Rank Top 5 Classes in DPS

Discussion in 'The Veterans' Lounge' started by Xurn, Jun 17, 2022.

  1. yepmetoo Abazzagorath

    Things change. The original game was a straight up D&D inspired game that was meant to terminate at level 50. Its why hybrids were so powerful, but had such big exp penalties, because it made sense to have classes that took longer to max but were stronger after the investment.

    That all changed once Kunark came out and the idea of increasing levels and balancing classes went into being.

    This game is about doing dps, healing, tanking, and crowd control. ADPS should factor into how much dps a class does. And how much they can heal and tank or crowd control should drop those classes down the list. Pets go into the tanking equation.

    But let's be honest, people care about their personal numbers so will keep thinking if you aren't first you're last. So it will always come down to personal dps, even if that class can add 10-20% to 4-5 other group members.

    And I don't think they have any intention of balancing squat anymore. So enjoy being OP when it happens for you, and fight and fight and fight for something when you're on the bottom, because its a monumental undertaking for them to care or look at feedback to really do something beyond cut and paste.

    For what its worth, I think wizards and rogues should be top dps, because they have the least stuff to contribute to other roles.
    Wdor, Skuz and Wulfhere like this.
  2. kizant Augur

    That's my point though. While the game may have changed over the years.. One thing that has remained consistent is the description of wizards has been focused on being very good at doing damage.
    Stymie, Xeladom, Skuz and 2 others like this.
  3. Iven Antonius Bayle

    Escape (not SoS !), evacucate and maybe also gate were introduced as escape abilities and not to reduce damage aggro. Rogues and monks were the best melee DPS classes during a few early expansions and at best in medium and long duration fights like raids before endurance got added, while wizards had by far the best burst DPS but not the best overall DPS because of slow mana regen and meditation. It would not make sense if rogues would be just burst DPS as this was always the role of the nukers. This role does fit much better to the berserker which was a gimpish ranger/rogue hybrid in the first few years.

    Rogues only had this role for a long time but now they can also do other usefull things as their poison, debuffing, group support and pulling abilities got enhanced really nicely. They no longer need to be one of the best single DPS classes but maybe the best melee aDPS class (a = additional DPS for other group members).
  4. Zalamyr Augur


    I mean don't get me wrong, I agree wizards should be top tier damage dealers, but I can't help but be amused by the revival of what I'll refer to as the "battleblade defense".
  5. Spacemonkey555 Augur

    Tradeskills and pulling are not things that should be counted against a raider when considering their role and contribution imo.
  6. Xurn Journeyman

    I appreciate the feedback. This thread has, through repeated opinions, come to the consensus that wizards/berserkers/rogues should occupy the top 3 DPS spots, followed by greater variability for the 4th and 5th slots.
    I personally appreciate the quotation of EQ character descriptions too. Those initial descriptions are what many players use to choose which class will be the class they play, at least initially. I’m in favor of the game developing characters to meet those descriptions.
    In terms of DPS, I am also a believer that games such as EQ should follow the high risk/high reward platform. To me that means that classes with the least amount of self-defense (cloth wearers) should have greatest ability to perform damage. That output damage should scale downward as defense increases (leather, chain, then plate). That of course is a generalization – a great deal of the ability to perform damage relies upon both gear quality, knowledge of class abilities, and player skill.
  7. ShadowMan Augur

    There is no consensus that those 3 deserve the top spots despite how many chimed in in this thread. Every dps class should roughly be relative. Necro, Wiz, Mage, Zerker, Monk, Rog. Then you can toss in hybrids or other dps oriented classes like ranger, beastlord, enc, sk, bard, shaman and druid. Warriors, paladins, clerics shouldn't be very behind just get their differently.

    Some classes are doing extremely well atm due to bad tuning and event design. But since the inception of this game necromancers for example have always been a top tiered dps class no matter how many chime in about their pets or whatever. Wizards need to be improved some more but not be put into some fictional top two spot always narrative folks keep shoveling.
  8. Windance Augur

    Maybe we should just reduce the classes down to:

    Tank
    Healer

    You are one of the other.
  9. Spacemonkey555 Augur

    Some pretty bad conclusions here. All silk wearers do damage from range, with agro meters they're only at risk of standing in the wrong place or pushing too hard, and to aoes that some of them have much better defense against than melees. 2 of the 4 have a moderately strong tank always available, one can lifetap. Zerkers and rogues are much more glass cannon imo. Going on glass cannon concept necros and mages need a significant nerf as they're way too sturdy for what they put out. Last night's raids, 5 necros and mages total, 0 deaths. 15 deaths for the pure melee dps crew (zerker, monk, rogue).

    The inverse armor to dps concept is just wrong. Classes get dps based on their roles and expected duties mostly, not on a 1999 graphics/roleplaying decision. BTW, devs, if you decide to abandon reason and throw away everything to balance dps around armor types, consider putting bards in silk. Never seen or heard of a medieval bard in plate, I want my silk dps boost!
    Skuz likes this.
  10. Windance Augur

    I notice that monks are in your dead dps melee crew. Guess their survivability isn't as cracked up as some of the zerkers would have us believe ...
  11. Skuz I am become Wrath, the Destroyer of Worlds.

    Or the Monks are just lazy, or too focused on Parsewh**ing to pay attention.

    Having raided as Rogue, Monk & Zerker I can say for sure Monks are the ones who pick up most aggro later on but also have the better tools to deal with it, what happens is cockiness sets in and a desire to be top dog in DPS overrides their survival instincts.
    Great Monks know when to go ham & when to slough off some of that hate.
  12. Tucoh Augur

    [IMG]
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  13. Skrab East Cabilis #1 Realtor

    100%

    This is what I’ve been rambling about to my dog for years. They exist only because the old devs never thought to make a toggle Offensive/Defensive stance.
  14. Cicelee Augur

    Your casters don't melee?

    I mean they should, unless there is some damage shield on the mob like Zelnithak. Every little bit helps...
    Tucoh likes this.
  15. minimind The Village Idiot

    Here's where I think it should be on a single target, hitting from behind, with optimum group assignments, and assuming max gear, max AA, high skill (playing class at 90%+ potential), no significant lag, etc.--

    Also, this is just in my head ("If I were in charge of EQ, I would try to make this happen."). This doesn't mean that I think that anyone that doesn't conform to my idea is wrong.

    At 5 Minutes of Current Era Raid Burn
    1. Berserker, Wizard (Burst)
    2. Big Gap
    3. Rogue
    4. Monk
    5. Magician, Ranger, Beastlord, Necro
    6. Bard
    At 7 Minutes of Current Era Raid Burn
    1. Necro, Rogue
    2. Berserker, Wizard, Monk
    3. Magician, Ranger, Beastlord, Bard
    At 10 Minutes of Current Era Raid Burn
    1. Necro, Rogue
    2. Berserker, Wizard, Monk
    3. Magician, Ranger, Beastlord, Bard
    At 20 Minutes of Current Era Raid Burn
    1. Necro, Rogue
    2. Berserker, Wizard, Monk, Bard
    3. Magician, Ranger, Beastlord
    Additionally, I think that the balance shouldbe thrown out of whack by event mechanics and target weaknesses/strengths. For example, archery-weak targets would boost rangers. Pet-weak targets would boost magicians and beastlords. Movement-heavy mechanics would benefit DoT classes (including healers), pet classes, and rangers.

    Lastly, class difficulty is a major consideration. Hybrids are painfully complex and require many more AAs to achieve "max" power whereas other classes (like pure melee) have significantly fewer AAs and require less skill to get within 85% of max burn potential-- and I think that's good. The classes that are more limited in focuses should be easier to max in power. Those with wider-ranging abilities will require more work and skill to achieve 85%+ max potential. The trade-off is that they can also do other things. Rangers CAN do great DPS, but they can also supplement heals, emergency tank (taunt, defensives, use shield), cast long- and short-duration buffs, reliably root/snare, etc.
  16. uberkingkong Augur

    Wow thats an insult to rangers.
    They have headshot for a reason, because they are designed to be top 3 in DPS.

    Also, Enchanters should be on this list if Bard's are on this list. Enchanters should easily outdo bard dps with charm and be #1 dps.
    HIGH RISK HIGH REWARD
  17. Waring_McMarrin Augur

    And other classes have similar abilities.
  18. minimind The Village Idiot

    All of those rankings are during burns. I assumed others would assume that meant current-era RAID burns where headshot isn't going to have effect. I'll add that.
    Skuz likes this.
  19. minimind The Village Idiot

    Charm is irrelevant in my scenarios as I put "single target" in the assumptions.
    Skuz likes this.
  20. ShadowMan Augur

    My opinion matters, this is fun! Gaps of 10% at most which I know Aristo can do with someone else naming things.

    0-3 minutes single target:
    Zerker, Wizard, Rogue
    Necro, Monk, Mage
    Everyone else.

    4+
    Necro, Monk, Mage
    Zerker, Wizard, Rogue

    Multiple Target (Raid or Group)
    Necro, Mage, Wizard
    Zerker, Monk, Rogue

    Single Target Raid Trash/Group
    Zerker, Monk, Rogue
    Wizard, Mage, Necro
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