Multi-classing? EQ Legends - What to try?

[DeathsSilkyMist]

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

Addressing this issue is literally the driving purpose behind this game, and from everything we've seen so far with the beta they seem to have done a great job. Basically all of the content is soloable by any combination of classes. You don't have to powergame like you did in traditional EQ by playing an Enchanter or Shaman to have a hope of effectively soloing high-end content.

And interestingly, it seems that in EQL Enchanters and Shaman are actually two of the weaker classes. And this makes sense with the changes they've made. In EverQuest, these two classes were powerful primarily because of charm and slow. And both of these spells scale substantially and directly with the power of mobs. The stronger mobs are, the stronger charm is, and the more important slow is for negating damage. But in EQL, since mobs are so much weaker, charm is weaker, and slow is much less important. This makes other classes much stronger comparatively.

Some classes will still be weaker than others. I agree that charm will probably not be very useful, unless they increase mob difficulty. But if the game is so easy that lulls, slows, fear, rune, etc, aren't really necessary, then you wouldn't want to pick Enchanter at all. Classes with heavy utility would be weak if utility is largely not needed, as you can just DPS your way though any scenario.

I hope this isn't the case, as that would be boring.

[Vexenu]

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

Some classes will still be weaker than others. I agree that charm will probably not be very useful, unless they increase mob difficulty. But if the game is so easy that lulls, slows, fear, rune, etc, aren't really necessary, then you wouldn't want to pick Enchanter at all. Classes with heavy utility would be weak if utility is largely not needed, as you can just DPS your way though any scenario.

I hope this isn't the case, as that would be boring.

The more videos I watch of EQL, the more concerned I am that the game will indeed be too easy, and that the only strategy required will just be a "faceroll DPS" approach. For example, look at this recent video from Classic EverQuest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8KkC03SQdM

He is playing a BRD/MNK/ROG, and at around the 20 minute mark you see him start fighting a blue, even, and white con at the same time. He's just meleeing and tanking all three at once. Then halfway through the fight he realizes he has three additional blue cons attacking him from behind. Even still, he is never in danger of dying and easily finishes the fight. So he just face tanks six XP mobs at the same time and easily kills them all. And keep in mind, this is not even on the lowest difficulty setting! This is at rank 2, which is the mid point difficulty (ranges from 0-4).

You can also see how quickly he gains skills when he starts using the wind instrument. I'm really hoping that they have jacked up things like the XP rate and skill gain to assist players in progressing faster during the beta. Because along with the easy combat, fast XP and skill gain further erode any sense of meaningul accomplishment or progression. In this video at approximately 12 minutes in, at level 32 he is gaining 4% XP per kill of an even con mob on level 2 difficulty, and he's able to kill those mobs in 15-20 seconds.

If the game is truly this easy, I don't see how it will retain players for more than a month or two once the novelty and nostalgia start to wear off. For players who actually enjoy challenging EQ gameplay, it seems like you will be forced to self-handicap by playing off-meta builds and/or only soloing on level 3 and 4 difficulty. And even that probably won't be enough to remain satisfying after awhile.

Along with the decisions they made on gear that (quite intentionally) destroy any possibility of a traditional economy developing, and the introduction of solo instances, the ease of the game really has me scratching my head as to why this is even being made as an MMO at all. It basically seems more like a single player game that at most allows you to host co-op multiplayer sessions with 2-7 friends. And it seems like that is exactly what the game will end up feeling like. Rather than a living world like EQ, the MMO aspect of the game will basically feel more like a multiplayer lobby where you can (optionally) find other players to group with for raid content.

[kjs86z2]

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

The more videos I watch of EQL, the more concerned I am that the game will indeed be too easy, and that the only strategy required will just be a "faceroll DPS" approach. For example, look at this recent video from Classic EverQuest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8KkC03SQdM

He is playing a BRD/MNK/ROG, and at around the 20 minute mark you see him start fighting a blue, even, and white con at the same time. He's just meleeing and tanking all three at once. Then halfway through the fight he realizes he has three additional blue cons attacking him from behind. Even still, he is never in danger of dying and easily finishes the fight. So he just face tanks six XP mobs at the same time and easily kills them all. And keep in mind, this is not even on the lowest difficulty setting! This is at rank 2, which is the mid point difficulty (ranges from 0-4).

You can also see how quickly he gains skills when he starts using the wind instrument. I'm really hoping that they have jacked up things like the XP rate and skill gain to assist players in progressing faster during the beta. Because along with the easy combat, fast XP and skill gain further erode any sense of meaningul accomplishment or progression. In this video at approximately 12 minutes in, at level 32 he is gaining 4% XP per kill of an even con mob on level 2 difficulty, and he's able to kill those mobs in 15-20 seconds.

If the game is truly this easy, I don't see how it will retain players for more than a month or two once the novelty and nostalgia start to wear off. For players who actually enjoy challenging EQ gameplay, it seems like you will be forced to self-handicap by playing off-meta builds and/or only soloing on level 3 and 4 difficulty. And even that probably won't be enough to remain satisfying after awhile.

Along with the decisions they made on gear that (quite intentionally) destroy any possibility of a traditional economy developing, and the introduction of solo instances, the ease of the game really has me scratching my head as to why this is even being made as an MMO at all. It basically seems more like a single player game that at most allows you to host co-op multiplayer sessions with 2-7 friends. And it seems like that is exactly what the game will end up feeling like. Rather than a living world like EQ, the MMO aspect of the game will basically feel more like a multiplayer lobby where you can (optionally) find other players to group with for raid content.

level 4 diff will be tough

im still going enchanter with my trio of homies - mana sieve is gonna be clutch at diff 4

[DeathsSilkyMist]

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

The more videos I watch of EQL, the more concerned I am that the game will indeed be too easy, and that the only strategy required will just be a "faceroll DPS" approach. For example, look at this recent video from Classic EverQuest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8KkC03SQdM

He is playing a BRD/MNK/ROG, and at around the 20 minute mark you see him start fighting a blue, even, and white con at the same time. He's just meleeing and tanking all three at once. Then halfway through the fight he realizes he has three additional blue cons attacking him from behind. Even still, he is never in danger of dying and easily finishes the fight. So he just face tanks six XP mobs at the same time and easily kills them all. And keep in mind, this is not even on the lowest difficulty setting! This is at rank 2, which is the mid point difficulty (ranges from 0-4).

You can also see how quickly he gains skills when he starts using the wind instrument. I'm really hoping that they have jacked up things like the XP rate and skill gain to assist players in progressing faster during the beta. Because along with the easy combat, fast XP and skill gain further erode any sense of meaningul accomplishment or progression. In this video at approximately 12 minutes in, at level 32 he is gaining 4% XP per kill of an even con mob on level 2 difficulty, and he's able to kill those mobs in 15-20 seconds.

If the game is truly this easy, I don't see how it will retain players for more than a month or two once the novelty and nostalgia start to wear off. For players who actually enjoy challenging EQ gameplay, it seems like you will be forced to self-handicap by playing off-meta builds and/or only soloing on level 3 and 4 difficulty. And even that probably won't be enough to remain satisfying after awhile.

Along with the decisions they made on gear that (quite intentionally) destroy any possibility of a traditional economy developing, and the introduction of solo instances, the ease of the game really has me scratching my head as to why this is even being made as an MMO at all. It basically seems more like a single player game that at most allows you to host co-op multiplayer sessions with 2-7 friends. And it seems like that is exactly what the game will end up feeling like. Rather than a living world like EQ, the MMO aspect of the game will basically feel more like a multiplayer lobby where you can (optionally) find other players to group with for raid content.

Yeah that is a bit concerning the guy can just solo tank 6 mobs in Mistmoore with basic gear lol. I see what you are talking about in the video.

Hopefully they just made things easy for the beta for testing purposes. But we will see.

Or perhaps max difficulty is harder than P99. I doubt it, but we can hope.

[kjs86z2]

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

Yeah that is a bit concerning the guy can just solo tank 6 mobs in Mistmoore with basic gear lol. I see what you are talking about in the video.

Hopefully they just made things easy for the beta for testing purposes. But we will see.

Or perhaps max difficulty is harder than P99. I doubt it, but we can hope.

they've stated repeatedly the game is intended to be easy

extremely casual friendly

with the option to go to diff 4 - which will be far more challenging

my buddy got a beta key, hes playing SK / bard / wiz....was absolutely murdering upper guk on diff 1, i had him throw it on diff 4 and he got his ass handed to him

this week they're releasing a new build with more buffs for casters...incantations or some shit...basically caster "stances" that will have stacking / complicated mechanics on the high end

[Wayward]

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

All this talk... will the game be challenging at all? Or is it just a power-fantasy for folks who wanted to see every zone?

Vanilla EQ as seen in p99 seems to be the right amount of challenging, but this iteration (EQL) seems like its not going to be challenging at all....

Let's be honest, we all fell in love with EQ and spent so many hours on it because it was difficult, and the sense of accomplishment was astonishing after spending hours and hours running into trouble.

I get why they tune things to be so easy, but as others have said, as a result of the overwhelming reduction in difficulty:

-There will be no economy
-No pick-up groups
-Player retention will fall off

[oreilly]

Going to do an Ogre warrior necro bard.

I'm not sure if I'll play EQL very long but definitely gonna check it out for some fun.

[kjs86z2]

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

Let's be honest, we all fell in love with EQ and spent so many hours on it because it was difficult, and the sense of accomplishment was astonishing after spending hours and hours running into trouble.

I get why they tune things to be so easy, but as others have said, as a result of the overwhelming reduction in difficulty:

-There will be no economy
-No pick-up groups
-Player retention will fall off

I think there will be an economy, and all it takes is 1 discord channel for LFG and another for Raid planning.

Remembah, raids can be up to 8 people. On Diff 4 it'll be spicy.

[Vexenu]

With the way item leveling works and the inability to resell items after they've been equipped, I think that bartering will actually become the most common way to trade and acquire gear. This is because with so few transactions taking place it will be very difficult for the market to achieve anything approaching accurate price discovery. What is a Skull-shaped Barbute +8 worth? I don't know, but if I have one after farming in Guk for awhile and don't need it, I'd gladly trade it for that PoS quest piece you have, or maybe for your Robe of the Oracle +5. Basically, people will just level up items they don't need to +5 or above, then hope to trade them for items they DO need to other players doing the same. Because without an active and functional market with a relatively tight bid/ask spread, there is no way to accurately value gear in terms of plat.

In regard to the difficulty and replayability issue, I was thinking they could have some sort of leaderboard for both group (4 man) and guild (8 man) dungeon clears and god kills. They say they plan to introduce non-respawning zone instances with lockouts, so they could probably figure out a way to put a timer on how long the zone was active until it was cleared. That would at least give people something to continuously improve on and compete over.