I'm about to finish building a new computer capable of running EQ 2 and I had a few questions.
I played EQ1 years ago (upper 50's warrior main), and one of the main things I remember is the emphasis on certain classes (warrior, enchanter, cleric, etc.) Is there an emphasis like this in EQ2? I know how important it was in EQ1 to be a needed class, and it made for a more rich gaming experience.
A friend is going to begin at the same time I am and we'll be playing together quite a bit. I know it is convenient to have a friend that you can make a very class compatible duo with. I was thinking one melee based and one healing/damage casting base. Any suggestions?
Also, are there still classes that are good at kiting (slow opponent, increase speed (SoW) yourself, DoT and blast away on opponent) for solo play, and if so does kiting give these classes an advantage over melee solo for more efficient leveling?
Lastly, in EQ1 I thought I'd be original and play a wood elf warrior. I began realizing my mistake as I reached later levels in that I was quite a bit behind normal warrior classes (barbarian, ogre, etc.) and I found myself having to try extra hard just to get up to par with the majority of other warriors. Is this the same in EQ2? I know there is much more room for diversity but will being diverse turn into being a problem?
Your insight would be much appreciated, thanks.
Edited, Tue Jun 7 20:08:25 2005 by Aaronizzle
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For a duo I would suggest Zerker and Shaman. Zerker will give you great DPS, agro holding and tanking abilities. There's not such a huge emphasis on classes in EQ2, for example all the priest classes are good healers.
Sorry, there's no kiting as you remember it in EQ2, the game mechanics just don't allow it. Combat is quite different from EQ1.
As far as race, just choose the one you like, you get certain racial abilities to begin with and as you go along, but they're fairly minor compared to EQ1.
I'm sure others will have more to add to this
Sorry, there's no kiting as you remember it in EQ2, the game mechanics just don't allow it. Combat is quite different from EQ1.
As far as race, just choose the one you like, you get certain racial abilities to begin with and as you go along, but they're fairly minor compared to EQ1.
I'm sure others will have more to add to this
I have done groups where there was no healer, just a lot of DPS and tanks. The tanks took turns at agro to spread out the damage. I've also been in all caster groups, with 3-4 pets running around.
As you know, a few things pull agro:
- Taunt
- DPS
- Heals/Buffs
Fighters have Taunt so can keep the agro on them. Scouts and mages are DPS, so can keep agro that way. We all know what Priests do. :) Only problem with not having a fighter is when the healer has agro, and can't get a spell off. A non-taunt class may not be able to pull the agro off the healer.
My Ranger (fast dual wield plus poison damage) has pulled agro many times off a tank who was taunting like crazy. After getting hit too often, I had to scale back on the DPS.
The standard makeup that still seems to be the most effective, especially when fighting tough or epic mobs, is tank, healer, everyone else (DPS).
Combat is now "locked", meaning when you engage something, only your group can fight it or cast spells into the fray. So no kill-stealing, ganking, or power-leveling.
Also, when you go into combat, all speed buffs are put on hold. That means you can't kite as effectely because the mob will always be able to stay within reach. I have kited a few mobs with my pet and a wand that does 250-350 DD.
Certain classes have roots and stuns that help. I've kited mobs 1-2 levels below me with root. If they are my level or higher, my root gets many more resists.
Agree with Bluie, a tank and healer will do. Folks may say the Cleric/Templars are the best healers, but that's up for debate. A tank will do fine with any type of healer, so a Druid or Shaman may add variety to spells and skills.
Actually, I've been a tank as a Conjurer, the healers just kept me alive. I'd unleash all spells, not worrying about agro. We love out healers!
Beginning racial stats are different (there seems to be a lot of Erudite mages), but over many levels and racial trait upgrades, that becomes negligible. It's actually a let-down, as the races are made too identical without enough differences.
Good luck!
As you know, a few things pull agro:
- Taunt
- DPS
- Heals/Buffs
Fighters have Taunt so can keep the agro on them. Scouts and mages are DPS, so can keep agro that way. We all know what Priests do. :) Only problem with not having a fighter is when the healer has agro, and can't get a spell off. A non-taunt class may not be able to pull the agro off the healer.
My Ranger (fast dual wield plus poison damage) has pulled agro many times off a tank who was taunting like crazy. After getting hit too often, I had to scale back on the DPS.
The standard makeup that still seems to be the most effective, especially when fighting tough or epic mobs, is tank, healer, everyone else (DPS).
Combat is now "locked", meaning when you engage something, only your group can fight it or cast spells into the fray. So no kill-stealing, ganking, or power-leveling.
Also, when you go into combat, all speed buffs are put on hold. That means you can't kite as effectely because the mob will always be able to stay within reach. I have kited a few mobs with my pet and a wand that does 250-350 DD.
Certain classes have roots and stuns that help. I've kited mobs 1-2 levels below me with root. If they are my level or higher, my root gets many more resists.
Agree with Bluie, a tank and healer will do. Folks may say the Cleric/Templars are the best healers, but that's up for debate. A tank will do fine with any type of healer, so a Druid or Shaman may add variety to spells and skills.
Actually, I've been a tank as a Conjurer, the healers just kept me alive. I'd unleash all spells, not worrying about agro. We love out healers!
Beginning racial stats are different (there seems to be a lot of Erudite mages), but over many levels and racial trait upgrades, that becomes negligible. It's actually a let-down, as the races are made too identical without enough differences.
Good luck!
I duo all the time, and yes, healer/tank is a very effective combination. Paladin with shaman is working really well for me, although guardian or zerker is good too.
I've tried all 3 healer classes, and find shaman to be most effective (with wards which absorb damage plus slow spell). Now, I'm not saying the cleric or druid healers are not efficient, I just personally like shaman the best.
Other combinations work too though, almost any duo can do a lot of stuff. The key to this sort of question is always "play what's fun". The danger you get into trying to make an efficient or "best" duo or group is that you may end up playing a class that you don't enjoy, which is bad for obvious reasons.
So have fun with it. 2 wizards can be a cool combo, 2 rangers can do pretty good, etc. You just need different strategies for the different combos.
I've tried all 3 healer classes, and find shaman to be most effective (with wards which absorb damage plus slow spell). Now, I'm not saying the cleric or druid healers are not efficient, I just personally like shaman the best.
Other combinations work too though, almost any duo can do a lot of stuff. The key to this sort of question is always "play what's fun". The danger you get into trying to make an efficient or "best" duo or group is that you may end up playing a class that you don't enjoy, which is bad for obvious reasons.
So have fun with it. 2 wizards can be a cool combo, 2 rangers can do pretty good, etc. You just need different strategies for the different combos.
A quick note this if is based on the info right now but a change to the entire combat/skill system is coming which will change this information.
Right now if you are a heavy plate tank.. guard zerker. a templar and inquis are your friend.. the reactive heals and your high migration are near perfect combo.. wards are great but currently don't take migration into effect.. which means the ward gets hit for full damage all the time and if you are fighting groups of mobs it gets chewed up so quick its a pain to keep them up.
If your tank goes monk bruiser then shamen is better.. cause they avoid a lot of hits but when they do get hit.. they get hit for near full damage anyway so a ward to take the damage is great.. a small reactive heal when you are getting beat to death is little comfort..
Right now if you are a heavy plate tank.. guard zerker. a templar and inquis are your friend.. the reactive heals and your high migration are near perfect combo.. wards are great but currently don't take migration into effect.. which means the ward gets hit for full damage all the time and if you are fighting groups of mobs it gets chewed up so quick its a pain to keep them up.
If your tank goes monk bruiser then shamen is better.. cause they avoid a lot of hits but when they do get hit.. they get hit for near full damage anyway so a ward to take the damage is great.. a small reactive heal when you are getting beat to death is little comfort..
For Tank/healer duo's:
I agree with Art from above, Monk/Bruiser tanks go best with Defiler/Mystic, If the monks avoidence is high they almost never take damage.
In my Experiance Guardian/Zerker goes realy well with Inquisiter/Templar. They both do higher damage then the Crusader tanks and it makes up for the healer doing less damage.
Paladin/Shadowknight seem to do very well with Fury/Warden, They do not do as much damage as a Zerker/Guardian and the extra damage from the Druid helps.
If you want to do a Tank/DPS Use a Paladin/Shadowknight and your Favrite dps. Paladin/shadowknight because they have wards and self heals for tight situations. I prefer Coercer/Enchanter because of Breeze, Mezzing and other buffs, although Swashbuckler/brigand also works well as do the other scout classes.
If you want to try Healer/DPS stay away from scouts, to do their damage they have to be behind the mob and don't do well when called upon to take the hits. I've heard Warden/Fury and Mage calsses make a good duo.
If you want to try Tank/tank go for Paladin/Shadowknight and one of the others, once again the wards and heals come in very handy.
For Scout/Scout any combination will perform roughly the same so choose what you want.
For Healer/Healer I prefer Templar/Inquis and Warden/Fury. The cleric type can take damage and has high Miti and reactive heals are very good while the warden/fury does high damage.
For Mage/Mage go for a Conjurer/Necro and your choice of another. The pet tanks well and the other's all do great DPS so the battles are fast.
Tank/healer the tank should use a 2 handed weapon or dual wield to make the fight go faster. Tank/dps the tank should use a Shield to help survivability, the DPS is covered by the other class.
I'd have to say if I was forced to choose one it would be Zerker and Inquisiter, the Reactive heals and buffs from the Inquis coupled with the High damage output and high miti of the Zerker make a great duo.
Edited, Sun Jun 12 12:34:10 2005 by cheesybob
I agree with Art from above, Monk/Bruiser tanks go best with Defiler/Mystic, If the monks avoidence is high they almost never take damage.
In my Experiance Guardian/Zerker goes realy well with Inquisiter/Templar. They both do higher damage then the Crusader tanks and it makes up for the healer doing less damage.
Paladin/Shadowknight seem to do very well with Fury/Warden, They do not do as much damage as a Zerker/Guardian and the extra damage from the Druid helps.
If you want to do a Tank/DPS Use a Paladin/Shadowknight and your Favrite dps. Paladin/shadowknight because they have wards and self heals for tight situations. I prefer Coercer/Enchanter because of Breeze, Mezzing and other buffs, although Swashbuckler/brigand also works well as do the other scout classes.
If you want to try Healer/DPS stay away from scouts, to do their damage they have to be behind the mob and don't do well when called upon to take the hits. I've heard Warden/Fury and Mage calsses make a good duo.
If you want to try Tank/tank go for Paladin/Shadowknight and one of the others, once again the wards and heals come in very handy.
For Scout/Scout any combination will perform roughly the same so choose what you want.
For Healer/Healer I prefer Templar/Inquis and Warden/Fury. The cleric type can take damage and has high Miti and reactive heals are very good while the warden/fury does high damage.
For Mage/Mage go for a Conjurer/Necro and your choice of another. The pet tanks well and the other's all do great DPS so the battles are fast.
Tank/healer the tank should use a 2 handed weapon or dual wield to make the fight go faster. Tank/dps the tank should use a Shield to help survivability, the DPS is covered by the other class.
I'd have to say if I was forced to choose one it would be Zerker and Inquisiter, the Reactive heals and buffs from the Inquis coupled with the High damage output and high miti of the Zerker make a great duo.
Edited, Sun Jun 12 12:34:10 2005 by cheesybob
I have a shaman/paladin and a fury/zerker combo, I know this goes against the other posts here, but the shaman/paladin are just a more solid combo. The paladin can take a lot of damage, and has decent taunts (not great), and with shaman wards, the two can take just about any non-epic mob. The zerker/fury really have to be more careful about what they take on. Yes the reactive stuff is nice, but the shaman wards are better.
I realize that my preference is probably a reflection of my play style more than the power of the classes. I like to go toe to toe with my fighter, and have a healer behind them with heals and some DDs or DOTs for extra damage.
BTW, Cleric/Scout is not a bad combo, you just have to adjust your thinking and make the cleric the tank! They get heavy armor after a while, so they take the hits and heal themselves while the scout stands behind the mob and does all the damage. A cleric has nowhere near the mitigation of a regular tank, but it does work reasonably well. It doesn't work too well on multiple mobs though.
Again any combo works, you just have to adjust your tactics. You don't have to do the traditional tank/healer to have some fun. Don't limit yourself.
I have just started a wizard/enchanter combo, and while its crazy weird, it does work ok. Still real low, so I don't know how far I can take it but its kinda fun!
I realize that my preference is probably a reflection of my play style more than the power of the classes. I like to go toe to toe with my fighter, and have a healer behind them with heals and some DDs or DOTs for extra damage.
BTW, Cleric/Scout is not a bad combo, you just have to adjust your thinking and make the cleric the tank! They get heavy armor after a while, so they take the hits and heal themselves while the scout stands behind the mob and does all the damage. A cleric has nowhere near the mitigation of a regular tank, but it does work reasonably well. It doesn't work too well on multiple mobs though.
Again any combo works, you just have to adjust your tactics. You don't have to do the traditional tank/healer to have some fun. Don't limit yourself.
I have just started a wizard/enchanter combo, and while its crazy weird, it does work ok. Still real low, so I don't know how far I can take it but its kinda fun!
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