Zerker Vs. SK Solo and future outlook

[Silverwraith]

I am having a tough time deciding between going Zerker or keep going on my SK. I am currently under level 30 on my SK, and I keep hearing that I should play a Zerker, especially if I want to tank end game. I like my SK, but unless I keep up my Infernal Pact, I get chewed up pretty nasty. I can solo pretty well, and leveling has been a breeze. I am curious what can I expect out of the zerker? Can Zerkers solo as well or better then SKs? I am especially interested in soloing named mobs through out leveling. My SK was doing ok, but ran across a even con ^^^ named mob and it tore me in half... guild mates seem to think that a zerker or bruiser would have faired better. Bruiser sounds cute and all, but rather either go SK or Zerker. Thanks for any advice in advance!

[Colcos]

okay, here's where i stand~ I've played SK a lot and in the End game they CAN tank just fine, they also prove to be a pretty good utility/dps class for the times where you will be off-tanking or just suppor/dps in raids. Most guilds... especially guilds that frequently raid have their main tanks locked in for raid spots. If you take the extra time now to lvl up a zerker i would expect it to be moderately difficult to get in to raids on a consistent basis Additionally, as far as soloing, bruiser/monk/sk are the best solo fighters... the three are about equal Zerker/guardian is substantially less able in solo situations. As far as hunting named mobs on your own.... unless you have some high lvl toons with a lot of money for master spells and "1337" gear for your lvl at all times.... don't expect to solo heroic encounters that con any higher than green. SKs who have been 70 of a while with full/nearly full AA trees and good gear/Ad3s or M1s  can solo white con ^^^ heroics without much of a problem and can indeed solo named in the end game... Have not hear the same about Zerkers ...

[Pitt Hammerfi]

Zerkers are far more wanted on raids

[Dead Knight]

In short:Zerkers can't solo as wellBruisers are brokenZerkers are preferred in raid situations but it really isn't as hard as people make out to get into a raid guild as an SK.

[Gutwren]

Eh... My SK's at 68 right now... only spent mabye 20p on masters, and now all I'm missing is the offensive stance...Not hard to get masters for a SK, and I don't have any particular hard time soloing. Leveled up in about a month and a half and I hit 90 AA last night.

[hellskitten]

<cite>Gutwrench wrote:</cite><blockquote>Eh... My SK's at 68 right now... only spent mabye 20p on masters, and now all I'm missing is the offensive stance....</blockquote><p>Ya sure as hell dont play on Nek server!</p><p>As many have said.. soloing hands down ya will stomp a zerk. A brawler might be able handle a <i>slightly</i> higher lvl single mobs. But ask yourself how much of the game is about taking on a solo mob? Got tear thru groups to get to them. Noone could convince me with words that any other tanking class (maybe any class at all) can take on group content like a SK solo; I would have to see it when my own eyes to believe.</p><p>As for tanking.. we can do as good as any other pretty much. There might be a few mobs where zerk/guards make better tanks, but theres also mobs we make better tanks (please noone argue that statement.. trying to craddle my ego.) Lot the anti-tanking SK talk going around is by people that dont have a clue firsthand and are just repeating what they read/heard. Funniest thing the other night.. I was conned into feeling out a raid force I didnt really wanna go on. Someone in the raid was making a big deal about the <i>massive </i>amount health the zeker MT had. A lil while into the raid I was asked to MT for a mob while zerk took a smoke break. Funny thing is... once moved to the MT grp and gotten the buffs he was getting.... my frail lil woodelf booty had around 200hps less then the zerk... Comeon, whats 200hps compared to how hard a raid mob hits? What, he can be sneezed on one more time then me?</p>

[Dregor]

I have no idea what I'm doing wrong, I seem to be pretty terrible at soloing something unless it's green to me, and even then with me at 63, a 53^^^ is a close fight and if it's a named mob, forget about it.  I've seen bruisers do better, so I must be failing horribly!

[MaCloud1032]

<p>gear and spells both of wich we rely heavly on.  we dont have a 2k mit buff so we take the full beating and just re heal thru it.  </p><p>A garud or a zerk when there mit buff wares off they are in the same boat we are with no heals.  For a zerker to put out the dps that we do they tend to drop some of there mit and defence to do it.</p><p>A sk looks at a fight and asks can i out last hit a warrior looks at and wonders if it can out dps it.</p>

[Neiloch]

Wow I constantly have different views on SK's here lol.I got both a SK and zerker to 70 and I must say SK is much more fun. I can not stress this enough. I'm not too keen on being a raid tank but thats just me, but I'm fine with tanking otherwise, so SK works out well for me.Outlasting? Hah! I kill mobs with great speed and never drop below 80% health. Other day I was out pacing a 68 paladin and templar duo on my own. every day I log on I live in fear that my SK is going to get a severe ban hit. I have a 70 conjuror, and if my SK can solo it, it can kill it FASTER than my conjuror using his tank pet. First thing I did was 448 the int line and then went all the way down the STR line. Now I'm just working on my hate line and reaver line in EoF AA. I get a real fuzzy feeling when tap veins crits and hits 8 mobs at once with over 1500 damage. Other day I was in a group in Halls of Fate helping them get updates. Everyone took a AFK, then came back so I went and pulled. First we killed 2 ^^ that were in the same group and then a ^^^ wandered over and added. By the end of the last fight I was at 20% health and wondering why I wasn't healed. Turns out the healer was AFK the whole time.there is so much I like about the SK I would have to have some sort of point by point discussion because just listing them all would be a huge task. Again this is from someone who leveled a zerker to 70 and then gladly stripped him for as much cash and parts without leaving him helpless. Since i have no intention of leveling him anymore I suspect I'm going to end up deleting him once RoK comes out.

[Aull]

I have both and would have to say that sk's are a very very intresting class to play. I love his solo ability and think it is cool after smoking a group of mobs and I am still at 75% health if not more. When I group I do find that my sk has a minor problem at holding aggro, but that will be experienced by all tanks at times. All in all if you want to have a tank that can do some content without a healer an sk is awesome, just make sure you get a nice dps set up in the group and you should be able take most everyday encounters no problem. It is cool to hear the healer in the group say "brother I have not had to heal you once". That to me is nice and frees the healer up to practice some of their offensive spells hehe. However in a solo situation an sk is just flat awesome and I have no gripes here at all. SOE did a great job with this class. On the berserker well I have soloed mine 85% of his play time and he does it well, but my sk just does it better. Just a reminder that an sk deals disease damage so if a mob is highly disease resistant then it will pose a problem, but I haven't really had that bad of a time in that dept either.

[Terron]

<cite>Darksavanna@Venekor wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>gear and spells both of wich we rely heavly on.  we dont have a 2k mit buff so we take the full beating and just re heal thru it.  </p><p>A garud or a zerk when there mit buff wares off they are in the same boat we are with no heals.  For a zerker to put out the dps that we do they tend to drop some of there mit and defence to do it.</p><p>A sk looks at a fight and asks can i out last hit a warrior looks at and wonders if it can out dps it.</p></blockquote>I have a 70 guard and a 48 SK. The guard self buffs defense far more so even without his mit buffs (he has 2) he would not be in the same boat. With the guard tough solo fights are a matter of who runs out of health first, and I aim to reduce the mob's DPS as much as possible - using defensive stance and a tower shield and my debuffs to the mobs offense (dps, skills, and a daze). I can fight for several minutes against green ^^^ heroics after running out of power - and can need to. The only time I beat a ^^^ heroic named only 7 levels below me I had to use unyielding will to get the time to finish it off (and then my heart exploded). With the SK it is a matter of can I kill the mob before I run out of power for blessing. Fights are much faster, but I have killed blue heroic ^^^ mobs. My SK is better equipped than my guard was at that level though.

[Kalem]

<cite>Dregor wrote:</cite><blockquote>I have no idea what I'm doing wrong, I seem to be pretty terrible at soloing something unless it's green to me, and even then with me at 63, a 53^^^ is a close fight and if it's a named mob, forget about it.  I've seen bruisers do better, so I must be failing horribly!</blockquote><p>The AAs you have make a world of difference.  Having reaver is a big help, and getting the crits from the int line.  Once you have that, things are going to get easier.  If you already do have that, then look at your gear, and combat arts level.  Those all come into play.</p><p>Try swithing to sword and board, and going defensive.  The bulk of our damage is coming from spells, and CAs, not auto attack.  A two hander adds some dps, but it's not that big of a difference.  With sword and board you'll pick up quite a bit of defense.  Go defensive as well, and see if you can take down those heroics easier.</p><p>Also, try different types of heroics.  Caster heroics can be pretty nasty at times.  Without enough AAs, the fight can take too long, and eventually the damage you're taking will be more than your drains and blessings can keep up with.</p>