Character Trait: Brawny or Durable?

[Critic]

<DIV>I don't know how much Character Traits decisions effect a character, but I'm wondering which would be better for a Guardian. My understanding is that Brawny increases strength and Durable increases stamina. To me, strength seems more important, but at high levels, does stamina play a more important role?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Also, does Brawny increase AC or any other defense attribute?</DIV>

[Sebekiz]

<DIV>It's probably still a bit early to say what is the best course of action.  Personally I wint for more hit points.  Since my view of the class' main role is for it to get beat upon while others dish out the damage, I want to have the most hit points and AC that I can so I can take the pounding.  Other classes will do more damage while I am focusing on holding aggro so the healer(s) have only one person to worry about.  Your view of the class may be different, though.</DIV>

[Boragn]

<DIV>Lik ethe guy before said, to early to really say... I am going to work on Stm, Agi and Wis (hope this effects AC)... Alot of our armor has str in it so it will be the last on my list...</DIV>

[Critic]

<DIV>One of the character traits grants more health?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>How much does your Stamina increase with Durable?</DIV> <DIV>How much does your Strength increase with Brawny?</DIV>

[GaidalCa]

<DIV>I went with Durable as well. I played a Warrior in EQ1 to level 60+ and was MT for most of my guilds high end raids.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>One thing I learned: You can never have too much STA, HP, and AC. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>That given, I chose Durable. I also chose the trait at 14 I think it was for Mental resist. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>At 18 I chose the Barbarian Racial Trait: Remembrance of Halas which gives a large boost to Defense/AC. </DIV>

[Kuda]

<DIV>They increase the stat by 2 points.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>It looks as if both str and sta will be critical for guardians.  I'm always split between whether I need more power (str) or more hp (sta) in hard encounters.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>If I had more power I could throw more buffs which can really influence a fight, but if I had more hp I could last longer.....</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>etc.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Kudara</DIV> <DIV>18 Warrior</DIV>

[GaidalCa]

<DIV>Good point Kudara. I keep forgetting Power is such a vital stat with the numerous taunts and defensive skills we get. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Looks like a balance between STA and PWR will be crucial to achieve in respects to stats. </DIV>

[Krovosx]

As an Ogre I chose to raise my agility (Nimble?) since it started so low (15?) I think a higher agility raises AC to some degree. All things being equal I would agree that str and stam are more important, but for an ogre you might want to get agility to a decent level.

[Woodpi]

<DIV>If you plan to solo most of the time I would go with STR. If you plan to be in groups go with STA. In a group you dont have to worry as much about doing damage. You are not a major damage class when compared to casters, monk, brawlers, etc etc. You are the king of damage taking. STA helps you more to do your main job well.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>             The Woodpile</DIV>

[bjo]

<DIV>as an ogre i chose max hp increase as my tradition and as a trait i chose the stamina increase</DIV>

[Moralpanic]

I went with AGI as a barbarian... like any other MMORPG, your class gear will more often have stats that are important for your class, so i'm sure we'll be finding lots of gear with sta and str. And since those will be capped quicker and easier, i went with AGI, which if it's like EQ1, will be much harder to cap. But in the end, i don't think it'll matter much. 6 pts or so is not going to be the difference between a good guardian and a bad guardian.

[Troy Spir]

"If I had more power I could throw more buffs which can really influence a fight, but if I had more hp I could last longer....."In a solo setting im thinking this is more important than a group setting. Your own "protective self buffs" are probably going to be fairly limited compared to a buff-focused class that would be in your party, and they might prefer you beef up your core-role stuff rather than try to keep yourself buffed all the time.

[Kuda]

<DIV>Buff Battle Tactics - increases hp of entire party by close to 100 hp.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Buff Call to Arms - I may be wrong and it's rallying cry, increases to hit for entire party.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Rallying Cry - reduces slashing, crushing and piercing damage for entire party.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I have to respectfully disagree with you on this, Guardian Buffs are not just self-buffs and they can have a big impact on how a hard fight goes.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Have a scout thats having problems hitting that yellow ^^? use Call to Arms to help them out.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Getting hit too hard and the healers are having to heal you too often? use Toughness and Rallying Cry.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The timer on Battle Tactics is short enough that you should really have it up for every non green fight, and lasts 2:30 min, 100 hp for everyone is certainly nothing to sneeze at.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Kudara</DIV> <DIV>19th Warrior</DIV> <DIV>Runnyeye</DIV>

[maximus2500]

<DIV>Avoiding damage is ALWAYS the best..AC is KING</DIV>

[Isew]

<DIV>Does increasing dexterity improve AC?  I'm a little confused about this.  Right now, I'm thinking Stamina is best as well.</DIV>

[Fable_E]

<DIV>Stamina equates to 1 STA = 4 HPs in the low 20s.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>That said.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>If you have a chance to up your Stamina as a Guardian - do it.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>You will not regret it.</DIV>

[Fable_E]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Kudara wrote:<BR> <DIV>Buff Battle Tactics - increases hp of entire party by close to 100 hp.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Buff Call to Arms - I may be wrong and it's rallying cry, increases to hit for entire party.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Rallying Cry - reduces slashing, crushing and piercing damage for entire party.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I have to respectfully disagree with you on this, Guardian Buffs are not just self-buffs and they can have a big impact on how a hard fight goes.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Have a scout thats having problems hitting that yellow ^^? use Call to Arms to help them out.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Getting hit too hard and the healers are having to heal you too often? use Toughness and Rallying Cry.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The timer on Battle Tactics is short enough that you should really have it up for every non green fight, and lasts 2:30 min, 100 hp for everyone is certainly nothing to sneeze at.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Kudara</DIV> <DIV>19th Warrior</DIV> <DIV>Runnyeye</DIV><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR> <P>Kudara makes some excellent notes.. I thought I should add something...   </P> <P>You like Shout right?  Or the upgrade if you have it (which is nice becuase it AE Taunts and Dmg debuffs).</P> <P>Relying on Shout alone is not enough to actually hold group agro though.</P> <P>Try this:</P> <UL> <LI>Agro mob with bow or taunt.  </LI> <LI>Mob brings friends</LI> <LI>Shout</LI> <LI>Rallying Cry</LI></UL> <P>RC actually produces a good amount of agro as a buff.  Use it to maintain your agro.</P> <P>Guardian buffs are really wonderful for groups.</P>

[Kuda]

<DIV>I'll try that, I'm always looking for more ways to generate aggro.  I've tried to use battle tactics to generate aggro, but to my surprise it didn't really seem to generate much.  One would think they would find a hp buff more objectionable.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Kudara</DIV> <DIV>20th Guardain</DIV>

[carych]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Kudara wrote:<BR> <DIV>They increase the stat by 2 points.  </DIV><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR> <DIV>I think this part is very important.  Even if your gear is pretty crappy at level 20, you probably have a few pieces with +4 or 5 to str and sta.  At the higher levels I'd expect there are +20s and perhaps even +30s already waiting for us.  And of course content will be added, expansions will be released, and those numbers will go up.  So don't think about it too hard.  That many points is really not going to matter in the end.</DIV>