Currently my Tempest of Set (ToS) is level 61, ¾ of the way to the level cap of 80. My cleric in Vanguard is level 43 of 50, a little over 4/5 of the way. Seeing as how they were both comparatively of the same level (near enough in any case) I thought now would be a good time for some comparisons between the two classes and, indirectly, between the two games.
Firstly it’s important to note that combat between the two games is quite different. I’m not referring to AoC’s melee combat system since the ToS is a caster and casting in AoC is much the same as every other MMOG I’ve ever played. The difference is in the speed of combat. AoC’s combat is fast. I can take down multiple mobs my level in well under a minute, whereas in Vanguard, I would be careful not to tackle multiple mobs, and while I can comfortably survive two mobs, it will take me minutes to finish them both off. This changes where AoC’s epics are concerned, which take longer, but compared to Vanguard’s epics, it’s still fast. And as Tobold pointed out, the speed of combat is a very important design decision, and longer combat allows for more tactical combat.
Beginning with the ToS, my spell list comprises about 21 spells, which is made up of three heals, two five second roots/stuns, five buffs, and the remaining spells, barring one or two others, are all damage dealing related spells. As far as damage goes, the ToS has plenty of punch, with a wide range of Area of Effect (AoE) and Damage over Time (DoT) at his disposal, though these will only be used in a group situation, because solo it’s quicker to just use the same two or three spells repeatedly. The roots/stuns only really work in solo play; because everyone else’s AoE’s break it when grouped.
And for a healer class it’s surprising that I only have three heals. One group Heal over Time (HoT) which isn’t very powerful. An AoE instant heal, which requires everyone stay close to me, so I will have to run next to the tank to cast it and if you’re not near me then you miss out, and my Life of Set spell, which is a cone heal, requiring everyone be in front of me, and is a HoT and my most powerful, useful spell.
My cleric has 41 spells, comprising group buffs, shields, heals, melee attacks, and a number of support spells. A usual group strategy for me is to cast a debuff on the mob, followed by a HoT on the tank at which point I’ll enter melee and strike the mob, as a number of my strikes have either a group buff or a mob debuff associated with them. I have a total of five heals; a single target HoT, a single target large heal, a small heal, an insta heal, and a group AoE heal. If I get into trouble I have a number of utilities. I have a six second stun, a 60 and a 24 second root, and three de-agro spells, one of which de-agros all mobs around me. If we come across two mobs and we only want to pull one, I have a lull which allows me to “put to sleep” the 2nd mob.
I’ve mentioned on more than one occasion in the past that I wasn’t happy with the group dynamics in AoC Combat is just too fast, too much of a frenzy, which works fine in the single player arena, but once in a group environment it just seems too messy with too little to do other than spam your heals whenever they refresh while casting damage in between. Now this might sound like every other MMOG but it’s most noticeable when an unwanted add appears. In Vanguard, if you get an add or adds, someone might cast a root or a stun, they might mez the mob or put it to sleep, all depending on what classes you have in your group. In AoC however, someone will just yell “add” and then the same spamming frenzy will continue with no change in strategy whatsoever.
So, do I have a point? No, not really.
