Support Role (crowd control) vs Healer

ArchivedUser

In EQ, the "holy trinity" of tank/dps/healer was actually a quaternity  which included the support/crowd control archetype which has largely been missing from MMO's since Vanguard/EQ/EQ2. The Enchanter (I believe it was called psionicist in Vanguard) was the master CC'er and every group wanted one. They didn't just crowd control though, they had mana regen and attack speed buffs, some great damage spells, and debuffs other than CC's.  

I am interested in the combat mechanics as it relates to the need for crowd control in groups. This speaks, in part, to the intended difficulty of the leveling experience and group content/end game mechanics. I would be curious to hear the communities thoughts and if it was something that interested any one else. Also if anyone has any info on this and if it is meant to make it into the game it would be much appreciated if you could point me in that direction!

ArchivedUser

I'm interested as well.  Any role is viable as long as it remains viable in the min/max respect (sadly)  If designed well though it certainly retains its place.

ArchivedUser

Well indeed CC is an important factor in certain MMO's (e.g. ESO). If you run with a PvP raid you want your enemies to be immobilized in your aoe's. I don't know any skills yet (I think there was none among the ones they have shown yet, correct me if I'm wrong). But as it comes to support role I think bard will come close.

ArchivedUser

Tank is the CC archetype.

http://www.aocwiki.net/Tank

"A Tank's job is to control a fight"

Tank / tank will likely be the most cc class. But any combination of tank / X should give more control than other classes. Tank / cleric, tank / bard will likely give you what you want. But maybe even cleric / tank and bard / tank might have it to an extent. It's all speculation till all the skills and combinations get solidified though.

They did say many times how they want to create a lot of freedom when it comes into building in specific ways. So I'm sure you'll have options when it comes to being a heavy CC class.

Now whether or not I'd want it to be so prevalent that every groups wants this specific class I'd say not really. I'd rather CC be spread out among classes and it seems that either those few classes have to be very powerful or other classes should lack enough cc for those classes to become very prevalent.

ArchivedUser

It appears quite a few of the classes get some form of CC from the PAX video such as the ranger snare, mage stun via their ice spell and the tanks grab etc. 

This really appeals to me because it adds another variable to the combat cadence to keep all members involved and ensure that they communicate with one another so they don't waste or double up on the CC. 

Im extremely curious to see what the purist archetype abilities will be! 😍

ArchivedUser

I guess there are a couple of viewpoints on this.

My worry is the homogenization of classes (i.e. all class have some form of cc, stuns, roots, snares, etc.). If all classes are meant to do everything, where is the class definition and interplay? 

Obviously they are still a ways out on this, it's just a concern after every modern MMO kinda does the same thing. Every class has some sort of CC, self heal, and ranged/melee damage. They all feel similar without much setting them apart. 

It would be interesting to actually have class choice matter in a big way in terms of what you do in a group, especially for non tank/healers. 

ArchivedUser

No "endgame content" per "no endgame" design.
I don't think all classes will be able to do everything, just have access to a variety of tools you can choose to use or not. I believe the Tanks CC will be different from the other CC's, but we will have to wait.

I don't think all classes will blend together in the end either. Each of the 64 options will have a variety of routes they can take. And although all Bard/Healer combo's will be similar, the choice of cosmetics, the no armor/weapon lock, and the preferences between tab-lock/action abilities in combat should make everyone feel unique.

Although with 1000+ players on a server, several builds are bound to be identical.

ArchivedUser

Actually shooting for 6-8k concurrent or 8-10k concurrent depending on which quote you go with.

ArchivedUser

All classes will probably have some form of CC, at least 1 per class, since pvp kind of needs it (we don't want to see a game of tag when everybody is supposed to kill eachother) but there should be classes that 'specialize' in CC.