I’ve written about support classes and DPS classes in the past. Lately I’ve been wrapped around support classes thinking that they were where my interests lay but I think I was wrong. I started playing support classes back in World of Warcraft when I was fed up with the competition over DPS meters and the lack of good healers. That sent me into this spiral of making a Paladin and a Priest and influenced greatly my decision to make a Minstrel and Captain in LOTRO. I suppose my like for support could be traced back even further to DAOC where for a long time I played a Kobold Shaman. I used to like healing people and playing the role of support-strategist to keep the group moving. Now I think I have suddenly lost any and all interest in filling that position.
I’ve grown weary of having to play the healing classes that are underplayed or played by under-skilled players. Don’t misunderstand me, there are good healers out there but like any class the few that stink up the field are going to make the entire team look bad. I think I have crossed over into the realm of DPS class/tank hybrids. I’m not sure how it happened but I am now suddenly feeling this really strong urge to play a Shadowknight in EQ2 and a Choppa or Black Orc in Warhammer. This is confirmed even more by my attempt to play a mage type class in EQ2. In EQ1 I was a Necromancer and absolutely loved the massive DOT’s and pets. In EQ2 I find casting spells and having a pet to be lackluster and almost boring. I have not tried a Necromancer in EQ2 so I won’t completely rule them out yet. Maybe a backup plan if the SK goes bad.
I used to have a really bad case of altitis especially in DAOC. I would make one of everything and play them all until I found something that I like. Now’days I try to stick with one until the end. Sometimes it’s a hit and sometimes a miss but at least I’m able to get a feel for the class later in its life. Basically I’m trying to understand why I’m flip flopping on playstyles all of a sudden. I’m even wanting to tank – that’s unheard of for me. I’ve played tank classes in the past and since I am very familiar with the MMO combat equation being a tank comes easy to me. I’ve just never wanted to until now.
A lot of good this does me though since lately I’m gaming on my own. I don’t have a group that I run with anymore so that makes playing a tank type character a bit of a burden. It’s a thinker though – the whole switching playstyles drastically. If there ever was a good time to do it though it’s now. Kunark expansion is out on Tuesday (13th) and I’ll be making a Sarnak SK on the Antonia Bayle server. Given that I just joined a new guild with over 100+ accounts grouping might be a lot easier.
So uh, LFG!
That’s funny, I’ve been going through the same transition myself lately. I typically played ranged caster/dps classes. I rolled a lock in WoW and loved it, rocked him all the way to 70. After a while though I came to the realization that locks are not the best dpsers and not the best crowd-controllers.. Which made me what? A glorified health/soul-stone vendor. Soloing was fun but I wasn’t enjoying the endgame focus on group settings.. Not having a regular group to play with doesn’t help either.
I stopped playing for a little while and went to console gaming and FPSs. When I came back, I tried going healer and just couldn’t get into it. More and more I found myself wanting to melee. So I rolled a warrior and I’m loving it. I really enjoy the vastly different playstyle. I also really enjoy feeling like an important member of a group.
For Warhammer, I was originally planning on playing a magus or bright wizard.. Now I’m leaning much more towards a Chosen or Black Orc.