And what did you love about them?
My top 3 - in no particular order;
My favorite class that I never played was the EQ Enchanter, a good enchanter showed the power of support classes like nothing before or after it ever has.
(Honorable mention - EQ bard / WoW restoration druid in WotLK / SWG creature handler / DAoC - Thane)
Vanguard disciple was my all time favorite class by a landslide (I really wish something like it existed in Pantheon). I loved the fact that they had great healing abilities, but also had in your face melee combat too.
Other honorable mention would be EQ necro. Its actually 1 class I never played, but I always liked the self-draining, enemy tapping and utility of the class. It was just a really well though out class with so much character.
I enjoyed all of the classes in EQ, but mostly how they worked together. I played a monk and loved it, especially for pulling utility, but most of the EQ melee classes didn't have a whole lot of variety. It was more about the role they played in the grand scheme of things rather than how great they were on their own (on their own, they just didn't have many abilities).
It would have to be Rogue, Shaman and a toss up between Psionicist and DreadKnight for me.
I usually pick a main and then one favorite class from each of the remaining archetypes to be my most played second mains, then I usually have a bunch of alts of every class and race combination so I can get to know all of the abilities and bonus for when I am leading a guild or raid, so I can help class members with questions or know when someone is or isn't pulling their weight in a raid lol ;)
EQ 1 Monk, EQ 1 Warrior, WoW Hunter... I loved the lore and concept behind the EQ1 Monk. Loved all of there skills and abilities. EQ Warrior I loved because of the sheer Hps and Mitigation they had. I loved playing an Ogre Warrior in EQ because they couldn't be physically stunned from the front and they had such a massive natural strength that I could devote starting points to Dex/Agi and Int for skill ups and increased innate AC/Hitting. Wow Hunter was the ultimate solo class regardless of what game. I prefered the dwarf Hunters but that is a personal preference. I loved the fact that I could just stand back like a ranger and do MASSIVE damage while I sent my pet in to do melee DPS. I know some will diss the WoW Hunter but to be honest that is what the Necro and Ranger in EQ were modified after once it was known how devastating a Hunter was.
My favorites are paladin, DARK KNIGHT ... and samurai all from final fantasy xi. A lot of the reason I like these classes is because of their... I don't know... role-play flavor. I like the themes used for them and what makes up the classes. I also like what the classes entail, such as none being a basic warrior type and 2 out of the 3 being able to use magic as well.
Paladin was a fairly typical paladin (however this version was probably my favorite use of the class in any mmo I have played) where it is a tank class with access to a large amount of light magic (heals, buffs, some damage attacks).
Dark Knight was a DD (or dps for those who don't know this terminology) that focused on two handed weapons, black magic (mostly drains and debuffs) and sacrifice for power (for example, its most iconic ability is souleater which eats a % of your hp every attack you make and adds that hp to your attack).
Samurai of the three was the closest to a standard warrior type (its role was kindof tank, kindof DD... it was initially built out as a tank and kindof changed over time) but focused on chaining skills together for special benefits.
3) In RIFT I had a Physician/Tactician healer build. I called it Empyrean Physician. I'm sure by now a similar build is out there. It was ridiculously OP! It used Tactician's empyrean bolt + restorative engine with a bow instead of the Physician's attacks. Each arrow I fired healed the group for a pretty decent amount, so as long as I kept firing my bow the group would receive sustained healing throughout the entire battle. Of course I also had several different heals for when necessary, including some strong combo finishers that healed, shielded, etc. Best (worst?) of all, I was essentially unkillable. It really was ridiculous. It took the Physician's already-strong healing and survivability a step higher. I love playing healer and that was one of the most enjoyable healing classes I've ever played. Probably in part because it was my own build. RIFT was great about letting players design their own unique builds.
2) My main in EQ was a wizard. No game since has made nuking so fun and satisfying! The spell effects were gorgeous, the sound was unparalleled. Especially ice based nukes. They sounded so painful! When I reminisce about EQ one of my first thoughts is the sound of the wizard npcs in Neriak casting their spells. With the heavy reverb in that area it sounded amazing! My wiz wasn't my original main, but eventually became my main as I realized I'm more of a social player who likes to sit and chat with the group when I'm not busy fighting. The wiz allowed me to do that, and when the time came to stand up and finish off the mob... BOOM! Watching its health bar disintigrate was almost as satisfying as watching it disappear altogether! I would giggle with delight every time it landed. I was completely addicted to nuking. I couldn't get enough of it. Ah, the good ol' days!
1) The EQ bard. The most wonderful class ever in the history of MMOs, but you have to be a masochist to play it right. Playing a bard actually started giving me OCD-like symptoms as I had the tempo of the twist incorporate itself into my daily activities. Everything felt like it needed to have two steps (twist on, twist off) and be followed by another action (song). All in tempo. Not to mention what it does to your hands. You practically need a bucket of ice by the computer to play a bard all night. But nothing compares if you love utility and active gameplay! Unfortunately I wasn't able to keep it up over the long term. I think my bard retired around level 45. And not from lack of love. Given the chance I would play a bard again, but unlike the special few who are able to twist their way to the endgame and beyond, I would likely retire my bard again with fondness and appreciation for all the fun it gave me. My need to retire it is a fault of mine, not the bard's.
Runner up: SWTOR's Sith Inquisitor healer. SWTOR is a very solo-heavy game, but having people to play with made it so much more fun. The Inquisitor healer was pretty standard fare as MMO healers go, but I love playing healers. Having a lightsaber and force lightning just took the fun of a healer and fused it with the badassery of a Sith Lord. A very satisfying combination! :)
Typhon said:
2) My main in EQ was a wizard. No game since has made nuking so fun and satisfying! The spell effects were gorgeous, the sound was unparalleled. Especially ice based nukes. They sounded so painful! When I reminisce about EQ one of my first thoughts is the sound of the wizard npcs in Neriak casting their spells. With the heavy reverb in that area it sounded amazing! My wiz wasn't my original main, but eventually became my main as I realized I'm more of a social player who likes to sit and chat with the group when I'm not busy fighting. The wiz allowed me to do that, and when the time came to stand up and finish off the mob... BOOM! Watching its health bar disintigrate was almost as satisfying as watching it disappear altogether! I would giggle with delight every time it landed. I was completely addicted to nuking. I couldn't get enough of it. Ah, the good ol' days!
My very good RL fried played a beast of a wizzy, and what I loved the most was the zone spam when they would crit. We would be in seperate AA groups in BoT (I usually camped out in forge and he was usually at tables, so we were close enough to see the notifications) and all of the sudden you would see broadcast "Githyanki hits a so and so with a critical strike for 11,000 damage" You could damn near hear people's jaws hitting the floor. So much fun.
My very good RL fried played a beast of a wizzy, and what I loved the most was the zone spam when they would crit. We would be in seperate AA groups in BoT (I usually camped out in forge and he was usually at tables, so we were close enough to see the notifications) and all of the sudden you would see broadcast "Githyanki hits a so and so with a critical strike for 11,000 damage" You could damn near hear people's jaws hitting the floor. So much fun.