Better class's when it comes to PvP in EQ?

[VincentVolaju]

I've never really PvPed in EQ because it just seemed like it would be so completely unbalanced and not very competitive. However with all this talk lately about the PvP server, I think I might give it a shot.

I was wondering though, what are some of the better class's that would be wanted on a PvP focused EQ server? Would it end up being just a bunch of Wizards? Or class's like Druid's that have Snare and Root for CC? Or would it basically be the same as any EQ server where every class is viable in PvP?

[Humerox]

All depends on how they tweak the mechanics.

Classic will favor casters, but melee will do well higher end if things are done right.

Druids will always be a decent PvP choice.

[Daldaen]

Monks are common because they are pretty sturdy, have mend in a pinch and can FD off any train (PvP servers are notorious for having frequent trainings. People use the PvE Environment in their PvPing).

Necromancers as well, fearing players + strong solo DPS/heal regain abilities and of course FD.

All classes will show up but if you want to be a solo PvPer, something like a Magician or Wizard are poor choices as their strengths (pet / large damage spike) can easily be countered by a human, plus their lack of healing.

Enchanters were pretty good way back but the nerf to charming other players was somewhat early on from my recollection and that was a huge asset. Charm player x, sit at bottom of lake, lol while they drown :P.

[KB_Trader]

It depends on so many factors that have yet to be determined it's kind of a moot point to discuss at this point. If things play out like live, casters will be king for quite awhile. Casters really shine in classic, specifically necros, mages, and druids. Once Kunark comes out and resists are more easily achievable then hybrids and melee classes become a lot more viable.

It's also entirely situational. For example, pure melees reaaaaaally shine in dungeons, outdoors are a bard, druid, and shamans best friend, etc.

In the end I say you play what you want to play and don't worry about the usefulness of 1v1 combat. This is a social game and most of your time will be spent with other people, so the short comings of a specific class really aren't all that much of a factor in the long run. This is especially true if it's only coin loot and no xp death with pvp because the main focus of pvp in that situation is zone control which you won't typically achieve (or even have a desire to achieve because most content worth fighting over isn't soloable) it by yourself.

[Aenor]

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

I was wondering though, what are some of the better class's that would be wanted on a PvP focused EQ server?

Due to the significantly decreased use of MQ after the recent bannings/suspensions, track is really going to be useful on the PvP server. Bards and Druids are going to have a huge advantage, and Rangers will be awesome in groups. Not a powerful 1 on 1 PvP class in classic, but they have the best tracking range in the game. Get in a group with a sow class or bard and go hunt some folks down.

[Drem]

bards ftw

[Nataz]

My experience from VZ is that a bard with a couple of lvls advantage or atleast high resists can kill a whole group eventually as he with best running speed never have to go into close combat and can heal/cure/dispell everything. In dungeons rogues are really nice, especially a skilled one that can joust-backstab. SK is also very powerful with some good gear. Wizzy die to quick but can be good in mass pvp especially with AoN. Necro is very good in one on one, so is mage. Shaman / Druid have the sow advantage but will generally have to flee against the above classes. Enchanters is very very good utility in mass pvp but generally people will have too high resists for them to do well. Ranger track is nice, but in classic bows are not good enough and the good dd wasnt until later. Also generally you use 2-hander in pvp which is not very good for rangers.

From my 5 years on VZ i can't recall a lot of ppl training to win pvp, that's mostly bluebie prejudice.

[greatdane]

It depends a lot on the circumstances. If people have terrible gear, magician is one of the best classes. The pet can pretty much take on any melee class straight up until endgame gear, plus magician nukes are pretty decent when they land. Earth pet will permaroot anyone if the root sticks. Once people have proper gear, magician becomes shit since they're completely defenseless, have no real utility, and their spells are so resistable.

With absolute top end gear, warriors are nearly unstoppable. Disciplines allow them to nearly (or sometimes literally) one-shot many targets, and a warrior with 250 svm just can't be parked if the server uses era-relevant resist mechanics. Rogues are almost as beastly, but they rely on positioning and the environment can make that tricky, plus they can't tank other melees and pets like warriors can. Monks are a bit like warriors except they'll have a harder time getting über resists and can't do insane crit burst, but if you fight dirty, monk is king due to how easily you can train people. The pure melee classes are pretty terrible without that gear, though.

In outdoor zones, bards are theoretically unkillable. It usually takes a while for a bard to actually land a kill himself, but with resist/dispel songs and selo, you're just not gonna land any fast-casting root or snare on him. If you try to cast something painful, which usually takes like 6+ seconds, he'll just dart out of range before the cast finishes. A bard who knows what he's doing cannot be caught, cannot be CCed, cannot be escaped from unless you gate or run to guards, and he will dance in and out of spell range while applying chant dots or sending charmed mobs at you. It's an absurd class in PvP, but at least they lack the raw power to wreck people fast.

Shadowknight and necromancer are pretty solid regardless of the circumstances. Those two will always be popular because they aren't too hindered by high resists and have good PvP utility, so if you want a class that is well-rounded and doesn't run into situations like "can't beat that class" or "can't beat people with resist gear", go with one or the other depending on whether you like melee or caster. Druids are pretty decent as well and have amazing PvP utility (port, track, snare + root etc.) but it takes forever to kill anyone with good gear because you can pretty much just use Winged Death which will get pumiced.

Ranger, paladin and wizard are a bit tough to define. A well-geared ranger is actually reasonably solid in PvP due to huge tracking, snare and trueshot (in Velious, at least) but will have trouble killing well-geared players. Paladins are insanely tough to kill, but they do pitiful damage and you can basically just decide to wander away when you get tired of it. Great for duels where there has to be a winner, not so great if you want to actually go PKing. Plus resists render all their offensive magic worthless. People like to think that wizards are great in PvP because of lures, but they do very little damage per cast and a wizard is fucked if he can't snipe you from a wall or something. In group PvP where someone can protect the wizard and he can wear down that raid-geared warrior who's raping faces, it's a really good class. Not well-rounded enough to be a PvP #1 choice, though.

Clerics are for group PvP. You can't fucking kill a cleric, you might as well not try. If you're a melee, he'll invul and stroll away or gate. If you're a caster, you will run OOM before he dies. I had a level 57 cleric on VZ/TZ and level 60 casters would regularly jump me only to eventually give up and leave because I could just stand there and heal whatever they threw at me. It took a melee to kill me, and if there was a zone nearby or I could get a gate off, they couldn't finish me off. At 60 and with good gear, a cleric is just immortal and not worth fighting, but they're also harmless unless they have a partner to babysit.

Enchanters are insane until resist gear becomes prevalent, at which point they become buffers/debuffers for group PvP. You can't kill anything that has 200+ svm even if you tash it, but an echanter is invaluable in large-scale fighting. Crimson potions kinda screw enchanters over, but if they didn't exist, Rapture would be a retarded spell.

Shamans are a bit unique. They can be almost as hard to take down as a cleric and they can be ogre for bash immunity, so their survivability is huge. Their casts are slow and extremely expensive, though, because the class is made for PvE (they all are, but you know) and you can't exactly sit around and canni in the middle of a PvP fight. Poison dots hurt like hell and people tend to have low poison/disease resists, but you can make cure poison potions and lots of classes can cure with spells. Pretty sturdy 1v1 class and great support for group fights, but shamans don't really melt faces if you're prepared to fight them.

For the most well-rounded class in the Kunark/Velious era, I'd nominate necromancer. There are situations where another class would be stronger, but necros are so versatile and have so many options that they're never really at a disadvantage. They aren't countered too hard by high resists or dispels, they have really good survivability/sustainability for a caster class, they aren't hindered by having to kill stuff with melee, they have a very strong pet, they can feign off mobs and can get most anywhere to fuck with groups due to having feign death, invul and both types of invis... and hey, they also happen to be one of the best solo levelers and farmers which is a huge bonus on a PvP server. A level 60 raid-geared warrior (or rogue or monk, to a slightly lesser extent) is probably the ultimate king, but your anus will be in tatters by the time you get there.

[lethdar]

Casters will rule until melee get resist gear and decent weapons, however in the end game the most important thing will be melees backed by clerics for guild v guild combat.

Nothing is more pathetic than watching a mage/druid/necro heavy guild try and fight against rape trains of melee in dungeons.

[Nataz]

I played a warrior on VZ, it's fun when you have the gear but early on you have to rely a lot on pumice and jboots to do anything of value. With a dathor hammer (was it maybe a luclin item tho?), AoN and cobalt bracer and bp you can do very well. Some of the best memories was backing into a corner with riposte disc and dathor hammer while getting rushed by multiple (dual wielding) melees. =)