I'm new to L2 and was wondering if many other people play that used to play FFXI. For those that fit the description, what do you like better about L2?
As for classes, what class would be similar to BRD? I played a BRD for a number of years and want to know what the top support classes are.
The support classes in Lineage 2 have other roles as well, so it will depend on what you enjoy doing.
Blade dancers and sword singers get to cut things up as well as giving unique party buffs.
Some of the mage classes like Shilien Elders can heal as well as buff, and I would compare this to the BRD/WHM combo.
Many of the skills buffers get are unique to their class or race, so choose whatever apeals to you most.
This game is not nearly as restrictive as FFXI, you can form a group with a variety of class combinations. You won't always need a Ninja, or paladin to tank for you, or (worst of all) a pretentious White Mage who just knows if he leaves, the party is over. You won't even always need a full group to level. Even more shocking to a FFXI player.. you won't even need a group at all!
You'll find that many Lineage2 players have purchased second accounts, and simply level their own support class, but the demand for a "live" buffer will always be there!
IDK what a BRD is. never heard that term before sorry.
What I like about L2 over from what I've heard about FF11.(I had a friend at school that newst to play FF11)
After lvl 20 in FF11 your forced to party. and top end content is nothing but raiding.
L2 doesn't have that problem, with the exceptions of a few classes.(healers namely)
There is a vast difference between some classes. and some are so much better then the others; they become FoTM.(flavor of the month)
I'm not sure what type of class you played in FF11...but here in L2 the purest of healers is the bishop. human mage > cleric > bishop > cardnal(at lvl 76).
purest buffer is prophet. also human mage > cleric > PP.
then you got shilien elder and elven elder. which are hybrid heals/buffers.
Bards are sort of a hybrid so i'll lean you towards those.
The most catch all hybrid is the Warcrier. It's an excellent buffer, a decent fighter, good at crowd control and can be a wiuzard in a pinch. Bladedancer and swordsinger are both hybrid tank/DD/buffers and are quite interesting. Orc classes are often hybridish and summoners are very versitile, each in it's own way.
What I like about L2 is that I can play the game on my own time. I don't have to wait 5 hours to find a full party or look for replacements when I have to leave. Small groups are common, and many classes can solo with various degrees of success. But if you like big parties, don't worry, they DO exist!
Also, L2 is much more PvP based. Instead of Dynamis, we have Castle Sieges. Instead of having to out-pull an annoying party that tries to steal our XP spot, we can fight over it if we choose. Fortunately, the karma system keeps the number of would-be PKers around, so unless you are at war, you don't have to worry about getting PKed too much. There are "Perma-reds" that kill lowbies for a living, but they are few and if they stay around too long, higher levels come out to kill them.
As for classes to play, Blade Dancers and Sword Singers are popular party classes that have party buffs that must be recasted every few minutes. They are also melee damage dealers. However, they have no crowd control spells.
Shillien Elder, Elven Elder, Prophet, and Bishop are the mage "support" classes. Most of their buffs last 20 minutes, and are commonly boxed on a 2nd account for them. Elven Elder and Bishop have sleep/trance for crowd control. Shillien Elder and Prophet get a root/bind spell.
Shillien Elder: Can recharge other players mp, has many popular buffs, gets decent healing skills, slowest caster.
Elven Elder: Can recharge other players mp, has buffs, gets decent healing skills, fastest caster.
Prophet: Has the most number of buffs, and the least healing skills.
Bishop: Has the least number of buffs, and the most healing skills.
As a former Red Mage and Bard, I would also recommend looking into the summoning classes. Most players consider them to be a "solo" class, but they can serve many roles in a party:
- They are very good damage dealers. Pets have high P. attack, and you can also melee, or nuke (in lower levels) alongside your pet.
- They can server as back-up, or in some cases, main healers. While their healing spells are not very effective, they can spam low level ones. Elemental Summoners and Warlocks can also summon pets that will recharge their own MP, giving them as much mp as they need.
- At level 56, Elemental Summoners and Warlocks get pets that give party buffs. The Warlock buffs are generally favored by melee parties, and the Elemental Summoner ones by mages. (note: one of the buffs an Elemental Summoner can give is similar to ballad, but it is not as popular or effective. If parties know they will need more mp, they will generally look for an Elder.)
Hope that helps! If you happen to choose Gustin as your server, feel free to PM me in game.
Edit: whoops, I left out orcs!!! As mentioned by the previous poster, they are VERY versitile. They aren't very common, but most people I know who play orc mages really like their classes. :D
Kamari left out Phantom summoners in the exposition of my beloved class type. I think i'm somewhat familiar with summoners so i can fill you in on hte PS. Basically we don't have the luxury of the mp regen humans and elves do. We have a lower base regen rate and non of our pets fix that. Instead our main pet heals himself every time he hits an enemy making him very durable and making our job easier. We also have a heacy DD pet and i really enjoy using him though he doesn't have the durability of shadow, our main pet.
After 56 however we get a pet called nightshade. nightshade is an excellent healer, with it i can out heal almost any healer my level. He uses his own HP to do these heals so in essence it is me using my very powerful summoner spells to benefit the party when normally they only affect the pet. He has a couple other fun abilities but they are not a huge use in PVE.
I'm new to L2 and was wondering if many other people play that used to play FFXI. For those that fit the description, what do you like better about L2?
As for classes, what class would be similar to BRD? I played a BRD for a number of years and want to know what the top support classes are.
Viq,
I saw you this evening in Dark Elf village (and this post prior to me being there). Had I known you were on Hindemith I would have given you a hand.
Thanks a lot for the replies! I'm leaning towards BD, but Prophet and EE sound pretty interesting too. Oh well, guess that's why I can make a bunch of characters lol
i never actually played FFXI, but i have a friend who has been palying it for about 2 years i think. I have watched him play, and to me it seems boring. Just my opinion of FFXI...I've never played but watched it being played.
There are some things though that i think could make L2 better. One would be auction houses. Longer events (ie summer squash), or the option that lets you run around with a selling icon over your head, so that people can buy from you w/o haveing to be stationary.
anyways the characters, i dont really know how to compare to FFXI