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General: The Daily Quest - What Role Do You Play?

BillMurphyBillMurphy Former Managing EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 4,565
in News & Features Discussion

No, this isn't a question about whether you roleplay (that could be a whole other topic another day), but rather what kind of role in a party you prefer to play.  While there have been some attempts to veer away from the traditional class archetypes, it seems that most people like playing heals, DPS, tanking, or some other support class. So we ask you... what's your preferred role?

Me, personally? More often than not, I like to go DPS. I like killing things, and trying to boil down their HP as fast as I can. It's just as relied upon as the more necessary roles like tank and healer, but chances are there are so many DPS players and DPS is so easy to come across that you will rarely find a party in need of a good damage dealer.

Tanks and Healers get the most thanks, but being a solid DPS and making sure you know when and where to strike can be just as crucial.  Now... if only I didn't have such long dungeon queue times.  I dabble with tanks and healers, but I'm just not very good at either in most games. I'd much rather have a more enemy-whacking focused job when it all comes down to business.

So? Let's hear it. What role do you like to play in a party and why?

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Comments

  • MysteryBMysteryB Member UncommonPosts: 355
    I like DPS also, I can play a Healer usually really well and I cab Tank when needed, but I love dishing it out, especially on games like City of Heroes with big mobs that I can wipe out with huge flashy attacks, in CoH missions had 500+ enemies sometimes which were in large groups so AOE damage was necessary and fun!

    Mystery Bounty

  • OhhPaigeyOhhPaigey Member RarePosts: 1,517

    DPS. Sometimes healer if I get into a guild or something.

    The best DPS class from any game ever is the Balance Druid from WoW.

    When all is said and done, more is always said than done.
  • PepeqPepeq Member UncommonPosts: 1,977

    OP, all three roles are essentially the same thing.  

    A healer DPSes his allies... instead of a shadow bolt of doom it's a rain of healing.  You're targeting someone, and you are attacking them with heals.  

    Tanks do the exact same thing as DPS, only they are standing directly next to the target all the time.  A taunt?  No different than an attack.  Whack, whack, whack is what you do.  

    People make these roles out to be so different when in essence there are all the same.  You all still have to avoid the fire.  You all still have to dance the dance.  You're all still hitting something.

     

    People don't play heals because they don't see big healing numbers the same way as damage done.  They don't play tanks for the same reason.  The damage output numbers aren't the same.  If they aren't doing damage, they think they aren't doing anything.  What if the damage was reversed and only the tank actually hurt the target and the dps merely weakened the targets' shield.  You're still doing the same damage output, only on an inanimate object.  The tank is racking up mondo damage on the target, he actually kills the target, not the dps.  Then all of a sudden you'd have a gazillion tanks and few dps.  What if healers only healed through damage?  What if in order for them to heal the party, they had to be the ones highest on the dps meters at all times?  Everyone would want to be heals.  People chase damage numbers... but in reality, they're all doing the exact same thing. It's your perception of what they are doing which makes you believe the roles are different.

  • ZiezoZiezo Member UncommonPosts: 45
    Only play games with a dps-heal like a Bloodmage.... thanks!

    Playing: TESO (great!)
    **************
    Most looking forward for: Everquest Next
    **************
    Have Played: World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XI, Guild Wars, Lord of the Rings Online, Vanguard, Everquest Online Adventures, Everquest 1, EverQuest 2, Dungeons & Dragons Online, The Chronical of Spellborn, Warhammer Online, Age of Conan, Aion, CoH, Loong, Dragon nest, LoL, Alods, Diablo 3, NWN, Tera, Poe, Guild Wars 2, Rift
    Most favorite; Everquest online Adventures (EQOA, 2003, PS2)

  • dreamscaperdreamscaper Member UncommonPosts: 1,592
    I've always loved playing healers. I much prefer to be constructive, and the sense of importance that comes with playing a healer (you're a pillar of the party, if you go down, the rest of the party probably is going to as well) is mildly addicting. I also find it much more fun to be reactive rather than mindlessly mashing a rotation.

    <3

  • EdyocityEdyocity Member Posts: 1
    Dps i always low dishing out tons of dmg while my pals focus on heals n tanking 
  • KefoKefo Member EpicPosts: 4,229
    Originally posted by Pepeq

    OP, all three roles are essentially the same thing.  

    A healer DPSes his allies... instead of a shadow bolt of doom it's a rain of healing.  You're targeting someone, and you are attacking them with heals.  

    Tanks do the exact same thing as DPS, only they are standing directly next to the target all the time.  A taunt?  No different than an attack.  Whack, whack, whack is what you do.  

    People make these roles out to be so different when in essence there are all the same.  You all still have to avoid the fire.  You all still have to dance the dance.  You're all still hitting something.

     

    People don't play heals because they don't see big healing numbers the same way as damage done.  They don't play tanks for the same reason.  The damage output numbers aren't the same.  If they aren't doing damage, they think they aren't doing anything.  What if the damage was reversed and only the tank actually hurt the target and the dps merely weakened the targets' shield.  You're still doing the same damage output, only on an inanimate object.  The tank is racking up mondo damage on the target, he actually kills the target, not the dps.  Then all of a sudden you'd have a gazillion tanks and few dps.  What if healers only healed through damage?  What if in order for them to heal the party, they had to be the ones highest on the dps meters at all times?  Everyone would want to be heals.  People chase damage numbers... but in reality, they're all doing the exact same thing. It's your perception of what they are doing which makes you believe the roles are different.

    Chloromancer in Rift healed through damage but you still didn't see many people speced into it, they just took the pure dps route.

    You can break it down the way you did by saying everyone is doing the exact same thing but they really aren't and you see this with the really good tanks, healers or DPS.

    On topic I used to play DPS but have switched over to a healer role since I find it a bit more exciting to have to keep x party/raid members alive. Never enjoyed tanking but oddly enough I have been "tanking" in some dungeons when the tank doesn't quite understand to pull the mobs off the person casting the heals.

  • DullahanDullahan Member EpicPosts: 4,536
    Originally posted by Pepeq

    OP, all three roles are essentially the same thing.  

    A healer DPSes his allies... instead of a shadow bolt of doom it's a rain of healing.  You're targeting someone, and you are attacking them with heals.  

    Tanks do the exact same thing as DPS, only they are standing directly next to the target all the time.  A taunt?  No different than an attack.  Whack, whack, whack is what you do.  

    People make these roles out to be so different when in essence there are all the same.  You all still have to avoid the fire.  You all still have to dance the dance.  You're all still hitting something.

     

    People don't play heals because they don't see big healing numbers the same way as damage done.  They don't play tanks for the same reason.  The damage output numbers aren't the same.  If they aren't doing damage, they think they aren't doing anything.  What if the damage was reversed and only the tank actually hurt the target and the dps merely weakened the targets' shield.  You're still doing the same damage output, only on an inanimate object.  The tank is racking up mondo damage on the target, he actually kills the target, not the dps.  Then all of a sudden you'd have a gazillion tanks and few dps.  What if healers only healed through damage?  What if in order for them to heal the party, they had to be the ones highest on the dps meters at all times?  Everyone would want to be heals.  People chase damage numbers... but in reality, they're all doing the exact same thing. It's your perception of what they are doing which makes you believe the roles are different.

    You would have made a better case by saying they're all doing the same thing because they are using a keyboard and mouse.


  • TacticalZombehTacticalZombeh Member UncommonPosts: 431
    Originally posted by Pepeq

    OP, all three roles are essentially the same thing.  

    A healer DPSes his allies... instead of a shadow bolt of doom it's a rain of healing.  You're targeting someone, and you are attacking them with heals.  

    Tanks do the exact same thing as DPS, only they are standing directly next to the target all the time.  A taunt?  No different than an attack.  Whack, whack, whack is what you do.  

    People make these roles out to be so different when in essence there are all the same.  You all still have to avoid the fire.  You all still have to dance the dance.  You're all still hitting something.

     

    People don't play heals because they don't see big healing numbers the same way as damage done.  They don't play tanks for the same reason.  The damage output numbers aren't the same.  If they aren't doing damage, they think they aren't doing anything.  What if the damage was reversed and only the tank actually hurt the target and the dps merely weakened the targets' shield.  You're still doing the same damage output, only on an inanimate object.  The tank is racking up mondo damage on the target, he actually kills the target, not the dps.  Then all of a sudden you'd have a gazillion tanks and few dps.  What if healers only healed through damage?  What if in order for them to heal the party, they had to be the ones highest on the dps meters at all times?  Everyone would want to be heals.  People chase damage numbers... but in reality, they're all doing the exact same thing. It's your perception of what they are doing which makes you believe the roles are different.

    Well essentially all video games are the same because you're looking at a screen while using an interface device to control what happens on the screen... generalize much?

  • VikingmannVikingmann Member UncommonPosts: 14

    Tank or healer usally, depends a lot on what game it is.

    But healer is always fun imo, specially now in later years, where healers alos have decent damage and solo capabilites.

    Main thing for my class is that it have good survivability, since i like to get in there and takes risks with mobs or situations, and pulls more than i can handle, so with good survival skills, be it alot of armor, and defence skills, or self heals as healer it doesnt matter. As long as my class be it tank or healer can survive more than it should.

  • stingitestingite Member UncommonPosts: 9
    I try to be well rounded and have played most roles, but I have a particular soft spot for pet-based DPS classes.
  • Octagon7711Octagon7711 Member LegendaryPosts: 9,004
    I don't really group a lot but when I do I like healer or dps.  When I'm solo I like a tanky stealth survival build. Favorite classes any magic, bow,  or shape shifter, users.

    "We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa      "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are."  SR Covey

  • KefoKefo Member EpicPosts: 4,229
    Originally posted by Vikingmann

    Tank or healer usally, depends a lot on what game it is.

    But healer is always fun imo, specially now in later years, where healers alos have decent damage and solo capabilites.

    Main thing for my class is that it have good survivability, since i like to get in there and takes risks with mobs or situations, and pulls more than i can handle, so with good survival skills, be it alot of armor, and defence skills, or self heals as healer it doesnt matter. As long as my class be it tank or healer can survive more than it should.

    Christ I miss the cleric from vanguard. Awesome armor, great spells and could kick some ass lol

  • AlbatroesAlbatroes Member LegendaryPosts: 7,671
    First, I want to say this particular topic is awesome, so thanks for creating it. Personally, in a party and if I'm new to the game, I like a ranged dps. So bow/gun user and/or magic. What also influences my decision is gameplay videos to get an idea of what the mechanics are like and so on. Like when I first played rift, I was watching a healer video and honestly made me role a cleric first since the guy could heal or change to a ranged dps or even a melee, so I found it pretty cool. Also, I personally recommend anyone new to a game to pick a ranged class since its easier to make yourself look less "new" lol. Mainly cause you have to deal with less dodging mechanics and you can observe other classes easier in how they act to give you a better idea if you would like to play that particular class or not. This thread would also be a great advice thread to anyone new to the mmorpg scene.
  • Po_ggPo_gg Member EpicPosts: 5,749
    Originally posted by Kefo
    Originally posted by Pepeq

    OP, all three roles are essentially the same thing.  

    ...

    Chloromancer in Rift healed through damage but you still didn't see many people speced into it, they just took the pure dps route.

    I too have a Chloro (though rarely play Rift nowadays), and there's ToS in AoC, leech healing in TSW, etc. etc. there are plenty of healers through damage.

    Not even this was the most facepalm-worthy part from that post above, it was the "three roles are essentially the same thing." image It's like: hey, FPS, turn-based strategy and MMO are essentially the same, you just press buttons on your keyboard while staring at the screen...

     

    On topic, I play everything obviously (altoholism ftw image), but my favourite is healing. Especially if there's a unique mechanic in it, like the afforementioned Chloro with pets, or Shammy in AoC, or the "masochist"-line (blood in TSW or for some extent DT in AoC), the Attunement system in LotRO, etc.

  • DaikuruDaikuru Member RarePosts: 797

    Healer or DPS, bust mostly healer, i love it to let people die if they wont listen. :D

    Best healer class so far for me was Aion Cleric.

    Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

    - Albert Einstein


  • nolfnolf Member UncommonPosts: 869

    It really depends on the game, but I tend to gravitate towards healers.

    Not so much because I love them so much, but because good healers are often hard to find.

    My favorite pure healer was in CoH, without a doubt.

    My favorite class came in one of my least favorite games I spent a considerable amount of time in: Rift's Choloromancer.

    I really enjoyed the class and that's why I stuck with the game as long as I did.

    I started my MMO career dealing in tanks, but it's been a long while since I really played one.

    Always have a DPS character for when I feel like playing the pewpewpew easy mode.

    I really hope that *insert game name here* will be the first game to ever live up to all of its pre-release promises, maintain a manageable hype level and have a clean release. Just don't expect me to hold my breath.

  • dystra99dystra99 Member UncommonPosts: 6
    Definitely healer - I find DPS a bit dull after a while. Healing involves multitasking, quick thinking triage skills, and it's never the same twice; you have random elements of the encounter plus the additional random factors of peoples' mistakes. And then there's the frisson of nerves that, if you mess up, everyone dies...
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