I was originally considering this thread for just the paragon thread but I think it has to do with all the classes in the game.
Now I think we can all agree that paragons are pretty imbalanced within the game. They have received nerf after nerf in PvP yet remain as formidable opponents.
The strength of the paragon over other classes comes in many different forms. Imbalanced energy management, unremovable party wide buffs, almost a permanent IAS with virtually no negative, the DPS of a warrior at range, I'm sure the list goes on but those are what I can think of off the top of my head.
Basically there is very few counters to what the paragon can do. When they buff a party member, that buff remains for its entire duration, it can't be stripped like an enchant or removed like a stance.
Now what I'm asking is, if the paragon had been a core class would it have been less imbalanced? Basically what I'm thinking is if the paragon had existed from the beginning of prophecies there would have been more time to evaluate the strength of the class. Subsequently with the release of factions/NF/EotN there would have been skills added to ALL classes which could have helped counter some of the paragon's abilities.
Now some of you may say that would have put ppl who only own prophecies at a disadvantage but is that no different than how it is now? Clearly someone who owns all 3 campaigns + EotN will have an advantage over someone who only owns one game.
The second argument I can think of, is had skills been developed to counter a paragon, they would have to be skills which are solely targeted against paragons thus making the skills useless against any other class. Ie. the removal or prevention of refrains, echos, chants and shouts. Well I can't think of too much against this... other than potentially the skills have some kind of additional bonus or use.
With this thread I'm basically leading into GW2, it has been rumored that with GW2 there may be the removal of some classes. Many ppl have put the paragon up on the chopping block for removal. Well with GW2 they can start from the beginning with balance much in the same way as if the paragon had been a core class originally. But hey, sounds like GW2 is going to be aimed more at solo play anyways so party wide buffs really don't seem to serve much purpose right?
I
