EQ2 Another Look
Tuesday, April 18th, 2006 - 5:15pm
So on a whim while looking for a free trial for DnD Online, I stumbled across the 7 day trial for EQ2. It is a bitch of a download, 6 hrs with a fast connection.
However, I think the changes they made are quite good and quite different than WoW. Yes, the quests in the newbie isle are more structured like WoW but that's not whats important.
Whats important is the removal of the class, subclass system. So far, it makes all the difference in quality and quantity of fun and distinction from WoW.
I think they screwed the pooch with the class, subclass system by watering down the base classes. This made them generic and repetative. The higher level subclasses are MUCH more fun than their predecessors. My initial stab at playing EQ2 I was rushing through the lower quests to try and find a mid level class I could live with. Now, I have played 3 end game classes through the revamped newbie isle and so far Im 3/3. Im having a lot of fun with the Summoner, Dirge, and Shadowknight. They are all interesting classes and all very distinct from WoW's classes. For anyone who thinks WoW has covered all its bases with class variety, I will say that by playing EQ2, you will find out the error of your ways.
The conjurer is the most generic of the 3. Its the tried and true Magician from EQ 1 except so far I dont have any other elemental pets other than a beetle. (the beetle also seems much more menacing than my summoner created at launch) He has a fire dot and some elemental nukes, a mage armor and a pet heal.
The dirge is totally awesome. Its a dual wielding bard with attack buff songs, stealth, stealth attack, debuffs, a stun, disease nukes and a small lifetap weapon swing. The last new skill I got was a side/backstab.
Lastly, the shadowknight is intriguing. He seems to have warrior like stances for better offense and defense. He also has a weapon swing disease dot and point blank nuke. The most interesting skill is a damage shield spell that debuff's the attacker as well. Im pretty sure SK's will get a skeletal pet and some lifetaps.
It might be worth reupping your subscription for a month to test things out or buying the game and playing for a month. I think Ive seen the stock EQ2 selling for $19.99
Being fangoriously devoured by a gelatinous monster.
I downloaded the trial and used two or three of the free 10 day keys and than won a 30 day subscription from Gamespot so I got to play for about two months of EQ2 and had a blast. Getting rid of that stupid subclass system was the best thing they could have done. The classes are all a lot of fun.
Issue I had is it gets very dull solo in the upper 20's. I soloed WOW to 60 and it never really felt like a grind but EQ2 did not seem nearly as interesting. If you have a group of friends playing with you and can do some dungeons I bet it would not get dull nearly as fast.
It is well worth $20 to try out especially if you love alts and want to play with all the different classes.
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The thief classes seem to be the most fun. Ive played a bandit and swashbuckler and they do have some trouble spots. They dont get their stun attack until level 6 and a lot of their big damage comes from backstabs/sidestabs. So they can struggle against multiple foes early on. The swashbuckler plays like a WoW rogue with a melee special that attacks all nearby opponents. The bandit so far plays the same save for its melee special is a multiple hit on a single target. They are both dual wielding classes which I like alot since SOE did a really satisfying job with the varied weapon swings for each weapon. This touches on another point were it seems the combat balance revamp has altered combat so that any class can take on 2-3 even foes. Battles seem much more like battles. Another upside to this is the extra encounter experience.
I have also played the fury and the warden and in early levels they are strikingly similar. The fury from the description seemed like it was a leather wearing wizard with regen heals. In practice they are both leather wearing fighters with nukes and heals. I had hoped that the warden would be more of a fighter and the fury more a caster but they are both like EQ1 druids with more combat resilience. The warden has nukes were the fury has dots and the warden has regen heals wereas the fury has heals. Things should be more interesting once the warden gets his shapeshifting forms. The fury also gets a armor buff like WoW's warlock. It boosts armor and hp regen a bit.
The mystic seems like a chain or studded wearing fury that can use spears. The fury and the mystic arent bad but I find I like the warden more so far.
The only class that lost its luster quickly was the shadowknight. Once he gets a lifetap spell or a pet, things will more than likely change.
My favorite classes so far are:
dirge: dual wielding, lifetapping spell caster that can wear chain
necro: bat pet and dots, nuff said
warden: fighting nuker with hp regens
conjuror: not as cool as necro so far
swash/bandit: WoW rogue wiht run speed buff =)
shadowknight
can anyone fill me in on some details on how the adventure zones (private instances) work?
Being fangoriously devoured by a gelatinous monster.
Does it still have the Monk class?
I don't think I've ever said this sentence before, but man would I love to hump that butterfly.-- KrazyTaco
One phone call and you're melting like butter over my kettle pop. -- Edwin to Mex
2005 GWJFFL2 Champion
Hows the PVP (if you're on a PVP server)?
Dorjeshugden - 80 Warlock BHA
Tashidawa - 60+ Rouge BHA
Trashidawa - 60+ DK BHA
I really have a hard time bringing myself to any level of excitement about this game anymore. I've tried to play it 3 times now, and each time the fun curve is like the lee side of a motocross jump.
"I think Elysium has the right of it" - Certis
Dunno, dont care... sorry =)
I have not gotten a chance to play the monk. That is next on my list.
Have you tried to play since the combat revision ely? Like I said, Im finding it quite fun at least on the newbie isle. Well, I didnt really have a problem with the newbie isle in the original release but its improved. There are seemingly twice the amount of quests and the boss encounter on the isle is soloable and challenging for a nice double whammy.
The disappointing thing is that it appears none of the EQ2 sites have updated their spell lists since the combat revision. Its not that important but Im curious to know when I get a new pet for instance.
Being fangoriously devoured by a gelatinous monster.
I saw an offer of EQ2+Kingdoms of Sky Expansion for 22$ and couldnt resist.
I've played a few classes (Berserker, Warden, Mage, Sorceror) to 8 at the isle (takes 1-2 hours) and decided to play a Berserker Frog. He's 20 now and in Antonica. So far i like the game very much... the last time i played was in beta and i couldnt stand it. Its by far not as accessible as WoW, but i've found it very rewarding if you accept that there is no one taking you by the hand as WoW does.
Soloing is possible but slow and like in WoW, you wont see the instances. But finding groups is not a problem and since the community is much more friendly compared to WoW, pickup groups are actually an "ok" choice.
Its really nice to meet friendly and helpful people, i now realize how much i missed that in WoW (at least outside guilds).
I'm also surprised i enjoy other areas i usually dont give a damn for: Crafting and Housing. Crafting is really well implemented and the most involved i've seen in any game before. Its a lot of work to do just one piece of equipment, because you have to do a lot of subcomponents prior, but on the other hand, only a handful of items are needed to level up and you can make quite a bit of money with some of the crafted items.
Unlike WoW, where you need a group or even a raid to get the resources for the better items, theres a plain small chance to get a rare resource in EQ2, starting at the lowest levels. While the normal crafted items are subpar to loot of the same level, those rares allow you to make real cool stuff comparable to the best loot.
@fang: http://eq2.ogaming.com/data/2045~Spells&Skills.php should be somewhat accurate when it comes to skills and spells.
I noticed that skillwise you still need to get above 20 to notice the real differences between classes. With their revamp they've put a few signature abilities at the lower levels, but most differences remain at 20+
What i miss is the more involved combat system of WoW. In EQ2 i just activate all my attack abilities one after another and the only tactical decisions i have to make is power managment, and if i have to trigger the abilities with longer cooldown for an encounter or not. There is no rage, i have no combo points or abilities i have to trigger after a miss/block... i miss that a bit.
Yeah, I found ogaming last night. They seem to be accurate for most classes and the ones they arent, I can look over the spell list to get a jist of what the class will be like revamped.
Today's order of business will be a monk, illusionist and ranger. Then maybe a berserker, warlock and coercer.
Being fangoriously devoured by a gelatinous monster.
Nothing beats the monk animations when I played, especially when you used two weps at once.
I don't think I've ever said this sentence before, but man would I love to hump that butterfly.-- KrazyTaco
One phone call and you're melting like butter over my kettle pop. -- Edwin to Mex
2005 GWJFFL2 Champion
Yeah, the monk is classic, especially the froglok monk. I imagine a halfling or gnome monk would be just as cool.
Its a toss up between which I like better, the monk or berserker. Its a very tough call. I think Id have toget them both higher than 6 but the monk has a hair more visual style but the zerk has cooler effects and buffs so far.
The ranger is fun, has some cool bow attacks and does a lot of damage but I think Id prefer the zerk or monk. I still like the dirge over them all.
More on the warlock, illusionist, and coercer later.
Being fangoriously devoured by a gelatinous monster.
The warlock seems really cool with burst area effect dots in addition to some nukes.
I definitely prefer the illusionist's summoned pet vs the coercer's charm. Though I do like the power drain dot that the coercer gets.
I must admit Im a little bummed the game doesnt allow you 6 characters per server. (its 6 total up from 4 total at launch) I know they give you more slots if you have the all access pass (8 I believe). Do they give you more for buying the expansions? It just seems so limiting when WoW lets you have 10 per server and the original EQ let you have 12? per server. DAoC lets you have 6-8 per server. CoH/V lets you have 8 per server. So I dont get what the deal is and what exactly we are paying for with the cost cutting measures of limiting character storage servers.
I mean, look, you have 24 classes and 16 races. Expecting people to pick only 6-8 is not thinking long term especialy when you consider the whole other class structure, crafting.
Anyways, off the soapbox. I think if I had to pick 6 they would be the following in order:
dirge, zerk, monk, conjuror, illusionist, ranger, warlock, necro, warden, fury, coercer, brigand, mystic, swashbuckler, shadowknight
I know for a fact that I could take any one of my top 6 past the newbie islands and atleast into mid levels. The fury and warden could also get bumped up significantly depending on the warden's shapeshifting and if the fury becomes a bigger nuker. Unfortunately, with only 6 slots, Id be SOL. I dont think they'd be the class Id want to have my first hand experiences with but I could see them become a major alt that could even surpass my main.
FYI, it takes about 10-12 minutes to get to level 4 and 30 minutes to get to level 5 on the newb isle. Oh and I still dont understand how the apprentice and adept system works. You basically have to buy or quest for or have drop any spell not apprentice? Whats the point of having apprentice and adept when spells are spell lines that get upgrades at later levels. Is an adept minor bloom better than an apprentice bloom spell?
Being fangoriously devoured by a gelatinous monster.
If i remember right, its this way:
Apprentice I - your ability/spell starts this way
Apprentice II - You can buy that in town (small bonus only)
Apprentice III - Can be made by Scholars via Crafting
Adept I - Random Drops from mobs (significant higher bonus than Appr.)
Adept II - Can be made via RARE tradeskills recipes
Master I - Random Drops from named heroic mobs (very high bonus)
Master II - you get to choose a few MasterII-Abilities during your career (i could choose at level 14 or so)
Upgrading Combat abilities is not as important as upgrading spells and yes, you will lose all upgrades when you get a higher version of that spell. You can buy ApprenticeIII-ApedtII from the broker, but i have not checked the auction house for prices, on my server, theres too much money in the economy and prizes are usually high.
Concerning your Char-Preferences, i would suggest you also put your playstyle into account.
Soloing and grouping makes a lot of difference with some classes. For example, if you prefer to solo, the monk is the best of the fighter subtypes because of a good damage output, while the guardian is the best tank but cannot kill anything due to his low damage.
I stopped playing in Aug of 05 when my guild imploded so am not that familiar with the current state of the game, however, at that time there were lots of intances that were user selectable to be either solo or group. These were primarily small dungeons/caves which were availabe in the zones tierd towards the lvl 28 player and up. If you stumbled upon a door (the doors moved randomly from time to time but remained in the same general area) you would be presented with the choice of solo or group content for the dungeon. They were not that stimulating but did provide the chance to get fairly decent loot.
One thing that EQ2 did not have when I stopped were any detailed story based instance such as can be found in WoW.
The closest EQ2 came was the second $5 mini expansion involving Gnolls, which was very well done and had some neat zones and quest.
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So Ive tested out the Wizard, Bruiser, Troubador, Defiler and Inquisitor.
Wizard - wow bigtime punch on the nukes; another fun class
Bruiser - seems to similar to the monk and I liked the style of the monk better; i guess if you want to be evil but like the monk class, pick the bruiser
Troubador - probably better in groups than the Dirge for the power regen song/aura; my personal preference is with the Dirge for the life drain attack (troub gets a power drain attack)
Defiler - evil counterpart to the Mystic; funny that I had a much better time with the Defiler; I think it had to do with race selection... the kerran must have better starting strength and or stamina than the froglok
Inquisitor - surprised me in being a lot of fun; i think the plate armor may make the newb experience more fun than the leather clad warden and fury
I dont feel the need to try a paladin as that seems to be a shadowknight focused on buffs rather than debuffs. The gaurdian doesnt interest me at all. The templar seems to be the counterpart to the inquisitor like the paladin is to the shadowknight, buff vs debuff. I have always preferred debuffs to buffs unless that buff directly corrolates to increased dps.
Being fangoriously devoured by a gelatinous monster.
I'm interested in checking this out after reading this thread. Two questions:
1) I found the core game for $20 at Gamestop. I kinda doubt there's a better deal available, but I figured I might as well ask.
2) On which servers might I find my fellow GWJers?
Edit: I found a link for a downloadable free trial here
http://www.trialoftheisle.com/download.vm
Be warned that the download takes 6 hrs+ with all the patches etc.
I dont think there is a strong contingent anymore so server seems moot unless some of the EQ2 veterans who may or may not still play might have a guild that is still active.
All my characters are on Unrest.
Being fangoriously devoured by a gelatinous monster.
One last impression.
Paladin = much cooler than a shadowknight. Go figure. Pallys get a life tap and a quick recast group heal. SK's unless Im missing something get bupkis.
Being fangoriously devoured by a gelatinous monster.