well none of the replies tackle my point which is to open up, albeit in a controlled manner, the open pvp so new players can practice and learn their class more gradually even in Crom. Instead here we are discussing (again) about classes, balance and such. The low brackets minis were such an opportunity but it seems they do not run anymore, dunno why as the low levels pop is there.
Dutiful slacker on all 3 servers
Crom: Emyssary (DT)
Fury : Collarbone (BS)
Rage: Kurtz (DT)
Ensifer is in his own league on his other toons as well. Seen Finnius on ToS, he's good (better than I for sure) but not completely over the top. But I guess the real test is looking at skilled vets like Ganja and Tyyr - both have relatively new ToSes, and while they don't suffer as much as a real noob would, I am quite confident that they would do better on a new toon on pretty much every other class.
Re revamp, no complete revamp is needed for sure. What ToS needs is not more damage or survivability, but a little bit more movement. Currently, it is a little bit too static given its role. Possible solutions would be e.g. to reduce the casting time on SF and/or the green heal, or to give some more energy/energy regeneration.
There have been many threads in which people have asked for FC to give us PvP-enabled instances on Crom. Sadly no reaction. Re duels, you can practice in the Border Kingdoms or in the arenas.
But I don't think your suggestions really fit the problem you describe. In my view, gear and AA imbalances are much more acceptable in an uncontrolled PvP setting like AoC's open world FFA system. By contrast, they make very little sense in a controlled setting like minis, and should have been dealt with by FC long ago. But then, there's also a lot of threads about this problem, but nothing ever happened (except empty promises of "Unchained minigames").
Rathothis|Tempest of Set || Tigrathes|Dark Templar || Isitnofret|Herald of Xotli
BS|Sin|Demo|Barb|Conq
Sudatorius|Noob barb on Rage