Class choice

[Inf213]

<p>Hey guys, I'm a returning player and wondering if I could get some help choosing a class. Previously I was a Froglok Bruiser which I really enjoyed, mainly to the webbed feet face smashing, but I'm looking for something more support based.</p><p>I've played many other mmo games but in WoW I went with the shaman role, hybrid with a ton of buffs, and stuck with that until my recent departure. I took most of the enjoyment from a mix of DPS and buffs for the party. So I'm curious what class would give me these things in EQ2?</p><p>I don't remember much about the game and any information would be much appreciated, thanks.</p>

[DwarvesR]

<p>The 4 classes most commonly thought of as "support" are the Dirge, the Troubador, the Illusionist, and the Coercer.</p><p>All 4 have tons of buffs, some decent debuffs, mana regeneration, and some sort of "aggro manipulation."  Beyond that, each has certain other abilities, eg charm for a Coercer, some minor healing and resurrection for a Dirge, damage procs for casters in a Troubador's group, etc.</p><p>These classes are all "semi-rare" since most people like to put up huge personal numbers, and these support classes tend to make everybody else look good.  That said, if you want to pump out damage, there are ways and aa specs you can use to do it too.  All 4 of these classes are *highly* desired in the higher levels though -- especially for raiding.</p><p>Once you learn their tricks, the Illusionist and Coercer are also superior soloers, if that sort of thing makes a difference to you.</p><p>If you did like the "shaman role" in WoW, you may also want to give a Defiler a look.  They also have nice buffs and debuffs, plus they are healers.  Also semi-rare and highly desired on raids to boot.</p>

[Finora]

<p>As the above poster said, troubadors, dirges, illusionists and coercers are what most people think of as the support classes of this game. </p><p>Also might want to give a peek at mystics (the other EQ2 shaman). They are the 'melee' shaman, where defilers are the 'spellcasting shaman' (due to aa choices available for the classes).</p><p>In group situations, while you'll very often be the main healer, you have quite a lot of other things to add (as either of the shaman classes). Both have numerous buffs and powerful debuffs. Both shaman classes bring a lot to any raid/group they are part of.</p>

[Gralthak]

<p>There is a class guide, though it's fairly general, stickied at the top of the forum (disclaimer: I wrote it) that might help.</p><p>As far as a mix of buffs and DPS you're almost perfectly describing either of the Bard classes or perhaps either Enchanter class too.  Bards are focused on buffs and debuffs while doing melee DPS while the enchanters can buff and debuff and are magic based DPS.  As stated you could also go with a healer and with the use of AA find yourself able to do fairly decent damage as well, but you're likely going to be expected to function primarily as a healer in any group you end up in.</p>

[Kellin]

<cite>Finora wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Also might want to give a peek at mystics (the other EQ2 shaman). They are the 'melee' shaman, where defilers are the 'spellcasting shaman' (due to aa choices available for the classes).</p></blockquote><p> I have to reiterate here, mystics can be specced for melee damage, but if they aren't, dps is best described as dismal.  If dps specced, the dps is, maybe, average.</p><p>Could be some uber geared, fully mastered mystics out there who are showing up on raid parses, but that's not going to be the case for most.</p>

[zaneluke]

Scout classes or chanters.

[Cadori Seraphim]

I had posted this in another thread but will repost it here. As far as Shaman go, they are definately at the bottom of the DPS chain of the healers so if you are looking to do some decent dmg I would definately not go the Shaman route. That said, I love my Defiler. She is a kick [I cannot control my vocabulary] healer and I wouldnt replace her with any other healing class. However, I love to group and raid and never solo, so that works out for me <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Some of the others mentioned (in a diff thread) picking something you enjoy and play it.. I tend to agree, if you dont enjoy a class and choose it just because you think its *needed* then you wont be having much fun in the game and will eventually get bored and quit. There are 4 basic types of classes in EQ2 - Mage (your ranged nukers), Priest (your healers), Scout (Your melee dps) and Fighter (your tanks - that take hits). EQ2 takes each of these and enhances them into many different classes in which to choose from: <u>Healer:</u> <span style="color: #00cc66"><i>Cleric</i>: Templar / Inquisitor Clerics are excellent healers and buffers. They have large heals as well as reactive heals (spells you put on players or mobs, so that when the player gets hit he/she gets healed).  <i>Druid</i>: Fury / Warden Druids are excellent healers but their heals are in the form of HoTs (heal over time). While some of their heals are big in #, they may not be as big as say a clerics heals or shamans wards, but they make up for that with the HoT added to it. Druids also are very good DPS (especially the Fury). <i>Shaman</i>: Defiler / Mystic Shaman are excellent healers but do so in the way of warding their allies with a magical barrier preventing damage that would be dealt to them. They also have heal spells but their bread and butter lies in their wards. They are also good buffers and defuffers in raids. Shaman are the weakest of the healers when it comes to their DPS. </span> <u>Fighter:</u> <span style="color: #996699"><i>Warrior</i>: Berzerker / Guardian These guys are the chosen tanks of the game, I dont have extensive knowledge in either class, so I can add much more then that. <i>Brawler</i>: Bruiser / Monk Brawlers are better dps they they are tanks, though I am SURE people will argue that point to no end as fighters are all really gear dependent. Brawlers have the ability to feign death, which is really fun. <i>Crusader</i>: Paladin /  Shadowknight I have seen some really good Shadowknights tanking, so I knwo they are good at that, but honestly as far as these two go really have no clue as I have 0 experience playing either. </span> <u>Scout:</u> <span style="color: #3366ff"><i>Predator</i>: Ranger / Assassin These guys are HIGH DPS classes, Ranger being ranged and Assassin being right in melee with alot of *behind* and *sneak* attacks. <i>Bard</i>: Troubador / Dirge These guys are great utility for groups and raids as they bring ALOT to the table to buff their fellow players. As far as DPS its a bit on the low side. <i>Rogue</i>: Brigand / Swashbuckler These guys are also HIGH DPS but also have nice group/raid utility(debuffs). My experience with these are very limited so I cant add anymore to it then this. </span><u>Mage:</u> <span style="color: #ff0000"><i>Summoner</i>: Conjuror / Necromancer These guys are the pet classes in the game. They have pets for all types of situatuions (tank pets, scout pets, mage pets) as well as temp pets (30 second lasting pets) that add a little umph to each encounter. They are both HIGH DPS nuking classes. <i>Sorcerer</i>: Wizard / Warlock </span><span style="color: #3366ff"> <span style="color: #ff0000">These guys are HIGH DPS classes as well, some would argue more or less DPS then the Summoners but that will always be debatable. Wizard is mainly high DPS to single targets where Warlock does good in AE situations. <i>Enchanter</i>: Coercer / Illusionist These guys are low DPS but offer high utility for groups and raids, especially in the mana regen area. Coercers charm which I have heard is great for soloing, and the coercer AA is nice if you go down the right line for extra raid buffage (particularly for healers). Not sure too much about illusionists, so I cant speak for them. </span> </span> Now with all that said (and please correct me if I got any of the information wrong) you need to figure out what you think you would have fun doing. Do you like to keep the group alive? Read through the Healer info and see which way sounds like more fun to you. Again this was a repost but I felt it was needed here as the question remained the same <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Also as it was stated already in this post, please see this stickied post for more information (perhaps the author can edit it to add some of my info in there? Its not the best but I think it helps a little bit more on explaining each diff class a tiny bit better) <a href="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/posts/list.m?topic_id=374275" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/...topic_id=374275</a>

[Inf213]

Thanks for the help everyone, Iksar Troubador it is <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[womperobu]

<p>Iksar Troubador. Cool. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>Sidora@Crushbone wrote: </p><blockquote><b>I had posted this in another thread but will repost it here. As far as Shaman go, they are definately at the bottom of the DPS chain of the healers so if you are looking to do some decent dmg I would definately not go the Shaman route.</b> <i>Shaman</i>: Defiler / Mystic Shaman are excellent healers but do so in the way of warding their allies with a magical barrier preventing damage that would be dealt to them. They also have heal spells but their bread and butter lies in their wards. They are also good buffers and defuffers in raids. <b>Shaman are the weakest of the healers when it comes to their DPS.</b> </blockquote><p>I can't speak for Defilers but the above is a half truth. Mystics, when going with full melee specs on achievements, can only be outdone by Furies among all priests in terms of DPS. If they rely on attack spells only (I can't think of many Mystics that do), then they will be near the bottom, yes.</p>