I loved the EQ mage back when gear was hard to come by. Summoning magic items or a million arrows to help the party. Summon sets of armor for the ungeared to give them that big AC boost. Pets that were all powerful in their own ways. Equipping other pet classes with armor and weapons for their pets. Summoner, Necro, Beastlord made the summoner feel like they were giving out the best buffs. It was so much fun at the group and solo level.
I really hope VR gives us tons of summon spells for the party. Like armor to protect you from an environment or climbing gear. It will never be top of the line, but it will be helpful when people are not carrying climbing tools around to save on carry weight.
I hope we can go exploring and scouting with something like a sneaking eye of zomm again. Over hearing conversations NPCs have alone.
The downside is summoned gear becomes hated and never used once we have magic stats on all our gear. You won't want to touch a cloak from the summoner if it means you lose main stats putting it on. As soon as everyone is decked out in magic items or have high quality bags to carry tool they want the summoner utility falls off a cliff.
It's SO hard to decide what my favorite class is from an MMO, but I can tell you one thing, they're all from Vanguard.
It's so funny you mention the Cleric, because I'm pretty sure that's the ONLY class I DIDN'T play in Vanguard. I hear a lot of folks say they loved it/it was OP, though. :)
My highlight classes from Vanguard would be: Blood Mage, Disciple, Bard, Necromancer. I played mainly a Dread Knight and Druid, both of which I thought were excellent. Specifically the Dread Knight as they could ACTUALLY be 2hand tanks.
Just about every class in Vanguard has INCREDIBLE class identity, and honestly none of them felt like a copy/paste. Almost all of them had some sort of unique mechanic, etc.
I've enjoyed other classes in MMOs, but for the most part, they all felt generic and bland in comparison, or if not, felt gimmicky and overdone. It's a hard balance, but it's one of the highlights of why I fell so in love with VG.
I'd really like to say Ranger from EQ was my favorite, but I am not sure if the Ranger was what made it fun or if the game is what made it fun.
I really DON'T want to say Paladin because Paladin is not my normal style...but the Paladin in DAOC might be the most fun I had playing a class.
Counterfleche said:Also an altaholic, though I strongly prefer crowd control, healing, and support.
I loved the Controller in City of Heroes (it was cc primary and healing/support secondary). I also really loved the Warshade.
In Anarchy-Online, I really enjoyed playing as a Doctor.
Very much enjoyed both of those games.
Thematically I enjoy the Monk the most for their disciplined mind-over-matter persona.
The only two MMOs I played that even had Monks available (at the time) were Everquest and FFXIV. I appreciated how Everquest Monks were pullers/dps/offtanks so their gameplay was varied compared to a typical dps class; Their ability kit was pretty limited however. FFXIV Monks had a more enjoyable ability kits but they're strictly dps so that made the gameplay very limited. Everquest mechanics better supported the Monk class fantasy so I suppose I'd say Everquest did the Monk better, but I can't really say either of them represented my ideal Monk.
I also really enjoy Clerics/Priests for their godly through-faith-we-will-endure persona.
I enjoy healing and having buffs to cast on allies. It's a toss-up between Everquest Cleric and World of Warcraft Priest for different reasons. I liked the cleric thematically more, but the World of Warcraft Priest had so much more active gameplay.
I also really enjoy Wizards/Mages for their studied thinking-through-problems persona.
Often these classes--due to their glass-cannon approach--have plenty of tools and powerful spells that they can use to tear through any problem if played intelligently.
I also really enjoy Warriors for their ferocious master-at-arms persona...
I can probably keep doing this until I list off almost every class. I am an altoholic.
I am definitely going to Main a Dark Myr Summoner. I really enjoyed the EQ Mage, and felt that I had mastered the class.
What I am hoping for is that Summoners will be able to conjure equipment that helps the group adapt to different environments, like a Mask of Water Breathing or the like.
A "Bag of Tricks" would be nice: a conjured container of useful items.
I look forward to sending my Arcamentals into battle.
I really liked the Mystic class in EQ2 and TERA.
In EQ2, I think it was more due to the spellcasting animations than anything. /shrug. That was my highest level in that game and it was only 40-something, so never did any raiding or high level content.
In TERA, I did make it to end game with my Mystic, I remember it being a pretty fun class.
The WoW Druid was pretty fun too.
I mean come on guys...eq1 enchanter. So much fun, flex on utilities and give other players the opportunity to relax in their roles in the group while you keep everything under control. Of course charm pet was silly dps.. But a whole lot of fun to add to the ever growing list of responsibilities that if you mess up on most likely everyone dies.
For me both of my most stand out chars are from EQ1. The Bard and Shaman. I loved always being needs with both classes. As a Bard I was a jack of all and a master of some. I have never found it easier getting a team as a EQ Bard. Often getting tells all night long if I would send a tell if my team disbanded. Longer I stayed online, the bigger the line and it was just so much fun to play. I could bolster any group type. MElee heavy or caster heavy. I go top them up and help them kill faster. Shorten down time and save lives.
My Shaman was the best debuffer in the game. Every team killing powerful mobs wanted one. Great backup heals, good damage and I could help the team do more damage and buff everyone to heck. Was not as easy to find teams as a Bard but it was a close second.
