Guardian or Demon Hunter - Need Your Help!

[Robotica]

Hello everyone, I would like to get your feedback on these two classes. You can give details about the voodoo pirate as well if you like but for me personally I am not interested in that class.

Anyways, I am at a huge crossroads with the game. I can't decide which faction to side with. I have made a backup save and experimented with both factions, but there are still some things I don't understand and I would like to hear what you all have to say.

First, do Demon Hunters get any kind of aoe melee attack? And do they ever get any kind of additional melee attacks or melee attacks/spells apart from riposte and the throw dirt spell(forget the actual spell name). Guardians magic does amazing AOE damage and they also get fire rain which is like a secondary magic attack.

There was a lot of talk on the forums about which class is better. I seen a lot of players say to play Demon Hunter because they not only get all the best melee but they also get a magic spell which is the same for guardians, but it just looks different. However, DH does not get spell dancer, which is IMHO a biggie if you want to play with magic.

Another thing is, I compared the magic attack of a Demon Hunter and a Guardian, both at 60 magic, both same gear, both attacking the same enemies, and it seems that the guardians magic spells hit a lot harder. I'm not sure if I am mising something, but with the guardian I could drop an enemy with 2 or 3 hits, where as with the DH the same enemy would take 5+ hits.

I also want to know which combat style is more powerful, magic attacks or melee attacks? And finally, can someone explain to me what a battlemage is? I see the skill, but what does it do exactly? Is there someway I can play with both melee and magic at the same time? It seems you can only play one or the other but not a combination of both. However, battlemage sounds like it would be a combo of both... And if so, which class is better suited for a battlemage, the DH or the Guardian?

Alright, well that is it for now. Any help from you all would be greatly appreciated.

PS: Oh and why in the world did they not give the mage blink!!! Why the hell did they give it to the melee class??? That alone is almost enough to make me want to play as a DH!

[pw1108]

How about Voodoo pirate?

personally, I really enjoyed demonhunter espcially with demon sword(?) magic.
it makes attack super fast and it feels really awesome.
and for armor, their scout helmet was awesome.

[Lil PeePee]

Demon Hunter is so ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ fun it's unreal.

There's a sense of agility that you don't have with every other class due to the blink teleport dash, and with demon blade you can not only make your melee faster than light, but your magic as well.

While most DH spells are buffs, there are 2 summon ones and some magic ones like shockwave, stonefist and thunderbolt. So fun.

[Robotica]

Originally posted by Wanky McSpanky:

Demon Hunter is so ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ fun it's unreal.

There's a sense of agility that you don't have with every other class due to the blink teleport dash, and with demon blade you can not only make your melee faster than light, but your magic as well.

While most DH spells are buffs, there are 2 summon ones and some magic ones like shockwave, stonefist and thunderbolt. So fun.

Well Demon Blade is a great buff that increases your attack speed dramatically, but it has a rather long cooldown and it's active time is not that long, long enough for maybe a group or two of enemies. Guardians on the other hand learn spell dancer which increases your magic attacks by the same amount that blad dancer increases your melee attacks. It also is a permanent buff so you don't have to worry about cooldowns and stuff.

Also, I am not sure if you read all of my post, but it also seems that guardians magic does more damage per hit than that of demon hunters. So, if I want to play magic I feel like I should go guardian, but I am just not sure if magic is the right route to go. I would really like to know if there are any kind of AOE melee attacks like the way magic is AOE.

[Lil PeePee]

Thunderbolt and Shockwave are AoE.

[Alvin the Elf]

The blink is kinda useless. You can't go through enemies. It's just a teleport animation instead of rolling dodge animation. I chose Voodoo because most mages were pompous ♥♥♥♥♥, and Demon Hunters are too depressing, frankly.

I chose Voodoo because you can be a mage or warrior in all fantasy games. In how many can you be a Voodoo Pirate?

[Unknown]

voodoo

[karmavirus]

Guardian fire fist and fire storm are great for battling lots of smaller foes. When you use melee mode with the fire fist it tends to splash out on the enemies next to the target, useful for spiders and sandrunners. Pus you don't have to worry about lockpicking when you get the rust spell for locks. Mage also has access to a LOT of the astral visions without having to drink liquor, so it's a good class if you are a compulsive looter.

Demon Hunter is a great melee class if you prefer using swords with heavier armor and their blinking makes it easier to dodge enemies when swarmed. Plus their faction leader Eldric seems to be the one who has his stuff together.

Haven't done voodoo yet, that will be my next playthrough. Since I've already played a swordsman demonhunter my first time, and now am doing mage firecaster, I think my voodoo man will favor the musket or shotgun. Last time I beat Risen 2 I used the musket and hung out with Venturo the whole time, and we'd kill most things from a distance before they even touched us.

[Cutlass Jack]

Voodoo Pirate is excellent. One of the thing's I like best about it is that you're your own man. You're not some soldier working for someone else. You're the only Voodoo Pirate.

Voodoo Magic is pretty fun this time around. They get an AOE Raise Dead spell that makes entire groups you just killed get up and help you with the next group. The Rebound spell is also proving pretty handy, reflecting enemy attacks knocking them back too. And I love having Parrot Flight as an actual spell. Spell version turns you into a larger, prettier red parrot. Nice touch.

Guardians do get the fancy eyepatch and the magic is quite nice. But really couldn't get behind being a Cadet for them and following orders. And didn't feel like shaving my head to join the Demon Hunters.

[Jazz the Goose]

demon huneters first guardians last. thats how i did it :D

[Kwisatz]

All of them.

[LazyAmerican]

Damn that sucks that you can't blink through enemies...truly is just a reskinned roll dodge I guess

[Lil PeePee]

Yeah but it's so much cooler.

[Robotica]

Yes I really like the blink animation, I just don't understand why they didn't give it to the Mage, it is typically a mage thing. Also, it would be nice if each faction got some kind of enhanced dodge ability rather than the silly roll.

I still have some questions that none of you have answered, if any of you know or have input about these things please let me know.

1) Does melee ever get any kind of AOE melee attack?
2) Does Guardian magic hit harder than demon hunter magic? From my intial tests I would say it does, but maybe im missing something.
3) In terms of overall damage what is better, melee, magic or ranged?
4) What exactly does the battlemage skill do?
5) Is it possible to use melee and magic at the sametime? Is there anyway to quickly swap weapons without having to go to inventory and manually change your weapon?

Thanks again guys

[dwig]

1) I have seen blood fly from 2 creatures that were next to each other when I hit them as part of a melee attack. Not very often though, and certainly in no way similar to the glove attacks.

2) Don't know. Maybe you had a higher crystal magic than rune magic during your test?

5) you can put your weapons (and your fist attacks) on your hotbar and swap them that way without opening inventory. I have melee weapon, musket, and thunderbolt on my hotbar, in addition to my favorite demon hunter spells. Now all we need is a mod to add more hotbars.

[Cutlass Jack]

Originally posted by Robotica:

Yes I really like the blink animation, I just don't understand why they didn't give it to the Mage, it is typically a mage thing. Also, it would be nice if each faction got some kind of enhanced dodge ability rather than the silly roll.

I still have some questions that none of you have answered, if any of you know or have input about these things please let me know.

1) Does melee ever get any kind of AOE melee attack?
2) Does Guardian magic hit harder than demon hunter magic? From my intial tests I would say it does, but maybe im missing something.
3) In terms of overall damage what is better, melee, magic or ranged?
4) What exactly does the battlemage skill do?
5) Is it possible to use melee and magic at the sametime? Is there anyway to quickly swap weapons without having to go to inventory and manually change your weapon?

Thanks again guys

1) You can sometimes hit multiple enemies at once if they're close enough together.
2) Magic hits about the same regardless of faction from what I've seen. Damage depends on your skill rating.
3) The one you invest the most points into will be the best overall damage. One isn't inherently better than the other. But you may find one style more fun than the other.
4) When you equip a 'melee spell' (spell that goes in your weapon slot) Battlemage will add another attack to your combo chain.
5) Put the weapons on your hotbar and you can swap instantly.