More questions from a noob!

[Eskol]

<p>Ok, so I am sure everyone is seeing me ask more and more questions, I am trying to get as much information as I can. Lets face it, EQII is pretty deep. </p><p>Starting this span of questions, Paladins, What is this class used for?</p><p>My experience with a Pally = I couldn't heal, I can tank but not as good as some, I couldn't DPS, I couldn't debuff...I notice I don't die very fast, but compared to an SK or Zerk I don't DPS or Tank as well...I burn through Mana, and no one wants me in groups.</p><p>Brigands, I love my brigand, everyone seems to enjoy telling me that brigs suck...I think he is a terribly fun class to play, I don't seem to die as fast as my Assassin, and the DPS isn't terrible...I know my debuffs don't stack, but either way, they are still nice to have...Is there a secrete "Anti-Brigand Committee" that I don't know about?</p><p>Race, how important is your race? I have a few guildies, that say for scouts pick this race or for brusier/monk pick this race, and I have heard the responses and they seem to be pretty good. A Sarnak Bruiser bought a race change potion and changed to Kerra and keeps telling everyone how  much more DPS she is doing...Another guy was playing a Fury and made an alt Warden. He was told to be a high elf, and he say's that his warden heals so much better(this could be the difference  in classes) </p><p>Support, what is utility? What is the better support classes? I played a Templar and the slow cast speeds and lack of heals and lack of buffs made the class seem very poor...I thought about playing a Dirge because my guild keeps saying "We need utility" but when I ask what utility is, I don't think they know...they give me answers like "It's just support from a scout." and "Utility is Dirge and Troub buffs"</p>

[Stubbswick]

<p>Paladins are pretty great tanks.  You may find you have a few issues at lower levels, but they really come into their own at higher levels (and more AAs).  They are particularly good at tanking multiple mobs, due to a lot of AoE damage and taunt abilities.  In a very broad sense, they are more defensive than SKs or Zerkers, but in my experience all three classes can do a great job in either a defensive or offensive play style.</p><p>Brigands in general have a little less oomph than some of the other scouts.  As rogues, they can't do as much DPS as say an assassin or ranger.  And they don't have the AoE damage abilities of their counterpart swashbuckler.  Instead, they are given some very nice debuff abilities.  If it's a class you enjoy playing, don't stop playing it just because others say they suck.</p><p>Race is more or less irrelevant anymore.  You can't pick a "wrong" race for any class.  So you have two options: pick the race that makes the most sense to you from a character/roleplaying perspective, or take a look at some of the few different abilities you can get.  For example, fae, arasai, dark elves, erudites, and I think maybe one more race has a "slow-fall" ability.  If that's something important to you, maybe look for one of them.  Some races allow you to call to another person in the zone once every hour, which can come in handy.  Things like that.</p><p>When people talk about "utility" and "support", they mean two things.  Power regen, and buffs.  Enchanters are far stronger on the power regen side, although they get some great buffs as well.  Bards have the best buffs around.  In general, Troubs buff mages, and Dirges buff melee classes.  They can bring a significant boost in DPS with the right AA setup.  Especially at higher levels.</p><p>Hope that helps.</p>

[Rast]

<p>Paladins are rock solid tanks.  Their heals took a huge hit in the crit nerf, but I've played one since 2004.</p><p>Brigands are a nice class, I have one of them as well.  Their weakness is in groups you don't need the debuffs (and in raids they can be redundant) and they have limited AoEs and many groups want that AoE dps to make the zones go faster.</p><p>Race, for the most part doesn't matter.  You can squeak out a few extra bonuses by picking a race (like extra poison triggers for scouts, or tracking for a non scout class) but for the most part, play what you want, it isn't gonna cripple you.</p><p>Utility.  Utility is the thing that makes your other classes better.  They may not dps much, but they add dps to others.  They may not heal much, but they make your healers better.  Bards and enchanters are your primary utility classes, but many classes have some level of utility.</p><p>I was too slow :p</p>

[Eskol]

<p>Oh Thanks you two! This helps a lot! Another Question in regards to "The Right" healer class for me, I played a fury, but I don't want to second for DPS, sure it is nice, but I like to play a healer that heals. I played a Templar and Inquisitor and thought the heals took to long to cast, I didn't get enough heals(lvl 46 for my Inquisitor) I didn't feel like I had many buffs, and debuffs seemed like it was my focus, I want to play a healer that HEALS not DPS/Healer or Bebuff/Healer I want to be a Healer with maybe a handful of support buffs.</p><p>Any tips? Maybe a Warden? Seems like that would be the better one for what I want, what about the Shamans? I know 1 shaman on my server and he is a Defiler named Beetlejooz and he claims he can't heal or DPS...what does he do? Sometimes when I group with him, he will actually request we get another healer because he can't heal. I don't know if his class can't heal, he, as a player, can't heal, or if maybe he is not geared or spec'd very well...what do you think about that?</p>

[Stubbswick]

<p>As far as healers go, your pure healers are the Defiler and Templar.  Those two are the most defensive, most healing-based of the healers.  The others all have pretty good forms of DPS.</p><p>If you can stand it, try getting your Templar up a little higher level.  Once you get more AAs, and particularly +casting speed gear, it's a non issue.  I play an inquisitor as my main, and I'm well above the cap for casting speed - I cast as fast as I possibly can.  That's at level 90, but my point is you can't always judge a class at lower levels and say it's not for you.  As far as casting speed, Defilers and Mystics are as bad or worse off, at least at lower levels.</p><p>If you want lots of heals to cast, and have them cast faster, then Fury or Warden are good choices.  Believe it or not, Furies can be very prolific healers.  When it comes to raw healing power, the amount of heals you can pump out, the two druid classes come out on top.  The other classes just make up for the fact that they don't cast quite as fast or have as many by having more efficient heals (i.e. only heal someone when they're damaged).</p>

[nerrollus]

LOL @ the "I switched races and now my DPS is uber!" comments. Races don't really matter... It's so easy to boost stats any race can be the best at any class. Just pick what fits your vision of your character. Who wants to place a race they hate for 90 levels just because some power gamer was able to eek out .0001% more DPS from X race? I'm guessing when they changed races they probably picked their innate abilities or AA's different and that changed their DPS.

[Eugam]

<p><cite>Eskol wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Oh Thanks you two! This helps a lot! Another Question in regards to "The Right" healer class for me, I played a fury, but I don't want to second for DPS, sure it is nice, but I like to play a healer that heals. I played a Templar and Inquisitor and thought the heals took to long to cast, I didn't get enough heals(lvl 46 for my Inquisitor) I didn't feel like I had many buffs, and debuffs seemed like it was my focus, I want to play a healer that HEALS not DPS/Healer or Bebuff/Healer I want to be a Healer with maybe a handful of support buffs.</p><p>Any tips? Maybe a Warden? Seems like that would be the better one for what I want, what about the Shamans? I know 1 shaman on my server and he is a Defiler named Beetlejooz and he claims he can't heal or DPS...what does he do? Sometimes when I group with him, he will actually request we get another healer because he can't heal. I don't know if his class can't heal, he, as a player, can't heal, or if maybe he is not geared or spec'd very well...what do you think about that?</p></blockquote><p>LOL</p><p>Eskol, i have the feeling those guys are making jokes <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />  A defiler is a healbeast for example <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>First of all, all healers start with rather slow casting times, but its getting better by the time. One of the faster ones is maybe the warden. Currently the warden ist a great group healer and can do a bit dps if needed. Might be a good class for you. The warden has a rather fast gameplay compared to clerics or shaman. I like the warden a lot, because he can heal well and has a lot of abilities that makes the solo questing easier.</p><p>Back to your first post, i think a Dirge might be something for you too.</p><p>If you play a healer and want to solo once in a while, then probably a race with tracking as racial is a nice idea. Its not a big thing, but helps sometimes a lot. I think half-elves, wood-elves, halflings and kerra have this ability.</p><p>In the end i recomend to play what is fun for you.</p>

[Darkor]

<p><cite>Eskol wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Ok, so I am sure everyone is seeing me ask more and more questions, I am trying to get as much information as I can. Lets face it, EQII is pretty deep. </p><p>Starting this span of questions, Paladins, What is this class used for?</p><p>My experience with a Pally = I couldn't heal, I can tank but not as good as some, I couldn't DPS, I couldn't debuff...I notice I don't die very fast, but compared to an SK or Zerk I don't DPS or Tank as well...I burn through Mana, and no one wants me in groups.</p><p>Brigands, I love my brigand, everyone seems to enjoy telling me that brigs suck...I think he is a terribly fun class to play, I don't seem to die as fast as my Assassin, and the DPS isn't terrible...I know my debuffs don't stack, but either way, they are still nice to have...Is there a secrete "Anti-Brigand Committee" that I don't know about?</p><p>Race, how important is your race? I have a few guildies, that say for scouts pick this race or for brusier/monk pick this race, and I have heard the responses and they seem to be pretty good. A Sarnak Bruiser bought a race change potion and changed to Kerra and keeps telling everyone how  much more DPS she is doing...Another guy was playing a Fury and made an alt Warden. He was told to be a high elf, and he say's that his warden heals so much better(this could be the difference  in classes) </p><p>Support, what is utility? What is the better support classes? I played a Templar and the slow cast speeds and lack of heals and lack of buffs made the class seem very poor...I thought about playing a Dirge because my guild keeps saying "We need utility" but when I ask what utility is, I don't think they know...they give me answers like "It's just support from a scout." and "Utility is Dirge and Troub buffs"</p></blockquote><p>Paladins are pretty solid tanks. At lower level they are not known for their massive dps, but as you level up you get more abilities. At a higher level you will have a handfull of AoE abilities that will help you with dps, especially when dealing with big encounters. Their heals wont be good enough to solo heal throu heroic content, but it should help you out while soloing or questing aswell as give your healer the lifesaving second when you are going down. Its a pretty solid tank that can tank as good as any other tanks if not better. The mana problem is actually a figher problem and has nothing to do with paladins. At the lower level all fighters burn throu their power very easily. Later on you will be grouping with classes that will keep your power at 100% all the time so this is not something you should worry for.</p><p>I called a brigand my main for a very long time. The class definitly has its purpose. Your job is to DPS and debuff. While your dps may not be as high as assassins dps, your debuffs help that assassin to dps that high. I dont see how a group or raid would not take a brigand with them. I am not sure what you mean with your debuffs dont stack, they all do. The only reason why i actually switched from brigands to swashbuckler is the AoE auto attacks from swashys. There are way too many mass encounters in this game and i dont see that trend stopping. Since SoE does not care about their brigands, leaving them with one of the last classes without any meaningfull aoe auto attack, i decided to switch over. The classes are pretty similar, the brigand debuffs a little bit better but in a raid situation i dont see any problems. The reason your assassin dies faster is simple, assassins have way too many positional or stealth attacks. I dont see how you can execute them while fighting more than one mob at a time and even that one mob can be annoying. Brigands on other hands do have positional attacks but they have the utily to perform those (walk the plank achievement ability for example or the 6 second root that does not allow the target to turn arround).</p><p>About races, they DO NOT matter. Dont let anyone fool you with a different statement. The race is a pure cosmetic thing and no race will do more dps than the other with the exception of the new introduced freeblod race. But even those just have a little passive proc more than the other races. Utilywise there are races that can be handy from time to time. Dark elves for example can teleport themself to a player in their grp from time to time. This is a nice utily to have, but there are other ways to get such abilities for other races, its just easier when you have that thing as soon as you create your character. That being said, theres no reason to favour one race over the other when its about dps. There is no difference.</p><p>Support is support. Your job is to improve your group members. Bards for example enhance the abilities of their groupmembers making them stronger. They are very wanted and will almost always guarantee you a spot in a group or raid. Most people believe that supportclasses can only support and when solo are not that strong. But this is not true anymore. All support classes do fine nowdays dps wise, they wont be at top with the assassin but definitly not at the bottom with the healers. If you need concrete examples what type of support the classes give, i'll give you some examples to understand better. Coercers and Illusionists for example keep the power of their group up. They also have a bunch of group buffs which make casters or melees stronger. Additional to the group buffs they also have single target buffs that either improve the healing of healers, the dps of melees or reduce/increase the hate of certain group members. Same with bards. Dirges give a group buff that improve the dps of all group members, they can also ressurect dead players or improve hate of their group tankl. Troubadors on other side improve the casting skills for caster and they have a group buff that allows all casters in group to do extra dmg on their spell attacks. There are all kind of support abilities that benefit the whole group, this makes support classes very desired.</p><p>Maybe this helps you to understand the game better, let us know if ya have any other questions.</p>

[Darkor]

<p><cite>Eskol wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Oh Thanks you two! This helps a lot! Another Question in regards to "The Right" healer class for me, I played a fury, but I don't want to second for DPS, sure it is nice, but I like to play a healer that heals. I played a Templar and Inquisitor and thought the heals took to long to cast, I didn't get enough heals(lvl 46 for my Inquisitor) I didn't feel like I had many buffs, and debuffs seemed like it was my focus, I want to play a healer that HEALS not DPS/Healer or Bebuff/Healer I want to be a Healer with maybe a handful of support buffs.</p><p>Any tips? Maybe a Warden? Seems like that would be the better one for what I want, what about the Shamans? I know 1 shaman on my server and he is a Defiler named Beetlejooz and he claims he can't heal or DPS...what does he do? Sometimes when I group with him, he will actually request we get another healer because he can't heal. I don't know if his class can't heal, he, as a player, can't heal, or if maybe he is not geared or spec'd very well...what do you think about that?</p></blockquote><p>All healers can heal in this game, dont let those people fool you arround. The only different between the 3 healer subclasses are the way they heal. Druids have mostly direct heals and heals over time. Shaman have direct heals and very powerfull wards. Clerics have direct heals and reactive heals. Now you need to decide which type is more your style. Do you like to directly heal when the dmg is allready done then the druids is your choice. Do you want to PRE-heal slower but more powerfull heals like the clerics reactive or shaman wards then those classes are better. The deal is kinda easy when the content isnt too difficult or your tank is extremelly good, then druids are probably the easiest classes to heal with. You spam your buttons and plow throu the content. When stuff gets tough tho and your partymembers almost get one shotted, then clerics and shamans are more helpfull cause their heals actually prevent any dmg done to the group members. Castting time shouldnt bother you too much by the way cause at the higher level you will have 100 % casting speed making cleric and shaman heals less painfull to cast, untill then you will have to struggle with your slower castting times. By the way, i should add one last info. One of each healer subclass has a nice melee line. Warden, Mystics and Inquisitors have AA specs, that turn their spells into combat arts. Its much less painfull to level with those abilities than use castting times. Im not saying that either line is "more" dps. Its just quicker and easier. Defilers for example can be reeeeaaallly slow. Their counterpart mystics on the other side are actually alot more fun to level with, when they spec their crazy melee dmg line. This is something i would consider when leveling a healer.</p>

[Eskol]

<p>Oh, ok! So that leads me to yet another question(I will keep asking as long as you are all so helpful!)</p><p>If I were to start a healer, I would probably start a cleric or a shaman, I am not so much worried about spec'ing for solo'ing, just want to be a great healer...Any tips for me? And who has decent AoE heals? not interested in lots of them but interested in helpful ones. I played a fury and had 3 group heals, one was heal over time that wasn't great but wasn't terrible. The other a solid group heal that didn't heal for tons but seemed fast to cast. The other was like a "nuke" heal, it is instant and is a heal over time and seems to be great but has a 15minute recast. Of the Cleric and Shaman's who might have just one or two group heals that are more of an emergency. For instance, group is hit with an AoE and rather than healing each member individually, I hit that group heal 1 or 2 times and keep my focus on the tank.</p><p>*Different subject*</p><p>I was in FG the other day and there was an SK who claimed he was at 77 AA and as I watched he was tanking the whole zone and barely being hurt(lvl 22 MC gear best of the best kind of thing) How can someone have that much AA at that level? Are there any secrets I should know about?</p>

[ROCKHEART]

You can have all of your AA at level 22 (assuming the SK was level 22) but you can only apply 50/50/60 into each of the trees if your under level 70( I believe level 70+ you can apply the rest). I have a paladin that has 134 aa, and I just leveled him to 44. FG is a great zone for aa if you level lock your toon as the mobs re spawn quickly. Shaman has one group heal and one group ward (recast sucks at lower levels) but they should get the rest of the group thru content if the tank is doing his job and none is pulling agro. Single ward the squishes as it has a fast recast and concentrate on the tank. Use profit UI and the group quick cast buttons’ so you can stay locked on the tank. I do not have a cleric but so can not help you there.

[JoarAddam]

<p><cite>Eskol wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Oh, ok! So that leads me to yet another question(I will keep asking as long as you are all so helpful!)</p><p>If I were to start a healer, I would probably start a cleric or a shaman, I am not so much worried about spec'ing for solo'ing, just want to be a great healer...Any tips for me? And who has decent AoE heals? not interested in lots of them but interested in helpful ones. I played a fury and had 3 group heals, one was heal over time that wasn't great but wasn't terrible. The other a solid group heal that didn't heal for tons but seemed fast to cast. The other was like a "nuke" heal, it is instant and is a heal over time and seems to be great but has a 15minute recast. Of the Cleric and Shaman's who might have just one or two group heals that are more of an emergency. For instance, group is hit with an AoE and rather than healing each member individually, I hit that group heal 1 or 2 times and keep my focus on the tank.</p><p>*Different subject*</p><p>I was in FG the other day and there was an SK who claimed he was at 77 AA and as I watched he was tanking the whole zone and barely being hurt(lvl 22 MC gear best of the best kind of thing) How can someone have that much AA at that level? Are there any secrets I should know about?</p></blockquote><p>Slider to 100.  Kill as much as you can, fast as you can.  once you're able to do green or blue heroics solo, at speed, switch to heroics asap.  Once your AA's get to at least 1.5x to 2x your level, the solo game is beyond trivial and you're soloing heroics for fun...</p>