Bruiser Worth The Time?

[Sleesher]

<p >I am a beginner to the genre of MMORPs and decided to pickup Everquest 2 because I was reading about ROK and it seemed like a great game.<span>  </span>Anyhow, I play on creating my character with the new Sarnak race, but I am not certain of my class choice just yet.<span>  </span>A few details about how I plan to play; Most of my time, probably 65 to 75% of it anyway, will probably be spent on my own soloing and I will pickup a group when I have more time to play probably on weekends.<span>  </span>I want a robust class that can solo in the good to great category, but also a class that would not be completely overlooked or useless in a group or for end game raiding.<span>  </span>After looking at guides from all over from sites like Ten Ton Hammer and the Everquest 2 forums, I am coming to the conclusion that the bruiser is possibly a class that is pretty “[Removed for Content]” and not worth the time.<span>  </span>I have created a temporary character just to login and ask questions to existing players but I am getting mixed responses.<span>  </span>I know it all depends on ones play style and what I want to play, but the game has been out for several years now and there are bound to be a defined list of the good and bad and what is working and what is not working as far as the classes go.<span>  </span>Some just create a character without researching any of this, but I would really like a class I know I can feel good about choosing and will be useful.<span>  </span>Is the bruiser that class or should I stick with something else?</p> <p > </p> <p >Thanks for taking to the time to read and do not flame me too much.</p>

[urgatorbait]

<p>I'll chime in...</p><p>I LOVE my Bruiser.  I solo about 95% of the time and do the occassional guild group or PUG.  I also raid every now and then when time permits.  As a soloer, I've found no class to be more fun.  There's not much that I've come up against in questing that I couldn't find a way to accomplish.  Great survivability, respectable DPS and can take a decent licking when push comes to shove.  Unless you want to be in a spotlight position (i.e. main tank, healer, etc.) I would think you would be very pleased rolling a Bruiser.  Just my two cents worth.</p>

[Sleesher]

<p >Is the Bruiser a class that is overlooked for groups, raids, or is it one that has very little problems in those areas? What I am getting at are many thoughts I have heard or read about the Shadowknight and Paladin.<span>  </span>I am not comparing those classes to the Bruiser in any way except to make my point that it seems they are not really needed in groups or raids and are only picked up as a last resort and this is what I am trying to avoid.<span>  </span>I definitely do not want to be in a role such as a main tank, secondary tank, healer or secondary healer, just someone that sets back, does some decent damage, and everyone just lets you do your job.</p>

[Junaru]

<cite>Sleesher wrote:</cite><blockquote> <p>Is the Bruiser a class that is overlooked for groups, raids, or is it one that has very little problems in those areas? What I am getting at are many thoughts I have heard or read about the Shadowknight and Paladin.<span>  </span>I am not comparing those classes to the Bruiser in any way except to make my point that it seems they are not really needed in groups or raids and are only picked up as a last resort and this is what I am trying to avoid.<span>  </span>I definitely do not want to be in a role such as a main tank, secondary tank, healer or secondary healer, just someone that sets back, does some decent damage, and everyone just lets you do your job.</p> </blockquote>I don't think you will have any problems finding a group as a Bruiser. Groups like the idea of a secondary tank and can dish out good DPS. My Monk has never had a problem soloing, finding a group or getting into a raid. My guild finds me a welcome addition to any raid. I'm normally in the two 2 or 3 melee DPSers on the raid.

[Sleesher]

<cite>Junaru wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Sleesher wrote:</cite><blockquote> <p>Is the Bruiser a class that is overlooked for groups, raids, or is it one that has very little problems in those areas? What I am getting at are many thoughts I have heard or read about the Shadowknight and Paladin.<span>  </span>I am not comparing those classes to the Bruiser in any way except to make my point that it seems they are not really needed in groups or raids and are only picked up as a last resort and this is what I am trying to avoid.<span>  </span>I definitely do not want to be in a role such as a main tank, secondary tank, healer or secondary healer, just someone that sets back, does some decent damage, and everyone just lets you do your job.</p> </blockquote>I don't think you will have any problems finding a group as a Bruiser. Groups like the idea of a secondary tank and can dish out good DPS. My Monk has never had a problem soloing, finding a group or getting into a raid. My guild finds me a welcome addition to any raid. I'm normally in the two 2 or 3 melee DPSers on the raid.</blockquote> <p><span style="color: #ffffff;">Junaru, </span><span style="color: #ffffff;" class="genmed"><span>urgatorbait, and anyone else of course, what would you consider major “flaws” or minuses to the Bruiser?</span></span></p>

[Pnaxx]

<p>Ive been playin my Bruiser, off and on (real Life makes me quite sometimes), for a good while now. I love it. I have a Zerker, Pally and Templar as well. Bruiser is my Fav.</p><p>The greqat thing about it is that, while you are able to dish out "scout type" dps, you don't have to kite to do it. we just go toe to toe and bring on the pain.</p><p>Plus, with Heal and Feign Death, we really solo great. Groups have always loved having me tank and so I haev never seen a disadvantage to being a Bruiser.</p><p>Actually...one thing comes to mind....</p><p>I was able to solo so many named that my guild stated hgettin a bad idea about me. All the time they are seeing I win another Master Item and the "Grats" stopped comin...lol. BUt other than that, it is a blast and I know that the Bruisers in the guild I was apart of used them plenty, there was no issue that I ever heard of.</p>

[tt66]

<cite>Sleesher wrote:</cite><blockquote> <p>I am a beginner to the genre of MMORPs and decided to pickup Everquest 2 because I was reading about ROK and it seemed like a great game.<span>  </span>Anyhow, I play on creating my character with the new Sarnak race, but I am not certain of my class choice just yet.<span>  </span>A few details about how I plan to play; Most of my time, probably 65 to 75% of it anyway, will probably be spent on my own soloing and I will pickup a group when I have more time to play probably on weekends.<span>  </span>I want a robust class that can solo in the good to great category, but also a class that would not be completely overlooked or useless in a group or for end game raiding.<span>  </span>After looking at guides from all over from sites like Ten Ton Hammer and the Everquest 2 forums, I am coming to the conclusion that the bruiser is possibly a class that is pretty “[Removed for Content]” and not worth the time.<span>  </span>I have created a temporary character just to login and ask questions to existing players but I am getting mixed responses.<span>  </span>I know it all depends on ones play style and what I want to play, but the game has been out for several years now and there are bound to be a defined list of the good and bad and what is working and what is not working as far as the classes go.<span>  </span>Some just create a character without researching any of this, but I would really like a class I know I can feel good about choosing and will be useful.<span>  </span>Is the bruiser that class or should I stick with something else?</p> <p>Thanks for taking to the time to read and do not flame me too much.</p> </blockquote>Brawlers have issues when it comes to end-game raiding. If you're starting a new character, want to end-game raid, and yet still have a high soloing ability, then I'd really suggest that you at least try playing a rogue (either a Brigand or a Swashbuckler) before deciding to focus on a Bruiser.

[Sleesher]

<cite>Pnaxx wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Ive been playin my Bruiser, off and on (real Life makes me quite sometimes), for a good while now. I love it. I have a Zerker, Pally and Templar as well. Bruiser is my Fav.</p><p>The greqat thing about it is that, while you are able to dish out "scout type" dps, you don't have to kite to do it. we just go toe to toe and bring on the pain.</p><p>Plus, with Heal and Feign Death, we really solo great. Groups have always loved having me tank and so I haev never seen a disadvantage to being a Bruiser.</p><p>Actually...one thing comes to mind....</p><p>I was able to solo so many named that my guild stated hgettin a bad idea about me. All the time they are seeing I win another Master Item and the "Grats" stopped comin...lol. BUt other than that, it is a blast and I know that the Bruisers in the guild I was apart of used them plenty, there was no issue that I ever heard of.</p></blockquote>Well, it seems the Bruiser class is one of those that not many have complaints against and solos well.  I will probably be creating him tonight then, but if anyone else out there has any comments feel free to throw them in.

[Aurumn]

<p>I absolutely love my bruiser and there are plenty of brawlers in my guild so I can imagine it's rather popular class/archetype. Most of the complaints I have heard in regard to bruisers come from folks who want bruisers to serve as Main Tank for raiding. The debate seems to be that they are not on an equal footing with plate tanks in that respect. Unless you're determined to raid as an MT, then you should find bruisers fun. Just remember that there are differences in strengths & weaknesses between going solo, group or raid. If you can change your role based on the situation you'll be fine.</p>

[Pnaxx]

As far as being the tank on a raid as a Bruiser...from what I have understood, Bruisers can tank many Raid mobs, but there are some that just match up bad for an avoidence tank. So, other than thos Epic mobs, Bruisers, from what I hear, can tank many of the end-game raids, just not all of them.

[Sleesher]

<cite>tt66 wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Sleesher wrote:</cite><blockquote> <p>I am a beginner to the genre of MMORPs and decided to pickup Everquest 2 because I was reading about ROK and it seemed like a great game.<span>  </span>Anyhow, I play on creating my character with the new Sarnak race, but I am not certain of my class choice just yet.<span>  </span>A few details about how I plan to play; Most of my time, probably 65 to 75% of it anyway, will probably be spent on my own soloing and I will pickup a group when I have more time to play probably on weekends.<span>  </span>I want a robust class that can solo in the good to great category, but also a class that would not be completely overlooked or useless in a group or for end game raiding.<span>  </span>After looking at guides from all over from sites like Ten Ton Hammer and the Everquest 2 forums, I am coming to the conclusion that the bruiser is possibly a class that is pretty “[Removed for Content]” and not worth the time.<span>  </span>I have created a temporary character just to login and ask questions to existing players but I am getting mixed responses.<span>  </span>I know it all depends on ones play style and what I want to play, but the game has been out for several years now and there are bound to be a defined list of the good and bad and what is working and what is not working as far as the classes go.<span>  </span>Some just create a character without researching any of this, but I would really like a class I know I can feel good about choosing and will be useful.<span>  </span>Is the bruiser that class or should I stick with something else?</p> <p>Thanks for taking to the time to read and do not flame me too much.</p> </blockquote>Brawlers have issues when it comes to end-game raiding. If you're starting a new character, want to end-game raid, and yet still have a high soloing ability, then I'd really suggest that you at least try playing a rogue (either a Brigand or a Swashbuckler) before deciding to focus on a Bruiser.</blockquote>The Brigand and Swashbuckler were also on my original list, but I have yet to try either, anyone on this thread that have played either and may agree they are a better choice then a Bruiser?

[Junaru]

<cite>Pnaxx wrote:</cite><blockquote>As far as being the tank on a raid as a Bruiser...from what I have understood, Bruisers can tank many Raid mobs, but there are some that just match up bad for an avoidence tank. So, other than thos Epic mobs, Bruisers, from what I hear, can tank many of the end-game raids, just not all of them.</blockquote>It's not even about avoidance vs Mitigation. One of the biggest problems with the Brawlers is group aggro. How can you expect a Brawler to tank zones like Lyceum where every encounter is a multi-mob pull. Please like MMIS I can see us handling since most pulls are solo mobs but then avoidance comes into play.SOE needs to do two things to fix Brawler raid tanking. 1) Make our hate proccing stance work off a mob missing us instead of us hitting it.2) Make Deflection uncontested avoidance.The reason SOE doesn't make this change is because Brawlers would then becomes crazy heroic tanks.Now as to what is the greatest flaw Bruisers have? Out side of raiding, not a one. They can solo a lot, they can get anywhere by them selves, they have great DPS and tank well enough to get the job done.Raiding wise. Well Bruisers are worse off then Monks. Bruiser DPS is good but not good enough to not want another scout instead. People have said they maybe great OT but I've never seen it.One place the Brawler really shines is if the MT is a Pally, have the Pally Amends the Brawler, have the Brawler using his hate stance and taunts. With this combination there aren't too many classes if any that can pull a mob off the Pally. The only down side is the Brawler will often eat up the Defilers Ward if there is an AoE mob.

[Junaru]

<cite>Sleesher wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>tt66 wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Sleesher wrote:</cite><blockquote> <p>I am a beginner to the genre of MMORPs and decided to pickup Everquest 2 because I was reading about ROK and it seemed like a great game.<span>  </span>Anyhow, I play on creating my character with the new Sarnak race, but I am not certain of my class choice just yet.<span>  </span>A few details about how I plan to play; Most of my time, probably 65 to 75% of it anyway, will probably be spent on my own soloing and I will pickup a group when I have more time to play probably on weekends.<span>  </span>I want a robust class that can solo in the good to great category, but also a class that would not be completely overlooked or useless in a group or for end game raiding.<span>  </span>After looking at guides from all over from sites like Ten Ton Hammer and the Everquest 2 forums, I am coming to the conclusion that the bruiser is possibly a class that is pretty “[Removed for Content]” and not worth the time.<span>  </span>I have created a temporary character just to login and ask questions to existing players but I am getting mixed responses.<span>  </span>I know it all depends on ones play style and what I want to play, but the game has been out for several years now and there are bound to be a defined list of the good and bad and what is working and what is not working as far as the classes go.<span>  </span>Some just create a character without researching any of this, but I would really like a class I know I can feel good about choosing and will be useful.<span>  </span>Is the bruiser that class or should I stick with something else?</p> <p>Thanks for taking to the time to read and do not flame me too much.</p> </blockquote>Brawlers have issues when it comes to end-game raiding. If you're starting a new character, want to end-game raid, and yet still have a high soloing ability, then I'd really suggest that you at least try playing a rogue (either a Brigand or a Swashbuckler) before deciding to focus on a Bruiser.</blockquote>The Brigand and Swashbuckler were also on my original list, but I have yet to try either, anyone on this thread that have played either and may agree they are a better choice then a Bruiser?</blockquote>I have both. I like the Brigand more but if you like the spotlight the Swashy will get you it. If you are the only Swashy on the raid you can bet you will be in the Main Tank group. On top of that you will more then like be the highest melee DPS class on the raid or atleast 2nd. Again lime light stuff.The Brigand on the other hand flat out changes the whole fight. I doubt there is a single class that can effect a fight as much as a Brigand can. Just having one on a raid can increase the raid DPS but a HUGE number. I've seen raid working smooth as butter and then have the Brigand leave and the raid had people dying left and right just trying to kill a mob.Both solo very well. Both can tank if needed. Either is a great choice. Having said that. Neither the Swashy or the BRigand are my main and thats because of the FUN factor. My Monk is flat out a blast to play. After 70 levels and 100 AA's I still enjoy playing him. I was looking forward to RoK because since my Monk was maxed out I didn't play him as much because the exp was wasted. But now with RoK I doubt I'll play any other class till my Monk is 80/140 or out of vitality.<img src="/eq2/images/smilies/e8a506dc4ad763aca51bec4ca7dc8560.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" />One last thing. The Brigand don't really come into his own till his early 50's (aka Double Up & Dispatch best debuff in the game). The other classes hit their sweet spots much earlier.