When are we getting beastlords?

[Cen]

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

Wrong.

Cleric bash was towards the end of Luclin, about 1.5 months before PoP launch.

I was so sure it was gates of discord, and upon further research, what i confused was that Clerics got bash as a baseline skill in Gates of Discord that they learn at level 25, as opposed to the Luclin AA ability

[mcoy]

I thought it was Luclin that gave clerics the summoned hammers and bash, but a quick look through my logs seems to show it as PoP era:

[Sun Feb 02 06:52:19 2003] [56 Templar] Mccoy (Human) <Menacing Visage>
[Sun Feb 02 06:52:19 2003] There are 11 players in Dawnshroud Peaks.
[Sun Feb 02 06:53:05 2003] You no longer have a target.
[Sun Feb 02 06:53:05 2003] A wolf springs from a nearby bush...hungry for blood.
[Sun Feb 02 06:53:05 2003] A fungus covered shroom tries to hit YOU, but misses!
[Sun Feb 02 06:53:05 2003] A fungus covered shroom kicks YOU for 4 points of damage.
[Sun Feb 02 06:53:06 2003] Auto attack is on.
[Sun Feb 02 06:53:06 2003] You crush a fungus covered shroom for 25 points of damage.
[Sun Feb 02 06:53:07 2003] You bash a fungus covered shroom for 8 points of damage.
[Sun Feb 02 06:53:08 2003] You begin casting Yaulp V.
[Sun Feb 02 06:53:08 2003] You feel a surge of strength as you let forth a mighty yaulp.

I'll keep looking and see if I see anything from earlier on.

-Mcoy

[mcoy]

Looks like it was September 2002 according to the patch notes:

------------------------------
September 4, 2002 3:00 am
------------------------------

...

** Priest Changes **

- Clerics gain the Bash skill beginning at level 25. They will have a
maximum skill of 125 at level 50, 165 at level 60.
- Clerics gain Hammer of Judgement - a level 56 summoned hammer with a
powerful and frequent proc effect
- Clerics gain Yaulp V - a level 56 self-only melee and mana regen buff
that adds haste, dexterity, mana regeneration and stamina regeneration.
- Clerics gain Ethereal Elixir - a level 60 group version of Celestial
Elixir, the heal-over-time spell.
- Clerics gain Ethereal Light - a level 58 upgrade of Divine Light, the
single target heal spell.
- Clerics gain Ethereal Remedy - a level 59 upgrade of Remedy, the
single target heal spell.

-Mcoy

[garfo]

Can we have a subforum where all these Luclin-lusting posts can get filtered to? Perhaps even straight to RNF?

[Zuranthium]

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

Beastlord's were the quintessential "grouping pet class" with all the perks you mentioned in your post...in addition with a bit of gear and a few AAs they could also tank general PoP Era group content okay.

Mages on the other hand we're the "utility/ burst damage pet class", more burst dps, nukes, coth, resist debuff and item summoning, would get smoked in melee range.

Mages being "Burst" DPS was not really a thing as they got into the 50's, and wasn't very relevant during the earlier levels either, with how easy it was gear a melee character by Luclin era. Nor was the Beastlord some kind of quintessential grouping class (and if they were, exactly how would that be fair to Mages?). All of the Beastlord abilities, except for a couple of generic buffs at the high levels, were redundant if a Shaman was in the party. Both classes were just centered on doing DPS as a group role, with the Beastlord using melee instead of spells to supplement the Pet's DPS.

The tankiness and extra utility of the Beastlord in comparison to the Mage is what made the class feel quite unfair and overreaching on already existing territory. They were performing the same jobs for the usual group composition, but Beastlords didn't have to worry about being squishy and could provide damage mitigation (slow) and downtime healing, not to mention SoW, if it was needed for a more ragtag kind of party. Call of the Hero was more of a Raid thing for Mages; wasn't usually a relevant general group ability.

[Scribin]

Originally Posted by fastboy21 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Not disagreeing that they are a fun class, as you said to each their own.

But also as you say, even as one of the top ones on your server you weren't the best dps...you weren't the best tank...you weren't the best slower...you weren't the best stats buffer. what was the special niche of the class?

It just always struck me, for that reason, that they didn't fit well into the existing classes dynamic. Same thing when berserker came out. From what I understand they eventually fixed berserker and made them pretty much a straight dps class (which wasn't something the game really needed, but it at least gave them an on-par niche with other classes).

I quit playing shortly after Luclin came out and never played a beastlord or went on any raids post kunark... that said. My little brother played a beastlord and enjoyed it very much. Which brings me to the point of my post, Maybe the fun part about EQ to people isn't filling a niche in a raid but having fun playing the game.

[Videri]

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

Maybe the fun part about EQ to people isn't filling a niche in a raid but having fun playing the game.

Indeed. I just noticed that I tend to lose interest and quit once I get to the point where I only log in for raids. For instance, when I have one or more max level characters, finish an epic quest or two, and finish gathering the "low-hanging fruit" when it comes to gear (or GEARS, GUISE). I guess the journey of leveling and questing is the main thing that holds my attention in Everquest. Food for thought. I hope this doesn't mean I'm doomed to reroll over and over.

See you on Green...