One of the hottest topics surrounding the new expansion EverQuest II: Age of Discovery is beastlords - a favorite since the original EverQuest game. We were able to catch EverQuest II Lead Designer Akil "Lyndro" Hooper to tell us some more about the newest class to be added to the EverQuest II game.
Q. What is a beastlord? What makes it different from the existing classes?
A. "Beastlords are a new class for EverQuest II, based on beastlords from the original EverQuest. In EverQuest they were loosely based on a combination of shaman and monk. In EQ II we've tried to keep them based loosely around a combination of these two classes. One of our goals for beastlords is to experiment with some new play styles. Beastlords have warders that they can tame, who work in combination with the beastlord to create a new style of combat tactics. Beastlords have fewer buttons to press, and a more active and reactive playstyle than our other classes as they react and interact with their warder."
Q. What archetype does the beastlord belong to? Fighter, scout, mage, priest?
A. "Beastlords are scouts, and as such they can wear chain armor."
Q. What is a warder?
A. "The warder is the beastlord's special companion. The warder assists the beastlord in combat and augments their abilities, as well as allowing the beastlord to access their more potent abilities."
Q. How do I get a warder?
A. "Every new beastlord starts out with a warder; which warder the beastlord starts with will vary depending on which race they select. When the beastlord reaches level 10, they'll be able to find creatures in the world to tame as warders."
Q. What is the difference between warders; why would I want to use different ones?
A. "There are 16 different warder families (cat, wolf, bird, etc), when the beastlord tames a warder they receive a spell to summon a warder in that family. If they tame a new warder in a family they already have, it'll change the appearance associated with it. For example: Timmy the beastlord goes out and tames a lion, and receives the spell to summon warder from the cat family. When they cast that spell the cat warder will have the appearance of a lion. If Timmy decides to go out and tame a tiger from that point on the cat family summon will appear as a tiger instead of a lion. Furthermore, all 16 families are broken down between offensive and defensive. The exact difference between offensive and defensive warders varies on a family by family basis, but as a general rule defensive pets will survive better and augment your group, while offensive pets dish out more damage."
Q. How does my warder interact with me during a fight?
A. "Beastlords have some new tools at their disposal. They have two additional ability types, Advantages and Primals, as well as a new resource bar to manage called Savagery. As the beastlord and warder fight in combat together, the warder will open up weaknesses in their opponent. The beastlord will be able to use Advantages when they've spotted the weakness in their opponents. Successful use of advantages will build up Savagery which allows the Beastlord to use their powerful Primal abilities."
Q. How do warders level up? Do they get AAs?
A. "In terms of straight level, the warder and beastlord will always be the same level. Whenever the beastlord levels up, the warder levels up as well. Warders also have two additional axis for growth: Warder Specialization Points and Affinity. As the beastlord levels up, they'll gain Specialization Points that can be spent in trees to customize their warders. As the beastlord and warder fight together more, the warder gains Affinity. Gaining affinity increases the power of your warder spell from Journeyman, then to Adept, then Expert, then Master, then Grandmaster. When the beastlord reaches Grandmaster with a pet family, they'll unlock a new primal ability."
Q. At Fan Faire it was mentioned beastlords may wear leather armor. Is that still the plan?
A. "Beastlords are scouts now, so it made the most sense for them to wear chain like the rest of the scouts."
Q. If the beastlord is a scout class, will existing scout raid armor patterns that drop in the Velious zones be changed so that beastlords can use them also?
A. "That's correct!"
Q. What player races can be beastlords?
A. "Any and all races will have access to beastlords."
Q. Will the beastlord have an epic quest? Class hat?
A. "Yes to both."
Q. What is the coolest thing about beastlords?
A. "Personally my favorite thing about beastlords is the variety of warder appearances available, however I'll leave it to all of you to decide what your favorite thing is about beastlords when you get your hands on Age of Discovery yourselves!"
Also, don't forget to check out "The Path of the Beastlord" story here.)
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