Feel like Im missing something

[DanaDark]

<p>Hey Paladins of EQ2!</p><p>Im bored at work and just ranting... so, please don't bite me... lol.</p><p>Anyway, I played EQ1 for a loonnggg time. As a Paladin. I remember being considared just a weak warrior with minor cleric spells... then we got greater healing... rezes... and all was happy and merry.</p><p>In EQ1 the Paladin was a tank yes, but knew we were a defensive support tank if a warrior came into the group, which I really enjoyed. It meant I didn't ALWAYS have to be the tank, I could throw back up heals if the healer was having issues, I could unleash stuns on caster mobs, and even had a buff or two that was all sorts of nifty. Sure my damage wasn't exactly making a wizard drool, but I was NEVER denied a group because they "already have a tank, sorry".</p><p>But here... in EQ2... it's different. 90% of Paladins on the boards just want to be tanks. Seems no one wants the ability to heal or buff AT ALL. heck, seen sooo many flames regarding that... makes me somewhat sad.</p><p>I kinda wish I could have my EQ1 roll here in EQ2 he he... felt like that were tons of classes in EQ1... but only 4 classes in EQ2 with different flavoring.</p><p>As a side note... my favorite trio I ever played in EQ2 was a guardian (me) a paladin (was my personal healer) and a troub (Our dps.. [Removed for Content]) .... was the best set up in the whole wide world <3 <3 <3 ... </p>

[Satyrfawn]

<p>Never played EQ1, so I'm not qualified to compare an EQ2 Paladin to what you had in EQ1, but I will offer that- unfortunately for you- the EQ2 Paladin as Sony has designed the class is primarily a tank with some special abilities that make the class more interesting to play than a straight Warrior.  In EQ2- at least pre-RoK release-you can currently only excel at one specialty~ tanking, healing, or dps'ing.  If you spec for tanking, you can be an awesome tank, and a lot of folks see that as the only viable way to get a spot in a raid for endgame content, hence the 90% emphasis on tank-spec ....but your healing and dps will suffer.  You <i><span style="color: #00ccff;">could</span></i> spec for dps, but your tanking will suffer.  I've heard of Paladins who love it, however; they don cloth armor and wear all the jewelry a caster would equip in order to max out their dps.  Crazy wing-heads.  You can certainly spec for healing if you <span style="color: #00cccc;"><i>really</i></span> want to be (or need to be) a support character, but your defense and dps will take a hit... not to mention you'll be hard-pressed to keep a spot in a raid as a heal-spec'ed Paladin because they will eventually rather have a healer who can ward and cure in your place.  But there is at least one Paladin that I know of on the 'paladinsforright' ww channel that is very knowledgeable if pally-healing is your bag; he rocked the parses in our all-Paladin raid a few weeks ago. I'm sure he would suggest what to pick for AA's, which items you need to aquire.. etc.  Joram on Butcherblock server.  Not that I'm recommending any Paladin spec for healing....but if you are in a special situation, who are we to judge? </p><p>I'm kinda curious what's in store for us with the release of Rise of Kunark, and how that is going to affect our AA trees and our ability to change specs to suit our individual roles in gameplay.</p>

[Thuriel]

<p>I stopped playing EQ when EQ2 came out mainly because I believed that the EQ Paladin was broken at a fundamental level and the infamous "Holy Trinity" was shutting me out of a lot of content. I don't know how the EQ Paladin changed after I quit but here are some of the differences in my playing experience.</p><p>Aggro Control* EQ - I had snap aggro control down pat. If the main raid tank want down, I'd chain stun and have to mob on me instantly. Having three stuns in our arsenal meant I could get the attention of any adds that came our way.* EQ2 - I have to depend on a DPS class to keep aggro. If I lose aggro, I can't get it back as fast as I did back in EQ.</p><p>Healing* EQ - Except for LoH, healing for me was only useful when soloing. I'd root the mob, step back and heal, then re-engage. EQ didn't have implied targeting so you couldn't effectively heal and melee at the same time. Paladins were good for LoH, but due to lag, we'd end up wasting LoH on a corpse.* EQ2 - Surprisingly, on one guild raid I out-parsed all but one healer on the healing parse. I wasn't even healing specced.</p><p>Crowd Control* EQ - Paladins had root. It came in really handy when there was no mezzer.* EQ2 - What is this "crowd control" you speak of?</p><p>In EQ, the Warrior was the best and most efficient tank, but the Paladin was the one you wanted if the situation rapidly deteriorated and needed to pull your group's collective rear-end out of the fire.</p><p>The problem with the EQ Paladin was it was based on the D&D Paladin and was a hybrid class in a game that required specialization. The joke was Paladins were 2/3 Warrior + 1/4 Cleric. It was plainly obvious that the EQ devs had no idea what Paladins were supposed to be.</p><p>I think the EQ2 devs had a more concrete design for Paladins since it seems the EQ2 Paladin was designed from the ground up. But I miss being the clutch player that saves the group from defeat. It's been stated by the devs that the Guardian is the tank designed to keep the group alive.</p>

[Mgunner]

<p>What are these buffs you speak of? If your referring to Call to Duty or Ardent Belief then you are certainly not well versed in the offerings of other classes. When is the last time someone asked for Call to Duty or Ardent Belief. They want spell haste, melee haste, DPS, DKTM, PoTM, etc. There's only so much room in a raid for buffers. And a buffing class we are not.  How many times are we put in a mage type group to Amends ONE person. Call to Duty does what for caster groups? Oh ya, nothing.</p><p>Not so that I leave this thread without offering potential solutions. Triple the proc rate on Call to Duty and add a secondary effect that reduces recast of spells by 10%. Also change it to ANY successful attacks that would include damage from spells. That should about cover the two types of groups we typically join.</p>

[ChopStix]

<p>make sure you get a warlock in your group that has specced down the propagation line,and of course amends him, and also paladins can add like 700+mit to all non fighters effectively adding to thier survivability...</p><p> so throw a troubador, illusionist, warlock, wizard, and fury in with that paladin and thats a pretty hefty group makeup.. the paladin should be critting on every combat art, and every spell with also 15% more chance to proc buffs [if not more] if they have enhanced call to duty and righteous demonstration... thats like a multi encounter dream team, if you ask me...</p>

[knightofround]

If paladins AA spec for it, they can single heal almost every zone in the game, as long as they have their heals all at M1. Of course, most healers can do the same without any AA and only ad1 heals. I found it very surprising that the Paladin's ward is about 2/3s the size of my defiler's.The problem becomes when you do that, you lose much of your dps, thereby hurting your tankability. Most tanks *need* their AAs to be focused on aggro control, just so they can keep up with DPS classes.There's nothing stopping you from speccing healing and still tank every once in awhile. In most instances you'll be just fine; but when you start grouping with raid-equipped fully mastered people you'll need all the help you can get.To be honest, I enjoy the EQ2 paladin far more than the EQ1. I miss chain-stunning, I miss root-parking...but its so much better to be in a game where all the tanking classes are balanced. (People need to get over their only-guardians-can-tank mentality) And its fun being a master of AE aggro.