monks for soloing, how good are they?

[Gish-]

<DIV>ive very recently come back to eq2 after 11 months away and still have my old monk, hes lvl 26 kerra</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>just wondering now the game is more viable for solo, how good are monks at it?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>i like to solo in games (though im not against grouping) and if monks arnt any good ill play my summoner</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Kelahr]

<DIV>As long as you get yourself some decent gear, you'll solo pretty well on a monk. Fully decked out in rare crafted t6 (with standard t5 armor atm) I can solo heroics 6-8 levels below me (depending on if they cast). I'm expecting that to get cut to 5-6 levels once I finish off my gear, as currently in a duo with a ranger, heroics 3 levels below us are an option. Of course, all this is if you want to be daring for that extra bit of exp, I have absolutely no problems with solo monsters, I can beat them down very quickly and have plenty of health/power left for more.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Just don't expect to solo as well as a paladin or conjuror, and you should be fine.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>EDIT: Level 50 Kerra monk btw</DIV><p>Message Edited by Kelahrim on <span class=date_text>12-16-2005</span> <span class=time_text>06:53 PM</span>

[Brockwurst]

<DIV>Well, I've never played another character past the onpening scenario/island, but I've brought my Human Monk to level 48.5 almost exclusively soloing.  Its been a LONG grind, haven't been able to do a lot of the quests that I'd like, but it works.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I'd say, no matter what architype you choose, the hardest part is not getting the gear that will really help till you've almost always outgrown its usefullness.  I still can't get the fishbone earring till (at least) next level; it will be a few more levels till I can try for the Flowing Black Sash.  Its really frushtrating for those of us that can't spend the time on-line long enough to get a group together to accomplish much.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Of course, now that I've taken my archetype so far soloing, I'd be pretty much useless (likely worse) trying to group for anything serious, as I've never learned to function in a group!  Still, I have fun playing... I hope you will, too!</DIV>

[Pnaxx]

<DIV>Pally's are better soloing then Monks?</DIV>

[Bladewind]

Paladins and monks are both great for soloing.  When I play my paladin, I miss invis and feign.  When I play my monk, I miss wards and healing.  In short, i think they are a tie for soloing. 

[Owa]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Kelahrim wrote:<BR> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Just don't expect to solo as well as a paladin or conjuror, and you should be fine.</DIV> <DIV><BR> </DIV> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE>Or a Bruiser. In fact, I believe 'Bruisers for teh win' is the phrase you were searching for.<BR>

[Xxooo-Coav]

<P>Considering I can solo lvl 57^^^s, I think monks are very capable of soloing well.</P> <P>My first 45 level were solo (I created Xxooo because I didnt have time to group very often), compared to my wizard, which I only soloed on rare occasions.</P> <P>My wizard (52 wizard) is capable of soloing too.. I do not really know their effectiveness pre50, but they seem to do well post50.</P> <P>But at your level, you should have no problems... its all about the skills you keep updated and how well you equip though. It all plays into your skill more than you think.</P> <P> </P>

[FelthLightbring]

I love solo'ing myself. I'll group with guildee's or if someone ask's for help, but for the most part I go solo all the time.

[Ruadhin]

<DIV>I love my monk for soloing.  He's my character of choice if no one from my guild is able to do anything when I'm on (6 time zones away from my nearest guildy).  I'm nearly 48th level and at least 30 of those levels are solo.  And I'm actually finding it easier to solo the higher level I get.  I have all non-legendary handcrafted and treasured armor and weapons except for a jboots and the fishbone earring, so I'm not exactly uber-outfitted.  I can easily take green ^^^ mobs and I can take blue heroic groups if they're the groups of four "normal" mobs.  All I can say is feign death is a beautiful thing for heroic groups.  And between Wind Walk and Feign Death, I find it very hard to die unless an epic jumps me when I'm not looking.  I'm not quite able to solo Vision of Vox yet, although I *nearly* dodged that hit for 3900 the other day.  :smileyvery-happy:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Ruadhin</DIV>

[scalzo]

IMO the monk is one of the best soloing classes. You can tank for one. Two you can invis to places. Three if things get bad you can FD :smileyhappy:

[Poids]

Depends on what you want to solo. I have 2 lvl 60 characters, a dirge and a monk.The monk solos faster, and can actually take hits unlike my mage-like bard. He definitely grinds faster.My dirge on the other hand solos orange con stuff like Aysor and his Eye without any problem.Different kinds of soloing...<div></div>

[Demodicus]

Bruiser FTW died a while ago.They are still good,Just that Monks and them are even now.  :smileyvery-happy:

[Pari]

<P>I hit 51 this weekend and did mostly solo. I'm not a hardcore gamer so it took me around 3 month. Just killing what I like and doing lots of quests. </P> <P> </P> <P>I find monks a very balanced class that has a "finished" feel to it. We are not overpowered and don't really lack much (exept I wish that heal had a shorter cooldown and the invisi wouldn't eat power...)</P> <P> </P> <P> </P> <p>Message Edited by Parin1 on <span class=date_text>12-19-2005</span> <span class=time_text>03:54 PM</span>

[Mentla]

Can solo better than my Ranger.  Level 45 Monk wearing almost identical gear to me in Varsoon had been farming nameds all week.  I know I'm a level below but I can't solo them.  No room to bow  <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> I got annoyed by this and got up early this morning.  Spent all the money I'd been saving for a horse getting some of my stuff up to Adp III.  Gonna try them again tonight. In the meantime, even before I saw the Monk in action I rolled a baby one on Saturday morning.  High DPS plus tanking.  Sweet. <div></div>

[Junaru]

Monk solo very well.. In my 30's I can kill even con solo mobs no stop. Also lastnight I soloed the EL boat ride (Heroic 29 ^^^ mob + 2 friends) at level 33.With my Monk I can get nearly anyways between Wind Walk and FD. <div></div>

[JudyJudy]

<P><EM>For all you solo'ing monks out there:  Stance Jumping</EM></P> <P><EM>Learn this skill well, grasshoppa's.  :smileyhappy:</EM></P>

[Pnaxx]

<P>These here posts get me excited to play a Monk...though im still torn tween Monk and Bruiser as my new toon. I will play around with my Zerker fer a bit and then make a decision I guess.</P> <P>Can Monks kill mobs as efficiantly as Bruisers...or at least with very little drop off. My thinking is that Bruisers may grind faster through mobs in general but I could be dead wrong on this. I like the over all balanace of a Monk...but a part of me really wants to have  a killing machine in the fighter family. The Ranger looks good too but seems like alot of work to be good and I am too darn lazy!:smileyhappy:</P> <P> </P>

[Kelahr]

<P>In my experience, a monk can tear through stuff pretty quick with their basic attack, despite their skills not being as high damage as the bruiser, because we can haste so madly. I can currently self haste for about 85%, if I were to use my respec stone and get a couple different master II's (too lazy currently -sad, I know), I'd be up to 94% haste. So, while our CA's do less, we're attacking almost twice as fast on our normal attack.</P> <P>Note that I've never played a bruiser, so I could be making some horrible mistake here :smileyindifferent:</P>

[Owa]

<DIV><FONT size=2>I'm nearly lvl 60 at the moment and have noticed that soloing has become easier since about 54. When I was 58 I could take down 58^^^ giants in Pillars of Flame and some named 59 Heroics in Sandscrawler Cliffs(although I think these are badly underconned). I played my Monk to level 50 but rolled a Bruiser before I could see the effects of the Combat Update on post-50 Monks. My Bruiser has always FELT more powerful than my Monk but that's just basing things on pre-Update memories and hardly reliable data. Still....</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>I <EM>did</EM> notice that when a 59 Monk and myself were (independently of each other) on a killing spree in the Sandscawler Cliffs that I was killing more mobs more quickly and was the only one of us to attempt the names there. We both had fairly equivalent gear <EM>(I have fabled bracers the rest is legendary. Aw bless. But hey - everyone has to start their fabled collection somewhere...)</EM> Of course this is not taking into account the amount of Adept IIIs etc. although I think one can assume that a well kitted-out character nearing the level cap will have mostly upgraded CAs.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>My brain is tired and I don't know where I'm going with this actually so I'm going to stop now. Sorry.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>BFTW.</FONT></DIV>

[Pnaxx]

<P>Well thanks fer some input. Annaspider, I guess what your sleeping brain is trying to say was, ur Bruiser b4 the revamp felt stronger than your monk for a number of different reasons. That would have been my guess and I would imagine that that is the way it is now too.....2 pretty equal subclasses but the Monk is def. oriented and the Bruiser is Off. oriented. </P> <P>One of my thoughts were that maybe the Bruiser, while putting out more dps possibly, would also get hit and die faster due to being less defensive than Monks. But then I think of my Zerker and compared with the Guardians, same type of situation...Zerkers are offensive types of Guards. In their cases the Zerker always out soloed the Guards by a pretty good margin. SO if that theory holds true here, the Bruiser would be a bit more effecting in over all power with not as much lost proportionally in defense to the Monk and thus Bruiser being an offensive minded Monk would prolly be stronger and killing mobs at faster paces. </P> <P>The haste issue with Momks is cool....but I see it more used during group fights for the most part. When I solo, if the mob isn't dead by the time I oop, it usually wasn't that close to where my auto attack would have finished them off. (i am speking as a Zerker there). So the haste probably would not really be super  helpful in soling, though ofc it would be somewhat helpful. </P> <P>So, in general, the Bruiser is in the same vein as the Zerker in philosophy and could very well end up being my choice due to my perpensity for offensive minded toon. Thank you all for your help. Not to creat any bad blood, but the Monk forum as been over all much more helpful and kind than those outa control Bruisers...all they do is poke me with stick branches and try to trip me as I walk through their areas.:smileyvery-happy:</P> <p>Message Edited by Pnaxx on <span class=date_text>12-20-2005</span> <span class=time_text>05:22 AM</span>

[Drulak]

<DIV>don't make the same mistake as me though and wait till 20th to decide what you will be.  It is decided by your home town and not by which way you wish to go.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Qeynos = Monk and Freeport = Bruiser , so make sure you have betrayed before the cut off point (if needed)  or you do not get a choice.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>But i must say , i wanted to be a bruiser , but now i'm very glad i didn't get the choice and i am a Monk <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Mentla]

<span><blockquote><hr>Drulak wrote:<div></div> <div>don't make the same mistake as me though and wait till 20th to decide what you will be.  It is decided by your home town and not by which way you wish to go.</div> <div> </div> <div>Qeynos = Monk and Freeport = Bruiser , so make sure you have betrayed before the cut off point (if needed)  or you do not get a choice.</div> <div> </div> <div>But i must say , i wanted to be a bruiser , but now i'm very glad i didn't get the choice and i am a Monk <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></div> <div> </div> <div> </div><hr></blockquote>Yeah, I'm going to have to betray and become a Monk with my little 'un.  Really dislike FP.  Utter nightmare to get around, and so dark and dreary. Can't wait to get back to Willow Wood  <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></span><div></div>

[Junaru]

Pnaxx haste plays a BIG part in soloing. If I'm low on power but have hps (happens all the time) I don't wait to regen power. I just attack the mob and put up my self haste that uses hps (Everburning Flame). I can drop a mob without using CA nearly as fast as with (ok a bit off there but still fast).  This is against white and yellow con mobs.I wouldn't count haste as a group only thing. Not neededing to wait for power regen is nice and it keeps my kill per hour up high.<div></div>

[Gora]

<DIV>Assuming = skill/gear, bruisers are better hands down at soloing harder mobs because of mez/fear.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Grinding through trash, I'd give the edge to monks because of self-haste.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Argest</DIV> <DIV>Najena</DIV>

[Pnaxx]

Gah! More good arguments for Monks.:smileywink: That is a good point about the haste for grinding through trash....I do that alot for lvling. But at the same time like to smack around tougher mobs too for pure enjoyment.:smileyvery-happy: So I need to really concider what will I be doing the most of....great points there. BTlW....you all can just use Haste auto attacks to kill white and orange single mobs? That is very very impressive! I remembr fighting orange mobs with my Zerker and needing to spam CA's to stand any chance at all...usually I would win but oop everytime pretty much. That was b4 the revamp. <p>Message Edited by Pnaxx on <span class=date_text>12-20-2005</span> <span class=time_text>08:30 AM</span>

[firedawg9]

<DIV>Im a lvl 60 monk and I have loved the class since day one.  I have two bruiser friends in my guild that are lvl 60 and they say the same.  The obvious differences have been mentioned but let me point out some very useful features monks have over bruisers.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>1. We are able to heal others with our heal even outside group.  Bruisers heal is self only.  Im dropping heals for over 2k on our main tanks and that can make the difference between life and death for the whole group.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>2. Self ward against magic, poison, disease, ice, fire, and mental for 4360.  This is the adept 3 version of our ward at lvl 52 or 53  called outward calm.  This is huge when tanking caster mobs.  People are always amazed when I pvp a Wizard and take a hit from an ice commet and dont lose any health then cast will of wind which breaks there roots and go and kill them in about 5 seconds.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>3. Self invisibility</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>4.  Group Feign Death is also a nice trick to have in the bag.  Cast that when you know your gonna whipe and the group will love you.  Use this just once at the right time in a pickup group and people will always be begging you to join them.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>5.  Will of the Wind:  now im not for sure if the bruiser class gets anything like this but you are able to dispel all disease, poison, mental, and a few other things with it.  I dont know them all without logging on and looking and im here killing time while servers are down.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>6.  Better group buffs:  We have a group haste that is 18.6 i believe as the master 2 choice.  Also get a nice avoidance buff that we can put on someone that allows target a 49% chance to dodge a mele attack using the casters avoidance.  It also increases casters defense.  I do know us monks have better avoidance and haste but a little worse CAs.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Now these are the things off the top of my head that I know monks have over bruisers.  I know bruisers can heal themselves a little better but its self only.  They also get the fear spell which is a nice option but I would rather have group feign over that.  The haste is huge in my opinion.  I can haste myself up to 100% in my offensive stance and it just looks awsome with my ironwood quarterstaffs.  Especially as a halfling.  I have had people in group parse me and our bruiser and its very close depending on what kind of mob.  If its a longer fight I usually out damage the bruiser do to my haste but on shorter fights the bruiser gets me.  But when it comes to tanking I can definately tank better than either bruiser using the same excact gear do to our avoidance being higher.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Pnaxx]

Thank you Firedawg for taking the time to jot that info down....it reaffirms my belief that Monks are very very well balanced. What that means to me is.....Doing quests and soloing alot will mean that I will get alot out of the more balanced of the 2. That would be monks. So, these recent points are starting to turn me to the benevolent Monk!:smileywink: Plus I really like this community much betterthan the Bruisers at the moment.:smileytongue:

[Junaru]

I don't take orange mobs with autoattack. Hehe I don't take orange mobs at all. It is widely know that orange mobs disregard avoidance and mitagation. Now at level 30 I was killing Orcs in Zek (30 to 32) none stop and could/would easier burn a yellow Orc with not CA's at all and still have a good percent of my hps. I'm more willing to say that Everburning Flame was more of a cause for my hps even dropping to the level they were.Mez and fear could/would be great for soloing something like the EL boat ride, but it's needed. SOE changed the way mobs respawn. While a Brusier might have Mez one mob and Feaded the other while taking out the boss mob I simple killed them 1st then FD and waited till full health then took out the boss. My point is anything you can fear or Mez you can just FD and wait. 3 hard mobs? Go [Removed for Content] out DPS on one then FD, wait put up and repeat.Also don't let them fool you about Windwalk. Scout mobs do see thru it BUT alot of places don't have those mobs. I have yet to see a single mob in any Splitpaw instance that can see me. I did the "Prank" quest in Very Hard just by invising the whole way thru. Could this be done with totems? Sure by at a cost. Can this be done with FD alone? Nope, you need invise to do it. Took about 5 minutes and I got great exp for it. Also I have walked thru a good percent of RoV and SH without any mobs seeing me. Windwalk has gotten me past a ton of trash I normally would have had to kill or FD past.<div></div>

[Gora]

<DIV>You are not understanding the usage of mez/fear.   It's almost never used on trash, it's used to eliminate a high % of damage from a  named or high level heroic mob.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Pull with doll.  Stun-high damage CA-Stun-high damage CA-Stun-whatever crap CA we have left-Mez named-Stun1 and a few other CA refresh-Stun-high damage CA-stun-crap CA-fear-mez, back to start.  Can skip the fear if mob is tankable in def. stance until mez finishes refreshing.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>It's very dependent on resists/power/dps, but we have FD and self-heal line to give us some leeway.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The above combo lets bruisers solo harder mobs.  It's not really an arguable point.  Monks do not have anything that can accomplish the same thing.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I'm sure there are monks out there who have done some very tough solos, but given the tools on the table, I think a bruiser could do it easier.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Argest</DIV> <DIV>Najena</DIV>

[Junaru]

Argest while I agree using those tool would make it fast I don't see what you are doing any different then what I am talking about.While a Brusier might tackle the EL boat ride solo like this.. Mez Boss, take out mob_01, fear boss, take out mob_02 then take out boss mob.My Monk simple did this...Burst DPS mob_01, Burst DPS mob_02, FD, wait till full health, Take out boss. (BTW this is how I soloed the EL boat ride while facing <span class="capitalize">Lord Zaavan(Blue Heroic ^^^) and his 2 friends(blue Heroic single down) so I know it works.)</span>Since SOE changed the way mobs respawn and the fact that you get exp/loot/quest rewards without killing ALL the mobs in a group the outcome is the same. Again your way sounds faster but it doesn't make it un-doable for a Monk. Unless you run into a pack of mobs you can't burn one down before they kill you. At that point I don't see how mez or fear would change the fight any.<div></div>

[Gora]

<DIV>Mobs cannot do damage while stunned, with mez/fear you can keep a mob effectively perma-stunned and thus kill much harder mobs solo.  I've soloed heroics 2 levels above me and white con named.   The only reason heroics are hard to solo is because they do massive damage, anything that negates that makes them no harder on paper than a solo mob.  Rogues/Predators get snare and can accomplish amazing things with that, bards/enchanters get mez, sorcerers get root, Bruisers get mez/fear.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>This is not about dealing with adds and one named, this is about dealing with one mob that hits harder than a character can tank unsupported.   You need to trivialize their damage output, bruisers can, monks can't.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I'm not bashing monks, i'm just explaining why bruisers excel at one type of soloing that monks do not.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Argest</DIV> <DIV>Najena</DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Owa]

<DIV>What about 'Monks are pansies'? Why has no one brought that up? What's <EM>happening </EM>to these boards?</DIV><p>Message Edited by annaspider on <span class=date_text>12-20-2005</span> <span class=time_text>06:24 PM</span>

[JudyJudy]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Gorag1 wrote:<BR> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>This is not about dealing with adds and one named, this is about dealing with one mob that hits harder than a character can tank unsupported.   You need to trivialize their damage output, bruisers can, monks can't.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P><EM>Sorry mate, but monks can trivialize damage output of the mob.  Let me give you a common scenerio of how I've "wow'ed the masses with my keen ability to solo and trivialize damage done to me.  :smileyhappy:</EM></P> <P><EM>In my offensive stance, I'll start out by pulling with my STR hex doll to reduce the attack speed of the mob.  Mash Tsunami and/or Outward calm and apply my DoT and my Defense Debuff then auto-attack hasted at close to 100% until the 12 seconds expires recieving no damage. - This trivializes damage</EM></P> <P><EM>I'll then slam through my big CA's and basically perma-stun the mob for about 7-8 seconds, still recieving no damage as the mob's back is to me for this period of time.  - This trivializes damage</EM></P> <P><EM>Then I"ll switch over to my defensive stance, Skin Like mountain, and Boulder stance - This alone increases my avoidance, parry, deflection and mitigation to extremely high levels. - This trivializes damage</EM></P> <P><EM>I'll wait it out, until my Big CA's Are refreshed.  Once they're refreshed, I'll drop Skin Like Mountain and Boulder Stance, go back into my offensive stance, perma-stun the mob for about 7-8 seconds all the while hasted to no end while in my offensive stance AGAIN.</EM></P> <P><EM>By this time my Skin like Mountain (30sec recast timer) has refreshed and I rinse and repeat until the mob is down - using my mend if needed as a cushion.</EM></P> <P><EM>Many classes (including monks) have the opportunity and the skills to trivialize damage done to them while solo'ing.  It's just up to the individual to use these skills effectively and wisely.</EM><BR></P>

[Gora]

<P>Good reply.  You are using the skills effectively.  </P> <P>Now, do who do you think takes less damage over the course of an encounter with an even con named or yellow heroic?</P> <DIV>Now, lets take 2 characters, a monk and bruiser in identical equipment and identical level skills and identically skilled at playing their respective class.  Who will have an easier time of it and who will be able to defeat a higher level mob more consistently?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I'll reiterate, no one's bashing monks, no one is saying monks can't excel at soloing or soloing hard mobs.  I'm saying the bruiser skill set makes it easier and they can do harder mobs.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Argest</DIV> <DIV>Najena</DIV>

[Pnaxx]

<P>Good conversation folks....it showed pretty much what I have been to understand...Monks and Bruisers are very simular...Bruisers, being offensive versions of Monks are able to kill very hard mobs , through the use of their very potent CA and Mez/Fear, in a shorter time fram and a bit more efficiently then a Monk could on the same mob. That would make sense and I would be suprised to see it any other way. I am suprised to find that the Monk, through some guile can actually beat  the same mob, ofc at a slower pace and you better know what your doing.</P> <P>But the tone of this conversation stayed pretty posative and I thank you all for taking the effort to dispel rumors from both sides. It's funny....when ever you have 2 sides of the same coin you are going to have a certain "in-house" rivelry...but don't let anyone else from the outside come in or the "brothers" will combine and fend off the intruder.:smileywink: It's like Charlie Daniels said in his song America..."we may have done a lil bit of fighting umongst ourselves, but you outside people best leave us alone. Cause we'll all stick together, you can take that to the bank, the cowboys the hippies and the rebels and the yanks...!":smileyvery-happy:</P> <P>Peace.</P> <P>Pnaxx</P> <P> </P>

[JudyJudy]

<EM></EM> <DIV><EM>I agree - very nice to have a civilized discussion without worrying about stepping on egos. :smileywink:</EM></DIV> <DIV><EM></EM> </DIV> <DIV><EM>To answer your question, Gorag, I would think over the period of the fight that bruiser would  take less damage for the sheer make up of the class:  Fear/Mez and CA damage.  Simply put, in the long run this helps reduce and trivialize damage done to you because the fight <U>ends quicker</U>.</EM></DIV> <DIV><EM></EM> </DIV> <DIV><EM>However, (I could be wrong so please feel free to correct me) I know that our "big-hitter" CA's are on a 30second timer save for our DD damage proc which is on a 1min timer.  I believe the bruiser's "big-hitter" CA's do much more damage than ours but are on a longer reset timer.  This in turn leaves me mashing buttons more often than the bruiser.  Everything has to be executed precisely and often.  If I miss a CA, or if my tempo is off by about 3-5 seconds, then I'm hard-pressed to keep up.</EM></DIV> <DIV><EM></EM> </DIV> <DIV><EM>Thus if we can take on the same solo mob, which in my opinion we can, the monk will be more hard-pressed to use their resources more effectively due to our class skill progression than the bruiser simply due to the fact our fight will last longer than the bruiser's.</EM></DIV> <DIV><EM></EM> </DIV> <DIV><EM>Consistency would all depend on the player behind the monitor, really.  But if I had to sway to one side, I'd say the bruiser would be able to maintain a consistant flow due to what I covered above.</EM></DIV> <DIV><EM></EM> </DIV> <DIV><EM>We also have to consider our ability to self haste ourselves to 100% vs. your high CA damage.  Our CA's may do less damage, but are on shorter recast timers.  Combining our shorter recast timers and our haste effects while auto-attacking, I believe,  help to cushion the gap between the bruiser and the monk in terms of damage while when soloing.</EM></DIV>

[Mentla]

Well, I cant say as to Monks, but after reading this thread for the last two days I gave my baby brawler a bit of my time least night (was lvl 11).  Running around sunken city hitting things to get used to the different play style (usually play a Ranger or Conj) when I spotted a blue con group of skells and started wailing away.  Dropped one of them and got the other to about 40% before I noticed the 3rd was a named!  Couldn't quite solo him, but I managed to last a heck of a long time against him and two adds wearing my newbie isle armor! Healer then grouped with me and we took him easily. In my opinion this class rocks! Would love to try out Bruiser but I really can't cope with Freeport.  Will probably have to betray..... <div></div>

[Junaru]

Once you pick your final class you become even better. At L20 when you become a Monk or Brusier you get a skill called "Deflection". This is our replacement for a shield. Good luck and enjoy.  I know for me my Monk is a blast to play to the point that my Warlock has gained 5 levels of provisional but haven't gotten more then 20% exp as a Warlock.<div></div>

[Pnaxx]

<P>Ok....now that i realize Bruisers can only be in Freeport......I hate Freeport and all it stands for....I choos Monk! Woot! In a couple weeks I roll this and get er going...thanks for all the help.</P> <P>Pnaxx</P>

[Mentla]

Hate Freeport too - there's NOTHING on the market!!  I had to get some lowbie tailor (nice chap) to make me some 6 slot bags as there was nothing better below a 14 slot bag on the market (and I'm not paying THAT kind of gold when buggy can make one herself!). Fact is whenever I'm in the bank or TS instance in Willow Wood there's always good chatting to be had.  Went in TS instance last night and I was alone in FP! <div></div>

[Apelord]

So it's been awhile (pre #13 so everything I knew about bruisers is suspect) since I played my bruiser at all and I have been playing my Monk exclusively.  I started up a Monk because Freeport became a ghost town.  All along I've kept myself well-outfitted, made sure I have adept3 in every area worth it, crafted rare gear, etc.  Consistently I have been able to trash grind yellows (oranges actually yield less xp, proved it to myself one day so I stick with yellows) and xp on white ^^^, yellow ^ and ^^ without much difficulty.  Some of the things I was able to do along the way were: tank Vindiami at 38 w/2 36 healers and a 38 ranger.  Tank Coldtooth at 44, Tank the spider in Nek at 46 (can't spell the thing).  I always fought about the same stuff with my bruiser and was less successful but I chalk that up to gear difference and knowledge difference so I have a question for the bruisers out there:  How versatile are you?  I can see where it would certainly be easier to take a higher 3-up with mez/fear than a monks knockdowns and short stuns, but can you rig for tanking epics?  Then turn around and play DPS?  How do you do it?  I have been considering playing my bruiser again but don't really want to go re-learn everything the hard way.

[Owa]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Apelord wrote:<BR>... so I have a question for the bruisers out there:  How versatile are you?  I can see where it would certainly be easier to take a higher 3-up with mez/fear than a monks knockdowns and short stuns, but can you rig for tanking epics?  Then turn around and play DPS?  How do you do it?  I have been considering playing my bruiser again but don't really want to go re-learn everything the hard way. <BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR> <DIV><FONT size=2>Usually I'm in the DPS/MA role myself so I can't help you much -  but I know of a couple of Bruisers on Lucan who seem to do very well. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>I managed to beat the big lizard (51 Epic x2) in the Heart of Fear in CT by myself the other day - but I believe he is stupidly underconned and so doesn't count. Later on that same day I also tanked the Magolemus - but as he is well known to be even more cakey, that doesn't count either. Don't even know why I bothered bringing that up...Sorry.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>Anyway, I suspect though that too much versatility is impossible - if you want to be effective you have to decide fairly early on how you're going to build your character and, for example, if you concentrate on DPS or soloing ability you may not fare so well as a dedicated tank.</FONT></DIV>