Dream EQ server (fiction)

[astuce999]

Introduction: I got to thinking of my dream EQ server. Please, only read if you are bored at work or like the ‘what ifs’ type scenarios.


CODE:
-Use p99 current code (all nerfs and changes in), with modifications below.
-Figure out a way to make stamina loss and regeneration classic.
-Bring back the book for meditating under lvl 35.


TIMELINE:
-Start with Vanilla Only.
-Follow timeline for Kunark release.
-Follow timeline for Velious release.

ACCOUNTS:
-2 Accounts per IP maximum.
-2 Characters per account maximum.
-No boxing. (1 IP exemption per household, no increase on limits of accounts)

Notes: Having 2 accounts per IP maximum makes it so that IP exemptions are allowed for 2 people to play from the same household, but it will also prevent rampant account buying/selling that is occurring on p99 right now. Having 2 characters per account maximum will prevent people from having multiple alts camped at specific raid targets, if you want to re-roll an alt, just delete your current one and make a new one, keeping things fresh.

EXPERIENCE:
-Increase the amount of experience required to level by 1200%.
-Remove all class experience modifiers (keep racial ones).
-Add an extra 100% experience per group member so that a group of 6 will effectively gain 600% experience of someone alone.

Notes: This will hopefully make it so that people group more. If it takes 12 times the amount of time to solo from lvl 1-50 compared to p99, but only twice the time on p99 by being in a group, it should motivate people to form full groups. Removing class penalties will also level the playing field in group selection.

ITEMS:
-No legacy items. (GM Events only)
-No item recharge.
-No multi-questing.

Notes: I’d like the playing field to be as level as possible, and if a server like this were to pop up the legacy item camps would cause all sorts of drama. Item recharge to me is something that was classic, but was rarely used since it was largely unknown. On p99 it’s a daily routine, and it makes a lot of events and travel trivial. Multi-questing encourages greed and also takes the journey out of completing quests.

MOBS:
-Raise mobs above level 20’s effective level by 3, without raising their actual level (so that they are more difficult but don’t give more xp).

Notes: This is also made to keep the spirit of making things harder. P99 has found a great way of making the caster mobs spell selection much smarter, but melee only mobs are pushovers. If anyone can think of easily implemented ways of making mobs tougher I’d love to hear it and would want it in my fantasy server.

ZONES:
-Increase ZEM’s in zones that are notoriously vacant.
-Planes are available from the start, with their current ruleset except with the original p99 fear spell that actually made it slightly dangerous.

Notes: Hot Zoning is a good way to motivate people to be more adventurous, especially on a server with vanilla only to start, and incredibly prohibitive xp requirements. We all know the zones that are always empty, this would give them a chance to see some action.

CLASSES:
Bard;
-AE kiting nerf (AE dots don’t deal any damage if mobs are chasing)
-All bard group v1 haste becomes v3 haste (overhaste).
-Cassindra`s Elegy (lvl 44) has a component added: +15% to single target detrimental spell damage (nuke focus).

Notes: AE kiting is one of those things like item recharge, or 2boxing; it was possible in classic, but it was so rare that no one payed it any mind. As soon as the word got out, in PoP, AE kiting was nerfed 3 times (until it was successful). Initially, bard haste was meant to stack with all other hastes. On EQ beta, there are some reports that it actually did. Over the years, a lot of people thought it still did, and then they eventually created overhaste. When they did, melees really started to love bards a lot more. PoP gave bards the ability to increase the spell damage of other casters in the group. Cassindra’s Elegy is a song that no one ever sings except to do tradeskills. Since it was +int/wis I felt that it was natural to add this very group-friendly component to a song that is never used. These songs make bards a solid group class, and with the hybrid penalty removed, they should find takers.

Cleric;
-Whenever a cleric casts a beneficial spell, there is a 25% chance that it will only cost 1 mana.
-Critical heals added.

Notes: As the premier healing class of classic, clerics don’t need a lot of tweaks to be desired in groups. With the difficulty of mobs increased, their demands will only stay the same if not increase. I thought that adding those 2 abilities would make the class slightly more enjoyable and make up for the increase in mana demands from more difficult mobs.

Druid;
-Heal modifier is changed from -10% to +50%
-Regeneration line has a component added : +2 mana regeneration. (no longer same spell as a shaman)
-Whenever a druid casts a detrimental spell, there is a 25% chance that his next beneficial spell will cost 1 mana. (blinking buff icon for 3 ticks upon successful trigger)
-Whenever a druid casts a beneficial spell, there is a 25% chance that his next detrimental spell will cost 1 mana. (blinking buff icon for 3 ticks upon successful trigger)

Notes: Druids needed a lot of work. Their utility ended when you said “kthxbye” after a port. Since they don’t have slows like shamans, formulas have shown that they spend a lot more mana on heals than the other two priests. It also takes forever to med, and with the increased difficulty of mobs they would never keep up. They sometimes would get invited to groups thinking they can heal and nuke, but would spend all their mana on heals and get the evil eye if they nuked once in a while. These abilities all address those shortcomings, and should make them much more desirable in groups.

Enchanter;
-Insight/Brilliance line has a component added: whenever specialization check is successful on a spell (minimum cast time 3 seconds), player gains 100 mana.

Notes: enchanters are already super awesome, so not much work was needed. Due to the reality of more mana-intensive fights, this new ability should continue to keep their desirability very high in groups.


Magician;
-Single target damage shield line has a component added: chance to proc a 400 point DD, with a high modifier, can only be cast on other player characters, 5 minute cooldown, 5 minute duration.

Notes: Magicians were already fairly high on the desired list, especially in vanilla, but they always soloed. With the new reality they should want to get in on groups more, and now they can make 1 player deal a lot more damage.

Monk;
-Secondary attack abilities (i.e. dragon punch, flying kick) have a component added: +25% chance to proc silence for 30 seconds on target (standard stun rules apply).

Monks are well known to be overpowered in classic, so it would have been very difficult to justify giving them many things. Casters mobs are also a very tough customer in p99, so having monks able to deal with them better than anyone made sense. Plus I also think that lore-wise it is justifiable.

Necromancer;
-The Vampiric Embrace line can now be cast on other player characters.
Critical dots added.
-Shadowsight can now be cast on other players. It now takes 1.5 seconds to cast. It has components added: (2) See invis, (3)Feign Death. It has a 5 minute cooldown. Standing will not dispel the buff, the other components will remain in effect.

Notes: Necros are used to solo’ing. It’s because of 2 things; one, they get much better xp by solo’ing, and two, they aren’t very highly desired in groups. It’s not that they were hated, it’s just people picked other classes in the dps slot instead. The new reality will change that. Solo’ing is horrible now, and by having a buff that should be fairly highly sought after by tank types, and critical dots to increase their damage output in short fights, it should make their lfg tag have a shorter lifespan. Being able to FD someone else in group every 5 minutes will also make for some interesting situations, the first one being able to save the cleric when things go terribly wrong, but many others that players will discover.

Paladin;
-Yaulp line has a component added: +25% chance to proc a 100 point group heal. (add 50 points per Yaulp upgrade)
-Paladins start with an extra 100 points to all resists.

Notes: Once the hybrid penalty is removed, paladins don’t need much to be desired in groups. I thought it would be fitting to add more to the defensive aspect of the class, first to alleviate healing for the group, and second to bring a specialization to the type of tank the pally should be.

Ranger;
-Remove Feel Like Cat spell, instead add a spell called Spirit of Nature (lvl 15) that has a +2 mana regeneration and a +2 HP regeneration component.
E-yes of the Cat can now be cast on other players. It has a component added: +10 avoidance.
-Double bow damage.
-Snare line for rangers has a component added: 20% slow that scales up to 50% at lvl 60.

Notes: even with the hybrid penalty removed, Rangers need a ton of help. It wasn’t until PoP that they started to come on their own. I thought that by adding a beastlord twist to the type of utility that they have would bring their desirability in groups up tremendously.

Rogue;
-Backstab has a component added: +25% chance to proc a 400 attack buff on other group members for 6 seconds.
-Throwing has a component added: +50% chance to stun (0.1 seconds).

Notes: Being the premier DPS class in EQ, rogues have always been welcomed in groups, and they stack well. I tried to come up with ways they could help the group increase the damage output, without it directly being the rogues’ dps. I also wanted to add a little utility, and the thought of a well placed throw interrupting a spell caster just felt natural.

Shadowknight;
-Secondary attack abilities (i.e. bash, slam) have a component added: +25% chance to process a 50 point heal and a 20 point mana gain for the group.
-Deadeye may now be cast on other players. It also has an added component: +25% damage added to damage over time spells. It is no longer the same as the necro spell.

Notes: Much like the paladin, once the hybrid penalty is removed, they are in good shape for groups. Added a little utility, and a unique dot focus to help them find their niche.

Shaman;
-Shaman statistical buff spells ignore the cap (overstats).

Notes: Shamans are already overpowered in classic. The only thing I added is something that came later on and I felt respected the class’s nature.

Warrior;
-Whenever a warrior deals damage, the mob registers is as three times the hate it should generate.
-Whenever a warrior deals a critical hit or a crippling blow, the mob has a 25% chance to lose 500AC for 6 seconds.

Notes: warriors main problem is aggro, so by giving them a natural edge, it should help. Added a nice little twist to critical hits.

Wizard;
-Add spell critical hits.
-Whenever a wizard casts a detrimental spell, there is a chance that it will only cost 1 mana.
-The wizard Damage shield line now has a component added: +250 attack.
-Wizards now have the lvl 29 spell: Stone of Sorcery. It is a beneficial single target spell that has the component: -10% mana cost to all spells. Duration 27 minutes.

Notes: wizards have problems with mana, with all the changes to the other classes it should help them with that. I felt it was important to add that Gift of Mana-like ability, as well as critical nukes. The last 2 abilities are to help with group desirability, one for melees, the other for casters.


What do you guys think of this attempt at balancing classes? Did I neglect or give too much to a specific class? Let me know what you think, and thank you very much for reading!

Astuce Subterfuge

[billpaleq]

You sir just made EQ next

[Swish]

build it and they will come

[SamwiseRed]

my dream eq server involves perma death. build and they will grief.

[Itap]

I like a lot of your ideas. This reminds me of Vanilla WoW, to an extent. If this server existed, I would definitely play.

[Stinkum]

I like about 75% of your ideas. Good stuff.

[Bidoof]

I like a lot of the ideas. Obviously not classic, but still good balance thoughts that a lot of classes needed and never really got.

The only one I'd disagree with is bard overhaste, and that only really sticks out because my main for years was a bard on live. I think all v3 haste maxed at 10%, maybe 15% (been a few years). 10-15% adds a sizable bit of dps to a melee group, but anything over it, which most bard v1 haste songs are, would be too much.

[quido]

make it happen bub

[Cars]

I wrote a really long post critiquing why this wouldn't work then realized I could just sum it up as; very silly.

I understand that you want to encourage grouping more so that all classes are equally viable, but by outlawing solo play not only do you completely destroy the connection one person can make with the world on his/her own, but you make all time spent in that world without a group a waste of time. That's not a roleplaying game, thats a cooperative adventure game.

[NoWaiJ]

please put your ideas into action. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

some of the class changes are a little weird, but i like about 70% of this.