Hybrid Discussion

[Fool_Hardy]

Let me begin by saying I do not believe anything is necessarily out of balance with Hybrids. I merely have noticed some interesting irregularities. Before I go into too many details I wanted to get some answers from those of you who play them often, or at least feel you have a very good grasp of them.

1) What factors constitute a Hybrid, as in where do you draw the lines between Hybrids and Melee/CC's?

2) What are the advantages of playing a Hybrid as compared with a Melee/CC?

3) What are the disadvantages of playing a Hybrid as compared to Melee/CC?

4) Do you believe when compared to one another all Hybrids stand on equal footing? Explain.

Again, I have no complaints with things as they are now. There are just some things I see as odd and hope your insight will provide clarity.

[Magick]

59 minutes ago, Fool_Hardy said:

Let me begin by saying I do not believe anything is necessarily out of balance with Hybrids. I merely have noticed some interesting irregularities. Before I go into too many details I wanted to get some answers from those of you who play them often, or at least feel you have a very good grasp of them.

1) What factors constitute a Hybrid, as in where do you draw the lines between Hybrids and Melee/CC's?

2) What are the advantages of playing a Hybrid as compared with a Melee/CC?

3) What are the disadvantages of playing a Hybrid as compared to Melee/CC?

4) Do you believe when compared to one another all Hybrids stand on equal footing? Explain.

Again, I have no complaints with things as they are now. There are just some things I see as odd and hope your insight will provide clarity.

Some quick, not overly thought out answers.  But good to start.

1) If you have a dozen or so spells and third attack/dirt kick/bash/etc is a good indication that it's a hybrid.

2) You can cast spells to supplement your melee output, or vice versa.

3) You supplement your melee output with spells or vice versa.

4) Depends on what you mean by "equal footing."  A dark-knight is significantly more offensive than a paladin, both of which playing considerably differently than a bard or druid, for example.  Are they balanced toward each other?  /shrug

[Twinblades713]

1 hour ago, Fool_Hardy said:

1) What factors constitute a Hybrid, as in where do you draw the lines between Hybrids and Melee/CC's?

2) What are the advantages of playing a Hybrid as compared with a Melee/CC?

3) What are the disadvantages of playing a Hybrid as compared to Melee/CC?

4) Do you believe when compared to one another all Hybrids stand on equal footing? Explain.

1) Hybrids use both magical means to deliver damage/debuffs as well as melee damage. Paladins, DK, Druids, Bards. Could argue because Rangers have thunderstorm as an option they're hybrids but I would say they're closer to pure melee. Opposite is true with clerics - they can build lots of hit/dam and do real damage that way but still a great amount of their damage comes from spells. Blademasters are weird.

2) I think hybrids often have more options in pk, and more ways to interact with different cabal abilities to find hidden strengths.

3) I think it is harder to balance EQ on a hybrid. Spell level might be valuable, but you also have to balance AC/HP/saves/hit/dam. Minmaxing often leaves more glaring weakness than doing so for a pure melee or c/c.

4) I don't think I have enough experience with enough classes to have a very valuable/convincing opinion on this one.

[Archbishop Monk]

On 4/14/2018 at 12:57 PM, Fool_Hardy said:

Let me begin by saying I do not believe anything is necessarily out of balance with Hybrids. I merely have noticed some interesting irregularities. Before I go into too many details I wanted to get some answers from those of you who play them often, or at least feel you have a very good grasp of them.

1) What factors constitute a Hybrid, as in where do you draw the lines between Hybrids and Melee/CC's?

2) What are the advantages of playing a Hybrid as compared with a Melee/CC?

3) What are the disadvantages of playing a Hybrid as compared to Melee/CC?

4) Do you believe when compared to one another all Hybrids stand on equal footing? Explain.

Again, I have no complaints with things as they are now. There are just some things I see as odd and hope your insight will provide clarity.

1. I don't believe Hybrids are simply fixed.  In other words there is a continuum of hybrids.  For instance, a dark knight has a near equal number in spells and skills while a paladin has more spells than skills.  They both use melee and spells to fight, but the dark knight can rely far more heavily on melee than the paladin can in most matchups.

2. The advantage of hybrids is they aren't one trick ponies.  Imagine a demon dark knight with +3 spell level and 50/50 hr/dr.  No matter what you do in terms of armor, the dark knight can exploit any hole you have open.   Because defenses in the game rely so much upon available eq, it can sometimes be hard mid month to prepare for all such fights.

3. It can be difficult to find a proper set that balances your spell output and melee output while still balancing your defensiveness.

4. No.  Some hybrids clearly have more going for them than others with their variability.  For instance, though they cast all spells, I consider Battlemage hybrids.  This is because their spells act upon melee mechanics.  I would not try to compare a dark knight or paladin to a battlemage in effectiveness because the dark knight/paladin have clear roles they fulfill.

[Tantangel]

17 hours ago, Fool_Hardy said:

1) What factors constitute a Hybrid, as in where do you draw the lines between Hybrids and Melee/CC's?

2) What are the advantages of playing a Hybrid as compared with a Melee/CC?

3) What are the disadvantages of playing a Hybrid as compared to Melee/CC?

4) Do you believe when compared to one another all Hybrids stand on equal footing? Explain.

Again, I have no complaints with things as they are now. There are just some things I see as odd and hope your insight will provide clarity.

1. Hybrids to me have always been a mix of both spells and skills able to be used to have an advantage. Just because a Ranger uses two spells though doesn't make it a Hybrid because outside of a few situations, their output is mainly melee. I would separate the melee class into two separate ones though. Rogues and straight up Melee. I don't think these are balanced at all though due to Rogues having a LARGE advantage over the Melee sect where those who are Melee can still do well, they also only work really well with specific combos where as a Rogue works really well with most.

2. Survival is typically far easier than any other with the exception of Communers who can heal themselves when it comes to at least most of them. Dark Knights being the exception to that though since they're usually more offensive than defensive and have ways to play the attrition game more easily.

3. It depends on the class. In all honesty, Paladins are rather dull to play because they've got limited strategies that you can exploit in unique ways, but until you figure those out yourself in most cases, there's better classes to play. Dark Knights are easy to have a larger variety of tactics, but ultimately I can't play them very well myself. Druids have the best of both worlds though it depends on race as well.

4. No hybrid is really equal. They all have perks and downsides to them which make it painful to play. For instance if a Paladin is affected by blasphemy somehow, they're almost completely useless as they have charge as an offensive starter/finisher, otherwise they almost always open with some kind of spell. A Druid who has it land on them can still at least rely upon other melee outputs that would still help you possibly win the fight. In either case you don't lose sanctuary per se as you can still use vials in either situation. As far as a DK goes though, they can be silenced, but they will have higher melee output with their charmies and they can cleave you to sleep occasionally so you can get away if you were already hurting if that's the case.

Honestly though it depends on how you play. Some classes just naturally fit people better than others. Monks are usually more my thing, but I also really enjoy Clerics and Invokers. And because of my limited playing of those classes and knowledge of them also means my opinion of them may be seen as nothing more than filler to many who are more knowledgeable about them than I myself.