How to fix rangers and warriors without losing the "classic" feel.

[Lucia Moonglow]

I'll probably get flamed for posting my honest opinion here, but this is it anyway.

Warrior
Currently, warriors have a very difficult time holding aggro. Yes, taunt makes it possible to regain aggro temporarily if it's lost, but they shouldn't be losing it in the first place, nor should they be required to "build aggro" prior to the rest of the party engaging unless the fight is against a raid boss.

Solution: Change taunt so that it generates a flat amount of aggro per use based on the taunt skill, with diminishing returns if the target is higher level than the warrior. Similar to the Incite line present on live, but without the ability to be used at range.

Ranger
As was the case prior to Luclin and the introduction of AAs and ranger-specific group buffs, rangers have no real role in the game. They are an attempt at a "jack of all trades" class like the Bard, however unlike the bard they cannot bring anything unique to a group, and as such most group roles are better served by a different class entirely (rogue for DPS, monk for pulling, druid for snares, etc).

Solution #1: Up ranger DPS so that they're placed just behind (or on equal terms with) monks. You can up their melee DPS, provide ranger-only weapons, or up their archery damage. There are a number of ways to accomplish this.

Solution #2: Give rangers a unique line of buffs that stack with other buffs, making them appealing to certain groups. Good examples are group ATK buffs for melee groups, or mana/HP regen buffs (similar to the BST spiritual line).

[Rotted_Corpse]

With Tracking, Harmony and Snare Rangers are great for groups (better in outdoor for first two then in a dungeon). And their dps isn't that gawd awful bad as some would like all to believe. Its mostly class hate from others that just don't know any better. IMO they bring a lot to a group and would not hesitate inviting one at all.

(yes and others have track too but not to such a high skill as a ranger does).

Rotted Corpse
Necromancer of Cabilis

[Doors]

Good solutions but eventually the 'not classic' dipshits should be in this thread. Nevermind item linking, etc.

Thankfully the WoW minded part of the playerbase is in the minority, so as long as you're not an asshole and know what you're doing you can play any class here and people will group with you.

[yaaaflow]

doesn't it kind of lose the classic feel when you do things that are distinctively not classic?

[Ostros]

Originally Posted by yaaaflow [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

doesn't it kind of lose the classic feel when you do things that are distinctively not classic?

No. Depends on how far you go, actually. Little changes here and there wouldn't ruin it. I'm just here for the original three with standard exp rates and penalties, standard dungeon difficulty, etc. No fancy overt custom changes. I seriously wouldn't mind non-classic tweaks, or even changes that happened beyond Velious.

I'm a content player, not a mechanics and patchnotes nut. Don't break it, and no one will complain.

[Lucia Moonglow]

Originally Posted by yaaaflow [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

doesn't it kind of lose the classic feel when you do things that are distinctively not classic?

No, because let's not fool ourselves about what constitutes the classic feel of EverQuest.

Nobody thinks back fondly about how warrior aggro was broken, or how taunt didn't work. Nobody happily reminisces about how rangers had no real role in groups or how you couldn't med without staring at the book.

Slow leveling was classic, because it meant when you gained a level it really meant something. I'm not in favor of the hybrid experience penalty because I don't think it's justified, but overall it's not the biggest deal.

It's the leveling, the zones, and the items that constitutes the classic feel. It's the game under Verant's design rather than SOE's. It's the old school models that might look bad but at least they're animated well. It's not being able to cross the entire game world in two zones by flying through PoP, and it's zones like SolB, Sebilis and Velkator's Lab still having some appeal.

Broken warriors might be part of the history of classic, but that doesn't mean they're part of what we all want to experience once again.

[DevGrousis]

Originally Posted by yaaaflow [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

doesn't it kind of lose the classic feel when you do things that are distinctively not classic?

You say as you sit at your computer looking at your NOT classic UI lol

[Aadill]

Originally Posted by Lucia Moonglow [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Ranger
Solution #1: Up ranger DPS so that they're placed just behind (or on equal terms with) monks. You can up their melee DPS, provide ranger-only weapons, or up their archery damage. There are a number of ways to accomplish this.

Solution #2: Give rangers a unique line of buffs that stack with other buffs, making them appealing to certain groups. Good examples are group ATK buffs for melee groups, or mana/HP regen buffs (similar to the BST spiritual line).

Welcome to Velious.

[YendorLootmonkey]

50% of the issue with rangers i'd say is perception/"bandwagon ranger-hate", another 30% is the xp penalty, and the rest is the whole "rangers are a versatile class but groups look for specialists, not generalists" design flaw that doesn't get rectified until Luclin.

[gnomishfirework]

Warriors are the best tanks. Rangers have tons of utility and gain buffs in velious.

Live has also addressed these problems.