What's it like fighting on a mount? Thinking of going down the agility tree.

[tcg23]

Hello,I'm a level17 Ratonga Sk, looking at the acheivment tree.Stamina looks fun, but agility looks even more fun.I've seen a video of a SK fighting on a mount, but I was wondering if it works well, or what it's like.I guess you could say, shutup and level, because I'll find out what it's like when I hit 20.I'm not asking 'which is better' but, what is it like?Is it a pain because you're on a huge horse that gets in the way. Or do the bonuses of trample and the like, make up for it?<div></div>

[Nicholai24]

It's a pain. Your huge horse gets in the way.<div></div>

[Xanoth]

i do find horses really clumbsy to fight on, and i usually just cancel mine when fighting for a while =/perhaps being a ratonga will make life easier though.

[VainShad]

You don't need to be mounted for the second tier ability, Joust, to work, btw, even though the text implies otherwise.I currently have Joust and it is completely awesome in PvP, it's some serious burst damage that the SK is otherwise lacking. <div></div>

[Nocifer Deathblade]

<P>Lol, huge horse in way? How? I don't even see horse at all in first person of view.. Plus horse with rat on it will of a small size anyway. </P> <P>I love Cavalier line. Read <A href="http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=9&message.id=18201&view=by_date_ascending&page=1" target=_blank>http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=9&message.id=18201&view=by_date_ascending&page=1</A> if you didn't see that thread. </P> <P>Trample rocks with 2hp. More damage per mob trampling and procs 36% of the time at 8th rank each swing. Pretty devastating against group of mobs. SK already shines against group of mobs due to the fact that SK has wide access to many AE spells/cas and trample only improves that power plus SK has one of best lifetap which is AE lifetap to recover our health against group of mobs. I used xeg 1hp for trample and only see 200 hp per mob on average and now I used Formed Wurmslayer and usually see 400 to 500 hp per mob. I could imagine maxed str and real wurmslayer would do nearing 800 hp per mob trample up to 4 mobs. 2hp increases your accuracy per hit (higher atk) and do for more damage than 1h can. It's very nice plus it has FAST delay of 2.5 sec so trample occurs pretty often. </P> <P>I frequently approaching DPS to assassin against group of mobs even IN door even with just Formed Wurmslayer. I might surpass that assassin dps with real Wurmslayer. That assassin was surprised when he parsed each fight just to show off but saw my high dps and was impressed seeing me doing 2 to 3 x more dps than paladin tank who doesn't specialize in cavalier line heh.   Indoor, I still can trample without horse but at 18% of proc but still decent. Of course, against solo mobs,  assassin owns me in a major way in dps department.  I have warlock RL guildie and I duo with him. We are just OUTRIGHT sick against group of mobs mowing down lot of content that has plenty of group mobs. Extremely high DPS this way. </P> <P>I'm 12 more AA to go to max out Cavalier line. I know that lance itself is just allright cuz of 5% easier on resist factor. Joust is one of nice AA skill and it doesn't hurt you if you are indoor without horse at all. Trample only is different either 18% or 36%. You even can cast horse outdoor then go inside and still enjoy 36% as long as you see TWO trample icons up. If only see 1 then its 18%. </P> <P>Higher ground is very nice boost to your defense skill no matter if you need horse or spear for. Immune to knockback is already sucky with only 8% chance to proc and last for very short time. It needs to be upgraded period. I only liked Higher ground for defense itself. Higher defense you have, easier your tanking against group of mobs will be. </P>

[tcg23]

Thanks for the info.I hit 20 last night and hit 21 like 15mins later (exp in WC rocked!).I ran back to Freeport and got my horse.I kinda like it, but being a rantona, it looks like a black pony.It doesn't look at all like an unholy steed.I'm going to keep in fighting while mounted and see how it works.The wisdom looks appealing too, so I've got a while to decide, but I'm going to read up on it some more.<div></div>

[Nocifer Deathblade]

<P>Lol. Fighting with or without horse makes ZERO difference in EQ2.  It does make difference in EQ1 indeed. EQ2 eliminated that problem and we fight just completely fine with horse on. We actually feel like fighting on foot but we are on horse instead heh. I kept horse up 100% and always bring it back up each time I die unless I died indoor.. </P> <P>I hope advanced Cavalier AA line that comes with EOF might enable us to summon up horses and make it work IN-DOOR.  It would be a good AA path beyond knight Cavalier line and would enable us as only paladin/SK class to be able to show mount in-door while everyone else cannot. That would rock. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Then Cavalier path will become very attractive. </P>

[Nocifer Deathblade]

Oh by the way. A little trick for you..  Go to DOF zones AND KOS zones as lvl 20 hitting all discovery xp areas.. You'll gain lot of good exp PLUS AA in short  time. My alt bruiser got about 3 AA in just 3 hours of doing those things. I even went to EF and some in LS (harder) to get more. Then you'll be closer to access Joust skill early on. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Phank]

Save the plat it's going to cost you retraining.  Agility tree is a waste for SK.  Feign Death ruins the horse component when inside an instance, among other totally lame issues with the line.