Interesting...

I thought about that a few times, but the fact is, a Warrior can solo right now. The problem is, mostly limited to lt blue cons, with a few dk blue's (More, if you choose the older zones that haven't been revamped in any way yet). I am 67 on my warrior, and probably solo's 1/3rd of the way there. I solo'd my first 3 aa's completely (For Run 3 in the mid 50's somewhere). The downtime was horrible. I have had great groups, and some groups were made for the sole purpose of levelling my warrior, but I would say 1/3rd of the overall levelling was solo. I'm never in a hurry though, so the solo thing doesn't really bother me as it does other's.

HOWEVER..........

Looking at the changes coming up for the druid class made me think of something similar that could take a huge chunk out of downtime for the warrior class. Druid's are going to get some kind of benefit with their healing and Damage dealing, a kind of hot key to enable them to go from one to the other with added benefits to one, lowering the other. If they could do something similar with the Warrior class, that would be an achievement. If a warrior could "Highten" their ability for damage mitigation, as well as a bonus on attacks, that would probably be the most usefull and almost realistic way of dealing with it.

I think the thing is silly Necro, to be honest...

Let me explain an idea I have, and maybe you (as in anyone reading this) can put something together more formal from it, and the ideas suggested by Necrophobe.

Warrior's, without a need to look, watch, think about other PC's around, going up against a mob, can go all out without the added worry of what other's are doing in the group. This will add a 50% increase in damage, and also a 50% decrease in damage taken, being able to concentrate solely on the mobs, without the worry of other's around them. Other PC's that are not grouped around the warrior shouldn't affect this ability at all. I don't think this ability should be for "Just" Warrior's, and I think it could very well be an activated ability At an early stage of developement in the warrior's creation. An AA perhaps, taking 10%, 25%, and 50% usable first stage at 11th level, 2nd at 25th level and 3rd stage at 50th level. At 51st level, they can opt to have it raised to 55%, 59th level 65%, and 65th level 75% being cap. All other classes could use it as well, but with a lesser table. Pally's and Sk's could do 10%, 20%, 30%, with the higher ablilites being raised similarly, 35%, 40%, 50% cap. Ranger's, Rogue's, Monks, Berserker's, Beastlords, (any other mellee) with the same skills, but at 10% less then the Pally and Sk's, Caster classes would be half of the Pally's Sk's. This would effect all mellee damage of all kind, including spells, etc. The Catch? You must be solo, if your grouped half the effect, Raid only 25% of the effect. This would also enhance all the classes. The % I used is only commercial, But they should actually be a substancial difference when solo, then when not.


Now, as for taunt...
Let's not talk about taunt, LOL. How about Hate generated. I am not a programmer, so I don't know if it could be tied to the AA ability I am suggesting or not, but... If it's possible, maybe the hot button(S) for it could be used in a duel function such as the Druid thing. If your the Main tank for the group, then maybe this same ability will allow you to add the percent to your hate generated rather then your mitigation and attack. Like I said, I read the Druid thing, and couldn't help thinking about this. IN a group, you have the choice of fighting normally, with your AA in effect as damage dealer, damage taker, but your hate remains normal, what you would get without or with would be the same, hitting another button, will allow you to change your damage and hit bonus into generated hate. While one is in effect, the other isn't. Or you can opt. to not use the ability at all, and leave your Warrior as is. I have always liked the AA abilities, they give you a way to realistically work on things, to make your character better. The time you spend on your AA experience is time away from the normal experience grind, and takes in game time to gain (Study). For things that enhance a class in battle, I feel they should be an AA ability. For things that can be learned from practicing, without a mob in your face (Swimming,hiding, etc. ) Should be normal tradeskill. AA to me is Enhanced learning, and I don't think the Warrior should be just remade to be made better. I think we should think of a way to make them solo, but at the same time, not make it only for a warrior. These AA's could take 10 AA's per step, or whatever SOE feels is reasonable to achieve that kind of training, but shouldn't be just given... That would ruin it for me, kind of like new expansions, and greater gear ruined it for people that took three years trying to get to Plane of Time. All that work, just to find I could have gotten something just as good alot faster if I just waited for the expansion...


A note about AA's as well, I really think they have that AA thing worked in as easily as they could, but it's not really very fair. For example, if I am on my level 54 Cleric in POV (I'm flagged), with 100% of my experience on AA's, and someone grouped with me at level 65 has the same, I will get my AA faster, even if I have more AA's then that particular person. I think your aa's should get a certain amount of experience per AA based on your AA level's of achievement, rather then your current level. If the first set (Run 3, etc) starts at 51, then level 51 experience should be all you need to level, you should gain the experience as fast as a level 51 toon would, untill you put your AA into a higher level (Archetype), and so on... That's been my biggest hidden (not anymore) aggrevation about the whole AA thing. If it takes your toon 2000experience points to level from 51 to 52, then it should only take 2000 Exp pts to get an AA your working on, if your working on the first set, and haven't stepped into any other's. So someone at level 70 killing a lt blue mob, just might ding an AA in two kills, if they are working on the first set, if at the last ones, that take being 70 to get them, then it should take them normal 70th level experience to earn it.


This is kind of a kewl thing your thinking about Necrophobe, hope you understand that hate while under this shouldn't effect the warrior no more then the Druid's abilities effecting it.

In the end EQ is ment to be a social game. In other words it is ment to be played by groups. With this in mind one might suggest that the real problem is not that warriors can't solo, but that others can.

However with the game as it currently stands (with most of the people playing toons lvl 50+) there is a need to be able to solo a lower lvl warrior to the point at which they can regulary form groups. As Anez pointed out it is releativly easy to solo a warrior up to the mid 50's In my mind this requires gear above and beond what a warrior could obtain own their own. At some point a warrior needs to be twinked in order to solo efectivly.

On Raised DS and other meathoods of increassing damage for soloing:
On avg a warrior can out damage a Pali, yet a Pali solos better than a warrior. The reason Palies solo better than warriors is the fact that they can disengage from the fight to heal etc.
In the end, a slightly twinked warrior can do enough damage to solo dark blue mobs into the lower 50's.

On pacifing:
Some of the best solo classes can not pull a single mob out of a group. Shaman, Beast, and Mages comes to mind. (Yes a shaman can root pull, but it has limited application.) Since Beast, Shaman, and Mages can solo at all levels soloing and the ability to pull one mob out of a group do not go hand in hand.

On Down time:
The ability to bind wounds to 70% and the increassed regen rate while sitting have sigfinetly reduced the down time of warrior soloing.

On Necrophobe's Discipline Duel:
Any ability that is unuseable for 20 minutes will be useless for soloing.

As far as soloing goes Warriors lack two abilities:
1. The ability to disengage from the mob.
2. The ability to heal themselves.
If warriors are given the ability to heal themselves then their is no need for disengaing the mob.

Giving warriors the ability to heal could easly be done with out unbalanceing the game by alowing them to use weapons that proc heals. Such weapons currently exist in the game, but to my knowlage are not warrior usable. The hammer of silent screams is a good exampls. The was one warrior usable one that was given out in one of the events called the Steel Rod of the Knight i believe.
Like the HoSS the warrior usable heal procing weapons should have a poorer ratio so they are not as desirable in group situations.

However, the thing to remember is that playing a warrior requires more skill than playing any of the classes that are easy to solo.

It requires the social skills needed to build groups on a consistant basis.
It requires the game knowlage so that you can gain experance with any number of different size, and composition groups.

In the end any warrior with the above skills will do far better and have more fun than any soloer.

I can't see them giving Warrior's any of these things non related to Warrior's... Snare's (I have a sword for that), Stuns (I will do with kick's stunning a mob), etc. The only thing I've been able to think would make a Warrior more equal (Not Equal, as they are pure mellee, not caster, not hybrid, etc.) Is to improve their Warrior abilities somewhat. The biggest thing's Warrior's need improvement on, HP/AC and maybe a bit of damage dealing. If I were in charge, I would take a long look at HP/AC more than anything else. If warrior's were to have a wider bonus in the mid levels' on these area's, I think it would at least allow us to solo 50% as well.

I see posts elsewhere, like on the EQ forums off of Station.com, about warrior's wanting ungodly amounts of things. They are almost demanding it, and although I would relish in these things, I feel it's not going to balance the group out. Warrior's are not a SOLO Class, and that is known from anyone that read up the description. Neither are a ton of other's, that are able to solo quite nicely. This is the problem with the balance issue's. It's either help the warrior's a bit, or nerf the other's down to have the same problems, and balance everything out. I don't think the Warrior class is the only one lacking either. I think Ranger's should be alot hardier than they are now.

A warrior gets ND type AA's way to late, even if getting them right when they are of level, to help them much in any type of solo setting. Maybe if the developed some innate durabilities for a warrior starting around level 45, it would even things up a bit.

Something maybe like this:

Innate HP: As the warrior levels, her/his innate ability to take damage is hightened through many years of fighting (Eq years). Innate AC: As the warrior levels, her/his skin hardens from years of taking damage.
Weapon specialization: Upon using "This weapon" from years of practice, the warrior get's added hits/damage. (Upping the cap on one specific weapon). Weapon specialization is something that has been used in other dice rolling games, and wasn't that hard to figure out. The Warrior/Fighter (Pure Tank) would pick the weapon they wanted to specialize in (Longsword, Basterd sword, Two handed Sword, Mace, etc.). giving them better damage/hit's per round and the like. THis specific ability should be made beneficial for all warrior type classes, Knights, Ranger's, Zerker's (that's already done with the 2handed axe or whatever) etc.

Yes...this is a game that is geared towards grouping...but not everyone likes or is able to group.

There should be some things done so that everyone can enjoy the game. Perhaps they could do something to make the warrior a soloable class, but if you are in a group those abilities get set back....

I dont care for the group aspect much. Almost every group I have had has sucked. Unfortunately there are a lot of incompetent players. I play this game to destress from my job, and grouping increases the stress factor. I would rather just be able to do my own thing, and still be able to progress. I dont mind progressing less quickly than if I were in a group, but I should be able to progress more quickly than I can now.

At the moment I have a 59 war, my first toon, that I created before I knew that warriors couldnt solo well. That is the character I was attracted too, and it seemed to a raw beginner to be the toon that would be most likely to be able to be played alone. I dont think that there are a lot of players that are new to gaming (never having played a role playing type game before) that would know to do research like that prior to starting the game.

I hear SOE is giving the tank classes a new aa in the next expansion.

Its called When monkeys fly out our Butts
Min lvl 63/64/65
3/3/3
Provides the ability to autopetition/tell for 5 seconds/10 seconds/15 seconds a random gm the following message "my class suxxors, please fix it". During this time a random GM avatar will appear and summon 5/10/15 "Butt Monkeys" that proceed to pummel your character into unconsiousness.

::walks onto soapbox:: It is all the whining and complaining about, "My class doesn't do this and my class doesn't do that", that has really screwed this game up.
If you want to SOLO then pick a dam Mage or Necro or BL. If you want to NUKE then pick a Wizard. You want to TANK pick a Warrior. You want a little of this and that pick a Hybrid. EQ has changed this game so much with all the, "Grass is greener in that class", that most of the classes now blur into each others abilities. IF you want to solo quit whining and kill off your warrior and build a dam BL. ::Gets off soapbox::

I don't get what all this complaining about not being able to solo thats not the point of a war! I just play 2 toons a war and a necro, war usually but if I can't find a group or just don't feel like putting up with one then I go and solo my necro. Each class has strengths and weeknesses a one of the wars just happens to be that it needs dps support to hunt effishently(man I can't spell)

NOT A FLAME!

Crakan, you made me laugh - you rock!

You know how casters have specialization in Divination or Evocation or anything like that?
Why not give it for weapon types, as mentioned before?
It would definately not unbalance the class, rather, but them at par in that repect with casters.
Specialize 1H Slash...
etc?