Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Downloading it...some Question..
kimahris
Member Posts: 55
Hi there,
After reading all the comment about this game im like wow ,such a dedicated fanbase and even the one not playing it are still praising the game. One of the few not having loads of loads of drama . So, to start with the few question i had,
Which server should i start on ... Telon?
I would actually like some class information. I dont like tanking much,nor do i like healing. Im more a DPS. Know this might be common but hey...at least i dont get bored with my class and switch to something else.
Actually im a perfectionist,dont like creating something to end up knowing there's something doing the job better. So i'd like to know which class can deal the most damage? Which class tempt to be better at doing high damage. What race fits with it. What crafting and such should i get and why.
Being a student AND a father at the same time takes lots of time. Sorry for asking such questions so directly. Dont get offended and start telling me pick whatever class you want,they all kick ass. Sure they probably kick ass in whatever they are made for,but i want a class that fits me. Im the kind of guys who stick to a game for a long time .
Any tips,hints,about whatever are welcome. Im googling,searching forums for info as we speak of and wont start playing til tomorrow or maybe even 2 days. Since im busy with kid and got stuff to do irl but...thanks for any input or information you might give me.
Comments
There are two servers out there.
Telon is in the USA. People from europe will have a ping disadvantage, which is, for raids, quite evil, as Vanguard cannot compensate for bad ping and you will get worse dps than people playing from the US.
If you really want to play on Telon from Europe I would recomment playing a class that relies on DoTs for their damage. Especially avoid Sorcerer and Cleric, because Sorcerer hardly has any DoTs and Cleric have the instant heal which, if not used fast enough, may end up killing the tank.
Halgar, in comparison, is very empty. You will have to tolerate that you are most of the time alone or you need to use the social tools a lot and have a widespread range of characters (i.e. many at different levels), like I happen to have. I still found an active guild and we're planning to raid.
Classes, well, in a nutshell:
Warrior - avoid, worst solist in the game. As good defense as the other two tanks and hardly better dps than the DK. What do they get otherwise ? A *** load of special features for special situations. Warrior is more complex to play than any other class I've tried and you just get nothing in return from it. Again: AVOID. However, in group they are fine and in raids they are as good as any other tank (even kinda desireable for slighly better dps).
Dread Knight - Just awesome when solo. Can even solo dungeons, a feat not many classes share. Gets an area lifetap which makes it a killer against groups. Also good dps. Not to mention they can fearkite (lol).
Paladin - Good spike dps, but low dps overall. Not better defense than War or DK. Good against undead (surprise, surprise), but there aren't that many in VG. Immune to fear, which is actually extremely important in raid. Reportedly best group tank, albeit the difference is hardly noticeable - the difference between the tanks and NOT having a tank is much bigger than the difference between the tanks in group. Solo they have trouble against groups to get their heals out, thats why they arent as good as DK when solo. Still worlds better than Warrior, though.
Oh, and I should stress: Paladins are NOT healers. Not ever. No matter how you skill them. They can raise dead outside combat with level 40 (real healers: level 10) and never inside combat. They can heal, but even if you skill them for full heal (+4 Wis, +4 Vit, +2 Str) they would still not get close to a real healer (and will have screwed up their dps).
Rogue - Third worst solist in the game, but already much better than Warrior and Monk. For some reason very unpopular in Vanguard. Stealth, limited runspeed selfbuff, low ranged dps, so they are mediocre kiters, but they CAN kite. Also they can emergency evac like a mage, albeit through items (no idea when they get that one). Awesome dps in raids and can feed aggro to tank. No other utility, though.
Ranger - Stealth, Runspeed, Snare, if you go ranged then awesome ranged dps. All thats really missing is levitation (can move at full speed backwards in Vanguard if you have levitation) for being the perfect kiter. Of course, just like the other melee classes, up close its a different situation. Health is better than healer or mage, but defense is still not half as good as the tanks. Highly desired in raids because rangers are the best stance kickers. Can be melee or ranged - ranged is better solo and can can keep distance, melee is probably some better dps.
Monk - Second worst solist, cant kite or heal himself, just like Warrior. At least what they can kill, they can kill fast - and if they cant kill, they can always Fake Death. Second best stance kicker. Standard puller because of his uber Fake Death that works most of the time in raids. Good melee dps. There are 3 variants, only important one is drunken style as they are offensive tanks. Cant serve as the later in raids, but them having better defenses is still good for their pulling.
Bard - Overpowered in raids and groups, but mediocre while solo. Extreme runspeed. Extreme group dps buffs. Only invisibility in game that never breaks. Second best CC after Psionicist, including lull, fear, enchant, sleep. Enchant isnt as good as Psi one, thats why the later is much preferable. Cant buff anything to people not in group, except for levitation. ANY raid wants ONE Bard in EACH group for their extreme dps buff (60% and more to group dps, very important for timed fights).
Cleric - Best general healer, easy to play class, good defense, no dps. Much worse solo against big mobs than you would think because of a Mana problem for longtime healing. Either way, Cleric is highly wanted in raids. You want 2 Clerics in raid because of their extreme tank heal (Invention, Level 50 - Instant 10k heal, 8 sec recast). You also want any energy buff in existence, and classes like Psionicist that can feed mana, because of the Clerics mana problem. There are 5 Affinities:
- War is better melee dps and great choice for both solo and raid.
- Death Clerics isnt too bad either, they also get a dps mode, can fearkite and, in raids, get a huge Accuracy Debuff (-20%). The later is often all they use of their Affinity in raids, because their mana is for different things in this situation and their dps mode almost completely voids their healing abilities (but by the way still doesnt really give them much dps compared to a real mage. On the other hand, they still will have brilliant defenses, compared to a mage).
- Preservation will give you even more defenses, including a kickass stance for better block, better spell defense, and immunity to stun, and make you desireable for raids, but it wont help against your awful dps if solo. Still you will be able to survive when other Clerics have died from their lack of mana.
- Peace Clerics get less aggro, awesome CC (instant cast unlimited root) and a kind of super invis on self (even undead will ignore you). All in all an especially group centered Cleric. Never had a Peace Cleric in raid, so I dont know if they can operate as wipe survivers.
- Purity Clerics ... uh, they suck. Extra dps against undead (even more than War) and some anti-poison stuff.
Oh, and always skill them +4 Wis, +4 Vit, +2 Str. Strength improves the mana leech melee attack. So even a Death Cleric would want this.
Shaman - Great general healer, buffs are not as good as Cleric but include stuff like runspeed. No heal over time (HoT) spells thoug, instead only some weird reactive heals (and the best one, they cant even cast on themselves). Their mana situation is much better than Cleric, as they have a nice health to mana ability, and they can be Goblin for a whooping +7 Vitality per level (Level 10-55). All Shamans have levi, runspeed and some snarelike abilities, thus they can kite (spellcasting slows down though, and there is no constant snare available, so its far from ideal). Choice between 3 totems:
- Bear is the choice for solo. Very tank-ish and quite unkillable. Good aggro from Pet - a Bear Shaman once managed to hold aggro against my Sorcerer, no matter what I tried (as long as same target, of course). Low dps though. Get the best Endurance buff in the game, too, even better than Cleric - so one Bear Shammy is wanted for any raid.
- Wolf gets Stealth and extra strong runspeed. Druid still gets better runspeed though. Much better dps than Bear. Pet is only additional dps.
- Phoenix gets good ranged / magic dps, probably even more than Wolf. Totem form gives additional mana regen. Pet again only good for additional dps. Only other class with an energy regen buff - but the Psionicist one is better. All in all the most squishy of the healers, and still not good at kiting. Good dps though.
Disciple - Monk healer. About just as awesome solist as DK, but with different strengths (not half as good against groups, but maybe even better against the real biggies).Possibly most complex class in the game, but its worth it. Can heal sheer endlessly (and massively) without mana, which is why many people skill him +4 Str +4 Dex +2 Vit and go all solist on their Disciple. Even with that skilling, Disciple is still a good group healer. Their Fake Death is worthless in raid, as is their stance kicking - both just keep failing. Still Disc is great raid healer because of their manaless healing (important against some mobs).
Blood Mage - Mage healer. Awesome dps. Very complex. Gets a lot of HP buffs, including a super powerful self only one (gives me ~50% more HP every time I use it). Gets a lot of tricks in respect to health manipulation (steal HP from mob and give it to ally, take part of the damage on the tank and give it to yourself, damage on one member of the group is redistributed on rest of group etc). Only mage wihout kiting, has to "tank" mobs when solo. Really not good against groups when solo (spells keep getting disrupted). Very desired in raids (obviously). Can dispel. Also counterspell like any other mage (except maybe druid ?).
BM can be skilled for healer (+4 Wis, +4 Vit, +2 Con) but nobody does that. It would result in an extremely boring healbot character. BMs can heal just as good with their redirected lifetaps and do awesome dps this way. Issue is of course arcane healed mobs (then the "lifetap" will hurt the "healed") and resists. Then BM has to actually enter healbot mode (pretty much compensates your lack of Vit on a typical BM) and really do just that.
BMs wear robe, but they are healers, not mages. They can raise dead in combat (from level 22 on) like the other healers, they can call allies like other healers, and they do NOT get evac like a mage.
Sorcerer - The glass cannon. Best dps in game. Raids want them mostly for their dps, but their sleep and disenchant are used sometimes as well. Good kiter (instant cast damage spells that dont slow down, levitation, icebased snare, even an icebased shorttime root that doesnt break on damage).
Druid - Best spike dps in game. The weirdo of the mages, can for example use Clubs and gets Warrior buffs as a mage. A lot of nice tricks, including quite strong emergency healing (almost as good as a full healer for a short time), complete drop of aggro on group (Peace Cleric gets that one too), and manaless spellcasting on raid(!) for a short time. Their various tricks make them a big asset for raids.
Psionicist - CC specialist in game. Best mage buffer in game. Also can feed aggro to tank, can give mana to others (someone else can too, dont remember who - druid ? bard ?), can enchant mobs longtime (only other class that can do that is Bard), also gets sleep etc. Damage mostly over DoTs. Again very desired for raids.
Necromancer - Pet class. Awesome solist. Damage mostly over DoTs. Gets meat buff for raids (-Int, -Energy for +Str, +HP), which is by far the strongest HP buff in the game - so good that a raid without Necromancer quite frankly sucks. Also gets Fake Death which still actually works and can serve as wipe survival. But forget trying to pull with a Necro, they are much too squishy, their "Fake" Death wont be so faked, after all. All in all an extremely powerful and feature filled class if you can manage the complexity.
P.s.: Oh I forgot, Shaman and Necromancer are also wanted (needed against some mobs) for their curse removeal. And yes - in Vanguard, Clerics get no curse removeal.
P.p.s.: Also, I also have some actual suggestions about races:
- Any tank: Choose Qalian. Only race that gets a special that matters in raid, especially if you're tank. Qalian Human can play any tank class, so you still can play anything. If you're Qalian Paladin then you'll probably be the kind of ideal powergamer raid tank.
- Cleric: Choose Highelf. The +3 Wis and the racial are a huge help on a class with mana issues. The second best choice is of course human, who can get +5 Vit for some better mana regen. Any other race can only get +4 Vit, as no race with a Vit bonus can be Cleric.
P.p.p.s.: For a new character, always start on Isle of Dawn and do ALL questlines (first adventuring until you get the lucky charm, then harvesting, crafting and diplomacy. If you find diplomacy annoying, go farm Imps in the left wing of the temple (final dungeon), they drop Goblins Greed card which is awesome, possibly the best card in the whole game (2 free influence every 5-10 rounds, dont mind the description of the drop which, like for many other cards, for some reason specifies a bigger delay than the card in your ability book will have in the end).
Even if you dont like crafting much - in Vanguard, its not only very powerful, its also quite fun and more importantly it gives you access to the Banisher questline (early quest for Tier 2 crafters in New Targonor) which awesome rewards, including the best harvester girdle in the game (no need to continue further after that, you wouldnt get any other quest of this kind on higher levels again).
P.p.p.p.s: To clarify: Vanguard has 2 types of raids:
18 man (3 groups) - the "easy" ones in Ancient Port Warehouse etc.
24 man (4 groups) - the really hard ones, the overland bosses.
A well balanced raid has 1 tank, 2 healers, 2 dps, 1 bard in each group, and preferably one of each class, especially:
- Any tanks and healers, of course.
- Ranger or Monk for stance kicking (very important against many mobs)
- Blood Mage, Sorcerer or Psionicist for disenchanting (not as important as stance kicking, but still important). DK gets too (no idea how good they are at it)
- Bard for improved group dps (60% and more, they are absolutely necessary for timed fights unless the boss is much below your equipment)
- Cleric (2x) for instant tank heals (10k instant) (various)
- Bear Shaman for Endurance Buff (Cleric has one less good one)
- Disciple and Blood Mage for taking stress of the primary tank (Disciple can put endowments on tank for more health etc, Blood Mage can take away 15% of the damage).
- Paladin for immunity to fear tanking (Kotasoth)
- Psionicist for longtime enchanting (against Athriss) and best mage buffs in game
- Bard, Sorcerer and/or Psi for sleep (against Shiver)
- Durid (2x) for handling Zaygius (? the beholder right before Kotasoth)
- Necromancer for best hitpoint buff (extremely important for tanks)
- Shaman (any) and Necromancer for decursing
- Sorcerer, Rogue, Druid for sheer dps
I'm very impressed with Adamantine answer to your questions. He did a better job than I could answer.
I have not played every class. And I always play with others ( almost never solo ). So picking a class that can solo Great would be hard for me to help.
You say that you like DPS not healer or tank. I understand, but here is my take :
Since I group, I personally like to be a healer. BECAUSE IT TAKES NEEDING A HEALER ALL THE TIME, OUT OF THE EQUATION. Therefor, I think the Disciple is by far the best DPS healer. When I solo I kick ass. I could fake death to get me out of sticky situations. And It's a hard class to play when you get into the advanced combos that this class has. My first time playing I tried to be pure healer like most mmo's. After about three five man dungeons the group asked me why I'm not fighting ?...I'm like what, I'm expected to fight also ?.....Sure !...........Been healing and fighting ever since
.
Tanks- I feel no one should play a tank unless they know the game well to take charge of a group. It's not a matter of being a good tank but knowing the game well. But that's just my opinion.
Adamantion covered all classes well. Take his advice, I just gave an extra two cents !
Thanks for the detailed post Adamantine.
Thanks for the extra input Page.
Will try out the game tonight.
There's not much more to say - great job. I can tell you I recently started and am loving it. It had almost everything I look for - still hoping we can lose the tabbed targeting at some point. The crafting is fun and involved - you actually have to interact when you're crafting instead of just hitting 'go' and going for coffee. Also the diplomacy path is pretty cool - it's set up like a strategy card game - nothing I'd really do as my main focus, but fun none the less
Yeah diplomacy is fun and doesn't just feel like a grind since you actually have to think about what you're doing.
I can't wait to try the crafting as well, I just joined!
Name's Agarr on the US server!
https://i.imgur.com/Dc8dU3M.png