Majestic42

Did some searching, but did not uncover anything granular enough to answer my questions, so I'm posting this in both the knight forums.

I recently returned to eq2 after a long hiatus. Played the hybrid tanks (dread knight, paladin) to raid level in Vanguard, enjoyed it quite a bit so researching the Paladin and SK as I narrow down my class selection.

That said, I'd like to get feedback from those who've tread before me and have the experience on the following two issues:

1. Spam - I'm trying to avoid "spammy" classes; for example, when I started plaiyng again I gave my 54 Brig a try, who is a lot of fun, but has a crapton of keys to mash for most encounters ... started an Illusionist, maxed out to chronomancer and hit 40, key presses have tripled ... in contrast, I have a Mystic (only 31, so this may change?), who is going down the melee tree and has a nice, measured approach to combat - basically, with the Brig / Illy, I found myself staring at action bars and not the "action" on screen. Only problem with the Mystic is, he heals, and I don't much care for healers (well, I love BEING healed, but that's different).

Soooo.. are the Knights equally spammy? I've done some research and it seems they may be a bit more "purposeful" with their keys, i.e. a bit more distinction than "more damage" ... does this translate into actual gameplay? Do they have a load of short-term, apply-them-often skills / spells / buffs?

2. Relative solo-ability. I say relative, because I have found all classes can solo - but some do it more efficiently and with a greater degree of success than others. I am not referring to pure speed either - I'd like to find a class the strikes a balance between speed an survivabilty, can tackle the occasional green / blue ^^ or ^^^ heroics (and geared and spec'd right, some of the tougher content) - do Knights fit this category in gameplay (they seem to on paper)?

I have limited game time (new kid in the house), so I'd prefer to get a baseline on this info before investing the time to level yet another toon to 40 or so - so I appreciate your feedback!

Geekyone

Well the more levels you get in this game it "rewards" you with more abilities. (Keys to mash) I have 4 class's that are 80 and all of the have a ton of keys that kinda need to be used during combat.

I've noticed that with my Illy, I never ever watch the action on screen, just glance up from time to time to see where I am and whats going on and if I need to move or need to be ready to move or if I need to switch targets or to get ready to mez.

With my pally on the other hand I've played him so much longer that I have it set up that the 7 or 8 primary abilites that I need to regularly use during combat are set up to be hit by my WASD hand. And while playing the pally, which I primarily do to tank I am almost always looking at the screen to see whats going on what I need to be doing or whats going to be happening. Just occassionally looking down at my hotbars to hit those 3 or 4 other abilites that I need to use in certian situations.

My assassin is the same as the Illy. Very rarely looking at the action, just glancing up to make sure I'm behind mobs...then it's all focusing on hotbars.

As for solo-ability, SK's or Paladins are great...until you get higher levels the paladin will serve you better because they can genuinly heal themselves. Even at higher levels where SK's are favored for they DPS, I love my pally because I can crank out the DPS easily handle mobs or groups of mobs wonderfully.

With my paladin I've pulled off miracles that I never would have been able to do with my guardian.

Good luck finding what your looking for, but with the time and effort, paladins are a great class.

Anurra

You'll be looking at the screen a lot more because you are a tank and need to do that while playing :P

I have a level 80 Paladin (OT raids) and 80 Brigand. Both may seem spammy because the cast times are under around 0.50 base second. I am leveling up a Wizard (73) alt and I find the casting times are much, much longer. This means I press less buttons and look at the screen more. It kinda sucks because I'm so used to melee casting speed, but I'm adjusting. Enchanters get a lot of casting speed buffs so they can spam their abilities. Maybe try to a Sorcerer or Summoner if the spam fest bothers you.