STR Line

[Valkeerie]

<p>I am probably going to be flamed for this, but I wanted to say something about choosing the STR line. I have a PvP coercer, currently 55, 93 AA. I went down AGI line first, then decided to try the STR line for fun. Respeccing is easy after all.</p><p>I've maxxed out the STR line, and it is great fun. So much fun I have mostly STR/STA/AGI jewelry (335 str, 310 agi, 435 sta, 551 int). Because I have 50% double  attack and 50% crit, I'm autoattacking for 500 routinely, which also procs Hostage. With a 5 sec MC weapon, extended melee range and M1 Velocity to speed up autoattack I kill most NPCs before they reach me. Even con ^^^ are killed like normal mobs.</p><p>I get the same damage while running around. This spooks a lot of classes expecting the mez-debuff-nuke-root mage approach. The high damage peak along with stun and stifle tends to overwhelm a lot of healers - I don't think the dreadnaught inquisitor was expecting to be dead in 5 secs after mez broke. Same with SKs.</p><p>The end-of-line STR ability (counterblade) not only 100% counters an attack, but it does damage, and it crits and procs Hostage - looking at well over 1000 damage at 54. Same for Spellblade's Counter. Both are short cast/short reuse.</p><p>And of course I can still do the usual mez debuff root nuke etc.</p><p>Overall I find I have similar melee abilities to a brigand, plus other stuff in reserve  - root, mez, fear.</p><p>I'll probably respec later. For the moment, I'm happy, and the coercer is the most fun of all the toons I've had - makes my ranger seem slow and tedious.</p>

[RingleToo]

<p>I've never given much attention to the STR line because I don't do pvp, and I just figured that a coercer couldn't do melee. But I didn't realize just how much dmg one can do, and now you've made me very curious as to how STR would work in a pve setting. I think I'm going to finally get a mirror made so I can switch back and forth, and play around with the STR line for soloing. I may find that I do more dps with spells, but it'll be fun just to do something different. Thanks for the idea.</p>

[Banditman]

<p>Velocity does not increase attack speed.</p>

[Valkeerie]

<p><cite>Banditman wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Velocity does not increase attack speed.</p></blockquote><p>It increases damage per second.</p>

[Valkeerie]

<p><cite>Valkeerie wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>Banditman wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Velocity does not increase attack speed.</p></blockquote><p>It increases damage per second.</p></blockquote><p>Yes, I think my increased attack speed is coming from Quickening in the AA STR line...</p>

[beladi]

<p>This is interesting.  I might have to try a mirror respec for fun!  </p><p>Ayalin</p>

[Aule]

Str line is fun. What else are you going to do when all your healers are already at/over 100% heal crit? Plus, you know you've all been in on those lousy pickup groups where some scout that should be able to dps is coming in under 1k and you're doing 10k+. Times like those I just drop dps mod off the sucker and put it on myself.

[draziw1]

<p><cite>Aule@Guk wrote:</cite></p><blockquote>Str line is fun. What else are you going to do when all your healers are already at/over 100% heal crit? Plus, you know you've all been in on those lousy pickup groups where some scout that should be able to dps is coming in under 1k and you're doing 10k+. Times like those I just drop dps mod off the sucker and put it on myself.</blockquote><p>QFT</p>

[stgninja]

<p>I've got a lowbie 23 coercer and I love the STR line.  With Hostage + all the benefits from the STR line you get so much burst DPS its insane.  </p>

[EQ_Irving]

<p>I tried this over the past few weeks as a pure PvE Coercer, and I didn't find myself gaining much benefit from it. It was a cool idea, I thought, but I think I'm getting a lot more out of the INT line as a second line than the STR line.</p>

[uneedmana]

<p>been str spec'd for sometime now since no hlrs im n grp's with or in raids need heal crit buff. i love being str spec'd its fun n herioc zones and on trash and easier boss mobs with not so hard hitting ae's</p>

[Froed20]

<p>I have tried it in the past, but honestly I feel that in a group or raid setting the points are better spent elsewhere.  Autoattack counts for only a small portion of your dps, and being that the class is really fast at casting, I find the benefits gained are kind of wasted.  The line is better suited for soloers as it gives you a chance to root and attack the mob without being attacked back.  That extra dps, added to a near endless supply of mana, can definitly make heroic encounters easier.  It really just depends on your playstyle.</p>