Returning player, Guardian compared to Zerker

[Unruhe]

<p>It's been a couple years since I seriously played EQII.  At the time, I rolled up a Zerker as opposed to a Guard because Zerkers were able to tank almost as well as a Guardian and had significantly more DPS.  (Not trying to start a flame war here, like I said this is based on 2ish year ago info) It was almost impossible for me to justify rolling a Guardian once you factored in the AOE damage/aggro abilities of a Zerk.</p><p> Anyway, I'm going to try getting back into the game, but I want to start up a new character.  I hadn't really decided on class, but the main thing I am wondering is if the Guardian/Zerker issue was ever addressed.  Are Guards significantly better tanks than Zerkers are?  Or is Guardian damage at all closer to a Zerker now?  Basically, are the two classes better balanced (either by both being similar or both being dominant in different aspects) than they were a couple years ago?</p><p> I'd roll a Guard but if he's only going to be a shadow of the Berzerker's damage and only tank a teeny bit better, I'll just play an entirely different class until I get used to the game again then just go back to my Zerk.</p>

[Oo]

<p>Guardians and Zerkers both do the job just fine, and it seems most people see the only real big difference coming at the point of Raiding, where Guardians shine.  If you have a Zerker and are only wanting to re-roll if Guards are 10x better then I wouldn't waste the effort.  If you are hoping to be an end-game raider, maybe reroll.  Or play your Zerker and if you don't think he's cutting it, exile and become a Guard.  </p><p>This is purely my opinion - Guardian dps is much better than 2 years ago (not as good as pre LU 13).  Zerkers still do a better job of tanking multi-mob encounters, but as a Guardian I never had any difficulty with tanking anything until some of the T7-T8 EoF zones, and you just adapt your playstyle and AA spec a bit to adjust.  </p>

[Shiverr]

<p>If you're wanting to tank for groups/raids at end-game you'll find that currently a guard has a much easier time and is more desirable in general.</p><p>I really wanted a zerker - and did so, but ultimately betrayed at around 68.  I immediately noticed the difference in performance for straight-up tanking, and my wife who was duoing a fury with me immediately noticed the ease of healing the guard comparitively.  Zerkers are a blast, but just at the moment, they are fairly broken IMO.</p><p>You can still do a surprising amount of damage with a guard - try out the buckler line, crits, and haste (warrior AA) and on the Guard side of AA's max out the damage line.  Get some gear with +melee crit and go to town.  I've been stashing stuff back for a dps kit as I go, and on the rare occassion I OT or fill-in I go purely offensive and even as a new 80 can do serious damage. . .</p><p>Perhaps some things will get fixed with tanks and my 80 Sk or a zerker will become as desirable for half of the content, but for now you can't go wrong with a guard.</p><p>And... welcome back!</p>

[LygerT]

<p>in T8 this is the breakdown:</p><p><b>solo:</b></p><ul><li><div align="left">guardian is a bit slow, can't kill more difficult mobs</div></li><li><div align="left">zerker solos decently and can even kill a few easier named heroic mobs</div></li></ul><p align="left"><b>heroic:</b></p><ul><li>guard takes hits better but still a little slower paced and less damage output</li><li>zerk has some issues mitigating damage and holding aggro at the same time but at the cost of killing the mobs quicker</li></ul><p><b>epic</b></p><ul><li>guardian is the main tank of choice, some guilds even use 2 guardians solely for their raids due to their high plate tank dps and survivability</li><li>zerk is mainly offtank still with the highest of all plate dps but only marginally better than guardian on single target but obviously superior on AE encounters. healers need to be focused when a zerk main tanks due to our inability to deal with spike damage very well</li></ul><p>so in short, most of the time i recommend a warrior start off with a zerk and then betray to guardian depending on what they plan to do as soloing as a zerk is a bit easier. for the choice between the 2 on heroic is between whether you want to be dps or survive, same goes for raid but the edge favors guardians as their DPS increases in raid to near berserker level while retaining superior survivability. </p><p>things aren't what they used to be, many zerks abandoned ship because guardians are superior in many ways to us now as they have more room to grow with their DPS where berserkers hit the cieling fairly early on but got none of the defensive benefits that guardians had all along.  it has mainly turned into a state of mind, i don't switch because i'm not a fairweather player but honestly i can't even clear heroic zones any quicker than our main tank guardian can with a similar group so really the only noticable difference i see between the 2 is on solo content where zerker is just superior to the slow grind of the guardian. </p>

[SixGun]

As a returning player myself, i rolled a Guardian and noticed the immense difference in how i handle damage as compared to 3 years ago. Now having said that, I also rolled a Berserker to see the difference as i wish to stick with my choice but wanted to be sure, so the 'Zerk can kill quite easily but the mitigation is not on par.These are my thoughts on the differences, in the end game, from what i gather on all forum sites i have researched, for MY style of play, i will stick with my Guardian, he's currently almost 24 now on BeFallen, his name is "Armored Vengeance" with Divinity Guild.I find that solo'ing up my Guard takes a bit longer, but i do alot of quests and try to find a place with lots of blues around, as after questing, blues are your best best for XP per hour i find. Guardians are needed alot in the end-game as now many more opportunities are there for pickup groups and guild raiding. Berserkers are just fine too for raiding, but they will get passed over if a Guardian is looking too, Berserkers are probably your best bet for solo content though i am not certain how effective they are as a main tank in the end game. I assume ALOT has to do with the AA lines and such but that is another ball of wax that i myself am just barely coming to grips with.So for ME it was a no brainer, i wanted the toughest, hardiest guy i could make, and that was a Guardian.

[LygerT]

or you could read my post, if you want to level a guard just start off as a zerk and betray at 70 <img src="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/images/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" />