EQDiva

I haven't posted at EQDiva in a while and just thought I'd drop by. I know the EQII thread is kinda stagnant, so if anyone is interested, here are a few thoughts, now that my two main toons (I box over 50% of the time) have been 50 for a bit. The level 50 game is quite a bit different. Sony is losing a chunk of its EQII player base (probably most of its temporary) because of the ....for lack of a better word, dullness? of this level. Pretty much its all about raiding (to progress your guild and upgrade your gear), or catching up on some significant quests (many are grey level mobs, but at 50, it only matters loot wise) or leveling up tradeskills/friends/alts. I am in a 3-7 times a week raiding guild. We have been significatly shorthanded for over a month because of people on vacation, moving, etc as well as burnout/trying other games, etc. It is fun to take difficult content shorthanded (raids are max 24 btw)...but there is some stuff we simply cannot tackle shorthanded (the final Prismatic Weapons quest mob, for instance). Just like in EQI...its very frustrating waiting for enough to get on and get to the raid (they just made travel a little quicker to the far away stuff). At least wipes don't take 20 mins to over an hour to recover from, although some can get you booted and locked out for a while. The September expansion is eagerly awaited by most. I am just not sure how many more folks will last it out. The new Splitpaw adv pack (mini expansion for which they charge you 5-8 bucks) is loved by some and hated by others...its mostly instanced so level appropriate for levels 20-50.. thats nice (dont you hate buying content that is too far above or below U????). It does have some neat instanced content, both solo and group...as well there is an opportunity to make some cash and experience is very quick there (not sure how good repeating the same stuff over and over again to get quick exp-- just like the LDoN camps in EQI-- is for the game though). Bards---Dirges & Troubadors I like my dirge...if I was doing another bard I'd do a trouby though, much more group/raid friendly, I think...one Dirge per raid is adequate, although most groups in a raid could use one. One trouby per nearly every group is probably more desireable. Soloing either is harder than most classes, except maybe chanters. (Templars/Inquisitors--evil Temps/Palys solo well in EQII...as do ranger and Int casters like Warlocks/Wizards. If I was starting a new toon today ... Shashbuckler/Ranger/Wizard/Warlock would look good for the high DPS. An enchanter (very rare at high levels, but a godsend) would be neat as well. Many EQII toons flat don't understand/appreciate chanters...but they do have a lot to offer even if some folks will tell you they aren't needed for crowd controll in EQII. I'd like to have a troubador for raiding, but I am not sure how I'd like leveling him up. Paladins are very necessary in most raid strategies and very adequate tanks for groups or off tanking. I dunno if I'd want to play one though....ditto for zerkers and monks, but I may try them at some point. Rogue/assasins are a bit too specialized for my taste, but I might try one of them as well, at some point. Healers are much more versatile and fun in EQII. You can solo em, do a little dps and the different classes of healer provide a lot of selection and meld well together, for the most part. There are no second class healers (at least there won't be when they fix 'wards') and all have something neat to offer. All things being equal, I don't think I'd make a toon without night vision (just a pref) or without his own invisibility. Your ability to do quests on your own is greatly affected by your ability to invis yourself, and or your group. A note, at least at the 50 level...they have nerfed the ability to make some long quest runs invised/group invised vs fighting your way to your goal. Scout (bard/predator/rogue) invis is both good and bad. It doesn't drop when someone else in the group casts or aggros, but then you can't move as fast invised as other classes...its more of a 'sneak'.

I find that playing Tank classes is more akin to eq1 Crowd Control than anything else in eq2 (chanters excluded). By that I mean that the TANK is the one who needs to change targets frequently, and pay attention to what's going on. In eq1, pretty much everyone except Crowd Controllers just target the same mob and do whatever it is they do (nuke, backstab, debuff, etc...) A good Tank in eq2 is quick to see aggro shift and get it back.

Great post. I'm fairly new to EQ2 and having the opinion of someone who's experienced all levels of the game is wonderful. I have some RL friends with level 50 toons but they seem to have diametrically opposed viewpoints most of the time. They've been giving me too much opinion and not enough fact to make up my own mind. Since I loved my EQ1 bard, I initially made a scout who is now a level 15 bard. I like some of the rogue-like abilities of the scout and their ability to change HOs, but I don't get the sense of being as flexible as in EQ1. And frankly, I miss Selos! After 5 years running at warp 5, I didn't know what to do plodding along at Pathfinding pace. I did some research when I expected to make a main of the bard and had trouble deciding between Dirge and Troubador. I had decided I'd probably go Troubador based on reading the song listing on the eq2players site, but then I met a high-level dirge who said Troub's aren't generally wanted in groups or raids. It's nice to hear your differing opinion. Sadly, I understand only dirges get the enhanced run speed though. I decided to try the different classes before I put too much time into one to look back. I have a level 8 mage who seems to solo quite easily, and based on your post, it sounds like that will continue to hold true. The mage has been fun but seemed to lack diversity. Solo, it's root -> nuke, repeat. In a group it's nuke -> nuke -> nuke, repeat, with HOs thrown in for good measure. Do they get more exciting? Despite hating clerics in EQ1, I tried a priest and she ended up being my favorite. After discussing high-end healing with the aforementioned level 50 friends, they both agreed not to be a templar since their heals rely primarily on wards and buffs over time rather than instant healing. One was a shaman for years in EQ1 and remade a shaman in EQ2 while the other adores his warden, so I took both opinions with a grain of salt in that decision. I understand that shaman are generally considered to be the weakest class in the game, but my friend with the 50 shaman said he has been able to defeat solo instances that no other class in his guild has mastered. I read the spell lists for both classes and decided to make her into a druid because I liked the great offensive / defensive mix. From here though, I'm not sure if I'll try Fury or Warden. From reading the spells, it sounds like Furies deliver more offensive enhancements to the group while Wardens heal better. Any suggestions on which is better, and why you feel that way? Right now my druid is level 18 and seems both flexible and powerful. I haven't started to level the melee class yet to test the waters there. What is the most flexible melee class? Thanks for the insight, Caleigh / Calliopeia / Calli / Calee

I have not adventured my 50 toons in nearly 2 weeks....its just not as fun...hopefully the expansion will change that. My only upper level tunes are Dirge and Templar. Upper level castors typically have one (fire/poision etc) debuff and or buff that is raid/mob very crucial for specific raids. Wizzys pump mana at high levels. Group invisors are very desireable for some things. Warlocks have insane dps most of the time and particularly on certain mobs. Summoners/necros (pet class) can use their pets for the old ranger death touch absorbin pull. Once again, perhaps the most misunderstood toon is the enchanter classes....they are a tadd difficult to play well and solo, but very desireable. You still see high levels who have no idea what 'breaking mez' means....there are raids that I wouldn't wanna try (but have) without a chanter, and I notice their positive effect in a group. Dirges and troubadors appear they will change a bit with the melee rewrite. Buffing to 400+ agi apparently won't be as big a deal for the troubadors (post rewrite), but they will be able to reduce aggro for everyone in the group but the MA. Dirges will get their buffs upped a bit, and they will be able to land an aggro producing song on anyone in their group. Since healers will generate more aggro after the rewrite (gain aggro everytime their wards/reactive heals go off), the role of the dirge\troubador MAY become very crucial in this area. Since starting this post, I have played a sorceror to 18 and a ranger to 23. At least early, this is NOT your EQI ranger....the dps is their, but toss in quite a bit of survivability. I hear the same for the evil counterpart...the assasin. I have a level 22 shammy/mystic....pretty much similar to the EQI with debuffs not quite as important in most fights this level. They are much better healers at this level than in EQI. In addition, as with all healing classes, they can contribute a bit of dps as well. I have no feel for the melee type dps oriented berzerker/monk. People who play evil clerics (Inquisitors) rave about them. I also don't know much about the rogues types, except their is some healthy dps and unhealth aggro grabbing ability there, lol. Evidently class differentiation (which really kicks in post 35 or so) will be much greater when the expansion comes out in September (raising max level from 50-60). Preliminary reviews of folks on the exchange enabled servers (where Sony, for a modest % fee in RL dollars, allows items to be sold in an Ebayish atmosphere) is very mixed. Probably the largest guild on my server moved to one, supposedly for the lower population to allow them to get to contested mobs, but I suspect if it really goes strong, the guild leader stands to make some serious real life coin. At least the temptation is there. Just like in EQI....EQII is gonna be so broke for a while with the melee rewrites. I just don't see any way around it, I hope I am wrong, but how could I be, ya know? I will say, exploits seem to be shut down a lot quicker in II then they were most times in I. I still box a lot in EQII. Great with just my 2, fine with a third, a recipee for disaster in a full group underground, at least for me. I have boxed raids, I would not recommend it as a first or second choice for anyone. There are no real Ronco toons in EQII (ie set it and forget it). Having said that, you (or rather I) can effictively box a toon thats just a warm body to supply buffs, etc, and concentrate on the main toon. But two mission critical toons...sheesh. I have heard of and seen some 3 boxers. Someone with third party macroing might be very effective in certain situations. I tried it once...sheesh. Most EQII toons are versatile enough that they can pretty much keep your interest just running the one.

So how are things in EQ2 now ? I am curious to hear more about the classes and their strengths! Roede Lyn

I know this forum is dead, but I'm going to start a duo on the new pvp servers (duo for exping, bard for pvp). Would a troubador or dirge make an adequate tank in a healer/bard combo for pve? Ie non heroic mobs? If so, which would be better? I play and sk/warlock combo on a pve server so I have some game experience. What healer do you think would compliment a bard best? I've played a defiler and a fury and would like to try temp/inqu? Any thoughts?