Hello all, My wife and I started eq2 recently (live). She decided to create a Defiler and I'm undecided about which fighter class to play. I'm torn between a Guardian and a Monk. Any advice would be appreciated.
Depends what you want to do and what you want to achieve. You may not be interested in the end game heroics and raiding in which case your choice will generally matter less
I've played this game on and off since the inception of the game. However, I've never reached end-game content. I would like to participate in some heroics and raids eventually. I'm not in any rush really, but I would like to play a tank class. I played a SK back at launch and a Berserker and Paladin 5 years ago, but I've never tried a Monk or Guardian. I typically like more defensive characters so I created a Guardian, but the Monk looks more fun (skill wise).
I've played both (heck, I've played everything but the Channeler, and I'm leery about having to pay to unlock that), and while a Guardian clanking around in plate can certainly take a lot of what the bad guys dish out, the Monk is definitely a fun class. I have a lot more Monks than Guardians, about twice as many, but then again I solo almost exclusively, and Monks are brilliant for that; don't even have a Merc (though it's tempting to get either Qho [who is a Monk, so if you guys have that feature, then you could be a Guardian and still have a Monk around and see how they do] or Raffik, just to be able to torture them ;->). Uwk
Thanks for the info. Do you think the Monk has the ability to withstand as much punishment as the guardian?
Actually, a brawler (monk or bruiser) with a shaman (mystic or defiler) like that is a perfect duo. The wards of the shaman will reinforce the mitigation of the brawler, while the brawler - as a tank - will keep mobs away from the shaman, but they also have better DPS than most other fighters. I had a mystic who would duo exclusively with a friend's monk, and it was an excellent combination. So I would personally recommend it, although others might disagree.
Sounds good. We've made it to level 16. The Defiler is a little slow on the cast and she seems to have a difficult time keeping me up in the Wailing Caverns (compared to the Guardian), but I'm sure it gets better in later levels.
Yeah, Shamans are notoriously slow casters. Casting speed is always something I try to improve for them, particularly at lower levels. Reforging for it isn't necessary (especially if you're not raiding or doing heroics), but my armor choices were often informed by the idea of improving that character's casting speed. It helps to cast a big group ward right before entering combat. We used to time it so my friend would throw his taunt (or just run into a group and throw an AOE) just as my first ward cast ended, and we'd work from there.
Isn't there a branch of the AA tree for Shamans that focuses on casting speed? Been awhile... :-/ Uwk
