Shattered Kingdoms

http://i.imgur.com/yhYvOgU.png

My brief smartphone post seems to have angered Finney. Let me clarify:

OP is talking about base essential characters. He's telling people that no one wants to log on and see that their three buddies are a bard, a warlock and a hellion. Let's look at what's essential:

- A tank. Tanks take hits.

This is a merc specced in a good 1-handed defensive weapon, or a barb without MR. Even a well played swash could pass for this role. They wouldn't do as well as a merc or barb, but would still be better appreciated than a bard, warlock or hellion,

MR barbs are great niche characters, but they are not tanks, and so they are not base essential.

- Enchanting.

Everyone needs enchants. A team doesn't function without them. This means a sorceror, or a priest. If your team has competent, active enchanters, the next useful contribution would be a bard. A bard singing songs of magic is a great compliment to enchanting, and bards generally are great compliments to large groups even though they suck on their own.

- Healing.

The tank needs to be healed, by a priest or a shaman. Paladins do not count.

- Consumables.

Yes, creating consumable items is necessary. A shaman to brew spirit aura is the difference between a good tank and a great one, and for this reason alone (not maledictions, not voodoo, not tanking) a shaman is necessary. Even if shamans weren't necessary for that, you can also voodoo kill almost anyone and win all PK with 2 shamans, or anyone at all with 3 shamans who doesn't have a hard counter like spirit aura.

Scouts are also great for making consumables. Herbs are great, because they're cheap and abundant. How many times have you not had a spell effect, when you should have, because you didn't have the item, or because you didn't want to waste the one you had? Can you imagine any way for a tank to go around perma-sanctuary other than with sacred gear or a good scout to keep him rolling in mistletoe? Or perma-invis?

Ammo is expensive, and scout-quality ammo (diamond) is hard to find. I made a merc, I shot noobs with my bow, it was great- but I did it with either purchased cold iron ammo, or fletched scout ammo. That said, I don't actually recommend scouts in PK or PvE. Scouts are only useful for generating items. Your team should just have someone who has a scout alt who generates items and then logs in on their main (a class which doesn't use those items to avoid multiplay) to actually PK or PvE.

Conclusion:

You should be playing:

1. A tank.

This is a defense spec merc, or a no-MR barb.

If your team already has a good tank, you should be playing:

2. A priest.

If you are a lightie, it should be an Aludra priest, no exceptions. If you aren't a lightie, your religion spell should prop up the tank.

If your team already has a good priest, you should be playing:

3. A sorceror.

If your team already has a good sorceror, you should be playing:

4. A shaman.

If your team already has a good shaman, you should be playing:

5. Another tank.

If your team already has two good tanks, two good healers and a sorceror, you are doing better than any currently existing team in the game, including the one who is currently 'winning' SK.

However, if you were to theoretically get to this point, you should be playing:

6. A scout, or a bard, to support the 5 active, skilled players already playing two tanks, two healers and a sorceror.

If, and only if all of these roles are full, I give you permission to go play whatever the hell else you want. An MR barb, a rogue, a necro, or any other kind of glass cannon that you want to try for a spin. Make a giant warlock.

Thank you for taking the time to explain that to me, Finney. It seems the least I can do to clarify what I wrote for you. I said "too strong for too little drawback." As in, given how little prep is required, an MR barb should not be near that line to the right, but near that line to the left. Perhaps I should have articulated this thought in a fuller, less ambiguous way. You contradicted me, but it seems that you might have just misunderstood what I was saying in the first place.

At no point did I think that you were saying MR barbs are OP. I understood you to be saying they were one of the more powerful classes, however, and it seems I was correct. I had thought this was at odds with a previous statement you made, but it is now clear that when you were contradicting me earlier, it was only because I was not clear enough, and you did not understand what I was saying.