Question for Brusier Tanks?

[Kilil]

<DIV>I am a Defiler. I have a static group that may work with a Bruiser for the main tank. I've read many posts that state that bruisers and defilers make a great combo. My static group is comprised of a Defiler, Bruiser, Coercer, and Swashbuckler. Our goal with this static is to play to the endgame with out having to find a certian class to fill out the group, we want to be effective with whatever pickup we can find.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>My question is, is there a point in the game that the bruiser has a hard time tanking. I've read that the mid to upper 20's is kinda rough but you really shine after 30. We want to be prepared so any suggestions would be appreciated. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Thanks much</DIV> <DIV>Kilil</DIV>

[IkkyScar]

<DIV>Bruisers have a bit of difficulty in the mid-20's <STRONG>only</STRONG> without a shaman.  With a shaman they do fine.  30+ they work well with any healing class.  Bruisers are a class that just keeps getting better and better as they level.  With the group combination you've stated you should be able to fill the remaining slots with any class you want.  I suggest one of the remaining slots be a bard.  Troubadors in particular increase the efficiency of the group 100 fold.  Not only do the buffs SIGNIFICANTLY raise STR and AGI but the haste, power song, and damage they do changes the efficiency of a group dramatically.  The AGI is particularly useful and your Bruiser will see a MARKED difference in how much they get hit.  Quite simply, they won't get hit.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Troubadors are the ultimate group class.  Add one and boggle at how well your group performs.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Guber--50 Bruiser</DIV> <DIV>Crushbone</DIV> <P>Message Edited by IkkyScarab on <SPAN class=date_text>01-03-2005</SPAN> <SPAN class=time_text>10:17 AM</SPAN></P><p>Message Edited by IkkyScarab on <span class=date_text>01-03-2005</span> <span class=time_text>10:18 AM</span>

[Kilil]

<DIV>Thanks,</DIV> <DIV>Sounds good. May have another guy comin in shortly, maybe we can suggest the trubador (played a bard in EQL, been wondering bout them). </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Kilil</DIV>

[Miyu-Lega]

First off there is ALOT of missinformation in this forum about Brusiers. I have had 0 difficulty tanking and keeping agro 25-30 with only a Inq as a healer, and the Inq is rarely under 60% power after taking a series of orange mobs. The key to brusiers is always keeping your gear and skills up to par, I am [expletive ninja'd by Faarbot] about my gear so I can hold my own with any tank and belive I do better than any plate tank 25-30.Simple keys to being a demonic tank =1) Don't use dual wield weapons, they are not for tanking. Use a slow 2hander or a slow 1hander and shield.2) Keep your gear at peak, if you do not have AQ or full tradeskill that is at least even to you, you have some work to do. Don't expect to tank with grey items that you got 15 levels ago.3) Get the best versions of your defensive skills that you can afford, and if you can't afford it, spend a day harvesting and selling the raws to make money to afford them. If you are lucky you will even get a rare and can make an adept3 for your defensives. - Spend the 5g to pickup a coral or silver and get brawlers stance into adept3, you will keep it for awhile and will pay for itself.4) Agro is easy to hold, yet hard to regain if lost, so focus heavily on keeping agro. Call to Arms is not a very good sub taunt, but when you get Intimadating Orders, use it often on multi pulls. It is VERY high agro and will also give you a hand on any out of encounter adds you have to deal with. Use Crash, Taunting slap and any other taunt ability you have often. If you do not have a bard or enchanter in group then just focus on taunting abilities and forego offensive. Remember we are tanks when tanking, dps is not our priority.5) Ignore Pain is a good ability reguardless of what anyone says here. Currently it heals around 340hp at level 30 and if you look at it in a different light, it is nice. It is basically one less heal you need, or when in a critical situation and you use it when a heal lands, you will see your hp shoot up. BTW I only have Adept I of this.I have been main tank with only one healer in group from 1-30. I have yet to see any weak points and the healers I group with demand I tank over any plate. Also this is my 4th char to the 30's and a previous I played was a zerker. I can tank things that would chew the zerker apart.

[NecroR]

<DIV>why no dual wield?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>i use 2 firwood fighting batons</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>they do (at lvl 25) 10-29 dmg each, with a 1.5 cooldown. 5agi, 3str, 16hp, 14 power.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>it gives me 32 hp total and 10 agi, thats nice tankin, and they do awsome damage.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>20-58 with a 1.5 sec cooldown.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>better than any 2handers ive seen.</DIV>

[benisbor]

<DIV>I also take issue with the advice against dual wielding. There are pros and cons. Dual wielding does increase the chance of ripostes and thus occasional damage taken, but dual wielding also increases taunt (each hit increases aggro level. A 2hander hits for more, but less times, and damage does not factor into aggro increase unless it is a HUGE amount such as backstabs). </DIV>

[Miyu-Lega]

The statement that dual wielding generates more agro is true and false. True in the sense that you do more dps with 2 fast weapons than 1 slow one due to misses. False because the ammount of agro gained is so trivial that the risk of ripostles greatly outweighs the benefit of dual wield. The attack itself is not agro as much as the damage is, otherwise self hasted assassins would be torn apart.EQ2 is a skill based agro game compared to the world we were used to in EQ1, so the primary means of gaining and holding agro will be your skills. While hate is generated thru actions seperate from taunt abilities (melee/buffs/heals), they are on a lesser scale, but all add up to a package deal. The job of a tank is to take as little damage as possible while maintaining agro, to put it very basic. After playing an Assassin to 30, and now a Brusier to 30 I can tell you that we have the dps of a girl scout troupe on herion, so we have no justifiable reason to 'play dps' while tanking. If you have to rely on dps to gain and hold agro you need to reevaluate where you need skill upgrades and make approprate changes.As for less stats on a 2hander, that is a fact, I have a T4 rare crafted oak bo that has 8 agil 8str aprox and 40hp/power, you could easily get more 'stats' off 2 1handers. Currently the direct benefit of raising stats say 5 more agil over 10 more agil can be debated and discussed but we have no solid evidence at this time. What we do know is 2 1.7 dly weapons will eat more ripostles than 1 2.2 dly, so I belive your best course of action is to take the defensive approach and use 2handers. Not to mention the bonus 20-30hp in T4 you would get from a 1hander is trivial when that one hander makes you eat a ripostle for 500 damage, so in reality by equipping that 1hander you are reducing your hp by over 475 points.