Ongoing - Estimations of class function and power?
#1
Hi all,

So have any balancing changes been made in the classes yet? I was trying to get a general feel for how the characters function. From what I’ve seen so far on multiple sites, it appears that all of the classes are roughly equal, but their tactics and strengths differ, and some are better in groups, while others excel when soloing. It looks like the one class really lagging behind is the Mage, especially solo (sorry Bolty).

Can anyone add to my estimations below, or correct them? Please keep in mind that I don’t have the privilege of playing. I’m just trying to get a feel for what the classes are like so far, and what direction they may be heading in. Thanks!
;)

Druid
(not enough information)

Hunter
(not enough information)

Mage
Group prospects: Good-Excellent. Powerful, provided the relevant allies keep aggro on themselves.
Solo prospects: Poor-Average. Glass cannon. (Are major spell lines still missing due to revision?)

Paladin
Group prospects: Good. Not as skilled at maintaining aggro as a Warrior is.
Solo prospects: Excellent.

Priest
Group prospects: Good. Always popular, but requires tanks to reach maximum effectiveness.
Solo prospects: Good, but defensive.

Rogue
Group prospects: Good. Need more info!
Solo prospects: Good.

Shaman
(not enough information)

Warlock
Group prospects: Good, but reduced if there is another aggressive Warlock in the party.
Solo prospects: Good, but pet management can be labor-intensive.
(This is derived from old information)

Warrior
Group prospects: Good-Excellent, depending on healers and support.
Solo prospects: Good. Powerful, but lots of downtime for nonmagical healing.
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#2
Druid/Hunter/Shaman aren't supported yet, so no info can be given. :)

Warrior Nonmagic healing can be aided with cooking, herbalism, alchemy, first aid...
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#3
Quote:Rogue
Group prospects: Good. Need more info!
Solo prospects: Good.

--Disclaimer: Second-hand info--
from what I've READ, you'd have to change Group and Solo Prospects to:"OMG uber!!"

Crowd-control (Sap), high dmg output (charged Finishers), stealth...
Seems like Rogues are teh cheese for now


Greetings

Nuur
"I'm a cynical optimistic realist. I have hopes. I suspect they are all in vain. I find a lot of humor in that." -Pete

I'll remember you.
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#4
A note from being partied with a Warlock:

I had been teamed up with a Warlock, and found that his minion would act "stupid" sometimes. Like instead of it going off and attacking one monster that was alone, it went for a group of 3 monsters. Being a warrior, we pounded through, the three of us, but still. If we would have had a mage in the party, he might have gotten roughed up quite a bit.

SaxyCorp
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#5
I had been teamed up with a Warlock, and found that his minion would act "stupid" sometimes. Like instead of it going off and attacking one monster that was alone, it went for a group of 3 monsters.

It is possible for a warlock to micromanage his demon as closely as micromanaging a unit in any other Warcraft game. Of course, some people are better at micromanagement than others...
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#6
Sounds like the player set his pet to agressive mode. With defensive mode he won't run off after monsters like that, and with passive mode he will only do what you tell him (which can be labor-intensive).

But I did notice some strange behaivior with pets. Sometimes he would run away after a different monster after we just kill one, for no apparent reason. Meanwhile I might be trying to heal, and it's certainly unwelcome. Also, they seem to have some type of "memory". So if I die, and then resurrect myself near the spot and summon my pet, the pet will go after the monster that killed me right off the bat, without any command, which is often not something you want.
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#7
Rogues are the shiznit when it comes to dealing damage. However, they're like glass canons. When soloing, they're uber, 1337, and a bag of chips - until the MOB you're battling gets a friend. At that point, you pray that your stun attack hits and you are able to RUN! If not, time to kiss the gravestone.

So they are great in groups. They have the ability to draw aggro like no ones business.

Solo - they're great one on one. When fighting 2 same level mobs, you'll take a dirt nap 85% of the time.
TPJ • Founder, The Amazon Basin
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#8
TPJ,Apr 7 2004, 07:42 AM Wrote:Rogues are the shiznit when it comes to dealing damage. However, they're like glass canons. When soloing, they're uber, 1337, and a bag of chips - until the MOB you're battling gets a friend. At that point, you pray that your stun attack hits and you are able to RUN! If not, time to kiss the gravestone.

Solo - they're great one on one. When fighting 2 same level mobs, you'll take a dirt nap 85% of the time.
I've found with my Paladin that unless I have 3 or more levels on a critter that I can very easily take a dirt nap when faced by two critters. Part of this is due to my stubborn insistence upon using a two handed maul rather than shield/mace combo but its also due to the fact that my best skills for managing that situation are on a timer. Now that I have divine favor with a ten second span I can usually heal myself and if I'm lucky and have one, drink a mana potion. This gives me a second chance at the destroying the mob. If I fail to remove one of the mob from the equation after the df/heal trick than I am usually in pretty bad trouble....
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#9
One of the things that I've found with my warrior, though she is a relatively "young" one at level 13, is that when I'm going up against 2 same level critters is a case where I will usually end up suffering from a slight case of death. But taking on up to 3 opponents one level lower than I am isn't an issue, and nor is taking out a level 16 quest boss (if I have 1 health potion with me). I'm about to hit level 14, and if I remember correctly, I'll get Rank 2 attacks, which I've been really hoping for. One of which, I think is Rank to Rend, which I've always found useful, since you can have your monster "bleeding out" while you're still hitting it with other attacks like Strike.

One thing about being a warrior in a party where you have a casting character, is that sometimes they rely on you a bit too much. For instance, I had a guy that was a priest, who had a Nightsabor (tiger) after him. He comes hauling past me, nightsabor at his heels. And he KEPT running, zigging and zagging. He was killed, and as soon as the nightsabor stopped moving, it was dead. Then the member of my party said "Why didn't you help me?" My response: "You kept running." Not 5 minutes later, the same thing happened, except it was a monster that we engaged, and not one that spotted him.

Since then, I've come across other casting characters that have done a lot better, which makes me thing that the level 11 priest that I had once partied up with in fact didn't know what he was doing. My fellow Lurkers within the game have been very good in not relying on me too much. I thank you for that. It's made me reconsider my early opinion about partying with people. We fight together and we die together, dealing as much damage as we can, but not expecting any one in the group to do most of the work.

Just my take....

SaxyCorp
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#10
tal125,Apr 7 2004, 01:12 PM Wrote:I've found with my Paladin that unless I have 3 or more levels on a critter that I can very easily take a dirt nap when faced by two critters. Part of this is due to my stubborn insistence upon using a two handed maul rather than shield/mace combo but its also due to the fact that my best skills for managing that situation are on a timer. Now that I have divine favor with a ten second span I can usually heal myself and if I'm lucky and have one, drink a mana potion. This gives me a second chance at the destroying the mob. If I fail to remove one of the mob from the equation after the df/heal trick than I am usually in pretty bad trouble....
That's not true on my part... I could take up to 2 critters of the same level as myself when I was still using Rank 1 Divine Favor... I could also deal with 3 critters of one level below me. I also use a two handed maul, by the way :) I guess it may have something to do with the fact that I'm heavily trained in Stamina and have that talent that increases your health by 20.

My rogue, however, had some serious trouble soloing multiple critters of the same level as himself at once.
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#11
Saxywoo,Apr 7 2004, 01:20 PM Wrote:And he KEPT running, zigging and zagging.  He was killed, and as soon as the nightsabor stopped moving, it was dead.  Then the member of my party said "Why didn't you help me?"  My response: "You kept running."  Not 5 minutes later, the same thing happened, except it was a monster that we engaged, and not one that spotted him.
One of the things I had a hard time with when I was first playing a hybrid healer type in EQ (back in the day - heh) was that if something was attacking me, I needed to move near the tank and then stand still and wait for him to draw the aggro away. Running just gets you dead, but I definitely understand the instinct. That priest will figure it out eventually.
One day, the Champions of the Fierce Bunny will ride again...<!--sizec--><!--/sizec-->
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#12
Yes, managing aggro sometimes makes you go against common sense. For example, as warlock, I naturally want my pet to tank, especially if I am collecting soul shards. Until my voidwalker got level 2 aggro spell, sometimes the monsters would go after me after I did a slight bit of damage. When a monster charges you, natural instinct is to start fighting it, but you actually often had to stand and take the abuse, so the pet would draw the monster back. Then you can safely channel "drain soul" or whatever else you need.
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#13
First off, I'm not part of the beta, so excuse any ignorance on my part.

Are there any classes with ranged non-magical attacks, such as bow/cross-bow or throwing weapons? If no, why the hell not? :P

If yes, I'm very curious to know how an archer compares to a mage or a paladin.

gekko
"Life is sacred and you are not its steward. You have stewardship over it but you don't own it. You're making a choice to go through this, it's not just happening to you. You're inviting it, and in some ways delighting in it. It's not accidental or coincidental. You're choosing it. You have to realize you've made choices."
-Michael Ventura, "Letters@3AM"
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#14
Hunters are to be the ranged fighter class.
;)

http://www.blizzard.com/wow/townhall/class...es.shtml#hunter
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