Melee Healers And Why They Don't Need Nerfed

There has been talk recently (actually it's been going on since day 1) about melee healers and how they tend to be over powered.  I must say that I used to feel the same way, but after thinking about it rationally I have changed my opinion. 

Both DoK's and WP's are very hard to kill.  Both of them have great group heals, making up for their lack of single target healing viability.  Those two points tend to be the most complained about aspect.  There are also complaints of their melee abilities, detaunts, armor.....etc..

I feel as if they can't be OP.  Reason being is that both sides, Order and Destruction, have access to them.  If you really feel they are that overpowering, roll one.  Zealots and Runepriests have better single target healing, and insta cast heals.  This enables them to heal themselves on the run.  AM and Shaman have good group utilities in buffs and hots.  DoKs and WPs have the group heal.  Why must a "squishy" healer have the best of everything?  As a DoK, I certainly can't run around as heal spec and expect to effectively heal my group.  I have to stand there and just take it like a man.  This is why they wear heavy armor. 

People argue that they are melee healers, and as such should have to melee in order to heal their group.  Honestly I don't get this really at all.  Should AM's and Shaman have to DoT up people in order to heal their group?  After all, that's how their mechanic works.  If you really want DoK's and WP's to melee only, there are some big changes that would have to happen, such as the below:

• Change regen rate of Soul Essence
• Make Rend Soul a group heal
• Add SE regen to offhand weapons, not just books / chalices
• Rend Soul / Consume Essence may have to ignore armor

Those are just a few things that come to mind.  If you don't change those things then a melee healer simply becomes just another melee character.  Other healing classes do not have to worry about SE regen or armor factor of an opposing player when healing.  If a DoK or WP could only melee to heal, how would they be an effective healer at all?  Especially with the addition of the new armor sets, Fortitude, and new Realm Abilities. 

If anyone can please provide rational ideas to the so called problem, please feel free to present them.  Other than that, stop your whining. 

Ding, Yet Another 40.

This time it was another DoK.  Yes, another.  This is my third.  Reason I had finished leveling was simple really, I only want to have a single account.  At the moment I have entirely to many accounts, most with only a single character on it.  I decided there is no reason to keep more than one subscription active, so I had been leveling characters recently.  This however leaves me with quite a few accounts that I'll more than likely never play again.  What to do, what to do?  Per the EULA, I can transfer the rights to an account.  Maybe I'll just raffle them away?  Perhaps have some kind of question posed on the site and whoever gets the answer correct first wins?  Eh....dunno about that.  Are there many people out there who even want a high ranking Zealot, Choppa, DoK, BO, WE, SH?  Those are just a few accounts mind you. 

Anyway, after finishing my DoK yesterday, a few guildmates and I ran Eternal Citadel a few times.  I must say it's good fun, when matched up correctly.  When you get a Premade Vs. Pug though, forget about it.  /AFK a few minutes.  Is the scenario matchmaking system working properly yet?  I felt like it was much of the same yesterday.  I wish more details of the system were released so we knew how it worked, but I do know how that could lead to potential exploits. 

Another thing I realized yesterday is that DoK's are disgusting as a healer.  I'm only renown rank 31, but I was dishing out near 200k in heals in EC.  AoE detaunt is great, and the tactic choices I have as a healer are very nice.  I've never seriously played a DoK as a healer before, anyone have any suggestions for me?  I'm sure there is a ton I could learn. 

1.4 Renown Builder

Not sure if it's been seen yet, but I came across this new Renown Builder today.  I'd suggest everyone check it out.  Coupled with Werits Arsenal of War and The WARdrobe, we may have all we need!

I also came across a new Career Builder called, Warspec.  I'm gonna try that out as well. 

Time To Rank Debate

It's been a strange few weeks for me with Warhammer.  I've been having a great time on my SH, Hobgobblin.  I'm managed to already take him to rank 54 in just a few weeks.  I find myself near unkillable in a 1v1 (granted I can't beat a good tank, but at least I get away).  I've been running in small groups with some guild mates and we have fared quite well against double our numbers.  I still need a new weapon, but that will come with time.

I have been noticing the past few weeks though what appears to be a steep decline in the overall population on Iron Rock, and it's making me nervous.  My guilds onliners has recently seemed to plummet.  People seem to be checking out other games as we await the release of the new RvR dungeon and 1.4.  I can't say that I blame them.  There are some really nice looking and fun games out there right now.  Not to mention, if you already have a couple rank 80's, Warhammer can get stale fast. 

My question is, will these players come back?  The answer with most will more than likely be yes, but I do fear that the games overall population will struggle a bit further.  Is it to late for the game?  Doubtful.  The next few months seem very promising for Warhammer, and I am more than exciting to try it all out.  Past that though, what do we have?  At some point people will again cap out at rank 100.  What will entice them this time that we don't currently have?  Personally I think think the time to rank (TTR) from 80 to 100 should be crazy hard.  Something that an average player probably will never attain.  If TTR was actually difficult, people may not be getting so bored so quickly.  The right balance of Renown vs. Time has to be achieved, and I don't think it is something we currently have. 

Some suggestions might be as follows:

• Removal of damage / healing renown (only based on player kills)
• Removal of renown for BO's and Keeps
• Slightly increased renown for successful city siege
• Removal of renown for zone flips
• Slightly bit of renown for a lock in a zone pairing
• No more renown bonus items

I guess those are just a few ideas.  I understand why TTR is so low right now, with the new dungeon right around the corner and the rank 65 requirement.  Perhaps have some of the above instituted past rank 80?  Anyone else agree with me, and have any ideas on how to improve it? 

The Social Aspect of Gaming

In addition to my normal babble, there are other topics that are on my mind when it comes to video games and MMOs in general.  I'd like to think I've experienced a lot when it comes to my past decade or so of MMOs.  Not only with the game aspect, but with the social aspect as well.  Very important periods of my life have been covered with me playing these immersive games, and definitely not always for the betterment of me, my friends, or my family. 

Marauder Love!!

There's a reason why my profile pic is that of a Marauder.  It's because I think they are the best class in the game.  Now when I say best, I am referring to the most fun.  In this case however the former might be true, in that they may now just be the best class in the game.  What am I talking about?  Well if you don't know or aren't aware, Marauders are getting some serious and well deserved love.

What's Missing From MMOs Today?

The Missing Piece

As I've been thinking about the best PvP game I have played, it really got my mind stemming off in other directions about things.  Not just about PvP and RvR, but about MMOs in general.  Since my days of playing Dark Age of Camelot, I have felt that there has been something missing in every MMO since.  The problem is, I can never put my thumb on just what that missing piece is. 

Which MMO Has The Best PvP?

In response to the article over on Massively about which MMO has the best PvP, I figured I'd make my first poll.  It's pretty simple, which MMO do you feel has / had the best PvP?  Currently the comments are garnering all kinds of responses.  From Planetside, to EVE, to Darkfall.  If you decide to select other, please leave a comment as to which and why. 

Personally I think Dark Age of Camelot had the best PvP of any MMO I've played.  Three realms, open zones, clear objectives (relics), and small group fighting really made it appealing to me.  Of course back when I played DAoC I had much more time which allowed me to be fully immersed in it.  I'd imagine there are people now who say the same about other games. 

So, go ahead and vote.  We'll see in a week what game will be crowned king of PvP, at least in the eyes of readers of this blog. 

Warhammer, Two Years and Counting

What a weekend for Warhammer.  With it's two year anniversary this past weekend, the double xp / renown bonus was in affect and it made for some great and crazy battles on Iron Rock.  I received as much as 16,000 renown for a solo kill this weekend.  It was at a BO in Dragonwake, and I was on my rank 50 DoK.  Some scrub of a Witch Hunter could not finish me off, I honestly felt bad for him.  Overall I only gained about three full ranks this weekend on my DoK, Luvsiq.  Wait a minute, did I say only?  Thanks to what could possibly the biggest and most overlooked change to the game since day one, people are ranking up faster than ever. 

End Game Debate

This morning Werit posted the remaining Q&A from Andy over on the forums, and something really struck me odd.  It was actually what I had touched on at the end of my post from this morning, Alt-Itis,  Just what struck me as odd is as follows:

Alt-Itis

Much like Bootae, I'm currently having a case of Alt-itis.  I had been playing my rank 80 Marauder for a few months again, and miss the sweet scrolling of purple numbers across my screen.  Being that I still haven't been able to complete my Sovereign set, I wanted to at least feel like I was accomplishing something.  So, I logged on my DoK.

Follow Up to the Royal Crest Problem

Just following up on my post from yesterday, I decided to do the very simple math and calculate the number of days it would take for you to attain enough Royal Crests through city sieges in order to complete your Sovereign set.  With having a lockout timer of 5 days, it would take you 705 days and 141 instances to complete your set.  Now obviously you can obtain Royal Crests outside of the cities, but not really that many. 

Give an Inch, and They Take a Mile

As I was running in an ORvR group the other night on IR, a funny thing started to happen.  People were complaining about the amount of Renown they were getting, and the state of the Against All Odds mechanic. 

As destruction on Iron Rock, we are constantly outnumbered.  The numbers game is never in our odds, and I would venture to say that it seems to be at a near 2:1 ratio.  With the implement of AAO last week though, the Destruction players hadn't really complained much, till now.  After slowly losing the arduous battles in Chaos Waste and Caledor, the complaints started to roll in: