Bruiser or Monk & Warden or Fury duo ?

[Wintersborn]

<p>Hello me and my woman are going to make new toons and found our current Brig/Defiler duo great but we need a change.</p><p>So we need another great duo and that seems to be Brawler/Druid as far as we can tell.</p><p>Looks like Monk/Warden may be the best but I would love some info from players that play one of the duo's.</p><p>We are going to duo 95% of the time so the best mesh with AA lines and skills will be the deciding factor.</p><p>So what works best ?</p><p>      Monk/Warden or Monk/Fury ? </p><p>      Bruiser/Warden or Bruiser/Fury ?</p><p> And why : )</p><p>Thanks.</p>

[Aull]

<p>This is just my opinion so please understand that. Right now the equality of tanking and dps between the two brawlers are so close that there really isn't any distinguishing factors which is really sad. I wish I could give insight as to which brawler actually tanks better or has a dps advantage but right now it is up in the air. That being mentioned a monk at later levels will have a slight utility advantage over a bruiser. Monk can heal others if needed where a bruiser's heal is self only. A monks melee/spell casting haste group/raid wide buff will be more beneficial for either druid that will be duoing with the monk since both druids can with aa's get some melee bonus to their attacks can still cast spells.</p><p>Both brawlers can get an aa using the agility line that is called alturism. What this does is allows the group/raid friend targeted a 100% chance to feign death if this group mate actually looses all hitpoints and it lasts for like 36 seconds. Very nice ability that really can help in a bad situation. It will not protect against ae damage and it could still allow a death. A monk also will get a nice class ability called group feign death in the late lvl 50's that is a nice "oh !@#$" ability that can possibly save an entire group and if a monk has taken the agility aa line for alturism then all this makes the survivability of a group mate or duo much better.</p><p>A bruiser has about three combat arts that actually hit about 1/3 to 1/2 harder than a monks, but these combat arts will take about 15-30 seconds longer to refresh. This will allow a bruiser to have what is called burst damage. Burst damage is very nice for a brusier and once a bruiser gets to lvl 65 and gets knockout combo (adds 200-700 extra damage to each successful combat art + a stifle) a bruiser can be a menace for about 20-30 seconds. This makes a bruiser burn a mob down fast but also makes for a slight pause waiting for combat arts refresh after they are all spent.</p><p>Monks are great consistant dps. Combat arts for monks do slightly less damage (only three) than bruisers but refresh quicker. Also monks at higher levels are usually self hasted with equipment at 130+ points of haste! I have even heard of some that are close to 150 points of haste! What this does is helps the monk not burn so much power (if properly played) and pulls can be more consistant since there will be less down time. The only downfall of having such high haste is that the cap is at 200 and anything over that will not benefit the fighter.</p><p>Tanking wise both will do well on everyday norrath mobs. Monks in the mid to late 50's get a class ability called tsunmai that makes a monk immune/parries to all melee damage for about 9-12 seconds and it is a great ability to have when the fights get rough.</p><p>As for the druids which healer would be better I couldn't tell you. I have heard that furies are more offensively inclined where the warden is more defensively inclined, but I have heard that bruisers are more offensive than monks and monks are more defensive than bruisers but to me that isn't the case hehe. I do think wardens can buff up the run speed of sow to like 45% so that can be useful running around norrath.</p><p>Not sure that will help any but I would think a monk at this time would be a better all round brawler, but a bruiser is what I play and enjoyed it.</p>

[Wintersborn]

<p>Thank you very much for the info on the Brawlers.</p><p>A group FD is nice and should work well with the group evac from a Warden or group invis from a Fury.</p><p>Sounds like Monk may not solo as well as a Bruiser but should provide more group (Duo) benifits?</p><p>Anyone one else have some insite in to this pair ?</p>

[Pnaxx]

<p>I really, for some reason, have never really figured out what healers do well with me or not. I used to think the Templars and Quizzies stunk with me, but they have been doing great. I used to think the Wardens and the healers that WARD me were the best, but the Wardens have a hard time casting fast enough in really tough fights.</p><p>Fury's seem to do well. Havn't had a defiler in a while so can't remember.</p><p>So in closing, I am no help. But I would like to thank the Acadamy...........</p>

[Aull]

<p>Both brawlers can solo well. I can really only comment from a bruiser standpoint, but three of my friends and my cousin all play monks. I do know that once a monk gets tsunami and has the inteligence line maxxed for the end ability monks can lay a smack down. End ability in intel will allow the brawler to have like 75% crits if health is below 30%. Use that with tsunami and having very high haste and monks can throw off some impressive dps for about 9-12 seconds. It is really awesome to behold. Brusiers cannot do anything like that since bruisers have no ability like tsunami except on the mythical.</p><p>Bruisers once at lvl 65 or better get the knockout combo that is good 20 seconds of burst damage to the max. If a bruiser also is using the last ability in the strgth line called "chi" in combination with knockout combo it will be even better for about 30 seconds. Chi basically increases haste and dps mod by 50 each, gives 100% recovery, increases casting by 100% (almost instant on all combat arts), 50% reuse, and the other I can't remember, but it enhances knockout combo well. The only drawback to chi is the very long reuse timer of 15 mins and I used it to drop named mobs only and it makes it easier to say the least.  One other drawback is chi is the only ability that can be used with weapons in the strgth line. If weapons are used the other abilities are not beneficial.</p><p>As for healers I personally like a well played defiler for my bruiser. All healers that are played well are better than no healer at all, but for me a defiler or even a mystic are great choices for brawlers. Furies and wardens are a dime a dozen but defilers to me are an under utilized class and same can be said for an inquizitor.</p><p>Wardens have a nice buff that gives a better chances to hit a mob(s). Not sure of the name but I can tank in defensive stance with a warden and still hit the mob(s) fairly often to help kill and keep aggro. Furies can give a single proc buff that increases haste and dps mods for about 10 secs if triggered. Both have other buffs like group health/power regen, barbed coat, ect.</p><p>Again not knocking bruisers at all but monks actually have just a tad more to offer than a bruiser does plain and simple. </p><p>Here again is my opinion on the two brawlers.</p><p>Tanking: both share the same avoidance problems when facing mobs that are yellow greater. Monks do get tsunami but that is at a later lvl and only lasts for 9-10 secs and bruisers can get it with the mythical weapon if lucky. Basically both are equal.</p><p>Dps: Both share about the same numbers given all things are close to equal. There might be about a 200-250 dps variance between the two brawlers but not enought to say that one holds the title over the other. Basically both are equal.</p><p>Group/raid support/utility.</p><p>Monk: targetable heal, group fd, alturism (aa choice), intercede, and a raid wide melee haste and spell casting haste benefiting everyone involed in the raid.</p><p>Bruiser: alturism (aa choice), intercede, and raid wide % to effectiveness taunt/detaunts with +XXX to combat art damage that benefits only the melee classes.</p><p>Now I hope that is a better comparison to help you decide. Like I mentioned if there is so much equality in tanking and dps in the two brawlers then the only separtating factor will be in the support advantage that the monk has.</p><p>Thanks for reading</p>

[Wintersborn]

<p>We have played a couple of combo's till mid teens but most classes dont flesh out untill t4-t5 so it hard to get a feel for what they will be like then.</p><p>Thank you for all the info it makes choosing a bit easier.</p><p>I think Monk and Warden seem to be the better suited to our needs or thinking about Zerk/Inq. but that may be too slow for us?</p><p>Thanks again.</p>