleted the illusionist and have been struggling to get the coercer up in levels. I'm just hopeing that at some point I get a good spell that makes this all worth the time. If I was a new player, I would have given up at about level 3 or 4. Just wasn't any fun when other classes are zooming by you.

[FinalHolmes]

<div></div>Well done Crippler66, a first class review :smileywink:

[pera]

<div></div><span><blockquote><hr>arathym wrote:<p>Thank you very much for the input, it helps a lot.</p><p>A few things I'd like to point out:</p><p>5)  What I am currently working on is re-evaluating the starting weapons.  <font color="#ffff00">We'd like to give everyone the weapons that will work best for them.  Some of them are not the case right now.</font></p><p>Hmm... I feel like I forgot some things, but I'll jump back in if I can think of them.  Again, thanks.</p><hr></blockquote>So far i love the changes to the </span><span>newby </span><span>islandy it really gives you a good idea what the game has instore for you. I noticed the troubador was given a one handed weapon i believe it was an axe, lol normaly play test very late at night before bed so memory isn't so good.  In most normal aspects the troubadors rarely if ever use one handed weapons, almost alwasy duel weild.  I have not creasted a rogue/pred yet so i'm not sure if the one hander is the norm or excpetion for newby scouts.I guess at that level, with the limitations of a spell line a troubador will have a one hander and shield wouldn't be too bad, but the sheild would really be required (drr, guess that is what one hander is for)But the only reason a troub normaly uses the dw is,  because their damage output solo is so low that rarely can they servive at lower level adventure/armor/spells without the increase in damage from duel wielding.  This is pretty evendant till they hit the high 50, then its not such a problem but still DW is almost alwasy prefered.</span><div></div><p>Message Edited by perano on <span class="date_text">01-26-2006</span><span class="time_text">06:55 AM</span></p>

[pera]

<span><blockquote><hr>Crippler66 wrote:<div></div><div></div><div>Troubadour- I played a Halfling for this class so played on Qeynos Island.This was another class that I think having a <font color="#ffff00">2nd wpn. </font>would really help tostart off with. I did the first few quests and I was still level 2 when I hadto kill the level 3 spiders. I had several deaths fighting the spiders so Idecided to farm deer to get to level 3. I hit level 3 and still had adifficult time killing even level mobs. So I bought another dagger and thingswent great. It still took awhile to kill even level mobs but I never cameclose to dying.</div><hr></blockquote>Hot idea, But at the moment on live bards(trouadors) can not use 2 handed weapons at all :-/as far as i know no scout can.</span><div></div>

[mortem]

<div></div><span><blockquote><hr>perano wrote:<span><blockquote><hr>Crippler66 wrote:<div></div><div></div><div>Troubadour- I played a Halfling for this class so played on Qeynos Island.This was another class that I think having a <font color="#ffff00">2nd wpn. </font>would really help tostart off with. I did the first few quests and I was still level 2 when I hadto kill the level 3 spiders. I had several deaths fighting the spiders so Idecided to farm deer to get to level 3. I hit level 3 and still had adifficult time killing even level mobs. So I bought another dagger and thingswent great. It still took awhile to kill even level mobs but I never cameclose to dying.</div><hr></blockquote>Hot idea, But at the moment on live bards(trouadors) can not use 2 handed weapons at all :-/as far as i know no scout can.</span><div></div><hr></blockquote>yea there is one weapon on live anyone can use. it is a 2h crush. The Spoon!! from cazel's mesa.            back to the op: i started a ranger on test the other day and i must say it is a ton of fun. you are dead on right that if that poison doesn't proc i have to do a little more work but not a whole lot.  The island is actually fun now and I am super glad i dont have to lvl a char up to 30 to get a real sense of his skills anymore.       </span><div></div><p>Message Edited by amadeusex on <span class="date_text">01-26-2006</span><span class="time_text">07:39 AM</span></p>

[Salmastryon]

<div><span><blockquote><hr>perano wrote:<span><blockquote><hr>Crippler66 wrote:<div></div><div></div><div>Troubadour- I played a Halfling for this class so played on Qeynos Island.This was another class that I think having a <font color="#ffff00">2nd wpn. </font>would really help tostart off with. I did the first few quests and I was still level 2 when I hadto kill the level 3 spiders. I had several deaths fighting the spiders so Idecided to farm deer to get to level 3. I hit level 3 and still had adifficult time killing even level mobs. So I bought another dagger and thingswent great. It still took awhile to kill even level mobs but I never cameclose to dying.</div><hr></blockquote>Hot idea, But at the moment on live bards(trouadors) can not use 2 handed weapons at all :-/as far as i know no scout can.</span><div></div><hr></blockquote>He's saying a second weapon there, not a two-hander.  On test, for some classes you start out with on duel-wield weapon which isnt' very useful, you have to go out and buy a second one.  I've heard a fix is in the pipe on this, but I've not gone back and retested the island in the last week. (been testing out the adventure areas in Freeport)  And the originaly poster is completely right here.  Scouts should start out with 2 duel-wield weapon equiped.  I know that the dirge started out with one handed weapon and no shield. o.O  As soon as weapons were added to the merchants on the island I ditched that weapon for two tin weapons from the merchant.  My attack in my persona window jumped significantly to as a result.</span></div>

[pera]

<span><blockquote><hr>Salmastryon wrote:He's saying a second weapon there, not a two-hander.<span></span><hr></blockquote>Ah so you are correct. Reading comprehension is way over rated.</span><div></div>

[Zmobie]

Re: Difficulty/frustration with playing some classes, specifically the Mez classes.Obviously, some classes are going to be more difficult to play effectively than others. However, a true newbie to MMOs might not notice this, especially since so much of the EQ2 hype/marketting talks about the equality of the classes, casual-friendly, etc.On Anarchy Online, when you go through character creation, the various classes have a brief description of what they do, followed by an idication of how hard they are to play effectively. Your standard meatshield tank is Easy, and ranges up to the Difficult mez classes.I think it would be a good idea to have something like this in EQ2 as well. Let them know that if they are wanting to play a caster, but are new to the game or the genre, that a Wizard is likely going to be a bit easier to figure out then a Coercer.I'd hate to see some new player show up, try a Coercer, get frustrated, switch to an Illusionist, get frustrated, then just say hell with it, and stop playing.--Tusk

[Grimme]

<div></div>The wis on the mage weps - doesnt that help with resists?

[Crippler]

<div></div><blockquote><hr>ReynardTheFox wrote:Why title the post "All classes reviewed!" when quite obviously they are not?The info on the classes you did review will be useful for newcomers to the game.<div></div><hr></blockquote>Well eventually it will be all lol.  I didnt know what to title this thread as.  I figured if I typed "all"  it would get more responses I suppose.

[Yirabeth]

<span><blockquote><hr>perano wrote:<span><blockquote><hr>Salmastryon wrote:He's saying a second weapon there, not a two-hander.<span></span><hr></blockquote>Ah so you are correct. Reading comprehension is way over rated.</span><div></div><hr></blockquote>LOL! I love it when a person can not only admit when they make a mistake, but laugh at themselves in the process...Kudos to you, Perano <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />~Yira</span><div></div>

[Crippler]

<div></div><blockquote><hr>arathym wrote:<p>1)  With the next push (very soon) experience is significantly increased at the low levels.  This should allow you to make the levels that are required in the chain towards the cave.  You shouldn't have to grind much to take out those pesky spiders.</p><hr></blockquote>Ya already tried this today and that was much improved.  My little warlock only bit it once off of spiders:smileyvery-happy:

[Zolg]

<div></div><div></div>Good work, Crippler66! Ignore the negativity in this post. :smileywink:  I was really impressed that you took the time to do this and what problems you had. Thanks for doing this!<p>Message Edited by Zolg on <span class="date_text">01-26-2006</span><span class="time_text">03:53 PM</span></p>

[Kam]

Good post. I have played several classes and agree with some of your post as well.I have played the dirge and found some problems at level 2 as well. Killed crabs for a couple levels and then had no problems.I have not enjoyed playing the fury, but will try him again.Same as you, I enjoyed playing the necro the most I think. That pet is uber!I have even sent him to attack a green mob or two while camping and before I was gone, I got the experiance, lol.Good work.<div></div>

[Eyes_of_Truth]

<div></div><p>Hehe one of my big concerns is that some classes are still missing some key abilities that their class needs to learn how to use later on:</p><p>Paladin doesnt recive a heal till 22, should most likely recive one at level 8, since that is minus 14 levels, the normal spell progression range, or perhaps around level 5?</p><p>Sk doesnt recive a skelly pet till 25 (but gets the self-buff to collect the essences at level 3!) would be level 11 if minus 14, but giving it at level 5 would make sence.</p><p>neither Summoner class gets a damage pet till 20, which is the main pet they will use in most groups, they should recive one at level 6</p><p>the priests dont recive their special heals till atleast level 12 (very important abilities to get a distinct feel for the class), these should probly be at level 1 or 2.</p><p>Illusionist doesnt recive the duplicate at level 1, nor does coercer recive a level 1 charm, these are nessisary solo tools for both classes, thus explaining why you had trouble with them both, also neither recives a power regeneration spell untill 18, which is another important skil for these two classes. should be at level 1, and move the level 10 spells to level 12, just like summoners.</p><p> </p><p>Thoughs would be my suggestions, i also agree that combat seems a little harsh for some classes since they are lacking parts that help them solo, especially enchanters.</p><p> </p>

[Crippler]

<div></div><blockquote><hr>landru wrote:<div><p><span><font color="#ffffff">Hey, just thought that I would chime in on this part.  I played a defiler on test for about 7 levels and found that their sacrificing heal would suck down the life of the defiler by 20%-50% depending on level.  That made for a few quick deaths since it put me at a major disadvantage against the mob since using it equated out to a sudden large drop of heal with no real heal effect.  I understand that it was made for healing a group member, but at such and earlier level I don't feel that it would leave a good taste in a new players mouth.  All-in-All the rest of the spells was fine and the class played well.  The sacrificial heal pretty much removed it's usefulness from solo'ing though.  Made it leveling a bit slower than some of the other classes that I've played on test during this patch.</font></span></p><p><span>Crippler66, please double check my assessment of the class and tell me if you feel the same way.</span></p></div><hr></blockquote>The last update I think fixed that sacrificial heal problem.  I did not have any problems at all with this.  I have to agree with you, the leveling was a little bit slow but the class did play pretty well.  As I posted on my first post, I didnt get a real good feel for this class for whatever reason.  So when I am done with the rest of the classes I think I will take this one further. 

[Crippler]

<div></div><blockquote><hr>Eyes_of_Truth wrote:<div></div><p>Hehe one of my big concerns is that some classes are still missing some key abilities that their class needs to learn how to use later on:</p><p>Paladin doesnt recive a heal till 22, should most likely recive one at level 8, since that is minus 14 levels, the normal spell progression range, or perhaps around level 5?</p><p>Sk doesnt recive a skelly pet till 25 (but gets the self-buff to collect the essences at level 3!) would be level 11 if minus 14, but giving it at level 5 would make sence.</p><p>neither Summoner class gets a damage pet till 20, which is the main pet they will use in most groups, they should recive one at level 6</p><p>the priests dont recive their special heals till atleast level 12 (very important abilities to get a distinct feel for the class), these should probly be at level 1 or 2.</p><p>Illusionist doesnt recive the duplicate at level 1, nor does coercer recive a level 1 charm, these are nessisary solo tools for both classes, thus explaining why you had trouble with them both, also neither recives a power regeneration spell untill 18, which is another important skil for these two classes. should be at level 1, and move the level 10 spells to level 12, just like summoners.</p><p> </p><p>Thoughs would be my suggestions, i also agree that combat seems a little harsh for some classes since they are lacking parts that help them solo, especially enchanters.</p><p> </p><hr></blockquote>Thanks for giving a reply.  You gave me a whole lot of information that I didnt know hehe.  If I only had the time to take all the classes to 20.

[Ishnar]

<div></div><blockquote><hr>ReynardTheFox wrote:Why title the post "All classes reviewed!" when quite obviously they are not?The info on the classes you did review will be useful for newcomers to the game.<div></div><hr></blockquote>Looks like all the classes were covered.  Not all the subclasses, but all the classes were.

[Crippler]

<div></div><blockquote><p></p><hr><p>Ishnar wrote:</p><p>Looks like all the classes were covered.  Not all the subclasses, but all the classes were.</p><p></p><hr></blockquote>Ya well isnt this big overhaul getting rid of the subclasses?  Or am I completely missing something?

[Robert Paulson]

<div></div><div></div><div>Great thread BTW :smileyvery-happy:thanx Crippler</div><div> </div><div>I love playing my Brigand mostly restarted him on the test server to get used to some of the changes before the PvP comes out.</div><div> </div><div>Just wanted to answer you question on what role Bruisers play. IMO Bruiser are a multifunction light tanks, they can tank or DPS. Bruisers are the best tanks in my opinion when it comes to 1 or 2 mobs but they dont do well when engaged with multiple targets. If i know i am going to be engaging large groups of mobs i prefer Zerkers. My group of choice has a Zerker and a Bruiser. If the Zerker is good he'll hold agro and the Bruiser can DPS and offtank when needed. Bruisers that can switch their offensive and defensive stances quickly make great offtanks they have the DPS to take adds down and can taunt enough to keep that mob on them. Not to mention they can heal themselves and mez/fear if they have too.</div><div> </div><div>Yes they cant wear heavy armor and hence have less mitigation then other tanks but other tanks dont have a 70%+ avoidance like Bruisers. Course alott has to be said for player skill and that's the live servers haven't teamed up with a Bruiser on test yet course i am not playing a Fury on test either.</div><div> </div><div> </div><p>Message Edited by Robert Paulson on <span class="date_text">01-28-2006</span><span class="time_text">01:14 AM</span></p>

[Ishnar]

<div></div><div>the way I see it, they are getting rid of classes. <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /><blockquote><p></p><hr><p>Crippler66 wrote:</p><p>Ya well isnt this big overhaul getting rid of the subclasses?  Or am I completely missing something?</p><p></p><hr></blockquote></div>

[Robert Paulson]

<div></div><p>You have it right Cripple .....</p><p>I dont know if Ishnar is confused or just being sarcastic ........</p>

[Froed20]

<div></div>I had fun reading this, it's interesting to see what someone who's just starting out thinks of the classes in this game.  Many of us have been playing EQ since the dawn of time, and tend to be a bit set in what we think these games should feel like, so it's fun to see what other people think who are new to the series.  Have fun!<span></span><div></div><p>Message Edited by Froed2004 on <span class="date_text">01-28-2006</span><span class="time_text">06:29 PM</span></p>

[Alteri_1]

<div></div>Excellent work, <strong><font color="#9966cc">Crippler66</font></strong>!  Thank you for your efforts both in trying all the classes, and posting about it too!  Thanks also to <strong><font color="#ff0000">arathym</font></strong> for the update!  It's very welcome to see staff posting so often to post these days!  Keep up the good work!  :smileyhappy: