Brigand vs Monk (Thoughts & Query)

[Whym]

I am returning to EverQuest 2 and really wanting to do a melee class that can solo quest well. I greatly enjoy collecting items such as the lore and book quests. Grouping is fun but most of my time I prefer to spend solo while questing, or with one or two friends. I want to chose a class that is -fun- for me. I've pretty much narrowed down my class choice to either Brigand or Monk. I would really appreciate any information on what a Brigand would really have to make it right for me. Keep in mind I am doing this for fun so even simple things as the animations or the 'fluff' abilities can make a difference to me. The look, style of play, types of weapons, the look of the weapons or armor. These are all things I would like you to keep in mind for this. Just as a note... if I go brigand I would be a fae or arasai. If I go monk I would be a froglok. So please keep that in mind. So what is 'fun' about a brigand both while leveling and at 80? How do they fare at doing quests solo and collecting items. Would it make a good character to help fun future characters I make? What is the common weapon selection like and do the weapons/armor for brigand look cool? What utility abilities a brigand has would be useful?

[yzyh]

<p>well the fun thing about brigand is its mobility. ( stealth and escape ). Track make questing and farming so much more easyer.  </p><p>As the fun spell personaly I like the ruse line ( you fake death so you get aggro but it was a trick to unleash a devastating attack). We also get a few disguise spell (we have an ogre illusion and a few others). </p><p>I'd put the brigand as the best scout soloer. (with all of those stun we can use all of hours back and side attack) as well as avoid a lot of damage. And anything a ranger can kite, can be kited by a brigand. But the ranger should kill it faster.</p><p>And we got doubled up (its a mime like skill that re-creat your previous 2sec of attack). </p><p>The poison a brigand use are also a nice tool.</p>

[Fwedewi]

<p>My main is a monk and my 2nd char is brigand.  Both are very strong soloing characters.  Monk probably has the edge due to better defence, a heal and the ability to feign and reset encounters if things aren't going well.  I would recomend doing both but do the monk 1st as it is so much simpler to play.  Monks don't have to worry about their position relative to the mob, don't use poisons and have a powerful heal.  Monks also get the coolest outfits <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />  </p><p>As for which race to choose, I went for half elves for both as this gives you an additional melee hit which debuffs mitigation.</p>

[Grumble69]

I like the brigand for their versatility.  Invis, group invis, poisons, escape, tracking.  And if you down the int AA line, you can pick up feign death too.  They can really knock the snot out of a mob.  Lots of fun to play.  If you happen to group, you bring a lot to the table.  Dark elves make nice brigands too.  They've got some racial abilities that mesh well with the class.  Plus I find it fun to be riding a griffon, jump off, hit stealth, and glide silently down on my target like a commando.  Death from above!Having said that, I also played a froglok bruiser.  It was fun too.  So I think you'll enjoy either.  I just happen to find the brigand a little more interesting.

[Jida]

Without raid gear, the monk is superior soloer.Once you raid gear, the brigand has the upper hand.

[yzyh]

<cite>Devastatin@Unrest wrote:</cite><blockquote>Without raid gear, the monk is superior soloer.Once you raid gear, the brigand has the upper hand.</blockquote>depend if a mob can be kitted the brigand can easely while the bruise can't

[Kurokage]

<p>My first toon was a kerra monk. The kata at lvl 20 was freaking awesome. Have a couple weapons in your hands and it looks even cooler. FD FTW!!! You can explore anywhere with FD. Well, just about. Spec your monk down wisdom line and you can unleash some serious AE tankage. I used to tank t7 instances with my monk and never lost aggro, no matter how many mobs we had. 4 was the magic number. Awesome outfits, cool looking weapons, and fighting animations.</p><p>On the other hand, I made my brig my new main. When I first ever grouped with a brig, we were heading into Fallen Gate. This guy runs up behind me and whacks me in the head with a billy club. I was like, [Removed for Content]? and he says its the Brig lvl 20 fluff spell, Clobber. Funniest. Ability. E-ver. I rolled a brig first chance I got after that. And clobber never gets old. Never. Tracking is like sex. Once you have a taste of it, you'll never understand how you lived without it. Group invis makes you handy to other people, plus you eventually get 4 stuns and an interrupt. Most of your abilities are debuffs of some sort or another, which ups the group/raid appeal. It also means when you solo, you can tear down just about anything. Poisons give you a great diversity in handling your toons needs. Soloing? I use life tap poisons (t6 and up). Grouping? Power tap poisons. Raid? high overall damage poisons with de-aggro poisons. Bust out the 80 writs ya need for the seafury buccaneers and get yourself a title above the lame class titles all the other rogues are using. Mariner, Marauder, Coursair, or Captain. They all sound cool. My brig is Captain Kurogo Battousai the Ebon Dragon. He rides a Nightmare. Wears all black and even the black mask. Lives in a [Removed for Content] house in Neriak(check out my thread in the Norrathian homeshow). And I gave him the flirty male voice for the sake of all the ladies out there. (LoL).</p><p>My monk is 75, the brig is 80. I just got the first epic for the brig and it looks awesome. It's a hard choice for me on which one to pick. But most times when I solo I choose the brig, and when I group I choose the monk. I have friends that I strictly roleplay either with, and its alot of fun. but If I had to choose one or the other....I'd prolly keep the Brig. Clobber is just FTW.</p>

[Diabalo]

This is a tough choice and I would recommend trying out both classes. However, if your looking to group and raid later on the brigand edges out the monk in raids (meaning usually the brigand is wanted a little more than monk....but depends on the raid/guild). I think the brigand has more utility and is a little more of a better overall toon - great for soloing, great at grouping, and lots of help with debuffs and such for a raid and groups. This post probably seems a bit biased towards the brigand.....but go ahead and try both out...see which one works best....it really is a tough call.