Coercer, Defiler, or Troub?

[Shadrir]

<p>I am coming back from about five months off and I want to pick a class to level to 70.  I have four in the 20s that I like for varying reasons. My problem is that I have limited playtime (about 1-2 hours after kids go to bed) and thus will need to solo.  I have the following:</p><p>30 Coercer - This is the toon that was my main but is very frustrating because of all the deaths and the finesse needed.  It is very versatile and I feel extremely powerful playing him when everything is going right.  I compare all my toons to this one.  If he had the wizards battle mage line it would be my hands down favorite but the deaths and squishieness have me quitting in frustration most nights.</p><p>26 defiler - Favorite of all to play because of playstyle; nuke, ward, melee, heal.  I surprisingly like the play of this one the most but he is a healer.  I shied away from healers because of limited playtime and not wanting to leave a group in the lurch.  However, so far that has not been a problem and he is progressing faster than I expected.  I worry about higher levels being different.</p><p>23 Troubador - The class that I think fits me the most is almost as frustrating as my coercer.  Sometimes I feel like a god with my coercer but I NEVER have those illusions with my troub.  I like being able to nuke, melee, and support my group but I feel like I work very hard for minimal results that go unnoticed or seem passive.  He is so much weaker than the other classes its not even funny.  Soloing is limited with him and I really need a group but at this level I'm not finding many.  This was to be my main because of all of the abilities and ease (!?!) of getting a group.  I also like to mezz.  </p><p>I have a baby Inquisitor (22) and brigand.  Which of these above make sense long term for my playstyle and limited time?   </p>

[Raidi Sovin'faile]

<p>Since you are looking at the soloing aspect for each of these classes, there will definately be a disparity among "who does best".</p><p>The healers... You've chosen evil for both, which means your Achievement choices on the EoF side will give you a lot of nice options for soloing. Inquisitors, if built for it, can become extreme melee monsters, for example. So soloing (once you get around 22-30 AA's) won't be much harder as a priest. I'm not familiar with defiler AA's at all really, but I've heard they are good for soloing.</p><p>Troubadour... I have a Dirge to compare for soloing (I solo a lot too) and quite frankly, compared to all the other classes I play... he's lacking. Yes, he can do it.. it's possible to solo your way up in levels if you really want to. But a massive chunk of your abilities are designed to benefit a group of players.. which means they are tuned to not give a solo player nearly as much. Other classes that don't have buffs that go to others get more solo, since they aren't tuned down "just in case" you are grouped with 5 other people. You get to have the full benefit at all times, even when solo. By this logic, Bards are inherently inferior when soloing compared to others.</p><p>Brigand... This one can actually do very well. I've been soloing as my Brigand, and the only classes I've done better with are my Bruiser, Necro and Coercer. Actually, it felt a lot like my Bruiser.. only no self heal (onyl reason he's lower than Bruiser on the solo list).</p><p>Comparing this class to the Troubadour. Less concern over buffs, and 50% more combat arts to beat down your enemies. Honestly, with your stances, you won't even miss the group buffs that much anyways.. and you'll debuff just as well (if not better). For AA's, I strongly suggest going down the Stamina line asap and building yourself as a One-hander + Round Shield combatant. With the Stamina line AA's, you'll be able to tank Heroic encounters just fine.. toss in some heal proc adornments and health drain poisons and you can solo very, very well.</p><p> Soloing as a Coercer... You are right, it can get frustrating as you get your routine down right. And honestly, even when you do have it right, it'll be slower than what others can do.. although you can take on stronger things. If you can manage to find a Master 1 charm, then you should be set for soloing. Learn what pets help your tactics the most, and find those heroic encounters that you can just tear through. I found my master 1 Beguile from the chef named in RunnyEye... shame the farmers aren't doing that zone anymore (lots of 30s Coercer masters on the market for a while there).</p><p> As a general soloing tip... find the solo quest lines for a zone and do them all to completion. My suggestion would be Nek Forest, then Zek/EL (zek has a long line), then Steamfont in your late 30s through high 40s, and the shores of DoF when your quests in steamfont get a bit high (low 40s is good for starting sinking sands). Pillar of Flames and the Peacock Questline are good too after those... then you should be able to get into some cyclops grind groups until you hit high 50s and start doing the Tenebrous Tangle quests and working your way through KoS and Loping plains.</p><p>To find the solo quest lines starting points, and for help along the way, my suggestion is going to <a href="http://www.eq2i.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">www.eq2i.com</a> . They have most of them listed for the zones I've mentioned.</p><p>The reason I say do these quests? They give really nice xp that isn't tied to vitality, and they give Achievement Experience. By the time you reach your 50s, you should be hitting near 30-40 AA's. If you start a char off right now and start doing quests like mad (I did with a new toon and started right in commonlands) you can get over 40 AA's by your early 40s. That means a TON of solo potential depending on your class chosen.</p>

[chily]

<p>Hi.</p><p>I have a 48 brusier, 70sk, 70coercer, 70brig and some lower</p><p>Coercer is hard to in solo sometimes yes but fun <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Compared to the other classes i soloed was the brig the fastest one. (tracking helps a lot while solo) Brig can make a little bit more dmg then a troub i think .. but since i never played a toub i'm unsure if they can stun a lot :/</p><p>I would say brig and the str line ... it gives defence and near 14% crithits too and with the stuns of the class you hardly get hit.</p>

[Shadrir]

<p>Hmm. food for thought.  I do like the defiler, coercer and troub.  I flat out rule in groups with my coercer.  Its just the soloing that sometimes, well many times, gives me fits.  I like the defiler over all becuase he is solid and safe, not spectacular and I can always get groups.  I like the style of the troub and the utility but he is weaker than all three and I don't feel like the difference maker in groups like I do with the coercer and defiler.  </p><p> The brigand is intrigueing but I do like support classes and I don't see how he brings support to a group besides the debuffs.</p><p>My problem is I have not perfected soloing as a coercer.  I particularly have problems in dungeons with adds and in crowded places.  If I get resists, I'm dead.  I have the first 5 AAs in the charm EoF line.  I am  planning to go the agility route next.  I have crap gear.  Is there anything that can help me survive another 4 seconds to get that next spell off?  Any healing proc items I should have?  </p><p>What about the line that lets me deflect blows with a dagger?  will that help me survive longer?</p>

[chily]

<p>the agi line only rocks if are a speed caster with some/many procs.. </p><p>If you wanna have better chances while solo do down the wis line (i think it is) and get the subjestion increase, lower resis on mezz and charm hold's a bit better</p>

[redde]

I am completely unfamiliar with defilers, so I may be completely wrong, but - though a defiler soloing may be easy (wards + heals keep you alive for a long time), I imagine your damage will be rather lacking, and it will be a slow process. If you were going for a solo class out of those 3, I'd definitely go for coercer. Take the 5 points in the charm EoF tree, and either agi or wis line first from KoS. You will probably find that though you die very frequently, you'll find out which guys to charm in a zone, and start wiping it clean. Keep at it and your mezzes, charms and stuns last longer and you'll start to die less. You will die more frequently than most, but I normally attribute this to doing more challenging things!

[Dendro]

I have a 70 coercer, 64 defiler, and 57 troub so I can comment on those classes pretty well. Bards are intended for groups, and are painful to solo with, particularly troubs.  Troub charm was nerfed to almost nothing (about 14s depending upon level and AA allocation) and there is only a single-target mez (at 50 and 70). There are kiting techniques that you can use in wide open spaces like Antonica, but not in dungeons. Other than that, below 50 you have to just dump all your damage quickly and hope to survive, as with scouts generally.  After 50, you can mez the mob and keep it mezzed until you've recovered some hp/mana/recast timers, which means you can in principle tackle more difficult mobs than most scouts, as long as your mez doesn't get chain-resisted. But it's slow because of the meager amount of damage you can put out during each cycle. As a result of my troub being nerfed, I started a coercer. Enchanters were originally intended for grouping, but are now viable classes for solo play as well, and I generally have played my coercer when I didn't have the time to look for a group. I had many deaths in the early levels while I was learning how to play the class, but at this point he can solo things that my 70 necro can't. Master charm makes that go much faster than Adept 3. Soloing a coercer definitely does take finesse, skill, practice, and a pc/isp that isn't too slow, but the results can be pretty impressive. Defilers are great healers for a group (as long as the group has a clue isn't under the misapprehension that a defiler is some sort of scout or mage).  I avoid soloing with him because it's pretty slow--sturdy, but boring due to low dps (looking forward to Defile at 65). My warden solos much faster and due to ports can get to a group much faster (likewise for furies). I think inquisitors and mystics are probably somewhat better at soloing than templars and defilers because with a melee spec, they can get most of their damage out without being interrupted. IMHO I think that one of the biggest time sinks for someone with just a short time to play each night is travel time, so for that reason I would recommend a wizard, warlock, warden, or fury. The are the dps classes of their respective archetypes, so you won't be lacking on dps. Each of them can solo well enough, and is also desirable in a group or raid.

[VizP]

Just a defiler perspective for you - I have a 70 defiler and you'll find that we can actually kill pretty much anything reasonable if needed inc many named heroics (there are many defilers that have soloed their deity quest line when it ends in a heroic quest). Generally needs to be a solo target though - 1v1. The reason for that is that there are certain AA lines that result in a huge burst to DPS damage for us. Our AGI AA line allows us to 100% crit and a high chance of double hitting/self hasting everytime we hit or are hit or something does i.e. most of the time. Get some big weapon and youre melee damage already is rather impressive. Add to that then a decent int and a boost in your DPS line in your Defiler AA and suddenly you wont be worried about soloing. Once more you wont be the fastest but when a named heroic lies at your feet, you'll be contemplating just what your defiler just accomplished <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> And yes as the poster above mentionde - Defile. Kinda helps when getting something to 40% means you can almonst instantly kill it by casting one spell <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />