After re-reading the message, I'm not sure it has anything to do with
Luclin. It may be just part of an upcoming patch. Here's the message:
Tzeetch
September 18th, 6:00pm
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** Melee changes **
We're wrapping up an extensive look at the way that melee works in
EverQuest. These changes are appearing now on Test (in fact, most of them
are working as of right now). We wanted to make you aware of these
changes in some detail so that you can give us the feedback that we need
on them. Please try these changes out and comment on results that you've
seen.
We will be beginning our final analysis on casters in the very near
future.
* Melee Tables *
Melee combat is based, at least in part, on tables that determines how
each class functions. Up until 50th level melee and hybrid classes are on
the same table, with the exception being monks who are on a separate table
(one that has them doing more damage). At 50th level warriors, rogues and
rangers were all moved to the monk table along with the monk, who did not
receive a new separate table.
The problem here is that post 50th level the disparity between these two
tables, combined with lower combat abilities for the hybrids as well as a
more restricted selection of weapons acted as a double (almost triple)
penalty, making them less effective in combat than was really intended.
Therefore, all melee and hybrid classes will be basing their combat off
the melee table once they reach 51st level. This should increase the
combat effectiveness of hybrids noticeably.
Monks, however, are intended to be somewhat better at dealing out damage
in combat than warriors. To slightly improve their combat prowess they
will be working from an improved combat table once they reach 55th level
and again at 60th level. This will improve the combat ability of monks
somewhat, essentially placing them a half a step ahead of everyone else in
toe-to-toe combat in the same way that they were prior to 50th level. The
rogue will still maintain a margin of superiority when you consider their
ability to backstab.
* Two-Handed Weapons *
The effectiveness of these weapons falls slightly below our desire for
them. This tends to make those that rely on them most often
(shadowknights and paladins) also fall slightly behind our desires for
their damage output, at least at levels beyond 50. We'd also like to see
a broader range of weapons used by higher level warriors, and it would be
nice to see two-handers as a more viable option.
Therefore, we will be increasing the minimum damage of these weapons for
all classes once they reach 50th level. There will be an increase in the
minimum damage of two-handed weapons based on the wielder's level and
delay of the weapon. The higher level the character and the larger the
delay, the bigger the bonus. Obviously we're not going to give out exact
numbers, but this should result in a solid increase in damage output when
using two-handed weapons.
We also believe that there has been a bit of disparity between the very
high-end one-handed weapons and their counterpart two-handed weapons. The
ultra-high end one-handed weapons are comparatively better than their
two-handed counterparts. We will, on a case by case basis, be improving
many of the high-end two-handed weapons. Because this is essentially a
fix for an oversight on our parts, we will be making these changes
retroactive (meaning you won't have to trade the items in or hunt for new
ones, existing weapons will just change).
* Rangers *
We've also noticed that rangers, while intended to be hit harder in combat
than other melee/hybrid classes, are getting hit harder than we planned.
Again, this only happens in the 50+ level range. So we will be increasing
the defense cap for rangers again slightly to 210 at 60th level. Exactly
how these points will be distributed is uncertain, but probably just one
point per level after 50. We will also be giving rangers triple attack.
* Monks *
Monks will be getting triple attack. This along with the improvement of
their combat tables should place them about where we want them,
combat-wise.
* Bards *
Bards are indeed intended to have the least ability to deal damage
physically of all the classes we're discussing. However, with their lack
of double attack they didn't meet even our intentions for their damage
output. We will, therefore, be raising the offense and one-handed weapon
caps for bards over 50th level to match that of warriors. This should
place their ability to do damage by means of melee within our intended
range without making them more effective than the knights at any given
level, since double attack is a potent melee skill that bards do not get.
Obviously we want to see how this all pans out when applied to the game.
Feel free to send your comments on the results you see to us through the
Developer's Corner on our web site, or contact our staff if you see them
on the Test Server.
It is very important that you understand that these are changes that we
are testing. These changes (and any others made on the Test Server) may
not be moved to Live Servers. After all, that's the reason we're testing
them.
- The EverQuest Team
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