I remember the first time I tried moving while using a skill with my Lord of the Rings Online Hunter way back in 2007. I was using Swift Bow, which has an induction timer associated with it, and as it was casting an enemy AOE landed right on my feet.
Until then, I hadn’t really ever needed to move in combat, but the first time I tackled the Great Barrow forced movement and positioning out of our small, inexperienced group. I moved and the skill was canceled, and I was somewhat shocked at this fact. The idea that a skilled bowmaster couldn’t move and shoot at the same time boggled my mind, especially for a class designed around Legolas, who moved plenty during his battles in the War of the Ring.
There was obviously a gameplay reason for this decision. At the time, the Hunter was the best pure DPS class in the game (though I think the mantle of Glass Cannon has been taken by the RuneKeeper at this point), and by making them stationary, especially for PvP combat, it balanced the ability of the Hunter to both kite enemies and deal devastating damage, while keeping them stationary meant they could deal out massive damage and use traps and utility skills like Bard’s Arrow to keep enemies at bay.
Moving also lost Focus, the resource used by Hunters to pull off devastating skills such as Penetrating Shot, Merciful Shot, and others. However, I longed to move fluidly around a fight, firing off arrows and dealing death to Orcs and Sauron’s other forces while not feeling rooted in one place.
Thankfully, years later, an update that rebalanced classes and trait lines gave me exactly what I wanted. The Blue Line Hunter now offers a chance to move while in combat, without losing Focus, at the expense of some damage. The original Hunter playstyle is somewhat preserved in the Red Line Hunter path, but by revamping the class to a point where I could now reposition and still fire off powerful skills, just like I always imagined an Elf bowmaster could in the waning days of the Third Age, the class became so much more fun to play.
Let’s be clear: my Elf Hunter was never in danger of being retired because the class was un-fun. Even with those early restrictions, I loved my Hunter, especially when stats like Weapon Speed were important, making weapon choices just as important as traits and skill rotation at times. I also don’t think I can say this enough: I hate alts.
Now, I honestly don’t think I could go back to playing just a stationary Hunter. I move so much during combat, stretching the limits of my left hand to fire off skill rotations while also keeping my character moving - it’s gotten to the point where I think I might have to bust out my old Razer Tartarus V2 just to use the attached thumbstick to move easier again.
It’s made me wonder how many people feel like their favorite class has evolved for the better over the course of their favorite MMO’s lifetime. Class balance is something that every MMO developer battles with every patch. It’s a constant war that likely will never be complete as these games continue in their lifecycle. This is one patch where the developers got it so, so right.
What say you, though? How has your favorite class evolved for the better? Or if it hasn’t, what has made it demonstrably worse over the years? Let us know in the comments.
Related:
Lord of the Rings Online Re-Review In Progress
