You realize clerics had all of these abilities you are proposing in EQ right :P You forgot acouple like the damage proc when they get hit, the hammer pet, yaulp (which once they got Yaulp 5, meant they never had to sit to med, because it was better than sit regen) and the Damage shields they could "mark" on an enemy that healed everyone that hit the enemy, and damaged the enemy when it hit you.
Yup
http://wiki.project1999.com/Cleric
-Todd.
Dullahan said:tehtawd said:Grimix said:Finding tanks and support is just as much an issue as finding healers, I really don't think the unpopularity of healers is associated with how the role plays. Frankly I think people just want to play in the epeen war on big dps, that is all. I don't really see a reason to drastically change the way the role is played, specially since I know a lot of people who do enjoy it. No reason to over complicate it.
The unpopularity of healers is indeed because of how the role plays.
Thats really just supposition.
I think its more than just the epeen war that draws people to non-healer classes. Those classes simply carry less responsibility. Some people don't want the burden of healing others, particularly in a game where death has meaning. I don't really think it matters how much, or in what way you spruce up the role, most people are going to choose to play the class that requires the least responsibility in a game they play for recreation.
You're trying too hard to pass your anecdotal experiences off as facts, and sell your approach on these classes. I'm all for someone making an argument to have a class built in a new or different way, but this approach is a hard sale for me.
I main a healer or a tank in every MMORPG I play, and enjoy the way the classes play, as well as my contribution to the group. Also, another fact you're overlooking is that classes in Pantheon will only be able to have 10 spell gems available at one time. I find it hard to believe that all classes wont always have all 10 gems loaded past level 20. I know I always maxed my 8 gems in EQ on my healer and tank, and I wished for even more than the 8.
The main criticism I had for any of the classes in EQ, was that the pure melee classes only had a handful of abilities to use. That’s why I keep hoping they will stream from the perspective of a melee character because that’s something I’m hoping is improved upon in Pantheon. Healers, from all my experiences, did not have this issue.
Katalyzt said:Dullahan said:tehtawd said:Grimix said:Finding tanks and support is just as much an issue as finding healers, I really don't think the unpopularity of healers is associated with how the role plays. Frankly I think people just want to play in the epeen war on big dps, that is all. I don't really see a reason to drastically change the way the role is played, specially since I know a lot of people who do enjoy it. No reason to over complicate it.
The unpopularity of healers is indeed because of how the role plays.
Thats really just supposition.
I think its more than just the epeen war that draws people to non-healer classes. Those classes simply carry less responsibility. Some people don't want the burden of healing others, particularly in a game where death has meaning. I don't really think it matters how much, or in what way you spruce up the role, most people are going to choose to play the class that requires the least responsibility in a game they play for recreation.
You're trying to hard to pass your antidotal experiences off as facts, and sell your approach on these classes. I'm all for someone making an argument to have a class built in a new or different way, but this approach is a hard sale for me.
I main a healer or a tank in every MMORPG I play, and enjoy the way the classes play, as well as my contribution to the group. Also, another fact you're overlooking is that classes in Pantheon will only be able to have 10 spell gems available at one time. I find it hard to believe that all classes wont always have all 10 gems loaded past level 20. I know I always maxed my 8 gems in EQ on my healer and tank, and I wished for even more than the 8.
The main criticism I had for any of the classes in EQ, was that the pure melee classes only had a handful of abilities to use. That’s why I keep hoping they will stream from the perspective of a melee character because that’s something I’m hoping is improved upon in Pantheon. Healers, from all my experiences, did not have this issue.
Welcome Kat,
I think the word you are looking for is anecdotal, which is part truth. I do have an idea I am trying to share. The good news is this idea has been used to good affect in other successful games. I really can't say they are my idea's, they are borrowed idea's from other games. the part about the game-play being fun with those changes is personal experience, I agree. Because like the word anecdotal implies if everything I have said is not reliable to you, I'd reccomend to go out and research these specific changes I am drawing from and see how you feel about them and also how the community who uses them feels about them.
I also play a tank or healer in every game, I'm a 'supportive' person naturally. I think the difference is I feel things can be better while others may not. I know change is often unwelcome, but I try not to let those feelings bring me down.
Thanks for joining us,
-Todd
Spelling Semantics aside.
I think some folks may or may not want the change you are proposing, because they have experienced it, or they really like the way healing is set up now. A change that isn't toggleable, would negatively affect their game play.
The fact you are hardlining this, i think is maybe what is putting some folks off.
Like ill use my self as an example. I don't want HP bars above mobs heads or players around me, I don't like it, its clutter, Half the time I play with name displays off for players. The other half of the time i play with their names and the NPC names off. (depending on the game)
Edit: Also the more approachability (lack of severe death penalty) is more likely the culprit of why folks don't mind playing healers in the games you mentioned.
Nice catch, I'm terrible at spelling and this forum does little to cover my butt in that regard!
I'll speak for myself, but I know there is at least one other poster that touched on this earlier, that the games you mentioned in your previous posts are part of the reason we don't see eye to eye. The less twitch on my healer, the better. You have talked about playing the UI several times, but I can assure you that has never once entered my mind as a negative experience in playing a healer on an MMORPG. That's not to say that's not true for you, but I get the feeling I'm less in the minority on these boards as it relates to that. As I said, I'm all for talking about new mechanics, but the reasons for you looking for those new mechanics on healing classes seems like it is a personal one. Just like I personally like to have a slower paced healing experience in which I have to manage my resources (mana, cooldowns, etc...), as opposed to a gameplay style in which I'm relying more on twitch mechanics.
tehtawd said:Dullahan said:Thats really just supposition.
I think its more than just the epeen war that draws people to non-healer classes. Those classes simply carry less responsibility. Some people don't want the burden of healing others, particularly in a game where death has meaning. I don't really think it matters how much, or in what way you spruce up the role, most people are going to choose to play the class that requires the least responsibility in a game they play for recreation.
The statement "The unpopularity of healers is indeed because of how the role plays." is a true statement.
Its your opinion. It might truly be your opinion, but still an opinion.
You can also know that what I said is an opinion by my use of words like "I think". That said, its at least an opinion based on the logical conclusion drawn from the fact that healing role can often be more demanding and carry greater responsibility.
Thanks for the replies, all, and you are all being very nice to me and I appreciate it.
I'll be back with responses. I'm doing a mess of cooking right now and franky the conversation is a bit draining-having to repeat ourselves (both of us) gets draining, and I think I've made the points I needed to regardless if the belief is they are 'opinion' or not.
Anywho, much love
#deviled eggs
#macaroni salad
#BBQ ribs
#pea's
#gaaaalic bread
srsly a lot of friggin work.
-Todd
Katalyzt said:Dullahan said:tehtawd said:Grimix said:Finding tanks and support is just as much an issue as finding healers, I really don't think the unpopularity of healers is associated with how the role plays. Frankly I think people just want to play in the epeen war on big dps, that is all. I don't really see a reason to drastically change the way the role is played, specially since I know a lot of people who do enjoy it. No reason to over complicate it.
The unpopularity of healers is indeed because of how the role plays.
Thats really just supposition.
I think its more than just the epeen war that draws people to non-healer classes. Those classes simply carry less responsibility. Some people don't want the burden of healing others, particularly in a game where death has meaning. I don't really think it matters how much, or in what way you spruce up the role, most people are going to choose to play the class that requires the least responsibility in a game they play for recreation.
You're trying to hard to pass your anecdotal experiences off as facts, and sell your approach on these classes. I'm all for someone making an argument to have a class built in a new or different way, but this approach is a hard sale for me.
Not really sure if this was directed at me, as I'm not trying hard to sell anything. Just speculating based on some pretty concrete observations.
I'm not at all against having different types of healing classes. I think Vanguard did a stellar job of having classic style healers while also introducing a several different styles of gameplay and forms of meta. While I wasn't sold on the combat system as a whole, I think they could take a lot from the class design.
@sun
I think some folks may or may not want the change you are proposing, because they have experienced it, or they really like the way healing is set up now. A change that isn't toggleable, would negatively affect their game play.
Yes, I know that. Change is scary. Meeting half-way would be for this to be toggle-able. The fear I have with this being a togglable feature (the UI part) is it would make it 'easier' to just use the ui. I mean, if you were playing a DPS class in order for the stakes to be even, you would need to include a 'aggro'd mobs' UI which lists off the enemies which are aggro'd by your group. It would look just like a party UI frame but with enemies. Then all your dps has to do is select the creature they want to 'harm' and there you go. Easy stuff.
You know ... that's a fascinating idea. I hate it really, the whole 'aggro'd enemies list', but ... the perspective is amazing. Take some time and just think about that. I think it's pretty lame, what do you guys think?
The fact you are hardlining this, i think is maybe what is putting some folks off.
Yes, and I realize that now. When you get passionate bout something it's hard not to 'give it your all' n stuff. I plan to let this thread go as i've said what I needed to. I don't mean to make anyone upset by my thoughts on copying bits and pieces of other games. For what it's worth, the bits and pieces i'm taking from other games would not make Pantheon more like a theme-park roller-coaster easy-mode game. It would actually make it harder. Not 'too' hard, but, different enough for some complaints i'd wager. I like to think of it as removal of the map making the game better.
@Kat
Nice catch, I'm terrible at spelling and this forum does little to cover my butt in that regard!
You know, I had JUST that problem like a week ago when I was typing from my phone and auto correct screwed me up. Then when I went home to fix things I just frankly didn't spell worth a darn. Happens to all of us, I wasn't trying to pick on you or anything.I started to believe Anecdotal was spelled Antidotal which confused me.
the reasons for you looking for those new mechanics on healing classes seems like it is a personal one.
It's a bit more complicated but yes you are right. I'm going to assume the reasons why 'those games' were not popular were because of no death penalty, too easy to play, no unique classes ...heck there's no camps...ever. I got on that ride and enjoyed it for what it was and learned a lot. Instead of thinking of this being 'my idea' think of it like this. These developers of these other companies (and you know, lets throw in Trion Worlds 'Rift' game, their Justicar was amazing) saw the 'problem' that I also saw, and the proposed fixes made it into their games (Multi-layered abilities and update of the UI to include having to look for the person you want to heal (sorry trion worlds, you didn't get the UI part)). Tera, Neverwinter and Rift didn't launch and die. They have survived, come out with expansions and are successful. I agree with their approach to healing. Unfortunately because of their failure on other parts of their game the audience we find for Pantheon probably havn't played those games. And It's probably a healthy assumption these players are also a bit conservative and show 'fear' in the face of taking anything from those games because they are 'theme-park'.
Visionary Realms is in a great position to see the good of what other companies have done, take it for themselves, and keep in all the flavor and fun of their original product. Adding in multi-layered abilities and having the UI changed (meh ... even if its toggle-able) would be a great thing 'in my opinion' (and easily the opinion of Bethezda, Trion Worlds, Cryptic Studios, Blue-hole Studios)
Also wanted to add in, I'm not trying to add 'twitch' to Pantheon. Just want to be clear. Multi-layered abilities and the suggested UI do not make 'twitch' happen.
@Dullahan
The statement "The unpopularity of healers is indeed because of how the role plays." is a true statement.
Its your opinion. It might truly be your opinion, but still an opinion.
You can also know that what I said is an opinion by my use of words like "I think". That said, its at least an opinion based on the logical conclusion drawn from the fact that healing role can often be more demanding and carry greater responsibility.
I suppose if enough companies invest into these idea's for the reasons I've said are 'true' it still does not make the statement 'true'. It only means there is more than one way to skin a cat. You know, thanks for this. I don't like to be polarized so I'll take that back. Glad to have you here Dullahan. Sometimes I need a slap on the wrist. Thanks bud.
-Todd
In RE:
Everquest has an Extended Target list (upto 13 mobs) that can either be filled with people you select, or the mobs in camp, or you can set things to your MA's target list, etc. It was introduced with arguably the hardest Expansion the game has had ever (group game and raid game wise). Its all mobs curently on aggro up to that limit (so it gets full fast on raids with lots of adds, or in groups when you are pulling and CCing a bunch at a time)
I am not saying we should have one, and yes it does make some things inarguably easier. But so does assist.
But then so does /assist, or /target an_orc01,02,03 hotkeys (though based on if i heard what was said in the twitch right, even single line macros wont be a thing? IDK i might have misheard it)
Although in any high end group or raid or PVP stuff ive ever been in .. Your dps never selects what to fight, your MA does. DPS shouldnt ever be targetting rando mobs, its their job to /assist whoever the MA is. If the MA falls asleep on the job, just assist the tank lol. Granted thats mainly limited to experience from EQ DAOC FFXI and VG (so older styled games)
However if they say /assist isnt going to be a thing, I will probably cry like a 5 year old with a skinned knee... An Ocean of Tears for shoar.
I really don't think there is anything to worry about here. The comment about healers not being popular really only pertains to MMOs that are easily soloed because there is less need for healers when you can solo to max level. But most of the group-centric MMOs I have played healers were populated well because groups needed them, most importantly Vanguard (since VG was Brads last game and Pantheon should mainly go up from there). Pantheon is being built from the ground up to be a GROUP focused MMO so healinig will be a neccessity.
And since healing will be a neccessity to ensure people want to play healers the class needs to be fun which is exactly what VG did, it fixed a lot of the problems that were found with EQs healing (staring at health bars to CH being one of them) The way VG handled classes (and this goes beyond healing as it was the way all the roles worked) was each healer, could heal a group equally well. No healer was better than the other in regards to keeping a group alive. The differences lie with how each class handled healing. The cleric and disciple were melee healers and the blood mage and shaman were caster healers. Off topic but each tank could tank for a group just as well as the next but each tank played differently. You could play as a defensive tank, or as an offensive tank, or as a more traditional tank. It really all depended on your type of play style. Which is exactly what Pantheon, hopefully, will do. Create EACH class to perform their role just as good as the next but with different ways to play that role. If you want to heal from a safe distance then that play style should be made available for you. If you like to be up in the fray of battle healing, then you should have a place too.
Imo Brad and Co. don't have to look to any other game for help. The evolution of healing from EQ to VG was exactly what the class needed. And I can only assume they will continue to move forwards rather than backwards.
The comment about healers not being popular really only pertains to MMOs that are easily soloed because there is less need for healers when you can solo to max level.
Imo Brad and Co. don't have to look to any other game for help.
I am not at all behind the logic of these two statements. But I love what you had to say about VG's healing and tanking. This is why I'm so happy we have Brad behind this, VG was great. I honestly wish I could have played more of that game when it first came out. I think I remember the game was very stressful for the developers. Working with budgets and timeframes is difficult. Poor guys.
-Todd
Dullahan said:Katalyzt said:Dullahan said:tehtawd said:Grimix said:Finding tanks and support is just as much an issue as finding healers, I really don't think the unpopularity of healers is associated with how the role plays. Frankly I think people just want to play in the epeen war on big dps, that is all. I don't really see a reason to drastically change the way the role is played, specially since I know a lot of people who do enjoy it. No reason to over complicate it.
The unpopularity of healers is indeed because of how the role plays.
Thats really just supposition.
I think its more than just the epeen war that draws people to non-healer classes. Those classes simply carry less responsibility. Some people don't want the burden of healing others, particularly in a game where death has meaning. I don't really think it matters how much, or in what way you spruce up the role, most people are going to choose to play the class that requires the least responsibility in a game they play for recreation.
You're trying to hard to pass your anecdotal experiences off as facts, and sell your approach on these classes. I'm all for someone making an argument to have a class built in a new or different way, but this approach is a hard sale for me.
Not really sure if this was directed at me, as I'm not trying hard to sell anything. Just speculating based on some pretty concrete observations.
I'm not at all against having different types of healing classes. I think Vanguard did a stellar job of having classic style healers while also introducing a several different styles of gameplay and forms of meta. While I wasn't sold on the combat system as a whole, I think they could take a lot from the class design.
Sorry if there was confusion on my use of quotes, but I was making that comment to Tehtawd. It seems like we're probably in the same boat on what we'd like to see with healers.
tehtawd said:The comment about healers not being popular really only pertains to MMOs that are easily soloed because there is less need for healers when you can solo to max level.
Imo Brad and Co. don't have to look to any other game for help.
I am not at all behind the logic of these two statements.
I guess I don't stand behind your logic of how unpopular healers are. Because in games where the MMO is focused around group play, games such as EQ and VG and even RIft and others, I have never saw this 'unpopularity' of healers. And I don't stand behind the logic of yours that healers are not fun to play when so many people play them and when VG and Rift and other MMOs have done a great job with healing and the role.
But what's more important is why do you feel the need to tell me you don't stand behind my logic? How does that move the discussion forward? They are my opinions, and sound ones at that. Healers aren't as unpopular as you make them out to be. However, I did find them to be unpopular in games that were easily soloed. It's definitely not the ONLY reason they weren't popular but I don't see how you can disagree that it wasn't a factor. But regardless, they are opinions. This is prolly a good reason why so much bickering goes on on this site. The NEED that some people have to tell others they don't agree with them. The need to tell others their ideas are bad or unworthy. I already KNEW you didn't agree with my logic lol from what you said in your earlier posts. I didn't need you to tell me that to know how you felt. I don't need you to literally tell me that you don't agree with me lol just tell me your side of things and we can go from there.
Why would you want Brad and Co. to look to other games for help when designing healers for Pantheon when you believe that a lot of MMOs (maybe all?) have done a poor job with the healing class/role? You agreed that VG did a good job with both healing and tanking, and you feel that the healing role just isn't fun in MMOs and is fundamentally flawed so why wouldn't you want Brad and Co. to look no further than their own games when they have done a good job with the evolution of healing themselves?
*hands up*
Alright it's time to cool down now. I'm sorry if I upset you. There are good reasons why I think the way I do, so I guess freedom of speech? I'm a little drained in this topic which is why I didn't go in depth on 'why' I disagree'd. But I do, and I don't think anyone cares to read me describe why, so I didn't.
All I can think of an example is what happened with Final Fantasy 14 when it first launched. That's what you get when you don't look before you leap. Also Rift is a great game with a lot of multi-layered abilities for healers. The Justicar comes to mind.
I'm honestly sorry if I ticked you off buddy. I guess txt is really a difficult medium. I was stuck in that 'I want to reply to have a voice' and 'I really don't want to keep beating a dead horse' feeling. So, yea. There it is
-Todd
I think a lot of people, including me, are de-valueing each other's opinion. This ends in both people feeling hurt and the reason I don't have a lot of heart for this topic anymore. My previous posts outline how I feel.
My biggest mistake was saying 'healers are not played as often due to many reasons including they are not fun to play.'
People kept on the last half of that instead of paying attention to the openness of the sentence. Later on I broke down the 'not fun' part into distinct examples to help clarify. I should have made another for Why they are fun.
The correlations people are drawing from the changes I've reccomeded and where they are coming from, and saying they will ruin the game I feel are being unduly fearful. I'm willing to admit I may be wrong. But it stands Correlation does not equal causation.
Sure, one could say the same about those ideas. But I'm willing to put my money on the side of the successful developers who have implemented these ideas to good effect. I am with everyone else who believes their games are easy and could do with some old remedies, but its important to take into consideration what they did right and are successful for.
VR is in a good position to learn all the lessons of the past and take what makes sense from the past and present and bring a great product to us hopefully not too far in the future.
Sent via mobile
-Todd
jimm0thy said:I'm going to have to go ahead and agree with Sevens here. The "more people play dps than healers/tanks" argument that tehtawd is making is common knowledge, but the reason isn't due to healers/tanks being un-fun or not having a full 'toolkit' its because dps is simply the easier job. And claiming things need to be fixed for the soloing healer/tank ... well I'm sorry but why would someone play a healer/tank if they want to solo?
I find healing to be fun and enjoyable the way it is. I roll a healer because I want to heal in groups, not because I want to dps.
Like you have said i also would add people tend to steer clear of rolling healers and tanks because they are nervous about being responsible for a massive stuff up if they make a mistake or lose concentration. Whenever i log on to play a Healer, Tank or pure CC i always have a little knot in my stomache that is saying you better not mess this up because everyone is depending on you, where as when i am playing DPS I know i can just sit back and enjoy the ride as long as i am in touch with my tank and targets. I personally thrive on the thrill of responsibility in groups, i love being the one who saves the day and I generally dont play MMO's to relax but to embrace the nerves that come with knowing a small mistake could let everyone down. The only time healing is not fun for me is when the group is SO GOOD that you can almost turn off and only need to throw a heal here and there and then there just isnt that much to do besides burn your mana on stuns and dps, but with a group that is challenging themselves with content or maybe not playing very well together the task of healing and holding the group together for me is incredibly fun and rewarding!
DPSing well is not easy as such but comes with less responsibility to the people around you, of course your responsibility to be high dps while being resource efficient and not constantly taking agro off the tank is still a very important responsibility.
Hokanu said:jimm0thy said:I'm going to have to go ahead and agree with Sevens here. The "more people play dps than healers/tanks" argument that tehtawd is making is common knowledge, but the reason isn't due to healers/tanks being un-fun or not having a full 'toolkit' its because dps is simply the easier job. And claiming things need to be fixed for the soloing healer/tank ... well I'm sorry but why would someone play a healer/tank if they want to solo?
I find healing to be fun and enjoyable the way it is. I roll a healer because I want to heal in groups, not because I want to dps.
Like you have said i also would add people tend to steer clear of rolling healers and tanks because they are nervous about being responsible for a massive stuff up if they make a mistake or lose concentration. Whenever i log on to play a Healer, Tank or pure CC i always have a little knot in my stomache that is saying you better not mess this up because everyone is depending on you, where as when i am playing DPS I know i can just sit back and enjoy the ride as long as i am in touch with my tank and targets. I personally thrive on the thrill of responsibility in groups, i love being the one who saves the day and I generally dont play MMO's to relax but to embrace the nerves that come with knowing a small mistake could let everyone down. The only time healing is not fun for me is when the group is SO GOOD that you can almost turn off and only need to throw a heal here and there and then there just isnt that much to do besides burn your mana on stuns and dps, but with a group that is challenging themselves with content or maybe not playing very well together the task of healing and holding the group together for me is incredibly fun and rewarding!
DPSing well is not easy as such but comes with less responsibility to the people around you, of course your responsibility to be high dps while being resource efficient and not constantly taking agro off the tank is still a very important responsibility.
I feel the same way. There are times when I enjoy both, but in the past I mostly found it easier to just play dps and not have to worry about making mistakes.
I actually hope that in Pantheon, performing well as a dps and the dps/aggro balancing act approaches the level of importance of healing and cc.
From a tank perspective, our class is not played as much simply because there has always been less emphasis placed on playing the class vs managing the encounter. MMOS have yet to really "solve" this so it leads to folks who play tanks to be considered as "those who don't know how to dps/heal well" or "those who want a guaranteed spot since no one plays it".
Each role brings its importance and you can weigh each of them however you like, but when it comes down to the bleeding edge content (if it exists), all of them are equally important. It all comes down to all aspects of encounters being just as risky and as rewarding on all fronts and paying special attention to detail on all fronts in order to perform the job appropriately. So far that hasn't really been achieved 100% in my opinion.
Dullahan said:Hokanu said:jimm0thy said:I'm going to have to go ahead and agree with Sevens here. The "more people play dps than healers/tanks" argument that tehtawd is making is common knowledge, but the reason isn't due to healers/tanks being un-fun or not having a full 'toolkit' its because dps is simply the easier job. And claiming things need to be fixed for the soloing healer/tank ... well I'm sorry but why would someone play a healer/tank if they want to solo?
I find healing to be fun and enjoyable the way it is. I roll a healer because I want to heal in groups, not because I want to dps.
Like you have said i also would add people tend to steer clear of rolling healers and tanks because they are nervous about being responsible for a massive stuff up if they make a mistake or lose concentration. Whenever i log on to play a Healer, Tank or pure CC i always have a little knot in my stomache that is saying you better not mess this up because everyone is depending on you, where as when i am playing DPS I know i can just sit back and enjoy the ride as long as i am in touch with my tank and targets. I personally thrive on the thrill of responsibility in groups, i love being the one who saves the day and I generally dont play MMO's to relax but to embrace the nerves that come with knowing a small mistake could let everyone down. The only time healing is not fun for me is when the group is SO GOOD that you can almost turn off and only need to throw a heal here and there and then there just isnt that much to do besides burn your mana on stuns and dps, but with a group that is challenging themselves with content or maybe not playing very well together the task of healing and holding the group together for me is incredibly fun and rewarding!
DPSing well is not easy as such but comes with less responsibility to the people around you, of course your responsibility to be high dps while being resource efficient and not constantly taking agro off the tank is still a very important responsibility.
I feel the same way. There are times when I enjoy both, but in the past I mostly found it easier to just play dps and not have to worry about making mistakes.
I actually hope that in Pantheon, performing well as a dps and the dps/aggro balancing act approaches the level of importance of healing and cc.
So do I ;)
Many point of views here in this thread. And honestly, everyone wants something completely different. I personally think every class should be able to solo, even the cleric- but it shouldn't be really easy nor too rewarding- but if it's 3am, your group broke up and you are 1 blue from ding'g, you wanna grind that shyt out! Or is that just me ? lol..
I do miss the old days of being in like Omens of War raid zones, using voice chat and hotkeys so that the clerics could be in rotation for CH's- that was super fun and scary waiting for that long cast heal. I'm unsure how EQ1 is nowadays with CH and all but this emulator I used to play did a great job balancing heals in my experience.
Shamans: best slows, great dots, moderate single target heals, targetable hot that snares the person, and decent pet dps. and they, like most shamans, almost always have mana (scary to pvp against)
Druid: had a solid dps pet (for a pet) and the pet was the best out of the healer pets, decent nukes (that i never wasted mana on).. had double hots, both were easy/time consuming quests. one hot's duration was 36 seconds for moderate hot, the other hot was not quite double hp but lasted for 18seconds. they have lower hp quick heals, good regular heal with longer cast time, best group hots, good group heals, and after a year or 2 long quest(obtaining items off bosses in various raid zones), you got a raid heal- which requires too much mana to use often (like 40m w/ SOLID gear), but when learning a new fight/event or grp 3 only healer died, it's great to have.
Cleric: best quick heals, best regular heals, hot was decent but only used in group and/or if no druid. the CH's cast time was in between a quickheal and regular heal, however the recast time was like 4-5minutes- though you could use a lower lvl CH and it still does heal a good amount of hp but i usually only have one mem'd). the cleric also had good group heals, but the druid has better mana regen so they are usually the one on group heals. the cleric grp hots kinda sucked but were good to have mem'd regardless. What I really liked, was the emulator had a bunch of end game undead so undead spells were used much more often than in any of my past experiences on live. Though i've always wished clerics flourished vs undead with mage-level nukes..
as for solo'n on the cleric, it was harder till higher lvl- really. Using yaulp, an easily quested summoned hammer that procs a lot vs the regular spell version.. there was an awesome healer-only haste item in the game that had horrible negative stats but 50% haste (used only during solo). the pet was meh dps- but it was something! 2 hits and the pet dies.. but late in the game, they added a new spell which blew my mind!! it was a smaller nuke, but it was like a life siphon to whoever was first on agro, must be on top of the mob to cast, it's a fast cast, little bit of a refresh timer, and not too bad on the mana. so the cleric could stand next to the mob while the tank is tanking, cast the dd on the mob and it heals the tank. but again, it was minor enough to mainly just use it solo with a hot on yourself. it was a game changer in my opinion though, it was super fun!
The most important thing to me for pantheons' cleric is: don't make the cleric strong against undead if you don't even have any undead content worth doing throughout most lvl's..!! sure there will be some lvl's the undead stuff isn't worth doing but there should be a low lvl area, medium lvl, and high lvl area of the bane..