Has anyone else ever felt EQ was just missing a Warrior/Mage or Warrior/wizard hybrid class or is it just me? Always felt there was a chance for Developers to do something with this.
not really? what would that character be like, besides like a ranger? moderate armor, got a taunt button, casts a bunch of nukes in combat…
Not really. Warrior/spells is pretty done so far. I could go for a nonwarrior/spells class though. A rogue/enchanter . I'd even go for a pure something that fulfills an unexpected role like a pure caster tank or melee warrior support class that uses "leadership" to buff allies like a bard.
New class that won't unlock on TLP until TOL 2.0 the rereturn of Lucklin? Probably not ever gonna cover the investment required.
In other games they have AE spells and better defense than a ranger. More like a bard with "fast burn" dps songs instead of utility. The problem is EQ has just given up on AE and would probably nerf it away anyway if it proved good at anything beyond the normal pre-ordained playstyle.
Honestly, they're called Rangers. You'll never see a dps that can tank everything, so they're the closest thing you'll see.
Spellswords, and yes I would main change immediately. Leather class avoidance based defense and fast cast DD and AoE spells.
Still having immense trouble seeing what place you envision for…this. What would it do that existing classes aren't doing? SK & Rng & Bst & Wiz all have fast cast DDs & AoEs, they have all the different armor types. "Like one of those but tankier" isn't an actual role, that's just wishing those had more hp. "Like one of those but with better dps" - same thing other way. What does the class you envision actually DO that's not just massaging the numbers on existing ones? Beastlords had this identity issue for like fifteen years. Until developing their own class role, their whole thing was a bit of furry fan service. They were literally barred from even applying to ambitious raid guilds, because they weren't for anything. It was so intrinsic that even their epic quests were shabby, a basic-b mashup of checklists & mechanics cribbed from other classes'.
EverQuest's original 14 classes covered every role any group or raid would ever need, fitting in Beastlord & Berserker likely caused a lot of headaches around giving them some kind of niche to operate in, and be desirable for. For Beastlords that came in a support role with Paragon & their Mana Regen line for Berserkers they got a raid wide dps booster, without which raid leaders would likely never have even bothered with them at all unless they were having problems finding Rogues. Trying to find a "new class" a niche after 22 years of prior development would be a really difficult task & also really hard to justify the dev time for when the existing classes have been crying out for better class progression, making a new class without addressing that would absolutely be a slap in the face for almost everyone. Besides, the current EQ is maxed out on classes & making the changes required to create any new ones would have far to little ROI to remotely justify. The space, place & time to discuss "new" classes would be if EQ 3 development got underway & player feedback was being sought on what kind of new classes should make it into the new game.
Make it a bard pet class. Can call it an idol with groupies or something who knows. Give another class songs that with some that may be unique compared to bards. - spellsword would be cool too! Wouldn’t that be fun!
if they did anything like a new class. there are a few area i could see 1st class take a necro and flip their dps output ie make them all bout dd instead of dots and make the dd center round lifetaps(group and single) and other tap that damage and decrease end and mana. 2nd class. a pure range based melee class. something that only uses bows/throwing weaps. no up close and personal stuff like swords. have all its aa/disc be based round that.
I always thought it would be rad if, say, Monks had disc where they stood back 50 feet and went all Bruce Lee at the air, and then the mob 50 feet away was like "Ouch, ouch, ouch!" and drops dead. Maybe you can see what I'm getting at here. Instead of "Like X class, but Y", just add Y to class X. Otherwise we end up with Berserkers.
Hybrids Warrior + Druid = Ranger Warrior + Cleric = Paladin Warrior + Necromancer = Shadowknight Monk + Shaman = Beastlord Ranger and Shadowknight fit the bill just fine as a "damage focused, magic using, warrior-hybrid". One is more tank-y (and some would argue too DPS-y) and one is more DPS-y (and some would argue insufficiently tank-y). Personally, I like the idea of a Warrior + Wizard tank hybrid that focuses on active spells (runes, etc.) for tanking survivability, but who retains the innate physical robustness of your typical wizard. Like, when your mana's gone, you're gone. I don't foresee the addition of a new class. There are just higher priorities.