Need some advice on SK's

[ethanpr]

<DIV>Okay, so I decided that I want a more DPS-oriented Plate class, what I am trying to figure out is Berserker or SK.</DIV> <DIV>Now, from what I see around here, is that Zerker relies on heavy AoE's, which I normally avoid to prevent massive aggro, but I am normally a Assassin so I do single-targets. What I have heard about SK in the past is that their DPS is sub-bar, and cant hold aggro overly well, dont know if this is still true, but any advice would be appreciated. I normally try and get groups and assist the tank, but wouldnt mind to tank if called upon.</DIV>

[Xanoth]

Sk and Zerker are very similar in what they do, just go about it a different way.both AE damage, zerker is melee based, SK is magic based.just depends on personal preferance really IMOyou can always go to eq2ref.com and do a class comparison to see what abilities both classes get.

[Beldin_]

As SK you have to learn to love open aoe's .. thats where an SK really shines. Before i also really hated them because of the danger of adds .. since i started my SK i more and more learned to love them, and now i really don't care that much about an add .. 8 targets at once is always the best for an SK <img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[SillyMonk]

<p>SK's not being able to hold aggro is a myth, imo. I prefer SK's over 'Zerkers due to all the different things you get with a SK. Zerkers are mainly melee and buffs (now I only played a zerker up to 26 and then deleted him so I may be missing upper level things here) whereas SK's have melee, a few buffs, magic, healing, and a temp pet. Beldin's right though. If you play a SK, you'll learn to LOVE your AoE's. You have one AoE that is a life tap and it heals great and does better damage. The AoE's, in my experience, are one of the main things that allow a SK to hold aggro as they tend to do a lot of dmg. Due to their healing capabilities, SK's do better as soloers in my experience too. Then you get the pet, which is a nice little chunk of DoT.</p><p>All in all, I've enjoyed my SK much better than I enjoyed my Zerker when I had him. I have a lot more versatility and a lot more options of play style than I would if I had only a melee class.</p>

[Norrsken]

I never had any problems maintaining aggro, unless its like 12+ mobs in 4-5 different groups and people are not targeting thru me. <BR>Sure, sks might have a slight lesser aggro, but the difference is not noticable because you wont drop aggro in normal circumstances as either a zerker or a sk. At least if you know what you are doing. And I must say I prefer my SK over my zerker. My soloability is way higher, and I dont die if the group healer is a lazy [expletive haxx0red by Raijinn]. So what if I have a slightly smaller HP pool, I easily make up for the difference with my heals. Mitigation? Heals take care of that too. And yep, zerkers do a slight more dps. Nothing I really care too much about. Im in it for the fun. Its more fun to me to suvive than to deal 10-20% more dps.

[Gnome mercy]

<DIV>Honestly, I've only played my sk to 50 that was the max when my vid card went bad, honestly never had an issue with aggro and as to what I've beenr eading its just getting better as i level so, all in all, i don't think aggro is an issue with SKs, sure we dont have as much HP as zerks, doesnt matter, we get heals to make up for that and a nice little BP i used to use all the time that drained quite a bit of my power but saved me [Removed for Content] in a tight situation, the clicky BP from oh man i cant remember the name of the zone, the one with the creator dude in it lol. Wow its been all too long. My DPs is a bit short but so are my legs, doesnt make me wanna make a zerker, its really up to you but I like my SK</DIV>

[Beldin_]

In my eyes its a myth that zerkers do more dps .. coming maybe from some overbuffed raid situations .. in normal group situations i personally never ever saw a zerker who touched my dps. On the other hand .. i remember a while ago we invited another SK into the group and he also only did half my dps, so maybe i only played with bad zerkers <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Eluzay]

are you on a pvp server?resists are a big deal to us, and in T7 it can be a problem. It sounds like the next expansion will fix that.  Zerker will out dps us (if they use aoe) but SK has better single target bursting damage (good for pvp)<div></div>

[ethanpr]

Okay, first I would like to thank everyone for the advice that they've put forward, helped make my decision easy <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> I made my Ratonga SK yesterday, got him to 9 and such already, rather enjoying him. Oh, and Eluzay, I am on Oasis PvE, haven't gotten up the nerve to do a PvP yet.

[CHIMPNOODLE.]

<DIV>I'd go SK all the way over zerker. Our DPS is lower in theory, as is our hp/mitigation & avoidance...but our Aggro control is very good. I say in theory, as the difference can be negligible, or even reversed in practice. My DPS is unquestionably lower than most zerkers I meet....but more often than not my HP, resists and mitigation are higher than most zerkers, and even guards, that I run into (temp buffs aside). I concentrated on Mit, STA/HP & WIS items though, and went heavy into our STA AA line. I do eat a lot of power, but even with my lower int/str than a lot of SKs, I really don't run into aggro control problems in groups or raids either.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I do have some soloing/DPS gear that pushes up my DPS, but I rarely find myself using them. That is a nice aspect of SKs though as well...very versatile class. I also find our survivability is much higher than zerkers with our FD, Evac, and lifetaps.</DIV>

[Nicholai24]

With Death March up, and upgraded combat arts and spells, an above-average equipped shadowknight can easily compete with a berserker in offensive, even while we're in defensive. When we go offensive, if the SK is smart, he can equal or exceed a full-fabled 'zerker. You can't do it with button-mashing, but it can be done.