Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Question about classes
Deathpooper
Member Posts: 265
Hi. Are classes unique and differ from each other? Do they have some special gimmicks or style to play? Thanks.
Comments
I'd *really* hate LotRO if my favorite class was healer: the implementation of that class is "Minstrel," which means, yes, in the middle of freaking combat, the healer pulls out his instrument and plays a song. That's just plain *stupid.*
You have to realize that this game is based on the LOTR lore. There weren't wizards running all over Middle Earth in the books or the movies. True casters were few and far between.
The Minstrel class is actually the best "bard" class I've seen in any game. The worst was in EQ2, when they would sing in the middle of a battle. At least in LOTRO, Minstrels can actually "compose" their own music!
The Minstrel (healer) is actually a great class to play. They offer much more to a group than a normal healer does in many mmo's.
_________________________________
JonMichael
Currently: AION, an MMO Beta under NDA
Played: WAR, LOTRO, Hellgate: London, CoX, GW, SotNW, DAOC, EQ2, SWG, WoW, AO, Horizons, Second Life, There, TSO
Beta'd: There, Second Life, EQ2, DAOC:LotM, LOTRO, Tabula Rasa, Gods and Heroes, Hellgate: London, Requiem:Bloodymare, AoC, WAR, DDO, Fallen Earth
Sorry you are way off. In the Lore of Tolkein, there were only 5 wizards, and basically only 3 were involved in LOTR, Gandalf, Saromon, and Sauron. They are not even men, elf , dwarf or hafling, but a different race all together., which is not playable in this game, for good reason. That is why magic use is not prevalent in this game - they are following guidance from LOTR licensing.
As for a ton of elves, it DOES fit the back story. The time line of this game starts before the fellowship - before the elf races started to leave middle earth, back when elf and man banded together to rid the world of an upcoming evil. This is also the reason you see no female dwarves. Not a one, and that is also following tolkein lore.
Do you mean, does a Minstrel play different than a Champion? One is a healer and the other a fighter/rogue so yes and no.
Champion: Melee type dps strong. A bit weak in solo play. Useful in groups, although archers are often prefered.
Archer: Range type dps strong. Middle of the road in solo play. Useful in groups.
Guardian: Melee type. Defense strong. Middle of the road in solo play. Needed in groups.
Minstrel: Healer type. Strong heals. Good at solo. Needed in groups.
Burglar: buff/debuff type. strong duff/debuff. Weak at solo play. Useful in groups.
Loremaster. mez /pet type. Good at solo play. Luke-warm in groups.
Captain. Jack of all trades. Weak at solo play. Not needed much in groups.
They just did a huge adjustment to all classes so the list standings might change. Also my remarks are 'on average' In some zones, during some levels classes may be stronger/weaker than I indicated.
Do you mean, does a Minstrel play different than a Champion? One is a healer and the other a fighter/rogue so yes and no.
Champion: Melee type dps strong. A bit weak in solo play. Useful in groups, although archers are often prefered.
Archer: Range type dps strong. Middle of the road in solo play. Useful in groups.
Guardian: Melee type. Defense strong. Middle of the road in solo play. Needed in groups.
Minstrel: Healer type. Strong heals. Good at solo. Needed in groups.
Burglar: buff/debuff type. strong duff/debuff. Weak at solo play. Useful in groups.
Loremaster. mez /pet type. Good at solo play. Luke-warm in groups.
Captain. Jack of all trades. Weak at solo play. Not needed much in groups.
They just did a huge adjustment to all classes so the list standings might change. Also my remarks are 'on average' In some zones, during some levels classes may be stronger/weaker than I indicated.
Thanks! That's what I was looking for.
When I want a single-player story, I'll play a single-player game. When I play an MMO, I want a massively multiplayer world.
Sorry, anyone can compose songs for the noncombat music system they added.
They added the /music
So now everyone can play an instrument and play various songs.
It's not easy to play tunes but i guess some has more flair for it that others.
On the betaboards there is a thread only for players who has compoased various tunes.
It's a roleplaying thingie but it works fine.
So far i can only play some of the star wars theme and the first half of Rule Britannia.
___________________________________________
In answer to the original question, I felt like they did. At least between my Captains and my Guardians (Burglar is my next choice).
Captains usually used two-handers. There were a lot of pretty slow skills with long recharges, plus a single target heal and some pet management. Also you had a buff, a heal, and an AOE you could activate after defeating a mob. Also an in-combat Rez that came in handy a couple times.
Out of teams, Guardians were a bit more active because you could ALWAYS count on one of your attacks being cooled down at any given time, plus you usually want to watch for a chance to use some of the reactive skills that would only work after a parry/block. In teams I mostly focused on situational awareness and holding aggro from multiple mobs with AOE attacks and taunts, with my single-target taunt as back up if something ran for the squishies.
Burglars apparently have a reactive chain that opens up when they crit something and a skill that starts a conjunction.
EDIT: Someone else already hit it, oh well. One other interesting thing about Hunters was that they had a lot of utility/travelling skills.
Your argument is like a two legged dog with an eating disorder...weak and unbalanced.
While I understand your point (note, not agree with, but I do understand), please keep in mind that this isn't turbine's fault and don't direct blame at them. All blame should be directed at Tolkien Enterprises. They are the king "nerds" who own the IP and have to approve the vast majority of everything that went into the game, including if elves fart in elvish or not.
"Many nights, my friend... Many nights I've put a blade to your throat while you were sleeping. Glad I never killed you, Steve. You're alright..."
Chavez y Chavez
So you got very far into using the trait system they have for customizing your character? What did you not like about it?
Edit: Nevermind, read your other post. *shrug* Sorry you didn't like it. Not much more I can say. I personally like it and do see a difference. Que sera. Sincerely hope you find a game that you enjoy!
"Many nights, my friend... Many nights I've put a blade to your throat while you were sleeping. Glad I never killed you, Steve. You're alright..."
Chavez y Chavez
Captain. Jack of all trades. Weak at solo play. Not needed much in groups.
What have you smoked?
Maybe to much pipeweed
Captains are the secondary healingclass after the minstrel and the only class after minstrels that can resurrect dead players.
Captains get heal over times for the entire group too.
___________________________________________
Using WoW as an example, once I got to level 60 with my Priest, I started over with a Druid for a completely different support class. Yet, if I was still playing, I could have done Shaman for a 3rd choice.
Another issue of lack of choice is if you dislike an aspect of a class, that whole class is pretty much closed off to you. For example, a friend of mine just hates pets so Captain and Loremaster are closed off to him because you can not build a petless version of those classes and they are balanced around you depending on having your pet out. Using WoW again as an example, you could have a Healing Priest or a Damage Priest or a Buffing Priest or any combo of those aspects you wanted.
So you got very far into using the trait system they have for customizing your character? What did you not like about it?
Edit: Nevermind, read your other post. *shrug* Sorry you didn't like it. Not much more I can say. I personally like it and do see a difference. Que sera. Sincerely hope you find a game that you enjoy!
So please explain how your character class is different in a meaningful way to the same class of the same level?
Also this would be over most of his levels and not the last couple.
Captain. Jack of all trades. Weak at solo play. Not needed much in groups.
What have you smoked?
Maybe to much pipeweed
Captains are the secondary healingclass after the minstrel and the only class after minstrels that can resurrect dead players.
Captains get heal over times for the entire group too.
Have you played a captain? Have you played one past 20? Let me quote a cute little post by Stoli that sums it up nicely.
Aragorn: Hey guys, need a lvl 50 Cap for Escape From Moria?
[Fellow] Gimli: Do we want a captain?
[Fellow] Frodo: Nah, we need a healer and DPS.
Gimli: Sorry man, we're full.
Aragorn: There's only 4 of you here.
Legolas: We have another hunter on the way.
Aragorn: But that'd only be 5.
Frodo: Sorry, we need some healing or DPS.
Aragorn: But I'm healing AND DPS.
[Fellow] Gandalf: Heh, he's more like Damage Per Minute.
[Fellow] Frodo: lol
[Fellow] Frodo: Cool, my friend Pippin just logged on, he's a minstrel. I'll see if he can come.
[Fellow] Gimli: anyone know Boromir, level 50 champ? he's LFF.
[Fellow] Legolas: I heard rumors of him being a ninja looter, but we don't have much choice.
[Fellow] Gandalf: I know he's not a captain, so that's good enough for me.
[Fellow] Boromir has joined the fellowship.
[Fellow] Boromir: Sup.
[Fellow] Gandalf: Welcome Boromir
[Fellow] Frodo: Doh.. Pippin said he already got 3 fellowship invites already
Aragorn: OK.. well, I do have a lvl 45 Minstrel alt. Want me to switch?
Gimli: Sure.
Aragorn logs out.
Arwen logs in.
Arwen: OK, invite me.
[Fellow] Arwen has joined the fellowship.
I've played them all and as a test, I created one of each and sent them through the beginner instance and area to see how they played, and if the experience was the same for each.
I found they played very differently, and despite my love of the Hunter class, I found that Loremaster and Champion had the easiest time beating every foe and moving along through the starter quests.
I'm now sending various classes through the Lonelands area (for level 20s+) and...there my Hunter was the easiest character to go through it, with Loremaster second. I suspect this is because I am so familiar with that class (Hunter), having played it to level 39 last round. I know what to do and how to approach the really nasty stuff with that character, whereas the others, their skills are really very different and I just haven't the proper strategy in place.
Don't people still want the Captain Herald of Victory in the endgame (the regeneration one, I think it was Banner of Victory).
The trait system -could- lead to character diversity but there need to be more traits. As an example, my Guardians could slot a ton of things that made blocking better. Higher chance to block, longer response timer so I could use improved Catch A Breath and start the reactive chain, power regeneration every time I blocked, extra common damage mitigation.
A lot of those traits really complimented each other for making me more survivable. Which is a good thing as a tank class.
If you wanted to focus on Parry/DPS with a Two Hander guardian though, there just weren't enough bonuses. You could up your DPS somewhat with the -5% weapon recharge and the 10% bonus damage from Sting, plus you could get some power regeneration from parry, but it really needed like a 5% increase in parry or the ability to use CAB in the parry reactive chain, while using a two-handed weapon.
Oh. Already knew about that, nice feature and all, but I was hoping the above poster was referring to the strum of notes minstrels play when they cast thier "spells." Would be cool if you could customize those somehow.
When I want a single-player story, I'll play a single-player game. When I play an MMO, I want a massively multiplayer world.