EQ TLP - Vaniki (Level-Locked Progression)

Lambourne said:

Not sure what your point even is but that's just ridiculous numbers you're throwing out there. TLP enchanters are far tankier than they were in original EQ was and if you disagree you just don't know what you're talking about sorry.

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Well, you said that TLP Enchanters have much higher defense caps which is true. My point is that on a fresh TLP (even when we had one with a level 60 cap) they still charm basically from level 11 all the way to max. At every step of the way their defense skill is trash and they're wearing scant little equipment. Van brought up her memories of charm back in the day and it seemed like the conversation was moving over to how things have changed. Where she remembers it being more trouble than it was worth even with people wearing actual items these days it is still the optimal strat even with two different nerfs (can't charm rare mobs, charmed mobs do a little less damage) and the Enchanter wearing rags and hardly any defense skill.

Arbitrary said:

Well, you said that TLP Enchanters have much higher defense caps which is true. My point is that on a fresh TLP (even when we had one with a level 60 cap) they still charm basically from level 11 all the way to max. At every step of the way their defense skill is trash and they're wearing scant little equipment. Van brought up her memories of charm back in the day and it seemed like the conversation was moving over to how things have changed. Where she remembers it being more trouble than it was worth even with people wearing actual items these days it is still the optimal strat even with two different nerfs (can't charm rare mobs, charmed mobs do a little less damage) and the Enchanter wearing rags and hardly any defense skill.

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Skillcap is a thing, but the biggest thing is using live combat tables. Back when SoF first came out they revamped combat tables and characters got much, much tankier.

Lambourne said:

Not sure what your point even is but that's just ridiculous numbers you're throwing out there. TLP enchanters are far tankier than they were in original EQ was and if you disagree you just don't know what you're talking about sorry.

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He's saying you're wrong about it being about the defense skill.

Not sure why that point is hard for you to get, but he's not the one who has no idea what he's talking about.

Ambiturner said:

He's saying you're wrong about it being about the defense skill.

Not sure why that point is hard for you to get, but he's not the one who has no idea what he's talking about.

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Well that makes you and him wrong then. Go test a 145 defense character and then a 200 defense character and report back. I've played them both so I already know the difference.

Lambourne said:

Well that makes you and him wrong then. Go test a 145 defense character and then a 200 defense character and report back. I've played them both so I already know the difference.

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Yet most enchanters don't get anywhere close to the skill cap and are still much tankier.

Very simple concept, yet super hard for you for some reason.

Proper positioning in the camp can usually prevent even a single hit on charm breaks, a lucky swift taunt nullifies the danger completely for the enchanter, most of the time it's an unlucky resist that turns into oh shit mode but if can snare the charmed pet is even less risky.

There's a ton of ways that good enchanters can reduce or even eliminate charm break risk, I'm sure the majority here know.

Playing enchanter was one of the best experiences I've had but last time i played one was on agnarr where early focus was still in the game for tlp.

Being able to land a recharm in the duration of a stun was awesome, im sure it's harder later in the game with extremely long cast times for higher charms but you just adapt... Playing with people who know their class and revolve around charm dynamics have really pushed the limits for what is possible.

One of the biggest differences is audio triggers and third person camera. It was way harder to have situational awareness both for the chanter and the group originally.

GoD won't directly change the leveling meta since it doesn't have a ton of relevant pre-60 content. It does have a couple zones that are sub-60 but even on live where they are sometimes hotzones they are never the fastest in their level range. LoY being out could change the meta some because there's a bunch of leveling zones that come out with that, and there's also some of the weird zones that usually aren't available initially that will be with a GoD launch: Jaggedpine, SolC, ChardokB etc. I have never really tested the LoY and random etc zones versus the normal meta for a Luclin or earlier server, so no idea if they shake things up (at the very least they give people more options, so the people who aren't racing to max level will have more zones to find xp in if it's crowded.)

For 60-65 the meta will either be revamped Splitpaw (which opens in LDoN but with some of its mobs and items not available until GoD), or maybe PoN or something into Splitpaw. It gets murky because at some point shortly after PoP on a TLP, the mid-tier PoP zones open up without flagging (meaning places like BoT etc), but it could be one of those things that is based on "x months after the server has opened Planes of Power." Either way, if a lot of PoP is locked behind progression flags then obviously those zones won't be available in a leveling rush to 65, so it will likely be a test to see if a Tier 1 PoP zone like PoNightmare or PoValor is faster XP than Splitpaw--in general I know Splitpaw is fast but there are some caveats--all the mobs in Splitpaw are mez and charm immune so and I actually think they hit relatively hard. That's irrelevant in the typical progression of when the zone opens, but naked characters struggling to 65 it might be a problem, but the level 61 PoP pet caster pets are pretty beefy so maybe you'd just pet tank them down.

Ct has awful mob makeup. Droga, nurga, and veksar seem to be victims of kunark zem neutering, and the mobs are a bit chonky. Loy similar deal, mobs are kinda rougher than elsewhere. There's reasons to go to these places and I suspect they see action, but probably not from people trying to race.

God has nothing worth leveling in really. A super weird druid based group in vxed might be the only exception?

Paw is probably the best xp around at 65 but I'm sorta also questioning its viability for getting TO 65. It's comfortable when you have at least some geared and aad characters. People who have tried like small boxing without a lot of power don't seem to have fun, eg a 65 with 2x low 60s. Same deal for some of the higher tier gates content.

So my guess is the optimal level route is whatever local noob dungeon to 20s, then tofs to low 40s, then velks to low 50s, then pon. Substitute sola+b or grimlings for tofs if you don't cheat andor the server is really fast. Substitute chardok if you have silly diverse charmers.

With Gates of Discord the PoK merchants have all the PoP spells on top of everything else. Starting with LDoN available means pets have their proper defensive values. Casters are already favored at TLP launches but one that started at GoD might end up slanted even harder in that direction. The speculation was free trade loot rules, right? At least that makes rolling up your second character easier.

Depending on what the level cap is, I could see LDoN as a popular source of loot. There is a whole bunch of lower level items you can buy with points and customize with augs, nobody ever buys them on a regular TLP because nobody runs lower level LDoNs on them because there is enough trickle down gear by the time it comes out normally. The nameds can drop some decent bits too, this is off a lvl 33 named. I can't off the top of my head think of anything better you can get at that level.

If they do something odd like level caps week to week I could see spending a bunch of time in LDoNs or maybe even doing a chunk of leveling there. If you were capped at 40 week one the amount of productive things you could do would be limited.

Yeah once you actually hit a level cap there's a lot of viability to some of these new zones. It also depends if rec/req levels are removed. There's stuff like abysmal sea or natimbi, and droga/nurga rescue quests that nobody ever does which I could see being decent here.

A lot of the op caster speculation really comes down to pets. Casters themselves are pure dogshit against significantly higher level mobs, its only pets that are strong. A class like necro may fare quite well (imo likely to be all around best) since it can sling skeletons or charm in some places or throw low resist nukes. A class like wizard whose low resist nukes come later is likely to be trash.

For melee, if the locks are long and slow, you could hit a situation where most tend to be overgeared for their level and this turns into a situation where casters are the LEAST op of a level grind (after the first lock or two).

Vanessa said:

"He was a really good rogue... knew his class well!"

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Hey backstab and evade macro is multiple buttons, and sometimes the boss would move. Skillful shit.

I kind of wish they would have the Merc system up just for those 5% of us who do not multi box the game.

yall sleeping on riwwi 50-60 exp