I'd like to roll a bard class and a healing type for the upcoming Fallen Gate TLE Can anyone breakdown Dirge/Troub for me? Or if I am better off going Cleric/Shaman? Is druid a viable choice? I'd like to roll the best healer in terms of having a better chance getting in groups/endgame positions Is there an edge over being Dirge/Troub later on as a bard? Looking for whatever you guys think will be more sought after in the grouping process / securing a raid spot Will be rolling one of each Thanks
There are gonna be a ton of druids on this server cause of the druid portals thing. Now, as for druids that actually know how to play their class aside from casting ports, I don't know. Dirge and Troub are on a level playing field right now. It doesn't matter which you pick, but Troub might be in higher demand due to the caster-centered buffs instead of melee ones that Dirges have. There's gonna be a lot of mages on this server because of the autoattack nerf. But there's also gonna be a lot of Beastlords, so who knows. Clerics are always in demand, mostly because most people don't like to play them, lol. IDK about shamans in general, but Defiler isn't very viable pre-AA due to casting times. Just play whatever you think is fun. You shouldn't have a hard time getting groups or raids if you're good at your class.
Pretty sure he can play however he wants. Just because he's boxing 2 characters will mess with your gameplay none. Seriously...if you're just gonna be rude...don't post.
You do understand boxing is not the same as botting?... Boxing just implies, they will be running two characters at the same time. It has been a common and legitimate practice for as long as EQ2 has been around. Now if you are actually an "Uber Norrathian since 99" you would have known this.
Play whatever the heck you want. Everything has it's time eventually, it doesn't matter what you pick, at some point down the line it will be a god, at other times it will suck. Don't play something just because it's the "in" thing. Play whatever you think is fun. In terms of vanilla literally everything is viable in some way or another. So make your choice. Everybody has their opinion, yours is the only one that counts in a situation like this.
Also... Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What this means in this case is that just because something is good, doesn't mean you will play it well. Allow me to explain. In my case, for KA conjurors are the "in" DPS. They are considered to be #1, with beastlords close to them. What I can do on a beastlord is much more than I can do on a conjy, I'm much more comfortable with the BL playstyle than conjy style. I also had a toon who I swapped between necro and conjy, and for whatever reason I can just do more on a necro no matter how hard I try to make myself better. Sometimes you just aren't good at a class regardless of how good it is. To me conjy is just too awkward, BL and necro feels far more smooth with my playstyle. Also, I have a friend who plays rogues... He is really really good at them, even though they aren't close to top tier DPS right now. He plays them fairly well, but you put him in the role of a mage... Good luck haha. Everybody has their own skillset, find yours and play around that. Have fun, enjoy life. Don't just follow the crowd or you may be wasting your time.
To answer your question with a real answer. Historically Templars and Mystics are the rarest of the all healing classes and generally raid guilds will snatch them up. Defilers come next because most you find are boxed. Rare to find a defiler main. Fury and Warden are always a dime a dozen. Inquisitor is common to rare, depending on the state of AAs in the game. Once they can melee, everyone wants one.
A "Real answer" meaning mine isn't real? I only spoke the truth. Just because something is "generally awesome" doesn't mean you will be awesome at it, or that it's fun for you to play. Telling somebody that they should enjoy their game time how they want to does not imply that it's a bad answer.
I gave an answer to the question based on the criteria that was provided. Not the echo chamber of "play what is fun" which isn't what was asked.
If that's the message you think I was trying to display then you are mistaken, but whatever. I'm not going to argue with you. You could have said what you wanted to say without insulting me.
Also, for a "legitimate answer" to the OP generally just because raid guilds are looking for something doesn't mean that they will take *only that class*. Raid guilds are generally out to get skilled players, and even if you are what they "want" if you don't play to their standards you wont stick around. So again, play what you are skilled at, and what you find fun.
You both were right. There's not really a right or wrong answer anyway. Xephane you're absolutely right that just because a class is the best dps, doesn't mean the player behind the character will always get the max dps out of that class even if gear and AA etc are ideal/optimal. I play conjurors really well and typically can mix things up to where I can eek out every bit of damage I feel I should be able to, topping parses in the past and generally being able to play one blind folded. However I can't do the same on wizards in this game, which sucks because I always loved playing them in EQ1, constantly topping parses on raids there with my raid main. Stick me on a scout class and prepare to ask yourself "Who is this nub?" Rattking was right too though OP in regards to class choices. Typically the slower casting healers are harder to come by on newer servers because they're just rougher to level in classic eq2. Druids abound because of fast casts and teleports and because they're pretty fun to play. That being said - I'm totally rolling a Mystic, because who doesn't love bear booty in their face when they cast wards, plus they sit super cute. What you can actually immerse yourself in and have fun with though is legit the most important thing. If you're not an alt-a-holic (like me) it's gonna be super important to make sure you love what you play, because you're going to be on it an awful lot. I find it very true that if you love what you play and learn it well that you make a good name for yourself and people will eventually seek you out to be part of their groups and guilds.
In my experience, Dirges get groups better than Troubs simply because most groups are put together by the tank and the tank wants the hate/defensive buffs offered by the Dirge. Your experience may vary. Both can be fun to play. Personally, I enjoyed grouping with the Dirge but did not really enjoy raiding with him. In raid you will likely be tasked with being a primary rezzer. This means running all over the place finding the dead and rezzing them. Then the ungrateful players whine about how long it took to get rezzed while taking no responsibility for getting themselves killed in the first place (ok, I might be a bit bitter ). It gets old after a while. The occasional rez to prevent the wipe in group is easy and fun by comparison. Also, group tanks simply want you for your buffs. If you are a bit low level or undergeared they are more forgiving than they would be for primary dps. Healers. Gah. Seems like everyone and their brother makes a healer alt, which is why there are so many truly clueless healers. Healers, particularly without AAs, can be painfully slow to level. The healer classes which get CA alternates to their spells (Mystic, Warden, Inquis), can be specced for ok dps for leveling once AAs become available. Boxing should help levelling a lot. If you suck at healing, everyone in your group dies. It is the second most critical class in the group (after tank). If chain healing doesn't appeal to you because it gets in the way of dpsing, don't roll a healer. If curing seems inconvenient, don't roll a healer. I promise you, tanks will remember if you are a good healer or a fail healer when they are forming groups. In the past, I would log on and start getting random invites from tanks I had grouped with, without even asking. Developing a reputation for being good at healing will get you far more groups than whatever healer class you happen to play. If being an MT raid healer is your dream, then yes, you should roll a defiler or templar, or plan on betraying to them when you reach top level. Otherwise, just pick a healer class you like and learn it inside and out. My 2 cents.
A bit more of a breakdown of the OP question. I've only skimmed responses, so this may be a repeat. Dirge - has buffs for melee classes. Troub - has buffs for mages. Both are very viable and are needed for raids. I've been told three dirges + one troub is a nice setup for raids. Enchanters will also be very much in need. Endgame on TLE is quite a ways off and things will change by the time it will be reached. Current live endgame is troub > dirge, with Beastlord to Rule them All. As for the healer types, current live endgame winner is defiler. Again, this will be different on TLE as old content required different heals for different raid mobs. If you really want to play a healer, run over to Stormhold and test-drive them for a few hours each, as they all play differently, even by subclass.
Having played multiple bards in multiple guilds on multiple servers I will say they are a lot of fun, both Dirge and Troub. I personally prefer Dirge over Troub, but that's just my playstyle. Dirge: buffs melee, buffs avoidances, gives tank hate increase buff, debuffs melee and noxious on mobs, shares all-resist debuff with Troub. Dirge primarily melees, more CAs than Spells (if only just slightly), has more stealth attacks than Troub (again only just slightly). Dirge has no AoE damage until Prestige Tree becomes a thing which is a long time for FG. Dirge CC is mostly useless in Raids (Do Not Ever Fear a mob in a Raid), though I have saved healers on occasion with a CC combo it is risky and shouldn't be used unless you mesh well with your tanks. Biggest key for Dirges in Raids is primary rezing. Dirges have the fastest casting fastest reuse in-combat rez for quite a while. Healers have more rezes but if you have a healer rezing then something is wrong, generally. Dirges also provide a procable Stoneskin which can be pretty significant. Troub: buffs spells, gives the group reduced hate gain, debuffs resistances, shares all-resist debuff with Dirge. Troub is almost 50/50 Melee/Spell damage but they can work pretty well doing Spell & Bow if you have to unlike Dirge who will lose a significant chunk of DPS. IIRC have 1 stealth attack. Has 1 AoE damage spell on a low cooldown, Has Encounter spells. Come KoS Troubs get the single buff that every mage and healer and crusader will be all over you for constantly: Jester's Cap. Be prepared to spam JC macros for hours on end when raiding. Best way I've found it find your 3 primary spell-based DPS and make a macro so you can keep them JCapd. More than 3 people and you'll have someone without Jcap in your rotation. In a typical raid setup they will want 3 dirges 1 troub. With the autoattack nerfs however that may change to 2 dirges 2 troubs. Dirges are essential for Tank groups. Troubs are less essential as their "power regen" isn't what it use to be so that role is filled by Illusionists/Coercers. Troubs are more so icing on the cake to keep the mages happy. Happy mages = tons of damage. As for healers. The most in demand has always been Mystic/Defiler. People don't like playing them. They have weak dps, they cast rediculously slow and can run into power issues. That said they have some absolutely phenomenal buffs and debuffs, a highly underutilized aspect of those classes, on top of their wards being must-haves for progressive raiding. Not taking damage always beats healing damage. Clerics (Templar / Inquisitor) are also usually in high demand. More people play them than Shamen but not as many as what play Druids. Templars have some really nice buffs and their reactives are handy. Inquisitor gives some rediculous DPS buffs and are generally wanted for that along with Verdict. Numerous times got first-time kills on Raid nameds with the raid suffering badly and the named hits that sweet spot for the Inq to pop Verdict and boom goes the dynamite. I recall an instance where the raid, not full, was about to wipe on a named it was down to me(dirge) the MT the Inq and a DPS. Got the last 1% needed off the named and Inq popped Verdict finishing it off as the MT died. Was an epic finish to a tough fight. Furies are good buffs for casters and can do good DPS when their group isn't taking much damage. Wardens are less so. Wardens make great 3rd healers for the tank groups if they're needed, Sandstorm is amazing and once you get AAs Tortoise Shell works phenomenal with MT/OT. Warden's weakness comes from the fact that they really shine as a melee spec but that's not available until EoF. KoS gives AAs a Warden *can* boost their melee but EoF AAs give them the strong CAs. Furies on the other hand are all about that spell damage and don't need AAs to shine really. Also Pact of the Cheetah on jousts is just fun. Generally in raids they'll want 1-2 Templars, 1-2 Inquisitors, 1 Defiler, 1 Mystic, 1-2 Druids. in my opinion, In order of general demand: Defiler - Mystic - Templar - Inquisitor - Fury - Warden. in my opinion, In order of ease of play: Fury - Warden - Templar - Inquisitor - Defiler - Mystic. Final thing I will say in this wall of text is if you play a bard, don't play them as a buff bot. I have seen too many bards being played as buff bots because the player thinks that's all they're good for. Sure a Dirge isn't going to top a parse most of the time, neither will a troub. But their dps potential isn't insignificant.
