Are ISS a dead class?

[Brimstone]

Now that everyone has access to level 1 buffs, or even better buff pots from L2 store,  and agathions like Taurus give BR, and even if they didn't, you really don't need to have prophecies for most normal mobs in common hunting places...

... is the future of my ISS in the unemployment line??? 

[Ganealf]

If you think you have the gear to with-stand the hits of mobs in any given area with just buffs and no heals for you, or debuffs on the mobs, more power to you. But, on the average an ISS makes it possible for you to survive and thrive in a given setting. Yes you can solo in a given area, then eventually you'll move to a higher area, then a higher area. No ISS means you stay in the place were you can do without one, or you get some very very good gear to go to the next lvl without one. But eventually you can't leave home without'em. 

[iAndouille]

Isses are needed in pvp for sure like Sword muse for the bow/dagger resistence , POM , other buffs,

for PVE most ppl have their own iss so it's more like u need find a CP or make ur own DD to level up ...

[mixa]

Rather useless at the moment. Every character can buff himself, although not with things like pom or bison, but since the game is all auto now, the Isses are mostly boxes. There are exceptions of course, but don't count on it too much.

[Chalfont]

14 hours ago, Brimstone said:

Now that everyone has access to level 1 buffs, or even better buff pots from L2 store,  and agathions like Taurus give BR, and even if they didn't, you really don't need to have prophecies for most normal mobs in common hunting places...

... is the future of my ISS in the unemployment line??? 

Ohhh, friend. It is not only about ISS, it is about game and the way it goes. I played(iss-tank) official 2009-2019, and stopped at that update when NC implemented enforced walker-like macro. I became useless at that point. I never had a const party and my friends just went on auto solo macro with box iss. And almost all did the same. That update kill game. Yeah, many people were whining during all these years about game and how bad it is, but the main point was always  alive - community. Instances, faction farming, quests farming. All these was about friendship and alive people. Now... All dead. I am really sad to see this game dead, I will never forget 10 years here and all people I met here. Makes me wanna cry. It was nice 10 years.

[Mephisto]

My take on This- "Excuse my english"

1- I agree that the current state of L2 has made difficult for support classes to lvl up, i`ve never been a support class, started as tyrr and went to yull, I like DD, But I also have to agree that the farming situation is going as follow: Start with party, gear up so you can farm with pt (Iss+dd+tank), gear and lvl more to make new pt (DD + ISS) ,a end up with (DD) only and autobuff, and this is because the game asks you to lvl up as fast as possible

2- Been a supporter with CP: I have my CP, it always was a pvp cp (2heal, tank, iss, dds), but the pvp is scarce nowadays, we do some daily where an active tank sometimes is necessary, iss usually isn`t, Some ppl will say that tank is still necessary for istances and that`s true, but when dailies are over, if you are tank, healer or iss main, you can`t leave them to farm alone like DDs do, so if you are a supporter you have to lvl up and gear dds, because even If i`m in a cp, I`m dd and sometimes i tell them to farm with me over the night but usually don`t do it, cause xp is currency these days

3- Possible solutions: This is my thought, and most probably won`t agree but hear me out, Don`t increase the diffulty of mobs to force ppl to make pts, increase the xp bonus with each party member, maybe even the adena a little, don`t decrease it, That way people will try to make pt for higher zones and we`ll stop seeing 107+ in zones 101 to 103+,that way ppl will invite tanks, healers, iss, even if it`s box, that way ppl with main supporter will get invited too.

I post this cause in my CP, one healer made his dual Feoh and forgot his main healer (I don`t think he even knows how to heal anymore), and our tank has been struggling with lvling up, istances are fine, but if the game is now farming afk, make it fair for all.

[Sharlanna]

3 hours ago, Chalfont said:

Ohhh, friend. It is not only about ISS, it is about game and the way it goes. I played(iss-tank) official 2009-2019, and stopped at that update when NC implemented enforced walker-like macro. I became useless at that point. I never had a const party and my friends just went on auto solo macro with box iss. And almost all did the same. That update kill game. Yeah, many people were whining during all these years about game and how bad it is, but the main point was always  alive - community. Instances, faction farming, quests farming. All these was about friendship and alive people. Now... All dead. I am really sad to see this game dead, I will never forget 10 years here and all people I met here. Makes me wanna cry. It was nice 10 years.

+1. Couldn't have said it better myself. Afk macro botting killed this game. There is no community any longer. Those days are long gone but I the memories I have of the 15 years I've played L2 are very dear to me. Nostalgia is what keeps me logging into the game.

[Aaliyah]

If you have played in illegal pvp servers you would know that nobody makes a buffer except for getting Hero.

At least in illegal servers when you got buff cancel it would matter. Here it's a joke. It's worse.