When I picked up EverQuest II again I wrote a few posts about what my early experiences back with the game were. At the time I was somewhat down on the Templar class. Since writing that I put a lot more miles on Ferrel, took some data, and survived the release of Sentinel’s Fate. I’m back in my old rhythm of looking, watching, and documenting and I thought it was time to share some observations. This is a good time to do since since SOE is looking at class balance but not really taking feedback or even discussing it.
The templar is certainly not the only class in disarray right now. In fact I’d say that EQ2′s state of class balance is quite atrocious and that has led me to make a few jokes at SOE’s expense (sorry guys, I do actually love you)! The templar is the class I play and as such I spend most of my time watching it, other healers and tanks. I’m going to limit myself to my core competencies and leave the rest to individuals who are more knowledgeable in those areas.
The Good
Healing seems to have ceased to function as a true balance criteria in EQ2 (and most MMORPGs). Some classes heal slightly better and others heal slightly worse. The difference is marginal and mostly focuses on the mechanisms by which they heal. When it comes to healing a tank I see no deficiency in the templar class. I do a fine job of keeping them alive with my single target healing. I can serve as a sole group healer and I do not feel stretched to do so as long as the tank or one other person maintains aggro. If numerous people are taking damage my resources get thin. There is a deficiency in group healing but this is by design. Grouping healing has traditionally been a strength of the druid classes while the clerics focused on single healing. There is no issue here as long as the balance remains (more on that later).
I think most players would be hard pressed to find a superior class to the templar when it comes to buffing a tank. You will find some classes that can come close when it comes to hit points, armor and statistics, but in actually reducing incoming damage I think the templar has an advantage. Unyielding Benediction, while ridiculously out of date, continues to be a powerful tool of the class. Sentinel’s Fate brought additional changes to the AA lines that reinforced this ability and it seems to be quickly becoming the niche of the class.
Thanks to the changes made to statistics templar damage has gone from non-existent to sub-infuriating. I know that sounds like a back handed compliment but I really do consider this a great thing. The class is no power house but being able to complete quests solo at an almost acceptable pace is a huge deal. I now feel like I don’t have to ask for assistance to grind my AAs. I recognize that virtually every class in the game can solo quest much faster but the gap has narrowed some and that is a great thing.
The bad
I mentioned before that healing is no longer being used as a balance criteria. This creates a system where you can use any priest in any situation. This isn’t a bad mechanic and it makes life easier. With that said, when you previously balanced on that criteria and suddenly stop you can’t just forget about it and not improve the classes that were previously enjoying a bonus. In short, if templars healed 10% more than everyone else and now everyone heals the same you have to put that 10% somewhere else. I’m not saying that is the case in healing, I’m just making the point.
One of the biggest areas where I see that problem is in the generic balancing of survivability. EverQuest II is moving to a “tank/no tank” system. World of Warcraft sports this system. For the uninitiated it means if you’re a tank you survive and if you’re not you die. I cannot express how bitterly I hate this type of system. It is counter to how EQ2 was designed and how most games have played historically. Survivability was not homogenized. It was dictated by a gear-class hierarchy: plate, chain, leather, and cloth. This is the biggest area where I see that templars have been slighted. Being a plate healer no longer means anything and with the loss of that criteria of balance no improvements were made elsewhere.
I do not consider it appropriate that through AAs a warden can have more hit points, avoidance, and mitigation than a similarly geared templar. I cannot accept that when a mob AEs it kills all healers or, if I’m lucky, kills the druids, shamans and leaves Ferrel with 2% hit points. I find it ridiculous that a plate wearing, shield using, healer should be significantly less survivable than a tank. Tanking isn’t only about survival. It is about aggro generation. It is acceptable that other classes can take a hit. They will not encroach on the tanks territory because they cannot maintain aggro! This is my major gripe with templars at the moment. When I chose to play another Norrath cleric I accepted that I would massively trade damage for survivability. I now have neither and something surely has to give.
To be honest I am not a fan of priests being forced to do damage in addition to healing to be considered “skilled.” I accept that is where MMORPGs are going though. Even with the vast improvements to templar DPS we are still woefully behind if damage is going to be a component of our job. By using Smite Wrath our marginal damage becomes, as I mentioned before, sub-infuriating. The problem is a single beneficial spell will drop us back to near-zero. I just don’t see having the class being so anemic with DPS if we’ve traded in our survivability for generic priest status.
The issue of an impending mythical nerf is also on my mind. The templar mythical increases healing based on a percentage of wisdom. That is being modified on test and the reduction players are seeing is extreme. I mentioned before that most priests were on an even keel when it came to healing. I can’t imagine where my templar would be with a 20% reduction. This has not occurred yet but it is certainly a scary, looming, monster in the closet. More importantly, I doubt we’ll receive any compensation even though there is no problem. You only nerf when someone is largely above other classes in the same demographic. That is certainly not the case.
In the end I’m feeling less unique when I log into my templar. What role do they fill if not the survivable healer? A warden can heal as sufficiently, survive as long, and generate 10K DPS without being in raid gear. What can be said of the templar? They buff a single tank exceptionally well. Instead of having a niche they’re becoming one and I think that is a shame.
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I read your posts and I have no idea if we’re just playing different games or not. I am simply not seeing the survivability issues you’re seeing. Period. I have no idea what is killing you so often, but I rarely die on raids outside of full wipes. From what I understand, you’re also the MT Templar in your guild, which means that you’re presumably in a group with a shaman (most likely a Defiler) which should make you even more difficult to kill.
I was also surprised to hear about your issues with soloing up through Sentinel’s Fate. As a solo Templar, I generally have few issues handling white or even yellow heroic targets.
There could very well be a gear threshold issue here Kendricke. We’re not raiding like we used to and I don’t imagine you hang out in the type of gear I do. Perhaps at a certain point it does change. That said, I wasn’t saying I die all the time. My point was that when druids and shamans die, I tend to as well. If you’re saying you survive hits that they don’t that is a good start. At my gear level that doesn’t seem to be the case. We also haven’t had a shaman until this week.
I also didn’t suggestion I am having issues soloing. I can effectively kill anything as you mentioned. It wasn’t an issue of “can or can’t.” My point was an issue of time and also my damage on a raid target compared to that of another priest class.
My guess based on what you’ve said on the topic is that survivability is being viewed as a healing trait. Dead healers heal no HP, so there’s no functional difference between having one of the archetypes heal for 10% more and having that same archetype survive to continue healing after everyone else is dead of AOE. Your oversimplification graph proposed a trade-off between survivability and DPS, but that’s not an entirely fair trade if one of those two affects the healer’s primary role and the other does not.
I can understand that but I have to ask then, what is the point of armor types? Why then doesn’t a templar do the DPS of a warden?
There has to be trade offs somewhere.
Your own templar is in a lot of legendary gear. Is the warden in similar gear? Your templar has nearly no proc effects on your gear. Does the warden have a lot of proc gear?
The warden in our raid force pushes nearly 15K dps. He has maxed out AA and has built his gear, adornments, and AA spec around doing that much damage. I haven’t had the time to really play outside of raiding for the past couple of months, so I’m still a ways off from max AA. I’ve also chosen a more defensive spec in my gear and build.
There’s a lot of variables we’re not seeing in this comparison here.
The warden is the alternate character of our ranger. He has similar or worse gear than myself. I certainly have more AA than him. I’ve also spec’d defensively as well. Hitpoints, improvements to buffs, etc. Just things to ensure I help the tank survive. I’ll agree there are variables but that also doesn’t mean something isn’t up.
Their survival abilities come more from AA than gear though.
“By using Smite Wrath our marginal damage becomes, as I mentioned before, sub-infuriating. The problem is a single beneficial spell will drop us back to near-zero.”
I think I see part of the problem. You’re considering spell casting as the major component to your DPS. I would argue that you should switch over to more melee based AA and gear solutions.
Yes, spells account for a significant portion of your DPS, but you should be able to autoattack for at least 2K without casting a single spell. As a Templar, you’re typically able to move in closer to targets while still healing. Even if you’re casting nothing but debuffs and heals, you should be able to autoattack a lot of targets for 3-4K on most raids.
It may not sound like much compared to 10K, but that’s little more than autoattack I’m talking about here.
I certainly agree there. I’m not suggesting we don’t do DPS. My point is that even just swinging for 2K is still considerably less without any up side to it. As I said, I honestly don’t care if I do damage or not. I’m just looking for the old style of balance of trade offs and tiers where it just isn’t there anymore.
Look at shadow knights. Who could possibly argue that things are “right” over in fighter land right now. Can other tanks still tank? Certainly so. Why would you be any other tank right now though when you can tank as well as any tank and rival DPS classes in DPS?
I can still heal. I can still buff. I’m not saying the class is awful I’m just missing what I thought to be unique.
You’re looking at balance like it’s a zero sum game. It’s not.
I have to disagree there. You’ll never get it perfect but just saying “it will never be perfect” and calling it a day isn’t right either. EQ2 has some pretty big inequities right now. I don’t see the harm in pointing it out. Especially when balance decisions are being made without much feedback.
The recent changes to stats and crits have not been kind to us, that much is for sure. Itemisation has not kept up with the changes, and finding gear that suits a templar (at least down in the mid-levels where I am) is not as easy as it used to be.
You wrote:
“One of the biggest areas where I see that problem is in the generic balancing of survivability. EverQuest II is moving to a “tank/no tank” system. World of Warcraft sports this system. For the uninitiated it means if you’re a tank you survive and if you’re not you die. I cannot express how bitterly I hate this type of system. It is counter to how EQ2 was designed and how most games have played historically. Survivability was not homogenized. It was dictated by a gear-class hierarchy: plate, chain, leather, and cloth. This is the biggest area where I see that templars have been slighted. Being a plate healer no longer means anything and with the loss of that criteria of balance no improvements were made elsewhere.”
I’m not sure what game you’re playing, but I don’t think it’s EQ2! I play a squishy Coercer, and I have zero problems getting hit on in my mastercrafted gear. The game gives me enough crowd control options that I have time to get hit a few times, get off my stun or mez, and then move back and try and kill the MOBs.
In a non-raid environment, I don’t see Wizards, Warlocks, Necromancers, Illusionists, or Coercers having survivability problems. Not at all. So I disagree with your assertion that this is becoming a tank/no tank game.
I don’t doubt you. I’m more talking in a general raid sense and mostly when it comes to casual and middle raiding. I don’t die that often to regular mobs either.
I play both an Inquisitor (Grump) and a Templar (Grouser) in a end game raiding guild on Butcherblock. I have looked at your character on EQ2 players, and I do have some suggestions on gear, it will help with your overall survivability.
First, I would suggest going to Shard of Hate and farm for Rune Etched Helm http://lootdb.com/eq2/item/-559966266, this comes from Dreadlord D`Somni, he is easily farm able with 1 group. It is a rare drop.
If you have a raid force, Munzok’s Material Bastion http://lootdb.com/eq2/item/1524258337, from Gozak, a little more tricky, but it’s a nice upgrade over REH.
From your gear it looks like you can kill the first named in Palace of Theer, On the second named (Not much harder than the first), she drops http://lootdb.com/eq2/item/-733162902, a small ward proc. These pants can also be upgraded to the Tier 2 (contested pants) at the raid token vendor in Paineel.
There is also a ring with the same proc as the pants above, I have yet to loot it, but it drops in the heroic Palace, I didn’t find a link on lootdb.com
There are plenty of items of items with Runic Deflection, but they are much higher in progression, if you can snag any of them, like if folks sell them in your /auction, I would snag them!
Hey I appreciate the advice! I’ll look into it and see if I can’t make myself less squishy soon. We’ve mostly been doing the first named in Labs, the first in Vigilant x2, progressing through Icy Keep and we’re working on the first named in Palace. We only raid with 10-11 people so sometimes things take a bit longer!