which scout ?

[mikexg]

Hey all, I am an old vet of EQ1 and played eq2 when it first came out and am coming back to it now.  i am in love with the idea of a scout type class. sneaking around, stabbing stuff high dps.  i like to have some utility just for flavor to spice it up a bit.  i have a 55 brigand right now who is the STA line i duo a lot and end up tanking which is alright on my brig but it gets old fast cause i always am stunning running around stabbing etc.  i have a 51 dirge from before i quit back 4 years ago who i liked a lot but always felt like i was only good when i had a group and couldnt fend for myself/duo well.  im just now messing around on an assassin with the intent to betray to ranger.  im curious what you all have to say about assassin/ranger as far as my playstyle.  assassin being someone who attacks from stealth doesnt seem like it would fit due to the fact that i would be tanking or soloing most of the time and its hard to be stealth while doing that.  and ranger seems like it would be great but there would be times it wouldnt.  plus im told rangers are great one minute crappy the next due to patchs.  id jsut like fellow scouts input on what they recomend, which class, what build.  etc.  any insight would be great, thanks in advance. happy stabbing

[craghack]

<cite>mikexg wrote:</cite><blockquote>Hey all, I am an old vet of EQ1 and played eq2 when it first came out and am coming back to it now.  i am in love with the idea of a scout type class. sneaking around, stabbing stuff high dps.  i like to have some utility just for flavor to spice it up a bit.  i have a 55 brigand right now who is the STA line i duo a lot and end up tanking which is alright on my brig but it gets old fast cause i always am stunning running around stabbing etc.  i have a 51 dirge from before i quit back 4 years ago who i liked a lot but always felt like i was only good when i had a group and couldnt fend for myself/duo well.  im just now messing around on an assassin with the intent to betray to ranger.  im curious what you all have to say about assassin/ranger as far as my playstyle.  assassin being someone who attacks from stealth doesnt seem like it would fit due to the fact that i would be tanking or soloing most of the time and its hard to be stealth while doing that.  and ranger seems like it would be great but there would be times it wouldnt.  plus im told rangers are great one minute crappy the next due to patchs.  id jsut like fellow scouts input on what they recomend, which class, what build.  etc.  any insight would be great, thanks in advance. happy stabbing</blockquote>If you solo, then Brigand is the way to go. at least it was for me, I pretty much solo'd myself up to lvl 80. With our abilities, our debuffs and our stuns we can take down most mobs pretty quickly with minimal downtime. 

[Anfauglith]

If you don't like to run around the mobs, use 5 pts in your agi line to get WtP it'll save you a lot of running...if you duo with a priest then brigand is definitly the right way to go...and they become one of the best soloers starting lvl 55...so you're right at it.Rangers are not ment to tank...and they're really bad at it. Assassins can do it...stealth can be done while you tank, tho it may get broken from time to time, usualy you'll be able to use your stealthed hit before it breaks, but they have way less mitigation and hp than a tank specced brigand.

[mhorr]

Swashy FTW solo tank track stealth, an we look O so good while we do it<img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Jida]

Brigands heals are broken, go swash.

[TheSpin]

<p>I dunno if anyone actually read your post... looks like you mostly want advice about ranger vs. assassin, and it's a simple answer.</p><p>Ranger does all the damage from a distance while assassin has to be up close and has a lot of positional/stealth attacks.  Rangers can eventually get skills to kite mobs for soloing, but it's kinda rough at lower levels sometimes.  In a group they are both useful.  Ranger can stay back from the mob and has buffs to reduce his hate gain, assassin has a hate transfer so not only does that help him keep his aggro under control, his transfer helps the tank keep aggro off everyone else.</p>

[Noxtherion]

I play an assassin, just hit lvl 51.  At this point I have never had any issues killing mobs, or even encounters, solo.  Though more then 3 or 4 at once can be a bit of a challeng.  I use my bow skills alot, I tend to pull with the bow, and for yellow con non heroics I can have them down to between 50 - 70% health by the time they are in melee range, then Stun, stealth, stealth attack of some sort and then usually an auto attack or ca to finish them off.  Most of the time at this point I kill fast enough that after 3 or 4 kills I have to wait a few seconds for abilities to refresh.   In groups or with a partner its even easier, I have not duo'd with a healer yet, but I have grouped with other scouts, tanks of all sorts, and had a great time partnered with a wizard. <div></div><div>As for AA builds,  Str and int lines,  repeated stabbings and front load seems to be the way to go.  For stats STR and INT, I don't really pay much attention to sta and agi, I find that going for max dmg just works better for me, kill them before they get a hit in.   Also poisons have a huge impact so make sure you always have a few applied.   </div>

[Doriunn]

My main is a 80 Brigand.  I have to say that from reading your description of your play style, brigand seems to suit you the best.  The running around getting position on the mob is basically nul and void if you have 13 aa points or more.  Get pick pocket, 4 in agility, then 8 in walk the plank.  It turns your target away from you, works on everything but epic mobs.  So basically, you walk the plank, hit dispatch and some other CA, then hit your stun, maybe 2 other ca's, then the ca that stops them from turning in any direction (forget what it's called, it's the pink fist icon).  Follow this and you pretty much never have to move around mobs for positioning.  I will be honest, a dirge seems to be more popular in most raid settings then a brig, but I think the brig is more fun to play personally, so I stick with the Brig.  Good Luck.