Classes

[Morfiend]

Can you guys talk about your classes a bit here. I am considering picking up the game for some thing to do, as I am hearing the final few patches really helped.

In beta the class imbalance was horribly bad, with solider classes and demonologist being vastly superior to the others, and assassin and barbarian being the bottom of the list.

How is everyone finding the classes at release?

[Engels]

I'm playin a Dark Templar (read SK) and a Ranger. So far, I'm enjoying the ranger more, due to the variety of combat. The DT is a bit more challenging anda bit more boring, but hey, its a tank, what did I expect.

[Abelian75]

I'm playing a Priest of Mitra, and I feel like a god among men.  I'm level 20 at the moment and use four damage spells when soloing, intermixed in a non-boring fashion (I have an AoE knockback that tends to line people up nicely for my cone of holy fire attack, for instance).  Plus I occasionally just smack people with a mallet.  And then, of course, there are heals.  So it's pretty fun, basically.  I wouldn't be surprised if they got nerfed, as like I said, I feel somewhat ridiculously powerful sometimes.

[Viin]

Been playing a Tempest of Set. Only 1 attack spell so far, at level 8 .. but my sword/whatever does pretty good damage. However, I die easy as pie. Anything with ranged damage tends to eat me alive. 2 or more bad guys in melee means I'll probably die unless I get lucky.

Certainly takes some strategy to pick your fights appropriately.

[Falconeer]

I am a Tempest of Set of 25th level and I easily destroy 2 level 27 mobs at the same time.

[schild]

Assassin was at the bottom of the list?

Hur? How? Explain yourself!

[Morfiend]

Assassin was at the bottom of the list?

Hur? How? Explain yourself!

Lets see. Crap damage and worst HP. Little no no avoidance. Borked Stealth during daytime.

Anyone playing a Barb? If so how are they doing now?

[Signe]

I gave up on my barbie.  It was awful.  I would just die die and die and die some more.  It deserves to be at the anus end of the spectrum.

I'm playing PoM, which isn't quite as bad now.  I think I'll make a fucking soldier.  I'm tired of being dead all the time.

[Mrbloodworth]

I do have to say, as a rule of thumb. This is Conan, steel and arrows and fists are king.

Casters can do some really, REALLY sick things... But only if you let them.

[Signe]

Wasn't Conan a barbarian?  Shouldn't barbarians RULE?  Shouldn't they?  Huh?

[Morfiend]

I played a Barb in beta up to level 10, and I couldnt stand it any more. I could take 1, maybe 2 mobs my level. I switched to a Dark Templar, which was considered the most "gimped" of the soldier classes and I was destroying things with ease. Like 3, 4, 5 even 6 at a time once.

[Miasma]

Priest of Mitra isn't feeling very good so far.  It isn't strong at fighting so soloing takes a while but that was to be expected.  What is surprising is how weak healing is so far.  There are a couple of HoTs and one direct heal at twenty but they're all rather pitiful.  I'm told it gets better later on though...  We also start getting some crowd control.

I don't know if I was doing something wrong in the open beta but I would get one or two shotted in the PvP minigames too.

[Typhon]

None of my characters are much beyond level 10ish, so this is certainly not a in-depth analysis (trying to figure out what I want to play)

Tempest of Set - Controls the power of storm!!!  Storm!!!!!!  Decent but repetitive dps, gimp healing.  Is a crappy healer class :(  did I menion lightining powers?!
Dark Templar - decent dps if you don't fuck up your combos... don't fuck up your combos.  Decent tankage if you don't fuck up your combos... don't fuck up your combos
Herald of Xotli - good dps.  shape shifting powers don't last long enough, though the recharge isn't terrible (2mins).
Ranger - I didn't like the interface, if you like it, probably a decent class to play.  They definitely need something that puts a different hot bar up when you switch from bow to melee though
Bear Shaman - after you get the 2 handed weapon, very fun melee.  I three-shotted the demon boss on the way to the city (one of those shots was smash).  Seems like smash has a higher chance of triggering when wielding a 2-handed club, but maybe I was just lucky.  Smacking things around is amusing.  I didn't feel the same drawbacks from being a crappy healer class because I didn't play it high enough to have heals  :)
Demonologist - easy mode class for this level range - great range, great dps, almost everything is dead before it gets to you.  Others seem to indicate that it's very repetitive.  How can blasting things with the awesome power of lightining ever get old though?

[ShenMolo]

I played most of the classes to 13ish in OB.

Right now I'm playing Guardian(at 22) and enjoying it very much. Here is the classes I spent most time in:

Guardian- Decent dps, a lot of different Combo starters, depending on whether you want to taunt your mob or not. Now that the 2 swing combos are opening up the dps is going up even more. Interestingly, the 1H + Shield is just as viable as the Polearm (our available 2H) for dps. Fun AoE knockbacks. Early Feats (talents) are very useful. Best of all...I can take lots of punishment. AoE grinding 3-4 mobs of equal level is doable. I almost never die. I haven't tanked for a group yet but look forward to it and with all the +aggro combos I have should be able to keep aggro. My only problem is I can't be a Stygian Guardian.

Tempest of Set Feels like a one trick pony with crappy survivability. HOT before pull, start casting your lightening nuke, and hope for no adds. Interestingly, the primary nuke is an AoE so you can sometimes blast a group of mobs in a couple of shots, if they are a couple levels lower. Also interestingly, you can use Polearms. I doubt I'll make it far with this toon.

Assassin From playing one, and even more from watching Schild play one, these guys are dps machines. I can see a nerf in their future, but wouldn't let that stop me from rolling one. Schild went from 20 to 27 in like 8 hours last night with one. They actually move pretty quickly in stealth, and can solo bosses and multiple pulls with ease. I hear that in PvP they are paper tigers, but in PvE they seem to kick ass. The ability to Stealth through quests is very fun, a nice change of gameplay.

[stray]

Wasn't Conan a barbarian?  Shouldn't barbarians RULE?  Shouldn't they?  Huh?

Actually, he was just a thief.... Who knew how to swing axes.

[edit] BTW, we're not limited by races for the guild are we? Like... We don't have to be Stygian, right?

[Signe]

No, you can be anything in our guild.  Not an elf, though.  No elves.

[Xuri]

What about half-elves? Or one-third-elves?

[schild]

WE ARE ANTI-ELF. NO ELVES.

[Draegan]

Assassin was at the bottom of the list?

Hur? How? Explain yourself!

Lets see. Crap damage and worst HP. Little no no avoidance. Borked Stealth during daytime.

Anyone playing a Barb? If so how are they doing now?

I've got a 38 assassin.  My dps isn't crap, but my hps are shitty and my armor is shitty.  Stealth is shitty during the day time too.

There are many things wrong with the class, but there are a few good things later on, theoretically.

[schild]

Hm. I don't really have a problem with stealth during the daytime. And if assassins are that bad, I won't fear a nerf as my DPS has outperformed EVERYONE I've been grouped with.

[Draegan]

Schild what build are you using?

Here's mine, though I have 6-7 points unused, waiting for 40.

http://feats.goonheim.com/assassin#t0a5b5d5e5h3k1l1t1t2

[Draegan]

Hm. I don't really have a problem with stealth during the daytime. And if assassins are that bad, I won't fear a nerf as my DPS has outperformed EVERYONE I've been grouped with.

Stealth during the day, if you're solo, will get you noticed every time as you approach a target, unless it's so low it's not aggro anymore.

Our dps is sick though, PVP wise (I'm on a FFA server) we're very bad right now.  We have a knockback kick on a 2min cooldown (a feat), but no slows, roots or stuns.  We have another feet at 70 that feers/stuns someone though.

A lot of our feats are useless early on or down right broken.  Flesh Necrosis is dumb.  For each flesh rot you do 15-30 damage.  This is usually only good for longer fights I guess.

[schild]

I don't use Poison stance. I use Unholy.

I'm actually trying to gimp myself: http://feats.goonheim.com/assassin#t0t1a5t2a5c3f1g2h3k1

But for soloability I've been rock solid. I just did one of the level 29 epic quests/group quests at 27 solo. Mostly sneaking. During the daytime.

I've gotten some really lucky drops though and my fatality chance is nearly at 10%.

Also, I have my sneak ability or whatever at 320/280 with my shit equipped. And skulk is at nearly 200. I get noticed a lot more if I stand still. If I walk by someone, I can generally get by anyone within 3 levels above me.

[Falconeer]

Well I can only speak for the Tempest of Set, and so far (just lev. 26) the class feels overpowered.

Who said you have to fear adds? More adds mean more XP faster! Bring 'em on!
Crappy survability? I don't know if it's me or my chosen feats and skills, but I need 3 or more on me, and higher level, to die.

Thing is you can't allow your ToS to NOT put points in the Lightning Strike feats from the get go, even if you plan to spec as a healer later on (which I am planning to do). At level 20 you should have it buffed up enough to deal some serious damage. Combine it with that power which drains your mana (very slightly) while further empowering the strike and you have a killer AOE weapon. Pump up the skills about mana recovering (and mana attractor) and you are almost unstoppable.

On the healing department, I can see why it could have problems as a main healer, but Heals Over Time are greatly underrated. They grow with you as you level up and if you time them right you can tear down almost ANY boss 1 vs. 1 without a scratch, including those higher level than you, without not even sweating if something not too nasty adds up. The AOE killer lightning does the trick. And when the shit hits the fan you still have the instant heal for like 300 HP which is half your life bar anyway. And then potions, as a last resort. Same if you are out of mana. Poof! Special green power fills your mana bar back! (recast is 30 minutes, and that feels right).

So far, which is roughly 1/3 of the whole Temepst of Set leveling arc, I'd say that the class is definitely solid. It can deal consistent damage and it can get much more serious if you want to spec it that way, thanks to a bunch of feats dedicated to your lightning guns. It can heal OK even if in a less obvious way, and again I am sure you can be a good healer if you want to follow that way feat-wise instead of pure AOE damage dealing.
Finally you can wear light armours, which is much better than cloth, and you can wield polearms, 1h swords and shields. You can even use bows, but those are unnecessary thanks to the range of your spells. Still a nice bonus.

1 trick pony? You have to rely on 1 big damage skill, that's for sure. But this class can hurt, heal, AOE root, single target mez, silence other casters, un-stun your party, melee and even summon a few pets later in the feat tree. I think is definitely a fun class with lots of things to do and made even more interesting by the interesting feat tree.

I know it's too soon to judge it as a whole, but so far it is definitely a powerful and fun to play class.


EDIT: The hardest time for a ToS is between level 8 and 12 I think. The volcano mission can be nasty. Right after that it starts raining powers.

[Draegan]

Interesting, I havn't found gear that would get my hide above that.  My gear selection has been ass other that the quest rewards.

[schild]

Oh, also. I have about 5-10% hate reduction. Also, 90% sure that the hide skill is divded by 10 to get the level you can sneak past. That being daylight or night time. Improves at nighttime. Which is to say, I can sneak past up to level 31-32. Maybe it's a little different. But I'm having no issues. I'm only doing orange and red quests at this point.

[Draegan]

Where are you getting this gear?  Random drops?  I havn't seen much quest gear over the few pieces I have that is +hide, -hate

[schild]

Where are you getting this gear?  Random drops?  I havn't seen much quest gear over the few pieces I have that is +hide, -hate

Random drops from bosses when I'm soloing quests. I have uhmmm 4 or 5 piece of blue gear right now, a few green, and then the white stuff. The white stuff sucks. Both of my daggers have fatality chance on it. All of my main gear (head, shoes, shoulder, chest, bracelet, and a ring) have hide increases.

[ShenMolo]

Well I can only speak for the Tempest of Set, and so far (just lev. 26) the class feels overpowered.

Who said you have to fear adds? More adds mean more XP faster! Bring 'em on!
Crappy survability? I don't know if it's me or my chosen feats and skills, but I need 3 or more on me, and higher level, to die.

Thing is you can't allow your ToS to NOT put points in the Lightning Strike feats from the get go, even if you plan to spec as a healer later on (which I am planning to do). At level 20 you should have it buffed up enough to deal some serious damage. Combine it with that power which drains your mana (very slightly) while further empowering the strike and you have a killer AOE weapon. Pump up the skills about mana recovering (and mana attractor) and you are almost unstoppable.

On the healing department, I can see why it could have problems as a main healer, but Heals Over Time are greatly underrated. They grow with you as you level up and if you time them right you can tear down almost ANY boss 1 vs. 1 without a scratch, including those higher level than you, without not even sweating if something not too nasty adds up. The AOE killer lightning does the trick. And when the shit hits the fan you still have the instant heal for like 300 HP which is half your life bar anyway. And then potions, as a last resort. Same if you are out of mana. Poof! Special green power fills your mana bar back! (recast is 30 minutes, and that feels right).

So far, which is roughly 1/3 of the whole Temepst of Set leveling arc, I'd say that the class is definitely solid. It can deal consistent damage and it can get much more serious if you want to spec it that way, thanks to a bunch of feats dedicated to your lightning guns. It can heal OK even if in a less obvious way, and again I am sure you can be a good healer if you want to follow that way feat-wise instead of pure AOE damage dealing.
Finally you can wear light armours, which is much better than cloth, and you can wield polearms, 1h swords and shields. You can even use bows, but those are unnecessary thanks to the range of your spells. Still a nice bonus.

1 trick pony? You have to rely on 1 big damage skill, that's for sure. But this class can hurt, heal, AOE root, single target mez, silence other casters, un-stun your party, melee and even summon a few pets later in the feat tree. I think is definitely a fun class with lots of things to do and made even more interesting by the interesting feat tree.

I know it's too soon to judge it as a whole, but so far it is definitely a powerful and fun to play class.


EDIT: The hardest time for a ToS is between level 8 and 12 I think. The volcano mission can be nasty. Right after that it starts raining powers.

Thanks for the write up.

I liked the idea of my ToS but had been unhappy with it so far. This has encouraged me to push on through to the mid levels.

[Draegan]

Where are you getting this gear?  Random drops?  I havn't seen much quest gear over the few pieces I have that is +hide, -hate

Random drops from bosses when I'm soloing quests. I have uhmmm 4 or 5 piece of blue gear right now, a few green, and then the white stuff. The white stuff sucks. Both of my daggers have fatality chance on it. All of my main gear (head, shoes, shoulder, chest, bracelet, and a ring) have hide increases.

I rarely find cloth gear thats actually not white.  Oh well.  I guess I'm very unlucky.  My gear is very slow in getting updated.

[schild]

Given the number of things I've killed and the number of rare drops I've gotten, I'd say the loot system is still shitty. I've just gotten lucky with the VERY few drops I've gotten I guess.

[stray]

Even though I haven't played, I'm underwhelmed by the class selection.. And the races (freaking Hyrkanians can't come soon enough). I'm going to try Conqueror maybe though. Anyone playing that?

[Draegan]

Given the number of things I've killed and the number of rare drops I've gotten, I'd say the loot system is still shitty. I've just gotten lucky with the VERY few drops I've gotten I guess.

I've gotten blues from quests only, have you gotten blue drops?  I usually ignore all looted armor since I havn't seen anything good yet.

[Fargull]

19th level dual sword barb, don't feel gimped at all.  Can take down three to four equal level mobs if I get sneak off on one of them.  Just keep rolling with the combos.  I am not on a PvP server though, so no idea how gimped I would be in that water.

[Morfiend]

I like the idea of the Barb, so if I end up getting the game I might try one again, I had heard that they upped their hitpoints and their avoidance big time, and it made them more fun.

I also like the idea of the Dark Templar, I just dont want to get stuck tanking.