Warriors

[Koyle]

I'm looking for some advice or insight; I'm having a heck of a time deciding between playing a Guardian or Berserker. I enjoy tanking but I also solo on occasion when my wife isn't on with me and most of what I read in the class forums tell me I should play a zerker since they are easier to solo and can tank for groups as well.  My concern is will I be passed up for endgame tanking when we find a guild and start raiding?  Are Guardians the primary choice for the MT slot or would a zerker have a chance at it?  I'd have no problem being an MA or melee dps but are zerkers commonplace for that role or is it handed to the Scouts?  What role would a zerker fill in a raid? As for choosing Guardian (besides the slow solo ability) my fear is that I wouldnt find a spot later on in a guild due to them already having their MT.  Everything I read pretty much said that most guilds have their MT's in place already and even made me think rolling a Warrior at all this late in the game wasn't a good idea.  Coming from WoW it's not uncommon to have 3+ Warriors on a raid, it seems EQ2 is a bit different in that respect.  I love tanking and leading, when I get the pathing and encounters down in EQ2 filling the role of MT is usually where I best fit.  But.. am I too late? Anyhow, I'd appreciate any feedback, comments or suggestions.

[Wrapye]

Speaking as someone in one of the raiding guilds on my server... We have a berserker who is often our MT.  Yes, there are times when the Guardian is better suited for the job, but the Berserker has tanked the likes of the Pumpkin Headed Horseman (EoF T7 Contested epic) successfully. There are a number of raids where more than one tank is needed.  I can think of a couple where three tanks are optimal, though they don't usually all have to be plate tanks.  There is room for more than one plate tank in a raid guild. edit:  N.B.  It doesn't matter too much what class the MA is.  Our MA is often a wizard or swashbuckler.

[Koyle]

Thanks for the reply Wrapye, it's good to hear that there seems to still be room for more Warriors out there.  Or maybe there isn't but good to read that at least more than one Warrior on a raid is welcomed on occasion.  I suppose it's up to the raid leader anyway, how well versed they are in class abilities and if they are open minded enough to make flexible group/class considerations.

[Ebjelen]

<p>My Guardian soloes just fine. You can set your AAs up to beef up those CAs considerably. I seem to do equally well with shield and one-hander or a two-handed weapon.</p><p>IMHO It's how you play the fighers that counts. I know guards that can't tank well and berserkers that can and vice-versa. It isn't easy to [Removed for Content] these classes as long as you keep up strength, stamina and taunts.</p><p>By the time you hit 70, you'll have a reputation, meaning it won't matter so much which class you're playing. People will know if you're a good tank or not when you get there.</p><p>How can all the guilds have their tanks already? New guilds form every day. There just isn't this huge flood of people rushing to join 3 or 4 raid guilds per server. There's lots of guilds on all the servers looking for decent tanks. The old guilds don't have any special claims on raids. Anyone can do them. And, there's plenty of them.</p><p>The only question left is which will be more fun for you?</p><p>[P.S. make sure your warriors skill-up in more than one damage type. My Berserker uses a slasher in one hand and a crusher in the other hand to skill-up both at the same time. Bring up piercing as well.]</p>

[ThE_GuN]

<p>Also, an alternative that has not been mentioned here, if you wish to be more offensive, go with the zerker, and when you get to level 70 and find you want to go for the MT roll on raids, betray and become a guardian, your spells will be reset to apprentice 1, so I wouldnt spend alot of money buying zerker masters if this is your goal. Also you'd have to re-learn to play your class as the guardian tanks diffrently than the zerker. However, zerkers still work fine on alot of raids, they just tend to take a bit more damage than the guardian.</p><p>Also, on the note about MT's on raids, sure alot of guilds have theyr MT's already set up, but sometimes people stop playing and that includes the MT, so guilds have to change these out from time to time, also alot of new guilds for each day, so new MT's are always needed, as long as you learn your class and do things right you will find a guild that will want you. Untill this happens, you always have the options of leading your own pickup raids for example, to get some exprience and some gear to make you more desirable for a guild. This will also help you build a reputation as a good tank, I know many raiders who have alts whom they do pickup raids with, so who know's a leader of a raiding guild might just be on your pickup raid, and maybe they need a new tank? <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[joebyrdw]

Another thing to consider is if you pick one and decide you dont like it later on down the line you can betray and switch to the other one. I prefer berzerker for the extra damage and being able to pull whole rooms just to scare the healer half to death. I look at from a semi RP point of view, the guardian is the knight in shining armor taking care of everyone in the group. The berzerker on the other hand is the drunk guy in the back of the tavern that you call up when you want to get down and dirty.