Class Population?

Theron75 · April 2014

While the game finishes downloading (seriously, buy the game in a store, this is the longest download EVER), I'm curious about class balance. More specifically, population.

I assume this is like every other MMO in history:

Shortage of tanks
Shortage of healers
Stabby-stabby kids everywhere

As a 20 yr gaming veteran, I'm wondering what my prospects are for getting in on the ground floor of a good endgame + PvP guild as a tank.

Lazarus_Long · April 2014

The lines of the classical trinity are pretty blurry in ESO because each class only has 3 skill lines out of the more than 20 skill lines each character has access to. Once you get to VR10 you have about 320 skill points you can get. To max out your class skills, all weapons, all armor, and 2 crafting skills takes about 220 from what I have read.

So let's say my Sorcerer wanted to tank. I would need some CC. Check. Heavy Armor. Check. Sword and Board for taunt and extra blocks. Check. Restoration staff for heal and protection bubble. Check. AoE for mass agro. Check. Mobs to agro. Check.

If my Nightblade wanted to heal, it could. If my Templar wanted to be a dual wield, single target DPS blender it could. So the problem will not be enough people to fill the roles, it'll be finding the ones that match your play style. And that is hardly a problem at all for most people.

nerevarine1138 · April 2014

Yes, as always, tanks are harder to find. But as Lazarus pointed out, the lines are pretty blurry here. A tank is really only a damage shield for tougher enemies. You can't stand in the middle of the room and will everything to attack you at once.

Lanatireb17_ESO · April 2014

I have seen a Poll somewhere else here, dont remember where, but it was a huge lead by Dragonknights, followed by Sorcerers, third were templars, and last were Nightblades. I remember they were at 6%, because i play one myself.

Theron75 · April 2014

Thank you for the replies.

I was aware of the open-ended class system in ESO, but I figured the players would more or less pigeonhole themselves into traditional MMO roles. I'm glad that doesn't seem to be the case. It leaves freedom to play how you want instead of trying to fill a role.

nerevarine1138 · April 2014

Theron75 wrote: »

Thank you for the replies.

I was aware of the open-ended class system in ESO, but I figured the players would more or less pigeonhole themselves into traditional MMO roles. I'm glad that doesn't seem to be the case. It leaves freedom to play how you want instead of trying to fill a role.

Yep.

And it's not that the traditional roles aren't there, but everyone has to actually contribute to a fight. So if you aren't the tank, you still need to block, dodge and interrupt. You also need to heal yourself if you aren't the healer. In general, fights aren't won by being faster on DPS or having some god-like healer. Fights are won by smart, coordinated groups.