What is the Swashy all about?

[De]

<p>Hi folks, just curious what your more experienced opinions are on the Swashbuckler class. I have surfed the board and read the skill lists but I would like to hear your thoughts.</p><p>As a background, when I started EQ2 on initial release, I couldn't decide on a class so I started a Swashy, a Templar, and a Monk. I kept them all at the same level up to mid-20's. At that point, I found the Monk could solo way better than the Swashy and was superior in every major aspect except for run speed. Monk can tank, heal, invis, dps. Swash could not tank a thing and his dps wasn't very exciting - even in groups. I felt the Monk brought more to the table in both group and solo situations. The Templar got deleted...</p><p>Anyway, I'm not here to disparage Swashy's because I really love the concept and would like to get back to him. Perhaps I was doing something wrong in my solo days? I won't raid much, kind of a casual gamer looking at the long haul. But I would like to get a feel for how the class currently stand.</p><p>Is a Swashbuckler:DPS?Utility?Crowd Control?Solo Capable?Something else?</p><p>Thanks.</p>

[ArivenGemini]

<div><span><blockquote><hr>Dels wrote:<p>Hi folks, just curious what your more experienced opinions are on the Swashbuckler class. I have surfed the board and read the skill lists but I would like to hear your thoughts.</p><p>As a background, when I started EQ2 on initial release, I couldn't decide on a class so I started a Swashy, a Templar, and a Monk. I kept them all at the same level up to mid-20's. At that point, I found the Monk could solo way better than the Swashy and was superior in every major aspect except for run speed. Monk can tank, heal, invis, dps. Swash could not tank a thing and his dps wasn't very exciting - even in groups. I felt the Monk brought more to the table in both group and solo situations. The Templar got deleted...</p><p>Anyway, I'm not here to disparage Swashy's because I really love the concept and would like to get back to him. Perhaps I was doing something wrong in my solo days? I won't raid much, kind of a casual gamer looking at the long haul. But I would like to get a feel for how the class currently stand.</p><p>Is a Swashbuckler:DPS?Utility?Crowd Control?Solo Capable?Something else?</p><hr></blockquote>Swashy is dps, utility, crowd control, solo capable and a lot more.. (much of it involves sharp things <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> )Swashy got a major upgrade with the combat revamp.. it was like night and day..Get your swash to 30 and check it out... it really shines...</span></div>

[Mion da Peon]

<div>Style,</div><div> </div><div>Attack (and other) debuffs,</div><div> </div><div>DPS through massive amounts of spamming</div><div> </div><div>*arranged in order of importance*</div>

[ilucife]

first off i still cant figure out how we got pigeon holed into the "utility" category, we have group invis.... thats it,you will say  "but we can debuff" well guess what so can alot of other classes, gratnted we do a little more but realistically, when you solo, either 1)mobs die so fast you dont really notice that much 2)the mobs smacks you down and you die. most every dps class debuffs what thier main skill is, iie conj debuff elemental etc.raids, i will agree you see a bit more of an effect but its not earth changing, (lung pucture & Dazzling the exception) alot of mobs have an aoe, so you get to joust alot. and this may come as a shock to some of you.... T7 mobs have AoE's and DS... so we run in to joust and beat ourselves half to death... sounds like a plan soeok now that im done ranting.....we are pretty decent at dps, more consistant that a brig (ecspecially after they take the nerf bat in the [expletive haxx0red by Raijinn] in lu 20)we have a mezz, duration increases from adept 1 to 3 etc up to master, work on some heroics. usefulness depends on your play style, i personally dont use itwe are fairly soloable, though be ready to chain kill yellow down arrows or lower. but as "consistant" as soe has been in the last two or three months i would expect this to change(who knows for better or worse)as far as something else....(just my opinions of course)-get 2 of each type of weapons. slash pierce etc youll need them for mob resists-buy a sack and stock up on ammo, only place to buy it is in the city-buy ONLY legendary poison, you need all the extra dps you can get (i go for adeste)however poiosn is changing next week soooooo..... who knows-dont worry about upgrading spell past adept 1 unless you have the money or rares lying around, youll level too fast to get use out of it. (unless your just a casual player)-we can only use thrown weapons, though you may want to buy a bow for stats if you dont use your ranged attacks that often-go for STR as your primary stat, then either INT(effects poison dmg) or AGI(def skills and power for if you solo alot)-practice jumping over mobs and hitting backstab as soon as you break the 180 degree arc, it allows you to get in a couple attacks-on that same note, stun now lasts differnt amounts of time depending on the str of the mobs you are fightingoverall its a fun class its really hands on and you never really just sit there and melee, it is however kinda frustrating with all the changes from update to update,hope this helps<div></div>

[wr4ithd0]

<div></div><p>Here's the lowdown....</p><p>Swashbucklers are cooler than the other side of the pillow my friend.  You don't really see us jumping in any of the other boards conversations, crying and whining, and there's a reason why: Anyone who chooses a rogue should know from the get go that their class will be forgotten about and if somehow the devs come around and fix em up there's no need to let the rest of the world know.</p><p>That's it in a nutshell <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[AratornCalahn]

Swashys are to give brigands a good time.<div></div>

[Landaros]

Nice try.Swashbucklers are fun - but not too easy to play.Swashbucklers can invis a whole group like Illusionists or furiesSwashbucklers do medium dps like a wizardSwashbucklers can dual wield and do some damage without using powerSwashbucklers can trackSwashbucklers can stun and use distand wepsIn my point of view its a allrounder.<div></div>

[Keyh]

<span><blockquote><hr>iluciferi wrote:first off i still cant figure out how we got pigeon holed into the "utility" category, we have group invis.... thats it,<font color="#ff0000">and....aggro management, mez, debuffs, tracking, disarm, pathfinding....</font>you will say  "but we can debuff" well guess what so can alot of other classes, gratnted we do a little more but realistically, when you solo, either 1)mobs die so fast you dont really notice that much 2)the mobs smacks you down and you die. most every dps class debuffs what thier main skill is, iie conj debuff elemental etc.<font color="#ff0000">Hmm, alot of classes have group buffs, does that mean that bards aren't utility? You're confusing utility class-defining. Utility often has very little, if any use in soloing, so that's not a very good example.</font><hr size="2" width="100%"></blockquote></span><div></div>

[Shiverr]

<div></div><p>We are about <font color="#ff99cc">Pimento sandwiches.</font>  Just ask a brig.</p><p>You should look at a ranger, they're a lot of fun.</p><p> </p>

[De]

<div></div><div>Thanks for the replies.</div><div> </div><div>So, I jumped on my Swash last night. Noticed that I have fairly decent gear and mostly adept I CA's. Hopped over Zek, thought I'd try some easy orcs. They were orange/yellow single down arrow - got my booty handed to me - not even close (Swash is 27, mobs were 30-31). I remember doing these as a Monk with no troubles at the same level. So, I worked on a few strategies as outlined here with no change in effect. Mosied over to EL and did some crabs at 22-25. These I could solo but they often took me down over half health - seemed strange to me.</div><div> </div><div>Honestly, I <strong><em>want</em></strong> to play the Swash again. He was the very first character I created in EQ2 and I have emotional attachment to him, but I'm having a hard time either with strategy or gear or something... because he really cannot solo effectively. In EQ2, unless you're a Templar, you should be able to solo all non-heroics that are yellow or lower, and most that are orange, sometimes reds. Soloing may only be half of my gamestyle, but it should be viable. And in groups the character should bring something strong to the table.</div><div> </div><div>I appreciate the feedback from the folks who have gone the distance with the Swashy. Your insight is valuable.</div><div> </div>

[ArivenGemini]

<div><span><blockquote><hr>Dels wrote:<div></div><div>Thanks for the replies.</div><div> </div><div>So, I jumped on my Swash last night. Noticed that I have fairly decent gear and mostly adept I CA's. Hopped over Zek, thought I'd try some easy orcs. They were orange/yellow single down arrow - got my booty handed to me - not even close (Swash is 27, mobs were 30-31). I remember doing these as a Monk with no troubles at the same level. So, I worked on a few strategies as outlined here with no change in effect. Mosied over to EL and did some crabs at 22-25. These I could solo but they often took me down over half health - seemed strange to me.</div><div> </div><div>Honestly, I <strong><em>want</em></strong> to play the Swash again. He was the very first character I created in EQ2 and I have emotional attachment to him, but I'm having a hard time either with strategy or gear or something... because he really cannot solo effectively. In EQ2, unless you're a Templar, <font color="#ff0000"><b>you should be able to solo all non-heroics that are yellow or lower, and most that are orange, sometimes reds</b></font>. Soloing may only be half of my gamestyle, but it should be viable. And in groups the character should bring something strong to the table.</div><div> </div><div>I appreciate the feedback from the folks who have gone the distance with the Swashy. Your insight is valuable.</div><hr></blockquote>I think I see your problem.The devs have stated that they do not expect you to go hunting reds, and oranges are going to be a really tough battle..  dont go into the game expecting that oranges and reds are easy prey.. they are not.That said, given the right mob type, I can sometimes take a solo con orange (barely orange) with my swash, but it is usually a close fight and has a lot of manuvering and tactics, and the right gear and whatnot.But, on my swashy, 80% of my xp comes from soloing, and I have done so all the way up to level 55 now...   but I dont go hunting oranges..   I prefer yellows, or in a pinch oneup arrow blues and whites.. but I can mow through stuff in a nice steady beat with a good stream of xp coming along and little (to me) risk.Thats with 1 cobalt weapon the other common crafted and 1 piece of cobalt armor the rest all common crafted and loot drops.  the vast majority of my skils are adept 1, with a couple app 4s and the master 2s that come as trainings.I would suggest backing off of the oranges and reds and see what happens..</span></div>

[De]

<div><span class="500052617-17022006"><font size="2" face="Arial"><strong>Ariven -</strong> Good to hear that you've been able to solo decent. Like you, the majority of my experience has been solo although I group up as often as possible. The sentence you highlighted in my previous post was based on my experiences as a Monk. Basically if it's not red, it's dead - fast. This is the frame of reference that I'm coming from. I would be happy if the Swash could tear through yellows and whites, but as it stands now even greens 4-5 levels below him take his health down sometimes to half. That just doesn't seem right, so I'm scouring these boards to figure out what I'm doing wrong. Keep in mind that I've been playing EQ2 since the day it was out and played EQ1 for four years prior so I am fairly confident in my ability to adapt and learn proper tactics. And, I really do want the Swashy to be a fun class to play so I'm here asking for advice. Thanks.</font></span></div><div></div>

[ArivenGemini]

<div><span><blockquote><hr>Dels wrote:<div><span class="500052617-17022006"><font size="2" face="Arial"><strong>Ariven -</strong> Good to hear that you've been able to solo decent. Like you, the majority of my experience has been solo although I group up as often as possible. The sentence you highlighted in my previous post was based on my experiences as a Monk. Basically if it's not red, it's dead - fast. This is the frame of reference that I'm coming from. I would be happy if the Swash could tear through yellows and whites, but as it stands now even greens 4-5 levels below him take his health down sometimes to half. That just doesn't seem right, so I'm scouring these boards to figure out what I'm doing wrong. Keep in mind that I've been playing EQ2 since the day it was out and played EQ1 for four years prior so I am fairly confident in my ability to adapt and learn proper tactics. And, I really do want the Swashy to be a fun class to play so I'm here asking for advice. Thanks.</font></span></div><div></div><hr></blockquote>For solo tactics I do the following..1) I prefer single mobs, but pairs and more are doable since they die faster2) I stealth up behind3) I hit it with my rear attack that includes a stun4) I hit it with every other rear/side attack I have (2 at my level)5) at about this time he turns, so I hit with every other attack I have, starting with good debuffs such as my parry debuff.By the time they turn on step 5, I haven't taken a single hit if its a solo mob, and usually he is down to 50% or so health, thats assuming he isn't a one up mob.Generally by the time I kill him, I may be down 25% in health tops, 50-60% if it is a white con one up mob.If there are 3+ mobs I will use my 2 AOEs right after step 4, and hope I tag a poison dot on several of the other mobs, making my job easier.That initial rear stun is what does the trick..  if you -have- to approach from the front, and it isn't a heroic or one up mob, hit it with cheap shot right off the bat, stealth and jump behind and pop off your rear stun and then proceed as normal.Make a close examine of -all- your skills and see which ones do damage and how much, there is a snare (for example) that does damage, and I use that as a regular attack more than as a snare.Also in this examination phase, look to see which debuffs you have..  one debuff I have is a parry debuff.. I rarely use it in group, but its right up there as soon as the mob turns to me in step 4-5, I want to be able to lay as many attacks on him at this point since he is now facing me and has a chance to parry...There are also mitigation debuffs, I save these for lastish, so that my autoattack is maximised while my combat arts are refreshing, but you could fire them off early to maximise your CAs.caveat: brawler mobs like to avoid that initial stun hit, so you have to be prepared to reevaluate and deal out as much damage as you can as fast as you can to take him down.</span></div>

[De]

<div></div><blockquote><hr>Landaros wrote:Nice try.Swashbucklers are fun - but not too easy to play.Swashbucklers can invis a whole group like Illusionists or furies<font color="#ff3300">Swashbucklers do medium dps like a wizard</font>Swashbucklers can dual wield and do some damage without using powerSwashbucklers can trackSwashbucklers can stun and use distand wepsIn my point of view its a allrounder.<div></div><hr></blockquote>I thought Wizards were <strong>high</strong> dps? At least that's what it seems to me when I'm grouped with my Wizard friend, and that's what it seems to me when I play my lowbie Wizard. What is higher dps than a Wizard?

[ArivenGemini]

<div><span><blockquote><hr>Dels wrote:<div></div><blockquote><hr>Landaros wrote:Nice try.Swashbucklers are fun - but not too easy to play.Swashbucklers can invis a whole group like Illusionists or furies<font color="#ff3300">Swashbucklers do medium dps like a wizard</font>Swashbucklers can dual wield and do some damage without using powerSwashbucklers can trackSwashbucklers can stun and use distand wepsIn my point of view its a allrounder.<div></div><hr></blockquote>I thought Wizards were <strong>high</strong> dps? At least that's what it seems to me when I'm grouped with my Wizard friend, and that's what it seems to me when I play my lowbie Wizard. What is higher dps than a Wizard?<hr></blockquote>Wizzy is supposed to be tier 1 dps with warlock, assassin and ranger, and swashy is in tier 2.  From what I understand (and my limited exposure to it), wizard excells at magic based single target dps, and warlock excells at magic based group dps.. I know with my warlock when I go out killing I try to find really large groups of mobs to burn down fast...</span></div>

[Sadpandaa]

<div><font color="#ff0033"></font></div><p><font color="#ff0033">You know, actually had this whole long response typed out for you, Dels, and then the forums ate it. I think that was my punishment for trying to post something productive and helpful. But you got good advice from Ariven, so I don't really need to repeat him. One thing that I would like to emphasize would be to get to know the different posions and use them. They make a <strong>huge</strong> difference in soloing. </font></p><p><font color="#ff0033">As for your question to what we are all about... it took me a minute to dig up an old post of mine, but I thought it could help you out a bit. Well, that, and if I post something without a bit of levity in them, my head will explode.</font></p><div><font color="#ff0033">Swashies have:</font></div><div><font color="#ff0033"></font> </div><div><strong><font color="#ff0033">Style</font></strong></div><div><font color="#ff0033">Decent DPS</font></div><div><font color="#ff0033">Decent Tanking abilities</font></div><div><font color="#ff0033">Debuffs</font></div><div><font color="#ff0033">Style</font></div><div><font color="#ff0033">Evade</font></div><div><font color="#ff0033">Aggro management</font></div><div><font color="#ff0033">Evac</font></div><div><font color="#ff0033">1337 pimento sandwich making skills (chicks dig a guy with skills)</font></div><div><font color="#ff0033">Style</font></div><div><font color="#ff0033">Group invis</font></div><div><font color="#ff0033">a mez (which has saved my life SO many times)</font></div><div><font color="#ff0033">a taunt (which has saved my healer's loves SO many times)</font></div><div><font color="#ff0033">Hail of Steel (coolest skill evah... I can't stop playing with it)</font></div><div><font color="#ff0033">Hurricane is really cool too...</font></div><div><font color="#ff0033">Um... did I mention that they're stylish, and they're the envy of every other class that plays?</font></div><div><font color="#ff0033"></font> </div><div><font color="#ff0033"></font> </div><div><font color="#ff0033">In the end, play what you are happier playing. If you enjoy the uberness of your monk, and like the fact that you have more flexability and can take higher mobs, do that. If you enjoy the complexities of rogue soloing, but are willing to accept that orange and red mobs pwn you, then do that... OR do both. Play your swash and try to get a group, and if you can't then go solo with your monkie. Everyone wins <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></font></div><p><font color="#ff0033"></font> </p>

[Syrano]

<div><blockquote><hr><font color="#ff0033"> saved my healer's loves SO many times)</font><hr></blockquote>I would expect Leise to be saving the "loves" of healers, especially if they were young, debonair, and male <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></div><div> </div><div> </div>

[Sadpandaa]

<div></div><font color="#ff0033">lives, lives. Geeze! I'm only human...</font>

[AratornCalahn]

<span><blockquote><hr>Sadpandaa wrote:<div></div><font color="#ff0033">lives, lives. Geeze! I'm only human...</font><hr></blockquote>O Rly?</span><div></div>

[ilucife]

keyhyou cant consider skills that every other scout class has utility (pathfinding, disarm etc). if you stick to that logic a ranger is a utility class.as far as agro managment is concerned, we have one 20 second mez. now in any exp group ive been in one add isnt going to make much of a difference, by the time i switch targets and mez the other mob is usually almost dead. Also a good tank is going to see the add and pick it up(if you mezz it, then he tuants it, you just wasted about 2 seconds of your time). and the skill is useless on raids.wizzis  have a mezz, evac, and a group buff for that matter....but how often do you hear ppl calling them utiltiy, they arent and neither are we. we have group invis, 2 other classes have it as well.the problem with our class is we are in kind of a grey area, SOE doesnt know wether to make us an actual "utlitliy" class or a DPS class.that being said i wouldnt play another class other my swash, ive rolled about 5 others and deleted them within a week.

[Keyh]

<div><span><blockquote><hr>iluciferi wrote:keyhyou cant consider skills that every other scout class has utility (pathfinding, disarm etc). if you stick to that logic a ranger is a utility class.<font color="#ff0000">Um....yes you can, Utility = Non-damage dealing non-healing abilities that help a group/person. Ranger's HAVE utility (all classes have utility) that doesn't mean they're a utility class. Templars have damaging spells that doesn't make them a damage class. If you consider utility has something that nobody else has, then NOBODY has utility.</font>as far as agro managment is concerned, we have one 20 second mez. now in any exp group ive been in one add isnt going to make much of a difference, by the time i switch targets and mez the other mob is usually almost dead. Also a good tank is going to see the add and pick it up(if you mezz it, then he tuants it, you just wasted about 2 seconds of your time). and the skill is useless on raids.<font color="#ff0000">Swarthy Distraction anyone? That's our aggro management skill, when I have that up, the tank and I are the oonly ones that grab aggro. Mez, if you use it right is very help and takes some of the tanks and healer's job. Even if you think it's useless, it doesn't mean it's not utility.</font>wizzis  have a mezz, evac, and a group buff for that matter....but how often do you hear ppl calling them utiltiy, they arent and neither are we. we have group invis, 2 other classes have it as well.<font color="#ff0000">I point you back up to my first point, Templars have damaging attacks, they're never called a damage class though. What the class IS is based on the magnitude of the skills. Necromancers aren't a healing class, but they can heal. As Rogues we're Tier 2 Utility and Tier 2 DPS.</font>the problem with our class is we are in kind of a grey area, SOE doesnt know wether to make us an actual "utlitliy" class or a DPS class.that being said i wouldnt play another class other my swash, ive rolled about 5 others and deleted them within a week.<hr></blockquote></span></div>

[ilucife]

ok so if every class has utility then why do ppl refer to our class as a utility class? we are not any better at utility than anyone else.to me a bard is utility, a warden is utility, a defiler is utility, the truth of the matter is that we are t2 dps that can mez,like i said about mez, some ppl use it, and some ppl dont, i have yet to have an instance where mez saved my group. if we get and add thats strong enough to wipe an intelligent group, chances are im not going to be able to mez it.as far as agro goes, we have swarthy for a reason....b/c our debuffs generate hate, you can look at that one of 2 ways, we give agro to the tank to help the "group", or we have the buff to keep us alive. for some reason i think the devs look at it as the latter of the two.ask a warlock who it benifits more from having an agro blame... chances are they are going to say themselves. how many posts on the wizzie warlock posts said, i need agro blame so i can boost my utility.from your line of reasoning, the yell for help button and the sprint button are utlity, so there for by breaking the encounter and sprinting the mobs off, im doing something that justifies my class from having lower dps. which brings me to my point. we get lower dps b/c we do things as well as anyother class.<div></div>

[Keyh]

/sighIt's like talking to a wall. I'm going to go send myself tells now....

[Sadpandaa]

<div><font color="#ff0033">/comforts Keyh</font></div><div><font color="#ff0033">It's ok honey, no one will call you a quitter if you walk away now.</font></div><div><font color="#ff0033"></font> </div><div><font color="#ff0033"></font> </div><div><font color="#ff0033">(and yes, Aratorn. I'm human. Leise isn't, but I am. Leise doesn't make mistakes, I do.)</font></div>

[De]

<div></div><div><span class="437384800-18022006"><font size="2" face="Arial">Great points by all. Your input is greatly appreciated.</font></span></div><div><span class="437384800-18022006"><font size="2" face="Arial"></font></span> </div><div><span class="437384800-18022006"><font size="2" face="Arial">As for "Utility", I see th Swash bringing Evac, Run Speed, Group Invis, and an occasional mez to the table. Does another class do the same and still have higher damage? Maybe a Ranger or Assasin? What about Tanking - can another class do these things and tank better? Tank better yes, have equal utility, no. How about Healing, can another class do these things and heal better? Maybe Druid (but no group invis?)?</font></span></div><div><span class="437384800-18022006"><font size="2" face="Arial"></font></span> </div><div><span class="437384800-18022006"><font size="2" face="Arial">Perhaps some people are questioning what does a Swash give up in order to get the utility?</font></span></div><div><span class="437384800-18022006"><font size="2" face="Arial"></font></span> </div><div><span class="437384800-18022006"><font size="2" face="Arial">I was under the impression that a Swash would be a tier one (whatever that means) dps class that could dish out just as much damage as a ranger/assasin, or at least come very close. Please correct me if you have seen different results, but Swash damage looks a lot like Berzerker/Monk damage but not the ability to tank even just a little. </font></span></div><div><span class="437384800-18022006"><font size="2" face="Arial"></font></span> </div><div><span class="437384800-18022006"><font size="2" face="Arial">I'm filtering through the boards here (takes a lot of time!) and absorbing your opinions, so keep em coming. Thanks.</font></span></div>

[Keyh]

<div><span>Ok, here's the dirt on us:<blockquote><hr>Dels wrote:<p>Is a Swashbuckler:DPS? <font color="#ff0000">Yes, Tier 2. I get ~400 DPS on group fights.</font>Utility? <font color="#ff0000">Yes, Group Stealth, Tracking, Disarm, Aggro management</font>Crowd Control? <font color="#ff0000">Yes, we get a decent mez 30 second recast, at higher levels the duration goes up getting closer to the recast. Useful in some cases</font>Solo Capable? <font color="#ff0000">Yes, very much so, I can solo heroic non-names around 3-4 levels below me, solo ^s turn into soup</font>Something else? <font color="#ff0000">Yes, secksay.</font></p><p>Thanks.</p><hr></blockquote></span></div>

[ArivenGemini]

<div><span><blockquote><hr>Dels wrote:<div><span class="437384800-18022006"><font size="2" face="Arial">Great points by all. Your input is greatly appreciated.</font></span></div><div><span class="437384800-18022006"></span> </div><span class="437384800-18022006"></span><div><span class="437384800-18022006"><font size="2" face="Arial">I was under the impression that a Swash would be a tier one (whatever that means) dps class that could dish out just as much damage as a ranger/assasin, or at least come very close. Please correct me if you have seen different results, but Swash damage looks a lot like Berzerker/Monk damage but not the ability to tank even just a little. </font></span></div><div><span class="437384800-18022006"></span></div><hr></blockquote>Swashy, as per the developers, is tier 2 dps.  Tanks are tier 3.  The only 4 in Tier 1 are Wizard, Warlock, Ranger and Assassin.The utility I see in swash is:Agro management:</span><ul><li><span>We have a taunt.</span></li><li><span>We have the ability to take agro off someone by our sheer native agro levels without that taunt</span></li><li><span>We can hold the agro and hand it off to the tank with our evade when the tank is ready</span></li><li><span>We can divert some of our hate to the MT to help keep agro</span></li><li><span>We can off-tank an add fairly well if its a normal mob</span></li></ul><span>Crowd control:</span><ul><li><span>We have a ghetto mez</span></li><li><span>We can stun entire groups momentarily</span></li></ul><span>Group movement through zone:</span><ul><li><span>We can group stealth</span></li><li><span>We can scout ahead</span></li><li><span>We can evac</span></li><li><span>We increase run speed</span></li></ul><span>Improving overall DPS and speed at killing a mob safely:</span><ul><li><span>We can debuff mitigation</span></li><li><span>We can debuff vs divine damage</span></li><li><span>We can debuff parry</span></li><li><span>We have other debuffs and slows/snares</span></li></ul><span>Yes, we share some of our utility with others... but it isn't a black and white thing, it is a sliding scale.. more dps <---> more utilityI think of us as chain wearing, mob debuffing, tank light with dps and panache<img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></span></div>

[AratornCalahn]

<span><blockquote><hr>Sadpandaa wrote:<div><font color="#ff0033">/comforts Keyh</font></div><div><font color="#ff0033">It's ok honey, no one will call you a quitter if you walk away now.</font></div><div><font color="#ff0033"></font> </div><div><font color="#ff0033"></font> </div><div><font color="#ff0033">(and yes, Aratorn. I'm human. Leise isn't, but I am. Leise doesn't make mistakes, I do.)</font></div><hr></blockquote>Try ing to say Leise has never had a night with a brigand? Yeah right!No one can resist that mistake...</span><div></div>

[AratornCalahn]

And btw.. stop the drivel about "ultitly" and crap with "taunts" and "mezzes", those are just extrasRouges are solidly built medium DPS/Tank/Utilty classes they dont excel in any area but are good at many.If thats not enough then you want a bruiser. Have a nice day. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /><div></div>

[Xti]

dont know if anyone has said it already, im to lazy to read the rest of the postbut i picked the swash cuz of its style of play, it only mostly does close up melee dps and nothing else cept for a few ranged CAs that i dont use cus throwing weapons r teh suck, rangers may do better dps, but they need to be ranged most of the time to do it. id rather be up close and stuff <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> i used to be a guardian before i re-rolled and made my swash. i never liked being responsible for tanking, i just wanted to do damage.<div></div>

[overfloat]

<div></div><blockquote><hr>Dels wrote:<p>Is a Swashbuckler:DPS?Utility?Crowd Control?Solo Capable?Something else?</p><hr></blockquote><p>Yes.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Whaddya mean "that's not very helpful"? <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[wr4ithd0]

<div></div><p>Potato, potato.</p><p> </p><p>I think the utility thing comes from back in the day when we did have some unique utility. </p><p> </p><p>Swashbucklers, just one hotbutton away from aggro at all times.  LOL, or so it seems.  You know when you've done it <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p> </p>

[Syrano]

Our utility comes from our Debuffs folks! If we're talking utility beyond normal scout utility (traps, group invis, mes, assorted poisons, the list goes on).Our debuffs can make or break some raids.  They make group content much much easier.<hr width="100%" size="2">Illuc wrote:as far as agro managment is concerned, we have one 20 second mez. now in any exp group ive been in one add isnt going to make much of a difference, by the time i switch targets and mez the other mob is usually almost dead. Also a good tank is going to see the add and pick it up(if you mezz it, then he tuants it, you just wasted about 2 seconds of your time). and the skill is useless on raids.<hr width="100%" size="2">Let's see, one 20 second mez.  Oh noes! It's worthless!  I've actually *used* said mez on raids in Gates to lock down adds to make an encounter easier to stabilize.  I've used mezz on raids to assist the enchanter with locking down adds.  20 seconds is a helluva lot of time, using mez means I don't have to tank the thing and the chanter or bard can swing their way over to the mob in due time.  All that time, it's not doing damage.  And on mobs that can put out 400-800 dps, my 1-2 second effort to mez is saving the raid 8k-16k damage intake. Do I use it all the time on raids? No. Mostly it goes unused on raids, but I *have* used it when we needed to find alternate strategies.  In groups I use it all the time.  Just last night I used it in one of the new KoS dungeons, we got an overpull when the tank turned a corner, thre level 65 ^^^ mobs.  We had no crowd control in the group.  Tank was taking a serious beating.  No problem, I switch targets, mez a mob.  Eliminates 1/3 of all incoming damage for 20 seconds.  healers recoupe, we drop one mob, start on the second, mez wears off, 2nd mob is only 3/4.. I re-mez... 2nd mob dies, onto the last mob.   Skate through the fight... yes.. everyone live... yes.  Tank learn not to run blind corners? Yes.  Group see the power of a Swashy? Yes.having the ability is more important than needing to use it all the time. When I solo I use it frequently, when I am *tanking* for my XP groups I use it frequently.  When I'm pure DPS in a well rounded group that is either a) taking content where CC isn't necessary or b) has CC, I never use it.We're like a swiss army knife, there's a whole lot of stuff at our disposal, but you'll never use all of it at any given time.And for the record, taunts don't break mez.  In fact, the best way to use mez is to mez the mob and then in fact, have the tank taunt it.  That way, the tank has the aggro when mez does break.<div></div>

[Trollb]

<div></div><p><font color="#ff0000">Dels"Yes, very much so, I can solo heroic non-names around 3-4 levels below me, solo ^s turn into soup"</font></p><p>Have you played your swash recently?</p><p>I have mostly legendary armor, and yet, im barely able to solo blues. DPS in groups i do okay. Yes, I can take a few hits. But solo, is a [Removed for Content] nightmare, not just for the fact that i almost die, but for the fact that you get so little xp per kill when you are killing that lawn trash.</p><p>Now I wake up with 6% less mitigation than I had when i logged off yesterday, and wonder where it went.</p><p> </p>

[Trollb]

<div></div><p>syrano "All that time, it's not doing damage.  And on mobs that can put out 400-800 dps, my 1-2 second effort to mez is saving the raid 8k-16k damage intake."</p><p>Having to un-target, retarget... mez... and then retarget the main mob... when 3 other people in your group can also mez the target... is not efficient if you are already an efficient dps class. Especially when someone just breaks your mezz with aoe. Even when soloing i find the mez of dubious at best, and life threatening at worst.</p><p>The timer is way too short to be of use, perhaps when it cant be broken by aoe later, and is longer than 20 seconds then it could be useful.</p><p>And if it REALLY was that dangerous of an add; you had best be hitting evac; our only true utility skill. Which also means, you are hanging out with the wrong crowd if you have to use it alot... because somebody definitely screwed up. lol.</p>

[Gwenev]

<div></div><p>My main is a 60 swash, my alt is a 35 monk.</p><p>I love my swashy, truely.  So much fun.  But... we are terrible soloers.  It's not that we can't solo, indeed most of my XP came from soloing, even from before the combat upgrade.  But, we are weak at it.  Your experience in Zek is perfectly normal.  A yellow down-arrow fight will be something you can tackle, but with work.  Even one up arrow on a blue will probably mean something close to a 50/50 fight.  My monk finds things vastly easier to solo with much less effort too.  At 60, with all adept III or master 1 arts and full legendary or fabled gear, I find I can sometimes solo a just-above-grey ^^^ mob. </p><p>It's not balanced, solo-wise.  Badly imbalanced IMHO.  I've seen templars 5 levels below me casually solo mobs I lose to.  I could go on and on <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>Still, it's a fun class to play, and a challenging class solo.  Just depends if you mind the extra work or not.</p><p>In groups, we shine.  People say we are tier 2 DPS, but I don't believe it - we are borderline tier 1.  I almost always parse out as #1 on a group.  Conjurors beat me sometimes.  Rangers (pre-nerf) sometimes.  But not often.  In raids, I'm usually in the top 3 (unless the mob has to be engaged with primarily ranged or is one of the all-melee-die-a-lot types).  I've received tells more than once from groups after I left saying they want me back because the mobs are taking too long to kill.  Last time was from a group with a ranger and a conjurer!  Many people don't understand the depth of our debuffs. </p><p>We can tank.  Not well, but adequately until a real tank shows up.  Nothing like your monk, but useable. </p><p>Solo, I think my monk is probably more fun.  Can take a hit and dish it out.  Plus invis plus feign.  Very versatile character.   Really the only thing solo a swash has over a monk is evac.  Heh. </p><p>In groups, my monk is a superior tank and inferior DPS compared to my swash. </p><p>IMHO, SOE should increase the avoidance of all scout types.  The only effective scout soloers do it by kiting.  Increasing our avoidance would only start to catch us up to every other class in terms of soloing while not changine our group role / effectiveness at all (at least as DPS).  Improving our group tank role would be fine too, as we really aren't all that good at it (and the main issue is lack of taunts anyhow). </p><p>Sorry, a bit of a ramble there... play your swashy if you like <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />, but don't expect a solo experience like your monk.  Aim down the food chain... a lot <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />  </p><p>Lunette</p>

[Trollb]

<div></div><p>"It's not balanced, solo-wise.  Badly imbalanced IMHO.  I've seen templars 5 levels below me casually solo mobs I lose to.  I could go on and on <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>Still, it's a fun class to play, and a challenging class solo."</p><p>Definitely has me buggin. I see people claim we can solo, but then log in to get beat down by the nearest blue. If i fight things that are really really easy then its quick and not too much health lost. But anything above blue is not even worth trying. Ive died and incurred WAY to much debt simply by being a rogue.</p><p>So I dont bother soloing. If my friends arent on and i cant find a group, i log my bruiser or go craft.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>

[Syrano]

<div></div><hr width="100%" size="2"><p><font color="#6666ff">Having to un-target, retarget... mez... and then retarget the main mob... when 3 other people in your group can also mez the target... is not efficient if you are already an efficient dps class. Especially when someone just breaks your mezz with aoe. Even when soloing i find the mez of dubious at best, and life threatening at worst.</font></p><hr width="100%" size="2"><p>A bit exagerated there. It takes 1-4 seconds for me to acquire a target at best. usuallly tab cycling works, if not a click will do.   I have a macro for mez which notifies the group I'm ezing while casting mez.  As soon as your cast bar starts you can resume assist on the main mob.  The spell will land on the target you had when it was cast.</p><p>If your group members are breaking mez then they are not as skilled as they should be.  If you are breaking your own mez with something like hurricane you are not as skilled as you should be.    If mez is life threatening to you solo then you have some work to do, it is incredibly easy to use solo (tab->mez->tab->resume attack).   it's an acquired skill, it takes practice, but a swashy that knows how to use it can look overpowered in the extreme, it is one of our best kept secrets.</p><hr width="100%" size="2"><font color="#6666ff">The timer is way too short to be of use, perhaps when it cant be broken by aoe later, and is longer than 20 seconds then it could be useful.</font><hr width="100%" size="2"><p>The time is long enough that solo I can usually drop one mob before it wears off.  The time is long enough that in a group we can usually drop one mob before it wears off.  Worst case, you can keep a mob locked down for 20 out of every 30 seconds, if you can't find a use for that skill and only think of DPS as our value add, then I can't really help you, it's like talking toa  wall.</p><hr width="100%" size="2"><p><font color="#6666ff">And if it REALLY was that dangerous of an add; you had best be hitting evac; our only true utility skill. Which also means, you are hanging out with the wrong crowd if you have to use it alot... because somebody definitely screwed up. lol.</font></p><hr width="100%" size="2">That's right, run first, dont' bother trying.  My biggest issue with people is how scared they get to try something that might even be remotely risky.  If you think we are nothing but DPS it's probably because you've never actually had to push the limit in any way shape or form.<p></p><div></div><p>Message Edited by Syrano on <span class="date_text">02-22-2006</span><span class="time_text">01:11 PM</span></p>

[ophidius]

You get more melee damage per second <i>and </i>the coveted "evac," the Rogue's best utility power, as an Assassin!... Why am I getting this déjà vu feeling?<div></div>

[x82nd77]

<div></div><blockquote><hr>Gwenevie wrote:<div></div><p>I love my swashy, truely.  So much fun.  But... we are terrible soloers.  It's not that we can't solo, indeed most of my XP came from soloing, even from before the combat upgrade.  But, we are weak at it. </p><p>It's not balanced, solo-wise.  Badly imbalanced IMHO.  I've seen templars 5 levels below me casually solo mobs I lose to.  I could go on and on <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p> </p><p></p><hr></blockquote>Is that true? I was actually making a Swashy this morning (havent even got on her yet) under the idea of making her my "questing" toon. I had heard out of all the scouts (since LU20) you were the strongest soloers.  I was looking at scouts vs other more obvious solo choices because of the tracking ablility. I love not having to run all over gods green norath to find things.

[Trollb]

<div>"I had heard out of all the scouts (since LU20) you were the strongest soloers."</div><div> </div><div>Well, we know where the old Iraqi Minister of Propaganda went... he is wandering around playing EQ2 and telling people swash can solo! lol.</div><div> </div><div> </div>

[the flu]

Swashies are great soloers if:You fight critters approrpirate to your gear and spell upgrade levels- a white, no arrow mob is designed as a challange for someone in handcrafted with all app 4 spells, as an example.You know which arts to use in what order for the best bang for your buck.You are willing to move around during the fight and know how to use cheapshot effectivly.You are willing to spend money on poisons to supplement any weakness in your upgrade levels.<div></div>

[ophidius]

<div></div>I never really thought Rogues had that much trouble soloing. Bards are definitely not the prime solo choice, as my musically-inclined friends have often assured me, but they can manage. Maybe Predators have it easier than us, I don't know. Admittedly, I never played one enough to comment. Rangers were apparently neutered in LU#20, so while they're recuperating you may want to ask around the Assassin forums. As a very general rule, Predators are supposed to do more damage than us but lack our debuffs and their defensive stance doesn't give mitigation (Swashbuckler defensive stance gives mitigation, right? <span>:smileytongue:</span>).<div></div>

[Keyh]

<span><blockquote><hr>ophidius wrote:<div></div>I never really thought Rogues had that much trouble soloing. Bards are definitely not the prime solo choice, as my musically-inclined friends have often assured me, but they can manage. Maybe Predators have it easier than us, I don't know. Admittedly, I never played one enough to comment. Rangers were apparently neutered in LU#20, so while they're recuperating you may want to ask around the Assassin forums. As a very general rule, Predators are supposed to do more damage than us but lack our debuffs and their defensive stance doesn't give mitigation (Swashbuckler defensive stance gives mitigation, right? <span>:smileytongue:</span>).<div></div><hr></blockquote>Yep, that sounds pretty accurate. I have a lvl 40 Troubadour, kind of have a difficult time soloing, it's not THAT bad though. Large groups of down arrows we (Troubadours) can take pretty well. Also, we're (Troubadours) decent kiters if that's all it takes.As for soloing with a Swashy, I've had little to no problems with it. Low blue/Green heroics go down with a fight (Non-named, I could barely kill Siphon in SS at level 59, he's a 49^^^ heroic). Solo ^s (equal or 1 level above you) I can take out, again with a little problems.  Overall, I believe our solo ability is definately higher than most.</span><div></div>

[ArivenGemini]

<div><span><blockquote><hr>Gwenevie wrote:<div></div><p>My main is a 60 swash, my alt is a 35 monk.</p><p>I love my swashy, truely.  So much fun.  But... we are terrible soloers.  It's not that we can't solo, indeed most of my XP came from soloing, even from before the combat upgrade.  But, we are weak at it.  Your experience in Zek is perfectly normal.  A yellow down-arrow fight will be something you can tackle, but with work.  Even one up arrow on a blue will probably mean something close to a 50/50 fight.  My monk finds things vastly easier to solo with much less effort too.  At 60, with all adept III or master 1 arts and full legendary or fabled gear, I find I can sometimes solo a just-above-grey ^^^ mob. </p><p>It's not balanced, solo-wise.  Badly imbalanced IMHO.  I've seen templars 5 levels below me casually solo mobs I lose to.  I could go on and on <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>Still, it's a fun class to play, and a challenging class solo.  Just depends if you mind the extra work or not.</p><p>...</p><p>IMHO, SOE should increase the avoidance of all scout types.  The only effective scout soloers do it by kiting.  Increasing our avoidance would only start to catch us up to every other class in terms of soloing while not changine our group role / effectiveness at all (at least as DPS).  Improving our group tank role would be fine too, as we really aren't all that good at it (and the main issue is lack of taunts anyhow).</p><hr></blockquote>Well, I never kite when soloing.. I dont need to.. and I regularly hunt yellow con solo mobs... and regularly get them to 50-70% health before I take a hit at all.. and typically never get below 35% health myself on a hard mob before it drops.  I can do this time and time again...  all without kiting.Sure, I would love a higher avoidance, but I dont need it, and for me the only solo mobs that give me any trouble are brawler mobs, since they avoid too much for me to burn em down fast.. and they can avoid my initial strike with the stun that lets me get off the positional rear attacks.If you think you have to kite to solo, I think I see where you are having problems..Best tip I can give you is to actually read the descriptions of your attacks and see what they do and actually think of what order you should use them in...  I have a specific pattern for mine, and it works quite well..</span></div>

[overfloat]

<div></div><div></div><blockquote><hr>Trollboy wrote:<div></div><p>I have mostly legendary armor, and yet, im barely able to solo blues.</p><hr></blockquote><div>Definitely sounds like you're doing something wrong. Very wrong.</div><div> </div><div>If you're doing all this already, great... but if you're going to solo efficiently you <u>have</u> to move around during the fight, you <u>have</u> to order your attacks to get the greatest benefit, you <u>have</u> to use your stuns, you have to have a good idea of recast timers and debuff durations, and most importantly you <u>have</u> to know what all your skills do.</div><div> </div><div>If you're just going toe-to-toe and randomly spamming CAs you'll have a much harder time. If you're not using cheap shot, backstabs, mez, stealth, stuns, layering debuffs in a sensible order against tougher encounters, you'll have a much harder time.</div><div> </div><div></div><blockquote><hr>Trollboy wrote:<div></div><p>Having to un-target, retarget... mez... and then retarget the main mob... when 3 other people in your group can also mez the target... is not efficient if you are already an efficient dps class.</p><hr></blockquote><p>Like Syrano said, that's something of an exaggeration. Either click on the add, cast, and immediately hit your assist button to pick up the current target again (barely a couple of seconds, if that), or use tab and shift-tab to switch targets inside the encounter even faster. And very rarely is there anyone else in the group who can mez (swashbucklers, wizards and enchanters, right?).</p><p> </p><blockquote><hr>Even when soloing i find the mez of dubious at best, and life threatening at worst.<hr></blockquote><p>I'm not sure how you could <em>possibly</em> find mez life threatening...  Mez is your best friend when soloing. It knocks out an add for 20 seconds. It halves the incoming DPS in two-mob solo encounters (find another debuff for <em>any </em>subclass that halves DPS by up to 50%). It gives you a moment to breath, or sneak and stun (Brazen Thrust, which you should be using regularly if you're finding blue con encounters that tough), or gives you a headstart if you need to break the encounter and run. If you don't use mez while soloing - particularly multi-mob solo encounters - you're crippling yourself.</p><p> </p><blockquote><hr>Trollboy wrote:<div></div><p>The timer is way too short to be of use, perhaps when it cant be broken by aoe later, and is longer than 20 seconds then it could be useful.</p><hr></blockquote><p>Having an illusionist alt, I can tell you that 20-25 seconds is plenty for an in-encounter mez, rarely will the other mobs last long enough for it to wear off. For an out-of-encounter mez, it's not infallible, but it's sure as hell worth the power cost and a split second off the main target. It gets broken by an AE? So what, you still had anything up to 20 seconds with 0 DPS from that mob for next to no cost. If your group is sensible enough not to break mez, it is without question your single most powerful debuff.</p><p> </p><blockquote><hr>Gwenevie wrote:<div></div><p>My main is a 60 swash, my alt is a 35 monk.</p><p>I love my swashy, truely.  So much fun.  But... we are terrible soloers.  ...  My monk finds things vastly easier to solo with much less effort too.</p><hr></blockquote><div>You're comparing swashbucklers to arguably the single best soloing class in the game (both pre- and post-revamp). Great tanking ability, very good DPS, self heal, invis, FD. So yeah, I doubt you'll find any other class that has as easy a time soloing as a monk (or bruiser). <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> We aren't the greatest soloers but we sure as heck aren't the worst.</div><div> </div><div> </div><div></div><blockquote><hr>psheets wrote:<div></div><p>Is that true? I was actually making a Swashy this morning (havent even got on her yet) under the idea of making her my "questing" toon. I had heard out of all the scouts (since LU20) you were the strongest soloers.  I was looking at scouts vs other more obvious solo choices because of the tracking ablility. I love not having to run all over gods green norath to find things.</p><hr></blockquote><div>Swashbucklers actually make one of the best solo questing classes. Track, evac, sneak, pathfinding, great single-target DPS plus very good AE DPS and the ability to mez (to cover both solo and multi-mob encounters), and the ability to take hits pretty well (for a non-fighter subclass) -- very good combination. Having also tried to quest with a templar, illusionist, monk and defiler, I can tell you that they don't hold a candle to a swashbuckler. Monk came close because of FD, invis and plain great ability to tank and DPS, but the lack of evac and track slows things down hugely. With the ability to earn FD with AAs, it really is a close-to-perfect combination.</div><div> </div><div>Don't expect a solo swashbuckler to play like some other classes, though. No standing in one spot and just trying to cast and heal through interrupts like priest, no kiting around like a ranger, no root and nuke, no sending the pet in to do the work for you, no standing and spamming and just hoping you win like a guardian. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> You'll have to work for your victories, know your skills, and understand the game mechanics a little beyond "I hit this 'nuke' button until the mob dies". </div>

[ArivenGemini]

<div><span><blockquote><hr>overfloater wrote:<div></div><div>Don't expect a solo swashbuckler to play like some other classes, though. No standing in one spot and just trying to cast and heal through interrupts like priest, no kiting around like a ranger, no root and nuke, no sending the pet in to do the work for you, no standing and spamming and just hoping you win like a guardian. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> <font size="4" color="#ff0000"><b>You'll have to work for your victories, know your skills, and understand the game mechanics a little beyond "I hit this 'nuke' button until the mob dies</b></font>". </div><hr></blockquote>Emphasised for emphasis..When I took the time to sit down and -think- about which skill does what and read the descriptions and planned out what goes best when, I improved my soloabilty (and group contribution) 4-5x over what it had been before... know your class is critical with swashy..  And, once you know your class, then you can work on your Panache<img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></span></div>

[Trollb]

<div></div><div>"If you're just going toe-to-toe and randomly spamming CAs you'll have a much harder time. If you're not using cheap shot, backstabs, mez, stealth, stuns, layering debuffs in a sensible order against tougher encounters, you'll have a much harder time."</div><div> </div><div>Understanding the creepy con system that EQ2 has was probably my worst problem, im still not sure if a ^^^ green is supposed to be harder than a regular old blue, im guessing it is. And basically that anything blue with more than one ^ can be bad. Anything blue and heroic, has been a bad idea.</div><div> </div><div>Once i got those figured out, just soloing greens, green heroics, and solo mobs really was okay. Just not those "parry" goblins in lavastorm.</div><div> </div><div>I think my latest is start from stealth attack from behind for easy access, drop both my positionals, the triple attack/debuff, hit em with my frontal once he turns around, go into a heroic opportunity, launch my debuffs, then hit the detaunt/stealth, stealth attack, then go again for a positional. Somewhere in there ill use cheap shot to get a positional (the fast recycle one) So i cant remember the whole thing outright, but it works pretty well.</div><div> </div><div>The mez trick syrano told was good, that gives me a couple seconds and ensures i dont accidently break the mez.</div><div> </div><div>Now though on pvp server i rolled a brigand (couldnt see redoing the entire SAME class lol) So ill be playing pve on mistmoor swash, and pvp brigand. I figure the versatility of being an off tank (once i learn how to do it right), and utility of track and invis will be the way to go.</div><div> </div><div>That is, until we get nerfed (they are already eyeballing the brigands for a nerf!).</div><div> </div><div> </div><p>Message Edited by Trollboy on <span class="date_text">02-23-2006</span><span class="time_text">12:27 PM</span></p>

[overfloat]

<div></div><blockquote><hr>Trollboy wrote:<div></div><div> </div><div>Understanding the creepy con system that EQ2 has was probably my worst problem, im still not sure if a ^^^ green is supposed to be harder than a regular old blue, im guessing it is. And basically that anything blue with more than one ^ can be bad. Anything blue and heroic, has been a bad idea.<hr></div></blockquote><div>Hehe, that's understandable. EQ2's con system can be a little freaky, especially when you get multiple mobs in a single encounter.</div><div> </div><div>For a single mob, the general rule is that a single down arrow is a "standard" solo mob. No arrows is a tough solo mob. One up arrow is considered a "mini heroic" -- you'll see it's labelled heroic in the target window but they usually <em>are </em>soloable, though expect to take a beating in the process! Those mini-heroics are aimed at (per the Devs) "highly skilled soloers or small groups". "Highly skilled" is maybe a slight exaggeration but they are definitely tougher than true solo mobs, and they grant bonus experience like other heroic encounters too. The major difference for scouts is that Cheap Shot only lasts 2 seconds on them (like all heroics) instead of the 6s duration for solo mobs.</div><div> </div><div>Anything with two up-arrows or more is "real heroic"! That means, don't expect to be able to solo those mobs -- if you can, great, but they're designed by fought by full groups so they <em>will</em> hurt. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Generally the xp gain is faster, easier and less risky if you stick to blue solo mobs, as the xp returns on green heroic mobs are pretty weak for the hassle.</div><div> </div><blockquote><div><hr> Once i got those figured out, just soloing greens, green heroics, and solo mobs really was okay. Just not those "parry" goblins in lavastorm.<hr></div></blockquote><div>Anything that parries or blocks a lot -- mainly those pesky brawler mobs -- is a pain. The whole strategy for swashbuckler soloing is to burn the mob down fast while keeping it semi-incapacitated with stuns; anything that slows down the fight is working against you.</div><div> </div><blockquote><div><hr></div><div>I think my latest is start from stealth attack from behind for easy access, drop both my positionals, the triple attack/debuff, hit em with my frontal once he turns around, go into a heroic opportunity, launch my debuffs, then hit the detaunt/stealth, stealth attack, then go again for a positional. Somewhere in there ill use cheap shot to get a positional (the fast recycle one) So i cant remember the whole thing outright, but it works pretty well.</div><div><hr></div></blockquote><div>That's a pretty good run. The stealth attack to start is a no-brainer, hehe. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> It gets you a "free" initial attack lets you get your rear attacks off before the mob even has a chance to respond. The 3-strike flurry is a good choice for a third attack from the rear before the stun breaks, as there's less chance of one of the strikes being parried.</div><div> </div><div>Once the stun wears off, I'd recommend starting the HO first, then use your Defense/WIS debuff (unresistable, better chance of landing your following attacks, and progresses the HO), then your frontal attack (parry debuff and completes the HO). This means you have all your major defensive debuffs -- AGI, phys. mit x 2, defense, parry -- on the mob already, which significantly increases your damage and chance to hit.</div><div> </div><div>The other run is obviously:  HO starter --> Cheap Shot --> Backstab (to finish the HO). If Cheap Shot is still refreshing and you're taking a beating:  mez, stealth, wait a few moments for your major CAs to refresh, then open up again with your stealth attack/stun so you have a few seconds without incoming damage where you can unload your CAs. Make sure you right-click and cancel any active poison on the mob before mezzing, though! Mez really is a gem once you get used to it. I've even used it in confined areas to avoid wandering adds: mez the mob, stealth, and let the wanderer path past without aggroing... then get back to killing! The tougher the mob, the more careful you'll want to be about ordering stuns and mez to keep the mob hitting you as little as possible.</div><div> </div><div>If there are other mobs too close to your pull target and you need a ranged pull:  use your throwing CA, back up to safety while stealthing, and spam your stealth attack as the mob approaches -- it will trigger as soon as he's in CA range (but out of his melee range) and he will actually run smack into your stun. From there you can just do your regular back attack sequence as usual.</div><div> </div><div>Also if you're low on health, if your major CAs are down and mez is down, remember that your ranged attack is actually quite potent -- if you have the space to maneuvre without getting adds, you can just run backwards and fire your ranged CA. While I'm not a big fan of kiting, you do have a snare (3, in fact!) to buy time against melee mobs while waiting for CAs to refresh in an emergency.</div><div> </div><div>If you're careful, learn to judge which way a fight will go early on, and remember that you have stuns, snares and mezzes galore (plus pathfinding for extra speed as soon as you break an encounter), you should actually die in regular fights pretty infrequently and have to use Evac only sparingly. It's only the unexpected adds that can really cause issues. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></div><div> </div>

[Paedaeon]

<div>You know, when I first started playing, the very first character I made was a swash.  I knew right off that I wanted to play one.  Later, I tried several other classes, but have never gotten any of them past lvl 25 because--  I just find I *have* to go back and play my swash.</div><div> </div><div>I think it's the adrenaline rush.  The instant gratification of having *survived* in such a spectacular way.</div><div> </div><div>When soloing a swash, the tiniest of margins can mean victory.  Food counts, poison counts.  <em>Every</em> stat point counts, <em>every</em> second counts.  Speed and precision are absolutely necessary for consistent success.</div><div> </div><div>The funny thing is that I really thought this was normal for most classes--the crazy, edge of your seat frenzy.  Then I noticed that my friends (who have comps in the same room) would spend three or four minutes killing a mob.  Or walk away from the comp for a bio or a drink (seriously) while they were fighting something because it couldn't really hurt them, yet they couldn't do much to it either.</div><div> </div><div>Another friend of mine, who groups with me to talk while we both are soloing, commented that she's always horrified to see my health hit red so quickly . . . and then amazed to see that I kill the mob anyway. </div><div> </div><div>But you know what?</div><div> </div><div>She's started playing a swash now, too.    <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></div><div> </div>

[Dakkon_10]

<div>The swashbuckler uses debuff attackss, back attacks, stuns and mezzes to bring mobs dps down and provide safety to healers/casters while tank tanks.</div><div>Swashbucklers main damage move is inspired daring, 13 sec you proc for 100-300 dmg on every hit including CA procs and ranged. We also get hurricane which allows our autoattack 40% chance to proc aoe. Swasahbucklers are not meant to be as high dps as rangers and assassins but have other usefull abilities such as debuffs, group invis, and a small taunt.</div><div> </div><div>I'm not sure what brigands get related to swashbuckler except a buff that grants immunity to aoe</div><div> </div><div>But screw that swashbucklers get all the ladies! :smileywink:  /swashbucklers charm</div>

[Luk]

<div></div><p>You guys have it all wrong</p><p>A Swashbuckler is all about dieing with style and grace and looking good while saving the healer from death <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[TheSnoo]

<div></div>A swashy is all about one word:   Finesse

[Ookami-san]

<div></div><p>Conan said:</p><p><strong><em>"To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women."</em></strong></p><p>But I would think the Swashbuckler motto would be:</p><p><strong><em>"To humiliate your enemies, to see them embaressed before you, and to ride off into the sunset with their women."</em></strong></p>