A guildie popped a question today, which prompted a mixed response from all of us that were online. The question was, "Can BRUISERS be a viable DPS class?" Several members responded, answers ranging from "No they are a tank class", to "Depends on the player". This thread, is being published to dispell any mis-informations that the Bruiser is merely a tank, and, for many of us Bruisers, being not only a solid tank but a solid DPS option is what our class brings to the table. I'll prefix this next part with, I play a Bruiser Main, and enjoy both Tanking and DPSing, content from Heroics thru top end Raid content. Too many times, have I seen PUGs looking for more, and since I enjoy meeting new folks I'll fire out a tell to assist. Sometimes, the PUG is looking for DPS, when I respond, they state they want a DPS class....not a tank. This, is where the focus of the post is going. Bruisers, can DPS. Sure, a well played "T1" will give us a run for our money, but, for much of the heroic content, a Bruiser spec'd for DPS, with smart gear selections can not only keep up with historicly T1 DPS, but given enough mobs to smack around will make those T1s cringe when they struggle to keep up. These days anymore, The PLAYER makes or breaks the class. Don't get caught up in the "You're a Tank and therefore can only do 1 job", plenty of tanks can and will surprise you when they get to break out their "DPS SPEC". *** Any questions from fellow BRUISERS, on DPS options, i'm happy to help, and I'm sure other DPS skilled Bruisers can post as well to get a spread of knowledge here to improve our class' reputation. Monks...you're out of luck..this is a BRUISER thread ☺
Yeah, I'm an AoE Dps SK. Am I the on the top of the dps charts on bosses? No. Do I help my heroic guild group get to that boss faster? You bet! Since we care more about the fun of the group than the loot, we play what we want, but we also will play what we need. I have fun being a dps SK and yet I can be wearing my tanking gear if we think I need to emergency offtank or MT if our tank gets an unlucky damage spike or lag hits our healer. As long we have fun, that's whats important!
Bruiser checking in; I used to use a hotkey that would change my AAs, hotkes, and gear. I used it because at the start of ToT I was really bad DPS solo. I tried it in a group not terribly long ago, it went so-so. The biggest issue was ego related when the tank was proccing his bloody ykeshan short sword he'd smoke my DPS. Little buyers remorse over my brass knuckles at that point. Did some research and it looks like a lot of bruisers, myself included now, are maxing out strikethrough and pushing their potency/ability mod way up there. Neck, 1 ear and 1 wrist are now 100% DPS gear. And as I get better drops, more is coming off. Guess what I'm asking is: How much DPS is gained from going from a proper the high-DPS tank build vs pure DPS build? I think most of the DPS that is gained is single target DPS too. And what numbers should be even expected from a DPSing tank? If I'm tanking and controlling the pull size, I fully expect to break 80m on larger pulls, if someone else is lord knows if they'll grab enough!
For me, I have two specs, both independant (non hybrid) for TANK and DPS. Many of our AA choices get burned when you swap into offensive stance ( at least the ones I'd take for my tank spec) so I used them for other abilities in my DPS set up. I guess for DPS numbers, we can find a good encounter, or a zone wide that most would have access to, for a good canvasing. Generally though, even in tank spec, heroic DPS can range (all depending on group of course) from 50-100M and the same zone or encounter i could push 250M in DPS. I'll see if I can generate some solid ACT stats for this post, i do know that generally, DEVASTATION STRIKE, ETHERAL LEECH, and BONESHATTERING COMBO lead the way on my parses. A heavy VC bard will also greatly affect my performance of course.
Interesting enough, I havent even tried a DPS Setup since the new potency values. While tanking, I typically beat most DPS in heroic zones, now ya got me curious as to what I can push out in a ' DPS ' setup.. Hmm.
I've had a break now for a while, 6months or so and I see ppl here with 6k+Pot values . What happened? Lol. Anyway, I've been thinking bout coming back and play my bruiser but the insane Pot increase has me wondering if this didn't put bruisers even further back behind other tanks due to our really low base values? Or have there been any tinkering with brawlers specifically?
Bruisers are in a really good spot. The tank game among the two brawlers and two warriors is the most balanced it's been in a while
First as a new EQ 2 tank I want to thank all of you for helping me raise my bruiser. Second Genghes/All could you review my bruiser and maybe offer some suggestions, please. http://u.eq2wire.com/soe/character_detail/2602759352762 skyfire:server. Thank You all in advance
Also willing to help, with either Tank or DPS specs for fellow bruisers. Feel free to look me up on EQ2U. Any questions, hit me up on HOF server or on forum.
Meilay is nothing more than a Monk pretending to be a Bruiser who puts down Monks, but secretly loves them. In all seriousness though Bruiser tanks are in a really good place as Genghes said. He and Meilay are the 2 best Bruiser tanks I've come across in this game. I like to think I'm number 3. Possibly #2 since I actually spec, adorn and reforge in to hate Meilay . I'm another toon who's willing to help on the Halls of Fate server. Feel free to hit me up on Rajax or look me up on EQ2U --> http://u.eq2wire.com/soe/character_detail/442381826461
Adding my link into the mix. My setup was actually heavily influenced by meilays. http://u.eq2wire.com/soe/character_detail/446689024942 Looking at other people is a great way to see what adorns people have and what they respec into. Once I get the cloak adorn I'm probably going to toss on a bunch of tot mastercrafted hate adorns. The stam ones are very meh. If you are starting, I'd say put AAs into reuse and reforge out of it. I'm in the middle of testing if armor break in the dragon line is worth having in my tank spec. So, don't just download my aa and run with it I'm betting that the debuff is worth it aggro wise.but 11 points is a lot!
Gubbo, I see how it is, Yack's just chopped liver to ya hahaha.. I tried out Armor Break at one point and never seen any benifit from it. Most mobs these days in raid are hitting debuff caps rather quick and the loss of the increase to duration of stuff is kinda sharp when it comes to maintaining temp rotations. I know that having a temp rotation this expac is kinda meh anymore but still.. I never could get around to liking it. There are so many broken AA's and worthless choices out there it makes me even wonder why they give us a choice at all
The brawler don't do the same dps. Bruiser is aoe dps, monk is single target. You can do a dps set-up for a brawler. You'll do good t2 dps
