Since we're talking Velious now: Arteker is correct in that Velious is better than Kunark, generally, for the hybrid classes. Kunark was the nadir for hybrids. I hated Kunark on live for that reason. My own thoughts on Velious:
Being switched to the Warrior-style damage table was a large improvement by itself. Don't underestimate it. That was my single favorite change from the era, even more so than the change to experience gain.
On P1999, the removal of the class experience penalties will take away the main reason some groups avoid these classes.
With the defense skill improvement and changes to hate management, hybrids become the best tanks for any content where /defensive isn't needed, including almost all group content. Monks don't hit their truly overpowered gear level (flayed barbarian skin leggings, etc) until they've already moved beyond the group level of gameplay.
Shadow Knights can more or less match overall Paladin aggro generation. Both classes are equipped with numerous high-hate spells. Paladins are a bit better at zero-damage hate generation though both classes can do it.
A weakness of hybrids in Velious is that they tend to become unpopular for main tanking raid bosses due to the increased length of time that creatures can live. I do not consider this a severe weakness, however, for what might be called "political" reasons (ie, MT on raid bosses is why people make a Warrior and it's not really fair to take that away from them). There are a few bosses hybrids are preferred for, but not many. Hybrids still make fine tanks for the basic clear--what some folks call a "plow tank."
A Paladin-specific weakness is the increased number of stun-immune creatures in Velious. While the Paladin can still hold aggro on such creatures fine, he loses his best tanking tool and no longer has much of any advantage over a Shadow Knight. Paladins still have a rather weak raid role if not tanking. In addition, there's relatively little undead in Velious, depriving both the Paladin and Shadow Knight of much use of their utility in that area.
Note that essentially all of the improvements hybrids see during Velious come some months after the expansion launches, and not all at once. The 2H weapon improvement, in particular, comes rather late in the expansion's life.
Here's the important part: Despite all the changes made, hybrids still rank on the lower end of the power scale. The changes simply reduce the gaps--not eliminate them. The strongest classes from Kunark (Shaman, Monk, etc) are still the strongest. If you already enjoy playing a hybrid, you should like Velious. If you don't like playing them, I doubt Velious will change that.
Danth
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