I played a necro in EQ1. I was level 68, about 200AAs and time flagged. So, having seen a run down on the other mage classes and what the author of those pieces thought was wrong with them, I will do the same here. Now I am perfectly aware that this is a new game, but having been a Necro in EQ1 for well over 3 years, I can't help but make comparisons
I came to EQ2 with the idea of playing a defiler, and indeed I did, up to 31. I became frustrated with the shamans inability to heal effectively and the generally insane aggro that a combination of runes/debuffs/heals seemed to give me (to the point where the tank could not get mobs off me). This may or may not have been me - but as far as I could see, I was just keeping the tank alive, and when he is low on health , I had to heal - the complaint about 25+ groups needing 2 healers was starting to ring very true and the claim that all healers were equal but they healed in different ways is just not true. So, I have switched (or rather gone back) to the necro.So for me, there were (are?) a few things that defined a necro:1) Lifetaps2) Dots3) Get out of jail1) These seem to be sorely missing. These are one or two in there somewhere, but not until higher level. IF there was one thing I could change about the EQ2 necro it would be to give them proper lifetaps.2) Yes again they are there, but again limited. DoTs tend to last only 20-30 seconds. By the time you have a 2nd dot on, the first is half done. 3) Get of ouf jail - Necros had various methods of escaping bad situations.The primary one was of course feign death. Again, we get this but at level 43? Why do monks, bruisers and shadowknights get this early on and Necros do not? We should get this in the early 20s In my opinion.You will no doubt also say 'what about the pets?'. Yes, true - but most necros I knew (the high level experienced ones) considered the pet to be another DoT - simply one that did not need constant recasting and you could control to some extent. It was no more than another tool in our arsenal and wasn't a vital part of what we did.Necros were, in my opinion, masters of conversion and DoTs. We could convert one thing to another (our own health to mana, a mobs health to our own, our health to anothers health etc). We had a wide range of dots.On top of what we had, we also had various methods of fighting, each of which as useful in various situations. None of these appear to apply in EQ2.1) Fear kiting - we dont get a fear until 38 which immobilizes us. Although this method, which was the staple of the EQ1 necro up to 55, got nerfed to oblivion in EQ1 not so long ago when the pathing of a feared mob was changed. Dirges get a decent usable fear before 30. 2) Root Dotting - a good viable method of killing a mob. The roots we have are so unreliable that this is not a good method of killing. Even if the roots were to stick more (about 1 in 4/5 sticks properly at the moment - and the only real chance of a root sticking is when you aren't damaging the mob) - the lack of a real snare means getting a root back on before the mob reaches you in next to impossible.3) Aggro Kiting - made hard by 2 things. First, the lack of a real snare and second, dump mode. What is dump mode? This is what happens when you engage any mob. You start to run like you are desperate to take a dump. Mobs of course do not suffer from this, they simply get the animation but with the benefit of little if any speed reduction. The new snare (sic) we get now makes this sort of possible, but in all honesty, it is only *just* a snare and is barely worth it - you pause to recast and the mob is on you.4) FD pulling - made impossible by linked mobs. This isn't a big deal really, but it was also nice and a good feeling when you managed to separate two awkward mobs who were close to one another.5) Pet tanking - well this seems to be the only viable method we have, the pet tanks while we put on dots and heal the pet. Now the pets do seem to be better in general than the EQ1 counterparts. Lets face it, without any othe viable method of killing, they need to be.So I have to ask-- Why don't we get proper lifetaps?- Why don't we get snares - really? what is so wrong with kiting?- Why don't we get feign death at a reasonable level?Fortunately, Necros do have one thing in their favour
in EQ1, they were (or rather the people behind them) masters at finding ways around any limitations. I am sure that this will run true in EQ2. so what would i change?- Give us lifetaps- Give us FD at a more reasonable level (i can live with it killing the pet as if you need to FD, chances are your pet has bought it anyway)- Give us snares and get rid of dump mode. I mean really, what is wrong with kiting?Give us necromancers! not just mages who happen to have undead pets
We shouldn't need to mostly rely on pets, they should be simply another tool we have.Well these are my opinions anyway, no doubt many of you will differ