[Zuranthium]

Fun thread, thanks for making it. Similar to what Kika (and many others) said, though, I would want to modify all of the classes. Not only to set them further apart from each other, but also because the combat system of Everquest is greatly inferior to what an ideal MMORPG should have. Within each class there would be a wide range of different ways to play the character as well; every class would have 4 skill lines and the amount of points you put into the skill lines would determine how powerful those skills are (and, of course, you'd only ever be able to max out 2 of those lines at the same time, or max out 1 and be pretty good at 2 others, or just be pretty good at all of them, etc). You would be able to change these allocated points by going to the class-appropriate skill trainers in cities, although every time you change your point allocation the trainer will tell you that you must venture to a trainer in another city to change it again (this makes all of the cities more well-traveled rather than certain ones being ghost towns all the time).

CLASSES:

Warrior - The standard all-around melee character. Would be able to do excellent melee burst damage against single targets and tank very well. Would be able to wield all kinds of different equipment set-ups: a Two-handed weapon, or dual-wielding one-handed weapons, or a one-handed weapon + shield. Every weapon type would offer different attack skills. Their combat skills would include more knock-downs (a mechanic not currently in Everquest...these would essentially be stuns except the target would still be able to use stances, another mechanic not really in classic EQ, while knocked down and of course the visual would be different) than any other class and would be the most powered by adrenaline (another new mechanic - you gain it by hitting and taking damage).

Paladin - Would do the lowest damage of the melee-oriented characters (except against undead) but would be the best tanks in the game. Would always use a one-handed Sword or Hammer/Mace along with a Shield. Attack skills would be the most focused on stunning opponents out of all the melee classes. Would have spells that heal, cure conditions and hexes, provide temporary immunities, do great damage against undead (in addition to other undead-related abilities), and cause PBAoE stuns. They would not get ressurects or lulls or roots.

Shadowknight - A tank class that is excellent at doing damage to more than one target at a time. Would wield two-handed Axes or Scythes only. Attack skills would be the most focused on inflicting conditions out of all the classes. Would have spells that snare, lifetap (not only direct single-target lifetaps but also AoE lifetaps-over-time), spread Disease, cause Fear, and self-only damage shields that stack with all the others in the game. Would not get Feign Death or Pets.

Brawler (formerly Monk) - A melee class that can do immense damage to single targets by chaining attacks together, wherein each attack becomes more powerful than the previous one (until you reach the end of the chain). Uses their body as a weapon rather than wielding material weapons. Has low HP and AC (Leather would be the highest armor they can use), but high avoidance in a pinch, and also a multitude of attack skills that interrupt the target's action and the ability to disarm opponents (would be more useful than it currently is in EQ). Definitely much less of a tank than the plate-wearing classes but can hold their own against physical threats for short periods of time and pump out amazing DPS. Would not get Feign Death.

Rogue - Would be similar to how they already are but would do less damage (and would use daggers exclusively for their weapons). Their pure melee attacking (this doesn't include Backstab) would especially be far weaker than it currently is, but they would instead have more powerful poison abilities to compensate somewhat. As a tradeoff to their reduced damage capability, Lock Picking and Disarming Traps and Stealing and Sneaking (and even Safe Fall, in addition to being able to climb walls) would be more useful than they currently are. They would also get the Feign Death ability that was formerly given to Monks. This would set Rogues up as being amazing pullers and amazing at navigating and allowing groups to get to an area and fight in an area, especially in dungeon situations. They would also be far better at soloing than they currently are, because of being able to keep a monster's health degenerating with a strong Posion, and then cycling Backstab + Feign Death until the monster dies.

Ranger - Instead of being primarily a melee class, they would be more focused on using Bows and Traps. When wielding a bow, they would be the best class in the game at interrupting actions - both because of the range that the Bow provides and the abilities themselves. A large degree of skill would be involved in scanning the battlefield and trying to interrupt opponents at the most useful times. They would not have any spells, but they would still be able to snare and root targets via their Bow attacks and Traps and they would still be able to provide downtime healing for themselves and others via non-spell abilities. Bows would not work in melee range; at that point the Ranger would then switch to dual-wielding one-handed swords (and they wouldn't have special melee attacks with those weapons, this weapon set would only be used when the Ranger is forced into melee). As an alternative to specializing in Bows, the Ranger could instead focus on having an animal companion (something they can still do while using a bow, the pet just won't be nearly as strong) and wielding some combination of whips/claws - ie, being a "Beast Master". Using a Bow would more frequently be the better choice but in some situations this specialization would work just as well or even be superior (and thus allow for a different style of game play). Would use Chain Armor and would be a sturdy class, especially if specializing in the evasive abilities they would allow them to more effectively set traps while being attacked, but wouldn't be able to serve as a "tank" in most cases as a result of not generating much aggro.

Bard - They wouldn't have songs that directly do damage and their Charm song also wouldn't turn the target into a commandable pet, but rather just a reactionary pet (like an Enchanter animation). However, they would be the best crowd control class in the game (better than Enchanters) and they would still be a jack-of-all-trades, with better raw melee/tanking capabilities than any casting-oriented class and a vast range of offensive/defensive/utility abilities that require a unique playstyle and are especially great for full groups.

Cleric - Would wear cloth armor (as do all of the non-"Priest" casters), not plate, and wield one-hand blunt weapons along with a shield or secondary held object. Wouldn't have stuns or roots, but would be able to pacify (target can't attack or use offensive spells while this is in effect; effect ends prematurely if they get hit). Would have more powerful undead-damaging spells. In terms of acting as a defensive character they would still be the best in the game but playing them would be far different. It would be far more about actively watching the battlefield to heal and remove conditions/hexes and using protection spells that block attacks and prevent damage. There would be no "buffs" in the game where you just throw +HP/AC spells on people that last for an hour. Would be the only class that can resurrect.

Shaman - Would wear armor up through Chain and always wield a two-handed Staff. Would not be able to directly protect and heal targets nearly as well as a Cleric, and their condition and hex removal would be weaker as well, but they would get Curses that, in addition to providing some offensive capability, allow them to prevent damage by blinding the opponent (blind would be much more effective than it currently is), or slowing their attack speed, or causing them to do less damage. They would get strong heals-over-time, especially via the ability to call forth spirits that provide benefits to all allies within their range (spirits would always be stationary and there would also be spirits that are offensive in nature). They would not get Haste or Roots, but would have access to good DD's and the best mana regeneration of all the "Priest" classes. Would still make Potions as well.

Druid - Possess strong direct healing capability and the ability to remove conditions but they can not remove hexes. Use leather armor and wield one-hand wood-based weapons and wood-based shields or a held item. Masters of the outdoors, they have the ability to cast Harmony, strong DD's and "Rain" spells (large amount of AoE damage spread over a short period), and use Tracking in those zones. The Druid can command plants and animals and take their forms (animal form would generally be more useful). Can seek out and charm a permanent (until it dies or you zone) Animal or Plant pet, or summon a more general (and often less powerful) Animal or Plant pet for use in any area. Their plant magic additionally allows them to snare, root, and create thorny damage shields. Their animal magic additionally allows them to call forth insects that do damage over time to a target. They would get solo and group teleports that are useful for traveling only (not Evacs or the other range of teleports Wizards would have). They would not have any DD capability aside from the outdoor-only ones that were mentioned.

Wizard - Would not have stuns or snares. They would have amazing Burst damage (Lightning and Fire based, with a whole range of varieties from classic DD, to "bolt" DD, to PBAoE, to small-AoE, to large-AoE), short duration Roots (Ice-based, also with a whole range of varieties, and these would all do damage), and Teleports. Their AoE burst damage would be far more useful than it ended up being in EQ (including PBAoE) and their single-target burst damage would be far better in comparison post-Original era EQ (magic damage in general for all of these classes would be far better than the terrible state it dwindled into post-Original era), although none of that Manaburn or critical cast stuff seen in later EQ eras. Their teleports would be much more flexible and useful than they currently are as well; a Wizard who specializes in such a way would have truly exceptional mobility during battle (as mana allows) via those abilities and be able to constantly hop in and out of the fray and also teleport teammates in ways that go beyond just Evacing, to a lesser degree. Would wield a one-handed staff with magical projectile capability + a secondary held item.

Summoner (formerly Magician) - Would not get damage shields or fire-based DD's or AoE DD's, but they would still get "Rain" spells (the most costly of which would have a knockdown component). Their ability to summon actual items would be a little more useful than it currently is, as would be their ability to summon allies and opponents to their location. Would be able to summon a wide variety of pets, utilizing one commandable "permanent" pet at a time and one "temporary" pet at a time that only attacks the specified target until the duration ends (or the pet dies). Summoners would be the overall best class at sustained DPS (although Brawlers would eventually beat them at single-target damage in long fights and Necromancers would eventually beat them in long-duration fights where a multitude of opponents that don't die easily are present). Some of their summons would have a small chance of backfiring (attacking the caster), as it is never a sure thing when you are playing around with summoning foreign creatures (the Summoner would be able to quickly dispel them and send them back, however). Would wield two-handed Staffs with magical projectile capability.

Enchanter - Would be similar to their current state, although with some cosmetic changes. Haste spells would not be as powerful and they would not have PBAoE stuns (but would instead have half-second duration targeted stuns, both single target and AoE, that are used mainly to interrupt and for the secondary effects that would come with them). They would have the ability to remove hexes (what is currently called a "debuff" or "DoT" would be either a Condition or a Hex) and they would have Illusion hexes that cause the target to have a chance of missing with physical attacks. They would not have the ability to slow a target's attack speed, but they would be able to slow a target's casting speed (and have some other anti-caster abilities) and also would have the ability to transfigure opponents into weaker creatures (literally transform them into, say...a sheep), which would serve as powerful debuffs. They would not get roots. Would wield multiple wands (they have projectile capability).

Necromancer - Their pets would be created from actual corpses rather than "summoned" by bone chips. Would be able to have more than one pet at a time (each one would require a different skill that must remain equipped...all pets in the game, for that matter, would require the skill to actually be equipped or else the pet goes away). The Necromancer would have more spells and abilities that exploit corpses and creatures dying. Many of the DoT lines would be more focused on spreading damage across numerous opponents rather than a single opponent. They would not have any "pure" DD's (they currently get a few). Would still have a wide range of potential abilities (snare, root, fear, transferring health and mana to allies, turning their own heath into mana, feign death, summoning corpses). Would wield a Dagger + Wand.

And the New Class:

Elementalist - Would specialize in one of the 4 elements and it would be more costly to put points into the "opposing" element line (Water vs. Fire, Air vs. Earth), although doing so would still be viable and in fact create unique skill combinations. Equipment varies depending on primary specialization - Leather armor for Air/Water and Chain armor for Fire/Earth. Air specialty wields a two-handed Staff. Earth specialty wields a one-handed blunt weapon + shield. Fire and Water wield a one-handed slashing weapon + shield. An Elementalist's power in a given line increases when surrounded by a significant amount of the given element and vanishes if none of a specific element is present, as their ability is to control the raw elements around them rather than summoning them or projecting them from their own body. The Elementalist would be adept at both melee and ranged combat, on something of a sliding scale that depends on which skills are equipped and the scenario. Deciding which form of combat to take part in at any given moment, and which elemental abilities to combine at the same time, would be the unique trait to playing the class. The ability of this class to command the elements would not be "magic", much like Bard's musical abilities are not "magic", and thus would not suffer when confronted by opponents who use anti-caster abilities.

Fire element = skills are characterized by average activation times and long cooldowns; create damage shields, add extra fire damage to attacks, high burst damage to single targets, and significant damage over time with burning (both single target and AoE).

Air element = skills are characterized by quick activation times and average cooldowns; levitation/flight abilities, evasive abilities, add extra damage to attacks and give a chance of a knockback with attacks, single-target stuns with low damage, and tornado effects that cause moderate AoE burst damage and randomly toss the opponents in a direction.

Water element = skills are characterized by average activation times and quick cooldowns; moderate burst damage to both single targets and AoE, ability to snare opponents, ability to stop burning effects and travel easily underwater.

Earth element = skills are characterized by long activation times and quick cooldowns; can create defensive skins, physical barriers, root opponents, knockdowns with minor damage (both single target and AoE), and moderate single-target burst damage.

Elemental skills can be combined at the same time to create unique effects and/or stronger effects.