Class choice for a newbie!

[Reev1n]

Ive tinkerd in the game a long while ago and was fairly interested. I havent played an mmo in a whle and am looking for something I could pick up and once and a while to scratch that itch.

The style of class i really like is a magic/melee type class or dual wielding one. I generally like to solo content and would love some help getting myself set up in the game! Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Thundorz]

My first/main character is a Brigand. Its cousin class is Swashbuckler, either of those would work as a great dual-wield class, they are sturdy and do good dps. For magic/melee hybrid I'd suggest either an Inquisitor or a Warden, which can both heal and have damage spells too, and if equipped with a 2h weapon will do well in melee. I'm partial to the Inquisitor as they seem to be specifically designed as a magic/melee hybrid, but I've been told Wardens do well in that role too. Good luck

[Reev1n]

Thanks for the reply! I really appreciate it! Ill check out the classes you mentioned and go from there!

[Reev1n]

One thing I was wondering after looking at the classes, how does the fury class play? And would that be an okay class to start out with?

[Sparrow]

The fury is definitely a viable class for a first time player, while primarily a healer (And that will be your role in groups) they're very capable DPS too, they're strong solo'ers especially with a mercenary, but you may find you have some power problems early on, but this is really the same for all healers.

[Reev1n]

I ended up playing a warden for a while and got to level 10 and messed around with melee. Coming from WoW and other more fluid animation games, ive realized (or maybe im just nitpicking) that the melee animations atleast are pretty clunky. There were points sometimes where i wasnt even swinging a weapon but id still do an auto attack. Is this normal?

[Premium]

If you want to solo the most content pick Shadow Knight or Bruiser. They are tanky with high DPS and a high amount of self buff / self heal moves.

You can solo most of the game and its dungeons as these 2 classes. You can solo even more if you spend the 10 bucks and unlock mercs and pick the Inquisitor merc with them.

I play an Inquisitor - don't pick this class to solo. Really warden too. It just moves to slow.

The animation in this game is pretty poor, but if you play a fast attacking melee class you won't notice by the mid to end game.

EDIT: didn't clarify - Magic Melee hybrid = Shadow Knight, Dual weild = Bruiser. Trust me, if you want the most out of the game pick one of these two classes to start.

[Reev1n]

Hmm okay, im noticing a melee warder is really close to the shaman in WoW (atleast in my opinion.) Ill give the other two classes a look! Thanks :D

[Premium]

Warden is going to be really slow till about the 80 tier... And even then, with a full set of level 80 dungeon gear, you'll still kill at a third of the speed of the other classes.

I know its what you want to play, but its bad. Its slow, its clunky, and you'll burn out on the game quick. The melee healer builds are awful and boring.

[Reev1n]

I see, im still feeling out the game so far but thanks for the insight! The animations so far are really whats killing it for me. I love the races and the feel of the game just wish the game could get more polished.

[Premium]

The animations stop being an issue when you hit the end game. High levels of haste and pressing buttons all the time make everyone look like a crazy flailing ninja.

[Reev1n]

hahaha awesome, thats good to hear. Thanks!! Ill play the game some more then

[Sparrow]

I would advise against what Premium TV said, the melee healers are very strong solo'ers, especially the Inquisitor, the Warden (When specced for Melee) is also a very strong solo class, not as strong as a Shadowknight, but pretty much nothing is, other than a necromancer on certain encounters.

Him saying that the melee healer builds are boring, clunky and slow is merely his opinion and i would take it with a grain of salt, as i've already stated, an Inquisitor with a tank mercenary is a VERY strong combination if you're wanting to play a melee healer.

[Premium]

I actually main an inquisitor. Melee healer builds are weak and boring. Sorry but maybe you should play one.

You kill so slow, its boring, and you are useless VS a DPS class and useless VS a healer spec and you do WAY less damage than the ranged DPS magic builds of the same class.

The melee healers suck - Source: Hundreds of hours of play.

First hand - you will do the lowest DPS of anyone trying to DPS if you spec melee as an INQ. You will do slightly more if you spec for ranged DPS... But the truth is you suck at everything but healing.

EDIT: also a tank + a healer merc will always be faster and stronger and take on more than vice versa. And I say this as someone who has and uses the 10 year Merc tanks. SK + Stamper is better than INQ + Lord any day.

EDIT 2: only pick INQ or WRD if you want to heal end game. You won't be doing DPS. This isn't up for debate - no one will take you as a DPS. If you like to solo pick one of the many great solo classes (Nec, Conj, Bruiser, Shadow knight all come to mind) and enjoy the game, not some dumb gimmick afterthought build that no one likes or plays and that no one wants in the group.

EDIT 3: Its also crazy that people are telling a NEW PLAYER to play a build that doesn't even start to pick up till the 80s gear tier. Why are you ruining the game for a new player like that?

[Sparrow]

As i said, take anything he says with a grain of salt.

Melee healers pick up way before the level 80 mark, so I'm not sure what he's talking about there, as soon as you have enough AA's to go down the far left AA line (on both the Inquisitor & Warden) as well as getting the melee Alternatives, you're good to go, this is achievable at around level 20.

For a warden, your AA setup would look like this:
http://beetny.com/eq2aa/#GU68;lt0120@4a0@4a0@41t10550@750@550@51

For an Inquisitor, I would go for something like this:
http://beetny.com/eq2aa/#GU68;bt0120010a00at10050@4550@350@a1


From here on you pretty much just take the traits that build up your damage (crit chance, etc), survivability AA's while leveling aren't really needed as your heals (and mercenary) are more than enough at their base value.



If you're after a different class though than the ones mentioned, here are the classes i feel are the strongest currently in solo play while also being very effective in groups & raids at level 100 (Filling the role that is expected of said class).

Fighters: Berserker (Late bloomers, 50+) or Paladin
Priest: Inquisitor or Warden (Inquisitors (Wearing plate) are sturdier, both are good choices though.)
Mage: Necromancer/Conjuror (Necromancer's are stronger solo'ers due to the tainted heals AA, conjurors offer more to a group in the way of stoneskins)
Scout: Brigand (Can actually be pretty good off-tanks despite being a scout, highly sought after for the debuffs)


What i recommend is that you just create a heroic character for the classes you're debating on playing, this'll give you an idea on how they play as well as how effective they are.

For the magic/melee type that you mentioned you like though, the only classes that really fits the bill (while being strong in the solo department) are the Paladin, Shadowknight, Inquisitor & Warden.

Just to put into perspective how easy solo'ing is in this game with a mercenary though, I'm an Illusionist running around with a troubadour merc soloing dungeons 4-6 levels higher than myself with absolute ease.

[Premium]

I think its crazy that you will 100% defend making an awful choice for a new player versus someone who plays those classes. Yeah, everything can solo, but doing it at 1/3rd of the speed of everyone else isn't fun and thats what the melee healers do.