Not sure what class to play

[Jimjam]

Shadow knights have a cool trick of being able to send a low level pet in to pull for them, which helps give a little space for FD.

Classically if a pet got 1 rounded, the mob that killed it wouldn't call assist, but that doesn't seem to happen here, sadly.

[Laugher]

I'd agree that a well played ranger can be a decent tank, particularly in classic zones. I have enjoyed alt o holicing pallies for a couple years now, usually break 12 before starting off elsewhere, but they have so much utility at later levels.

I also thought it worth mentioning there was a casual guy here a couple years back who was able to solo a paladin to 59 over a year lol. Probably not the funnest avenue, but he made it [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

If otherwise I'd recommend sk over war unless you plan to be a raid tank. Warriors are difficult with aggro earlier on if you don't have some kind of proc weapons (ideally stun) as soon as you can, and sks get a snap aggro spell pretty early on.

[Jotei]

I am not sure I fully understand the original topic, though the discussion seems to center on the merits of the lesser martial disciplines. It seems to me that most paladins are constrained by prudish inhibitions with many reluctant to flash their adversaries. It is a fiercely effective tactic though, one indeed that I have practiced myself with mixed results. The key to consistent results though seems to be rooted in the associated words of power. There are few who possess this ability and paladins are trained in its use for a reason. If more paladins worked to perfect the technique it would make a world of difference.

[Vexenu]

I wouldn't concern yourself at all with the lack of Bind Affinity. The server has a healthy population and it's very easy to find someone willing to bind you at almost any hour of the day and in any city. At the very worst, you could probably summon up a Dial a Porter to port in and bind you for a small fee. It's really just not an issue worth any consideration.

Much more important is what kind of gameplay you enjoy. There's been good discussion here about the SK, but not much about the Bard, so I'll hit on that. The Bard is really a fantastic class, but takes a certain type of player to get the most out of it. It's a very busy class that requires a lot of attention and active gameplay (running/moving around constantly, pressing a lot of buttons). The Bard is also an extremely powerful and useful class in the hands of a skilled player. It is easily the most skill intensive class in the game, and the difference between a skilled Bard and a bad one is night and day. There's just an absurd amount of utility available with the Bard songs. Bards make exceptionally good pullers. They can lull, snare, mez and charm. They're indispensable for raiding with their resist buff songs. Mana and health regen songs are extremely useful. Selo's makes crossing huge Velious and Kunark zones easy.

Said nobody ever: "We just have too many skilled Bards around."

But that being said, it really is both mentally and physically difficult to play a Bard well, especially for hours at a time. Most players cannot or will not do it. If you don't think you'd enjoy that sort of intensive playstyle, I'd recommend anything else over the Bard.

[fadetree]

Originally Posted by NirrtiXXX [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Also are some classes like Rangers and Paladins just dead classes that are worthless?

No, rangers and paladins are not worthless. Paladins are on a par with SKs generally speaking. Rangers are utility classes that are extremely useful when played correctly. Because it's harder than just spamming attack, most people do not play Rangers well. They make fine tanks up until about 50 or so, and remain very useful after that. Raids they are pretty much DPS, except for Weaponshield which can be a valuable tool in landing slows, tank transfer, and positioning. Rangers can also provide 'ranger clarity' by spamming liching necros or shamans with heals. They can also be useful peeling adds from casters and parking.

Originally Posted by Videri [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I think rangers wish they were rogues, and paladins wish they were warriors. Then again, their versatility makes them great for small-group content. Problem is, once you hit 60, you start to run out of small-group content to do and look toward raiding, where rangers and paladins are of limited usefulness.

This is pretty much accurate, although I have NEVER wished I was a rogue, they are the worlds most boring class. I think warriors more often wish they were knights than the other way around, at least in non-raid situations.

If you want a test of skill and intestinal fortitude, play a ranger. If you want to be a raid hero, play one of the trinity.

[Lammy]

My two classes of choice are rogue and mage. You can be effective with the least amount of responsibility!

[DrKvothe]

I wouldn't worry too much about the raid scene. I'm hardly the person to ask about it, but I'm pretty sure most people here would agree it's a toxic cesspool. It's definitely worth it to experience the encounters once or twice, but obtaining pixels usually means repeatedly subjecting yourself to those encounters. There's so much to do in this game, solo and in various sized single groups, that raiding shouldn't be a top priority. Hell, once you're 60, you can farm the plat to PL an alt, or twink it with a fungi and OP weapon and solo your way there very quickly.

Ranger is a fun class, imo. It's not the min/max dps slot like rogue, but you can snare, snap aggro from a loose mob, SoW, and pull really effectively in outdoor zones with harmony (a lot of dungeons are outdoors). You'll probably have to put a lot of your own groups together, but what's wrong with that?

SK and Pally are tougher to enjoy, IMO, because you really need at least a 4 person group to really kick ass. You're fantastic aggro, but not great damage, so you'll also need a healer, slower, and some dps. Best would be full groups. That's not a problem if you don't mind sticking to the most overcamped zones, but you'll probably miss out on a lot of the less popular but still amazing leveling zones. You've also got no speed buff and long corpse runs since you can't bind yourself, which isnt a great combination.

Bards are really excellent for pretty much anything you want to do other than high melee dps, though you can solo mobs face to face using your dots + health regen songs or other various strategies. You get your run speed buff at level 5, which is flat out fantastic, and you can get some really good instruments for under 50 pp each. You can level faster than anyone else by aoe kiting, or your can use any number of different strategies to solo smaller groups. You're hugely beneficial in groups as a puller, crowd control, charm dps, and hp/mana regen + dmg absorb buffer. You can actually solo casters without using fear, which is actually quite the feat. Bards have a single major downside: they're by far the most active class to play, to the point where it's pretty exhausting to play at even half of your total potential. Doing nothing but playing health and mana regen songs is more work than most classes have to do.

Shaman and enchanter are the big name solo hunters. Enchanters do it with cheaper gear, but are more likely to get f'd by RND. Shaman need to farm a lot of plat for torpor (>100k) to realize the majority of their potential, although I find mine very fun without it.

Clerics have no problem finding groups, make pretty great cash passively at high levels from tips for rezes in whatever zone you happen to be in, and they can join groups a few levels earlier than other classes, which expands your options for leveling. A lot of people seem to find this class boring, but I don't. You can duo/trio to great effect for a lot more excitement.