The Bruiser class is doing really good this expansion. They are very solid tanks especially in [heroic III] and put up good DPS in raids. I just wish more people played them. If you are just coming back to the game or have been playing for a while and want to trying something new I would recommend picking up a Bruiser. It is a very useful and fun class to play.
I came back and leveled my bruiser first. Oh the memories. Right now my time is very limited so grouping is out but solo he did well. I still need to upgrade all combat arts and lots to do. I didn’t go with ascensions. Seems useless but I could be wrong on that. I did go with left side prestige for martial retaliation and so far I like this decision for what I am doing. Leveled my berserker after and I will say that my bruiser did better on the single target damage quite a bit better than the zerk did. When I left after Sentinels Fate the zerker was just as good on singles as my bruiser Now leveling my swashbuckler and then my sk. Really enjoying this experience once again and I love my bruiser most. Hopefully one day can get the time to group up and see. Thanks Obano.
I forgot to ask this since I don't get to group right now and have nothing to compare to. What exactly has evolved with the bruiser this expansion vs last? I try to read up quite often but haven't seen any recent increase development from the forums. Did a silent boost occur? Thanks again!
I don't think there was any silent boost. It is just the way the stats work this expansion that favor bruisers. Before RoR it was not really possible to stack the right stats to optimize Bruiser dps. It is all about the crit bonus. When CB gets over 36,000+ Bruiser dps really goes through the roof. Of course getting those kind of numbers requires the right group set up and decent gear.
Obano will give the most definitive answer, but I think the most significant changes occurred from BoL through RoS and finalized with the level cap increase in VoV. I'm not really seeing a dramatic boost in RoR, just acknowledgement that they are a capable class. I didn't get to progression raid or even group on my Bruiser last expansion because I was on my SK full-time. I did do solo content while keeping him geared, minus some of the best red adorns. I got to raid with him during farm sessions just before RoR launched and he did okay. He's my main in RoR and has been able to do everything asked of him up to this point. There hasn't been a significant class specific change to anything I can think of in RoR so I'm thinking that they were probably solid in VoV and just underplayed because of the stigma from recent expansions. The tools of the class are just handy in this expansion. I still tank heroics on my SK and even my Pally. All are capable, all have their weaknesses and their strengths. Fighters in general are in a good spot as far as tanking goes.
Thanks for the explanations. Yeah the gear you guys have i will never see but I am happy that at least dedicated bruisers are doing better than the previous eight expansions. I still enjoy this game very much and being able to read up on bruisers is a great past time of mine. LOL
If a tree falls in the woods and nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound? That is basically Bruisers.
If a tree falls in the woods and nobody is around to see if then it never renders and, thus, never fell.
I can second what Obano says, bruisers are underestimated and again fun/flexible to play. I started as bruiser when EQ2 was fresh and had it as bruiser until the monk got overpowered compared to bruiser, then I betrayed to monk (with mixed feelings). Still fun and needed, but I always had the feeling that I missed the playstyle and flexibility of the bruiser. RoR was the expac when I betrayed back to bruiser, and I enjoy it much. Tanking H3, fighting/tanking T3 raid works perfectly fine and dps is fine. And Dude....i catched a 15kg pike last week, but nobody saw it. Did it still happen, or was it a dream?
I just returned after years of being away from the game and started a fresh bruiser. Happy they are doing well. It will be a long slow grind to get to max level but that is where the fun is.
I was playing Monk live and wanted to try bruiser on varsoon. I am more than delighted. Obviously it's certainly not the class at high level, but despite everything, I think he got drowned by all these lengthening posts endless series of figures to prove that the Monk was better. The bruiser whatever we say , is classy!
And I admit, reading a 'oh a bruiser, it's rare' and demonstrating that it can be much more than nice, it motivates me
