EverQuest 2 Week Part 3
EverQuest 2 week soldiers on Epic Slant and I’ve been pleased with the topics thus far. In each article I’ve tried to give short snippets on the areas of the game that I’ve picked. Some topics, however, require a bit more time. When it comes to class balance, I certainly think I could go on forever. I have no intention of covering the entire balance of the game but I do want to look at Ferrel’s class, the templar.
A long time ago
In the beginning the templar class was very overpowered in comparison to the other five healers. We were, without any argument, the best suited to keeping others alive. This wonderful talent was given to us because we didn’t have the debuffs that shamans had and didn’t have the alleged utility that druids possessed. It was a glorious time but it was certainly unfair. This was especially true when it came to druids as they were the weakest of all. Then came Live Update 13. It was a dark day for the templar class. Like so many other overpowered classes in history, we were drastically over nerfed and the promise of “we’ll bring you back up” generally went unfulfilled. With my return I assumed that thirty something updates later we wouldn’t still be punished for the sins committed years before. Sadly I assumed incorrectly and some of the negativity towards my class has returned.
The templar and you
Please understand up front that I am not saying templars are horrible and useless. We were exceptionally easy to replace directly after LU13 but a lot seems to have been returned to us. Templars are adequate healers these days but they seem to lack any sort of flare or gimmick. The class simply doesn’t have any one thing that we “do better” than any other healer. Druids have received some of that promised utility, do decent damage, have options in their group cures and seem to be the masters of group healing. Shamans, as always, have their important role of debuffer and are the keepers of the most powerful heal type in the game, the ward. Inquisitors can apparently do some pretty stellar damage and have a wonderful gimmick that lets them outright kill low health percentage mobs. Verdict is something of a “one trick pony” but it is a heck of a lot better than a hammer pet.
My point is not to say that all of these classes are better than the templar, either. It just comes down to the fact that each class has variety while the templar, and by extension the inquisitor, seem rather anemic. These two classes are good at healing just as well as everyone else. This is not something that I particularly look on as exciting nor is it a scientific examination of the issue. There just seem to be a lot less templars than there used to be and finding active information on the class is rather hard. When you look up AA specs you’ll find information that is a year old. I am curious as to where the community has gone?
The positive side of being a cleric
The templar class is not without positives, however. We are still more than capable single target healers. If you give us a target we can do a pretty impressive job of keeping it alive. We also can extend the life of a main tank with our shield AA line from the cleric tree. This ability is exciting because it gives a tank the chance to use the cleric’s shield as well, should she fail to avoid an incoming blow. That certainly has value but it is not unique to the templar. The inquisitor can also specialize in the line.
One thing that made me excited was that SOE seems to have recognized the great disparity between reactive heals and wards. I cannot begin to explain how excited I was when I received my very own ward at level 80. This ability is a wonderful boon to the class but I am fearful that it is a one time reward given that it is a “max level ability.” It is my hope that in Sentinel’s Fate and going forwards that this turns into a line of spells and not a one time benefit. After all, a level 80 ward will not prove that useful at level 90 and beyond.
Why wards?
When I originally played EQ2, players tried to gloss over how powerful wards are. This was a smart thing to do given the fact that you wouldn’t want them nerfed. I thought it was important to go on a tangent and explain why I’m so excited about having a ward. I’ve been healing in MMOs for a long time now and I figured out a little secret a long time ago. The secret is pretty simple actually: It is better that a tank never takes damage than to have to heal it. I’m certainly that didn’t blow anyone’s mind but you’d be surprised at how much that gets ignored. A 4000 point ward is always better than a heal of any kind of equal value. How is this possible?
A ward absorbs damage. In essence it adds to the tank’s max hp total. If a tank has 4000 hp and you put a 4000 point ward on it you’ve doubled the life. If that tank is struck for 5000 points of damage they’ll have 3000 hp left. If you don’t have the ward and instead have a reactive heal the situation is obvious. The tank is dead. Wards are the most efficient of the three special healing abilities because you always get full value. Regeneration is the next most useful because you will frequently get full value. If the tank has taken any damage the regeneration will be useful. The least efficient healing ability is the reactive. A reactive is only triggered on damage, heals a set amount, and has a finite amount of charges. More importantly, a reactive will never dump its entire heal value at once. If the heal is for 300 and the mob hits for 1200 you’re falling behind quickly. No matter how you slice it, a reactive is the least efficient and effective heal compared to regeneration and wards. That has always struck me as strange given the history of the cleric class being the primary healer. With that in mind, when I received a ward I was stoked and it has already made a big change to my ability to keep a player alive. There is nothing better than not taking damage in an MMO, period.
Cry me a river
Alright so the class isn’t as bad as I make it seem but it is always fun to complain a little. I’m really enjoying playing one of the original Ferrels and she is doing a stellar job of keeping the group alive. In the future I’d like to see clerics get a niche. That niche can be “undisputed best single target healer by a noticeable margin” or something else. Either way I’ll keep on working the class and hoping for more wards!
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Tags: EverQuest II, Ferrel, Templar
As far as I’m aware Templars are pretty much the best healers in EQ2, the only problem is when you have a Monk/Bruiser tank as the reactives wont proc because the brawlers are doing there Neo bullet dodge thing lol.You’ll struggle to find a recent post on the sony forums about Templars being underpowered I’ll bet.
It’s full of druids crying into thier cornflakes though for one reason or another.
This is pretty interesting to me as I’ve not heard that about templars. Could you elaborate a little bit? I’ve just recently returned to the game so any nudge in the right direction would be wonderful.
Templars are still very powerful healers. Hands down, we’re the best buff class bar none. With the Templar mythical epic, our Aegolism buff gains some minor tank buffs and becomes groupwide. On top of having more health and mitigation buffs than any other priest, a Templar using their shield ally and stoneskin abilities are able to passively prevent 20% or more of all incoming damage to a tank before a single spell is cast (and when the tank IS hit, they have more mitigation and health from the templar to prevent the damage in the first place).
With Rise of Kunark, we picked up one of the most powerful healing spells in the game with Repent – a reactive ward. Basically, the spell blocks X damage as a ward and then heals that same amount of X damage like a reactive all at the same time.
We did lose a powerful tool in Sacrifice (which was nerfed fairly hard), but we still maintain both Sanctuary (blocks all control effects for a group for up to 40 seconds) and Divine Arbitration (equalizes all health points within a group).
Drop a note sometime, Ferrel to guk.kendricke. I’d love to go over old times with you, sir.
That is some solid data there! I had largely suspected our strength was in buffing which was suggested to me by Karen.
I was also super thrilled with Repent. I hope it becomes a line but suspect it won’t.
Will do sir! Glad to hear from you.