An Honest Take on EQ Legends after a few days of playing Open Beta

[Defo]

As of the writing of this post: I plan on subscribing to EQ Legends monthly (for now.) There are a lot of elements that really draw you in, keep you hooked, and things I want to do in the game.. But, that doesn't mean it's without its flaws.

The Good:

-The multiclass system is complex, dynamic and holds lots of possibilities for exciting gameplay. I've tried multiple combinations, and kept re-rolling to try different races and starting areas. Some classes are way better than others at being self-sufficient, but that's the way it was in OG EQ.

-The stance / invocation system adds another layer of complexity and allows for the "uber" gamer to feel even more involved. Different stances are useful depending on the situation. Pulled too many? Evasive stance. Need mana? Recovery Invocation. Situation stable and ready to destroy? Switch from Evasive to Offensive mid-combat. Etc. This gives the game a very high skill-ceiling.

-Travel is much easier, but not too easy. Every toon gets a jboots style clicky (that's fragile like Spirit of Cheetah.) There are translocators at the Docks so you don't have to take a boat from Freeport to Butcherblock. But you still have to run across zones to get anywhere. There is the option to "Gather Party" to your location, and Origin AA to return to your starting city. There is also, of course, Rituals. If you memmed Gate on any class you played, and then switch to all melee / hybrid toons, you can still use Gate (with a 20-second cast time, and cost of 100% of your mana)

-Grouping is alive and well. D4 dungeons are difficult solo. I am liking my enchanter build, for the Mez and AOE Mez purposes - but without that, I definitely need teammates to burn down adds, CC, and DPS, etc.

-Instancing means nobody can mess with your gameplay. No intentional trains, no zone-disruption, no monopolizing a spawn. You can log in for an hour, run through a dungeon, and log out - completely undisturbed by the antisocial folks that play MMOs.


There are more, but those were the main good takeaways I saw this week.

The Bad:

-Meta everything. This is just gaming in 2026, but everyone talks about the Meta of which classes to play. Every decision is theory-crafted by people who've watched hundreds of hours of Closed-Beta, before they even booted up the game to try and decide what to play and how to play. It's much different experience than OG EQ, and even on p99, where most people just spin-up a toon and start playing - and find out by experimenting what class they like, how they like to play, and what they don't like. EQ Legends playerbase has a large population of folks that have been planning their first toon for months.

-Chat channels. Server-wide OOC chat is not a good thing. I had to put many people on ignore because they were arguing in General or NewPlayers this week. Typical behavior for MMOs, sure, but it's not something I want to deal with in game. I wound up leaving all chat channels, and only join momentarily when LFG, or needing help with something.

-The game attracts no-lifers. Although its a far-cry from the difficulty of OG EQ, and very casual friendly: This game brings out the worst quality of modern gamers. People who play for days in a row without a break. Many servers had level 46-50 toons with hundreds of AAs after just 3-4 days of servers launch. For nothing else: it's sad knowing that people are destroying their lives still over this game. In a Beta, where every character will get wiped on July 28th, nonetheless. Especially because most of the people playing these days are in their 30s, 40s, 50s and onward. Sitting for long periods of times at those ages does irreversible damage to the health of your body. I imagine they are not exercising at all, eating healthy, etc... It makes me sad, is all.

-The game is complex, but it's also easy. That means that folks do not have to "get good" in order to succeed. It always amazed me on P99 how people could reach level 50 or so on their toons and not know every in and out of their class. It's even more in Legends. I grouped with healers who didn't heal, pet classes that didn't have pets out, etc. To each their own, and everyone should be able to play the way they want - but it made a few group instances on level 4 difficulty frustrating, and actually more difficult than a solo instance at level 4 difficulty.

-Most people will want to solo. I started feeling this way after a few group encounters where people wouldn't heal, or wouldn't stop combat so I could rez. It felt less like the other players were grouped to enjoy a social experience with other gamers, and more because it would make them getting loot easier. Nobody watches the group window to see how groupmates health is, or pays attention to what everyone is up to. Because of the low skill floor, its easy to just faceroll the keyboard and be successful. Only downside is when you are grouped, sometimes your group mates forget you are grouped, and that you might be relying on them.


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Overall, I enjoyed the few days I played. After about 10 hours of play time this past week, I'm hooked. My suggestion, as its what I did - Don't look up anything about the game. Using your existing EQ Knowledge: spin up a toon, play around for a bit, and then decide what classes you'd like to play.


TL;DR: The game has complexity that makes it feel like there is a high skill-ceiling. The QoL improvements feel well-balanced, but there is a fine line between challenging players so that they get better and spoon-feeding them content. Without some balancing, it may tip to the latter.

[Evia]

Well said! I agree with you on the vast majority based on my experience this beta weekend. I haven't grouped up yet, minus one 30 min duo session at the zeebo in UR. People are definitely less social than on P99. I only tried to strike up a convo 4 times, but was ignored 3 out of the 4. Which is fine. I get it. It's kinda what this server is promoting. I also was surprised at how many people I found rocking trio classes that were experimental and anything but the meta. Sure, lots of meta min/maxers, it is EQ. But I was surprised at how many off the wall builds I saw running around. Maybe because its beta people are more willing to experiment? idk?

Either way, im having fun. Ill sub up for a little while at least until I stop having fun. I'm playing a Rogue/SK/Shaman right now, and I feel pretty powerful and self sufficient. I may delete and try out a Cleric/Enchanter/Ranger before beta is over. I think my "Starting trio" will be one of those two sets.

[Defo]

Nice. I wanted to try Ranger, maybe I'll roll one on one of the other servers. Right now I'm MNK / ENC / (PAL, DRU, CLR, NEC). DRU so far has been the go-to.

[NopeNopeNopeNope]

Nice write up

Lol server wide /ooc is probably just going to be “Barrens chat” from WoW (if you know, you know). Basically people raging over politics or religion with the occasional over the top lewd sexual comments. Back in classic WoW, I used to joke with my friend that I could start a flame war easily, and to prove it I’d just type “Trump 2020” in general chat. That would usually do it. Check back in 15 min later and people still typing in all caps fury back and forth with each other

I am one of the few who has no interest in playing the beta, I have such limited time as it is; I prefer my progress to not get wiped. Not all that interested in powergaming builds either tbh, although I did hear that leveling wiz and/or dru to around 25ish to get all the teleport rituals is a smart first goal

Edit: the only other thing I might be interested in researching is what items in what zones have above average stats for the level you tend to get them at. Supposedly players that know where these items are hunt them down and then keep upgrading them over and over all the way to end game. So having a knowledge of where these items are is helpful, and that’s something I definitely lack

[BradZax]

I found that most people were down a group. I’ve only met one or two random people that wouldn’t reply to tells but everybody else was down a group. I feel like grouping is vastly superior than not grouping. You could sit there and camp a mob all you want, but me and my group can camp that mob and like five other mobs and all have the same rate of loot and everybody just gives loot to each other because who gives a shit

In terms of toxicity, I found it to be a wonderful place however, I was banned for being toxic because retards are to fragile to talk to strangers in an online game these days.

[Reiwa]

Originally Posted by BradZax [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I found that most people were down a group. I’ve only met one or two random people that wouldn’t reply to tells but everybody else was down a group. I feel like grouping is vastly superior than not grouping. You could sit there and camp a mob all you want, but me and my group can camp that mob and like five other mobs and all have the same rate of loot and everybody just gives loot to each other because who gives a shit

In terms of toxicity, I found it to be a wonderful place however, I was banned for being toxic because retards are to fragile to talk to strangers in an online game these days.

I assume you were on an enemies of the state list from prior comments on eqemu projects.

But was it a server first?

[Swish]

I'd love to get started but I'm not a fan of characters being wiped as I'm too casual these days [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] Waiting for the full release.

[Jimjam]

Originally Posted by Defo [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Nice. I wanted to try Ranger, maybe I'll roll one on one of the other servers. Right now I'm MNK / ENC / (PAL, DRU, CLR, NEC). DRU so far has been the go-to.

I'm really intrigued by ranger - do they still get the +attack boost at 55+?

I'm wondering about how a knight ratio 1hander, with an off-hand swiftwind, ranger attack bonus (and cotp/chloroplast/etc) might look offensively?

I wonder which knight to pick, and whether go monk or rogue for the last one (would a big knight 1hp work for rogue backstab?)

Lots of fun theoryquest to be had!

Originally Posted by Swish [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I'd love to get started but I'm not a fan of characters being wiped as I'm too casual these days [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] Waiting for the full release.

+1

[NopeNopeNopeNope]

Originally Posted by Reiwa [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I assume you were on an enemies of the state list from prior comments on eqemu projects.

But was it a server first?

If you haven’t been banned at least once, then have you really lived? 😉

[Defo]

Originally Posted by NopeNopeNopeNope [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Edit: the only other thing I might be interested in researching is what items in what zones have above average stats for the level you tend to get them at. Supposedly players that know where these items are hunt them down and then keep upgrading them over and over all the way to end game. So having a knowledge of where these items are is helpful, and that’s something I definitely lack

Yeah, thats been the updated goal for me in this Beta. I have a level 16 toon currently, but exploring some of the zones that they upgraded with new mobs / gear, so on launch I know where to go.

Also messing around with different builds to see which is viable. But I agree - there are so so many people who are powergaming through this Beta, only to have all of their progress wiped in T-minus 21 days.