Savage Alexander and the Paladin Exodus

[SpookyGhost]

A JP Group with a PLD has the fight at 1% as of last night.?

They handle the mechanics horribly, sacrificing the PLD instead of sharing the ball, then the WAR is forced to Holmgang in Defiance (don't know why he's in Defiance if he's Holmganging anyway, all his CDs should be available), then the DRG and SCH die to Perpetual Ray. He had Sentinel available for the incoming Ray or they could've tank swapped and had the WAR blow all his CDs + double IB + Equilibrium + SW to heal through it without needing much outside healing due to the low healer mana. On top of that, he had Holmgang, which could've saved him if the healing + mitigation didn't work out. Another option would've been to tank swap for the one before this, have the PLD sacrifice himself, then tank swap back to the PLD to allow him to HG for the last Ray + have Sentinel available if needed. There were so many options and all would've resulted in a kill, unfortunately they panicked and lost.

PLD needs some buffs/tweaks, but this isn't proof that PLD "can't do Savage Alex" - they're literally completely fine for this floor. The problem was, and remains to be, that DRK can output higher DPS while mitigating more magic damage at lower gear levels. This, in turn, made DRK/WAR and WAR/WAR more viable for progression by default and left PLD in the dust. Even if content where physical mitigation is more important, if it still results in lower DPS than DRK/WAR then people are still going to bring DRK/WAR (or WAR/WAR). There is a DPS disparity, but it is not so severe that PLD can't do the floors DRK can do with a few ilvl upgrades. Maybe this is why SE isn't responding - because people are blowing it completely out of proportion and SE is wise enough to know what actually needs to be done. I'm not one to put much faith in SE, but I'd trust their team before I trusted forum posters who try to pretend that PLD can't do A4S @ i210. That's insanity.

[Kyne_Lyons]

It's fairly easy to criticize them from where you're sitting, maybe you should help them learn how to beat the fight.

[SpookyGhost]

lmao I'm not criticizing. I said they panicked, and it domino'd into a situation where they wiped. 1% wipes happen all the time in progression, this was probably their first time getting this far and they didn't plan ahead. Now they know that this situation can happen, so they'll plan for it next time.

On a side note, cool to see an A4S group w/ an AST.

[Kyne_Lyons]

They've been sub 10% multiple times. I've been following this group extremely closely.

[DGladius]

Clear with paladin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYKsS14fBZw

[Kyne_Lyons]

Fresh from this morning, I missed this, thanks!

[Kyne_Lyons]

So what can we take away from this, now that a single Paladin on the planet earth has beaten the fight? There's been one fundamental problem, and it's been the single uniting theme in the entire thread across all posters, no matter what side of the issue you're on:

Paladins simply have to wait longer to beat content because they can't bring enough DPS to fights to clear them on a normal timetable. Only now at the end of gear progression, with groups stacked in full i210 are we starting to see Paladin clears. Was this how the content was tested and balanced for Paladin?

[Alex_Lenderson]

Seems to me they need the mobs to hit harder and make more content around requiring massive coordination between heals, defensive tanking and less DPS enrage checks. IE none of this nonsense where the healers need to help DPS, make the check be about how quickly you can heal and/or tank massive crushing attacks.

[Nadirah]

The problem was, and remains to be, that DRK can output higher DPS while mitigating more magic damage at lower gear levels. This, in turn, made DRK/WAR and WAR/WAR more viable for progression by default and left PLD in the dust. Even if content where physical mitigation is more important, if it still results in lower DPS than DRK/WAR then people are still going to bring DRK/WAR (or WAR/WAR).

If they'd stop making them pure DPS checks, then maybe we'd have a better shot at it.

As it stands, doesn't matter if PLD has better defense. When the goal is "kill it before enrage" you're going to take whomever has the highest DPS.

They had an item level expectation before successful completion. They should have delayed release until a fair number of players actually *had* that level of gear and then maybe you'd have a fair assessment. If not everyone can perform equally RIGHT AT RELEASE OF THE CONTENT, there is a problem.

Seems to me they need the mobs to hit harder and make more content around requiring massive coordination between heals, defensive tanking and less DPS enrage checks. IE none of this nonsense where the healers need to help DPS, make the check be about how quickly you can heal and/or tank massive crushing attacks.

Tenacity/attrition checks.

Making their mitigation more valuable by the fight dragging on longer. Your "enrage" is "healers are out of MP".

That's how most fights worked for the longest time in EQ2. Tanks wanted to take less damage, DPS didn't want to take any damage, and healers had to manage power. Healers out of power = wiped.

So I'm watching that video and I gotta ask..

What's killing their MP? Monk and Ninja specifically.

I'm not aware of anything they have that costs MP?

[Ultimatecalibur]

So I'm watching that video and I gotta ask..

What's killing their MP? Monk and Ninja specifically.

I'm not aware of anything they have that costs MP?

Failure to successfully complete one of the mechanics drains everyone's MP.