Thanks Beta Testers for all your feedback!

[Babayaaga]

Gaige and everyone else who provided constant feedback for tweaks and change suggestions to the devs during the beta.... THANK YOU! I am absolutely loving these changes. It feels as though the Monk has finally come into it's own, and is what it should be. I love having my invis back. I love being to able to actually tank effectively, and efficiently! I love that reactives actually work on me. I'm grateful my DPS doesn't suck as bad as I expected. So much more I'm falling in love with this class all over again. Certainly not wanting for anything here. I feel the changes are fair and so far, the balancing seems better than ever. I hope they don't mess this up. <div></div>

[Jessyme]

<P>I'd like to add my thanks as well.  Because of Gaige and the other monk beta testers who posted here, we were kept very well informed of what was coming.  </P> <P>Much appreciated!</P> <P>Quijana</P>

[Hondr]

<DIV>Yeah, what my girl, Porta said!!  :smileyhappy:</DIV>

[shirka]

I am grateful too. thanks Gaige and all other beta testers. I love my monk. Tried some things today (nothing major) and I think I'm better than ever. I actually have to watch out now for taking over agro from MT. My hubbie plays a mystic and we make a fine combi <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> <div></div>

[Rohlstu]

Hehe, it was definitely different when I first got to beta and saw how "new" it was for us.  I was scared when the 9/7 patch hit...but the closer it came to crunch time, the devs did well putting it together.  I am really enjoying the game more now than ever before and taking my time of levels, I want to enjoy as much of DoF as I can.  And don't forget, keep doing the /bug reports as you find them...the community helps shape the game more than people realize!

[Gaige]

<P>/blush</P> <P>I just play here.  I'm glad you guys are enjoying the changes though <3</P>

[salerene]

any of you happy monks play on AB server.  I can't solo anything with an up arrow. everything else is well somewhat easy.(I don't die) well unless its 1 or 2 levels higher then me. then I die preaty fast. <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Not sure whats I'm doing wrong if anything, but something seems amiss. The day before this went live I was able to solo a even con 1 up arrow mob on beta in zek. It was a close fight coming down to who gets the last hit in and it was fun, but now a blue 1 up arrow mob kicks my butt. using the same buffs/stances I used in beta with the same armor/items. btw I'm a 32 monk now . but on beta my monk was 31.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Not sure whats going on, but something is and I need help badly. I like to solo and this has completely killed it. on top of that I can't complete writs most times nor any quests that have solo mobs because the mobs changed to up arrow solo mobs.</DIV>

[Raidi Sovin'faile]

<P>A single arrow up means it's meant for 1 to 2 people. You'd probably be capable of duoing it with nearly anyone (depending on the type, caster, healer, etc), but soloing will require that you are either very well equipped, such as legendary gear and potions, etc, or prepared for a "close call" fight.<BR>It probably also demands a more fine tuning in how you use your abilities... such as saving your stuns/stifles/interupts for when they are casting, and using all of your abilities (for example, Bruisers can mez to give them time for their self heal, or set up a backstab punch).</P> <P>Most solo gaming will be done with no arrow, or arrow down encounters. Or Harclave's.</P> <P>The xp sucks, but they finally did what they said they were gonna do... "no one was meant to solo group tailored encounters".</P>

[salerene]

<P>might want to reread the discription on those ^ solo mobs. It says for an individual not a duo or group. plus its less exp. so its not even worth the effort you have to put into it if more then one person and even then its not worth the effort or risk. </P> <P>It makes no since that I could solo a ^ solo mob that con even to me the day before launch on beta and now that my character is 32 I can't solo the same mob which is 1 level below me. that to me make no since and I'm not the only one that has seen this. </P> <P>It kinda seems like when mobs were spaming thier arts or using thier highest damage arts at the beginning of fights during beta. the mob on live after revamp patch that killed my monk had NO power left when I was down to the red and it was still in the yellow on health. now that tells me something is amiss.  if its a solo mob  and is the same level it should be a close fight, but if its blue to me I should be able to have somewhat of an advantage over the mob, but it still should be a good fight. in my case thats not happening. specially when the mob takes my HP down to almost orange within the first few hits. I saw the same thing last night when playing my alt conjuror. the guardian in group was losing HP extremely fast. so fast the poor fury couldnt keep him healed. she even spammed heals as best she could. </P> <P>Not sure whats going on, but you shouldnt need to relearn being hit. the only thing that needs to be learned is how to use your arts/spells. how a mob hits you isnt up to you, its up to the game. when I pull a mob and it hits me for 1/4 of my HP on the first hit then something is messed up.</P>

[Gaige]

<P>I'm too tired to look for the numerous con explanation posts, but I'm *pretty* sure that MG said something like:</P> <P>"A toon in appropriate handcrafted gear, with appIV spells should be able to effectively solo white con no arrow mobs."  He then of course said gear matters, as does player skill and of course some classes just flat out solo better than others.</P> <P>Now, that said, through all of you rants I didn't see you list your gear, whether you are DWing or using a 2H.  What stance you are using (what quality it is).  What type of class the mobs are (casters are tougher for everyone).  Etc etc.</P> <P>I have not seen a drastic difference in solo'ing post expansion except that its actually a challenge.  Where before anything 48++ or lower was going to die because it couldn't hit me enough to do anything.</P> <P>Now, that isn't the case.  I've solo'd a 47+++ dune tarantula a few times.  Its close, its hard.  Its crappy xp.  It takes forever.  But I can do it.  Would I spend all day doing it?  Hell no.</P> <P>As hard as it is for people to grasp, blue/white cons are the best xp.   Whether solo'ing or grouping, the rate at which you are able to kill blues/whites will easily surpass fighting higher con mobs.</P> <P>Sure, it seems uber to grind on 57 to 59+++ heroics that are orange (I mean hell, I've been doing it shrug).  But I've also been grinding on blues/whites in Solusek's Eye and Perma Frost.</P> <P>Wow, long winded.  I'm sleepy <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></P> <P>The point is, take some time to relearn what you have learned.  All classes are pretty different, including ours.  Once you are used to it and understand it, I think you'll be hard pressed to prefer the old combat system over this one.</P><p>Message Edited by Gaige on <span class=date_text>09-15-2005</span> <span class=time_text>08:07 AM</span>

[KeenaMoonphy]

<DIV>Aye, a big /salute and /thanks to everyone who tested and helped with the incredible outcome of Monks. Thanks to you specifically Gaige, I know you helped us out a lot. :smileywink:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <P></P> <HR> <P>Babayaaga wrote:<BR><BR>I'm falling in love with this class all over again.</P> <P> </P> <P></P> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE>Yeah THAT! ^^^^  Well said.<BR></DIV>

[salerene]

<P>heh I've never been able to take anything that was 2 levels higher then me without a healer. also my gear is mostly player crafted and treassured armor I bought off the broker. same goes for my weapons. </P> <P>You can go here to see my armor and weapons:</P> <DIV><A href="http://eq2players.station.sony.com/en/pplayer.vm?characterId=298021104" target=_blank>http://eq2players.station.sony.com/en/pplayer.vm?characterId=298021104</A> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I can't afford better armor. the buffs I used(not all at the same time) are Wisdom of Zephyl, Karmic focus, and sweeping crane and everburning flame. which is really the only stance I can use outside of a group I've also used martial focus and that doesnt even help. wisdom of zephyl is master 1 and karmic focus is I beleive a app 3 or 4 sweeping crane is adpet 1. now everburning flame is app2, but I've tried in different combination and there isnt any difference that I noticed.</DIV> <DIV>As I said I'm not sure whats going on. Maybe I'm not using the right combination or even the right stance I don't know. one of the stances I have I can't use outside of a group. which I've noticed(when I had it on) helps alot. staggering stance helps me alot, but its group only and so is its replacement. thats why I've asked for help.</DIV>

[Gaige]

<P>Hmm.  Well your armor/weapons look okay from what I can remember.  Your spells seem alright.  You say you are getting killed by blue no arrow mobs, is that correct?</P> <P>You are running your group haste, your defensive stance, your buff and your self haste iirc those spell levels right; which is the same setup I use <EM>except</EM> when I'm soloing I use the mixed stance (which for me is spider stance).  You take a pretty big +tohit penalty in the defensive stance which is hard to overcome when soloing.</P> <P>Are you running out of power?</P>

[salerene]

<P>well gaige your faster then me <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> was about to edit my post and say I was fighting a vallon orc in zek which is a non caster. No I can fight those with ease and the down arrow mobs are simplistic. </P> <P>its the single up arrow mobs and the one I tried was blue to me at 32 and it said it was a solo mob and no, but getting close to out of power. the mob was out of power, but I wasnt when I died the first time. second time I tried every attack art I could I even had one resist on my taunt which was an app2. it was the tuant I got from the begining. I only use it to complete HO's. not sure whats up. </P> <P>Thats one reason I was wondering if anyone was on AB server, maybe they could watch the fight and see what if anything I'm doing wrong. I love the monk class. it didnt matter to me personally whether we got more tanking abiltity, but the loss in damage hurt, but I can live with it. I just don't want to be stuck LFG all day long. I don't have the time to waste lfg every time I log on and soloing is my only viable way to progress.</P>

[bonesbro]

<P>Up arrow mobs are supposed to be very difficult fights for solo players.  A player in mostly legendary stuff, with some adept3 skills, should find an up arrow mob to be challenging but probably doable.  A player in mostly fabled with mostly master skills might have a decent shot at a ^^ mob.  Apparently if you're a half elf, even a [Removed for Content] can take a ^^^ a few levels below them...</P> <P>/feigns</P>

[Babayaaga]

<P>I'm wondering if it is a level-based issue?</P> <P>I remember that before the changes, soloing was very effective for me until somewhere around 40, when mobs seemed to become much, much harder (particularly because there was a substantial increase in non/melee damage).</P> <P>I box an inquisitor myself, but duo we were taking on level 53ish triple up gnolls and raptors in the sinking sands at 50, and fire giants in sol eye at 51. For efficiency sake, I prefer blue triple ups or yellow double ups or groups of non / type mobs. This is certainly something I could NOT do without a bigger group before the changes, even with a healer. I remember having problems with even-con heroic / type mobs duoing.</P> <P>The other thing to consider is weapon type you use when soloing or tanking. If you're using faster weapons you could be taking more riposte damage, but even that I have found is much less than it was before the expansion.</P>