The First Functional Hybrid?

by Moorgard on 2001-08-03

Abatoir posted the following on Paladins of Norrath:

Beastlords get ONE pet spell at level 9.

However, every indication is this pet stays with them as they zone etc AND they get pet buff spells every spell-level AND the pet seems to be able to level and gain exp etc as well...its like a PC in a way from what I'm told.

Anyway here are the Beasty spells:

Heal Pet series: These are ONLY usable on their pet.

Light Healing (level 9)
Healing (level 15)
Greater healing (level 30)
Superior Healing (level 39)
Divine Light (level 49)
Remedy (level 52)
Complete Heal (level 55)

Beastlord pet buff : A buff which turns their level 9 pet into a pet of the appropriate strength for their level

Beastlord Pet buffs are at levels : 9,15, 22, 30 ,39, 49, 53, 56, 58, 60. The top one is a 900 mana spell and takes 18 seconds to cast.... seems to be a permanent effect once cast however...no idea what these actually do numericalls.

Beastlord pet haste 1 (level 39) 60% Haste 45 Str 12 AC 20 ATK

Beastlord pet haste 2 (level 55) 65% Haste 60 str 30 ac 40 Atk

Beastlord pet haste 3 (level 49) 85% Haste 100 Str 60 AC 60 ATK

They get two not pet related spells :

Spiritual Strength (level 60) : + 250 Hitpoints, +50 Dex, +67 str

Spiritual Purity (level 60) : A combo regen+clarity (hp AND mana regen spell) that currently has 0's for the two values.

Other Beastlord spells are shared with other classes:

Level 9 : Minor healing, Flash of Light, Cure Disease, Inner Fire

Level 15 : Strengthen, Sicken, Cure Poison, Endure Fire, Sense Animals, Fleeting Fury, Scaleskin.

Level 22 : Light Healing, Summon Drink, Endure Poison, Drowsy, Tainted Breath, Spirit of Bear

Level 30 : Summon Food, Spirit Sight, Spirit Strength, Spirit Strike, Turtleskin, Shrink

Level 39 : Healing, spirit of Monkey, Spirit of Fox, Spirit of Wolf, Endure Magic, Envenomed Breath, Summon Companion

Level 49 : Invisibility, Counteract Disease, Raging Strength, Listless Power, Invigor, Frenzy, Protect

Level 50 : Togor's Insects

Level 51 : Ultravision

Level 52 : Health, Venom of the Snake

Level 53 : Deftness

Level 54 : Resist Poison, Strength of Stone

Level 55 : Chloroplast

Level 56 : Incapacitate, Shifting Shield

Level 57 : Greater Healing

Level 58 : Nullify Magic, Talisman of Altuna

Level 59 : Blizzard Blast

Level 60 : Alacrity

So by level 60 the Beastlord has an uber pet that it can haste buff to 85% haste and Complete Heal, it also has moderate Shaman buffs, Greater Healing for himself AND the ability to slow a mob with Togor's Insects (70% at level 60, just 5% slower than the best shaman slow) .... ummm wow.

We at Mobhunter agree that this is an impressive class. Add in the monk-like ability to use hand-to-hand as a combat form--and purportedly receiving a 40AC bonus for doing so--and you have a potentially uber soloing class.

As for how group friendly the beastlord will be, that's a matter for debate, and probably something we won't know for sure until the first level 60 beastlord appears... two days after Luclin opens.

Beastlord is a melee/shaman hybrid, so the folks on the Shaman's Crucible have been debating the new class as well. One shaman had this to say: "As for the class, it sounds really neat and interesting but i agree... it doesnt look like it will have much to offer for the end raid game. The expansion itself though isn't about that... it's about the casual one group Sebilis and on down game of EQ. So the new class could just be designed as that, too."

Other goodies that Abatoir reports from Test include:

CHANGED LUCLIN SPELLS:

Enchanter : Keodic's Endless Intellect at level 60 is now a GROUP buff and a 900 mana cost (instead of 465 for one person) which also makes it good for twinking since you can cast group buffs on people that are low level.

Magician : Summon Tourniquet is now "Transons Elemental Infusion" and I have no idea what it does but it seems to be a summon item spell but you need to have a pet...

Shaman : Perfection of Spirit (level 60) is now "Khura's Focusing" but is only a anme change. Shah's Cleansing is now "Regrowth of Dah Khura" (name change)

Misc other : Flowing Thought 5 is back in the game...so some item will be added with the next patch that uses FT5....maybe the 10th prayer shawl???

Well, we're a long way from Luclin going live, so we can expect lots of changes and tweaks to all these spells. Changes like this come as no surprise.

Finally, the new paladin spells were unearthed, to a luke-warm reception:

Paladin spells:

Warbolution (what a name) level 60 Increase hits by 775 AC by 32 requires a peridot lasts 2.5 hours.

Words of Conviction Level 58 10.0 second single target stun 200 mana casting : 3 recast: 24

Unyielding Resilence Level 56 12 hp /tick regen at the cost of 5 mana/tick while its on.

Divine Fortitude level 52 +100 hp buff

Wave of Life level 49 110 hp group heal for 175 mana. 2.0 second casting time 30.0 second recast

Divine Vigor level 39 +50 hp buff

Disist level 15 2.5 second stun 25 mana 1.75 second casting time

Cease level 9 1.0 second stun 15 mana 1.5 second casting time (good for stopping spells)

Paladins are less than thrilled for the most part. A lot of the usafulness of these spells will depend upon resistability and stacking issues, But as one level 60 paladin told me, "If these were the spells [that go live], my role and abilities as a lvl 60 paladin, doing the stuff that my guild does, are unchanged, and unimproved." In other words, not a big boost for pallys in the high-end game--at least according to his first impressions.

Or, as Abatoir put it: "So... Paladins get a steamer.. Beastlords are, based on this list, perhaps the first functional hybrid."

That remains to be seen, of course. But in any case, you can be sure that the debate will rage until Luclin opens its doors to the huddled masses.