Game Update: Wednesday, August 20 @ 5 AM PDT

I *think* full CotF T1 Raidgear with pieces of CotF T2 Raidgear does not qualify as "not being geared up enough" ....

Magicians WERE supporting their pets fulltime on raids (at least if they were worth their plat) when they were tanking ...

this is a serious question???
our best equiped tanks are dying just because they are onerounded by a raidencounter ... you ever grabbed a quad of alltogether 160k, while only having 125k (just for example)? tell me which tank shall stand this as soon def is gone? you can't even build up a tank chain for such a mob, just because refreshing timer is way to long for the best def disc

So you're saying you have to develop a strat away from pet tanking now? (maybe it might still be possible who knows.) Paladin armor/first spire, chain rune tanks. Keep shining on the tank fulltime. I'm just coming up with ideas here, I'm sure there are more possibilities out there depending on what event you are doing.

Further thoughts...LS + NTTB + Cleric aura + Shammy/Druid hp buff and bear buff.

Or read the thread in the Cleric Class Forums on Cleric 'max' raid healing.

Are the servers still down?

AB up, surprisingly

Hmmm, then the problems on my end

Not only do I not agree:
But I find it "disturbing" that - as a new poster - you chose a posting handle that associates you with a specific class. Thereby associating my class with your opinions.
-Rat

Thats your right, which you have demonstrated non stop with your opinions on various matters over the last year often showing a poor grasp on the subject matter but hey that never stopped you. Considering I've been a member longer then you have but normally don't feel the need to post I appreciate you once again sharing your opinions on my name and posting habits it makes everyone else feel better knowing rat has chimed in on the topic again. I am saddened by a lot of people associated with this game as of late and their nerf calls in the name of this magical balance that never existed except in their opinions and mind.

This looks pretty awesome. About time mage pets were sorted. Here's hope'n they did 'em decent enough that a mage might actually need a "real" tank in order to go full-dps.

And; ya know, every time anything gets changed about there's cries about "this" being the final nail in EQ's coffin. Swarm and beam nerfs, anyone? Hasn't been true yet; and I don't expect it will be this time. either.

Here's hope'n that enchanters are next. No reason in the world that the stun/rune effect combo on Phantasmal Unity should allow an enchanter to tank 100+ current content mobs while a zerker cuts them all down. Sounds kinda like beam kites, eh? Yeah, pretty much.

And.................
As you might note, anytime I've been called out as flat wrong - I've admitted it.
If ignorant - I ask questions - as I did about why Magelo behaves as it does yesterday.
And not to make this any more personal - but my EQ History goes back to '99. My MMOG history predates EQ by about 10 years as well. I might have come back as "Rat-Van-Winkle", but I'm well past that now.
And again, I go on record as not making a nerf call..... and I note that using this post to express your "sadness" is likely intended to imply that I did. I did express opinions that the Mage pets indeed seemed OP as opposed to Player Tanks (and even Merc Tanks) but advocated bringing "something up" to help out with that - rather than yet another nerf.
Last time I checked, I was replying to you making a "nerf call" about Warriors being able to use NTTB and Last Stand simuntaniously ?? No?

Is that "magical balance" or "unmagical balace" you're shooting for here?
Ultimately my point is/was that I only speak for myself, and make that clear on many occaisions.
Did you like, really, pick RangerGuy as an ingame handle?? Really?
We had a guy on CT (nice enough mind you) named Arrowinyourbutt - I was equally impressed with that one! Heh.
Peace - out
-Rat

Problem is, "real" tanks are pretty rare these days ... Most tanks running around are a little lightly equipped, intelligence-wise. Oh geez, who am I talking to?

Calling for further nerfs (whatever class is being targeted) is uncalled for ...
Oooooor, while we are at it: please remove lifetaps from necromancers, firenukes from wizard, the ability to equip a shield from warriors, dual weild from rangers, SoS from rogues, kicks from monks, healing from CLRs, roots from shamans and druids. Just get it over with!

sorry but on 1v1 trash mobs in cotf t2 pet class can still go full dps. as a necro I can still own a trash mob in current content. its only names and 1v2+ that has really changed.

I thinking we should just add another pet class to the group and avoid tank classes altogether. Less mess that way.

I find it disturbing that people seem to think the Sony could care less about its players, I can say from 1st hand experience that's not true, they do care and spend hours upon hours working on fixes before we ever see them.

The mage pet issue sucks, the reason it sucks is because the mage pets were never supposed to get as strong as they were, they scaled up differently through the expansions vs. other classes. In case some of you forgot EQ is not meant to be played solo, it never was. Yes it sucks that the mages had something for a while that was taken away from them and they will have to readjust to the changes. And yes it sucks that tanks lost some agro, but for us that have played for a very long time it means you will have to watch you agro better, hell be happy you can see it on a gauge, we used to have to guess at it.

As far as raids using mage pets to tank, I think your guild needs to work on getting some real tanks, no raid in the game was ever meant to have a mage pet tank it.....ever.

For the 3 minute time frame that they will stack it's not that big of a deal... I really don't know any warriors that use LS+NTTB together unless they are tanking WK2 or DH2 final boss. Myself and most other end game tanks that I know use LS by itself and perhaps a few other abilities/clickies and save NTTB to go with our defensive stance. Provides alot more balance over the duration of events.

It arguably one of the best abilities we have ever had given to us and with how terribly broken our class was for a long time, it was much needed. It's already been nerfed once shortly after it was released. It doesn't need it again.

i want to bring this issue to the devlopment team, programmers, the guy in the office with ideas, the guy who forgets how deep the everquest lore goes back in time. for me this is addressing all the classic zones being revamped to level 100. that is great, nostaglic, and fine. i think its fair that as a level 54 cleric i could still invis in the zone and get to where i needed to be as long as i didnt run into a named. the problem with these revampings is your taking npc quest mobs completly out of the game and basiaclly telling us characters who still do epics that were sh%@ out of luck untill the zone goes back to normal. for example zordak ragefire was completey taking out of the game in naggy lair a zone recently set to level 100 untill 9/10? correct me if im wrong i think if your gonna revamp these zones you need to either a) remember to leave the imporant npc quest mobs in the zone. or B) move them to another location just outside the zone. why make people wait a month or however long ur zone stays revamped to complete a quest. people do still pay for the game and i think its a waste of a krono in some instances or subscription fee if i cant continue to do what i want. i suppose the epics are a rare case now adays but some hardcore players are collectors some enjoy reading the story line when theres no groups some people like doing something different from tradeskills. to conclude this you need to keep epic npcs in the zone or locate them somewhere else. i finished my epic at 51 and im now 60 the gm would not grant me my item even though i have every character flag and quest items in my inventory to finish. by the time this zone goes back ill be up to 85 or 90 that is a dumb requirement for a cleric to have his 1.0 click rez his 1.5 or even his 2.0, and onto 2.5 because now a npc has been completey taking out the game.. i dont bother with prequest i enjoy having the epics in my possession

That was the EQ of yesteryear when there were a LOT more people playing, and groups were probable. Not so any longer. Mage class has always been able to solo even back in 99. Because the game has changed over the years and the populations dwindled the mage pets were buffed to fill in the group void, and were quite successful. Now that has changed, we'll see the outcome wont we.

When you zone into one of the areas that has been buffed up why not have a dialog box open asking you if you want the original zone or the buffed zone, kind of like the Oggok stone in PoK asking for Feerott or The Dream.

I agree that guilds should use real tanks. I do not know what server and what guild you are in, but on my server, good tanks are hard to come by. My guild is no where near the top tier, mage pets are used as a stop gap, in between tanks swapping. We would love to get more good tanks, but most of the tanks we got, once they gear up, they move. Who wants to stay in a guild that is struggling to get more tanks in, while the upper end guilds are approaching you to join them?