Class Power rankings per Expansion?

Discussion in 'Time Locked Progression Servers' started by Arclyte, Mar 17, 2020.

  1. Arclyte Augur

    Just curious what people think about the balance of classes on a new TLP, and how they fare throughout the expansions

    For instance, I only played on Mangler and in the Classic era IMO it looked like this:

    S Tier:
    Enchanter - Amazing buffs, crowd control, OP charm, illusions etc. Top tier utility and DPS in one package. Probably #1 sought after class in groups, and not uncommon for groups to fall apart or even not get started at all without one. God class of classic EQ, and definitely broken :p

    A Tier:
    Monk - Excellent constant DPS, feign death, best pullers. The best groups I've had were with Monks.

    Cleric - Not much needs to be said here. Best healer, backbone of every good group. Also only rezzer (unless you have one of the 10 or so Paladins on the server in your group).

    Shadow Knight - Great group tanks with good utility and feign death. Has access to some pretty good weapons too.

    B Tier:
    Magician - Very good consistent pet DPS, good nukes and best damage shields. Kind of a one-dimensional DPS caster class IMO, but that could be a good thing for some people.

    Necromancer - Not as efficient as Magician in groups, but better in raids and offers a lot more utility and a stronger (and safer) solo capability. (Have they fixed classic Necro poison dots yet?)

    Shaman - Really good group buffs. Can backup heal, or main heal if the group is good enough. High lvl Slows are awesome. Has sow.

    Wizard - Good raid class. Not efficient in groups, but rain spells can be pretty good. Also, blowing up a mob with a crit is always cool. Ports / evac are great quality of life spells.

    C Tier:
    Bard - Bards generally make everything easier. Good pullers when no monk/SK is around. DPS is bad but can CC in a pinch, group buffs are ok, crack baby casters love mana song. Never really been impressed with Classic Bards.

    Warrior - Like the wizard, not that good in groups but essential tank for raids. Also, extremely boring auto-attack class IMO.

    Paladin - Better group tanks than Warriors, but weaker than SK (and less damage too). Have some utility with roots, offheals and rezzes. Lay Hands has stopped more than a few group wipes also.

    Ranger - The class I mained on Mangler. DPS is probably a little better than SK, but without the durability or feign death. Low damage mobs in group content allows rangers to flamelick tank fairly well. Tracking can be useful. Has sow.

    D Tier:
    Druid - Druids have a wide range of useful abilities but don't really fill a specific role all that well. They're popular for ports, sow and general quality of life buffs. Has sow :)

    Rogue - Rogues suck in EQ classic TLP unfortunately. Their one role of DPS is outshined by most other classes. I really wish their backstabs did more, and there were traps and chests for them to detect / unlock. Strongly advise new TLP players to stay away from Rogue.


    How would you guys rate the classes? and are there any major shifts in power in the earlier expansions kunark/velious/SoL?
  2. Jontrann Augur

    At first glance SK is way too high on that list, paladins are better group tanks and warriors are still THE raid tank.

    EDIT: Everything after enchanter being S Tier is generally pretty wrong.
  3. Arclyte Augur

    good talk
  4. WaitingforMoreEQ WaitingforTBC

    Wut? Druids are great in Classic. They good healers for 85% of the leveling process and since CH rots aren't really used until Kunark Druids are also good raid healers. Their DPS is good and unlike mages/necro they can actually land spells on Naggy and be useful in the higher parts of Plane of sky. Oh and they have good charm pets in a handful of zones, what isn't to like?
  5. Legionarius - Xegony Elder

    Bards right up there with enchanters if they know how to play a bard. Also, we are obviously not talking about raiding... how is this a per expansion thread when you only cover classic?
    Vetis likes this.
  6. Fluid Augur

    Obvious bias and I won't be starting a new character on yet another tlp server unless it has something really desirable.

    Druid is either my first or second character on a tlp server or Magician. You don't have decent equipment so in the rapid rise, you need a caster. Druid doesn't come alive to level 10 but Magician is pretty hot right out of the box. Third character would be an Enchanter for low level jewelry and just because of charm.

    Things have changed a bit with focus items not working until later in the life of a tlp server. It looks like things are going to stay that way for future expansions.

    There are a few magic weapons like Shining Star of Light https://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=60 that are easy to get and make Cleric or Paladins workable. I also like a Ranger once the Magician is level 20 and can summon +3 magical arrows. There is a synergy to the way I do things, like Magician/Ranger arrows, Druid gets Runed Oak Bow for Ranger. Druid hunts and develops tailoring for armor for the other characters, mostly sells spider silk to other players.

    Once you can scrape together enough cash ~40 pp, you can buy combine weapons for doing things like hunting wisps on other head knocker characters. I typically pick up a couple of sets of https://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=1966 which only fit smaller characters, one of the reasons I like to run Halfling Druids or Dwarf Clerics. The Miller armor is quite good too.
  7. weewooweewoo Journeyman

    Necro should be way higher E bolt and drain spam you are not gonna beat on a dps race which is the only thing that matters
  8. Rotlust Augur

    Necro, played properly, will be top dps on many, many fights.

    Sadly, this drops off into a years long slump fairly quickly.
  9. Skuz I am become Wrath, the Destroyer of Worlds.

    The OP is myopic at best, limited to only the very early game at best, otherwise there are a lot more things wrong with it than there are things right with it.
  10. Snakeoil New Member


    I'm pretty sure that the reason there is a question mark at the end of the title is because he wants others to add to the post. He clearly says he only played classic so can only account for classic. If you have more experience int he other expansion add you opinion of the class power rankings for those expansions.
  11. Ayoheee Augur

    Lvling up or endgame? Endgame grp or raid? Lots of parameters that would drastically alter the list. The only thing consistent would be that enchanters are broken and it's impossible to get anything done without them.
  12. feigntrain Elder


    I never played in classic. Can warriors even hold aggro in classic? No DBoW, no BF, no BoC, no Epic
  13. Skuz I am become Wrath, the Destroyer of Worlds.

    Fair point, however the ranking of 16 classes really changes a lot over the course of the 26 expansions and any ranking is highly subjective to begin with, the OP is clearly of the opinion Enchanters are over-powered so it's a pretty clear statement of bias there.

    Even with having played every class in groups, usually while 3 boxing & most of them on raids I still wouldn't be comfortable making any claim on having a truly informed opinion on how they stack up against one another overall & the situation for Live (as it happened) vs early Progression servers or more recent TLP Progression servers further complicates the picture.

    My own personal "hierarchy" below:

    Note: Played live until the end of SoF & came back for Ragefire/Phinigel so I missed the early progressions servers like Fippy.
    I most often played Melee based classes and only really boxed the others so there's my own bias up front, in each bracket I will place one of each archetype relative to their strength in their main raid & group roles but also factor in their strength as soloers.

    Live Classic to PoP:
    A:
    Paladin
    Druid
    Magician
    Enchanter
    Monk
    B:
    ShadowKnight
    Cleric
    Necromancer
    Bard
    Ranger
    C:
    Warrior
    Shaman
    Wizard
    Rogue
    **********
    Beastlord


    TLP Classic to PoP:
    A:
    ShadowKnight
    Druid
    Magician
    Enchanter
    Monk
    B:
    Paladin
    Cleric
    Necromancer
    Bard
    Rogue
    C:
    Warrior
    Shaman
    Ranger
    Wizard
    *********
    Beastlord

    Live GoD to SoF
    A:
    Shadowknight
    Cleric
    Wizard
    Berserker
    Enchanter (Level 70 era they were pretty bad, but before & after were very strong)
    B:
    Paladin
    Shaman
    Necromancer
    Rogue
    Bard
    C:
    Warrior
    Druid
    Magician
    Monk
    Beastlord
    Ranger

    TLP GoD to SoF
    A:
    Shadowknight
    Cleric
    Wizard
    Monk
    Enchanter (Level 70 era they were pretty bad, but before & after were very strong)
    B:
    Paladin
    Shaman
    Necromancer
    Rogue
    Bard
    C:
    Warrior
    Druid
    Magician
    Berserker
    Beastlord
    Ranger

    TLP UF to RoF
    A:
    Shadowknight
    Shaman
    Necromancer
    Monk
    Enchanter
    B:
    Paladin
    Cleric
    Wizard
    Rogue
    Bard
    C:
    Warrior
    Druid
    Magician
    Berserker
    Beastlord
    Ranger
  14. yerm Augur

    Every time these threads pop up every couple months, people consistently take dumps on druids. I don't get it. After the very first couple levels (aka well before unlocking your surname) a druid becomes the #1 non-pet dps class. In a situation where they can charm they will typically be #1 overall and consistently top 2 (only behind necro) depending on circumstance. In a situation where they cannot charm AND you have multiple enchanter pets rendering their dots trivial even in early eq when yellow cons die slow? They're the best healers, passing clerics at this point!

    Meanwhile warriors are pure and total trash in pre-kunark eq and should be rated lower than rogues. There isn't any situation, leveling or raiding, where they are strong. They reach AT BEST parity with knights only in sky fights without the ability to land any spells - and on those fights I'd still rather have paladins.

    Necromancers are a tricky class. Their power while leveling can depend on both charm and access to shared spell lines that other classes had revamped, and their mana regen advantages don't really come online until later. BUT if they can charm they are fantasic and unlike druids can do it somewhat reliably without also bringing an enchanter. Meanwhile if played decently they top early raid charts (against aside from invuln fights). They're definitely top tier classic-luclin but unfortunately drop off after and sit in the garbage bin indefinitely afterwards.
  15. Arclyte Augur

    Like I said I don't have much experience past classic / kunark. I would probably put druid higher now that I think about it. Similar to shamans.The game really isn't difficult and druids can heal a good group just fine.

    It's pretty safe to put Enchanters well above every other class, and rogues / warriors at the bottom.
  16. Accipiter Old Timer


    Uh... no. They are 3rd on the list. SKs and Paladins are equal as group tanks but SKs outnumber pallies by 10 to 1 (just anecdotal, don't ask me for proof). It's because SKs have better race choices and, in my opinion, better utility.
    Trox2010 likes this.
  17. Jontrann Augur

    so your saying that since sk's outnumber pallies 10 to 1 they are better? yikes.
  18. Crabman Augur


    LOL i was trying to make an S-D ranking system of my own and then i came to about the same conclusion.... For grouping anyway its Chanter>Everyone>Warrior/Rogue

    A little bit of movement within there... Knights get better weapons in PoP for sure... Rangers move up with AA's... Wizards probably dont gain power as fast as expansion drop so move "down" in ranking...
    Vetis likes this.
  19. HoodenShuklak Augur

    I'll vouch for bard just about any time and I know the class well enough to admit they have serious gaps as they close in on 50. No way they are close to enc and charm yet.
    Vetis likes this.
  20. Foaming I Drank Bleach IRL Once

    Based on my experiences in group game.

    Classic: Enc > SK/Mag/Nec > Pal/Mnk/Shm/Clr > Rng/Dru > War/Rog/Wiz
    Kunark-Velious: Enc > SK/Mnk/Shm/Clr/Mag/Nec > Pal/War/Rog/Rng/Dru > Wiz
    Luclin: Enc > SK/Mnk/Shm/Clr/Rng/Wiz > Mag/Nec/Pal/War/Rog/Dru/Bst
    PoP-GoD: Enc > SK/Mnk/Shm/Clr > Wiz/War/Rng/Mag/Dru/Bst/Nec/Pal/Rog/Ber

    I don't know eras beyond this enough to qualify.