Classes

[Xanthippe]

I was messing around with my baby  shaman last night and it was all fun and games until I got to the first trip to the volcano on the destiny quest. Die/Respawn/Die/Respawn/Die/Respawn. Kind of discouraging. Then I go back to my Barbarian and I feel much better.

Oh, that happened to me too!  I died 4 times.

It sounds good later though.  I think I'll suffer through for a while longer - I like how it plays, just don't like dying.

[AcidCat]

Yeah I haven't given up on him yet, from what I hear they do get better after 20 or so.

[Tebonas]

Yeah, I died a lot there as well. Low level  shaman get raped by two enemies of comparable level. But it gets massively better. By the time I killed Strom I was in a blood frenzy and killed those buggers left and right while laughing at whats left of their faces after I crushed them with my hammer.

[Mrbloodworth]

Instances scale to your level. Having issues? Enter the instance, then leave, gain a few levels somewhere else, and come back, they will be the same level as when you bound that instance to you (as in the first time).

[Hoax]

Okay, having played around with several classes I'll give my verdict on those. This might serve as tip for people who are interested in rolling one of the following. I will also compare a bit to other games where people might feel more familiar with what I'm talking about.

Barbarian - Up to level 46
Barbarians are killing machines. They wear light armor and are not designed to be a tank versus heavy punishment, but a decent HP pool, tons of stuns / CC's / knockdowns with Berserker build (2 Hander build) more than makes up for it. In PvE, if you go Berserker build or Reaver build doesn't matter, Barbarians got very high damage output and can easily solo 2-3 mobs +2 levels above them, probably 4 of same level mobs without issues. Since potions and foods / buffs are so cheap to get, having them run 24/7 and potting up in big fights will allow you to be a very effective solo leveling class and even better in group, teamed with any class. Your high damage output will generate a lot of threat, and the stamina usage is overall high, but some handling and not combo chaining 24/7 will allow far greater efficiency in group play.

PvP-wise Barbarians are currently kings of PvP while leveling. To put it simply in World of Warcraft terms, imagine an MS/Fury Warrior merged with all the best feats of the Rogue class, just AoE.  I'm not sure of my exact stats, but sitting at 3XX kills and 21 deaths currently, solo playing and fighting same or higher level opponents, and often multiple of them. If you are skilled, you will defeat most classes with ease and some feats like No Escape (An ability where you throw your weapon and impale the enemy stunning him and watching his HP bar tick from 100% to 0% mostly), Earth Shatter(Yet another AoE Stun and Finishing Blow(A charge that increases the damage of your next attacks by.. a lot, not sure exactly how much, but you will do massive damage after this charge. Can probably put out 3k-4k damage with crits after a Finishing Blow at lvl 46) are insanely good and not to be passed up. Also picking up Excellent Balance and Unstable Mind is a must for PvP, the former makes you immune to knockbacks for 10-15 seconds (1-5 points spent) and the latter breaks you free out of any root / stun / snare and grants you temporal immunity. I'm personally expecting several nerfs to the Barbarian class, but it is a blast to play anyhow. Also with full points in Hiding, your stealth is very effective and is the best in the game alongside with others who specc fully for it, but has no penalties and with Skulking maximized you will move as fast as everyone else.

Also make good use of your rest ability and put points in Fast Recovery, it will regenerate your stamina very rapidly after fights.

Going to write about Tempest of Set, Assassin and Conqueror once they are in the 40's.

Moar posts by this guy, the rest of you are carebear bitches.

[Rasix]

Shut the fuck up, Donny. 

Edit: I'm completely serious, don't bring that here.

[Falconeer]

The Tempest of Set is God Mode in PVE.

Let's be more clear:

Since level 60 (and I am 65 now), I've been able to pull up to 5 (five) mobs 3 and sometimes 4 levels higher than me and destroy them in 15-20 seconds. 5 mobst at once, 4 levels higher than me. No minions involved.
That results in a 5 chain kills which gives bonus XP, hence mobs that usually give you like 1800 xp pile up with the chain kill bonus to somthing like 11000 xp per pull.

Yes, 11k xp per pull, in 20 seconds.

I have no downtime, mana recovery is a joke, same with health (I heal myself). The only downtime is with the totemic Idol of Set, which takes like 45 seconds to refresh, but I don't need it unless it's a 5 mobs pull. And there's no zone in the game so far where mobs respawn fast enough for me. The bottleneck to the XP rampage of a ToS is the mobs respawn rate.

It's uncanny. I've been accused of cheating by passers by more than once and 1 out of 2 guildees is secretely rerolling a Tempest of Set.
Maybe we suck in PvP, I don't know, but in PvE we are playing in God Mode. It's close to not fun.

[Sir T]

My TOS kept dying and dying and dying. Was pretty good in a group though.

Then again, with my decent computer specs I was probably playing in waist deep water and controlling him by semaphore.

[Falconeer]

My TOS kept dying and dying and dying. Was pretty good in a group though.

Then again, with my decent computer specs I was probably playing in waist deep water and controlling him by semaphore.

You won't make me believe a MMORPG can be about skills. I suck, still the ToS is on autopilot, he can win the game alone.
Yes, you probably were doing something really wrong. Or you put points in the wrong feats. Or then again, you were under level 15.

[Miasma]

I thought ToS just got nerfed and you couldn't do that anymore?

[Falconeer]

I thought so too. I was wrong.

I still can.

[Tarami]

My ToS hit 26 last night. Already I can pull 3-4 +1 mobs and nuke them to oblivion. All I need to do to manage is to cast the HoTs before entering combat. Some advancement curves (mob HP to lightning DPS) go fucked around level 22-23 it seems.

[Zetor]

My POM is pretty broken too. At 35 I can solo +4 mobs, +2 elites, +2 boss and two +2 helpers, and 4-5 even-levels quicker [and safer] than my even-leveled DPS guildies, and I am specced for healing (I only have 2 points in the vengeance tree). The only real weakness is running out of mana, but that'll cease to be a problem once I stop being a cheapskate and get some lv30 mana drinks / pots and max out ether flow. Fighting elites with KD is also risky, and I might need to burn a few cooldowns (invulnerability, burst heal); fighting multiple casters is blah because I can't AOE them (there are no LOS objects in the wild).

Lance (they're clustered up so usually two of them gets hit), Smite (while they're closing in, they're close enough to all get hit at this point), Repulse (it hits just when they get into melee range), strafe to the side, Lance the farthest mob (hits all of them while they're getting up), optionally fear a caster, repeat Smite and Lance until Repulse is back up, optionally Rebuke to finish the main mob off and switch, should only take one more nuke per mob at this point, at most. If I got Cleansing Fire into my build (0.5s cast cone AOE, early veng talent) or the talent that turns Radiance into an AOE smite, they'd die even faster. As it is, I don't even need to look at normal adds (when fighting a boss) or minion adds (for any sort of pull) since they'll die to the first Repulse or very quickly after that.


-- Z.

[Slayerik]

I'm kinda bummed I picked the ToS now, as it is looking to be the FotM.

Oh well, back to my AOE leveling :P

[schild]

My POM is pretty broken too. At 35 I can solo +4 mobs, +2 elites, +2 boss and two +2 helpers, and 4-5 even-levels quicker [and safer] than my even-leveled DPS guildies, and I am specced for healing (I only have 2 points in the vengeance tree). The only real weakness is running out of mana, but that'll cease to be a problem once I stop being a cheapskate and get some lv30 mana drinks / pots and max out ether flow. Fighting elites with KD is also risky, and I might need to burn a few cooldowns (invulnerability, burst heal); fighting multiple casters is blah because I can't AOE them (there are no LOS objects in the wild).

This is where the vengeance tree makes a difference. There's a mana tap skill that pretty much cuts cost down on spells to 25-50%.

[Xanthippe]

Wow.  And I was feeling powerful on my bear shaman mid-20s because I could fight 3 even con mobs at once (after casting my HOTs and keeping them up).

I wonder how many PoMs and ToSs will quit when the classes get adjusted?

On another note: I have heard very little about the tanks.  What's the deal, are those classes the most balanced/least broken and everyone's happy but not ecstatic?  Complaints about the pet classes, bear shamans, and mix for the rogues, but little about the tanks.

[schild]

PoMs and ToS that get past level 40 (the smart ones who don't just switch to be FoTM) probably won't quit. It would take a MASSIVE nerf to make the PoM be less useful. It's just a great class period.

[rattran]

I've only tried Guardian for the tanks, but it was tediously slow until about lvl 24, then got fun in the low 30s. I just hit 40 last night, and am feeling pretty powerful for a change. Not as much dps as the Barb, but a huge amount more survivable. I can take 3 +3 mobs without much problem, though 2 even con casters will give me problems.

[schild]

It only takes 1 ranger ripping me to tear apart my PoM or my ToS. But now that I know that, I run up to any fucker with a bow and arrow and make him punch me with it.

[Abelian75]

Wow.  And I was feeling powerful on my bear shaman mid-20s because I could fight 3 even con mobs at once (after casting my HOTs and keeping them up).

That's what SHOULD be powerful.  The ridiculous power of the PoM is just unfun, imho.

[schild]

I'm pretty sure a Herald of Xotli could be specced to be a god having looked through the skills. That's actually my next class after I hit 40 with my Tempest (who is 31 or 32 now). I'm glad I decided to play through a bunch of characters to 40. I really, really, really like the first 40 levels.

[Jashan]

The Tempest of Set is God Mode in PVE.

Mine is taking the slow boat to 80, and is still 51. But it seems like we only do well with mobs that allow themselves to be bunched up. If there are a mix of melees and ranged mobs, or all ranged, then I struggle.

Do you use storm field? What are the must have feats for grinding like you do?

[Morfiend]

I'm pretty sure a Herald of Xotli could be specced to be a god having looked through the skills.

It could be, if (no joke) around 40% of their Feats where not broken. I am having a lot of fun with the class, but it is pretty tough. Cloth + Melee + very limited CC = one mistake and death.

[Alkiera]

My ranger is 14 now.

I don't feel overly tough, but I certainly have no issues doing things in at either ranged or melee.  I started getting medium armor drops, which may help my melee survivability some.  Can't say anything bad about my damage output, though.  Fights are nice and quick.  Against stuff just under my level, I rarely lose any hp fighting just one, and with a bit of luck, or me pulling with a bow combo, 3-4 is not problem.

I've only died twice, both times from not really thinking and just running into/by stuff.

Admittedly, I haven't played any other classes yet.  But I can see being a terror in a group, just sit back and tear up enemies from range.  And big enemies... not gonna stand much of a chance against a group.

A lot of people have posted about problems with things spawning mini-bosses on them... Do they becoming relatively harder as you level, or are they playing weaker classes?  I can just tear mini and normal bosses up; moreso if I get to initiate combat, but they stand little chance even if I don't.

[Viin]

As a ToS I can take a mini or even a normal boss all by itself no problems if I have time to setup - if it surprises me (around a corner) and aggresses before I can get my heal buffs setup I'll probably die unless it's a weak one or I get some lucky crits. If it has 1 or 2 minions that get on me too, I'll most certainly die.

At level 19, playing a ToS is tough work (can only wear light armor/cloth) and you really have to pick your fights and make sure you are setup for them. DPS is high but paper thin armor and low HP = lots of death against multiple baddies unless you can setup for each engagement. For reference, I've probably died 15 times, 3 during the Destiny quest alone and I'm still not done with that.

[photek]

As a ToS I can take a mini or even a normal boss all by itself no problems if I have time to setup - if it surprises me (around a corner) and aggresses before I can get my heal buffs setup I'll probably die unless it's a weak one or I get some lucky crits. If it has 1 or 2 minions that get on me too, I'll most certainly die.

At level 19, playing a ToS is tough work (can only wear light armor/cloth) and you really have to pick your fights and make sure you are setup for them. DPS is high but paper thin armor and low HP = lots of death against multiple baddies unless you can setup for each engagement. For reference, I've probably died 15 times, 3 during the Destiny quest alone and I'm still not done with that.

Around level 30+ the deaths will stop. At 40+ you will be Jesus. At level 50+ you are God. So its all uphill. Also ToS is definitely the FoTM, but so is Barbarian in PvP and our nerfs just started, I'm expecting much more. 

[schild]

ToS is only going to get nerfed a little. And even then, not much. Getting 40+ just doesn't matter because there's very little content.

[Pennilenko]

Hey Schild, I saw that you have a necromancer. Conceptually im having trouble with my little 12 necro. I die almost anytime i get jumped by 2 even level mobs. Back when you were a little necro, what were you doing to avoid dying at every 2 pull? I would appreciate any advice at all anyone has though.

[Lantyssa]

On another note: I have heard very little about the tanks.  What's the deal, are those classes the most balanced/least broken and everyone's happy but not ecstatic?  Complaints about the pet classes, bear shamans, and mix for the rogues, but little about the tanks.

Keeping in mind I'm only 23 (and have two on different servers), my Dark Templar feels well balanced.  My conqueror feels a little stronger, but is only in her teens.  My roommate's Conqueror is tough, but not ungodly, at least certainly not to the extent I'm hearing about other classes.

[Threash]

My 45 conq is pretty decent, i can take about three mobs a couple levels higher than me at a time.  In a group he becomes a monster as long as someone else is tanking.  furious inspiration a class buff that stacks up to 10 times when someone else is getting hit adds 20% dmg total plus it randomly heals and REZZES my group mates, if i can sit there in frenzy stance and lumbering hulk while someone else tanks im scary.  All the group buffs, auras, formations, commands, orders are nice too, although i havent really used them much.  Its very hard for tanks to keep aggro off me, even with zero points in taunt, i CAN tank if needed but im not really the ideal person for the job.

[Rasix]

Hey Schild, I saw that you have a necromancer. Conceptually im having trouble with my little 12 necro. I die almost anytime i get jumped by 2 even level mobs. Back when you were a little necro, what were you doing to avoid dying at every 2 pull? I would appreciate any advice at all anyone has though.

A lot of classes suck terribly until mid teens or even 20.  Bear shaman was squishier than my demonologist until he got bloodflow.  Even then, he had problems until about 20 and I feel has really only come into his own at 25+.  It seems most classes go through a bit of an awkward phase from 8-14.  Except barbarian, that was retardedly easy all the way until 20. 

I'm really curious about trying a necro just to see how bad it really is.

[Alkiera]

Hey Schild, I saw that you have a necromancer. Conceptually im having trouble with my little 12 necro. I die almost anytime i get jumped by 2 even level mobs. Back when you were a little necro, what were you doing to avoid dying at every 2 pull? I would appreciate any advice at all anyone has though.

A lot of classes suck terribly until mid teens or even 20.  Bear shaman was squishier than my demonologist until he got bloodflow.  Even then, he had problems until about 20 and I feel has really only come into his own at 25+.  It seems most classes go through a bit of an awkward phase from 8-14.  Except barbarian, that was retardedly easy all the way until 20. 

I'm really curious about trying a necro just to see how bad it really is.

Ranger doesn't really have a weak spot so much as a role confusion spot.  Am I melee?  Bow user?  Crossbow user?  Which is mostly answered by the DPS of the weapon drops you've gotten lately.  By 14 I've done all of the above as my 'primary' method.  Currently use bow either until the enemy archer/caster is dead, or if all are melee, until stuff gets into melee, then switch to the beat-stick.

I've yet to find a spot where I don't think the class can do what I need to; but then, I don't tend to try red-colored quests, or the like.  I've got too many that I'm outleveling to do that yet.

[Tale]

My 45 conq is pretty decent, i can take about three mobs a couple levels higher than me at a time.  In a group he becomes a monster as long as someone else is tanking.  furious inspiration a class buff that stacks up to 10 times when someone else is getting hit adds 20% dmg total plus it randomly heals and REZZES my group mates, if i can sit there in frenzy stance and lumbering hulk while someone else tanks im scary.  All the group buffs, auras, formations, commands, orders are nice too, although i havent really used them much.  Its very hard for tanks to keep aggro off me, even with zero points in taunt, i CAN tank if needed but im not really the ideal person for the job.

Finally someone else who plays Conqueror. So far in the thread it's all been "I think I might try a Conqueror" or "make friends with a Conqueror, they're worth having around".

Mine is only 30 so you'd know more, but here's how I see it: Conqueror is the tank class with the highest DPS. (Edit - As others noted below, this is totally wrong - it might be the theory, but it's not the practice - the Conqueror's damage output is a bit crap at the moment.).  It's nothing like the DPS of a DPS class, but it means Conqueror is fun to play in a game whose major innovation is the melee system. It also means Feats are what determines whether the Conqueror is a worthwhile tank or not.

We are all specced for levelling at the moment, not tanking, so we're currently not good tanks and people are only noticing our group procs/buffs (which can also be significantly boosted with Feats). We might find at the high end people will be selling themselves to groups/raids as "tank conq", "buff conq", "dps conq", etc, based on Feats. (Edit - This also is totally wrong, according to the class boards. Conquerors are also pretty bad tanks compared to Guardians and Dark Templars. Sigh.).

[Signe]

I die all the time.  ALL THE TIME.  It doesn't matter what class I play.  I was a decent healer in SB and CoH, but I still died ALL THE TIME.  Luckily, most of the games I play now have trivial death penalties.  I can't help trying to kill stuff that is well beyond my ability at least twice before I move on.

[Lantyssa]

Conquerors do have some nice group buffs.  I'd like to see what a group of Conquerors could dish out.