Confusion on what exactly Brigands do?

[Panzerk]

Hello all..Former Assassin here, I just started a new scout, made him a Barbarian and Im getting to the point where I have to descide which way to go and I think I may like a Brigand. I know my assassin was all about stealth and serrious DPS, how does the stealth ability of the Brigand compare and what sort of attacks do they get DPS wise. Most of my damage from my Rogue came from attacks while in stealth and from the flank or behind..I guess Im just looking for clarity on what Brigands are and how they function.

[Korelen]

Brigands have some stealth attacks that cause damage as well as snares the target, but I hardly use them. We do have a combat casting sneak, but I am too lazy to turn off attack <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />A lot of our dps comes from Combat Arts which are behind / flanking attacks. We do have some utility in terms of debuffs and stuns.You will not see the big numbers as you did when you were an Assassin, but Ruse damage is nice. It's fun when a group member says - "Z, what the hell was that attack?" *lol*

[Behun]

<DIV>I play a lvl 35 Brigand and I have not found out yet.  I'd recommend an Assassin or a Bard any day.  Assassin does a lot more dmg than brigands do and Bards are obviously bards.  Even with max skill spamming I couldn't come close to the dmg the assassin did.  So we have one group sneak, big deal.  The group sneak is NOT good enough to make me want to play a Brigand over a better DPSer and a Bard.  Group sneak is more of a 'save you 5 minutes of work' spell.  All I ever use for is to get us past a camp we don't want to waste our time on.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>/Who all Brigand shows how many are excited about the class, unfortunately.</DIV>

[Kegofbud]

<DIV> What assassins are you playing with? I routinely outdamage every assassin I've ever grouped with up to the point I am now. Even when I was one level below, I could outdamage them without counting my Ruse Adept 3. Add that in and I would be ahead by so much more it's silly. The assassin can occaisionly win a battle when his big hit is up, but that's what one every 5 minutes? Throw in my Ruse damage and we would be even on the parser. We use the parser checking our stats all the time and I have yet to see a class that outdamages us on single or 2 mob pulls. Wizards beat me out on 4 or 5 mob pulls due to their group DoT but that's the most I have witnessed. They can't keep up on single or 2 mob pulls. Not trying to start arguements or anything, but that's what I've seen in our stats.</DIV>

[Zerim]

<DIV>In addition to our scout utilities (group invis, evac, tracking) we can debuff and do excellent DPS.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Generally speaking (though not as a rule), players who underutilize our utility, debuff and combat arts like the gentleman above, will proclaim brigands as second-class assassins. I find that humorous, and when they reroll or quit I find it refreshing that I have one less brigand to compete against for the Master 1 drops I need.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>All scout classes have their strengths, but people who play their brigands capably wouldn't play any other class.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Good luck.</DIV>

[Kegofbud]

<DIV>I agree with Zerimar. I had to reread the posts when he said "gentleman above" to make sure he didn't mean me, but as he said, I wouldn't enjoy playing any other scout class as much as Brigand now.  Group invis has saved a member or two a few times during AFKs. Our debuffs actually work quite well as well as he had stated. I think it all comes down to how well you equip your character, if you keep yout skills upgraded and most of all - how you use him.</DIV>

[Azr]

<DIV>"Assassin does a lot more dmg than brigands"</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>First, I think a more correct statment would be Assasins do a lot more damage then your brigand. I am almost 40 now but even at 36 I was at least evenly pared when parsed against assasins and considering ruse doesn't get parsed I was doing more in a lot of cases. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Second, very few people take into account what level spells people are useing. Masteries? adept1s or 3s?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Third, if you are interested in dealing pure damage you'd be surprised to know that at high levels monks and bruisers are mildly to seriously out damaging preds and rogues. This was a bit tough for me to stomache at first but if you consider that scouts can track, stealth, stun, evac, buff, debuff, dps amongst other things, it kind of makes sense that brawlers get the greater DPS bone to chew on as while they do offer some utility to groups, it is a lot less then scouts offer.</DIV>

[Dtrick]

<DIV>Behunts, my advice to you is to go and reroll an assassin.  I would not under any circumstance play any other character but a Brigand.  We have great DPS, great group utilities, great debuffs (esential when hunting red con mobs) and again insane DPS.   Please do not come to this board giving false information because you do not know how to play your character.  If you notice this board is filled with very useful information for Brigands and no whining.  Most of us here that frequent the board everyday would like to keep it that way.</DIV><p>Message Edited by Dtrick on <span class=date_text>01-25-2005</span> <span class=time_text>11:51 AM</span>

[dox]

<DIV> <P><SPAN><FONT color=#ffffff>At 37 close to 38, I've rarely been out damaged on the parsers, especially with any level of consistency.  Most tanks have trouble keeping agro off me unless there 2 to 3 levels above or really doing their job well.  Nothing is more frustrating then having to hold back.  I’m usually 2-300 above the Assassin, not counting the 2-3 seconds or so I loose on the parser to pop off a ruse.  One of my favorites is using smugglers talent with bushwhack master 1.  The amount of added dmg is sick in a group encounter.  Maybe this will change in higher levels, I don’t know.  I do know that if it does, it's not gonna crush me too much.  We have plenty of other tricks.</FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN><FONT color=#ffffff>Behunts, I'd hate to think you wasted 35 levels and didn’t learn how to play your class to its maximum ability.  Perhaps your just not happy being a Brig (hence the low dmg) and should re-roll.</FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN><FONT color=#ffffff>Doxer - 37 Dark Elf Brigand</FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN>Mistmoore</SPAN></P></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Justin Sa]

<DIV>What parser are you guys doing that tracks Ruse? The one on ScoutSanctuary doesn't track it and it annoys me.</DIV>

[Kegofbud]

<DIV>Right now, most of the people I know use Combatstats (combatstats.com). It doesn't rack Ruse at this time but the creator is working on it and thinks he'll have it working soon.</DIV>

[Korelen]

I rather not see Ruse damage parsed. People would complain too much about the damage, and SOE will respond with nerfing the special to a 5 minute timer or something [FaarNerfed!] along those lines.

[Dimidri]

<DIV>Brigands shouldn't be consistently outdamaged by Assassins by a large amount of damage. Assassin do tend to do more damage in my parties around 70% of the time, equal levels and stuff, but I'm too lazy to use Ruse and Locke's Shameful Kick sometimes. If I made use of those (and I remembered to use Rash Advance more often) then I would probably be more on par with the Assassin that I group with.</DIV>